Honeymoon Bite (Golden Vampire Legacy) (26 page)

She helped the women at the shelter and chose candidates for “educational sessions,” Praetor even helping her from time to time with suggestions. Nothing was more satisfying than terrorizing a wicked husband or boyfriend, then glamming him with the suggestion he should move away and stop causing problems. Some were harder cases than others, but she was careful not to eliminate the predators, though she felt they deserved it. Though she scared these men half to death, she justified she was doing a good thing for the women in her charge.

One day, a bloody towel appeared in her wastebasket. She didn’t recognize the scent and made sure it wound up in the alleyway garbage cans. Then bloody T-shirts and rags started appearing in her trash. Careful to dispose of them, she wondered why someone who had a chronic nosebleed problem would use her wastebasket at work. She didn’t like to walk into her office and have the smell of blood hit her between the eyes. Even though no one else could smell it like she could, she couldn’t help thinking perhaps someone was trying to plant evidence at her expense.

She enjoyed being a barista, working in the public view, surrounded by the smell of coffee. Her one cappuccino a day fulfilled her in some magical way, as glimpses of a life she could lead formed. Life appeared to be perfect again.

Until one day Maya showed up, filled with murderous rage.

The vampire, dressed in red, as usual, was standing by Robert’s old green bomber. Because Anne had been rushing, late for her volunteer shift at the Center, she almost ran into the woman. The vampire was flushed from a recent kill, red lips plumped and full, and fresh blood under her fingernails. Anne wondered why Maya hadn’t bothered to clean up.

The look in Maya’s eyes had something else. A glow. Sadly, Anne could only attribute this to the Marcus effect.

Though she tried, Anne could not stop dreaming about Marcus occasionally. His kisses felt as real in her dreams as if he were constantly there beside her. She knew a tiny part of her would always be his.

Praetor hadn’t wanted to get very specific, but had told her Lucius had moved in with Marcus. He told her too, just so she would be mentally prepared, that sometimes Maya stayed over. She assumed there was going to be a fast tracking of their vows at the chapel, now that all the pieces had now fallen into place.

So Anne was more than a little curious why the vamp chose to appear to her today. Anne could not be considered to be a threat any longer. So, why was the vamp here? Perhaps to gloat. Show off her wedding ring, or tell her how happy Marcus was in her bed.

“I am not in the mood, Maya.” The gaze she got back from the vixen was predatory. She was watching every movement Anne made.

Maya’s dark hair framed her face like a bonnet and her eyes were dark with a tinge of fire at their center that burned deep red. It matched her lips, her red form-fitting dress with the low bust line, and highlighted her tiny waist and ample bosom. It was showtime, and Maya was playing some deadly part in a diabolical play. Anne stiffened for the worst.

“No, I guess not. I can see you aren’t especially happy to see me,” the seductress answered.

“And you expected what?”

Maya nodded her head and studied her. “Does Marcus know Praetor spends so much time with you here?”

“Oh, you mean, like how you stay over at Marcus’s?”

Her eyebrows rose. “You have your little spies. Very good.” She leaned into Anne, letting their perfumes mingle as they studied one another. It took everything Anne had to keep from running. She wasn’t going to call for backup. Yet.

“Actually, Maya, I could care less. What Marcus does is none of my concern.”

“Oh, really? Are you sure?”

“Completely. I’ve moved on. I thought both of you had as well.” Anne studied her face. “You two are well suited to each other.” She wasn’t sure why the vampire had an issue with her. Perhaps she was here to rub her nose in the fact that she and Marcus were together. There was something else on the tip of Maya’s tongue. Anne didn’t want to know.

“May I ride with you? I don’t want to interfere with your daily routine—or your life.”

Anne glowered in response. Her insides were boiling. “No. Say what you came to say and then get away from me. I think the order still stands. You are not supposed to contact me. And now I’m late for work.”

It did seem like a slap across Maya’s pretty face. For a brief second, her witch nature, the ugly side of a long line of dominating female predators, came to Anne’s view.

There it is. That’s what Marcus saw, too.
She understood his unease.

