Night Hungers (4 page)

Zane took a deep breath and smiled. Danny was still freaked out, she could even smell his fear, but he was willing to let that go. She was just about to tell him she’d love to come to dinner when her pager went off at her waist.

“I’m sorry, Danny, but I have something to do tonight. How about Friday night again? I might even be persuaded to eat a leaf or something. That is, if it’s okay with you two.”

“Sure. Great. Friday night it is then. I’ll make you a steak and you don’t have to eat anything that will be healthy. I’ll even have a pack of blood for you on hand if you want.

I know this vamp that can get it for us.”

She grinned again. “That won’t be necessary. I’ll just drain a bad guy or two before I come over.” When he didn’t move, not even to rock, she laughed. “I’m kidding, Danny.

I’ll be there, and don’t worry about the blood. I only need it if I’m hurt.”

As soon as he left she got up and went to the payphone. Dialing in, she called her contact. Twice in one week was unusual for him and she was surprised to hear from him.

“I have a shifter in your immediate area that’s kidnapped a vampire. The vampire is from another realm and needs to be returned posthaste. I will send the information to post office box fifteen. Questions?”

“Shifter? What’s the animal of choice, do you know?” Zane’s was a panther, black, sleek, and huge. She used that animal more than anything.

“Eagle. Although, you should know that this shifter can also change its sex at will.

The change is almost undetectable. I have sent a small vial of blood and an article of clothing for you.”

Zane could do that as well, though she didn’t unless it was an emergency. It was hard to do and required a great deal of energy. Plus, she didn’t particularly know much about the opposite sex, so she was always afraid she’d mess up with some male thing and not know it until it was too late.

After finishing up for the day, she cleaned up her tools and put them away. She thought about the vampire she was supposed to retrieve and wondered if he was injured.

They could be quite mean when they were hungry and she didn’t want to have to kill him as soon as she recovered him. Her blood, like fairy blood, was poisonous when taken without permission.

Shifting into the panther, she made her way to the apartment complex on Eighteenth Street and got the mail out of the box. There were drops all over the state that they used, mostly in rundown neighborhoods and not anywhere there were cameras. Putting the package close to her skin, she moved out into the street and shifted just on the other side of the city limits. When she was well away from the prying eyes of anyone around she pulled out the large envelope.

Inside were three sealed bags. One contained a vial with what looked like blood; the other two had strips of cloth marked with the words “shifter” and “vampire.” There was also a file and a few photos of the vampire. None of the kidnapper. And a pay-as-you-go cell phone. Putting the phone inside of her black tee, she opened the first baggie. The scent of the vamp was strong; blood permeated the bag and the blue silk. The other baggie, the scent was faint, but strong enough for her to get a trail for the search. It took her one more minute to figure out how to scent the blood—taste or smell. She went for smell. And what she had been afraid of happened. There wasn’t anything to scent and she had to taste. Vile, evil blood touched her tongue. A strong enough scent that she could now follow the shifter anywhere, at any distance; it was just a matter of time that she caught up with it. She shifted again. It took her eleven minutes to get to the end of the trail.

The cave where the two of them were was high, it’s opening narrow that would have been difficult to find without the scent to follow. Moving upwind she got as close as she could to the opening and waited. Closing her eyes, the panther looked to be as much a part of the blackening night as the green of the grass. Zane reached, she reached deep into the cavern and found them to be on one of the lower levels of the cave. The vamp was badly injured and he was in the sleep of his kind, probably to conserve energy. Good, he wouldn’t be in the way trying to help her. The shifter, male, was sitting next to heat and not moving. Shifting into a small insect, Zane moved inside.

Landing on the ceiling of the cave just above the shifter, Zane looked around. There wasn’t really that much to see, just a bunch of stone and a small natural pond next to the shifter. The vamp was about ten feet from him and he was lying very still. Zane couldn’t detect any heartbeat or any breaths. Moving into his mind she could tell that he was in a sleep still and not yet dead, though he needed blood and very soon.

