Chapter Four

Emily put down her book, a battered paperback bodice-ripper from the hospital’s supply of donated literature. The print was too difficult for her to read right now, anyway. The red digital numbers under the silent television flipped from 4:59 to 5:00.

If her nurses were correct, Simeon Crow would be here within sixty seconds. He came every day at five and stayed until visiting hours ended at seven. She hadn’t known that the first three days of her stay in Pine Ridge’s small but very efficient hospital. Today, she’d been awake for longer periods of time, and two of the nurses informed her that she had an “admirer” who watched over her during evening visiting hours.

There were three bouquets of flowers in her room.

Had Simeon brought those?

She turned to look at each bouquet more closely, and pain raced through her, head to toe. She had asked them to take her off of the pain medicine this morning. They advised against it, but she was firm. Her father would never have allowed her to take a painkiller. Pain was for the weak. Van Helsings didn’t need to be coddled.

Her father would have given her the silent treatment for weeks, maybe months, for crashing the car when she was so close to the town where her quarry lay. Then for her to be “rescued” by the notorious Simeon Crow? That was dumb luck, and a skilled hunter never, ever trusts to luck.

Her father would have preferred her to be killed rather than rescued by a vampire. To him, that was at least honorable.

He’s gone. He can’t be mad at you anymore. Calm down.

A gentle tap on the door made her jump, and the pain walloped her. This was worse than when she’d been kicked out of the window. At least then she’d hit an awning on her way down.

“They said you were awake.” Crow poked his head in, flowers outstretched as if warding off evil, reminding Emily of the way she carried her cross in front of her when entering a vampire-infested area.

“Come in.”

Crow put this vase of flowers—pink roses—next to the others. All roses: white, red, yellow, and now pink. He caught her looking and gave a nervous laugh. “You’ll have to get better quick, Van Helsing, or I’ll run out of colors. The flower shop in town is titchy, hardly bigger than your room here.”

“Why are you here? Why flowers?”

Crow sighed. “You only came to Pine Ridge to tail me. It’s my fault you got hurt. I feel terrible about that, honestly.” He gave her an appraising, admiring look. “For you to find me in the dead of night in a blizzard coming back from a hockey game... You’re the cream of the Van Helsing crop, aren’t you?”

Emily said nothing. Let him think that had been on purpose, not a coincidence. She’d been heading to this town. That counted. “I have technology that my ancestors didn’t.”

The vampire nodded and sat in the padded beige chair by her bedside. “I heard about your dad. I’m sorry. It wasn’t me, you know that.”

“It wasn’t any monster other than the tobacco industry.” She shrugged. “He ignored symptoms until the lung cancer was in his liver, spleen, and even the fluid around his heart.”

“Oh. So it was cancer? I thought that might just be for the papers, you know.”

“Right.”

Why are we conversing like this? This is so messed up. “What do you want?”

“Uh. Well. To check on you, ‘cause I feel bad you got crushed and nearly burnt to death, and you’re probably facing a heavy increase on your insurance premiums. And also... To ask you to leave when you’re well enough.”

“Huh?” Oh, it wasn’t a shock that Crow wanted her gone. But it was unthinkable that he’d bring her flowers and politely ask her to leave instead of simply snapping her neck and sending her out with the garbage.

“When you can walk and function, you’ve got to get out of here. Go to the California Crossrealms. Go back to London. Berlin. I’ll pay for it.” He leaned close, voice low and urgent, eyes darting around the room. “Please.”

“What? Why?” She sounded like an idiot. A perplexed idiot. Snap out of it! Control the ground, the questions, the upperhand! “No. You want me to leave so you can prey on these innocent people in this nice little town—”

“No, I want you to leave so you don’t prey on the innocent people in this nice little town!” he hissed back, reaching into his pocket.

Emily tensed, but Crow only pulled out a newspaper and spread it out over her lap.

“You can see what most humans can’t. Look.”

Emily stared at the paper, but the fine print was too hard to read. The bold black letters of headlines were clear enough, but they could have been news items from any small town.

The Pine Loft Coffee Shop to Expand

Library Welcomes Pennsylvania Author to Speak about Paranormal Romance Craze

Police Department Celebrates K-9 Officer

Night Market Vendor Wins State Fudge Cook-Off

But the pictures...

Minotaurs. Orcs. Vampires. A ghost! Some more obscure monsters that she couldn’t make out simply by staring at the photos, but her woozy mind knew they were not human.

“There are mums and kids here. Monster and human couples. Little families who want nothing more than to have a happy life! I can’t let you stay here and hunt these people,” he whispered, an edge of pleading in his voice. “And so help me, if you try to hurt these little families, the monsters in this town will not stand for it. At that point, you’ll be the enemy, and they will remove you. For some humans that might mean being dropped off at the city limits, but you? With the way you fight and track and bloody well will not leave a man alone ?” His voice rose to an irritated shout, then fell like the crash of a wave, “You’ll fight, and you’ll get yourself killed, and I do not want that. So, please. Leave. Leave, so you don’t hurt them, and they don’t hurt you.”

