Oh, no. He had a bad feeling, but he walked over anyway.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
She looked up at him, frowning the way some people did because they had to look up, and then up some more to find his face. “I’m not sure how I got here,” she said, her voice holding both fear and annoyance. “It’s snowing. It never snows here.”
Darak took off his jacket and draped it over her shoulders. “Here.”
Its size drowned her, but she looked grateful. Pausing to look around again, she seemed to notice the fire. “Is that the clinic?”
“Yeah. Too bad about that.” He was wearing a pullover, but the wind bit through the loose weave. The whole chivalry thing obviously came from warmer climates.
“I hope the nurses don’t lose their jobs.” She looked confused. “You know, I think I need to go home.”
He’d been expecting it. “Want me to walk you?”
“Please. I’d like that.”
He offered her his arm. He was the last thing from a gentleman and most of the time was barely polite, but there was a time and a place to show respect. “Where do you live?”
She hesitated, searching the streets around them, then seemed to get her bearings. “Over this way.”
Dread settled into his bones. He wondered how far it was, and how much time he had to talk to her. This sort of thing never got easier, no matter how many centuries rolled past.
They set off in silence, taking shortcuts through an alley and a schoolyard. The chain-link fence around the playground sparkled with frost. Darak stayed close to her side, careful not to let her out of his sight for even a second.
“I just got home tonight,” the woman said.
He noticed she was pretty in a fresh, simple way. In other circumstances, she would have been pleasant to look at for hours on end.
“I was going to spend the night with my cousin,” she added.
“Yeah?”
“She’s like you.”
“Like me?”
“You know. A vampire.” She gave him a shy glance. “Sorry. I seem to be saying whatever pops into my head. I’m usually a better conversationalist than this.”
“Don’t worry about it.” He wasn’t much good at small talk at the best of times. “So your cousin’s a vampire?”
“I was kind of afraid, but if no one ever gave Talia a break.. . . ” She trailed off, then stopped, turning to Darak. With a pleading gesture, she put one hand on his chest. “You’ve got to make sure she’s okay.”
They always made a request. It usually came near the end, so they had to be close to where it had happened.
He looked around. There were a lot of nice buildings, a few houses. Where would a woman like this live? Of course. Cop cars, over there. It looked like the kind of street that should have been quiet, but tonight it was jammed with ominous flashing lights and men with uniforms.
She was still looking at him, her eyes dark with worry. She barely came up to his collar bone. It’s surprising how many ask to keep their loved ones safe.
“Of course,” he said. “I’ll check on her. Talia, right?” One vampire shouldn’t be hard to find.
“I’d really appreciate it.” She gave him a quick, uncertain smile. “My feet are so cold.”
That would be because she was barefoot, but he didn’t point it out. “Is that your building over there?”
“Y-yes. Wow, look at all the police. I wonder what’s going on. Think somebody had a break-in?”
“Why don’t we go in the back way?”
“Good idea.”
Gently, he guided her to the corner, and they crossed with the lights. Nice and easy.
As they went around to the parking lot, she started to become agitated, looking nervously around her. They were passing through the rows of cars, stepping over the concrete ribs that kept them in tidy lines. “Thank you for walking with me.”
“No problem. What’s your name?”
“Michelle.”
The back door was still a fair distance away, its light making a pool on the gathering snow. A single cop stood outside, looking bored.
She started violently, colliding with Darak in terror of something only she could see. His coat slid off her shoulders and fell into the snow. He caught her, wrapping his arm around her so that she was caged against his chest. He crouched down between a truck and an SUV, letting her sink safely to the ground. “Hey, take it easy. You’re not alone. I’m here.”
“What’s happening?” Trembling like a fever victim, her slight weight began to fade.
They weren’t going to make it through the door before her spirit fled the earth.
“Tell me what happened, Michelle.”
Clamping her hands around her head, she shrieked, a piercing wail that reverberated through his bones. He hushed her, cradling her against his body. “Sh. You’re safe.”
Necromancy.
The word burned hot in his gut. He knew this for what it was now. The spell caster had gotten his power from this woman’s murder. Now that the spell was winding down, she got to live through the horror all over again.
She was panting, a sheen of sweat coating her fine features despite the cold. “He came for me. He said it was a warning to Talia that she was next. Watch out for her. Please. Please.”
“I will. I promise.”
Her eyes grew wide, seeing something or someone looming closer. She raised her hands, warding off an invisible blow.
“Michelle—”
Stripes of blood blossomed on her hands.
“No!” He shielded her with both his arms, using his size and bulk to ward off the horror that only she could see.
She screamed again, so loudly that Darak squeezed his eyes shut.
In that split second, she was gone. He crouched in the parking lot, his skull still splitting from the noise.
The cop didn’t come running. He hadn’t heard a thing. It was Darak’s special curse to see and hear the dead. One he loathed violently each and every day.
He picked up his jacket and stuffed his arms through the sleeves, sending the buckles and zippers jangling. Darak turned toward the back door with its single guard. It would be easy enough to hypnotize the human into letting him have a quiet look through the building. Odds were there would be no clues to the necromancer’s identity, but he had to look.
Slowly, he got to his feet, swallowing hard as if he were choking something down. He rested his hand for a moment on the hood of the truck, taking a long breath of the icy air.
Pluto’s balls, he hated these encounters. A hard ache lurked where his heart should have beaten. This jackass with a spell book had ruined Darak’s evening. He had completely messed with Michelle’s.
The jackass had to die.
Wednesday, December 29, 12:05 p.m.
Lore’s condo
Once he was through scoping out the crime scene, Lore left the building, walking into the steadily falling snow. He’d learned a few things, including how the police intended to proceed. They were looking for evidence of who came and went from the building and when. They were looking for witnesses. They wanted to know about Michelle’s and Talia’s lives, whom they associated with, and why anyone would wish them harm. Mostly, they were
