Vampire in Geek's Clothing (Psy-Vamp Book 6) (11 page)

Phoenix sucked in a sharp breath and released Andrew’s arm
before taking a step back. It was in that moment that she caught a glimpse of
the screen and she froze, watching in horror as the last moments of Andrew’s
father’s life played out. Her chest tightened, and she stepped back, bile
rising in her throat.

Once it was over, Isaiah closed the laptop and ran a hand
through his hair. Most of the people in the room hadn’t been watching, but
those who had looked sad and shocked by the brutality of the killing. None of
them were paying attention to her, which was good since her guilt was probably
written all over her face.

“I didn’t have any luck getting the audio, but I’ll try
again later,” Isaiah told them.

“My father disabled it,” Andrew explained.

“Then we’ll just have to hope we can figure this out without
audio,” the distinguished vampire stated. “Does anyone recognize the killer?”

“I do,” Phoenix’s voice was just above a whisper.

“Who is it?” Andrew asked in a dead voice.

“My cousin, Hayden,” she replied.

“Is Hunter the reason he went after my father?” Andrew
asked.

“I guess so,” she admitted. “There’s a possibility he found
out about me sleeping with you. Maybe he still believes I was the one who was
pregnant. I always figured he’d realize that was impossible once he calmed
down, but Hayden’s never been good at letting go of his anger or thinking
clearly.”

“How many people know about what happened between us?”
Andrew asked.

“Shayla knows, and she confronted me when my mom was around,
but I don’t honestly know if my mom ever told anyone. We aren’t close.”

“Huh.” Drew looked like that answer had solved some great
mystery. “I always figured you’d stopped meeting me because your parents had
found out about us.”

“Obviously, Hayden discovered there was a link between you
and the Draksel family,” Isaiah remarked.

“At the very least, he knows your cousin is involved with
our family,” Drew added.

Phoenix nodded.

“Is Hayden a hunter?” Isaiah asked.

She shook her head. “His older brother was the hunter in
their family.”

“I still don’t understand why you ran,” Justin said. “He’s
one breeder. Couldn’t the hunters in your area have helped you?”

Phoenix shook her head, not sure it would be possible to
explain the complex social structure among the hunters. “I was planning on
running to avoid training as a hunter before everything started to fall apart.
Going to the hunters meant being forced to start my training.”

“Why didn’t you want to be trained as a hunter?” Justin
asked.

“I don’t want to be brainwashed into hating an entire group
of people for their genetics,” she explained.

“You’d also suck in a fight because of the panic attacks,”
Andrew added, and she glared at him for revealing that to a room full of
vampires.

“Now, I’m being hunted by the hunters, and by a monster who
may believe I had a baby with a vampire. The hunters may also think I killed
Hayden’s parents. His parents were killed within the last couple of weeks, but
I don’t know exactly when.”

“Where are your parents?” Isaiah asked. “Why aren’t they
with you?”

“I figured the hunters would be most concerned with finding
me,” Phoenix explained. “There’s also the fact that I’ve never trusted my dad
not to turn on me.”

“Is that why you were so upset the other day?” Isaiah asked.
“Do you think the hunters from your area know you’re here?”

“Hayden is in the area questioning local tattoo artists,”
Phoenix replied in a tired voice.

“Why would he question tattoo artists?” Justin asked.

“A witch did her tattoo so other hunters wouldn’t find her,”
Isaiah explained.

“So, you’re hiding from all hunters?” Andrew asked. “Not
just the ones from your area?”

“I don’t know who I can trust,” she admitted. “From what
I’ve heard, the hunters in other territories aren’t as rigid as in the Seattle
area, but I’ve been afraid to try contacting any of them for fear they’d just
hand me over to the Seattle hunters.”

“You said Hayden was the one questioning the tattoo
artists,” Justin began.

“That’s right,” she confirmed. “Based on the description the
witch who did my tattoo gave me, it was Hayden. He had two hunters with him.”