“Why should I believe you? You’re Simeon Crow. You used to sign your name next to your victims in their own blood with a black feather quill—and leave it at the scene! You expect me to believe that you’re suddenly concerned about someone’s family?”

Crow leaned back, a dark smile playing on his lips. “I did do that, yeah. Jack the Ripper an’ all. It was time to be theatrical. Set myself apart from the ‘normal’ killers.”

Emily rolled her eyes and wished she hadn’t. Her temple throbbed, and she suddenly longed for a mirror. Simeon Crow was an evil, soulless thing that ought to be killed, but he was sinfully handsome with an air of lazy confidence that infuriated her.

And I probably look like one giant bruise.

I’ll stake him, then I’ll leave. Win-win. Where are my stakes? My hunting kit—oh, God, everything burned in the accident.

Crow was staring at her with watchful eyes, but when she didn’t reveal her thoughts, he continued. “You can look back on every death you attribute to me. I can prove they all deserved it. Murderers. Rapists. I remember this one bloke who ran an orphan asylum in Cheapside. I could hear the kiddies screaming from inside— Ooh. I ripped out his intestines and tied them around his—”

“Stop. If I throw up, I might die.” She’d seen worse. It was probably the concussion making her feel abnormally delicate.

He nodded. “I didn’t kill Anna Wharton, just so you know. I killed John Heatherington and his wife. She was just as much of a bully as he was, even to Anna, though she never complained about it. Never a sentence directed toward her without a slight attached. Sometimes I wondered if she even noticed it. She wasn’t overburdened by deep thoughts, Anna, but she was kind. I thought she was kind. I was furious at her, but all I wanted to do was scare her. Lilith was the one who—”

Emily pressed the buttons on the bed rail, easing herself more upright. “Lilith? The Lilith? One of the first vampires?”

“The very same. Well, at least, I assume she’s the one. I was only with her for two days, but oh.” The lazy smile rippled with something decidedly sensual. “They were two glorious days. The things she taught me... I told her I would take the Heatheringtons myself, but no. She tagged along and snuck in. She’s the one who killed Anna. I killed her for that. She looked so shocked. I think she assumed I wouldn’t have it in me, but... Well. That was a silly thing to assume when she was the one who taught me the beauty of letting one’s rage out to play. After that, I only killed the ones that deserved it. I never turned anyone, not a single soul. You ought to know that.”

“Yes, we know that. You never turned anyone because you preferred the kill. You were vicious. Ruthless.” She scooted farther back into the pillows. Her father had trained her to fight —and one of his methods was to tell her to fight like Crow— to be utterly vicious, to have no fear of pain.

If she allowed herself to question her father’s orders (which was also very much against the Van Helsing Code), she would have to admit it wasn’t the smartest move. Crow was immortal. She wasn’t. She wouldn’t heal like him.

But letting go of endless rules and training, to simply lose herself in the fight and the blood rush, to unleash hell on some monster was... So satisfying.

Emily’s eyes fluttered shut. She prayed Crow wouldn’t see the tinge of longing under her injuries.

Her prayers were answered. If anything, Crow seemed to be nervous, ready to defend himself.

He squirmed for a moment. “Well, imagine growing up weak and starved, with your mother to look after and no father about, always sick, always some little swot being pinched and pantsed by the other boys...” He stretched out his arms and flexed his fingers. Muscles rippled under the tight black shirt he wore. “This new body was a paradise. I was healthier dead than alive, love.”

“Don’t call me love. And you talk too much.”

“That’s another thing! I used to have this horrible, horrible voice, raspy and nasal at the same time. I sounded like a crow with consumption. Modern medicine would have popped out m’ tonsils and adenoids. They were probably the size of cricket balls from being sick so much as a kid. Death cleared that up, too!” He stared at her, and his voice turned soft and smokey, gliding over her skin like drops of perfume. “I’ve been told I have a very nice voice, nowadays.”

“Some vampires have the gift of thrall. You don’t.” She was firm and factual. No need to let Crow know that his voice was beyond nice. He could have narrated smutty books for a living.

Something jumped in her subconscious, and she jerked herself upright, ignoring the pain in her ribs. “Do you narrate books?”

“What? No! I... No. I don’t.”

“You do! You do narrate books!”

Crow slid back, shamefaced. “Shh! Bite your tongue.”

“You narrate that absolutely filthy romance series.”

“You listen to that?” Crow gripped the arms of his chair, face fixed in horror.

“I got a free audiobook sample, and I kept seeing ads for it.” Emily shrugged. And then I listened to the whole series while I was flying around Europe, trying to find this bastard.

