 “What the hell were you thinking? And what in the holy hell are you wearing?” Forge stood, yanking his catch up after him, shouting. “If you can’t swim, what in the hell were you doing running down steps covered with algae, you know, that green slimy shit, at a lake. How did you plan to get out? This isn’t just any lake. It’s a Great Lake. And it’s deep! Ships sink in it!” The kid climbed to his feet and held his palms up in a placating gesture. “I—” “Not to mention you’re mucking up a murder investigation.” Forge kept right on shouting. He waved his hands up and down more for distraction than anything, hoping the kid wouldn’t notice his hard-on. Wet trousers did little to hide anything, and this guy wouldn’t necessarily know being in close proximity to his soulmate was the reason behind Forge’s reaction. “Look, I—I promise not to hurt you. Don’t be scared,” the kid said and took a step back as he spoke. Forge stopped his ranting, put his hands on his hips, and stared. “You won’t—” This had to be a joke. He didn’t know who to blame but at the same time commended their joke planning skills. From what he could see of the kid’s face and judging by the clues given off by his body chemistry, the goof in the goggles was serious. He couldn’t stop the laughter that rumbled up from his belly and totally consumed him, doubling him over. “You won’t hurt me?” He had to wipe the tears streaming down his face away so he could see clearly. Taking a few deep breaths only caused him to laugh more and make a very unmanly giggling-snorting-snickering sort of sound. Forge finally got himself under control and walked across the beach to scoop his coat off the sandy ground. A few more chuckles escaped, he shook his head while he pulled his jacket on and extracted his badge from the inside pocket. He held it up and said, “Now, let’s try this again. What are you doing here? You’ve got five minutes to convince me you didn’t murder someone and then stand around watching when the cops showed up to examine the body.” A virtual light bulb went off in Forge’s brain. He didn’t have to worry about what other vampires would do to him for killing his soulmate, he could just pin this murder on goggle boy. Either way, Declan was never, ever finding out about this. “And take those ridiculous goggles off before I shoot you for bad fashion.” Forge knew very well a bullet to this kid’s torso wouldn’t kill him, but it would hurt like hell. The kid deserved to hurt that much for wearing his stupid getup. “I—I can’t, I’ll….” The kid backed up farther. Forge took a step toward him, cocking his head to one side. He knew that voice, but from where? Names and faces started whirring through his mind. He was good at this, it was his job, but for the life of him, he couldn’t put a face with that voice. “Off,” he growled. If he had to ask this silly boy to take off the goggles again, he was going to get the full effect of Forge in complete vamp mode. “I’ll be blinded, and worse, I’ll ignite! I can’t. You have to accept that. Please, it’s too dangerous. I don’t know what will happen to you.” The voice clicked in Forge’s memory, and he put a name to it in disbelief. “Blair?” “I’m Alucard!” Forge stood straighter and lifted his chin, resisting the urge to burst into laughter again. “You’re a vampire?” If he lived another two hundred years, Forge would have never seen that one coming. “When did you get those cartoon books Ben sent you?” “Huh? Graphic novels, and how did—” Forge shoved his police ID under Blair’s nose and ground out, “When?” Blair took the ID in both hands and held it close to his face, sounding out, “Jonas For—” He dropped his hands and lifted his head, looking up at Forge. His heart rate sped up. The sudden change in his body chemistry sent Forge’s senses reeling. Blair was feeling the physical attraction just as strongly as Forge. “I really don’t want to hurt you. And it’s Alucard…. Alucard! Code name, remember?” The badge fluttered from Blair’s hand to the sand. He garbled out some odd noise, spun, and ran. Forge sighed, bent, picked up his ID, and straightened. Blair tried to run in the sand with his big clunky boots and too many layers of clothes. Shaking his head, Forge mumbled, “Running? Really? It’s too early for running.” There was no need to hide anything now, so Forge turned on the speed, and in a few seconds, was in Blair’s path. “It’s too early for this crap, and I’ve only had one cup of coffee.” He stuffed his ID into his back pocket and sneezed. “And not nearly enough antihistamines.” Blair stopped so fast he kicked up a spray of sand and stumbled back. “How did… stay away!” When Blair stood on his toes, spread his cape wide, and hissed, Forge nearly gave himself a hernia he laughed so hard. He realized he had to get this doofus off the beach and out of public view. Blair was obviously either very confused or seriously disturbed. Forge was really hoping for confused. This kid, dressed like a character out of a bad movie and acting as if he was performing in an even worse flick, was Forge’s soulmate. Like it or not, that meant Forge was responsible for him. Great. Just friggin’ great.  Electric Candle, book 2 of The Sleepless City is available in eBook, paperback and through Kindle Unlimited. Series cowritten with Anne Barwell.    
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