Fading Darkness (Bloodmarked #1) (33 page)

“Well, when you finish your drink, do you
think you could manage to get back to the apartment without ending up in jail?”
he added drolly.

“I can try. No promises though,” I replied,
just as sarcastically, and I hung up, feeling good about having the last word.

Seconds later, my phone buzzed again, and I
opened it to find that I had a text message. When I clicked on it, it read,
“Try hard, because I’m not bailing you out.”

Damn, he was obnoxious. Now that I had the
cover of a dark night, I jogged down the creaky old fire escape and hit the
ground running.

I tried taking the shortest path back to
Gavin’s apartment but got detoured by patrol cars with red and blue flashing
lights. Ducking through alleys and behind dumpsters, I dodged them pretty well
most of the way. I dipped behind one seriously smelly dumpster in need of
emptying as I spied a couple of cops issuing a traffic citation to a
middle-aged man across the street. Waiting was becoming detrimental to my
safety, but it wasn’t getting any easier. I once heard patience was a virtue,
but at the moment, I wasn’t feeling very virtuous.

Just as the cops were wrapping up their
warning, there was a shuffling noise right behind me that made me spin. There
was nothing there, but the sensation of a vampire was strong now. It had been
so long since I had faced one, I almost forgot what to pay attention to. Then,
a familiar voice broke through the silence in the alley and ricocheted off the
walls. It came from behind me, on top of the dumpster and made me jump.

“What are we hiding from?”

“Jesus, Shane, when did you get so
stealthy?” I asked, trying to slow my heart rate. He stood on the dumpster
looking down at me with black eyes.

“I’ve always had skills. You just seem to be
a little preoccupied. What’s wrong, baby?”

“Don’t pretend you haven’t heard, and where
the hell have you been by the way?”

“Around. Just thought I would keep my
distance since I had no new information to offer, and the last time we talked,
you weren’t exactly friendly toward me,” he answered with overdone sincerity. I
never trusted Shane, and I wasn’t about to start. There were always motives
behind ulterior motives when it came to him. He jumped down from the dumpster,
and out of paranoia, my eyes darted back to the cops, who both glanced our way.

In an instant, his arm snaked around my
shoulder with his elbow hooking my neck, and he pulled me into his side. I
began pulling away, and he just held me tighter to his body as he pulled me
into a quick stroll down the sidewalk.

“What the hell are you doing? Get off of
me,” I argued as I tried failingly to push myself away. He didn’t budge, and
after a block and a half, he loosened his grip but kept his arm over me.

“Stay here. I don’t think they saw you,” he
said.

I got it then. He was hiding me from the
cops. He was helping me escape. Immediately, I became suspicious. Once we made
it another block, I pushed him away. “Why are you helping me?”

“Why would I want you to end up in jail?
You’re much more useful to me out here killing vampires, so I can claim their
territories. It’s win-win. What we have, baby, is a symbiotic relationship. I
help you, you help me.”

“Then, why is it that I’m doing all the work?”
I asked. “Well, not all the work, seeing as how someone is out there killing
ancients,” I said.

“Good. Someone finally got fed up with their
superior attitudes,” he snorted.

“You don’t seem too bothered by someone else
out there that’s taking down badass vampires. Aren’t you worried about
yourself?” I asked curiously.

“I’m not an ancient, so no. Whoever is doing
it, I’m not even on their radar,” he said, pointblank.

“You don’t know who’s doing it?”

“Word is, he’s a ghost. Does your boyfriend
know who’s behind it?”

“No, not that I know of, anyway,” I said,
and Shane seemed to take satisfaction in that fact. His expression was amused.

“So there’s something wonder boy doesn’t
know?” he laughed.

“Shut up.”

“Why are you so worried about them? They
would kill you if they could get close to you. Your boyfriend has made sure
that doesn’t happen. They’re all still hung up on that whole prophecy thing.”

“What prophecy thing?” I asked, my interest
peeked.

“Something about the one who will come and
destroy all vampires, blah, blah, blah. The First are the ones who started that
whole thing, but the ancients have always gone along with it.”

“All vampires? So you don’t believe that?”

“No. it’s just a bunch of paranoid old vampires
talking. Is your boyfriend worried?”

“Stop calling him that. What about your
girlfriend?”

“What about her? She’s gone,” he replied
coldly.

“So if I see her, you wouldn’t care if I
killed her,” I asked.

“If you find her, be my guest,” he said.

“Well, this has been a blast. Anything else
you have to say?”