“Well. I... I can do it from home during the day.” He swallowed hard and pushed himself out of the chair. “How much did you listen to?”

I listened to the scene where you had sex on top of a limo. Well, not you, but your character.

Do not think about Simeon Crow naked. Do not think about the way he read those scenes, the way he used his mouth, the dirty pillow talk...

She blinked and managed a weak shrug. “Not much. Like I said, there was a free sample.”

“Thank God. I don’t write those, you know. Just read them. I can do all sorts of accents. I’m good at languages.”

Mutual discomfort has been reached. Change subject. “So. You actually have a job? And a home in this town?”

“I’ve only been here a few months, so it’s not much of a home, yet. It’s a basement apartment. I soundproofed one room.”

Emily tensed. “Why?”

“To do the audiobook narration. You can’t have outside noises, or you’ll ruin the whole track!” He clicked his tongue against his teeth. “Get your mind out of the gutter, Van Helsing.”

“How about I heal, get better, and kill you? Then after, I’ll leave town without hurting anyone.”

To her shock, Simeon actually seemed to be thinking about it. “I can’t let you do that. That author lady, S.C. something, has a whole series plotted out, and I signed a contract. I have to be her narrator.”

“Dirty books are not enough reason for me to let you live,” Emily tried to cross her arms and decided it wasn’t worth the pain.

“So. You got to the point where it gets dirty?” The nervous edge left the vampire’s voice and was replaced with something sleek once more. “I didn’t think you’d like that sort of thing, Miss Van Helsing.”

“I don’t! I can read a book summary, you ass.” And maybe I like listening to someone’s fictional romance since I know I can’t have any for real.

“I see. Figures you wouldn’t like it. You don’t have a thing for the bad boys. You want yourself a monster-hunting knight in shining armor, don’t you?”

“Nope. I prefer my life free of romantic entanglements. Nothing and no one keeps me from my family duty.”

“All right, all right.” Crow held out his hands, palms forward in the universal “hold on a moment” gesture. “Look, you want to kill me, and I don’t want that. If you try to kill me, the townsfolk will rally round to stop you, and then you’ll get hurt. I don’t want that, either. I saved your life. Correction, four monsters saved your life—”

“Four?”

“Eddie, the paramedic, but shhh.” He waved her to silence. “How about a deal, Van Helsing? Don’t tell me your family hasn’t made deals with demons before, because I know that’s a lie.”

“It was once, one deal , and my great-grandfather was desperate. He still killed Dracula, though.”

“Yes, yes, tragic.” Another impatient wave. “You owe me your life. Fair is fair. You get to kill me the first time I intentionally harm a human—and I’m not talking about incidents like that woman who had to have a buzzing boyfriend surgically removed from her bum because she got too hot and bothered listening to me narrate a particularly ‘intense’ scene.” He stuck out his hand. “I mess up, you kill me—outside of town, where no one from Pine Ridge gets involved. But if I don’t mess up—you go on about your business and leave me to mine.”

“How would I know if you messed up if I wasn’t here watching you?” Emily demanded, staring at his hand without moving.

“Fair point. Okay, you stay and watch me, but you don’t bother me while I’m recording, and you don’t go after any of the harmless locals.” His eyes were suddenly sparkling red, and his fangs dropped down silently as he fixed her with a sinister smile. “If you kill one of these innocent monsters, I’ll come out of retirement just for you, Emmy.”

Something about the way he purred her nickname, the name only her mother had ever called her, made her insides shimmy and shift uncomfortably. “You expect me to just set up shop and live in this little town?” she demanded.

You don’t have a home anywhere else, I know that. Egon taught you to live out of suitcases and always be on the move. You might stay in a rental for a month or even a year, but home is your killing kit.”

Home is nothing but ashes. Emily swallowed a sudden painful lump.

To her shock, Crow came and perched on the foot of the bed. “There’s a minotaur here, Milo, and he makes amazing weapons. Don’t cry, Van Helsing. We’ll have you booted and suited again in no time. Erm. You’re probably going to need someone to look after you while you heal up, too.”

“I don’t need anyone.”

“Well, you’re in the wrong place for that. Once the people in this town know you need help, you’ll be adopted and casserole-ed within an inch of your life. It’s rather marvelous, really.” His hand snaked to hers and gripped her fingers, daring her to retreat or squeeze back. “Truce? No harm comes to you, and you bring no harm to others?”

Emily was forced to admit that she didn’t have many options at the moment. She wasn’t in a position to fight. She had no family left to help her heal. There was money in her bank account, but not much.

What else can I do? At least if I pretend to play along, he’ll stay in one place long enough for me to heal. I hope.

Her fingers clasped his, and she could feel three generations of disapproval joining the crushing weight in her chest. “Truce.”