Unseen by Yolanda Sfetsos

what you do.”
    “That sounds like a partnership, and I work alone. Besides, how did you know I could handle a vampire? And tell me the truth, or you’ll be getting real close and personal with the spiked end of my stake.”
    Shit, how best to explain his way out of this one? “I didn’t, and now I do.” He grabbed the end of her bloody jacket. “Blood’s really hard to get out in the wash, you know?”
    “Thanks for the tip.” She stood rigidly in front of him, and he kept his hand on her jacket.
    “So, what do you think?” he asked, after a lengthy pause.
    “You want me to team up with you so we can face the big, scary, old dude together?”
    He nodded.
    “I’m sorry, I don’t do teams.”
    “Maybe this one time you’d consider working with someone? I can be very pleasant, you know?” Doug smiled, flashing his pearly whites. Then he sobered and said, “Seriously, Trina, this vampire is demented and needs to be stopped. He’s very old and powerful. He won’t stop killing, either.”
    Trina was quiet for a moment, as if she were seriously considering his suggestion. She sighed. “I’ve got to work tomorrow and the next day, so I won’t be able to meet you.”
    “That’s fine, and it gives me two nights to get a fix on his location. I’m not busy on Saturday night, so we’ll make it a date?”
    She looked a little uncomfortable at the suggestion but finally nodded. “Okay, okay, fine! We’ll meet here on Saturday night.”
    Getting her to agree had been quite a battle, so he wasn’t going to push her any farther. He let go of her jacket. “Sure, right here at, say, eleven?”
    Trina nodded. “Now leave me alone before I change my mind.” She looked down at the ash and clothing between their feet. “I need to ditch these clothes.”
    Doug couldn’t help an inner cheer. Success!
    He pushed off his feet and leapt back onto the roof he’d been hiding on before. He crouched enough to be concealed by the shadows and could still look over the side.
    “Oh, and by the way, I hope you’re enjoying those earphones,” Trina said, looking over her shoulder. “What the hell? Where did he go?” She tilted her head and peered around the alley, even up at the roof where he hid. When she didn’t see him, she shrugged and dropped to her knees.
    Doug watched as she pulled out a small canister from her jacket pocket. She used her fingers to jam the ash inside before capping it.
    So she actually takes the ash. Why?
    Was it something as simple as being a collector? Is that why she collected their ash? He could certainly imagine a woman like her having a bookshelf full of these canisters, as if they were pinned butterflies on a wooden board, or faerie dust.
    Even when she finally left the alley, Doug didn’t move from his hiding spot. Instead, he walked along the roof, slowly making his way across to the other side so he could watch her jog across the road as if she hadn’t just killed a vampire, collected his ash, and made a deal with a stranger to search and murder another one. She was a very peculiar creature, and he couldn’t wait to see her again.
    Doug hoped it was the side of him who wanted Luis gone once and for all thinking that thought, and not the vampire side of him that wanted to touch her so badly it hurt. After his insane act of almost giving himself away, he couldn’t be sure.
    Either way, they were now partners of sorts, and, with luck, that meant Luis the rogue vampire was toast.

 
    Chapter Seven
    “Thanks,” the third customer Trina had checked out during her Thursday night shift said. He grabbed the small plastic bag she’d set on the counter and left the store.
    “Yeah, um, bye,” Trina murmured. She couldn’t think straight tonight. Her head was in the clouds. Well, it was actually still stuck in that dark, back alley where she’d struck up a deal with a complete stranger. With a vigilante who seemed to know all about vampires and claimed to need her help to finish off the