Keep Me Close Read online

Dom had gotten the creeping feeling that something was wrong when he’d looked up from the bike and Vinny was nowhere around. Then he heard Piewicket’s warning in his mind—lurker near—and he immediately gunned the engine, driving toward where Piewicket was. He kept the headlight off, but he was still startled by the paleness of the vampire that had somehow found Vinny and tricked her into following it away from everyone else at the rest stop. What were the odds? Even when he was minding his own business, he met monsters.

  Dom’s fingers tightened around the handle of his knife. The blade was custom-made and featured a silver coating laced with spells.

  The lurker’s grin widened, becoming unsettling to look at.

  “Oh, look,” it said. “A knife. That’s not going to be enough.”

  Dom glanced at the side pannier on the bike. That’s where his gear was, and that’s where the wooden stake was. The lurker was right. Dom’s knife would hurt it more than a normal blade. But to kill a vampire, you needed a weapon made of wood, enchanted to defeat the undead.

  The stake was there, less than twenty steps away. Unfortunately, Dom doubted the lurker would give him a time-out to go grab it. And he wasn’t about to disturb the shell of protection around the bike, since that was the last line of defense for Vinny if Dom and Piewicket went down.

  So, armed with only the knife, Dom went to work.

  The lurker was hungry. It pounced toward him, moving unnaturally fast. Any regular person who made it this far would be shocked at the speed and reflexes of the vampire. But Dom had experience with this particular kind of monster, and he knew what he was up against.

  He kept the blade up and moved fast, relying on years of fight training with his brother to keep from becoming an instant vampire snack.

  Almost by accident, he managed to get a good swipe at the vampire’s chest. The silver-coated blade cut into the dead flesh of the monster, causing pain and blood and a bit of surprise.

  It retreated a few steps, just out of range of another hit. “What sort of toy you got there?” it asked conversationally. Vampires didn’t breathe, and barely tired.

  As Dom watched, the gash healed up, just like Pie’s earlier claw marks. “Shit.”

  “That’s what you’re in, kid,” the lurker said. “I haven’t lost a fight with a meal in…ever.”

  Dom needed to think fast. He needed his stake. But turning his back on the thing was suicide.

  He was a hunter who practically specialized in vampires, and now he was stuck fighting one without the one weapon that would work.

  Audame. He cast the thought out the way he used to yell for his parents when he got in trouble.

  But it was Piewicket who answered.

  You are a hunter. Stay calm. Assess. Panic is surrender.

  Dom took a breath, just in time for the vampire to attack again. He barely got out of range of the fangs in time, but he did jab hard with the knife while the vampire was close. Dom was rewarded with a little grunt of pain. The vampire jumped back, un-kabobing itself.

  So Dom had a few precious seconds of time. Think. How can you get a stake in two seconds?

  What did he have on him? Nothing. Just his knife, his wallet, and some gum and toothpicks from the diner.

  Toothpicks.

  “Holy shit.” Dom reached into his pocket for the toothpicks he’d absentmindedly shoved in there earlier. The tiny sticks stabbed at him. Perfect.

  He closed his hand around them, still watching the lurker. Its eyes were darting between Dom and the bike.

  “Not your girlfriend, huh? Maybe I’ll take her off your hands.”

  Dom knew it was thinking about leaving him for easier prey. It would rather risk dealing with the circle of protection than getting needlessly stabbed with the enspelled knife.

  Calm. That was Pie again.

  Dom took another breath. He needed to work a spell, fast. He summoned up the need—binding the proper magic into the little wooden vessels. He spoke the words under his breath, a mash of Latin and Spanish. The language mattered less than holding a crystal-clear intention in his mind, and these words were ones he knew very, very well.

  “Send life into this weapon, so that it may kill what is already dead.”

  The lurker couldn’t hear his words, and might not have known what was going on. Usually, such magic was cast long before any encounter with a vampire, because those bastards didn’t let most people live long enough to do anything to hurt them.

  “That’s the story you’ll tell your brood, huh?” Dom asked, louder and in English again. “You wimped out on me to get the girl? Cause you’re that tough?”

