Why was she sleeping in here?
Shrugging, he crept into the room. He drew a small brown bottle from his pocket, splashed a few drops from the container on a rag and placed it carefully over her nose and mouth.
She let out a startled gasp, took a few breaths, and went limp.
With a grunt of satisfaction, Trey 95 draped the woman over his shoulder and carried her across the dark street to where his car waited.
* * *
Vivian woke with a terrible headache and a horrible taste in her mouth. When a man opened the curtains, she squinted against the early morning sunlight.
The first rush of fear congealed in her stomach when he turned around. She was in a strange place with a strange man and had no idea of how she’d gotten there.
“I’m not going to hurt you,” the man said.
Somehow, his words of reassurance only scared her more. “What do you want?”
“The vampire.”
“Vampire?” Vivian shook her head. “What are you talking about?”
“The vampire! Don’t play dumb with me. He’s been living in your house. I want to know where he takes his rest.”
“In my house?” Vivian shook her head, and then her eyes widened. He had mistaken her for Callie. “It’s not my house. I don’t live there. I’m just staying there as a favor to a friend while she’s away.”
“Are you trying to protect him? Has he threatened you? Just tell me where he is and he’ll never hurt you again.”
“It isn’t my house! I don’t even have a house!” Vivian exclaimed and burst into tears. “I live in an apartment with a roommate. And I don’t know anything about vampires!”
Trey 95 studied her through narrowed eyes. “If you’re lying to me—”
“It’s the truth! I swear it!”
He came to stand beside the bed. Arms crossed at his chest, he hovered over her, his whole demeanor menacing. “So, where is she, this friend of yours?”
“I . . . I don’t know. She went away with her boyfriend.”
“The vampire.” He nodded.
Vivian felt a bubble of hysterical laughter rise in her throat. It was obvious she was in the hands of a madman. “I don’t know anything about vampires,” she sobbed, “except that they don’t exist.”
“Where did they go?”
“I told you, I don’t know.”
The man pulled a cell phone from his pocket and thrust it into her hand. “Call her and ask.”
Chapter 20
Callie stood in the kitchen, trying to decide what to have for breakfast, when her cell phone rang. Picking it up, she glanced at the number. Not recognizing it or the area code, she didn’t bother to answer, figuring it was either a wrong number or another telemarketer.
She looked down at the cat, who was twining around her ankles. “Do you have a name?” she mused out loud. Not that she’d ever had a cat who actually came when it was called by anything but “Kitty.” And not always then.
She would have to go to the store later, she thought, and pick up some cat food and a litter box, but for now, she dumped the leftover tuna in a dish, filled a bowl with water, and placed both on the floor.
With a flick of its tail, the cat took a dainty bite of fish.
“You’re welcome,” Callie said as she poured herself a cup of coffee. A look out the window showed the rain had stopped, though the sky remained gray.
Carrying her cup to the table, Callie sat down and watched the cat eat. “Are you here to stay?” she wondered. “Or are we just a port in the storm?”
Callie was still engrossed in watching her four-footed visitor when the phone rang again. She frowned when she saw the caller was the same one who had called earlier. “Persistent,” she muttered, and was about to disconnect the call when something prompted her to answer. “Hello?”
“Callie.”
Alarm skittered down her spine at the note of distress in Vivian’s voice. “What is it? What’s happened, Viv? Are you all right?”
There was a moment of silence, and then a deep male voice said, “Who is this?”
“Who is this?”
“You don’t need to know. I want the vampire. Bring him to me at your house no later than tomorrow night or your friend dies.”
Stalling for time, Callie said, “How do you expect me to do that?”
“That’s your problem,” the man retorted, and the line went dead.
Callie stared at her phone a moment. Other than the Knights, she couldn’t think of anyone who wanted to hurt Quill. But what was a Knight doing at her house?