changed with them, learning new ways to entice willing donors. But since coming to this town and staying with Jude, he had for the very first time developed a true appreciation for the kind of gift a woman bestowed upon him by sharing her blood.
Especially this woman. With his needs temporarily quieted, but not at all somnolent, he studied her, thinking about what his attraction to her meant. That she was attracted to him wasn’t the question. Nor, except for that first night, had he tried in any way to seduce her, and her reaction then had set him back on his heels.
But it had started something between them, something that disturbed him deeply. He should be able to walk away from any woman, and he couldn’t blame his inability to walk away from Caro entirely on their current problems.
No, she called to him in a way no one ever had. Through all his centuries, no one woman had ever meant more to him than a delightful feast for the senses, pleasant to dally with but not missed once they left at the end of the night. Delightful creatures, but he had never felt any desire to stay with even one of them. They satisfied his needs, sometimes repeatedly, and then he let them go. A few had tried to linger, but he had never permitted it.
So what was it about Caro?
Even as he asked the question he knew there was no answer. As he had said to her, there were cosmic mysteries beyond understanding. The only thing he could be certain of was that he needed to be careful. He sensed danger, the danger of involvement.
Perhaps even the danger of a claiming. Wouldn’t that be ugly, because he was quite certain she had no wish to spend the rest of her days with a vampire. She might be drawn, she might feel sexual desire, but none of that was enough to ensure a long-lived relationship.
A sigh escaped her and he watched while she opened her eyes and sought him out.
“Anything?” he asked.
“I’m not sure how to interpret it. I’ve never done this before.”
“Go with your feelings. Just tell me what it makes you feel.”
“I don’t feel any threat.”
“That’s a good start.”
“But...” She hesitated, biting her lower lip. He closed his eyes for an instant, resisting the urge to bite that lip himself. How quickly she roused the Hunger in him.
He waited, knowing this all had to emerge in its own time. Just as the tingling in his fingertips remained faint, nowhere near any level of true power.
“This is going to sound crazy,” she said.
“I doubt it. You’re talking to a mage. Go on.”
“I feel... It’s like it makes some kind of bubble around me. Nothing I can see or feel. Something I just sense.”
“That sounds like protection. Maybe that’s what pushed you back at that second place.”
“So that would mean the old shopkeeper is the problem?”
He shook his head. “I can’t say that. Not based on a single feeling you had. The elemental may have gotten too close to you.”
“Oh.” She looked down at the bag in her hand. “I guess this is safe to keep with me then.”
“It would seem so. But stay in tune with it in case something changes.”
“How do I do that?”
“Just do what you’ve been doing. With practice it’ll take less effort.”
She nodded, then stretched to put the pouch in her jeans pocket. “Now what?”
The answer was there in the prickling of his neck. “It’s getting near dawn. I need to go to ground soon, so I suppose I should get you back to Jude’s.”
“But he warded this apartment.”
“I don’t want you to be alone, Caro. At all. It’s better where you can wake us if something happens, where Chloe can help keep watch.”
“Well, at least there I can keep working the case.”
He waited while she packed some more clothes, then he bundled her into the car and drove her back to Jude’s.
Sometimes the limitations of being a vampire got to him. Not often. But tonight they were driving him crazy.
It didn’t help to remind himself that an ordinary man would need sleep, as well. Yes, he could wake in an emergency, but for how long? Probably not as long as a mortal could if necessary.
The sleep of death, which for him passed as if it never happened, suddenly seemed like the worst of curses. He needed to protect Caro, yet for hours he would be almost useless to her.
In that alone there was plenty to regret.
At Jude’s office, they found things hopping. Garner, mostly. He could barely hold still, and his excitement seemed almost triumphal.
The blackout curtain still covered the window of Chloe’s office, so the two vampires could manage awhile longer. Jude leaned against the edge of Chloe’s desk, arms folded. Terri, looking tired herself, sat on one end of the couch. Caro joined her. Chloe sat behind her desk, frowning. Damien took up station near the door.
“Settle down,” Chloe snapped at Garner. “I’m up too early. You’re giving me a headache.”
“You’re just jealous that I found something out.”
Jude spoke. “We’re still waiting to hear what exactly you learned. How about getting to the point and saving the parade until later? Do you know what time it is?”
Garner froze, looking momentarily crestfallen, but then his high spirits resurged. “It’s Pritchett.”
“We know it’s Pritchett,” Chloe said sarcastically. “He’s dead.”
“That’s not what I mean. You know he’s a big deal in real estate.”
“That wasn’t hard to learn,” Jude reminded him.
“I know, I know. And all these years he’s been making his money from rents. But about six months ago, something changed. He’s spread out into redevelopment.”
Silence greeted the words.
“How exactly?” Damien asked.
“He was planning to tear down some of his older buildings and replace them. That’s why he needed his brother-in-law. The guy apparently went to bat for him at the planning office. But the point is this—some people are going to lose their homes. And some of them are seriously unhappy about it.”
Caro’s heart accelerated. “That could explain a lot. Did you find out which buildings? Who’s unhappy?”
Garner shook his head. “I figured that would be easy for you guys to find out. I’m just passing along what I learned on the street. I don’t know how many people are going to lose their places, but apparently eviction notices went out to some of them just two weeks ago. And more are or were on the way. A lot of people who haven’t gotten evicted yet were wondering when they’d get a notice, or even
“Obviously,” Jude drawled, but his expression didn’t match his tone. Indeed, his frown deepened.
Caro glanced around at all of them. “That would do it,” she said. “I’d almost be willing to bet the buildings he’s planning to tear down house the poorest people for the most part. Isn’t that always the way?”
“Usually,” Jude said.
“How very odd,” Damien remarked.
Caro looked at him. “How so?”
“In my country renewal means fixing what we have, not tearing down the places where people live. I live in a building that’s nearly three hundred years old. It’s been refurbished many times.”
“But you have to understand the calculus here,” Jude said. “If he tears down low-rent tenements and replaces them with something much more modern, he can charge more rent and make more money. Lots more money.”
“Then where do the people go?”
“Exactly.” Jude sighed. “It’s getting to be time. Chloe, see what you and Caro can learn about Pritchett’s
