The Darkest Kiss (Riley Jenson Guardian 6)

Beechworth. But how would he get that many people up there, let alone keep them contained? Beechworth was a good three-hour drive from Melbourne. There were eighteen teenagers in that school photo, which meant there could still be fifteen on Aron's hit list. That was a whole lot of people to hunt down. A whole lot of people to control.

And then I remembered the plate number I'd gotten from Ron Cowden. Young owned a van, and that could certainly carry a number of people.

"Let her go, Rhoan."

He glanced at me. "We got everything we need?"

"I think so."

He released her and stepped back. Vinny retreated to the safety of her chair, but her toga-clad fledglings didn't move to comfort or caress her. Quinn was still holding them immobile.

The scary thing was, it didn't even seem to be much of an effort.

"You are no longer welcome here," Vinny said, her gaze sweeping us and her eyes dark with anger. "Please leave."

I turned and followed Rhoan and Quinn toward the door. But as I neared it, Vinny added, "I could have been a powerful ally, Riley. It is a shame you have chosen the other path."

I turned to face her. "I have shared wine with old ones and dark gods. A young emo vamp is a long way down the ladder of the things I fear."

She smiled her cold smile. "It is good to know even guardians get things wrong."

"Oh, I get lots of things wrong, but there's one thing you should always remember." I met her cold gaze with one of my own, and saw something flicker through the brown depths. Just what that was, I couldn't say, though it wasn't fear. That scent had not been one she could claim through this whole event, even though it had been in her eyes. Which made me wonder if even that had been nothing more than an act. "I always bring down my enemies, Vinny. And you might want to consider whether you really want to be that."

And with that, I turned and walked out the door.

Chapter 10

That was a threat even Jack would be proud of," Rhoan commented, as we climbed back into his car. "Looks like he's going to make a proper guardian of you yet."

"Bite it, brother." I didn't even want to contemplate actually having to back up my words if Vinny decided to make trouble for us all.

"Where to next?" Quinn asked, as he started up the car and drove off.

"Beechworth, obviously," Rhoan said, then glanced at me. "If you believe what she said was the truth."

"I do. You want to ring Jack, and see if he can get us an address? And ask if he's had any luck with those names in Liander's photograph. I'll give the cow a call, and see if she can patch me through to the guy who used to be the cop there."

"You know," Quinn said conversationally, "for a woman who didn't want to be a guardian, you're sure doing a whole lot of guardian-type organizing."

"You can bite it, too, vampire."

"Oh, I have, and it tastes divine."

A smile tugged at my lips. "How about you concentrate on driving, seeing as we're going so fast?"

"Ah, but I'm old, and with age comes versatility. I can now manage to do two things at once. As I believe I demonstrated earlier this evening." He raised an eyebrow as he glanced at me. "You enjoy it, don't you?"

I smiled. "Sex? Vampire bites? Yes to both."

"You know what I mean."

I sighed. "Yes. There are still lines I won't cross, but I can't not do this job anymore. The thrill of the chase is highly addictive, I'm afraid."

"Oh, yes," Quinn said softly. "It can be very addictive."

The odd note in his lilting tones caught my attention. "You were a cop sometime in the past?"

"I was a cazador."