"And will the ranger be there?"
"No. He's staying at the Wheaten Hotel."
"Good."
She chuckled softly. “For a man who doesn't trust, and who claims to have no interest, you're acting a little proprietary."
He was, and he had no idea why. “You appear to be the only decent woman in this town. I have no wish to see you hurt, that's all."
Her eyes twinkled almost merrily in the darkness. “Then you'll accompany me to my new lodgings?" His gaze went to the surrounding hills. Dunleavy was out there somewhere. As was Kinnard. If he was escorting this woman, he wouldn't be out there finding them and exacting revenge. But, on the other hand, she appeared to have at least some of the answers he needed. Answers that just might help in catching the fiend.
He met her gaze again. “If you promise to answer my questions."
"I'll answer them, but I don't promise that you'll like or understand the answers." More riddles. This woman could have been vampire trained. He glanced at her house, noting there was no movement or life inside. “It's safe,” he said, stopping at the door. “I'll wait here." She didn't argue and was back within a few minutes with two heavy bags. He grabbed them both, slinging one over his shoulder and carrying the other. “Where to?"
"Five houses down from the corner of King and Prospect." Which was about as far away from the center of town and the drunken miners as you could get without straying into the hills. At least he wouldn't have to worry about louts harassing her while he was off hunting Dunleavy.
They walked through the dark streets in silence, though the night itself was far from quiet, with the miner's revelry singing through the darkness.
The ranger's house was in better shape than most in this town, though like the rest of the houses on this street, it could have used a good coat of paint. He followed her up the steps and stopped.
"I cannot go inside,” he said, offering her the bags.
"The ranger gave his permission for you to cross his threshold.” She opened the door and tossed the bags inside.
He raised his eyebrows. “I'm not sure it works secondhand."
"There's only one way to find out.” She stepped to one side and waved him through. He frowned, but walked forward. Nothing slapped against him with the force of a hammer. Energy did caress his skin as he walked through the door, but it was a warning that the barrier was in place, nothing more. And at least it meant other vampires could not cross this threshold without invitation. He walked into the middle of the room and turned around.
"I have lived several hundred years and never knew an invitation could be granted from a distance." She smiled as she closed the door and flicked on a switch. Brightness bit into the gloom. “Proving that even old vampires can learn something new.” She picked up one of the bags and made her way toward the dust-covered table. “You want to take off your shirt so I can tend to that wound of yours?"
"I came here for answers, not medical help."
"So you'll get your answers while I tend to the wound.” She patted the back of a chair. “Sit."
"I will not sit, and I do not want the wound tended. Why did you say that woman resembled you when she obviously did not?"
She sighed and gave him the sort of look a wife would give a stubborn husband. “Because this is not my natural form. I'm using magic to cover what I truly look like."
"Yet you said your magic won't work in this town."
"This type of magic does."
He studied her, not sure whether to believe her or not. “I feel no magic."
"Yet it is here, working. On me and on you."
The woman was definitely mad. Either that or she was trying to drive him insane. “There is no magic at work on me."
"No?” She raised an eyebrow, her gaze challenging. “Care to test that?"
"How?
"You take off your shirt, and I'll take off mine."
His gaze swept down her lush form, and longing surged through his veins. He clenched his fists against need and said, “Did Dunleavy send you here to seduce me? Is that your game?" She rolled her eyes. “If I wanted to seduce you, I think I'd be offering to show you something a little sexier than my back."
Back, front, it didn't matter. It was a part of her and innately seductive. “So you're not trying to seduce me?"