This Blackened Night (4 page)

Terrence returned, fully dressed, his hair damp.

To keep up the appearance that she believed him, Lori said, “We should scout during the day, too. Some people may not talk to us at night.”

He nodded. His eyes pierced through her. “You can tomorrow.” He didn’t reach out to her, like she half expected. Instead, he warned, “Keep your stake close. Don’t take any chances.”

With that cryptic remark, he shrugged on his jacket and exited through the door. Lori waited for three full heartbeats before she followed him. She couldn’t let him get too far ahead, but she wanted to remain inconspicuous at the same time.

She trailed Terrence down the corridor and into the fish-scented air. Wrinkling her nose, she tried to breathe through her mouth. At least the room had smelled like stale sheets. An improvement, in her books.

Terrence disappeared around the corner and Lori hurried to catch up. When she ducked her head around, she fumbled to step back. He stared in her direction. Had he seen her following? Another, more cautious peek showed him continuing down the street. She clung to the shadows and followed.

He moved into an unlit alley. Shit. If she didn’t hurry, she would lose him. But if she stuck too close, he would sniff her out. She held her breath as she doubled down the alley.

Undoubtedly, he could see better than she could. Even squinting, she had to hold her hands in front of her to keep from walking into a wall. She couldn’t make out Terrence’s form. She stumbled into the next street. Light filtered from the dim lamp outside someone’s door.

Terrence wasn’t there.

Lori curled her fists. He couldn’t have gone far. Maybe she could still catch up–if she chose the right direction. She peered one way down the street, then the other. If she made the wrong choice…

“Are you planning on standing here all night?”

Terrence’s voice, but it held none of his usual warmth. Lori jumped. She turned, her fingers itching for the stake in her boot. Did he suspect she’d followed him? From his tone of voice, she thought so.

He leaned against the mouth of the alley. The light barely reached him there, only displaying part of his face. One fang winked in the darkness. His eyes seemed a darker color than usual, their expression more distant. Must be a trick of the light.

She couldn’t have pissed him off that much by following him, right?

When he didn’t say anything more, she shifted guiltily. “I’m just deciding where to start.” His hooded gaze studied her, as if gauging her words. He didn’t call her on the lie. Instead, he motioned for her to walk.

Come to think of it, where should she start? She had her money on the fact that Terrence had taken the Spenta Michos. If she’d been genuinely looking for a lead, she supposed she would start in a public place. There were few enough of those open at this hour. A bar or a restaurant would have to do. A decrepit town like this wouldn’t have much of anything else open at night. Turning her back on Terrence made her skin crawl, but she forced herself to do it anyway. Striding down the street, she listened for the babble of voices. Tailoring her direction to meet them, she noticed a lone woman peeking outside her house. Upon spotting them, the woman hurried to duck into her house.

“Wait,” Lori called. “We’re looking for someone.”

The woman paused on the threshold. She clearly wanted to shut the door in their faces.

Lori jogged forward, grateful she hadn’t slathered on her usual makeup tonight. While she belonged to a subset of people in the city, out here a goth would be an aberration. Potentially an off-putting one.

The woman pursed her lips. Deep worry lines sketched the woman’s mouth and forehead. “You should know better than to be lookin’ for folks this time of night. A nice girl like you is easy prey.”

Prey? Lori forced a smile. “Is there a high crime rate around here?” She wanted to know what to look out for. Not that she couldn’t handle herself.

The woman shivered, clutching her sweater around her shoulders. “More than burglars ’round these parts. You should run home, girly, and quick.”

Lori blinked as the woman shut the door in her face. Was a little common courtesy too much to ask? She sighed. A quick glance proved Terrence still lurked in shadow of a nearby door. Knowing he would follow, Lori continued down the street.

She found a bar, teeming with business, if the raucous sounds from within were any indication. Plenty of people to question. Maybe even a young man or two she’d be able to wrap around her finger. Not that she was particularly accustomed to flirting…or skilled at the art, for that matter, but she’d never lacked for male attention before. Terrence was proof that for some unfathomable reason, men liked her frosty demeanor.

She glanced over her shoulder at Terrence, who still cowered in the shadows. What, had he developed an allergy to artificial light now, too? “Come on.”

“No.” His voice was thin compared to the dull roar coming from the establishment.

Lori rolled her eyes. She reached out and grabbed his hand. The babble dropped away as a vision swamped her.

Terrence lingered in the shadows as Lori exited a building. But she wasn’t dressed normally–no makeup, a headscarf covered her hair and her dress was about a century out of date. Her hand clutched a small bottle.

She blinked and the vision fled. Just what had it meant? That she’d known Terrence in a past life?

Terrence recoiled with a hiss, yanking his hand out of hers. If she touched him again, would the vision return? The sudden clench of her stomach warned that something ominous was about to happen–either in the vision, or in the bar. But Terrence had backed too far out of reach for her to determine what.

Her skin was still warm from the heat of his hand. He’d been more than warm–scalding, in fact. Could vampires get fevers?

“I’ll stay outside,” he said. His voice was sharp. It brooked no argument.

She balled her fists at her side. “Fine,” she spat. If he didn’t want to help, she would work better without his interference. Without another word, she marched into the bar.

