Blood Bath & Beyond (3 page)

“No, I’ve been given another assignment. Bernard is here to head the separate investigation personally. He has a source with the Las Vegas CSI team he’s meeting with as we speak.”

“I think I prefer the TV version.” The whole situation had given me an incredibly uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach, which had very little to do with the turbulent flight.

I gazed out the glass doors as the ambulance drove away. “Welcome to Las Vegas, huh? That poor guy.”

“Humans are delicate creatures.” Thierry squeezed my hand reassuringly. “Try to put it out of your mind,
Sarah. This unpleasantness won’t come anywhere near you, I promise.”

Humans
were
delicate.
I
had been delicate. There might be a lot of negative things about being a vampire, but at least I wasn’t quite as breakable as I’d once been.

I decided to do exactly as Thierry suggested and try my best to put the blood-free dead body out of my head as much as possible as we checked in. The woman behind the registration desk eyed my tall, dark, and handsome fiancé appreciatively before glancing at me with some obvious disdain. I made sure to subtly flash her my engagement ring so she knew I had every right to be standing next to him—and that she should, very kindly, back off.

I never said I wasn’t petty.

On the way to the elevator, we walked past a poster on an easel that caught my attention.

“Hey, check it out,” I said. “They have one of those child pageants going on here. Like that reality show with the toddlers who wear tiaras.”

“Does this interest you?” Thierry asked.

“Not really. It just always struck me as strange—putting lipstick, a wig, and a fake tan on a little kid. It’s like they’re a thirty-year-old stuck in a toddler’s body.”

“It’s very much like that, actually.” He nodded at the poster. “This is the case Bernard’s officially handing off to me.”

I looked at him. “Seriously? What kind of case is it?”

“One of the contestants is a vampire.”

I glanced at the colorful poster with shock this time. “That is messed up.”

“It’s also against the Ring’s rules. It’s possible that
she’s unaware of this, but she has to be told. It’s my job to learn her history, find out when she was sired, and who exactly was responsible for turning a child. Also, she must be made aware that public spectacles involving children that never age could only draw the attention of vampire hunters.”

I took this all in. “And what happens to the vamp responsible for siring her?”

“Whoever it was—if they’re still alive—will be dealt with.”

I grimaced. “That doesn’t sound pleasant.”

“It won’t be. But that isn’t up to me. That goes to another department.” His jaw tensed. “Enforcement.”

Just the sound of it chilled me. “What a fun job you’ve acquired, Thierry. Death, mayhem, sequins. Sign me up.”

He reached down to take my hand again. “It’s much better now that you’re with me.”

“Sweet talker.” I grinned, but my smile faded as I glanced at the poster once more. “So what happens to the little vamp herself?”

“She’ll be asked not to take part in these public displays in the future. Like I said, it could attract hunters. Her life, and the lives of her fellow contestants, could be in danger.”

That caused a fresh churning in my gut. “That would be a very bad thing.”

“Yes, it would.” Thierry glanced at his watch. “There’s a little time to settle in. We’re meeting Bernard and his wife, Laura, for dinner at eight o’clock.”

First time I’d heard about this, which wasn’t a surprise to me at all. Thierry wasn’t exactly what I would
call the most “forthcoming with details” guy I’d ever met in my life.

“Bernard has a wife? That’s interesting.”

“They’re a lot like us, Bernard and Laura. Bernard’s a master vampire and Laura’s a fledgling. She was sired only a few years ago.”

“Okay, now I’m
very
interested to meet them,” I said.

A “master” vampire was just another way of saying that, despite the attractive exterior, he’d been around a long,
long
time.

“I think you might get along. After all, you have a great deal in common.”

I liked the sound of this a lot. It was the chance to meet someone living a life parallel to mine. Thierry and I were still engaged, not married, but I hoped to tie the proverbial knot soon. The trouble was, picking a date that would have all my loved ones—both human and vampire—in one place at the same time was proving to be a challenge now that everyone had scattered to the far corners of the earth.

I glanced down at my engagement ring, which was absolutely gorgeous. Three carats. Princess cut. Flawless in every possible way.

