Primacy of Darkness Read Free Page A

life, let a guy take you home. It’s good practice for the day you might actually invite one inside.”
    “Fine, but just so you know, it’s only as far as the front steps.”
    Steven bowed dramatically. “It would be my pleasure.”
    “I need to grab my coat.”
    Steven followed Trinh to the coat check room. Trinh handed the girl behind the counter a ticket. She returned a moment later with a belted, black nylon jacket. He took it from her grasp before Trinh could grab it and held it for her to put on.
    “Good God, what is in this thing, rocks?” Steven asked, surprised at the weight.
    “I hate carrying a purse, so I put all my womanly things in my coat pockets.”
    “Do those womanly things include brass knuckles?”
    Trinh smiled. “Amongst other things.”
    “I feel sorry for whoever decides to jump you.”
    “I wouldn’t. They have what’s coming to them.”
    Steven chuckled as he followed her out of the club and onto the comparatively quiet street. Trinh pulled her coat tight against the burgeoning fog as they walked down the boulevard making small talk.
    “What do you do, Steven?”
    “I’m a financial advisor at Citibank.”
    “I thought it was something like that.”
    “I know, boring, right?”
    “I doubt you are boring. I bet you do crazy things like rock climbing or hang gliding.”
    Steven looked at his feet. “You got me pegged again. I like to base jump.”
    “That is insane. Aren’t you afraid of dying?”
    Steven shrugged. “There are worse things than dying.”
    Trinh’s smile faded and she stared ahead, looking at nothing. “That’s for sure.”
    “What do you do? Carol—excuse me—Circe said you are the one paying the bills, and I know from personal experience that it’s the boring jobs that pay the most.”
    “I…work in private security.”
    Steven’s eyebrows knitted together. “Security? Like a mall cop or Blackwater?”
    “Neither. It’s kind of on the fringe.” She turned down an alley. “It’s shorter if we cut through here.”
    “Did you skip the day they taught you at your security job not to walk down dark alleys with strangers?”
    Trinh laughed. “I’m not too worried. Remember, I have those brass knuckles in my pocket.”
    Steven looked up and down the alley. “Yeah, you really should have paid better attention in class.” He moved fast, clamping a hand over Trinh’s mouth and slamming her against the wall. “It’s nothing personal. I do like you, but I’m hungry, and a guy has to eat.”
    Trinh’s eyes, wide with feigned surprise, narrowed in anger. Her arms came up and knocked Steven’s hand away from her mouth as well as the arm pressing her against the wall. Steven was surprised at the speed and strength of her moves, but he had no time to react before her foot snapped forward, kicked him in the chest, and knocked him back several staggering steps.
    “You are wrong, Steven. It is more personal than you can imagine.”
    Her speed and strength had been unexpected, but he was ready for her now. She was just a mortal woman despite whatever martial arts training she might have.
    “You aren’t boring at all, are you?” he asked. “Thanks for making this fun.”
    Trinh’s hands dove into her jacket as she spun away from Steven’s charge. His outstretched hands brushed black, silky hair but found only empty wall instead of soft flesh. How did she move so fast? She was not a vampire. He would have known immediately if she were.
    He spun around to face her in an instant, but Trinh was ready. A small but incredibly powerful flashlight flicked on, overwhelming his sensitive vision with a burst of light. The woman and alley vanished behind massive globes of color floating before his eyes.
    Steven’s rage-filled growl became a pained cry when the Taser electrodes pierced his clothing, sank into his skin, and pumped thousands of volts of electricity through his body. His knees buckled, but he forced his nerves to fight the crippling, immobilizing