Page 28 of John’s Yearning

But his vampire senses had already told him that it was too late. There was no breath, no heartbeat, no blood rushing through her veins. He laid his hand on her pregnant belly. No heartbeat from there either. All that was left was charred skin, singed hair, burned clothes. And unlike John, who would recover from his burns with sufficient blood and restorative sleep, Nicolette wouldn’t. There was no life left in her. He couldn’t even turn her into a vampire to save her; it was too late for that too. He’d failed. Failed to keep her safe, failed to save her. Failed her when she was at her most vulnerable.

Nicolette was no more.

He rose and looked at the car wreck, the flames still high, still burning hot. Hot enough to kill a vampire.

“Nicolette,” he murmured, “I won’t leave you.” He walked toward the flames.

Strong arms ripped him back. The strong arms of another vampire.

“No, John, she wouldn’t want that.”

He turned his head to look at Cain. “I can’t live without her.”

“You’ll have to learn to. She would want you to.”

Forgive me, Nicolette. He swallowed back tears, standing there for what felt like an eternity.

And like a coward, he turned away from the flames and allowed Cain to help him.

12

Lack of sleep was finally catching up with him. After all, he hadn’t slept a wink the day before, and despite consuming a larger amount of blood than normal, John knew he needed some shut-eye. But before he could go home and rest for a few hours, he had to make a few phone calls and pay somebody a visit.

He’d stopped at Scanguards’ office in the Mission an hour before sunrise to use their system to run background checks on the babysitter and the neighbor, and made sure nobody saw him. He was supposed to be training Benjamin and Damian, not letting them run loose in the city. Explaining why they weren’t with him wouldn’t be easy.

His observations of the babysitter and the neighbor hadn’t yielded any useful information yet, and he wasn’t putting too much stock into the background checks either. But he needed to be thorough.

After shift change, when the vampires had left the building, he was able to get a few other things taken care of, before he snuck out of Scanguards’ underground garage and headed for Cow Hollow and the Marina. The rays of the rising sun couldn’t penetrate his car, so he was safe.

As soon as he’d merged into traffic, he called Benjamin, who picked up on the first ring.

“Hey, John, I was just about to check in.”

“Good, give me an update.”

“So this Rachel, she’s a bit of a flake.”

“How so?”

“She called in sick the last two days, but she isn’t sick at all.”

“Where is she?” John asked with interest. Had she fled after Buffy’s kidnapping?

“Oh, she’s home. But not alone. Looks like a private party involving drugs and sex. Not sure about the rock ‘n’ roll.” Benjamin chuckled.

John grunted. “Sounds like somebody using her boss’s absence to get away with skipping work, not like somebody involved in a kidnapping.”

“Possible,” Benjamin said, “but the shit they’re snorting ain’t cheap. I counted quite a few lines of coke. You said to check out anything odd. And considering that the guy she’s with drives a rust bucket, I can’t see where he got the money to pay for that stuff. She makes good money; I found her pay stubs, but from the credit card statements I saw, it looks like whatever she makes she spends just as quickly.”

“You were inside her place?” John asked, not without admiration. Benjamin showed promise.

“Yeah, I picked the lock when the two were passed out. Nobody saw me. I made sure of it.”

“Good work. Stay on her and follow her if she leaves the house today,” John ordered. “Have you run her background check yet?”

“Sent it through the system a little earlier. Haven’t got it back.”

“Thanks. Call me when you have any news.”