“I got nothing. You better run home to your
beaux. He’s probably waiting for you,” he said.

“Fuck off,” I said before turning down the
street. I wasn’t taking any chances those last few miles. When I turned the
corner of the next block, I took off in a full sprint and didn’t stop until I
was a couple blocks from his building. I had contemplated going all the way to
his apartment, but I needed just a few more moments of alone time.

It would have worked, had it not been for
the three cop cars that came to a roaring stop all around me. Suddenly, my
alone time was being interrupted by sirens and flashing lights, and, oh yeah,
six other people.

†

For a moment, time seemed to stop, and I
figured I had two options. One, I could run and easily escape them but give
them even more reasons to want to hunt me down and lock me up. Or two, I could
surrender, and allow them to take me into custody, and possibly face who knew
how many years in prison. I went with option number two, considering I could
just break free any time I wanted. Plus, it would give me a chance to plea my
case, or at least, the believable part, leaving out a few supernatural details.

They surrounded me on all sides and
approached with caution. I counted five all together, and as they yelled commands
like, “Put both hands on your head,” I wondered where the sixth was. I almost
giggled at the parallelism between this very moment and every police procedural
show I had ever watched on television.

I was manhandled and shoved against the
nearest patrol car as handcuffs were slapped around my wrists. As my rights
were being read to me, I couldn’t help feeling like I was in an episode of Law
and Order. The cop who put the cuffs on me pulled me off the car and walked me
over to another car that was unmarked. He was middle-aged with reddish orange
hair and a well-trimmed goatee, and he looked like he’d seen his share of
doughnut shops throughout his law enforcement career.

He opened the back door of the black car and
grunted, “Get in.”

Hmmm. Friendly. With four other cops holding
their holsters, their eyes trained on me, it wasn’t as if I had another option.
I ducked my head low to avoid an unnecessary bump and slid into the back seat
of the car. Not expecting any company, I plopped down hard against the stiff
leather cushion with both elbows poking out from behind me to avoid smashing my
hands. The second my butt hit the seat, however, my right elbow struck the arm
of another person.

“Oh!” I exclaimed in surprise. “Shit. I’m
sorry,” I started my apology, but it stopped short when I looked up at the
sixth officer. I had recognized that silvery blond hair and blue eyes only from
pictures.

“Lucille,” he said simply.

“Chief Beckett,” I mirrored his hello with
more astonishment in my voice. I wasn’t really sure how to continue from there.
It was the first time meeting Holly’s father. A part of me wanted to be cordial
and introduce myself properly, but this man was about to lock me up in some
penitentiary for murder, so my first impression was already pretty much shot to
hell. It might have been a little late for proper etiquette.

“I apologize if my men were rough with you,
but we couldn’t take any chances if there is anyone watching,” he said.

“Wh-what?” I stuttered, a little confused as
to why he would be apologizing to me.

“Here’s the deal. Yes, you are our number
one suspect in these murder cases because you were the only one witnessed at
the scene of the crime. So I am required to bring you in for questioning, but
with no solid evidence, no proof that you could have been in so many places at
once, no one actually seeing you kill anyone, I am inclined to write this off
as another violent vampire attack,” he explained rationally.

I completely agreed. Wait! Did he just say…?

No, he couldn’t have. My eyes shot to meet
his, only to find that steely gaze remain calm and focused on me.

“What, do you think I’m that stupid? I am a
detective, you know,” he said, with a hint of a smile. Wow, was that where Holly
got her sense of humor from.

“St. Louis doesn’t end up on the most
dangerous towns list all the time for nothing. Yes, every town has its issues,
but it’s hard to ignore the occasional bodies drained of blood that just get
brushed under the rug, or tossed in the river. The hardest part to ignore is
how the trail to the suspect always seems to lead to nowhere. A dead end,
literally. Like when you get DNA off a victim that’s from a dead person. It’s
really strange when you find prints at a crime scene that match up with someone
who had been dead for years.” At this point, he seemed to be talking more to
himself, as if he were still trying to put the pieces together.

“Look,” he continued, turning his attention
back to me. “The point is I know you didn’t do it, and the way Holly sticks up
for you, I’m willing to bet, you’ve helped her out a time or two. I know you’re
connected to all this in some way, but I don’t believe you’re the bad guy. But
the problem I have is the media breathing down my neck, begging for details.
I’ve been doing what I can to deter them from you, but what can I say? It was
vampires?

