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attacker.
    Nadia wasn’t sure exactly what
she was witnessing here, but she knew it wasn’t good.
    “Take your
money, or don’t take your money, but no one – and I mean no one – touches her.”
    Shadee bent to
retrieve his cowboy hat that had fallen to the floor during his unexpected
flight. He carefully placed it on his head and then took one step forward and
offered his outstretched hand, palm up, toward the man he’d called Dagger.
    Dagger placed
the large wad of cash into his hand with a frustrated thwack.
    Shadee opened
his mouth, as if to say something, but then cut his eyes over at Nadia and
seemed to reconsider. He gave one quick nod and then turned and departed up the
steps in rapid fashion.
    Dagger turned
and straightened his cape at the neckline. He cleared his throat.
    “I must
apologize for that bit of unpleasantness. He was supposed to be a professional
investigator. Came highly recommended. But I guess your allure is simply too
much to resist, even for a highly skilled tracer such as he.”
    Nadia listened
and watched. The words he spoke came out in a soft-spoken voice with just a
hint of Russian accent. She began to get a strange feeling deep inside with
each additional word. She knew this man, this voice. But how?
    ****
    Byron had made
quick work of searching all the possible places Nadia might be. He knew it was
a pointless endeavor, but he hadn’t been able to think of what else he could
do. He simply didn’t know anyone to contact to help him find her. He could call
the police, but what would he say?
    Uh, my girlfriend has been abducted by a smart-ass
cowboy, and, oh yeah, he tried to kill me with a substance only lethal to
mermen?
    Sure. That
would work. They’d lock him away in a little padded room before the sun had
fully set.
    Now, back at
their apartment once again, he sat on the bed trying to think of what to do
next. He lay down on Nadia’s pillow, where the scent of her shampoo lingered. He
closed his eyes and thought of earlier this morning when he’d made love to her
under the water of the steaming shower.
    His chest
ached with longing. He’d have to return to the sea before the sun rose tomorrow,
and it was already fully dark now. Sundown had brought the full moon, and his
final flux was imminent.
    What if he
couldn’t find her before then? What if he never got the chance to even try to explain?
    He clutched
her pillow to his chest and closed his eyes.
     
     

Chapter Six
     
    Shadee was a
private investigator, just like any other. Licensed to practice in the State of
Florida
with
the required Class C identification, badge, and other credentials. Only he
didn’t carry the standard handgun most investigators found useful. He came
equipped with a special kind of weapon, his teeth.
    He’d been
living in
Florida
for about twenty decades now. Despite being known as the “sunshine state” which
didn’t normally mesh with a creature of the night’s favored habitats, Shadee
liked it just the same.
    Sure, he had to take his special
vitamins and wear about a truckload of sunscreen just to get through one single
day. But it was worth it. There was a lot of money to be made down here. Cases
galore virtually landed on his doorstep with little or no effort on his part.
    It was only
recently his name had begun to circulate in the Underworld. Probably because
he’d kept a low profile in the vampire community until he’d agreed to take a
case for one of Dagger’s cohorts. He’d done a bang-up job and been discreet. He’d
been paid well, and it hadn’t taken long for his phone to begin ringing off the
hook with other such delicate matters.
    He had been
surprised when he’d received a call from the legendary Dagger himself. And he’d
been more than happy to take his case if only to meet the monster behind the
myth.
    Like every
other vampire in the world, he’d heard the stories, legends, of the first
vampire to cross the seas and start a colony of his own right here in the