“Lela, ’tis me.” The vampire reaches a hand out to Rhine’s mother. Rhine slaps his hand away, and the vampire smiles. But his mother turns her head, and she gasps.
“How did you know?” she asks the vampire. She looks up at Rhine and caresses his cheek with her hand. “It’s okay, son. He willna hurt you.”
Rhine’s heart is beating hard; his breath is fast. He holds his mother tightly. He says nothing, but his eyes drift to the form of his headless father, lying crumpled and dead on the floor in a pool of blood.
“Rhine, I’ve loved your mum for as long as I can recall,” the vampire says. “And it’s pained me to see you both endure this hell. ’Tis over now. This . . . is no more.”
Rhine slowly lifts his gaze to meet the vampire’s.
The vampire reaches into the pocket of his long black trench and pulls from within a sheathed knife. Flipping the snap that keeps the blade secured, he takes it out. He shows it to Rhine. “’Tis pure silver, boy, and ’tis the only thing that will kill others like me. They’re no’ all good. Most are killers. Your father was one. Did you know that?”
Rhine, wordlessly, nods.
I’m slightly in shock. Rhine’s father was a vampire? An abusive, drunken wife- and child-beating vampire? What the hell? How is that possible? Didn’t see that one coming.
The vampire turns the blade, hilt first, and offers it to Rhine. He takes it.
“Keep it with you, boy,” the vampire says. “Straight into the heart is the fastest kill. Be sure before you use it. We’re not all killers.” The vampire casts a long, loving glance at Rhine’s mother. “You’re a fine son. Keep a watchful eye over your mum here. She loves you verra much.” He again reaches into his trench; this time, he withdraws an envelope. He hands this to Rhine as well. “Take this and go. Gather what little means something to you, and leave this hellhole. There’s enough here to buy a house, new clothes, a car, and whatever else you might need. For years.” He glances at Rhine’s dead father’s remains: a pile of ashes. “Just leave that here.”
Before Rhine can respond, the vampire moves. He’s gone. Out of the apartment. I glance around. He’s nowhere.
I blink, and I’m back, standing in the guesthouse, directly in front of a grown-up Rhine. My hands still hold his, and his green eyes, aged beyond his years, stare down at me. He doesn’t say anything; he’s waiting on me.
“Do you know what just happened?” I ask.
A grin tips his mouth. “Aye. My theory’s accurate. You’re a bloody voyeur.”
His friends laugh.
I glower at him, and he gives me a nod. “Aye. You saw a rather nasty chunk o’ my life.” He sighs. “And now ya know my horrors.”
I drop his hands. “But you’re human.”
One side of his mouth lifts into a smirk. “You’re no’ the only one wi’ a few tricks, girly.”
“So you have traits, like me,” I say. “Like what?”
Rhine shrugs. “No’ much, mind ya. I canna run, or jump like you. I canna go at will into others’ memories.” He sighs. “But I can sniff out a bloodsucker. My hearing’s pretty sick.” He shrugs. “I’m fairly strong.”
His band members chuckle. “Och, that’s the verra least, eh, Rhiney boy?” Pete says.
Rhine shrugs again. “I’m no’ much of a braggart.”
“Let me get this straight,” Noah says from behind us. He walks up and stands next to me. He looks at Rhine. “You have tendencies? Care to clue me in?”
“His father was a vampire,” I offer, keeping my eyes on Rhine’s. He stays silent and lets me do the talking. “He carries traits, like a human with tendencies.”
“Father was?” Noah asks.
“My da had a unique disorder,” Rhine says, and we’re still watching each other. “Liquor fooked him up.” His eyes soften a little. Saddened, maybe. “He wasna always like that, though. I can remember him as a wee lad. He . . . treated me and my mum well.” He sighs. “But once the liquor got in him, it dulled his vampirism. Eventually, it overcame him. He became a typical, fooked-up drunken vampire. Similar to drunk humans in that they eat very little whilst they drink ou’ of their gourd. He still fed on human blood occasionally. But his body became absorbed with alcohol. It changed him. Still a vampire, aye, but only a shadow o’ one. Sloppy. His brother came one day and, what would you call it?” He smiles at me. “Intervened?”
The pain in Rhine’s eyes makes me sad for him, and I know he can tell it. “Anyway, my mum died no’ too long after that. Cancer. My uncle came back after that, made sure I finished school and didna become a street punk.” He grins at his friends. “Taught me things. Valuable things.” His green eyes turn stormy. “Then a couple o’ years ago we had a surge in rogue vampires here. My uncle was killed. And it’s been me and my mates ever since.”
