“We have a situation that needs cleanup. Second alleyway off of Seventh Street, in the rear.”
“Second alley off Seventh Street, in the rear. Got it. The usual?”
Arran sighed. Such a fucking waste of life. He hated how the families of these victims never received closure. But there was no other way. Evidence like this could not be left behind for the police.
“The usual. Nothing remains.” Arran closed his phone. Ted was a pro at what he handled for them. As a vampire himself, he had added incentive to be thorough.
Arran made his way back to where they’d parked their motorcycles. Markus’s red ride hadn’t moved.
He swung a leather-clad leg up and over and straddled his black Ducati. Slipping on his matching helmet, he cranked the machine. He gave the engine a couple of hard revs before burning out. The crowd had thinned, allowing him to cover more ground with greater speed on his bike.
…
Emily waited behind Kenric as he punched a code into a digital keypad before placing his hand on a blue screen. A high-pitched beep sounded before a massive steel door, like something from the next century, opened and slid into the wall on a whisper of air.
Enclave central command.
Seemed very high tech and James Bond. He even had the accent and looks to complete the picture.
Her head swam not just from their three-story elevator ride down, but also with all the information she’d learned upstairs. Kenric had filled her in on things she thought could only exist on the big screen: vampires, Death Euphoria, DEADs—oh my. Like Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, she definitely felt like she “wasn’t in Kansas anymore.”
He’d brought her downstairs, intending for her to meet some of his Enclave—a volunteer group of vampires that had slowly grown over the last century to a team of six, he’d informed her, after he and his second-in-command had first partnered to control the DEADs that had been preying on the human population in the city.
Kenric called his team Warriors. The term conjured up images in her head of giant men with armor and swords. One gorgeous six and a half foot vampire pushing her buttons was enough, though. If they were all like him, she didn’t know if her nervous system could withstand it.
She followed Kenric into an enormous underground complex. No interior walls blocked the view from one end to the other. It appeared to run the entire length of the house. Emily soaked up the view and tried to keep up with Kenric at the same time. An entertainment section with a big flat-screen TV, a stereo, and a couple of pinball machines filled one end. A glass conference table took up the center—six black leather executive chairs surrounded it.
Seated together at the end, opposite all the fun and games, were two men and one woman. The men flanked the brown-haired woman, who was busy tapping away at a keyboard on a multilevel desk. The brunette’s gaze tracked her work on two wall-mounted computer monitors. All eyes turned their way as they approached.
The female of the group must have sensed her unease right away and gave Emily a warm, encouraging smile.
“Guerin, Logan, Gabrielle, I would like you to meet Emily Ross,” Kenric said, pointing out each member of the team with one hand as he placed his other palm at her lower back.
“Hi, Emily. Nice to meet you,” Gabrielle said, the first to break the ice as she held out her hand for a polite shake. “You can call me Elle,” she added with another warm smile.
Logan, standing maybe an inch taller than Kenric, moved forward next. His deep brown hair shone with natural gold highlights. He’d gathered it at his nape into a ponytail, which hung to his waist. Even with his hair bound, she couldn’t miss the sprinkles of gold.
“Very nice to meet you,” he said with a slight brogue. His rough hand, almost double the size of hers, swallowed her palm as he shook her hand.
“Scottish, I take it?” Emily’s gaze met his emerald green irises.
“Guilty as charged, lass,” he answered with a smile that would have singed the hairs right off a girl’s arm. Man, he was impressive.
Well, almost as impressive as the man who stood beside her. She dropped Logan’s hand and gave Kenric a sideways glance.
The man Kenric introduced as Guerin stepped up next, looking very Mediterranean with his dark olive complexion and wavy mahogany hair. He nudged Logan out of his way.
“Ciao, bella,” he breathed with a seductive smile on his lips. What a charmer. Too bad he didn’t do a thing for her.
He gently took her hand, all the while holding her gaze with his deep brown bedroom eyes. He lowered his head and placed a kiss to the back of her hand.
