Riley Jensen 06 - The Darkest Kiss Part 8

I tried to concentrate on the business at hand. "Does Ivan work at Nonpareil as well?"

Ben shook his head. In the bright living room light, his blue eyes looked almost sapphire with the anger that still overwhelmed his scent. "He's an investment advisor."

"Then how did you two meet?"

"We go to the same gym, and became friends a few years ago." He hesitated. "Why?"

"Because I think it's odd that two people you know have now been attacked in an identical way." He frowned. "Why would either of the attacks be related, let alone related to me?"

"Well, you'd have to tell me. Why would someone want to get back at you by attacking your friends? Because one thing I'm sure of is the fact that they're related."

His frown deepened. "Impossible. I mean, Ivan and Denny didn't even know each other. And why do you think it was the same killer going after them both?"

"Because I recognized the vampire's scent. The vampire who was in Denny's bedroom-and who might well have killed him-is the same vampire responsible for stringing Ivan up by his wrists and slicing him open."

Chapter 4

He stared at me for a moment, his expression neutral. But his blue eyes were even darker than before, and the sense of his anger increased. This time, it was aimed at me.

"Are you sure?" he said eventually, and the effort of control was evident in the burly, thick notes invading his rich tones.

"Yes."

"Then why in the h.e.l.l did you let him go?" He said it with such force that it blew the sweaty strands of hair away from my face and had the ambulance guys looking around sharply.

I waved a hand to tell them it was okay, and met Ben's anger head-on. "Because he was a f.u.c.king vampire who jumped out the window and then probably flew away. I'm many things, Ben, but I haven't quite learned to fly yet."

He looked at me for a moment, then took a deep breath and released it slowly. "Sorry. You're doing me a favor by even being here, and I shouldn't be taking my frustration out on you."

I smiled and touched his arm lightly. Warmth tingled through my fingers-a reaction not so much to the heat of his skin as to simple contact. I might have denied my need for it over these past few months-well, as much as any wolf could-but the hunger would always be there.

And I was beginning to doubt whether it could be restrained for much longer.

"It's okay. I'm well acquainted with the need to lash out when people you care about are hurt." h.e.l.l, I'd done it myself often enough.

Amus.e.m.e.nt crinkled the corners of his eyes. "I don't care about them that way, if that's what you're implying. They were just good friends-people I could trust-and that's rare in this cynical world of ours."

"True." I let my hand drop from his arm, but my fingers still tingled from the contact. I resisted the urge to clench them in an effort to retain the sensation for that little bit longer. My hormones didn't need that sort of encouragement. "I think my next call of duty should be our local vampire master. Are you going to accompany Ivan to the hospital?"

"I'd better, at least until his family get there."

"Keep me updated, then."

"I will." He touched my cheek lightly, briefly. "See you tomorrow."

"You will." I stepped away from the lure of his closeness, then turned and walked out the door. Once back in the darkness of the corridor, I said softly, "Hey, Sal, you got any information on one Vincent Castillo?"

"No details on either a Vinny or Vincent Castillo. If he's the head of that little s.h.i.+ndig over there, he's kept himself under our radar."

Which wasn't to say that Jack didn't know about him, just that there was nothing on record. "You want to ask the boss about it when you see him?"

"He's not coming back in until tomorrow, but I'll leave a note."

"Thanks, Sal."

"Don't thank me, wolf girl. Thank the G.o.ds I'm feeling helpful right now."

I grinned. No doubt she'd be her regular snarky self tomorrow, but that was okay. I don't think I could handle too much of the super-efficient, super-pleasant Salliane.

I touched the com-link lightly, switching off voice but not tracking. It was doubtful the vampires would attack us now-if for no other reason than the fact they'd draw too much attention from the Directorate.

The vampires at the other end of the corridor still hadn't moved. I strode toward them, noting for the first time the fact that all five seemed to have been turned around the same age. They all had that lanky, almost awkward look boys seemed to get in their late teens. They were all blonds, too.

I stopped in front of them and tried not to breathe too deeply. "I need to speak to Vinny Castillo."

They glanced at one another, then one said, "Top floor. You're expected." "Great." Though I wasn't sure it was.

I headed for the stairs and began to climb. The unwashed scent of vampire began to fade the farther I went up, so that by the time I reached the eighth floor, it had all but disappeared. In its place was a mix of blossom and pine that reminded me of springtime and made my nose twitch with the need to sneeze.

