In the Witching Hour Read online

  Adrian let his breath go. "It would seem Veronique’s brother has finally come to avenge her."

  "Veronique? The woman you were involved with hundreds of years ago?"

  He nodded solemnly. "Apparently, Gaston still blames me for her demise."

  "But you loved her!"

  "I loved her more than life itself. I would have given anything to save her. Even my own life."

  "Assuming that this could possibly be this Gaston person after all these years, why would he blame you for his sister's death?"

  "Apparently he received some ... misinformation." Adrian studied the darkness outside the car window. "I can only imagine from whom."

  "That Moira woman?" Frazier asked.

  Adrian smiled grimly at his turn of phrase. "Without a doubt. And I think I know how old Gaston came to be alive half a millennium later."

  "She made him a vampire." The detective was silent for a moment. "But you said she was dead."

  "Oh, she’s quite dead," Adrian reassured him. "But she had a long life, and she devoted most of it to causing other people pain."

  They were quiet for a few moments. Suddenly Frazier said, "Good God, Adrian. Is this mess all to do with you?"

  He nodded grimly. "So it would seem. Moira and I left the Caribbean and came to the new world. We found that the great lakes offered lots of hiding places and opportunities to continue our trade. It only makes sense that Gaston might look for me here."

  "Assuming you haven’t changed your ways," Frazier asked.

  "Yes," he agreed. "Assuming that."

  * * * *

  It turned out Gaston wasn't in Frazier's book of mug shots. Adrian closed the last volume. "Not here." He glanced up at the detective. "Who knows where he's been lurking all these years."

  "Is it even possible to photograph a--" Frazier glanced around at the quiet office. "One of your kind," he finished.

  Adrian bit back a laugh. "Sure, it's possible. But we try to avoid it. Photography can be dangerous to those who don't age."

  "I can see why." The detective studied Adrian's reflection in the office window. "So all that stuff about crosses and garlic and not casting a reflection is untrue."

  "A lot of rubbish. And kindly don't try the silver bullets, either. They'd hurt, but they wouldn't slow me down much."

  The detective didn’t seem to appreciate his attempt at humor. "So if we're going to stop this Gaston guy, we're going to need you." Frazier put the thick book back on the shelf. "But if we've got nothing on the guy how are we going to track him down?"

  "That shouldn't be a problem," Adrian said. "Now that he knows where I am, he'll come for me."

  "We have to keep Kiana out of this," Frazier said.

  "I agree."

  "She doesn't know what you are?"

  Adrian shook his head. "I didn't tell her. All she knows is that I have a shady past. And this is an acquaintance from my misspent youth." That was true enough, he thought. She didn't need to know any more. He had no business involving her in supernatural matters. And who knew what a detective would do with that kind of information? It was dangerous to say the least. Dangerous to all of his kind.

  "Call him out," Frazier suggested.

  "It's worth a try. I'll put the word out through my connections on the street that I’ve got a new ship, I’m back in business and looking to settle an old score. Hopefully, he'll come gunning for me. " Adrian glanced up at Frazier sitting behind his cluttered desk and contemplating the depths of his coffee mug. "Do you think they'll assign you another boat?"

  "It won't be easy to convince them to trust us with another one," he admitted. "But I'll do what I can."

  "What about Kiana?"

  Frazier hastily downed the cold remains of his coffee. "I'll go lean on the Chief to convince his daughter to take that holiday time." He didn't look like he relished the task.

  * * * *

  As the sun bled the last of its life across the horizon, Adrian stood on the prow of another hastily disguised police boat. The craft was moored off the shores of Hanlon's point mere feet away from their last encounter. He'd sent an email to the address Gaston had been using. He had no idea if the vampire would show.

  On the city side pier Frazier paced nervously. The island blocked his view of the nearby mainland, but during their last radio conversation his sensitive hearing had picked up the repetitive slap of the detective's shoes against the cement. At least Kiana was safe. Frazier had gone all the way to the Chief to get his daughter signed off on vacation. She wouldn't like it, but at least she'd be safe at home and she wouldn't be in danger of finding out any more of his secrets.

