Chapter 4

Viv looked around the library. It was quiet, but she swore someone was watching her. Grabbing her phone and her Taser, she decided to take a quick walk. She kept her steps light, trying not to make any sounds. She walked the entire library, looking in between the rows, checking behind tables and chairs. Nothing. She was the only one here. The shadows still seemed like they were watching her. Maybe she needed to ask D to come check out the library. She didn’t feel unsafe, necessarily, but it was a strange sensation. One that kept distracting her. As crazy as it sounded, it had a familiar presence to it.

She jumped, startled as her phone buzzed in her pocket. Good grief, she was working herself up over nothing. Grabbing her phone, she looked down. It was just the dating app. She sighed. The guy was handsome enough; not as handsome as Mac, her brain supplied. He wanted to meet up for drinks tonight. She clicked on his profile, noticing it was a little light on the details, although it looked like he worked locally as a mechanic. She supposed she could go after work and meet him at the bar. D wouldn’t have a chance to scan him, but she would let them know where she was going to be. It was a public place so it should be fine. Viv hit accept and put her phone back in her pocket. A breath of air tickled her neck and she spun around trying to find the source. Nothing. There was nothing there.

“Maybe I need this date more than I realized,” she grumbled. It was close to closing; she finished up the last of her duties before shutting down the computers and locking the doors. As she climbed into the car, she sent a text to Thomas letting him know she wouldn’t be home for dinner and that she had a date. She sent a screenshot of the guy and the location she would be at. They had done this for each other since college after one of their classmates had been drugged at a bar. Luckily, nothing had happened to her. After she had her drink, she had gotten into her car to drive home. She took out two mailboxes and remembered nothing when the cops found her car in her driveway the next morning, but the tox screen showed the date rape drug in her system. Since then, Viv and Thomas had decided to send pictures and locations of their dates to each other. It sounded morbid, but at least there would be something to go on if one of them had issues.

Pulling into the bar, she grimaced. It was packed, which meant that it would be loud and crowded. Not the best for getting to know someone. But maybe they could find a quieter corner or something, she thought optimistically. Pulling open the door, she saw the guy sitting at the bar, already with two drinks in hand.

“Mark?” she asked, coming up next to him.

“Viv? Hi. Have a seat! It was so busy in here; I already ordered us our first drink. I figured we didn’t want to wait a long time for the bartender to be free again.”

“Oh, thanks,” she said, sitting down. She was torn. Everything in her said not to drink it. That was drilled into her since she was a teenager: don’t drink something without a lid or you didn’t see poured, don’t leave your glass unattended and come back to drink it. She didn’t want to insult him either if there was nothing wrong going on. He could just be trying to be nice.

She sat, playing with the drink, but not drinking it yet, trying to decide what to do.

“Did you grow up here or move here?” she asked, trying to get the conversation started.

“I actually live about thirty minutes away. You?”

“I grew up here. I think it’s a nice town to live in. You’re a mechanic?”

“What do you do?” he asked, not answering her question.

“I’m a librarian. I enjoy helping people find what they need and helping kids learn to love reading.”

“You’re a big reader then?”

“I am,” she answered. “I’d rather read than watch TV most of the time. What about you? Are you a big reader? Or do you have a favorite movie or TV show?”

“I like the real-life crime type of shows. I find them interesting.”

“It is interesting to learn more about how people think,” she replied.

“Do you live close by or with anyone?” Mark asked.

Viv was taken aback. It seemed like a weird thing to ask. Maybe he was hoping for a hookup.

“I have roommates. My best friend and his boyfriend,” she replied.

“Ah. We can always go back to my place. How’s your drink?”

“Good,” she said, pretending to take a sip. “I’m just going to run to the restroom, I’ll be right back.”

Viv stood in line for the bathroom, sending a text to Thomas.

Date going iffy. Seems a little weird. Already had a drink ready, but maybe he was just being nice? Then he asked if I lived with anyone and suggested his place when I said yes.She typed out.

Her phone buzzed seconds later.

Don’t drink it and don’t go home with him. Could be innocent, but don’t risk it. Do you want D to port there and take a look at him?Thomas wrote.

Viv bit her lip. She hated dragging D away from Thomas for something that could turn out to be nothing. Not right now. If it gets weirder, I’ll send you a text and he can come then. Thanks. Love ya.

Love you too. Be safe.Thomas replied.

She took her turn in the bathroom and headed back to the bar. She hadn’t realized just how loud it was until she opened the bathroom door and was hit with a wave of sound. The bar had certainly gotten more crowded, and she had to squeeze her way between bodies to reach her seat.

Her date was standing, scowling, brushing his shirt off. His shirt and pants were soaking wet. The bartender was trying to hand him a towel, but Mark was having none of it.