There was a fire in a circle of stones that had to have been the source of heat she had felt. The shifter sat on another stone and was writing in a notebook. He looked to be working very hard at something. Dropping silently to the ground, she shifted again, this time into her human self. He turned when she stood up.

They stared at one another for several seconds. When he stood up and turned to her he started to pull something from behind him.

“I wouldn’t do that. I’m much faster than you can be and bullets won’t kill me. Just give me the vamp and I’ll be on my way.”

He laughed at her and brought his gun forward. Even from here she could see that it was a smaller Glock. It wasn’t loaded with silver, that much she could smell, but it did have a silencer. Who needed a silencer in a cave, she wondered?

“Are you faster than a bullet? I don’t think so. And the vamp? He’s going to bring me a great deal of money. I was just writing his ransom note now. He’s a big deal in the Council. If you’re really nice I’ll let you be my partner.”

Zane didn’t move, but she did put her hands on her thighs, closing her hands over the tattoos there. She waited. Watching him, she knew the exact moment that he was going to pull the trigger. Before she moved the vamp woke and made a noise.

The shifter moved the gun toward the vamp and Zane jumped. The bullet hit her hard and knocked her back against the wall. Pulling out the guns, hers loaded with silver, she shot the shifter eight times in the chest and six more in the head. Taking a deep breath and pushing the pain as far away from her as she could, Zane stood up and moved to the body. Reaching behind her and pulling out the blade she removed his head. Pulling energy from the earth and the air she threw it into the body and head of the sifter. It exploded ash and dried bone settled down around the fire and ground.

The vamp was still out. But she knew in her present condition, a bullet in her side, she had to get him to safety. Unknown to the person who hired her she could smell another shifter in the area. Zane sat on the rock where the shifter had been writing, picked up his notebook, and read what he’d been working on.

“Mastir Vampyre, McManus,

I want sevin million dollors for the vampyre I have kiddnnapped. He is very fameous and he is worth it. I will not kilt him if you pay me. We can”

Brilliant this guy had not been. But she did have a name. Pulling out the cell phone, she dialed the only number in it. Without much in the way of greeting, she launched into her problems.

“The shifter is dead, but he had a partner. I have the vamp, but he needs feed. I’ve been injured and can’t feed him. There’s a Master McManus that the shifter was going to ransom the vamp to. Do you know who he is and if he can help this guy out?”

“Yes. His name is MacManus and I know him. Hold on.” Zane looked down at the wound. It was still bleeding badly. When the man came back on the line Zane was wondering if she could feed too. “He is at the Blood Moon. A bar in the Merchant District. I cannot contact him, but he will help you.”

Zane hung up when he did. She knew where the bar was; she’d been there once. The problem was, she was bleeding and going to a vampire bar. Closing her eyes, she laid her hand over the wound and covered it with deep magic. She couldn’t heal herself without making it worse, but she could cover it. After making sure the vamp was all right, she shifted and made her way to the bar.

By the time she was walking to the front door she knew that she should have fed first. Her body was weakening. Not to the point of being dangerous, but she was nervous about being weak and meeting with a master vampire. She knew nothing about him other than a few snippets of information she’d heard around the garage.

Inside, she could smell the blood. It was rich and strong and the pulsing hearts were making her dizzy. She moved across the floor, ignoring everything but keeping herself under control when she heard a shout. Looking up, she saw a man coming at her quickly.

A wolf. Alpha wolf. And he was not a happy camper. And neither were the five men that were coming along with him. When she was grabbed from either side by the other men she shifted.

Her panther slid from the grips of the men holding her and she leapt up on the bar.

Two seconds had passed since the alpha had charged at her. It took her another two to figure out which of the men would be the most dangerous to her.

Leaping toward him, both front feet hit him in the chest, knocking him and her to the floor. As she landed next to him, she clamped her powerful jaws around his throat and bit down, not breaking skin—not yet at any rate.

~CHAPTER 5~

Aiden didn’t move. Not that he could with her teeth at his jugular. His chest hurt and he was sure that he could feel two, maybe three, broken ribs. He wasn’t worried about the injuries; he was already healing from those. But if she ripped his throat out, there would be no coming back from that.

