“It’s my job. I’m a vampire hunter,” I said, deliberately sounding bored.
He scoffed. “Yeah, and I’m Hugh Hefner. I just masquerade as an FBI agent,” he said dryly.
“You know, you would be cute if you weren’t such an ass. You saw the guy turn to dust; what other proof do you need?” I asked, annoyed.
“I don’t know what I saw,” he countered.
“You don’t want to know what you saw. You would rather remain oblivious, like the rest,” I countered.
He spun me around to face him. “Okay, I give. What’s your game? Who are you? Why don’t you have an ID?”
“I already told you, you just don’t believe me,” I said, watching him. I could see the confusion and uncertainty in his eyes. He knew what he saw; he wasn’t an idiot. He was just refusing to accept it.
He shook his head like he was trying to forget about it all. “You know what? I’m going to release you, and you are going to disappear like I never saw you. There is no way I am going to my superiors with this. I’ll be tossed in the looney bin next to you,” he muttered, as he turned me back around and un-cuffed me.
I rubbed my wrists as I watched him. “Thanks. You saved me a ton of time.”
He watched me as if he really didn’t want to let me go, but he didn’t want to explain what he’d seen, either. “What’s your name?”
“Lillian Rayne. Everyone calls me Rayne. What’s yours?” I asked, deciding to play nice and talk to him. He looked confused and uncertain, like many humans did when they ran into something supernatural.
“Special Agent Nick Carter. You should get the hell out of here,” he said nervously, as he glanced around.
I nodded and hurried over to my car, which was only a couple parking spots down from his. I wasn’t going to waste my time with him. If he just wanted to deny everything that happened, that was fine by me.
***
As I drove toward the warehouse my mind drifted back to Aubrey. I didn’t know why I let myself get so close to him. Vampires couldn’t be trusted. I knew better, and I was still trying to go against my better judgment.
I parked outside the warehouse and walked inside. There were a lot of people hanging around, like usual. Most of them were training or sitting around talking. I walked directly to the back office. Colin and Drake were there, talking. They seemed to go quiet when I walked in the room.
“There were just two humans killed by vampires last night. The FBI is investigating because of the circumstances surrounding the deaths,” Colin said, watching me.
“This concerns us how? The FBI won’t know vampires did it.” I said as I took a seat. I started to wonder if Nick, the agent I met earlier, was involved in the case.
“It involves us because someone is trying to fuck up the treaty. Not only that we tend to look into unnecessary human deaths,” Colin said, sounding slightly annoyed.
I sighed and looked up at him. “What do you want me to do about it?”
Colin scowled like I was being difficult. “We need to ask around. I don’t think it is Aubrey’s group. I think maybe it is someone new. You could talk to Aubrey, since you are seeing him or… whatever.”
“I’m not seeing Aubrey,” I countered. I was a little annoyed by the accusation. “Why don’t you and Drake go talk to him,” I said, keeping my tone even. I wasn’t going to tell him why. The more I thought about it, the more I felt like an idiot. I should never have gone to the club. I chickened out because I couldn’t trust myself.
Before either of them could speak, there was yelling. Colin darted from the room, followed by Drake. I cussed and hurried after them. I hesitated when I saw what had caused the commotion. It was Nick, the FBI agent. He was spinning around, pointing his gun at everyone. He must have followed me and started snooping.
“Who the hell are you?” Colin asked angrily.
“You let me ask the questions,” Nick barked, as he aimed the gun at Colin.
This was a bad situation, and I could see it only getting worse. Colin knocked the gun sideways and punched Nick across the face. Nick crumpled to the floor in a heap.
“Wait! Damn it! It’s my fault he is here. He followed me. I will handle him,” I said quickly, as I blocked Colin from advancing on him.
“Who the hell is he?” Drake asked, watching me.
“He’s FBI. He cornered a vampire and I helped him out. He’s a little skittish right now. He kind of saw me turn the vampire to dust,” I said, slightly amused.
