This is the night Jasper heads off on his own to track down a forger for Alice. Chapter twenty-seven of Full Moon Rising, "Forger", shows this from Alice's point of view.


Alice's silky mouth pressed softly into mine, her arms wrapped tenderly around my shoulders, her warm fragrance wafting over my face. Her lips parted invitingly and I felt the familiar ache of desire building within her, mirroring my own, like twin flowers blossoming in the snow.

I sighed and released her, not surprised at her frown and small pang of disappointment.

I smiled warmly down into her tawny eyes. Not quite yet, you beautiful, irresistible creature. I didn't say the words out loud. I wondered what would happen if I did.

I knew what she wanted from me, what she was begging of me almost constantly. She wasn't begging with words, or even with her actions, but with something far more persuasive, something I couldn't lightly ignore: her emotions.

And it wasn't even that I was reluctant to give her what she wanted. Quite the contrary. I ached to answer every unspoken question of her heart. I burned to unite us in every way physically possible. My thoughts circled continuously around ideas of her in my arms – trembling with pleasure, tasting my venom, and moaning my name – to the point that I wondered if it was possible for a vampire to literally go insane.

But I had a better idea. One that, I was absolutely certain, would make Alice even happier than giving in and physically claiming her at the very next opportunity. No plans yet. Definitely no plans. I couldn't have anything decided, not if it was going to be a surprise. And if she were to ever bring up this particular subject in conversation, I was firmly set against mentioning my idea to her.

Alice gazed up at me, her mood a mingling of speculation and frustration. But she was not truly displeased. The corner of her mouth turned up in a small wry smile, probably feeling the desire roaring and thrashing inside of me.

I grinned back briefly in parting, then leapt away into the dark shadows, bounding quickly out of the town.

I was off on a quest for my lady, like an armor-clad knight of old. Most men got their girls flowers, or jewelry, or perhaps a puppy to show their love. My Alice wanted legal documents. I chuckled to myself as I raced north alongside the freeway, just out of sight of the motorists.

I had a notion of how to go about this task. Human circles naturally fell into tiers of influence. Each tier got smaller the higher up in authority it was, but they were all still connected. I just had to find the right circle and work my way up until I found who I was looking for.

The dull grey evening slowly dimmed into shades of amethyst invisible to human eyes. I moved closer to the road and ran more swiftly, sprinting north until I made it to the outskirts of Indianapolis.

Now to find the right circle. What kinds of people might need forged legal documents? Gangsters? Drug smugglers? Black market traders?

I wandered onto the streets, keeping to the darkest, most destitute environs: the underbelly of the city. The buildings displayed boarded-over windows and broken glass. The damp streets were dirty, littered with trash. Even the pavement was cracked and strewn with potholes. There were plenty of "working women" and drug dealers in this area. The harlots would not be helpful. But the dealers might be.

I was a little surprised at how easy it was for me to ignore their scents. Even tainted with the bitter aftertaste of the drugs and alcohol, it used to be much more difficult for me to wander at night in areas such as this and resist feeding. Perhaps it was because I was well-fed tonight. Or perhaps it was that I was distracted with a task.

I noticed someone approach a drug dealer on the corner opposite me. The newcomer's scent was clean, though; he apparently didn't use the product himself. I paused in my stroll, pretending to check the time while I listened to their conversation.

The newcomer, Lenny, seemed to be checking on the progress of the man peddling his wares. The street dealer placed an order for more, and the two hurriedly parted ways.

Ah, I'd found my circle. Time to move up the tiers.

I followed Lenny from the shadows, getting ahead of him and timing my pace so I could intercept him in a relatively quiet part of the street. It was eerily reminiscent of hunting. I had to remind myself that I wasn't after this man's blood.

"Excuse me," I said in my soft non-scary voice, coming up behind him. He jumped a little anyway, he hadn't noticed me stalking him.

They never did.

"Yeah, what do you want?"

"I'd like to know who you work for. Who runs the drug operation in this part of town?"

