The Weesal, a Nosferatu not by birth, lives in the sewers and under the tunnels of the City's subway system. This, as far as I know, is the only time he ventures to the surface. The disgusting odor of urine, stale bread, blood and feces radiated off my contact's body.

I watched Weesal take out a pack of cigarettes, hit it against the bar, dislodging a cigarette. He pulled it out, lit it, and I inhaled the heavenly aroma. "The Jacquerie, Weesal."

His mouth moved dislodging the cigarette. "Oh no, no, no, no." Weesal jumped up frantically looking for it.

I placed a firm hand on his shoulder, pushed him back on the stool. The young Nosferatu was so slight any more pressure would break his shoulder. He had the fragile bones of a rodent. "Sit down before I break your scrawny a.s.s." I calmly picked up the cigarette and handed it to the Weesal. "I want names and addresses of hideouts and drug dens."

"Great! A smoker," Gauge complained.

Being a werewolf made Gauge strong as well as delicate. Smoke and certain smells made him sick. His club, or what used to be his club before Terra blew it up, was non-smoking.

"I don't mess with the Jacquerie!" Weesal shrieked.

"I'm not telling you to mess with them. Just spy on them."

"It's gonna cost you. They could find out and kill me. You don't care about me." He moved his head with much att.i.tude. "I'm just Weesal, your little snitch."

With pained tolerance, I pulled a wad of cash out of my leather jacket and waved it in front of Weesal's face. "Smell that, Weesal. You're a valuable snitch. Five thousand now, five thousand later when you give me a list of addresses. I need the info by Thursday night."

"T-that's twenty-four hours from now."

I casually leaned back against the bar, anchoring my elbows on the edge and interlaced my fingers. "Then you'd better get to work."

"Are you really the new Enforcer?"

"That's right."

"s.h.i.t!" He took a jittery drag again.

Smoke billowed out from the Nosferatu's nostrils and mouth. It swirled around my nose. All I want is Ilida straddling my c.o.c.k while I smoke a cigarette.

"Yes, s.h.i.t. If you screw me, Weesal I will take your headless body and feed it to your fellow patrons."

Weesal visibly swallowed then took a drag of his cigarette. "Yeah, I'll get your info."

I handed the Weesal five thousand dollars.

"Do I have to count this?"

"Do I have to break your legs for fun?" I reached out to Weesal. He flinched like a scared rat. I pulled the cigarette out of his mouth and took a puff. The drag took me back to simpler days. "Ah, nothing like nicotine."

"Nothing like cop cruisers," Gauge added sarcastically. "We'd all better get on up out of here."

Weesal had already darted out the back entrance.

"Let's go."

"The bar owner is Nosferatu. How will he explain this to the police?"

"Nosferatus who choose to live on the surface have human servants who deal with the police."

Ilida woke with a start. Sweat ran down from her forehead to her chin. She jumped out of bed, then grabbed the nearest article of clothing. As she walked past her mirror, she saw Daedalus struggling with a monster? holding a machete?

She pulled on her sweat suit and ran out of her bedroom.

"Hey! Ilida where are you going?"

"Out!"

"It's two in the morning."

Ilida closed the door, stopping any further protests from her roommate. As she ran down the stairs, she could hear her roommate hollering for her to come back.

After we made our getaway, Gauge decided to crash at my place. Fine. I could use the company. Twenty minutes later, I parked in front of my home, annoyed. I sensed a presence in my house. I'd cast my wards last week and kept them up. How could someone barge in?

"You want me to check the back?"

"Check it," I said as I unsheathed my sword. I ran up the stairs as Gauge jumped up the wall and climbed it until he disappeared over the roof. I opened the door slowly, quietly. The living room was dark the way I'd left it. So far, so good.

Whoever broke in was sitting in the dark waiting for me to my right.

"It's me."

"Don't move!" I commanded the lights to come on. They did, to reveal my sword against Ilida's neck, her eyes horribly fixed on the tip of the sword. Her throat jerked trying not to move. A sudden move in the wrong direction would cut her throat. I moved the sword to the left away from her jugular and sheathed it. "What are you doing here?" I hadn't intended to sound brusque but almost killing she frightened me.

"This will sound stupid. Like I'm stalking you, but I'm not."

She was shaking. Dark circles hung under her eyes, making her look older than her thirty-one years. "Try me."

She walked to me, held both my arms. The rattling of her bones vibrated through me. Seeing her shining with fear, I wanted to wipe it away. Her heart beat so that her blood roared in my ears. I can hold off the hunger for another hour. When she falls a sleep, I'll feed.

"I dreamt a-a monster came at you with a machete."

Before I could answer, my brother, the annoying sage, walked into the living room.

