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"I aht have scoffed at that if he hadn’t sounded so deadly serious So deadly calht Of course he was
Off the chain, raving lunatic, psycho crazy
That was the only explanation she could co in wide-eyed dread as he closed the space between the her toward the wall at her back
"You saved ive you a choice, but your blood healed me" Tess shook her head "I didn’t heal you I’ht they were, but--"
"They were real," he said, a faint, rolling accent in his deep voice "Without your blood, theyfro that I can’t take back"
"Oh, my God" Tess felt sick, swa about HIV? Please don’t tell me you have AIDS "
"Those are human diseases," he said dismissively "I am immune to them And so are you, Tess"
Soive her a lot of hope "Stop usingabout me--"
"I don’t expect this is easy for you to understand I’ently as I can I owe you that much now You see, you are a Breed very special to aive up Just what is your kind?"
"I aht, a warrior And breed, as in what kind of breed?"
For a longhis answer "As in vao stick He was beyond crazy
Sane people did not go around pretending to be bloodsucking fiends--or worse, actually acting out their perverted fantasies, like this guy had with her
Except there remained the fact that Tess’s neck bore no trace of injury, even though she was certain-- really, bone-chillingly sure--that he had chos and sed quite a bit of her blood
And then there was the incredible fact that he was standing here, walking and talking with no effect whatsoever of the tranquilizer that should have laid him loell into next week
What could possibly explain any of that?
Distant police sirens wailed fro on the approach to the clinic’s section of the city Tess heard thee He cocked his head slightly, his whiskey-colored eyes never leaving her for a second He smiled wryly, just the barest curve of his broad mouth, then cursed low under his breath
"Sounds like your boyfriend phoned in some backup"
Tess was too anxious to answer, uncertain what ht provoke him now that he knew the authorities were on the way
"Brilliant way to fuck up an evening," he growled, seeht way to leave things between us, but right now it doesn’t appear I have much choice"
His hand came up near Tess’s face She flinched to evade his touch, expecting the crush of a hard fist or some other brutality But she felt only the warainst her forehead He leaned in to her, and she felt the feather-soft brush of his lips against her cheek "Close your eyes," he ns of any suspicious activity, folks We checked all points of entry around the building, and everything looks tight and in order"
"Thank you, Officer," Tess said, feeling like an idiot for creating all the fuss at such a late--or, rather, early--hour
Ben stood next to her in her office, his arhtly around her shoulders in a protective, if a bit territorial, stance He’d arrived a short while ago, not long after police sirens woke her out of an unusually deep sleep She’d been working too late, evidently, and had dozed off at her desk Somehow, she had knocked the phone and activated the speed dial for Ben’s cell He’d seen the clinic number come up on caller ID and worried that she was in some kind of trouble
His subsequent three AM call to 911 sent two officers out to the clinic on a drive-by
While they had not found any cause for alarht intruders, they did find Shiva One of the cops had questioned theer had come from, and when Ben insisted that he’d found the animal, not stolen it, the officer was quietly skeptical He allowed that with it being Halloween night, advertising ets for adolescent mischief, a fact that Ben was quick to assure him must have been the case with Shiva
Ben was lucky he hadn’t ended up in handcuffs As it stood, he’d gotten off with a warning and a stern suggestion that he return Shiva to the gun shop first thing in theidea and wanted to press charges
Tess slid froht of Ben’s arain for coot both, and it will only take a few minutes to make it"
"No, thank you, ave a short burst of static, followed by a coded string of new orders fro the all-clear on the veterinary clinic "Looks like we’re all set here, then You folks take care now And, Mr Sullivan, I trust that you’ll get that tiger back where it belongs"
"Yes, sir," Ben agreed, his save it a brief shake
They walked the police to the door and watched as the squad car eased out onto the quiet city street