book (10 page)

“
Ya think?”

Both Hathen and Clotilde turned, as a loud, rather sarcastic voice emerged from the back of the crowd.

Both snarled in synch as they turned to face Karl, Clotilde’s brother. A man who now stepped forth from the crowd with fists balled and nostrils flared.

“
Oh brother.” Hathen rolled his eyes.

“
Most literally,” Clotilde grumbled, jumping in a smooth motion from the edge of the fountain to stand before her brother. “OK spill it, Bro. What’s your problem now?”

“
I guess I could ask you the same question, Sis,” Karl snarled. “Look, I have no idea who this Scarlet woman is, but how can she be any worse than the rest of you?” He gestured toward Clotilde and her brethren with a impatient sniff. “Does she revel in sin and public sex like you, I don’t even know what to call you, people?!”

“
Well she did at one time,” Hathen said in a jokey way, “or so I’ve heard.”

Karl was unamused.

“
Don’t try to joke your way out of this, you sex demon.” He thrust an accusing finger in Hathen’s direction. “You’ve turned my sister into a monster. Do you have any idea how you’ve devastated her family?”

“
Karl, no!” Clotilde charged forward, throwing her arms around Karl’s shoulders. “You’re the only blood family I have left, and you’re the only one who can’t accept my new life... Which just happens to be wonderful.”

Karl broke away from her, making fast tracks to the edge of the park.

“
I can no longer stand to witness the degradation and humiliation of my only sister.” He peered over his shoulder, fixing Clotilde with a long last look as he escaped into the dark of night. “Goodbye Clotilde.”

“
Don’t worry about it, little one.” Hathen jumped from the edge of the fountain, once again grasping Clotilde’s slender shoulders in a warm, tender hold.

She momentarily stayed in his grasp, before pulling away.

“
I love my kin of the incubi,” Clotilde spoke more to herself than to Hathen, “but Karl is my blood.”

Ignoring the heated cries of protest that arose from those around her, Clotilde raced after her brother on fast and frantic feet.

“
Clotilde, it’s not safe out there right now,” Hathen called after her. “Please come back!”

She slowed down briefly, before disappearing into the same thick gang of trees that had consumed her brother seconds before.

Jacob, Clotilde’s lover, stepped forth from the group and placed a comforting hand on Hathen’s shoulder. “Let her go. When Clotilde falls in to one of her moods, you just can’t stop her.”

Hathen was unconvinced.

“
She could be in danger,” he insisted, sitting down hard on the edge of the fountain.

Jacob shook his head.

“
She’s with her brother.” He turned away, joining the retreating crowd as the vamps dispersed to various parts of the park. “She’ll be fine.”

Minutes later, Hathen sat alone on the edge on the fountain, his mind wracked with worry.

His concern for Clotilde ran almost as deep as the intense anxiety he now felt on behalf of his entire den.

We just never know when the boogey man will pop out of the woods to get us.
He stroked his chin in thought.
And it will be my fault for dancing with the devil.

His troubled meditation was disrupted by the opening notes of “Bohemian Rhapsody.” Immediately recognizing his cell phone tones, he clicked the talk button on this device. “It’s Hathen.”

“
It’s Jess.” His anxiety melted in the warm tones of his lover, which sounded both sweet and oh so sexy as they filled his phone line.

“
Hi baby.” He smiled. “Tell me something good.”

“
Okey dokey.” His smile broadened at her humorous tones. “I’m headed into the station right now, after spending all day checking with some of my contacts in the vampire community. Scarlet, it seems, is just some rogue looney tunes who has been kicked out of every den she's occupied. I now seriously doubt she has planted a rogue agent in your group.”

Hathen released a breath he’d been holding throughout the course of the evening. “Thanks for letting me know. I feel much better knowing that, especially since Clotilde just wandered off into the forest following that nutter butter brother of hers.”

“
Nutter butter brother,” Jess chuckled. “You’ve been hanging out with me too much, babe. You’re even starting to talk like me.”

He knew it was true.

“
I see that as a good thing, baby. And I have some good news for you too.” He stared out at the group of vamps that were now playing a spirited game of volleyball on the east lawn of Nightingale Park. “I had a long talk with my den members this evening, and scanned their minds as well. They are every bit as loving and loyal as I originally thought.”

“
Very cool,” Jess lowered her voice. “Would you like to scan my mind right now, darlin’?”

Hathen met her request with a low, throaty chuckle.

“
Oh I’d better not try that in a public place,” he purred. “I’m bound to get overexcited and end up embarrassing myself.”

