“Ivan has been killed. I felt his death a few moments ago.”
“You felt it?” How was something like that possible? As far as I knew, the bond of a vampire and his—or her—get went no deeper than creator and child. There was a duty of care to get them through the first treacherous years of turning, a responsibility that most took seriously if they didn’t want the Directorate hunting their asses. But to have the depth of connection to actually feel a true death?
“Vampires who feed off emotions are different from our blood kin,” she said, rich voice holding just a whisper of anger. “I share part of myself on creation, and they share a part of themselves. It makes us one. Hence, I felt the moment of his departure from this world.”
“How did it happen?”
I held my hand over the phone, and mouthed her name to Ben. Seriousness suddenly overtook the light amusement that had been lingering in his eyes. “Trouble?” he said softly.
I nodded.
“He was decapitated,” Vinny said.
Decapitation was the one way to prevent someone who’d taken the blood ceremony from ever rising again. Hell, it was one of the few good ways to stop a regular vampire, too. It didn’t kill them outright, but with a broken neck they couldn’t move and couldn’t feed, and death was usually the end result.
“Did the sensation of his death tell you anything else?”
“I didn’t see his murderer, if that’s what you’re asking,” Vinny said. “But then, I do not have to. This death came via Aron Young.”
After his slice-and-dice efforts on Ivan yesterday, Young was the immediate pick for prime suspect. That didn’t make him guilty, of course, and neither did the certainty in Vinny’s voice.
“If you didn’t see it, how can you be so sure?”
“Because I tasted the need for vengeance on his lips.”
Which suggested her kiss was a whole lot more than just a meeting of lips—which is what I had feared all along. God, what had she tasted on mine? Part of me wanted to ask, but maybe it was better to just ignore the whole situation.
“You tasted that, and yet still let him see Ivan?”
“His money was good,” Vinny said. “And I thought I could control the situation.”
And her overconfidence had now cost Ivan not only his life but his afterlife, too.
“You had the chance last night to tell me what you knew about Aron Young. This death is on your conscience, Vinny.”
If she had a conscience, that is. Personally, I figured her conscience would only come into play when it suited her.
“I realize that,” she snapped. “Which is why I’ve rung. Aron Young lives at 4 Havard Street, Glenroy. Kill him for me.”
“The Directorate isn’t your personal assassination squad,” I snapped back, then hung up and flung the phone back into my purse. After a deep, calming breath, I met Ben’s gaze. “Ivan’s dead.”
“I gathered that.” He crossed his arms, his expression grim. “How?”
“Decapitated.”
Understanding ran through his bright eyes. “So, no rebirth, then.”
“No.” I hesitated, then added, “I’m sorry you lost another friend.”
He smiled and reached across the table, taking my hand in his and squeezing my fingers lightly. “Catch this bastard for me.”
“I will.” I glanced down, suddenly wishing the hands that clasped mine with such warm strength could caress the rest of me and bring me back to aching, fierce life. I wanted that. Wanted it bad.
I just wasn’t sure that I was ready for it.
Besides, I had a bad guy to catch, and as much I had never wanted to be a guardian, I had grown to enjoy many parts of the job. I couldn’t now shirk responsibility to pursue pleasure.
I rose. “I’ll ring you later. We’ll finish this another time.”
“I certainly hope so.”
He released my hand, and my hormones let out a collective sigh of frustration. I ignored them and headed out.
Once I was in my car and back on the road, I switched on the onboard and contacted the Directorate. Jack answered.
“I need another cell phone number, boss.”
“Yeah, like they’re something I can just haul out of my ass and hand around willy-nilly.”
I grinned. “I was under the impression you could do anything.”
“You, my dear guardian, are testing even my limits.” There was an undercurrent of amusement in his voice, which meant he wasn’t as grouchy as his words made out. A quick look down at the screen confirmed the fact. There was a decided twinkle in his eyes. Maybe he’d found himself a nice little blood donor last night. “So tell me why you need to lose a perfectly good phone number.”
“Because it seems our emo vampire has acquired it. She rang me just now to tell me we’ve another dead body.”
“You kissed her, didn’t you?”
“Well, yeah, because it was the only way to get the information I wanted.”
“Emo vamps siphon information through intimate contact.”
“I figured as much when she called me. But it got me the name, so I can’t say I wouldn’t do it again.”
I could almost feel his sudden grin. “Darlin’, you’ve come such a long way since we first dragged you kicking and screaming into this job.”
There wasn’t much I could say about the truth in that statement, so I got back to business. “The accountant that was attacked last night was killed this morning, apparently. Vinny rang to give me the killer’s address. I’m heading over there now.”
“Did the vamp who attacked him last night feel very old?”
“I didn’t get a whole lot of time to sniff him out, but I’d have to guess no.”
“Then it can’t be the same killer. It’s after nine.”
And young vamps fried at the slightest touch of sunlight. “Then either he has an accomplice, or he’s older than he seems.”
“Just be aware of both possibilities when you go in there.”
“Boss, I have been doing this for a little while now. You don’t need to tell me the basics anymore.”
He harrumphed. “You may know the basics, my dear, but you have a frightening tendency to ignore them.”
“But that’s what makes me a good guardian, isn’t it?” I said, then hung up before he could comment further.
It didn’t take all that long to get across to Glenroy. It was one of Melbourne’s older suburbs, and had originally been the haunt of the working class. These days, it had become a wasteland of run-down and grimy- looking houses—and run-down and grimy-looking people. Which was odd really, considering the closeness to the city.
Using the nav-computer, I found Havard Street and parked several houses up from my target. Number four was a red-brick affair with a sagging roof and smashed front windows. It didn’t look as if anyone was living there, but maybe that was the whole point.
I got my gun out of the secure box under the seat, then climbed out, locked the car, and walked down. The scent of decay bloomed in the air, heavily enriched with the smell of humanity. The house beside my quarry’s looked to be in a similar state of disrepair, but there were clean-looking floral curtains adorning the windows, and a shiny new car sitting in the driveway. Not hard to guess where all the money had gone in
With the heavy scents that already rode the air, it was hard to catch Young’s. Even when I walked through the broken front gate, the wrongness that I’d come to associate with him failed to materialize. I frowned and stopped just short of the steps. Neither of the front rooms had glass, let alone curtains, so I very much doubted Young would be in either of them. Even if he
