The Witch Hunter (17 page)

"That's an alluring cologne you're wearing," she flirted, leaning closer to breathe in his ugly wolf stink. She caught Zac's eye and winked as she stood and led her catch into the bathrooms at the back of the bar. 

Checking to see if all the stalls were empty, she locked the bathroom door and turned, looking Ralph up and down, biting her lip. He stepped forward, clutching her around the waist and went to kiss her, but she grabbed the side of his head and smashed it into the basin, the force cracking the porcelain. The wolf fell to the floor, blood pouring from a gash on his forehead, grunting in surprise, "What the fuck! You bitch!"

"Listen to me," Aya soothed, crouching on the floor, turning him over so he could see her face. "The next time you come into this town and threaten any one of those vampires, I will tear you to shreds and send back the pieces to your pathetic little pack. This town is
mine
 and I do not appreciate the peace being broken by a
dog
." She grasped the front of his shirt, pulling him closer. She let her eyes cloud over into two ethereal white pools and licked her fangs. Ralph cried out in horror and put his hands in front of his face. Dropping him back on the tiles she stood over him menacingly. 

"I got it! I got it! Fucking hell!" he whimpered. "What the fuck are you?"

"I'm your worst nightmare," Aya looked up into the mirror, fluffed her hair up and smiled down at him. "You have a nice night now, you hear?" The bathroom door shut heavily behind her.

Zac raised his eyebrows as she approached. "What the hell did you do to him?"

Aya looked at him nonchalantly and took a sip of his drink, "He won't bother you anymore." 

Suddenly, the bathroom door crashed open and the werewolf stumbled into the walkway. Catching Aya's eye, he visibly stiffened. The gash she had given him had healed, and he'd washed most of the blood off, the hair at his temple wet and stringy. She raised her glass and he looked away, panic stricken and made a dash for the exit.

Aya laughed and Liz looked warily at her, "What exactly did you do to him, Aya?"

She stood and grabbed her leather jacket from the back of her chair and their bottle of Jack. Winking at Liz, she left the bar, not really bothered whether she explained herself or not.

CHAPTER TWELVE

"F
uck!" Zac exclaimed.

The last thing he expected to find first thing in the morning was a corpse in the front yard. A
vampire
 corpse. And he knew that there was only one person who would have put it there. Scowling, he took out his cell and called Sam. Before he could say hello he said, "Have you seen Aya?"

"No," Sam sighed. "Did she take the cell I gave her?"

"No, it's still in her room," he couldn't keep the annoyance out of his voice.

"Zac, she hasn't been awake for long. Perhaps she doesn't see the usefulness of it yet."

"Do you know where she is?"

"No, I haven't seen her today."

"Well, if you see her, tell her I'm looking for her. I want to talk to her about the corpse in the front yard."

"What the hell?" came the reply from the other end.

"A desiccated vampire is sitting in the yard like a fucking scarecrow. And only one person we know could have done that," he hung up abruptly.

Getting in his car, he cursed her all the way into town. When he caught up with her, he'd give her a piece of his mind. How stupid could she be? Leaving a corpse in the front yard for anyone to come along and see. He knew it was too good to be true, their shaky alliance was a joke. Two thousand year old idiot.

Parking the car at an awkward angle by the main square, he stalked down the street, catching sight of Alex in the distance pruning some box hedges.

"Have you seen Aya?" he said, coming up behind him. He didn't bother saying hello.

Alex turned and scowled when he saw it was Zac, "Depends why you’re asking."

"C'mon," Zac rolled his eyes. "Have you seen her or not?"

"She went to the bookstore," Alex pointed across the street.

"Thanks, buddy. That wasn't so hard was it?" he lent forward, thumping him on the shoulder.

"Just don't be an asshole, Zac."

"Me?
Never
." He sauntered across the street through a break in traffic and looked through the front windows into the store. There were lines of shelving and displays along one side and CDs and magazines in the centre. There was a gift section by the registers and a cafe tucked away at the rear, lots of little corners she could be hiding in. Quickly surveying, he couldn't see her, so he walked inside and looked down each aisle before spotting her amongst the magazines reading a copy of
National Geographic
.

He came up behind her, ready to give her a piece of his mind, but she said, "This is such a wonderful magazine." She hadn't made any gesture that suggested she knew he was there and it irritated him further.

"We need to talk," he said through his teeth.

"I'd never heard much of this Solar System business. I knew it was all there, but the names humans give things is intriguing. And this Amazon rainforest. I'd like to go there, it sounds wild and dangerous. Have you been?" 

"No," he said impatiently, shuffling from foot to foot.

