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  Before she realized what she was doing, Trina had dropped to her knees, pulled out the key chain she kept in her pocket, and pushed aside the pile of vamp clothing. Using her fingers, she scooped as much of the vamp ash as she could into the plastic container attached to her key chain, trying to keep her locker key out of the way. She had several of these canisters in her bag, waiting to store the ash she would eventually put to good use. She had them in a variety of sizes. The older the vamp, the more ash there was to collect. And judging by the small pile of this one, he was definitely a newbie.

  Getting her fingers filthy with it, she managed to get most of the ash inside before getting to her feet. She grabbed the jeans, T-shirt, and boots and dumped them into a nearby trash bin, making sure to move the contents around so that no one would see the discarded men’s clothing. Most of the time, she didn’t bother with getting rid of the clothes. Unless she liked a particular item and decided to take it, or didn’t want to rouse too much suspicion. And leaving some guy’s clothes just lying around in the docking area would definitely arouse suspicion.

  Trina returned to the spot where she’d staked him and tried to kick the remainder of the ash aside with her shoe, hoping it would blend in with the dust. Then she made her way over to Brenna and stared at her for a moment. The girl was still out cold.

  Who’d let the stupid vamp out on his own so soon, and more importantly, why?

  “Brenna, are you okay?” Trina asked, thinking it best to act as if she’d just found her. She slapped the young girl’s cheeks lightly. She looked a lot younger than the other people who worked here.

  “Huh?” The girl’s head rolled from side to side and she opened her eyes, looking at Trina with a dazed expression. “What’s going on?”

  “Trina, please report to the service desk. Trina, report to the service desk.”

  She looked up toward the speaker in the ceiling. Damn! She couldn’t keep avoiding the call. Nice guy or not, Zeke would eventually get pissed off enough to come searching for her.

  “It looks like you slipped or something.” Trina grabbed her by the arm. “Here, I’ll help you get up.” She figured that if she made a grand entrance back into the store with an injured workmate, it would help keep her out of trouble after deserting her post.

  “Okay,” Brenna said. “Ow! The back of my head hurts.” She made a move to touch it as Trina used her strength to get the girl to her feet. “Thanks, Trina. I appreciate it. I think I bumped my head.”

  “Yeah, it looks like you hit yourself pretty hard. Come on.” With one arm supporting Brenna, Trina led her across the dusty concrete floor and past the plastic divider doors, waltzing back into the well-lit store.

  She blinked a few times, letting her eyes adjust to the bright lights, before continuing forward. When they cleared the top of the aisle, Zeke spotted her and ran toward them.

  His blue eyes were wide, and his gaze switched from Brenna to Trina in obvious confusion. “What happened?”

  “I think I fell or fainted or something.” Brenna rubbed the back of her head. “Thank God Trina found me, or I might’ve bled to death.”

  Zeke looked directly at the girl. “You’re bleeding?”

  “I don’t think so,” Brenna said. “But there’s definitely a lump, and my head hurts.”

  “Trina, you’re not supposed to leave the service desk,” Zeke said, switching his attention to her.

  “I know. I’m sorry. I just saw her go in there and she didn’t come out for ages. I tried calling the extension and she didn’t answer, and—”

  “Okay, I get it,” he cut her off, turning to Brenna. “Are you going to be okay?”

  “I don’t know . . .”

  “Why don’t you head home?” Zeke suggested.

  “Do you think it’s a good idea to let her drive in this condition?” Trina couldn’t help wondering if the vamp had come alone. She doubted it. He’d been too stupid, too new, and definitely too clueless for this to have been his idea. If the vampire he’d come with was waiting outside, who knew what would happen to Brenna.

  Zeke shook his head. “It’s okay. Brenna doesn’t drive. Her parents drop her off and pick her up.” He touched Brenna’s arm lightly and color rose on the girl’s cheeks. Trina almost rolled her eyes. Apparently the girl also had a crush on Zeke. “Why don’t you go to the office and call your parents to come and get you? Then take it easy until they get here. Trina will call you down when they get here. I’ll cover the floor for the rest of the night.”

