Demon's Kiss. Maggie Shayne

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      Roxy reclaimed her unfinished drink—a tall glass still half full of her own special blend of vegetable juices and empowering herbs. “Let’s just see about this,” she said as she pulled on a satin robe, slid her feet into matching slippers and scuffed to the table in the middle of her rain forestlike living room. She had filled the place with man-sized waterfall-fountains, tub-sized misters and more plants than furniture. She kept the humidity level at eighty percent in here. God, she loved her home.

      Taking a seat, she sipped her drink, then set it down, picked up the tarot cards and began to shuffle as she thought about opening herself to messages from spirits. Then she laid the cards out in a careful pattern.

      The Hermit. That card usually indicated an inner journey. But the thought that came to mind when she saw it was of her dearest friend.

      The other cards that fell around it, though, didn’t make sense. He was surrounding himself with…family? But he didn’t have family. He was a loner. Someone was conspiring against him. He was in danger in the near future, but also…

      “Right now.” Roxy jumped to her feet, raced to her bedroom and pulled on clothes just as fast as she could. A flowing skirt, a clingy Lycra top, a pair of bamboo sandals. She hoped it was a warm night, and pulled on a black felt shawl as she raced outside, deciding the car was a far better option than the van.

      She didn’t know exactly where he was. But they had a bond, and she was counting on it to guide her to him.

      God, just let it be in time.

      Vampires, she thought, rolling her eyes. Sometimes they were more trouble than they were worth.

      “It’s going to be daylight soon,” Reaper said. “Can you feel it?”

      Seth frowned, and searched his senses. “I feel…something.”

      “Describe it.”

      “It’s kind of…dense. Heavy.”

      “Yes, that’s the lethargy. Be aware of it, always. You must never be caught by the sun’s rays. They’ll burn you alive, Seth.”

      “Okay,” Seth said as the vampire steered the car onto an exit ramp. “So we’re gonna find someplace to hole up for the day, then?”

      “Yes. Tonight will be soon enough to visit this vampiress.”

      “Cool.” Seth supplanted his impatience by conjuring images in his mind of where they would spend the day. Some crumbling ruin, an abandoned warehouse, maybe a crypt in a cemetery. “So tell me something, will you?” he asked.

      “I might.”

      “How long have you been a vampire? I mean, are you, like, centuries old?”

      “Do I seem old to you?”

      “Well, you seem pretty wise and pretty powerful, so yeah. I guess that makes you fairly old. That’s not an insult, is it? I mean, to a vampire?”

      “Age is power. To call a vampire old is to call him powerful. It’s not an insult.”

      “So?”

      Reaper looked at him, narrowed his eyes, then nodded once. “I’ve been a vampire for a little more than a decade.”

      “Who made you?”

      Tipping his head to one side, Reaper seemed to study him, then said, “I suppose I had all the same questions when I was newly made. I wanted to know if the way I’d been brought over was unique or fairly common, what others had experienced, how many of us there were and how far back we went.”

      “So? You gonna tell me?”

      “I don’t know how many of us there are. I don’t know how far back we go, though I’ve heard at least as far as there has been recorded history, and beyond that, who can say? I can tell you about my transformation, though.”

      “Yeah?”

      He nodded. “I worked for…the government. In a covert capacity.”

      “You said you were an assassin,” Seth reminded him. “Military? CIA?”

      “I could tell you, but then—”

      “You’d have to kill me.” Seth grinned. “You actually made a joke.”

      “Just because I don’t use it often, doesn’t mean I lack the capacity for humor,” Reaper pointed out. “At any rate, I was on assignment in the Middle East, and I was ambushed by a small, disorganized band of extremists. They got lucky. I took a dozen bullets, maybe more. They left me for dead, lying on a dusty street in Syria. The shooting spree had frightened any potential on-lookers into hiding. I was alone and dancing with death right then. And that’s when she came.”

      “She?”

      Reaper smiled a wistful smile when he said the name. “Rhiannon. Most incredible creature you’ve ever seen. You want old, that one’s old. Her father was a freaking pharaoh.”

      “No way.”

      “I swear. Her real name was Rianikki, the way I hear it. She changes it every few centuries when she gets bored. And she gets bored easily. She’s got a hair-trigger temper and paper-thin patience and a black panther for a pet.”

      Seth smiled slowly, fascinated, dying to hear more.

      “So she leans over me, and she says to me, ‘I was honestly having a wonderful evening—it’s open mike night at the Kazbah, you know. But you had to go and get yourself shot, didn’t you? You couldn’t have waited? Even another hour?’

      “Hell, I couldn’t talk. I just lay there with my mouth open, wondering if I was hallucinating her, or if she were an angel, or maybe a demon, come to take me to the other side. But she keeps talking. She says, ‘You’re gonna be dead in about a minute, my friend, so you need to think fast. You can become a vampire, like me, and live. Or you can die. And I’d take time to explain to you all that being a vampire entails, but there’s no time. Some of the mythology is true, some isn’t. All in all, I think it’s a wonderful existence. Eternal youth, strength and ever-increasing power. No more sunlight, but that’s a small price.’

      “I really thought I was losing it. But she just leans closer and says, ‘Time’s up. Yes or no?’ I didn’t say anything. I didn’t know what to say. And then she said, ‘Fuck it, then. I guess I get to decide.’ And she sank her teeth into me, and—Well, you can figure out the rest. I woke up a vampire.”

      “Wow. That’s…that’s incredible. Is she—is she around here? Will I ever get to meet her?”

      “I have no doubt you’ll cross paths with Rhiannon one day. But no, she’s not in the area at the moment. I took on this mission partly so she wouldn’t have to. She has…other things going on that need her attention right now.”

      Seth frowned as Reaper stopped the car at a traffic light and put on his left-turn signal, which would take them into the parking lot of a Motel 6. He blinked, and said, “You’re kidding, right?”

      “About what? Rhiannon being too busy for this right now?”

      “This,” Seth said. “You’re serious? We’re staying here?”

      “Why not?”

      “Well…I don’t know. What about the windows? Won’t the sun get in and toast us?” Reaper reached into the backseat for what looked like a gym bag. “Duct tape and heavy black fabric. I never travel without it.”

      “Note to self. Get a gym bag and watch reruns of MacGyver.”

      Reaper frowned at him, clearly not getting the joke.

      Seth just shrugged. “Never mind.”

      The signal changed, giving them a green arrow to make their left-hand turn. Dropping the bag, Reaper turned the wheel and pressed on the gas.

      Neither