"I never could sneak up on you, Ryan."
Jack stepped into the small circle of light and stopped. She lowered her weapon, but she didn't relax or reapply the safety. Not until she knew what the hell her partner was up to. Not until she knew whether he was with those other two she'd sensed. Trust was one thing. Complete stupidity another. "What the hell is going on? And why haven't you phoned Suzy or the department?"
He smiled, and there was something decidedly odd about it. "I didn't come here to talk about Suzy. Or the department."
There was a chill in his green eyes she'd never noticed before, an edge to his voice that spoke of violence. This was the Jack she knew — and yet, in many ways, it wasn't. "Why not? What are you up to?"
He smiled and lowered his gaze, silently studying the floor. She had an odd notion that time was running out, that this man, her partner, had come here to kill her. It was a ridiculous thought, it really was, but it was one she just couldn't shake. Licking dry lips, she raised her gun a little.
Just in case.
"There's a war about to begin, Ryan."
The abrupt sound of his voice made her jump slightly. She met his gaze squarely and saw in the green depths only death and determination. And felt no safer about his intentions.
"What sort of war?"
He shrugged. "A war in which man will play no part, and yet ultimately be the loser. The wise will choose sides."
She frowned. Since when had Jack begun speaking in weird riddles? "And that's what you've done? Chosen a side?" She shifted her feet a little, strengthening her stance. If Jack came one step closer, she'd fire, partner or not.
So much for trusting this man beyond all others.
He smiled his strange smile. "Yes. And now it's your turn."
She stared at him, wondering what was really going on. Surely he hadn't called her down here just to pick a side in some upcoming mythical war. "We're cops, Jack. We're supposed to be impartial and all that."
He snorted heavily. "Yeah, right. Tell that to someone who doesn't know the truth."
The cynical edge to his voice made her feel no easier. If there was one thing Jack had always been proud of, it had been his badge. "So why do I have to choose?"
"Because for you, there can be no standing in the middle. It's one side or the other."
She wondered if pinching herself would wake her from this weird dream, or make sense of what Jack was saying. "That doesn't actually answer the question of why me. I mean, why not the thousands of others who work for the department?"
"Most of them haven't your intuitive nature, or your determination to act on a hunch." He shrugged. "And we need more people who can move around in the daylight."
Right now, her so-called intuitive nature was telling her he was lying through his back teeth — at least when it came to the reasons for wanting her to join them. "Who are you actually working for, if not the department?"
She might not have spoken, for all the notice he took. "We could continue as partners," he added softly.
God, how deep did he think their partnership had become? "Sorry. Still doesn't appeal to me."
"That's unfortunate. Already, too many good men and women have gone missing."
A chill ran down her spine. He knew about the disappearances. Had somehow been involved in them. "I really think you should come back to headquarters with me — "
She hesitated. The odd, prickling sensation ran across her skin again, whispering dark secrets to her mind. She stared at Jack, her gaze widening. Her partner, and friend of five years, was the vampire she'd sensed earlier.
And that thing out there in the darkness, the creature she could not name, was with him.
He studied her for a moment, and then he sighed, almost sadly. "So, you know."
Her finger curled around the trigger, and it took every ounce of strength she had to resist the urge to shoot him. Not all vampires were evil — how often had he told her that? Certainly she had no evidence that Jack himself had crossed the line between good and evil, when he'd taken the step from life to death.
Only instinct, and the oddly ferocious look in his eyes, said that he had.
"But I don't know why."