Джанин Фрост - One Foot in the Grave

Jeaniene FrostOne Foot in the Grave

ONE

I WAITED OUTSIDE THE LARGE, FOUR-STORY home in Manhasset that was owned by a Mr. Liam Flannery. This wasnt a social call, as anyone looking at me could tell. The long jacket I wore was open, leaving my gun and shoulder holster clearly visible, as was my FBI badge. My pants were loose-fitting and so was my blouse, to hide the twenty pounds of silver weapons strapped to my arms and legs.

My knock was answered by an older man in a business suit. Special Agent Catrina Arthur, I said. Here to see Mr. Flannery.

Catrina wasnt my real name, but its what was on my doctored badge. The doorman gave me an insincere smile.

Ill see if Mr. Flannery is in. Wait here.

I already knew Liam Flannery was in. What I also knew was that Mr. Flannery wasnt human, and neither was the doorman.

Well, neither was I, even though I was the only one out of the three of us with a heartbeat.

A few minutes later, the door reopened. Mr. Flannery has agreed to see you.

That was his first mistake. If I had anything to say about it, it would also be his last.

My first thought as I entered Liam Flannerys house was, Wow. Hand-carved wood adorned all the walls, the floor was some kind of really expensive-looking marble, and antiques were tastefully littered everywhere the eye could see. Being dead sure didnt mean you couldnt live it up.

The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end as power filled the room. Flannery wouldnt know I could feel it, just like Id felt it from his ghoul doorman. I might look as average as the next person, but I had a few secrets up my sleeve. And lots of knives, of course.

Agent Arthur, Flannery said. This must be about my two employees, but Ive already been questioned by the police.

His accent was English, which was at odds with his Irish name. Just hearing that intonation made a shiver run up my spine. English accents held memories for me.

I turned around. Flannery looked even better than the picture in his FBI file. His pale crystal flesh almost shimmered against the tan color of his shirt. Ill say one thing for vampires-they all had gorgeous skin. Liams eyes were a clear turquoise, and his chestnut hair fell past his collar.

Yep, he was pretty. He probably had no trouble scaring up dinner. But the most impressive thing about him was his aura. It flowed off him in tingling, power-filled waves. A Master vampire without a doubt.

Yes, this is about Thomas Stillwell and Jerome Hawthorn. The Bureau would appreciate your cooperation.

My polite stalling was to gauge how many other people were in the house. I strained my ears, but so far came up with no one but Flannery, the ghoul doorman, and myself.

Of course. Anything to assist law and order, he said with an undercurrent of amusement.

And youre comfortable speaking here? I asked, trying to get more of a look around. Or is there somewhere private youd prefer?

He sauntered over. Agent Arthur, if you want to have a private word with me, call me Liam. And I do hope you want to talk about something other than boring Jerome and Thomas.

Oh, I had little intention of talking as soon as I got Liam in private. Since hed been implicated in the deaths of his employees, Flannery had made my to-do list, though I wasnt here to arrest him. The average person didnt believe in vampires or ghouls, so there wasnt a legal process for dealing with murdering ones. No, there was a covert branch of Homeland Security instead, and my boss, Don, would send me. There were rumors about me in the undead world, true. Ones that had grown during my tenure at this job, but only one vampire knew who I really was. And I hadnt seen him in over four years.

Liam, youre not flirting with a federal agent whos investigating you in a double homicide, are you?

Catrina, an innocent man doesnt fret over the wheels of law whenever they rumble in the distance. At least I commend the feds on sending you to speak with me, beautiful woman that you are. You also look a bit familiar, though Im sure I would have remembered meeting you before.

You havent, I said immediately. Trust me, I would have remembered.

I didnt mean it as a compliment, but it caused him to chuckle in a way that was too insinuating for my liking.

Ill bet.

You smug son of a bitch. Lets see how long youll keep that smirk.

Back to business, Liam. Are we talking here, or somewhere private?

