Netherworld: Drop Dead Sexy (11 page)

Oops. Properly chastised, I snapped my
mouth shut. At least now I knew where I’d seen her before. Any time
Commissioner Keith held a press conference or gave an interview,
his sister Patricia lurked in the background. She’d also attended a
few events I’d been dragged to on clients’ arms. I should have
recognized her.

A werehog with big yellow tusks brushed
past me, and I fought not to scream. Zoo Flu doesn’t jump around
easily, thank goodness. It’s a blood-borne virus, but most of us
normals are still squeamish about skin-to-skin contact. I barely
restrained an urge to check Isabella’s arms for open
cuts.

Next to me, Lana seemed more cheerful
than ever, something that lowered her a bit in my estimation. How
could anyone be so jolly with all these scary bugaboos surrounding
us? “Patricia is totally dedicated to her brother. She has the most
pull with him, even more than the Judge.”

Patricia climbed the two steps of the
bandstand, joining a dark-haired man standing with his back to us.
Despite the very expensive-looking suit covering him, I knew that
body on sight and experienced a thrill up my spine.

The greeting on my lips died without
being uttered as Tristan turned towards his sister and I caught
sight of his lily-white face. Even with several yards still
separating us, I could see the more predatory expression he wore.
There was an aloofness in his attitude that hadn’t been there
before. He looked as watchful as a hawk looking for tasty bunnies
in the meadow. My skin crawled.

Dan whispered, “I know I don’t have to
remind you, but Tristan as a vampire is different from his ghost
self.”

“Dan and the girl are here,” Patricia
said to Tristan, and he swung his dark gaze towards us. I couldn’t
control the shiver that raced down my spine at that calculating
stare. He looked at me as if I were a particularly delicious morsel
he couldn’t wait to take a bite out of.

“Is he dangerous to us?” I whispered to
Lana and Dan.

Lana’s smile slipped a touch. I felt
better about her again. “All vampires are dangerous, even the good
ones. You have nothing to fear from Tristan though. He’s never lost
control.”

Her hesitant tone didn’t have to finish
her last sentence. That we know of hung unsaid in the
air.

A massive creature stepped to Tristan
and Patricia’s side, and I gasped. Even on all fours, the majestic
griffin stood tall, reaching Tristan’s shoulder. The pure white
feathers on its eagle’s head laid flat … not a plume out of place,
I thought. The eagle part of it extended down to its chest and
shoulders. The black and brown plumage of its folded wings was a
monochromatic contrast against its golden lion’s pelt that made up
the rest of the gorgeous entity. I couldn’t help but stare. I
didn’t know Fulton Falls had one of the ancient beings as a
resident.

“Cool pet,” I breathed.

Lana bit her lip. “I wouldn’t call
Augustus a pet to his face. You’ll lose poor Isabella’s head that
way.”

Boy, I just kept putting my foot in my
mouth. “Maybe I should just shut up for the rest of the night,” I
groused.

There was no humor in Dan’s reply.
“That might be wise.”

I scowled at him. “You know, you’ve
been kind of a jerk since I borrowed Isabella’s body. I don’t like
you too much right now, Dan.”

He grabbed my arm. I stopped as much
from the surprise as from the strength of his grip. How did he do
that? After all, he was a ghost, and I was in a solid
body.

The warning in his tone distracted me
from my shock. “Listen to me, Brandilynn. I don’t mind your wit
most of the time. In fact, I enjoy it. But this is dangerous
territory, even for a ghost. A lot of these people don’t have a
sense of humor when humans show up.”

My pique ebbed away. Dan’s attitude
came from fear, not meanness. He was afraid for me? His concern
gave me warm fuzzies.

“Okay, I’m in the company of sensitive
vamps and shifters. I can be PC. I won’t tell werefox in the
henhouse jokes.”

He didn’t relax. “Try for more than
political correctness, baby girl. See it from their point of view.
Paras have had equal rights for only the last three decades.
They’re under attack from the humans all the time.”

I swallowed. “It’s not that I don’t
believe they deserve equality, Dan. They scare me. I always feel
like I’m on the menu when I’m around them. You can’t tell me
they’re not dangerous.”

