Black Heart: Coeur de Sade (Black Heart Series) (8 page)

            I snapped the phone closed, frustrated.  How did I get myself into this situation?  If I had minded my own business, and not gone to investigate that last suicide, would the vampire council even have thought of hijacking my life to go off and find their unholy talisman?

            They did have those pictures.  Waiting and ready.  Why?  Was there something else they wanted from me?

            When Boney hadn't called back in five minutes, I knew it would be a while.  He was probably tending his vampire mistress's base yearnings.  I know that was what I'd want from him if he belonged to me.  He was that good in bed.  Better, really.

            "Brings me back to Dane," I muttered, frowning at the intersection I last saw him.

            I reached out with my senses and found him instantly.  No longer moving.  And not far away, either.  I so longed to go to him, to be held and caressed by him.

            I severed the shared a link that he suspected, but I denied.  I denied it out of shame, really.  I created the link when I accidentally bit him.  I'm not real sure how I did it.  Or even why.  It just seemed the thing to do at the time.  I shared a link with Gabe as well.  Thankfully, they were one way links.

            I opened my mind again, and instantly felt both Dane and Gabe.  Gabe was obviously sound asleep.  I could tell.  Good link.  But Dane was anything but asleep.  He seemed quite pleased, and then I realized he was aroused.  Reminded me of the blonde.  I guess he got over my unexpected appearance well enough, and fast enough.

            Turning the engine over, I revved the engine twice, and put her in gear.  I headed for Dane.  He might not want to, but he would speak to me tonight.  I was determined.  I had no choice.

            Dane wasn't far.  Just five minutes away, inside a small bar and grill.  Crazy Joe's was more of a pool hall, really.  Country music blared from the jukebox.  Goat-ropers and other wannabe cowboys played pool, video games, and pinball.  Mostly, though, they drank too much and tried to talk over the too loud Country music.

            I waved my hand before me, trying to disburse the thick cigarette smoke.  It was all in vain.  So I held my breath to keep from coughing and gagging.  I really don't know how cigarette smokers do it.  I would die of suffocation within a week of starting to smoke.  Thankfully, vampires don't need to breath.  So holding my breath wasn't a problem, but it still burned my eyes.

            Looking over the clientele, I was surprised to spot another vampire.  He was wearing a white cowboy hat, snake skin boots and big silver belt buckle.  An undead goat-roper.  I have to admit, though, he was the cleanest, most attractive man in that place.  The majority of the clientele had an unsavory cast, especially the women.

            I finally spotted my ex-boyfriend and vampire hunting mentor in a booth at the back of the room.  It was the closest thing Crazy Joe's had to a private booth.  Dane was engrossed in conversation with a very familiar woman.

            Heidi Mainz was from a wealthy family, so didn't work.  The closest she came to work was being a professional cheerleader.  A Dallas Cowboy Cheerleader, in fact.  To say she was pretty was an understatement.  She was gorgeous, with shoulder length blonde hair, big blue eyes, and bigger silicone tits.  Every man's dream lover.

            I wanted to rip her throat out.

            "Well, Heidi, you didn't waste any time moving in, did you?" I said, stepping up beside them.

            "Sable!" Heidi cried, eyes huge.  "What are you doing here?"

            I locked eyes with her, and smiled sinisterly, "I'm just out for a
bite
to eat."

            "Sable," Dane said warningly.

            "If you hurt me Dane will hate you forever," Heidi said.

            That was a gut punch.  It hurt so much because it was probably true.  Dane didn't stake Anastasia until she threatened me.  Anastasia was the old girlfriend Changed into a vampire, and I was at the time the new girlfriend — pre-fangs.  If I threatened Heidi, would that make him stake me?  I did not want to know.

            I ignored her remark, and turned to Dane.  "I need your help."

            "He doesn't date dead people," Heidi said, finding her backbone.  Did she think I was trying to steal him back?  Probably, since that is how a man thief like her would operate.  "Your claim on him died with you."

            Dane and I both grimaced.  The thought was painful.

            "I need to know about werewolves," I said, soldiering on.  I would not let Heidi get to me.  I wouldn't.  I was better than that.  "I have to find the name of a specific werewolf, and fast."

