The vampire behind Christopherson pulled him toward him and wrapped his arms around him. Christopherson melted against him, and all Kage could do was stare.

  * * * *

  Gilbert pressed himself into the corner of his bedroom. He should go, should leave the community. It wasn't safe here anymore. His hands shook as he slid them over his face. The scar an ugly welt underneath his fingertips.

  Most often, vampires didn't scar. They healed too fast, but he'd been starved, more starved than now. He'd tried to feed, and a group of people had attacked him. The man he'd been with had pretended to want it, and Gilbert had been too out of his mind to realize it was a trap.

  Too famished, too sluggish, too afraid to think straight.

  He wasn't as bad off now. He needed to eat, needed it badly, but he hadn't entered the sluggish period yet. There was still time. Time to leave, find someone to feed from, and then disappear.

  They wouldn't get him this time.

  He stared at the wall in the corner of the room. What was he doing standing there? He had to get a move on.

  The scent of blood still clung to him. He had to get rid of it or he'd be too easily tracked.

  A knock came from the front door, and the air in his lungs turned to lead.

  They were here.

  It was over.

  "Gilbert?" Oscar called from outside. He and Marrone had come to get him. Had come to lock him up.

  "Gilbert? Are you in there?" Silence for a second or two. "I brought the peas, okay?"

  Gilbert stood frozen, unable to move. He'd trusted Oscar. Not at first, no one had, but he considered Jasper a friend. They didn't hang out, but Gilbert didn't hang out with anyone. If he needed help with something, Jasper would be one of the first people he'd consider asking.

  "Are you okay?"

  Gilbert looked at the window. Could he climb out, or did they have the house surrounded? He'd always loved this house, but he wasn't safe here anymore.

  The sound of the front door opening reached him, and he remained unmoving. Why wasn't he running? His feet were glued to the floorboards.

  "Gilbert?" Oscar appeared in the doorway to the bedroom. Alone. His expression was grim. "Hey." He raised his hands in a placating manner. "It's only me. Marrone is with Gertrude."

  Gilbert heard his words, but they didn't register. He looked behind Oscar, searching for Marrone's dark hair.

  "I'm sorry I left you with him. I believed...I don't know. He's been acting saner lately, so I believed you'd be okay." He shook his head. "Are you okay?"

  Gilbert couldn't form any words.

  "Hey, Gilbert." Oscar waved a hand. "Do you need anything? Are you still bleeding?" He gestured at his jaw, and Gilbert dumbly touched the scrape. It was healing.

  "You need to feed, man. Do you have anyone?" Oscar stepped closer. "Anyone you can call?"

  Gilbert shook his head, which made Oscar frown. "It's not safe for you to allow it to get this bad. It's a scratch, it should've healed right up."

  Gilbert cleared his throat. "It's healing."

  "Way too slowly." Oscar moved closer still. "Come on, if you can't get hold of blood right now, have something solid to eat at least." He gestured for Gilbert to move out from the corner.

  Gilbert hesitated. Was it a trick?

  "Do you have eggs or something? Quick protein."

  The world swayed, and Oscar hooked his arm through Gilbert's. "Come on."

  "I'm not hungry."

  Oscar huffed. "I don't care. You need to sit. Not used to having people pull a gun on you, huh?"

  Gilbert shook his head. "Haven't been attacked in decades. I do my best to avoid people."

  Something he couldn't name stole over Oscar's face, then he nodded. "Yeah, I've noticed. Come on. Kitchen. Let's get some sugar into you if you don't want to eat. Do you have any elderflower syrup left from the crate yesterday?"

  Gilbert nodded. "Refrigerator." He allowed Oscar to guide him to the kitchen as if he were injured for real. He mixed a glass of water and elderflower syrup and placed it in front of Gilbert.

