Bad Mouth

by Angela McCallister

  A barely dressed nymph of a woman came in and flounced down on Ptolomy’s other side, a pout on her lips. Her breasts thrust against his arm, and her hand crept up too high on his thigh to be decent. Val squirmed, but Ptolomy palmed the nymph’s breast and then brought the woman’s hand over his crotch.

  “Classy,” Kade said. “And pretty bold for a kid with no hair on his balls.”

  “Hey, there’s hair there,” Ptolomy said, disgruntled. “It’s just really, really fine.”

  “Please,” she said. “Can we get this over with?”

  Ptolomy seemed agreeable, probably wanting to get back to his thrills. “I didn’t feel the need to share this with your investigators, but I find I’d like to share this with you. Since Kade and I are such great, long-time friends.” He winked at Kade.

  Kade’s smile curved even higher. “Oh, pipsqueak, we’ve never been friends.” Dark shadows played in his gaze. She shivered again, but for an entirely different reason. What kind of sinister relationship did these two have?

  “I will cut to the point, Ms. Craig. I did not witness or hear the attack at the edge of my property.” That fact no doubt infuriated him, judging by his hard tone. “But the security cameras caught two humans at close proximity to the site of the blooding.”

  “Humans? Are you sure?” she asked.

  “Without doubt. You couldn’t miss the humans. Goth with piercings, and one had a Mohawk, the kind with big spikes. One of my staff said he’d seen them before, near some abandoned buildings along the waterfront.”

  Finally, maybe they were getting somewhere. “Did he say where along the waterfront?”

  “South end of Harbor Island at the mill.”

  “The old Fisher mill? What was your man doing out there?”

  “His sister works at the marina.” Ptolomy’s smile turned lecherous. “But he wandered off a few streets for a…bite to eat.”

  She groaned. Were they all this warped? “I thought the place burned down a couple years ago.”

  Kade answered, “Just one of the piers.”

  The area Ptolomy spoke of was isolated. The only reason for anyone to wander down there was to find or cause trouble. She’d send a VLO team to check it out in the morning.

  “You have video of these guys then?”

  “Yes. Greta will make sure you have a copy before you leave.” With that, he pushed the nymph off the couch. The girl frowned, but left to do Ptolomy’s bidding. “You can’t see the blooding because it happens off the edge of the camera, but you get a glimpse of the humans.”

  “Not the vampire committing the murder?”

  “No.” Ptolomy smiled and stood. “That is all I have for you, young one.”

  She shook her head. It sounded odd coming from one who appeared half her age.

  Ptolomy walked them toward the doorway and looked back at Kade, a warning in his expression. “Soon, my never friend.”

  Kade nodded once, and then Ptolomy was gone. “Did you get what you need?”

  “Sort of. He’s not one to answer questions, is he?”

  “Never was.” He gave her a wolfish grin. “See? I can be helpful.”

  He certainly had been helpful. She surmised the boy vampire wouldn’t have cooperated if her interactions with Kade hadn’t so amused the Ancient. Maybe Eva hadn’t been lying as Val had assumed. But her instincts had never failed her in the past.

  She nearly jumped from her skin when Graham appeared and offered his hand. She’d been so focused on Ptolomy and Kade, she’d forgotten about Graham. He held up the disc with the video on it. Frustration clouded his face, but he held his tongue. She didn’t doubt that once they were alone, he’d clue her in on whatever bothered him.

  When they walked into the chill Bellevue air, he leaned down to her. “Ride back with me.”

  She glanced at him and then at Kade, who was speaking to his driver. Her stomach sank as Graham maneuvered her toward his Prius. Kade scowled her way and headed for her. Graham tugged until she jerked her arm from his grasp.

  “I can walk on my own, thank you very much.”

  He made an irritated sound. “I’m just trying to get out of here. Why are you dragging your feet?”

  She sighed, but he’d made a good point. They were done with interrogations for the evening. There was no reason to spend any further time with Kade. Why was that such a disappointment?

  Kade approached her with a determined stride. “Where are you going?”

