Page 3 of The Psychic and the Vampire

And that’s not unusual at all,Ant reminded himself, and yes, he was being sarcastic with himself. It was very rare that anyone appreciated the things he had to say – something he’d lived with his whole life.It’s a shame I never got to see him smile.Then he checked himself. Where the hell had that thought come from? He was still pondering his random whimsy as Bridget dragged him and Able out for lunch.

Chapter Two

Viktor stormed into his boss’s mansion, not bothering to knock, or speak to anyone as he brushed past the crowd mingling in the downstairs areas. “Is he still up there?” He growled at someone loitering by the stairs. He barely waited for the nod before he took the stairs three at a time. Of course, Tony “The Hammer” Manzano would still be in bed. He never got up before dinner time.

“He’s not alone,” Giorgio, Tony’s main bodyguard, warned from his post just outside the master bedroom door. “There are four women with him. They’ve been there a while.”

Damn it. That means he’s probably drunk or high already.“Tough. This can’t wait.” Viktor didn’t even knock, just stormed into the room and pointed at the women who were in various states of undress. The stench of drugs and sex filled the air. “Out.” He pointed at the door. “Now.”

“Hey, Vik, what’s got up your ass and died?” Tony stretched his naked body, patting the space beside him with a smirk. “Strip off and join us. I’m sure Maria here can make you feel better.”

“I don’t have time for that. I’ve just come from court.” Viktor glowered at the man who was – coincidentally - above average height, although not as tall as Viktor. The same man who had brilliant green eyes and short dark hair. “Duncan’s confession didn’t hold up in front of the judge.”

The change in Tony was instant. “What the fuck? I paid out hush money to Duncan’s mother just last night. Out, out. Get out now.” He shooed the women from his bed, rolling off the mattress and grabbing a robe.

Viktor closed the door behind the disgruntled women while Tony covered himself up.

“What happened?” Tony asked, tying the robe firmly around his waist. “I had that one in the bag. Banks is on the payroll, all he had to do was make sure Duncan got the least amount of jail time possible. The whole thing was rock solid.”

“Not if there was a witness to the crime,” Viktor said, wondering how much he should say. On the one hand, he’d spent a lot of years keeping Tony’s ass out of trouble, but on the other…I don’t want that intriguing psychic coming to Tony’s notice.

“What do you mean witness? Banks never mentioned a witness and I swear I didn’t see anyone else in the park that night.” Tony stalked over to the well-stocked bar that took up a quarter of his bedroom. “If there’d been a witness, Banks should’ve told me about it.”

Realizing Banks was going to spill the beans about the psychic anyway, Viktor said, “The prosecution brought in a psychic who read the scene. He described the same events you did when you told me what you’d done, events that didn’t tie in with Duncan’s confession.”

“Shit!” Tossing back a shot of whiskey, Tony slammed his glass down on the wooden counter. “Okay, okay. We can still salvage this. A psychic, you say. Seems like Prosecutor Hammond is getting cutesy which could be a pain in my ass. But it’s not a lost cause. Find this psychic and pay him to change his testimony. From what I’ve heard, all those magic users are academics with barely two cents to rub together. Shouldn’t cost me much to shut him down.”

Viktor hesitated. While there was a part of him that really wanted to hunt down the enigmatic Doctor Anthony Channon and find out what made that man tick, he couldn’t afford to be too hasty. He definitely didn’t want to be hunting down thepsychic on Tony’s say-so. Better to get Tony off that idea and onto something else.

“Even if I could convince the psychic to change his testimony,” Viktor said slowly, “it won’t make any difference to Duncan’s case. It might be best to save your money. The judge has already ruled that Duncan’s not responsible for the murder. The police are holding him for wasting their time and resources. They’re not going to change their mind.” He didn’t mention that the psychic had described Tony perfectly. “The prosecution believes Duncan knows who the murderer is, and he’ll be questioned on that before he’s ever let go, if he’s released.”

Tony’s eyes sharpened as he met Viktor’s ice-blue ones. “Is he likely to talk?”

“You know him better than I do.” Duncan was Tony’s second cousin’s, Annie’s, boyfriend. “I assumed you chose him to be your fall guy for a reason.”

“He’s eager to prove his loyalty to the family. Fair panting with it.” Tony’s laugh was totally devoid of humor. “I got the impression that he believed if he served time for me, I’d see him right in the future.”

“You’ve set a bit of a precedent for that sort of thing,” Viktor said drily. It wasn’t something he agreed with. Sure, he lived his life in shades of gray, but he still had a strong sense of morals and justice. Tony left himself open to blackmail every time he did something stupid. Which was roughly once a month.

“He’s eyeing your job.” Tony smirked, leaving Viktor’s hand itching to smack his mouth off his face. “He was planning on making an honest woman out of Annie when he gets out of jail, and he’s not the first person to point out my righthand man’s not technically family by blood.”

Ah, now they were in familiar territory. Part of Tony’s success, and something that could easily prove to be his biggest downfall, was his insistence on people being tied to him and his organization in every way possible.

Vincent showed off his fangs. “I’ve told you before, paranormals don’t tie themselves down to anyone except the one they’re fated for. Life can get far too messy if they do. I’m not marrying or bonding with your sister or your aunt. If I haven’t proven myself to you by now, I never will, and frankly, I don’t give a shit. I’ll still be running around having my own brand of fun when you and Duncan are pushing up daisies.” An unnecessary dig Viktor blamed on his erratic mood.

“You could always turn me.” Tony’s eyes narrowed. “I know your lot don’t do that very often, but I’ve read about it. It can be done.”

And now this song and dance. Seriously, this is getting tedious.Tony had brought up the same idea every time he thought his righthand man had advantages over him. Fortunately, the man had a very limited knowledge about paranormals and vampires in particular.

Viktor laughed. “You want to give all this up?” He waved at the bed. “If I turned you, then I’d beyour sire. That means I’d be the boss of you. You wouldn’t be able to piss without my permission, and your days of sex and drugs would be over. The only one your cock would work for, for at least the first two hundred years, would be me, because you’d be so under my thrall and panting all over me. Is that what you want? Did you want to give up your ass for me in the hopes I’d let you climax once in a blue moon?”

Tony shivered and grimaced. Clearly that was a no. Tony had a pathological hatred of anything he considered gay.

“Exactly.” Viktor sheathed his fangs. “Stop your nonsense. If you want to give Duncan my job, you’re well within your rights, and I won’t complain. As you say, I’m not blood. I’ll step aside. It’s no skin off my nose. It’s probably about time I started thinking about my future interests anyway. I’ve been around a while.”

And so have you,he thought. The only reason Tony’s hair wasn’t completely gray was because he paid a private hair stylist a small fortune every week to touch up his roots.

“That’s not what I meant, and you know it,” Tony snapped. Viktor internally smirked. If there was one thing Tony hated more than anything else was his perception of losing control over members of his “family.” “What are you going to do about Duncan?”

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