Serafina and the Silent Vampire by Marie Treanor Read Free Book Online Page B

recent had been forty or so years ago, when a group of curious young men had set themselves up as vampire hunters. Having made a few kills in Vienna, Toulouse, and London, more from luck than skill, they’d discovered Blair in Edinburgh, at his lowest ebb. They’d had no idea what they were dealing with, but Blair, sensing a lazy way out of his own insufferable boredom, had let them follow him from the stone folly of Calton Hill to his home. He’d even left the door open for them.
    Despite their ineptitude, they’d have killed him eventually. Only Ailis, his maker, had appeared from nowhere, and Blair had had to fight after all to protect her. Ailis had been pleased by that, so pleased that when three of the four men lay dead, she’d hit him with her demand. That he look after the vampires here while she traveled in the Pacific.
    Like most things Ailis did, it had been part selfish and part caring. She’d forced a purpose on him while leaving herself free to do as she liked. And in time, sorting out the odd territorial dispute and instilling occasional discipline in vampires who threatened the community through indiscretion, he’d got back a modicum of peace and comfort.
    Until this fiasco.
    Ignoring the front of the big glass office building, Blair went around the back to the underground car park. He noticed a rather beaten-up old Citroën parked close to the barrier, facing the main road, as if the driver, a respectable middle-aged lady who looked plain wrong in such a vehicle, had just driven out of the car park and was waiting for someone.
    Blatantly, Blair hopped over the barrier and strode inside. He smelled human. Despite the lateness of the hour there were still several people in the building. But, ignoring his rumbling stomach for now, he leapt high onto the steel rafters in the ceiling and made his way from there closer to the door that led to the office interior.
    He spotted her right away. The psychic, Serafina. In dark jeans and the same leather jacket she’d worn last night, she was leaning her delectable rear on the bonnet of Jason’s white sports car and gazing toward the internal door. She’d obviously had the same idea as Blair.
    Blair took one more silent leap across the rafters until he was as close above her as he could get while still being able to watch her and crouched down.
    ****
    PC Alex McGowan was the first policeman on the scene at the Hard Knox pub. He knew the place, and it was generally crowded. Clearly, a large proportion of the clientele had done a runner when the body was found. While his partner spoke to the bar manager, McGowan approached the body.
    There could be no doubt that the girl was dead. Her eyes were open and staring, and he’d rarely seen a fresh corpse that looked more the part. But he went through the motions, lifting her wrist to feel for a pulse.
    “Did anyone see what happened?” he asked, dropping her dead hand. “Was anyone with her?”
    After a moment, someone said reluctantly, “There was a man with her when she first came in. Her boyfriend. They were all over each other. I thought she was drunk. When she zonked, her boyfriend just buggered off as if he’d given up hope of getting his leg over this night and left her to find her own way home. Unless—”
    Unless he’d killed her. Without any hope, McGowan searched for the pulse at the base of her neck. There wasn’t one, but as he gazed at his fingers, something else caught his eye. He shifted her head a fraction and saw two tiny holes in her neck. Just like those he’d seen on Jason Bell.
    His breath caught. “Pat,” he called to his partner. “This body has to be watched the whole time until CID gets here.”
    ****
    To Blair, Serafina MacBride looked bored and pissed off. But still sexy as hell. Leather had never looked so good on a woman. Her piquant, almost elfin beauty contrasted alluringly with her stark, ugly surroundings. The toughness of her expression and her short, no-nonsense haircut