“Of course,” he said with a chuckle.
“I just have to clear away some boxes so we can get to the bed.”
“That’s not necessary. I can just as easily sleep on the couch.”
“No. It’s no trouble. It’s just a few boxes. I’ll get some clean sheets.”
She went into the hall closet and fished around for clean sheets. She was aware of him following her closely as she went into the bedroom. He helped her stack boxes out of the way of the bed, then helped her make the bed. It was such a normal domestic thing to do, as if he wasn’t a vampire and she wasn’t just a human living a normal human life.
But she would no longer be living that normal human life, she realized. Her life had changed on a fundamental level. It would never be the same again. All because of this one man. This vampire.
And yet she felt no hostility about it. She did not feel as though he had wrecked her life or cheated her out of a normal existence. As she had said, she was glad she knew about him and his people. She was glad to no longer be in the dark. But being in the light came with a price, she knew. Not only for her, but for him as well.
“When will you inform the committee that you’ve told me about you?”
“I’ll take the matter up with my queen first. She is a logical and reasonable woman. I’ll get her on my side and we’ll approach the committee together.”
“What about you? What will they do to you?”
“I hope they see the logic in what I’ve done. I hope they find you worthy of knowing the truth.”
“I don’t know that I like the idea of being judged. Especially when it is so critical to me that I be judged well.”
“They will look into your life. They will want to interview you. It’s a little like closing the barn door after the horses have already run out, but it makes them feel better. They have to know you can be trusted not to tell anyone about us. Something you might find very difficult. Especially when it comes to hiding things from a justice standpoint. But hopefully you will learn what our methods of justice are like and you will be satisfied that it’s enough to make up for what you must conceal from others.”
“I hope so. I don’t think I can let a murderer go free, no matter who or what he is. It’s not in me to do that.”
“Renee, you must promise me to be careful. If you stumble across a sycophant in your investigation it may feel cornered and attack violently. Please, leave it to us to find him.”
“I can help,” she said stubbornly. “I can at least locate him. Then you can do the rest.”
“No. Absolutely not. I forbid you to put yourself in harm’s way!”
“You what?” she demanded dangerously. “You forbid me? Who the hell do you think you are?” She was exploding with outrage. “You do not and cannot tell me what to do!”
“Aren’t you telling me what not to do just by that very sentence?” he argued back. “Forgive me if I seem overbearing, but you do not appreciate how critical and deadly this is!”
“I think I can appreciate it well enough,” she said, still seething. “I get the picture, okay? You want me to throw my investigation into idle. But I don’t know if I can do that. If a tip comes in I have to chase down the lead. It will look suspicious otherwise. People I work with know how dogged I am. They know how much I want to catch the bad guy and that I’ll do just about anything to get them. Anything within the legal system anyway.”
“I’m sure you’re clever enough to find ways of slowing down the investigation.”
“I already have a lead I’m chasing. I have to follow through on it.”
“Tell me what it is.”
“A bar. There’s a possibility our man frequents a bar not far from the murder scene.”
“Give me the name.”
She did. And she gave him the description of the man who had been witnessed at the crime scene.
Rafe frowned. “Just one vampire was there?”
“That’s all the witness saw.”
“That’s odd,” he said.
“How is it odd?”
“Because a single vampire would find it nearly impossible to kill a human like that. It would glut him, make it impossible to continue feeding. Usually when sycophants kill it’s in groups of three or more. They share the energy out that way; killing the victim by draining him of every last electrical impulse including the ones that send impulses from the brain to the vital organs. In effect, they are paralyzing them, then shutting down their brains. For a single vampire to do this…” He shook his head. “It’s not right.”
“Well, maybe there were others but the witness didn’t see them. Maybe they fled the scene before she put eyes on the attack.”
“Maybe,” he said slowly. Then more strongly, “Yes, that must be it.”
But there was a lot about the attack that didn’t make sense to Rafe. Like…why in daylight? Vampires—even sycophants—hunted under cover of darkness. And why on a busy street corner? Had the sycophant been starving and desperate? Those were the only reasons he could think of for why he would attack in daylight with witnesses about. But even starving there had to be dozens of better ways, better places to take a meal. He had been on that street corner. He could pick out half a dozen places close by where he could have gotten a more secluded meal.
But perhaps it was that the sycophant didn’t care if it was caught. Maybe it had a death wish of some kind. Either way it would have to be stopped. Otherwise it would continue to kill with impunity.
“I’m going to go to bed,” Renee said. “Going to try to wind down.”
“I could help you with that,” he said softly, reaching to brush her hair back from her cheek.
She laughed. “I’ll bet you could.”
He chuckled. “I meant I could give you a foot rub or something.”
“Oh. Well…” She flushed as she thought about his hands rubbing pleasure into her feet, the electric sensation of his touch radiating up her legs. It was far too tempting. Too tempting to pass up. She smiled and nodded. “I think my feet would like that after being in heels in the freezing cold tonight.”
He smiled and she felt an answering response. There was something about that handsome smile that did her insides in. She turned and led him into her bedroom by his hand, pausing a moment on the threshold. He was directly at her back and must have felt her hesitation because he put his hands on her shoulders and rubbed them warmly. He bent his head and whispered in her ear. “I promise I’ll behave.”