            "Werewolf?" Dane said, looking uncomfortable in the crossfire between me and Heidi.  "Why?  Are you going to stake a werewolf?  They're still alive.  That's illegal."

            "I know the law," I said.  "I have a task I have to perform and to do it I need to find a particular werewolf.  And fast."

            I wanted to tell him the vampire council was threatening to kill my entire family, but I wasn't sure he even cared anymore.  I doubt he knew about the vampire council, and probably wouldn't believe me if I told him.  Knowledge like that was enough to make a vampire hunter piss his pants.

            "Again, why?"

            Before I could answer, Heidi piped in, "Are the undead cold to the touch?  Are you stone cold now?"

            She said it loud enough to carry.  Several men turned to look, their curious eyes locking on me.  Talk about feeling self conscious.  I was pleased to see Dane was shocked by her behavior.

            "Heidi, if you'll just give me a few minutes, I'll be out of here," I said.  I was trying to be reasonable, even though I really wanted to squeeze her head until it popped like a pimple.  I should get points for trying.  "Then you can have Dane all to your lonesome."

            Miss Cheerleader didn't want to be reasonable, though.  I saw her suck in a deep breath.  I didn't know if she was going to shout at me, or scream "vampire!" at the top of her lungs.  Didn't matter.  I locked eyes with her so fast she grunted.

            "Shut up and sit there until I'm through," I said.

            She just nodded, blank-eyed, and released that big breath in a long gush.

            "What the hell?" Dane cried, jumping to his feet.  "Release her!  Release her right now!"

            "But if you'd just...," I said, but he wasn't listening.  Dane only had eyes for Heidi.  "Whatev."

            I released Heidi.  She blinked and looked around, then her eyes went wide.

            "Sable hypnotized me!"

            "Bull.  I didn't hypnotize you.  I mesmerized you, which is more like an enchantment," I said, knowing I should keep my mouth shut but lacking the wherewithal to do it.  "Besides, it wasn't that bad.  I didn't make you piss yourself, or drop to all fours and bark like a dog."

            "Stay away from us," Dane said in the most threatening tone I ever heard from him.

            "But..."

            "No buts, stay the hell away from us," Dane said, helping Heidi to stand.  She acted unsteady on her feet, but I could tell she was in full command of her facilities.  The bitch was acting, playing it for all it was worth.  "I have nothing to say to you, and have no desire to speak to you again."

            I just gawked at them as Dane ushered Heidi away.  When they passed the nearest pool table I noticed three of the players were glaring daggers at me, holding their sticks like clubs.  Dane noticed as well.

            "I wouldn't do anything stupid if I were you, boys," Dane said, then glanced back at me.  "She threw a Harley-Davidson across a parking lot and completely over a strip club.  And that was on her first night as a vampire."

            I smiled sweetly, then gave them a wicked wink.  They shifted uncomfortably, shifted their eyes between each other a moment, then returned to their game.  I left.

CHAPTER 5

            Saturday night was a bust.  I went home to an empty house, and slept the day away without a chance to speak with Desiree.  Nothing went right.  I'd be lucky if Heidi didn’t convince Dane to stake me.

            Sunday wasn't looking any better.  Oh, Desiree was there waiting with my breakfast when I woke up, and all hooker sexy.  You know, dressed for streetwalking — black leather halter top, matching short-shorts, and stiletto knee boots.  She still worked for Boney, peddling her sweet chocolate rump to horny men for fifty dollars a pop.

            I tried to talk her into retiring when I moved into her house.  Desiree wouldn't hear of it.  She wouldn't live off my nickel, and she didn't have enough saved to retire on her portfolio.  Yeah, I know.  I was shocked to learn she had a portfolio.  The hooker business was more lucrative than I thought but Desiree was a very beautiful woman of thirty-one.  I bet the johns fell all over each other to get to her bed.

            Strangely enough, she
loved
her job.  Go figure.

            I spent the first hour after sunset arguing with Desiree about whether or not I should tell my family of the threat.  I thought I should, but she was against it.  She argued that the vampire council might kill one of them as a warning if they thought they would lose their leverage.  The thought of "sacrificing" one family member to save the rest was unacceptable.