  Adrian stared into the darkness, hoping Gaston would show himself soon and at the same time praying he wouldn't. He didn't want to be reminded of his time as a pirate or of the beginning of his long slide into depravity.

  A rustling in the bushes behind him on the shore sent him whirling to face the intruder.

  "Hi," said a voice. Kiana emerged from the brush. "Permission to come aboard, Captain Black?"

  "You're not supposed to be here."

  She smiled, her teeth glinting white in the darkness. "I know."

  Adrian strode to the starboard side of the boat. Gripping the rails he treated her to his very best glower. She looked delectable standing there all dressed in black like a cat burglar. He wanted to scoop her up in his arms and lay her out on the deck and make love to her under the stars, but he'd called out a vampire pirate, one with a brutal score to settle. If Gaston thought he could destroy his life by murdering the woman he loved, he would do it knowing it would cause Adrian untold pain to watch her die. Just as Gaston had been forced to watch Veronique perish. It wasn't his fault, but Gaston had spent the last five hundred years thinking it was.

  "You have to leave Kiana," he said. "This pirate has a score to settle, and I don't want you involved."

  "I'm already involved," she insisted. "It's my job to be involved. And I have no intention of getting hurt."

  Adrian leaned over the railing. Part of him was delightfully glad to see her. The other part wanted to yell at her. "Kiana, I don't doubt your skill as a detective. But you don't know what we're dealing with here."

  She opened her mouth to protest, but just then they heard the purr of a nearby motor. Kiana glared up at Adrian. "Are you going to let me board, Captain Black, or do I have to swim."

  "You can't swim," he reminded her. "All the more reason you shouldn't be here."

  "It's my case," she said through clenched teeth. She glanced in the direction of the motor. "And we're running out of time."

  Cursing fluently under his breath, Adrian brought the boat in closer to the shore. "How did you get here?" he whispered, reaching out a hand to pull her aboard.

  "I took the last ferry."

  "You've been hiding here ever since?"

  "Like I said, it's my case."

  * * * *

  The sound of the motor grew closer. Adrian maneuvered the boat out of the cove and out onto the lake. Catching sight of him, the pirate brought his own boat in closer and extinguished the lights. For several moments they floated quietly with only the lapping of the waves against the hull to break the silence.

  "Gaston!" Adrian yelled. "Show yourself. I know it's you!"

  There was no response from the darkness.

  For a moment they waited in silence. A motor started up. Out of the darkness a boat careened toward them. Adrian gunned the motor. The momentum threw Kiana off balance and she fell to the deck. But she had her feet back under her in seconds.

  A shadow roared past them. Adrian maneuvered the police craft out of the way just in time, but the wake tossed them about, making moving difficult and unpredictable.

  Circling around, the cabin cruiser came at them again. A wave splashed over the deck, drenching them both. Adrian tried to evade its onward rush, but he couldn't move the craft fast enough.

  Belatedly, he felt a rush of air. A shadow sailed toward him. He glanced up just
in time to catch Gaston mid-leap. Too late he raised his arm to ward off the attack. Sudden impact sent him sprawling on the deck. The vampire’s abandoned boat soared past them, rushing into shallow, weed-ridden water at the island's shore.

  As Adrian struggled against the vampire’s weight, he heard the crackle of the radio from somewhere off to his right. "Strachan, report in!" Frazier's voice.

  He wanted to answer, but arms like steel beams pinned him to the deck, stealing his attention. Adrian looked up into dark eyes filled with hatred.

  "Well, if it isn’t Adrian the Black," Gaston snarled. Against the sky his eyes were a pair of black, bottomless holes. His top lip curled back, exposing his fangs.

  Behind him Adrian heard Kiana gasp. That small sound of amazement and horror drew Gaston’s attention.

  "Ah, another young woman," he murmured in his native French. He raked his gaze over Adrian, and then switched to heavily accented English. "So much like my Veronique." For a moment his hatred was replaced by a look of utter sadness. "And so foolish to be associating with the likes of you."

