Chasing The Shadows

trying to get some sort of directional feel for whatever it was he sensed.

'Are you sure you just won't give up this madness and go?' the voice said.

She glanced at Michael. He moved back until he was near the suite door, then nodded.

'Oh, I'm sure.'

'Then I apologize, but you really leave me no choice.'

The image disappeared. For several seconds, neither Michael nor Nikki moved. Barely even breathed.

The happy tune of a cable car bell mingled with the rumble of traffic rising up from the street below. On the floor immediately underneath them, people moved, talked or made love, the pulse of their hearts a distant but flavorsome beat.

Nothing and no one seemed to be approaching their room. Yet that sense of disconnected humanity continued to come close.

Get ready, Nikki. It comes.

She flexed her hands. Energy danced across her fingertips, brighter than he'd ever seen it before.

Someone knocked loudly on the door. He glanced at her. She cleared her throat, then said, 'Who is it?'

No answer.

After several heartbeats, the knock came again. There was no heartbeat, no thoughts, nothing to indicate there was anything human, vampire, or anything else vaguely alive, standing on the other side of the door.

It could almost have been a zombie, except for the fact there was no smell, and no shambling step.

He nodded at Nikki again.

'Hang on a sec,' she called. What now?

Say you're coming, then step back.

Humor momentarily chased its way through the tension in her expression. I'd rather be coming right now than facing an imminent attack from a madman, let me tell you.

So would I.He reached out through the link, momentarily caressing her mind with warmth and love.

She smiled. And I love you, even if you are the most irritatingly stubborn man at times.

He reached for the door handle, and her smile faded.

The door was rapped a third time.

Do it, he said.

'Coming, coming,' she called and stepped backwards, out of immediate sight.

Michael turned the handle and pulled the door open.

Chapter Nine

It wasn't a zombie.

It wasn't anything, human or non human.

Just a bunch of flowers.

Michael stared at them for a heartbeat, then leaned out the door and studied the hall. Nothing. No smell, no sign of anything human. Whoever—or whatever—had delivered these flowers had disappeared as fast as they'd arrived.

He glanced down at the flowers again. Why would anyone deliver flowers… A chill ran up his spine.

Maybe they were meant as a gift—but not a gift of life.

He whirled, his form blurring as he raced towards Nikki. He swept her up in his arms, not stopping as he raced toward the bathroom.

What the hell… ?

I think it's a small bomb.

Her fear swirled around him, sharp and acrid. He jumped into the large tub and pushed her head down, then covered her body with his own. A half second later there was a rush of almost deafening noise. Heat and dust swirled through the air, covering them in a fine blanket of grey.

Alarms sounded, and the sprinklers dropped down from the ceiling, the fine spray quickly soaking them.

He glanced down at Nikki. 'You okay?'

She nodded and wiped the muddy droplets from around her eyes. 'He's crazier than we thought. He could have killed everyone in the hotel with a stunt like that.'

'Unlikely.' He pushed upright, then offered her a hand. 'The explosion wasn't large enough. I think he only meant to blow up the person holding the flowers.'

She shivered. He pulled her into his arms and brushed a kiss across her forehead. Then he simply held her close. Held her tight. Her heart raced so hard it felt like his own, and the fear that tainted the link was as much his as hers. If he hadn't been here, she might have picked up those flowers. Might well now be dead.

'If we can find that woman today, I will kill him tonight.' Though he tried to keep his voice flat, anger reverberated nonetheless.

She shifted slightly, looking up at him, amber eyes sparkling gold in the morning light. 'You can't kill him in the middle of a crowded restaurant.'

He could. And had done so—twice in the last hundred years. Why people thought there was safety in numbers he never knew. In most cases, a crowd only made it far easier to both kill and escape.

He caressed her cheek with his fingers and journeyed down to her full lips. 'I'll do what I have to do.'

'He's not a fool, Michael. He may not have suspected last night that you were with me, but he'll put two and two together soon enough.'

'Perhaps.' But it was still a risk he had to take.

The heavy tread of footsteps approached their room, hearts beating fast. Jake and others. He kissed her. Her mouth was so soft and sweet against his own that he just wanted to keep on tasting her forever.

But he couldn't—not right now, anyway. She sighed when he pulled away, a sound he felt like echoing.

'We have guests,' he said, stepping out of the tub.

'Nikki! Michael!' Jake's voice, edged with panic.

'Here,' he said, helping Nikki out of the spa.

Jake came in, grinning when he saw them. 'You both okay?'

Nikki nodded and ran her fingers through her sodden hair. The sprinklers had stopped their rain, but every inch of her was soaked, and the chill was creeping past her skin and settling deep inside. But she suspected it wasn't so much an effect of the cold, but rather the fear of what this madman would try next.

'Better than the living room, I suspect.'

'Actually, the damage is constrained to the door and a bit of the wall. What was it? A bomb of some sort?'

'Of some sort.' Michael's reply was grim. 'Meant to destroy nothing more than the person holding the flowers in which it was delivered.'

A security officer dressed in the hotel's uniform stuck his head around the corner. 'Police and Fire Services are here, Mr. Morgan.'

'Tell them we'll be out in a minute.' Jake glanced at Michael. 'It might be better if you remain hidden.'

'I agree.'

Power surged, and Nikki knew without asking Michael was adjusting the guard's memory so that he remembered seeing only her. She bit back her instinctive annoyance, knowing he wouldn't listen, and wouldn't care.

'I'll keep to shadows in the bedroom,' he said once the surge of power had faded. He hesitated, then added, 'Hadn't you better contact Mary?'

Jake swore and thrust a hand through his thinning blonde hair. 'Damn it, yes.'

His expression was filled with annoyance—at himself, more than anything else, she suspected. He usually kept Mary up-to-date with what was happening. But when a case got as nasty, as this one was, she was never his highest priority, unless the case threatened to backwash and involve her as well.