Page 15 of Blood Illusions

“You know you won’t. You have to swallow a blood shake from a vampire to turn, and as far as I can tell, it’s true with these things, too.”

Damon sighed nervously. “Good. The last thing I want to do is become a vamp.”

I slid onto a stool next to Tim, feeling its sticky warmth beneath my legs from previous customers. “That’s not all. We met a vampire at the scene.”

Tim motioned to the bartender to refill his glass. “What does that mean? You were supposed to find out what happened to your dad. He wasn’t there?”

I shook my head slowly. “No. There was a vampire. His name was Justice, and he claimed to be with the PMC. He helped us escape.”

“Or at least we were supposed to believe that,” Damon corrected me.

Tim frowned. “Justice? Justice Cristea?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know. We didn’t get a chance to exchange business cards.”

Damon put down the bottle. “You’ve heard of him?”

“I haven’t met him personally, but he’s got a reputation with the PMC. Supposed to belong to some hot-shot squad. Rumor has it they took down some rogue supernatural.”

I narrowed my eyes. “Who?”

“I don’t know. They didn’t send out a press release to the Elders,” Tim replied.

“Who doesn’t matter, Sawyer,” Damon insisted. “Justice claimed he rescued Dad from these creatures.”

Tim gave him a curious look.

“I don’t know, Tim,” Damon responded. “I’ve never seen anything like these things. They give freaky a whole new level of weird.”

“You need some color in your face.” The bartender gave me a knowing smile and poured me a glass of whiskey.

I usually didn’t drink the hard stuff, but tonight, I made an exception.

Tim looked between us. “What did you find out?”

Damon’s face went still, and his gaze unfocused. “It was like nothing I’ve ever seen. These vamps were moving at warp speed. Just blurs, really. Had to practically squint to catch a glimpse of them from the corner of my eye. And the freaky part? They were leaving this weird shimmer in the air. It was like a neon rainbow, all iridescent and stuff, but with this eerie glow. Kinda beautiful, in a ‘terrifying creatures of the night’ sort of way.”

He took another swig of whiskey and shook his head as if still trying to make sense of it. “Never thought I’d see something like that. Supernatural light show, courtesy of our unfriendly neighborhood vampires.”

“Justice said he saved our dad,” I quietly mentioned as I twirled my glass around. “Tim, do you think that’s true?”

Tim’s grizzly white eyebrows furrowed. “That’s a new one on me. Maybe. The PMC has been trying to paint themselves as The Avengers for years.”

“More like the Legion of Doom,” Damon grumbled.

I sighed. “Tim, do you think it’s possible? Do you think he really saved Dad?”

“I don’t know.” He gave me a sympathetic look. “I can contact Dr. Gould and ask him.”

Damon gave him a surly look. “And you think Lex Luther is going to tell the truth.”

“Do you have any better ideas, Damon?”

My frosty tone only got a shrug from him. Damon thought the only good vampire was a dead vampire.

Damon put his palms on the bar. “Tim, has anyone else ever gone up to Shadow Mine?”

“No one has gone inside. You’re the first. Other hunters have found other nests, but no one else enjoyed a rainbow show like you two. Why?”

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