As I spoke I sent a powerful wave of calm and happiness through the air. I knew there was no way Lennie would just cough up the information point blank if he were in his right mind.

"Uh, well. I don't know if I ought to..." he mumbled lethargically. Maybe I'd overdone the calmness a little bit.

I concentrated, erasing his doubt and adding a touch of brotherly affection.

"Oh, you don't need to worry. I'm not a copper. I'm just looking for someone who can help me with a little problem."

"Huh, is that right? Well, Cornelius is our main supplier."

"Perfect. Can you tell me how I might contact Cornelius?"

"Sure, do you have a pen? I can write down his telephone number and address for you."

"I'll remember it."

He rattled off the number and address. I thanked him and left at a quick human pace. Lennie watched me go, confused, blinking and dazed.

I didn't want to make a phone call. I needed to find this "Cornelius" tonight, and soon. So I ran to the address Lennie had provided me, keeping to the shadows the whole way.

The house I came to was large and in a nice neighborhood. But the windows were all dark and there were no sounds of human activity inside.

I growled in frustration.

I darted into the back yard, scaled the wall to the second story, slid a window open and slipped inside.

I found myself in a bedroom. The full-sized bed was made, the carpeted floor was clean, there was a pine dresser with a large mirror, and predominantly a single human scent. He must live alone.

I crept out of the bedroom into the hallway and started snooping around, hoping I could find some clue as to where Cornelius had gone tonight.

The room adjacent to the bedroom seemed to be an office. On his desk was a small notepad-style calendar. There was a note for today scrawled on the paper.

Meet Sam, 8:00 The Catalina

I flipped quickly through the phone directory on the desk and found an establishment named "The Catalina." It was a formal Jazz club located only a couple of miles from his house.

I knew where he was. I knew his name. And I had is scent. I would find him.

I hurried out of the house and across town to The Catalina. There was a line out front when I arrived, but I knew how to handle that. I greeted the bouncer with a very profitable handshake. He was surprised and wary, instinctively sensing the danger I presented, but he let me pass through unchallenged.

Tonight, for once, I was grateful that Alice insisted on dressing me as though I were a full-sized, three-dimensional paper doll. I might not have made it inside if I'd been in old, worn, dirty clothes that didn't fit well.

The warm nightclub was thick with human scent, smoke, and jazz music. Many of the humans were gathered around the bar at the back of the room. I wandered that direction, thinking I might catch Cornelius' scent among the group. Most of the humans made way for me, parting like a school of fish from a shark. But he wasn't there.

"Well aren't you darling!" a slurred female voice crooned loudly. I turned my head and saw a middle-aged blond woman staggering slightly while she reached up and wrapped her warm, bare arms around my neck.

"I beg your pardon, ma'am," I mumbled, holding my breath against her scent, flames erupting in my throat. I shifted uncomfortably away from her and de-tangled her soft groping arms from my person. She didn't even seem to mind the icy, diamond-hard skin of my neck.

"You are about the finest specimen of manhood I have ever seen!" she gushed, tripping over her own feet. I automatically held out my hand to steady her so she wouldn't fall. She seemed in a rather unsteady state of mind, probably due to the high percentage of alcohol in her blood. It couldn't be helping matters that she was wearing three-inch heels.

"Leave the poor man alone, Luiza," another man at the bar griped. "You're probably old enough to be his mother."

"Mmmm. I don't care," Luiza cooed, taking a drag from her cigarette. "Do you want to come home with me now, sugar? Or do you want to dance first?"

Under other circumstances I might have found this situation somewhat amusing. As it was I was just hoping, fiercely, that Alice wasn't watching right now.

"I'm sorry to say that I have a prior engagement, ma'am. I'm looking for someone."

Luiza leaned back into the bar, still smiling suggestively.

"Who you lookin' for, handsome?"

"A man named Cornelius."

"Connie?" Her watery eyes narrowed derisively and she snorted. "What do you want with that old toad?"

"Is he here?"

She pouted and nodded her head in the direction of a table at the other end of the wide room, near the stage.