I wondered how big Laura DuShaw’s ring was.

“
Six
carats?” I held her hand and stared at the monstrous diamond with disbelief. “Wow, it’s incredible.”

She smiled. “Diamonds are a girl’s best friend.”

Laura reminded me of myself more than I would have thought possible. She even looked like she could be my sister, with her shoulder-length dark brown hair and hazel eyes that mirrored my own. However, she
wore more makeup than I did and her clothes looked a bit more designer and custom-made. I used to have a serious obsession for clothes and shoes, but had toned that down lately. I’d had to run away from a whole lot of vampire hunters and I’d come to the quick realization that this was much easier to do when not wearing four-inch stiletto heels—although I was wearing a pair right now.

I still enjoyed shopping, and being romantically involved with someone with cash to spare, I could do it every day if I wanted to, but it had lost some of its flavor for me. And now that I’d agreed to live exclusively out of a suitcase for the foreseeable future, I wasn’t in much of a hurry to stock up on new threads.

But I could admire those who did. And their threads.

As for Laura’s husband, Bernard…he was a very handsome man. Thierry told me on the plane ride here that he was a little over three hundred years old and, in his youth, had even been associated with Marie Antoinette during the French Revolution. Thierry warned me not to bring up Marie Antoinette’s name in conversation since it was a touchy subject for Bernard. As if I would. My knowledge of the French queen went about as far as knowing she said something like “let them eat cake,” and Kirsten Dunst had played her in the movie version.

Thierry was the history expert in our relationship, not me. Of course, he’d learned everything not from books but by living through it all firsthand—from the Black Death and beyond.

Just as Laura looked a lot like me, Bernard looked a lot like Thierry. He had dark hair, pale eyes—although Bernard’s were green, not gray—and expensive suits
with clean lines. Tall and lean, with an air of authority and an edge of power about him, this man wasn’t a pushover.

He had a softer side, I was sure. I wondered if it had taken Laura as much digging and sheer pigheaded stubbornness to find Bernard’s as it had taken me to find Thierry’s.

A typical restaurant dinner for vampires included wine and coffee, which were consumed, and plates of food, which were not. I used to wait tables in university. I’d often retrieved full plates of food at the end of the meal that looked only picked at, but it never raised any red flags for me. Everyone seemed to be on a diet at any given time. It didn’t necessarily mean I’d been serving a table full of vampires.

But maybe I had been.

“If you’ll excuse us,” Bernard said, rising from the table after the untouched dessert plates were cleared away. He, unlike Thierry, had a strong French accent. He fixed both Laura and myself with a charming smile. “Thierry and I have some business to discuss. We’ll be outside by the pool to get some fresh air.”

Thierry nodded. “Bernard is kind enough to give me some tips on how best to present myself tomorrow when I meet with Ms. Corday.”

The miniature pageant vamp. That should be an interesting meeting.

“Take lots of notes,” I suggested.

“I’ll do that.” He brushed his hand against mine as he got up from his seat, and then he and Bernard left Laura and me at the table.

“Bernard brought some Cuban cigars to share with Thierry,” Laura told me. “He wants to celebrate.”

“Nothing says congrats on your retirement like illegal tobacco.”

I took a sip from my glass of red wine. As a vampire I couldn’t eat anything solid, but I’d never had much of a problem with alcoholic beverages. Some vampires could still eat normal food; however, I’d noticed this was rare. They were the freaks, not me.

At least, that’s how I liked to think of it.

“Have you been to Vegas before?” Laura asked.

“Never. I always wanted to, but never got around to it until now. You?” I’d butter her up with small talk before we got into the real nitty-gritty details of hers and Bernard’s relationship and how that information could benefit me in the future.

“Yes. But I don’t like it here very much.” Laura leaned back in her seat and ran her perfectly manicured index finger along the edge of her wineglass.

“No? Why not?”

“Oh, I’ve been here too many times to count—many memories…good and bad ones. Plus, with the murders this week, it’s not exactly safe for our kind to spend too much time here at the moment.”

I cringed at the reminder of what I’d seen earlier in the lobby. “How many murders have there been?”