He jumped as Jess met these words with a sharp, boisterous 'whoop'.

“
I just went and embarrassed an incubi vampire,” she laughed. “In the immortal words of my teen-aged brother, ‘Cha ching! Bada bing!’”

“
Man that sounds old, even to a vampire. Your kid brother seriously needs to update his cultural references.” Hathen lowered his voice to a whisper. “I’m very pleased though, that I just made your day. And I really hope for the opportunity to make your night.”

He smiled as Jess met these words with a second, even more boisterous double 'whoop whoop'.

“
I’ll meet you at the park as soon as I get off work, just past 3am,” she promised. “Will you be up?”

Hathen cast a quick glance downward, cheeks flushing at what he saw.

“
For you baby,” he whispered, “I’m always 'up.’”

“
Oh sheesh,” Jess snorted. “Talk about dated cultural references. Of course I guess I’ll have to excuse you, considering that you’re…how old, exactly?”

“
I’ll never tell.” Hathen sobered as he said, “What I will tell you is that I love you, Jess Green.”

Jess hesitated, before deciding to accept and share what she had been feeling. “And I love you, Hathen Noble.” The warmth and sincerity that lined Jess’s tones filled Hathen’s heart. “I’ll see you tonight.”

“
Tonight,” Hathen whispered, clicking the off button his cell phone and returning the phone to its place in his pocket.

Like many nights before this one, Hathen threw his head back and basked in the glow of a full Florida morn. Tonight somehow the moon seemed brighter, and the stars twinkled just as bright as the glow in Hathen’s heart.

Jess walked with a light step through the double glass doors that fronted the Clearview Police Department. Her mind wandered from the mundane nature of everyday police procedure.

Her thoughts were firmly with the man who had introduced so much love and passion into her life, and her heart overflowed with these same emotions. She had not felt love like this before, it was an exciting feeling.

This excitement morphed to terror the moment she walked through the entrance of her office area to face a scene that made her skin crawl.

Scarlet’s holding cell stood open and empty, its door ajar and its air rancid.

Standing just outside this cell was a young man who she immediately recognized as Vernon Culver. Vernon one of her deputies at the Clearview Police Department.

Only now the skilled, high ranking police officer looked more like a lost little boy. He regarded Jess with a sorrowful expression that chilled her blood.

“
Vernon, what happened?” She barked, running to his side. “Where’s our prisoner?”

“
I’m afraid I can’t answer either question, Ma’am.” Vernon shuffled his feet. “I kept an eye on her, just like you asked. I questioned her about why she was so darned mean…”

“
Well that one doesn’t exactly take a police detective to answer.” Jess rolled her eyes. “She’s cute and psychotic enough to get away with it.”

“
You’re telling me.” Vernon rolled up the sleeve of his police uniform shirt to reveal a long, bloody gash trailing up the side of his arm. “As I was questioning her she started crying hysterically, saying she was sorry for the mess she’d made of her life and threatening to commit suicide, right here in our cell. When I went in to intervene, she took those insanely long fingernails of hers and scratched up my arm pretty bad. The pain distracted me just long enough for her to get away.”

Taking a deep sign to compose herself, Jess ordered Vernon to follow her as she made for the door.

“
Come on Vernon.” She made fast tracks through the entryway of the Clearview Police Department. “You’re headed to accident and emergency. I myself am en route to Nightingale Park.”

****

After dropping off an apologetic Vernon at Clearview General Hospital, Jess tore across town in her royal blue roadster in the direction of Nightingale Park.

She pulled up at the entrance, jumped from the car and raced to its center. She was relieved to find Hathen seated, safe and unconcerned, on the border of the cherub’s fountain.

“
Darling!” He greeted her with open arms and a broad smile. “You’re here early. I’m so glad to see you.”

“
Don't get too excited yet Lu',” Jess ran forward on the grass, thrusting a restraining hand in her lover’s direction. “Scarlet has escaped.”

His smile dissolved. Hathen said nothing as he bounded with determined feet toward the trees that bordered Nightingale Park.

“
Clotilde and her brother never came back tonight,” Hathen mentioned to a following Jess as he kept his gaze trained on the forest before him.

“
Not good,” Jess muttered, racing after him with her gun drawn.

“
Like I told Sebastian”, reconfirmed Hathen, “It’s going to be a bumpy night.”

****

“
Karl, this is ridiculous.” Clotilde stood beside a tall oak tree at the center of the forest, pleeding her brother with an irritated frown. “It’s getting cold out here and I want to go home.”

Karl shook his head.