Vampire's Shade Discounted Box Set

Chapter 7

Chapter 7“It’s not rocket science. If he’sa vampire already, kill him. If he’s still human, Ruben can’thave him taken out no matter how badly someone wants him. That’sjust wrong.”

Joel sipped his coffee. He’d made useach a cup after I’d kicked over a chair. So, I wasn’t great atanger management. The last twenty-four hours had made me edgy.

The coffee was bitter and it tastedlike he had brewed it through a sock, but I sipped mine to be polite.

“It’s not like my moral standardshave been very high lately,” I said.

“True, but you have your reasons.”

He let those words hang in the air fora while. He knew a bit of what had happened, but he didn’t knoweverything. I pushed away the fact that he was giving me a reason formy less-than-acceptable behavior.

“Besides, you can refuse on legalgrounds. Ruben can’t say anything about it if it’s illegal.”

“You know him, Joel. He willsay something. And with that reporter sniffing around, I don’t wantto look for trouble.”

“Reporter?”

“Some woman is trying to stick hernose into Ruben’s business, and by that I don’t mean his front.”

“Well, that makes it pretty easy,then. If it’s a human, get out.”

“There’s something about thisreporter that feels wrong. She’s too pushy.”

“Aren’t they always?”

“Only when they know something. Andthe fact that she does know something that she really shouldn’t,makes me wonder if she has a better reason than just a story.Something tells me Connor’s not human anymore, not if he popped upon our radar.”

“You think it’s connected?”

I shook my head and gave up on thecoffee. “I doubt it, but it’s happening at the same time. Worthnoticing. Pity the photo is of him as a human. Without a smell to gowith it, he’ll be hard to recognize.”

Joel chuckled. “It’ll be good foryou to have a challenge for a change.”

I got up and put the half-empty cup ofcoffee on the table. “I have to get to the office. I promised Rubenan hour after sundown, and I’m already running late.”

I rolled out of the garage and startedthe bike. It came to life with a growl.

“I’ll keep you posted,” I said,my voice muffled through the helmet, then I turned and opened thethrottle.

“You’re late,” Ruben said when Iwalked into his office.

I had my helmet under my arm. I hadn’tdropped it on Sonya’s desk, which meant her mood wasn’t foulerthan usual. Who said I didn’t have my generous moments?

“I’m heading out again,” I saidwithout answering his accusation.

“You’ve got paperwork to look at.”

“Not tonight. I have other things onmy plate.”

Ruben blinked at me. “Did you justtell me you were too busy to work for me on my time?”

“You sent Jennifer Lawson to myapartment, Ruben. You can’t have your cake and eat it too.”

I turned and left his office. Hisgrumbling followed me all the way to the stairwell before it stopped.

The Mulberry Street neighborhood wasjust what I’d expected it to be. Inconspicuous. The houses wereaverage-sized, with nothing that made any of them stand out from theothers. They all had medium-sized gardens wrapped round them, and Iguessed that if the occupants weren’t vampires, they would eachhave standard nine-to-five jobs and two-point-five children.

Number thirteen was a neat house withwhite wooden walls and a picket fence. It looked like something froma real estate ad. The windows had green shutters on either side, andthe garden was in full bloom.

A medley of scents hung in the air. Ismelled jasmine and lilies, and to the side I spotted an archwaycovered in white wisteria that led to the back garden. These were allnight flowers, the first sign of a vampire house. I closed my eyesand reached into the night, searching for people. Some of the housesnearby were occupied, but this one was definitely empty. I couldn’tsense a thing – no bodies in the house, no smell of blood in theair.

I walked around to the back of thehouse, through the archway and onto a well-manicured lawn, whichsurprised me. Vampires didn’t often take care of their yards likethis. I inspected the windows, but found no visible changes, noshutters installed. It could be that the owner of this house was justsomeone who loved gardening.

I pushed my knife underneath a windowand slid it open. It creaked a bit, but it didn’t stick. I slippedin, and my lace-ups sank into a plush carpet.

Someone hissed loudly in my ear. I hadmy Smith & Wesson out in a flash, but I was aiming it at a greycat with its back arched and its claws out. I dared to breathe again,and yellow eyes glared at me.

“You’re lucky I didn’t shootyou,” I said.

I tried to calm my hammering heart.After the night before, hissing wasn’t my favorite sound, and I hadalmost overreacted to it. If I’d blown the cat’s head off, Iwould have had to worry about blood all over everything, and thatwould have been a real pain in the ass.

The cat hissed at me again. This animalobviously didn’t like my vampire blood – another sign that thishouse might not belong to vampires after all, not if Kitty Galore hada say. The conflicting signs annoyed me.

The house was tidy, and it smelled ofdetergent. I breathed in deeply, trying to find a lead, but there wasnothing out of the ordinary.

I’d never come across a vampire thatsmelled like almost nothing. Humans doused themselves in perfumes anddeodorant, and it usually irritated my nose. I couldn’t tell what Iwas smelling, and the fact that I was being messed with bothered meeven more.