Maya composed herself. “Not when I have to defend my fated male from someone coming between us.”

Interesting.

“Worried about keeping your man? I hear that’s a problem for the women in your family.”

Maya’s eyes sparked with flame and she bit her own lip, sending a trickle of blood to the side of her mouth. She swiped it aside with her tongue and inhaled. “You wish,” she hissed.

Anne forced a smile in return. “I don’t come between you. I am no longer interested in Marcus. He has told you the same, I’m sure. I have not spoken to him or seen him since the last day I saw you.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“Not a requirement. You can rot in hell, for all I care.” Anne liked her control and composure. She felt strong, powerful, and whole. The anger she felt towards Maya only strengthened her experience. She added, “Maya, you and I both know Marcus uses women. What makes you think he has not found another innocent mortal he can turn into—what was that you said?—his eternal whore? Maybe you should be looking elsewhere for the female coming between you and Marcus in his bed. It isn’t me.”

“Oh, really? I have seen him over here before.”

Anne’s pulse increased. This surprised her. Then she discounted the truth of it. “Impossible. I have not seen him anywhere.”

But what about the dreams?

She added, “Look, would you two just leave me alone? I don’t want to have anything to do with either one of you.”

“My God, I actually believe you, Anne.”

Anne opened the car door to get in. Maya stopped her from closing it. “He doesn’t know he has lost you to Praetor. I can keep that a secret, if you like.”

“Ah, so he hasn’t traced here and seen Praetor leave my house in the morning. So he hasn’t seen how me makes me feel in bed.”

“But you aren’t fated.”

“No. Sadly, no. But we’re working on it.” Anne liked the effect this lie had on Maya’s face.

“He has not bed you. I would know.”

“My God, Maya. Now you want the
other
man in my life? You’re bored with Marcus and now you want Praetor?” Anne removed Maya’s arm from the car door. “That’s out of my hands. He’d never be a pleasure partner of yours. And we all know you’re fated to Marcus, right? So how come the roaming eyes, hmmm?” It was working. Maya’s eyes were darting about. She developed a twitch at the side of her nose. Anne saw a red blotch form on her chest.

She’s nervous about something.
Maybe she was after Praetor, after all.

“I can keep your secret—your relationship with Praetor—from Marcus. I have no designs on Praetor. But if Marcus asked him to keep his distance from you, he would. You know this.”

“You really think it’s a secret?”

“I do.”

“Why would it matter to me? There are others I can be with. I’ve learned to adjust.”

“Perhaps you are thinking Marcus will come back to you?” The smile Maya followed her words with wasn’t pretty. More like a grimace.

“Like I said,” Anne began, “I think you should be looking elsewhere for the temptress who bulges his pants. I assure you, it isn’t me. If you do catch up to her, tell her I wish her luck. I am done with this.”

Anne stepped inside the cab and closed the door after Maya stepped away. She watched the dark-haired beauty from the tiny rear view mirror of the bomber. She knew it wasn’t likely Maya would give up this easily and wondered what event had occurred to bring her back to California.

It was a busy day at the Center. The new director of the center, Peter, had invited Anne to an early dinner, but she’d wanted to decline. Eating meals with mortals was tricky, at best, since she had to feign being sick to explain for her lack of partaking, or eat and then get rid of her stomach contents right away, which she detested. She saved those occasions for events she absolutely could not get out of, like a society gala dinner or private sit down party. She reluctantly said yes, then drank mineral water with lemon, citing she was on a special diet.

“They’ve done an investigation on some missing persons,” Peter said. “These are people associated with some of our clients at the center. I thought I should share these details with you.”

Anne’s blood pressure went up. She scanned the face of her friend.

“What details?” Her interest was avid, but tried not to show it.

“They all are related to women you’ve counseled, Anne.” He leafed through the spinach salad with his fork.

“I wasn’t aware of that.”

“Anne, they are looking for people who would want to see these guys dead.”

“I would imagine that could be a pretty long list. Can’t see why they are spending the time.”

