You can't keep her wrapped in cotton for the rest of eternity, Michael.
Nikki had said much the same thing. He wondered if the old witch had been talking to her behind his back. It's only been four months. Cotton is allowed, I think.
Her chuckle surrounded him. Three hundred and sixty years old and still so much to learn.
Better than being one hundred and eighty and thinking I know it all,he said, amused.
I don't claim to know it all, but I do claim to be a very wily old witch. The wise listen to me.
He smiled. And how often has that gotten me into trouble in the past?
Only three or four times.Her mind voice was prim.
You forgot to add the dozen in that amount.No one had gotten out of the car yet. Curious, he switched to the infrared of his vampire vision. Listen, when you're doing the crosscheck for classmates, could you also check how many of them might currently be in San Francisco? It could give us a lead to the next victim.
In other words, mind my own damn business and stay out of your love life.Her cackle spun around him. You know that's impossible. And the check is being done as we speak. I should have the results in the morning.
Then I'll talk to you in the morning.He broke the connection between them and studied the car with a frown. The couple inside were not getting passionate, as he'd half expected, but simply sitting there. He mentally reached to touch their minds. Only it wasn't their minds he found, but that of another vampire.
Chapter Seven
Brightness flashed in the foggy darkness. Michael ducked to his left, and a heartbeat later a hole was torn through the window. The bullet blasted past, so close it stirred his hair and sent heat rippling across his skin before it thudded into the opposite wall.
If that heat was any indication, they were using silver bullets, not ordinary ones—which meant even a wound would have been dangerous to him. Anger rose in a wave, almost engulfing him. If it had been Nikki standing there, they would have killed her. That bullet had been aimed at his head, not his heart.
Bullets can't hurt you, can they?Fear and confusion mingled in Nikki's still sleepy mind voice.
He looked around. She was standing just inside the bedroom door pulling on a sweater. His sweater, not hers. Bullets aimed at my head can destroy me as easily as they can you. And these were silver.
Stay there.
She nodded, arms crossed, hands lost in the sleeves. Be careful .
Always.He wrapped the shadows around him and opened the window. Fingers of fog brushed dampness across his skin as he leapt from the balcony. He hit the ground with enough force to jar every bone in his body—any higher, and he might have broken bones.
He rolled swiftly to his feet and ran toward the car. The gun was still pointed out the car window. The other vamp could obviously control the couple, but not to the extent that he saw what they saw. Which was odd, because he'd obviously had enough mind-power to put the compulsion on the young vampire who'd attacked Nikki, forcing him to leap out the window rather than revealing anything.
He grabbed the rifle, wrenching it from the man's grasp and tossing it aside. Then he smashed his fist through the half-open window and grabbed the driver's face, plunging deep into his mind, chasing the essence of the vampire and surrounding him with energy. It was a psychic cage, but one he wouldn't be able to hold very long.
Who are you?
No enemy of yours.The voice that came out of the depths of the stranger's mind was older than he'd expected and, oddly, full of respect.
Then why are you trying to kill me?
I wasn't even aware of your presence. We were waiting for the witch. I thought it was she seeking to touch my mind again.
A chill ran through him. That bullet had been meant for Nikki. Why waste silver on a witch?
Because this witch is not human. She shifts, becomes something else.
He thought her a shapeshifter? Why? So what harm will a shifter cause a vampire?
She has the power to destroy my dreams. I have seen it.
Sweat was beginning to trickle down his face. He wished he could invade the other vampire's thoughts and discover where he was, but his mind-strength was just a little too strong to attempt both capture and invasion. If he let the net slip to attempt it, the fiend would slither away—or try an invasion of his own.
And while he very much doubted the other vamp had the strength to succeed, it was a risk he wasn't willing to take. Not when Nikki's safety was at stake.
I have the power to destroy your dreams if I ever feel your presence like that again.
I apologize. I didn't realize there was another brother in the city, let alone this hotel.He hesitated .
Perhaps we should get together tomorrow evening. I have not spoken to someone close to my age in years.
He raised his eyebrows at the soft yearning so evident in the other vampire's voice. Obviously, despite his clairvoyant abilities, this vampire had no idea who he was. Why should I trust you?
Ah. A man who has been around longer than me, obviously. We shall meet somewhere public, if you wish.
He knew it was a risk, but one worth taking simply because it might lead to the chance of killing this fiend and ending all their problems. Where?
The Hard Rock Café on Van Ness Avenue. You know it?
I can find it.
Then I look forward to meeting you.
I give no guarantees to be there.Better to let the fiend think he was far from eager for this meeting.
Of course. But if you do show up, ask for Farmer.
At least they now had a name. He released the net and let the other vampire slither from his grasp. The two people in the car blinked, dreamers just waking from a dream. He touched their minds, swiftly searching their memories. They'd just left a restaurant in Hyde Street when the other vampire had taken control. Hyde Street wasn't far from the hotel. The other vampire couldn't have been, either, simply because he wasn't strong enough to hold these two captive over any great distance.
Keeping them mind-blind, Michael punched a hole into the windshield to give them a plausible excuse for stopping, and rebuilt their memories around that excuse. Then he wrapped the shadows around himself, grabbed the gun and walked away. Within a minute, their curses filled the night, then the car started up and they drove away.
Nikki appeared in the window. What little light there was seemed to caress the pale skin of her bare legs, and he found himself wishing he could do the same.
Are you really intending to meet him?
So she had been listening in. Obviously the link between them worked on a far different, far deeper, level than telepathy because he certainly hadn't felt her presence when he'd been questioning the other vampire.
Or had it simply gotten so strong over the last few months that either of them could read the other's thoughts without really trying? That perhaps from now on, it would take a conscious effort to keep the other out?
Yes. You want to throw me some clothes, then get dressed yourself and come down here?
She pulled off his sweater, giving him a tantalizing but all too brief glimpse of her firm, high breasts. She tossed the sweater down to him before disappearing inside. Why?