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She nodded again.
He took two steps.
I’m not going anywhere, she sent, the words hurtling into his brain and freezing his steps again. He turned back to meet her gaze once more.
Cardamom, she sent. Her eyes closed, her lips parted. Unwittingly—he was sure of that—she released yet another wave of lavender, which almost brought him to his knees. Whatever this was between them, it was goddamn mutual.
He trembled inside as he turned away and drew his hands into knotted fists. He couldn’t do this. He refused to do this. Whoever she was, whatever she was, he couldn’t get involved, not with her, not in this way. She wasn’t just sex to him. No, she was a helluva lot more. She was mainline heroin, and if he wasn’t careful, he’d get sucked into something he had vowed never to do again.
He moved in the direction of the stairs. He laid his hand on shoulder after shoulder though not for comfort. The spectators in turn ambled off to their various offices, no longer remembering the fatality below.
He moved back down the stairs to the crowd gathered around the body and with the same steady, quiet effort sent the rest of the spectators away from the emergency personnel. He approached the EMTs, who in turn no longer remembered that a woman had died. They reentered their vehicles and one by one drove away.
The breh-hedden occurs so infrequently there is hardly sufficient information to make informed opinions as to its validity. This author believes Warrior of the Blood mate-bonding must be part of ascension mythology. Nothing more.
—From Treatise on Ascension, Philippe Reynard
Chapter 4
Alison watched Warrior Kerrick put his hands on person after person. What did they see? Surely not a long-haired warrior the size of an NBA player wearing a black leather kilt and looking like a god. She was amazed as each individual simply turned away from the crime scene and went back into the medical complex.
He worked steadily until even the police and emergency vehicles pulled out of the parking lot. Finally he stood over the covered body. Once more he drew his strange phone from the pocket of his kilt, spoke to a woman he called Jeannie, and made the deceased woman disappear.
He returned to stand before her. He closed his eyes for a moment, his nostrils flaring. When he opened his eyes he scowled. “Why do you have to smell like lavender?” Once more his heavy spice, rich cardamom, flowed around her.
She couldn’t believe the way her body responded to his scent, as though it belonged to her and no one else, as though she had to have it or die. Which was absurd, completely irrational.
She drew in another deep breath and gestured to the now clean cement. “What did you just do? Where did the woman and the other winged man go?”
He held her gaze. He reached a hand toward her then let it drop away. “I do interdimensional cleanup work when death vampires hunt on Mortal Earth. We work hard not to leave evidence of our world behind.”
Alison nodded as though these words made perfect sense to her. “So, you have a job description, which involves making sure that we, us, this world doesn’t learn of your existence.”
“In part. Every night I patrol the Borderlands and battle more of these night-feeders. Any of this make sense to you?”
She shook her head. “Does any of this make sense? Death vampires? Borderlands? What do you think?” She hated the hysterical note in her voice. She put a hand to her chest, a sense of deep inexplicable yearning still possessing her. She took yet another deep breath. “Okay. So where are the bodies?”
“In a morgue on Second.”
“Second?”
“Second Earth. Same earth, different dimensions. Evolved powers. Shit, you really aren’t in your call to ascension, are you?”
“Since I have no idea what any of that means, I guess the answer would have to be no.”
“But I watched you fold from the catwalk to ground level right in front of me.”
“Fold? Oh, you mean the disappearing–reappearing thing? Yeah, I’ve never done that before in public.”
“But you’ve done it before.”
“Sure. Since childhood, although early on it happened mostly by accident.”
“Anyone else in your family able to do this?”
She shook her head. “My mother is telepathic but that’s about it.”
“Yet you can see me,” he stated. “You dematerialize, you can fold objects, and you slip into my mind easily.”
She nodded, her gaze fixed to his.
He released a heavy sigh and shook his head. “You have a shitload of power, but you don’t have the usual hallmarks of a rite of ascension, so right now you’re a mystery to solve.”
She looked him over. Was he real? Once more, she settled a hand on his bicep, reaching for an anchor. He felt real.
His nostrils flared suddenly. He squeezed his eyes shut like he was in pain.
Okay, she had to open the door. She had to know the truth about him, about what she was seeing and touching. “So, you’re a … vampire.”
“Yes. The ascended world is a vampire world but not in the way depicted in the worst of the Bram Stoker traditions.”
“Except for the death vampire.”
He nodded. “You’re seeing the source of that particular aspect of vampire culture since the one I just dispatched used his fangs for some really hard-core shit. However, most ascenders—residents of Second Earth—use their fangs properly, to take blood and to give pleasure without doing harm.” He searched her gaze for a long moment. “I can’t even read your mind and I should be able to, which means you have powerful shields in place. Who are you?”
Once more, she stated her name. “Alison Wells. I have a counseling practice here in this building. Or had one. I’ve been closing up shop for the last two months. I just saw my last client.”
He narrowed his gaze and lowered his voice. “Was your last client Darian Greaves?”
She nodded. “Yes.”
“Christ.” He shoved a hand through his thick black hair, which gave her sudden cravings. She drew in another breath and shifted back to his green eyes. “Do you know Darian?”
“Shit. It’s so weird to hear you call him by his first name. No one does that. Not on Second. He’s known as the Commander or Greaves and he’s a major player. He has big plans for our world as well as Mortal Earth—your earth—and these plans involve war, conquest, and slavery. Right now he’s well on his way to succeeding. I take it he didn’t discuss his ambitions with you or his vampire nature.”
