To her surprise, it was an African-American woman, and not a man, who set the helmet down before her on the bike's gas tank and unzipped her jacket. Extremely gorgeous, she was slender but muscular, with medium brown skin and a flawless complexion. She wore her jet-black hair in braids that were pulled back into a ponytail.
"Acheron," she said in a singsong Caribbean accent. "Where should I park me ride?"
Ash indicated Decatur Street behind him. "There's a public lot on the other side of the Brewery. I'll wait here until you get back."
The woman's gaze went to Tabitha, then Selena.
"They're friends," Ash said. "Tabitha Devereaux and Selena Laurens."
"Sisters-in-law to Kyrian?"
Ash nodded.
"I am Janice Smith," she said to them. "Nice to meet friends of the Hunters."
Tabitha was sure that was a play on words that stemmed not so much from Kyrian's last name as from his former occupation of being a Dark-Hunter-one of the immortal warriors like Janice and Ash who guarded the night against vampires, demons, and rogue gods.
Janice started her motorcycle and roared off.
"New Dark-Hunter?" Selena asked before Tabitha had a chance.
He nodded. "Artemis transferred her here from the Florida Keys to help Valerius and Jean-Luc. Tonight's her first night so I thought I'd give her a tour of the city."
"Need any help?" Tabitha asked.
"Nah. I got it. Just try not to stake Jean-Luc again if you meet up with him."
Tabitha laughed at his reference to the night she had inadvertently met the pirate Dark-Hunter. It had been dark and Jean-Luc had grabbed her from behind in an alley while she was stalking after a group of Daimons. All she had seen were fangs and tallness, so she had struck.
Jean-Luc had yet to forgive her.
"I can't help it. All you fanged people look alike in the dark."
Ash grinned. "Yeah. I know what you mean. All you soul-full people look alike to us, too."
Tabitha shook her head at him as she continued laughing. She wrapped her arm around Selena and started toward Decatur, where Selena had left her Jeep across the street.
It didn't take long to get her sister home and situated with a very hesitant Bill, who wasn't sure if Selena would rack him again or not. Once Tabitha was satisfied that Selena would be okay... and Bill, too... she headed back to the Quarter to patrol for Daimons.
It was a relatively quiet night out. She followed her usual habit of stopping in at the Cafe Pontalba and getting four plates of red beans and rice with Cokes to go, then taking the meals down to an alley off of Royal Street where many of the homeless were known to congregate. Since the city had decided to crack down on vagrants and the homeless, they weren't nearly as prevalent as before. Now they, like the vampires she sought, kept to the shadows where they were forgotten.
But Tabitha knew they were there and she never let herself forget about them.
Tabitha left the food on an old rusted barrel and turned to leave.
As soon as she reached the edge of the sidewalk, she heard people scurrying for the food.
"Hey, if you want a job-"
But they were gone before she could get anything more than that out.
Sighing, Tabitha headed down Royal. She couldn't save the world, she knew that. But at least she could see to it that some of the hungry were fed.
With no real destination in mind, she wandered down the lonely streets and browsed in the jewelry shop windows.
"Hey, Tabby, killed any vampires lately?"
She looked up to see Richard Crenshaw coming toward her. A waiter at Mike Anderson's Seafood, which was just a couple of doors down from her own store, had a bad habit of coming in whenever he got off work and hitting on the strippers who ordered custom-made costumes from her.