Noah glances at me, then the rest of the band. “And what sort of tricks can you little humans perform?”
“Och, they’re just the fiercest fightin’ fookers you’ll ever meet, lad,” Rhine tells him. “They’ve helped me keep Inverness fairly cleaned up ever since. No one faster with a blade o’ silver.” He glances at me. “Except mayhap the dragon girl here.”
Noah rubs his eyes, and sighs. A big, exaggerated, airless vampire’s sigh.
“We need the help,” I offer to Noah.
He glares at me. “You’re not helping.” Then his silvery gaze turns to Rhine. “What you saw in the club? Even we aren’t certain what we’re dealing with. The male?” He inclines his head toward me. “That’s her fiancé. He hasn’t always been a prick.”
“Nice,” I say.
Noah goes on. No holds barred. Holding nothing at all back. “He’s possessed or something. And you saw the female. She controls him and has a power even I’ve never seen before.”
A smile lifts Rhine’s mouth. It’s a characteristic of his that’s pretty damn appealing. Poor, poor young human girls.
“I have.”
Me and Noah both look at Rhine. The others chuckle.
Rhine rubs his jaw. “As I said before, you’re in the Highlands, my friends. ’Tis a place unlike any other. Like a kaleidoscope, ’tis nothing ever the way you think it is.”
“Stop with the rhymes and tell us what you mean,” Noah says. “My patience is growing thinner by the second.”
Rhine laughs. “Aye, well, that female? She’s old. An’ before she was a vampire, she was a fookin’ witch.”
It’s almost . . . funny, the way the Scots swear. It’s not as menacing, or as vulgar, as the American version. Like, it’s okay to swear. It’s almost distracting. Every time Rhine says fookin’, I want to laugh. “So, how do you know all of this?”
Rhine shrugs. “I’ve seen one like her. When my uncle was killed. Fookin’ witchpire cast a bloody spell that controlled his mind long enough for her tae take his bloody head. I’ll ne’er forget it.”
“But you’ve never seen Carrine before?” I ask.
“Never. That night at the club was the first time. She’s a slippery one, though. We’ve no’ been able tae track her. Fookin’ witchpire.”
“So, she’s a witchpire. Great,” Noah says. “So you boys are experts on all things paranormal, or just vampires?”
Rhine shares a look with his bandmates, then turns to meet Noah’s gaze. “Aye, we’re pretty much experts on everythin’. Ghosties, vampires, werewolves—you name it. We keep Inverness safe. My uncle taught me everything he knew before he died.”
Noah glances at me. “How ya holdin’ up?”
I nod. “Okay so far.” I know he means my mind, and whether or not Carrine is prying into it again. I look at Rhine. “Have you heard of St. Bueno’s?”
Rhine gives a single nod. “Aye. O’ course.”
“My fiancé and another were cast into another realm. A Hell-like realm. I went after them. Got them both out. Only my fiancé changed.” I hold his gaze, filled with questions, curiosity. “I think he’s being commanded to kill me now. And he and the female may be behind the random killings here.”
“That’s shit luck, lass,” Pete says. “Damn sorry for it.”
With a slight nod, I acknowledge Pete’s words.
“I’ve heard of those realms,” Rhine admits. “Ne’er been in one myself, though.” His eyes search mine. “You’ll have tae tell me about it, lass.”
“So just you five keep Inverness safe?” Noah asks.
“There’re more of us,” Rhine claims.
Noah and I share a quick glance. “What do you mean?” he asks.
“After my mum died, it left just me,” Rhine begins. “And my band here, o’ course. We’ve grown up together. But I knew it was up tae me, tae us, to keep this city right. There was nowhere else for us tae go, so we set out tae make sure the bloodsuckers stayed clear. We went tae the streets, gathered forces.” He gives me a lazy smile.
“How many?” I ask.
Rhine shrugs. “Fifty or so.”
Impressive. “All human?”
Rhine nods. “There’re a few English in the bunch. Do they count?”
The other Ness boys chuckle.
Rhine holds my gaze. “Many make the mistake you both did. Thinkin’ we’re street thugs. It keeps us covered well enough.”
“How do you know where to look?” I ask.
There’s a flash in Rhine’s green eyes that makes me like him. “We just make ourselves seen,” he admits. “And we always run in packs.”
I grin back. “Like some vampire-hunting Lord of the Flies ring, huh?”