Shift of Time (A Rue Darrow Novel Book 1) (14 page)

“Vampire?”

“Ultra nerd.”

“Nathan, she’ll eat him.” I pointed at Inna who scrabbled to get to Nathan’s blood. “She’ll be like that until she feeds or uh…”

I wasn’t sure if Inna wanted me to share the secret to her ability. Nathan waved a hand as if he understood. “She’ll be safe, and so will my friend. Trust me.”

“Okay, I’ll have to trust you—and her. Three days is all she needs.”

“You got it.”

I named a sum, and he accepted it. Nathan was easy to work with, and I liked him a lot. “So how are we getting her out of here?”

“Got you covered.” He removed his cell phone from his pocket and speed-dialed someone. The voice that came on the line was familiar. “Hey, beautiful.”

Did he have to flirt with everyone?

“What do you want, Nathan? Some of us have jobs to do, and if it’s another favor, forget it.”

I winced at Violet’s harshness, but Nathan took it in stride. “Come on, Violet. I need you. Who else can you get to do your dirty work so you can keep your cop hands clean?”

“I believe I was the one to dirty my hands with that mess of yours.”

I frowned at being called a mess. Nathan knew I’d overheard the insult and mouthed an apology. I turned away and left them to their conversation. In the end, Violet agreed to swing by to pick up Nathan and Inna to take them back to his place.

“Why does she help you? Does she like you?”

“No, she was into my roommate for a while but came to her senses—with my help. We’re friends even if it does sound like she hates my guts. Sometimes I do a job for her. They’re too infrequent. For the most part, she’s an honest cop. When it comes to a nonhuman, we can’t exactly leave it to the law. You know what I mean.”

“Unfortunately, I do.”

Inna had settled down a little, and Nathan let her go. A short while later, Violet arrived in her police blues. Her eyes blazed dislike to all and sundry. Inna charged. Violet put her on the floor.

“Hey! You don’t have to be cruel to her,” I snapped, and yanked Inna from the cop’s hold to hug her close, mouth aimed away from my throat. “She doesn’t know any better right now.”

Violet glared at me. “Then keep her on a leash.”

“Inna’s not the one to need a leash.”

Violet’s anger flared hot. I tasted it on my tongue. She narrowed dark eyes at me. “What did you say?”

Nathan stood between us. “Ladies, please. We’re all friends here.”

“We’re
not
friends.”

Both Violet and I spoke at the same time. She touched a hand to a baton at her hip, and I pulled Inna away from the doorway and the female werewolf.

“Never mind. I’ll figure something else out for her.”

“You have a boy to find,” Nathan said. “You can’t babysit her and do that.”

“What boy?” Violet demanded.

He patted her shoulder, and she knocked his hand away. Nathan faced me. “Rue, I said I would take care of her. No one, and I do mean
no one
, will hurt her on my watch.”

When Nathan spoke, he glanced at Violet, and I was shocked to sense her anger dousing as if someone had tossed water over it. What boggled my mind was that it seemed as if Nathan had authority over her and forced her to relax. The resentment that flashed in her gaze seemed to support my thought.

“If you’re coming, let’s go.” Violet spun on her heel to leave. “I’m on the clock, and I’m not getting chewed out for a loser like you, Nathan.”

Nathan removed Inna from my arms and headed for the door. “Well, we’re off. I’ll be in touch.”

“You better, and if one hair on that girl’s head is harmed, Nathan…”

“I get it. You’ll have mine.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

He smirked and was gone. Now I had an appointment with a lying Fae.

I
arrived
at Milo’s offices to find no one around, but the lights were on inside the building. I reached for the door and felt the barrier he had disabled the night I had come with him. A push, and I was repelled but nothing painful—not like that time I had tried to get into Ian’s house when he had wards up to keep others out.

I recalled what Bill had told me. If I handled something cast under a spell too long, I could break the spell. Did that apply to this barrier, too? Then again, Milo had said the spell was strong enough that a new vampire like me would spend half the night trying to disable it. He might have lied—like he lied about the boy.

