“Why does one normally undertake the ceremony?” Amusement touched his green eyes. “I have no wish to die, Ryan. With the eve of the war at hand, I had no option but to cross over. Humans have no place in what is coming.”
Well, that, at least, explained his recent absence. While it took only a couple of days for a human to become a vampire, it could take anywhere between a week and a year for the newly turned to master the sensations and control the bloodlust that came with being a vamp. Some people never mastered it, and it was generally these few who were responsible for the rampages that sometimes swept the city. Given the relatively short length of time Jack had been missing, he’d obviously fallen into the lower end of the time and control spectrum.
The sensation of danger was becoming so strong her muscles were twitching under the force of it. She took a deep breath, trying to calm down. Yet if Jack were a vampire, he would know her fear, her uncertainty. Would hear it in the thunderous pounding of her heart. “So why call me here?”
“Because, as I said earlier, it’s your time to choose.”
“I made my choice long ago.” And her badge was all she really had. She wasn’t about to walk away from it, even for her best friend. “I intend to stick to that choice.”
Sadness briefly touched his eyes. “I’m asking you, as a friend, to join me.”
Her finger tightened reflexively on the trigger, and once again it was all she could do not to fire the weapon. “No.”
“One last chance.” He took a slight step forward. The touch of sadness in his eyes was quickly giving way to the certainty of death.
“One more step, and I’ll shoot.”
He smiled. “I don’t think so.”
Sweat trickled down the side of her face. “I mean it. Stay where you are.”
He took another step forward. “We’re friends, Ryan. Partners. You can’t shoot me.”
There was no humanity in his eyes now, only the promise of death. It was a look she’d seen before, and she knew it preceded an attack. “Please, Jack. Don’t make me shoot you.”
He raised an eyebrow. “You won’t. You can’t,” he said, and took another step.
She aimed low and pulled the trigger.
Through the booming retort of the gun, she heard his curse, heard him stagger away. She lowered her weapon, hit the panic button on her wristcom, and ran for the stairs.
Heat flowed over her, whispering secrets. The thing with Jack was after her, running swiftly and silently through the darkness. If it caught her, she would die, as the old man had died. Quickly, but horribly.
She grabbed the railing with her free hand and took the stairs two at a time. At the top, she hesitated and glanced down. A shadow flowed across the bottom step, then stopped and looked up. For just a second she found herself staring into eyes that were milky white and as bright as the stars. In them was a hunger unlike any she’d ever seen.
Get out, she thought. Just get the hell out of here.
She scrambled through the door and slammed it shut behind her. An inhuman roar followed her into the wildness of the night. She ran for the fire escape stairs, but the wind hit her with the force of a gale, thrusting her sideways. Somehow, she managed to stay on her feet and keep running. Behind her, the door slammed open, the sound like a gunshot ricocheting across the force of the storm. Swearing, she leapt onto the fire escape and scrambled down the slick metal stairs.
One flight down. The old man stared up at her, a grim reminder of her fate if she wasn’t fast enough. Onto the second flight. Was that a footfall? She didn’t dare look up; she just kept on running.
She hit the lower landing, then grabbed the rail and leapt over it. She landed awkwardly, and pain curled like fire up her leg. But she ignored it and ran for her car.
A sighing sound carried across the howl of the wind. She caught a hint of movement out of the corner of her eye, but before she could react, something hit her hard and flung her sideways.
She struck the ground with a grunt of pain, her weapon flying from her hand. She twisted, throwing punches at the heavy weight that had landed on top of her. His curses stung the night, and then he caught her hands, his grip like iron as he held her still. She found herself staring into eyes that were an odd, green-flecked hazel, and not entirely human.
Not Jack or the creature. Someone else entirely. Someone she hadn’t sensed.
“If you want to live, remain still and be quiet,” he ordered, his gaze burning into hers for a second before flicking away.
“Get the hell off me and I may consider it,” she muttered, twisting left and right in an effort to dislodge his weight.
“That creature hunts by sound and movement alone. Remain still, and we might escape with our lives.”
A soft snarl ran across the wind. She stopped fighting and turned her gaze to the fire escape. A kitelike shape leapt off the second flight of stairs and landed awkwardly near the boxes. It made several odd snuffling noises before turning blind eyes in their direction. Her fingers twitched, pressing the trigger of a weapon she no longer held. The stranger glanced down at her, his odd-colored eyes holding a warning.
It went again