It was the way of vampires. And the reason most of them tried to avoid a claiming at all costs: inevitably, if something went wrong, death and destruction would result.
But apparently, to judge by the way Jude had claimed Terri despite all the warnings he’d given Creed about it over the years, claiming wasn’t always a choice.
They left the car because they had no need for it. Jude carried the tools of his trade in the pockets of a long leather coat: crucifix, the ritual for exorcism and plenty of holy water. Creed felt a bit uncomfortable with that, but some of his perspectives were undergoing radical changes because of his association with Jude.
They slipped from shadow to shadow too fast for human eyes to see. The most any mortal could have noticed would have been the breeze of their passage.
The city was quieting down though, falling into its late slumber at last, so they didn’t encounter many people.
Each one, though, had a particular, tempting aroma. It was, Creed sometimes thought wryly, like slipping through an aromatic deli but never tasting a single, delicious morsel. With time it got easier, though never easy.
He had vowed a long time ago never to become again that ravenous monster he’d been during the weeks and months after his change. If he ever felt weak, his conscience summoned up a whole banquet of ugly images to remind him of what he had done.
Though sometimes he wondered why he bothered. Humans were so good at doing themselves in, it often felt pointless for him to suppress his own urges, his own hunger.
Jude took them directly to the crime scene. His instincts had guided him to Terri as surely as a homing beacon. Together they mounted a nearby building and watched from the roof. Periodically, Jude lifted his head and sniffed the air to make sure there was nothing unusual about.
From above, both preternatural sight and preternatural hearing allowed Creed to know everything that was going on. Most of it was dull, detail work, and he hardly paid attention. He didn’t really care about the ordinary details of an ordinary murder. Finally, bored, he tuned it out and looked up at the stars.
Despite the city lights, he could see thousands of them, if not millions, thanks to his vision. Sparkling in all the colors of the rainbow and more, they seemed to set the sky ablaze. He loved moonless nights because he could see so many more stars.
For him the night was not leached of color, but instead flooded with it. Things he had never been able to see as a human now filled his eyes with pleasure. Sounds and scents brought him stories of the night that he would never have noticed before.
No, it was not all bad.
“Creed?”
He dragged his gaze from the heavens to look at Jude. “What?”
“Do you smell it?”
Creed drew the night into his lungs, smelling it and tasting it. He paused, then exhaled slowly. “There’s something faint. Something off.”
“It was here. Gone now, but it was here.”
At once Creed’s interest in the goings-on below him returned. He focused on the little hive of human activity, listening and watching.
“Do you think it caused this?” he asked Jude.
“I don’t know. I’ll find out more from Terri. For now though, it’s enough to know it was here.”
“And good reason to stick around Terri until she’s home.”
“Yeah. Thanks, Creed.”
“I don’t know how much good I’ll be if needed.” Then Creed paused. “So, okay, maybe you need to teach me how to deal with this stuff.”
“It would be helpful.”
Creed had never wanted to enter the world where Jude existed, fighting demons and other unseen threats. It had always seemed to him to be a dangerous path full of hidden pitfalls, and he was at heart still the Harvard professor he’d been before his own change. But after what had happened to his great-granddaughter, his opinion had rapidly shifted. Now he’d just offered to jump in with both feet.
Surprising himself, he grinned into the night. Apparently he’d made the decision without realizing it.
He drew another lungful of the night. The abnormal scent was already cataloged in a part of his brain that would never forget it. He would know it again the instant he encountered it anywhere. So he sniffed, checking for it, making sure it didn’t strengthen. For now that was all he could do.
“It doesn’t seem to be coming back,” Jude remarked presently, as the team below them began to pack up, as the body was loaded into a morgue van. “Why don’t you run back to the office, or home if you prefer. I’ll just follow Terri to the morgue to make sure it’s not in the vicinity. Then I’ll get back to the office.”
“What if you find it? I should come, too.”
Jude smiled without humor. “I don’t want to challenge it tonight unless I have no choice. I’m just keeping an eye out.”
“Call me if you need me.” Then Creed straightened and blended away into the night like a shadow.
Being a vampire did have its advantages.
Since it was still several hours before dawn, Creed chose to head back to Jude’s office. He didn’t feel like working tonight, and Chloe and Garner often provided amusement.
He now had his own key card and code to enter, so he got no warning at all when he walked down the darkened hallway and opened the door to Jude’s office. Inside were not only Chloe and Garner, but another young woman, maybe thirty.
And the minute he stepped through the door, her scent hit him like a speeding train. Instant hunger, almost overwhelming, slammed him, followed by a near-intoxication. He froze, never having experienced such a strong reaction before, and fought for his self-control. No morsel had ever smelled so good to him.
“Hi, Creed,” Chloe said.
He couldn’t even answer her. Instead he stared at the young woman who sat beside Chloe’s desk. Blonde, her hair falling loose from a chignon as if the wind had ripped at her. Wearing a white wool dress that hinted at a lovely figure. Her face might have been painted by an artist trying to capture the beauty of an angel, her eyes a green so bright they almost seemed to glow.
But it was her scent that punched him, held him rigid in the hell between hunger and self-control.
“Creed?” Chloe said.
With an extreme effort, he dragged his gaze from the woman and looked at Chloe. “Hi,” he managed.
“This is Yvonne Depuis. She’s here to see Jude. Do you know when he’ll be back?”
“I’m not sure. He wanted to make sure Terri made it safely back to the morgue.”
“Morgue?” Yvonne Depuis’s eyes widened.
“Terri is a medical examiner,” Chloe said swiftly. “She’s been out at a crime scene.”
“Who is Terri?”
“Jude’s … wife,” Chloe answered, shading the truth a bit.
“Oh.” Yvonne tried a smile. The way the corners of her mouth trembled called to Creed. He had to force himself to cross the room and sit on the couch as if nothing at all was happening, certainly not the momentous response inside himself.
“This is silly,” Yvonne said to Chloe. “Everyone’s going to laugh at me.”
“Honey,” Chloe said, “around here we don’t laugh at anything except Garner.”