Chapter 6

When Charles invited me to dinner, I acted surprised and agreed to meet at a quaint local Italian restaurant that evening. No sooner had I hung up, than my secure phone rang. With a heavy sigh, I stared at the buzzing handset. Mandy or ... whatever this was? Argh. I snatched up the phone.

"Hey, uh, sir ... Um, Jim. Sorry to disturb you, but—"

It was Gary and he wouldn't call me if it wasn't beyond urgent, so I clenched my jaw and then cut him off. "No problem, Gary. What's going on?"

"We just exploited a crime scene. Called in by local PD. Found their missing person, but ... Well, three other corpses on site. Drained. Like completely."

As he spoke, I glanced at the location data and the photos he was sending. All four bodies were neatly stacked in the bathtub of a small but upscale apartment.

"Thrallsign?" I asked.

"Nothing major, but, yes, food has been consumed." Gary's voice sounded tired.

Hell, I covered a yawn, not because it wasn't a tragedy, but because it was exhausting tracking all the outliers that we weren't supposed to be chasing. "Yeh, I'm gonna say this isn't a poacher."

"I agree ... Jim."

As I scanned the video, I scratched my chin and nodded. "Keep me posted, Gary. If they're moving, they probably need a larger place."

"You gonna talk with him?" Gary's face popped into view on the camera feed. His red-rimmed eyes drooped and the rest of the team looked as if endorphins were fleeing them as well.

With a quick nod, I flashed him a tight grin. This was my job. Liaison. More like bloodsucker intervention. And now, we had something freaky going on in their faction. Fuck. The regular freaks were bad enough. Then I laughed—a bitter laugh as I rubbed my temples. Hell, wasn't I also a freak?

No matter, I would put on my nicest smile, leave my useless weapons behind, and go talk to the local leader. Because, retired or not, I was the only one who could.

"Can I come along?" Eyebrow arched; Gary looked at me as if this were a field trip. Which I suppose it would be for a normal human.

"No..." Gary's face fell as I spoke. "No, you can't."

"But—"

"No way, no how, Gary." After leaning in, I gave him a grin and wagged my finger. "If anything were to happen to you, Lucy would hate me forever." After I broadened my smile, I added. "And having your wife pissed at me for short periods of time is bad enough."

As he turned away to watch the forensics—our forensics team arrive, I said in a soft voice. "No, thanks buddy, but I got this. That's what I'm here for."

After some last planning, I clicked off and placed the call. Now, whether the Baron thought this was as important as we did ... Well, he should, but freaks are freaks with their own priorities.

After a long exhale, a large drink, and a quick nap, I returned to the other, more mundane reports I was supposed to be reviewing. When at last I looked up, it was already late, and I had to dash upstairs to change for dinner, before racing across town.

Once parked in the small asphalt lot before a stone-fronted, well-lit structure set amongst some tall, swaying willow trees, I entered the little restaurant's foyer. Subdued lighting and soft music enhanced the wondrous aromas of Italian cooking wafting from the kitchen. Not seeing Charles or Mandy, I settled onto a dark wooden bench to check my phone messages. After a short while, Charles, in a polo shirt and slacks, opened the door and held it wide.

When Mandy strutted in, her black-stockinged legs in thin red stilettos, air caught in my throat and my heart hammered in my chest. Styled atop her head, the shiny ebon tresses dangled strategically so that curled wisps framed her face. Smokey evening make-up accentuated high-cheekbones and gleaming dark eyes. A mid-thigh length, deep red halter dress with a light layered skirt clung to every curve of her lean frame.

As I gulped, I lurched to my feet, heat racing up from my neck. While Charles may not have noticed my reaction, Mandy's cheeks flamed when she caught my roving gaze and silent whistle.

"Glad you could come, Jim." Charles thrust out his hand.

While nodding at them, I shook it, trying to keep from licking my lips as Mandy's eyes glittered in the flickering light of the wall sconces.

"Mandy feels real bad about your couch." He paused to look at her. She pulled her gaze from me to smile at him. "I ... We can get it cleaned if you want?"

"Nah, not a problem." With a grin, I waved him off as he nodded.

Shortly afterwards, the hostess guided Mandy, followed by Charles, and then me to a small booth in the restaurant's corner. It was the darkest one in the place and when I, raising my eyebrow, glanced at Mandy, she winked behind her husband's back. Once beside the booth, Mandy slid in and tugged me in after her, leaving Charles to stand awkwardly before shrugging and sitting opposite us. Braced for him to comment, instead he began ordering drinks.