“Damn it, Rayne, do you know how much trouble he could cause us?” Colin asked angrily.
“I’ll get him to stay quiet. Besides, he may be able to help us with the case. He may be the one working on the case you were talking about,” I said, as I picked up Nick’s gun.
“Get him to the office,” Colin ordered two other vampires. “You better fix this, Rayne.” He was angry at me now. It wasn’t hard for me to annoy people, that was for sure.
I nodded. “Don’t worry. Just go see what you can find out about the murder from the vampires. I’ll take care of him,” I said firmly.
Colin turned and stormed off, and Drake smiled at me as he followed Colin out. I followed the two vampires that were carrying Nick. They laid him on the couch in the office, then left me alone with him. I walked into the bathroom and wet a rag, then walked back out and placed it on his forehead. He was probably going to have one hell of a headache when he woke up.
He slowly opened his eyes. He saw me looking down at him, quickly sat up, and looked around. His hand instinctively went to where he normally kept his gun. I smiled; he reminded me of what I did when I woke up after being knocked out. “What the hell?” he muttered, as he put his head in his hands.
“You can thank Colin for that. He was the vampire you were aiming your gun at,” I said, amused, as I handed him a glass of water.
He scowled. “Now you have vampire friends? I thought you were a hunter?”
“I am. It’s complicated. I thought you didn’t want to know any more?” I said.
“I didn’t, but I decided to follow you to see what you were about. I was kind of hoping you were crazy,” he grumbled, as he looked around.
“Well, I’m not. There are vampires and werewolves and all other manner of creatures that go bump in the night,” I said as I watched him.
“I got to thinking after meeting you in the alley. There is a case…” he started.
I cut him off, already knowing where he was heading with it. “The two humans that were killed by vampires. Yeah, we are looking into that.”
He didn’t look surprised. He had obviously already been expecting the worst. “I thought the case was odd. It just seemed more like an animal attack than human. Their throats were ripped out,” he said softly.
“Most of the time they only do that to prove a point. They are probably angry over current events, and this is how they lash out,” I said, as I stood and walked over to the small bar. I needed a drink. It was only a little after eleven, and it had already been a long night.
“Rayne, I need to know what is going on. How the hell am I going to go to my superiors and tell them vampires killed these people?” He sounded both confused and angry as he spoke. I could understand how he felt. It was like waking up in an unfamiliar place. Everything he thought and believed was true for so many years no longer made sense. I remembered feeling that way after my parents died. The feeling never goes away. I’d just found ways to try to ignore it.
“You don’t. Let me handle the vampire part. You treat it like you would any other case. Follow the leads until they dead end, then eventually put the case as unsolvable, like many of the other cases in this world.” I didn’t mean to sound so heartless, like it was simple to just look the other way. I knew it wasn’t. I just didn’t know any other way to handle it as a human.
He ran his hand through his hair. I could tell it was probably something he did when he had no clue what to do next. “I want to help you,” he said, looking at me. I
could see the determination in his dark brown eyes, and I knew telling him no wasn’t an option.
I sat down across from him and looked at my drink. “People you care about could die if you get too involved in this. It isn’t a road you should go down lightly.”
“Well, lucky for me I don’t have anyone I care about,” he said firmly. I knew by the look in his eyes I wasn’t going to sway him.
I sighed, took his gun out of my waistband, and handed it back to him. “This isn’t going to do anything unless you get silver bullets, and those are expensive and hard to come by. You should get yourself one of these,” I said, as I produced my favorite wooden stake.
He took it and examined it. “This is insane,” he said quietly, as he played with the stake.
“Yeah, well, it’s the world we live in. Knives are also good, but make sure they are silver,” I said. I tossed my drink back, then set the glass on the table beside me.
“So how do you know which ones are good and which are bad?” he asked, watching me.
I shrugged. “You don’t. You mostly just follow your instincts and kill the ones that attack first. I need to go look into these murders. I am currently being harassed by a vampire and werewolf who think I am some sort of leader.”
