IM02 - Hunters & Prey (5 page)

“When you getting here, man?” He shouted into the small clamshell phone. “I can’t be waiting all night. Let’s do this.”

A low mumbling, electronically-enhanced voice answered him, but I couldn’t make out exactly what was said.

“Man, if you’re not here in five, I’m going without you. That fool is dead. I don’t care whose family he belongs to.”

I didn’t need to hear the rest of the conversation. That little bit was enough for me to sense the evil in him. He was excited and cocky, ready for this night’s wicked schemes, whatever they might be.

Perfect. Dinner is served.

He snapped the phone shut and pocketed it. “Fucking douche bag. I don’t know why I bother with his sorry ass.” He turned and walked back into the shadow of the bridge.

I stepped onto the path and began walking toward him. My heart beat rapidly with anticipation. The beast inside me roared for blood.

Matching my pace with his steps, I was able to sneak up to him without his notice. I hovered behind him for a moment, savoring his perfume, contemplating my next move. Some nights I liked to prolong the moment, make them understand why they were going to die, watch the sorrow fill their eyes, and listen to them make their apologies to God. Tonight, however, I did not have time for that. I needed to be quick about it.

“Evening,” I said, enjoying the slight jump he made at the sound of my voice.

He spun around, fist clenched and ready to attack. Wide brown eyes locked onto my face. “What, who…”

“Shhh,” I whispered as I put a finger to his lips. I stared into his eyes, using my hypnotic power to hold him in place. Silently, I commanded him to drop his weapon.

I smiled, giving him a good view of my fangs. His eyes grew wide with shock and fear. I saw the mental wheels turning in his head as he realized exactly what I was. He shuddered, unable to move from where he stood, and the gun in his hand fell with a loud
clunk
onto the ground.

Vampires may be a thing of myth to most, but when those unmistakable fangs are mere inches from your neck, disbelief goes out the window.

I savored the fear leaching out of his pores. His scent intensified, hot and sweet, like pure honey. My body tingled with excitement, knowing I would soon have the blood I needed and desired.

“Try not to scream,” I whispered.

He gulped and his face paled, turning a ghostly white.

Leaning forward, I wrapped my arms around his body and bent my head to his neck sinking my teeth into his soft, salty flesh.

His body tensed as my teeth broke the skin. A loud cry erupted from his mouth. He struggled against me, flailing his arms and beating them against my back in a pathetic, futile attempt to break free. He stomped at my feet and tried to push away from the wall to make me lose my balance. Finally, he tried to force his arms between our bodies. I let him have his feeble attempt to break free. His frantic movements caused me no real pain; they only served to make his heart pump faster, sending gushes of sweet blood into my awaiting mouth.

As his movements became weaker, I pushed against him, leaning him into the wall to keep him upright. He jerked and moaned as the blood loss caused him to go into shock. I sucked hard at the wound, drinking greedily, not wanting to waste time with this kill.

My body pulsed with energy. My heart sped faster, pumping his fresh blood through my veins, warming me. The dizzying head rush was like the high of a drug. The more I drank, the more I wanted. I could have drunk him forever, but as soon as the head rush hit me, his heart slowed. I knew that terrible fading rhythm as he edged closer to the last few moments before death. I stopped just before I heard the final beat of his heart.

Biting my tongue, I mixed my blood with saliva and licked the wound, sealing it and hiding my involvement with his death. I dropped him to the ground, still feeling the dizzy effects as my body flushed with energy.

I let the feeling run through me, placing a hand to the wall for support as I took deep calming breaths.

Just as soon as the ecstasy filled me, it left. I licked away the last few drops from my lips, savoring the sweet taste. His blood would sustain me for another day or two, but the immediate pleasurable effects faded quickly. That was what made it easy to give in to excess and hunt down another. Temptation is a powerful monster, and I worked hard to keep that monster at bay. I didn’t like to kill, though the bloodlust made it easier. Unless there was a need, I wouldn’t intentionally hunt down more than one.

Now to do something about this body.

I looked around, hoping to find a good place to dispose of the corpse lying in a heap at my feet.

A small, cold, prickling sensation tickled at the back of my neck. I knew this feeling all too well; I was being watched. Whoever it was, he (or she) was immortal. The sensation was unmistakable.

Closing my eyes, I sniffed at the air, searching for the scent of whoever was watching me.

Nothing.

I twisted left and right, trying to discern the direction this sensation came from, to no avail. Whoever it was didn’t want me to know they were here.

The other vampires I’d had interactions with were all now dead, except for Lysander, the Peregrinus and of course, Santino. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from meeting one at random. An ominous sense of worry struck me.

What if it is Santino? No, he wouldn’t be so close to my home.

Stepping out from under the bridge, I chanced a look around. The bike path was still empty.

The prickling feeling at my neck intensified. Adrenaline mixed with fresh energy from the blood I had drunk caused my heart to speed, pounding in my chest like a tribal drum. Intuition told me to run, but curiosity held me in place.

“You can come out,” I whispered, knowing a vampire would hear me at a great distance without having to shout.

“We meet again, Alyssa,” a low grumbling voice answered back.

My pounding heart stopped. I choked on a breath of air. I knew this voice.

Shit! Not again.

A raspy laugh came from the top of the street. “You young ones are so easy to track. Didn’t your master teach you? Never hunt near your home.”

He was right. I should have gone into the city.
But how does he know that I am so close to home?

Dread struck me with the force of a Mack truck.

“Let’s get down to business, shall we?” Santino said loudly.

He leapt from the top of the street, down into the wash, landing with a crack and a thud.

