Bad Mouth

by Angela McCallister

  She shifted against him. Now that he’d pointed it out, she realized the application wasn’t like a contract. But it had seemed illogical that anyone would wait for something that wouldn’t happen. “How did I never see this?”

  “Maybe you didn’t want to see. Did you ever ask anyone? It’s not exactly something we keep secret from humans.”

  She had never asked, only assumed. Now that Kade explained the subjugation, it made a lot of sense.

  “Val, my experiences aside, most vampires love their subjugates. These are people who, barring a failure to adjust, will be our companions for centuries, the ones who stave away our loneliness. Can you imagine living so long only to watch everyone around you die? We want nothing more than for the subjugates to succeed, to be the vampires we’d spend our endless lifetime with.”

  She thought of Selene, how worried she’d been over her subjugate’s fate. She thought of Ptolomy’s affectionate, though inappropriate, handling of his nymph. His servant seemed to adore him despite his womanizing ways. The woman wouldn’t have reacted that way if he’d mistreated her during her service. She thought of everything she’d seen and condemned throughout her time with the VLO, this time seeing through a lens shaped by Kade’s knowledge.

  Val shook her head. “I’ve been a narrow-minded xenophobe.”

  “You just had a bad experience. You know now, and you can ask about it all you want. I don’t mind, though I’m not the best person to learn from. You should talk to Ezra. He treats his subjugates like royalty, too much so. He’s going to piss off the Ancients one of these days. Hell, some of them die because of it. That’s what happens if you don’t train them right. He’s let more Legion get executed than anyone.”

  She shot him a shocked glance. “Ezra?”

  “Yes. He holds the record, but he loves them too much to deny them. I told you it’s deadly to schedule them too soon. Waiting for the right time is more for their benefit than ours. And you have to train them properly following the transformation, when they’re still susceptible to derangement. That’s a huge responsibility for an adjuvant, partly why we’re held in such high regard in our culture. Even Legion adjuvants are treated more like Dominorum. The general public has no problem training subjugates, but they want no part of the adjuvant’s job after transformation.”

  “I can’t believe there’s so much I didn’t know.”

  “You came into this with an agenda. Sometimes that makes you overlook what’s in front of you.” He tapped her nose, a smile tugging at his mouth. Lord, she didn’t want to melt like she did with him, but she was helpless. He’d done so much to absolve her. It felt too good, but she had to let herself pay the price for being insular. And that impetuous legislation. It wasn’t a solution. Hell, now she wasn’t sure there was a problem to be solved. She’d been incredibly off the mark but didn’t know how to stop the law she’d pushed for.

  “We should get up.”

  He groaned. “It’s daylight, damn you.”

  “Sorry about that. I was too worried to wait.” She couldn’t stop herself from stroking his stubble-roughened cheek. “But you have some calls to make.”

  He did as she asked, but grumbled the whole time. While he made his calls in his bedroom, she ducked into the restroom. Cold water on her face made her feel better and a bit more presentable. Her eyes were a little bloodshot. The lack of sleep was going to kill her, but she had another late night ahead of her. She couldn’t rest until she knew whether Graham was dead or alive.

  Chapter Twenty-one

  When Kade emerged from the bedroom, he had changed into his ever-present faded jeans and a fitted, plain black T-shirt. His dark hair glistened and a few small droplets of water glided from the tips onto his neck. How she wanted to lick that path. He’d shaved, too, his angular face smooth, the shadow of hair absent. It would feel silky against her lips.

  He approached where she stood at the balcony window. After he flashed a devastating smile, took her hand and led her to one of the sofas. His thigh rested against hers as he relaxed into his seat. She didn’t know how she’d survive the night the way he was taking care of her.

  Thanks to him, she could see how she’d misjudged the Immortalis. Thanks to him, she was close to ending the serial bloodings. And thanks to him, she had an entire team to help her find Graham. A jag of melancholy hit when she realized she didn’t have much time before her work with him would end. Where would that leave their implausible relationship?

  “The boys are on their way. Guns is swinging by Graham’s apartment as we speak. Luc was at his office, but he logged in remotely to Graham’s computer so he can tell us what he found when he gets here. He’s got one of his staff to work on the phone records. We should hear back about that soon. Ezra has his subjugates checking airlines, trains, buses, rickshaws…”

  She didn’t think anything could possibly make her laugh right then, but he did. She kept her eyes on the budding nightfall in front of her. “You don’t like Graham. Why are you doing all of this?”

  “Isn’t that obvious?” he murmured at her ear. She turned her head. Oh, that was a bad idea. He was right there, his breath on her lips. Her pulse rocketed to know she’d kicked his heart into gear again. He dipped closer. Another millimeter and his lips would be on hers yet she couldn’t pull away. A knock at the door slammed her nerves, and she flinched. Kade froze, but his face tightened, his brow drew down, and his eyes lit up.