“I’m going to release a statement saying we
found evidence that links an unknown suspect to the murders, but I need you to
try and lay low until we can wrap things up. We can’t keep covering these things
up with stories about vampire-impersonating serial killers, especially with so
many vampires in town now. God forbid it becomes a trend among humans. The
people won’t buy these stories forever. Things have gotten…
difficult
lately. It’s getting worse, and I have to believe you can help put a stop to
this. If I can shift attention from you, do you think you can do something
about all this?”

He was looking at me now, expecting a
response, and for a moment, all I could do was stare at him. Was this really
happening? He just handed me a get out of jail free card, and he wants me out
there killing vampires. Did anything else matter? I always wished for
fairytales when I was younger, and now, I had my very own fairy godmother
granting my wishes. Who was I to pass it up?

“Of course. I’ve been working on it,” I
answered.

“Well, try harder, Miss Masters. I’m tired
of finding dead bodies, and so is the mayor. He wants this problem solved as
discretely as possible.”

“Does he know? About…?” I hedged.

“No, and I’d like to keep it that way.”

“Yes, sir, but you have to promise me
something,” I demanded.

He was more amused by my brashness than
curious, as his lips curled up in a smile, but he asked, “What’s that?”

“You have to promise that you and your men
won’t get too close to this. It’s highly dangerous. If you ever come across a
vampire, run. Don’t try to face them head on.”

“What makes you think I would be that
stupid?”

“It’s not stupidity I’m concerned with.
You’re the chief of police. You’re in the business of keeping people safe.
You’ve got that built in hero complex, which means your first instinct when
faced with a bad guy is to fight. But you can’t.”

“Thank you for the sound advice, but I don’t
plan to rush toward my own death.”

“Easier done than said,” I mumbled, mostly
to myself.

“I appreciate your concern, but I’ll do my
part if you do yours. Lay low until I figure something out. The public won’t
stand for more excuses from us. They are expecting results. So if you get
noticed, I’ll have no choice but to bring you in.”

“Well, figure out something to tell the
media, because I’m not a very patient person. I’m going to have to get back out
there soon.”

Suddenly, I felt myself lurching forward
with the motion of the car coming to a stop. I hadn’t even realized we were
moving. I looked out the window, and it appeared he was dropping me off in the
same area he picked me up. Then, my door opened and I was ushered out of the
back seat into a now empty street. The other squad cars were long gone.

Chief Beckett followed me out and moved around
the car to the passenger seat, but before getting in, he looked over at me and
added, “Let’s end this, Miss Masters, shall we?”

“Yes, sir,” I said, and at that, he dipped
into the car, and I was left standing alone in the street in awe of his cool, calm,
and collected demeanor. It was a little unnerving to think he probably knew
exactly where to find me. I wondered how much he knew about Gavin.
Hmmm
.
Maybe I could have him check into my mystery man.

†

Ten seconds later, I was standing outside
the door to mystery man’s loft, anticipating the next round of fighting. But
when I opened the door, he was there, inches away from me. The sight of him
swallowed up the rest of the room, and his hands were like vices around my
arms. It was the look on his face that stopped any argument from exiting my
mouth. There was worry in his brow line and tension in his lips. The look in
his eyes triggered a fluttering feeling inside me I wasn’t expecting.

“Are you okay? What happened? What took you
so long?” His concern threw me off our usual routine. I wanted to scream and
yell at him, but his sincerity stopped me, and I couldn’t do it. He shook me
lightly when I didn’t respond “Lucy,” he said softly. “What is it?”

“Nothing. It was nothing.”

He gave me a doubtful look and released his
grip so he could cross his arms to emphasize the doubt.

“What?” I asked innocently. “I’m serious. It
was nothing. Well, nothing to worry about anyway.”

He still appeared unconvinced, and I knew he
wasn’t going to budge without getting the whole story. I didn’t intend on
standing here all night, so I just gave up and told him about my strange run-in
with the chief of police.

He was quiet and contemplative as he took it
all in, and when I finished, he simply looked up at me and nodded, as if he was
satisfied to know the whole story. I wondered what would happen to him if he
didn’t know everything. Maybe that was how to kill him. I just had to tell him
I knew something he didn’t until it slowly drove him crazy to a point of no
return.

My thoughts must have been written all over
my face because he chuckled lightly, or maybe he lied about not being able to
read minds. That would explain how he seemed to know everything. I really
should have just given up trying to rationalize what he was a long time ago. It
would have saved me the headaches.