A Fall of Secrets (A Shade of Vampire #15)(23)

The heat was suffocating as we arrived outside the police department in Panama City. My mouth was parched and my skin felt rough and dry. My body just wasn’t used to this type of heat. We entered through the main doors into a small entrance area, and then took a right through a door into a reception room. I groaned internally at the sight of huge windows letting the evening sun stream through into the room. It was crowded in here, and I didn’t want to risk opening up my umbrella in case I ended up poking someone in the eye. Rather than disturb Corrine and ask her to put a spell on me to shield me from the sun, it was easier for me to step outside while Derek and the witch waited in line to be seen.

I made my way back into the small entrance area. It was much darker here with fewer people. I leaned back against the wall, relishing its coolness, and took deep breaths. I closed my eyes, resting my stinging eyelids. Although I’d been careful to keep the sun from shining directly onto me, the brightness still affected me.

A beeping opposite me broke through my moment of peace. It sounded like it was coming from the pocket of the fair-haired man standing opposite me with his head buried in a newspaper. He cast a brief glance my way, then folded away his paper and walked toward the exit. I leaned my head back against the wall again, closing my eyes and trying to find a moment of peace again.

I rested for a few minutes before Corrine poked her head through the reception room doors and called me over. The three of us walked with an official into the back offices and we repeated much the same process as we had with Wilson with the dark-haired, mustached police officer we sat in front of here. He spoke better English than most of the others we had seen in South America, which helped things move along.

Once we had shocked him enough to agree to film us and pass on our message to his superiors, we left. Since he didn’t try to insist that we stay, Corrine didn’t need to vanish us. We walked back to the entrance hall, where I pulled out my umbrella and opened it. The sun had almost set now and the light was much softer as we stepped outside.

“So,” Corrine said, “we’ll go home now?”

“I’m up for that. Derek?” I looked to my husband.

His eyes were fixed on a spot on the pavement on the other side of the road. His eyes widened. “Sofia, duck!”

Before I could register what was happening, Derek knocked me off my feet and a smash behind us filled my ears. Shards of glass rained down upon Derek and me. As I tried to sit up, he forced me back against the ground.

Winded, I gasped, “Derek, what—?”

Corrine had ducked beside us now too, her face marred with confusion.

“Corrine,” Derek said hurriedly, “that cluster of trees further up the beach. You see it? Take Sofia there and wait for me. If anyone approaches, vanish her further up the beach.”

“What—” I choked.

“A man across the street just tried to shoot you, Sofia,” he hissed. “A man I’m sure is a hunter.”

Chapter 17: Derek

I wanted nothing more than to scorch that man to ashes. The fire burning in my fingertips was begging for release. But I had to reel in my temper. I had to see the bigger picture.

As soon as Corrine vanished with my wife, I threw myself against the car nearest to me and peered over the roof. I caught sight of the man’s blond head hurrying away down the pavement. I wasn’t going to let him get away. Ignoring the commotion behind me that was forming at a bullet having just been shot through the window of the police department, I raced across the road and began chasing the man.

He looked over his shoulder and stopped as he saw me. He didn’t raise his gun again as I had expected him to, perhaps because I was clearly not a vampire.

I closed the distance between us quickly and grabbed him by the collar. I pulled him away from the pavement and took a right down a narrow cobbled street filled with market stalls and teeming with people. Wrestling the gun out of his hands, and checking him for any other weapons he might have been carrying, I pulled him through the crowds. I stopped at the other end of the street where there were fewer people and hauled him down a narrow alleyway. I slammed him against the wall, pinning him there by his shoulders.

“Who are you?” I hissed as he struggled beneath my grip. “You’re a hunter?”

He nodded, scowling at me. “Who the hell are you?”

“Derek Novak.”

His jaw dropped. “Novak?” he croaked.

“That will be the last word you utter if you don’t listen to me,” I whispered, digging my fingertips into his flesh. He winced as I applied heat.

“What are you?” he whispered.

“Human. Hunter. Vampire. Fire-wielder. I have, and have had, many titles. But none of them define who I am.” I shook him. “Do you understand me?”

He cried out as a surge of heat passed through my fingertips and seeped into his flesh. Sweat dripped from his forehead.

“You almost killed a person who was trying to accomplish the very thing that you spend your days fighting for,” I snarled. I picked him up and slammed him against the opposite wall. “Not all supernaturals are the same, just as not all humans are the same. There are evil and good among all races.” I bashed his head against the wall again. “Get that into your thick skull before you go shooting at an innocent person again.”

“What are you doing here?” he gasped.