He gave me a grim smile. “It’s true
they’re predators first and civilized second. But that’s just
another reason you need to stop being a tourist and show respect
whether you think they deserve it or not.”

Lana added, “Many of them were once
human like us. The shifters didn’t ask to catch the virus, and in
some cases, the vampires had no say in their transformation
either.”

I blew out a breath. “Fine. I’m walking
on eggshells from here on out. But you need to cut me a break since
I wasn’t properly prepared for this. I just found out I was dead
only this morning, in case you’ve forgotten.”

Dan nodded. “Point taken. I’m sorry if
I’ve been too hard on you. I just don’t want you getting
hurt.”

Before he could say anything else,
Tristan’s deep voice rolled through the room. “Bring Brandilynn
here, Lana.”

I could bring myself, thanks so much.
Nevertheless, I kept my tongue still as I presented myself to
Tristan in my borrowed body.

I was glad I’d stayed silent. Tristan’s
dark, almost black eyes were like obsidian marbles in his very
white face. I searched for the warmth he’d looked at me with
earlier in the day. I found no trace of it, only a terrible
patience that a stalking predator might have for the prey it creeps
towards.

Call me a racist all you like, but I
really don’t like vampires at all. Not even this one.

“So?” he said to me. I suppressed a
shudder looking at his bloodless lips. At least I saw no hint of
fangs. Had he shown them, I might have run screaming, and never
mind my control over Isabella’s body remained so-so.

The more uncomfortable I am, the more
belligerent I become. Uneasy to the point of nausea, I forgot my
promise to Dan. Respect went out the window and I snapped, “So,
what? Complete sentences are most appreciated as I don’t read
minds.”

Tristan’s eyes narrowed, but his tone
remained cold, not creeping into anger territory. “Have you
remembered anything about your murder?”

It was as if he’d asked me, “Did you
remember to pick up milk on your way home?” His gentle concern so
evident earlier today had disappeared. For some reason, that
hurt.

Somehow I swallowed the pain and
matched the evenness of his voice. “Not yet.”

Tristan turned to address the griffin.
“Augustus, can you tell me anything?”

I looked at the beautiful creature
regarding me with calm, golden eyes. I had the insane urge to run
my palm over his feathered head. I’d never seen anything so
amazing.

His beak opened and he spoke. “The
thief of lives will find her and she will find him. Judgment will
be passed and the assassins scattered.”

As stunning as he was, Augustus’ voice
screeched unattractively. The absence of flexible lips made his
statement come out, “Buh beep ub libes will bine her and she will
bine him. Budgmen will be pasb an the absabsims scabberd.” I
couldn’t believe I understood him, but somehow I did.

The faces of those surrounding me were
grim with concentration. I scowled at Tristan, impatient to be let
in on the secret. “In English?”

He raised an eyebrow at me. “Augustus
is an oracle. He sees the future, or at least the future as it is
happening now.”

Well that answered … not one darn
thing. I sighed. “Talk slow, okay? I’m feeling stupid.”

That got me a ghost of a smile from
Tristan, and something in my chest loosened. Seeing a spark of
humanity in the vampire eased a little of my trepidation. “The
future is not fixed. Every decision we make changes what might
be.”

Patricia nodded. “Augustus can only see
where your current path will take you.”

I thought about the griffin’s words. I
dared to speak to the magnificent creature, who regarded me with
those gentle, golden eyes. “The thief of lives will find me? The
man who murdered me? I’m not so sure I like the sound of
that.”

Dan spoke and Lana echoed him for those
who couldn’t hear him. “Augustus, you said assassins, plural.
There’s more than one killer?”

Augustus blinked slowly and looked at
Dan. He could see the dead? “Future killers and thieves everywhere.
But they are led by the one who bleeds the children of the
streets.” His gaze returned to me. “This one has many enemies to
overcome. My child, thwart them and your shackles of death shall be
lifted for half the time. The thief of souls shall make you a thief
of the body.”