Concentrating all my energy, I leaned into the barrier, but instead of resistance, it kind of popped. I landed flat on the ground, my palms scraped with gravel. That jokester Milo would pay for this. Getting to my knees and brushing my hands together, I looked up to find him just inside the entrance and glared at him.

“Is this your idea of a joke, Milo?”

“I would never play tricks on you, Rue.
”

I scowled harder, but he was already turning away and walking farther into the company.

“Milo! Come back here and explain yourself.”

He disappeared from view, but I heard his voice. “You know where to find me.”

No tricks, he says.

After retracing the steps to his office, delayed only by me ripping the handle off the door leading to the second floor, I found him in his office. He steepled his hands atop the desk and appeared calm, but I heard his heartbeat. The rat-tat said he was nervous. Well, good.

“You didn’t have to break the lock, Rue. I had already disabled it so we could talk.”

I shrugged.

“I’ll take the cost of its replacement out of your fee after you return the treasure to me.”

“No, you won’t, and if you mean
the boy
, then you can forget it. Why didn’t you tell me the shift of time is a person?”

“So you know about him then. Does it matter?”

“Of course it matters.” I leaned forward and slammed a hand on his desk. The entire thing shook as if it would collapse at any second. Milo stood and moved away. When he turned to face me, his gaze aimed just out of alignment with my own. At our first meeting, he hadn’t feared looking me in the eyes.

“Where’s my box, Rue? Our agreement was that you weren’t to tell anyone about it or about the object I’m looking for.”

“Boy,”
I emphasized again. “I needed someone to help me figure out what it was since you weren’t forthcoming.”

“And you trusted Death?”

“His name is Bill. Anyway, that’s not the point. He said it’s a cage. A cage traps things. Is that box some kind of trap for the boy? Did you expect me to pull it out to show it to him, and then your spell would work to trap him? Is that it?”

He chuckled. “No. It’s just a beautiful box, Rue. The boy held it while he was here. It kept his scent. I had nothing else to give you.”

“Why should I believe that?”

“You’d rather believe Death, whom you’ve just met. You know what those beings do, don’t you? They collect souls. They are soulless themselves and without conscience. That means they’re not aware of right and wrong. They just follow orders, no more, no less.”

I sat on the edge of his desk and stretched out my legs, crossing them at the ankles. My blue jeans were dirty at the knees from when I had fallen, and a small tear had started on one of them.

“That’s where you’re wrong, Milo.”

He frowned. “You presume to tell me, who has lived several lifetimes longer than you can imagine?”

“I can imagine a lot,” I countered, and I sensed his annoyance. “I once did Death a favor, and he in turn did one for me.”

“Impossible!”

I grinned. Boy, was I feeling proud of myself. “Believe what you want, but it happened. I have no reason to lie to you or try to impress you. Now you on the other hand, you lied about the boy, and I’m not going to help you hurt him.”

“Who says I want to hurt him, Rue?” All his anger drained away. He held up his hands. “I’m Fae. My earth magic is limitless. I don’t need the boy. Look around you. I’m financially solvent. If you don’t believe that, feel free to check public records regarding my company.”

“Well…”

He started toward me, this time looking into my gaze and exuding trust. “I didn’t hire demons to imprison him, demons that are no doubt surrounding him right now.”

The bottom of my world fell out, and I was at a loss for words. I had seen with my own eyes that the boy had believed Ken was a friend. Nathan hated demons so much he lost control any time one came near. He proclaimed them evil, and their stench hurt his nose when they died.

Thoughts tumbled through my mind over and over. I reevaluated everything I believed and realized I didn’t know
anything
for sure. Not Nathan, not Milo, or Bill, or any of others I had met.

Milo took my hands in his and stared into my eyes. His charming smile resurfaced. “I want to keep the boy safe and find him a home. I couldn’t tell you everything. I don’t know you
.
You had to prove yourself the same way I have to prove myself to you.”

