2 Sean Hayden (19 page)

After getting out of the shower, she'd put on one of the robes provided by the hotel. I prayed she wore something underneath it, but knowing Vic, probably not. She pulled down her side of the comforter and turned the switch light off. It was a sweet gesture, but I could still see her perfectly. She reached to the tie on the front of the robe and pulled it loose. I debated closing my eyes. I probably would have if she hadn't been standing there watching my face. I gulped and watched the robe fall open, revealing the front of her perfect body to me again.

She slowly pulled the robe off her shoulders and let it fall down her arms and pool on the floor. Like a cat, she slowly crawled onto the bed and lay down next to me, with a stretch for good measure. She gave a little pout as she pulled the heavy comforter up over her hips and stopped it just below her breasts. Propping her head up on her hand, she stared at me with utter adoration.

I had to smile back at her from the sheer cuteness factor. That earned me a throaty chuckle. I couldn't believe how badly my nerves were rattled. She and I slept in the same bed every night.
What made this night so different?
I couldn't put my finger on it, but I could feel it in the air.

"Master?"

"Yeah, Vic?"

"Do you find me attractive?"

I couldn't help it. I completely lost it and I think I might have spit on her a little when the laughter erupted from me like a geyser. As soon as it happened I covered my mouth, hoping I hadn't completely crushed her feelings. I worried needlessly. She rolled onto her back and howled with laughter right along side of me. Finally, after what felt like the better part of an hour, the laughter died away to giggles and we could stop altogether.

"Thanks, Vic. I really needed that."

"You're welcome, master. I know you want me. I could smell your desire from the moment I danced in front of you. You've never even kissed a woman before me, have you?"

"Honestly, I've never kissed anyone. I never even knew I could find a woman attractive until I met you."

"That's good enough for me. We'll take it slow, and I promise not to seduce you until you tell me to."

"Thank you," I said and rolled over to her. I lay my head on her shoulder, my hand on her taut stomach and kissed her on the cheek. She wrapped the arm I lay on around my shoulders and pulled me tight against her. I was the master, but right at that moment I didn't feel that way. I needed her more at that moment than she needed me. I vaguely remember running my hand over her stomach as we drifted off to sleep. I sincerely hope I was fully dreaming when my hand started to drift lower.

Chapter 19

The sound of the hotel room door opening woke me from a sound sleep. I didn't yawn, or stretch, or even rub my eyes. Within a second, I jumped out of bed and out in the main room ready to pounce on whoever had come in. I stopped in my tracks and blinked a few times. Thompson stood there with his arms crossed and a small smirk on his face. I gave a quick, "Woo-hoo," and launched myself at him. He caught me in mid air and gave me a very un-Thompson like hug.

"That hug wasn't from me, it was from my wife. She said she owes you big time. So do I, kid. Thanks for pulling my fat out of the fire, so to speak."

"Big guy, I would have run into hell to pull you out. Which, according to the news, I might know the way to." I rolled my eyes.

"I saw that on the news. Nice job. I'm surprised they haven't called to set up a press conference."

"They probably have. Sander's is working with Marcel to come up with some sort of cover story. I signed autographs at the club last night. Before you ask, no, I wasn't out partying. I went to find Vic."

"Sure, kid," he said with a little wink. "I'm going to go get showered. I still smell like barbeque. The governor is giving a speech tonight at Cal State, so go get ready."

"Are you kidding me? When did this happen?"

"As of last night. The original speaker called out sick. The governor was honored to be considered to be the last minute replacement. With any luck, the bad guys won't have time to plan anything on such short notice."

"I doubt it. Knowing Greer, he's already called a press conference. I'll go put on my stake proof vest."

"That's not funny, Ash. Sanders told me about the mall. You need to be more careful. Tonight, I'm riding point on the governor. You keep an eye out for bad guys."

"Um, I really hate to pull a
you're being stupid
card, but you just got out of the hospital, and a silver stake through you would most likely be fatal. No, I'll ride shotgun on the governor's ass tonight, but I do promise to be careful. If anybody shoots at us, I'll hold him in front of me," I added trying to make Thompson laugh. It didn't work.

