She managed to get a shot into the attacker’s throat. It was enough to slow him down as he gagged on his own blood.
The man held a hand to his throat as he dodged Rafe’s feint for the back of his neck with his knife. He then turned and barreled into Rafe, picking him up off his feet and driving him down into the ground. He pinned Rafe’s knife hand and gurgled in a spray of blood, “We won’t stop. We’ll come after her until she’s dead. We’ll kill everything that means something to you.”
Then he placed his free hand on Rafe’s chest and sent a bolt of electrical current through him, locking him up in electrical spasms. While he was recovering, the man scrambled off Rafe and ran to the back of the alley. There was a clang as he made an extraordinary leap from the ground onto a fire escape. It was too dark for her to shoot with any accuracy and by the time Rafe recovered and got to his feet, the man was running away across the roof of the building.
Renee lay there panting for breath, her hands still aiming her gun. Hands that were shaking uncontrollably. Rafe was on his knees by her side in the very next instant, his blade in his left hand as he gathered her up with his right.
“Are you all right? Renee! Answer me!”
“I-I-I…wh-what the fuck was that?” she demanded. Now that the immediate danger was over, she was beginning to process all that she had seen. Her first instinct was to try and explain it. Drug addicts. Muggers. Something. Anything!
But none of that would explain the electrical current that had been thrown around. None of that would explain why the bodies had simply disappeared.
She struggled to get up.
“Give it a minute,” Rafe said gently as he hugged her close. “Just…give it a minute.”
Renee didn’t want to give it a minute. She wanted to be on her feet. Ready to face any more danger that came her way. But there was something very comforting about Rafe’s embrace, not the least of which was his warmth. She was sitting in the snow, her dress worked up around her hips, bare skin sitting against ice. She began to shiver, but it wasn’t all from the cold.
“I need to get up,” she said through chattering teeth. “I’m cold.”
This time he let her up, helping to pull her to her feet, but immediately drawing her into his embrace as she jerked her skirt down over her thighs.
“I need to call this in,” she said numbly.
“And tell them what? There are no victims here save us, Renee,” he said softly. “And if you report what just happened, who is going to believe you?”
“But I—” She cut herself off as she took in the slush and snow of the alley, the disturbance of which made it clear a wild struggle had taken place there. But Rafe was right. There were no victims. The bodies were gone.
“Renee, here, here’s your purse. Put your weapon away. I’m not sure how I feel knowing you came to our date armed, but in retrospect I am glad that you did.”
The tease fell flat. She scowled at him. “Just what the hell happened here? You knew how to stop those guys, the back of the neck. When that last guy attacked you, he went for the back of your neck. My vic from the other morning, he had bites at the back of his neck. You know what’s going on here. Now tell me what I want to know!”
“First, put your gun away. Then we need to find somewhere warm where we can talk. Where you can come down from this adrenaline rush. Then I will explain everything.”
“I’m not leaving the crime scene!” she said, struggling for every word as the cold sank into her so deeply she was afraid she would never get warm again. Her hands and feet felt like ice, every movement of her shuddering body felt slow and lethargic.
“You’re in shock,” Rafe murmured into her ear as he pried her fingers from around her gun, put the safety on, and put the gun in her purse. She wrapped her arms around herself, trying to conserve what little warmth remained. Rafe, his body a wall of heat, drew her into his arms and shared that heat with her.
“Your crime scene, unlike your perpetrators, is not going anywhere. We’ll go just around the corner, into the pizza parlor right there. We’ll sit where it’s warm and we’ll talk about what to do next.”
Renee couldn’t think, that was how cold she was, so she simply nodded and let him lead her out of the alley. They entered the pizza parlor a few steps later and he guided her into one of the hard wooden booths. But instead of sitting across from her, he had her scoot deeper into the booth and sat beside her. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and held her tight and close, his free hand finding hers and bringing them up against the warmth of his solid chest. Here he rubbed her against himself in an effort to warm her icy fingers.
“You knew,” she said through her clicking teeth. “You knew how to stop them.”
“Yes. I did,” he agreed grimly.
“How did you know? What…what were they?”
“What do you think they were?”
“I don’t know! Don’t turn this around on me. Answer the question! What were they?”
“They’re called sycophants. They’re energy vampires that feed off the energy of others.”
“But I saw you throw balls of electricity too,” she said. “A-are you one of them?”
“I am very different from them. We are the same in that we both need to feed on human energy to survive, but we are different in our intent. Sycophants are criminals. They feed off poisonous energy sources like drug addicts. They often traffic in drugs and humans and other types of crime. They have been known to take too much, which kills their resource.”
“Like my victim from a couple of days ago? He had bite marks on the back of his neck like these,” she said, reaching up to gingerly touch the fang wounds on the back of his neck.
“Yes.” He was quiet a moment. “I am an energy vampire. But unlike sycophants I am careful and discerning about where I get my energy from. I protect my resources from harm and treat them with respect and care. Most often they don’t even know I was there. I am careful that there is no trauma involved in the taking of energy.”
“But how can they not know you were there? I think I would remember if someone bit down on my neck.”
“No. You would not. We use hypnosis so you only remember what we want you to remember.”
Renee thought back to the previous night. To how she couldn’t remember the walk up her stairs or why she had gone to bed with only her T-shirt on.
