They Come by Night (42 page)

“We can’t stay. Raymond isn’t happy.”

“He’s on his way?”

“No, he thinks I’m safe with you—”

“He does?” She seemed really pleased by that.

“Uh… yes. But he wants me home.”

She nodded. “In that case, we’d better go.” She handed me the backpack. The chair legs scraped the floor as she pushed it back and rose. A couple of the diners turned to watch us as we walked to the counter.

I wouldn’t let myself falter to a halt, but I asked out of the corner of my mouth, “Are they…?”

She shook her head, and I blew out a breath. Geez, I was becoming paranoid.

The woman came over to us. “Problem, kids?”

“I’m sorry, we need to be on our way. Could we have our order to go?”

“Sure thing. I’ll tell Cliff to hurry it up.”

“Thanks, we appreciate it. How much do we owe you?”

S
PENDING THE day at the beach had left me as parched as Death Valley, and as we walked to the car, I sucked up some soda from the cup I held.

I pressed the button on the remote that unlocked the car’s doors. “Put the food on the backseat, okay?” I placed the cup on the roof of the car.

I unzipped the backpack and took Mina out. Abruptly, she grew heavy in my arms, and I dropped the backpack. For a second, I thought I was going to piss myself. I had that feeling along the back of my neck. The last thing I wanted to do was turn to face whatever was there, but I wasn’t going to be a chicken.

Mina bristled as I turned, and the day watcher was suddenly at my side.

There were four of them—not the
adepţi
this time. The sun had gone down, and these were vampyrs. Their eyes glowed red as they stared at me, and their fangs gleamed white.

“You will allow us to feed from you!”

“Bull
shit
!”

My response seemed to surprise them; at least it did if their expressions were anything to go by. But then their eyes glowed even redder, and they all stalked toward me.

Or they would have, if Ekaterina and Mina hadn’t put themselves between me and them.

The day watcher fought silent and deadly, and Mina did the same, except for the silent part. Full-throated growls spilled from my pup’s mouth as she feinted and attacked and then bounced out of reach. I blinked and rubbed my eyes. It had to be a trick of the light… Mina wasn’t that big….

Abruptly, Ekaterina gave a cut-off gasp as she was hurled across two rows of cars. I flinched at the sound of her landing.

Well, I wasn’t going to stand there like some damsel in distress, waiting to be rescued. I yanked off the vial that hung from around my neck, and unstoppered it. With a broad sweep of my arm, I flung the contents in a semicircle, and the vampyrs shrieked as the holy water hit them.

All except one. Maybe he ducked. Maybe he was an atheist. For whatever reason, he kept coming at me. For a second his eyes met mine, and they were savage and hungry. And then his gaze dropped to my throat, and I knew he wanted to drag me within biting range. He grabbed my hip with one hand and reached for my T-shirt with the other, and I thought I would vomit as he angled his head, his fangs glinting in the lights of the parking lot.

Only more weird stuff happened. Instead of grabbing the collar of my T-shirt, he must have closed his fingers around the charm I was never without. Smoke rose from his palm, the odor of burning flesh filled my nose, and he
howled
. He tried to shake himself free, but for some reason, no matter how frantic his attempts, he couldn’t loosen his grip on the charm.

Suddenly there was a sodden, meaty sound, unlike anything I’d ever heard—and which I’d thank God if I never heard again. The vampyr froze as a stake appeared through his chest. Gouts of blood poured from his mouth.

And his eyes…. Oh, God, his eyes! I’d be having nightmares for months!

He collapsed to the ground, taking me with him, and I flinched when the stake grazed my ribs. But the vampyr was no longer any kind of threat to me. I forced his fingers open to free my mizpah, swallowing bile as they snapped off, and dropped them as quickly as I could. I scrambled away from the body, which was starting to disintegrate to dust; in seconds, it would be unrecognizable.

I swallowed again. I had to check my T-shirt for blood—not mine, but the vampyr’s. If there was any on me, even a single drop, I was taking that shirt off
now
.

Nothing. I blew out a breath in relief and glanced around.

Except for one, whose headless body twitched, the others were piles of empty clothes. And then, within the blink of an eye, that body began to smoke. Seconds later, nothing was left but his clothes as well.

