Page 31 of Tooth and Nail

“Yeah,” he said, “that was a little harsher than I expected it to be.” He straightened and reached a hand down, taking Ari’s, and hauling him to his feet as he glanced around the empty parking lot. The glowing eyes from the roof of the building were no longer there but almost before he’d formed the thought, a vampire was standing in front of him, hissing.

Ari rocked back on his feet, reaching for his weapon and pointing it at the strange vampire’s midsection. “Who the fuck are you?”

“Your worst nightmare, human,” the vampire growled, baring several rows of teeth in his stinking mouth as his lips spread wide.

“Calm your jets, Dracula,” Ari replied.

Eoghan rolled his eyes, stepping between the two and turning to face his partner. “Put your gun away. Even if I wanted you to kill him, it wouldn’t work. I’ve got the vampire rounds in my backpack, remember?”

“Goddamn,” Ari said, shoving his gun back in its holster.

“You helped him escape,” the vampire hissed again.

Eoghan turned back to face him. “We didn’t help him escape.” He deliberately frowned at Ari as they’d rehearsed. “How did he even break those? You used the vampire strength restraints, right?”

“We have those?” Ari deadpanned. “Shit…yeah, you did tell me that.” He hung his head. “I’m gonna get fired for sure.”

Eoghan bit his lip so he wouldn’t smile. He sighed deeply, looking back at the seething vampire. “Rookies.” And threw out his hands in a “what are you going to do” gesture.

The vampire’s long hair was straggly, looking greasy as hell. He looked like he’d just taken a train halfway across the Midwest with dirty, sweat stained clothes, and dusty boots. All in all, he wasn’t a pleasant creature. A split second later, two more vampires flashed in front of them, startling a shrill squeak out of Ari.

“Stop doing that shit!” his partner yelled.

It was everything Eoghan could do not to start laughing.

“You let him get away?” One of the newcomers towered over the other two and Eoghan shivered at the way his bass voice vibrated. He was bigger and uglier than the guy from the roof or the sidekick who was standing beside him. He was also cloaked in a musty scent, like he’d been underground for some time.

He probably had.

“Listen—” Eoghan began, lifting both palms as Ari set his hands on his hips and stared the vampires down. “I have a rookie partner. And there’s no point chasing him. He’s long gone with vamp speed.” All three vampires turned and glared at Ari, eyes flashing red with hate.

“He’s right. Today was my first day. I don’t know a vampire restraint from a hole in the wall.”

“Idiot, human!” the first one said, taking a step toward Ari.

Eoghan let out a disgusted huff. “What’s with the name calling? We have the same goal here. We caught up to him once and we’ll catch up to him again. He looks like he’s been traveling for months, not eating, though, he wouldn’t say why. It won’t be hard to catch up to him again. I have an incentive since my boss is going to roast my ass if I don’t.”

“What did he tell you, Marshal?” one of the newcomers asked.

“We didn’t give him a chance to tell us anything,” Ari said. “Knocked him out with some kind of dart. The son-of-a-bitch woke up right when we got here and started walking into the building to meet you.”

All three vampires seemed to deflate at that. They grew quiet, looking between each other which Eoghan knew meant they were silently communicating using their own, unique vampire telepathy.

“He told you nothing?” the first vamp said as he finished his silent conversation and looked back at them. “Where he’d been? How he’d gotten there?”

“Not a fucking thing,” Eoghan said, shaking his head. Ari stood silently beside him, rocking back and forth on his heels as the creatures stared him down. When the first one nodded, relaxing his tense body language, and finally seeming to accept what he was saying, Eoghan blew out a long, slow breath of relief. “If you let me call it in, perhaps we can catch up with him tonight.” He glanced at the two who’d joined their roof sentry after he’d confronted them. “Which direction did he go?”

The three vampires exchanged glances for a full minute before the one from the roof shook his head. “They don’t know.”

Eoghan sighed dramatically, throwing up his hands as he looked at the members of Bradshaw’s clan. “I guess we’re starting from scratch.”

“Yeah, I guess we are!” Ari reiterated. “From damn scratch!”

For a guy who’d forgotten to use the right handcuffs, he sure had attitude and all Eoghan wanted to do was kiss the man.

Chapter Eight

After leaving all three vampires, they got back in their vehicle. He was completely exhausted and starving. He hadn’t had anything to eat other than a couple of protein bars all day. Ari dozed on the seat beside him as he headed back toward Griffith Park.

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