"Fine, but if you get dead, my ass is grass. Remember that, okay?"

"It's a deal. Now seriously, go take a shower. You smell like a burnt hamburger."

"Funny, kid. Real funny."

* * *

I've always wanted to go to college. I was probably one of the few agents at the FBI without a degree. Maybe I would look into getting my degree online, just so I didn't feel like such a schlub. There were plenty of programs out there that took real life experience and applied it toward your degree. With all the screw-ups I've been racking up lately, I could certainly just sign up and get a PHD in screwupenomics.

The California State University Sacramento looked beautiful. Most of the campus looked new. Students lounging around talking and studying gave me a little lump in my throat. Normal kids leading normal lives. Something I would never know. The governor was due to arrive with his contingent of state troopers in half an hour. Thompson and I had to sweep the building before he got there. I found myself wondering if his limo would be attacked before he even arrived.

Thompson pulled out his phone and checked the email giving the details as to the where and when of the speech and led us to the appropriate building. One thing was certain; the university's security left a lot to be desired. We weren't stopped once on our way to the main auditorium.

We walked in and the blast of cold air threatened to blow me back through the entrance. If they had cranked it down to subarctic temperatures, they must have been expecting quite the turnout for the governor's speech. We made our way into the heart of the auditorium. Thousands of seats sat facing a large stage complete with microphone and podium. I looked around at exits, entrances, and windows remembering points of possible danger to the governor. The place wasn't exactly Fort Knox, but it wasn't exactly a target range either. I sighed at the prospect of getting perforated by silver stakes yet again. My stomach did a little flip-flop and I choked it down. What doesn't kill you often hurts like a son of a bitch. I didn't want to get shot again. Ever.

"I'm going to look around," I called out to Thompson as he made his way to the people setting everything up on the stage.

"Good idea, kid," he called back and I tried not to beam too much at his compliment. I could be a good FBI agent, I really could.

I turned and made my way to the stairs leading up to the second level. I took them two at a time and made it up the flight rather quickly. I looked around to see if anybody had caught me showboating, but they all seemed rather distracted setting everything up. The upper level itself was devoid of life as far as I could tell. I could walk around the entire perimeter of the ground floor and keep an eye on everyone and everything from up here. Hell, if somebody tried to pick the governor off with another snuff rifle, it would probably be from up here. Thompson's idea of him guarding Greer sounded a little better.
If that son of a bitch who shot me shows up here, I'm going to rip him apart. I don't even care if I get my shoes bloody.

I made my way back downstairs and walked over to Thompson, who appeared to be going over security concerns with a grey-haired gentleman who held himself with an air of authority. You could look at him and know he was in charge. I waited in the distance until Thompson finished and walked over to him.

"What do you think, kid?"

"If they're going to hit him, it'll probably be with a snuff rifle. There will be too many people here to use explosives or incendiaries, or at least I hope they won't. That would just suck beyond belief. Don't roll your eyes, but I think you were right. You take bodyguard duty. I want to sit on the upper level and watch from there."

"You're learning, kid. I'll make you Deputy Director one day."

"Are you going to give me a partial lobotomy? The way I figure, you'd have to be partially brain dead to hold down that job."

Thompson's laughter echoed through the auditorium.

* * *

I watched from above the crowd as Greer entered the stage from somewhere within the bowels of the auditorium. Thompson followed behind the vampire governor and kept a wary eye on the crowd and the people who remained on stage. Luckily, the attending students and supporters of the governor weren't large enough to fill the massive auditorium. We got to close the second level as a result. I stood alone among the sea of empty seats and scouted the auditorium for trouble. Everyone sat and waited eagerly as Greer made his way to the podium amid a thunderous round of applause. The sheer enthusiasm of the crowd shocked me a little. Controversy surrounded the world's first elected vampire official, but you couldn't tell from the heartwarming reception he received.

