I Like the Night Life
I pulled against the vampire's grip again; he didn't budge. This wasn't happening. This couldn't be happening. Vampires weren't strong!
Seeing my growing panic, he smiled. I wanted to kick his rotting teeth in, I was so sick of that smile.
"Not what you expected? I did warn you."
I threw a wild punch with my left hand, only grazing his head. He pushed forward and tripped me on the porch stairs. I fell back hard, cracking my tailbone against the blunt corner of a step, and let out a sharp cry of pain. He put his hand over my mouth. His hand that close to my eyes made me dizzy, unable to focus on his glamour or his real body. Smooth skin, dead skin, smooth skin, dead skin-I swallowed against the nausea.
"Hush, now, we don't want to draw any extra attention. I'll make it quick, my little monster." He shoved my head to the side to expose my neck.
Screaming my frustration, I bit down as hard as I could on his fingers. He jerked back and I gasped air, gagging at the thought of what I had just put in my mouth. I ducked to the side and stumbled out of his reach. As soon as I had my balance, I took off running, my breath ragged. I raced down the street, turning a corner as I looked behind me, and nearly ran into a wall. Swearing, I flipped around-too late. He already blocked the way out, leering confidently.
"You don't want to do this," I said, holding up my hands.
"I really do."
"No! I-" The chill breeze pulsed through me, and the tingling in my hands grew stronger. I could feel the air swirling in tiny eddies around me, connected to it in a new way. Suddenly my tired and aching body felt light, insubstantial but powerful. And I could feel the vampire's soul, too, in front of me. Calling me. I could even see it, the faintest glow around his heart.
I shut my eyes, fighting the urge to close the distance between us. "Please," I whispered. "I don't want to hurt you."
He laughed. "Are you confused, Liebchen?"
My eyes snapped open. Something in his expression changed when he saw the look there, his predatory sneer replaced with fear. I clenched my hands into balls. Not again. Not unless I had to. Holding myself back took all my strength, and my voice came out low and aching. "You should run."
I hoped he wouldn't.
He frowned, then backed slowly out of the alley, never taking his dead white eyes off me. When he reached the street, a baseball bat swung out of the night and cracked into his skull.
Jarred out of my horrible desire, my view opened up. Jack grinned and smacked the bat into his hand. "Fancy a quick game?"
My gaze drifted to the vampire lying on the ground. He was helpless now. Completely helpless. Which meant there was no excuse to drain him anymore. I took a shuddering breath and tried to clear my head by focusing on Jack.
Jack! "Where have you been, you miserable little creep?"
He raised his eyebrows, a look of mock hurt on his face. "This is the thanks I get?"
"Give me that bat and I'll show you how grateful I am, coward!"
"Hey-oh, let's not be hasty. What good would it have done us if I had been snatched, too? Besides, I came back. Right on time, by the looks of it." He smiled, but something in his eyes was intense, accusatory, almost as if he knew what I was about to-no, what I might have done. "But you had it under control, right?"
I yanked the bat from his hands. "Do you at least have anything useful? Ankle trackers? A spare communicator?"
He made an elaborate show of checking his tight, long-sleeved shirt for pockets, then shrugged. "They're all in my coat."
I looked down at Jack's tailored wool coat. The coat I'd been wearing the entire time. I slipped my hand inside and, sure enough, in a hidden pocket near my heart, was a thin communicator and a single ankle tracker.
Figures.
"'Be prepared,' that's my motto." He smiled smugly at me. "That, and 'Sleep whenever possible.' Oh, and 'If you don't notice it's gone, what's the harm in me taking it?'"
"Call it in," I said, weary beyond belief and wanting to be as far as possible from this vampire. I tossed the communicator to Jack and bent down, my fingers twitching as I attached the tracker. I wouldn't look at the vampire's heart. I wouldn't touch him. I put my thumb on the tracker to activate it, but nothing happened.
"Looks like they don't trust you with trackers. Wonder why?" Jack leaned down to take over.
