Unseen (9 page)

If he wasn’t, Doug would be forced to put him out of his misery.

Chapter Ten

Trina jumped, and her heartbeat sped up when someone knocked against the sliding door. She didn’t have visitors at home, hadn’t even invited the priest and his deacon over yet. Her apartment was her sanctuary, untouched by the other, darker things in her life.

She grabbed the wooden stake sitting on the couch and headed for the door. Clutching it tightly and hiding it behind her back, she pushed the thick curtain aside. She sighed with a mixture of relief and confusion. What the hell was
he
doing here?

Trina kept the stake at her back and opened both doors—sliding and
screen—
with her other hand, before blurting, “What the hell are you doing here?”

Vigilante simply smiled. Apparently not bothered by the fact he’d just appeared on her balcony when he was supposed to be meeting her in an alley in less than an hour.

“I was in the neighborhood, and thought I’d surprise you.” he said, as if it was the most natural thing in the world for him to appear on her doorstep.

“I’m not even going to ask how you know where I live.” She looked over his shoulder, trying to see if anyone else had decided to drop in for a visit.

“I’ll tell you anyway. I followed you home the other night.”

She shook her head, trying to hide the surprise. Why hadn’t she noticed him? She was usually diligent about making sure no one was following her.

Instead of letting him see how his stalking affected her, she said, “You better not have led that other asshole here.”

“I didn’t, but he’s probably watching us right now. You’re not exactly hard to track.” He met her gaze and smiled. “May I come in?”

Trina rolled her eyes and headed back inside, resisting the urge to slam both doors in his face. “You might as well, since you’re already here.” She was about to ask how he’d climbed six stories to reach her balcony, but remembered how easily he’d dropped out of nowhere in the back alley only a few nights ago.

His laugh echoed behind her. “You’ve got to be kidding me, a welcome mat for vampires? Do you like to tempt fate or something?”

“I don’t even know if it works.”

The sound of the sliding door gliding across its track made her turn around, but she relaxed as she watched him taking in the living room.

“Nice place,” Doug said looking around. “Not too cozy, but nice.” His eyes skimmed around the apartment, and she couldn’t help watching him, curious to see what would happen when he saw the Allure Urn. But he didn’t say a word about it; didn’t even seem to notice it.

That’s strange.
Why didn’t he say something about it? The urn certainly was an eyesore, with its strange organic exterior and the blood-colored etchings. A shiver raced down her spine. The urn seemed to be pushing some sort of reaction her way, which made no sense, so she chose to ignore it. Still, she held onto the stake. Maybe Doug was right and the vamp was nearby, waiting to charge.

“Listen, before I go anywhere with you, I need a name. You know mine, and it seems unfair that I have to call you Vigilante.” His hair had a little extra curl today, caught up in the collar of his jacket, while his eyes glowed in the dimness of the room. His dull clothes fit his lean body perfectly. Too bad
he
wasn’t an eyesore. It would make this so much easier if he was, because she actually enjoyed looking at him.

“Is that what you’ve been calling me?” he asked, raising a dark eyebrow. “Maybe I prefer that to my real and much more boring name.”

She crossed her arms over her chest and scowled at him. “Just spill it . . .”

“Okay, okay. I’m Doug.”

“Doug, I wish I could say that it’s nice to meet you, but you’re turning out to be a total pain in the ass. I mean, you’ve admitted you like to follow me
around ,
and now your turn up at my place unannounced. I don’t think I like your style. It’s smacks of cockiness, and that’s certainly one thing I
don’t
like in guys.” She wasn’t sure what made her tack that onto the end, but ending it the way she had smacked of flirting. And just as she’d expected, Doug took a step towards her, bringing him a little too close for comfort.

“Maybe I just like you. Would you have any objections to that, Trina?”

Her pulse quickened as she thought:
No, because as stupid as it sounds, I think I like you too.

“Well?” he prodded when she didn’t answer.

She swallowed the lump in her throat. “We have a job to do. I don’t think now’s the right time to discuss anything else.”

Doug took another step. “Oh, so later, after we’ve polished off the vampire, maybe we can talk about this?”

She shrugged, looking away.
“Maybe.”
Was there really anything to discuss?

“I like the sound of that, and I might just hold you to it.”

Before he could step even closer, Trina turned away and headed for the bedroom. She needed some breathing space, a chance to sort through all the strange things she was feeling right now. As attracted as she was to this guy, something about him bothered her. She just couldn’t put her finger on what it was, and it wasn’t just his blatant stalker ways.

Attraction was something she’d ignored for so long that it had become a strange, foreign emotion. She didn’t trust easily, so trusting her own feelings about a man she barely knew seemed wrong. And taking into account who and what she was, things would never end well between her and any man. It was easier to flirt and lead a vamp on just before killing him than allowing
herself
to actually get involved with a man.

She carried stakes around so much, half the time she forgot she had one in her hand. At least Doug hadn’t seemed to notice. She tucked the wooden stake into the space between her jeans and the small of her back, added a few wooden spikes to her jacket pocket, and headed back into the living room. She’d decided to dress the same way she would if she were heading out to hunt on her own—black jeans, black fitted top, heeled boots, and since her denim jacket was still soaking in the laundry room, a black sweatshirt jacket.

