Vampires 101 (Twilight Hunters Book 1) A Vampire Romance (8 page)

His brows rose questioningly. “Probably not when she’s sleeping in the back seat of her car. By the way … why did you sleep in your car?”

That was the million-dollar question. I wasn’t quite awake enough to answer it yet, so I didn’t. Instead, I slid out of the back seat and tried to stand, though not very successfully. My legs were still cramped from being bent all night.

“Remind me to hang curtains and put up a
Do Not Disturb
sign next time,” I grumbled.

“I guess you’re lucky I decided to check out your car when you didn’t answer the door. Otherwise you’d have been dead by noon from heat exhaustion.”

Man did I dislike cops, especially smart-ass cops - especially smart-ass cops that were right.

“Ok … ok. I get it. Sleeping in the car was a stupid idea.” I didn’t bother to add the fact that I didn’t really think I had a lot of choice in the matter. I didn’t have a clue how I got in the car, but I suspected Damian had something to do with it.

Without bothering to ask him why he’d been looking for me in the first place, I started across the small parking lot. I would never be able to think clearly until I’d had my morning coffee anyway.

“So Hell Brat … how are you going to explain the Elvira look to your dad?” he asked, with a very annoying smirk on his face.

Stopping abruptly, I placed one hand on my hip and gave him my most vicious glare, hoping he would pick up on the fact that I was getting really irritated with him. “You are never going to let me forget that we egged and toilet papered your patrol car … way back when you were a rookie … are you?”

“Nope,” he answered without hesitation.

Damn! He could have at least thought about it for a few seconds.

“Well I already told you … that was Dad’s idea.”

“Really?” He obviously didn’t believe a word I was saying.

Technically, it
was
Dad’s idea. He told Tanya and I to go have fun, and we did. So it wasn’t really just our fault.

When Dad asked why we would do such a thing, I told him it was because Riley was mean. That was partly the truth, but mostly we egged Riley’s car because we wanted to see him outside in his swimming trunks, washing it. He had a way sexy chest.

It was a good plan, but it would just be our luck to get caught. Part of our punishment was to spend an entire Saturday afternoon washing it. We missed out on a shirtless Officer Riley, plus we wasted an entire day washing egg off his car.

Come to think of it, I still hadn’t forgiven Riley yet.

I started walking again. Another two minutes and I’d be in my kitchen making coffee, which sounded so much better than standing in the parking lot arguing with Riley.

He followed me inside without being invited. Not that I cared. Better a cop following me home than someone like Killer Tom.

After putting some coffee on to brew, I turned to Riley. “So why are you here? As far as I know, there’s no law against sleeping in the backseat of your own car.”

“So Cassandra … where were you last night?” he asked.

Ah-oh! He called me by my real name, instead of Cassie, or the cute nickname he’d given me ever since the incident with his car. My real name meant this was an official visit, not that he made a habit of casual visits anyway.

Taking a notebook out of the inside pocket of his FBI looking jacket, he asked again. “Where were you?”

I always wondered why cops dressed as if they were headed for a funeral.

“I was out with a friend,” I confessed.

“Hmm.” He eyed me with a little more than professional curiosity. “Male or female,” he asked.

“Both,” I told him, offering no further information. I had to laugh at the mixture of astonishment and fascination on his face. For the first time I could remember, Detective Riley was speechless.

Turning my back on him, I took two cups from the cupboard and poured us both some coffee. I handed him a coffee, and kept the cup with the skull and crossbones for myself.

Ok so I have a thing for pirates, especially the sexy kind.

I took two big gulps of coffee, and instantly regretted my eagerness to indulge my caffeine addiction. The coffee was still too hot, so naturally it scalded the inside of my mouth.

I drew in a deep - calming breath, hoping it would help to keep from spewing out several profanities. “Why don’t we drop the suspect interrogation charade and you can tell me what’s up. We’ll save a lot of time that way,” I told him before adding. “I really need a shower.”

“Someone has taken Stuart Butler’s body from the morgue,” he informed me, taking a small sip of the coffee I’d given him.

So now we have a body thief in our midst. How much more bizarre could the week get?

“And you are questioning me … why?” I asked, taking another drink of my coffee, this time making sure I didn’t burn the crap out of myself.

“Procedure.” His answer was short and sweet.

Oh yes. Procedure. That was what they called it when they didn’t want you to know why you were being questioned.

“Riley … Riley,” I said with a deep sigh, reaching over to take his hand in mine, giving him a reassuring squeeze, which resulted in an instant scowl on his part. “I wouldn’t be caught dead in a place like that … not on purpose anyway. And I sure wouldn’t be messing around with Killer Tom … the dead guy you like to call Stuart Butler.”

Riley shook his head. “Cassie … you are seriously going to get in trouble one of these days. You don’t go around touching men like this, unless you mean business.”

Ok then.

Maybe I meant business - maybe I didn’t, but he didn’t have to be so mean about it. “Got it detective,” I said, giving him a mischievous smile.

Setting his coffee cup on the counter, he gave me one of his no nonsense looks. “I’ll make you a deal.”

Now he’d peaked my interest. Riley didn’t make deals too often.

“If you promise not to walk through the cemetery … and to stop sleeping in your car, I won’t report any of this to your dad.”

Sweet deal! I would have agreed to that, even without him having to resort to bribery, but I wasn’t going to tell Riley that.

“And keep your door locked,” he added.

Ok, now he may have been pushing his luck a little, but just a little.

* * *

Life is full of surprises, but I have to admit that I wasn’t too surprised when I heard a knock at my door, just as I’d settled on my couch with a bag of chips and an old rerun of the Munsters. I couldn’t get enough of the Munsters, especially Grandpa.