Chapter 5

Terrence lingered by the door when Lori exited less than an hour later with no results. No one had seen someone of the Spenta Michos’s description. But then, she hadn’t expected the search to be easy. Why would the kidnapper–be it Terrence or someone else–let the Spenta Michos wander unrestricted?

As she walked, Terrence fell into step behind her. She didn’t speak to him. Midway down the street, her frustration got the better of her. She’d wasted enough time for any open restaurants to have closed for the evening. This late, she had nowhere left to search. She sighed.

“We might as well go back to the roo–” She turned, but Terrence’s familiar form was nowhere in sight. “–oom. Fan-fucking-tastic. He left me here.” She rubbed her forehead. At least she was familiar enough with the labyrinth layout of a city to find her way back to the motel in this small a town.

She didn’t see a soul on the way back. Terrence had the key, but she picked the lock and let herself in, anyway. He stood inside their room, arms crossed and a fierce scowl curling his lips.

“You’re late.”

“What?” She shut the door behind her, shaking her head. He’d gone insane.

“We agreed to meet back at midnight. It’s twelve-thirty.”

And he’d been with her the whole damn time, so what did it matter? She shoved the pins into her pocket, determined to ignore him.

“Lori–”

“What?” she snapped.

He cupped her shoulders, drawing her closer. Oh, suddenly he craved her touch? Then what had he been so wary about on the street? Unless he’d suspected she’d had another vision. Well, she would keep this one to herself. At least until she knew what it meant.

She yanked away, but he tightened his hold. He smelled warm and sturdy, like well-aged scotch. “You have to trust me. If we’re going to make any progress at all, we have to share what we’ve discovered.”

You’d know if you’d come into the bar with me
. Lori swallowed down the thought. “Nothing,” she spat. “I found nothing.”

With a sigh, Terrence released her. He threaded a hand through his hair. “Same,” he said, voice defeated. Then, squaring his shoulders, he said, “We’ll make more progress tomorrow.”

He sounded as though he genuinely believed that.

* * * *

Lori woke and left the room while Terrence was still passed out on the floor.

The sun shone, blinding her as she stepped outside. In the light of day, the shabby houses stood in stark relief, wedged up against one another. Some likely wouldn’t be able to stand without the support of others on either side. Lori walked quickly to the nearby diner.

The “diner” was little more than a fish and chip stand. Lori ordered the chips, sans fish, thank you very much. She sat at the counter and nursed a coffee, thinking.

The waitress, a weathered woman, set the plate of fries down without a word.

Lori sprinkled the plate with salt and waited as the woman refilled her black coffee.

“I’m looking for someone,” she said finally. “A man.”

“Aren’t we all?” the woman muttered under her breath.

Lori cracked a smile. “This one goes by the name of Michael.”

“You’re going to have to give me more than that, m’dear.”

“He’s black. Close to six feet tall.”

The waitress started shaking her head before Lori finished the sentence. “Sorry, m’love. Haven’t seen no one hereabouts by that description. But you let me know if you find him.” With a wink, the waitress sauntered down the counter to serve another customer.

Lori stifled a sigh. No use trying to explain her true purpose. And asking after the Spenta Michos seemed to be a waste of time, too. But what else could she do? She scooped a pair of fries into her mouth. The soft, chewy potatoes tasted like charcoal. How could she sit here eating when the Spenta Michos could be nearby? Someone had to know something. Lori stood, ready to leave and try another tact.

A uniformed police officer barreled through the door, looking shaken. He rested a hand over his paunch as he caught his breath. His face was ashen. He waved the waitress over.

Lori slowly settled back onto the stool as she eavesdropped.

“The devil took Mary,” he wheezed.

The waitress swayed and looked like she might faint. Instead, she choked out, “When?”

“Last night. Found her body just blocks from here, behind her house.”

“Which house?” Lori nearly cringed when she realized she’d spoken out loud.

The officer barely glanced at her. He rattled off an address as he turned his attention to the waitress.

Lori pressed a hand to her mouth. Her meal swished in her stomach, threatening to climb out. Suddenly, she felt a hand on her shoulder. The officer.

“Did you know her?”

Lori nodded, then shook her head. She didn’t know how to answer. She swallowed against her suddenly parched throat. “I spoke with her last night. She warned me not to be out after dark.”

The portly man nodded. “Words to be livin’ by, missy. The devil takes who he wants, these days.”

When the officer had first cited Satan, Lori had thought he spoke metaphorically. But it didn’t sound that way. “The devil? What do you mean?”

The officer’s mouth flattened. “Mary was found with two punctures in her neck.” He moved his fingers over his own collar, spacing them two inches apart on his throat. “The devil sucked her dry.”

Moving off, the officer patted the waitress on the shoulder and exited the diner.

Lori tossed a bill onto the counter and hurried after him. “Officer!”

He paused. Twilight had gathered outside, deepening the shadows spawning along the eaves. Dirt squelched under her boots.

As she caught up, Lori said, “You can’t really believe Satan is behind this. You, an officer of the law…”

The man looked weary. No, exhausted. He ran a hand over his balding pate. “Missy, I’ve seen a lot in my day. But this…there’s no other explanation. There’s no way to combat him.”

Lori chewed on her lower lip. The officer might insist, but she knew better. The devil hadn’t killed that woman. A vampire had.