As Guerin’s lips touched her hand, she felt, more than heard, a vibrating growl come from behind her. Guerin’s head popped back up at that exact moment, his gaze darting to Kenric. Emily glanced over her shoulder. Kenric was sneering, his glare aimed straight for Guerin’s throat.
Guerin’s hand released hers. The vibrations ceased as quickly as they’d started. “Nice to meet you, Emily,” he added with a slight smile.
How bizarre was that? She slipped her hands into the pockets of her borrowed sweats. Kenric’s palm pressed a little more firmly into the small of her back, making small circles against her skin through the fabric. She smiled, enjoying the comforting warm presence as she met the room of vampire warriors. Instinctively, Emily leaned into the protective weight of his hand.
“Let’s get down to why we’re here, shall we?” Kenric broke the tension hanging in the air. Pulling up an extra chair, he placed it beside Elle and motioned for Emily to take a seat.
“Emily,” he said, then dropped a hand onto Gabrielle’s shoulder. “Elle is our resident computer guru.” Emily’s gaze fixated at the point where Kenric’s hand rested. The deep sound of his voice continued to fill the room, but she didn’t have the power to pry her gaze away from where his hand touched the other woman’s body.
Why is it necessary for him to touch her the whole time he’s standing there? Maybe she’s his lover? Emily’s stomach churned at the thought of Kenric naked and lying next to Elle. She clenched her teeth and gripped the arms of her chair. It took everything she had not to jump up and snatch his hand off her.
I’ve lost my mind. That has to be it. Emily shook her head. Where were these lunatic thoughts coming from? Besides, he was way too overbearing for her taste. The last thing she needed, or wanted, was to fight her way out of another possessive, dominating relationship.
“Emily… Emily? Did you hear anything I said?” Kenric’s voice rang through, shaking her out of her daydream.
“Yes, I’m hearing you.” She nodded her head. “You were saying something about me talking to Elle about the hospital computers.”
His eyes narrowed into a pay-attention glare. She must have lost a part of the conversation. Emily brushed her hair back and lifted her chin. She stared back at him with a silent, I’m listening—see?
He cocked a brow, and a corner of his lips curled into a smile. With a shake of his head, he went back to work.
“Elle, this is what I need done,” he said. “Use whatever information Emily can provide about Memorial to help you get into that system. I need you to do whatever it takes to scrub those records on John Doe. Discreetly, of course. We don’t need any more attention brought to us than my visit has already generated.”
“Consider it done,” Gabrielle said with a nod.
“Emily, see if you can recall the name of the doctor who was consulted on my case. We’ll need to pay him a visit.”
“Okay, but if I can’t remember, once Elle cracks into the system, I can pull your records and get his name for you. If you don’t mind my asking, though, what will you do once you find him? You said the Enclave doesn’t kill humans. They already know about your blood. It’s not only in their files. So, how do you plan to handle this?” She shrugged her shoulders and laughed. “Give them amnesia or something?”
“That’s exactly what I plan to do.”
“You can do that? Really? Actually tap into s
omeone’s mind and take their memories? Oh my God… No wonder you’ve been able to stay undetected for so long. If you’re exposed, you simply make us forget we ever knew you. How…very convenient for you,” she added with a pissed-off glare at Kenric.
The idea that he could do that to her, and probably would, made her madder than hell. What had she done? She had been minding her own business, doing her job, and yet somehow, she’d managed to get involved with a man who had the ability to control her life on a level she couldn’t even imagine.
“You must understand… I don’t take pleasure in manipulating another person’s mind. It’s what I have to do, if we’re to survive.” Kenric paused, as if searching for the right words, then glanced over to Guerin and Logan and back to her. Both warriors had grown tense, but they remained silent while keeping their eyes on her and her reaction to Kenric.