“Aiden, can you knock her off? I can’t kill her with her on top of you like that.”

Her teeth dug deeper into his skin and he could feel a drop of blood pearl on his skin then her hot tongue swiping at it.

“I think she can fucking understand you, Tristan. Can you maybe not get me killed
by being your wonderful self?”
He couldn’t speak to his brother, not with his voice at any rate. So he used their link as brothers and spoke to him telepathically.

“Tell them I came here to talk to Master MacManus. I don’t know why the alpha
attacked me, but I have no problem with him. I just want a word with the vampire
,” she whispered through his mind.

Aiden swallowed slowly and glanced at the men close to him out of the corner of his eye. He couldn’t give up the master. It went against everything in his nature to do so. He would rather die.

“
You just might, vamp. I mean him no harm. I have something for him, something to
give him. Tell me which one he is and I’ll let you go. I’ve no beef with you.”

“Fuck you,”
was his reply. When her teeth came down a little tighter, he couldn’t stop the small cry of pain. His brother moved closer and she snarled without moving her mouth.

“Tell me what she wants, Aiden. I know you think that you shouldn’t, but I’d just as soon you not die in my bar. Tell me what she said.”

Her jaws loosened slightly and he could talk but still not move. He was angry, furious really. But as the master, Aiden had no choice but to do as Aaron had asked him.

“She wants to talk to the master MacManus. She claims that she has something for him. I told her no, that I wouldn’t do that.” Looking at the panther at his neck, he said,
“You are
fucking going to die for this. I’m going to hunt you down and tear you apart.”

“
Then you will need to stand in line. There are many more ahead of you that would
gladly tear me apart for reasons you’d never imagine in another six hundred years of
lifetimes.”

“I’m Master MacManus. If you let him go, I’ll talk to you. No one needs to get hurt, I swear to you. I’m not sure what happened here, but I’m willing to do what you want to save the vamp you have in your jaws.”

Aiden felt her loosen her teeth a little more. Before she fully moved off him, she whispered again.
“I’ve not hurt you. I took your blood to communicate with you, but you
are unharmed. I’ll move away, but don’t make me have to kill you, vamp.”

Moving back, she remained a panther for a full minute just looking at him. When she shifted, it was immediate. No time seemed to pass from her being a black, sleek animal to a beautiful woman. Deadly, but very beautiful.

“I’m a bounty hunter. I have a vampire that is hurt and in need of blood. I can’t help him and I was told to bring him to you. I can’t bring him to you, but I can take you to him. If you would—”

“
No
!” Aiden shouted. Then in a calmer voice, he continued. “He’s not going anywhere with you. I’ll go and bring this supposed vamp back. Aaron, you can’t go with her. She tried to kill me.”

“He goes. He is the only one that I was told to trust. If he doesn’t come, then the vamp dies. I don’t care either way. What is it to be, master?”

Aiden started toward her again and Aaron put a hand on his arm to stop him. This was just wrong. The master didn’t go on little day trips with shifters.

“I’ll go. But these men have your scent, so if I don’t come back, they will hunt you down. Have no doubt about that.”

The woman stepped toward Aaron and reached out. Aaron, too, reached out his hand, probably thinking she was going to shake his hand. As soon as her hand wrapped around his, both she and Aaron disappeared.

~~~

Aaron didn’t have time to be afraid. He didn’t even have time to think of anything, and suddenly, they were in a cave. When she released his hand he staggered slightly.

“It’ll pass in a second or two. The vamp needs blood, but I can’t feed him. I don’t know his name, but he’s a part of or has something to do with the Council. I was sent to get him from his kidnappers. I’ve disposed of one of them, the other is not far. He isn’t yet aware of the other’s death or that I’ve found this man.”

Aaron walked over to the vampire lying on the ground. He was alive, but barely. She was correct, he did need blood.

“His name is—”

“No. I don’t want to know it. Just do what you have to do then I’ll take you both wherever you want. I’m not going to be able to carry him far, but I’ll get you both to safety.”