Although it might have been my original plan to taunt her, for whatever reason, Mandy was clearly playing for keeps. This was more than just fun for her—and now for me. As my shaking hands lifted the menu, I tried to ignore the waves of intense heat from her nearby silk-covered thigh.

Once we ordered, Charles told us how his day had gone, providing copious details of his morning meetings. After placing my napkin down on my lap, I was about to raise my hands when Mandy's delicate fingers wrapped my wrist and tugged a hand to her leg. As Mandy pressed me onto her, the warm stocking slid under my settling fingertips, then my palm; her leg was not shaking—at all.

While looking past us, her husband went on to explain his firm's plans for something. After raising my wine, I leaned in and pretended to listen even as I rubbed her thigh. Though her eyes remained on Charles, Mandy's glistening lips fell open. Satisfied I would stay put, her hand lifted to her own glass.

While we feigned interest, I glided my fingers under her dress. Once I found the straps of her garter belt, I tugged and snapped them against her tender skin. Each sharp sting causing her to tense and set her fingernails tapping on the table. When Charles looked at his phone, I risked a quick glance at his wife.

Jaw clenched, Mandy's wide pools drifted towards me. After releasing the strap once more, she winced at me, then swept her tongue over her shiny lips and grinned. This was getting better. The kinky little tease enjoyed pain. Oh, my. Memories of Debbie came flooding back, and I had to shift in my seat, letting myself unfurl. Eyes gleaming, Mandy noticed; glancing at my crotch, her bright lips pursed. After once more snapping her thigh, I released a low chuckle. Her eyes, now blazing, whipped to mine as her breath hitched. Her trembling fingers clenched the stem of her glass, sloshing the red wine.

After another quick peek at Charles, still focused on his phone, I ran my fingers into the soft seam of Mandy's leg and pelvis. Nothing but silky smooth skin! The kinky little tease had no panties. Air burst from my lungs and I raised my glass to cover my gasp. Mandy gnawed at the corner of her lower lip as my fingertips played over the warm velvet flesh below her garter belt. Her legs parted for me.

When my nails raked down through Mandy's soft pubic fur to glide past her hood and curl beneath the little minx, she wasn't just slick; warm slippery droplets dribbled over my digits. As I ran my fingers along her fleshy petals, her jaw dropped further and the glass shook in her trembling hand. Even as I looked at Charles, now finished tapping on his phone and sipping, I continued to caress his wife.

Perhaps unconcerned by, or more likely, not noticing Mandy's heaving chest and clenching teeth, Charles rattled on. And, with a smile on my face, I encouraged him by asking questions. All the while gliding my fingers along his wife's silken seam; now and then dipping a fingertip inside. When, at last, a moan escaped Mandy before she fell forward to her arms, her husband looked over, his brow furled.

"Are you okay, babe?"

"Ye ... yes." As her muffled voice rose from her arms, Mandy's slick, dripping lips slurped against my fingertips while they sunk into her. "Uh, I ... I, um, think I am still dehydrated from last night. Jim throws some wild parties."

"He sure does." He laughed. "They all seemed really nice, Jim. They all in the same line of business?"

"Yeh, you could say that," I replied before taking a long sip of wine and pressing my fingers along his wife's inner wall.

Should be right about ... yep. There. As her legs flew apart, Mandy coughed to cover another sharp groan. After curling my fingers upward, I drove them deep into her quivering softness. While her insides clamped my plundering digits, her fingernails rattled on the table cloth.

Just then, Charles' phone rang, and he glanced down. "Sorry, I'll be right back." Still looking at the screen, he added a curse and stood. "It's my boss."

Without waiting for a reply, he dashed from the booth and flew from the restaurant to take the call in the parking lot. Even as the door thumped shut, I jammed all my fingers upwards. With powerful sweeping strokes into her magic spot, as well as rolling my thumb along her blazing, sharp nib, I drove Mandy into a shuddering wreck.

With a cry, she fell forward and slammed down on her crossed arms, bouncing atop my pumping hand. All she could do was gasp for breath and whimper with each deep, pulsing thrust of my swirling fingers. As her insides clenched and released, spasming along my fingers, the squelching noises increased.

"Oh, God! Jim. Oh, fuck. Please..."

"Dream of me, my Mandy."

As soon as Mandy nodded under her shiny hair, I jammed my thumb down onto her fire button. After a long feral moan, she clamped her teeth into her arm and screamed. As her entire body bucked and twisted, her lips dragged, slurping, along her quaking forearm. While I groped and squeezed her, the little tease shuddered over and over, soaking my hand with torrents of warmth. Until, at last, I slowed and let my fingers drag through her constricting flesh; her breaths hissed in and out over her shaking arms.

