Unseen (3 page)

“Sure.” Trina nodded and headed back towards the customer service desk. As soon as he was out of sight, she’d have to pull the broken fang out of her hand.

Chapter Two

Doug slipped into the darkened storage area at the back of the store, unnoticed. There seemed to be some sort of commotion going on at the front of the store, so none of the staff had noticed him breezing past them. Not that they’d notice him anyway. Well, unless he
let
them see him.

He had different ways of concealing himself, but one of his greatest assets—and the one he used the most—was how average he appeared. He went out of his way to dress and look like any ordinary dark-haired guy wearing jeans, a plain tee, and a jacket that looked like a hundred others on the street. It was only when someone looked beyond the surface that they would notice a difference. But he was well in control of himself and hardly ever offered anyone the chance to look at him that closely.

It’s too risky.

Doug had spent half an hour in the shadows of the parking lot, waiting for Cell to return. When Cell still hadn’t come back after forty minutes, he figured the big guy must either like stationery a lot more than other vampires, or Doug’s suspicions had been correct. After all, he’d seen the woman in action with his own eyes.

Making his way around the deserted storage area, he kept to the shadows, trying to spot any cameras. There was only a single lonely one collecting dust. It wasn’t working, so it had to be a dummy camera, like the one outside.

He continued forward, checking one section after the other in this vast but unorganized area. There wasn’t much here but a huge row of massive metal shelves, pallets with boxes piled on top of them, a stack of empty pallets, a box crusher, and a wobbly desk with a computer and printer on it, as well as a phone. He made his way toward them and noticed the top pallet on the empty stack was missing a plank. It looked as if it had been torn off.

After thumbing the splinters, he couldn’t help smiling. She was going to save him a lot of trouble.

Doug took his time walking around to the other side of the aisle, created by the row of shelving. As he turned the corner, a dent on the shelving caught his eye. Something that others would probably assume was done by the forklift parked nearby, he could tell it was actually made from the impact of a body smacking against it. He leaned closer, took a quick sniff and recognized the scent. He detected Cell in this corner of the docking bay, but couldn’t see him or his clothes.

Where the hell did you go, Cell?

He searched the ground, but still nothing. Though, as he kneeled down, he did detect the ash that had probably been the vamp less than half an hour ago.

Damn, she’s quick and efficient.
Just what I need.

Doug straightened and brushed his fingertips against the back of his jeans. He wiped off as much of the ash and dust residue as he could. There was only one thing left to do now.

Knowing he’d be moving faster than the human eye could detect, he raced out of the darkened area and into the store. When he reached the farthest aisle, he dropped back to average-paced movements.

He took his time moving around the store, perusing one shelf after another but never really seeing anything. As he drew closer to the front desk where
she
stood, he grabbed the first thing he could get his hands on—something in a plastic blister pack. He didn’t bother to look at what it was. He just needed an excuse to approach her register.

Until this point, he’d only seen her from a distance and didn’t even know her name. Sure, there were many rumors about her, but until tonight he hadn’t been sure if this woman was the root of those legends or not.

He strolled up to the register and didn’t have to wait long. She looked up and offered him a half-smile. She wasn’t what one would describe as beautiful, but she was cute. Besides, this woman didn’t need looks to attract his kind. He could feel her Allure sweep over him, making it hard to keep his hands to himself, to withstand the sudden need to be near her, the need to follow this petite stranger to the ends of the earth.

He might not be instantly detectable to her like the others, but he still felt her magnetism. And it was slowly shredding his control.

“Hi, how are you this evening?” she asked in a sweet but strong voice.

Doug cleared his throat. “Good, thanks. And you?”

She shrugged. “Ah, it could be better.”

“Oh?” He quickly lowered his eyes to her name badge.
Trina.
So the name of the woman—who was so much more than just that—was a simple five-letter word. And this petite cutie had taken out Cell? If he hadn’t already witnessed her in action, he might have had trouble believing it.

“Well, it’s a cold night. I’d rather be at home in front of the TV with a cup of . . .” Her voice trailed off when she met his eyes. For a few silent moments, he suspected that she might actually know what he was, but then she added, “You don’t want to hear about that. How’s your night?”

“I think it just got better,” he whispered, sliding the item in his hand onto the countertop.

She avoided his eyes as she grabbed the plastic packet. She had small hands, and he could see her calloused fingertips. Trina had working hands; hands that had survived through a lot of change. Killing vampires and carrying a wooden stake almost every day of your long life would cause wear and tear on anyone, he supposed.

Doug also caught sight of the recent wound on the back of one of her hands. It looked to be healing fast, but he could still smell the blood—and the slight stench of Cell.

“Funny, I don’t see pink as your color.”

“Sorry, what did you say?”
Focus. Stay focused, because one false move or slip of control will tell her exactly what you are.

Trina held up the packaging. With a big grin, she motioned to it. “These earphones are bright pink. You don’t look like the sort who’d go for this color.”

“What sort do I look like?” He leaned his hip on the counter, bringing him closer to her. Was he actually flirting? As much as he’d love to blame it on her Allure, Doug knew that wasn’t all that attracted him. She was cute. He couldn’t help himself.

Trina looked him up and down, thoughtful. “I don’t know. You look like dull colors might be more your thing. Well, judging by your clothes, anyway.”

