Chapter Two

Erica stared at the man before her. He didn’t look much like a vampire. His skin wasn’t all that pale. His blue eyes practically sparked with inner fire, and she didn’t see any fangs. She glanced back at the barmaid, but found no ally there. With her spilled drink paid for, the blonde Amazon had no further use for her.

“I ...”

He didn’t wait for her to finish her sentence. He reached forward and grabbed her wrist. A second later, he was dragging her after him through the undulating crush on the dance floor.

He pulled her toward the club’s front door, the exit reserved for vampires. Humans came and went only by way of the alley. If she hadn’t been anxious to leave anyway, she might not have waited until he yanked her down the two shallow front steps and into the empty street to protest.

When they hit the rain-damp macadam, he whirled her around to face him, his long fingers cold as iron around her arm.

She twisted in his grasp, but he only tightened his grip.

“What were you doing in there?” His question seemed personal, delivered in a tone of reproachful concern, as if he actually cared.

“I was just looking around.” She pulled ineffectually at her trapped wrist and briefly considered using a groin shot to make him let her go. Of course, in her hooker heels, she probably couldn’t have outrun her own grandmother.

“Looking for what?”

“Nothing! I was ... just curious. You’re hurting me.”

“I don’t believe you.” He looked down his aquiline nose at her with the obvious intent to intimidate. Erica held his gaze, but angled her body away from him in an attempt to keep herself just outside the range of those hypnotic eyes.

“Who are you, anyway? The owner? What does it matter why I came in? I paid for my drink and I left. No harm done, and I won’t be coming back.”

“No. You won’t. I don’t want to see you back here. This isn’t the place for you.”

Erica raised an eyebrow. “Who are you again--my knight protector?”

His molten gaze traveled to her wrist, and he let her go so abruptly that she stumbled backward a step. “I just don’t want to see an innocent drawn into that world. Anybody can see you don’t belong in there.”

Innocent? Is that what he thought she was? Ha. What she wouldn’t give to be innocent again. She tossed her head in a gesture of defiance, gave him a practiced smirk and turned away. “What I do is none of your business.”

“Actually, it is.”

When she turned back to give him another piece of her mind, a dull silver glint caught her eye. He held out a leather wallet with a round badge and a laminated ID tucked under thin black bands.

A cop? Her mind boomeranged around that one. Since when did cops cover vampire territory? As far as Erica knew, what went on in places like After Dark didn’t interest human law enforcement. Or maybe they were just afraid to get involved.

Intrigued, despite her desire to get on with her search and rescue mission, she reached out and tilted the badge so she could read the words by the reflection of the halogen lamppost in the club’s blacked-out front window. “Maxwell Hart. Vampire investigator?” The thought struck her funny, but she caught herself before laughing. “What exactly is that?”

“We work for the vampire king. One of our functions is to keep the vampire and human worlds as separate as possible. Feeders are welcome at the clubs, but not drop--ins. Our world isn’t a tourist attraction.”

Erica gave him a long, appraising look. He sounded like a cop. “I couldn’t agree with you more, Mr. Hart.”

“Then what were you doing in the club when you clearly had no intention of becoming a feeder?”

Knight protector. Wouldn’t it be nice? Erica cocked her head and pursed her lips. If she’d known vampire investigators existed, she might have called one before she went trolling the bars for Elena.

“I’m looking for my sister.” It killed her to admit it. She hated for anyone to know about her problems with Elena because in her twin’s shortcomings, Erica saw her own weaknesses.

“Is your sister a feeder?” Hart asked. He shifted his weight and reached into his pants pocket. Erica rolled her eyes when he pulled out a notebook, the kind with the matching pen attached in an elastic loop.

“I don’t need your services, Mr. Hart. I can find her myself.”

“She’s a feeder?” He wasn’t going to give up.

“No ... I don’t know. I certainly hope not. She asked me to meet her at a bar, but I couldn’t make out the name. I came here because it’s closest to her apartment.” Her last known address, anyway. Elena didn’t stay in one place for long, but she never ranged far enough from Erica to be truly independent, either.

“What’s your name?”

“Elena. Her name is Elena Talbot ... but--”

“Your name.”

