Mixed Blessing (Mixed Blessing Mystery, Book 1) (4 page)

Access to the impressive ten storey Central Police building was on Cook Street, not far from my apartment, so I took in the night air and strolled the short distance to the front desk. I hadn't rung for an appointment, I thought winging it would be best. Somehow building up the courage to talk to someone who may or may not remember me on the phone just seemed like hard work. At least face to face I could maybe
tweak
his memory with a small glaze.

I was inordinately relieved that I had fed last night. The scents that assailed me as I entered the main building were overwhelming. Industrial lemon-pine cleaner, mixed in with sweat, blood, days old coffee and a pungent scent of fear, made my fangs throb in my gums and my eyes sting with the need to bleed red. Every vampire reacts to stimuli the same way. First the fangs, then the colour change in the eyes.

Our eyesight gets sharper, our hearing keener. The muscles in our body tense ready for a fight. And our fangs, yeah well, let's just say it's a hell of a lot harder not to lisp when the vampire wants to come out and play.

I stood statue-still at the doorway and let the sounds and smells wash over me, as I forced my Dark Shadow back in her box. Vamping out here and now was not a good option. Even in central Auckland where the crazies all reside. And feeling the need to bite every human who sat in the waiting room was so not on my To Do List tonight. So I breathed in through my mouth and out through my nose and tried to think of sunny beaches and warm sun drenched tropical waters. Something I would never see again, but always seemed to work in calming the vampire-within back down.

Finally, after what felt like ten minutes, but was probably more like only half of one, I approached the front desk and took in the overweight uniformed officer behind the bullet proof glass. Friendly, Central Police Station was not.

“
Can I help you?” It seemed like a stupid question. Why else would I be standing patiently before him if I didn't think he could help me?

“
I'd like to see Detective Mark Anderson please?” I asked pleasantly and gave him my best non-vamp smile.

He didn't seem impressed. Clearly blondes weren't his kind.

“He's busy. You got an appointment?”

I'd been prepared for that answer, so kept the winning smile on my face and said, “No, but I'm an old friend.” Exaggeration, but I'd try every option before I resorted to a glaze.

“Yeah, really?” he answered, barely looking up from his Classic Auto-mobile Magazine. “Well this ain't a family reunion, it's a police station. No appointment, no go.”

The magazine took his attention again as he turned the page.

“I thought you guys were meant to help the public, not hinder them?” I asked, the words came out a little lispy. Damn fangs.

He glanced up again and ran his eyes over my body. I was dressed for work. Black skin tight jeans and a black singlet, under my grey denim jacket. I'd left my stakes at home. I had on flat shoes, but at five foot eight the lack of heels wasn't missed. The thing that took his attention though was the chunky chain and colourful peace symbol emblem hanging midway down my chest. It was in a shocking hot pink and as big as a saucer. Doug was going to love it. Not.

“He's with someone right now,” old fatty cop said reluctantly, “but if you take a seat I'll check with him when he gets free.” I smiled sweetly again, no need to scare the poor man. “But it may take a while,” he added with a smirk and almost stole my smile away. I stayed true to all the dumb blondes out there and just blinked my eyes a few times and settled into a half grimace half smile, hoping it would do.

It did take a while. I was going to be so late for work, but the image of Kara sitting so scared and defeated on my lounge room sofa kept me glued to the uncomfortable plastic chair. Trying not to breathe in the stink of humanity that surrounded me.

Several sticky and out of date magazines later and there seemed to be some action. Fatty cop stood up and cleared his throat to get my attention.

“
He's on his way out,” he said and sat back down. I could hear his seat groan under the excess weight.

I subconsciously smoothed my hair back and tightened my ponytail, my heart thundering in my chest for no apparent reason. There was nothing wrong with visiting an old acquaintance who happened to be the lead detective on my best friend's cousin's murder case. Nothing wrong at all. Tell that to my rapidly beating pulse.

The door to the side of the glassed in cage where fatty cop sat protected opened and two large, broad shouldered shapes appeared behind the frosted glass. I was guessing one was Mark, he'd always been a big guy even back in school. You didn't get to be a forward for the first fifteen rugby team without having a bit of bulk.

