I sat bolt-upright in bed in an absolute panic. That dream had felt so real, but what was Nicholas trying to say?
'Run!' shouted a male voice inside of my head. Throwing off the covers of me, I ignored Mathew, who had apparently decided to crawl into my bed in the middle of the night.
"Nads?" he asked, no sign of sleepiness in his voice.
"There are people here," I said, feeling the truth deep down in my bones. But that wasn't the whole truth. "There are vampires here. Get the others," I continued, trying to stop myself from sinking in the webs. I would be too vulnerable.
Going to the bedside table, I pulled out my police-issued 9mm. I probably should have returned it when I retired, but I didn't. I checked the chamber and removed the safety. I saw Mathew doing the same thing from the corner of my eye before he snuck out of the room.
I counted to five before I made a big deal over leaving. I wanted the noise to cover anything sound that Mathew created. It would be useless to try and fool the vampires, but if they had brought any humans, it might be enough to confuse them for a moment or two.
"There she is," came a sound from the living room. I walked down the hallway to the main room, only to see Vald sitting in one of the oversized chairs. He definitely didn't look the same as the last time I saw him. Don't get me wrong, he looked… impeccable. He wore a black, pinstriped, three-piece suit with a black dress shirt and a black tie.
However, that was not what captured my attention. I could see where his skin stretched too far over his bones, producing a gaunt look. He was also ridiculously pale, with his bright red eyes practically glowing from their sockets.
"You've looked better," I said as I heard the footsteps of the men behind me. "Have you come down with something?"
"Yessssss," he hissed, gripping the armrests so hard that I could hear the wood cracking under them. "I have come down with the case of a dead gypsy."
"Seems painful," I replied, "Is there any way I can help?" I continued as I walked over to the chair across from the Head Vampire and sat down, crossing my legs in front of me.
"Thank you so much for your concern. There was one person who was able to help me, but she died under mysterious circumstances," said Vlad, forcefully peeling his fingers away from the now damaged armrests. He folded his hands into his lap like he was completely calm, but I knew better. "I see you have gotten some new friends."
"I have," I answered, a bright smile on my face like it wasn't past one o'clock in the morning. I sent a prayer of thanks for the weird dream, or else I would hate to know what would have happened if I was asleep while he was here. "In fact, that is the whole reason why I am here. To cement our friendship."
"Really? Because a little wolfie told me differently," said Vlad, and I watched his hands clenching where they lay. "I heard that you are here because you think I have something to do with all the deaths of the wolves."
"Does what I think really matter?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. I couldn't see my men, but I could feel them standing behind me, unmoving. "Viktor and Lucas have said that there is no way you would have anything to do with it. That's the end as far as I am concerned."
"Then why are you here?" he hisses, his control slipping even more.
I smiled a big smile and just looked at the vampire in front of me. This was the part of my job that I loved most when I hunted down serial killers. It was a feeling of power shifting from the killer to me. And both Vlad and I could feel that shift.
"I am here because almost overnight, I discovered that five men wanted to be my mates, and I have a secretary who is determined to hound me with color choices for a Gypsy Ball. I needed to get away from New York and decided that this place would be perfect," I said with a shrug of my shoulders.
"Five mates? I only see four," said Vlad, his gaze shifting to the men behind me.
"The fifth couldn't leave on short notice, so he is still with his House," I replied with a shrug of my shoulders.
"Pity," growled Vlad, his eyes searching the house like a druggie looking for his next hit. "Do you know how you kill someone that can't be killed?" he continued, seemingly out of the blue. But I knew that nothing right now was said without a lot of thought and planning.
"No," I answered with a shake of my head. "I didn't even know that there were things that couldn't be killed."
"How about we stop with the bullshit," growled Vlad, his mask completely dropping to reveal a completely starved vampire in front of me. His skin was pulled over his bones; not a single muscle could be seen as he visibly seemed to shrink in front of us. "You did this to me."
"No, I didn't," I responded, refusing to take the blame. "You did that to yourself. It's not like it is really that hard to keep an oath that you, yourself, made."
"You have the wrong eyes!" he screamed, almost coming out of his chair in his agitation. "I thought you were talking shit, claiming a birthright that didn't belong to you."
"Not my fault," I said with a shake of my head. "No one forced you to make the oath. No one held a gun to your head or a stake to your heart. You did it of your own free will. Just like you broke it of your own free will."
"Set me free, or I will kill everyone here," snarled Vlad, his bones moving under his skin with the angrier he got. He almost looked like he was going to shift. But that would be impossible. Vampires couldn't shift.