Caridad Pineiro - Darkness Calls

“Because I was hoping you’d be busy watching me,” he replied without shame, leaving her standing there in openmouthed surprise as he stepped into the elevator. “Coming?” he queried, one dark eyebrow raised in challenge.

Luigi’s was a local hangout for many of the agents and other employees of Federal Plaza. A medium-size, family-run Italian restaurant, it had been there for as long as anyone could remember. It was generally busy, even during the later hours when most regular workers had gone home.

The interior was dimly lit and cozy, with an assortment of tables and booths. The tabletops boasted paper placemats with maps of Italy and tidbits about Roman history. Small votive candles glimmered at each table in an attempt to create a more intimate mood, though they were wasted on the suits who made up the majority of the diners.

As Diana entered, the older woman at the hostess’s table threw open her ample arms, embraced Diana and let out a stream of Italian that could have been expletives or endearments for all Ryder knew.

Diana smiled and hugged the woman. When there was a break in the effusive monologue, Diana responded in a halting mix of Spanish and Italian, ending with “We’d like a table” in English. She glanced at Ryder as she spoke and shot him an awkward smile.

The hostess raised one pudgy, but well-manicured, finger and pointed it at Ryder. “A friend, yes. Il suo amico?” she questioned, putting undue emphasis on the word, which Diana was quick to clarify. Too quick, Ryder thought with amusement, secretly pleased that Diana was affected by him.

“Just a business acquaintance, Mama Isabel. We need to get some food. Good food,” she emphasized, and as she finished, Ryder’s beeper went off, alerting him to Danvers’s presence in the men’s room.

He silenced the beeper and glanced around. The men’s room was down a small hall to the right of where they were standing. “If you’ll excuse me, I need to make a call,” he said, and took a step toward the hall.

Diana looked at him oddly and pointed in the direction of the bar. “The pay phone is in there,” she replied, and then motioned to his belt where his cell phone was visible. “Or you can use that.”

Ryder glanced at his phone. “Oh, no. The beeper can wait. It was nothing important. I need to call on the facilities,” he explained. Diana mumbled an “oh” and nodded. “Get a table, and I’ll find you,” he instructed, fearing that if she waited by the entrance, she’d run into Danvers. If Diana recognized her, it might lead to a lot of unnecessary questions.

He didn’t wait for Diana’s reply. He knew Danvers was waiting in the bathroom, impatient and ill at ease.

“Hey, Ryder,” she greeted in an artificially low voice. The wealth of her blond hair had been tucked under a baseball cap that was pulled low over her forehead. An oversized jacket, one of his old ones, swam on her slim physique. Loose jeans hid her shape, making it possible for her to pass as a small man, but not if anyone made a point of looking at her. Melissa’s face was too feminine to allow her disguise to survive a more thorough examination.

Ryder motioned for her to wait while he checked each stall of the room. They were the only ones in the facilities. He held his hand out to his companion, wiggling his fingers with anticipation.

“Not even a thanks,” Melissa mumbled. She rolled her eyes and unzipped her nylon windbreaker, extracting a plastic bag of blood. “Even got it warm for you,” she groused as she slapped the bag into Ryder’s hand and leaned back against a sink as Ryder stepped into one of the stalls and closed the door.

The life energy of the liquid burned the palm of his hand, starting the unwelcome change. His heartbeat accelerated as his fangs elongated in expectation of puncturing the thick skin of the bag. Hands shaking, a fine sweat breaking out over his body from the heat of his bloodlust, he brought the bag to his mouth and closed his eyes, still disgusted by his need after more than a century. As he bit down, the plastic resisted at first, and then the sharp points of his teeth found entry and the warm earthiness of the blood spiced his mouth as some of it escaped the hollows of his fangs and spilled onto his lips. He greedily sucked down the liquid, draining the bag dry in a little over a minute.

When he was done, he was breathing heavily and was light-headed with the strength that flowed into him, enervating every cell in his body. Leaning his head against the metal of the stall, he sought to control his thirst for even more blood. In the beginning, the first Danvers had had to restrain Ryder until he had been able to restore his human self. But after many, many years, he had learned to garner his control.

His restraint had slipped slightly tonight, and he wondered if it was because of Diana. Maybe the hedonistic animal in him recognized the sweetness, the pleasure to be had, in taking a woman.

A very beautiful, very alive young woman. Being with Diana…He didn’t want to harbor any long-lasting thoughts of what being with Diana would be like. He couldn’t deal with that.

Ryder closed his eyes and took a deep breath to quell any other unwelcome ideas. With his reenergized senses, the heavy lub-dub of Melissa’s heart reached his ears. His hackles rose in recognition of her as prey.

He wrapped his arms around himself, his body not his own as he struggled against his violent urges. Against the creature that emerged whenever he fed. Slowly, through the force of his will, the animal in his body quieted, but it was a battle he always feared he might not win. Especially when temptation waited outside in the restaurant.

He unrolled a piece of toilet paper and wiped at his mouth, grimacing as the paper came away with streaks of red. He rubbed vigorously until there were no remnants of his meal and then flushed the evidence. Exiting the stall, he handed Melissa the empty bag. “You okay?” she asked, lifting the brim of her cap so she could get a better look at him.

Nodding, Ryder stepped to the sink, turned on the cold water and bent, splashing his face repeatedly. He cupped his hands and used the water to flush the last of the metallic taste of blood from his mouth. When he stood once more, he met Danvers’s worried gaze in the mirror. “I’m okay. Really.”

Melissa hesitated, and in his energized state, Ryder detected the slightly faster beat of her heart. The smell of fear coming off her skin. “Something wrong?” he asked.

“Are you sure about this, Ryder?” Melissa queried, and inclined her head toward the door leading to the restaurant. Had Melissa noticed his attraction to Diana Reyes?

Ryder shrugged. “I need to have some control over where this investigation is going. I have to befriend this woman.”

“You’re interested in her?” Melissa asked in surprise.

So she hadn’t noticed. And he’d almost given it away. He tried to cover it up by saying, “No. I’m not. But…what were you worried about?”

“Not the investigation or the woman, that’s for sure,” she corrected quickly, and Ryder couldn’t hide his own confusion.

“Really?” he asked.

“No way. It’s the restaurant. There’s enough garlic here to kill an army of you,” Melissa replied, clapping Ryder on the back in a forced attempt at camaraderie.

Ryder shook his head. She was trying to bring him back to a more human level with her humor. Danvers had learned of his secret only a few years ago, and she was still a novice at dealing with his unusual condition and its demands.

“I’ll make sure to watch out for it,” he answered. Taking a step toward the door, he turned, wanting her to be aware of how much he appreciated the risks she took. “Thanks, Danvers.”