  The vampire glared at him. Most lurkers considered themselves solitary creatures, beholden to no other. But they were inveterate socialites, hungry for fame and standing within their strange hierarchy. This one would hate to be called a weakling.

  It rushed him, using the utmost of its unnatural abilities to practically blur through the space between it and Dom.

  Dom allowed it to grab him, and even let his own center of gravity get pushed too far. Dom intentionally fell backwards, pulling the lurker with him. The thing’s mouth touched his skin, and Dom had to fight off a desperate urge to push the monster away with all his strength. Once the fangs penetrated flesh, it was over for the victim. The saliva contained a venom which caused paralysis and lassitude. A victim would literally lie there helpless until the vampire took every drop it wanted.

  The lurker was so intent on getting to Dom’s vein that it didn’t quite realize what happened when Dom rolled, forcing the vampire to lie flat on the ground, with Dom straddled on top. It was trying to grab Dom’s shoulders, pulling him down to fang level.

  Dom didn’t want to die, so he plunged his knife directly into the heart of the vampire.

  The magic within the blade made it cringe horribly, but it only laughed, even as it tried to direct its energy to getting the blade out. Its cold hands curled around Dom’s fist, which gripped the blade.

  “Not enough, kid,” the lurker hissed. “You need a stake, or flame. You have neither. Sucks for you.”

  Dom sat up, holding his other hand in a tight fist, the tiny bundle of toothpicks sticking out past his curled pinky.

  “Surprise. I do have a stake. So sucks for you.”

  Dom was feeling mean. He shoved the first sliver of wood into the gap made by the knife, right up in the vampire’s heart. The monster barely squeaked when Dom knifed it. But this tiny sliver was a whole other thing.

  Dom told him, “Might take a few minutes for the actual dying, but trust me, you’re dead. For good this time.”

  The vampire’s eyes widened in pain, but it still hissed, “My brood will come after you.”

  “God, yes, send them along.” Dom withdrew the knife, then jammed the remaining toothpicks, all six of them, into the narrow gash.

  The spell Dom spoke worked fast, and the toothpicks acted like needles in the vampire’s dead heart. Though it wasn’t alive, it needed blood to flow through its body, and the spell within the slivers of living wood prevented the blood from moving. The lurker couldn’t heal up its wounds. Soon it wouldn’t even be able to move the limbs of the body it used as a vessel.

  Dom stood up, stepping to one side of the prone monster. It tried to grab his leg and failed. The arm fell back to the ground, like a heavy weight. With each passing second, the monster grew closer to a corpse.

  Seconds later, the vampire died, forever. Dom’s spell separated the grip of the malevolent force and the body it occupied. The spirit of the vampire wailed, a sound heard only in the otherworlds. Then the sound withered away, leaving just the body.

  Mike had been a vampire for a while, judging by how fast the body turned. The whole mass sort of collapsed and shrank, then crumbled into dust, mixed with scraps of cloth and bone fragments.

  Dom sighed in relief. “Senora de Santa Muerte, take the dead and find peace for their soul.” Then he switched to English “…even though they haven’t had a soul in years.”


  After scattering the small pile of dust and crumbled bone with a swift kick, Dom sheathed the knife in its holster, concealed in a specially designed rig under his motorcycle jacket.

  Dom glanced around. Luckily, no one else around the rest stop seemed to have noticed the tussle. The lurker chose its spot well, keeping as far as possible from human eyes and cameras. Still, it would be good to get moving.

  He turned back to the bike where Vinny was waiting, her eyes big and her expression frozen. She looked so fragile right then, just like a little girl losing her innocence about the world. Which was essentially what just happened.

  “You all right?” he asked once he reached her. There was no way she was all right.

  “I don’t know.” Her voice came out in a whisper. She clutched Piewicket in her arms. Cats could cross borders without disturbing the delicate balance of magic, and Pie must have decided she’d be more useful to Vinny inside the circle than out. “How about you?”

  “Fine. We should leave now,” he said. “Together.”

