Trey grimaced and stood straighter. “What thoughts? The only one I have is how fucking screwed up this whole vamp thing is. The second user jumped to his death right in front of my fucking eyes.”
Val’s face went blank. “Indeed? That is both good and bad news, perhaps.”
“Yeah, my thoughts exactly and I hate that. I’m a cop, for fuck’s sake. It’s my job to solve crimes, not cover them up.”
“You must be very tired, Sergeant.” Val was changing his mood and the conversation’s direction rapidly.
“Why do you say that?”
“You’re using the word ‘fuck’ a lot.”
“Huh. As it happens, you’re right. I’ve been up for almost two full days. I’d be home right now if not for the need to fill you all in on the latest and check on the progress with the blood analysis.”
Taking Trey’s elbow in a surprisingly supportive move, Val said, “Come. I’ll bring you down to Harry’s lab. We forget sometimes how vulnerable you humans are. You need a lot of sleep.”
Trey was too surprised to do anything other than allow himself to be led. “You don’t?”
“No, although we have no problem mimicking the human sleep pattern if required. Are you hungry?”
Now that he mentioned it… Trey’s stomach growled. “I could eat.”
Val released him and took his phone out of his back pocket. “I’ll text Emil to bring you something in the lab.”
“No need for him to go to any trouble.” His stomach gave a loud protest.
Val flashed his teeth. “I assure you nothing would please him more than feeding you. A hungry person being in his orbit makes him very cranky, actually. You’ll be doing us all a favor by allowing him to prepare you a meal.”
“Well, when you put it that way…”
They passed through the main room and beyond the elevator. Val opened a door in the back hallway that Trey had never noticed before or used. A darkly lit, narrow staircase went straight down. After a moment’s hesitation, he followed Val.
“It’s perfectly safe,” Val called over his shoulder. “You are one of us or you wouldn’t be shown this part of the building at all.”
A strong antiseptic smell greeted them before they reached the bottom. There was a door on either side of the small vestibule area. Each was closed and locked with a key pad. Val punched in numbers for the left one, opened the door and gestured for Trey to enter first. It was like walking onto a movie set for a mad scientist’s laboratory. The room contained an array of tables strewn with strange equipment and bubbling glass vessels. Despite that ‘double, double, toil and trouble’ atmosphere, there were no noxious odors. The benefit of a great ventilation system, no doubt.
Harry, whom Trey accepted as being some kind of elder statesman despite his unlined skin and jet-black hair, was bent over a microscope. On the table around him sat beakers of weirdly colored liquid. Some of it also bubbled away while others sat eerily still. He hesitated, unsure of how safe any of it was for a human.
Val pressed his palm lightly against Trey’s back. “It’s all right. I wouldn’t have brought you here if we weren’t sure you aren’t in any danger, either.”
Difficult as it was, Trey hardened his resolve to trust these creatures. He approached the bench with more certainty. Before he reached it, the door opened again. Alex walked in with Quinn in tow. No surprise there. Trey had to wonder if the man let the boy out of his sight. Then again, with a gorgeous boy like that for a lover, who would want to? The redheaded brat, Mackie, brought up the rear.
Val folded his arms and glared at the boy. “What are you doing here?”
Mackie tossed his head dismissively at the man. “Alex invited Quinn and Quinn invited me.” He mimicked the man’s stance, his expression daring him to disagree with what the boss had allowed.
Oh man, is that brat leading the bouncer around by the dick. The thought gave Trey his first positive feeling for the day.
With a scoff, Val turned his attention to Harry. “So, what’s the story?”
The older man’s shoulders slumped with obvious fatigue. “I’ve isolated the compound, and it’s some synthetization of our blood. When I mix it with human cells, courtesy of Kitty, it starts altering them on a molecular level. It appears to be trying to turn them into our species at a rapid pace that their cells can’t handle. It simply, therefore, serves to destroy them.”
“That squares with what the coroner said,” Trey interjected.