  “Are you sure?” Brenna asked hesitantly.

  “Yeah, go ahead. I’ll meet you there so we can fill out an accident report. Other than that, you just need to relax.”

  Brenna nodded and stepped away from them, still rubbing her head. She paused after a few steps and looked over her shoulder. “Thanks, Trina.”

  Trina shrugged. There was no way Brenna would ever know just what Trina had saved her from. If she was right about the vampire, once he’d started blood sucking, he wouldn’t have stopped until Brenna didn’t have a pulse.

  Brenna shuffled away and Zeke turned to Trina. “I appreciate you helping her when she got in trouble. Did you see what happened?”

  “I found her lying on the ground.” Technically, correct. “So I’m not sure. Maybe she slipped and fell, and hit her head against the shelving. I don’t know.”

  His features tightened. “Just remember that you can’t walk away like that. Next time, call me before you take off. And by the way, you’ve ripped your sweater.”

  “Shit.” She pulled the hem of her woolen uniform sweater to inspect the uneven tear on the side. It wasn’t pretty. “Sorry.”

  “Don’t worry about it. I’ll get you a new one before we leave tonight.”

  “Thanks.” She glanced toward Brenna’s back as the girl headed for the office. It was good to know that there were still a handful of people who were worth saving. It made her sacrifice a little easier to bear, although the ash weighing heavy in her pocket made everything all right.

  “Let’s get back to work, huh?” he said with a smile. “Just call me if you need me. I’ll be out on the floor for a while, before I duck into the office to fill out Brenna’s accident report and make sure she’s all right.” Zeke paused and looked at her for a moment too long. She wasn’t sure why, and it made her uneasy.

  “Sure.” Trina nodded and headed back towards the customer service desk. As soon as he was out of sight, she’d have to pull the broken fang out of her hand.

  Chapter Two

  Doug slipped into the darkened storage area at the back of the store, unnoticed. There seemed to be some sort of commotion going on at the front of the store, so none of the staff had noticed him breezing past them. Not that they’d notice him anyway. Well, unless he let them see him.

  He had different ways of concealing himself, but one of his greatest assets—and the one he used the most—was how average he appeared. He went out of his way to dress and look like any ordinary dark-haired guy wearing jeans, a plain tee, and a jacket that looked like a hundred others on the street. It was only when someone looked beyond the surface that they would notice a difference. But he was well in control of himself and hardly ever offered anyone the chance to look at him that closely.

  It’s too risky.

  Doug had spent half an hour in the shadows of the parking lot, waiting for Cell to return. When Cell still hadn’t come back after forty minutes, he figured the big guy must either like stationery a lot more than other vampires, or Doug’s suspicions had been correct. After all, he’d seen the woman in action with his own eyes.

  Making his way around the deserted storage area, he kept to the shadows, trying to spot any cameras. There was only a single lonely one collecting dust. It wasn’t working, so it had to be a dummy camera, like the one outside.

  He continued forward, checking one section after the other in this vast but unorganized area. There wasn’t much here but a huge row of massive metal shelves, pallets with box
es piled on top of them, a stack of empty pallets, a box crusher, and a wobbly desk with a computer and printer on it, as well as a phone. He made his way toward them and noticed the top pallet on the empty stack was missing a plank. It looked as if it had been torn off.

  After thumbing the splinters, he couldn’t help smiling. She was going to save him a lot of trouble.

  Doug took his time walking around to the other side of the aisle, created by the row of shelving. As he turned the corner, a dent on the shelving caught his eye. Something that others would probably assume was done by the forklift parked nearby, he could tell it was actually made from the impact of a body smacking against it. He leaned closer, took a quick sniff and recognized the scent. He detected Cell in this corner of the docking bay, but couldn’t see him or his clothes.

  Where the hell did you go, Cell?

  He searched the ground, but still nothing. Though, as he kneeled down, he did detect the ash that had probably been the vamp less than half an hour ago.

  Damn, she’s quick and efficient. Just what I need.

