Fire Within - By Ally Shields Page 0,17
in jail isn’t guilty. Police didn’t find a gun. Without a weapon, I find it hard to believe a human could kill a vampire. Who else wanted Jules dead?”
Rayden frowned, staring into the night. She gave a short laugh, a sound without humor. “Oh hell, are you thinking it was me? You’re so wrong.” Her voice lost its edge. “Not Jules. Never. He was my mate.”
“A mate who chose another woman,” Ari prodded.
“For now.” The vampiress gave her an arrogant tilt of the head. “I was pissed all right, but I got over it. The bitch is human. She’ll get old and die, and Jules would be back. I could be patient.” She drew the cigarette smoke deep into her chest. “Thought there was plenty of time.”
“The threats didn’t sound like you got over it. I heard Jules had to tell you to stop.”
“What threats?”
“Writing in blood, harassing phone calls. I call those threats.”
Rayden laughed again, dry, raspy; it caught in her throat. “A little fun. Jules asked me not to scare her, so I quit. That’s all there was to it. He knew I’d wait for him.” Rayden lifted her shoulders in a slow shrug.
“Did he have other enemies?”
“What kind of question is that? Everyone has enemies. But Jules wasn’t the aggressive type. We even argued about it. He needed more backbone. You’re wrong looking for his killer among the vampires. We don’t use man-made weapons, especially guns. We take…a more personal approach.” She flicked an ash away. “If it’s not the bitch’s brother, then look for another human killer or maybe one of the lycanthropes. They like their guns.” She threw the butt down and ground it out with the toe of her shoe. “I’m really sorry I don’t know who did this. If you find out, give me a call. I’d be happy to dispose of him for you. It would give me something useful to do.”
Rayden’s eyes flashed with the need for violent release. She was definitely angry enough to kill, but Ari wasn’t certain if the anger was fueled by Jules’s death or by his desertion.
“Damn,” Lilith muttered as soon as Rayden stalked back into the bar. “Wouldn’t want to have a serious tangle with her. Happy I didn’t know Jules.”
“She’s furious, but why?” Ari asked. “If Jules had turned Lorraine, made her one of them, she’d be around forever. Rayden would have been permanently out in the cold. She says she wouldn’t kill him, but I wonder.”
Lilith shook her head. “She’s too possessive to let him go. Now if it was the human girlfriend who was dead…”
No doubt about that. Ari wasn’t so sure Lorraine was safe even now.
Chapter Four
By dawn the next morning, Ari was concerned about her own safety. Not the physical kind, something much worse. Her fingers trembled as she dialed Rosalina’s number. She had woken just minutes earlier in a cold sweat. Disoriented. Heart pounding. Andreas had visited her dreams again, only this time he’d beckoned and whispered her name. Ari shivered, remembering how she’d reached a hand toward him, wanting to go. A part of her knew better, and the inner struggle had saved her, waking her in time.
“Answer the phone, Rosalina!” She huddled on the bed; arms clutching her knees against her chest, phone trapped to her ear by one shoulder. This was beyond nightmare. Whether to be bound to him by magic or fate—it was unthinkable.
Rosalina answered on the fourth ring.
“I have to see you.” Ari heard the desperation in her voice and took a steadying breath. “Soon.”
“Arianna? Is something wrong?”
“I’m having dreams.”
“Of a man?” Rosalina chuckled. “About time.”
“It’s not what you think.”
“Oh? Then why are you calling me?” Rosalina asked shrewdly. “Don’t tell me Ramora’s story frightens you? Aren’t Guardians fearless?”
“No. I don’t know. Just tell me when I can see you.”
Rosalina stopped the questions, no more teasing. They agreed to meet that night at dusk, the night of the full moon, when the seer’s powers would be strongest. The best time to petition the Goddess for answers.
Ari curled back under the covers, but sleep eluded her. She didn’t want to talk with Rosalina. But she had to know the worst, didn’t she? What if it was true and she was bound for life to a vampire? What on earth would she do then? She lay and thought about it for a long time.
Maybe she could kill him.
* * *
An hour later, as dawn was breaking, she struggled into the shower and turned the water toward