Council, before the oral code of Laws had been written in blood, legend said there had been a city full of vampires. The legend was one of the things the oldest vampires, the surviving vampires, kept very quiet. Because they didn't want anyone to know how that city had been destroyed. But Istvan knew.
That was why his past bubbled up to remind him of what he'd done when he was still close to being a normal human being. That was why the memory of Selena's defiance when she'd barely been bitten filled his dreams. It was not a strigoi he needed to look for or a mortal vampire hunter who'd put his trophies on display as a warning to the world. His instincts told him the killer he was looking for was a companion.
A few suspects came readily to mind. One of them was Selena.
Chapter 6
"There are some things man was not meant to know." Don Raleigh held up a hand. "I am not listening to any of it, Crawford."
It frustrated Selena that her partner didn't want to hear about her cousin's wedding shower after his telling her that she looked like something the cat dragged in. How else was she supposed to explain her obvious tiredness? She couldn't very well tell him that the bags under her eyes had more to do with being up all night satisfying the insatiable sexual needs of a vampire than it did with bridal registries, pink punch, and party games. She was disgusted that the man was easily scared off by the slightest mention of Karen's bridal shower.
"What about women?" she asked him.
"What about them?"
Raleigh was a big man, with amber eyes, skin like satiny dark coffee, James Earl Jones's voice, and a diamond stud earring she'd given him for Christmas two years ago that he's started wearing when they worked tactical out of narcotics. His wife did not approve of the earring. That he wore it now told Selena that Raleigh and the missus had been fighting again.
Being a cop was very hard on marriages.
Raleigh told her communication was the key, especially after a couple had a disagreement.
Of course, the last time she'd had a fight with Steve, he'd threatened to not only break her neck but to Page 31
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have her for lunch. She'd laughed in his face — and bitten him that time. Hadn't heard from him for a long time after that, except for all those hang-ups on her answering machine. Calls she'd had traced to pay phones all over the country. He never bothered answering his cellular phone when she called. Damn caller ID, anyway. They'd both been fighting playing this stupid noncommunication communication game with each other for two years.
"What about women?" Raleigh asked again, pulling Selena out of a brief fantasy about what marriage must be like for vampire cops who bothered dealing with their mates at all.
Since she didn't want her thoughts to go in that direction, she went back to teasing Raleigh. "If there are things men aren't meant to know, how about women? What are women not meant to know?"
"Women are goddesses. Women know everything."
"Hmm." Selena tilted her head to get a better look at him over the top of her computer screen. Their desks in the Area Three squad room were set back to back, so piled with shared work and possessions it was hard to tell where one ended and the other began. "Goddesses, eh?"
He nodded.
"Sounds like your diversity training took."
Raleigh tugged on his earring. "I have it from a higher authority." He grinned. The look in his eyes made Selena reconsider her earlier thoughts. Maybe Raleigh and Sharifa had come to some sort of amicable compromise over his choice of jewelry. She'd been told that there was a certain amount of give and take to a successful marriage. A proper marriage was supposed to be a win-win situation, right?
And she wished she'd get her mind off marriage. And Steve. And the unfinished conversation in the companions' chat room last night.
Since the morning briefing, she and Raleigh had settled down
That was why his past bubbled up to remind him of what he'd done when he was still close to being a normal human being. That was why the memory of Selena's defiance when she'd barely been bitten filled his dreams. It was not a strigoi he needed to look for or a mortal vampire hunter who'd put his trophies on display as a warning to the world. His instincts told him the killer he was looking for was a companion.
A few suspects came readily to mind. One of them was Selena.
Chapter 6
"There are some things man was not meant to know." Don Raleigh held up a hand. "I am not listening to any of it, Crawford."
It frustrated Selena that her partner didn't want to hear about her cousin's wedding shower after his telling her that she looked like something the cat dragged in. How else was she supposed to explain her obvious tiredness? She couldn't very well tell him that the bags under her eyes had more to do with being up all night satisfying the insatiable sexual needs of a vampire than it did with bridal registries, pink punch, and party games. She was disgusted that the man was easily scared off by the slightest mention of Karen's bridal shower.
"What about women?" she asked him.
"What about them?"
Raleigh was a big man, with amber eyes, skin like satiny dark coffee, James Earl Jones's voice, and a diamond stud earring she'd given him for Christmas two years ago that he's started wearing when they worked tactical out of narcotics. His wife did not approve of the earring. That he wore it now told Selena that Raleigh and the missus had been fighting again.
Being a cop was very hard on marriages.
Raleigh told her communication was the key, especially after a couple had a disagreement.
Of course, the last time she'd had a fight with Steve, he'd threatened to not only break her neck but to Page 31
Generated by ABC Amber LIT Conv erter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
have her for lunch. She'd laughed in his face — and bitten him that time. Hadn't heard from him for a long time after that, except for all those hang-ups on her answering machine. Calls she'd had traced to pay phones all over the country. He never bothered answering his cellular phone when she called. Damn caller ID, anyway. They'd both been fighting playing this stupid noncommunication communication game with each other for two years.
"What about women?" Raleigh asked again, pulling Selena out of a brief fantasy about what marriage must be like for vampire cops who bothered dealing with their mates at all.
Since she didn't want her thoughts to go in that direction, she went back to teasing Raleigh. "If there are things men aren't meant to know, how about women? What are women not meant to know?"
"Women are goddesses. Women know everything."
"Hmm." Selena tilted her head to get a better look at him over the top of her computer screen. Their desks in the Area Three squad room were set back to back, so piled with shared work and possessions it was hard to tell where one ended and the other began. "Goddesses, eh?"
He nodded.
"Sounds like your diversity training took."
Raleigh tugged on his earring. "I have it from a higher authority." He grinned. The look in his eyes made Selena reconsider her earlier thoughts. Maybe Raleigh and Sharifa had come to some sort of amicable compromise over his choice of jewelry. She'd been told that there was a certain amount of give and take to a successful marriage. A proper marriage was supposed to be a win-win situation, right?
And she wished she'd get her mind off marriage. And Steve. And the unfinished conversation in the companions' chat room last night.
Since the morning briefing, she and Raleigh had settled down
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