Blood and Sand (13 page)

He pointed to her notes. “What kind of trial do you think this monster deserves? If you’re right and he’s killed over fifteen women—”

“The world deserves to know!”

“The world deserves nothing!” he roared. “Those girls deserve nothing. They are dead. They are past caring. And if you publish a story that exposes our kind to the world, then you will be dead, too. You will be ridiculed by your own press and then someone, somewhere, will come and kill you. I am not threatening; I am predicting, Natalie. And you cannot die. It is not acceptable.”

She had turned pale as a sheet so the freckles stood out on her face and the color drained from her pursed lips. Still, her eyes didn’t waver. “It’s my job to find the truth.”

Baojia stepped closer. “And it’s my job to keep you alive.”

He finally heard something from the other end of the line. Matt said, “Then the two of you better figure something out. You both want to stop this, so compromise. But Natalie, I have to second what Baojia was saying. If you publish this, someone will come for you. Most vampires around the world just want to live in peace and be left alone, but if they’re threatened, they will protect their interests. And they won’t take kindly to any human who tries to expose them. Do you think you’re the first to try?”

Baojia didn’t back away. He couldn’t. Despite the fear in her eyes, he saw the resolve, too. She had a mission—a clear one—and part of him envied her that. He was a soldier by nature; he needed a purpose. It was just Natalie Ellis’s bad luck that his current mission conflicted with hers, because he was going to keep the stubborn human alive, no matter how her behavior set him on edge. From the corner of his eye, he saw Luis push through the office door with a note. He [h aliveheld his hand out and the human brought it to him.

Glancing down, he read
it quickly, knowing as he reached the end that things were only going to become more violent before this was over.

“Matt, Dez, we need to go.”

The anger fell from Natalie’s face and she looked at the note in his hand. “What’s wrong?”

“Another body’s been found in the desert. And this time the location is no accident.”

CHAPTER EIGHT

The only illumination was the yellow headlights of the old black Camaro as they sped into the desert. No lights on the dashboard. No radio hummed. Even the clock seemed to have stopped. She glanced at the shadowed face of the driver, a vampire. A vampire her friend swore would protect her. A vampire who could make water behave like a pet. A vampire who was really good at being quiet.

She slipped her hand in her pocket and pressed the button on her phone, quickly scrolling through her playlists to find the appropriate accompaniment to driving through the desert with an undead, bloodsucking creature of the night. He looked over when he heard the music.

“Elvis?”

She shrugged. “Elvis is always appropriate.”

“I was wondering how long it would take you,” he said.

“Hmm?”

“Most humans hate silence.”

“Oh.” She glanced at her phone. “Do you mind?”

“Not at all. I saw him in concert a number of times.”

She tried, but she couldn’t stop the snort. “George, are you familiar with the term ‘mindfuck’?”

“Very familiar,” he said with a low laugh.

“This night—the last week, in fact—I’ve been swimming in one.”

“You’ll get used to it.”

Would she? She looked at his profile, barely discernible in the dark car. Glancing around, she asked, “So, all the lights and stuff in the car…”

“Shorted out at one point or another.” He shrugged. “It’s the only car I can drive without messing up the engine. I’m amazed the headlights still work. I don’t need the other lights or dials, and I didn’t want to bring Luis. Besides,” he said and ran a hand along the dashboard, “this is a pristine 1968 Chevy Camaro. Far more character than that Mercedes Luis prefers.”

“My dad would kill for this car.” She said it without thinking. Why had she brought up her dad?

His voice was a low growl. “How do you know I didn’t?”

Her stomach dropped.

“Kidding, Natalie. I bought it new.”

She breathed again. “You can’t joke about that kind of stuff.”

“Why?” His face was invisible in the darkness. “Too soon?”

“Because you can’t. And we need to talk about this whole judge, jury, executioner thing you think needs to happen. Whoever is killing these women, they’re still a—”

“Human being? No, they’re not. If it’s a vampire who is doing this, he is a monster and deserves to die.”

She bit her lip to stop the angry retort. If she was going to have any chance, she had to reason with him. “You’re a vampire. Are you a monster?”

“I am a vampire who controls ^h alison himself. Who feeds in small, non-harmful amounts from donors—most of whom are willing—”

“Most?”

He ignored her and continued. “I work very hard to keep my baser instincts in check, not only for my own self-interest, but for the safety of the humans and vampires around me. You would not want to see me unfed. That said, even if I was ravenously hungry, I would not be so far gone that I killed indiscriminately in large numbers like this vampire is doing. This is not hunger. This is something else. He is not a person, Natalie. Killing this vampire would be like putting down a rabid animal.”

Silence fell as both of them stopped talking and the song switched. A ballad came on then, something beautiful and achingly sad.

“Natalie.”

“What?”

She heard him shift and wondered why. Did vampires get cramped? Did they ache after sitting in the car for two hours? And where the hell were they going anyway?

“When the vampire bared his teeth at you in the bar—do you remember?”

Her pulse picked up and she flashed to the grotesque grin of the monster they called Tio. “Of course I remember,” she whispered.

“What were you thinking in that moment?”

She blinked. Why was he asking this? “I… I wanted to run, but I knew I wouldn’t be able to escape. I wanted… I just wanted someone…”

“Wanted what, Natalie?”

She shrank in her seat. “I wanted someone to get it away from me.”

“And you didn’t care how. If I had killed it, you wouldn’t have felt remorse or guilt. Not in that moment. You would have been relieved. Those were your instincts talking. The same instincts you’re going to have to learn to listen to if you want to survive in this world.”

