Chapter 63

I had just finished moving into my new condo when my phone started to ring off the hook. Looking up at me from where he was reading a newspaper on my couch (did anyone actually do that anymore?!?), Viktor nodded his head towards my offending phone.

"Are you going to answer it this time?" He asked. I will fully admit that it has been going off for the past hour, but I have not been in any mood to answer it. Besides, it would only be for one of three reasons: (1) Viki was calling that she finally found the perfect mansion, (2) Mike calling that there was another dead body, and (3) Mike calling because there was an issue with the Gypsy House Murders… as the press was calling it.

Suffice it to say, I was not interested in any of those conversations. The only other person that has called my phone lately was currently sitting in my living room looking at me in disdain.

"If it is annoying you, you could always answer it," I said, offering him a solution to his problem. "Or I could put it on mute… I guess that would work too."

"Or you could just answer it. Clearly, it is important," said Viktor looking at me with a deadpan expression on his face. Would it really kill him to roll his eyes or crack a smile? "Yes, it would," he continued, not bothering to look at me. Apparently, the newspaper was more interesting.

"Ha! I knew you could read minds!" I shouted pointing frantically at him.

"And I have said numerous times now that I can't read minds, but your face is just too loud," he scoffed as he turned the page. My phone went off again, this time as a chorus to Viktor's phone. That caused us to look at each other before reaching for the offending devices.

If I was just mine, it could be an important matter, but if someone was calling the both of us, then it WAS essential. I was nothing, no one… but if they were also trying to get Viktor, then…

I sighed when I saw the name on the screen. Answering the call, I waited for whatever shoe it was to drop. "Hello, Mike!" I said, forcing a cheerful note to my voice.

"About time Nads, we have an issue," came the snapped reply. I made my way to the windows, hoping the view of Manhattan at night might put me in a good mood. Closing my eyes, I opened my mouth.

"You know I am retired as of noon today, right?" I asked, hoping that he would get the point. It killed me not to be a police officer anymore, but lines had to be drawn somewhere. I couldn't have two full-time jobs and keep my sanity. Something had to give.

"There have been 15 murders in the last 3 hours," said Mike the tightness of his voice cluing me into how big this thing actually was. I was shocked for a moment. 15 murders in 3 hours were… a lot. We might get that in 3 months, but never within the same day. It was no wonder Mike was calling me.

"Shit," I said, not knowing what else to say.

"Oh," he says, the snark in his voice coming out, "It gets better. Each one has been a short 5'2 girl with black hair, of varying lengths, and brown eyes. The age ranges from 16 to 25, but they all appear to be around 18-20."

So, clearly, when he said that it got better, he was being sarcastic. I rubbed my nose, not sure what he wanted from me.

"The press is going to release this in a matter of minutes. They are calling it the work of a serial killer, but there is a red crescent moon painted in blood on the wall in each crime scene. When you said that they were hunting you, I thought you meant you specifically, not everyone that looks like you!" He was screaming by the end of his sentence.

I looked over at Viktor who was on his own phone. I knew that he would not feel the urge to hunt because it was one human killing another human… Well, one group of humans killing another human. But no matter how you explain it, it was not monster business, so it was none of his. It was one of the few downsides to his gift.

When he turned around to meet my eyes, I could tell he was getting the same update that I was. I could see by the very lines of his body how hard he was taking this. We both knew it was planned by a supernatural, but because the blood did not fall on her hands, it didn't count.

"What do you want from me?" I asked Mike, wondering what his plan was.

"Bait," came his quick reply.

Yup, I saw that coming.

I pause for a second and just looked at Viktor. Feeling my gaze, he turned his whole body around to face me. I looked at him, up and down… at the safety and security that he has freely offered and freely given to me. It was fine when Pandora was only after me, but clearly, something had changed in this lifetime.

Was it because I declared myself a Tesalor? I know that I was never supposed to declare myself that, but I didn't think that it would set her off to such a degree that she would set her minions out to kill anyone and everyone that looked like me.

I had as much right to the Tesalor name as anyone else did. In fact, I had more! I was the only one here born a Tesalor, even Pandora did not have the Tesalor blood flowing in her veins as I did.

I continued to stare at Viktor as my mind whirled and then it landed one course of action.

"I'll be your bait," I said, the anxiety in my body making a lie of the calmness in my voice. "I will do it. What's the worst that can happen?"

I really had to stop asking that question.