Louisiana Moon (6 page)

“What?”

“You don’t understand what kind of place they run there. I mean, these vampires are nothing like people fantasize them to be. They’re primal and will take what they want if you’re not careful. I didn’t dare talk to a whole lot of them. After what I witnessed, I stopped.”

The information wasn’t news to her. She’d already had experiences with them. “Josh, what crossed your mind? Anybody at Club Fifteen wouldn’t be interested in being human again, even if it were possible. They get off on the power and the pain. I still can’t believe you went there. What did you see?” She could only imagine.

“I know, I know. I figured that out real quick.” He paused and inhaled. “I needed to go to the restroom, but took a wrong turn. The hall was dark and smelled funny. So I ran my fingers along the walls, searching for the door. The surface was wet and cold, almost fuzzy like mold but it wasn’t mold. I didn’t recognize it, and I didn’t want to find out either.”

Josh grabbed his beer and sipped. He cleared his throat and spoke low again. “I heard a scream. Stupidly, I decided to investigate.” He swiped a hand over his fresh-with-sweat forehead. “They had a guy tied up, Kris. Bloody horrible. He was spread-eagle on a large spinning wheel. As he whirled, they threw needle-like darts filled with glowing blue liquid at him. The fangers told him the liquid would give him a savory tang. It’s like they were prepping him for a Thanksgiving feast—a feast for vampires.”

Her lip curled. “What happened next?”

“I got the hell out of there. But, before I ran, another deep voiced fanger said the bastard on the wheel would be a great victim for the new vampires in the soon-to-come war with the werewolves. That’s when I left the club. That’s when I knew I had to contact you.”

Were vampires threatening a war with her kind? Ryant and the other vamps only mentioned Soulscapes. He wouldn’t let that happen. Would he? Her eyes narrowed. The subject would be mentioned later, no matter what.

Josh held another fry to his mouth, his hand still trembling. He must have been scared half to death with what he’d witnessed. She patted his hand. “It’s okay, Josh. I can’t stand them either. Do you still plan to help them?”

“Oh yes. Helping to bring some back to humanity is my goal. Even more now. Maybe I’ll start a club for those who return to the living when it’s over. Learn some secrets.” A dangerous spark flared in his eyes. “Can you imagine the funds I could make and then have to fall back on? I’ve been busting my ass for years on this project and now here’s a chance for me to make the money I deserve.”

Was he trying to prove something his fae king, Oberon? Or to himself? Was this why he’d escaped the fairy world? That she could understand. She wanted nothing to do with her own Throne members.

But still, his attitude seemed off somehow. “You know you have a slim chance to none of coming out of this alive. I still can’t believe you went to Club Fifteen. You have to be marked before you enter. How did you get marked?” She grabbed his shirt collar, trying to peer underneath.

Josh shoved her hand away. “I’ll take my chances. The vampire that marked me is a new friend of mine who I trust.”

Yeah right, more like someone to gather information on the inside and give blood to in return. She recognized the kind, dealt with them on a daily basis. “You’re nuts.”

He shrugged then withdrew a wadded yellow paper from his pants pocket and rolled it across the tabletop.

“What’s this?” She stared at the scrunched ball.

“This was wedged between my door and doorframe this morning when I left for work.”

Curious, she snatched the paper and opened it. Two columns showed names. A single-lined message at the bottom read,
These are new recruits.

“New recruits?” She read each name. One last name was familiar. Vanessa Adams. Could Vanessa Adams be kin to Stanley Adams?

“I assume a fanger I talked to last night wanted to brag about a crop of newly turned vampires. I think something is going on at that club and you’re the person to help me find out what it is.”

“I’m a bounty hunter, Josh, not a private investigator.”

He gave an
Oh, what the hell look
and bent forward. “Being a bounty hunter requires you to be able to find information on people so you can later find them. As long as you’ve been around…you’ve got the skills needed to investigate. You and I can distinguish the difference. The problem is, you don’t want to. Consider the poor, turned souls. Imagine saving the new batch plucked from the streets.” His lips pursed.

He’d hit the nail right on the head. She couldn’t let human souls be turned. Not if she had a chance of stopping it. Although she hadn’t investigated in years, she kept her license up-to-date. The thought of the unsuspecting humans on a hit list being turned, possibly without permission, boiled her blood. Why these people? What made them so special?

The waitress strolled over with a tray of food. With the water, she had a beer.

“I didn’t order a beer.” Confused, Kris looked at the woman.

“He did.” Naomi tilted her head to her right. “Compliments of the gentleman,” she said and choked on the last word.

Following the direction of the waitress’s nod, Kris locked gazes with her admirer. Grabby, the man who’d slid his hand up the waitress’s skirt, raised his beer. She stared at the asshole and slid the bottle over the tabletop. “Here Josh, your friend over there bought you a beer.”

The man pouted.

On the verge of showing him how much she didn’t like the attention, she stiffened when the two dark-eyed men from outside strode through the pub doors. A sense of foreboding shot through her. She grabbed her purse and opened it, pushed her badge away from the weapon and gripped the butt. The same malicious presence from outside crept along the wood floor. Evil hesitated, attempted to crawl up her bare ankle and pricked at her skin.

Her nostrils flared.

The wolf snarled, ready to pounce if they approached.

With a show of unconcern, she popped a gator sushi roll into her mouth. For once, she had no reservations about feeding the beast. She believed her wolf might come in handy. Watching the men, she waited for the slightest wrong movement. Her eyes twitched as the wolf’s vision sharpened.

