Chapter 9
NINE
CHANEL
“I can’t believe we’ve missed them this many times.” Regan dropped down onto the bench next to the pile of notes we’d gotten from Andreas and Kaso. We’d barely missed them. Well, not so much missed. We found them . . . and lost them.
“This whole catch-me-if-you-can game is getting old.” I crumbled one of the notes into a ball and threw it at the locker closest to me.
I’d stashed my bikini in said locker and was in my matching sweats set.
Regan was dressed much the same. I wasn’t sure how long we’d been here, but it was long enough that if I took my hair-tie out, my hair would stay standing from how dirty it was.
Regan shook her head and leaned back against the lockers. “I love when people have all the audacity . . . but they’re doing too much.”
“Rightttt.” It didn’t matter that he was gorgeous and criminally brilliant or that his slightest touch sent shivers down my spine. This was getting ridiculous. “Way too much.”
“They’re toying with us.” She opened her hand and teal magic swirled around her fingertips, then one of her daggers appeared within her grasp. She rose to her feet and began pacing as she tossed her knife up and down, catching it by the hilt each time.
I leaned my back against the lockers and crossed my arms. “And enjoying it.”
She smirked in my direction. “Yeah, but are you enjoying it?”
“No.” Maybe.
“Liar,” she teased.
I shrugged. “It is what it is at this point. We’ve got to do something different.”
Regan glanced down at the fading scratches on her knuckles. “Speak for yourself. I liked hitting him. Too bad he liked it too.”
“What the hell are you two doing?” Zuriel’s voice boomed just across from us.
Regan startled and threw her knife right at his chest. His hand snapped up, and he caught it by the hilt an inch from his skin. Again. He raised his eyebrows at her. “Must you?”
“Must you just appear out of nowhere like that?” She didn’t apologize for throwing the knife at him. She just looked at him like it was his own fault for putting himself and her in that position.
He wrinkled his nose at the two of us. “You’ve been lingering around here for four days.”
“We’re thinking.” I motioned to the pile of notes we’d collected from the brothers.
Zuriel stepped forward and swiped his arm across the bench, knocking the notes to the ground. “You stink.”
“Bit rude. Just because we haven’t caught them yet, it doesn’t mean we stink at our jobs.” Regan walked up to him and opened her hand for her dagger. “Our track record is better than that.”
“No, you both literally smell.” He took a step back from Regan. “It’s offensive.”
I glanced at Regan. “When was the last time I took a shower?”
She pursed her lips and looked to the ceiling as though thinking. “I wanna say maybe five days ago. Right after I lost my shoe at the one concert with the huge dude with pink and teal hair. You know, I think that guy stole my shoe.”
“It was a good shoe too.” I shook my head in sympathy. “But yeah, that’s definitely the last time . . . I might be due.”
Zuriel looked from Regan to me and back again. “You’re both just not right.”
“But we’re effective.” I snickered.
“Together.” Two folders appeared in his hands, and he snapped his hands toward us, handing one folder to each of us. “And separately.”
Regan snagged her folder and gave me a sideways look. Then she looked back down at her paper just as I looked down at mine.
I flipped the folder open and looked at the papers. “So you think you’ll give us easy targets to get us back on track?”
When he didn’t answer, I looked up and he was gone, leaving us alone in the locker room once more. “I hate when he does that.”
“You and me both.” Regan moved closer to me and sniffed the air around me. “Oh yeah. It’s definitely you.”
I smacked her hip with my folder. “I think it’s you.”
She shrugged. “It seems like it’s us.”
I rolled my eyes. “I’m going to shower and then head out for my target. Where are you heading?”
“Florida. No more snow for me.” She smirked. “Where are you heading?”
I sighed. “Massachusetts.”
“Simple enough.” She wagged her eyebrows. “Race you to see who gets back first?”
“Absolutely.” I paused. “After the showers.”
She sniffed her underarm. “Yeah, for sure.”
