Page 10 of Bloodhunter

Out of habit, I pressed my palms against my ears in somesort of useless attempt to stop the voices, the memories.

And then Miriam was there, clutching my upper arms,murmuring soothing words that meant nothing. But her calmness, her support, herembrace, those meant everything.

I wasn’t alone, and I wasn’t on the street in front of mysister’s house, bleeding and traumatized while all around me people I loveddied. I wasn’t there.

I concentrated on Miriam’s soft but strong, steady voice,and my heart began to slow. My mind began to clear.

“All right?” she asked. “All right now, honey?”

I nodded and pulled away, noticing only then that Claytonstood just behind Miriam, watching me.

“I’m okay,” I told her, looking away from Clayton. “I’mgood.”

She peered up at me. “You’re vulnerable tonight. Be careful,Trinity. You should surround yourself with people who love you.”

I squeezed her hand, then backed away. “Goodnight, Miriam.”

She nodded. “Go back to that misogynistic Neanderthal of ahorndog you work for. He and his dozens of offspring will care for you.”

I couldn’t help but smile, which I’m pretty sure was what she’dintended. I walked back to work, and I could feel both the necromancer and hergolem watching me until I slipped into the building and closed the door behindme.

Chapter Three

By nine p.m. the parking lot was completely packed as the Fridaynight crowd descended upon Bay Town’s best—and only—pizza joint.

The crowd was mostly human, and they went to Bay Town likeit was a slightly scary, very dangerous place to go for some drunken weekendfun.

They made the rounds from the Bay Town bars—there were twoin the little town—to the one club to the park to have some pizza and see thehot supernats they found there. Bay Town was up all night.

Usually the town was safe for humans. The supernaturalsunderstood their accountability and their roles, and they were mindful when theweekend came and brought the humans—and their money—with it. When violence didhappen in Bay Town, it was nearly always the visiting humans who started it.

The citizens of Red Valley loved to believe that the littleBay Town was full of danger and magic and badassery.

And they were right, but supernats knew to behave themselveswhen humans were around. Hurting a human would bring serious and swiftretribution down on Bay Town, and the nonhumans made every attempt to maintainthe safety of those humans in whose world they lived.

Even the vampires usually lay low, unwilling to drawattention to themselves and make their already dire circumstances worse—butthen they’d go nuts for some reason and kill a bunch of humans, and the worldwould redouble its efforts to wipe them all out. But vampires were likecockroaches, and they weren’t going anywhere.

Stark Pizza opened its doors at five p.m. and closed at elevenp.m. on weeknights and four a.m. on weekends, and as I ended up waiting tablesafter all, I listened for gossip about the recent killings.

Causing a panic was the last thing the human authoritieswanted, but it was only a matter of time before it happened. Vampires were onceagain attacking humans. That was no big surprise. But other humans were beingkilled as well. Women. And they had no idea what was killing them.

That meant the police were going to start looking at the BayTown supernaturals.

By the time I left work, I knew the victim’s name was CarrieAlden. She’d just gone through a divorce, and she’d been out drinking anddancing the night she’d been murdered. The murder had happened behind a bar in NewGravel, a small village in Bay County, and only sixteen miles from Bay Town.

That was what Amias had wanted to talk with me about and whyhe’d been so distracted I’d managed to stab him in the shoulder.

In his strange, obsessive way, Amias wanted to protect me.

Angus walked me to my car, and I knew better than to argueabout it. He’d do what he wanted whether I wasted my breath or not.

“The necromancer called me,” he told me, as I opened my cardoor. “You’re welcome to come home with me, Trin.”

I lifted an eyebrow. “You’ve made that perfectly clear.”

But he didn’t smile. “My house is bursting with people.Noisy kids for the most part,” he admitted, “but you won’t be alone there. Youcan bunk with one of the little ones if you don’t want to sleep alone.” Thegleam in his eye suggested that he wouldn’t turn me away were I so inclined toclimb intohisbed, but he left that unspoken. “Or you can take theguest room.”

I climbed into my car. “I’ll be fine. I’m fine.” I startedthe car, then looked up at him. “I’ll take something to help me sleep.”