Vampires 101 (Twilight Hunters Book 1) A Vampire Romance (19 page)

“So is it a big secret?” I smiled mischievously.

“Wouldn’t you think it would be?” he snapped at me before sliding into the driver’s seat. “Can you imagine the panic if people knew?”

My growling stomach was too impatient to wait for breakfast. I wasn’t even in the car and was already unwrapping my burrito. “Also … the government might dissect you,” I pointed out, before taking a big bite of my burrito.

After starting the car, Riley turned to me. “Yes … and there’s that.”

I had to get a few more bites down before asking any more questions, but I did this quickly. “So why is it that you look so human? For that matter, why do the Anunnaki look human? Well except for the fangs,” I added.

“Humans are not unique. Humanoids have common ancestors from millions of years ago.”

“So there are aliens that look weird and crazy?” I asked.

“Yes,” he smiled. “And you are already acquainted with other dimensional beings.”

“Oh you mean ghosts? But I don’t know if I would call them beings … maybe entities.” Talking about ghosts brought Chaz to mind. I wondered where he was. I hadn’t seen any sign of him since he’d faded out in the tunnels.

My thoughts immediately went to survival when Riley swerved to avoid hitting a slow moving car in the fast lane. “Didn’t they teach you how to drive in cop school?” I scowled at him before turning my attention back to breakfast.

Ignoring my insult, he said, “Spirits are just another life form. They are made of energy, and happen to be able to inhabit flesh and blood bodies. They are the souls that animate all beings in this dimension.”

After swallowing the last bit of my breakfast, I decided it was time to push him for more details. “You still haven’t told me how you knew about me?”

“I’m part of a team that investigates crimes that your human police either turn a blind eye to … or don’t even know exist,” he said.

Coming to a red light, he brought the car to a stop and looked over at me. “We got a tip off about what they had done to you. I was sent here to watch you and if need be … dispose of you.”

“You wouldn’t really do that would you? You’re a cop!”

“That’s my secondary job,” he reminded me. “I would do what I had to do to keep the Anunnaki under control. We cannot afford for them to become anymore powerful than they already are.”

Frowning, I looked away to stare out the car window. “So is that what you plan to do?”

The light turned green and we started moving. Riley gave me a sideways glance, but said nothing.

“Riley? Should I be afraid of you?” I wanted an answer. Already I’d discovered that my guardian angel - AKA man of my dreams, was really my nemesis. Was Riley going to turn on me too?

When he didn’t answer, I looked over sharply. Relief washed over me when I saw that he was smiling.

“Just don’t join the dark side,” he warned.

I didn’t bother to tell him that joining forces with the vamps was highly unlikely, considering they’d taken my mother from me. On top of all that, I’d just been played by one of their head guys.

Riley had just taken the onramp to get on I-15 going south to Salt Lake City when his cell phone started ringing. He was reaching into his pocket for it when I asked, “Isn’t it dangerous to talk on the phone while driving?”

He gave me a
screw you
look, and answered the phone anyway.

Smiling, I turned my attention to staring out the window. I could never pass up the opportunity to point out a cop’s mistakes.

Although I tried not to listen, I couldn’t resist when I heard the dread in his voice.

“Where at?” He was asking the person on the other end.

There was a moment of silence while the other person spoke.

“Ok … I’ll be there as soon as I can,” Riley replied.

Before I had a chance to ask what was going on, he was already taking the next exit off the freeway. “We’re going to have to do this another time. Something has happened up at the river and I have to get there now,” he explained.

“I want to go with you.”

Riley shook his head. “This is police business.”

“But if it involves a homicide … and there are still dead people hanging around, I might be able to help,” I insisted.

He gave me a wary look. No doubt he was wondering what kind of trouble I might cause him if he brought me along to a crime scene. He just couldn’t get over the pranks I’d played on him as a kid.

“Riley … I’m not a kid anymore,” I reminded him.

“Ok,” he agreed. “But keep your mouth zipped and don’t touch anything.”

“But what if I notice something that other people can’t see,” I asked.

“I’m sure we can make an exception for that,” he sighed. “But be discreet about it.”

“I promise.”

* * *

We took the road leading to the state campground that ran along the south side of the river, but we hadn’t gone far before we found the road blocked by a number of emergency vehicles and police cars. Riley pulled his car to the side of the road and got out. I followed, ignoring the dirty look he threw my way.

We walked the dirt road for several yards before coming to a large area that had been sectioned off with yellow police tape.

“Wait here,” Riley told me before stepping around the officer in charge of controlling who entered the crime scene area.

I was ready to mention the fact that it would be in his best interest if I were allowed access to the crime scene, but suddenly I felt very strange. At first I couldn’t identify the feeling, but then I realized it was that same eerie sensation one got when they were being watched.

Scanning the tree line, I looked for anyone that might be staring in my direction. Everyone on the scene appeared to be preoccupied with what they were doing. As far as I could tell, no one was paying me the least bit of attention. Still, I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was being watched.

With the thick cover of aspens and pines surrounding the campground, anyone could be hiding in the forest - watching. Despite the warmth of the sun, a chill had settled over me. Though I hadn’t yet viewed the crime scene, something told me that this was definitely not going to be your everyday, run of the mill homicide.

Riley was motioning me over, so I ducked beneath the yellow tape and made my way to him. He was standing near two tents that had been erected next to each other.

“Do you see anything,” he asked before I’d even had a chance to survey the scene.