  "I don't know what to do." He pulled out a chair and sat across from Gilbert. "I want to quit. Come and live here full time and not give a shit about what the cops are up to." He cradled his head. "But then idiots like Marrone get hired, and I feel like I have to be there to do damage control." He looked up at Gilbert. "If I quit, no one will look out for community members. I can most likely continue to pretend to be human, get the perks of shopping without added fees, and all that shit, but I want to be able to protect Jasper should anything happen. I want to be able to help you all."

  Gilbert sipped on his drink. He didn't know if Oscar wanted an answer, and if so, which kind of answer did he want?

  Silence stretched, and Gilbert drank some more.

  "I put the peas on the table on the porch." Oscar got to his feet and put a hand on Gilbert's shoulder as he passed him. "Get someone to eat."

  "Too dangerous."

  He hesitated. "I know, but you have to eat. What if he'd shot you?"

  "If he'd blown my brains out, I'd have died either way."

  Oscar grimaced. "Maybe, but if he'd shot your shoulder or something."

  "It wasn't where he was aiming." He could feel the cool metal against his skin.

  Oscar sighed. "I'll check on you in a couple of days. I want to see peas in the ground, and you looking well-fed."

  * * * *

  Chapter 8

  Sweat was beading on Kage's forehead. He wanted to move out of the sun, but he was surrounded by angry shifters and vampires.

  This day could've gone better.

  He was still angry Christopherson had worked against him, but as more time passed, and his temper simmered down, a niggle of shame washed over him. He'd drawn a gun on a person for believing he had information he wasn't sharing. He wanted to believe he was a fair person, but would he have acted like he had if the informant were human? No.

  What made it worse was that everyone had withheld information from him because they didn't think they could trust him. And he'd proved them right, hadn't he?

  Of course, no one would tell him Rue was an unregistered magic user. They didn't know he was an unregistered magic user. He worked so hard to keep everyone from suspecting, he'd turned into the enemy.

  No one spoke. The sun kept beating down on him, and his gaze moved from person to person in the ring surrounding him. How would he get information now? They wouldn't let him in here again.

  A few minutes later, a group of people came walking and slowed as they saw them.

  "What's going on?" Arnou, Kage believed his name was, moved closer.

  "Officer here threatened Gilbert with a gun." Gertrude's voice was icy.

  "Fuck." Arnou's eyes widened. "Is he okay?"

  "Don't know. Oscar went to check on him."

  He wasn't hurt. Everyone acted as if Kage had done something horrendous, but Gilbert was fine.

  "What are we doing with him?" Arnou nodded at Kage, and he glared in response. He did not appreciate people talking about him as if he weren't there.

  Gertrude shrugged. "We're waiting for Oscar to get back, then we'll escort them to the gate."

  "Want me to go check?" Arnou rubbed his neck. "I'm starting my shift in a few minutes, but Clara will be fine until I arrive at the gate."

  Before Gertrude could reply, Christopherson came walking up. His eyes were hard, and his jaw clenched.

  "Is he okay?" Gertrude's tone had softened a fraction.

  Christopherson grimaced. "I forced some sugar into him. He was...in a bad place, but I think he's fine now. I promised to check on him in a couple of days."

  In a bad place? Kage hadn't harmed him.

  "Time to leave." Gertrude swept her arm out, breaking the circle and indicating Kage should get a move on. Arnou said goodbye to the group he'd been walking with and tagged along toward the gate. If Kage hadn't already been flushed from the heat, he might've been from embarrassment. They paraded him through the streets for everyone to see.

  Christopherson's gaze was distant as he walked next to his vampire. What was his name? Argall? He'd have to check the file when they got back to the station.

  When the gate came into view Argall took his hand and pulled him to the side. When Christopherson rested his forehead against his shoulder, and Argall shook his head at something he said, Kage looked away. It was too intimate. Kage also realized since not a single person looked surprised, it couldn't be a new thing. How long had Christopherson been dating a vampire?

  He could tell Hamilton.

  Or he could try to do the right thing and play for his team for once. Christopherson was right--the information he needed was most likely to be found here, within the walls. If he hadn't fucked up, he might have been able to ask Rue how he was captured. It might have given him a clue to how Pomona had been taken, might have given him a lead.