He made a noise of defeat. If you insist on traveling this path, we may as well be comfortable in the library. Come with me.

I followed him past more lavish, empty rooms to the library. It was magnificent, with hundreds of new and old books. There were even scrolls preserved in a glass display case, but it was the large piece of artwork on the wall that caught my attention.

This looksprimitive.

At first glance it appeared to be wood or ivory, but on closer inspection, it looked like bones. Human ones.

Aborigine, nearly three hundred years old. Given to me by some mates of mine in Australia.

Liam came nearer, his turquoise eyes starting to glint with emerald. I knew the pinpoints of green in his gaze for what they were. Lust and feeding looked the same on a vampire. Both made the eyes glow emerald and the fangs pop out. Liam was either hungry or horny, but I wasnt going to satisfy any of his cravings.

My cell phone rang. Hello, I answered.

Agent Arthur, are you still questioning Mr. Flannery? my second-in-command, Tate, asked.

Yes. This should be wrapped up in thirty minutes.

Translation: If I didnt answer again in half an hour, Tate and my team would come in after me.

Tate hung up without further comment. He hated it when I handled things alone, but too bad. Flannerys house was as quiet as a tomb, apropos as that may be, and it had been a long time since Id battled with a Master vampire.

I believe the police told you that the bodies of Thomas Stillwell and Jerome Hawthorn were found with most of their blood missing. And not any visible wounds on them to account for it, I said, jumping right in.

Liam shrugged. Does the Bureau have a theory?

Oh, we had more than a theory. I knew Liam would have just closed the telltale holes on Thomas and Jeromes necks with a drop of his own blood before they died. Boom, two bodies drained, no vampire calling card to rally the villagers-unless you knew what tricks to look for.

Flatly I shot back, You do, though, dont you?

You know what I have a theory on, Catrina? That you taste as sweet as you look. In fact, I havent thought about anything else since you walked in.

I didnt resist when Liam closed the distance between us and lifted my chin. After all, this would distract him better than anything I came up with.

His lips were cool on mine and vibrating with energy, giving my mouth pleasant tingles. He was a very good kisser, sensing when to deepen it and when to really deepen it. For a minute, I actually allowed myself to enjoy it-God, four years of celibacy must be taking its toll!-and then I got down to business.

My arms went around him, concealing me pulling a dagger from my sleeve. At the same time, he slid his hands down to my hips and felt the hard outlines under my pants.

What the hell-? he muttered, pulling back.

I smiled. Surprise! And then I struck.

It would have been a killing blow, but Liam was faster than I anticipated. He swept my feet out from under me just as I jabbed, so my silver missed his heart by inches. Instead of attempting to regain my stability, I let myself drop, rolling away from the kick he aimed at my head. Liam moved in a streak to try it again, but then jerked back when three of my throwing knives landed in his chest. Dammit, Id missed his heart again.

Sweet bleedin Christ! Liam exclaimed. He quit pretending to be human and let his eyes turn glowing emerald while fangs popped out in his upper teeth. You must be the fabled Red Reaper. What brings the vampire bogeyman to my home?

He sounded intrigued, but not afraid. He was more wary, however, and circled around me as I sprang to my feet, throwing off my jacket to better access my weapons.

The usual, I said. You murdered humans. Im here to settle the score.

Liam actually rolled his eyes. Believe me, poppet, Jerome and Thomas had it coming. Those thieving bastards stole from me. Its so hard to find good help these days.

Keep talking, pretty boy. I dont care.

I rolled my head around on my shoulders and palmed more knives. Neither of us blinked as we waited for the other to make a move. What Liam didnt know was that I was aware hed summoned for help. I could hear the ghoul creep quietly closer toward us, barely disturbing the air around him. Liams chattering was just to buy time.

He shook his head in apparent self-recrimination.

Your appearance should have warned me. The Red Reaper is said to have hair as red as blood, gray eyes like smoke, and your skinmmm, now theres the real distinction. Ive never seen such beautiful flesh on a human before. Christ, girl, I wasnt even going to bite you. Well, not the way youre thinking.

