I sleep in my car. Again. At daybreak I hit the streets, doing a circle of the mall in human form and working my way outward to find the couple’s scent. Now that I know exactly what I’m looking for I don’t have to be in wolf form to follow it.
It takes about seven hours, but I finally track them to a hotel on E Street. With only the name “Dria” to go by, I don’t think I can walk up and ask for a room number. The sun hasn’t set, so I’m hoping that means the vampire will be in their room. I check into the hotel and shower, changing into clean clothes. I set the rest out to be laundered and head down to the hotel bar. It’s located near the bank of elevators and will give me ample chance to intercept them when they leave for the evening—assuming they hadn’t check out.
Damn, this plan has a lot of holes. What the hell am I going to say to her? Please save my werewolf friend and her pack from an evil vampire?
“I’ve always found the truth is the best place to start.”
Startled out of my thoughts, I look up to see a gorgeous redhead in her mid twenties. She’s dressed in a tight fitting pair of dark jeans and a low-cut black sleeveless blouse. A thin silver chain dangles down her neck, two gleaming drops of red, like blood, suspended from their ends—I recognize the necklace from last night.
A knowing smile curves her full lips. “Do you have a name, wolfman, or should I just call you ‘Peeping-Tom’?”
Nine by Night: A Multi-Author Urban Fantasy Bundle of Kickass Heroines, Adventure, Magic
Chapter Nine
My heart leaps into my throat and heat flushes my face. “I…uh….”
Her piercing green eyes pin me to my chair. “Name?”
The intense desire to answer her has my name spewing out of me. “Jonathan Stephen Winchester.”
“Okay, Jonathan. Can I call you Jon?” I nod. “Last night can be forgiven; after all we were in a public place so it’s our own damn fault. But following us to our hotel is just plain stupid.” Her eyes narrow. “What are you after?”
The urge to tell this stranger every secret I’ve ever had wells up in me. The words tumble to the surface with no grace or setup on my part. “I need your help.”
Surprise flits across her face. “Fine.” She glances to the elevator banks. “We’ll talk. Have you eaten yet?”
I shake my head.
“Come to our suite and Rafe will order room service.” She looks around the crowded bar. “I’m sure whatever is so compelling to seek me out is not suitable to be discussed in public.”
I nod and follow her retreating form to the elevators.
Well, you wanted to talk to a vampire. You got it, dumbass. Oh, and following her back to her room is really safe.
Dria snorts as the doors close, sealing us in.
Christ. Can vampires read minds? Man, if they can, I am so up shit’s creek. Again.
“Stop projecting so loudly and I won’t accidentally read your mind. You’re so nervous it’s like you’re shouting your thoughts at me. Very hard to ignore.”
My body jerks and I cast a glance at the small woman. “And how would I go about doing that?”#p#分页标题#e#
She smiles at me, reassuring. “First, relax. I’m not going to leap on you and drain you dry.” She shrugs a shoulder and plays with a dangling glass drop on her necklace. “Not my style.”
The elevator bings and the doors slide open. I trail the vampire down the hall. “Next, calm your racing mind. It will help you from mentally having to shout over your own conflicting thoughts—which is how you initially broadcasted the ‘shouted’ snippets to begin with.”
My brain processes what she’s saying, but staring at her denim-clad tight ass makes it very hard to implement. Clear my head. Umm... yeah...
Baseball. Football.
Washington is muggy, even in June.
Vampires kill people.
She stops in front of a set of double doors. “Good,” she smiles at me while she slips her keycard in the lock. The light flashes green and she opens the door, pausing and reaching out to place a hand to my forearm. “Seriously though, you need to chill.”
A tingle eases up my arm at her contact. It’s gone the second she lets go and I’m left feeling better and slightly stupid over my worries.
“Rafe,” she calls out. “I found him in the bar downstairs.”
The narrow hall beyond the doorway opens to a large suite. The man from last night sits at a round table big enough to seat four, his laptop open in front of him.
He closes the computer and rises, extending a hand to me in greeting. “Hi, I’m Dria’s husband, Rafe.” He towers over me by at least four or five inches, looking like he outweighs me by twenty or more pounds, too. I shake his hand and do my best to hide my surprise that he’s her husband. That equality feeling I glimpsed last night was not imagined, he really has a presence about him—quiet and stoic, but strong. And yet he’s human.