Harry turned his tired gaze at him. “Yes. It’s no wonder those poor men who’ve ingested it go on a rampage. They’re being swamped with a surge of energy and strength they can’t handle, while, at the same time, their brains are undergoing a metamorphosis that is literally turning them to mush. In short, they are going insane by human standards, while their other organs are being damaged beyond repair.”
The man shook his head. “If they hadn’t died the way they did, they would have succumbed to the process in short order. From what I’ve seen, this drug is lethal with one dose.”
The room fell silent with that news. Trey was trying not to freak out at the idea of a deadly drug being peddled in his city. Maybe if word got out that no amount of the drug could be safely ingested, people would shun it. That kind of strategy would involve the higher-ups. He would have to take it to his lieutenant, who would kick it up the chain to the mayor’s office and even the governor. How could he convey the information, though, without revealing its source? Damn, this secret society stuff was a pisser.
“Was that the intent?” Mackie posed the question in a quiet voice, his pretty face pinched with worry. He glanced around the room. “I mean, were they trying to change humans or kill them?”
Before anyone could reply, Val crossed the room and pulled the boy into an embrace. “Easy, boy. Deep breaths. This is why I don’t want you here. You don’t need this horrible information inside your head.”
Trey could actually see the transformation. Mackie went from tense to relaxed in the span of a breath. He leaned against the bouncer’s larger, harder frame in a pose of utter trust. “I can handle it.”
The pushback was met by the very human response of Val raising his eyes to the heavens and shaking his head. But he held onto the boy and said nothing more.
“It’s a fair question,” Trey chimed in.
“The point with Dracul,” Alex replied, “is chaos, however it can be caused. I doubt very much that he intended to create an army of converted humans. We can assume that he used many unwilling humans for experimentation before he released this drug. He knew what it would do.”
“And this is all some kind of game he plays with you to amuse himself?” Trey’s exhausted brain was working up a head of steam. He hated the idea that Boston was ground zero in this alien war simply because Alex and his crew were here.
“Not a game, Sergeant. Dracul takes all of this very seriously. His goal has always been to subjugate this world to make it his own. He went from being a drone in the hive to someone who had the ability to be not just a queen, but the queen. Always before, though, we were chasing him as he sowed discourse—as a whisper in someone’s ear, planted evidence of disloyalty, a well-timed assassination. It was all too easy for him to get humans fighting each other. We did our best to clean up his messes and stop them from becoming worse.”
“He’s bringing the fight to us now more directly,” Val added. “Although the course of his plan is as yet unclear, other than making our adopted city a combat zone.”
Trey couldn’t withhold his temper. “So leave! Give my city a break.”
Once more, silence reigned. Trey immediately regretted his outburst, except not entirely. If all it took to make this horror show stop was the decampment of the Stelalux posse, then why not?
“Where would you have us go, Sergeant?” Alex asked the question while wrapping his arms around his lover’s waist and pressing the boy’s back to his front. “Isolation was our first effort, but that became harder to do as the huma
n population grew. There is no place in the world now where we wouldn’t put people at risk. Even if we tried, Dracul would go back to his old playbook and wreak enough havoc somewhere else where we’d have to come out again to stop him. I’m sorry. I failed your kind centuries ago. I should have seen Dracul’s plans earlier and stopped him when I had him within reach.”
Quinn turned within the embrace and lay his head on the man’s chest. “You didn’t fail us. You protect us.” He glared over his shoulder at Trey.
Okay, now he felt like a douche. He rubbed the heel of his palms against his tired eyes. “Sorry. I’m running on too little sleep. I know you’re the good guys.”
“You need food.” Emil had entered and he held in his hand a tray from which wonderful smells wafted. “Come on and sit here.”
Trey followed the man to a small, empty table and sat on the chair Emil had dragged over to it. He lifted off the dome on the tray to reveal a plate with a six-ounce filet mignon, scalloped potatoes and buttered spinach. Trey’s mouth watered at the sight and his stomach rumbled once more.
Emil grinned ear-to-ear as he took two bottles of water out of his pockets and put them on the table. “Sounds like I got to you just in time. There’s lots of iron and protein there. Eat it all. And you need water. No more coffee tonight.”
