Ripper(100)
“You were caught and killed, weren’t you?”
He stared straight at me. “Yes, I was and by a clever girl much like yourself. You remind me of her. Something about the eyes. She put the pieces together and came for me one night. A little thing she was, but ferocious. She was stronger than she looked. I always wondered how the Council missed her. They’re good at finding Hunters like her.”
“I thought hunters hunted supernaturals for the Council.” My grandfather had been one, but he didn’t have any power beyond his natural strength and long practice.
“Are you serious?” He sat back. “Are you joking with me?”
Joking was the absolute last thing I was thinking about. “What do you mean? Why would I joke? I’m here on serious business, Sharpe.”
A smile of pure pleasure broke over his face. It was a frightening thing to see. “I can see that. I can see that you’re quite serious. Such webs they weave. Who am I to tear them down? Anyway, like I said, this girl had no training and no idea what power she possessed. I didn’t know what she was at the time, either, which was why I underestimated her. It was my misfortune that she was an activist. You know the type. Wide-eyed idealist trying to save the world. Those instincts of hers took over when she found me and I was gutted before I could quite close my hands around her throat.”
Something about the way he said “instincts” caused me to get goose bumps. It made me think of the way I had fought the wolves in the alley. I was also thinking about the way he’d talked about webs being woven. I had to wonder who was the spider and who was the fly. “You think she was a supe who didn’t know it?”
He hesitated for a moment before continuing on. “Some humans are born with true killer instincts. I’m not talking about soldiers or even murderers. I’m talking about something else entirely. They remind one of wolves in the way they track their prey. The Council has always tried to find and train these humans, but this girl had gotten away.”
“So she killed you and Jack the Ripper was relegated to the history books.”
“Except I didn’t die, not really. Unfortunately for her.” His eyes lit at the thought of what had happened next.
“You killed her?”
“Oh, yes,” the vampire said with relish. “After my training with the Council was done, I was allowed to settle in the United States, but not before I returned home one last time. I was the hunter then, and her screams still make me sigh. She had your eyes.” Sharpe crossed his legs and his body relaxed into the chair like he’d related a pleasant story instead of confessed to multiple murders. “Tell me, dear, have you found Joanne yet?”
“I did. In Whites Chapel Cemetery.” I watched him carefully.
“How very obvious! Please tell me you don’t suspect I would do something so transparent.” He looked horrified, as though he’d been accused of doing something socially awkward.
“No, but I wonder if you don’t know who did,” I said, concentrating on every nuance of his expression. “Have you met a man named Peter Hamilton?”
He seemed to pulse with some strange form of joy, as though we were playing a game and he’d discovered he’d finally found a worthy opponent. “Very good, Miss Atwood. Yes, I have indeed made the mad professor’s acquaintance. He accosted me one night outside this very club, though he’d left me a present the night before. It was the only reason I agreed to meet with the man. I found his gift…intriguing.”
I could only presume what his gift had been. “What did he want from you?”
“Immortality, of course. Turns out the good professor has a brain tumor. He only has six months to live. It’s made him quite mad. He believes I can cure him.”
“He believes you can turn him.”
“Yes. I didn’t have the heart to explain the truth to the bugger. Besides, we all like to have our admirers, don’t we? I think I could very much admire you, Miss Atwood. I find you endlessly fascinating.”
The room got cold around me as the vampire smiled at me. I knew that no matter how this case turned out, Alexander Sharpe wasn’t finished with me. I was on his radar and I couldn’t even use Marcus’s power to keep him away. He knew Marcus and I had nothing between us. He would enjoy toying with me.
Something behind me caught his attention. “Ah, it looks like he’s left me another one of his trinkets.”
One of the doormen walked forward carrying a small wrapped box. Alexander Sharpe held out his hands and then motioned the servant to exit. “Would you like to do the honors, my dear?”