  The grid door opened, and everyone stopped while waiting for Kage to walk out. He looked at Christopherson, who tilted his head to meet Argall's lips in a quick kiss, then he walked toward Kage with brisk steps.

  "Thanks." He nodded at Gertrude.

  "Swing by my place when you get home tonight." She gave him a crooked smile.

  "Will do." He gave her a salute and closed the grid door behind him. Not one word was spoken as they got into the car. After Kage had fastened the seatbelt, he looked at Oscar.

  "I'm sorry."

  "Are you?"

  Was he? "I need to know what happened to her. I've tried to catch this bastard for years, but right now, she's the only lead I have."

  Christopherson growled. "Doesn't sound as if you're sorry, sounds as if you're trying to justify harassing and threatening people."

  "I'll apologize to him."

  Christopherson barked a laugh. "You won't be let into the community ever again. Don't you get it? You should be glad you got out of there in one piece. The only reason you're still alive is because you work in law enforcement. Gertrude doesn't want the hassle. Had you been a civilian, you'd have been gone already."

  There was truth in his words, and Kage winced. "I'm sorry."

  "It's not me you should say sorry to! I can't believe you. As soon as we get back, you'll ask for a transfer."

  "Not yet, I have to find out what happened. I'll go as soon as I've figured out everything I can here. I've already stayed longer than I believed I would. I was sure I'd find something, but I haven't. There are no records of her."

  "Of course not. There are no records of any of them." Christopherson's hold on the steering wheel loosened a fraction. "Jasper has never heard the name."

  Jasper, right, Jasper Argall. "She wasn't registered, maybe she was let out with the humans and took another name." Kage didn't believe it for a second, but it was what he'd hoped before he came here. That he'd be able to speak to her, alive and well. And if it wasn't an option, he was hoping to find out where she died, so he could raise her spirit and talk to her. But she was nowhere to be found.

  Christopherson shook his head. "When they stormed it, they had both shifters, vampires, and the human police. Her scent would've given her away, plus Rue, Chaton, Zeeve, and Namir were held in separate cages. They'd already divided the humans from the supes."

  "Maybe she was disguising her scent."

  Christopherson glanced at him. "In a place where blood was spilled frequently, nothing would've disguised her scent."

  He was right. He could bathe himself in lemon juice, but it wouldn't help if he was bleeding. "Maybe Rue knows something. Maybe we can--"

  "They won't let us near Rue now. You get that, right? Before today, we might have been able to have a friendly chat, maybe, if Rue was in a good mood and Noah allowed it. Now there is no way in hell we're getting anywhere near him."

  Kage gritted his teeth. "You could, though. They trust you."

  Christopherson looked at him for so long, he wanted to tell him to focus on the road. "They trust me because they know I'd never betray them. And I won't."

  "Or because you're fucking one of them." Kage wanted to take back the words before the last syllable was out of his mouth.

  Christopherson's hold tightened on the steering wheel, and he pretended Kage didn't exist the entire way back to the station.

  * * * *

  Gilbert didn't know where to go. He was scared to go outside the walls on his own, but there was no one he could ask to hold his hand while he found someone to feed from. Most often, he went to The Garage.

  It wasn't too far from the community, should he have to run, and there weren't many patrons visiting, so the risk of a gang sneaking up on him was small. It also meant there weren't many people who were up for a bite, but he believed it was all he could handle right now.

  He'd almost talked himself into turning around when the building came into view, but he pushed the notion away. If Oscar could take one look at him and know he was near a critical level, then others could too.

  Pushing open the door, he stepped into the restaurant. A lone man was sitting by a table for two by the wall, eating a burger. Trucker, if Gilbert were to guess. He preferred those. A quick snack, and then they'd be on their way, not to see him again and less likely to gather a crowd with pitchforks and spears to come after him.

  Though nowadays they'd most likely have guns and knives.

  "Gilbert."

