Page 40 of The Psychic and the Vampire

Breathing.Bridget floated closer.Breathing and bleeding. He needs help. We have to get a rescue plan moving here.

In case you haven’t noticed, we don’t have any substance like this.

You have a mind link with your mate, don’t you? Use it. Tell Viktor to put me down, somewhere with as little dust as possible, thank you very much, and then we’ll start causing a spirit rampage so your mate can make use of those muscles and claws of his. It’s time for him to go badass on their asses.

Spirit rampage?Ant wasn’t sure if he wanted to know what Bridget was actually thinking, but he had always trusted Bridget with his life, and right now her dose of common sense gave him the only hope he had left.I’ll try.What’s the worst that could happen?

Ant meant the question seriously, but Bridget laughed.Let’s sit back and see what happens. Damn, I wish you could get popcorn in this form.

Narrowing his focus, trying to push aside the images he was still getting through the hands on his arms, Ant reached for his bond with Viktor. As he suspected, Viktor was torn, not sure who he was meant to save first.

I’ve seen their sins, my mate. They are both responsible for horrendous crimes. Bridget says to put her down and show your badass side…whatever that means…And then, because Ant couldn’t bear the thought of Bridget’s body being dropped, he added,don’t drop her. Put her down nicely please. She’s not a fan of dust.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Meanwhile…

“Do you honestly think those bullets are going to do anything to somebody like me?” Viktor glared down at the two men who were holding his life purpose between them as if he was nothing more than a rag doll. He had never been torn in so many directions at once. On the one hand, Ant was his mate and should always be his first concern.

But Ant cared about very few people and one of them was his sister, who Viktor was supporting in his arms. While her color was slowly coming back, she was showing no signs of waking up anytime soon, and clearly needed medical attention.

And Viktor refused to forget about the dog. That furry lump with an overactive tongue had accepted him with no qualms whatsoever after their first “getting to know you bite,” and Viktor could admit he absolutely loved the furball. That meant getting veterinary help as well. Viktor knew that help was necessary because if it wasn't, Able would be down with them, chewing the skinny muscles on those men’s legs.

Fast and careful. Viktor was starting to see they could be common themes in his life with his mate. While those bullets might sting him, it wouldn't kill him. But they could kill Ant or Bridget which meant he needed to keep the guys’ focus on him.

“You ruined my life!” Colin shrieked, waving the gunned hand around as though that made him important. “Tony was everything to me. He understood me. He fed into my desires. He knew what I needed, and he never made me feel bad about myself. I did all I could for him, keeping his family safe. Then what did you do? Just picked him up and tossed him at the police as though he was nothing? All because of this damn mage.You had no right. You had no right to destroy my life with what you did.”

“Your life has never been a concern of mine,” Viktor growled. “Why the hell should I be concerned with the likes of you? You're a lousy person and a lousy lawyer. Why the hell should I care what happened to you?”

“And as for you…” He fixed his glare over at the police officer, who was standing firm, a smirk on his face as though he had the secrets of life playing through his mind – or porn. It wasn’t as though Viktor was a mind reader. “What the hell are you doing? You're supposed to uphold law and order. In case you haven’t noticed, you’re standing here with a gun pointed at the wrong person.”

“I should be thanking you. In one quick move you've managed to solve my little problem with our annoying little psychic here.” Mike actually laughed.

Asshole.But Mike hadn’t finished.

“For months and months Ant has been chasing a murderer, tracking down all these scenes, doing his magic mojo on all the body dumps and the abductions, and all the while he was completely foiled by the person who was committing these horrible acts. He gave me so much information about those crimes, so many details. But he never once – do you hear me - he never once suspected that it was me he was searching for. The cop who he was giving his information to.

“Me, the bum boy in the office who made sure everything he noted, everything he told me was duly recorded.” Mike laughed again as if he’d just heard the funniest joke. “I was learning from him all that time. I got all my tips from him. It’s thanks to him, I learned how to be the most effective murderer in the state andthere's not one damn thing anybody can do about it, including you. When he’s gone, no one will ever catch me.”

Viktor growled again because frankly what else he could do? His arms were full, his mate was unconscious, and somewhere on the floor above him Able was probably unconscious too. At least Viktor hoped so. He couldn’t hear a sound coming from upstairs and he refused to believe that dog was dead.

“So you're a murderer, so what? Welcome to the club,” Viktor shrugged. “I’ll be interested to see how you face off against that truth-sayer you have in the office, but it's really no big deal is it? I mean, yeah, so you kill people for some sick perverted reason, and you get away with it. You're still gonna die.”

“Not today,” Mike said, that damn grin making Viktor want to punch those teeth down his throat. “You see, the way I look at it, I couldn't have set this up more perfectly if I tried. Picture the scene. Imagine my horror when I find out that a vamp's gone rogue, has stolen a respected mage’s sister, and then went on and killed the mage and the sister in a fit of rage.

“Damn, he even took out the dog. People who trusted him, a mutt who probably wagged his tail at the vampire in the hopes of getting treats. It’s so tragically sad when these simple people literally handed their lives to a known gangster. And to my shock and horror this rampaging vampire took them all out. I had to shoot him, I had to kill him, I had no choice.

“And you know what'll happen after that? When they lock your ass up in a paranormal jail, or you’re pushing up daisies somewhere? Do you know what'll happen then? I'll go back to my job, I'll probably even get a promotion. I’ll be awarded a gold star by the mayor. It will be glorious. I might even get a pay rise, and my colleagues will treat me with respect. And meanwhilethose murders will continue, so sad, and this time there won't be an interfering mage with all-seeing eyes watching what I do.”

“Hey,” Colin said. “What about me? I thought you said you were going get Tony out.”

“Tony's a lost cause, give up on that side of things,” Mike grumbled. “For goodness’ sake he was done even if Ant's dead. The mage’s testimony will still stand. He’s twisted too many judges around his little finger over the years and they all think Mr. Fancy Pants Doctor Channon can walk on fucking water. Tony's just gonna have to suck it up and do his time. Tony will still have his power, he'll be fine. He'll be running things from behind bars the way he always has done.”

“But what about my needs?” Colin thumped his own chest with his gunned hand.

Oh, what Viktor would have done for a misplaced bullet about then. The way the gun was angled, it would have hit Mike right in the face.

“What about my needs? Tony was the only one who understood. Tony was the only one who could supply those needs to me. None of this is going to do me any favors.”

---