In the bedroom I finally found a scenton the sheets. It was very faint, but it was there. No deodorant hadbeen used to cover it up. I could understand why. It would takesomeone a long time to track a smell this faint, and the deodorantwould give it away more than the natural scent at this point.

But it still smelled like vampire,however faint.

The only explanation I could think ofwas that whatever slept here hadn’t been here for a while. It wasbetter than admitting I couldn’t do everything perfectly.

I walked to the kitchen. The cat wassitting on the counter, watching. It made a low moaning sound at theback of its throat.

“It’s not too late for me to shootyou,” I said. It was sitting next to two bowls, both empty and dry.“Your master hasn’t been here in a while, has he?” I asked. Thecat answered with a warning moan. “Get off it,” I said.

I opened cabinet doors until the scentof cat food wafted out. I poured some into one bowl and filled theother up with water. The cat jumped up next to me, ignoring mypresence, and dove into the food. From the looks of things, it washungry. I didn’t reach out to stroke it; it would only try toscratch me anyway. But it was kind of nice seeing something alive begrateful for something I’d done, not dead or resentful.

Maybe I should get myself a pet.

The front door clicked, and the soundtraveled through my bones. I stepped back, melting into the darkness.I pushed myself up against a tall cabinet and took out my Smith &Wesson. With my other hand I felt for the stake at my hip. If thisguy was a vampire, the one I was looking for, he was going to get it.Nothing like a surprise attack at home.

“Hey, Clyde,” a deep voice said. Itwas husky and silky, and it was like music to listen to. It sentshivers down my spine in a warm way, not the foreboding sensation Iusually felt. I wondered vaguely what had happened to Bonnie if thiscat was Clyde.

“Sorry I disappeared for a while.”

The cat answered with soft mewingsounds.

I couldn’t see the guy, but I heardhim move towards the kitchen. Then the movement stopped.

“Who fed you?” he asked, alarm inhis voice. He was close enough for me to smell, and I took a deepbreath, letting the smell into my lungs, my mind racing to place it.Definitely vampire. Warm blood, mutated cells. I was betting onfangs. With it came a strong pull, lacing all the signals. I didn’tusually feel this drawn to something. I took two seconds to puzzleover it, then I pushed it away. There was one way to break a magneticpull – eliminate the source.

I stepped out from behind the cabinet,pointing my S&W right at his face. He was shocked. I could feelit in the air. But, strangely, there was no fear. Usually itdominated, but there wasn’t even a trace. In the dim light I couldsee his hands lift up, a surrender.

His hair was a pale blond in the lightfalling in through the window. He looked a lot like the photo I’dseen, save for the ghostly pale skin and the elongated limbs.

“Mr. O’Neill,” I said. It wasn’ta question.

“What do you want?” he asked.

He didn’t try to fight or run. Butthe smell of vampire became stronger. It was almost as if he hadhidden it, and he was letting up now. Was that possible? I’d nevermet a vampire that could pretend to be human.

I heard him take a long, slow breath.He was smelling me, too. It was a predator thing; we weren’t twopeople, facing off – we were animals. But this wasn’t going to bea fight for dominance, as if we were part of the animal world. With agun like mine, we both knew who was boss. My finger curled around thetrigger. If I couldn’t get in close enough to use a stake, I wasgoing to shoot.

“I know you,” he said.

The words caught me off guard, and Ilet go of the trigger. He’d been about one squeeze away from death.I stepped to the side, gun still pointing at his face, and turned ona lamp.

Yellowish light flooded the room,brightening the white tiles to a glare. My eyes adjusted quickly, buthe held up his arms over his eyes to shield them. Vampire eyes weresensitive even to manmade light. He grimaced, and I spotted fangstouching his bottom lip.

“What do you know about me?” Idemanded.

“Your smell,” he said. His voicewas trembling a little, and it made me wonder if he really wasn’tscared, or if he’d managed to mask his fear as well. “Your scent.I’ve smelled it before.”

He slowly dropped his arms, and Irealized that the vampire I’d saved that morning in the alley wasstanding in front of me. His neck wounds had healed up, and he didn’thave the dark circles under his eyes anymore, but it was definitelyhim. Something in my body shifted, and I silently scolded myweakness. The attraction was ridiculous.

“Connor?” I asked, just to be sure.

He nodded.

In a flash I had him up against thewall, with my forearm against his throat. He gasped and squirmedunderneath my grip. I didn’t have my chain on me; I’d left itwith the bike. Dammit. I hadn’t expected to catch him at home. Ifhe dematerialized now, I’d lose him.

“What are you?” he asked in ahoarse voice.

Despite his strong ability to disguisehimself, his naivety showed through. He didn’t know a half-breedwhen he saw one. I’d moved in a blur like him; I was strong likehim. But I knew he had noticed my blunt teeth. His eyes were on mymouth.

I let my gaze trail down to his mouth.His fangs were sharp, resting lightly on his bottom lip. His lipswere smooth and full, but not too thick for a man. I forced my eyesback to his.

“There’s a warrant out for you,”I said.

“Dead or alive?”

“Dead.”

I positioned the stake underneath hisribs, then looked up into his eyes. They were dark blue, deep, likethe ocean. I could fall into them if I wasn’t careful.

