Deadly Desire (Riley Jenson Guardian 7)

I slung my bag over my shoulder and headed for the back exit. The bouncer stationed there gave me a cheery smile as he opened the door. "Will you be all right out there at this hour? Or would you like someone to walk you to your car?"

"I'll be fine, thanks."

He nodded and stepped aside as I walked through. "Be careful, then."

I smiled and walked into the night. Naturally enough, it was raining and I didn't have a coat. I did have a woolly hat, and I shoved that on, tucking my hair underneath it and pulling it down over my ears. I did likewise to the sleeves of my baggy sweatshirt, although the material was pretty flimsy with age, and not exactly warm. Shivering, I crossed my arms and headed toward King street in the hope of finding a taxi near one of the nightclubs. If not, I could always head back down to Spenser Street and catch a bus, because the trains didn't actually run at this hour.

When I was out of earshot of the club, I pressed the button in my ear and said, "What a fucking miserable way to end a shift. Tell Jack thanks for not giving me a car on this one."

"Your character is not the type to own a car, Riley, and the Directorate cannot control the weather," Jack said dryly. "How'd things go in there?"

"Tryout went well, I earned lots of money, and they've asked me back on a permanent basis."

"Excellent. Did you learn anything?"

"We've hit the jackpot. One of the owners is the crow who's controlling the zombies, and the other smells the same as the magic I've sensed in our victims' houses."

"So we have a tag team of killers?"

"Most likely. I also found out that one of the owners runs 'specials' for certain vampire customers." I explained what apparently happened, then added, "I linked with most of the women working here tonight, and none of them have ever worked a special. To me it suggests that Hanna Mein is bringing in inexperienced teenagers to work the specials and somehow hook up with the vamps. Shore's girlfriend said he liked them young."

"Armel didn't mind it, either," Jack murmured. "Although I can't understand why they'd be killing the girls afterward. With the sort of money they apparently earned, they're not likely to say anything to anyone."

"But a dead seducer definitely tells no tales." And if Hanna and Jessica were behind the vamp murders, then they certainly couldn't risk even the slightest whisper getting out. It'd definitely kill the stripper business, not to mention them. The Directorate wouldn't be the only ones hunting these killers. Kye certainly was.

Jack grunted. "Anything else?"

"Yeah. Most of the managerial staff is wearing nanowires, and there's psychic deadeners in every room."

"The deadeners are probably used to stop vamp customers 'leaning' on dancers or staff to get that little bit extra," Jack said, a trace of amusement in his voice. Which suggested to me he'd done more than his fair share of "leaning" over his lifetime. "The fact they've got so many wires in one place is interesting, though. We've been making sure they're in short supply on the market at the moment, and the price is sky high."

"Which only means these women are in the position to spend big."

"And yet their financial records suggest that should not be possible."

"Unless they're getting their cash flow through other means. Like raiding the safes of their victims." I rubbed my wet arms and tried to ignore the water dripping off my nose. Neither was working.

"It would explain the robberies, but not the violence. Did you get close to any of those guarded doors Kade mentioned?"

"Had no legitimate reason to, and I didn't want to do anything that would raise suspicions on my first night."

Ahead of me, a door slammed and the sharp tattoo of heels echoed across the rainswept night. I stopped in the shadows, watching as a blond-haired women stepped out of the shadows and turned onto King Street. I didn't immediately recognize her, but her scent told me who it was soon enough.

Hanna Mein herself.

"Gotta go, Jack," I said softly. "I've just spotted one of our targets."

"Report back as soon as you're able."

"Will do." I clicked off the sound, then slipped off my stilettos, shoving them into my bag and padding barefoot through the cold, wet night. The woman ahead was moving quickly, her blonde hair barely visible in the thick furry collar of the coat she was wearing. The click of her heels rode across the silence-a sound that was punctuated by the occasional car roaring past on the empty street.

She turned left and marched toward Bourke Street. I dashed across the street, and followed on the opposite sidewalk. I couldn't wrap the shadows around me full time, thanks to the streetlights and the occasional car sweeping by, so there was less likelihood of her realizing she was being followed if I wasn't right behind her. Not that she was bothering to look around her anyway. She seemed more intent on simply getting to wherever she was going as quickly as possible. Not that I could blame her.

I swiped at the drips running down my cheeks and chin, but my sleeve was as wet as my face and really did little to remove the rain. My top was soaked and it clung to my skin like... well, a second skin. It was providing so little cover that I might as well have been naked-only that might have drawn too much attention from the cops who were always cruising King Street at this hour. With all the nightclubs in this area, there was always some kind of trouble for the police to hose down.

So was that where Hanna was heading? She was certainly moving in the right direction for the clubs, but the rail and bus station wasn't far away-though she didn't exactly look the type to take public transport. Certainly an expensive fur coat, whether it was faux or not, wasn't what any sane person would wear if trying to avoid either trouble or getting wet. Although if she was the one hacking away at the vampires, maybe saneness wasn't in her vocabulary.

We crossed Little Bourke Street and hurried on toward Bourke. The quick-click of the blonde's heels were now mingling with the base-heavy thump of music from the clubs farther down the road. She still hadn't looked around, which was odd if she was up to no good. You'd think she'd show a little more awareness of her surroundings...