ONE FOR THE MONEY

Jeaniene Frost

Chapter One

I squinted in the morning sunlight. At this hour, I should have been in bed, but thanks to my uncle Don, I was traipsing across the NCSU campus instead. I strode up to Harrelson Hall, then climbed to the third floor to the class I was looking for. When I walked in, most of the students ignored me, either chatting with each other or rifling through their bags as they waited for class to start. The room had stadium-style seating, with the entrance down by the professor's podium. My lower vantage point gave me the same sweeping view of the students the professor would have. I scanned every face, seeking the one that matched the jpeg I'd been sent. No, no, no...ah. There you are.

A pretty blonde stared back at me with barely concealed suspicion. I smiled in a friendly way and threaded up the aisle toward her. My smile didn't soothe her; she flicked her gaze around the room as if debating whether to make a run for it.

Tammy Winslow, I thought coolly. You should be scared, because you're worth a lot of money dead.

The air felt charged with invisible current moments before a ghost burst into the room. Of course, I was the only one who could see him.

"Trouble," the ghost said.

Sounds of heavy footsteps came down the hall while the air thickened with greater supernatural energy.

So much for doing this the quiet way.

"Get Bones," I told the ghost. "Tell him to be ready at the window."

That turned a few heads, but I didn't care about my college student ruse anymore. I had to get those people out of here.

"I've got a bomb," I called out loudly. "If you don't want to die, get out now."

Several kids gasped. A few snickered, not sure if I was kidding, but no one ran for the door. The footsteps coming down the hall got closer.

"Get out now," I snarled, pulling my gun out of its hidden holster and waving it.

No one waited to see if I was kidding anymore. Scrambling ensued as the students ran for the door. I held onto my gun, shouting at everyone to stay away from me, relieved to see the room emptying. But when Tammy tried to dart away, I grabbed her.

A man barreled through the door, knocking the panicked deluge of students aside as if they were weightless. I shoved Tammy away and whipped out three of the silver knives that I had strapped to my legs under my skirt, waiting until no one was in front of him before flinging them at the charging figure.

He didn't try to dodge my blades and nothing happened when they landed in his chest. A ghoul, great. Silver through the heart did nothing to ghouls; I'd have to take his head off to kill him. Where was a big sword when I needed one?

I didn't bother with more knives, but launched myself at the ghoul, bear-hugging him. He pounded at my sides, smashing my ribs as he tried to shake me off. Pain flared in me, but I didn't let go. If I were human, the punishment from his fists would have killed me, but I was a full vampire now, so my broken bones healed almost instantly.

I managed to put the gun's muzzle to the ghoul's temple and pulled the trigger.

Screams erupted from the few kids still left in the room. I ignored them and kept pumping bullets into the ghoul's head. The bullets wouldn't kill him, but they did a lot of damage. His head was in oozing pieces when I let go.

Tammy tried to run past me, but I was faster, knocking over desks in my way as I grabbed her. Scraping sounds let me know the ghoul was crawling toward us, his head healing with every second. I hopped over the desks, yanking Tammy along with me, and pulled out my largest knife from under my sleeve. With a hard swipe, I skewered the ghoul's neck.

The ghost appeared in the window, followed by another surge of energy coming from the same direction. Time to go.

Tammy screamed as she fought me, trying to break my hold on her. "I'm not going to hurt you," I said. "Fabian." I glanced at the ghost. "Hold on."

He wrapped his spectral hands around my shoulders. Tammy wasn't as trusting. She kept screaming and kicking.

I ignored that and ran right at the window. Tammy shrieked as we smashed through it with a hail of glass. Since her classroom had been on the third floor, we didn't have a long hang time before something collided with us, propelling us straight upward. Tammy's screams rose to a terrified crescendo as we rocketed up at an incredible speed.

"Somebody help me!" she shrieked.

The vampire who'd caught us adjusted his grip, flying me, Tammy, and the hitchhiking ghost toward our destination at the far edge of campus.

"Somebody has," he replied, English accent discernible even above Tammy's screams.

*** *** ***

The Hummer was equipped with bulletproof windows, a reinforced frame, and a backseat that couldn't be opened from the inside. Tammy found that out when she tried to escape as soon as we'd thrown her in and sped off. Then she'd shrieked for another ten minutes, ignoring my repeated statements that we weren't going to hurt her. Finally, she calmed down enough to ask questions.

