Laws of the Blood 1: The Hunt (3 page)

Michael was brave enough to meet Selim’s gaze, smart enough to say, “You goaded me into this.”

Selim nodded. “Thought the demonstration would do you some good.” He sank claws ever so slightly into Michael’s chest. Skin popped like bubble plastic and blood welled under Selim’s nails. He could feel the other’s slow heartbeat beneath his palm. “You’d be delicious,” he said, smiling all the while. All of Michael’s
muscles went rigid. Nothing in his emotions suggested any hint of struggle. He was like a caught rabbit, hoping the owl would go away if he pretended he wasn’t there. While Selim waited for Michael Tancredi to react in some way, he went on, “Should I invite little Sebastian in for a snack?”

“It’s past his bedtime,” Don Tomas said.

“Of course. Will you please apologize, Mike?” Selim asked in exasperation. “I’ve got spilled coffee dripping on my foot, and it’s getting uncomfortable.”

“My—my apologies,” Michael blurted out.

Selim could tell from the look on Michael’s face that the car salesman didn’t remember what he was apologizing about. His emotions were just as confused; he wasn’t thinking much at all. Good. Always good to keep them off balance. Selim backed away and helped Michael up. He refrained from licking the blood off his claws. He’d made his point, there was no use in being crude about it. He retracted his claws and put an arm around Alice’s waist as she came up to him. She fitted nicely against him, all warm, willing curves and softness.

“To the victor go the spoils?” he whispered in her ear. He let his hand drift from her waist to her thigh. “Not that there’s anything spoiled about you, of course.”

Alice leaned her head back on his shoulder. “Take me shopping on Rodeo Drive and I’ll show you differently. That wasn’t a victory. Poor Mike,” she added as Michael Tancredi moved to stand in the shadows away from the table. Within moments, only a pair of feral eyes glittered out at them as the embarrassed nest leader cloaked himself in darkness.

Alice put a hand over Selim’s heart and turned on her most alluring smile. “I thought I’d try to seduce a few more people for the Hunt out of you. Will it work?”

Selim’s breath quickened as heat flared where she touched.
Just how long had it been?
he wondered. The
lure of the forbidden added spice to the moment. He kissed her forehead. “Alas, Alice, no.”

She sighed and moved away. “Didn’t think so. Can I get you another cup of coffee?”

The scent and feel of her lingered. Selim shook his head. “Thanks, no. I have to be going.”

Kamaraju banged a fist on the table. “You can’t walk out now! We have decisions to make.”

“We?” Selim looked around. “We? Is this a democracy now?”

Alice chuckled. “You did say that we’re all-American vampires.”

“So I did. I lied.” He looked at Kamaraju. “You already heard my decision. Six. That’s it.” He turned his attention to their host. “Thank you for dinner.”

Don Tomas gave one of his tight, aristocratic nods. “Must you go so soon?”

“I do have to meet with Miriam this evening.” Selim blessed them all with the one concession he was willing to make. “You can consider her nest out of the loop for this Hunt. That ought to make you happy.”

It didn’t. He could feel the anger from all of them. As he walked out of the room, it mixed sickeningly with the growing need. They hated the tight leash he kept them on, especially as the hunger grew. These were the civilized ones, the Law-biding ones. The strigs were going to give him even more trouble. It was only going to get worse, and he had to let it, walking the silver knife edge for them until the time was right.

Like Siri says, he thought once more.
You knew the job was dangerous when you took it.
He smiled at the thought of her and found Siri waiting for him in the car.

She didn’t smile back. The petite woman turned a fierce glare on him as he slid into the passenger side. “Just what the hell was going on between you and Alice Fraser a minute ago?” she demanded.

Selim hunched down a little in the leather-upholstered seat. “Woman, I would hate to be as psychic as you are.”

“Hmmph. Well?”

Selim winced. “Later. Drive,” he instructed. “I’m a hen-pecked Hunter,” he complained under his breath as his companion put the Mercedes in gear.

“And you love it,” she added as she swung the car up the long, curved drive of Don Tomas’s estate.

Selim put his hand over hers as she efficiently shifted gears. She was small, delicately made, and mortal. He didn’t dispute her statement for a moment.

S
IRI TURNED INTO
the parking lot at the entrance to Stone Canyon Park. They got out without a word and went to sit on the retaining wall that faced a the view of the city. The park closed at dusk, and a cop or private security car would pull up soon and they’d be told to move on. In the meantime, Siri snuggled up in the crook of his arm and they gazed on the lights spread out for miles and miles below them. The touch of her warmth in the cool of the evening was sweet. He put his arm around her shoulder and pulled her closer.

Siri sighed. “Isn’t it beautiful? Don’t you just love this town at night?”

“I’ve never seen it any other way.”

“You know what I mean.”

He remembered the way this view had looked before the sprawl of light was quite so wide, before the freeways formed bright flowing rivers, before the city noise reached all the way up here. That was what he disliked the most about change, he decided, the noise.

“I grew up in a quiet spot in a noisy city, but I never heard it,” he told her. “Maybe the only quiet spot in the whole . . . in a garden surrounded by squalor.” He felt her curiosity but said no more.

She tilted her head, concentrating. “You grew up in a cage?”

Psychic. Far too psychic for her own good. Far too psychic for his good. “Never mind.”

“I don’t understand.”

It was always tempting to explain and far too dangerous to give in to the temptation. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust her, it was that he didn’t trust anyone else. What Siri knew could be forced from her.

“Right,” she said. “What I don’t know can’t hurt either of us. You’re a pain, Selim.”

He squeezed her shoulder. “I haven’t caused you any pain in ages.”

She squeezed back. “You wanna?”

Her enthusiasm rattled him. He wanted. He wanted very much. But . . . “No. Let’s just talk. I don’t have much time.”

