Blood Destiny: Blood Passage Part 16

"And then he offered to help Tate get revenge."

"Yeah."

"By exposing the vampires because he had an ax to grind, too."

"Yeah." Kelvin couldn't believe I knew all this. Actually, any idiot would have known all that. He should have read some of those mysteries I'd loaned him instead of sending the pages off to be fingerprinted.

"Well, idiot boy," I said, "he intended to expose your race, too. Imagine what would happen if you were locked in a cell come the full moon?"

"Oh." Now Kelvin was getting the bigger picture.

"The campus you mentioned, is that here in Kansas?"

"No." We were back to sullen answers. I wondered how old Kelvin actually was, and had Winkler truly been fooled by all this? I couldn't imagine that he'd be that stupid.

"Then it's New Mexico," I said. "Tate was from Santa Fe, as nearly as I remember."

"You said Tate Briggs?" The werewolf asked as he pulled out his cell phone and hit a b.u.t.ton. "Delgado, Renfro here," he said. "I need any records pulled up on Tate Briggs, a student at any college in New Mexico." He waited; apparently, somebody was checking.

"Albuquerque State University," I heard the voice on the other end of the call quite clearly. "Majoring in sports medicine."

"Check for Kelvin Morgan," Renfro said. I knew the werewolf's last name, now.

"No Kelvin Morgan. There's a Kevin Miller, enrolled in the same program," the voice said.

"Is that your name? Kevin Miller?" I asked Kelvin. He blinked stupidly at me. He'd been told not to answer but I think I'd gotten answer enough.

"Any fingerprints on Kevin Miller?" Renfro pa.s.sed the message along.

"Not required by the school," the voice said. Renfro had called him Delgado. I wondered if he were furred or fanged.

"Where are Winkler and Weldon now?" I asked Tony as Delgado was looking for other records on Kevin Miller.

"They're out of jail and the media are being told that they were arrested by mistake-that we are currently seeking the real suspect or suspects," he said.

"And just how do you intend to deal with that?" I flung a hand toward Kelvin/Kevin. It would be just as I'd said. When the full moon came, he'd turn. No way to prevent it that I knew of. Tony just shrugged. He had something planned, I just knew it, and there wasn't any way he'd be telling me.

"Am I under arrest?" I asked him instead.

"No."

"Can I walk out of here?"

"I was hoping you'd come out to dinner with me so we could talk." His gray eyes were begging a little.

"You used to be one of my good memories, Tony Hanc.o.c.k," I said bluntly.

"And I'm not now?" He actually looked disappointed.

"Now you're just like all the other males I know." I stalked out of the room. He followed me for a bit and when the three who'd been in the bookstore tried to block my way, Tony told them to let me go.

Figuring that I'd be followed once I left the building, I caught scent of my tracker. He wasn't furred or fanged so I started running, turning to mist as I ran. The poor schmuck lost me after three blocks. Tony still had my cell number, though, so I was going to have to fix that. I came back to myself about two miles away and asked a nice young man outside a bar if I could borrow his cell phone. He was more than happy to, handing it over with a grin. I called Winkler.

"Where are you now?" he asked.

"Funny, that's what I was about to ask you," I said. "I need another cell phone. I don't need Tony tracing my number."

"We'll get you one tomorrow. Weldon is talking to the new Packmaster tomorrow evening and we're hopping the jet immediately after."

"We've got lots to talk about," I said.

"Same here," he said. "We're at the Marriott hotel. Weldon wanted to shake the dust of the Saint James off his feet; they offered us free rooms since we were wrongly accused but we respectfully declined."

"I have to catch up with a couple of people to let them know I'm okay," I said. "I'll be there before the night is over."

"Good," Winkler sighed. I hung up, thanked the young man and then placed compulsion to forget about me.

Rhett and Dalroy were about to have a fit when I wandered into the safe house. "You probably need to get rid of the Cadillac," I said, first thing. "And rent something else, just in case."

"Already got something, it's in the garage," Dalroy told me with a grin. I'd misted inside the place; there are cracks just about everywhere. "Where's the Cadillac?"

"In the parking lot about two blocks from the Barnes and n.o.ble on Rock Road," I said. "I didn't want to take any chances, and I still don't. They probably didn't connect me with the car but you never know."

"I'll go get it," Rhett offered. I handed the keys over to him; they'd been in my pocket the whole time.

"I need to get back with Weldon and Winkler, they're expecting me," I said. "I need to take the cooler with me, too."

"Take this one, it has a lock on it," Dalroy pulled a replacement out of a broom closet. A set of keys were taped to the top of it. Vampires were prepared, looked like. And since there were two keys, Winkler and I could both have one.

"Where do you need to go? I'll drop you off," Dalroy offered.

"The Marriott."

"I know where that is." We loaded up the clothing that Rhett bought for me and I tried to pay him for it.

"Nope. The Council said they'd reimburse me." He was smiling. "It was worth it, even if we didn't get to see you for more than a little bit," he said. "Neither one of us have ever seen a female vampire before."

