Shift of Time (A Rue Darrow Novel Book 1) (5 page)

“Was he here today?”

“Yes, this morning.” She twisted her hands together in front of her, and I realized she worried over what I would say. I turned from her and examined the bed. This whole business bothered me, but something told me she wouldn’t leave me be until I confirmed or denied her suspicions.

I stood in the middle of the room with my eyes shut and pulled in air through my nose.

“Wow, it looks like you’re breathing.”

I cracked one eye open and found her in front of me, staring as if I were a science experiment, and I grumbled. “I
am
breathing! It’s just voluntary. Please, go over there.”

I pointed to a spot near the window, and she pouted but went. No wonder her husband worked so much if she was this way all the time. With another inhale, I regretted my unkind thoughts.

“Is the scent you’re wearing the only one you use?” I asked her.

Her cheeks pinked. “Yes, he likes it. Says I smell very feminine.”

“I’m sorry, Georgia. I smell another woman. She wears something flowery as well, but it’s not your scent.”

“You could be wrong!”

The color in her cheeks deepened, and for the first time, the smile and the light in her eyes faded.

“We have quite a few friends and even family who come to visit us often. We’re always entertaining from one night to the next.”

She continued to explain away her husband and their social lives. This must be the explanation, she said, and she didn’t know what she had been thinking asking a vampire to come to the house. After all, she had heard Rue was a baby, and everybody knows baby vampires are unreliable.

I stood in the middle of the floor one instant, and the next I was in front of her, grasping her arms. Georgia had me by at least fifty pounds, but I raised her to her tiptoes without thinking.

I hissed between gritted teeth. “How dare you criticize me when you asked me to come?”

Her mouth fell open, and she stared at me with fear in her eyes. The fear stirred my senses and confused my mind. Then the jumble of thoughts became irrelevant as I focused on the accelerating heartbeat. She gulped.

“You…I…” she stuttered.

I shook my head, trying to get myself together and willed myself to let go. My fingers tightened on her arms, and she let out a small squeal.

“I rescind my invitation.”

Bam!

I found myself on the front walk of her property, the door shut in my face, and the barrier back up.
Humans. Never, never, never. I won’t help them again!

Spinning on my heel, I turned from Georgia’s house and strode down the street. I could get to the bar with a few steps into the wind, but I hung back, still fuming. She could make all the excuses in the world, but she knew the truth. That was why she had taken me to her bedroom and not to the dining room where she did that ridiculous entertaining. I could have told her the other woman’s scent was concentrated on her bed, but what would be the point? She already knew.

Well, good riddance. I didn’t have to see Ms. Georgia Villar again, but it was too bad she didn’t pay me for services rendered.

I
opened
my eyes just knowing night had fallen. My bedspread lay in a pile on the floor. Those and the sheets were a habit and nothing more. Once I succumbed to sleep, I felt nothing and heard nothing until it was time to rise. This was actually a positive. No more midnight runs to the bathroom and having trouble getting back to sleep.

Cold and heat didn’t affect me. Contrary to popular belief, I did feel it. If I didn’t, like a child, I might place my hand on a hot stove and burn myself. Then again, I suppose that could have to do with pain receptors. What I mean is, I knew when the day was warm or the day was cold. Vampires don’t sweat or get chilled. How’s that for lucky?

After I showered and dressed, I searched myself for whether I needed to hunt and decided I could skip a night. Yay, me, I was getting stronger. Instead, I decided to give the whole drinking wine thing another try. I could be more social if I could stomach it. Since I kept a bottle in the cabinet for this purpose, I pulled it out and brought out a glass as well.

When I sat down and poured a glass of wine for my test, wouldn’t you know a knock sounded at the door. No one visited me at home. For a moment, hope rose thinking it was Ian, but it faded. I knew who it was before I stood to open the door. Did everyone know where I lived as well?

I opened the door. “Why are you here?”

“Rue, I’m so sorry for the way I acted last week,” Georgia began. “I was hurt, but I knew the truth. I just didn’t want to face it, and I took it out on—”

“Doesn’t matter,” I interrupted. “I’m not in the business.”

I spun away, but she followed me in. Humans were allowed to barge in without an invitation. Seemed like favoritism, but I wasn’t sure who I might take the complaint up with. Good question, I thought, since I recalled the person called Death had once told me he had no dealings with vampires. My kind were strictly hands off. He hadn’t told me who gave such an order. I shivered to think it was the demons’ boss since I was considered cursed.

“I have a payment for you,” Georgia chattered after me. “I didn’t know what you charge, but if it’s not enough, just let me know, and I’ll write a check for more.”

I grumbled, but she stuffed an envelope in my hand. When I reached the table where I had left the wine, my interest in the experiment had waned. If I were to get sick, I wouldn’t do so in front of her.

“Oh, wine! Mind if I have some?” she chirped, oblivious to the danger that was me. She picked up the glass and drained half of it. “This is a nice apartment, Rue. Is the place downstairs available?”