“I explained before we came downstairs that every one of us here has taken an oath to give our lives, if necessary, to protect humanity from those of our kind who’ve succumbed to Death Euphoria. However, we do have to feed. As you have experienced.” Kenric’s voice lowered, and his eyes darted from hers for a split second, as if uncomfortable discussing their encounter in front of the others.
“And when we do,” he continued, “we use what powers we have to erase the memory of our presence. If we didn’t, with the frequency that we need to feed, we would be discovered and exterminated.”
Nausea bloomed in her stomach at the word exterminated. It sounded so horrific, but history clearly demonstrated the expected human reaction would be fear, followed by a cry for genocide. Hadn’t fear and ignorance always driven humans to perform horrendous acts of cruelty? What little remained of the Native American population was a prime example of a civilized nation’s response to something they didn’t completely understand.
“We also use what we term compulsion, or psychic influence, to help the humans experience as little pain as possible while we feed. The process doesn’t have to be painful or cruel.” He eased closer. His gaze almost a physical touch.
He studied her as if trying to ascertain how well she’d digested his latest revelation. “Please, come with me.” He reached out and clasped her arm, moving her toward the other side of the room. “Give us a moment,” Kenric ordered without looking back at his team.
“Where are we going?” She slapped at his hold on her arm, her feet doing their best to keep up with him.
“I’m finishing our conversation.”
“We could have finished where we were.” He slammed to a halt as quickly as they’d begun. “I’m not some dog on a leash you can just up and decide when it’s my time to heel,” she bit out through clenched teeth.
Kenric placed her back against the wall and blocked the others’ view. Reaching down, he took her hand in his. With his other, he lifted her chin with his fingertips, bringing them face-to-face. Or as close as her five-feet-four to his six-feet-six would allow. “No. You’re most certainly not a dog.”
He stepped closer, warming her with the heat of his body. She squirmed under his overwhelming presence. Their hips almost touched. A flash of disappointment washed over her, dousing a bit of her anger. Not that she was ready to let him know that.
“I need to explain something to you. And I didn’t want to do it with an audience.” This time, the sound of his words grew deeper, smoother. “If a vampire wishes, when he feeds, the process can be quite…pleasurable for the human.” He squeezed her hand gently and gave her the most erotic smile. It carried from his lips all the way to his eyes. The passion reflected there sent shivers of lightning racing down her spine.
It dawned on her that she’d stopped breathing. Her breath hitched, and she used the interruption to drop her gaze. Kenric stepped back, as if he’d suddenly remembered they weren’t alone. She rubbed the palms of her hands against her arms at the chill that had gripped her the moment he’d moved away.
“Sometimes it’s not pretty or pleasant, but it’s what we have to do to survive. Nevertheless, it’s who I am. It’s who we are.” He indicated with the tilt of his head to the group waiting patiently behind him. “Is this something you can live with?”
He asked the question with an expression devoid of emotion. Those dazzling blue irises bore into her soul as he waited for her response. No evidence of begging or pleading ever entered his gaze. Clearly, the decision was hers and hers alone.
She stood on the precipice of a monumental decision, the ramifications of which could change her life forever.
Even with what had transpired last night, deep inside, she’d already become more attracted to him than she’d like to admit. But it was there. No sense denying it.
He hadn’t really hurt her. In fact, he’d taken good care of her. Scared her? In the beginning, hell yeah. But not now. She didn’t fear him physically. Emotionally—she hadn’t quite decided.
Emily had to go with her gut. It told her this man lived as noble a life as possible with the cards he’d been dealt. Nobody had the right to judge him.
She could live with it. He did. But they would have to talk about his amnesia magic trick. No way was he going to mess with her mind.
That would never be a part of the deal.
Chapter Nine
Marguerite stared at the image she’d removed from the hidden bottom of her drawer. Gently, she traced the outline with the pads of her finger. “One day you’ll understand.” She nodded. “Once I make things right, you’ll be happy and see why I had to do the things that I did. Everyone will.” Her fangs lengthened and she snarled. “And they’ll bow, trembling before us.”
