“Keep the girl there. I wish to speak with her.”
“Yes, sir. How far out are you, sir?” Derek asked.
“Ten minutes.” The connection ended and Derek put the phone in his pocket. He looked at me. I sat down heavily on a curb, trying to look weak, light-headed. Not difficult under the circumstances. I put a hand to my head and then to my wounded arm.
Derek said, “You okay?”
“Not really,” I said. “I feel kinda sick to my stomach. I think I might throw up.” Beast sent me an image of a big cat with her tail flipping, amused.
“Normal reaction. Combat hits some guys that way. Just take a break. I’ll finish off your vamp for you.”
“Thank you,” I said, sounding frail and feminine. Beast hacked a cough and gathered herself for flight. Right. I would not sit here waiting for Leo, no matter what he’d ordered. Moments later Derek walked back, his booted feet agile, his tread soft on the dry ground. He handed my knife back. Though he had cleaned it, I could smell vamp blood on the silver, corrosive, like sulfur and nitric acid or something equally caustic. I hadn’t paid much attention to chemistry in school. Now I wish I had. If I ever went to college, I wanted a Chemistry 101 class.
I sheathed the knife. “Thank you.” When he didn’t answer, I tilted my head up and studied his face. It was hard, closed. “You knew her, too, didn’t you?”
He nodded once, the action crisp as a weapon snapping shut. “Jerome’s sister.” He bit off the words. “She was twelve. I saw her last Saturday.” I heard a car engine in the distance. “Seven days . . .” His voice trailed off. “Seven damn days. And she’s a vamp.” He looked into the distance. “The other one we took down, he made her?” I nodded. “So who made him?”
“I don’t know. I couldn’t—” Smell another vamp on him. Right. I substituted for that, “Leo might be able to tell.”
“I’m goin’ after whatever made him.” The words were low and hard: a vow. I had heard a few in my time, and knew the tone. His eyes were bleak. “No matter what Mr. Pellissier say.”
Well. That was interesting. I’d love to dissect the relationship between the Marine and the vamp leader, but I wanted out of here before Leo got close. I didn’t want to be beholden to the city’s head bloodsucker for healing my wound, and I didn’t want him to know that I could heal from something this bad on my own. And I wanted to take the girl vamp’s head; my blood was on her mouth, and I wasn’t keen on Leo smelling my blood for reasons that had everything to do with his dark right of kings. I had no intention of making myself look interesting to him. I shifted my feet under me, prepared for the moment when Derek’s head was turned. I needed only a second, but I hesitated. “Just a suggestion,” I said, gesturing at my clothes. “Vamp hunting’s dangerous. Dress the part.”
Derek laughed shortly under his breath. “I’d take you with me if I could. But I can’t wait till you’re a hundred percent.”
I accepted the compliment with a small nod. “Leo has my number if you need anything. And hey. If there’s a bounty on these two, it’s yours.”
He accepted and turned. The car engine was growing closer. A powerful motor, finely tuned, sounding heavy on the night air, as if the vehicle it powered was massive. I pushed my feet under me and stood, let myself sway in the night. Derek caught my good hand to steady me. The pain from the other arm pounded through my veins. Beast had better resistance to pain; I drew on her reserves. But I knew my arm was bad. Real bad. “Thank you,” I said. “For coming out here tonight. I’d be dead, or close to it, if you had stayed inside where it’s safe.”
“Ooh rah,” he said, and shrugged.
“Semper fi,” I said, wondering how many medals he had in his junk drawer.
He laughed, the sound derisive and harsh.
CHAPTER 11
We sa . . . Bobcat
I still didn’t know for sure what Leo was driving because I was three blocks away by the time he pulled down the street. The vehicle lights were high off the ground. I figured it was a Hummer. The older, heavier, military model, not the newer, lighter, better mileage version.
I slipped away, taking the girl’s head with me, carrying it by its soft curls. I’d dunk it in a nearby pond or swamp to remove my blood, and leave it where Leo could return it to her family for proper burial. Vamp spit had kept my pain down, but was wearing off. Walking hurt.