Free Turned by Virna Depaul Page B

could sometimes read minds, sometimes couldn’t. And now he’d discovered his psychic ability worked on lingering mental thoughts. And the fact that Bobbie hadn’t taken the medallion around Ty’s neck, when he’d clearly coveted it? Ty couldn’t help wondering if Bobbie had obeyed Ty’s silent commands to leave it alone. Had Ty somehow been able to use mind control on the other man?
    The questions were stacking up quickly, and would likely continue that way.
    About twenty minutes later, when Ty didn’t feel like vomiting from the pain, he opened his eyes and forced himself to a seated position. Bobbie’s scent had faded, so Ty knew he was long gone. Standing, he thought once again of the homeless man whose blood he’d feasted on.
    The vampire named Niles had implied he’d cleaned up Ty’s mess to prevent humans from learning about vampires. How? Had he closed the man’s puncture wounds by licking them, as Ty should have done? Had he somehow erased the man’s memory? Or worse, had he killed the man? That would make sense if the point was to ensure vampires remained a secret.
    Renewed guilt washed over him. “I’m sorry,” he said quietly, and God knew he was. He wondered about the man’s family, if he had one. Maybe a wife or kids who’d long ago stopped wondering where he was. Whether that was the case or not, he deserved better than what had happened to him tonight.
    He took out his cell phone. “I’ve run into some trouble,” he said when Carly answered. “Real trouble. I was attacked by two vampires. One read my mind. And according to them, their queen suspected what the Bureau was doing. And I’ve just confirmed those suspicions for her.”
    For a few seconds, Carly didn’t respond. Then she merely sighed. “I’ll contact Mahone. Anything else?”
    “I need you to look into an Officer Southcott with the Seattle PD. And send agents to the area of Wilcox and Booth. Advise them to be on the lookout for a body.”
    “Whose?” she said coolly.
    That was Carly. Someone was dead but she didn’t waste time with unnecessary words or emotions. “A homeless man who probably has my DNA all over him.”
    That made her pause for a second, but just barely. “You drank from him? Damn it, Ty, I thought you had yourself under control!”
    “I did. I just—I just waited too long to drink.” It won’t happen again . He tried to say it, but of course he couldn’t. Because he didn’t know if it was true.
    Her voice softened, but only slightly. “Are you hurt?”
    It didn’t escape him that her question seemed more practical than caring. After all, his lapse tonight notwithstanding, she was already short-staffed. And as a turned vampire he did have a special skill set. “I should be dead, but I’m fine. At least, I will be. But someone tailed me tonight. Someone with a connection to Ana and Salvation’s Crossing.”
    “And?”
    “He’s identified me.” Of course, he’d done it using Ty’s Belladonna-issued fake ID, which would merely confirm Ty Nunes was a wealthy philanthropist with a yen to give money away. But the identity check hadn’t really been about him. If Bobbie was indeed working for Miguel Salvador and Salvation’s Crossing, then the man had been keeping tabs on Ana.
    And he hadn’t been happy that Ty had contacted her.

CHAPTER
SEVEN
    Ana was tired. Truth be told, she’d been tired for a long time. Unfortunately, Ana hadn’t gotten a full night’s sleep since …
    Well, since she could remember.
    Every night was a struggle not to drag her bedding into her closet and sleep on the floor, praying that would give her the extra few seconds she’d need to escape if someone started to shoot up the house or tried to break inside. The same was true now. Granted, thanks to Ty Duncan’s visit earlier that night, she was more distracted than usual.
    He made her mind spin. He made her feel . She was jumpy as a cat.
    She threw back the covers and got out of bed, snapping on the light on