Dancing with the Devil (Nikki & Michael 1)

"It was blood loss."

He gave her a quick, surprised look. “The creep cut her up?" "No. Her body was hardly marked, in fact."

"Nikki—"

There was no avoiding the subject. “She only had two marks on her body. A small cut on her wrist that was days old and almost healed."

"And?” he prompted, when she hesitated.

"Two small puncture marks on her neck.” She glanced across and met his brief, puzzled look. She must have given Michael the same sort of look.

"Am I supposed to read something significant into that statement?"

"Think, Jake. Blood loss ... Puncture marks?"

"Jeez..."

The car swerved violently as he jerked around in surprise. Swearing under his breath, Jake battled to get the vehicle under control then pulled over to the side of the road.

"Now,” he said, applying the hand brake before twisting around to face her. “Are you trying to tell me Monica was killed by a vampire?"

"Yes."

"A vampire ?” He stared at her. “You really believe Monica was killed by a vampire?"

"Yes. I saw the body, Jake. Apart from the puncture marks, the only other wound was days old and almost healed. Yet there was no blood, in or out of the body." He snorted. “Your psychic senses are now telling you how much blood someone has in their body? Give me a break, Nik."

She smiled grimly. “If you don't believe me, why not call your friend at the morgue?" He reached for the phone. She stared out the window, watching the traffic roll past. They really had to move if they wanted to save Trevgard from his daughter's anger.

"They never had a chance to perform an autopsy,” Jake said, as he hung up the phone.

"I'm afraid that's not the end of it."

"There's more?"

She nodded. “The walking dead."

"As in, zombies?"

Though his voice was flat, she could see the disbelief in his eyes. “As in. I think there are at least two running around."

"Have you been smoking funny weed or something?"

"You know I haven't smoked in years, Jake. Nor have I gone insane." He shook his head. “Psychic abilities I can believe in. Maybe even ghosts and extraterrestrials. But vampires? Zombies? No way, Nik."

How could she possibly convince him? He had to be ready for what they might face at Trevgard's tonight. And yet, if she hadn't seen Monica's lifeless body last night, she'd probably have a hard time believing it herself.

"You've trusted my intuition before, Jake. Please, just trust me one more time." He rubbed the back of his neck uneasily. “But Dracula's only a piece of fiction. And zombies ... well, I know some Polynesian Islanders will swear to their existence, but this is Lyndhurst."

"So how do you explain the lack of blood in Monica's body?"

"There's no evidence to back up your story, Nik. And how in hell would I know anyway? But it wasn't a vampire. It just wasn't."

"There's no other reasonable explanation."

"A vampire is not what I'd term reasonable. Hell, for all we know, we've got some nut loose who enjoys draining blood from his victims."

Which was an apt enough description of Monica's lover. “So how do you explain Monica walking out of the morgue tonight?"