Page 48 of Shadows of Eternity

Later that night, when Janae was sound asleep, Trent went into his office and shut the door. Booting up his computer, he typed in his password and ID number, then pulled up the Vampire Data Base and searched for the name Rohan/Shadow Dancer, which led to a brief bio containing damned little information. His age was estimated to be three hundred, there was a short physical description, and that was it. No mention of the number of kills he’d made or close contacts in the vampire community. No mention of the vamp who had turned him. A lot of hunters had tried to find Rohan through the years. There was a long list of towns, cities, and countries where he’d been tracked. But no one had ever caught him or even come close.

Until now, Trent mused. Smiling, he shut down his computer and went back to bed.

Rohan strolled through the night, thinking Fate must be having a good laugh at his expense. Here he was, in love with a woman whose best friend’s husband was abona fidevampire hunter on the government payroll. He wondered idly what the good old USA was paying for heads these days. He didn’t know why he was surprised to discover hunters still roamed the country. Maybe it was because it had been over fifty years since the last time he’d run across one. Somehow, he’d figured the Bureau would have found a more modern way to track vampires and destroy them. But apparently, the Von Helsing method was still the best.

Damn!

If it wasn’t so serious, it would have been comical the way Trent’s eyes had widened with surprise when they were introduced. The man had kept a wary eye on him all night, as if he expected Rohan to suddenly go berserk and attack everyone in the nightclub.

Rohan shook his head. Vampires hadn’t survived this long by being stupid. As a rule, they were discreet in their kills, careful not to leave bodies drained of blood lying around in the open. It was rare that they preyed on the rich and famous, or killed those who would be missed, because instances like that tended to show up on the nightly news. Street girls, pimps, transients, druggies and drug dealers—if they came up missing, no one seemed to notice or give a damn.

He had never cared for feeding on the refuse of humanity, but then, he didn’t kill his prey, either. He took enough to satisfy his thirst, erased the memory of what he’d done from the minds of his victims, and sent them merrily on their way, none the worse or the wiser.

Of course, not all vampires were discreet. There had been one, years ago, who had gone through a dozen young Hollywood starlets, leaving a trail of blood and bodies in his wake. Therehad been lurid photos of beautiful young women with their throats torn out. Headlines screamedMONSTER ON THE LOOSE IN L.A.As quickly as the killings had begun, they had ended. The culprit had never been found. Whoever the vampire had been, he had gained quite a reputation among the vampire community.

Rohan’s thoughts turned to the vampire who had made him. In three hundred years, he’d never run across his sire. Of course, the world was a big place. Still, the number of vampires were relatively few. Was his sire still alive? Or had some hunter like Trent Frumusanu taken his head?

Rohan grunted softly as he started back to his lair. Likely, he would never know.

Chapter Twenty

Trent spent the next day in his home office, with the door locked. Logging into his work account, he pulled up the officialGovernment List of Known Vampires, Dead or Alive, which was different from the database he’d searched last night.

He typed inShadow Dancer, aka Rohan,thensat back while the search engine scrolled through page after page, only to mutter an oath when the wordsNO INFORMATION FOUNDappeared on the screen.

Dammit! How was that possible? He widened his search to include countries other than the United States. And got the same results.

Well, he thought, that was a first. How had the bloodsucker managed to stay under the government radar all this time? Of course, he didn’t know for sure how old Rohan was, although the Vampire Data Base had listed him as three hundred. Trent was inclined to agree. You could always tell the old ones. They had an aura of power about them that the young ones lacked.

He leaned back in his chair, his fingers tapping the arm. And then he pulled up a New Entry page and typed in both of Rohan’s names, the fact that he currently resided in the USA, and added his physical description:

Height: 6’3”

Weight, approx. 230 lbs.

Ethnicity: Native American

Hair: Black (long)

Eyes: Dark Brown

Scars: None visible

Place of birth: Unknown

DOB: Unknown

Current residence: California

Notes: Dances with Native American Dance Group based in South Dakota.

Trent leaned back in his chair again, elbows bent, fingers steepled, while he wondered how upset Janae would be if he destroyed the vampire. It was the right thing to do, but his family had no idea what he did for a living, and he’d like to keep it that way, for his safety and theirs. Who knew if the vampire had any bloodsucking friends who might avenge him? One thing for sure, he needed to have a little talk with Rohan and find out what his intentions were toward Leia. And then he laughed. He sounded like a worried father, but he liked Leia, she was Janae’s best friend, and he didn’t want to see anything happen to her. The vampire might act like a gentleman around Leia and Janae, but underneath, he was a predator, a cold-blooded killer, just like all his kind, and not fit to live.

Trent grunted softly as he hit Enter. Sooner or later, he’d catch the vampire alone. He just hoped he’d survive the encounter when he did.

As luck would have it, Trent was driving past Leia’s apartment late the next night when he saw Rohan pull out of the driveway. Grinning with satisfaction, he pulled in behind the vampire, curious to see where he was holed up.

Five minutes later, the bloodsucker turned onto a side street and pulled over to the curb.

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