I blinked at her. “Why?”

Georgia giggled and emptied the glass then poured more. “Because I left my husband.”

“You what?” I shook my head. “I mean well, I understand that. It makes sense, but you left that house? He should be the one to leave, Georgia, not you.”

She waved the glass at me. Her eyes were looking glassier. “Nope, I don’t want anything from him.”

“That’s the hurt talking.”

“I left my job, too.”

I couldn’t find words.

“From now on, I’m going to do something different. I’m going to…” She fumbled for a word, and then tried to snap her fingers but failed. “I’m going to be a line cook.”

“A line cook?”

She nodded emphatically. “Yes, I’ll look for a job tomorrow, and I’m going to find an apartment.”

“Where have you been staying up until now?”

“A hotel.” The eyes were drooping. I took the bottle away from her, and she looked around my tiny place. “This is cute. Small. Maybe I should stay here with you. We can be best friends. I’ll watch over you while you sleep, and you can use me as a donor.”

The thought of Georgia grinning above my head while I rested made me shiver.

“I don’t need anyone to watch over me. Thanks. And how did you know where I live?”

She shrugged. “Got it from the pretty man at the bar.”

“Orin,” I grumbled. “I will have to talk to him. Georgia, I’m sorry this happened to you, but I don’t need a roommate.”

I was about to tell her I wasn’t in the market for a best friend either but remembered just in time that was liable to hurt her feelings.

“You’ll change your mind,” she assured me. “Okay, I’ll find my own apartment for now.” To my great relief, she didn’t linger at my place but left the money with me. I checked the envelope and found she had been generous. At least I thought she was, given I had no idea how much a tracker made.

Georgia did make a good point, though, about me having someone to watch over me while I slept. My apartment wasn’t in some secret location. The one thing I did have was a protection spell Ian had put on my apartment. He said it kept those with evil intent out, but I didn’t know the words to create it myself, and I sometimes wondered if the spell worked only on nonhuman beings or on everyone. I had no way of clarifying with him.

I left my apartment shortly after Georgia vacated and walked along the dark street. I had nothing to do with myself since tonight I was off work after a seven-night stretch. Almonester was truly a monster. Realizing I didn’t have friends had me considering calling Georgia, but I resisted this bit of insanity. Deciding I would use the time to purchase more wine, I visited a shop on Dauphine, which I had stopped into for the last bottle and found reasonable prices.

“Try this one,” an employee offered and held out a tiny paper cup. I took it, and when she turned away, I dumped it into the trash. A couple of customers nearby exclaimed the wine delicious. That was good enough for me, and I grabbed a bottle from the table where they were set up.

Turning, I let my gaze wander over the other patrons and paused when I spotted a particularly interesting man in a black business suit. In the store, at night, this guy wore sunglasses. As I took him in, he lowered his glasses, and I took in piercing eyes. He was handsome if you go for that GQ magazine type, which I did, thank you. However, there was also a hint of danger I couldn’t put my finger on. What woman doesn’t like a bit of danger.

Mind you, I wasn’t looking to get involved, just
looking
, maybe chat. The night was young, and I was bored. I lingered over my purchase, and he moved closer but said nothing. Deciding it was up to me to make the first move, I received my change from the cashier and turned toward him. He was gone. I spun, searching the store. Just gone? Why hadn’t I detected his movements or sensed his retreat?

Soon after, I left the store in a huff then made it a few blocks away from the store and strode along the street before I sensed someone following. The warm night air blew strands of my hair across my face and brought with it nothing unusual. A short way away, the strains of the ever-present music reached me along with the laughter of people enjoying their evening. Still nothing. Why had I thought someone—

An arm swung across my chest from behind, but before the person could get purchase, I put space between him and me. Startled and off balance because I hadn’t even detected him, I bumped a parked car and winced at the dent I left there.
Sorry, sir. There’s no way I can explain that.

When I faced my opponent, I found the man from the store. He stood before me in calm refinement, not quite as still as I went sometimes when I fell into deep thought. What interested me were his eyes. Where they had been normal in the store, they burned red here. This was no little imp, and I had the feeling he wanted me to know it by the energy he gave off now that he had unveiled himself.

“What are you?” I demanded.

“You know what I am.” His smooth, deep voice might have appealed if he weren’t, well, a demon.

I surveyed the area. We were alone. Apparently, tall, dark, and handsome thought he didn’t need backup. Maybe he didn’t. “You’re not like the others I’ve fought.”

He chuckled and then sneered in disgust. “You mean the imps? Don’t put me on the same level as them.”

“Well, I don’t care. You want Milo, go find him! Leave me out of it.”

The demon shook his head and advanced a step toward me. “I don’t want anything from either of you. Well, I do want you to die.”

I gaped. Before I could respond or even process what he said, he was on me, a hand at my throat. The grip was steel. I flailed, tugging at his hold. This was unlike the imps. I had popped them like so many bubbles. This man—this beast—was harder to deal with than I thought.