Im flattered you want to fuck me as well as murder me. Really, Liam, thats sweet.

He grinned. Valentines Day was just last month, after all.

He was forcing me toward the door and I let him. Deliberately I pulled my longest knife from my pants leg, the one that was practically a small sword, and switched it with my throwing knives in my right hand.

Liam grinned wider when he saw it. Impressive, but you havent seen my lance yet. Drop your trappings and Ill show you. You can even keep a few knives on, if youd like. Would only make it more interesting.

He lunged forward, but I didnt take the bait. Instead I flung the five knives in my left hand at him and whirled to avoid the blow from the ghoul behind me. With a single swipe that reverberated through my arm, I sent the blade into the ghouls neck with all my strength.

It came out on the other side. The ghouls head rotated on its axis for a moment, wide eyes fixed on mine, before it plopped to the ground. There was only one way to kill a ghoul, and that was it.

Liam yanked my silver knives out of him as if they were merely toothpicks.

You nasty bitch, now Im going to hurt you! Magnus has been my friend for over forty years!

That signaled the end to the bantering. Liam came at me with incredible speed. He had no weapons except his body and his teeth, but those were formidable. Liam pounded his fists into me, and I retaliated with punishing blows. For several minutes, we just hammered at each other, knocking over every table and lamp in our path. Finally he threw me across the room, and I crashed near the unusual art piece Id admired. When he came after me, I kicked out and knocked him backward into the display case. Then I tore the sculpture off the wall and chucked it at his head.

Liam ducked, cursing when the intricate artwork broke into pieces behind him.

Dont you have any bleedin respect for artifacts? That piece was older than I am! And how in the blazes did you get eyes like that?

I didnt need to look to know what he was talking about. My formerly gray gaze would now be glowing as green as Liams. Fighting brought out the proof of my mixed heritage that my unknown vampire father had left me.

That bone puzzle was older than you are, huh? So youre what, two hundred? Two fifty? Youre strong then. Ive skewered vamps as old as seven hundred who didnt hit as hard as you do. Youre going to be fun to kill.

God help me, but I wasnt kidding. There was no sport when I just staked a vampire and let my team sweep up the remains.

Liam grinned at me. Two hundred and twenty, poppet. In pulseless years, that is. The other ones werent good for anything but poverty and misery. London was a sewage back then. Looks much better now.

Too bad you wont be seeing it again.

I doubt that, poppet. You think youll enjoy killing me? I know Ill love fucking you.

Lets see what youve got, I taunted.

He flew across the room-too swiftly for me to avoid him-and delivered a brutal blow to my head. It made light explode in my brain and would have put a normal person right into the grave. Me, Id never been normal, so while I fought nausea, I also reacted quickly.

I went limp, letting my mouth hang open and my eyes roll back as I dropped to the ground with my throat temptingly tilted upward. Near my relaxed hand was one of the throwing knives hed pulled from his chest. Would Liam kick me while I was down, or see how badly I was hurt?

My gamble paid off. Thats better, Liam muttered, and knelt next to me. He let his hands travel over my body, and then he grunted in amusement.

Talk about an army of one. Womans wearing a whole bloody arsenal.

He unzipped my pants in a businesslike manner. Probably he was going to strip me of my knives; that would be the smart thing. When he pulled my pants past my hips, however, he paused. His fingers traced over the tattoo on my hip that Id gotten four years ago, right after I left my old life in Ohio behind for this new one.

Seizing my chance, I closed my hand over the nearby dagger and drove the knife into his heart. Liams shocked eyes met mine as he froze.

I thought if the Alexander didnt kill me, nothing would

I was just about to deliver that final, fatal twist when the last piece clicked. A ship named the Alexander. He was from London, and hed been dead about two hundred and twenty years. He had Aborigine artwork, given to him from a friend in Australia