As Midnight Loves the Moon (8 page)

As she looked over everything, she
saw an old photo album and opened it. The first picture had her stomach
clenching. Wayde stood there, in grainy black and white, dressed in very old
clothes, wearing a type of fedora. He stood next to a couple who was also
dressed strangely, the man similar to him while the woman wore clothes
reminiscent of the Roaring Twenties.

She closed the album and backed
away from the shelves.

One of
Wayde’s
relatives?
Who looked exactly like him?

Or something
different?
She began to play back the past couple of weeks in her head. He
always worked at night. He slept through the day in a tomb-like room. He had
antique and ancient items scattered around like they were bric-a-brac.

What was she thinking?

Something utterly
ridiculous.

But she turned back to the room and
looked around some more, and she saw his private bathroom. Only, when she
looked inside, it wasn’t just a bathroom but another room. And against one wall
was a stainless steel refrigerator. Her heart pounded as she approached it and
her hand
trembled
a little as she opened it.

But she wasn’t really surprised over
what she saw.

She simply closed the door and
retreated from
Wayde’s
personal space. And then she
waited for him to call.

Chapter Ten

Alex stormed into the house and
immediately went to the weapon’s room to look for the Blessed Blade.
Seb
had been adamant that it was here, but Alex turned the
room inside out and couldn’t find it.

What
the hell?

“
Seb
!” he
yelled. “Sebastian! Where the hell are you?”

He stomped through the house
calling out
Seb’s
name, but the only ones to appear
were Tommy and Josiah.

“What’s going on?” Tommy demanded.

“Where’s
Seb
?”

Both Tommy and Josiah shrugged.

“He’s been acting very strange,”
Tommy muttered. “He’s sending me out on patrol in places that make no sense.”

“And he hasn’t been sleeping
through the night,” Josiah added.
“Sleeping during the day,
pacing all night long.
Damned impolite if you ask me.”

“What case has he been working on?”
Alex asked.

Again, both men shrugged.

“The last thing I know he
officially investigated was that activity near
Seattle
,” Tommy said. “He got back about
three weeks ago but I don’t remember him picking up another investigation.”

“Not even this rogue vampire?”

Tommy shook his head.

Alex frowned. An uneasy feeling
slivered down his back. He had to find
Seb
and he had
to find the Blessed Blade. It was the only weapon known to kill vampires since
it had been bathed in the tears
of a seraphim
.

Without another word to them, Alex
marched back upstairs but instead of heading to his room, he went in the
opposite direction, to Sebastian’s room. The door was locked but he easy broke
it open and entered. The room was
pitch
black, darker
than usual, and Alex got a chill when he saw wood had been nailed over the
window. The bed had been turned over and the blankets had been arranged to form
a type of cave.

Alex backed out, not needing to see
anything else.

His heart sank.

Sebastian was the rogue vampire.

Somehow…he’d been turned.
The disturbance in
Seattle
?
When else could it have been done? He’d gotten back three weeks ago, about the
same time Alex had first got wind of Wayde. Self-disgust punched through him. He’d
been so sure it was
Wayde,
he hadn’t paid attention to
any other signs.

He had to track Wayde down and let
him know. The man still made him furious and he had to have it out with him,
but after he beat the shit out of him for making him
feel
things, he’d ask Wayde for help in catching
Seb
. Without the Blessed Blade neither he nor Tommy would
be able to capture a vampire in full bloodlust.

He left without talking to Tommy
and Josiah about his discovery and made a beeline for
Wayde’s
shop. Halfway there, he picked up
Wayde’s
scent and
began to follow it. Ever since their little interlude in the night club, he’d
been tuned into Wayde like a homing beacon. It was damn annoying and he planned
to confront the man right away on whatever little trick he’d done to him.

****

Come hell or high water, he was
going to catch the rogue vampire and finally get through to Alexander Malden. But
this time, he would do things on his terms, his turf. He had to lure out the
vampire somewhere where they wouldn’t be interrupted and people wouldn’t get
hurt.