I stopped on the landing and looked around. Darkness haunted the corridor to the left, but the right was lit by a series of red candles in stylized, rose-shaped sconces. The flickering light danced warmly across the graffiti -strewn walls and gave the hallway an oddly forbidding feel. Given that Ivan still had power in his apartment, the candles were obviously for effect rather than a necessity.

At the far end of the corridor, a woman waited. Like the vampires on the floors below, she was young and gangly. But unlike them, her blond hair had been recently washed, and shone like pale gold in the flickering candlelight.

Two things were obvious-Vinny liked them young and blonde, and it didn't seem to matter whether they were boys or girls.

I lowered a s.h.i.+eld and reached out carefully, feeling psychically for those in the room beyond. I might as well have been trying to source out a big black hole. It didn't feel like there were psychic deadeners involved, nor did it feel like any kind of natural psychic wall I'd ever encountered. It was just a hole. Or maybe it was more like a black star, because it seemed to suck away any sort of mental resonance.

Even the kid at the door wasn't showing up on my psychic radar, though she didn't look like an old enough vamp to block even a weak telepath.

Weird.

I strode toward the guard. Little emotion showed on her pale face or in her dark eyes, but her wariness stung the air. She was dressed casually-jeans, sneakers, and a pale pink tank top-but there was a suspicious-looking bulge on her right side. I wondered if the bullets were the regular kind, or if they'd just happened to have some silver ones hanging about.

"I'm Riley Jenson." I stopped just in front of her and dragged out my badge. "I'd like to speak to Vinny Castillo, please."

Something flickered through her eyes. Amus.e.m.e.nt, perhaps. "You're expected."

She opened the door, revealing a plush room that was nothing like the rest of the building. The graffiti was nowhere to be seen here. Instead, the walls were covered by thick velvet drapes in a dark, dramatic red. The carpet was thick and lush, and the color of rich sand. And there were chandeliers, for heaven 's sake-two big ones that sent rainbow-colored sprays of light scattering amongst the shadows. The rest of his gang might live in squalor, but old Vinny was living it up like a king.

I stepped inside. Saw the thickly stuffed black leather chairs and sensuous-looking chaise sofas before my gaze was drawn to the small circle of people at the far end of the room.

Half a dozen toga-clad boys and girls-I refused to call them anything else, because not one of them looked to be older than seventeen-stood around a mahogany-and-leather chaise lounge. Draped over it was a woman.

A woman who reeked of power and sensuality.

I stopped. I couldn't help it. The force of this woman was unlike anything I 'd ever come across. I knew vampires who were either close to, or older than, a thousand years, and neither of them had the immediate impact this woman had. And yet I doubted whether she was anywhere near their age.

h.e.l.l, I'd put money on the fact that she hadn't even reached triple figures yet-if only because vampires with any sort of years behind them would surely be able to afford better accommodation for themselves and their get.

She wasn't anything stunning to look at. I guess she could be cla.s.sed as average-not pretty, not ugly, just normal. A medium-height, medium-built woman with dark brown hair and chocolate-colored eyes.

But in her case, looks didn't matter. Her power lay in her essence. In her very nature.

Werewolves had auras that were totally capable of seducing anyone, willing or unwilling. We weren't allowed to use it on any other race but our own, of course, but that didn't mean it didn't occasionally happen. The energy she was putting out was similar to a werewolf's aura. It was all heat and need and desire, and it spun around me sensually, making my pulse race. My body hunger.

The desire to run forward, to caress her pale skin as the others caressed it-lightly, reverently-hit like a wrecking ball.

Sweat began to dot my skin, and the thirst to touch her, kiss her, make love to her, was so strong that I took a step forward.

But it wasn't my desire, wasn't real, and I wasn't about to become some young vamp's plaything. Especially not a young female vamp's plaything. So I clenched my fists, digging my fingernails into my skin, using pain to overwhelm desire. In any other situation, I would have thrown up my own aura to battle hers-but I was standing in the middle of a den of vampires, and that might cause a whole lot more problems.

"Stop it," I said, voice sharp, "or I'll get the Directorate to do a sweep and clean out this whole d.a.m.n place."

She laughed, a sound as rich and as warm as the room, and the swirling heat of desire abated. Not completely, but enough that it was ignorable. "I have no wish to antagonize the Directorate. Please, step forward, so that I can see you better."

I felt like saying that, as a vamp, she should be able to see me perfectly fine just where I was, but that could have been seen as churlish. Which I certainly could be on more than a few occasions, but I had a feeling that this was one of those times when it was better to play along.

At least until I got the feel of things.