"Thank you, ma'am." I smiled and bowed politely in parting.

I wove my way through the large round tables spaced evenly throughout the floor, towards the corner that Luiza had indicated.

I caught his scent easily then. He was a rather large, balding man with a black mustache, wearing an expensive wool suit.

"Excuse me, sir. Are you Cornelius?" I spoke loudly so he could hear me over the jazz music blaring from the instruments on stage.

He looked up at me, a little warily. "Who wants to know?"

"I do. I'm hoping you can help me with a problem."

"Not giving out loans anymore," he stated, gruffly.

"I'm not looking for one," I insisted, starting to feel a little irritated. I pulled out the seat next to him and sat down.

He eyed me speculatively for a second. Then he leaned in and grumbled quietly. "Look, if you need some jive, talk to one of my boys outside. I don't deal directly."

"I know. That's not what I need either. I'm looking for someone who can help me with...let's say, creating a new identity."

Fear spiked in him. He leaned back and appraised me again with narrow eyes.

"Can't help you."

"I can pay you handsomely for the information."

"Sorry, you'll have to ask someone else."

He was keeping something from me. I could feel it. And my patience was wearing thin. It was time to take things to the next level.

I glared at him, letting my true nature show a little. "Listen, sir. I've gone through a great deal of trouble to ask you for help with something. I will not turn you or any of you comrades in to the police. I need legal documents, the best available. If you know where I can acquire these, you had better tell me or..." I fed a powerful surge of terror into him and made my expression fierce. "...you will regret it."

His heart was suddenly racing in a very appetizing manner. Sweat beaded on his forehead. He stared at me, eyes wide.

"I promise," I said. My voice was smooth and serious. I sent another surge of terror into him.

His hand trembled as he pulled a business card out of his wallet and handed it to me.

"Judge Walsh, in Chicago... D...don't tell him I'm the one who sent you."

"Of course not. You have my gratitude." I slipped the card into my pocket and wove my way back towards the door.

Luiza, still leaning against the bar, winked and licked her lips at me from the other side of the room. I closed my eyes and suppressed a shudder, wishing that I didn't have to have that image burned into my memory forever.

I slipped into the shadows as soon as I was able to and raced further north, following the freeway to Chicago.

It was easy enough finding the courthouse where Judge Walsh worked. But the building was closed for the night, and his home address and phone number were not written on the business card.

I found a small unlocked window and wormed my way into the building. There was a directory posted on the wall. I found the office for "Hon. Patrick Walsh" and, unfortunately, was forced to do a little damage to the doorframe to break into it.

His office was quite large and impressive. Leather furniture, solid oak desk, certificates of higher education framed on the walls. Finally, while rummaging through the trash bin, I found a piece of mail addressed to the honorable judge at his home address.

I made sure everything in his office was as I'd found it, with the exception of the cracked doorframe, and went back out through the small window.

I was nearly finished. I could feel it. I raced to the address, running across rooftops when I could get away with it.

The building I came to was nearly a mansion. It had an expansive green lawn out front with a gated entry to the wide driveway.

I tried the gate, but it was locked. I debated with myself for a moment, then lightly climbed over the wall and bounded up to the front door. There were sounds of a family enjoying a late meal together coming from inside.

I knocked.

"What the devil?" a man grumbled in an Irish accent. A chair scraped across the floor. Heavy feet stomped across hardwood. The door opened.

The man blanched when he saw me at first. Then seemed to collect himself.

"Who the blazes are you? And how did you get past the gate?"

"My name is Jasper, sir. And I climbed over. I apologize for interrupting your evening, but I need you to help me with something."

"Now wait just a second! You can't go barging into people's private property like that! I have half a mind to call the police and have you arrested!"

"I have it from a reliable source that you are a good man to ask if I'm in need of high-quality forged legal documents."

His heart jumped in his chest, then picked up double time. My mouth watered. All this contact with humans was starting to wear me down.

"I don't know what you're talking about," he whispered.

"Yes you do."