Her expression tensed and her gaze swept the crowded restaurant. “I probably shouldn’t have mentioned it. Bernard didn’t bring it up during dinner because he didn’t want to upset anyone, but I’m sure that’s one of the things he’s talking to Thierry about in private right now. There have been six humans who’ve turned up dead in the last week here on the Strip—one a day, including the one found in the Bellagio casino
today. All were drained of blood and had fang marks on their necks.”

Six! That was definitely more than a few. “Thierry mentioned to me that Bernard has a source with the police?”

She nodded. “He knows it’s an out-of-control vampire who’s willing to expose the rest of us to get his next meal. Frankly, I think he’s trying to make a statement by being so public about it.”

Most vampires didn’t drink blood directly from humans, so they didn’t run the risk of leaving a dead body lying about. This was a huge no-no—and one enforced by the Ring. Killing humans = BAD.

Vampires were to keep low profiles and not risk exposing themselves to humans at large. It was bad enough having scores of hunters looking to put a stake through our hearts, let alone having the entire world alerted to our existence.

“Why would he do it on purpose?” I asked. “That makes zero sense.”

Her red, glossy lips thinned and she counted off on her manicured fingers. “Troublemaker. Attention hound. Sociopath. You name it. He definitely came to the right town if he wants some attention. However, if Bernard finds out who it is, he has the authority to stake him on sight.”

I shuddered. This would be Thierry’s job as soon as Bernard officially handed it off to him—staking dangerous vampires if they needed staking. “Let’s hope that happens soon.”

She raised her glass. “To a job well-done.”

“I’ll definitely drink to that.” We clinked glasses
and I took a sip. Actually, it was more like a glug as I drained my glass completely in a couple swallows.

“Now, Sarah,” Laura began. “Let’s talk about something more pleasant than nasty Ring business and murders. I’d love to know how you and Thierry met.”

A subject that also involved violence and blood loss, so it really wasn’t quite as much of a shift in conversation as she might think.

The truth was that I’d been sired against my will by a vampiric blind date, and when I tried to run away from the hunters who’d killed him shortly after—so they wouldn’t do the same to me—I found Thierry standing on the edge of a bridge. Weary of his centuries of living, he’d been about to stake himself and let his remains fall into the river below. Instead, we decided to save each other.

Such a fairy tale.

I chose not to share it without excessive editing. “I was out for a jog late one night and our paths happened to cross.” I shrugged. “The rest is history. How about you?”

She took a sip from her cappuccino, which the waiter had just delivered. “My original sire abandoned me and I had to find my way on my own, which was very difficult as I’m sure you know. One night, Bernard and I passed each other in Central Park and our eyes met. It sounds cliché, but it was love at first sight. Now we get to spend the rest of our lives together.”

So she wasn’t with her original sire, either. We had more in common than I thought. “Have you had any problems with the age difference between you two?”

Enough chitchat, already,
I thought.
Let the valuable grilling commence.

She was quiet for a moment, but a wistful smile played at her lips. “I’d be lying if I said no. Bernard has so much history behind him; he’s seen and experienced so much. Sometimes I worry that I’m not enough for him, that my human ways might start to wear on his patience too much. That he won’t find them as charming as he did in the beginning.”

That sounded painfully familiar.

She continued. “I’ve said this to him, but he tells me that it’s not true. That he loves me just as I am. We’ve been together for five years and every year is better than the last.” She glanced at me. “Do you feel that way toward Thierry?”

“Well, in the beginning I felt very uncertain”—my grip tightened on my empty wineglass—“to say the least. He tried to avoid me and make me think that he didn’t care about me. He was very convincing, actually.”

“But you were stubborn and you let him know that you loved him.”

“I was rather adamant about it. If ‘adamant’ is another word for
questionably intelligent
.”

“And you convinced him.”

“Eventually I can wear down just about anyone.” I gave her a grin. “I’m tenacious like that.”

“And now you’ve agreed to leave your home behind and join him in his travels.” At my nod, she touched my hand. “It might seem like a difficult transition, but I think you’ll do just fine.”