Bad Blood

She narrowed her eyes and met his gaze without flinching. “Or else I will turn this city against you. Declare open season on Paradise City’s newest plague. Vampires, shape-shifters, whatever else is out there. There will not be a moment’s peace. And I will make sure they know you’re the reason. Comprendes?”

His eyes flashed sliver like they had earlier but his face stayed human. He would have been beautiful if not for what lurked beneath. His upper lip twitched in a partial sneer. “I understand.”

“Do you?” she challenged him. “Tell me, then.”

“I understand you think you have some power.” The silver faded a little. “I also understand you are mistaken, but then, like many humans, you have no real idea of what you’re up against until there are fangs in your flesh.”

The words should have frightened her. Instead her pulse surged with an entirely different emotion. One her husband had not aroused in her for many years during their marriage. Was this another of the monster’s powers? She swallowed, tasting the sweetness of the rum on her tongue, and lifted her head with an arrogance meant to match his. “You and Chrysabelle may go, but Creek will stay here. With me. No discussion or I will have him arrested immediately.

“You two will return within twenty-four hours with this thing the vampire wants and a plan to take her down or your friend”—she pointed at Creek—“will be charged with Julia’s murder and remanded to the state penitentiary immediately upon arrest. This time, there will be no early parole. I will make sure of that.”

She stood, made quick eye contact with John, then turned and walked away. “You are dismissed.”

Chapter Fifteen

Fi ran back into Chrysabelle’s house, her stomach a queasy mass of knots, her mind a million whirling thoughts coming as fast as her breath. “Doc? Doc! Where are you?”

Damian, the new comar, ran in behind her. Blood dripped from his sacre, a slice across his ribs and a second on his shoulder. Velimai followed, a nasty bruise on her cheek.

Panic rose in Fi’s chest like bile. If not for Chrysabelle’s new security system alerting them to someone on the grounds, they might all be dead. Which made it all the more important she find Doc. “Have you seen Doc? Is he still outside? He went out there to patrol the grounds.”

“I didn’t see him. That vampire…” Damian blinked hard and took a step back toward the door. He grimaced in pain. “Got Saraphina.” He staggered. His sacre dropped out of his hand and clattered to the floor. “I think there was poison on that bastard’s blade.” He went to his knees and his eyes rolled back in his head as he collapsed.

Fi rushed to him, cradling his head. Velimai kneeled beside Fi. Her fingers started to move, but Fi’s brain was in no place to process.

“I don’t know what you’re saying. Can you take care of him while I go look for Doc?”

Velimai nodded and made motions toward the door like Fi should go.

“Thank you. I’ll be back as soon as I can.” She took off for the door, then skidded to a stop. “If I don’t come back or if anything happens to me, I’ve gone after Doc and I’ve got a pretty good idea that if he’s dea—” She couldn’t bring herself to speak the word. “If he’s not here, he went to Preacher’s. That’ll be my next stop.”

Velimai signed, Okay. Then her hands twisted in the sign for luck.

Fi dashed outside. Saraphina’s sacre lay on the ground, glowing softly in the security lights. Fi scooped it up. She wasn’t entirely sure how to handle a blade like that, but it was better than being totally unarmed. “Doc?” she said softly, suddenly unsure if she was completely alone. They’d only seen one vampire, but the underground motion sensors had picked up movement in the side yard and in the front yard where Damian had taken a hit and Saraphina had been snatched. They shouldn’t have gone outside, but with Velimai’s scream to protect them… Except that hadn’t worked for some reason.

Fi hadn’t recognized the male vampire, but that didn’t mean Tatiana wasn’t involved. She stayed close to the house as she made her way around. Doc wasn’t anywhere. She set the sword down and shifted to her ghost self, then floated above the roofline until she could see the entire property. No Doc, but Mal’s old sedan was still there. That meant if Doc had left, he’d done it on four feet.

Back to the ground and corporeal form. She grabbed the sacre and jumped into the car, laying the blade on the seat next to her. Keys were in the ignition. It had been a long time since she’d driven, but in her current state of mind, she could probably fly a plane if she had to. Doc needed her. She could feel it. The engine jumped to life. She programmed the GPS for Umberto’s in Little Havana, the only landmark she could think of there. A minute later, Mephisto Island was disappearing in her rearview mirror.

The drive felt like it took a year and a half, enough time for her to formulate a plan if Doc wasn’t at Preacher’s. She knew that Mal was with Creek and Chrysabelle and that the three of them planned on going to New Orleans with Mortalis as soon as Dominic gave them permission to use his plane, so her best bet was to hit Seven and see if she could catch them there if Preacher’s didn’t pan out.

If she missed them, then… she didn’t know what. Wait for them to get back? While who knew what was going on with Doc? Didn’t seem like a very good option. There was always a chance he’d gone back to the freighter. But why would he leave Chrysabelle’s without telling Fi where he was going?