it’s dark. Seems like a great place to me.”
“I can’t imagine people being picked off in places like this. It’s too creepy.”
“Come on, Tal. Do you think all vampires are eating blood from Wong’s Chinese Grocery? Humans are food, just like your Coney Island hot dog.” He grimaced.
A couple people cast them curious glances. Drake wrapped his fingers around her upper arm and urged her into a narrow space between two of the booths where garbage cans were stacked.
“You think they’re killing people here? In the middle of New York City?” Her heart raced. She didn’t want to think about other vampires.
“Of course they are. Why haven’t you thought about this?” His eyes flashed in the shadows. “We’re in danger, Talia. I feel it. That encounter in the night club wasn’t the end of our interaction with the vampires of New York. Trust me.”
“If people are being killed, surely it would be noticed. What about the police?” Her mind searched for some reason to dispel the fear.
“Do you have any idea how many unexplained deaths happen in this city every day?”
She took a step back, frightened by the force of his words. “Sure but…”
A bottle tumbled to the pavement to their right and rolled, clattering until it came to a stop against a grimy trashcan. A mass of tattered rags at the base of the can shifted slightly.
Talia’s gaze met Drake’s. Fear shot through her heart.
Drake sidestepped soundlessly and reached down to grab a handful of the rags. A street urchin’s face appeared, pale and streaked with dirt.
“It’s a little kid,” Talia cried. “Poor thing.”
The child’s head wobbled on a spindly neck, and a dead rat fell from its hand.
She walked forward, squinting through darkness to make out the child’s features. Pale skin glowed faintly in the evening's dimness; eyelids fluttered but remained closed. Drake peeled layers of tattered clothes to reveal a young boy.
“Is he alive?” she whispered. She touched his dirty cheek with one finger, but he only moaned.
“Talia, this is a vampire child.” Drake pushed the matted hair from the boy’s forehead. “He’s starved.”
Shock sent Talia stumbling back several feet. Another vampire? “Dear lord. What is it with you people and hiding in garbage?”
He rolled his eyes. “We have to help him.”
“We do?”
“You helped me.” He turned accusing eyes to her.
“I know, but…”
“Are you now making distinctions between who deserves to live and who doesn’t?”
The child moved. Drake wrapped an arm around his shoulders and looked at him with such tenderness, Talia sucked in a gasp. The vulnerability of that expression cut open her heart.
“What do you want to do?” She hugged her panda like a lifeline.
“Take him home. Feed him. All the things you did for me.” His eyes held a strange appeal she couldn’t resist. He didn’t just want to help this child, he needed to.
“Okay, okay.” She fumbled in her pocketbook for her cell. “I’ll call Gerri and tell them to meet us at my place.”
His smile was reward enough to pay for her trouble. He lifted the thin figure in his arms. The boy’s head rested on his shoulder, like that of a tired child who’d gone to sleep after too much excitement and cotton candy. Talia figured the boy must only be about six or seven years old. How had he ended up as a vampire? Was he bitten and left to die like Drake?
She trailed after them as they made their way through the crowds to where taxis lined up waiting for people to leave. The driver didn’t seem to think anything strange in the lifeless body of their child. No doubt kids frequently pooped out at Coney Island.
They didn’t speak on the ride home, although Drake hummed a soft, unidentifiable tune to the young boy he held in his arms. She hugged her panda to her chest, hoping this might possibly turn out all right.
Chapter 14
“He’s a vampire?” Felix’s gaze fixed on the small, still body
“I can’t imagine people being picked off in places like this. It’s too creepy.”
“Come on, Tal. Do you think all vampires are eating blood from Wong’s Chinese Grocery? Humans are food, just like your Coney Island hot dog.” He grimaced.
A couple people cast them curious glances. Drake wrapped his fingers around her upper arm and urged her into a narrow space between two of the booths where garbage cans were stacked.
“You think they’re killing people here? In the middle of New York City?” Her heart raced. She didn’t want to think about other vampires.
“Of course they are. Why haven’t you thought about this?” His eyes flashed in the shadows. “We’re in danger, Talia. I feel it. That encounter in the night club wasn’t the end of our interaction with the vampires of New York. Trust me.”
“If people are being killed, surely it would be noticed. What about the police?” Her mind searched for some reason to dispel the fear.
“Do you have any idea how many unexplained deaths happen in this city every day?”
She took a step back, frightened by the force of his words. “Sure but…”
A bottle tumbled to the pavement to their right and rolled, clattering until it came to a stop against a grimy trashcan. A mass of tattered rags at the base of the can shifted slightly.
Talia’s gaze met Drake’s. Fear shot through her heart.
Drake sidestepped soundlessly and reached down to grab a handful of the rags. A street urchin’s face appeared, pale and streaked with dirt.
“It’s a little kid,” Talia cried. “Poor thing.”
The child’s head wobbled on a spindly neck, and a dead rat fell from its hand.
She walked forward, squinting through darkness to make out the child’s features. Pale skin glowed faintly in the evening's dimness; eyelids fluttered but remained closed. Drake peeled layers of tattered clothes to reveal a young boy.
“Is he alive?” she whispered. She touched his dirty cheek with one finger, but he only moaned.
“Talia, this is a vampire child.” Drake pushed the matted hair from the boy’s forehead. “He’s starved.”
Shock sent Talia stumbling back several feet. Another vampire? “Dear lord. What is it with you people and hiding in garbage?”
He rolled his eyes. “We have to help him.”
“We do?”
“You helped me.” He turned accusing eyes to her.
“I know, but…”
“Are you now making distinctions between who deserves to live and who doesn’t?”
The child moved. Drake wrapped an arm around his shoulders and looked at him with such tenderness, Talia sucked in a gasp. The vulnerability of that expression cut open her heart.
“What do you want to do?” She hugged her panda like a lifeline.
“Take him home. Feed him. All the things you did for me.” His eyes held a strange appeal she couldn’t resist. He didn’t just want to help this child, he needed to.
“Okay, okay.” She fumbled in her pocketbook for her cell. “I’ll call Gerri and tell them to meet us at my place.”
His smile was reward enough to pay for her trouble. He lifted the thin figure in his arms. The boy’s head rested on his shoulder, like that of a tired child who’d gone to sleep after too much excitement and cotton candy. Talia figured the boy must only be about six or seven years old. How had he ended up as a vampire? Was he bitten and left to die like Drake?
She trailed after them as they made their way through the crowds to where taxis lined up waiting for people to leave. The driver didn’t seem to think anything strange in the lifeless body of their child. No doubt kids frequently pooped out at Coney Island.
They didn’t speak on the ride home, although Drake hummed a soft, unidentifiable tune to the young boy he held in his arms. She hugged her panda to her chest, hoping this might possibly turn out all right.
Chapter 14
“He’s a vampire?” Felix’s gaze fixed on the small, still body
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