"You two look cozy."

All right, we did, but this was private. "You stay, Ilida." I turned to Gauge pointing my finger at him. "You go home."

Gauge's eyebrow arched, feigning indignation. He took his time getting to the door, bowed, waved his hand in a circle as if he was a addressing a Sultan, and then closed the door. It gave me time to calm myself down. I almost killed her. If I'd succeeded, where would I be then? "Hold on, Ilida."

I wanted the sword out of my hands, didn't want violence to touch her. That emotion so foreign to me struck me dumb. Since when did I ever care about violence touching a woman I slept with? I was ashamed to admit that I didn't. This connection was more than a fluke.

I put the sword on the stand and covered it. Ilida sat on the living room couch playing nervously with the belt on her coat. "Ilida, I'm fine. Take your coat off."

"You must think I've lost my mind or something."

"Then I'm losing mine with you. Come on." I said, pulling off her coat. "We have a connection, obviously."

"This has never happened to me before."

"Me, too." Her coat held her scent. I wrapped her collar around my nose inhaling it.

"I won't come here again even if I feel something."

"Let's not talk about it now," I said, as I closed the closet door.

"I can drive back home."

I walked around the corner and leaned against the squared-off beam. "You will stay here. It's almost two in the morning." I shrugged off my coat and let it drop to the floor. Tomorrow I'll wash the bloodstains off it. I had pressing things to do right now. "Upstairs. No protests."

For once, she listened to me. I followed her up the stairs, directed her to the bedroom. "Is this the famous sweat suit?"

"Yep."

"It shows off your curves. Take off your clothes and get in the bed."

"I..."

"No s.e.x." I pulled her sweat hood zipper down. "Just sleep."

She didn't look convinced.

"Believe it or not I can abstain," I said, then planted a kiss on her forehead.

I pulled the hooded sweatshirt off her shoulders, folded that, and placed it on the bed. I diligently kept my eyes above her neck. I grasped the waistband of her pants and pulled it down to the rise of her hips. Her hips don't slope down. They rise, then slope, and curl under. Her hands grasped my wrists.

"I can... manage that," she said wryly. "I shouldn't be here."

"Are you forgetting we had s.e.x earlier," I said against her forehead. My hands clutched the waistband of her sweat pants. I couldn't let go.

"We're supposed to be staying away from each other."

I shrugged. "We'll sort it out in the morning. For now you need to sleep, peacefully." Before I ripped her clothes off and had my way.

"Sleep is... good."

"Yes it is."

Her lids fluttered then thick eyelashes swept down over her rounded cheekbones. I picked her up, laid her down, took off her clothes, and then covered her with the sheets. I moved to the other side of the bed, sat in the chair, and then stretched my legs propping them on the bed.

"Who was your friend?" she asked sleepily. She broke through my hypnosis. Instead of finding it troublesome, I found it challenging.

"My friend was actually my paternal twin brother."

"You didn't have to make him leave."

"It's okay. He's thick skinned," I said, as I tucked her in.

After fifteen minutes, light snoring filled my bedroom. I stood up and paced the floor. Sleeping at night was an anathema to me. Daytime was my night.

The connection we have...I didn't want to think about what it could be. I swore after my disastrous marriage to Maiko I'd never let it happen again. This isn't me. This isn't what I do. What is Ilida doing to me?

Chapter Nine

The next morning Ilida woke to the smell of bacon. She rose out of bed, and padded to the adjoining bathroom.

"Hum. Shower cap." She reached down for it. A note fell off the basket onto the floor.

Just in Case.

She smiled at Daedalus's thoughtfulness. It was the kind of thoughtfulness to make her think twice about not being with him. Maybe that was his way of getting back in her pants. Willpower, Davis. Willpower!

Something...well, her annoying psychic powers drew her to him. It would be perfect if he didn't have psychic powers and a dangerous bent to him. That was what attracted her to him in the first place. Now she had time to really appreciate it. She always had a thing for bathrooms and Daedalus's ranked up there with magazine showpieces.

That had nothing to do with being in-like with him. She sat on the tiled bench, covered her head with the shower cap, and let the water cascade over her shoulders.

After taking a quick shower and dressing, she ran down the floating staircase and into the kitchen. Daedalus was sitting at the bar dressed in a black sweater and blue jeans. The sweater left nothing to the imagination. When relaxed, his muscles still bulged.

He nursed something in his coffee cup. His hair, too short to muss, looked neat but his face was a different story. Bags took up residence under his eyes. His skin looked drained of vitality. He could use some sleep.

Ilida ached to hold him in her arms and have him sleep on her shoulder, but there was that staying away from each other thing.

"I made breakfast for you."

"You didn't have to do that."