AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Why would I want to do that? You know more about me than any man or woman ever has—alive or dead.
But still I don't know all your secrets. You were a man used to keeping his own council when we met. I doubt whether that man has entirely disappeared, even after I've spent over a hundred years civilizing you.
He smiled. According to Nikki, that man had not disappeared at all. I met a vampire last night. He was psychically using a young couple in an attempt to kill Nikki. Seline's amusement shimmered around him. She was well aware he was steering the conversation back to more comfortable topics. And he still lives? Michael, you're slipping. I never had much hope of finding him in a city this size—he could have been anywhere in a one or two block radius, and his scent was nowhere to be found. But I am meeting him tonight, and if he is our kidnapper, I'll kill him if I can.
If? You sense problems?
A fourth woman has been kidnapped.
Damn. She hesitated, her anger heating the link . Which one?
Her married name is Harris.
Anne Harris, that would be. She's one of the eight I mentioned. Her husband is involved in shipping. It's not her present that's the problem. It's her past.
Perhaps you'd better talk to Mary some more.
I've probed her memories. As far as she's concerned, nothing unusual happened. Then probe deeper. Obviously, something else happened either that night or during the year—something that involved these twelve women.
I'll try. When Nikki wasn't around to protest. He wasn't up to any more arguments right now. If you give me the names and addresses of the remaining women, I'll visit each of them and impress upon their minds the urgent need to leave.
Good idea. Seline's thoughts touched his more fully, burning the information into his memory. Though it may drive our killer underground again.
Better us chasing him than him chasing these woman. And at least now we have some idea of who his targets are.
True. And instinct tells me it'll end here in San Francisco, anyway. He didn't bother asking which way it would end. If she knew, she would have told him. Listen, have you got a charm or spell or something that will stop this vampire using his clairvoyant abilities to track Nikki? We have to use her skills to find these women quickly, but he basically knows our every move, thanks to the lock he has on her.
Seline's frown was something he felt—a wash of darker light through the link. A tricky one. I think I remember a spell that'll create a sort of dead zone around her. He won't be able to track her psychically, but you may not be able to, either.
I don't think it'll matter. The link we share works on a far deeper level than telepathy. Which only provides more evidence of the merging. Everything I've read on thralls suggests it's a one-way street. The thrall usually only has basic telepathy skills with its master. We had this link before she became a thrall.
Yes, but now it's deepened. She hesitated. You know, you both really should come into headquarters so we can test what's happening. I've got a feeling it could be very interesting. And he had a feeling that if he let Nikki anywhere near the Circle's headquarters, it would be the end of any hope he had of stopping her from joining them. Let's concentrate on getting this case solved first. Do you have a name for this vampire you're meeting?
Farmer.
I'll check through the records and see what we find. I'll also check out that suicide incident. And the charm for Nikki?
I'll work on it this afternoon and have it couriered across. It'll be tomorrow morning before it gets there, so be careful until then.
I will. Thanks Seline.
The link between them died. He glanced up and met Nikki's gaze. She raised an eyebrow, expression annoyed.
Why do you keep locking me out?
Why do you keep listening in on private conversations?
Heat touched her cheeks, and the thunder in the link rumbled closer. I thought we were going to work together on this case?
We are—though if I had any choice in the matter, I would make you, Jake and Mary leave San Francisco so you'd all be away from this madman's grasp.
Don't I know that. Her retort stung his mind. She considered him for a moment, gaze narrowed. Tell me—were you and Seline ever lovers?
The question caught him by surprise. He barely managed to keep his laugh in check, but his amusement echoed down the link, momentarily drowning the sound of thunder. No, we were never lovers. Why do you ask?
She gave a mental shrug. You don't want me to meet her. You don't want me to listen in on your conversations with her. It's the sort of secretive behavior of two lovers, isn't it?
Perhaps it is. But we are not, have never been, and never will be. They were friends. Good friends. He trusted her more than any person on Earth, except Nikki. Yet he had never once felt the slightest bit of sexual interest in her. And it was a disinterest that was shared. Why?
