"An ancient, useless love?" He laughed. "Oh, I see where this is going. You"re jealous, but too d.a.m.n proud to admit it."
He watched tiny fires blaze in her gaze. "Jealous? Have you lost your mind completely? In order to be jealous, I"d actually have to care about more than your s.e.xual prowess."
"And?"
"And I don"t! If you think you have anything else that interests me, you"re overestimating your so-called charms. When you"ve lived as long as I have and had as many lovers as I"ve had, it takes more than a skillful d.i.c.k to touch your deepest emotions."
Her words stabbed into the ache in his chest. He sucked in a breath. "You know what? I don"t have the time or the inclination for your s.h.i.t. You want to pretend this is all about s.e.x? Well, f.u.c.k you. I"ll go get myself a woman who wants to be more to me than just a meaningless f.u.c.k."
He swung around and stormed out of the kitchen.
She followed him through the apartment to the front door. "Jason-"
"f.u.c.k off!" he snapped without turning. "I"m going to find myself a woman who is alive enough to want something more than mindless, meaningless s.e.x."
"If you leave like this..."
"There"s no d.a.m.ned if about it. I am leaving." He jerked open the door, stepped through and slammed it in her startled face.
It would be a cold day in h.e.l.l before he"d allow the silly b.i.t.c.h to trample all over his feelings again.
Chapter Eleven.
Jace opened his condo door later that afternoon and found himself facing a tall man with dark hair and gray eyes. Although the man wore an expensive suit and what looked like handcrafted leather loafers, he had an aura that whispered policeman.
Jace wasn"t fond of people who dropped in unexpectedly, nor was he in the mood to be grilled. But he"d promised Wilfredo he would check this man out. Still, he saw no need to be particularly pleasant. "Detective Guidry-Sonnier, I presume."
The man nodded. "And you are Eric Jason Makefield...vampire hunter."
Jace arched a brow. The coming conversation should be interesting. "I have no idea what you"re talking about." He stepped back from the door, his hand extended.
Guidry-Sonnier strolled past him.
Five minutes later, they sat facing each other in the living room. Jace studied the other man. Even without Wilfredo"s warning, he would have known that Jordan Guidry-Sonnier was not a normal human. He felt the other man probing his mind. He easily rebuffed the attempts, resisting the urge to do a little mind probing of his own. Unlike Wilfredo, he had no particular concern about his probe being detected.
"So you were about to tell me about your vampire killings."
This cop had b.a.l.l.s. "Vampires? As in Dracula?" Jace smiled. "Have you been drinking, Sergeant?"
"I never drink on duty and yes, I do mean vampires." A small smile curved his lips.
"Never heard of the creatures. Besides fairytales, what brings you here?"
"Have you ever heard of an individual named Rogae Chalkin?"
Jace formed a mental picture of a pale, centuries-old vampire who had been fond of wearing all white, including a tall hat and a long cape. After chasing him for several months across a number of state lines, Jace had finally cornered and killed him roughly two years earlier. "Can"t say I"ve ever heard of a man by that name. Why do you ask?"
"You"ve never heard of a man by that name? What about a vampire? Ever met or killed a vampire named Rogae Chalkin?"
"Have I said or done anything to make you think I believe in creatures of the night?"
Guidry-Sonnier leaned forward in his chair. "Let"s cut to the chase, shall we? I know you believe in them. h.e.l.l, you even spend part of your time living with one." He arched a brow. "Or are you going to tell me you don"t know a vampire named Wilfredo Miguel Santiago?"
Jace frowned. Why the h.e.l.l hadn"t Wilfredo wiped Sonnier"s mind before allowing him to leave the mansion? "What the h.e.l.l makes you think Santiago"s anything but-"
"A vampire? Look, you should have noticed by now that, although I"m human, I am not without certain psychic abilities. My mother is a Creole Ritual Priestess. I know when I"m in the presence of someone who"s not human. I know Santiago isn"t human. I"m sure that"s no revelation to you, since you aren"t fully human either."
"Why are you here?"
"Have you ever heard of Patrick O"Reilly?"
Pat O"Reilly had been Chalkin"s lover and favorite lackey. "Should I have?"
"He knows you, even if you don"t know him. He"s the one who filed a report of a suspected murder with the district attorney"s office. He came to us with a cane which had once belonged to Chalkin. It was covered with what appeared to be Chalkin"s blood."
"Appeared to be? Don"t you know blood when you see it?"
"This particular blood was a little degraded, as one might expect a centuries-old vampire"s to be."
"Why would any of this interest me?"
"The cane had your fingerprints on it and O"Reilly told us you"d been chasing them all over the country for weeks before Chalkin got tired of running and decided to confront you. As you know, he was never seen alive again."
"And his body?"
"Never found."
"I see. Some nut comes to you with tales of creatures of the night and those who hunt them and you come hara.s.sing me? In case you haven"t noticed, Sergeant, this is New Jersey, not Philly. The last time I looked, I think your authority stopped at Philly"s city limits."