  "Look Gaston," he said, trying to sound reasonable in spite of being throttled. "I can only imagine what you've been told, but Veronique's death wasn't my fault."

  "You lie!" Gaston snarled back at him. "And you will pay."

  There was nothing he could say to change Gaston's mind, he realized. He shuddered to think of what Kiana was making of all of this.

  Adrian wrenched his neck to see Kiana still staring at Gaston. He’d heard her startled intake of breath when she’d spied Gaston’s fangs. Now faced with the blatant evidence that vampires existed, she was trying to find a rational explanation for it. He didn’t have time to explain, he had to get her away from Gaston.

  "Get out of here, Kiana," he yelled. Gaston’s hands closed around his throat, attempting to choke off the rest of his words. "There are lifejackets under the seats. They’ll keep you afloat," he managed to rasp out.

  "Who is Veronique?" she asked softly.

  "Go!" he tried to tell her, ignoring her question. There simply wasn’t time to explain. Gaston bent his head toward his throat. His fangs gleamed in the moonlight.

  Kiana’s gaze flickered from the nearby shoreline to the radio lying just beyond Adrian’s reach as she debated which was the safer bet--calling for back-up or risking another midnight swim.

  Faced with dealing with the impossible, she relied on her instincts as a police officer. Drawing her gun she yelled, "Freeze!"

  Gaston laughed low in his throat. "Oh, so feisty. I will drain you to the brink of death and then you will watch me kill your human lover. You will take the sight to your grave for all eternity."

  He should have been more diligent about feeding, Adrian thought with regret. Refusing to drink human blood and all this masquerading as a human had left him weakened. Gaston apparently had no such scruples.

  Helpless to reply, Adrian felt the burning bite of Gaston's fangs. His mouth moved in a soundless moan. Gaston sunk his teeth deeper, anything to heighten the pain. Adrian's entire body jerked.

  He heard the pop of Kiana's service revolver. The bullet hit Gaston squarely in the chest, but the vampire was too far gone with blood lust to care.

  "Is that gunfire?" he heard Frazier ask through the radio.

  "Send back-up!" Kiana shrieked and fired again.

  The bullet hit the vampire in the shoulder, but his grip on Adrian didn't weaken. His leg shot out, kicking the radio into the water where it sank like a stone. He heard Frazier yell something unintelligible before the water swallowed the sound.

  Losing blood rapidly to Gaston's fierce swallows, Adrian fought to keep his grip on consciousness. Sounds came from far away. He felt as if he were lying at the bottom of a very large pit. Is this what his victims had felt like while he had merrily drained them of their lifeblood? It seemed like fate intended to pay him a very cruel joke. Of all the ways he thought he might die, being drained to death by another vampire hadn't been one of them.

  Kiana fired her gun again. Gaston raised his head, loosening his grip on Adrian's neck. The vicious look he shot Kiana said he'd enjoy doing the same to her while a dying Adrian watched.

  "Kiana get out of here!" Adrian tried to yell. He barely recognized the weak sound as his own voice. "Bullets can't kill him. Save yourself."

  "No way," she yelled back and fired the gun again.

  Gaston uttered a roar of challenge in response.

  "What will kill him?" Kiana screamed back. But Gaston had renewed his attack on Adrian and he couldn’t find the strength to answer.

  The entire world seemed to be shrinking into the tiny piece of dark sky that was all he could see beyond Gaston's head. For Kiana's sake, Adrian fought for that last hold on his life.

  He heard her feet scuff across the deck. Her gun fired again. He heard wood splitting and her grunt of effort. Something dark rushed past him.

  Abruptly Gaston shrieked, an inhuman sound like an animal in pain. Letting go of his prey, he lunged for Kiana. Adrian noticed a shard of wood sticking out of his back just below his heart. Weakened beyond what he would have thought possible, Adrian levered himself unsteadily to his feet. Using the railing for support, he threw himself in the direction Gaston had taken.

  The vampire had almost reached Kiana. With the last of his strength, he lunged for the other vampire. They collided. Gaston went down under his dead weight. Fumbling, Adrian managed to lift his hand and pound the stake in further.