“Mina!” I staggered to my feet.

My little dog came to me and leaned against my leg, her jaws parted as she panted gently. Was that blood on her muzzle?

“Ekaterina!”

“I’m here, Tyrell Small.” She was cradling her ribs. Her hair was disheveled, and she pushed it back off her face. The right sleeve of her shirt hung in tatters, and she tugged the sleeve free and tossed it into the car.

“Are you okay?”

“Stupid vampyr to think he could injure a day watcher in that manner.”

“What manner?”

She stooped and retrieved the stake, and then she spat a word I was too wiped out to try to understand. “I’m sorry, our dinner was trampled on.”

The last I’d seen, the bag had been in the car. Had she taken it out and whaled on a vampyr with it?

I would have. If I’d thought of it.

“That’s okay.” I looked down at the smudges on the ground and swallowed again. “I’ve lost my appetite.” I could have used a drink, but our sodas had spilled as well.

She gathered up the crushed bag and the empty cups, walked to a trash container, and dropped them in.

I was about to ask if she minded if we got back on the road, when a couple of bikers—I could tell by the leather they wore—came rushing out. They’d been at the counter, and I recognized them as the ones who had studied us.

“What’s going on?” the big one asked gruffly. He looked almost as tall as Raymond.

“I’m sorry. I… uh… I didn’t realize I had my radio set so loud.”

“It was an audiobook,” Ekaterina offered.

“
Hound of the Baskervilles
.” I hoped my smile didn’t look as weak as it felt.

“Jesus, I don’t remember that being so fucking scary!” And then his eyes shifted away, as if he were embarrassed to admit to such a thing.

“I apologize for the disturbance. But….”

“Yeah?”

“Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For coming out to see what the disturbance was. I don’t know many who would do that.” A little sucking up couldn’t hurt.

He gave me an intense look, then turned to stare first at Mina, who wagged her tail, the epitome of innocence, and then at Ekaterina. “Yeah, well, do us all a favor and turn your fucking radio down.”

“Yes, I will.”

The other one bent to pick something up. “This yours?” It was the empty vial.

“Yes. Thank you.” I took it from him gingerly—the top portion had snapped off, leaving behind jagged edges. I must have lost my grip on it when the vampyr grabbed for me and caught my mizpah. I wouldn’t be able to use the vial again, but I couldn’t leave it here. I couldn’t stuff it in a pocket either; I’d wind up cutting myself and bleeding like a stuck pig.

And while Ekaterina might not feed on my blood, she’d already admitted day watchers occasionally drank from their vampyrs.

The bikers went back inside, griping to each other, and I turned to the day watcher. “Let’s go home.”

“That sounds like a good idea. It’s been a long day.”

“Tell me about it,” I muttered. She gathered up the vampyrs’ clothing. “What are you going to do with that?”

“We can’t leave these here.” She curled her lip at them.

I guessed she was right. The bikers hadn’t noticed the clothes on the pavement—it was lucky all the action had taken place on my side of the car, which was facing away from the restaurant—but if a curious cop found them and sent them out to have them tested…. I had no intention of being the one whose actions revealed the existence of vampyrs to the normals.

“Okay, but I’m not riding with those things behind me.” I popped the trunk, and she threw in the clothes. I dropped the broken vial on top of them, caught up the backpack, and went through it until I found the other vial, which I slipped over my head. No way was I getting caught short. I slammed the trunk, tossed the backpack into the car, and shut the passenger door. “Mina, in.” She jumped up onto the driver’s seat, stepped daintily over the console, and made herself comfortable on the day watcher’s lap.

I shook my head. They
were
fast!

Before we left the parking lot, I drove over the mounds of dust enough times to scatter and flatten them.

“Let’s go.”

Forty-five minutes never felt so long.

T
HE LIGHTS were on in my bungalow, and the porch light was as well. I pressed the remote for the garage door. “Do you want to get out here, or wait until I pull into the garage?” I asked Ekaterina.

“I’ll get out here and keep watch.”

“Take Mina. Leave the cooler. I’ll get the backpack.”

“All right, Tyrell Small.”

“Listen. Call me Ty. I think we’ve been through enough together that you could do that.”

She looked like she was going to object, but then she smiled and nodded. “All right.”

