The Drinker of Blood

Chapter Eighteen

My heart nearly stopped as I came to my feet, my hands ready for violence, only to see Fallon standing beside me. There was a smile of pride on her face so large that it lit the room. She didn't seem to notice how severely she'd startled me, but instead threw her arms around me and planted a warm and wet kiss on my lips.

"I found you!" she said again.

"I ... how?" I asked.

"Just from things you said in your last notes. Was I not a great detective?"

In fact, she had been an admirable detective, and as we sat, I took a careful look around. Over the years, I'd developed a keen sense of knowing when people were watching me. That so-called keen sense hadn't exactly served me well that morning, so I made a point to redouble my effort. I absolutely refused to let my sordid business harm this young woman.

It had been some weeks since I'd arrived in the city, and this was my first time seeing her in person since then. Words can't describe it. This lass was a candle on a dark night.

We chatted about her life for a time. Things had gone well. She'd had several pleasant visits with her mother, reconnected with her closest friends, and had taken the first steps in finding a therapist to work out her deepest problems. I was happy for her.

She even was considering letting her young man back into her life. Apparently, he had informed her that he was going to learn martial arts. I refrained from pointing out that, unless the master at the dojo moonlighted as a transplant surgeon, joining a dojo was a waste of time. All the jujitsu in the world was no substitute for a missing set of balls. I kept my mouth shut.

Seeing her warmed me in ways I cannot express, but I wanted nothing more at that moment than to get as much distance as possible between Fallon and myself. Until this thing was over with my enemy, there was too much danger.

But how to explain that to her? How to hustle her away without hurting her feelings? Yes, go ahead and laugh again. But her feelings meant a great deal to me. So, for the moment, I relented.

She had a beautiful apartment in Hell's Kitchen, an area once squalid but now trendy, and I allowed her to lead me home. Did she hunger for my body? At least as much as I longed for hers. But I rather thought part of the intention of our late morning delight was that she wanted the neighbors to see her bring a woman home and to let them hear our raucous lovemaking.

And I strongly suspected she hoped news of our tryst would make it back to her hapless beau. There was that in her. You may think it ridiculous, but that little seed of wickedness was one of the things I admired about her most. It only highlighted her otherwise deep and profound goodness. For the next two hours, she took my breath away.

Afterward, as I prepared to depart, I was candid with her. I had not always kept the best company, I confessed. And an old acquaintance in the city wished me harm. He was a powerful man, both cruel and ruthless, and until I could sort out the affair, I asked her to be patient and to avoid my company.

To my dismay, that very notion seemed to excite her. But she promised that she'd stay away on the condition that she and I continue our notes and that I give myself over to her desires once my business with my enemy was done. How could I say anything but yes?

I'd taken an enormous risk spending time with Fallon that morning. My enemy's agents were everywhere, and I recently had drunk blood, which sometimes did strange things to my passions. But I left her home feeling happy and well balanced. I still wasn't certain how to deal with my enemy, but as I headed back toward the park at a brisk walk, I felt better able to focus. And I made some decisions.

I didn't want to burn the man's building to the ground. Such a move could too easily blow up in my face, so I would use that only as a last resort. I needed to lure the asshole out into the street. To do that, I needed to convince him that I was vulnerable, which meant letting him know that I was in the city—assuming he didn't know already.