Blood Mate: A Paranormal Romance (3 page)

Bryn locked up the computer
lab and rode the lift down to the ground floor. Stanley was still
there, waiting for the daytime receptionist to come in.

“
Hey Stanley, shouldn't
you be getting home? It's almost dawn,” Bryn said, rapping her
knuckles on the reception counter.

“
I'll be all right, Miss
Ellis,” Stanley smiled, rubbing a fang with his finger. “I'm
an old vamp, so a little light won't kill me. The morning sun is
uncomfortable and hurts my eyes, but I can still get around. Don't
you worry, Miss Ellis. I can still make it back home in time.”
He nodded towards the revolving doors. “But you'd better
hurry. A young vamp like you should be in bed by now. Go.”

Bryn chuffed. “I'm not
that young.”

Stanley frowned disapprovingly
in response.

But Bryn quickened her steps
once she was out of the building. She wouldn't admit it to anyone,
but she was indeed a very young vampire. She had only been turned
six years ago. She was still very vulnerable as a vampire. If she
was still on the streets when dawn broke, she would be incinerated on
the spot. Destroyed forever, like how she'd tried to destroy herself
six years ago.

She had been so wrong.
I'm
sorry, Nana. I never told you how sorry I am.

Bryn broke into a run, her
boots stomping resoundingly, resolutely over the concrete pavement.
She wouldn't put Nana through this. This worry. Wondering and
worrying if she would make it home before the first light of dawn.

Her grandmother had gone
through so much for her, because of her. Nana was her only family.
Her parents had been killed by a rogue vampire when Bryn was a mere
toddler.

And now Bryn was a vampire.

But Nana had put her fears to
rest.

“
You are not one of
them. You are not a rogue, and you are not a coward,” Nana had
told her fiercely.

But she was. She was the
biggest coward of them all.

What she had tried to do was
the biggest, most unforgivable act of cowardice.

Bryn ran harder, balling her
fists and sprinting down the streets. Her long braid flew behind
her, whipping wildly in the wind. She was still learning how to
mist. She was starting to get the hang of it, but it took a lot out
of her. Older and more powerful vampires could transform themselves
into mist and move swiftly from place to place. For Bryn, misting
could be a dangerous exercise. She still needed lots of practice.
If she lost her focus, she could mist herself into a spot of direct
sunlight and that would be the end of her.

As soon as Bryn pounded up the
front steps of the house, the door flew wide open. Her grandmother
stood anxiously beside the door, breaking into a smile only when Bryn
came careening into the house.

“
Oh, I forgot to take
off my boots!”

Nana slammed the door shut
before Bryn could go back outside. She stood between Bryn and the
door, her thin arms folded across her chest like a bouncer. “You're
not going out, young lady. You'll wear your boots to bed if you have
to.”

Bryn saluted. “Yes,
Ma'am!”

Nana smiled, and Bryn saw her
exhale a long sigh of relief. She went to hug her grandmother
immediately. “You don't have to worry, Nana. I'll always be
home for supper. You know I can never resist your famous blood
pudding and sausages. You should open a restaurant for vamps!”

Nana sniffed. “I only
cook for family. Come now, your supper is getting cold.” She
steered Bryn forcefully towards the kitchen. “Eat. Then off
to bed you go.”

Bryn let Nana stuff her into a
chair. Her grandmother pulled out a warm plate from the oven and set
it down in front of her. As Bryn dug into Nana's homemade blood
pudding and sausages, Nana made herself a cup of coffee and sat down
with her at the small kitchen table.

“
Go back to bed, Nana.
It's not even five o'clock,” Bryn said, her mouth full.

“
Nah. I already had my
morning coffee.” Nana raised her cup at Bryn and took a sip.

“
Okay.” Bryn knew
better than to argue. “Why don't you join me? Have your
breakfast while I'm scoffing down my supper.”

“
Good idea.” Nana
went over to the fridge and pulled out a frozen pizza. “I
think I'll nuke this.”

“
Nana! You're not
having junk food for breakfast!” Bryn jumped up. “I'll
make you pancakes...”

Nana waved her down and
scoffed, “I can eat all the junk food I want! I'm eighty-three
years old. I can do whatever I want.”

Bryn sat back down and
laughed. “Yes, you can. You can do anything you want.”

“
Good.” Nana made
a face at her. “Now finish up your supper, and go clean up.
I'll tuck you in.”

Bryn nodded and gobbled down
the juicy blood sausages. Nana tucked her into bed every morning,
and made sure the heavy drapes across her window were tightly drawn.

Bryn watched her grandmother
shuffle over to the microwave oven and pop the pizza in. She
couldn't help thinking how small and frail Nana was. Nana had aged
so much in the last few years. Bryn would never age. She was
seventeen when she was turned. To Nana, she would always be a
teenager, a silly little kid.

She hated to see Nana growing
older, but Nana had made it clear that she had lived a long, fruitful
life. She had no regrets, and she wanted to go where her daughter
and son-in-law had gone. “It's the order of things. It is as
nature intended,” she'd told Bryn. Her meaning was clear. She
had no wish to be turned into a vampire, like Bryn.

And Bryn knew she would never
be able to change Nana's mind. She had no argument, no reason, no
right.

What Bryn had done six years
ago wasn't natural. She had no right to do what she did.

She had thrown it all away.

But she was lucky. She had
Nana.

She had a second chance at
life, because she was lucky to have someone who loved her so much, so
fiercely and fearlessly.

She owed it to Nana to make
the most, the best of this chance and this life that she'd been
given.

Bryn finished washing up her
plate and went to kiss her grandmother. Wrapping her arms around
Nana, she whispered, “Tuck me in, Nana?”

“
Of course,” Nana
smiled. “Of course.”

