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Which is why there'd been such a strong sense of hunger in the building when I'd walked in - they'd been feeding off what was happening in Ivan's apartment.
And I wouldn't have been surprised if that had been part of the reasoning behind Vinny allowing the vampire to visit Ivan.
"What's your impression of Vincenta Castillo?" Jack asked.
I hesitated. "She's one to watch. I think she has great plans for herself and her fledglings, but I don't think she's done anything to cross the line just yet."
"Interesting."
His voice was dry, and my eyebrows rose again. "Why?"
"Because our inspector gave a glowing report."
I grinned. "Was he young and blond?"
Jack paused. "Young, yes. Blond, no."
"She razzle-dazzled him, boss. He wouldn't have known what side of his pen was up when he was taking notes."
"Young Clark has strong shields. Even an emo vamp shouldn't have been able to affect him."
"I've got strong shields, and I felt her pull."
"Then we'll keep an eye on her, for sure. Have you written up a report about last night?"
"Nope. I was intending to do it when I got in this morning. Did Sal get anything on Aron Young?"
"We found three. We're still trying to get a current address on two of them."
"At least there's not hundreds to investigate."
"True." He paused for a moment. In the background, someone was murmuring. Paper moved, then he added, "Sal mentioned you were investigating some BDSM case?"
Meaning Sal had listened in on my phone call - there was no other way she could have known, because I hadn't yet written the report. "It's related to last night's case - same vampire."
I wasn't a hundred percent positive of that, of course, but I wasn't about to let Jack know that.
"I'll hunt up the police report on it for you, and hurry the search on Young. If this is the start of a murder run, we'll need to get onto it straightaway."
>"I haven't."
She raised an elegant eyebrow. "What, not even as a friendly gesture of hello?"
I could've pointed out that I wasn't the social, friendly type, but I wasn't about to give her that much information. "Let's just get this over with."
"As you wish."
She stepped closer. My nostrils flared, sucking in her scent, tasting flowers and springtime and something else, something I couldn't quite define. Something that felt dangerous and exciting all at the same time.
She stopped so close that her wispy gown swirled around my legs, encasing them in a sea of red. I clenched my fingers, fighting the desire to step back, to escape the heat and feel of her, and watched her face. Watching the anticipation in her brown eyes grow as she drew closer.
Then her lips brushed mine. Tentatively, gently. They were surprisingly cool and soft, and not unpleasant, however much I wanted them to be. I didn't react, holding myself still, not wanting to prolong the contact.
She opened her eyes, stared deep into mine. "A kiss takes two people, guardian. React, or the payment will not be accepted."
Her lips touched mine again, and after a moment of hesitation, I moved into them, kissing her gently but thoroughly. It was a strange kiss, a passionless kiss, and yet it was a kiss that had my nerves tingling and pulse racing. It wasn't desire. It was fear of the unknown.
I had a bad, bad feeling that more than just lip-tasting was going on.