I didn't much care who the other guy was, probably his last appointment, so I stood and waited to catch Mark's eye as he came through the door.

It wasn't Mark however who stopped in his tracks at the sight of me, but another large, broad shouldered acquaintance.

Fuck. What was the Master of Auckland City doing at the cop shop? And why did he seem angry to see me here?

“Georgia,” Jett's silky, deep voice reached out to wrap around me. “Aren't you meant to be at work?”

Yeah, not happy.

It wasn't so much Jett's words, or even the neutral look on his face, that gave his mood and emotions away. It was my talent. Every vampire has a specific talent. Telekinesis, telepathy, mind manipulation. The list could go on. Me, I have empathy. But not just your average understanding of others' emotions, mine manifests in a distinct array of flavours and smells. So far, it has proven faultless. I could tell what a human, ghoul, fairy, shape shifter or vampire was feeling by simply licking my lips or inhaling.

Right now, Jett smelled of stringent ammonia. My nose wrinkled in disgust, my fangs throbbed with a desire to bare themselves at the approaching threat. I willed both reactions to chill. Jett's eyes flashed azure briefly. He'd noticed my reaction, but now I could smell apple mixed with lime. Confusion. He wasn't sure why I was reacting to his question and neutral stance.

I plastered a smile on my face. "I was just about to leave, but" - I looked over Jett's wide shoulders, past his long, curly black hair to Mark who was smiling broadly at me, clearly remembering who I was from school - "I was waiting for Detective Anderson."

Mark stepped forward at the mention of his name. "You're here to see me, Gigi?" He sounded surprised and pleased. This could go a lot easier than I had expected.

Jett flashed him a frown and then returned those baby blues to my face. His gaze ran down the length of me, I'm not sure what he was looking for, they lingered on my jacket. Jett didn't know what I was, so he couldn't have been looking for my stakes. As far as the Master of the City was concerned, I was a newly turned vampire working in his club, who refused to join his line. Nothing more.

"Doug will be displeased if you are much later, Georgia. I will drive you to the club." He turned to Mark and before I could even open my mouth to voice an argument, he had glazed the detective and was shaking his hand.

"Good to catch up with you, Gigi. Take care," Mark said, a slight daze to his face and a small amount of apple and lime wafting in the air as he turned and walked through the door to the station proper.

I glared at Jett as he took hold of my upper arm and practically dragged me out of the station. Old fatty cop was smirking at the man-handling I was being subjected to. So much for
To Serve and Protect
.

Once out on the sidewalk beside one of Jett's black Range Rovers he released me. My hands immediately made their way to my hips and my chin lifted in defiance. His lips quirked slightly at the corners.

"I needed to talk to him," I said with a slight lisp. I was still new to this lark, controlling those fangs when I was angry was damn near impossible.

"And I need you at work," Jett replied reasonably, turning to open the passenger door to his car, waiting for me to get in.

I just glared at him. He just held my gaze, face neutral, patience of a saint. I huffed a breath out in frustration. Jett as the Master of the City, not to mention the person who paid my wages, expected instant obedience. He was several hundred years old, I don't know exactly how old, but old enough to assume females followed orders without pause.

Ha. I'd show him. "I'll walk. I've got to grab something from apartment anyway." I didn't want my stakes on me in the police station, who knows if they did strip searches when letting you into the inner sanctum, but there was no way I'd head to work without them close by.

"And what? Return to the police detective when my back is turned?" Jett sounded amused, I couldn't get a handle on his emotional scent. I was too angry to pick up on the nuances now. My talent was good, but the one thing that made it fail was heightened emotions from me. Anger. Fear. Lust. The biggies. If I could control them, I'd be unstoppable.

"I promise I'll go straight home and then straight to work," I said sarcastically, still walking away from the car.

He was in front of me in an instant. He must have flashed, but I didn't see it. No one else paying attention would have either.

