“Look at her,” he said, his iron control slipping. He spun her around again, pointing at the dead girl on the ground. The grip on her arms wasn’t bruising, but it was firm. “You were talking to this girl a little over twenty-four hours ago. Now she is dead. Do you think they would think twice about doing this to you? Do you see what can happen?”
“I knew this story was going to be dangerous when I took it on,” she said. “Don’t lecture me, I’m not a child.” She pulled away and turned to face him.
“No, you’re not.” His voice was low and fierce. “You’re an infuriatingly stubborn woman who has no survival instincts. You need to drop this and let me—”
“You need to not tell me what to do.” She stepped closer, her chin jutting out as she got in his face. “Because trust me, that never goes well.”
“Why won’t you listen to me?” The anger dropped from his voice; it was pure confusion. “I don’t want to have to force you or coerce you. I don’t want to have to use my amnis to keep you safe.”
“Then don’t.”
“I will if I have to.”
His eyes raced over her upturned face and Natalie realized her heart was pounding. Fear. Anger. And an unmistakable hint of arousal. A faint memory of his lips teased her. Had they kissed that first night? Was she imagining it? Her body responded to his proximity; Natalie could feel the hair on the back of her arms rise and reach toward him.
Baojia’s voice was hoarse when he said, “Natalie…”
She swallowed hard, looking away from him and to the dead waitress as she said, “Baojia, there are some things more important than my safety. Finding the truth about who is killing these girls is one of them.”
He started to say something, only to stop and cock his head to the side. His eyes narrowed, then looked off into the distance toward something she couldn’t see.
“What?” she asked. “What is it?”
“Remember when you said about mindfucks?”
“Yeah?”
“Get ready for another one.” He grasped her hand in his and angled himself slightly in front of her as he squared his shoulders toward the edge of the desert.
“What are we—Oh, whoa.” She felt the earth tremble beneath her. She should have known; apparently vampires were like dogs who could sense when earthquakes—
“His name is Tulio and he’s mostly friendly.”
Natalie blinked. “What?”
Instead of dying off, the earthquake was only growing stronger. And the sound…
“What is it?”
“Elements, remember?” His hand squeezed hers. “Not everyone controls water.”
Elements. Water, wind, fire… earth. “Oh, shit!”
The air was knocked from her lungs when the ground opened up and a giant of a man emerged. He was six feet tall, at least, with straight black hair and a smudged face that bore distinctly Spanish features. A broad forehead and heavy brows hung over eyes that looked black in the night. He wore a pair of what looked like canvas work pants and the rest of his body bulged with muscle. No shirt. No shoes. The man took an arm and swiped at the sand that covered his face as he continued walking toward them. The earth that had opened up closed behind him when his feet touched the pavement.
“Baojia.”
“Tulio.”
The vampire bent down and scooped up the dead girl, cradling her in his arms like a child before Natalie could protest.
“Hey!”
Tulio paused for a moment, glancing at her before he looked back to Baojia. “Come to my place. You can bring your human if you want.”
“We’ll be there in a few.”
“There’s more.”
Then Tulio walked back into the desert and disappeared beneath the sand.
“Holy cow.” That’s it. Natalie couldn’t think of anything weirder than that.
“Holy gopher might be more fitting.”
“How’d he do that?”
Baojia shrugged and tugged her hand, leading her back to the car. “He’s an earth vampire. That’s what they do.”
They were back in the Camaro and bouncing over dirt roads when she finally asked, “What did he mean, ‘your human’?”
“Caught that, did you?”
She rolled her eyes. “Well, I knew you were playing at something like that at Ivan’s, but I assumed that was just to get us out of there.”
“That’s partially true.”
“What do you mean partial—?”
“Humans in the vampire world have very important roles.” He interrupted her, turning the subject, if not changing it completely. “We employ you more and more to deal with computers and technology that we cannot. You are necessary for those of us who have professional obligations during the day, like Luis works for me. And you are also…”
“Food.”
He frowned at her. “Human beings are often our companions, as well as being employees. They provide company and yes, sustenance, too.”
“Like a pet?”
“Trust me.” His voice was suddenly hoarse and she glanced over to see the tips of his fangs peeking out as he watched her. “Not like a pet.”
Natalie could feel the blush hit when she saw them. Apparently, fangs were stimulated by more than just hunger or violence, and suddenly, they seemed a little more interesting and a lot less scary. “Oh.”