"A cafe is too public," he said, the amused glitter in his eyes suggesting he suspected the direction of my thoughts even if he couldn't actually read my mind. "Here, at least, I could ensure no one came near enough to disturb us, or see the state you were in. Anywhere else, I might have raised suspicions."
Meaning, of course, he was using the old mind-lock trick to keep people out of the room. "This place is usually pretty full, even on a Sunday. That's a fair amount of control you have happening there." More, in fact, than even Gautier had. It was an almost scary thought
He considered me for a moment, then said, "And yet, despite that one moment when you were in pain, I am not able to touch your mind at all. That suggests a considerable amount of power on your part."
"I work with vampires. Believe me, I need to know how to block you guys." I paused. "If you were following me, why the hell didn't you try and stop that madman?"
"Because I wasn't sure what he was up to until he pulled out the gun. Despite popular opinion, vampires are not faster than a speeding bullet."
I half grinned. "So you couldn't read him either?"
He raised a hand. A thin wire hung from a fingertip. "He was wearing a shield against psychic intrusion."
The nanowire was the latest development in nanotechnology for the protection against psychic intrusion. I didn't know how it actually worked, but I did know it only worked when the two ends were connected, and that it was somehow powered by the heat of the body. It wasn't yet available to the general public, and the Directorate was fighting to keep it that way. A lot of their information gathering came via psychic means
And if that werewolf had a wire on, he obviously had either government or criminal connections, because they were the only ones who currently had them
"Not being able to read him must have pissed you off."
"A little."
More than a little, if his expression was anything to go by. My grin became full-blown. "So what did you do when he shot me?"
"What do you think I did? I killed him."
Which was the vampire's answer to any problem - kill first, ask questions later. It was an okay solution if the problem happened to be someone who'd undertaken the ceremony to become a vampire, but pretty much useless with everyone else. The truly dead couldn't answer questions. "And the body?"
"Unfortunately, your attacker fell into the path of an oncoming train. Services were delayed for some time while police investigated."
"And, of course, they will find no indication of murder."
"Of course." He studied me, and despite the amusement touching the corners of his eyes, his expression still held a lot of wariness
He didn't entirely trust me, but hey, that was okay, because the distrust was completely mutual. He might be who he said he was, but as yet, I had no idea if he actually knew Rhoan
"Have you any idea why that wolf tried to kill you?" he added
I shrugged. "Shit like that happens all the time." Though admittedly, I'd never heard of a werewolf shooting a fellow wolf before. "We're shot at almost as much as you vamps."
In fact, most humans considered us one step down the ladder from vampires - thanks mostly to the many werewolf movies produced by Hollywood over the years. As a general rule, werewolves did not go crazy and hunt down humans with the full moon. Those who did were quickly dealt with within the pack. And it was extremely, extremely rare that victims of such attacks became wolves themselves - generally because few humans survived such attacks. But of the few who did, the change came only if there was wolf in their background anyway. But humans, it seemed, still preferred the Hollywood myth over reality. Or maybe vampires were just deemed sexier than someone who turned into an animal every full moon
"Have you seen him before?" he asked. "Scented him?"
I shook my head
"So how did he know you'd be coming home at that time? And why would he shoot you?"
"If you had bothered to question him before you killed him, we might actually have those answers."
He didn't react to my none-too-subtle dig. "Is it possible someone is trying to kill you?"
"That guy sure seemed intent on it."
He grimaced. "I meant, have you pissed off anyone lately?"
I grinned. "I'm a werewolf."
He nodded, his face solemn but a smile touching the corners of his eyes again. "In other words, yes."