“Well, they wouldn’t. Except it has come to their attention we’ve lost eight relatives of women at the Center during the past four months or so. That was as of yesterday. Today, they found another two.”

She was filled with dread. Her perfect life was beginning to unpeel like the veneer on a dresser left out in the rain.

How could this be?
She would need to ask Praetor. The timing of Maya’s appearance and the deaths of relatives at the center were too much of a coincidence.

“Two more? Who?” Anne asked.

Peter handed her a list of names, the last two circled. All of them were boyfriends or husbands of her clients, just as he’d told her.

“All these men have died?”

“Yes. And these all have occurred since you came back from your trip to Italy.” He looked back at Anne with sad eyes. “All of them stabbed.”

Anne shuddered. “How awful.”

“I’m afraid the police want to talk to you. I just thought I would give you a head’s up.”

Anne went instantly into high alert. She wondered if Praetor was lending a helpful hand—too helpful. He’d been good at his word, supplying her with his own blood, and told her he didn’t hunt any longer. Did he have a sudden lapse in judgment? An urge he couldn’t control?

She could see Peter noticed her concern. “Anne, I am one hundred percent positive you had nothing to do with any of these. I mean, how could you?”

She didn’t want to look him in the eyes. She didn’t want him to see that she had a theory, and that theory involved Maya.

This could be something Maya could do. And it would be something impossible for Anne to explain, even if they believed her about vampires being real. She needed to speak to Praetor. Surely he would be able to help figure something out.

But how could he control the local authorities if they came after her?

Praetor was grim when Anne told him of the finding. He said he would investigate who the victims were and what evidence they had. He was most disturbed by Maya’s recent appearance.

“So, she says Marcus traces here occasionally?” he asked.

“Yes. Why can’t I detect him?”

“Maybe it’s a bluff. She could be paranoid, you know. Or, maybe he does and just doesn’t want you to know. Maybe my presence here has alarmed him.” Praetor was thoughtful. He tapped his fingers on the table as he mulled something over in his mind.

“He couldn’t be responsible for the killings, could he?”

“No, impossible, Anne. He would never do that.” Praetor tried to smile, but failed. Anne hadn’t seen him worry like this before.

“Then who? Maya?”

“This is someone who is making it look like you are the culprit. That would never be Marcus. My bet is on Maya.” He leaned forward and took Anne’s hands in his. “I need to speak to Marcus in person, make sure we have not started a war between us.”

“Perhaps Maya is right. What if he doesn’t know you have been here?”

“And what likelihood do you think Maya will keep this information to herself?”

“Yes, I see your point.”

“With Maya on the scene, I will need to send someone else to watch over you. I think . . .”

“No. I will be fine. She is bridled from hurting me.”

“But not from hurting your situation or those you care about.”

“Make your peace with Marcus, if you must. I will be fine here. She’s mistaken if she thinks Marcus has shown himself around here.” She chose not to tell him about her erotic dreams. “Once she learns I am truly not with Marcus, I have to think she will leave me alone. How could they accuse me of these murders? Surely there’s no proof.”

Then she thought about the bloody traces in her wastebasket at the office.

“I think you are too optimistic, Anne.”

“She has a child to raise. Surely she has a life to live.”

“You don’t understand. Marcus was her life. You took that away from her. It sounds like that has not returned to her. Regardless if he finds another, you are still the one who stopped their fating ceremony from taking place.”

Anne worried as Praetor’s words echoed over and over. Her
perfect
new life was now unraveling. Even though she’d told him she would be safe, being without the protection of this kind friend was making her nervous.

Someone wanted her to be blamed for these murders, and she had a pretty good idea who that was. And now she would be completely alone.

Chapter 23

Robert and Gary left the Double Eights about eleven o’clock. Gary had too much to drink, so Robert drove his own pickup in order to drop Gary off at his apartment. He helped his friend get out of the truck and pushed him in the direction of the walkway. Robert thought he saw a shadow under the stairwell leading up to Gary’s unit. His friend was babbling something about how unfriendly the girls had been tonight at the bar, and didn’t notice the shadow.