When Charles returned, tilting his head at the sight of his wife slumped on the table, his eyes widened and then blinked. While concealing a grin with my napkin, I feigned concern, even as I withdrew my dripping digits from his shuddering wife and tugged her crumpled dress over her quaking thighs.

"Are you okay, baby? You don't look so good."

Just then the waiter approached with our food, and joined Charles, staring wide-eyed at the quivering woman sprawled over her arms; whimpers mixed with her panting.

"Could we ... Could we, um, have our meals to go?" Charles said as I slipped from the booth. "My wife ... Uh, she is a bit under the weather."

After Charles helped Mandy to her feet and took their food, he apologized to me for the unfortunate event. As he assisted her shaking frame from the restaurant, I chuckled at the glossy dark stain running down the back of Mandy's billowy skirt.

Once they had departed, I raised my still slick fingers to lick them. Not surprisingly, Mandy tasted of sweet butter and a grin crept across my face. The hot tub had been my idea, but this ... This, like the sleepover at my house, was all hers. Such a kinky little tease. Mandy was going to need Charles to fuck her hard tonight.

Despite the thought, my stomach rumbled, and I sat back down, smile broadening between bites as I tucked into the dinner before leaving.

Under the brilliant glow of a hunter's moon, I trekked across the parking lot. Just as my hand settled on to the door handle when my phone pinged. One look at the number brought a grimace to my face. After Mandy's little show, I just wasn't in the mood for this. But ... Well, I guess the Baron agreed our discovery was important. With a sigh, I tapped on the text message.

Tonight. My home. Midnight.

Of course, at his home. As much as he loved to show off, how often did he get the chance? His retinue couldn't care less. And, likewise—midnight. The baron had always possessed a flair for the dramatic.

On my way.

Which was kinda redundant, since I am sure he had somebody, or something, already watching and tracking me all the way to him. Or home, if I told him to piss off. After sending a note to Gary, I started the long drive towards the Baron's. The city gave way to suburbs, which melded into exurbs and at last transitioned into open farm fields and scattered woods. By then, I was off the highway and climbing several snaking roads up into the densely wooded hills.

He liked his privacy. They all did when they weren't causing trouble. And they shouldn't be causing trouble at all. They had far more to lose than us if they were uncovered.

With a sigh, I rolled through the towering wrought-iron gates as they slid open. The car's wheels crunched on a meticulously maintained white gravel pathway beneath dense overhanging trees. The moon's light dimmed as I glided further into the darkness beneath the unmoving branches. It was some way before the exit came into view and I drove out into a wide, circular drive around a fountain. Beyond it was the grand covered entrance, flanked by columns of a massive, hulking three-story marble-faced edifice.

After parking my car, I pulled my jacket closed and crunched towards the doors; they opened as I climbed the polished, broad, marble steps. With a quick grin at the nearest of the cameras to have tracked me, most likely from the time I left the highway, I stepped into the entrance hall. Just as the outside had been unchanged since my last visit, nothing had changed inside, either.

Overly decorative gilded furnishings lined the tiled foyer. A pair of sweeping grand staircases wound upwards to the second floor landing. From there, their twins swept up to the third floor high above. A massive chandelier, lit I am sure just for me, hung down from the ceiling; its faux candles casting flickering shadows around the circular chamber. The whole place smelled ... empty. There were no lingering aromas of life—cooking, laundry, or other expected smells. Instead, only the faint scent of cleanliness seeped from the home.

My shoes clicked across the hard flooring, and the doors to the great hall opened inwards once I was close enough. With a loud exhale, I licked my lips and pushed through onto shiny, gilded crimson tiles. Because, of course, crimson.

"Greetings, Iakovos." The heavy-set man in a deep burgundy, gold-trimmed robe sat at the far end of the room. With thinning, long gray-streaked dark hair, the Baron leaned against a high-backed gilded chair at the head of a long polished dark-wood table. His ancient Thracian accent was well mixed with a smattering of Balkan Slavic latecomer tongues.

"Baron," I replied with a slight bow of my head.

At his wince, I held in a chuckle. He despised that I never used his name. It's one of the many little tweaks and barbs we traded. Every ... single ... time.

Speaking of which, there she was. On his lap sat a young-appearing tall, slender blonde in nothing but white stockings, garter and heels. Shining under the dim lights of two dangling overly complex chandeliers, her skin was ghostly, almost bluish in translucence. Her long, straight hair was the color of fresh snow.