"You will do more than promise," he said in a low voice, a hint of a growl from the back of his throat. Great. Now my anger had morphed into fear. I licked my lips nervously.

Just because I was a big, bad vampire, didn't mean I was stupid enough not to fear bigger, badder vampires.

We stared at each other for a while. I have no idea what he was thinking, but I was desperately trying to get my emotions under control. I needed every asset I had to come up against the Master of the City. I needed to be able to gauge his mood. I took a few deep breaths in and pictured a white sandy beach and rolling waves. Jett watched me closely, amusement playing on his lips. I didn't need to smell it to know it was there.

"I still need to go by my apartment," I said eventually in an even voice, picking up hints of sticky toffee rolling off Jett. Yeah, he was amused all right.

"I shall drive you there," he replied, turning me back towards his car, with a hand to my elbow. "But, I will be docking your pay for your tardiness this night." Sticky toffee wrapped around me and clung to my skin.

I sighed. There'd be other nights I could visit Mark, hell I could even try to catch him after my shift finished. I owed it to Kara and to Stu. Just because Jett didn't like me being late to work didn't mean I was not going through with my plan. I stifled a laugh as I climbed into the Rover. Plan? You'd think I was some genius private investigator. Some PI, I can't even bypass the Tardy Vamp Police.

Sensations
was in full swing as we entered through the back door.
Lady Gaga's
Poker Face
blaring out of the speakers. Jett made sure I was deposited in front of a frowning Doug before he let go of my arm. Doug's gaze took the whole scene in - including my vibrant peace symbol hanging halfway down my chest - and he slowly shook his head at me as the Master of the City retreated to his office out the back.

"Pissing off the boss, Gigi?" Doug said with bemusement.

I ignored him and stashed my jacket behind the bar, wrapping an apron around my waist and serving one of the many Norms waiting for a drink.

I knew I was pouting, slamming the glasses down on the bar top a little more forcefully than it required. Not enough to be calling on my vampiric strength, but enough to startle a few of the more timid patrons in the bar tonight. I wasn't going to be getting any big tips this evening if I kept this up. I tried to settle my emotions, to control the Dark that threatened to overtake all Light within, but since becoming this monster that I am, I have found it harder to stay level headed. I am a blonde, but I may as well be a redhead now, because my temper is quick to rile.

Doug kept flicking me the odd concerned look. No doubt he was puzzled, my eyes were back to their normal cerulean blue - no contacts - so he knew I had fed. I took a deep breath in and tried in vain to chain the anger that was boiling almost uncontrolled inside. This was not me, well not the old me. I was still having trouble accepting the new me and all its heightened emotions and supernatural responses. I struggled with it daily. It was eating a hole inside. I hated this new life. I despised this new me. I could do better than this.

I straightened my shoulders and plastered a smile on my face. I think it scared the next customer, but hey, it was an improvement. After a few more sales it became more natural, until finally I started to get a smile or two back. Even the tip jar was beginning to look a little healthier. Doug had all but turned his back on me, happy I had myself under control.

It wasn't until I sensed Doug edging closer to me some time later, standing in a more protective stance, serving his customers from the middle of the bar and not from down his end, that I noticed a scent on the air. Pine needles and musk. My head shot up and scanned the crowded dance floor, across to the booths on the other side. My heartbeat thundered through my veins. He was here, somewhere, and Doug knew it. It wasn't an emotional scent I could now clearly define in amongst the plethora of human smells inside the club, it was all him. But it always created an emotional response in me.

I hated him for that.

And I hated him for being a lying, deceiving, irresistible, memory of my past.

Samson. Where the hell was he? If I could spot him first, I might be able to avoid him. Take an early break, hide out in the staff room, even skip out for a few minutes until he had done what he came here to do. He never stayed long, usually only long enough to have a drink with one or other of the vampires in Michel and Jett's lines and then he'd head off to work on the security systems or computer systems for the Master of the City. Jett employed him, he was part of the Vardi empire, but not of the Vardi line. Samson was all Lucinda's.