“We need to find Andrei’s killer, and that may take away the
threat to Phoenix,” the man with the lighter hair told them. “It seems strange
that the hunters in your area would allow a breeder to be involved in looking
for you if they’re as traditional as you say they are. I may not be an expert
on hunters, but I’ve heard that breeders are considered weak.”

“That’s true,” Phoenix agreed. “There is a possibility that
Hayden hired humans to pretend to be hunters, but I’m still not about to go to
the hunters in my area for help. That would probably end very badly for me if
they believe I killed Hayden’s parents. I have no idea what other lies Hayden
may have told them.”

Andrew snorted. “The truth isn’t likely to go over very well
with the hunters.”

Letting out a defeated sigh, Phoenix nodded. “You’re right.”

“We’ll figure this out,” the distinguished vampire stated
with confidence. “Now, we can move on to introductions, and Isaiah can arrange
to have Phoenix’s things moved here.”

“What?” Phoenix asked, thinking she must have misheard him.

“The security is better here,” Isaiah explained.
“Apparently, Roman likes you and doesn’t want you getting killed.”

“He’s bossy if he likes you,” the woman with the Rapunzel
hair added. “I’m Lydia. The bossy vampire is my husband, Roman. The grumpy
doctor with the stick up his ass is Justin. The tall bitchy chick is my friend,
Caitlin.”

“She’s also my wife,” Justin added.

“No one asked,” Caitlin told him. “Why do you feel the need
to tell everyone we meet that I’m your wife?”

“It took a lot of stalking to get to that point,” Andrew
added, and Phoenix was pretty sure she’d misheard him.

“The squeaky little spitfire with the great rack is Trish,
and the hot surfer boy is Alek. They’re raising Hunter,” Lydia finished, doing
some funky neck and hand move that looked like she might be trying to flip her
hair. The move ended up looking more like she was twitching. “Do you have any
questions?”

This day had turned out so different from anything she could
have ever imagined. While she should have many questions, only one came to
mind, and she giggled at the insanity of it all.

Isaiah seemed to catch on that she was upset because he was
immediately on his feet and by her side. “Are you okay?” he asked, leaning down
to speak close to her ear as if the other vampires wouldn’t still be able to
hear him.

“Apparently not,” she told him. “Of all the things I should
be worrying about, the only thing that comes to mind is how Lydia manages to
wash her hair.”

Andrew laughed. “Damn, I’ve missed you.”

Phoenix felt Isaiah tense, and she knew it was because he
didn’t like Andrew very much, but Andrew had been her friend. “I’ve missed you,
too,” she admitted.

“Why don’t you show me how much you missed me, babe?” Andrew
asked with a leer, and his characteristically crude question actually made her
feel better.

Pulling away from Isaiah, she hugged Andrew. “Behave and I
promise not to tell them any of the secrets you shared with me.”

Andrew’s face paled. “You wouldn’t dare.”

She gave him a sweet smile.

“Fine, I can behave,” he promised.

Justin snorted. “Not likely, but that’s okay since I want to
hear those secrets.”

Hayden hadn’t been able to shake his suspicions regarding
the witch by the name of Brian after interviewing him, so he’d decided to come
back here to have a less civil chat. His backup was perfect for this kind of
interview. Kevin and Reese were hunters with a hatred of not only vampires, but
witches. Sure, the hunters used witches for many things, but that didn’t mean
most hunters liked them.

Kevin and Reese were both tall and solidly built with brown
hair and blue eyes. Despite the fact that they weren’t related, they could
easily pass as twins. Hayden had known both since childhood, but he wouldn’t
say they were friends. Hunters weren’t friends with breeders, and the assholes
constantly reminded him that they believed him to be somehow inferior. The
condescending way they looked at him made him want to brag about his kills. Neither
of them had ever killed anyone, let alone a vampire.