“I’m not sure I want to.”

Natalie could feel his eyes glaring at her. She wasn’t sure how, but she did.

“That’s a stupid thing to say.”

“Wha—?”

“Don’t say you don’t want to survive. Don’t
ever
say that.”

“That’s not what I meant.” She sighed. “I meant I’m not sure I want to be in
this
world.
Your
world.”

“Too bad.” His voice was harsh. “It’s your world now. You don’t have a choice.”

You should always have a choice.
She blinked back tears that threatened to spill from the corners of her eyes and stared straight ahead at the cracked road. Finally, she said, “Where are we going?”

“A casino.”

“Oh yeah, ’cause there’s only one of those in the state.”

“It’s the one out by the Salton Sea. My father owns it.”

“I thought that was an Indian casino.”

“It is.” He added, “They might have needed a very private backer to get started.”

“Ah. And your father is… you said something about Don Ernesto.”

“Don Ernesto Alvarez is the immortal leader of Los Angeles and much of the Southwest. He used to control most of Northern Mexico, too, but he ceded control of that territory to the new cartel some time ago.”

“Why?”

“He says economic interests had waned for him.” Baojia shrugged. “I did not question him.”

“And he’s your father?”

“In the immortal sense, y crta

“How?” She wondered when he would get tired of her questions. He had way more patience than most people she met.

“He found me, drained my blood to the point of death, then fed me his own.”

He said it so matter-of-factly. “So, he killed you.”

“No. He
sired
me. I was not unwilling.”

“Why?” She turned toward him. “Why would you do that? You’ll never see the sun again. You’ll never have a family. You’ll have to drink human blood for the rest of your life.” Luis had filled her in on the particulars. Immortality definitely had its downsides.

He glanced at her. “He offered me something, and it was worth the trade.”

What had been the trade? Power, surely. And she could tell Baojia liked the power. He would never age or grow weak like a human man. But she didn’t get the sense he was vain, despite his handsome face. Fastidious, maybe. He did seem to like things in their proper place. His house had been immaculate. And he’d changed from the rather delicious practice pants he’d been wearing earlier into an immaculate black suit with a white button-down shirt. He’d left off the tie so it hung open at the throat. His shoes were expensive. His neatly cut black hair didn’t have a strand out of place.
 

But vain? No, she didn’t think so. He was a creature of habit who took his human facade very seriously. If she hadn’t seen him practicing his martial arts with water whipping around him like it was an extension of his own limbs, she’d never have believed he was anything but a very handsome, very successful executive.

“Do you ever regret it?” she asked.

A lone street lamp lit up the car as they turned at an abandoned intersection, and she saw him blink. Then she felt the whisper of his fingers as they tucked a curl of hair behind her ear.

“Occasionally.”

The neon lights of the casino still glowed. Cars still populated the parking lot. And Natalie could hear the telltale sounds of the electronic slot machines drift from the casino doors as they parked the Camaro out on the far side of the lot. She could see a few men gathered near a group of dumpsters, and most of them were smoking. She got out of the car and looked at her phone. It was three in the morning already.

“Are we going to have enough time before sunrise?”
 

Without warning, he was at her side. “I’ll manage.”

She’d never thought about it before. The sun rose when it rose. But Baojia had to know exactly how much time he had. His life depended on it. They started walking toward the men and she got out a camera that was stuffed in her purse. It was a compact digital with high resolution that could shoot in raw format. The best camera she could get for the size. It had come in handy more than once.

“You really don’t need that,” he said.

“Why not? And they haven’t called the police yet?”

“I have really good eyes.” He nodded toward the men. “And they know to call me first.”

As they approached, the men glanced at them, then looked away. Without a word, the men stubbed out their cigarettes and walked away from the dumpsters; none of them looked at Baojia twice.

“Why are they going?”

“They’re not needed.”

Natalie put a hand on his arm and he halted immediately. “Baojia, if this isn’t related c’spato the other girls—”

“Then I will tell the casino manager to call the human police, who will investigate thoroughly and receive full cooperation from all employees of the casino and everyone else in our organization.” His face was still severe, but she noticed a slight softening around his dark eyes. “Further, if this is an employee—Luis said no one recognized her, but I will check—her family will be well taken care of.”

It was the best she could hope for; she knew it. “Okay.”

“But if this is what I think it is, we’re not calling the police.” He glanced at her phone. “Don’t even think about it. I’ll lock you up someplace very secure. You know I will.”

Her eyes narrowed and she shoved her phone back in her pocket. “Fine.”

“Now, stay here while I take a look first.”

“Don’t take too long.”

He smiled. “Bossy. And trust me, I’ll be fast.”

Natalie could have sworn he just disappeared. One moment he was standing in front of her, the next he wasn’t.

“That’s so weird.”

“I heard that!” He was standing near the dumpsters, looking at something on the ground behind him. “Stay back for now. I need to… get a sense of things.”

He darted around, a blur that slowed occasionally so she could make out his form. Trailing around the parking lot. Disappearing into the desert only to appear as a flash under a streetlight again. Natalie glanced around nervously. Wasn’t he afraid of others seeing him?

As if he could read her mind, he appeared at her side, straightening the cuff of one black sleeve. “I don’t worry about people around here. They see what they want to see.”

“Is it a vampire? Did a vampire kill her?”

“Yes.” He looked at her with a hint of trepidation. “You’ve seen dead bodies before?”