Right before he pulled the door to
his shop closed, he thought of Alex’s sword and went back in to retrieve it. The
blade was deadly sharp and he knew that it would take any head cleanly off with
one swipe. So he better be damn sure that the rogue or Alex wouldn’t use it on
him.

He tapped his coat, and the
container hidden there. Wayde had emergency stashes of blood in his bedroom and
at his office. Human blood, donated to him freely in exchange for sex. One of
the good things about being with a companion, or two in this case, would be
that he wouldn’t need to trade sex for blood. Even though it sounded exciting,
and hell, for a few centuries it was, after awhile, the transaction became a
little…cold. Luckily, he learned he could survive fine off animal blood and
tended to go after the critters that scoured the alleys. But the emergency
blood he had was human and it was exactly when he needed right now.

Turned vampires had two choices early
in their
reborn
lives. Either
give
into the bloodlust driving them or overcoming it. Sure, the second choice was
damn hard, and usually the maker was there to guide the newly turned.
Wayde
planed on using the human blood to lure out the rogue
vampire.

He kept to the shadows and the
outskirts of the park, where the rogue vampire seemed to like hunting. It was a
big park, with many places for him to hide. Wayde squirted a few drops of blood
here and there, just enough to capture his attention, like a shark in open
water. And then he bit his wrist and let his own blood fall, knowing that the
rogue vampire’s jealousy would ignite. He’d want to hurt Wayde for mooching in
his territory.

He
lay
the
blood path away from the city, into the forest. Once again, he found himself in
shadow, only this time it was the dark umbra of the forest. Wayde had dressed
in black to blend in, keeping to the base of the trees as he traveled further
into the woods. He had traveled slowly so his scent would linger, giving the
rogue plenty of opportunity and time to come for him.

When he finally made it into the
clearing he had been searching for, he stopped and relaxed. There was no fog
here and the waning moon still blazed in the sky, bathing the land in white
moonlight.

He didn’t have long to wait. His senses
suddenly sharpened and he tensed. His fangs came down, and he twirled the sword
in his hand as he looked all around. But instead of the rogue vampire bursting
through the clearing and charging, it was Alex that showed up.

“What the hell are you doing here?”
Wayde asked.

“What did you do to me?” Alex
demanded without preamble.

“What do you mean?”

“You put some kind of spell on me. Take
it off! I can’t work if I
keep smelling
you!”

This wasn’t going at all as Wayde
had planned. He looked into the deep darkness of the forest, trying to
determine if the rogue was out there, but his senses were too full of Alex
standing in front of him. “
You’re smelling
me? Well,
that clenches it.”

Alex pulled his sword free and
marched forward. Wayde took a few steps backward but brought up the sword’s
twin. He wouldn’t use it against his mate. Of course he wouldn’t, but he had to
defend himself long enough until Alex calmed down.

“Oh, great, my
own fucking sword!”

“Put yours down and I’ll put mine
down,” Wayde reasoned.

Alex ignored him.

“In the bar, you got me into the
alley without touching me,” Alex said coldly. “In Tartarus I was…enthralled. So
whatever spell you placed on me, take it off.”

Wayde let out a whoosh of air. He
had to get Alex out of here quickly. “That’s not a spell, Alex. At first I
enthralled you, yes, but the rest, well, it’s…it’s what a vampire does.”

Alex tilted his head. “What does
that mean?”

“I…seem to have started the mating
pheromones.”

“Mating pheromones? That sounds permanent.”

Wayde winced. “It is. My pheromones
are intoxicating, mesmerizing—”

“Hypnotizing?”

Wayde nodded.
“To
my mate, yes.”

“Just great.
When does it wear off?”

“What do you mean?”

“When.
Does.
It. Wear. Off?” Alex asked, practically growling the
questions.