"A more important question might be why you haven"t thrown me out already?"
Jace smiled. "I"ll be honest. Santiago is interested in you."
The detective"s gaze narrowed. "In me? Why?"
"How do you feel about vampires?"
"So now you"re willing to admit they exist?"
"It"s possible. So tell me how you feel about vampires. I"m not talking about your average, live and let live vampire."
"Live and let live? Are there such creatures?"
Jace shrugged. "So I"m told, but those aren"t the kind I"m talking about. There"s another kind, or so I"ve heard, who feed from and kill any human who is unfortunate enough to cross his or her path."
"Are there many of this latter breed?"
"How would I know? I"ve only heard that some feel that breed deserves to be taken down. There"s talk that there is an entire group of people trained for that very purpose."
"Sounds like a foolhardy group."
"Possibly." He smiled. "You look like just the kind of person foolish enough to take on such a task."
"Are you offering me a job as a fool?"
Jace laughed. "Not me. However, Santiago feels you"d make a perfect fool. So what do you say? Would you like to meet the master craftsman of fools?"
Tatiana stood at her kitchen stove sauteing the mushrooms and spices for her red gravy. The adjoining pot contained spaghetti. The aroma of fresh baked rolls filled the air. Red wine chilled in the refrigerator. Vlad"s favorite meal should help put him in a receptive mood.
"So how was Mikhel when you left Boston?"
"The little p.i.s.sant was as arrogant and annoying as ever."
She smiled, certain Vlad had worn out his Boston welcome-at least as far as Mikhel was concerned. "And how was Erica?"
Vlad"s voice had softened when he answered. "She"s...quite a woman."
"Is she?"
"Yes. You know he doesn"t deserve her."
"She seems to have made quite an impression on you."
"She"s very...pa.s.sionate."
She placed the spaghetti in a large bowl and carried it, along with grated cheese, to the table. She linked her arms around Vlad"s neck and kissed his cheek. "I"m sure she was very grateful that you rescued Mikhel."
He grinned up at her. "I look forward to further expressions of her grat.i.tude."
Tat had a feeling Mikhel would soon find Vlad making frequent trips to Boston-all while Mikhel was at work. "I"m sure Mikhel is equally grateful."
"You couldn"t tell it from all the carrying on he did just because I didn"t pull away when Erica kissed me."
"Well, it must have been like a sign from G.o.d when you showed up to rescue him."
He frowned, pressing his cheek against hers. "When he realized I wasn"t Aleksei, he was resigned to dying. The little jerk actually thought I"d stand by while those bozos raped him. He doesn"t think much of me."
She stroked a hand over his long, silky dreadlocks. "That might have been the case before, but now he knows that if he"s in trouble, one of his big brothers, whether it be Aleksei, you or Andrei, will be there to help him."
Vlad grinned. "If he doesn"t realize that yet, I"ll have to slap him around until the idea sinks in...after accepting the grateful thanks of the luscious Erica."
She smiled and returned to the stove. "How did you find Mother?"
"Once she had her fair-haired boy back in her arms, she was satisfied."
Once Vlad"s voice would have been rife with bitterness and jealousy. Now he almost sounded amused. Maybe things had really taken a turn for the better.
After tasting the gravy, she decided it was seasoned just so. "Time to chow down." She transferred the gravy to a warming bowl and carried it to the table. Moving across the room, she got the wine. With everything on the table, she sat opposite Vlad.
As they ate, she talked about her latest magazine acquisition. After their meal, they took a second gla.s.s of wine to the living room and sat on the love seat.
"Oh Lord, I"m dense. I haven"t asked about Adam or Slayer."
"They"re both fine. Adam is working late and Slayer is staying to make sure no one else f.u.c.ks what he considers his man."
She laughed. "I"m surprised you haven"t kicked his handsome little a.s.s by now."
He shook his head. "The narcissistic, s.e.x-crazy creature has grown on me. h.e.l.l, I might not even object if Adam is willing to give the little d.i.c.khead some a.s.s."
She arched a brow. "You are in a great mood."
He shrugged. "For the first time in my life, I"m feeling positive about life in general."
Then this was definitely the time to press him. "Have you given any thought to what you"d do if you ever met the hunter sent to kill you?"
"When I find the time I plan to look him up and return the favor."
She sipped her gla.s.s of blood wine. "What do you mean?"
"What do I mean?" He blinked. "Isn"t it obvious? I mean I"m going to kill him."
She set her gla.s.s down. "He didn"t really do any harm."
"I plan to be more skillful than him. He won"t be coming away from our encounter alive."
"You hate him?"
"Hate him? No. I have no particular feelings one way or the other about him."
"Then why go out of your way to kill him?"
"Because I don"t take kindly to people who try to kill me." He frowned, leaned back in his chair, and studied her face. "What"s your interest in him?"
She averted her gaze. "What makes you think I have any interest in him?"
He reached over to cup his hand over hers. "Tatiana? What is it?"
"Nothing."
His fingers tightened around her. "I know I"m not Aleksei, but-"