I walked forward. The scent of blossom and springtime got stronger, mixing warmly with the heavy scent of desire still stirring the air. The toga-clad teenagers watched me with almost languorous expressions, but their pupils were extremely dilated. I would have guessed they were high on something, except for the fact that they were extremely still.

My gaze went to the woman. Maybe the only drug they needed was closeness to their maker. Maybe touching her was akin to a s.e.xual or drug high. Just because I 'd never heard of a vampire capable of getting someone off on the merest contact didn't mean they weren't out there. And h.e.l.l, this woman had made me want her. If skin-to-skin contact with her was as powerful as her aura, then their expressions were understandable.

I stopped when there was still a good ten feet between us. This close, her skin looked almost luminous, as if the richness of the moon itself glowed from deep within her...I blinked. Reapplied my nails to the palm of my hand. Saw that her pale skin was just that. Pale skin. Nothing luminous and beautiful about it at all.

Anger swirled through me. As a werewolf, I'd been taught restraint almost from the beginning. Oh, not s.e.xual restraint, because to a werewolf, s.e.x was life. But the aura was a different matter. From the time I 'd been a pup, long before my aura had even begun to develop, we'd learned that it was wrong to force another-both morally and legally. The fact that a werewolf's aura could make the unwilling willing didn't make it okay, because the end result was the same-you were forcing an action on someone he might not have taken otherwise.

Of course, I had done it, as a guardian, just to gain some advantage over a foe. But I 'd never done it to force s.e.x on someone otherwise.

This woman had been taught no such restraint.

"I did warn you to stop it." I turned on my heel and walked toward the door.

She laughed again, a sound that s.h.i.+vered warmly up my spine. "Please, I'll behave. You have questions about Ivan Lang, no?"

I turned around again. "Yes."

"Then I will answer them. But please, come closer. I had a degenerative eye disease before I was turned and, as a result, my eyesight is not good."

I studied her for a moment, seeing no lie in her brown eyes, and not sure if I would even if she were. "What is your real name?"

"Vincenta Castillo. Please, I a.s.sure you I will not play games with you again. Come closer."

I hesitated, then did. Odd to think that this woman had me wanting to run, and yet I 'd faced things a thousand times stronger, and far more dangerous. h.e.l.l, I had a permanent reminder of one such encounter on my left hand, which was now missing a pinky finger thanks to the hunger of a death G.o.d.

She smiled. It was just an ordinary smile, which meant she was keeping her word. For the moment, at least.

"If Ivan has taken the ceremony to become a vampire, why didn't you protect him?"

"Because I was paid not to interfere in any way."

Surprise ran through me. "You took money over protecting your get?"

"Why wouldn't I? Look around you, guardian. These premises are more suitable for street sc.u.m than an upwardly mobile vampire. But I am young in vampire terms, and therefore have not yet acc.u.mulated the sort of money I require."

Meaning she was earning her cash legally? Somehow, I doubted it. A vamp with the sort of seduction skills she had could entice all manner of things out of her bed partners.

"So you were just going to sit back and let a rogue vamp kill Ivan?"

She gave an unladylike snort. The toga-clad kid nearest her shoulder trailed his fingers up her neck and across her cheek, in what I supposed was a soothing gesture. "He's not dead, is he?"

"Which comes down to luck as much as timely intervention on my part."

She smiled. It was both amused and calculated, and warned that there was a sharp mind behind all the s.e.xual playfulness.

"Ah, but your timely intervention wouldn't have happened had we not made a phone call."

I raised an eyebrow. "I thought you'd been paid not to intervene?"

"The operative word being 'me.' While he asked that I keep my fledglings back and control their hunger, he made no mention of them interfering with proceedings in other ways. So one made the call."

"One who sounded like Ivan himself?"

She nodded. "We knew about the stripper. He has been here several times to visit Ivan. He is a big man, a strong man. His presence might have been enough to scare off the rogue."

It might not have been, too. While Ben was a big werewolf, the rogue was a vamp, and vamps would win over regular weres each and every time. It wasn't just strength, it was speed.

"So did the rogue say why he wanted to slice and dice Ivan?" She shrugged. "I tasted the need for revenge on him. More than that, I don't know."

"So you didn't ask?"

"It was a large amount of money. Not asking questions was part of the deal."

So was not offering Ivan help in any way, but she'd gotten around that little clause just fine.

"Why did you perform the ceremony with Ivan?" My gaze went briefly to the toga-clad teenagers behind her. "He's nothing like the rest of your get."

"As much as I love my toys, a vampire cannot exist on them alone. Ivan is a very good investment advisor. That will be useful in the future."