The man held a hand to his throat as he dodged Rafe’s feint for the back of his neck with his knife. He then turned and barreled into Rafe, picking him up off his feet and driving him down into the ground. He pinned Rafe’s knife hand and gurgled in a spray of blood, “We won’t stop. We’ll come after her until she’s dead. We’ll kill everything that means something to you.”
Then he placed his free hand on Rafe’s chest and sent a bolt of electrical current through him, locking him up in electrical spasms. While he was recovering, the man scrambled off Rafe and ran to the back of the alley. There was a clang as he made an extraordinary leap from the ground onto a fire escape. It was too dark for her to shoot with any accuracy and by the time Rafe recovered and got to his feet, the man was running away across the roof of the building.
Renee lay there panting for breath, her hands still aiming her gun. Hands that were shaking uncontrollably. Rafe was on his knees by her side in the very next instant, his blade in his left hand as he gathered her up with his right.
“Are you all right? Renee! Answer me!”
“I-I-I…wh-what the fuck was that?” she demanded. Now that the immediate danger was over, she was beginning to process all that she had seen. Her first instinct was to try and explain it. Drug addicts. Muggers. Something. Anything!
But none of that would explain the electrical current that had been thrown around. None of that would explain why the bodies had simply disappeared.
She struggled to get up.
“Give it a minute,” Rafe said gently as he hugged her close. “Just…give it a minute.”
Renee didn’t want to give it a minute. She wanted to be on her feet. Ready to face any more danger that came her way. But there was something very comforting about Rafe’s embrace, not the least of which was his warmth. She was sitting in the snow, her dress worked up around her hips, bare skin sitting against ice. She began to shiver, but it wasn’t all from the cold.
“I need to get up,” she said through chattering teeth. “I’m cold.”
This time he let her up, helping to pull her to her feet, but immediately drawing her into his embrace as she jerked her skirt down over her thighs.
“I need to call this in,” she said numbly.
“And tell them what? There are no victims here save us, Renee,” he said softly. “And if you report what just happened, who is going to believe you?”
“But I—” She cut herself off as she took in the slush and snow of the alley, the disturbance of which made it clear a wild struggle had taken place there. But Rafe was right. There were no victims. The bodies were gone.
“Renee, here, here’s your purse. Put your weapon away. I’m not sure how I feel knowing you came to our date armed, but in retrospect I am glad that you did.”
The tease fell flat. She scowled at him. “Just what the hell happened here? You knew how to stop those guys, the back of the neck. When that last guy attacked you, he went for the back of your neck. My vic from the other morning, he had bites at the back of his neck. You know what’s going on here. Now tell me what I want to know!”
“First, put your gun away. Then we need to find somewhere warm where we can talk. Where you can come down from this adrenaline rush. Then I will explain everything.”
“I’m not leaving the crime scene!” she said, struggling for every word as the cold sank into her so deeply she was afraid she would never get warm again. Her hands and feet felt like ice, every movement of her shuddering body felt slow and lethargic.
“You’re in shock,” Rafe murmured into her ear as he pried her fingers from around her gun, put the safety on, and put the gun in her purse. She wrapped her arms around herself, trying to conserve what little warmth remained. Rafe, his body a wall of heat, drew her into his arms and shared that heat with her.
“Your crime scene, unlike your perpetrators, is not going anywhere. We’ll go just around the corner, into the pizza parlor right there. We’ll sit where it’s warm and we’ll talk about what to do next.”
Renee couldn’t think, that was how cold she was, so she simply nodded and let him lead her out of the alley. They entered the pizza parlor a few steps later and he guided her into one of the hard wooden booths. But instead of sitting across from her, he had her scoot deeper into the booth and sat beside her. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and held her tight and close, his free hand finding hers and bringing them up against the warmth of his solid chest. Here he rubbed her against himself in an effort to warm her icy fingers.
“You knew,” she said through her clicking teeth. “You knew how to stop them.”
“Yes. I did,” he agreed grimly.
“How did you know? What…what were they?”
“What do you think they were?”
“I don’t know! Don’t turn this around on me. Answer the question! What were they?”
“They’re called sycophants. They’re energy vampires that feed off the energy of others.”
“But I saw you throw balls of electricity too,” she said. “A-are you one of them?”
“I am very different from them. We are the same in that we both need to feed on human energy to survive, but we are different in our intent. Sycophants are criminals. They feed off poisonous energy sources like drug addicts. They often traffic in drugs and humans and other types of crime. They have been known to take too much, which kills their resource.”
“Like my victim from a couple of days ago? He had bite marks on the back of his neck like these,” she said, reaching up to gingerly touch the fang wounds on the back of his neck.
“Yes.” He was quiet a moment. “I am an energy vampire. But unlike sycophants I am careful and discerning about where I get my energy from. I protect my resources from harm and treat them with respect and care. Most often they don’t even know I was there. I am careful that there is no trauma involved in the taking of energy.”
“But how can they not know you were there? I think I would remember if someone bit down on my neck.”
“No. You would not. We use hypnosis so you only remember what we want you to remember.”
Renee thought back to the previous night. To how she couldn’t remember the walk up her stairs or why she had gone to bed with only her T-shirt on.