Wayde shook his head, confused. “I
just said it’s mating pheromones. We’re mating.
Or mated.
I’m not sure how long the process lasts, since I’ve never gone through it
before.”

“Impossible! What trick are you
playing at?”

“No trick, Alex. Why? What’s been
happening?”

“I wish you’d stop saying my name.”

“Do you prefer Alexander?”

“Just shut up! Why—”

“
Shh
,”
Wayde suddenly gestured and spun around. He knew the rogue vampire was coming. His
fingernails grew into sharp claws. “Go away, Alex.”

“Why? God damn it, Wayde! If you—”

“Shut up,” he whispered fiercely. “And
leave. I don’t want you hurt.”

“Hurt?
From
what?”

It was the last sentence Wayde
heard as the rogue vampire plowed into him, snarling and snapping like a wild,
vicious animal. He was thrown backward and the vampire landed on top of him,
reaching to bite and tear his neck out. Luckily, Wayde was a little stronger
than he looked and hooked his claws into the rogue’s cheek to whip the head
around and off his vulnerable neck.

A second later, the rogue was flung
off him and he looked up at Alex, who held a hand out to him. Wayde didn’t even
hesitate. He grabbed it and let Alex help him up. They stood shoulder-to-shoulder
as they faced the approaching rogue vampire.

“Sebastian,” Alex muttered. “What
the fuck happened to you?”

“This creature’s name is
Sebastian?” Wayde asked
,
panting slightly as
adrenaline surged through him. His fangs came down as he waited.

“He used to be a Shade
cop
,” Alex said.

“So what species was he before he
was turned?”

“Does it matter?”

The rogue growled at them, showing
fangs that were long and sharp and evil-looking. He was dressed in black from
head to toe, including black gloves on his hands.

“No, I guess not,” Wayde muttered.

Seb
attacked. Even though there were two against him, his mindless bloodlust was
more than a match. His claws were out and his fangs were down. He came out
swinging and snapping and Wayde had to push Alex out of the way just as
Seb’s
claws swung. They dug into his shoulder and he yelled
out as agony sliced through him. But better him than Alex. He would heal in a
minute.

Wayde grabbed the rogue around the
neck and flung him back just as Alex swung around with his sword. Even though
it cut deep, it only managed to infuriate
Seb
even
more and he roared as he lashed out. The sword caught his claws, but Alex fell
back.

Wayde winced as his wound closed,
but didn’t hesitate to jump onto
Seb’s
back in another
stranglehold. He forced the rogue off Alex and the two fell heavily onto the
ground.
Seb
threw his elbow back and managed to
dislodge himself, but by this time
Wayde’s
claws were
out as well and the two began to really slash at each other.

Alex watched them. He was tough and
a strong fighter, but a battle between two vampires was out of his league. If
only he had the Blessed Blade. It was probably the first thing
Seb
thought to destroy. Then something flashed at him in the
top of
Seb’s
belt that made Alex blink.

Seb
hadn’t destroyed it.

Why hadn’t he destroyed it?

And how the hell was he able to
touch it since he was now, technically, a vampire?

The two vampires were vicious with
each other. Blood was flying everywhere but as soon as the wounds appeared they
healed. If Alex used it, he would be killing his friend, the man he’d worked
beside for years.

But that wasn’t really
Seb
any more, was it? His friend would never have killed
three people. And if he and Wayde didn’t stop him, there would be more victims,
more humans caught in the Shade crossfire. It was his duty to stop law breakers
like
Seb
, no matter if he’d been a cop before. Any
reasoning with the man was long gone.

“Hold him still!” he called out.

Wayde grunted as he grabbed hold of
Seb
. “What…do you think…I’m trying to do?”

“I have to get the blade off his
belt.”

“I can get that,” Wayde called out.

“No! No, you can’t. It’s been
blessed by a seraphim.”

Wayde snatched his hand back and
instead smashed it into
Seb’s
face.