Dark rings that once lined their eyes were now settled behind their lashes. Instead of irises, hollowed pits of pure ebony shone. The men headed straight for Grabby.

Before the two reached him, one of them stopped to stare at her. A wicked, cold smile twitched his lips. He extended a boney finger, motioning like she’d be next.

She pulled out her gun and placed the weapon on the table.

The urge to spring from the chair while shooting like in the Wild West days shivered through her, but she didn’t. She growled beneath her breath and the wolf in her crept closer to the surface.

5

The first of the two holey t-shirt men stopped staring and continued creeping toward Grabby. The other remained stone still. His skin wasn’t normal but was pasty, like a day walker, a zombie day walker. She couldn’t be certain.

As she sniffed the air, the scent of charcoal escaped from both men. As far as she knew, the only things that gave off that specific odor were Soulscapes. But they couldn’t be. The men were made of flesh. Not stone. Soulscapes dwelled in cement and stone. They did
not
overtake bodies. This couldn’t be right.

“What’s wrong, Kris?”

“Something’s not right, Josh. Those two men…” She lifted her chin at the entrance then froze. They were gone. Grabby had disappeared as well. As she scanned the room, she gripped the butt of her gun. “Did you see that?”

“See what?”

“Those two guys and your friend. Near the entrance.”

He looked that direction. “What two guys? There are a lot of men in here, Kris. It’s a game day. You gotta be more specific. You’re not going to find anything but men watching football. My friend walked out of here because I’m sure you scared the shit out of him.”

“You didn’t see those two men wearing holey white t-shirts and cut offs?”

“No. You okay?”

“I’m going crazy. First, vampires are visiting my office, my home, and now I’m seeing men with blank eyes.” She picked up her glass and gulped the water then glanced at Josh, who looked confused or surprised. She couldn’t read his expression. With no immediate threat, she tucked the gun inside her purse.

“Vampires have been visiting you?” His tone lowered to a whisper.

As she placed the glass on the table, she ignored his question and stared off into the room, not seeing anything in particular. She wanted to believe Ryant had joked with her, but now reality struck. It would be nice for the Soulscapes deal to only be a rumor, a clever way to lure her back into his arms.

Now it was doubtful. Hell, he might even be involved in creating a war; a war everyone else had tabs on except her.
Damn, damn and double damn
. Frustrated, she slid her fingers through her hair, caressing the aching throb in the middle of her forehead.

Might as well finish refueling. She suspected she was going to need it. Shoving the last bite of alligator sushi into her mouth, she ran through a plan of action. Contact Ryant and find out what information he had. But before that, she needed to haul ass to her office and research. The best place to start was with the list of names Josh provided.

“You didn’t tell me about the vampires.” He frowned and shoved another fry inside his mouth.

She looked at him blankly for a moment. Giving him the digest version, she explained her visit from Ryant.

“Got any ideas?” he asked when she was done.

“Yeah. You could say that.”

“Care to elaborate?”

“No. I’ll fill you in on what I find.”

Josh nodded and continued to eat. She studied the list of names on the crumpled paper. The coincidence between the Stanley Adams Ryant wanted to her fine and the Vanessa Adams on the list was enough for her to look into.

When Josh was done, he paid for the meal and walked her out to her car. She didn’t notice the two dark eyed creatures lingering outside. The charcoal odor had vanished. Nothing stood out from the normal pub odors of alcohol, smoke and greasy food.

With the scent gone, she had no other proof they’d even been there. She breathed a small sigh of relief.

“Kris, I know you can do this. Let me know if you find anything.”

Without committing to anything, she left Josh and the gator bayou themed pub and drove the two hours back to her office. The entire ride, thoughts of the possible war, Soulscapes and Vanessa and Stanley Adams weighed on her.

After she pulled into the parking lot in front of her office building, Kris stopped, got out and ambled to the front door. Out of the comfort of the air-conditioned vehicle, the hellish heat caused sweat to trickle down her spine.

She unlocked the office door and entered. Her shoulders stayed tense, a slight throbbing under the skin. She dropped her purse on the desk and pulled out the holster. Strapping the leather securely around her body, she positioned the .40 into its snug pocket then switched on the laptop before heading to the empty secretary’s desk to check voicemails. It was past time to put up a
Now Hiring
sign.

Kris snatched a pencil and paper from the top drawer and pressed play. A couple messages were from a sheriff’s department a few parishes over requesting assistance. There were a few from personal clients and one from Ryant inquiring if she’d changed her mind about Stanley. Well, at the moment she had, but she couldn’t talk to him about what she had learned until she knew more.

She scratched through the jotted message from Ryant and deleted the voicemails. He needed to back off. Kris knew she had to talk him. But it would have to be later. When her computer finished booting, her speakers chimed with new emails.

She hurried to check and saw two from Ryant, which she immediately deleted. Settling back in her chair, she drummed her fingers on the armrest. Vanessa Adams had to have a connection with Stanley. Maybe she’d find a lead in the Louisiana’s main criminal database. Vanessa didn’t sound like a criminal. But then, neither had Ted Bundy. With some luck, maybe Ms. Adams would show in the system, and Kris could solve this quickly and move on.

She typed in the name and crossed her fingers, and then tapped the enter button. Rapping the pencil against the desk, she waited several minutes for the database to do its thing. The search showed no results. Damn.