He stood and offered me my stake back. I shook my head. “You keep it. You’re going to need it if you stick around long enough,” I said, amused.
I walked out of the office and he followed. I was going to start by having Nick take me to the place where the crime occurred. That would give me a better idea of the area, and possibly what I was up against.
“We can take my car,” he said as we exited the warehouse.
I nodded and followed him. He’d parked his car a few warehouses over, out of sight. I climbed in, and he set off back toward town. “Take me to the crime scene,” I said quietly as I watched out the window.
He nodded and glanced at me. “What does the tattoo mean?”
“Why?” I asked, not really sure if I wanted to explain.
He shrugged. “I just saw a couple of the other people with the same tattoo. I thought maybe it was a symbol for some secret organization.” The way he said it suggested he was poking fun at me.
“It is. We are called the renegades. The hunter and vampire councils don’t take kindly to us. I would also appreciate it if you didn’t mention that, or the location of the warehouse, to anyone,” I said quietly.
He pantomimed zipping his lips shut. “My lips are sealed. There is no way I’m going to the wacky house for this.”
I smiled. He was kind of endearing. He seemed to be taking everything a lot better than most people would. “How long have you been an FBI agent?” I asked, trying to make conversation.
“About ten years. I started this job when I got out of the army. I have seen some shit, but I think this tops it,” he said.
“You’ll get used to it, I promise,” I said, as he pulled into the driveway of a house surrounded with crime scene tape.
He climbed out, and I followed him up to the house. It seemed like everything was normal once we entered the house, but I could smell the dried blood. I followed him through the hall and into a bedroom. All the linens had been taken from the place. There were huge blood stains on the mattress and on the carpet. There was blood splatter on the walls, and even some on the ceiling. Whatever happened here was done by an extremely violent vampire. I was a little breathless; it was almost like déjá vu. I remembered walking into plenty of places just like this and seeing all the blood.
“You okay?” Nick asked as he watched me.
I nodded, shaking the feeling off. “They were trying to make a point, that’s for sure. Who were the people?”
He reached in his coat pocket and pulled out a little notepad. “Names were Alan and Brianna Marshal. Young couple, no criminal history. They seemed pretty normal, although I am now a little unsure of what normal is anymore,” he said dryly.
I smiled and shook my head. “Everything is still the same, there are just new variables to the equation.”
He scoffed. “Yeah, okay, if you want to call a freaking vampire and a hunter princess variables.”
“I’m not a princess, although I am from one of the most prestigious families among the hunters,” I said, as I walked out of the room and down the hall. The place looked so ordinary. There didn’t appear to be anything out of place. It was obvious that they’d invited their killer in. “There was no fighting, so they let whoever the killer was in the house. I am sure the vampire had them in a trance. They probably didn’t even scream when he killed them.”
“This is just so fucked up,” he muttered, as he looked at a picture on the mantle.
“You have no idea,” I said softly. Looking around the place made me want answers even more than I had before. I was going to have to talk to Aubrey, even though I didn’t want to. I needed to know who had killed these people. “Come on, I know someone we can talk to,” I said, and walked toward the exit.
“Oh goody, more ‘people.’ This should be fun,” he said, sounding less than enthusiastic, as he followed me back to his car.
***
I had him park near the opening of the alley that led to Luminescence. As the night wore on, traffic outside the clubs was picking up. I climbed out, and he followed, looking around nervously.
“You know, it doesn’t seem very safe walking down dark alleys,” he said as he followed me.
I smiled as I approached the door of Aubrey’s bar. “Believe me, if I didn’t think we could get some answers, I wouldn’t be here,” I said, amused.
I stepped into the bar, and he followed close on my heels. I spotted Aubrey sitting at a table surrounded by women. I put my emotions away before walking in the door. I was on a mission, and that didn’t involve worrying about my relationship with Aubrey.