  Gaston screamed again, louder and more horrifying this time. Dark red vampire blood spurted from the wound. It ran across the deck in a thick streak, gleaming black in the moonlight. The vampire jerked once. He uttered a wet gurgling sound, then fell silent.

  "Is he dead?" Kiana's voice seemed to float on the night air.

  Adrian gazed up at her, marveling that she could look so lovely coated in Gaston's blood with her short hair sticking out at odd angles. Her clothes were ripped and smeared with dirt, but he would treasure this last glimpse of her forever. Assuming there was a forever for his kind.

  "I think so," he said. He could barely force the words past his bruised throat. "But we must be sure."

  Kiana glanced at the body lying on the deck. "This is going to be very hard to explain..."

  Consciousness started to drift away from him. He heard the waves lapping at the shore. The sound seemed to be urging him to float away with them. But he couldn't leave Kiana without an alibi.

  "Drive the boat into the weeds. With a lifejacket, you ought to make it to shore from there. Douse the boat with the gasoline from the can beneath the console." He nodded in the direction of the captain's chair. "That way you can tell them Gaston rammed the boat and it caught fire."

  "What about you?" she demanded.

  "Leave me," he whispered. "I'm not going to make it anyway."

  "Yes, you will," she insisted. He tried to object, but the call of the darkness was far too strong.

  Burning boats seemed to be a theme in his life, he thought with grim humor. A distant memory of a subway station engulfed in flames drifted through his mind. Fire in general seemed to be his curse.

  * * * *

  Pieces of burned timber floated on the water in the harbor. Standing on the dock Adrian looked at the remains of his ship and his life. "Veronique," her name crossed his lips like a prayer. A prayer to a God he had forsaken.

  A piece of charred lace drifted on the tide. It wrapped around the wooden posts of the pier. Lying flat out in the light of the setting sun, he reached beneath and retrieved it. It was singed, but not completely burned. He looked at the damp square of lace in his hand. Veronique's handkerchief. Pain like a red-hot poker seared his chest. He'd tried rebuilding his life and putting his evil deeds behind him, and all he'd succeeded in accomplishing was an innocent woman's death. The good life simply wasn't for him, he decided. Tossing the handkerchief back into the cleansing sea, Adrian turned away from the harbor and back to the eternal darkness that was his fate. />
  * * * *

  "Adrian!" Someone shook him hard.

  He opened his eyes to find Kiana bending over him. She shook him again. He tried to stay in the moment and failed.

  "Adrian!" The anguish in her voice brought him back. Beyond her left shoulder he could see the dull glow of a boat on fire. Damp clothes clung to her body and lake water slicked her hair to her head. "Hopefully Frazier heard my call for back-up and help is on the way."

  "No!" he managed to croak out.

  "You need help. You need to go to a hospital."

  "The hospital can't help me." Every moment was a painful exercise in endurance. He just wanted to fade into the seductive blankness that beckoned. With any luck there wouldn't be anything else waiting for him on the other side.

  "But you're injured," she insisted.

  "I'm dying. And no amount of medical science can save me." He met her anguished gaze. "I'm far beyond the realm of science of any kind."

  Something stirred in her eyes. A faint hope. "I know."

  She said the words calmly. Most people would have run screaming, but not his dark-haired detective. Even faced with the unbelievable, she was willing to meet it head on.

  "I know what can save you," she said softly. With one hand she pulled the collar of her wet t-shirt down, exposing her neck.

  "Don't!" He turned his head away. In his weakened condition the promise of her blood was unbearable. He wouldn't be able to control himself. He couldn't count on stopping before he'd drunk every drop in her body. Not to mention that once his saliva had contaminated her bloodstream, he'd have to turn her, or she'd die. "It doesn't work that way," he managed to choke out. "It would kill you."

  "But--," she started to say.

  "Don't grieve for me, Kiana. I'm more than deserving of my fate. Trust me, you don't want to be like me."

  She hadn't so much as mentioned the word vampire, he realized. Perhaps she was having a harder time handling it than he suspected.