We hurried to the showers, and I raced through the shampoo and conditioner process.
I was out in minutes with my damp hair waving past my shoulders and down my back.
Back in the locker room, we were in our leather hunting gear in moments.
While she went to the hall of portals, I raced to the roof to fly toward Massachusetts.
My wings shot from my back, and I leapt off the roof out into the night.
The Serenity glowed and danced all around me, and I relished the feel of the wind on my face, even though it was chilly and it made the tip of my nose cold.
It didn’t take me long to fly to the sleepy town of Salem.
It was located just off the water. Two weeks after Halloween, Salem was clear of the crowds that normally lingered during the holiday, leaving the town quiet and empty.
I landed in the center of Salem Commons, which was a large open park with space enough for people to roam freely.
This late at night, the darkness would cloak me.
I tucked in my wings and started walking toward Essex Street where all the main events took place and many of the most popular shops were located.
My eyes lingered on the Serenity and I searched for the darkening in it.
It was coming from the opposite direction of Essex, and I hurried toward one of the side streets.
I wove my way through the small neighborhood, glancing around the New England homes.
They stood close together, and anyone could hide in the shadows the homes offered.
But the darkening was closer to the water, and I found myself hurrying toward it—past where the haunted Hawthorn Hotel stood, past another hotel farther down, and through a small collection of shops.
Here the air was cooler and the wind whipped harder.
I came to an open field that overlooked the water.
Derby Wharf jutted out from the shoreline into the water.
A lighthouse that looked like a large white block stood on the end of the wharf.
The tangy scent of blood carried on the wind toward me, and an even darker shadow moved out behind that lighthouse.
My prey was a vampire that’d taken too much blood and killed a younger man only days ago.
It was his first offense, but it was an offense that would get him a one-way ticket back to Fourth Realm.
I opened my hand and pink magic swirled around my fingers and up my wrist. My sword appeared there, and I wrapped my fingers around the familiar hilt as I marched out onto the wharf.
A chill ran down my spine and something in my stomach twisted.
This wasn’t right. Though the wind was cold and gentle on my face, the smell of blood grew heavier.
A low, helpless moan came from behind the lighthouse and I quickened my steps.
I rounded the lighthouse, and there on the ground lay a woman.
She was unconscious and barely breathing.
Her heartbeat was sluggish and faint. The two puncture wounds on her neck seeped with lines of blood.
The wind moved behind me, and I glanced over my shoulder just as a young vampire began swinging a machete at my head.
In a flash, Kaso melted from the shadows and wrapped his hand around the vampire’s neck.
He lifted him off the ground and shook him hard.
The machete clanged to the ground, and the vampire’s eyes widened as he clawed at Kaso’s hand.
I could only watch as he viciously twisted his hand to the side and snapped the vampire’s neck with a loud snap. His body went limp and my eyes widened. “Are you following me?”
Kaso dropped his body at my feet. “You’re welcome.”
“Oh please.” I motioned to the vampire on the ground. “Like I couldn’t have done that.”
“He was swinging a machete at your neck.” He dusted his hands off. “I stopped him.”
“So you are following me.” I crossed my arms over my chest. "That’s a bit creepy you know.”
“You could just say thanks and call it a day. You know what I mean?” He was back in another perfectly pressed suit with those damn suspenders. “All I’m sayin’ is, I’m a good guy.”
“Seriously? You want me to think you’re a good guy while you’re helping hide a criminal like Christopher?” I shook my head. “You make no sense.”
He walked around me toward the woman on the ground. He pulled a syringe from inside the pocket of his jacket and bent down over her. He grabbed her arm, instantly finding a vein there and plunging the needle in. “I happen to think I make perfect sense.”
“What are you doing to her?” Somehow, I didn’t think he would hurt her any further, and that realization brought me up short. I was supposed to be hunting him and stopping him, and yet here I was watching him inject something into a poor human.
