Ripper (Hunter #1)(52)

I sat down again in the chair where I’d talked to Quinn and tried to hold myself with as much dignity as I could muster. I prayed the next vampire he sent me was obnoxious and unattractive.

Marcus kneeled at my side. “I’m sorry, Kelsey. I should not have tried to drag you into my troubles with Devinshea and Daniel. My only excuse is that I’ve been thinking of you ever since I saw you last night. I’m a bit tired of wanting women I cannot have.”

Now I was the bitter one. “Then you should stick by my side, Vorenus. I can assure you after you spend a little time with me, you’ll change your mind. They all do after I pull a gun on them or yell too much. And this ain’t me.” I gestured to the dress and shoes. “This is someone else’s magic. I’m a jeans and T-shirts kind of girl and I don’t do relationships well, obviously. I drink too much, cuss too much, and can be unpleasant to be around. I think you’ll discover your heart is perfectly safe around me if you give me the chance to annoy you.”

Marcus’s eyes closed with a shake of his head. “He knows me so well.” When he opened them again, he was perfectly smooth and polite. He stood and moved to sit across from me. “Let’s forget this portion of the evening and begin again. I’m Marcus Vorenus, your escort. Consider me your knight and your guide. So, tell me, how may I aid you? I am entirely at your service.”

A deep gratitude swept over me. Vorenus gave me exactly what I needed to get on solid ground again. I pulled out my phone and spent the next twenty minutes going over what I knew with the vampire. As he was an academic, he was quick and gave me several tips. He pointed out the small streak of sunlight in one of the photos that I had missed. Laura Nesson had been killed during the day. Or at least photographed.

“There are only a few vampires I know who can daywalk,” Vorenus explained. “Myself and the king among them. This particular killing occurred when?”

I enlarged the picture, pointing to the bottom of the photo where the date was visible. The photos were taken with a digital camera that recorded the date. “Last week. I believe that was a Thursday.”

He nodded his regal head. “I thought so. The king and I were attending a meeting in London that day. I can show you the ticket from my flight and give you any number of witnesses to my whereabouts. The king, well, he prefers to fly on his own. I assure you he was with me that day.”

I was already making progress. I thought it couldn’t be a vampire and this was proof. Vampires don’t hide during daylight hours. They sleep and they don’t have a choice about it. Unless they can daywalk, as Marcus and the king can, they were stuck. My first instinct was right. This was a human or another type of supe.

Marcus stared at the photos, flipping through them. He studied them with a clinical detachment Quinn hadn’t been able to produce. “These girls all look vaguely alike. I would say they’re all within three years of each other in age.”

“Serial killers tend to have a type. Do you recognize any of them?”

“Oh yes, Kelsey.” He ran a long finger across the screen. “I’ve fed from all of them at one time or another. I’ve had sex with some of them as well.”

I stared openly at him.

“Don’t judge me, little one.” He cocked a dark eyebrow and let his cheek rest against his right hand. “I’m a vampire. I feed off blood and sexual energy. It’s my nature. Have you ever been bitten?”

“No.” I hoped I wasn’t blushing. The intimate atmosphere of the room did nothing to take away from his attractiveness. The soft light seemed to cocoon us and his accent was so melodic I wondered if there wasn’t some magic behind it.

I really wondered what it would feel like to feed Marcus Vorenus.

“Well, it’s difficult to feed one appetite and not the other.” Vorenus explained even the most salacious acts with a simplicity that made it seem normal. He was practical and forgiving of even his own foibles. It made him easy to talk to. “In order to not harm our partners, it’s necessary to use a bit of magic to pull them in. This makes the bite intense and pleasurable. It’s only natural to follow the taking of blood with the taking of the body. The orgasm is much sharper after a feed. When the connection is right, I’ve found a bond can be formed. Only a vampire with a disciplined mind is capable of feeding without sexual intercourse. It’s an instinct.”

“You said you fed from all of them, but you only had sex with a few,” I pointed out.

“Let me correct myself then. Only a disciplined vampire or one who is terribly bored with it all can walk away,” Marcus said. “I have no mistress currently. I haven’t had one for a long time. When I have no feelings for the woman beneath me I prefer that she have no feelings for me, either. For me, especially, the bond can be intense. I do not wish to form such an intimate connection with a woman I might not like on a fundamental level. For me, there must be an intellectual liking as much as a physical draw. I use the prostitutes because there is nothing there but an exchange. At times, the instinct is too much and I must take a woman, but I make sure she gets something out of it as well.”

“Cash.”

“Yes,” he replied. “It’s what they need.”

The door to the office opened and Quinn walked in preceded by two subdued boys. The boys stopped and stared at us, but Quinn was having none of it.