  He jumped at the sound of his name and saw Ty sitting by a table scrolling on his phone. "Oh, hi." They didn't talk often, but Gilbert didn't talk to anyone often. He didn't dislike Ty. He simply didn't know him, and part of him was surprised Ty remembered who he was.

  "Heard about the drama earlier."

  Ah, explained why he remembered his name.

  "Are you grabbing something to eat?" He looked up from his screen and met Gilbert's gaze.

  "Eh..." He scanned the room. There were only the trucker and two women who were having a beer while looking through some papers. "Sure."

  Ty smiled. "Burger and fries okay?"

  He shrugged. He hadn't planned on having solid food.

  "It's what we have the most of." He got up. "Have a seat. A beer?"

  How much was a beer these days? He nodded. "Thanks."

  Ty disappeared only to return to place a beer in front of him a minute later. "Burger on the way. Nadetta said to tell you it's on the house."

  "Oh, you don't need--"

  "After what happened today, it's the least we can do."

  Gilbert couldn't come up with a reply. He didn't think he'd ever gotten anything on the house, and he was pretty sure he'd overreacted today. Sure, having a gun aimed at you wasn't fun, but running home to cower in the corner of your bedroom wasn't sane behavior. "Thanks."

  "So...what was it all about?" Ty pulled out the chair opposite him and sat.

  Gilbert shrugged, then tried to remember what exactly had happened. "Marrone is looking for a missing woman, an unregistered magic user taken by The Red Thirst. I think he believed I had something to do with it because I'm a vampire."

  Ty's eyebrows climbed his forehead. "That's ah...eh...farfetched."

  Gilbert grimaced. "I worked at The Virgin Drop."

  "Didn't all vampires?"

  "Everyone but Noah and Asher."

  "But he believed you were the one with information?"

  Gilbert took a sip of the beer. When had he last had a beer? He couldn't remember, but a cold beer on a day as hot as this might be exactly what he needed. He took another swallow. "I spoke to Gertrude after, and it was me asking if she was a magic user that made him pull his gun. Chaton said there had been some people asking for Felica, which was her middle name, and the vampires gave them Rue instead, saying they were the same. I figured since Rue is a magic user, she most likely was one too." He ended the sentence with another shrug.

  "Makes sense. I guess we taste differently from humans and other species."

  Gilbert met his gaze. "I don't know. I've never fed from a magic user."

  Ty's eyes widened a fraction. "No?"

  "You're rare. It's amazing we have as many in the community as we do."

  "I guess." Ty drummed his fingers against the tabletop. "So someone is kidnapping magic users and giving them to The Red Thirst?"

  "I don't know how long ago it happened."

  Ty pursed his lips, his gaze jumping around the room. "What about the police?"

  Marrone was the police. "What about them?"

  "I'm only thinking...When Eir and I got here, the cops worked with a gang of thugs who picked us up the moment we arrived. What's to say they weren't working together back then too?"

  "But Marrone is law enforcement."

  Ty nodded. "But new, right? It's almost been a year since it all happened, and Davis was kicked off the force."

  Davis. He did his best to memorize the name.

  "He slipped information to his brother, who kidnapped Eir and me, and tried to blackmail Jagger. Then they made the dark-haired woman, a wolf shifter, let the cops into the community, and they shot at Namir."

  Gilbert remembered. As usual, he hadn't had a clue what was going on, but he'd been ushered to the square along with everyone else, and he'd heard the shot go off.

  Before he could ask anything else, Nadetta appeared by the table and placed a plate with a burger and fries in front of him.

  "Are you okay?"

  Gilbert flinched at the concern in her eyes. He'd never spoken to Nadetta before, or they might have exchanged a few words while on guard duty, but not enough to warrant a look of concern. He nodded.

  "Remember when the cops messed with us here?" She directed the question to Ty. "Fucking bastards. They think they can act however they want simply because they have a badge."

  Gilbert didn't know how to respond, or if he had to respond.

  "I bet the cops are behind it, whatever it is." She patted his shoulder once, then walked back toward the kitchen.

 

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