“You have to go to Claremont. But you don’t want me to drive you. Why?”

“I need the exercise.” A stinging insect landed on his cheek, then flew away without trying to bite—professional courtesy and all that.

“Right.”

Her disapproval amused him, her jealousy didn’t. She knew he wasn’t interested in Miriam. Siri, in fact, knew everything that went on. That was why they needed to talk before he got back to work. He’d been at home for nearly a month before tonight’s meeting, meditating, thinking, dreaming, leaving the outside world and grocery delivery in Siri’s capable hands while he prepared for the Hunt.

She put a hand on his knee, then ran it up his thigh. “Skinny but cherse,” she judged.

“Stringy,” he answered.

Her lips found his throat, her kiss a soft, teasing plea. The night went red and warm around him. He smiled and licked his lips. Then he forced his mind back to business while he let himself enjoy her touch. They hadn’t talked much on the ride over. He’d been
concentrating too hard on the upcoming meeting to pay much attention to her, even though her resentment had filled the car, acrid as smog. They were comfortable together for the moment, and he reveled in just being with her. He wanted to tell her how much he loved her, but he didn’t want to go where that would lead.

He waited until she stopped kissing his throat and snarled a few forceful swear words into the night before he spoke again. “I trust you didn’t get bored while waiting.” He carefully refrained from mentioning that Cassandra had invited Siri in. She carefully refrained from reminding him. They both carefully refrained from mentioning Cassandra, keeping the subject at bay by avoiding it.

He did admit, “I made the mistake of mentioning Istvan.”

“What’d you do a thing like that for? That could only get them thinking about Sebastian.”

“As if being in the same house with a
dhamphir
wasn’t on all their minds already. I ended up using the reference to stir them up. We Enforcers like to remind the ones we oversee that things could always be worse.”

“And somebody ended up accusing Don Tomas of unspeakable acts because of it.”

Selim scratched his ear. “That’s pretty much what happened.”

“Oh, honey. Why’d you have to go start a fight?”

“I let Mike start it. The resentment of Don Tomas was bound to come out. Better now than later.”

“I suppose.”

“Were you bored while I was having fun tossing Mike Tancredi around the dining room?”

Siri laughed at the idea that she could ever be bored. “I had my cell phone and palmtop with me.” She tapped her forehead. “Not to mention my own personal radar. How could I ever be bored?”

“Palmtop?” He frowned. “You were on-line, weren’t you?”

“Of course not.”

He accepted the lie. Another case of what he didn’t know wouldn’t get anybody killed. Many members of the Strigoi Council hadn’t yet adjusted to the idea of telephones. So far, the Internet was strictly forbidden to vampires. He wasn’t going to tell anyone on the Council about his web site—or anyone else’s, as long as they used to the web to advertise their legitimate businesses. People had to make a living, which was something else the Council didn’t understand. Own a few slaves and make them support you was still the dominant opinion of those in charge. It was pleasant, Selim agreed, but not always practical.

“You know what I told you about E-mail,” he warned.

“Don’t get caught?” Her tone was sweet as baklava. He could feel the breeze from her innocently fluttered eyelashes. Some night—not tonight—she was going to get herself into deep trouble.
Pushing the envelope
was the term he believed best defined his companion.

Selim chuckled. “Something like that. What’s the news, owl bait?”

“Well, I talked to Rene. He’s with Alice,” Siri said after a moment’s puzzled silence from Selim. “He saw the news reports and wanted to reassure us that they aren’t involved.”

“News reports?”

“The Griffith Park problem?” She swiped a hand in front of his face. “Hello?”

After a few more seconds, Selim finally made the connection. “Someone is killing people and horses in Burbank and North Hollywood. Alice lives in Burbank.”

Siri nodded. “Rene’s upset.”

“Tell him not to be. Anything else?”

“Well, there’s Jager.”

“Consider him taken care of.”

“Kamaraju won’t like that.”

“He’ll cope.”

“Okay. Got another strig situation, though.”

“Why me?” He sighed. Los Angeles attracted more loners than anywhere else. Problem was, there really was no such thing as a lone vampire. “What now?”

“You need to have a talk with Geoff Sterling. That boy’s got himself into a situation.”

The name wasn’t familiar. “A new strig?”

She nodded. “Moved here after that mess in Seattle. Wasn’t looking for a new nest. Then . . . he met a girl.”

“How does that constitute a situation?”

“Been stalking her.” Siri sounded outraged. Probably thought he should be. He waited until she went on. “The girl’s an actress. Has a role on a television series.”

Ah. That was decidedly different, one of the hazards of living in this town. “I’ll have a talk with him.”

He could tell that there was more she wanted to discuss, but a patrol car slowed and turned into the parking area before they could continue. He waved as the beam from the headlights swept over them. They stood and headed for the car before they could be told to leave. Selim opened the driver’s side door for Siri. “See you later.” He kissed her cheek. The gesture left her stiff with disapproval.

He ignored it, closed the car door for her, took a deep breath, and began to run. As he picked up speed, what she’d told him about this Geoff Sterling got him to thinking about how they’d met.

Murad fingers the gold coins. One slips from his fingers and falls to the floor. A woman seated at the next table picks it up.

SARA

(Looks at coin):

An owl.

 

MURAD

(Holds out his hand):

Yes.

 

SARA:

Night hunter. Silent. Deadly. Beautiful.

(Their gazes meet. Lock.)

 

MURAD:

Thank you.

 

SARA

(Tosses coin; catches it):

Dumb as posts, though.

 

MURAD:

What?

 

SARA:

Owls. Gorgeous creatures. Efficient. But nothing like their PR reps. Of course, how much brains do you need to catch mice?

 

MURAD:

I don’t know. Why don’t you tell me, owl bait?