“It’s a cocktail of human meds to stop her from bleeding and get her heart pumping, with a touch of magic. She’ll be alright.” He covered the needle and put it back in his pocket.
I let my sword disappear into my magic and crossed my arms. “You seem like you’re used to that. Practice makes perfect.”
He gave me a smirk and flashed his sexy fangs. “If you want me to bite you and fix that curiosity, all you gotta do is ask.”
“As if I’d let a criminal bite me.” I hated that I found the thought of him biting me way too intriguing. "
“I was hired to do a job, just like you do yours. I’m a man of my word. The notes we’re leaving are so you know we’re involved. I’m not stopping you from banishing this prick. He sucks, so banish him.” He shrugged. “Or keep chasing us. I’m liking our little encounters. Or should I call them dates?”
“Date?” My voice rose higher than I wanted and I cleared my throat. “When I go on a date, it doesn’t end with the guy disappearing and leaving a note behind.”
He looked me up and down. “Yeah, I can believe that. Maybe next time I’ll stay for breakfast.”
“Breakfast?” My eyebrows shot up as it hit me. “You think I would spend the night with you? No. Hell no. I’m hunting you. You’re my prey, not my date. Again, you’re a professional criminal and I’m a Virtue. We don’t go together.”
“Why you gotta be like that?” He motioned between the two of us. “I’m not so bad, and a criminal? Nah, not me.”
“Prove it.” For some reason I wanted him to prove me wrong. Maybe that was why he kept getting away. Maybe all my efforts were halfhearted.
Kaso stepped in closer and his heady scent surrounded me and those golden eyes bore into mine. He lowered his voice. “Next Saturday he’s gonna be in Paris on the Eiffel Tower. I’ll tell him he’s got a cloaking potion on but instead it’ll be water. You just go and grab him.”
“Only to find more notes?” I didn’t believe him.
“Not for nothing, but here I was thinkin’ that ladies like a well-written letter.” He scooped up the woman and held her in his arms. “I’ll make sure she lives.”
“You better.”
“You have my word.”
“Is that worth anything?” I wanted to believe him, and deep down I did. I didn’t think he would hurt her.
“Be there Saturday and find out.” He turned and walked away from me, heading back up the wharf. In seconds he used his vampire speed and was gone, leaving me alone with the vampire on the ground.
I bent down low and picked him up, throwing him over my shoulder.
He wouldn’t die from his broken neck but it would take him a while to heal.
Long enough that I would be able to get him back to the portal.
I opened my wings and shot into the air.
The flight back went by in a blur, and my mind whirled with all my interactions with Kaso.
I needed to get over this fixation with him.
When I landed on the roof, I looked for any sign of Regan but didn’t see her.
I hurried down the elevator to the bank of portals with the vampire draped over my shoulder.
Regan stood there with another vampire handcuffed and standing by her side. “I win.”
I dropped my prey on the ground in front of her and chuckled. “What do I owe you?”
"Hmm, I want a mountain of tots.” She smirked.
“Done.”
Zuriel appeared before us and looked at the vampire at my feet. “Broken neck? Interesting.”
“Whatever means necessary, right?” It felt wrong to hide what had really happened, but how could I tell him Kaso did this when this stupid vampire tried to kill me?
He shrugged. “You can leave them. Riven is coming.”
The vampire Regan brought in whimpered and lost control of his bladder in an instant. She took a step back. “That’s all you, boss.”
She turned on her heels and hooked her hand into my elbow to hurry down the hall. Once we were out of earshot, she hissed beneath her breath, “Okay, something happened. Tell me everything.”
I sighed and tried to figure out where to start. “What are you doing on Saturday?”
“Why? Do we have a date?” Her eyes sparked with humor.
“Actually . . . yeah, we do.”
At my serious tone, all humor disappeared from her face, and she met my eye. “I’m in.”
The corner of my lip pulled up in a half-smile. “I knew you would be.”