“Looking for you.”
I nodded. “Do the words ‘needle in a haystack’ mean anything to you? How did you find me? This is a big city.”
“When I put my mind to something I can accomplish a lot.” He grinned. “Plus I saw Amy a minute ago.
It’s her birthday the day after tomorrow, you know.”
“Well aware.”
“Actually, the motel I told you I was staying at isn’t that far from here. It’s not bad, really. Soda machine just down the hall. Total luxury.”
I hated to admit it, but I’d really missed Quinn when he’d been gone. It was only for a couple of weeks,
but he’d definitely wedged his way into my life in the short time that I’d known him. And he’d had a rough time of it, too. Even worse than me, if I had to admit it. All his life he’d spent under his father’s thumb, traveling from town to town with the rest of the hunters, taking down vampires.
Then he’d been made into one very much against his will.
And just before he died, his father had confessed that he was responsible for Quinn’s mother’s murder—instead of her being killed by a vampire as Quinn had been led to believe since he was just a kid.
Yeah, Quinn’s life had been one lie on top of another, on top of another. And now it was all tied up with a pretty bow of soul-wrenching guilt from his past deeds.
Despite all this history and pain, all I could think about, standing here in the middle of the sidewalk facing him, was how it had felt to kiss him in my dream.
I shouldn’t be dreaming about kissing Quinn. Not with everything else going on.
No way. No how.
I shook my head as if to shake out the mental image and turned around one more time looking for Janie.
“It’s so weird. I was just talking to somebody and she disappeared.”
“Like magic, disappear?”
“No.” I frowned. “Like she waited for my back to be turned so she could escape from me. But, since she’s one of my bodyguards, that wouldn’t exactly fit the job description. I’m not that annoying, am I?”
“Truthfully?” His grin widened, then slowly disappeared as a frown swapped places with it.
“Bodyguards? What do you need bodyguards for?”
I cleared my throat. “Mostly to keep me from getting killed.”
“No, seriously.”
“Actually, I’m being totally serious.” I let my shopping bags rest on the sidewalk for a moment and scanned the general area for any sign of Janie or Lenny. Neither was anywhere to be seen.
I told Quinn everything. Absolutely everything, from the rumors, to Nicolai’s offer, to my damn apartment blowing up, to my currently MIA bodyguards. I let it out in a long tirade that left me exhausted just by saying it, let alone living it.
Actually, once it was all out, I felt a bit better. It was like verbal therapy.
I looked at Quinn to get his reaction. His face was red, his expression tense. “Why are you walking around on the streets? You should be inside somewhere safe, instead of . . . ” He eyed my bags “You’re shopping ? Why the hell are you shopping at a time like this?”
I bit my lip. “Thierry gave me his credit card to buy some new clothes, since all of mine have gone up in smoke.”
His expression darkened and he swore loudly. “That son of a bitch. What the hell is he thinking, letting you expose yourself like this?”
I stiffened. “Well, for one thing, nobodylets me do anything. I make my own decisions.”
“Do you?” He glowered at me and let a long breath hiss out between his teeth. “Sarah, don’t take this the wrong way, but you’re being a total idiot.”
My eyebrows shot up. “Gee, why ever would you think I’d takethat the wrong way?”
“Dammit, Sarah. I’m seriously worried about you. Thierry obviously isn’t worried enough.” He looked around. “He’s the real idiot. Maybe more than that, if you ask me.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“The reason I was looking for you . . . ” he hesitated and glanced around our general surroundings at a few people passing us by like we were nothing out of the ordinary. He adjusted his sunglasses. “There have been five highly suspicious murders in Toronto alone in the past week. Bodies drained of blood.
Puncture marks on the necks. Same MO as a few cities I’ve visited the last couple weeks. Two were hunters. I recognized them when I snuck into the morgue last night. Two were human. One, I’m positive,
was a vamp. But an old one. Nothing much left once the bastard finished his meal.”
I frowned. “Why haven’t I heard anything about this? Hold on, you snuck into the morgue?”
“The police will try to keep it out of the papers until they have some leads. They obviously don’t. And they won’t. This guy is good. He’s wandering around taking whatever he wants, whenever he wants it.
Probably has been doing the same thing for hundreds of years.”
I shifted my weight to my other foot, feeling uncomfortable just thinking about something so terrible.
“And you said you’ve been looking for me, because?”
He licked his lips before he continued. I couldn’t see his eyes. “Where was Thierry the night before last?”
I actually laughed. “You can’t honestly believe he had anything to do with this.”
Quinn shrugged. “I originally wanted to talk to him to see if he could hook me up with some of his informants. But then I got thinking. I’ve read some interesting things about your boyfriend’s long life. He hasn’t always been a cranberry-juice-drinking nightclub owner, you know. I’m not ruling out any suspects.”
“Yeah, well Columbo, you might want to check out this Nicolai guy who just came to town. Thierry says he’s a dangerous elder vamp. He does look a bit shifty.”
“Oh, Thierry says that, huh? Well it must be true then.”
I gave him a look. “I’m not even going to have this discussion with you.”
“So he was with you the night before last?”
“That’s none of your business. Look, Quinn, I know you’re trying to be helpful. But Thierry’s a good man. Almost too good, if you ask me. He hired bodyguards to keep me safe till all of this blows over.