Granted, my fear and confusion might have slowed me down and left me weakened, but my enemy was on another level as he had bragged. I dropped to the ground so all of my weight rested on his outstretched arm, a gamble because I could have been looking at a lot of pain at best or worse, I don’t want to elaborate. You can imagine for yourself.

The demon’s grip loosened, and I kicked him in the shins while rolling away. Lunging to my feet, I didn’t stick around to learn if I could take him once the surprise wore off. Better to see if a demon could keep up with my speed.

City blocks between us, I kept moving, but I sensed him back there. He wanted me to know he pursued me. I wracked my mind for where to go. Home was out of the question. Even if I had a barrier, I didn’t want him hanging around where I lived, and I had thoughts of the demon possessing a human and using him or her. Georgia popped into my head and her suggestion of watching over me. Another reason to remain alone.

I next considered Almonester’s bar, but on the first night I began working for him, he had outlined in no uncertain terms, “I don’t care about your problems. Don’t bring them to my bar.” Such heart in my landlord.

I had no allies and no resources.
Ian, you bastard!

“Turn right.”

I skidded to a stop and glanced around. Then spoke in my own head. Before I was turned, Ian used to call to me. He had said we had a connection because he had fed from me while I was human, a fact which I resented very much. After I became a vampire, we communicated in this way, but I had heard nothing during the time when he left until now.

“Ian?”

“Turn right,”
came the command again.

I scanned the area around me. I had ended up somewhere I didn’t recognize, a part of the city I hadn’t explored as yet. Needing to escape the demon, I decided to follow the commands. That is, until they stopped coming. I searched my mind, straining and calling to Ian. The more I reviewed the voice in my head, I wasn’t entirely sure it was Ian. The three-story building seemed to have been abandoned. The brick walls were blackened and crumbling in spots so bad that I spotted the sky through a few openings in it and the roof. The location was a bit obscure, and I began to wonder if I shouldn’t have paid attention both to where I was going and the wisdom of listening to the directions. I was no longer in the French Quarter where there were always people, although none of them could keep me safe.

I hesitated before the dark building. In an abandoned spot away from witnesses, this might be the perfect place for my existence to end.
Rue, pull yourself together. That’s not going to happen. Not without a fight.

Something stirred in the wind, making my decision for me. I yanked at the rusty wrought iron gate, and with a loud creak, it gave. From the moment I stepped onto the grounds, a light came on inside the building and then more across each window as if the place came alive.

“Creepy.” I started forward. “Here goes nothing.”

“Rue.”

I jumped and looked around behind me. Milo stood on the street. He glanced past me to the building. “What are you doing here?”

“Milo!” I stomped over to him, my fists clenched at my sides. “My life has become a lot more complicated, and it’s your fault!”

He offered an expression of sympathy I didn’t believe for a second. “I’m sorry. So you decided to excommunicate yourself in a rotting old building?”

“It’s not.” I glanced around to the building, but Milo was right. There were no lights in the windows now, and if anything the place appeared even more disgusting. I reached out to the gate but drew back before my fingers touched it. “Well, never mind that. What are you going to do about demons chasing me and people assuming I’m working for you?”

He held up his hands and shrugged. “I’m truly sorry about that. If I thought I was going to drag you into my mess, I wouldn’t have approached you.”

“I approached you, remember? I saved your butt.”

“I would have gotten rid of them eventually. The point is—”

“The point is, now there are more than imps chasing me.”

Milo frowned and rubbed his chin. “More than imps? Like what?”

“No, I mean it’s a demon, but he’s not an imp. Are there more powerful demons?” I wanted him to confirm what I believed.

“Of course. The hierarchy goes up to beings that are over whole cities, and they rule over their lower classes.”

I didn’t need to know that much information. “Well a higher one is after me, and I’m not sure how to handle him.”

He paced away from me, and I followed, looking around to be sure the demon I mentioned wasn’t nearby. I no longer sensed him or any danger for that matter.

At last, Milo faced me. “I have friends you might be able to stay with until this thing blows over.”

“No.”

“I’m not sure what else I can do, Rue.”

“You can hire me.”

His eyes widened. “I thought you didn’t want to be a tracker.”

“I don’t! But I also refuse to be a victim. It seems to me the best way to get these demons off my back is to give you the whatever-it-is, and they can chase you.”

He chuckled. “You’re all heart,
cher
.”

I shrugged because it was either me or him, and he was the one dealing in questionable goods. If he were shipping cheese, we wouldn’t be having this conversation. At least, I hoped there was no cheese monster in New Orleans. I could almost see the headlines.
“Is there a giant rat living in Goth—”
You get the picture.

“Very well,” Milo said. “Let’s go.”

I narrowed my eyes at him. “Go where?”

“To my lair.”

“What?”

He chuckled at my expense. “I’m kidding. I told you I’m in the shipping business. It stands to reason I have an office, right?”