The Catalyst Read Online Free PDF Page B

more used to the
even less suave pick-up lines of the average small-town male. She
made the mistake of making eye contact.
    “Good girl,” he said. “Now give me your wrist.”
    “Are you kidding me?” Z hissed. “Here? Now? Someone
will see you.”
    The vampire didn’t take his eyes off Cherry, holding
her in his thrall as she offered her wrist. “There aren’t many
witnesses here. It shouldn’t be a hard clean-up job. But I’m sure
you’ll help block the view for me while I feed.”
    The panther suppressed a growl. “And I’ll do this
because I’m such a good Samaritan?”
    “No, because the one thing we have in common, besides
that pup you’ve got hidden away, is a desire for maintaining
secrecy from the humans.”
    That cleared up any doubt about the vamp’s knowledge
of the pup. Z shifted his body to block the view, not believing he
was going along with this. But he knew the bloodsucker wouldn’t
drain her, and if a scene could be avoided, that might be for the
best.
    The stranger brought the woman’s wrist to his lips,
his fangs descending into her flesh. Although Z hated vampires and
lived here primarily because the fanged crowd didn’t, he found
himself fascinated by the display. The fascination was short lived.
Within moments, Cherry was crying.
    Z lowered his voice. “All right, you asshole. You’ve
got two seconds to let her go.”
    The vampire raised his mouth from the woman’s arm,
blood trickling from the corner of his lips. The expression on his
face was mild. “I’m not hurting her.”
    “Like hell you’re not.” It was just Z’s luck to run
into one of the more sadistic vamps that preferred feeding from
pain.
    “Her tears aren’t what you assume. It’s release.
Absolution. I found her guiltiest secret, and I forgave her.” He
licked the drops of blood that ran down her arm and healed the
puncture marks. He turned to the barista; his eyes flicked to her
name tag. “Cherry, you will never speak of this.”
    She nodded, looking drugged and hypnotized, then her
vision cleared and she stared at him for a long time before going
back to work.
    When she was out of earshot, Z turned to the vampire.
He didn’t buy the blood drinker’s forgiveness story for a second.
“And what was her guilty secret?”
    “That’s privileged information. I am bound to never
share the sins that are confessed to me.”
    “What are you? A priest?”
    “Once upon a time, yes.”
    Z wasn’t sure whether the vampire was joking or
lying. The idea that he might be telling the truth wasn’t on his
radar. “Didn’t you get the memo? God no longer wants you, so you
can stop doing his work.”
    A bemused smirk played across the vampire’s lips.
“You think I haven’t heard that one before? It’s not about God.
It’s about what I need and what those I feed from need. It’s a
symbiotic relationship that more should respect. They give me a bit
of the life flowing through them, and I give them the one thing
they most need to find happiness.”
    Z shook his head and dug into the pie that had sat
untouched on his plate. He couldn’t believe he still had the
appetite for it after what he’d just witnessed and allowed. But
sometimes being the gallant hero just got more people killed.
    “Now,” the vampire said, turning toward him, “let’s
talk about the pup.”
    “I’m sure I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Z
said between bites. This particular vampire hadn’t been with the
raiding party that had tried to take the pup the last time.
Confessing to nothing seemed the wisest course.
    The vampire chuckled. “Play stupid if you like. I
need that pup. He will not be harmed, but it’s important. We will
get him one way or the other. Your cooperation will save everyone
trouble, and might buy you your life. Think about it.” He slid a
business card with a number on it across the counter. “I’ll be in
touch.”
    “This your number?” Z asked.
    A nod.
    “Doesn’t have a name on it.”