"Who sent you?" he asked, still breathless.

"I'm not at liberty to say."

"Are you one of Sam's boys?" I didn't even need to terrify this man. He was doing it all on his own.

"No."

He calmed a bit. "Who are you?"

I smiled. "That's what I'm here to see you about."

"Who's that at the door, dear?" a woman called from the dining room.

He rushed me inside and into his library. He had me wait for a moment while he went to argue with his wife about colleagues coming to socialize at such late hours.

When he rejoined me he was agitated, wringing his hands and pacing back and forth in the room. He was reluctant to cooperate. It seemed he was in the pocket of a major crime organization and was worried about betraying them in some way.

It took me a little while, and more than a little fear, to convince him to agree to take the job. Especially with only four hundred dollars as down payment. In the end he could tell that I was more dangerous than any crime lord. And, on top of that, I knew where his family lived. So it was in his best interests to stay in my good graces.

I quickly agreed to the ridiculous sum of money he proposed as the fee. I was growing weary of smelling the blood pounding through his veins, and I didn't want to kill him before he'd made our documents for us.

When we were finally finished, he opened the gate for me – so I didn't have to scale the wall again – and asked me to meet him at a local pub next week to make the exchange. I agreed instantly, eager to be on my way.

As soon as I was out of sight, I sprinted into the trees and dashed back south, toward home.

The clouds chose that moment to open up overhead. Torrential rain poured out of the heavens and in seconds I was completely drenched. The rain was a relief, though. It rinsed away most of the human scent from my clothes and hair. I took a deep, cleansing breath, luxuriating in the sensation of simply breathing without burning.

It seemed to take a very long time to get back to our little cabin in the woods. I'd traveled a lot farther than I'd anticipated on this errand. And I was eager to be back with Alice again.

I thought about her as I raced through the trees. She would surely be pleased. I could imagine how thrilled she would be when I told her the news. She would jump and squeal in feminine, childlike excitement. She might clap her hands together. She might even be so grateful that she'd squeeze me in a tight embrace. I couldn't stop the smile that thought generated.

I wondered what she'd think of the fee. Five thousand dollars was a lot more than we had ever made in a week's time. We would manage it somehow, though. If Alice couldn't think of some way to get the money legitimately, I would get it for her one way or another.

As I drew closer to the cabin the rain let up. I followed one of our previous trails in. Taking another deep breath I drew in Alice's sweet scent, and pushed myself even faster.

I saw our cabin in the distance, there was smoke wafting from the chimney; she must have started a fire. I could hear the light staccato of her footfalls on the hardwood floor, pacing impatiently back and forth in the confined space.

Had she been watching me? Maybe she knew that I'd been successful?

I bounded up to the threshold.

Scarcely had I opened the door when Alice was in my arms, her mouth on mine, her body pressed tight against me. Like a tidal wave, her excitement, love, gratitude, amazement, and admiration crashed over me.

I was completely taken by surprise. I didn't even notice how the door had managed to close behind me. Her hands gripped my hair, pulling my face into hers. Her mouth moved eagerly with mine. Her lips parted and her sweet flavor caressed my tongue. Her intoxicating breath enveloped me.

I wrapped my arms around her waist and pulled her close, forgetting all else. In that instant, she was all that mattered. She was all that existed. I was lost in a universe where all I knew was the feel of her mouth; the taste of her venom; the scent of her breath; the warmth of her body, radiating heat borrowed from the fire; her fingers gripping my hair. I was so completely absorbed in the moment that it was Alice who had to break the kiss off.

"Thank you!" she exclaimed, squeezing me tighter.

I felt a strange need to catch my breath.

"I've been trying to do that for years! How did you manage it?"

My head was swimming. She released me, but I couldn't let go of her yet. I looked down at her, dazed. Then nearly laughed when I noticed that the front of her blouse was soaked through where she'd pressed herself into my drenched clothes.

I finally remembered what it was she was asking about.

"I've found that some humans respond better to fear than to monetary gain." My smile spread into a grin.

I should give her presents more often.