Erica looked up. His eyes drew her in. If he were human, he’d have been her type. The crisp shirt, the loose tie, broad shoulders--she fantasized about men like this. The repressed executive type turned her on--proper and polite on the surface, a wild man underneath. That was another thing she kept to herself.

“My name?”

He nodded, and a faint smile played around his lips. She couldn’t help but feel like he had her right where he wanted her.

“It’s not important, Mr. Hart. My sister’s not here. I’ve obviously got the wrong place so I’m just going to go home and call her tomorrow.”

“If your sister’s not a feeder, why would she come to a vampire bar?”

“I have no idea.”

One of his dark eyebrows rose. “Do you think she might be a vampire killer?”

Erica frowned. “My sister is a lot of things, but she’s not a killer.”

“No, of course not. I’m sure she wouldn’t hurt a fly. But vampires--we’re a little different. We’re dead already, so we don’t really matter.” The bitter edge to his words surprised her.

“She’s not a vampire killer.”

“There’s good money in it.”

“What makes you think she needs money?”

He shrugged. “Some people do it just because they like it.”

“Mr. Hart--” Erica turned away, but he touched her arm and the contact singed her. How could a vampire’s touch be so hot? She looked at the spot where his fingers rested gently on her arm.

“I’m sorry ... Ms?”

“Talbot. Erica.”

“Ms. Talbot. I’m just doing my job. There have been a lot of vampire murders recently, and when someone comes into a club, like you did tonight, just to scope the place out, you have to understand, it looks suspicious.”

“My sister is not involved in anything like that, Mr. Hart. I know that much. She’s easily ... led. She may have decided to become a feeder, in which case, I’d like to stop her. No offense, but I don’t want to see her become a vampire.”

“We don’t normally turn our feeders, Ms. Talbot. It’s not economical.”

“Well, that’s good to know.”

“We don’t force our feeders either, as a rule. So if she’s hanging out at a bar, it’s probably her choice.”

“Then why did she ask for my help?” Maybe because she always asks for my help? “She wants me to find her, Mr. Hart, and I intend to do that.”

He seemed to approve of that. He folded the notebook and the wallet and returned them to his pocket. Erica followed the movement then looked away quickly, ashamed by her interest in points below his belt buckle.

“Why don’t you let me help you, Ms. Talbot? If your sister is in one of the bars or the clubs or a vampire compound, you won’t be able to go strolling in for a look around. I could do it for you.”

“For a reasonable price, I assume?”

He laughed and she liked the sound, as well as the smile that accompanied it. “No. I’m a public servant, ma’am. I’m on the government payroll.”

“The government hires vampire investigators now?” That was a shocker considering the extreme right wing conservative administration these days. She’d have expected vampire killers on the payroll, not vampire cops.

“The vampire government,” Hart corrected. “Contrary to what you might think, part of our job is protecting humans.”

She didn’t believe that. But still, the prospect of having a little help seemed, to borrow his word, economical.

“All right, Mr. Hart. I’d appreciate your help. The next place on my list is called Danger--Danger, unless you know a club that’s closer.”

Hart’s smile faded. “I’m not taking you with me, Ms. Talbot. Like I told you, a human can’t just go into these places unless you’re a feeder. That’s what these bars are for. It’s not like in the old movies where we stalk some virginal society girl and fly into her window on bat wings in the middle of the night. We invite our feeders to come to us. If you give me a description of your sister, and preferably something of hers, like a piece of clothing, something that would have her scent on it, I’ll do a thorough investigation.”

“Her scent?” Erica pictured Hart leading a yapping pack of bloodhounds. His sardonic look erased the image instantly, and she blushed.

“Our senses are much more acute than a human’s. Even if I didn’t know what she looked like, I could find her by her scent.”

“Ah ... well, either way, Mr. Hart, I want to go with you. Elena needs me. She’ll be afraid if she thinks a vampire is stalking her. She needs to know I’m coming to help her.”

Hart shook his head. “Not a good idea.”

“I’ll go with or without you. If I have to break into the clubs myself.”

“You’ll get hurt. Frank was lenient on you tonight. I’ve seen girls limp out of After Dark after pulling what you pulled tonight. I’ve seen some crawl out.” He leaned close, and Erica’s heart jumped when his breath warmed the skin of her neck. “Some had to be carried out.”

Erica swallowed. “Then I’ll just have to rely on my knight protector to keep me safe, won’t I?”