  “Home. We’re done for tonight.” She hoped he couldn’t hear or see her lack of enthusiasm. He had a big enough head without thinking she enjoyed his company.

  “I could take you home.” The hardness of his face softened, and it made her want to stroke the skin. Bring him closer for another kiss like the one they’d shared earlier. She could almost forget he was a vampire.

  When she started to speak, Graham cut in.

  “I’m driving her. We have work to discuss.” He grabbed her elbow again, pulling her back a step. She yanked away again. His manhandling had gone too far.

  “Go wait in the car,” she said, with maybe more force than necessary. He winced, but did as she requested. She exhaled and turned back to Kade. Her sigh turned to a gasp at the dangerous glow of his eyes as they followed Graham to the car. “Look, I’m sorry he’s so rude, but he doesn’t think you’re safe for me to be near.”

  He stepped in front of her, so close she could rest her cheek against his chest if she wanted. And darn it, she kind of wanted to. Instead, she tipped her head back to see his face clearly. He bent even closer, as if to kiss her again. Her breath seized in her chest, and her lips parted. This couldn’t happen. Graham sat in his car not ten feet away watching them with rapt attention that burned into her back.

  “I’m not safe for you,” he murmured in her ear. He darted his tongue out to taste her earlobe, sending a miniquake traveling down every nerve ending. A whimper escaped before she could cut it off. She clenched her hands to keep them from clinging to his shirt. He backed away and smiled at her. “You see?”

  Her nod was jerky. “Yes,” she whispered.

  Then his stone visage returned, and his eyes lit red again. “I’m even less safe for him.” He tipped his head toward Graham. “He wants you.”

  “That’s ridiculous. We’ve been friends for years.” She wasn’t sure why she resorted to the lie, but it felt easier than dealing with Graham’s feelings.

  Kade’s cynical expression indicated he could see right through her. “I’m not known for my control, Val. Do something about him, or I damn well will.”

  Chapter Seven

  She’d left without Graham this time, and part of her dabbled with guilt. He’d be incredibly angry, especially after confessing his thoughts about Kade. It wasn’t a good idea, though, for him to mingle with Kade. Both of them were getting territorial over her, and Graham would never win if pitted against this Dominus.

  It had become a safety issue and nothing to do with a desire to be alone with Kade, of course.

  She spent the short cab ride going over the documents in her satchel. They were already memorized, but she needed something to do while her heart raced and jumped like a bunny on ephedrine. This kind of eager anticipation couldn’t be good. Before she could go through the paperwork for the tenth time, her ride came to a stop at the curb.

  After suffering the stale sweat smell in the cab, she welcomed the frozen air and took her time to cross the plaza, watching the billowing of her cloudy breath. She swung her hands in the chill to dry her clammy palms before ducking into the Akkadian Towers. As she rode the elevator up, she stared at the water dripping from her thick-heeled boots to pool at her feet.

  Maybe she should have brought Graham. Intense physical attraction aside, she found Kade far too personally appealing. There was nothing fake about the man. Nothing pretentious, only 100 percent Kade. He didn’t care what anyone thought of him, yet he cared about others. His moment of tenderness with Eva, and then his moment with her in
the car when she thought she’d have a meltdown showed her that something wasn’t right about his reputation. And forget his comment about not being kept waiting, he’d offered her a car because he cared. Chivalry was alive and well in him, and not just as an empty gesture. Maybe his age had something to do with it, but she doubted that. It was plain to see he wasn’t proud of that honorable side of him. Somehow, that made him even more charming to her.

  Kade opened the door this time. He gave no sign of recognition, no smile, no reaction whatsoever. He only stood aside and motioned her in. A knot tightened in her middle.

  “Good evening,” she said.

  “Where’s fuckface?”

  “Where’s what?” He crossed his arms patiently. Oh. He meant Graham. She turned toward the balcony and covered her mouth, but she couldn’t stifle her mirth. Her shoulders shook as the laughter snuck out. So unprofessional, and she really should stick up for her friend, but Graham had asked for it.

  “I’m sorry.” She collected herself enough to face Kade. “He’s otherwise engaged this evening. We’ll have to make do without him.”

