said. “I can just feel the testosterone in the air. It’s so fun to watch a couple of alpha males doing the macho stare-down thing. Sexy as hell. If you want, I’ll go find a ruler—you can whip ‘em out and I’ll let you know which one is bigger.”
Jules and Drake broke off the stare at the same moment, both sets of eyes turning to Hannah who was looking disgustingly perky. Jules glared at her, but Drake laughed again.
“A ruler might do for Jules, but you’ll need a yardstick for me.”
Hannah laughed right along with the asshole, and Jules squirmed, strangely jealous of what seemed like a sudden, easy camaraderie between the two. He’d never known Drake to have much of a sense of humor; as for Hannah, it was either laugh with her or kill her, and right now, the latter held a certain appeal.
“Okay, comedy hour is over,” Jules said. “You’ve got some major explaining to do, Drake.” He remembered the distinctly disturbing sight of Ian’s hands squeezing his own throat. Obviously he’d been under the influence of some kind of glamour, but Jules had never heard of a vampire who could use glamour without even being in sight of his victim.
Drake raised a single dark brow. “I don’t see why I’d have to explain anything to you. You’re the one who—”
“Who the hell did you call?”
Drake’s expression was one of long-suffering patience. “Ian’s maker, of course.”
“And what exactly happened after that?” Hannah asked before Jules could.
“Camille—that would be Ian’s maker—called him off.”
Hannah looked down her nose at him. “By making him choke himself. Or was that some kind of optical illusion?”
“No, that seems to be what happened.” He turned to Jules. “Your maker has a lot more power over you than anyone else. Camille couldn’t have managed a glamour like that against anyone but her fledgling. Do I have to spell it out to you that Ian has similar powers over you? Not as strong as Camille’s, for sure. But you’re in way over your head.”
“How do you know all this?” Jules demanded.
“I had a life before I joined the Guardians.”
Jules had always disliked Drake on principal, hating that the man killed without apparent remorse. The dislike had overshadowed any curiosity he might have felt, and he couldn’t remember a having a single conversation with him that wasn’t directly related to a case. Why had it never crossed his mind that he knew nothing about Drake?
“Are you going to elaborate?” he asked, already knowing from the closed expression on Drake’s face that he wasn’t.
“I prefer to keep the past in the past whenever possible. But I do understand things about how vampires function outside of Philadelphia. The ones we get are the lone wolves. They come from the country or the suburbs or cities too small to sustain a significant vampire presence. But you won’t find lone vampires in cities the size of Baltimore.
“Places like this, you find master vampires with varying numbers of fledglings serving them. Camille is the Master of Baltimore, and Ian is far from her only fledgling. I don’t know how many she has, but I have encountered one of them and he overpowered me with frightening ease.”
“So that’s where you got the shiners?” Hannah asked.
Jules frowned. He’d never gotten a good look at Drake back in that alley. Despite his dislike for the Killer, there was something distinctly unnerving about knowing there was a vampire in the city strong enough to beat him in a fight.
“Yes,” Drake answered. “He was making a point about who was in charge here and what would happen if I stepped out of line.”
“Hold on,” Jules said. “Back up a minute. There’s still a lot you haven’t told us. How come you knew this Camille person? And how come you just happened to be there to stop me from killing Ian?”
Drake snorted. “You mean stop him from killing you, don’t you? Like I said, I had a life before I joined the
Jules and Drake broke off the stare at the same moment, both sets of eyes turning to Hannah who was looking disgustingly perky. Jules glared at her, but Drake laughed again.
“A ruler might do for Jules, but you’ll need a yardstick for me.”
Hannah laughed right along with the asshole, and Jules squirmed, strangely jealous of what seemed like a sudden, easy camaraderie between the two. He’d never known Drake to have much of a sense of humor; as for Hannah, it was either laugh with her or kill her, and right now, the latter held a certain appeal.
“Okay, comedy hour is over,” Jules said. “You’ve got some major explaining to do, Drake.” He remembered the distinctly disturbing sight of Ian’s hands squeezing his own throat. Obviously he’d been under the influence of some kind of glamour, but Jules had never heard of a vampire who could use glamour without even being in sight of his victim.
Drake raised a single dark brow. “I don’t see why I’d have to explain anything to you. You’re the one who—”
“Who the hell did you call?”
Drake’s expression was one of long-suffering patience. “Ian’s maker, of course.”
“And what exactly happened after that?” Hannah asked before Jules could.
“Camille—that would be Ian’s maker—called him off.”
Hannah looked down her nose at him. “By making him choke himself. Or was that some kind of optical illusion?”
“No, that seems to be what happened.” He turned to Jules. “Your maker has a lot more power over you than anyone else. Camille couldn’t have managed a glamour like that against anyone but her fledgling. Do I have to spell it out to you that Ian has similar powers over you? Not as strong as Camille’s, for sure. But you’re in way over your head.”
“How do you know all this?” Jules demanded.
“I had a life before I joined the Guardians.”
Jules had always disliked Drake on principal, hating that the man killed without apparent remorse. The dislike had overshadowed any curiosity he might have felt, and he couldn’t remember a having a single conversation with him that wasn’t directly related to a case. Why had it never crossed his mind that he knew nothing about Drake?
“Are you going to elaborate?” he asked, already knowing from the closed expression on Drake’s face that he wasn’t.
“I prefer to keep the past in the past whenever possible. But I do understand things about how vampires function outside of Philadelphia. The ones we get are the lone wolves. They come from the country or the suburbs or cities too small to sustain a significant vampire presence. But you won’t find lone vampires in cities the size of Baltimore.
“Places like this, you find master vampires with varying numbers of fledglings serving them. Camille is the Master of Baltimore, and Ian is far from her only fledgling. I don’t know how many she has, but I have encountered one of them and he overpowered me with frightening ease.”
“So that’s where you got the shiners?” Hannah asked.
Jules frowned. He’d never gotten a good look at Drake back in that alley. Despite his dislike for the Killer, there was something distinctly unnerving about knowing there was a vampire in the city strong enough to beat him in a fight.
“Yes,” Drake answered. “He was making a point about who was in charge here and what would happen if I stepped out of line.”
“Hold on,” Jules said. “Back up a minute. There’s still a lot you haven’t told us. How come you knew this Camille person? And how come you just happened to be there to stop me from killing Ian?”
Drake snorted. “You mean stop him from killing you, don’t you? Like I said, I had a life before I joined the
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