He offered her a half-smile. “You might get to kill some vampires tonight.”
“In the line of duty, I have no problem taking out bad guys, no matter what species. And don’t let my looks fool you. I’m not squeamish. Plus, I can use my killing power to bring down just about anyone, if needed.”
Connor repressed a sigh. She’d just reminded him why he should be keeping his distance.
An odd expression crossed her face and her gaze drifted up into the night sky. “Connor, we’re not alone.”
Connor picked up his holster from off the grass and drew his Glock into his hand. He bent his knees and tilted his head to also look up into the sky.
Christ, what now?
~ ~ ~
Iris could feel the vampire hovering but saw nothing in the dark sky. She drew close to Connor, his sudden intensity like a wave of heat flowing over her.
Vampires could partially disguise themselves from her kind, but she wondered if Connor would be able to get a visual of a fellow creature. “Do you see anything?”
“No,” he said quietly. “But you’re right. He’s there.”
A moment later, the sensation passed. She always knew when Connor left and it was the same now with this new intruder. “He’s gone, isn’t he?”
“Yep. He took off.” She watched Connor clip his holster back on his belt then slide the gun inside.
“Who do you think it was? Were we followed?”
Connor shook his head. “I haven’t a clue on either count. But he was probably connected to all the other events tonight.”
“I have an idea.” She put her hand on his chest. “Take me into the air right now. I want to try something.”
“Is this a witch thing?”
She nodded. “Yes. You okay with that?”
He offered a half-smile. “With you, I am.”
Iris’s heart swelled, loving that he trusted her.
Connor moved her to his left side, then lifted her onto his boot. When she had one arm wrapped around his neck, he drew her tight against his side. “Do you feel secure like this?”
She ignored her racing heart. “I’ll get used to it.”
With his right hand, he palmed his Glock once more, then rose slowly into the air. “Let me know what you want me to do.”
She put her free hand on his chest for balance, but forced herself to watch her garden recede. “Keep going,” she murmured. “Higher, until I tell you to stop.”
She said nothing more for thirty feet, then forty. But another few yards and she could feel the disturbed quality of the air. He must have felt it as well because he halted at about the same time she told him they’d gone far enough.
“You feel it too?” she whispered.
“I do.”
She closed her eyes and focused on all the sensations still floating in the air. After a few seconds, she shivered.
“What?”
“I feel him, Connor. Though he’s gone, he’s left behind a sense of himself. He’s very dark and angry and there seems to be a kind of madness in him. And he’s powerful. But there’s something more. He feels familiar to me. Someone I met, but not recently. I just can’t quite figure out who.”
A moment later, she shook her head. “It’s gone. You can take me back to the garden. Also, there’s something critical I feel I must do before we leave.”