Embraced By Darkness (Riley Jenson Guardian 5)

"It may be connected to a missing persons case I'm investigating. I'm just covering all the bases."

"Oh, I'm sure you're doing more than that, wolf girl." She sniffed. "I'll send whatever I can find."

"You're such a darling, Sal."

She all but snarled at me. I chuckled and hung up. In that instant, I felt it again. The cold chill of evil. An evil that hungered to kill, and rent, and tear, not talk.

I swung around, and saw it. Not the thing I was sensing, but the car. It had veered across several lanes of traffic and was coming straight at me. I had a brief glimpse of dark hair, thin features, and a grin of sheer delight before I was diving out of the way. I hit the concrete hard, rolled to my feet, and ran for the nearest street pole, my heart racing quicker than my feet. The roar of the car engine didn't get any closer. Instead, the car bounced off another and continued on, scattering pedestrians as it continued down the footpath before swerving back out into the traffic. I didn't bother chasing it. I might have vampire speed, but that car was moving way faster than I ever could, the driver weaving in and out of traffic like a madman.

I dusted the dirt off my hands and knees, then got out my phone again.

"This really has to stop," Sal said. "You might enjoy hearing my dulcet tones, but I have better things - "

"Fucking shut up and put me through to Jack," I said.

"He's in a meeting - "

"I don't care. Put me through."

She muttered something under her breath, then the phone made odd noises as she patched me through.

"This had better be important, Riley," Jack said. "I was in a meeting with the director - "

"Someone just tried to run me over," I snapped. "And I think whatever is killing these people might be following me."

I heard a chair slide back, then footsteps as Jack walked out of whatever room he was in. "Okay, explain."

"Remember the truck yesterday? Well, today it was a car. I caught a glimpse of the driver and I didn't recognize him. It wasn't accidental - he was aiming for me. I got the plate number."

"Give me it, and I'll do a check."

I gave him the number, then said, "It'll probably be stolen."

"No doubt Now tell me about this thing following you."

I blew out a breath, and leaned against the street pole. "When I went to the first murder yesterday, there was a sense of evil lingering there. A gloating sort of evil, if that makes sense. It faded, so I figured maybe it was either my imagination or some leftover emotion I was sensing. But I felt it today at the second murder, and again now, just before that car tried to mash me between its wheels."

"Do you think we're dealing with a vampire?"

I hesitated. "I don't know. In some ways, it feels like I'm sensing emotions rather than anything real or solid."

"And you felt it before the car came at you?"

"But not before the truck. I don't think whatever it is I'm sensing is connected to the run-over attempts, if that's what you're thinking."

"Can you feel it now?"

I hesitated, and looked around. The air was rich with exhaust fumes, gas, humans, and eucalyptus - not my favorite scents, but better than death any day.

"No."

"So you can't positively say it's not connected, then."

"Other than the feeling that it's not, no I can't."

He grunted. "I'll talk to Cole, see if he noticed anything unusual that didn't make his report. In the meantime, you be careful."

"Don't worry," I said dryly, "I have no intention of damaging the Directorate's investment."