His tone was so kind that I couldn’t
take offense to his words, but I still defended myself. “I’m a lot
of things, Mr. Augustus, but a thief is not one of
them.”

Tristan placed a cold hand on my
shoulder, and I barely restrained a shiver. “You can’t take his
words literally,” he said. “Griffin communication is filled with
figurative speech.”

Patricia frowned as she watched Tristan
touch me. “And the murkier the meaning, usually the worse the
news.”

Augustus looked away from me to regard
her. He sighed. “Sweet vessel, the want of you will drive a good
man to greatness.”

She didn’t seem to hear the sadness in
his voice. Patricia smiled with surprised pleasure. She lost some
of her frozen vampiness with the expression, and another centimeter
of tension eased for me.

Perhaps she softened because the
astounding creature had called her sweet. I didn’t think she heard
that adjective thrown her way too often. “Thank you,
Augustus.”

I muttered to myself, “Well, at least
he’s pretty to look at.”

The griffin heard me. He somehow
communicated a smile despite the rigidity of his beak and offered
me a little bow. I ducked my head, shamefaced. I really did need to
shut up.

Tristan said, “Dan, you know what to
do.”

Dan patted my shoulder, the touch
barely registering on Isabella’s skin. He might have been nothing
more than a spiderweb brushing by on a breeze. “I’ll be at the
library when you’re done, should you care to join me.”

He turned and left, and I watched him
go, more than a little uneasy to be left behind with the vampires.
It felt like my only friend in the world walked away, leaving me in
the midst of enemies. But Dan wouldn’t leave me if I was in danger.
I hoped.

Tristan reclaimed my worried attention.
“Brandilynn, if you can recover your memory, you may be able to
avoid a second encounter with your killer.”

I thought hard, trying to reclaim the
events that led to my body being dumped in the woods. Where had I
been? Who had I seen? My mind dredged up little tidbits of random
life, stupid things like brushing my teeth, drinking coffee,
running errands.

Frustrated by my inability to recall
anything worthwhile, I said, “I can remember my day-to-day routine
of working out, reading the newspaper, getting my hair and nails
done and dressing for work, but I couldn’t even tell you the last
day I was alive. Maybe if I knew that I could retrace the steps I
took that day.”

Tristan glanced at his sister.
“Patricia.”

She nodded. “Done.” She started towards
one of the big, rich desks, but froze as her gaze moved over the
ballroom. In a flat tone she announced, “The Judge is
here.”

Tristan looked over my head. His
cultured voice held both relief and irritation. “It’s about time he
showed up.”

I turned to see the object of their
attention, Fulton Falls’ creepiest vampire.

He swept towards us, a gothic horror
dressed in black. I noticed how others edged away from him. Even
the weregators, known for their fearless brutality when they chose
to use it, backed a few steps away. Only one man stood his ground
when the Judge swept past him. He never moved an inch back, not
even when the vampire’s flapping black cape fluttered over his
muscular body. It was enough to take my attention from the 300-year
old vampire to check out this unique para.

The man was obviously a were, and it
took me a moment to register what flavor: panther. Subtle black
markings flecked his dark mocha skin. Fangs peeked out from his
sensuous lips. Black-furred triangular ears parted the tight
cornrows of braids that swept to the man’s chiseled chest, left
bare by a black leather vest. His unafraid but wary stance told me
this man was used to being hired muscle. Bodyguard, bouncer,
something. His green-gold eyes glowed in his handsome cat man face.
I didn’t do the part-time furred anymore than I did vampires, but
heavens to mergatroid, what a hottie. Had I come across him in
life, I might have broken my hard-and-fast rule against sex with a
shifter.

I would have liked to study this yummy
specimen a bit more, but the Judge demanded undivided attention. He
looked like everything I feared in vampires: cold, menacing,
unmerciful. His shoulder-length hair was tied back into a short
ponytail with a leather cord. He wore a plain black suit that hung
from his spare, almost skeletal body. His dark eyes were deeply
shadowed, so much so that with the rest of his face being the
typical vampire bluish-white, it resembled a death’s mask. His
expression was that of naked hunger, and my stomach curled in on
itself to look at it.