While he spoke, I searched myself and the air around me. There were no vibrations or weird energy. I didn’t smell honey. Milo wasn’t casting a spell to make me believe him. He was leaving it up to me to come to my own conclusions.

“Remember what I told you, Rue?”

I wrinkled my brow. “What?”

“I told you I’m not hiring you to trust me.”

“Yes, you did say that.”

“Good. It stands, but I’m going to add that I’m not asking you to believe me over your friends. What I am asking you to do is not to blindly believe a werewolf you’ve just met.”

“You know an awful lot about my doings.”

“A simple spell.”

“I don’t appreciate it!”

“When you return the boy and the box, I won’t need to watch.”

I recalled Bill had told me Milo was probably using the box to spy on me. Knowing it frustrated me. Did it mean he never saw what happened in the diner or at my apartment after I left the box with Bill? Probably so, since he only mentioned Nathan and nothing of the drama that happened the night before, including my letting the boy slip away.

“I’ll save him, Milo, but it has nothing to do with you.”

He bristled in annoyance. “I’ve had watches set on all avenues of leaving New Orleans, but my suspicions are they aren’t trying to leave. Find them. Get the boy, and there’s a bonus in it for you.”

“I don’t need your bonus. All I care about is him.” I started for the door.

“Rue.”

I stopped and turned to face him.

“He’s not Jake. Don’t make the mistake of—”

I flew to him and grabbed his collar, jerking him to me. Did I say I would never kill from rage? Perhaps I was wrong. “You know
nothing
about my son!”

The roots of my red hair tingled. Milo’s eyes widened so much it must have hurt. He repeated my words in such a sluggish fashion I realized what I had done. Alarmed, I released him and zipped over to the door. I peeked at him over my shoulder, fearful I had turned his brain to mush. He was shaking his head and blinking over and over.

When he raised his gaze to mine, he didn’t appear to be mentally challenged. “Did you just…”

“Did I just what?”

“Nothing. Must have been my imagination.” He straightened. “Find the boy as soon as possible.”

“Uh, sure.”

I left the building in a hurry, knowing I had glamoured Milo. Well, that wasn’t so bad. He didn’t need to remember Jake. I had never mentioned my son to him or to anyone else. Only Ian knew of my baby, and he wouldn’t betray me, so I couldn’t be sure how Milo got his information. One thing was for sure, if he ever threatened the safety of my son, no morality or the law would stop me from ending him.

Later, as I strode along the street, I thought of myself again as I was now. The sheltered and semi-sweet divorced mother was gone, probably never to return. In some ways I missed her. I missed having the highlight of my life being whether Sylvia Campbell’s apple pie was better than my mama used to make.

Ah well, I didn’t hate myself either. I liked this greater strength of body and mind. One of the bonuses was I didn’t have to worry about weight gain. Not that I could pig out on a hot fudge Sunday though. I let such regrets roll away with a plan to scour the city for the boy.

A shifting of shadows brought me up short, and I scanned the area ahead of me. The man standing in the alleyway couldn’t possibly think he was hidden, could he? Then I realized he wasn’t looking at me. Following his gaze, I discovered he watched two young women approach. They held their heads close, giggling about something. They were human—he was not.

I zipped past the women and into the alley, stirring the air as I moved. The women’s startled cries reached me, but I ignored them as I pursued the man who had turned to run.

“Where in the world did that wind come from?” one of the women complained.

“I don’t know, but it wasn’t too bad. It’s hot tonight. Come on. Let’s get back. I think my eyes are playing tricks on me.”

“How do you mean?”

“Never mind. If I say, I’ll think of it again, and I don’t want to.”

