Fangs of Fate (Untish #1)

Chapter 17

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

TATE

My phone buzzed, the ringtone blaring through the room. Blearily, I opened my eyes and realized I was on a gurney in the break room of the clinic. A glance at the wall told me it was two AM. I’d been out for over eight hours. Shit. I had mere hours until I needed to check back in at the Glenn. I really could give Chance a piece of my mind. But right now, it hurt too much; that was the weirdest blood withdrawal I’d ever experienced.

I reached for my phone just as it stopped ringing. Ten missed calls, seven of which were from Tim. Fan-fricking-tastic. I’d missed our date. He was going to be all insecure on me again, and I needed him focused. I needed intel.

He was a rookie detective and often was assigned the rougher cases, or the ones where the greased hands of law enforcement wanted the case dropped. Better give it to a newbie who didn’t have the connections or experience to close the case. Law enforcement at its finest.

He had rescued a victim or two, but the perps got off on technicalities…

Not enough evidence. Those bastards were always my personal favorites. Well, that and the domestic violence cases where the victim refused to press charges. Those really bothered Tim; they bothered me too, so much so that I wouldn’t be able to think of anything else until the monster’s blood was flowing nicely down my throat like a glass of rich merlot.

I punched Tim’s name and hit redial. He answered on the second ring.

“Tate?”

“Hey Tim, I’m so sorry I missed our date.”

“Are you ok?” He was always the Good Samaritan with his first area of concern for me.

“I’m fine, I just passed out last night. I think I’ve been working too hard and haven’t eaten enough. But I just woke up on a cot in the break room here at the clinic.” I willed my voice to sound calm even though my nerves were on edge. I still hadn’t fed for close to thirty-six hours and the hunger pains were gnawing at me. I needed a meal—warm and fresh.

“When’s the last time you ate? Did you have a doctor look at you?”

“I don’t remember. And yes, Ferrari took my blood last night when I started feeling ill, just to be safe…”

“Thank God. Keep me posted, there’s still so much we don’t know about the VOFS virus and if you have it, we’ll need to get you treated right away.”

Ah yes, the VOFS virus. Humans still believed their missing population from a little over fifty years ago were slaughtered by a blood-borne virus, i.e., vampires. It was said that if you had two fang marks on your body, you needed to be tested right away as those were the first symptoms of the ‘virus’. After the no-kill law was placed into effect along with blood bags, vampires stopped the slaughter and humans had recovered…well relatively recovered. There were still human lines missing.

“I know, I really don’t think it’s that though,” I assuaged him.

If he only knew.

“But you work with blood, Tate, you know I wish you’d quit there. It’s not safe and they don’t pay you nearly enough.”

I massaged my aching temples. Not this again. “Tim, we’ve had this conversation before. I like where I work. I’ll be fine, I promise. Can we reschedule for tonight?” A long pause on the phone told me he was worried about the virus and getting infected. “That is, if my results come back negative.”

“Of course, I’d love to. Keep me posted and if there’s anything I can do.”

“I will. How’s work going? Anything crazy?”

“Not really, just the usual.”

“Any news about Tony Gari?”

Tim sighed heavily into the phone. “He was released yesterday; can you believe it? Judge let him out on bail. His trial date is set for two months from now. Two months.” I could hear him grinding his teeth. “Sometimes I wonder what the point is in our justice system. I mean, I’m likely to be sent on another call dragging another body out of the river that we all know Gari is behind it, and yet I can’t do anything about it. I mean, what’s the point?” His tender heart would get him killed one of these days. And yet, I shared his sentiment.

“Any idea if he’ll skip town? Or is he stuck under observation?” I needed an address. Taking down a mobster was on my list, but it had many risks with it. Too many moving parts for me to tackle as hungry as I currently was, I needed to think clearly.

“No idea. I mean, technically he’s supposed to stay in city limits, but with his underground system, it’s impossible to make sure. I just can’t believe the judge released him. If I didn’t know better, I’d say…” He heaved another long sigh into the phone. I could practically hear his heart pumping blood into his enlarged neck veins that were likely bulging.

“Say what?”

“I shouldn’t say it.”

“Tim, it’s me you’re talking to. If you can’t share what’s weighing on you with your girlfriend, why have one?”

“Damn, I love you.”

I cringed at his use of the ‘L’ word.

“I mean it, Tate, you know me so well.”

“As you do me.” I tried to sound sweet and hide the strain I felt in just saying the words. I really didn’t want to string him along, but the system worked. He unknowingly provided me my perps and he definitely reaped perks from this relationship.