            I bowed to her advice, since Desiree knew more about the vampire council and their ways.  It wasn’t easy.  My family was in danger.  Don’t you know I was hatching dozens of plans in my head to whisk them all off to safety.  Just none of them were truly doable.

            Unfortunately, Boney still wasn't answering his phone.  Desiree said he wasn't around, and that Tawanda was watching over his girls in his absence.  Tawanda was one of the three vampires Boney had Changed, so he still had control over them.  They were his vampire family, along with all of his fang whore streetwalkers.

            I tried calling Gabe, but no one was answering his phone at the hospital.  The police still had his cell.  My mental connection with him showed Gabe to be agitated.  Not in danger, though.  I'd have been right over there if there was danger.

            So like the previous night, Sunday was proving to be a night of frustration.  I had to do something, so got semi-vamped out and left.  Semi-vamped for me was white tank top under a black leather biker jacket, snug jeans stuffed into black thigh boots.  I accessorized with wide black belt, big hoop earrings and matching bangles.  Oh, don’t forget the Beretta Px4 Storm pistol in the shoulder holster under my jacket.

            I drove over to University Park, which was only a few blocks from Desiree's house.  I parked down the street from my sister's apartment, and continued on foot.  Soon I was within sight of the second floor, two bedroom apartment she shared with another coed.

            "Good," I said, feeling her inside with a lot of friends.

            Talk about relieving a lot of tension.  She was safe and happy, and that was enough for me.  For some reason, I guess because she was the only member of my family living inside the city of Dallas, well University Park anyway, I worried that she would be the most likely one the council would target if they thought I needed proof they meant business.

            Suddenly, college girls started pouring out of Sabrina's apartment.  They were chatting merrily, giggling and such.  Just being girls.  They were all dressed pretty much alike, in Sabrina's angry girl, pseudo-Goth sexy look.  I counted five girls, and one...vampire?

            The lone guy of the group had the aura of a vampire.  I almost pissed myself.  What was Sabrina doing with a vampire?  She knew the danger.  Surely she wasn't a fang whore.

            The six of them piled into three cars, and left.  Sabrina was riding with the
vampire
.  He drove a silver Mustang, one year older than mine.  I followed, mind reeling.  Was the vampire a council spy, placed there to watch Sabrina?  Maybe kill her on command?  Or was he a rogue, just hunting his prey slow and secretively.  Some vampires were more into the hunt, the stalking and seduction of mortals, than anything else.  Was that his game?

            The not knowing was killing me.  Being around my sister was going to get him killed.  Staked dead.  I had my vampire staking kit in the trunk.  Took it everywhere nowadays.

            They went straight to Deep Ellum.  Vampire country.  What was Sabrina thinking?  I followed them to a small club with live music.  After a few minutes, I followed them inside.  The hostess let me go in without being seated after I said I was looking for friends.

            There was an edgy rock band playing, whining about how his girlfriend broke his heart.  Local band.  Not very good.  I found Sabrina and friends all stuffed into a booth meant for four.  Very cozy.  The vampire sat between Sabrina and a blonde coed.  Just one of the girls.  He wasn’t gay, either.  He was enjoying the up close and personal contact way too much, especially the way the blonde was stroking his long ponytail.

            Finding a booth behind theirs, I watched the vampire intently.  The first time he laughed I saw that his fangs were filed down.  On top of that, he had a deep tan.  Vampires couldn't lay in the sun, so it was spray on tan.  He was really trying hard to hide his true nature.  A lot of vampires did that to “blend in.”  I still didn’t trust him.  Not around my little sister.

            With my superior vampire hearing, I could hear every word they spoke.  I could also “monitor” the emotional state of all of the girls.  I can’t do that with vampires.  I understood that some vampires could read other vampires.  Not me.  Not that lucky.

            But the girls were all relaxed and happy.  Soon, they were feeling a buzz from the beer.  In no time I knew all of their names.  Roger was the vampire.  Roger Rippner.

            Roger was about six four, slim and looked painfully shy despite being practically buried in pretty coeds.  His dark brown eyes were constantly downcast.  If he could still blush he’d be bright red most of the time, I’d wager.