“All right.” After I had the car in the garage, I got out, opened the trunk, and stared down at the ash-covered clothes. “I am definitely
not
touching those!” I muttered to myself. I removed the broken vial and dropped it into the small trash can I kept under my workbench.

But I didn’t want Adam’s sabor to come across as a wimp in front of the day watcher. I picked up the clothes, held them as far from my body as I could, and dumped them just outside the garage.

Frankly I’d have preferred to burn them in the firepit in the middle of the back lawn, but two things kept me from doing that. First, Raymond might need them to identify the vampyrs who’d attacked us, and second… I didn’t have a firepit.

I stood stock-still. Why
didn’t
I have a firepit? When Adam came to visit, I could roast wieners and mickeys and make s’mores.

Okay, that went on the list for the next time I went to Lowe’s.

I retrieved the backpack, stuffed all the beach stuff back into it, and slammed the trunk shut. Then I punched in the code to lower the garage door and started across the lawn.

“I was just about to come after you.” Raymond stood in front of the day watcher, his hands on her shoulders. “Rina, what happened?”

She laid her palm on his chest above his heart and said somberly, “De Vivar sent his
adepţi
to strike at the beach.”

“And a bunch of vampyrs too…,” I started to add, but Ekaterina was shaking her head. “He didn’t?”

“No. Those were rogue vampyrs.”

“More rogue than de Vivar?”

Raymond scowled at me. “They intended to make you theirs.”

“Stupid move on their part. I’m not supposed to feed a vampyr for another couple of weeks.”

“This wouldn’t have been the type of feeding you’re used to.”

“You mean… what do you mean?”

“Not all vampyrs are as honorable as Adam or
mon seigneur.
They would have taken your blood by force.”

That didn’t sound good, not one little bit. My stomach felt as if it was giving me a choice: it could tie itself in knots, or its contents… such as they were… would be more than happy to put in an appearance.

“Do you understand now why it’s so important for you to take care of yourself?” Raymond asked. “Why it’s imperative that you have your phone with you at all times and that it’s charged?”

“I was positive it was. Mina, go potty.” She trotted a few yards to the curb, and while she took care of business, I turned back to Raymond. “Is it safe to talk out here?”

His head reared back and his nostrils flared as if he was actually scenting the night. “Safe enough, but….” A crease appeared between his brows. “Were you injured in the attack?”

“Huh?”

“Were you injured?” he repeated. “I can smell your blood.”

“Uh….” How did he know what my blood smelled like? “It’s nothing, just a bit of a scrape on my ribs.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Ekaterina closed her fingers over my shoulder, and I shied away. She froze, and then she dropped her hand and stepped back. “I beg your pardon.”

“I want to see this scrape,” Raymond growled. “Into the house.”

“Yes, master, yes, master,” I groused under my breath. Pushy vampyr.

“Excuse me?”

“Nothing. What do we do with the clothes?”

“What clothes?”

“The ones belonging to the rogue vampyrs. They didn’t have any use for them, being nothing but piles of dust at that point, and we didn’t think it was a good idea to leave them lying around.”

“Where are they?”

I gestured toward the garage.

“Leave them for the time being. Perhaps they’ll be a warning for any other rogues who decide to make a try for you.”

“Oh, that makes me feel safe.”

“Tyrell, please stop mumbling!”

“Yes, Daddy.” But I mumbled that as well. “All done, pup?” Mina was back beside me. “Okay, then.”

I left the backpack on the porch—I’d take care of it in the morning—and Raymond followed us in, but Ekaterina paused just outside the door.

“What?”

“May I enter?”

“You’re not a vampyr.”

“No, but it’s just polite she ask,” Raymond said.

“Sorry.” I wanted to cover my face with my palm. “Come on in.”

Once she was inside, Raymond closed and locked the door. “Now….” He braced his hands on his hips and scowled at me.

I had no clue what he was going to say, and I didn’t want to find out. “Check Ekaterina, would you?”

“Why?” His eyes narrowed. “She’s injured?”

“She was holding her ribs.” As I’d hoped, the diversion worked.

“Rina.” He tore open her shirt and ran surprisingly gentle fingers along the tank top that covered her torso. “What happened to your sleeve?”