Black Moon Rising (DarkLife Saga) by Ronnie Massey Page B

most.
    I drank his life until I heard someone call my name.  I let my unwitting meal fall away, and I settled down into a defensive crouch, hissing a warning.
    “Oh calm down, Valeria, it’s me,” Irulan huffed.  I stood up, and wiped the blood from my chin with a hand that was well on its way to being healed.
    “How long have you been following me?” I said softly.
    “I’ve been behind you since you left the house.  You weren't really yourself, so I thought I needed to keep an eye on you.”
    I nodded and took a step toward her.  “I’m sorry, Ire.  I didn’t know…I hate this.  I can't control it.”
    She closed the distance between us and swiped her thumb across my lip.  “I know you can't.  But you'll learn.”  She slipped her thumb into my mouth, and I swirled my tongue around it, removing all traces of blood.
    The wind shifted, and a familiar-unfamiliar scent slapped me in the face.  I shoved Irulan behind me and shifted my hands.  My eyes flipped to UV, and I scanned the area around us.  The scent was so strong, whatever it was; it was close.
    I felt Irulan touch my conscious.  “ What’s wrong, Val ?”
    I motioned my head toward a nearby stretch of trees.  “ Whoever was at the Baker home is out there somewhere.  I can smell them .”
    I scanned the trees but didn’t see a thing.  That didn’t make sense.  There weren't many creatures that could mask their heat signatures.  I made a move to head toward the tree line when Irulan grabbed me.  She jerked her head to the unconscious body slumped on the ground.  Oh yeah.
    I knelt down and gripped his head, slipping into his mind and essentially flipping him back on.  He wouldn’t remember a thing.  The entire night would be one big blackout.
    I turned toward the direction of the smell when something dawned on me.  “ Irulan ,” I asked.  “ Who took care of getting my car to the garage ?”
    “ Valerian, why ?”  She looked puzzled.
    He didn’t tell her.  “ Irulan, someone fucked with my car.  That means someone has been following my movements and knows what I am.  I’m betting that person is the same one that’s out there now .”
    Her expression didn’t change.  Irulan didn’t look the least bit upset, but her power levels spiked, sending a chill down my spine.  She took off for the woods leaving me to catch up with her.  My baby was fast…but not as fast as me.
    I easily overtook her and held up my hand motioning for her to follow me and stay as quiet as possible.  I followed a haphazard path through the trees, zigging and zagging, trying to keep up with the scent until it just disappeared.  “Fuck,” I screamed to no one.
    Whoever, whatever it was, it was good.  I didn’t feel the touch of an aura; hear a single footstep, or anything.  It was time to let the cat out of the bag and talk to Tamerlane.  If this thing was following me, then Valerian and Constantine could be in trouble also.

Chapter 8
     
    T he next morning, I left home early for the second time in two days.  As I drove down I77, I leaned forward and squinted at the early morning sun.  “Can’t keep me down,” I muttered as I leaned back into the upholstery and took a bite from a sausage biscuit that I’d snagged from some fast food place.
    I downed two of the spicy sandwiches by the time I drove past the huge metal globes that lined the driveway leading to Trumaine Tower.  There were six of the massive forty foot high creations, three on either side.  Inside each globe was a camera array that inspected every inch the vehicles that passed by them.
    I waved to the globes, and whoever had monitor duty today.  Glad it wasn’t me.  I parked and slipped in through a loading dock entrance.  I didn’t want to run the risk of being assigned a task until it was time for me to go on duty.  My reasons for coming in early were purely personal.  Whatever was tracking me has made this more than a case.
    Sometimes finding something