The Vampire's Fall

“Blade.”

After talking with him in the Blue Bass she’d assessed that he was a nice guy who had the compassion to worry about a complete stranger. But here he was again. And her heartbeats picked up pace. What made her believe she had any skill at reading another person’s intent? As she’d once suspected, had she gained a stalker?

She sat up to open the door, but paused. It was close to midnight. She had parked in an empty parking lot beneath a streetlight. A city park paralleled the lot, but no residential houses or businesses were nearby. It had seemed a quiet place to sleep through the night, but now her caution rose.

He hadn’t tried to touch her, as had the other creep in the bar. But something about this man was dark. Mysterious. And now the hairs on her arms prickled.

She turned the key backward to the accessories position, then lowered the window down two inches. “Yes?”

“You sleeping in your truck?”

She nodded. Wished she had an iron pipe, or even a wood bat.

“This is going to sound strange,” he said. “It might even put up your weirdo alarms again.”

“I haven’t completely lowered them, so give it a shot.”

“You’re welcome to park on my land tonight. Uh, it might be safer. Unless you don’t mind taking your chances with Brock.” He turned and cast his gaze across the parking lot.

Zenia followed his gaze and there, across the street from the lot, idled a big yellow Hummer rimmed in chrome. She couldn’t see inside the cab, save for the glimmer of burning cigarette embers.

“Is that the guy from the bar?”

Blade nodded. “I’ve been watching him watching you for about an hour.”

Zenia clutched her arms over her chest. “You’ve been watching me a lot today.”

“Sorry. Seems as though you need it. This is not what I normally do. I mean—”

“Stalk women?”

He nodded and shrugged. It was a sheepish kind of move that settled her worries. She wanted to trust him. She would allow herself to trust him.

“Where do you live?” she asked.

“Ten miles north of Tangle Lake. It’s secluded. Brock won’t follow you there because he’s afraid of me. We had...an altercation a few months back. But then, if you follow me, you do risk leaving the safety of town.”

Yikes. When he put it that way. And yet, as strange as Blade was, Zenia sensed the other option would see her struggling with the man across the street not long after Blade left.

“Maybe,” she said.

“I’m heading back to my truck. You can follow me if you want to. The drive is down a long forested road, just so you know. You can park in my driveway. Lock your doors. I won’t bother you. You have my word.”

“I don’t know if your word is good.”

“That you don’t.”

Was it fair or even rational to give him points for honesty?

“So you think you need to protect me from demons or something?”

“Beyond the very human Brock?” He shrugged. “You never know.” Blade shoved his hands into his front pockets. “Your choice, Zen.”

And he strode off toward the truck that Zenia now saw was parked down the street. A bowlegged stride moved him swiftly, as if a shadow in the night.

Zenia scrambled into the driver’s seat and turned on the ignition. When Blade’s headlights blinked on and slowly drove past the other man’s truck, she made a snap decision and shifted the truck into gear.

Chapter 4 (#ulink_41462729-6642-5f83-8efa-cc95095073c8)

Zenia woke with her name zinging between her ears. Except it wasn’t the way she had chosen it. Blade had called her Zen last night. She liked it. It sounded like the man had made the name his possession when he’d said it. And that didn’t bother her at all.

But did she feel Zen right now? Hard to tell. She wasn’t sure what to feel. She was a woman out of place. Did she have a place to return? Was there a house or an apartment waiting for her to push a key into the lock and resume her life? She hadn’t a key, a purse or any identifying materials on her after the bus had hit her.

Only that weird tin circle.

She glanced at the flimsy circle she’d hung around the rearview mirror. She’d been clutching it after coming to a stand against the street pole. In that moment, she’d almost tossed it aside, but she’d felt an intuition to keep it. For some reason. Curious.

Had it anything to do with the destiny she felt she tread? For the undeniable feeling that contacting the police would not be wise? Was it a true feeling or was it that she thought she should have a goal or reason for existing so destiny was a good fill-in-the-blank answer?

Sitting up, she pulled her knees to her chest and bowed her head to work out the kinks from sleeping across the stick shift. A knock on the driver’s window startled her. A swath of dark hair reminded her that she’d had the audacity to follow a complete stranger out to his property last night. She’d parked at the end of the driveway closest to the highway just in case she’d needed to make a quick getaway. He’d been good to his word. Hadn’t bothered her.

Until now.

Zen hit the window control and lowered the glass. The scent of steaming coffee wafted into the truck interior. Never had anything smelled so good.

Blade handed in a black mug. Steam rose from the liquid surface. “Just brewed it. Extradark. Hope you take it that way.”

She’d take any offering of food or drink no matter the strength or weakness. Thank goodness he’d paid for her beer last night. That left her twenty dollars in her pocket—left over from selling raspberries—and a half-full gas tank. It was terrible not to know who she was. But not having the funds to rent a room or pay for a hot meal? She would have to look into that home for amnesiacs he’d mentioned if she didn’t figure her life out, and fast.

“Thank you.” She sipped the brew. It kicked her. Hard. “Whew!”

“It’s called Death Brew for a reason,” Blade offered. “Have a good night’s sleep?”

She shrugged. No one named Brock had tried to break in and attack her, so she figured that was as good as it got.

“Here’s the deal,” Blade said. “I’m heading into town in an hour. Got some work to do for a couple of nuns. If you want, you’re welcome to use my shower before I leave.”

“Really?” She hadn’t showered in days. Had begun to wonder if her hair would ever see a comb again. “I’d like that.”

“Cool. Just me and Oogie live out here in the barn. If my cat likes you, I like you.”

“Then here’s hoping I pass the cat test.”

* * *

The eerie, hairless black cat hissed and arched its back as Zenia landed at the top of the stairs leading to the loft level of the big barn. The lower level was a wide-open garage littered with vehicles in all states of repair. This was the living quarters. Vast and open, it felt modern and airy, not at all barnlike.

Blade, who had led her up the stairs and directed her to the left for the bathroom, peered out from around the stainless-steel fridge at his cat, which was poised on the back of a green-and-blue-plaid couch. Blade glanced at Zenia, who had frozen at the top of the stairs, clinging to the backpack strap she’d tossed over her shoulder. Then he eyed the cat, who had arched up its back so high Zenia thought it might fold in half.