Always the Vampire

He scowled. “Then why were there more Starbloods bottles in the recycling bin than usual when I got home last week?”


“Because I got a nasty-tasting six-pack and dumped them all.” Nasty being relative since I hold my nose when I slug down my daily chilled bottle of artificial blood.

“The blood was bad?”

“Nope, the caramel-macchiato flavor was off. I called the company, gave them the lot number, and found out it was a recalled batch. If that’s the reason you’ve been so grouchy and overprotective—”

I stopped cold. Oh, no. Oh, God, no. Pictures flashed in my mind’s eye, visions I hadn’t invited but couldn’t shove away.

Saber visiting sick vampires. Saber executing Rico in the throne room. Saber wading away after the kill, his feet dragging through that oily Void muck roiling over Rico’s tiled floor.

Saber had been exposed to the Void for weeks, but he wasn’t an ordinary human who might be immune to it. As a boy, he’d been forced to ingest both vampire and werewolf blood. Now he was less than a preternatural but far more than a mere mortal.

He also had symptoms of the sickness. Irritability in spades, plus he’d been falling asleep by midnight instead of his usual two in the morning. Come to think of it, our lovemaking had slacked off.

Conclusion? Saber was infected or feared he was, and he couldn’t bring himself to tell me.

Every muscle trembled as I pulled myself to my feet, skirted the coffee table, and walked into his arms.

“Deke,” I whispered, using the name I reserved for our most intimate moments. “Don’t worry. If you’re infected, we’ll fix it. We’ll find the Void, kill it, and cure you. I swear. I’ll do whatever it takes.”

Maybe he knew I was talking a good game. Maybe he knew I wasn’t as confident as I made myself sound. Maybe that’s why he hesitated before he hugged me tighter.

“You’ll do whatever it takes?”

“Absolutely,” I said, leaning away to cup his cheek in my palm.

He gave me a slow smile.

“Good. Then let’s go see Triton.”

Triton? Oh, pelican poop.





TWO




I stiffened, and Saber wisely let me go. He also backed up a prudent step.

“Just why do we need to see Triton?”

“Honey, I know you have issues with him.”

“Issues, Dr. Phil? You know darn well I want to wring Triton’s neck.”

Or drop-kick him in the ocean where he could shape-shift into his dolphin self and stay that way.

Just over a month ago, Triton had used me—and a mysterious amulet—to kill two vampires at a comedy club. Saber had termed it banishing, not murder, and in fairness, I’d made some peace with that incident. Both vampires had been consumed by the vile Void and were pathologically crazy to boot. Besides, it was a case of them or me, not to mention who else they may have harmed if they’d lived. Still, Triton had no right to put me in that position, especially since I hadn’t seen him in the flesh in over two hundred years before that night.

No, I didn’t count the ten seconds in March when I’d spotted him on the dunes. And, yes, we had quite a history, not all of it happy.

Saber’s warm hands settled on my shoulders.

“Cesca, you’ve avoided Triton since he moved back here and opened his antique store.”

“That’s because I promised you we’d see him together.”

“Then let’s do it. The VPA hasn’t got a clue how to track and eliminate the Void. Triton and Cosmil just might.”

I bit my lip. On the one hand Cosmil had already yammered about Triton and me combining our powers to fight the Void. Not something I wanted to do since I’m a pacifist by nature, never mind that I had no clue which powers Cosmil meant us to combine. True, I’d faced down the French Bride killer in March and the two wacko vampires just last month. The point was that I hadn’t had a choice either time.

And I didn’t now. Not with Saber’s life at stake.

“You’re sure that Candy and Jim Crushman don’t have any leads?” Candy headed the Atlanta VPA office, and her husband worked as a mercenary executioner overseas.

“Not a damn one. The Void has to be a physical entity, human enough to set up bank accounts with a photo ID, social security number, and other documentation.”

“Unless it’s working through a human slave.”

“It could be working through a whole network of humans, enslaved or not. We need to follow every lead, and right now we have exactly two. Triton has the amulet and the knowledge to use it.”

“And Cosmil is our friendly neighborhood wizard.”

“He has to know more than we do, and he and Triton are tight. We get to one, we get to the other.”

I thought about his logic for a second then nodded.

“All right. I’ll go change and do something with my hair, but remember we need to be back by eight thirty so I can change again for the ghost tour.”

“No problem.”

I turned toward the bedroom then spun back. “One more thing. Next time you want to spring this kind of surprise on me, don’t.”