Picking up the fork and knife, Trey muttered, “Yes, Mom.”
The jacked chef folded his arms and nodded. “Damned straight. Someone has to be, and where we come from, moms rule. Nothing better than your mother.”
Trey was already in a coma of bliss from the first bite of his perfectly cooked medium-rare beef. He raised his hand in a gesture of peace and nodded. “No argument here,” he said around his mouthful of food.
“Now that the pressing issue of Duncan’s food deficit has been resolved,” Val drawled, “what are we going to do about this new scheme of Dracul’s?”
Still consumed by his much-needed meal, Trey gestured generally with his fork. “Yeah, what he said.” Despite not liking spinach, he scooped up some because Emil was watching like—well, like a mom. He discovered he actually did like the stuff. It was only a matter of having it cooked correctly.
Sorry, Ma. He offered up the silent apology for dissing her cooking and wondered if he could discreetly get the recipe from the alien chef. Then he refocused on the discussion.
“We need a two-pronged approach,” Alex was saying. “First, find and neutralize the distribution source. You take point on that, Val—with the good sergeant’s help, of course.” When Trey reluctantly nodded in agreement, the man continued. “Second, concoct some form of countering agent to neutralize the usefulness of the drug. We’ll be counting on you, Harry, for that.”
“Of course.”
“Do you think you can?” Val asked.
The older man gave the bouncer a look that would have cut glass. “Indeed. I can only imagine who created this filthy thing to begin with. My biochemical skills are far superior to that insignificant drone’s.”
Trey was fascinated by the aliens’ culture, despite his resentment over their existence on his planet. The way they referred to themselves mimicked bees, which was strange, considering they were so primate-like in their appearance. He couldn’t really picture these huge men swarming around a hive while some queen popped out kids. The biology was confounding.
“What guy is that?” he asked, because why not do so? The more he learned, the better use he might be to protect his own people.
Harry made a sound like a violin being sawed in half. The screech caused Trey and the human boys to wince. “Jesus!”
“I beg your pardon,” Harry said. “He calls himself Teo. He was a young botanist on our ship and easily swayed by Dracul’s mutinous ideas. Just another one of us who got above his station, little shit.” The invective was all the more amusing coming from the dignified man.
“He’s no match for your talents, Harry,” Alex agreed. “So, we have a plan. Let us hope that no more humans ingest that poison before we can find an antidote.”
“About that.” Trey wiped his mouth, surprised to see that he’d already inhaled most of his meal. “I’m going to have to go to my superiors about this. We already have a strategy meeting set for tomorrow morning involving my partner, Karl, and the two vice cops on the case. Hear me out,” he added, when the aliens’ mouths opened in automatic dissent. “Obviously, I’m not going to bring you guys up, mostly because I don’t want to be put in McLean Hospital for observation. But, we have to try to get word out for people to stay away from this crap. We’ve got the name—vamp—from a human intelligence source of mine. No one believes it’s actually made from vampire blood, either. So, I’m not giving up any secrets there. I’ve gotten pretty far using standard police work.
“We also have the coroner’s report about what it does to a person’s body, plus this too-smart-for-your-sake doctor who has already thought of taking blood samples in suspension for testing. I’m going to suggest that maybe the drug is fatal at any dose, like I’m some freaking chemistry savant all of a sudden. It’s a logical inference and one others of my kind may have already made. I have no choice here, guys. Like it or not, my people are going to institute a third prong, using a public safety warning. Of that you can be sure.”
Finished having his say, he started back on his food. Damn, he was already regretting that the chef hadn’t brought dessert.
Emil leaned over. “I have a piece of Boston cream pie boxed in the refrigerator with your name on it.”
Trey grinned. “Will you marry me?”
Emil laughed, the sound startling in the hushed environment of the lab. “As if I’m your type.”
A brief image popped into Trey’s head of a lithe boy with dark hair and cat-like eyes who might be older than he looked. It still freaked him out, so he shoved it away and winked at Emil. “For food this good, you could be.”