  He smiled that familiar smile and her tension scattered. She removed her jacket and walked farther into the room.

  “Come. Have a seat.” He offered a drink, which she declined. She needed to stay focused. “Who did you come up with?”

  “Selene Stavrou,” she answered. “She was most evasive when questioned, and where she stayed two weeks ago gave her a clear view of one of the murders. She’d have to be deaf and blind not to have seen something.”

  “Ah, Selene.” He looked thoughtful. Something in the way he said the name got her back up.

  “You know her.”

  “Oh, yes. I know her quite well.” His suggestive tone brought the catty right out of her, and the shock of it speared her insides. She bit her tongue and took a deep breath, pushing her irrational displeasure to the back of her mind. It wasn’t her business what Kade had done with the woman.

  “What if she doesn’t talk?”

  “She has no choice in the matter.” He stood, his eyes lighting up as if they were windows into hell. Val wouldn’t want to defy a man with eyes of fire, but who knew how the Legion vampires would react? They were used to such displays of power.

  “Shall we go?” Val moved past him to grab her jacket when he caught her wrist. She looked up and then couldn’t look away. His red eyes continued to blaze as his hands slid up her bare arms.

  “Why do you feel warm?” she whispered. She should have made him unhand her but all she could think about was his tender kiss the night before, a scene that had replayed too many times before sleep finally claimed her. His head lowered toward hers until she felt his breath on her lips. “Why are you breathing?”

  “You make my heart beat. It makes my blood move and my lungs expand. It makes…other things happen.”

  He pulled her hips until their bodies were nearly one and she couldn’t mistake what one of those other things were. Her belly quivered, and her lips parted. He took that for an invitation. Just as those sexy lips brushed hers, she heard a ravaged voice.

  “Sire?”

  She jerked back from Kade and whirled toward the newcomer. The second she saw him, her hand went to her stomach, and she turned away toward the balcony. Her nausea fought to rise, but somehow she tamped it down enough to face the living version of the photos on her phone.

  Recent burn wounds comprised half the vampire’s face and a mass of scar tissue covered his throat. Clothing covered the rest of him, even his hands. He had no hair, only bruised, cut, battered skin over his scalp.

  Her muscles tightened with horror, and she couldn’t look at Kade. She’d been about to kiss the monster who had done this to a human subjugate. Self-disgust curled in her chest.

  A deep animal growl erupted beside her. Only then did she turn to Kade, but he didn’t look at her. His feral eyes were on the vampire, his fangs long and bared with aggression.

  “You!” He pointed at the poor creature. That “poor creature” fixed on her with ravenous eyes, drooling and uttering hungry little sucking sounds with each violent heave of its chest. “You vile piece of shit. If you touch one hair on her body, if you even look at her wrong, I will fuck you up. You will pray I put an end to you.”

  The vampire cowered, the sounds reduced to a feeble whimper. “Yes, Sire,” he rasped. To her relief, he made no move to look at her again.

  “You wanted something?” Kade asked him.

  “A phone call for you in your office, Sire.”

  “Take a message. I’m occupied.”

  The creature bowed and backed away before disappearing down the side hall. Val felt like she’d faced down a grizzly, but the worst was the thought of facing that grizzly’s maker. She sensed Kade’s gaze burning into her, and she couldn’t face the heat of it.

  “Judge me all you want,” he growled. “Hate me if it makes you sleep better.”

  She glanced at him, trying to keep her composure. His expression was granite. Her mind cast around for a biting reply, but she couldn’t think of anything to say about what he’d done to the subjugate. Kade’s cruelty was beyond her comprehension.

  “Right.” He shook his head. “You know nothing.”

  “For heaven’s sake, Kade, are you going to say you’re innocent, and you don’t brutalize your subjugates? Am I missing something?” She pulled her jacket off the edge of the sofa and headed toward the door. “On second thought, I don’t want to hear it. We have work to do.”

  He followed her out of the penthouse. “Sure you can lower yourself enough?”

  She didn’t answer until the elevator doors closed in front of them. “I’d already seen photos of your handiwork before we met.”