Both had been annoyed that he’d been the one questioning the
witches. It was part of the agreement he’d struck with the Seattle hunters, in
exchange for giving them information on how to find Phoenix. First, he’d had to
convince them that Phoenix should be considered a suspect in his parents’
murders. Reese and Kevin were stupid enough that they didn’t realize they were
dead as soon as he located Phoenix. Handing her over to the hunters was not part
of his plan.

“Fuck!” Hayden shouted when he looked into the window of the
tattoo parlor. If it weren’t for the sign stating that the shop had closed due
to a family emergency, one wouldn’t be able to tell it was deserted. Everything
looked the same, from the register on the counter to the sample designs hanging
on the walls. The witch hadn’t wanted people to know he was leaving until it
was too late to stop him. Even the sign made it seem like he’d be back. Hayden
was so enraged that he was tempted to torch the entire building. “I should have
tortured the truth out of that fucking witch the last time I was here.”

“That wasn’t your call to make,” Kevin reminded him, which
only made Hayden angrier because the stupid hunters were the ones who’d
insisted there was no reason to distrust this witch.

“Maybe he left something in there to clue us in on where
Phoenix is hiding,” Reese suggested. “She has to be in the area.”

“Good idea,” he told Reese, deciding it was best to offer
praise.

They made their way around the back of the building, into
the dirty alley where a homeless human slept in a pile of his own filth.
Breaking in was easy enough, making it less likely the witch had kept any
important information at the shop. If he had, it might be spelled and harder to
access. Then again, Hayden had no idea how powerful this witch was. Some could
only cast one type of spell, while others could cast many.

What they found in the back room came as an even bigger
surprise. There was a dead guy, his throat cut. Crudely tattooed across the
guy’s forehead was a single word,
traitor
.

Kevin snickered. “Looks like we aren’t the only people the
little fucker pissed off. I guess someone else decided to kill him first, but
got the wrong witch.”

Hayden studied the stranger, noting the spells tattooed on
his arms, which is probably why Kevin assumed he was a witch. Squatting down,
Hayden studied the tattoos. Hayden had paid a witch good money to tell him
about the markings witches used, and that made it easier to identify this
witch. “He’s related to the witch I’m looking for. This one,” he began, tapping
the symbol on the witch’s forearm, “is a family marking. The other witch had
the same mark.”

“You sure know a lot about witches,” Kevin stated in an
accusatory tone.

Hayden stood and glared at Kevin. “After the other hunters
told me Phoenix would need a witch to help hide her, it seemed like a good idea
to do some research.” It wasn’t easy tamping down his anger with these morons.

“Maybe your witch will be coming back here soon,” Reese suggested,
oblivious to the tension between him and Kevin. “The sign on the door might
just be to stop people from coming in here while this one was being killed.”

That was possible, but something told Hayden the witch he
wanted was long gone. “Let’s see what we can find. Search the dead witch
first.”

Kevin glared at him. “We don’t take orders from breeders.”

Reese placed a hand on Kevin’s shoulder. “Remember what the
elders said.”

Kevin struggled to get his temper under control before
nodding.

They all donned gloves before beginning their search of the
back room. As much as he wanted to check the front area, it was too risky.
Someone walking by could see him and call the police. Then he’d be accused of
killing the witch, and that would really suck since he hadn’t even gotten to
enjoy the kill. Whoever had done it was an idiot who didn’t know how to savor a
good kill. Slitting a throat was such a boring way to end someone’s life.

Reese let out a snort of laughter while checking the dead
witch’s wallet. “Looks like our witch has a name—Mitch the witch.”

Kevin snorted. “That’s a stupid name.”

“Guess Mitch the witch will end up in a ditch,” Reese added.

Hayden mentally counted to ten to keep himself from snapping
at the idiot hunters as they continued their ridiculous rhyming. “Hand me his
phone,” he ordered Reese. When Reese handed it to him, he took it and checked
the contacts, hoping to find Phoenix’s number. The phone had been wiped
clean—no contacts, no messages, and no call log.