  Doug straightened and brushed his fingertips against the back of his jeans. He wiped off as much of the ash and dust residue as he could. There was only one thing left to do now.

  Knowing he’d be moving faster than the human eye could detect, he raced out of the darkened area and into the store. When he reached the farthest aisle, he dropped back to average-paced movements.

  He took his time moving around the store, perusing one shelf after another but never really seeing anything. As he drew closer to the front desk where she stood, he grabbed the first thing he could get his hands on—something in a plastic blister pack. He didn’t bother to look at what it was. He just needed an excuse to approach her register.

  Until this point, he’d only seen her from a distance and didn’t even know her name. Sure, there were many rumors about her, but until tonight he hadn’t been sure if this woman was the root of those legends or not.

  He strolled up to the register and didn’t have to wait long. She looked up and offered him a half-smile. She wasn’t what one would describe as beautiful, but she was cute. Besides, this woman didn’t need looks to attract his kind. He could feel her Allure sweep over him, making it hard to keep his hands to himself, to withstand the sudden need to be near her, the need to follow this petite stranger to the ends of the earth.

  He might not be instantly detectable to her like the others, but he still felt her magnetism. And it was slowly shredding his control.

  “Hi, how are you this evening?” she asked in a sweet but strong voice.

  Doug cleared his throat. “Good, thanks. And you?”

  She shrugged. “Ah, it could be better.”

  “Oh?” He quickly lowered his eyes to her name badge. Trina. So the name of the woman—who was so much more than just that—was a simple five-letter word. And this petite cutie had taken out Cell? If he hadn’t already witnessed her in action, he might have had trouble believing it.

  “Well, it’s a cold night. I’d rather be at home in front of the TV with a cup of . . .” Her voice trailed off when she met his eyes. For a few silent moments, he suspected that she might actually know what he was, but then she added, “You don’t want to hear about that. How’s your night?”

  “I think it just got better,” he whispered, sliding the item in his hand onto the countertop.

  She avoided his eyes as she grabbed the plastic packet. She had small hands, and he could see her calloused fingertips. Trina had working hands; hands that had survived through a lot of change. Killing vampires and carrying a wooden stake almost every day of your long life would cause wear and tear on anyone, he supposed.

  Doug also caught sight of the recent wound on the back of one of her hands. It looked to be healing fast, but he could still smell the blood—and the slight stench of Cell.

  “Funny, I don’t see pink as your color.”

  “Sorry, what did you say?” Focus. Stay focused, because one false move or slip of control will tell her exactly what you are.

  Trina held up the packaging. With a big grin, she motioned to it. “These earphones are bright pink. You don’t look like the sort who’d go for this color.”

  “What sort do I look like?” He leaned his hip on the counter, bringing him closer to her. Was he actually flirting? As much as he’d love to blame it on her Allure, Doug knew that wasn’t all that attracted him. She was cute. He couldn’t help himself.

  Trina looked him up and down, thoughtful. “I don’t know. You look like dull colors might be more your thing. Well, judging by your clothes, anyway.”

  “Right.” He faked a laugh and took the opportunity to sniff her again. Yeah, that was Cell on her clothes. He could smell Cell all over her, almost as if the other vampire was standing right beside her. What the hell was that about?

  “Are you sure you don’t want to swap them for another, more appropriate color?”

  He shook his head. “They’ll do.”

  “Okay, at least you’ve reminded me that I need a new pair myself,” she said, scanning the item. “That’s nineteen dollars.”

  Doug handed her a twenty.

  She took it, keyed something into the keyboard in front of her, stuck the bill into the register and offered him a gold one dollar coin.

  “Keep the change.”

  “Okay, but you’d better take your receipt.” She looked at him and winked. “In case you change your mind.”

  “Good idea, thanks.” He took the receipt, the item and stalled for another moment. There was nothing more he could add to this simple conversation without looking like some sort of creep. “You take care, okay?”

  “Always do.”

  Doug headed for the automatic doors, and when they slid open he wondered how long he’d have to hide outside before Trina headed home. He couldn’t wait to follow her.