I scanned the faces of all the vampires I could immediately sense in the room, but none of them had a star-shaped, iridescent, tattoo-like mark on his cheek. None of them wore the
Sigillum
of the
Lux Lucis Tribuo
. None of them had shoulder length blond hair and deep, melt-in-your-mouth, chocolate brown eyes. I skimmed the room, ignoring the pleas of the insistent customer before me, but he was hiding. No doubt watching me looking for him. No doubt enjoying my panic and fear, mixed with an unwanted thrill of anticipation. Fuck.

"I gotta take a break," I mumbled to Doug, he just nodded. It pained me that he knew what Samson made me feel. It embarrassed and shamed me. I hung my head, feeling a blush creep up my cheeks and practically ran to the staff room out the back. Taking deep breaths in to still my rapidly beating heart, I slammed into the door to the locker room and thanked my lucky stars it was empty. I could collapse in private, I could let myself feel every emotion I tried so fervently to keep under wraps.

With shaking legs I crumbled to the bench seat in the middle of the room and swore softly to myself. Every vampire in the world could control their heartbeat and breathing. Me, it was often either non-existent, due to forgetting to bloody act like a human, or totally out of my control. I didn't need to breathe to survive. I didn't need a heart to pump oxygenated blood around my body. But when I panicked, it was as though my body forgot I was dead already and fought with tooth and nail to stay alive. Lucinda said it was the body's memory of recent life. It hadn't caught up with the shock of being killed.

I laughed, an alarmingly unattractive sound. Samson was there when I died. He has even seen my Sire. I can't remember
him
. I'm not sure if it is because I have blocked that memory or he simply caught me unawares. It doesn't matter, I only know what he looks like from what Samson and Lucinda have told me. He was a Rogue, but a powerful one. So much so, he escaped Lucinda when she confronted him standing over my quickly dying body. Not many Rogues can attest to escaping the
Sanguis Vitam Cupitor
.

I sucked in another shaky breath and put my head in my hands, elbows resting on my knees. This sucked. I hadn't even come face to face with Samson, just smelled him, but it was enough to bring on a full blown panic attack. It's been that way since I was turned. Since that Rogue killed me and Lucinda asked her goddess to save my life. I blame Samson for it all. I know I shouldn't, he was just as distraught as Lucinda, more so even. But I can't help thinking he could have warned me. I trusted him. I thought him something he was not. He let me walk into this world I now traversed without a single word to keep me safe.

I'd never forgive him for that.

My cellphone buzzed in my jeans pocket interrupting my turbulent thoughts. I shifted and fished it out, glancing at the screen. Kara. She didn't usually phone when I was at work. I held my breath and answered the call.

"Hey, hon. What's up?"

"Gigs, can you talk?" She whispered down the line. I'm not sure if she was whispering for my benefit - knowing I was at work - or for hers.

"Yeah. Where are you?"

"At mum's. She says 'Hi' by the way." My benefit then. "We've just found something out. Thought it might help out with the investigation." Investigation. What did she think this was, an episode of
Castle
or something?

I just murmured, "Mm-hmm."

"There's been another murder." She paused, letting that little bit of news sink in.

"OK. And this is relevant, how?"

"Same MO as Stu's boss." MO? Man, Kara watched too much T.V. "Stu's lawyer just heard it on the police scanner." His lawyer listens in on the police radio? "It's over in Bridge Street, off Grafton Road. Next to the Grafton Oaks Hotel. Mark's headed there right now. What do you think? Could you take a look, get a
feel
for the scene." She said
feel
like it was something special, spooky even.

I stifled a sigh. What exactly did Kara expect me to
feel
? At least the new murder scene was in the VC, Vampire Central hunting ground of the city. If I did head out there I could use my Nosferatin skills as a cover. I licked my lips as I mulled over this development. Same Modus Operandi as Stu's boss's murder. That was strange. Not that I knew how Stu's boss had actually been killed, that's what I planned to find out from Mark, but the fact that it was the same had to be more than a coincidence. Plus, if I was honest, a distraction from
Sensations
right now couldn't be a bad thing. Anything to get out of the bar and that addictive scent of pine needles and musk.