“I will remember that from now on, believe me.”
“I wish that you did not have to. I would prefer to remove you from danger. But now that you have been associated with me…That sycophant threatened you. If I were to wipe your memory of all that happened I would be leaving you out in the cold, leaving you without the awareness and knowledge that you need to protect yourself. I cannot, in good conscience, do that. But that is only part of my reasoning for keeping you aware of our secret existence. It is because I’m afraid I would be missing out on something special without you beside me. And to feel this after only twenty-four hours of knowing you…that says something.”
Renee had to agree with him. There was something about him that pulled at her. True, she feared what he was, feared what it meant to know him and of him, but she was not a woman who was prone to letting her fear control her choices in life.
Still, she wasn’t reckless either. She could see the inherent danger in his life touching hers. Was it worth it? Was this tenuous connection, this draw toward one another, worth the danger they were in?
Renee was surprised to hear the resounding yes in her thoughts. It was clear she was coming to feel very attracted to him, even in spite of his having taken from her without her permission. But she understood his need for secrecy. She also appreciated that he was willing to keep the veil between their worlds pulled back so she could better protect herself. Still, it couldn’t be easy for him. Everything he’d ever done, she imagined, had been centered on keeping others from knowing he and his breed existed. But here he was, willing to remain exposed to her. And not just because he was trying to protect her. He said there was more to it than that. She felt that there was more to it than that.
“We should go,” she said. “Someone will have reported hearing gunshots.”
“Perhaps. But you are right. We should go. We’ll go back to my car and I will drive you home. Hopefully we will make it there without further incident. I am worried, however. I would feel better if that last sycophant had not gotten away. He will report back about all that he saw. He will report back about you.”
Rafe got to his feet and held a hand out to her. She took it and he helped her to her feet.
Chapter 9
They walked out of the pizza parlor and back the way they had come. There was no sign of police as they approached the alley where the fight had taken place. “My brass!” she cried suddenly. “If the police come they will find the brass casings to the shots that were fired. It could be traced back to my service weapon.”
She hurried into the alleyway, ignoring Rafe’s protests. She reached for her phone and turned on the flashlight, shining it around in the dark. She quickly retraced all of the steps she could remember taking and began to look for the brass casings to her bullets. She recovered all but one. She would just have to hope it was lost in the snow where it could not be found. She then took Rafe’s hand and let him lead her quickly out of the alley and back down the street to where his SUV was parked. They were safely ensconced in just a few minutes. Rafe threw the car into gear and drove away from the scene of the attack.
Silence fell between them for the entirety of the ride back to Renee’s apartment in Brooklyn. Renee’s thoughts were awash in all that she had learned and she could only guess at what Rafe was thinking. This had to be troubling him as much as it was troubling her. He must be feeling exposed. After all, how could he know if he could trust her? Should he trust her? She was a cop. Wasn’t it her duty to tell someone about this?
And what would she say exactly? Oh, by the way, vampires are real. Only they don’t drink blood, they take energy. And they commit assaults in order to feed themselves.
Who would believe her? She barely believed it herself. Had she not seen it with her own eyes, experienced it in her own memories…
And what about her case? Now that she knew what kind of man had attacked her vic, how was she to go about finding the exact vampire who had done the attack? And once she found him, what could she possibly do to bring him to justice?
“What do you do to sycophants who break the law?” she asked him. “If I find the sycophant who killed my vic, would you see to it justice is served?”
“Renee, you can’t possibly be considering going after a sycophant now that you know what they can do to you!” Rafe objected.
“Of course I’m considering it! I can’t just let a murderer get away!”
“You can and you will. Leave the investigation to me and my people. We will see that justice is served. One of the reasons I’ve been watching you was to protect you if you got too close to the truth. To intercept by taking care of the sycophant before you could reach him, should you figure out who he is before I do. Now that you know what you are dealing with the best protection is for you to throw the case. Let us handle it.”
“And just how will you do that?”
“We have our ways. We have our own policing methods. You have to trust us to take care of it.”
“I’m just supposed to let it go? I can’t do that! I have to investigate this murder exactly like I would any other. Otherwise it will look like I’m not doing my job!”
“You can pretend to investigate it as much as you like, but the real investigation should be left to us.”
Renee bit her lip and clenched her fists. She didn’t like being told what she could and could not do. She didn’t like being told to throw an investigation. It went against every grain in her body.
No. She couldn’t just let it go. She had a job to do and she was going to do it. She would find the sycophant that had killed her victim, then she would turn him over to Rafe’s people for justice. She didn’t know what that entailed though. What was their method of justice?
“What will happen to him once you find him? What do you do with sycophants that murder?”
Rafe’s jaw tightened. She could see it as the streetlights overhead flashed light into the car.
“We have capital punishment for crimes of that magnitude.”
“You don’t have prisons?”
“The logistics of how we would feed a prisoner are impossible. They could never be trusted not to take a life again. Once a sycophant has a taste for killing, they only want more. No resource would be safe between their lips ever again.”
“What of lesser crimes? What do you do then?”