“Why didn’t they just take the phone?” Kevin asked.

Hayden shrugged. “The killer might’ve been afraid the phone
could be used to trace them.”

“Now, this is interesting,” Reese mused, staring at a slip
of paper he’d pulled from the witch’s wallet.

“What is it?” Hayden demanded.

“Your phone number,” Reese explained. “Looks like Mitch may
have been planning to give you a call.”

“I want to burn this place to the ground,” Hayden muttered,
overwhelmed with rage. Now, he’d lost the witch who’d tattooed Phoenix, and he
had no other leads. Worse than that, someone else had killed the witch who’d
planned to betray Phoenix.

“You could end up killing a bunch of innocent humans,” Reese
warned, which came as a surprise since Hayden didn’t think Reese liked humans.

Hayden laughed. “No one is innocent.”

Both Kevin and Reese looked shocked by his suggestion, so he
decided to play it off. “You know I was kidding. It’s not like I’m going to
burn down a building.”

“What now?” Kevin asked Reese, who simply shrugged.

“Can I make a suggestion?” Hayden asked, hating that he had
to pretend he wasn’t superior to them.

Reese looked at Kevin, who nodded. “Go ahead,” Reese told
him.

“We know the deceitful bitch was in this area,” he began.
“Sadly, we don’t know if she was warned about us being here, but I’m guessing
the witch who helped her ran shortly after we visited him. It looks to me like
this witch was getting ready to tell me where Phoenix is hiding, so she must
still be in the area.”

“She might run now that she knows this witch was going to
betray her,” Kevin pointed out.

“Yeah, it has to be Phoenix who killed the witch,” Reese
agreed.

Arguing this point was harder because Hayden couldn’t
exactly tell them. Phoenix wasn’t likely to kill anyone, even to save her own
life, not after he’d argued that Phoenix had killed his parents.

“If she killed him, she probably thinks she’s eliminated the
threat,” Hayden argued.

Kevin looked thoughtful, and Reese was obviously waiting to
see what Kevin would say. “We can stay here another week, but if nothing turns
up, we’re off to the next city on the list. Personally, I think we’re wasting
our time staying here.”

“There are some other hunters in this area,” Reese began.
“We could always contact them to see if they can help us find Phoenix.”

“They might be a good resource,” Kevin agreed.

“I’ve heard the hunters out here are more sympathetic to the
idea of freewill. They might actually warn Phoenix we’re looking for her,”
Hayden argued. Mostly, he just didn’t want more hunters trying to take charge
of the situation and risk missing out on the opportunity to have a little fun
with his cousin.

“They aren’t going to put up with her murdering a couple of
breeders,” Kevin argued.

“Yeah, they might even take offense to the witch,” Reese
added. “I’ve heard they’re soft on the witches out here.”

“There’s no evidence that she committed any murders,” Hayden
pointed out. “What if they decide to take her word over ours and offer her
sanctuary here?”

Both hunters were quiet as they considered what he’d said.
Finally, Kevin nodded. “That’s a good point. We want to bring her back to
answer for what she’s done. We’ll search here for another week and then move
on.”

“It might be smart to take the phone and see if we can
restore any of the deleted information. I think we should also move the body
and do a little clean-up so no one will know what happened here. We can’t risk
it getting back to Phoenix on the off chance someone else killed this witch.
It’s always possible he had another enemy,” Hayden suggested.

“Good idea,” Kevin agreed. “While I’d say your phone number
on this guy pretty much proves this has to do with Phoenix, it’s always
possible she’s not the killer.”

“I’ll bring the car around to the alley,” Reese said before
walking out the backdoor.

Hayden wondered who had killed this witch. While it could be
completely unrelated to Phoenix, as he’d suggested, it made him nervous to
think there might be someone else involved, someone else hunting Phoenix. Even
worse, there might be someone protecting her. Then he smiled as he realized
that there was a bright side to all of this. One more person involved meant one
more person he could kill.