“Right.”
He faked a laugh and took the opportunity to sniff her again. Yeah, that was Cell on her clothes. He could smell Cell all over her, almost as if the other vampire was standing right beside her. What the hell was that about?

“Are you sure you don’t want to swap them for another, more appropriate color?”

He shook his head. “They’ll do.”

“Okay, at least you’ve reminded me that I need a new pair myself,” she said, scanning the item. “That’s nineteen dollars.”

Doug handed her a twenty.

She took it, keyed something into the keyboard in front of her, stuck the bill into the register and offered him a gold one dollar coin.

“Keep the change.”

“Okay, but you’d better take your receipt.” She looked at him and winked. “In case you change your mind.”

“Good idea, thanks.” He took the receipt, the item and stalled for another moment. There was nothing more he could add to this simple conversation without looking like some sort of creep. “You take care, okay?”

“Always do.”

Doug headed for the automatic doors, and when they slid open he wondered how long he’d have to hide outside before Trina headed home. He couldn’t wait to follow her.

Chapter Three

It didn’t take Trina long to get her breathing under control after dumping the ash where it belonged. As she’d suspected, the stupid vampire she’d polished off at work was both young and virtually powerless. He couldn’t have been more than a few weeks old, judging from the small amount of ash he’d left behind, and the very faint new imprint on the Allure Urn. She’d barely received an ounce of power from the transfer, hardly worth the effort.

The only types of vamp she consistently found nowadays were young idiots who didn’t provide much of a challenge—or fuel.

Still, she refused to look at her urn right now. Actually, she liked to ignore it as much as she could. The urn called the shots in her survival—it compelled her to deposit the ash of dead vamps into it so she could continue to live. She couldn’t ignore its calling, but after she’d done what she had to do, she could turn her back on its physical manifestation sitting in her living room.

Tonight she wanted to pretend she was normal, not think about the centuries she’d stacked up and left behind, but never forgot. Trina wanted to pretend she was just like every other twenty-something person who worked at Pen, Paper & Beyond, even if she was nothing like them and was forced to live a life of slavery.

Getting this job helped her feel a little more human. She wasn’t sure if it was because she actually enjoyed it, or because her coworkers and customers treated her the same way they treated each other. It made her feel like one of the human crowd, instead of a freak.

Father Constantine and Tomas always spoke to her as if they had to be careful about every word they said.
As if she was so delicate or deranged that one wrong word would tip her over the edge.
Okay, she’d given them reason to behave that way. She wasn’t exactly stable, but only when it came to them. The Church, which she begrudgingly worked for, always managed to get on her nerves. Even if it wasn’t the priest’s and deacon’s fault, the fact that they were her direct line of contact meant she couldn’t help taking all of her frustrations out on them.

Trina took a deep breath and released it,
then
she stepped out of the living room and into the adjoining kitchen. The apartment she rented wasn’t big, but it felt like home—something many of the other hovels she’d lived in hadn’t. There was one bedroom, an okay-sized living room, a small kitchen, a bathroom, and a tiny laundry room with an old washing machine.

It wasn’t much, but it was home. She’d signed a twelve-month lease on it a few months ago, with a clause allowing her to renew it on a monthly basis afterward, unless—or until—either party changed their mind.

As she flipped on the kitchen light, she couldn’t help thinking about Brenna. Had the vampire intended to kill her? Of course he had. They never took a sip out of someone and then walked away. Most vamps liked to leave a mess behind, which never made sense to Trina. Were they intentionally trying to reveal themselves to the unknowing public? Or were vamps just arrogant bastards who thought they could do whatever they wanted, when they wanted, and get away with it? Either way, she was there to get them off the streets.

At least Brenna had ended up leaving work an hour before the rest of them. Her parents had arrived at the store panicked and flustered, fussing over her as they walked out the door with her between them, muttering about taking her to the ER. Trina had then closed up with Millie and Zeke. Millie continued to moon over Zeke, who dutifully ignored her as he supervised Trina closing the register for the night. After that, he’d let Millie go and had taken Trina up to the storeroom so she could pick out a new sweater. She’d ended up grabbing three, which would come in very handy if stupid vamps continued to turn up at the store unannounced.

Zeke had even offered to give her a lift home—several times. He’d said he worried about her walking alone at night, so she’d lied and claimed she was meeting a friend at the gas station across from the store. He’d grudgingly left, but not before he sat in his car and watched her cross the road. She had to wave before he finally drove off.

He really was a sweet guy, and she couldn’t blame him for wanting to look out for her. To the rest of the world she looked like a petite, delicate woman who didn’t have any business walking alone down dark streets at night. But they didn’t know the truth. She was more than capable of looking out for herself, and prowling the streets, hoping to attract vampiric activity, was what she did best. Passing herself off as human was a lot harder than she’d thought it would be, though. This wasn’t the first time she’d given it a try, but it was the longest. She usually gave up after a day or two, but she’d been working at the store for over a month now.

The phone rang, dragging her out of her thoughts. She leaned over the counter and grabbed it off the wall. It was the old kind, with a cord attaching the headset to the cradle on the wall. “Hello?”

“Hi, Trina, it’s Tomas. How are you tonight?”