Page 50 of Signed With Love

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Page 50 of Signed With Love

Oh, great. Now the psychic was talking to him, but Viktor wasn’t so sure it was a good idea to stick around for a conversation. He was feeling decidedly off-kilter. Seeing the object of his stalking under attack… He definitely needed some alone time.

But Ant obviously didn’t realize that. “I had to block you out while I was doing the reading. If I hadn’t done that, I’d haveknown the moment someone got close enough to hit me with a bullet. Or Able.”

“Why didn’t your dog see or hear them?” Viktor had seen the intruders the moment they’d gotten within fifty feet of the psychic. Admittedly, he’d dismissed them as a harmless couple looking for somewhere to get their rocks off at the time, but he knew they were in the area. “Doesn’t he have superpowers?”

“Like you, you mean?” Ant was focusing on him now and he was smiling. Viktor almost took a step backward. It wasn’t that he hadn’t seen the psychic smile before, but this was the first time one had been directed at him. “Able’s job is to stand guard over me while I’m doing a reading. His only focus is meant to be me, and he doesn’t intervene unless someone comes at me directly, even at those times when a vampire saves me from a bullet. I want to thank you for that.”

He looked at his dog fondly, making Viktor wish he was the damn dog.What is wrong with me?

“Whether the bullet was meant for me or Able, it would’ve made a mess of either one of us. I truly appreciate your intervention. Are you all right?”

“All right?” Viktor repeated, surprised the psychic even asked. “Er… yes. I’m fine. I heal quickly.” He looked down at his hand. He was still holding the bullet. “This is a large caliber. You, or Able, weren’t meant to survive.”

Ant got to his feet. “It happens in my line of work,” he said simply. “Some people are ruled by fear, and one of the biggest fears they have are about the things they don’t understand – like my abilities for example. Before you go, would you mind telling me what people call you?”

“Nothing complimentary as a rule,” Viktor huffed. “I’m known as Viktor.”

“It’ll be nice to call you something other than stalker.” Ant smiled, but then he moved closer and patted Viktor’s chest. He wasn’t looking at Viktor directly, but Viktor felt a weird vibe in the air. “Someone close to you is not happy with you.” It was almost as if Ant was talking to himself.

“They want something you’re not prepared to give them, and if it doesn’t come soon, they may…they may...” He tilted his head to one side. “I’m sorry. You need to take care. The events haven’t happened yet, so what I can see is limited, but please. Be careful of those who live in the shadows.”

“I’ve lived in the shadows a long time,” Viktor said gruffly, more affected than he wanted to let on from that simple touch.

“It might be time to step out from them then.” Ant glanced over to the police car. Mike was probably on his phone again. “I have to give a report of the things I saw here before you became the only thing I could see. There’s something else… You know what, I’ll make it simple for you. I want you to take this.” He clicked his fingers, and a small vial appeared in his hand. He tucked it into Viktor’s jacket pocket.

“What is it?” Viktor frowned down at his jacket.

“A sample of my blood. When you’re ready, sniff it. It’ll give you the answers you need, or at least let you know why you’ve suddenly become a stalker when I’m sure that’s not a regular occupation for you. I’m coming, Mike,” he called out as Viktor heard a car door opening. “I have to get back to work. Remember what I said about the shadows and be careful.”

“I’m not the one who was shot at.” But the psychic was already walking away, and suddenly Viktor had the urge to get somewhere private as well. Sniffing a person’s blood – perhaps tasting it? Viktor’s mouth watered just thinking about it...

It wasn’t until he got back to his car that he pondered Ant’s words – well, the ones that didn’t make sense like “when you’re ready.”

Ready for what, exactly? What did the psychic know that Viktor didn’t?

And why did he think a vial of blood would give me an answer to a question I’m sure I haven’t even asked?

Viktor pondered the mystery of the enigmatic psychic as he slowly drove back to town. Watching the man, as he had been, he had gained a few clues about how Ant operated. Viktor wasn’t going to apologize for the stalking. He had just saved the man’s life - or his dog’s life, which was apparently equally important – which he’d only been able to do because he had been stalking the man, so he had to get kudos for that.

But what do I actually know?

The psychic was a man of complex layers. That was a gut instinct Viktor had, rather than an observation. Ant had friends who he socialized with, but Viktor noticed it wasn’t in large groups, and Ant didn’t seem overly comfortable doing it. But he did have people he would share a meal with.

Then there was his work at the university, or Mage’s Academy, or whatever it was called. Viktor didn’t have a lot of time for magic users as a rule, so it wasn’t like he was going to learn the correct terminology for their stuffy establishments. But Ant had lectured there twice, and in the course of his stalking, Viktor hadn’t missed the psychic’s sister’s comment about the students watching his ass as he left the room. So it was reasonable to conclude that people considered Ant nice to look at.

Viktor pondered that for a moment. As a rule, physical characteristics didn’t impact him one way or the other. Viktor had evolved past the idea that people were food – his fledgingyears were so far back in history they were barely worth thinking about. Viktor had found that if he kept his eyes closed, one person’s blood tasted much like another’s. He was more concerned with a person’s hygiene than their looks. He rarely fed from the source anymore, and it had been a long time since someone’s looks had stirred him physically in any way.

Ant did have a certain physical appeal. Viktor had definitely noticed him, and during the time he’d been stalking the psychic, he’d noticed the interest the man got from others just by walking into a room.But wasn’t that a power aspect rather than physical looks?

Who are you trying to kid? The man is gorgeous. Admit it and move on.Which was a fair enough comment from his other side, but Viktor wasn’t going to rush into…

The ringing of his phone broke into Viktor’s musings, and he frowned. He felt like he was being intruded on and that annoyed him. Answering the call with a gruff, “What?” Viktor wasn’t surprised to hear it was Tony.

“Is that any way to talk to your boss?”

Damn it. Tony was in a bad mood. That didn’t bode well for the rest of Viktor’s evening. “I’m in the middle of something.”

“Well drop it, whatever it is. I need you to go after that psychic you were telling me about – the one who testified and got Duncan off. He has to be silenced.”


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