The voices faded away as I turned down street after street and into one alley after another. How was this demon staying so far ahead of me? He shouldn’t be faster than I was, should he? I halted in a quiet area, my hair blowing across my face. I raised a hand to swipe it away, and when I did, there wasn’t just one demon standing a few feet away from me. There were two and then three. Then four. Steadily they increased until eight stood ahead and four behind. They had me cornered, and I hadn’t seen it coming. I had been so busy trying to prove that I wasn’t some gullible, useless monster I hadn’t seen the tricks the demons played on me for what they were. I hadn’t been chasing the same demon the entire time. Silly me for still not being able to distinguish them very well.

I glanced up along the side of the brick building to the windows high on the wall. The roof lay even farther. I could jump, but normally I used various outcroppings or railings to help along the way. This inconvenient building had none of those where I stood. Either I aimed for the window and smashed straight through or take my chances on the ground.

“You’re not going anywhere, vampire,” came a rough voice, and I looked to find one of the demons had moved in on me, ready to attack.

“Fight it is.” I raised my hands and curled them into fists.

Before I could throw the first punch, a wind that was not my own stirred my hair. One instant I was alone in the alley with the demons. The next another man was there, a vampire. I stood in wonder as he flashed from one demon to the next, destroying them in one hit. The air filled with sulphur, but flashes of fire added brimstone to the mix. Cries of pain rose in every direction, and I had trouble keeping track of it all.

Within moments, there were only two left—me and the vampire who saved me. He spun in my direction and stepped forward. I stared up at him in awe. Chestnut hair with silver temples, hazel eyes, and at least six feet. He wasn’t an Adonis, but he had much appeal at perhaps forty-five years old.

He smiled, and his fingers brushed my arm. I knew he had read my thoughts. “Are you okay?”

“I-I’m fine. Thank you for your help. I’m pretty sure I could have taken them.”

He removed a handkerchief from his pocket and began wiping his hands. I took the moment of his distraction to take in his clothing. Dark slacks, a dress shirt, even a tie. A red one. Who was he?

“My name is Silvano Abate, and you’re Rue Darrow.”

I nodded dumbly. “I had heard there were other vampires here, but I never met any. I’m glad to meet you.”

He touched a hand to my lower back to guide me toward the street. I let him lead for the moment. “Most of the vampires here will remain cloaked while we’re out and about, unless we have specific business. There’s been some strange happenings lately I’m concerned about.”

I almost mentioned the boy but kept it to myself. “Cloaked. I haven’t learned that yet.”

“I’d be happy to give you a few pointers. It’s a natural ability of ours, as is reading minds. All you pretty much have to do is open yourself to it.”

“I thought I was open.”

He chuckled. “More.”

“Um, okay.”

“Can I see you safely home?” he offered.

“No, thank you. I can make it on my own.” I moved ahead of him on purpose to get distance between us. After his movements during the fight with the demons, I would never get away if he didn’t want me to. He didn’t attempt to catch up.

“Rue.”

I stopped walking and turned to face him. He spoke in my head.

“If you need me, all you have to do is call.”

I gaped. “You…how…”

“Try it.”

He drifted toward me, and I recalled the person who had spoken in my head before, leading me to the library. Was it him? It had to be. I had begun my training with Bill and learned there was much more out in the world of nonhumans than I had ever imagined.

“C-can you hear me?”
I ventured.

He clapped his hands together once as if I were a small child. “You’re a natural.”

I frowned at him. “I think you were speaking in my head, and I was answering you there.”

“Don’t you agree that’s progress?” he offered.

“I have my doubts.”

“Then we’ll keep learning, you and me together.”

His words sounded too intimate by far, but I let it go and agreed I was willing to learn. The fact was I had heard him, and he had spoken back to me. That was something in my eyes, even if I was hesitant to acknowledge my excitement to him.

“If I want to contact you, I mean for more lessons,” I said, “how would I do that?”

He produced a cell phone, making me feel foolish. “There is a way you can call to me whenever you like, wherever I am.”

“If I take your blood and you take mine.”

His eyebrows rose. “You surprise me. I didn’t realize you knew so much about our race.”

“Meaning you were hoping to take advantage of me?” I tilted my head to the side questioningly.