Free Blood and Destiny by Kaye Chambers

time. Blind luck kept me on my feet. My catlike grace had abandoned me. Beside the roses was a stiff sheet of parchment-style stationery with a typed message on it.
    It read,The man you’re looking for in regards to the missing woman will be at 1128 Westmoreland in the subbasement at two a.m. Don’t come without protection lest you become an entrée .
    Fear made my heart pound. No vampire had ever used magic on me to vanish. When the bell above the front door chimed, I turned toward it with a snarl. Luke threw his hands up and froze.
    “Whoa, whoa. No harm, no foul and no biting.”
    Instincts warred as I forced myself to calm down. My heart settled and I took a deep breath. The soft scent of roses, mint and lion was a balm against the fear. I tossed my head back and let go of the remaining rush of adrenaline. One day soon, I was going to have to drive up to the forest and let the lioness have her turn or situations like this were going to bring on a shift I wouldn’t be able to stop.
    “What happened?” Luke’s tone was soothing, but there was an undercurrent of a low growl. The lioness stretched against the tight leash in response.
    “Nothing. Wait. Wait. Just give me a moment.”

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    Standing up, I kicked the heels off to stalk around the room. It took several turns before I had a firm grasp on myself. Turning back, I found Luke leaning against the doorframe waiting with a patience I couldn’t help but admire. He simply raised an eyebrow.
    “Okay. When you got here, did you see a reject from a Pink Panther film on the street? Come out the door? Any clue?”
    “Pink Panther? You’ll have to be a little more specific.”
    “Fedora, trench coat, gloves and sunglasses? Not ringing a bell?”
    He shook his head and I cursed.
    “Let me start at the beginning. I had a strange visitor. A vampire old enough to be sensitive to sunlight strolled through that door and I didn’t see him leave.”
    “Is this related to a case?”
    “Maybe. He left a note. He zaps me into oblivion and leaves me a blasted note.” I took the paper and waved it at him. When I made no effort to bring it to him, he crossed the floor with easy grace to take it from me. Under normal circumstances, I wouldn’t have shared, but I was rattled beyond client confidentiality. It only took him a moment to grasp the consequences.
    “So, you’re working a missing-person case and this guy strolls in and gives you the proverbial gift horse. The problem is?”
    He didn’t see the problem? Of course he didn’t because I hadn’t given him the full story. I was going to have to tell my potential suitor about my destructive relationship tendencies. Well, the beginning had been promising while it lasted.
    “The problem is that he came out of curiosity because I’ve got this thing with the local vampire king. He apparently wanted to see what the fuss was all about.”
    “You’re in a relationship with a vampire?” He managed to make it a polite question without any obvious effort.
    “No. Well, not anymore. Marcus and I have this thing…on again, off again. I called it off for good a few months ago, but this case sent me back to ask him for information. I’m trying to find a woman I’m not sure really wants to be found. She was last seen with a young vampire.”
    I was babbling. I paused and tried to collect myself.
    “I take it Yasmine doesn’t approve of Marcus?” His voice held laughter. In my frazzled state, I was having a hard time finding humor in anything. I glared at him until he forced it away.
    “No. Well, actually, it’s not Marcus she didn’t approve of. It’s my inability to relate to men on any type of long-term basis. You’re her attempt to engage any latent mating urges that might exist in my dysfunctional psyche.”
    “I see.”
    I searched his face for some sort of outrage. In his position, I would have been livid at Yasmine’s manipulation and