I swallowed hard. We were frozen likethat, with me half-choking him, and time stood still. I feltsomething around us – not the mist I’d expected, but a shift inthe atmosphere. It became so thick I was sure I could run my fingersthrough it. I frowned and slowly released him, letting him stand onhis own two feet.

He didn’t run or fight or try todematerialize. Instead, he stood there looking at me while I wasgaping at him.

He lifted his hand slowly, and Iflinched when he brought it closer to my face, but I didn’t moveaway. His fingers touched the skin above my right eyebrow, and hebrushed my hair out of my face. A warm surge of electricity racedthrough my body. My blood hummed in my veins.

“You’re bruised,” he said, and Iremembered what I must look like.

“It happens,” I said, and regrettedjustifying it. Who was he?

“I woke up in a garage with yourscent hanging around me like a fog,” Connor said.

His fingers were still in my hair. Ihad to step away. Actually, I had to stake a vampire. I was aware ofthe tips of his teeth, visible when he spoke. But the way he combedthe tips of his fingers through my hair was nice. It made me feelwarm. When had I last felt warm? And his eyes – I couldn’t lookinto his eyes and kill him. They hypnotized me, and I wanted to keepstaring into them.

“You were in the alley,” I said,and my voice was husky, not my own. “The sun was coming up.”

“You saved me then just so you couldkill me now?”

“It’s my job,” I said, and lookedaway so his eyes wouldn’t make me betray myself even further.

“What’s stopping you?”

“You,” I whispered before I couldstop myself.

Something changed in Connor’s eyes.Emotion flickered across his face, too fast for me to read. I becameaware of the cat, purring on the counter like a tractor. This oneliked vampires, apparently. It was reveling in Connor’s presence.

So, it was just me it hated. Nice toknow.

A sound outside ripped us out of thespell we were caught in. Connor c****d his head and listened. I wasalmost grateful for that; even with my half-breed ears I was going tomiss sounds a vampire could hear.

“Something tells me I’m not theonly person who’s after you,” I said.

He shook his head. If the security hehad set up around his information online was anything to go by, hehad much more on his plate than I did.

“You’re not safe if you stay here,either,” he told me. “At the moment I’m just using this houseas a distraction.”

“And you’re leaving your cat behindto fend for itself?”

He frowned at me. “Coming fromsomeone who kills people, that’s a very judgmental statement.”

His words were sharp, and I felt myinsides cringe away as if he’d physically done something to me. Ishook my head. Who the hell was he? I didn’t care what he thought.I wouldn’t.

“So, you want to tell me who’s outto kill you?”

“Are you planning on eliminating thecompetition? Because that would be swell.”

He moved around the kitchen, turninghis head to catch the sounds of the night. Twice he sniffed the air.Half the time he looked like he didn’t know what was going on, andthe other half he looked like he’d been a vampire for years.

“You’ve been spending a lot of timewith vampires,” I said, suddenly realizing what I was seeing.

He nodded slowly. “I had a couple ofthem working with me, until I found out they were dealing withillegal things behind my back. When I fired them, things turned ugly,so I turned vampire.”

“You chose to turn?” I wasappalled. I couldn’t imagine giving up something as perfect ashumanity for something as raw and emotionless as being a vampire.

“It’s a question of survival. Youknow better than anyone that a vampire is difficult to kill, while ahuman can just be taken out. It wasn’t my time to go.”

“Your fiancée is looking for you,”I said.

The atmosphere changed again. Itsuddenly became ice-cold, as if someone had just switched off theheat.

“You know Jennifer?” he asked.

“She’s the one who hired me.”

“To kill me?” He looked confused.

“Not if you were human. Being avampire puts you on my kill list.”

Connor looked like he was thinkingabout it for a moment. I could see cogs turning behind his eyes, buthis face was carefully blank.

“You’re fun,” he said in a dullvoice, and I figured he’d finally come to a conclusion. It was theright one, too, if he was being sarcastic with me. People weren’tnice to me once they understood what I did.

I opened my mouth to say something, buthe held up his hand, listening.

“I have to go. Trouble’s coming,”he said, and then he disappeared.

It was almost like he’d dissolved atrecord speed. The feel of him lingered for a while after he’ddematerialized. I took a deep breath and tried to swallow, but mymouth was dry and my throat felt like sandpaper. The words I’dwanted to speak were still rolling around on my tongue as I stoodalone in the kitchen, trying to decide which way was up in my life.

“Oh, you’re in trouble now,” Isaid to myself.

This was the first mark that had gottenaway from me, not because it had outsmarted me, but because I’dbeen rendered dumb. I felt like a fool. Anger bubbled up in mythroat, and my blood heated up beneath my skin. Damn vampires. DamnConnor. Damn my stupid life. I hated all the killing, hated that Ineeded it to survive. And at the same time, I hated myself forletting my target get away.

Clyde hissed at me, mouth open andteeth bare. I didn’t have fangs, but I could hold my own in a catfight. I hissed right back. The cat arched its back and squealed,then disappeared down the hallway.

I left the house before Connor’stroubles could catch up to me, too.