“What kind of idiots does this place hire? Are you retarded? How hard is it to walk by and not spill something on me? Huh? Got nothing to say for yourself? Dumbass. You fucked up; I’m never coming back here and I can’t wait to tell everyone I know how shitty this place is. I should sue you for assault.”

“What happened?” Viv asked.

“This moron tried to hand me another beer and knocked over your glass, spilling it all over the floor. Then he somehow dropped my drink in my fucking lap. Guy’s a loser. Let’s get out of here; you can come back to my place to help me clean up.”

“Uh. No, thank you. Not tonight. I’m pretty tired after work. It was nice meeting you though,” she said. She understood being angry getting a drink spilled on you, but there was no reason to yell like that at the poor bartender.

“I should have known you were a cock tease,” he muttered as he stormed away.

Viv kept her mouth shut. Arguing that meeting for a drink did not mean she would be putting out would be a waste of her energy.

Turning to the bartender, she said, “I’m so sorry for this. Do you need any help cleaning up?”

“No, I’ve got it. Thanks. You weren’t even here when your boyfriend lost it, not your fault.”

“Oh! No! He’s not my boyfriend. This was a first date,” she said. She did not want to be associated with his behavior at all.

“Bad first date,” the bartender replied.

“Yeah,” she agreed.

“Do you need someone to walk you to your car?” he asked.

She almost said no, but when she opened her mouth, “Yes, please,” came out instead.

The bartender nodded, grabbing a walkie-talkie and said, “Need a safety escort.”

“Go to the front, check in with Bob. He’s the big bouncer at the front door. He’ll make sure you get to your car.”

“Thank you,” she said gratefully. At least there were some nice people out there still. Two out of two dates had gone poorly.

Bob was a big bald-headed man with large arms. He was dressed all in black and had the walkie-talkie clipped to his belt.

“Safety escort?” he asked.

When she nodded, he opened the door and followed her to her car. “Thank you,” she told him as she climbed in.

He nodded and waited until she shut her door and locked it before he walked back to the bar’s front door. He kept an eye on her as she pulled out of the lot.

That asshole. That complete waste of space. Mac was livid, his demon pushing to take his skin. Mac held on to his human form by sheer determination.

Knock it off,he told his demon side. We’re going to make sure she gets home safely first. Then we can hunt.

Viv’s dates had only impressed upon him that humans were trash. Date one had been a conceited, self-important prick. Date two was even worse. Mac had caused the drinks to fall on the man, hoping that it would end the date. He had been watching her in the library when she had gotten the date request. He had a bad feeling about it and had followed her there. The guy had had two beers sitting in front of him and had pushed one over to Viv when she sat down. Mac scoffed; he knew from D’s stories that she preferred wine. He had moved closer, wanting to hear what they were talking about. The guy had clearly lied on his dating profile. Those were not the hands of someone who worked with cars. As Viv held her drink, slowly spinning it, he had caught a scent and had leaned closer.

Focusing on the drink, he took a deep breath. The low-life piece of shit! Viv’s drink had something added to it, and he would bet it wasn’t anything good. A human wouldn’t be able to scent it, so she would have no idea. He kept a close eye on her, making sure she didn’t take a drink. When she finally raised the glass, he almost smacked it out of her hand, but realized she was faking it. He grinned when she excused herself to the bathroom. It was time to end this date and protect his m—his friend’s friend. Not mate. Nope. Not for him.

Keeping himself cloaked in shadows, he gleefully tipped over her drink, spilling it just so. It ran down the bar’s top to fall onto the floor. It was kismet that the bartender was standing there to give the guy another beer. Mac knocked it out of the bartender’s hand and directed it to fall on Mark the Prick’s lap. He felt a little bad for the bartender when Mark started going off on him, but as he scanned the man, he realized this wouldn’t get him fired since he was the owner. Good.

Mark kept going on his rant, belittling the bar and the bartender. Viv walked back in, her face showing shock and discomfort and a bit of disgust, he thought. He was happy when she told the guy no. He followed her and the bouncer to her car. Mac ported to the back of Viv’s car, making sure she got home safely. As she walked inside the apartment, Mac decided to pay her date a visit. He had a feeling this wasn’t the first time he had tried to drug someone.

He focused on the man, porting to a nice enough house. The landscaping could use some work, but it didn’t scream that the guy was evil. The man was inside, sitting on his couch. Mac sneered when he saw him sitting there, watching porn, his legs spread and his tiny dick out. Looking at the screen, he realized it was dark stuff. The lady was being raped, clearly drugged. As he looked closer, he realized this was a home movie, the guy had actually filmed himself doing this crap. The cops must not know about him, because this was enough evidence to put him away. The dick was jerking off to himself and his past crimes.

Mac grinned though. He wouldn’t be hurting anyone else after today. He would make sure of it. Letting his demon form take over, Mac stepped out of the shadows.

“Hello,” he said, his voice deeper, his eyes burning flames.

He let his grin expand as the man pissed himself. This was going to be fun.