"Well, I'd like to go before it disappears. Some things aren't as immortal as others. Before I was asleep, the civilized world told us that it was a land of savages. But that's so not true."

"As much as I'm enjoying the history lesson, I want to talk to you about something else," he hissed into her ear.

Aya placed the magazine back on the shelf. "And what do you want to discuss?"

"I want to discuss the corpse that you left in the front yard," he hissed again, looking around to see if anyone was listening.

"Oh, that," she said.

"Yes,
that
." He took her arm and forcefully guided her from the shop, smiling at the attendant at the counter who was eyeing them suspiciously. He took her across the street to the square where he was sure no one was close enough to hear them. Turning her to face him he scowled as she laughed. "What the hell is so funny?"

"You. Getting all worked up."

"It's not funny, Aya. You left a desiccated corpse in the front yard for everyone to see."

"Not true. No one knows that the house is lived in. No one comes to visit, the gates are meant to be locked because it is a site of historical significance. No one is going to see the
corpse. 
I left Dean there to serve as a warning to his buddy who has camped out in the town somewhere."

"Oh," Zac said, throwing his hands up in exasperation, "So, the corpse has a name?"

"Yes," she said as if it were the most normal thing to be talking about. "When his friend stops by tonight, he'll try something else and I will be waiting for him to expose himself."

"You can't just do things, Aya, and not tell us! I nearly fucking died when I went outside!"

She laughed again, "Well, I really wish I had of been there to see
that.
"

"Then why is it there and not someplace else?" he crossed his arms, glowering at her.

"Well, you wanted my help. This is me helping. Dean was already in the house while you were sleeping, princess. If I hadn't of been there it was curtains for the Degaud brothers."

He sighed, "And how do you know his name was Dean?

She shrugged, "I asked him."

"You
asked
 him?"

"Yes, right before he told me about his friend. Then I killed him. You should have been there. I was brilliant."

"Geesus," he ran his hand through his hair in frustration.

"I met a Jesus once," she said. "He was alright."

Zac stared at her dumbfounded. The things that came out of her mouth. Enduring her mood swings was like having a bucket of icy water dumped on his head. "Just get rid of the corpse before anyone sees it."

"Aye aye Captain," she said, mock saluting him. "I will deny Dean his proper burial so his soul will wander for eternity." 

"Just as long as it doesn't wander anywhere near the house," Zac glared and strode off.

Aya began the walk back to the manor in a huff. She couldn't wait until she came to the forest so she could run. Those boys had no sense of humor at all. Typical men, always thinking they're right. 

Glaring to herself she brightened slightly when she saw Alex by the path ahead. He was pruning the hedge that bordered the sidewalk. Hacking, would be a better description. He was annoyed, too.

"Hello," she said as she came level with him.

He looked up at her and went back to his work, giving a grunt in acknowledgement.

"Are you okay, Alex?" she asked, concerned.

Alex shrugged, "Yeah." He didn't really convince her, but she didn't press the subject.

"Do you want to get a drink later?" she asked. "Tonight, I mean." There was no reason she couldn't go out and have a bit of fun. The more she was out, the more she could learn about the town and notice who was lurking about. Especially that other vampire, he'd probably hang about the town once the sun went down. She knew she would.

Alex seemed unsure as he said, "I dunno."

"I have to go to the manor and take care of something, but I'll come and meet you after, okay?" she raised her eyebrows to force a response from him.

"Yeah," he shrugged, accepting.

Something was still up with him, and she planned to get it out of him one way or another. But for now she had to go deal with Dean, the corpse in the front yard. She smiled and began walking, leaving Alex to finish hacking the hedge.

There was a prickling feeling at the back of her neck as she walked. It felt like someone was watching her, but looking about, no one was paying her the least bit of attention. She continued warily, it better to assume one of Katrin's cronies were around by default. There was no doubt in her mind that all of them were being watched. And she guessed it was Dean's mate. They wouldn't try anything in such a public place, but she better be on her guard nonetheless. She continued through the park, her mind, eyes and ears all out watching for something amiss.

Alex strode down the dark street, his mind wandering. It had been a long afternoon alone with his thoughts. Ugh, why had he agreed to meet Aya tonight?

Ever since he overheard Liz and Gabby he couldn't stop thinking about what they had implied about Aya. The more he thought about it, the weirder it sounded. He was completely ignorant and they were shutting him out. They'd never kept him out of anything before and he was hurt. He couldn't shake the feeling at all.

He felt weird about meeting Aya. She'd never really told him what she was doing in town. As a matter of fact, she hadn't really told him anything about herself. Perhaps he should confront her. That might be the only way he would get any answers. Liz had acted like nothing was amiss, but maybe Aya wouldn't.