"You shot that guy in the head." Her eyes were wide. "But that didn't kill him. How is that possible?"

I could lie. Or, I could use the power in my gaze to make her believe she hadn't seen anything unusual, but it was her life on the line, so she deserved the truth.

"He wasn't human."

Even after what she'd seen, her first reaction was denial. "What kind of bullshit is that? Did my cousin send you?"

"If he'd sent us, you'd be dead now," Bones said, not taking his attention off the road. "We're your protection."

I knew the exact moment Tammy got a good look at the vampire who'd snatched us out of thin air, because she stared. Her scent changed, too. That former reek of terror became a more perfumed fragrance as she checked out his high cheekbones, dark hair, ripped physique, and sinfully gorgeous profile.

Young, old, alive, undead, doesn't matter , I thought ruefully. When Bones is around, women go into heat.

But Tammy had just been through a very traumatic experience, so I ignored the vampire territorialism that made me want to grab Bones and snap, "Mine!" Instead, I handed her a pack of wet wipes.

She looked at them with an incredulous expression. "What do you expect me to do with these?"

"Noting works better to wipe off blood, believe me," I said, showing her my newly-cleaned arms.

Tammy looked at them, at me, and at Bones. "What is going on?"

"She already told you," Bones said, pulling over on the side of the road and putting the vehicle in park. "But you need more proof before you believe us, right?" He held up his hand. "Watch."

Bones dragged a knife across his hand, cutting open a line of flesh. Tammy stared as it closed moments later as if it had an invisible zipper. Fabian didn't even blink. The ghost was used to the healing abilities of the undead.

"I'm a vampire, that's why I can do this. Name's Bones, by the way."

"And I'm Cat," I added. "I'd introduce you to Fabian, but you can't see him anyway. We're your guardians until my uncle tracks down your cousin and arrests him."

Tammy's face was almost comical in its incredulity. "But it's daylight," she said at last. "Vampires can't go out in the sun, everyone knows that!"

Bones chuckled. "Right. And we shrink back from crosses, can't travel over water, can't enter a home unless invited, and always get staked in the end by the righteous slayer. Really, who'd be afraid of a creature like that? All you'd need is a Bible, a tanning bed, and some holy water to send us shivering to our dooms."

Tammy shook her head slowly. I watched with sympathy. Denial was how I'd reacted at sixteen when I found out my absentee father had been a vampire, and that it wasn't puberty causing my strangeness, but the growth of my inhuman traits.

"I know it's hard to believe since vampires and ghouls look human most of the time," I tried again, "but -"

"Let me get this straight," Tammy interrupted. "I asked some of my father's old government friends for help when "accidents" kept happening to me, and someone sent a vampire to protect me?"

Fabian began to laugh. I gave the ghost a censuring look that silenced his chuckles, but even though he was partially transparent, it was clear his lips were still twitching.

"Actually, two vampires," I corrected. "The ghost was a bonus."

"I'm a dead woman," Tammy muttered.

Bones snorted. "Told you this job wouldn't be easy, luv."

He was right, but I owed Don a favor. Even if I hadn't, I would still be here. Last month, Tammy had almost been killed by a "freak" electrical surge. Two weeks ago, a drive-by shooting nearly took her life. Could've been unfortunate coincidences, except the fact that if Tammy died before her twenty-first birthday, all her father's millions would go to her cousin, Gables. Tammy's late father had been an old friend of my uncle's, and Don didn't believe in coincidences. Then Don did some digging and heard that the next attempt on Tammy would involve an 'exotic' kind of hitman that never failed.

Don knew what that meant. He ran a special Homeland Security division that dealt with the supernatural - not that taxpayers knew part of their money went toward policing things that supposedly didn't exist. I was retired from the unit, but that made it even better for my uncle. Don didn't need to use an active team member to look after his old friend's daughter. No, he could call me, knowing I wouldn't turn away a girl who had her head on a preternatural chopping block.

Tammy seemed to have gotten over her initial shock. She tossed her blonde hair. "I offered to pay for protection and if you're the one protecting me, that means you work for me. So I'm going to lay some ground rules, got it?"

My brows rose. Fabian whistled, but of course, Tammy couldn't hear the ghost. You better hurry up and arrest her cousin, Don, I thought.

Bones gave me a knowing look. "Told you not to answer your mobile whilst we were on vacation, Kitten."