  Chapter Three

  It didn’t take Trina long to get her breathing under control after dumping the ash where it belonged. As she’d suspected, the stupid vampire she’d polished off at work was both young and virtually powerless. He couldn’t have been more than a few weeks old, judging from the small amount of ash he’d left behind, and the very faint new imprint on the Allure Urn. She’d barely received an ounce of power from the transfer, hardly worth the effort.

  The only types of vamp she consistently found nowadays were young idiots who didn’t provide much of a challenge—or fuel.

  Still, she refused to look at her urn right now. Actually, she liked to ignore it as much as she could. The urn called the shots in her survival—it compelled her to deposit the ash of dead vamps into it so she could continue to live. She couldn’t ignore its calling, but after she’d done what she had to do, she could turn her back on its physical manifestation sitting in her living room.

  Tonight she wanted to pretend she was normal, not think about the centuries she’d stacked up and left behind, but never forgot. Trina wanted to pretend she was just like every other twenty-something person who worked at Pen, Paper & Beyond, even if she was nothing like them and was forced to live a life of slavery.

  Getting this job helped her feel a little more human. She wasn’t sure if it was because she actually enjoyed it, or because her coworkers and customers treated her the same way they treated each other. It made her feel like one of the human crowd, instead of a freak.

  Father Constantine and Tomas always spoke to her as if they had to be careful about every word they said. As if she was so delicate or deranged that one wrong word would tip her over the edge. Okay, she’d given them reason to behave that way. She wasn’t exactly stable, but only when it came to them. The Church, which she begrudgingly worked for, always managed to get on her nerves. Even if it wasn’t the priest’s and deacon’s fault, the fact that they were her direct line of contact meant she couldn’t help taking all of her frustrations out on them.

  Trina took a deep breath and released it, then she stepped out of the living room and into the adjoi
ning kitchen. The apartment she rented wasn’t big, but it felt like home—something many of the other hovels she’d lived in hadn’t. There was one bedroom, an okay-sized living room, a small kitchen, a bathroom, and a tiny laundry room with an old washing machine.

  It wasn’t much, but it was home. She’d signed a twelve-month lease on it a few months ago, with a clause allowing her to renew it on a monthly basis afterward, unless—or until—either party changed their mind.

  As she flipped on the kitchen light, she couldn’t help thinking about Brenna. Had the vampire intended to kill her? Of course he had. They never took a sip out of someone and then walked away. Most vamps liked to leave a mess behind, which never made sense to Trina. Were they intentionally trying to reveal themselves to the unknowing public? Or were vamps just arrogant bastards who thought they could do whatever they wanted, when they wanted, and get away with it? Either way, she was there to get them off the streets.

  At least Brenna had ended up leaving work an hour before the rest of them. Her parents had arrived at the store panicked and flustered, fussing over her as they walked out the door with her between them, muttering about taking her to the ER. Trina had then closed up with Millie and Zeke. Millie continued to moon over Zeke, who dutifully ignored her as he supervised Trina closing the register for the night. After that, he’d let Millie go and had taken Trina up to the storeroom so she could pick out a new sweater. She’d ended up grabbing three, which would come in very handy if stupid vamps continued to turn up at the store unannounced.

  Zeke had even offered to give her a lift home—several times. He’d said he worried about her walking alone at night, so she’d lied and claimed she was meeting a friend at the gas station across from the store. He’d grudgingly left, but not before he sat in his car and watched her cross the road. She had to wave before he finally drove off.

  He really was a sweet guy, and she couldn’t blame him for wanting to look out for her. To the rest of the world she looked like a petite, delicate woman who didn’t have any business walking alone down dark streets at night. But they didn’t know the truth. She was more than capable of looking out for herself, and prowling the streets, hoping to attract vampiric activity, was what she did best. Passing herself off as human was a lot harder than she’d thought it would be, though. This wasn’t the first time she’d given it a try, but it was the longest. She usually gave up after a day or two, but she’d been working at the store for over a month now.