“I wish that you did not have to. I would prefer to remove you from danger. But now that you have been associated with me…That sycophant threatened you. If I were to wipe your memory of all that happened I would be leaving you out in the cold, leaving you without the awareness and knowledge that you need to protect yourself. I cannot, in good conscience, do that. But that is only part of my reasoning for keeping you aware of our secret existence. It is because I’m afraid I would be missing out on something special without you beside me. And to feel this after only twenty-four hours of knowing you…that says something.”
Renee had to agree with him. There was something about him that pulled at her. True, she feared what he was, feared what it meant to know him and of him, but she was not a woman who was prone to letting her fear control her choices in life.
Still, she wasn’t reckless either. She could see the inherent danger in his life touching hers. Was it worth it? Was this tenuous connection, this draw toward one another, worth the danger they were in?
Renee was surprised to hear the resounding yes in her thoughts. It was clear she was coming to feel very attracted to him, even in spite of his having taken from her without her permission. But she understood his need for secrecy. She also appreciated that he was willing to keep the veil between their worlds pulled back so she could better protect herself. Still, it couldn’t be easy for him. Everything he’d ever done, she imagined, had been centered on keeping others from knowing he and his breed existed. But here he was, willing to remain exposed to her. And not just because he was trying to protect her. He said there was more to it than that. She felt that there was more to it than that.
“We should go,” she said. “Someone will have reported hearing gunshots.”
“Perhaps. But you are right. We should go. We’ll go back to my car and I will drive you home. Hopefully we will make it there without further incident. I am worried, however. I would feel better if that last sycophant had not gotten away. He will report back about all that he saw. He will report back about you.”
Rafe got to his feet and held a hand out to her. She took it and he helped her to her feet.
Chapter 9
They walked out of the pizza parlor and back the way they had come. There was no sign of police as they approached the alley where the fight had taken place. “My brass!” she cried suddenly. “If the police come they will find the brass casings to the shots that were fired. It could be traced back to my service weapon.”
She hurried into the alleyway, ignoring Rafe’s protests. She reached for her phone and turned on the flashlight, shining it around in the dark. She quickly retraced all of the steps she could remember taking and began to look for the brass casings to her bullets. She recovered all but one. She would just have to hope it was lost in the snow where it could not be found. She then took Rafe’s hand and let him lead her quickly out of the alley and back down the street to where his SUV was parked. They were safely ensconced in just a few minutes. Rafe threw the car into gear and drove away from the scene of the attack.
Silence fell between them for the entirety of the ride back to Renee’s apartment in Brooklyn. Renee’s thoughts were awash in all that she had learned and she could only guess at what Rafe was thinking. This had to be troubling him as much as it was troubling her. He must be feeling exposed. After all, how could he know if he could trust her? Should he trust her? She was a cop. Wasn’t it her duty to tell someone about this?
And what would she say exactly? Oh, by the way, vampires are real. Only they don’t drink blood, they take energy. And they commit assaults in order to feed themselves.
Who would believe her? She barely believed it herself. Had she not seen it with her own eyes, experienced it in her own memories…
And what about her case? Now that she knew what kind of man had attacked her vic, how was she to go about finding the exact vampire who had done the attack? And once she found him, what could she possibly do to bring him to justice?
“What do you do to sycophants who break the law?” she asked him. “If I find the sycophant who killed my vic, would you see to it justice is served?”
“Renee, you can’t possibly be considering going after a sycophant now that you know what they can do to you!” Rafe objected.
“Of course I’m considering it! I can’t just let a murderer get away!”
“You can and you will. Leave the investigation to me and my people. We will see that justice is served. One of the reasons I’ve been watching you was to protect you if you got too close to the truth. To intercept by taking care of the sycophant before you could reach him, should you figure out who he is before I do. Now that you know what you are dealing with the best protection is for you to throw the case. Let us handle it.”
“And just how will you do that?”
“We have our ways. We have our own policing methods. You have to trust us to take care of it.”
“I’m just supposed to let it go? I can’t do that! I have to investigate this murder exactly like I would any other. Otherwise it will look like I’m not doing my job!”
“You can pretend to investigate it as much as you like, but the real investigation should be left to us.”
Renee bit her lip and clenched her fists. She didn’t like being told what she could and could not do. She didn’t like being told to throw an investigation. It went against every grain in her body.
No. She couldn’t just let it go. She had a job to do and she was going to do it. She would find the sycophant that had killed her victim, then she would turn him over to Rafe’s people for justice. She didn’t know what that entailed though. What was their method of justice?
“What will happen to him once you find him? What do you do with sycophants that murder?”
Rafe’s jaw tightened. She could see it as the streetlights overhead flashed light into the car.
“We have capital punishment for crimes of that magnitude.”
“You don’t have prisons?”
“The logistics of how we would feed a prisoner are impossible. They could never be trusted not to take a life again. Once a sycophant has a taste for killing, they only want more. No resource would be safe between their lips ever again.”
“What of lesser crimes? What do you do then?”