  “So what’s different now?”

  “Nothing, I suppose. When I met you, I thought—I just didn’t think you could…be so barbaric.”

  “Well, I live to disappoint,” he murmured, his gaze directed at the floor. She nearly reached out to him before she pressed her hands against her thighs.

  “Did your maker mistreat you?”

  He jerked upright, his eyes catching hers in their reflections. “My maker?”

  “Olen Rex, I mean,” she said.

  “I didn’t say he was my maker, Val. I said he’s my father.”

  She frowned. “I took it as a figure of speech. It’s not possible.”

  “It is. I was born vampire, not turned.”

  “Vampires can’t get pregnant. I know that much.”

  “They can conceive. They just can’t carry to term.”

  The doors slid open as he casually dropped that bomb and stepped out, leading the way toward his car waiting at the curb. She jogged to catch up with him. He opened the door for her before sliding in beside her. Kade didn’t speak to his driver at all, but the male subjugate pulled from the curb and seemed to know where they needed to go.

  Val shifted toward Kade. “Then how?”

  “Human surrogate,” he answered. “A human has to carry the child.” She tried to catch his eye, but he focused on the scenery outside the window.

  “A human gave birth to you?” She’d never heard of anything like it, and she was considered highly educated in everything vampirism.

  He turned to her finally, his expression guarded. “It’s rarely allowed, but Immortalis adjuvants can impregnate humans. And we can use human surrogates for vampire-conceived embryos. I’m not the only live-born vampire.”

  “I don’t understand. Why do you…do what you do to the subjugates? Is it because they had a choice and you didn’t?”

  He responded with a short bark of bitter laughter and returned his gaze to the window. “I told you. You know nothing.”

  “Then tell me.” She wasn’t sure she wanted to know, but it felt important. He didn’t seem like some kind of beast raging out of control. And for some ungodly reason, she didn’t want to believe him fitting of her image of a malicious vampire.

  She’d seen his hum
or, his intelligence, his compassion, and she didn’t think she could make herself forget his unexpected moments of tenderness. Though his visage had gone icy, a deep vulnerability thrummed beneath it. Somehow she’d hurt him, causing his sudden withdrawal. She’d never thought it possible for a vampire to have softer feelings that could open them to hurt. Her past had taught her not to see vampires as anything but heartless monsters.

  “We’re here,” he said.

  They had pulled into a circular drive in front of a large, white New England-style manor. Detailed red-and-gray brickwork formed a facade along the first level up to the portico framed by slender columns. This rural beauty didn’t match how she’d imagined Selene Stavrou’s style. At the VLO headquarters, Selene had come across as a rich snob in the few minutes she’d seen the Legion.

  A bald, elderly subjugate answered the door. He looked uncomfortably professional, his dark, pinstriped suit tailored close over his round belly. Overweight subjugates were few and far between. He had to be a new conscript.

  “How can I help you?” he asked.

  Kade stepped forward, but anger darkened his features. “Selene. Now.”

  No one in their right mind would argue with that tone. The subjugate gestured past the foyer, his eyes wide and his mouth slack. Kade glanced at her. “Go on. I’ll be there in a minute.”

  She hesitated. “What are you doing?”

  “My duty. Go.” He propelled her forward, but she pushed back against his hand. He groaned. “Fuck sake, woman. I’m not gonna kill anyone. Find Selene.”

  A glance over her shoulder reassured her. He was angry for some reason, but he didn’t have that fiery look of death in his eyes. “Don’t be long,” she said. Despite his dark mood, he flashed a grin at her. Heaven help her, but she liked his smile, even those stubborn grins when he was facetious.

  The foyer ended in three short, wood-lined arches forming the entry to a living area where Selene lounged on a chaise near an unlit fireplace, a martini glass in her hand. Val couldn’t believe her eyes. No wonder Kade had slept with this woman. The vampire was even more gorgeous than the last time Val had seen her. Her thick, midnight hair coiled in a coif of perfect ringlets. Her white slip of a dress contrasted virginally against golden skin. And of course her cool demeanor was as ever-present as her exotic accent.