The loud crack was the unmistakable sound of bone. Santino had to have broken his ankle as he landed, but I knew that wouldn’t stop him for long. A vampire can heal pretty quickly, especially when we have recently fed. His face contorted, wincing in pain for a moment before he stood upright. He limped a few steps, and then straightened, walking in a normal slow pace toward me.

His cold, cruel eyes fixed on me with a menacing gaze. A low, growling laugh rumbled out of him as he approached.

I knew there was no fighting him. He was much stronger, older, and deadlier than any other of my kind. I turned and ran, not looking back, down Pitman Wash. I wasn’t going to stand there and let Santino or any of his hidden minions get me.

I needed to get far away and couldn’t head back to the house. I was already too close to home. That would not only give Lysander away, but the rest of the Peregrinus clan too. I had to find some place to hide and get a message to them without Santino finding out.

I could tell he was still a little weak, but the fact that he recovered so fast from the fall told me he’d recently fed. His most likely source would have been another vampire. He would easily be able to keep up with me on foot. I needed something faster.

Vampires, though faster than mortals, are still limited by our own endurance. Like a cheetah, I might be able to reach high speeds quickly, but I can only maintain them for a short time. I needed fast transportation, and I needed it quickly.

I ran as fast as my legs would carry me, down the small canal that comprised Pittman Wash. It ended at the intersection of two busy streets.

Shit, where to go now?

I looked around for signs of Santino or his minions. There was no time to stop and try to sense anything or anyone in the area. If he was following me, he would be close behind. I needed to keep moving.

I walked toward the intersection, passing a bar. A car door slammed, catching my attention. I looked over and spotted the familiar yellow of a taxi cab.

In a superhuman blur of motion, I ran over to the car, stepping in front of it before the driver started to pull away. Slamming my hand on the hood of the car, I yelled at the driver, “Hey, I need a ride.”

The driver, an obese, scruffy blob of a man, gave me an impatient glare. I flung open the door to the cab, almost ripping it off in my haste.

“Maryland and Harmon.”

The cabbie turned to me, barking his words. “Lady, I got other calls to get to. What are you, a tourist? We don’t pick up randoms. You need a cab, you call it in like everyone else.”

I stared deeply into his eyes, willing him to relax, silently telling him to listen to me. I had no time to argue with him. Santino would be only steps behind me.

His eyes glossed over and his face softened, clearing of all expression. I could tell I was having an effect on him.

“Take me to Maryland and Harmon,” I said again in a controlled monotone voice.

“Uh, yeah, sure thing, lady.” He turned around and put the car into gear.

CHAPTER 4

*****

T
he cab pulled into the parking lot of a little strip mall directly across from the campus of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

I knew I shouldn’t have come here, but it was the first safe place I could think of. I needed to hide out in an obscure location, yet one that was filled with humans. Hiding in plain sight was the only way I could assure my safety until I could get a message to my clan. Santino protected humans from my kind. He wouldn’t dare attack in the open and expose me, or the secret of vampires, to mortals.

My body hummed with nervous energy. I gulped a dry breath as I opened the cab door. Two hundred feet away stood my old mortal hang out, Café Copioh—a hole-in-the-wall, bohemian café. I had disappeared from here the night I was turned, and no one—not even my best friend—knew what had happened to me. I’d been forced to leave without saying goodbye to all things and people from my mortal life, reluctantly accepting, for the most part, that I would never see them again.

Reaching into my pocket, I grabbed a few bills and tossed them at the cabbie. “Keep the change.”

He grunted and scooped the bills off the passenger seat.

I took a shaky step out into the parking lot, imagining the reaction I might get when I walked into the cafe.
What if they recognize me for what I am now? What can I say?

Stopping short of the door, I looked through the front window. As usual, the café was filled to the walls. It drew a unique brand of clientele from the university and surrounding neighborhood: Goths, artists, musicians, and college kids. I knew most of the regulars, and that fact had me worried. They might ask me where I’d been. Months had passed since I’d last seen them. I needed to make up some kind of alibi, something simple that they might believe.

I looked down at my hands noticing how pale they appeared. A wave of cold realization came over me. My knees suddenly felt weak.

This is a bad idea.
Before I could do the right thing—turn and walk away—the front door swung open, sending a rush of coffee- and incense-filled air into my face.

“Oh, God! Lyssa!” A blur of blonde hair and cream-colored skin rushed toward me. “It
is
you!” Arms wrapped around my neck, shocking me with their warmth. “I was so worried about you! You never answered your cell. You never came back to the café. When I saw your apartment had been broken into, I feared the worst. I’m so glad you’re okay.” Her words came out in a single breath. She squeezed me tight then abruptly jerked back. “Oh my God. You’re freezing. Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, Fallon.”
Yep! Coming here was a bad idea.
“Just had the AC up too high in the cab, that’s all.”

Her deep brown eyes grew wide as she pulled back to look at me. I’d seen this look so many times on my victims before I ended them. She knew something was wrong with me. She could see the differences: my pale skin, my light eyes, maybe even the tips of my fangs. I should have known she would. Fallon was my best friend. She’d known me all my life. She’d probably notice a new freckle on my face—if I had any.

A frown played across her small, heart-shaped face. “No. You’re not fine. Alyssa, what happened to you? Where have you been?”

“Look, let’s get inside. We can talk in there.” I took a glance behind me, to see if I had been followed. The Goths were hanging around the café, as usual, but I didn’t see anyone else nor feel the presence of any vampires. I’d be safe, for a little while, inside.