Maybe their distrust had something to do with the fact that I'd freed Lend? Or that I was responsible for releasing nearly every werewolf they had? I probably wouldn't trust me, either. I took several steps back and leaned against the wall, looking up into the cloudy night sky, trying anything to take my focus off the vampire.
Jack stood. "They're on their way." He tossed the communicator lazily into the air and caught it behind his back. "Where are the trolls?"
Ah, crap. The trolls. How was I going to lie my way out of this one? I wasn't about to turn them over to IPCA. As far as I was concerned, they'd earned their lives here. This vile creature on the ground in front of me was the only threat that needed to be eliminated.
I opened my mouth to spin a story, when a door opened in the wall across from us and two men in black turtleneck sweaters stepped quickly through, their faerie escorts remaining anonymous in the dark. They looked in both directions before walking forward and kneeling down next to the body.
One addressed me, his yellow wolf eyes glowing beneath brown ones. Huh. Guess IPCA didn't lose all their werewolves, after all. "The trolls?"
I grimaced in what I hoped was a regretful way. "Long gone. They were tracking the vampire, some sort of blood vengeance. Tribal thing. But when they found out I was with IPCA they cleared out rather than be caught. I was following them when I met the vamp."
"They don't have a base here? No humans have been taken?"
"Nope. Just passing through. They took me to an empty warehouse, where they were camped. No sign of any people at all."
I could feel Jack's eyes on me and deliberately avoided looking at him. I was going to sell this lie. The only one who could contradict me was the vampire. Maybe I should have drained him . . . But, no. Raquel would take my word over his.
The werewolf nodded, then helped his partner haul the vampire up by his armpits.
"Be careful. He's really strong. Like, stronger than you."
The werewolf eyed me dubiously.
"No, really. He kills-" I stopped, my stomach sinking with the realization of what that information could do if it were spread around. "I'd better talk to Raquel. Make sure he doesn't wake up until you have him in Containment. An ankle tracker's not gonna do it with this one." They nodded, half carrying, half dragging him back through the door. I caught a glimpse of one of the faeries, but I didn't recognize her. Just as well.
Sighing, I slid down the wall to sit on the ground and winced as pain stabbed through my lower back, radiating outward from my tailbone. A few painful shifts and I was comfortable, in a not-going-to-die-right-now-but-maybe-later sort of way. A movement at the end of the street caught my eye. Birgitta, invisible to anyone else's eyes, nodded at me, then disappeared back into the shadows. At least I'd done something right today. Maybe. Probably.
"So." Jack sat next to me. "A fossegrim, trolls, and a super vamp all in one night. I've changed my mind-you really do know how to have a good time."
On the verge of tears, I leaned over until my head was resting on his shoulder. "You have no idea." I couldn't get the desire-the need-I had felt to drain the vampire out of my head. My empty stomach churned with guilt. But I hadn't done anything. I wouldn't have, either, even if Jack hadn't saved the day. My fingers tingled, disagreeing with me, and I balled my hands into fists. No.
We were quiet for a while, Jack tense under my head, uncomfortable but nice enough not to move. I felt strangely close to him right then, like we were the only two sane ones in a world swirling with madness and murder. I could feel the threads from that world, threatening to pull me in, and I'd take whatever anchor I could get. Even if he was a blond nightmare.
I lifted my head to look at him. "How did you find me?"
"Just lucky." The answer was smooth, but it felt like he blurted it out a little too easily. I narrowed my eyes, but he continued. "Why did you lie about the trolls?"
"I didn't." We sat there looking at each other, two seasoned liars, until I couldn't take it anymore. "Jack?"
"Hmm?"
"Thanks." My voice cracked a little. "If you hadn't shown up . . ."
"If I hadn't shown up, you would have been fine. No need to get sappy on me when I've decided you might be some decent fun after all. Now, you happen to be wearing my nicest coat. I'd like very much to get it back, so let's take you home, shall we?"
I couldn't argue with that.