“Heck, no, I’ve got things to do. I was thinking Inigo could help. He needs to earn his keep.” She busied herself shuffling stacks of papers on her desk.
I gave Kabita a thoughtful look. I might as well ask. “Is Inigo human?”
She raised one eyebrow, but otherwise her expression was blank. She didn’t show even the slightest hint of surprise at the question. “What do you mean?” Her voice was as bland as her expression, which meant she knew exactly what I was talking about.
“Exactly what I said. Is Inigo human?”
“He’s my cousin. Of course he’s human.” She snagged a file off her desk and flipped it open. “Why on earth would you ask a question like that?” I knew her far too well to fall for her innocent act, but she obviously wasn’t ready to share whatever it was she was hiding.
I sighed. “I don’t know. It’s just … weird things have been happening lately when I’m around him and I thought … Well, I don’t know what I thought.”
Her other eyebrow went up. “Weird things? What sort of weird things?”
“Nothing. Never mind.” I shook my head and started for the door before a thought struck me. “Kabita, what color are Inigo’s eyes?”
She gave me a look that I’m pretty sure you reserve for a crazy person. “They’re blue. Why?”
“Just checking.” I left before she could call the men in white coats.
Chapter Twelve
Sometimes when things were going to shit and life just got too darn confusing, the only thing left to do was pummel the heck out some unsuspecting monster. Hey, it’s what I did. And while I wouldn’t mind pummeling our agency contact, whoever he was, I didn’t really fancy getting arrested for assaulting a government official or whatever.
The century old Pittock Mansion sat a thousand feet above the city up in the West Hills. The breathtaking views and its secluded location among forty-six acres of wooded land made it a popular place for a make out session at night when the museum was closed and all the school kids were home snug in their beds. That meant it also made a very popular dining spot among those that liked to munch on unsuspecting couples. It was a great place to hunt.
When I didn’t have a specific job or I just needed to burn off some energy, I liked to head up there and pose as one of those unsuspecting couples and dust a few vampires. I usually used Inigo for that kind of work. He was great at playing the fake boyfriend but after what happened between us, whatever it was, I was sort of avoiding him. Making out with him for the sake of hunting vampires was so not on the agenda. I supposed I could call my date from the other night. He’d sure gotten all hot and bothered over the whole vampire hunter thing, but seriously, I’d rather make out with Brent Darroch. Ew. Now I needed to go wash my brain out with soap.
I could call Jack. The thought of making out with him sent my hormones into happy dance overload. Problem was that making out with him would be so very distracting. I’d probably end up getting munched on, and not in a good way.
Only one thing to do: hit the hill on my own. There were usually at least one or two couples using the grounds as a Lovers’ lane. Hormones apparently overruled common sense. I could hide in the bushes like some creepy stalker and pounce the minute a vamp showed up. Yep, that’d work. And seriously, I needed to blow off some steam.
And so I ended up lurking in the shrubbery around Pittock Mansion just before midnight, with the old gothic building looming like a ghostly sentinel behind me. I couldn’t even imagine what it must have been like living here one hundred years ago when the place was first built. It had been outside the city limits then, and the roads up the hill must have been an absolute nightmare. Talk about living in the middle of nowhere.
I was feeling a bit edgy, trying to ignore the moans and rather more intimate noises coming from the couple writhing on a picnic blanket just a few feet away. Gods, I felt like such a pervert, but they’d thank me once I prevented a hungry vamp from sucking them dry. Well, probably they’d thank me, if they didn’t turn me in to the cops first. That’d be fun to try and explain to Portland’s finest. Then again, sex on the front lawn of a National Historic site wasn’t exactly legal.
It didn’t take long. It never did. Vampires were drawn to sex as much as they’re drawn to blood, though not for the usual reasons. It was something about all the adrenaline and pheromones and whatnot. Apparently, it made the blood taste better, advertising how delicious you were. Kind of icky, if you asked me.
There were two of them, a male and a female. Not that it made any difference once they’d turned since vamps weren’t interested in sex. The only passions that remained in undeath were killing and eating, and sometimes, power.