I shook my head. “Nothing. The reapers must have done their job well. I don’t see anyone hanging around.” I didn’t want to talk about the strange feeling I’d gotten when we first arrived, at least not yet.

“What do you have?” I asked.

“Two couples. They were in bed for the night when they were attacked. The preliminary estimate for time of death is about 5:00 this morning.”

Riley stepped around to the back of the tents. “Check this out,” he said, pointing to the shredded canvas. “This could have been an animal, but with the condition of the bodies … I’m thinking vampires,” he added in a low voice so he would not be overheard.

“I thought they were more discrete than this?” I didn’t know all that much about vampires, but what I did know, didn’t match up too good with his theory.

Riley nodded. “You’re right. They’re not really into mass murder. It draws too much attention. But … I wasn’t really talking about your garden-variety vampire. I was thinking more along the lines of the Anunnaki themselves.”

My eyes widened in surprise. “But I thought the ancients remained under the radar as much as possible? This type of killing wouldn’t really fit with them either.”

“True … unless it was a warning. I’m positive it was vampires that did this. There’s not an ounce of blood left in the bodies, and there are obvious puncture wounds on the neck. Even your typical vampire will rip out the throat after feeding. That’s their way of trying to cover their tracks. Whoever did this … wanted us to know they were vampires,” he explained.

“But I didn’t think the ancients killed humans anymore.” I countered.

There was so much darkness surrounding Damian already, I just couldn’t bring myself to add murder to his bad traits. There was no doubt the Anunnaki were killers in a big way, but my heart still couldn’t accept that Damian was in the same class.

Riley gave me a dark smile. “You are correct there. It is no longer necessary for them to hunt humans. They breed feeders for that purpose, but that doesn’t mean that they never hunt humans. It’s just like those people that hunt deer for meat. They could just as easily go to the grocery store and buy their food, but they love the thrill of the hunt.”

From what I was hearing, it didn’t sound as if the Anunnaki were any better than the reptilians. Then a thought struck me. “How do you know that the reptilians didn’t do this?”

“The internal organs are still intact. If the reptilians had done this, we would be looking at a crime scene typical of the mutilation cases,” he informed me.

“Ok, so if you are right and this is a warning … what’s the purpose of the warning?” I wanted to know.

A grim expression settled over Riley’s features. “This is a warning not to interfere with their plans for you.”

“And if you don’t heed the warning?”

His frown deepened. “This is nothing compared to what they could do.”

This didn’t sound good at all. If I were to believe Riley, I would have to come to terms with the fact that a lot of people could die if I didn’t cooperate with these ancient vamps. Though I knew it could be a foolish move, I had to find Damian and demand some answers. I would be running the risk of these ancients simply abducting me and forcing me to do what they wanted, but it was a risk I was willing to take. If I didn’t, and they retaliated with some kind of global massacre, all that blood would be on my hands.

“So where do you stand with all of this?” Riley’s voice brought me back to the moment.

“I don’t know.” I shrugged. “I mean seriously … how do I know for sure that you aren’t the bad guy and the Anunnaki are the good guys?”

Riley rolled his eyes. “Leave it to you to come up with something like that.”

“But seriously … how do I know?”

He smiled and shook his head in dismay. “So when you do figure out that I’m on the good side … where will you stand? Will you join us?”

“Well … if you are the good guy … probably. But there is a condition,” I added quickly.

He tossed me a wary look. “What’s that?”

“I want to find out what happened to my mother … and I need your help to find Shadow. She disappeared the first night we were in the tunnels.”

“Isn’t that the girl you had your dad check out?”

I nodded. “She says she’s a vampire, but I haven’t actually seen her kill anyone.”

“And she’s your friend?” he asked, stunned by the mere idea of befriending a vampire.

“Yes. She wanted me to help her find these ancients. Shadow thinks that they have a cure for the vampire disease.”

Riley started walking back toward his car and I fell into step beside him.

“If she disappeared in the tunnels … it’s a good chance that the reptilians got to her. She probably wouldn’t be any use to them for a food source, but I doubt they’d just let her go so she could spread the word about what’s beneath the city. And let’s not forget … we do have a psychotic reptilian on the loose. Your friend could have found him … the hard way,” he reminded me.

I realized that all of these were possibilities, but until I knew for sure that she was gone, I didn’t want to give up on her.

“I’d still like to look for her,” I told him.

“Ok … we can do that,” he shrugged.

Just before getting into the passenger seat, I stopped and looked over the car at him. “Oh by the way … that body we found in the tunnels east of the Junction Hotel. It’s Olivia Swanson. She was killed by whoever it was that got her pregnant.”

“Who?” Riley was mystified.

“Look into the history of the Junction Hotel. You’ll figure it out.” I had to make sure he did a little of the work on his own. After all, giving him all the information would make things too easy on him, and I still had my hell brat reputation to maintain.

After exiting the hospital, I stood in the parking lot and gazed up at the darkening sky. Riley had wanted me to be home before dark, but my visit with Dad had lasted longer than what I’d intended.

I was immensely relieved that he was doing well. In fact, his condition had improved so much that he would probably be released within a few days. Getting him home from the hospital was the easy part. The hard part would be keeping him home from work. Now with the campground murders under investigation, he would be a real bear if he were forced to stay home.

With so many murders in such a short period of time, Pine View was fast gaining the reputation of being one of the most dangerous places in the state. There was no way Dad was going to take that lightly. He’d want to get these investigations wrapped up as soon as possible. As far as he was concerned, no one could do that quite as well as he could.