A Girl's Guide to Vampires

Dominic was pointing a very large gun at us. Next to him stood a silent Milos.

"What are you doing here? You were doing your magic show!" I sputtered.

"All good things, ma chère, must come to an end," Dominic said with one of his showy bows before waving the gun toward Raphael. "Sadly, that includes you as well as the curious Mr. St. John."

I glanced at Raphael. He looked like Dominic was boring him to death. I felt better immediately.

"You will both come with me now, Raphael in front, mon ange nearest me. Milos will follow. We will proceed that way to the boats, yes?"

"Boats?" I asked, scooting closer to Raphael. He didn't move a muscle, just watched Dominic with eyes so dark they were almost brown. "You want to go for a boat ride now? I thought we were going to do that later? I'm a bit busy now, so maybe I'll take a rain check on that. Raphael and I were… uh… just… um…"

Dominic snickered. "Mon ange, it was quite apparent what you and Raphael were doing. Now, if you are quite finished, the boats are waiting."

Milos eyed me coldly and turned to say something to Dominic. I used the opportunity to glare at Raphael. He raised his eyebrows at me.

"Well, you could help!"

"I thought you wanted to be the one to help me," he said mildly, apparently unconcerned that we were held at gunpoint by a deranged madman who thought he was a vampire, and his equally cold-blooded accomplice.

"That was then. This is now. I'd appreciate it if you did something."

"Like what?"

I pinched his arm. "Save us!"

"Ah. How?"

I threw up my hands in disgust. "You're the one who has the gun!"

Milos and Dominic both stopped whispering and looked at us.

"I don't have it on me," Raphael told them.

They didn't believe him. Dominic waved me to the side, his gun a few feet away from my breast while Milos patted Raphael down. Once they determined he was gunless, Dominic gestured me toward the way I had come earlier.

"As to your question, our boat ride must be canceled," he said, reaching for me. I slid away and ran for Raphael. "It is a shame, but you will have instead the most tragic accident when you are shot by mistake. I, of course, will be saddened that you were killed in an attempt to stop Raphael from strangling you, but what am I to do?" He shrugged. "The police will have their murderer—a dead one—and I will mourn the loss of mon ange chéri. All will end well."

"You're going to kill us?" I don't know why I was surprised after seeing what he'd done to Tanya. Maybe both of them did it, I certainly wouldn't put it past Milos, what with the unwholesome look of excitement in his eyes. "Why? What have we ever done to you?"

"It is so," Dominic answered my first question. "Raphael has been too diligent in his investigation into our alibis for the murders of the women Milos and I have enjoyed. We cannot allow him to interest the police in our matters. Already he has gone too far. He almost caught me last night, before I was able to dispose of dear Tanya's remains to my satisfaction. I was not able to leave the damning clues as I had wanted."

"My rune stone," I said, seeing again the image of a purple stone in Raphael's hand.

"It would have worked if St. John had not followed us," Milos said, his voice cold and emotionless.

"But… but… why? Why did you kill her?"

Milos and Dominic exchanged a small, very chilling smile. "We are Vampyr. It is what we do."

"You're no more a vampire than Raphael is," I snorted.

Milos gestured toward me, prompting Raphael to note, "Baby, never mock a man who's holding a loaded Glock on you."

I pursed my lips and edged closer to him. Milos did not look in the least bit sane. "I see your point."

Raphael's hand brushed my hip as he reached behind him.

"You will come this way now," Dominic ordered.

I hate being pushed around. "Just a second. If you're going to kill us, the least you can do is admit everything in the best detective-story manner. I think you owe us that much."

Dominic smiled; his fake fangs didn't look nearly as amusing as I'd found them in the past. The beastly things glinted wickedly in the dull sodium lights. Raphael's arm slowly moved alongside me, then stopped. I prayed he had a weapon in it. Something lethal.

"I, too, read detective stories," Dominic replied. "If you expect us to admit to our sins in hopes you will miraculously escape, you are bound to be disappointed."

"You did murder Tanya and all those other women, though."

Milos muttered to Dominic. He held up his hand and looked hard at Raphael. "Our dear Raphael knows the answer to that question."

"Yes, I do," Raphael drawled. "The French police almost had you after you killed that prostitute in Paris, but unfortunately"—his lips twisted wryly—"I was pulled from the case."

"What? You knew it was the two of them all the time? Why didn't you do something?"