“Yeah, I know my little cold case hunter.” He laughed a dry chuckle. “I suspect Judge Rollins is in Gari’s pocket. He let him out on a criminally low bail and then set a delayed court date. No required surveillance, no ankle monitor, nothing. He’s treating him like he’s a first-time offender, not the known crime lord that he is. It makes me sick, Tate.”

And just like that, I had my next target.

Glancing at the clock, I had just two hours before I was expected back at the Glenn. It was early, but Judge Rollins was an early bird who liked to stop at Raised Roasters for his morning donut and coffee before heading to the courthouse. I just hoped today was no exception.

Naturally, he lived in the nice part of town. His house cost just over one-point-five million dollars. After an in-depth search on the black web using my encryption disk, thank you Shae, I could tell he just bought a two-million-dollar vacation home in the Bahamas—last week. Following the recent transfer of funds to his account, I located an offshore account that was, to my delight, connected to none other than Tony Gari. That was all the proof I needed.

I parked around the corner and then jogged down the block to his home. After jumping the ten-foot fence, I slunk into the shadows and waited. My left leg throbbed from the landing, if only gravity could be fooled. I waited behind the detached four-car garage for thirty minutes in the crisp morning air. It was getting bright out, but thankfully the large willow tree still offered me enough coverage and shadows to hide in. At last, I heard the screen door slam shut. Show time.

The judge was a stout, fat man and quite frankly, delicious looking. The perfect butterball. I waited for him to approach his vehicle and pull out his keys before I struck from behind. One arm wrapped around his swelling mid-section and the other yanked his shoulder to my mouth. I sunk my fangs into his jugular and began a quick draw. He struggled, but I pinned him to the ground, using leverage to keep him in place. He thrashed and bucked, dug his nails into my forearm breaking the skin, until at last, he stilled—paralyzed by my venom.

I pulled and pulled, savoring each drag of blood while simultaneously desiring more. The hunger was more intense than I could remember. It was almost as bad as the first time I fed when I was a teen—the need beckoned me to continue, to drain his life force and then some. I was lost in the melody of his blood, the thumping of his heart as it pumped the rich iron into my mouth.

It held the sweetness of a dessert wine and was slightly fatty—not my ideal flavor, but right now it didn’t matter. His blood coated my tongue and my throat, floating within practically as my body began to hum. My vision intensified and I didn’t just see the individual drops of sweat dripping from his fattened throat, but I could see a glow…slowly exuding from his body and being drawn into my hand. Flowing in an odd gold-tinted river. It was enough to startle me from my euphoria.

I released my fangs from his throat and removed my hand. The body lay unmoving on the ground, but the gold aura flowing from him didn’t stop, it continued to get pulled from his corpse and was flowing into my hand—my now shining hand. What the hell?

I jumped backwards but it didn’t stop the flow or the building sensation I could feel under my skin. It burnt, but pleasantly so; this was something I’d never experienced before. The tingle in my limbs intensified even as I could feel pressure building and then releasing in me, like an adjustment at the chiropractor. I waved my hands, willing the pull to stop, but nothing stilled. The golden aura just continued to flow, increasing in strength even as my distance from the body increased. Snap! The body seemed to sink in on itself. The judge was long gone.

I was in way over my head.

Panic began to seize my mind as my entire arm glowed brightly, blinding me temporarily, and then abruptly stopped. The corpse before me was dried out, almost husk-like, and my hand was just a hand. What the hell just happened? The corpse looked different from enthrawment, it wasn’t purple or shriveled in a series of wrinkles, but…it looked similar. All the moisture had evaporated, and the muscle left was little to nothing. The skin appeared to be suctioned onto the bone—no visible fat remained.

I closed my eyes and exhaled. This would all make sense, Fletch would fill in the dots, I was certain of it. First, however, I needed to deal with this body. Quickly.

I threw his body in the driver’s seat, strapped his seat belt on, and then turned the engine over. Shutting the door, I drew out my gun, added the silencer, and began firing rounds into the car’s gas tank until, at last, it exploded, and fire erupted consuming the car. That’ll do.

Leaving the scene of the crime, the smokey haze followed me, clouding my mind. Whatever was happening to me needed to be sorted out ASAP. President Dale could never know.

I hopped the fence and began jogging down the street. A certain eeriness settled in—I wasn’t alone. I could feel eyes on me but couldn’t see them. I was used to being the predator this side of the Veil, not the prey. I looked around, scanning the nearby houses, cars, yards. Nothing. Just an overactive imagination I assured myself…

And yet, deep down I knew it was a sugarcoated lie that I’d have to deal with eventually. I just hoped I’d have time to figure out my shit before whatever or whoever was watching me became an issue.