After the Baron whispered in her ear, she slipped from his lap. Her well-trimmed pubic stripe matched her hair. Slim hips swaying and pert breasts barely jiggling, she clacked towards me with a narrow grin on her face.

"Do you like her?" The Baron gestured at the graceful "young" woman sashaying closer. Truthfully, if I hadn't known better, she would have been mesmerizing. "My daughter, Kali."

Not bloody likely. His actual daughter, I mean. He called all his pretty, young followers his "daughters."

As Kali clicked closer, enveloping me with the delicate scent of her lilac and rose perfume, her nostrils flared and her toothy grin widened.

"He is so aroused, father."

The Baron chuckled. Well, no shit, I was aroused. After the show Mandy had put on, I could have driven a nail with my shaft. Though by now it was comfortably shrunken and only ached ... Well, she must have picked up some residual scent. They were good at that.

"Found another to keep you company, Iakovos?" The Baron laughed aloud this time. "It has been a rather long time for you to be without a plaything."

Debbie's face flashed into my mind. His concern was as fake as his smile ... But before I could arrive at a suitable retort, Kali slid into me; her hard frame ground against my chest as her icy lips nuzzled my neck. At the gliding press of her long incisors across my skin, a brace of shivers raced along my spine. Even after all these years, it was still unnerving. I had been bitten once. And only once. Actually in the Baron's old stomping grounds, but way before he had seen the last of the sun.

We had been two weeks' ride west of Constantinople. Ambushed. My companions were dragged off. The creature took a nice chunk out of my neck. The scars, though faint, remained if you knew where to look. As it clawed its own throat, the creature's maddening yowls warned the rest away. It contorted and bucked along the muddy ground for some time, before falling silent and staring up at me with its milky, glassy eyes. Overcome by hunger, it had been stupid to attack me.

Or ignorant.

Even before its screams died, the others, heads bowed, returned my companions. Though veterans, they had been stunned by the speed and violence of the creatures, and were shaken though thankfully unharmed. After its kin dragged the now silent beast's already desiccating corpse into the woods, we rode on.

But Kali knew better and her teeth only skimmed. As her ice cold flesh pressed into me, the baron's hooded eyes watched. While we both understood his game, damned if he didn't try it almost every single time. His "daughters" were nothing but toys and pawns. Though she looked to be in her mid-20s, she could have been hundreds of years old.

Usually I let them rub and saunter away, aggravated and with the Baron chuckling.

Except Kali was correct; I was aroused. So, I decided to have fun. A whimper fled her frozen though pillow soft lips when I pressed my fingers into the chilled flesh of her firm buttock. My other arm wrapped tight around her icy back. Now my heartbeat was hammering her in three places: my throat under her dragging mouth, against her inert chest, and deep in her loins. Another series of louder groans escaped her as her pubic hair scratched against my swelling trousers.

With her whimpers becoming hungry moans, now the Baron was the distracted one. In his drawn, wrinkled face, his dark eyes narrowed as he fidgeted with his robe, trying to play at being bored. But I caught every flicker of his gray tongue over his faded, purplish lips.

"Come home with me." As her pale blue eyes fixed on mine, I settled my lips onto her throat and sucked. At that, a loud moan tore from her lips and she thrust herself into me. With my eyes twinkling at her "father," I whispered, knowing full well he could still hear my words. "I'll chain you to my bed." As tremors raced through the creature, I ran my tongue along its shaking jaw. "And warm you from the inside ... for days."

When a loud, ravenous winding groan burbled from her lips and she torqued deeper into my embrace, the Baron at last snapped something under his breath.

With a last whimper, Kali, shuddering, tensed and pushed from me. The entire front of her quivering body and her face were flushed with what little blood she had within her. The poor thing really needed to feed.

At one more low command from the Baron, Kali flashed me a sad smile and clacked from the hall. As much as I wanted to watch her shapely form depart, I kept my eyes fixed on the Baron.

Distraction failed.

The heavy doors thumped closed behind her.

"Enough games, Baron." As I spoke, I balled my fist and moved closer. He winced at the continued absence of his name.

"Come, Iakovos." He pulled his robe tighter and shifted in his chair to face me. "There is no need for that tone. We have a lot in common, you and I."

"No." After coming to a halt, I leaned over and helped myself to his brandy. "No, we don't."

"Oh, I think we do." His smile tightened as I lifted his glass to my lips, but I only stared at him. He tried this each time as well. "We both like pretty things."