Bryn and Scott had just
finished their patrol, but neither of them would be knocking off.
Not just yet. And not in a long while.

Bryn clicked off the call on
her watch and looked over at her partner. “There's been
another...”

“
I know,” Scott
answered tersely. “Let's go.”

Of course he knew. With his
super werebear hearing, he would have heard the entire conversation.
Levi had just called for backup.

“
Another one.”
Levi's snarl had crackled from her watch. “Another one of us.”

The victim was Ricky Costello.
Ricky was a young werepanther who had just graduated from the
Enforcers' training program. He had gotten his Enforcer's Badge not
two weeks ago.

Ricky's apartment was just two
streets away.

Scott and Bryn increased their
pace, striding angrily to Ricky's studio apartment. Scott's
expression was grim and Bryn could see the veins bulging from his
neck and temples. Bryn clenched her fists and cursed loudly.
Another Enforcer had been murdered. Everyone was tensed, angry and
frustrated that the killer hadn't been caught.

Bryn wanted to mist straight
to Ricky's apartment. But she couldn't mist away and leave her
partner behind. Partners stuck together and watched each other's
backs. Jett had drilled that into them. She had gotten into trouble
before for going after rogues by herself. Her previous partner and
best friend, Charlotte Cole, had been equally impulsive and
impatient. Splitting up to pursue rogues was dangerous and
foolhardy. Reckless rookies, Jett had called them.

So Jett had paired her with
Scott instead, hoping that the experienced, steady Senior Enforcer
would be a good influence and role model. Well, she did learn a lot
from Scott. But she sometimes felt that he should go a little
faster, go with the flow, run with it. Just act, on instinct, on
impulse.

But Scott would always tell
her, “Slow down, Bryn. Think before you act.”

She did try to follow his
advice. Honestly, she did. But when Enforcers were being killed on
the streets and in their homes, she wanted to act, right now.

She just had a sick feeling
that young Ricky was killed by the same sadistic shit who had killed
two human Enforcers while they were on patrol two weeks ago. Their
heads had been found in a dumpster. Not much was left of their
bodies. Just some bones and skin. The rest had been eaten.

Three Enforcers had been
murdered this month.

And the killer was still at
large.

“
Come on, Scott! Move
it, move it,” Bryn urged, over her shoulder. “Let's go
help Levi sniff out Ricky's killer!”

The bear shifters had the
sharpest sense of smell among all the paranormals. But the killers
had left no clues, no mark, no scent on those two human Enforcers.
Even Blake Madden, the Council member, who was one of the most
powerful alpha werebears in New Moon City, hadn't been able to scent
anything.

Scott didn't run, but he did
quicken his pace in response to Bryn's urgent shouts. Bryn forced
herself to slow down, and march beside her partner. She saw that
Scott's bright blue eyes were scanning the street ahead, observing
every shadow, every detail. His breaths were rapid, as he sniffed
the air around them.

Scott was looking for clues
along the way to the crime scene. They were just one street away
from Ricky's apartment, and the killer could have left clues in the
vicinity. The killer could have dropped something, or left faint
traces of himself while escaping. Scott was trying to pick up the
killer's scent. The killer would undoubtedly have Ricky's blood on
him. But from Scott's deep frown, it seemed that the scent of
Ricky's blood led only to his apartment, not away from it.

Blowing out a hard breath,
Bryn surveyed the streets with narrowed eyes. It was a peaceful
neighborhood, populated by walk-up apartments and small houses.
People should be sleeping soundly in their beds, not getting murdered
in their own homes. She could feel herself gnashing her teeth. She
was getting too worked up, too angry.

They reached the squat
four-story building and made for the stairs. Scott took the stairs
three at a time, but he didn't rush up the steps. His senses were
still sharp and alert, as his eyes darted along the walls and every
corner of the narrow steps, searching for clues.

Bryn ran ahead. She could
already smell Ricky's blood. Her fangs elongated and her senses
sharpened at the scent of blood. It was a vampire reflex, and she
couldn't retract her fangs even if she wanted to. She didn't want
to. She wanted to bite someone right now. She wanted to sink her
fangs into the neck of Ricky's killer and snap it.

Bryn followed the dense,
dizzying scent of blood straight to Ricky's small corner apartment.
The door was wide open and the lights were on inside. She could hear
Levi and Jeanette's voices inside.

Bryn stepped through the door
and jerked violently to a halt.

No.

Just...no.

She stared at the spray of
blood on the walls and the ceiling. It looked like someone had gone
crazy with cans of red paint. But this wasn't paint. This was
blood. Blood all over the walls, the furniture, the floor, the
ceiling. Even the ceiling lights were splashed with blood, causing
them to cast an eerie red glow around the apartment.

“
Ricky,” she
managed to murmur through a dry, tight throat.

Jeanette turned towards the
kitchen. Her normally gentle brown eyes were hard with outrage and
pain.

Bryn misted straight into the
kitchen.

She jerked back at the sight,
but she didn't make a single sound. She simply stood frozen in the
middle of the blood-drenched kitchen, unable to move or even breathe.

Ricky had been a jovial,
good-natured young man. She had seen him joking with his fellow
trainee Enforcers, comforting them, encouraging them through the
tough, grueling training. He was fun to be around, and he never took
himself seriously. But he took his training and his work very
seriously. He had been a full fledged Enforcer for all of two
weeks. He had done his job well, with pride and passion. He was a
good Enforcer, a wonderful young man.

Ricky's bashed head had been
forcibly stuffed into the trash can, like a broken watermelon. His
eyes had been gouged out, and his nose was broken and crooked.

Bryn stared into Ricky's
hollow sockets.

What was the last thing you
saw, Ricky? Was it the face of your killer?

“
Tell me, Ricky, tell me
who did this to you,” she whispered.