  She nodded, accepting that with no hint of an argument. Piewicket jumped to the side pannier and readied herself for the highway. Dom got on the bike, and Vinny’s arms slipped around his waist.

  Dom drove away from the rest stop at a reasonable speed. This stretch of highway was straight, and he didn’t have to worry about keeping it on the road.

  He was sore, but not sleepy. He was too wired, just as he always got after a fight. Actual combat just wasn’t something that most people got used to, even if they did it over and over. Dom was in more than his share of fights, and he still didn’t feel easy after one, even if he won. He much preferred to use magic to resolve a situation before things got violent. But vampires never asked what he wanted.

  He was clear headed, and intent on the road. Vinny’s grasp around his body slowly loosened as the miles passed. At least she was relaxing a bit.

  Dom looked for a place to pull off—Vinny needed to decompress. And honestly, so did he. He found a likely road a few miles later, following signs to a national forest. Sure enough, there was a wayside a mile or so up. No electric or water, and no one else around. But it would be fine for them.

  He parked the bike and got off.

  Vinny followed, looking shaky as she took her first few steps.

  “You okay?” he asked.

  “I don’t know. I’m going to sit down.” She sank onto the ground, legs crossed. She looked lost. Pie bounded out of her hiding spot and joined Vinny.

  Dom got their little campsite ready. He felt the chill in the air and decided a fire was a worthwhile risk. He had a system down, and Vinny helped get the fire going, apparently grateful to have something to focus on.

  Dom moved the bike so it would help block the light wind coming from the west. Then he sat beside her, careful not to touch her. He didn’t know how Vinny would react to any unexpected contact just now.

  Vinny barely said a word since she got off the bike, but her face was a parade of emotions. Dom waited for her to start.

  “What the hell kind of specialist are you?” she asked finally. She looked at him, her face pink from the heat of the fire.

  He returned her gaze. “Demon hunting, mostly,” he said honestly. “But any occult weirdness or supernasties can be handled for a fee. Kind of a family trade.”

  “Supernasties?”

  “Our fun slang for monsters,” he said.

  “Which ones?” Vinny asked. “Vampires, obviously. You said demons?”

  “Yes.”

  “Zombies?”

  “Oh, yeah,” Dom said, wrinkling his nose in memory of the smell. “Raised dead can be a problem.”

  “Werewolves?”

  He leaned back, relaxing at that one. “They exist, but I don’t hunt them. They’re generally not evil. Our great aunt Silver married one. Still dangerous, though. Werewolves, I mean. Not Auntie Silver.”

  “Is that true?”

  “Yes. Wait. She might be a great great aunt. I’d have to look it up. Definitely married a werewolf, though.”

  She shook her head, not able to process that bit of information. “How about ghosts? Do you believe in ghosts?”

  “Yes.”

  “How about angels?” she asked then, hopefully.

  “Never seen one, but I keep an open mind.”

  “I’m gonna need a minute.” Vinny took a few breaths, then closed her eyes. “Nope. I think I might still freak out. You said family trade?”

  “Yup. Whole family. Our parents did it, their parents did it. We’ve got a bunch of aunts and uncles and cousins in it too.”

  “Sounds like you got more hunters than monsters.”

  “Sadly, no. We’re outnumbered.”

  Vinny put her head on her knees. “I can’t deal with this. I nearly got eaten by a freaking vampire. And I just wandered off with him…it….whatever. What the hell was I thinking?”

  “You weren’t thinking,” Dom told her. “Vampires exert a sort of hypnosis over their victims. It’s powerful, especially if you’re not prepared for it. Trust me, the most skeptical, street smart people in the world can’t think right when a vampire has them. You’re compelled to do what it suggests.”

  She shivered. “My mind was so…fogged up. It had some sob story, about a daughter. In trouble? I don’t even remember if it made sense.”

  “They use your own humanity against you. It’s natural to want to help someone. The vampire has a little story, and uses its hypnosis to make you fill in the blanks.” Dom added, “It’s not your fault.”