"Well, that's too bad," I said. "I hope I get to see you again."

They both gave me cell phone numbers and I gave out my email address. "Don't be afraid to email me," I said. "I like hearing from my friends." We loaded up into the second Cadillac. Dalroy dropped Rhett off about a block away from the other car before making our way to the Marriott. I hugged Rhett, too, before he trotted off to collect the Cadillac. I leaned over and kissed Dalroy on the cheek before getting out in front of the Marriott, and told him thanks. He helped me get the cooler out of the car; this one had wheels and a handle so I dragged it behind me as I walked into the hotel. Winkler had given me room numbers so I carried my bags of clothing, my purse, my laptop and dragged my cooler down to Winkler's suite and knocked on the door. Winkler looked through the peephole before letting me in. Yeah, I didn't blame him a bit.

"Come on, you'll miss it," he said, nearly dragging me inside his room and closing the door. Weldon was there, glued to the images displayed on Winkler's flat screen television. There was the usual media circus surrounding a residential area, with cameras rolling, journalists talking and all of them being held back by the police. A reporter announced the breaking news with glee: the suspect in the Saint James hotel murders had barricaded himself inside a house and exchanged gunfire with the police. Things were now silent and the authorities were cautiously moving in.

"That didn't take long," I muttered.

"Davis said they picked him up earlier," Weldon muttered. Eventually, a body was hauled away from the house. I wondered if Kelvin/Kevin had died before or after he'd arrived in the first place.

"Were either of you aware that there are werewolf FBI agents?" I had my hands on my hips. Weldon had the good grace to look guilty.

"You did. I may smack you myself," I snapped.

My cell phone rang roughly an hour later. It was four in the morning and Winkler and Weldon had gone to bed. I always put my cell on vibrate during that time so they wouldn't be wakened. The call was from Tony.

I walked into the hall to take it. "What do you want?" I asked. Yeah, I was grumpy.

"Lissa, I still want to talk to you."

"Tell me why."

"What did you mean earlier when you said I was like all the other males, now?" Why was he worried over what I thought? And he knew I was vampire. He ought to let it go.

"Tony, every male I know is manipulative and controlling," I sighed as I explained. He waited patiently while I'd gone silent, wondering whether I should answer or not. "You joined their ranks tonight. Congratulations."

"Even Winkler?"

That deserved a snort. "Even Winkler," I said. I wasn't about to go into detail about that-how Winkler blackmailed me and the Council declared me rogue-all when I was newly made.

"Renfro said he heard the word fiance over the phone."

"Yeah. How about that? Not that the huge diamond on my hand was a giveaway or anything," I grumped.

"Lissa, I don't know what to think about all this. Do you love this man? Is he a man?" That thought just hit him, I think.

"Not in the ordinary sense, no," I said. He knew what I meant.

"Is this someone I might meet, sometime?"

"No. Not if you want to stay in one piece," I said.

"Ah."

"Yeah."

"Lissa, we could make this work."

"No. Don't even go there."

"What if I need your help sometime?"

"You can try. I'll be honest with you; they keep me on a short leash because I'm young. My kind doesn't get to just run around and do as they please until after they're a certain age. That won't be for a while, yet. Feel free to email me, though, if you have a problem."

He took my email address. "You're dumping your phone, aren't you?" he asked. "What if I promise not to have it traced?"

"No deal."

"Is this just because you don't want me to know where to find you or because of your a.s.sociates?" He was digging for information.

"The latter, I a.s.sure you. It's safer for both of us that way."

"They wouldn't harm you."

"Yes they would. Trust me on that," I said.

"The other agent tonight, Townsend?" Tony was giving me the vampire agent's name.

"Yeah?"

"He said to tell you he was the one who tipped off the Council about the rogue in Florida a few months back."

"Tell him thanks," I said.

"You know about that?"

"Tony, I killed the f.u.c.ker." There was silence on the other end for a minute.

"You still there?" he asked finally.

"Yes."

"Lissa, why do I have the feeling that you took out the terrorists that attacked Winkler's house in Texas?"

"You'll have to stew over that one. I admit nothing."

"You did. I know you did."

"You'll never hear me admit it. If somebody ever comes and tells me you told them that, I will call you a liar."

"Lissa."

"Don't Lissa me, Tony. Even the little bit of information you have could get me killed. You don't have any idea what my life is like. None at all."

"What happened to the Tate kid?"

"Same thing that happened to the Miller kid."

"Did you have anything to do with that?"

"No."

"I still want to see you, Lissa. Townsend tried to tell me what a rarity you are. I can't believe that. Is it true?"

"As true as anything can ever be," I told him. "Stop talking and go to bed, Tony. You have to be tired."

"I'd feel better if you were here with me."

"Yeah. I get that a lot," I said. "What would you do with me, Tony? How would you feed me? Deal with my sleeping habits? Keep me safe when I do sleep? How?"

"Townsend says there are ways."