Maybe if I ignored them, whoever it was would go away.

No such luck. They knocked again. “I know you’re in there Cassie. I can hear the TV,” Shadow yelled loud enough that I could hear her through the door and over the TV.

As much as I wanted a night all to myself, it didn’t look as if it was going to happen. Maybe having a little time so that I could reflect on the bizarre events of the last week, was too much to ask?

“Ok, don’t wake the dead,” I answered, as I was going to the door.

When I swung open the door, Shadow was standing there, a dark smile on her face. “Too late. They’re already awake.”

Without giving her any kind of reply, I turned around and made my way back to the couch and my chips. Shadow followed, shutting the door behind her.

“What happened last night?” she asked. “One minute you were there, and then you were gone. If your friend hadn’t have been standing there looking all confused, I would have thought he killed you.”

I hadn’t the slightest idea where to begin explaining something that I didn’t understand myself. I decided on the condensed, but mostly uncut version. I did leave out the kissing parts, but I told her about Damian, and waking up in my car. I thought I’d also better tell her about Killer Tom’s body going missing from the morgue.

By the look on her face, I wasn’t sure if she was ready to laugh at me, or slap me silly for telling her some kind of tall tale. Surprisingly, she did neither of those things. Instead she seemed to withdraw into a place of quiet contemplation. Quiet being the keyword, since she was rarely that. At least that’s what I’d noticed during our short acquaintance.

I had just gotten back to watching the Munsters when she asked, “What do you know about the ancient gods?”

“Like what gods?”

“You know … like the old Babylonian and Greek gods.”

“Well nothing really,” I admitted, before shoving another handful of potato chips into my mouth. History was one of my most hated subjects in school, and I knew next to nothing about mythology.

“Those are going to kill you,” she said, grabbing the bag of chips out of my hand.

“Hey! I was eating those!” I yelled, but since my mouth was full of chips, my words came out sounding more like baby gibberish.

Rolling her eyes, she said, “We need a crash course in ancient mythology. Do you have a computer?”

“What? Why?” I managed once I’d swallowed the chips.

“I’ve always heard that there was a connection between the ancient gods and the first vampires, that’s why. And you have to agree, from what you told me … it sounds like they might have god-like powers.”

Twisting my face into one of my,
don’t screw with me
scowls, I leaned over and snatched the chips back. “There’s a reason why it’s called mythology … like it isn’t real.”

“Oh really?” Shadow cocked her head to one side. “Up until a few days ago vampires weren’t real either. We can’t leave any stone unturned.”

Ok, she had a point.

“The computer is in my bedroom,” I pointed down the tiny hall that led to the bathroom, and the only bedroom. “But I hope this doesn’t lead to anymore of your crazy ideas. Damian already thinks you’re a bad influence.”

“Really,” she said, taking offense. “You forgot to include that detail.”

It was true. I hadn’t told her about that detail, but mostly because I thought he might be onto something.

Switching off the TV, I followed her into the bedroom. Not so much because I thought she was going to make any great discoveries online, but because I didn’t like the idea of a vampire rummaging around in my room, unsupervised.

The first thing she did was switch on my light and then stop to stare at all my pirate accessories. She was really getting off on my huge pirate flag. “So do you like pirates much?” she asked.

I didn’t much care for the sarcastic tone of her voice. “Well yeah. I think I was a pirate in my last life.”

“Hmm … maybe so. I can tell you for sure that you’re a total nerd in this one.”

“Hey Neon Girl … I didn’t ask you to follow me around and try to be my friend you know,” I shot back. How dare she call me a nerd, twice even?

“Friends is a bit of a stretch,” she grumbled before turning the computer on.

It took half the night, but by the time we were done, we’d amassed an entire notebook full of information. The first vampire type beings dated back to about 4000 BC - to the ancient Sumerians. According to myth, the Sumerian gods, known as the Anunnaki, would consume blood in the belief that they would absorb that person’s life essence, which would give them immortality. Strangely enough, many other ancient cultures also had blood sacrifices to their gods. In fact, the gods of these different cultures had a number of similarities, and could easily be the same deities. The first vampire cults worshiped these gods.

“So I think we know who they are now,” Shadow pushed back from the computer.

I wasn’t ready to go there yet. “I don’t believe in any god … except for the one and only God with a capitol G.”

“I hate to burst your bubble Cassie, but if these beings were real, they obviously had some pretty hefty duty powers. You know, something like what you witnessed last night.”

“Still … the real God is a supernatural being that doesn’t need to drink blood.”

Shadow rolled her eyes. “You are seriously thick headed sometimes. I am not saying that they are gods, in the sense of
the
God,” she said, pointing upward. “I am saying that they could have been real. And in that case, they’re probably still around. Most likely this Damian guy is one of them.”

So now we had moved from him being a mere vampire to a god. Somehow I didn’t really find the idea encouraging. I already felt like he was way out of my league. Putting the god label on him did nothing for my self-confidence.

“Look at this,” Shadow pointed to one of the articles we’d printed out. “It says that all royalty descend from these gods, and that they also messed with the DNA of Homo Sapiens in order to speed up their evolution. If they can do all that, I bet they can cure this disease … considering they probably created it in the first place.”

Logic had to find its way into my head sometime. It just so happened that it chose that moment to do it. “So … even if they are real, and they can cure the disease … what are you going to do if it just makes you dead, instead of undead?”

She shrugged. “I’ll cross that road when I get to it.”

“So we have a theory … now what?” I asked.