  “What if you hadn’t been there?” she asked. “Wait, back up. What was a vampire doing at a highway rest stop?”

  “It’s a prime hunting ground for the modern lurker. Lots of in and out, everyone focused on their own journeys. Transient population, sketchy jurisdiction. So people disappear, and who really knows where they last were?”

  “Their cars would be left there,” Vinny objected. That amount of logic proved that she was actually taking this surprisingly well. Dom was impressed.

  “The lurkers steal the cars and resell them,” he explained. “They’re scavengers.”

  “And you beat that one.” Vinny looked over at him. “Thanks. Seriously.”

  “Just doing my job.” Dom paused. “Can I ask you something?”

  She laughed, at last sounding more like herself. “Ah, the old I just saved your life so now I get a free question maneuver. Shoot.”

  “What’s your real name?”

  Chapter 9

  Of course that would be Dom’s question. He seemed to know everything else.

  “Vinny is my real name,” she insisted. “Well, my real nickname.”

  “Tell me your whole first name.”

  “Okay, but don’t laugh,” she warned.

  “Promise.”

  She took a breath, then said, “It’s Lavinia.”

  “That’s very old fashioned,” he said. “But pretty.”

  “It’s silly.” Vinny had never liked her name. It was so prissy. “Worse with the middle name. Lavinia Rose. Is there any wonder that I became a punk rocker? Lavinia Rose Wellington Wake.”

  Dom closed his eyes for a second, as if absorbing the sound of the name. “I like it.”

  “What’s your name, since we’re sharing here?” she asked.

  He pulled out his license. “Otherwise you might not trust me,” he said, handing it to her.

  She took it and read out, “Dominic B Salem. What’s the B stand for?”

  “Benno. And, full disclosure, I have a few more names in my name, but they didn’t make it onto official records. My family plans ahead.”

  “What does that mean?” she asked, confused.

  “Names hold power,” he said, leaning toward her, his expression serious. “It’s smart to not let people know your whole name, unless you trust them. I’m really glad you told me, but you’re right to keep it close. Don’t tell people if you don’t have to.”

  “Th
at’s a magic rule?”

  “It is.”

  “Nice of you to tell me after I gave my full name to you.”

  “I only asked for your first name,” he reminded her. “You did the rest on your own.”

  “Whoops,” Vinny said absently. She was thinking on the Benno. “Saint’s name.”

  “Not many people know that one,” he said.

  Vinny handed the license back. “Well, I was good at Catholic school.”

  “Thanks. Now I’ve got that to think about too.”

  “Not in a dirty way,” she said, laughing again. “Dom? I’m sorry I got you into a fight. Cheese and crackers, I thought I was being nice to a stranger, and I nearly got eaten by a freaking vampire.”

  “Yeah, they’re not super respectful of ethics,” Dom said. “I know that from experience. Trust me, I don’t feel bad about nixing that one.”

  “So I was half-right before,” she said triumphantly. “You, Dominic Benno Salem, are a hit man. Just not for humans.”

  “Yeah, you got me.” He paused. “Vin?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Are you okay? I mean, mentally?”

  “Yeah, but I have lots of questions,” she said. “Are vampires, um, common? Like, is it safe to sleep outside?”

  “You didn’t get killed the other night, did you?”

  “No, but I know more now.”

  He said, “We’re safe. I’ve got a couple of…let’s just say insurance policies.”

  “Like that knife.” She remembered only that it looked scary, and that Dom was very comfortable with it.

  Now, Dom produced it from somewhere under his jacket and handed it to her, hilt first.

  She took it, feeling the silky grain of ebony wood under her fingers. There was some design etched on the hilt, but she couldn’t tell quite what it was supposed to be—some abstract pattern, very intricate and a little spooky. Then she looked at the blade itself.

  It was gorgeous. A work of art. A very sharp, deadly work of art. It was a double-edged blade with a wicked pointed tip. The blade itself gleamed silvery blue, ripples seeming to cascade over the surface like water on a windy day. Vinny had never seen anything so beautiful and badass at once.