“Why do I feel like the main course?” Nick muttered, as he followed me deeper into the bar.
I smiled. “I am sure you made your way to the top of some of the menus,” I said.
Aubrey looked Nick over with a disapproving glare. “Who is he, and why are you bringing him in my bar?” he growled.
“He’s a friend, and we are looking into a murder that happened last night. Do you know anything about it?” I asked, keeping my tone cool and calm.
He smiled, but it was an annoyed smile. “Come on, Lillian, you should at least say hi before you start sounding all accusing.”
“It’s Rayne. And I’m not accusing, I’m asking,” I said firmly.
He looked amused as his gaze went back to Nick. “What does he have to do with anything?”
“He’s the FBI agent investigating the crime,” I said, as I glanced around. I noticed we had attracted a lot of attention. I wasn’t so sure we were safe anymore. Aubrey seemed like he was in a mood.
“You brought an FBI agent into my bar.” The anger in his voice was clear. He wasn’t happy with me at all, but I didn’t care.
“Yes. You can trust him not to say anything,” I said, watching him. I was daring him to do something stupid. I wouldn’t have minded an excuse to knock him around. My feelings for him made me angry. I wouldn’t have minded venting.
Aubrey scoffed. “I find it interesting that you are vouching for him, but you have known me longer and you wouldn’t trust me enough to turn your back to me.”
“You’re right, but you are a vampire. He isn’t.” I saw that my remark angered him, but I didn’t care.
He stood suddenly, incredibly close to me. I could see Nick shift nervously as his hand went under his coat, more than likely to the stake. “I will not help you. Leave, now,” he growled, then disappeared.
I sighed. I hoped he would give me something to go on, but it was obvious he was going to be difficult. I turned and faced Nick. “Come on, Nick, we aren’t going to get anything out of him.” Nick followed me to the exit. I could tell he was relieved to be out of the bar. If you weren’t under a vampire’s trance the bars were unnerving, a
lmost like being in a bad dream.
“So you and that vampire got something going on?” Nick asked, as we climbed back in the car.
“No, we are at a dead end. We might as well go home and regroup. Take me back to my car.” I didn’t want to talk about Aubrey, and I didn’t know what else to do from here. I would have to think about my next move.
Chapter 11
Nick took me back to my car and we parted ways. I promised to call him and let him know what my next move would be when I figured it out myself. I drove back to my uncle’s house. I needed to sleep and try to regroup. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do next. I called Colin on the way home, and he had nothing new either. Whoever killed the couple was keeping quiet.
When I walked into the house Luca was waiting for me. “What’s wrong?” I asked, when I saw the expression on his face.
He shook his head. “It’s been a long night. Where have you been?” he asked, watching me.
I shrugged. “Out, just patrolling. Why?”
“Your uncle wants to see you.” He sounded like he knew something, but he wasn’t telling me.
I nodded and walked to my uncle’s office. Luca followed me. I walked inside; my uncle was sitting at his desk. Kai was sitting in a chair not far from him. “What’s going on?” I asked, looking from Kai to my uncle.
“Tanner is hurt. He was bitten by a vampire.” My uncle sounded terrified as he spoke. It was never good when a hunter got bit, especially if it was by a powerful vampire.
“Who did it?” I asked angrily. I wanted to go out and hunt the bastard down, and my uncle knew it.
“It was a death marshal, Lillian. He has Tanner in a coma. He claims he won’t release his hold until Aubrey turns himself in,” Kai said softly. Kai sounded just as worried and shocked as my uncle did.
I felt my throat go dry at the mention of a death marshal. “What were his terms?” I asked quietly.
“We have until midnight tonight to convince Aubrey to surrender, or Tanner dies. Your aunt is upstairs with Tanner now. I don’t think she has stopped crying,” Luca said tiredly.
“Have you spoken to Aubrey?” I asked, keeping my tone even. The thought of Aubrey dying made my chest ache. I hated the feeling, but I couldn’t get rid of it no matter what I told myself.