“I just have to clear away some boxes so we can get to the bed.”
“That’s not necessary. I can just as easily sleep on the couch.”
“No. It’s no trouble. It’s just a few boxes. I’ll get some clean sheets.”
She went into the hall closet and fished around for clean sheets. She was aware of him following her closely as she went into the bedroom. He helped her stack boxes out of the way of the bed, then helped her make the bed. It was such a normal domestic thing to do, as if he wasn’t a vampire and she wasn’t just a human living a normal human life.
But she would no longer be living that normal human life, she realized. Her life had changed on a fundamental level. It would never be the same again. All because of this one man. This vampire.
And yet she felt no hostility about it. She did not feel as though he had wrecked her life or cheated her out of a normal existence. As she had said, she was glad she knew about him and his people. She was glad to no longer be in the dark. But being in the light came with a price, she knew. Not only for her, but for him as well.
“When will you inform the committee that you’ve told me about you?”
“I’ll take the matter up with my queen first. She is a logical and reasonable woman. I’ll get her on my side and we’ll approach the committee together.”
“What about you? What will they do to you?”
“I hope they see the logic in what I’ve done. I hope they find you worthy of knowing the truth.”
“I don’t know that I like the idea of being judged. Especially when it is so critical to me that I be judged well.”
“They will look into your life. They will want to interview you. It’s a little like closing the barn door after the horses have already run out, but it makes them feel better. They have to know you can be trusted not to tell anyone about us. Something you might find very difficult. Especially when it comes to hiding things from a justice standpoint. But hopefully you will learn what our methods of justice are like and you will be satisfied that it’s enough to make up for what you must conceal from others.”
“I hope so. I don’t think I can let a murderer go free, no matter who or what he is. It’s not in me to do that.”
“Renee, you must promise me to be careful. If you stumble across a sycophant in your investigation it may feel cornered and attack violently. Please, leave it to us to find him.”
“I can help,” she said stubbornly. “I can at least locate him. Then you can do the rest.”
“No. Absolutely not. I forbid you to put yourself in harm’s way!”
“You what?” she demanded dangerously. “You forbid me? Who the hell do you think you are?” She was exploding with outrage. “You do not and cannot tell me what to do!”
“Aren’t you telling me what not to do just by that very sentence?” he argued back. “Forgive me if I seem overbearing, but you do not appreciate how critical and deadly this is!”
“I think I can appreciate it well enough,” she said, still seething. “I get the picture, okay? You want me to throw my investigation into idle. But I don’t know if I can do that. If a tip comes in I have to chase down the lead. It will look suspicious otherwise. People I work with know how dogged I am. They know how much I want to catch the bad guy and that I’ll do just about anything to get them. Anything within the legal system anyway.”
“I’m sure you’re clever enough to find ways of slowing down the investigation.”
“I already have a lead I’m chasing. I have to follow through on it.”
“Tell me what it is.”
“A bar. There’s a possibility our man frequents a bar not far from the murder scene.”
“Give me the name.”
She did. And she gave him the description of the man who had been witnessed at the crime scene.
Rafe frowned. “Just one vampire was there?”
“That’s all the witness saw.”
“That’s odd,” he said.
“How is it odd?”
“Because a single vampire would find it nearly impossible to kill a human like that. It would glut him, make it impossible to continue feeding. Usually when sycophants kill it’s in groups of three or more. They share the energy out that way; killing the victim by draining him of every last electrical impulse including the ones that send impulses from the brain to the vital organs. In effect, they are paralyzing them, then shutting down their brains. For a single vampire to do this…” He shook his head. “It’s not right.”
“Well, maybe there were others but the witness didn’t see them. Maybe they fled the scene before she put eyes on the attack.”
“Maybe,” he said slowly. Then more strongly, “Yes, that must be it.”
But there was a lot about the attack that didn’t make sense to Rafe. Like…why in daylight? Vampires—even sycophants—hunted under cover of darkness. And why on a busy street corner? Had the sycophant been starving and desperate? Those were the only reasons he could think of for why he would attack in daylight with witnesses about. But even starving there had to be dozens of better ways, better places to take a meal. He had been on that street corner. He could pick out half a dozen places close by where he could have gotten a more secluded meal.
But perhaps it was that the sycophant didn’t care if it was caught. Maybe it had a death wish of some kind. Either way it would have to be stopped. Otherwise it would continue to kill with impunity.
“I’m going to go to bed,” Renee said. “Going to try to wind down.”
“I could help you with that,” he said softly, reaching to brush her hair back from her cheek.
She laughed. “I’ll bet you could.”
He chuckled. “I meant I could give you a foot rub or something.”
“Oh. Well…” She flushed as she thought about his hands rubbing pleasure into her feet, the electric sensation of his touch radiating up her legs. It was far too tempting. Too tempting to pass up. She smiled and nodded. “I think my feet would like that after being in heels in the freezing cold tonight.”
He smiled and she felt an answering response. There was something about that handsome smile that did her insides in. She turned and led him into her bedroom by his hand, pausing a moment on the threshold. He was directly at her back and must have felt her hesitation because he put his hands on her shoulders and rubbed them warmly. He bent his head and whispered in her ear. “I promise I’ll behave.”