"Yes." The brandy was tasty, and I nodded at him before returning the glass to the table and adding. "Except mine are alive..." I gestured to the closed door. "And are free to go whenever they want."

"That wasn't always the case, Iakovos." His guttural laughter was as cold as his daughter had been.

With a long swallow, I remembered my early years. Flush with the realization I could not be killed, I did a lot of selfish things. I broke a lot of rules because I could. I went mad with power for a while. Madness simply won. The insanity of living while life after life faded around you. I was entitled to madness. But I had learned. I had made choices. Better choices.

With a slow shake of my head, I spoke. "No. No, it wasn't always the case. But I have changed while you..." I pointed at the door. "You have not. So quit the bullshit ... Baron."

Lips pursed tight; his dark eyes glinted as I shifted from foot to foot. At last, the initial ceremony complete, he sighed as his shoulders sank ever so slightly.

"We found signs of one of yours," I said, sliding a photograph of the site across the shiny wooden table.

"Mine?" The Baron removed a gnarled, long-nailed hand from his robe to clutch the photo. He glanced at it and then raised his eyes to me.

"This is your territory. You spend no small amount of my time telling me how much power you have here." I nodded at the image in his clawed fingers. "So, yeh, yours."

As his fingernails slid along the edge of the photo, he swallowed and rolled his lips. Just inside his open robe, his other hand balled into a fist over his muscled chest.

"Look, he or she is not a poacher." I could have called the creature "it," but there were some games worth playing with them. "Too big a signature. So, one of yours. Gone rogue ... I hope." The last added as I furrowed my brow and leaned forward.

"Oh, perhaps—"

Before he could spit out some bullshit excuse, I cut him off. "Because if not, you have problems with us."

"Are you threatening me, Iakovos?" His face darkened as he let the photo drift back to the table top.

Rather than respond, I returned his glare. Of course, I was threatening him. For that matter, all of them. They may be immortal blood-sucking freaks, but he knew as well as I, that just like all their locations, this house was on a target list. If they did something egregious, or stupid, or both, the great compromise was ended. The gloves would come off and a war that neither side wanted would happen. While humanity would suffer, his kin were far fewer and would lose everything. Hence, why we played these little games.

He broke first, glancing at the photo and sighing. "Very well."

Something in the way his eyes flicked to me right afterwards jingled in my brain. "Have you found them already?"

As I tamped down my heartbeat so as not to alert him, I fixed him with my gaze. This last site had been large and mostly cleaned out. We had been lucky enough to arrive before they could dispose of the bodies. Once more, he rolled his lips again and now both fists were tight in his lap.

"There will be no such problems in the future, my friend."

At my curt exhale and arched eyebrow, he sighed; I was a lot of things, but his friend was not one of them. After one long swallow, he flicked his tongue along his lips and rolled his shoulders. They cracked as loud as mine.

With a deep sigh, I forced a tight grin and kept silent, but I knew he would never admit more. My job was done—message delivered. Now, it was his responsibility to fix it.

With a smile, he let his hands relax, picking up his brandy for a sip. After his smile widened. "She likes you." He nodded at the closed door.

"Most do." It may have sounded flippant, but as I released another long exhale, my heart fluttered.

Over the decades, I had come to realize a few things. One, I was not going to die. Two, that made me unusual enough to intrigue others, even if they did not know why they were captivated. Three, that attraction could easily become romantic. All in good fun had more often than not turned into a much hotter flame of passion than I ever expected.

Mandy was the latest proof of my theory. While I had enjoyed teasing her, it had not really been my intent to go as far as she had chosen. And that was what made Mandy enticing—her choices. Those seemed to result from far more than just some kind of weird attraction. What she had done at my house. And then at the restaurant. She had a deep-seated hunger that...

Well, I guess I was lucky to be the one she unleashed it upon. Nonetheless, as with so many before her, I was along for the ride. Enjoying it, yes. But wary since time was ticking ... much louder and quicker for her than me.

"Do you want her?" Breaking into my thoughts, the Baron's clipped tone did not match his twinkling eyes. One more distraction attempt.

"No." At my curt response, his face fell. As it always did. "Dead women are not my type, Baron."

With that, I spun on my heel and marched out, but not before catching his low hiss. As much as they thought of themselves as superior creatures, vamps hated being reminded they playacted. At the end of the day, or more accurately night, they were dead as door nails.

Unlike me, their inverse, who was cursed to eternal life, all they had was eternal death. After clambering into my car, I headed down the gravel drive with a lengthy sigh. Yet, we both drew humans to us like moths to proverbial flames. Strange that.