When he stood before the microphone, the applause stopped and you could feel the eagerness in the silence of the crowd as they waited for the Governor to speak. He smiled to the crowd and waved as he pulled some note cards from his jacket pocket. As he began his speech I noticed one thing about Greer I hadn't before. When he spoke, there wasn't a single flash of his fangs. Some of the older myths from a time when vampires and werewolves didn't walk freely out in the open painted them as human-like creatures whose fangs sprouted forth like a snakes retractable fangs. This just wasn't true. Just like the myths involving holy relics and not casting a reflection in mirrors. Vampires were full of magic, in fact it's what kept them alive, but magic had rules just like science. To hide their true nature, vampires perfected speaking without showing their teeth. The older vampires, who had more practice, did so with minimal difficulty. Greer was a master, and to top it off, his diction didn't suffer at all.

Newer vampires, on the other hand, have a tendency to show a lot of fang when they speak. It takes a lot of practice to master it. I show fang more than any vampire I've ever met. It isn't my fault though. If I lived to be a thousand years old, I'll still show fang when I speak. Not only are mine longer and thicker than the average vampire, mine also curve. They're designed to pierce the flesh of my victims and hang on. I chalk it up to being a predator of predators. If it weren't for bad, I wouldn't have any luck at all.

Lost in my own thoughts, I missed a key point in the governor's speech. The thunderous round of applause snapped me out of my reverie and I saw a shape blocking out the starry sky through one of the windows on the second story. I gasped in surprise. There wasn't any ledge outside the windows up here. I'd checked to make sure they couldn't be used as a possible sniper location. The shadow looked definitely man-shaped, so my previous assumption must have been wrong. I turned and ran around the perimeter of the wall and crept below the windows until I reached where I had seen him.

Standing just before the window and looking out at an angle I could see the shadow was definitely a man. How the hell he managed to hold himself just outside the window however, remained a mystery. It really didn't matter though, once I saw him raise the snuff rifle up and aim it at the stage, I jumped. The window shattered as I went through it, and it all became worth it when I briefly saw the look of utter shock on the vampires face as I grabbed him before my shoulders had cleared the jagged glass.

I got my answer when I tackled him. Apparently, he had used his vampiric strength to dig hand and footholds in the side of the brick and mortar building. He didn't dig deep enough. When I grabbed him he lost his footing and we both plummeted the twenty feet to the concrete below. I heard a large crack, and I wasn't sure if my bones had broken, his bones had broken, or we put a serious hurting on the concrete pad outside the auditorium. I landed on top of Mr. Sniper, so I hoped they were his bones. I wanted to break the rest with my hands.

He had other ideas though. I'd hoped to at least have knocked him momentarily unconscious, but his fist connecting with my jaw told me otherwise, and so did the tree I crashed into. He took off as I slid down, almost comically slow. You know when the cartoon characters hit the walls and slowly slide down with the
skree
noise in the background? That's what I felt like. As soon as my feet hit the ground I took off after him.

I jumped a fire hydrant as his fleeting shadow rounded the corner about a block ahead of me. I could feel the adrenaline, or whatever it is vampires have, surging through my veins, burning as it flowed. I turned the corner and saw him ahead. He had no place to go except straight. The buildings in the area had been built with little or no room between them and I gave silent thanks to older architecture and overcrowding. I gave a burst of speed I didn't know I had left in me, especially after almost becoming one with a tree. I started to close the distance between us, but at the rate of speed we were traveling at, the stretch of road ended shortly and he rounded the corner. I didn't want to lose him, so I strained my limits to follow about fifty feet behind him.

When I rounded the corner, he was gone. Panic welled up within me and I wanted to scream in frustration. I balled my fists and opened my mouth and then saw him scaling the side of the building across the street. My scream of frustration turned into a
squee
of excitement as I launched myself after the bastard. I crossed the street in less than a second and started jamming my fingers into the concrete surface of the building. I never took my gaze from his back as he scaled the building and within moments I could tell my climbing skills were better than his as I closed the distance between us. If the roof was his goal I would make it right behind him.