“Gentlemen,” Alex barked. “If the food flirtation is over…? We understand that you have to do your duty, Sergeant, and I don’t have any objection to the idea. It will hopefully prove helpful. In the meantime, we all know the plan. Let’s get to it.”
Trey hurriedly shoveled the remains of his meal into his mouth. Val came up with Mackie attached to him like an appendage. The bouncer’s expression implied he felt conflicted about the contact. There was no question, however, that the boy was right where he wanted to be.
“You’re obviously dead on your feet, Duncan. I propose you contact me tomorrow whenever you can break free from your partner. I’m going to see how Logan has done, tugging at her sources. We can compare notes back here,” Val said.
Finished, Trey stood and stretched the growing kinks in his body. “Fair enough. Let’s hope this ends quickly.”
The alien’s face showed a surprising tiredness. “Quick is a relative term, Duncan. I can only say I hope it ends.”
Chapter Eight
“I’m due on stage.”
Val gave him a sideways glance. “I am aware. In fact, you are overdue. Just one of the reasons why I didn’t want you downstairs.”
Mackie couldn’t suppress his irritation. “I’m part of this, you know. I have a right to be in on the plans, especially given how I’m practically a prisoner because of your stupid war.”
Val stopped abruptly and turned to clasp Mackie by his upper arms. “If I could extricate you from it, I would. I’m no happier about your being stuck here than you are.”
Mackie blinked up at him, trying to hide how much those words stung. “I’m sorry I’m such a burden to you.”
“I didn’t say that.” Val let go and stepped back. “That was not my intended meaning.”
“Seemed like it was to me,” Mackie shot back.
“No, I… Get to work.” He turned, then looked back over his shoulder. “I’ll see you later. In your room.”
Mackie couldn’t hold back a grin of delight. “Are you going to choke me with your huge dick again?”
Val’s face went into typi
cal grim mode. It was a sight that sent a frisson of fear and pleasure up Mackie’s spine. That expression usually led to delightful punishments. “That was a mistake,” the man ground out.
Mackie batted his eyelashes. “Was it?” He knew he was acting like a snake charmer, trying to stay abreast of the deadly thing’s movement instead of allowing it to strike, but that was kind of the point. He wanted to bait Val into action, to remind him of how good they were together.
“You think you’re doing yourself a favor by goading me, don’t you?” Val leaned in with a heated gaze. “You’re not going to like your punishment tonight.”
The warning shot right to Mackie’s groin. His cock tried to harden and failed. His eyes went wide. “Oh, hey… I’m still wearing the cock cage.” Val had removed the plug after Mackie’s nap but hadn’t liberated his dick. “You need to let me out so I can dance.”
“Do I?” Val raised one eyebrow in a rare display of amusement. “I’ll see you later, Mackie.”
Mackie watched the retreating back, frowning. Oh well. He traipsed off to the dressing room, feeling happier than he had in months.
* * * *
“Someone’s been naughty.” Mr. Warren rapped his knuckles against the cock cage. “If you like chastity so much, I’d be happy to keep you in it if you would become mine.”
Wiggling his ass against the pole, Mackie leaned over and smiled at the man. “I hate it, actually.” That was partly true. He didn’t like having his dick confined, but when Val finally allowed him release, the orgasms were always extra amazing.
He’d been receiving a lot of attention that night. Because of the cage, he’d been forced to put on fairly pedestrian boy-shorts, instead of a pretty thong. The outline of the hard plastic was clear for anyone to see, and the club members loved it when he was in chastity. They got extra pervy and generous with their money.
Really it was a win-win for Mackie. Plus, it served as a reminder that he belonged to someone. He was Val’s boy, even if the guy himself was still too thick-skulled to acknowledge it. All in all, his plan of winning Val back was on the right track. He was thrilled and scared to death. What if it didn’t work after all? A spanking and a flogging, an orgasm and one blow job didn’t make them a couple again. It could all have been done out of duty on Val’s part—or worse, pity. The only optimistic part of this was how clearly he’d gotten under the guy’s skin. If Val was indifferent to him, would he be so emotional?
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