Мишель Роуэн - Lady & the Vamp

It was none of his business, but that never stopped him before.

Quinn watched from the shadows as two hunters moved stealthily through the dark parking lot of the roadside restaurant until they had their prey cornered. He wanted to ignore what he was seeing, turn away and head back to the car, but that wasn't going to happen.

He silently approached from behind.

"Need any help?" he asked.

The two hunters spun around to face him. One was large, with thick forearms and a scruff of beard that looked to be there more from laziness than fashion sense. The other was younger, thinner, with round glasses that magnified his eyes to twice their size. At first glance, a rather unlikely dynamic duo.

"Get lost," the large one said.

Quinn shrugged. "I can take a hint. No problem."

He turned.

Just walk away, he told himself.You've got more important things to deal with .

But then he glanced at the pair of vampires who'd been trapped in the Burger King parking lot near the garbage Dumpster—a male and female who could have been anywhere from twenty to two hundred years old, in his opinion. You just couldn't tell about that sort of thing.

"Please, help us," the female pleaded.

She was cute. Small and blond. Looked like a college student out on a date with her dark-haired,

wide-eyed boyfriend, who was attempting to shield her from the hunters with his own body. Almost couldn't see his fangs unless you were looking for them.

Quinn laughed. "Help a vampire? Why would I want to do a crazy thing like that?"

"Hey—" the younger hunter moved the wooden stake to his other hand. "I think I know you. Don't I?

You're Roger Quinn's kid, Michael. Yeah, we met a couple years ago. Toasted a nest of vamps up in St. Louis ."

Quinn tried to see the face behind those large glasses. He didn't look familiar. Then again, he'd drunk a lot when he was in St. Louis . Bad month and a half. Beer had helped. "Sure. Good to see you again."

"Yeah, you, too, man." He absently scratched at his leg with the stake. The vampires eyed the sharp weapon with fear. The hunter turned to his friend. "Quinn here's one of the best hunters I've ever seen.

Got a nose for vamps. Can smell them in any corner they try to hide."

Quinn waved his hand. "Aw, you're just saying that."

"I'm Joe, remember? This here's my buddy Stuart. Listen, you can totally help us out. These are our first two tonight. I figure they were lying in wait for victims coming out of the restaurant." He poked the male vampire in the chest as his magnified eyes narrowed. "That what you're doing? Looking for a little snack, you bloodsucking freak?"

"Go to hell." The vampire set his jaw and tried to look brave. It wasn't working very well.

"Well, you know vamps." Quinn eyed the restaurant as a car exited the drive-thru. "Evil to the core."

"You live around here?"

He shook his head. "Just passing through town. Stopped for a bite."

"Hey," the larger hunter spoke up. He was frowning. "You're Michael Quinn ?"

"That's right."

"Please," the female said. "We're not evil. We just wanted some dinner."

"Yeah," Stuart snarled. "From unassuming victims. Their blood."

"No, I had some fries."

The other licked his lips nervously. "Just leave us alone."

"Bloodsucking freak," Stuart snapped. "Vampires don't eat solid food."

"Some of us do." The female's voice shook.

"Shut up." Then he turned back to Quinn. "I feel like I've heard something about you recently. I'm just trying to figure out what it was."

Quinn crossed his arms and tried to ignore the pleading look the female vampire was giving him. "Oh, yeah? Something important?"

"I think so. But what was it?" He scratched his chin.

"Well," Quinn began. "You may have heard that I've recently retired from hunting vampires."

Stuart nodded. "Yeah, that sounds right. But there was something else." His brow furrowed, and then his gaze shot up. "Wait a minute. I remember. You… you're a—"

Quinn punched him in the face. "Bloodsucking freak?"

The hunter howled and covered his nose as it started to gush blood.

Joe tensed and raised his stake. Quinn swiveled and kicked him in the stomach. He staggered backward and banged his head on the Dumpster, which immediately knocked him out. The stake clattered to the ground. Stuart looked up, holding his nose.

Quinn flashed fangs at him. "I've also lost a lot of friends recently. For some reason they're not speaking to me anymore."

The vampires huddled together, frozen in place.

Stuart rushed Quinn. Quinn grabbed the stake out of his hand and then flipped the hunter over his hip.

Quinn crouched down to press the stake against Stuart's neck. "Like I said, I'm just passing through town. I strongly suggest you do the same."

The hunter gurgled.

"Doesn't feel so good, does it? I've had a change of heart recently about killing vampires. Why don't I let you guess why that is?"

"Don't kill me!" he begged.

Quinn pulled the stake away. "The next time you're out hunting, just remember one of the bloodsucking freaks let you live. Got it?"

The hunter nodded, holding a shaky hand to his neck, fear naked in his eyes.

"Now take your little buddy and get the hell out of here."

Joe was beginning to gain consciousness. Stuart grabbed his shirt, and the two of them staggered away.

Quickly.

Very quickly.

Quinn watched them run.

Amateurs. Could spot them from a mile away.

"Holy shit, Quinn," a voice said from his right. "I thought you were going to wait in the car."

He looked over. Matthew Barkley had emerged from the restaurant carrying a large bag filled with fast food. Quinn breathed in and with his newly heightened vampires senses could immediately tell it was two

Whoppers with cheese and an order of fries. The smell of solid food made him feel a little queasy. Some vamps, like the two he'd saved, could still eat solid food. Unfortunately, he wasn't one of them.

"I needed to stretch my legs," he said.

"Were those hunters?"

"They were trying to be."

"You kicked their asses?"

Quinn shrugged.

"Nice." Barkley nodded. "Good to see you're not a big fan of your old buddies. I guess that makes total sense."

The vampires approached.

"Thank you so much for saving us!" the female said. "We didn't know what to do. How can we ever thank you?"

Quinn didn't look at them. "You can start by staying the hell away from me."

"But we—"

"Go away," Quinn snarled.

They glanced at each other and then turned and ran in the opposite direction from the hunters.

Barkley had started to eat one of his Whoppers. He chewed thoughtfully and swallowed before speaking. "And you don't like vamps, either. That actually doesn't make sense. You're okay with werewolves, though, right?"

"Don't worry, I'm not going to run you off, too."

"Good to know. You ready to leave, or what? We need to put in a couple hundred more miles before we can grab some sleep."

Quinn's heart was beating hard in his chest. He felt a little ill, actually. Cold and clammy. "I need a minute. I'll be right back."

"I'll be in the car. Eating a great deal of food."

Quinn made his way to the public washroom in the restaurant to splash some cold water on his face. He clutched the side of the sink until his knuckles whitened.

Keep it together, he told himself.

Christ. Two months as a vampire and it wasn't getting any easier. When was it going to get easier?

Soon. Very soon.

He touched his pocket to feel the reassuring outline of the letter and immediately felt his heartbeat come back down to the normal rate for a thirty-year-old freshly made vamp.The letter . The only thing from his father's many possessions that he'd cared about after the old man died.