She breathed deep, regaining her composure before slipping the photo back into its protective sleeve and tucking it away. With a shove, Marguerite closed the compartment tight and tapped her high-heeled foot on the wooden floorboard, growing more impatient for Enrique’s return with each passing second. She lunged from the seat at her dresser, flew to the door of her master suite, and flung it wide open with a bang.
“What’s taking so long?” she shouted, startling her servants in the hall. Marguerite marched down the corridor, into the den, and over to her chaise longue. She parted the translucent gold panels of fabric and lay back on the crushed velvet of the seat. The sheer material of her emerald gown clung to her body, leaving little to the imagination.
Everything had been going exactly as planned since her arrival three months ago to South Carolina. She had never liked trusting a male with anything of importance. The chance for failure and disappointment was too high for her liking. But the risk was too great to take care of it herself. This time.
Enrique had better not screw up.
If he wanted to live.
Annoyed with her wait, she needed entertainment. A distraction. Marguerite motioned for the tall, blond, muscle-bound minion who stood against the wall. The vampire came forward and knelt before her. He pulled his shirt over his head and bared his chest, then dropped his head back, exposing the full length of his neck. A gift of his throat.
She wasn’t hungry. But waiting was so tedious, and the minion did look delectable. It had been a while since she had last tasted him. Marguerite pulled him closer and, without pretense, stabbed her fangs into his throat. He flinched, then let out a groan as she took her fill. As expected of her lovers, his hands roamed her body and pinched her hardened nipples. Lower still, he searched between the slit in her gown to her mound below. He found her core, and she thrust her pelvis into his palm.
His fingers worked through her slickened folds and into her heat as she continued to suckle at his neck. He thrust in time to each hard draw at his neck, driving deeper into her clenching depths, bringing her to a swift climax. Her orgasm gripped her, forcing her to release him. She rode the spasms until the waves of pleasure lulled her to a satisfied bliss.
“Very nice.” Marguerite licked at the trail of blood seeping from his wounds. “You’re in luck tonight. I’m in a giving mood.”
The minion jerked his h
ead up. His eyes glowed with excitement. The tips of his already descended fangs glistened from underneath his upper lip. Marguerite lifted her arm and handed her wrist to the slave for his reward. The moment he reached for her, she drew back her offer and grabbed his head. She wrenched his face to meet her glare.
“You will stop when you’re instructed, or I will kill you,” she said then thrust her wrist back in his face.
He clutched her arm with both hands and quickly brought her offering to his mouth. His fangs sank into her flesh, but she didn’t flinch, her flesh and veins accustomed to centuries of this practice. He drank in large, greedy mouthfuls.
Marguerite dropped her head to the chaise’s arm and her mind flashed back more than three hundred years to a time when another young vampire had once hungrily fed from her vein. Kenric.
She vividly remembered the feel of his lips as they pulled at her flesh. The way his wavy ebony hair would brush against her skin. Her clitoris throbbed once again. She crossed her legs and clenched her thighs. The ache wasn’t for the vampire at her side but for the one who would not kneel. The one who would not willingly come to her bed or to her vein.
“Enough!”
The minion dropped her wrist with an agonized groan, then tore at the zipper of his pants. Marguerite grinned as his erection sprang free from its constraints. He reared his head back, and with a guttural cry, gave in to his release.
A prolonged squeak echoed through the large room, distracting her from the moans of her minion. Aged hinges complained under the weight of the double doors to her receiving parlor, announcing someone’s arrival. She’d taken up residence within an old colonial house shortly after her arrival to the area. The home, located in an isolated area southwest of Elizabeth Bay, provided exactly what she needed to continue in her endeavors. The sprawling mansion proved large enough to hold the number of servants she required, while the layout of the grounds provided security for her growing army of vampires. With only one road accessing the property and the immediate perimeter cleared around the house, no one approached undetected.