Full Moon Rising (Riley Jenson Guardian 1)

"I'm guessing it's even more annoying to discover you'd been overwhelmed by mere humans."

"Most definitely."

Amusement flirted with his mouth again, and my heart did the old flip-flop. Time to retreat, before I did something daft - like take this vampire's bait

"Listen, I have to get ready for work. Would you like a coat or something? The weathermen reckon it's going to rain later."

A sensual smile flirted with his lips. "I appreciate the offer, but vampires do not feel the cold."

"Maybe not, but you're making me cold just looking at you." Which was actually the opposite of what was happening, but he didn't need to know that

He shrugged. "If it makes you feel better, then I shall accept the coat."

I rose and grabbed one of Rhoan's coats from the back of the door. At least Mrs. Russel's heart wouldn't go into overload if she did happen to see him. And as much as I liked pushing the old cow, I doubted whether we'd get another apartment this large or this cheap so close to the city

After closing the door, I dug through the baskets of clean clothes until I found a suitable skirt and shirt to wear. Once I'd ironed them, I got ready for work. Quinn was still sitting in the hall when I left to walk down to the station

The train was packed, and, as usual, I spent the entire journey with my nose pinned against the glass, trying to get some fresh air from the cracks between the panels to combat the almost overwhelming scents of humanity, sweat, and perfume

I squeezed out at Spencer Street Station and walked the block to the green glass building that housed the Directorate. After going through the security scanners, then submitting my hand for print scanning, I took the lift down to the basement levels, stopping at sublevel three. If the ten levels above ground were the public face of the Directorate - the areas that worked mainly by day, receiving the initial reports of crimes by nonhumans, processing the minor offenses, and doing other basic stuff like documenting reports of new vampire risings - then the five below were the heart. They were the area the public knew little about. There we tracked down, and took care of, the nastier stuff - the nonhumans who raped and killed and sucked dry. And we worked twenty-four hours a day, even if the majority of the guardians only hunted at night

There were only one hundred of us down there, and seventy of those were guardians. The other thirty were officially known as guardian liaisons. We worked mostly on rotating eight-hour shifts, and our duties were basic but far from simple - nothing could ever be considered simple when dealing with vampires. We checked and processed information about the more serious crimes, gave the guardians their assignments once the sun had set, made their reports legible once the night was over, and kept the guardians who were in residence during the daylight hours supplied with food and drink

Of course, most humans still thought vampires were forced to sleep during the sunlit hours, but that was a fallacy - and one most vampires were more than happy to perpetuate. Sure, most vamps couldn't go out into direct sunlight for fear of being fried, but that didn't mean they were comatose, either. Vamps didn't need to sleep any more than they needed to breathe. If vampires did sleep, then it was done either as a leftover habit from their human years, or out of boredom

I was one of only three females doing the job, and the other two were vamps. Guardians weren't the easiest of folk to deal with, and only those capable of protecting themselves were assigned duty there

Jack looked up from his computer screen as I walked into the room and gave me another of his toothy grins. "Morning, darlin'."

"Morning, Jack." I stripped off my jacket, plopped down on my seat, and looked into the security scanner. My iris was checked, identity confirmed, and the screen snapped into action. "You been here all night again?"

"What else would an ugly sod like me do?"

I grinned. "I don't know - get a life, maybe?"

"I have a life. It's called the Directorate."

"That's sad. You know that, don't you?"

"I prefer to call it committed."

"As in, should be committed."

He smiled. "Got your report. Nice job."

"Thanks. Any word from Rhoan yet?"

"Not yet." He glanced at his watch. "But it isn't nine, and your flatmate is never on time anyway."

I knew that well enough, and normally it didn't worry me. "Are you going to start a search if he doesn't report in?"

"Not immediately, no."

"Dammit, there's something wrong."

"We only have your gut instinct telling us that. And even then, you say it isn't serious. Forgive me, Riley, but if it isn't serious, it isn't enough to blow his mission."

Frustration surged through me. I blew out a breath, lifting the hair from my forehead. "Then I'll just have to do a little looking of my own."