Doug whistled when she strolled back into the room, but she ignored him. No point in paying attention since it might just fuel the fire within her a little more than she was comfortable with.

“Are you ready?” she asked.

“Whenever you are.”

“Let’s go then.” She headed for the front door, switched off the light, motioned for him to step out first, before locking the door and pocketing the keys. “So, where do we start? Have you been tracking him?”

Doug didn’t say anything until they’d reached the foyer. He opened and held the security door open for a couple who were walking in. They thanked him and exchanged smiles with him while Trina kept her gaze down, avoiding eye contact. She didn’t like to get friendly with her neighbors. It was easier this way. Wedging distance between her and humans made everything easier.

She was suddenly reminded of what had happened two nights ago with Zeke and Millie, which confirmed that it was better to keep people at a distance. That way she didn’t have to get so involved she had to deliver them to their homes, nor did she have to deal with jealous girls, or guys who tried to convince her to spend the night with them, like Zeke had just before he’d crashed on the couch.

Thankfully, she hadn’t seen either of them since then. Millie didn’t work on Fridays, and apparently Zeke was sick.
Hung over, more likely.

After her neighbors headed up the stairs, Doug held the door open for her, and she brushed past him, stepping out into another crisp and cold winter night. Although the ground was shiny and wet, it wasn’t raining at the moment. But it did explain the extra curl in Doug’s hair. Rainy weather wasn’t kind to her hair either. It suited him though.

Winter was the perfect time for vampires in
Sydney
. The nights were longer, the weather was cooler, and most places weren’t completely packed. It was easier to go undetected while searching for prey.

Generally, Trina spent more time out and about during the three coldest months of the year, but this year she’d taken a break so she could pretend she was normal. And this is what had happened. Some ancient vamp dude was out killing and turning people, while the vigilante beside her took it upon himself to take out the new vamps and shadow her.

It’s just my luck to have this crap happen when I’m on a break,
she thought dourly. Maybe she should’ve waited for summer. At that time of year vamps were rarely in the suburbs. The days were longer, more people were out and about at night, and it was more difficult to separate a single person from the herd. Sometimes in the warmer months, she ventured out of suburbia and into the city to find vamps for the urn.

Trina led the way down the few steps to the cobblestone path and then the street. She heard her phone ring upstairs. She recognized it instantly and even knew who it was.
Tomas.
He’d either be calling for an update or to be the bearer of bad news. He was good at that, and she wasn’t in the mood to deal with his doom and gloom.

She kept walking as she said, “Okay, you can talk now. Not that anyone was listening in before.”

“See, that’s where you’re wrong. Someone could be listening all the time. You just assume no one knows about vampires or anything else that goes bump in the night. You’ve become so accustomed to taking out the garbage, you keep forgetting you’re not the only one dumping it on the curb,” Doug said.

Trina gave him a sideward glance. “Whoa, very poetic, but it still doesn’t answer my question. Do you have any idea where to start looking for this vamp?”

“Have you?”

“Well, not exactly, though he decided to pay me a visit at work the other night. So that might be a good place to start.”

“What about last night? Was he there too?”

She stopped under the streetlight, crossed her arms and stared at him. “How do you know I was working last night?”

“I make it my business to know.”

“You’re turning out to be quite the stalker.”

“And you’re turning out to be his new target. If I follow you, then I’m sure to find him.”

“How’s that working out for you right now?”

Doug shrugged, an easygoing smile crossing his lips. “I can’t see him yet, if that’s what you mean.”

She released a frustrated breath. “This is like the blind leading the blind. I probably could’ve done a better job looking for him myself.”

“And how would you do that?”

There was no way she was going to answer him. Instead, she glared at Doug, trying to figure out just how much he knew about her. How long had he really been following her around? She didn’t know and wasn’t about to ask. He was, however, wrong about one thing. She usually knew when there was a vampire nearby because they enjoyed pursuing her.

“I just want to understand your superhero powers. That’s all.”

She shrugged. “I don’t have super powers, but I do have good instincts.”

Well, she did most of the time. Going for a stroll in the middle of the night with a virtual stranger wasn’t one of her more brilliant and instinctual ideas.

A howl cut through the night. The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end, and her body felt chilled.

“Don’t worry about the wolves now,” he whispered.

She didn’t respond, though she found it interesting that he also knew about them.

Doug stepped closer, grabbed her hand, and wrapped his fingers around hers. “Come on, then. We might as well enjoy the night.”

“Where we headed?” She looked at his hand holding hers, and suddenly her mouth felt dry.
Why aren’t you pulling away?

“To the same place where we met—”

“He’s not going to go back there,” she interrupted. “He’s a vampire, not a moron.”

Doug snorted. “Sometimes there’s a fine line between those two.”

Before she could stop herself, she laughed. She was also surprised that letting this guy hold her hand as they continued down the street wasn’t so bad.

He led her toward the main intersection, but she knew how to get where they were going a lot faster. She yanked on his arm, leading him into a back alley behind the block of apartments she lived in. “This’ll take ten minutes off our walk.”