Page 4 of Fanged Embrace
I shook my head, forcing a tight smile. “Nah, just some random doodads in here.” I tried not to let the horror show on my face and kept digging until my fingers found a wallet. I pulled it out.
“Huh,” I muttered, flipping through the smallcompartments—no ID, just a blank business card with a phone number scrawled on it, and no name or address. “There’s a number,” I told Arlon out loud, hoping to sound casual about it. “I could call her. She might still be nearby.”
Internally, my mind was racing. The supernatural world I’d brushed up against was full of strange tokens and stranger habits. If this woman carried around a literal bag of blood, she might be one ofthem. Or at least connected to them. She could be the lead that I needed.
I shot a glance at Arlon. “This woman—did she seem a little… off to you?”
“Huh?” Arlon’s brow crinkled. “Off, how?”
“Just… like…” I shrugged, dancing around the details my mind dredged up against my will.Teeth, claws, blood and bone. Needles, vials, tubes and beakers.I shook my head, but the memories burned bright and blinding behind my eyes. “Just—off.”
“She was really hot—sorry—attractive. Does that count?”
“Uh–no.” Arlon’s response was ridiculous enough to snap me out of it. I closed up the bag and slipped the straps over my shoulder. “You know what, never mind. I gotta go.”
Arlon’s expression fell. “But you just got here!”
“Yeah, well, I showed up late, and it’s only getting later,” I murmured, slipping off the barstool while Arlon looked on in open dismay.
“At least let me drive you home?”
I shook my head, feeling slightly guilty for dipping so quickly, but it was time to do some detective work of my own. “Really, dude, I’ll be fine. I’ll get this bag to its owner, see if she’s still around somewhere. And I’ll… I’ll call you if I run into trouble. Okay?”
Arlon sighed, raking his hand through a swath of sandy hair. Eventually, he nodded. “All right, fine. I’ll see you around.”
All I could offer was a weak smile in return. “Text me if youget any further with the case.” And then I was off, bolting through the doors with the strange woman’s bag clutched tightly to my chest.
Outside was colder than I remembered, the air crisp and brittle and bone-dry in my lungs. I took a few steps away from the entrance and pulled out the bland business card, reading the looping script by the glow of the streetlight. No name, no identification at all, just digits.
I stared at the numbers, chewing on my lip. “Who are you?”And what do you know?
I’d have an answer soon enough. Hauling out my phone, I tapped in the number and brought the cell to my ear. The dial tone rattled through my skull.Pick up.If she did, maybe I’d finally have a tangible connection tothem. If not, I’d have to hunt her down myself?—
“Hello?”
My heart lurched into my throat. The answer came so suddenly I nearly dropped my phone in the gutter. But it was her, the owner of the bag and the unnerving bottles of blood. Now that I had her on the line, I wasn’t quite sure what to say.
Suddenly this didn’t seem like such a good idea. What if she really was one ofthem? What if they found me? What if they took me back…
Blood and bone and bandages. Syringes and spotlights and shapes in the dark?—
“Hellooo?” The voice came again and I blinked away the phantom visions behind my eyes.
“Uh—hi,” I croaked out through a painfully dry throat. “I–uh. I think I found your bag?”
There was a pause, and then the woman exhaled. “Right. I left it at the bar, didn’t I?” She sounded… not at all surprised. “Could I come get it? Where are you?”
“Uh…” I shot a glance back at the bar. “I’ll come to you. What’s your address?”
There was a lengthy pause on the other end of the line and I worried I’d made my intentions too obvious. But then, eventually she said, “Bowery Street, big house with all the plants out front—you can’t miss it. That not too far for you?”
“No, I can get there!” I answered—a little too quickly—and then sucked in a breath. “Bowery Street. I’ll be there soon.”
“All right.” The line clicked dead. No further questions, no thank yous. I stuffed my phone back in my pocket and swallowed the bile in my throat.
She didn’t even give me a name. But if my instincts were correct, this woman was connected to that hidden world. The one I’d been chasing for two years now. The one I had sworn to destroy.
Blood. Bone. Needles. Tears.I set off into the dark.