  “Don’t kill whoever it is, for crying out loud,” she said.

  He stroked her cheek and grinned. “I’ll do my best.” He didn’t open the door all the way so she couldn’t see who’d arrived, but it couldn’t have been his team or he would’ve let them in already. She gave up and focused on the balcony.

  She’d nearly kissed him again, and she still wanted to.

  He wasn’t the monster she’d taken him for, and he was more gallant than she’d thought. She’d been wrong all this time about the vampires. None of that fixed the disparity between them. She would age while he stayed the same. He would feed off pretty young things, which was something she couldn’t handle. Even the thought of it made her fingers curl into the sofa like claws.

  She shouldn’t even be thinking long term. They’d had sex. That’s all it was. He was course and raw, not the kind of man who wanted a love of his life. She needed love, and she needed monogamy and commitment even more. She needed to trust whatever love she found. That would be difficult because Will had torn her heart to pieces but she had it in her to try again. She didn’t want to be alone her entire life.

  Kade leaned over her shoulder with a large bag. Luscious, sweet-and-spicy smells wafted from it, making her mouth water. The aromas of ginger and citrus enticed her. She set the bag on the table in front of her and began to unload it.

  “Oh, I’m so hungry.”

  He laughed at her enthusiasm. “I know. I heard your stomach growl earlier.”

  She tilted her head back to look at him. “You were in the bedroom, and I was in the bathroom.”

  “Take my word for it. It was loud.”

  She reached up and patted his cheek. “Thank you, Sir Lancelot.”

  “I’ll get you a plate.”

  “As if not having one would keep me from this feast.”

  “Barbarian,” he said. His lips settled on hers in a brief, tender upside-down kiss, and then he was gone. The zing of his kiss reverberated from head to toe a few times before the food demanded her attention. She dug in with relish, using her hands until Kade returned with utensils and a plate.

  “You’re not eating?”

  “I don’t eat.”

  “Oh, you’re one of those.” She rolled her eyes.

  “One of those? I’m not being a snob.”

  “Sure.”

  “Really, Val.” He laughed. “I’m a prince. I’m not allowed to eat.”

  Now that was just an absurd restriction. She looked up from her meal. “Why can’t you eat?”

  “I’m obligated by duty
to be a purist. It’s not my choice.” He glanced at the food on her plate. “Human food smells quite appealing, and I’ve always wondered what it would taste like, but I can’t try it.”

  “You’ve never eaten? Ever?” she asked. He shook his head. Such a pleasure as eating good food should not be denied anyone. She lifted a fork toward him.

  “I can’t. Don’t tease me.” But his eyes followed the fork to her mouth. She savored the taste and licked her lips. He tracked every movement.

  “Mmmm, so good.” She sighed and raised a brow. “You’re sure?”

  “Fuck no.” He scowled at her, and she loved it. Teasing him was more fun than she’d imagined it could be.

  Another knock came at the door. This time, the guys had arrived. Luc and Guns wasted no time attacking the leftovers. Apparently, Killian and Declan had no qualms about eating, though Declan barely touched his food, pushing more around his plate than he actually ate.

  “Hello, beautiful,” Ezra said with a smile after he joined them. He kissed her forehead before leaping over the couch and the coffee table in one move to sit across from her.

  “Show-off,” she muttered. He thought that was a riot, his raspy laugh echoing against the ceiling.

  “So our missing VLO agent had something naughty on his computer. Naughty enough someone felt the need to wipe the whole thing clean. There wasn’t one file left on the damned thing.” Luc looked at her inquiringly. “Anything shady he might have been involved in?”

  “No,” she said. “He’s as straight as an arrow can get.”

  “This means whoever he’s with is someone he knows or has had contact with,” Guns said. “We’ll need a list of any and all acquaintances of his that you know of, clients, current and previous, business associates, friends, family. We need all of it.”

  Killian cleared his throat. “I looked through the Slayer records again. There wasn’t anythin’ to indicate they’d taken the man.” His words held the faint lilt of an Irish accent. “How ’bout his shitty car, Guns?” he asked. He propped his boots on the table next to the food for only a moment before Declan kicked them off without a break in his stony expression or a look in Killian’s direction.

  “Not there, Ian,” Guns answered. “Wherever he’s at, he drove there of his own volition. The bulletin’s out, but I doubt it’ll pop. He’ll know people are looking for him.”

  Guns’ words hit her in a most unpleasant way, and her appetite fled. She pushed her plate away on the coffee table. “You all act like he went somewhere willingly,” she said. The faces looking at her all held a measure of pity. “I know him. He would have told somebody.”

  “Val,” Kade said, dropping onto the sofa next to her. “It’s a good possibility he was willing. We’ve all had a lot of experience with missing persons, especially Luc. It’s what he does for a living. We’re not saying Graham was doing anything wrong in any way. But we have to plan for that scenario or we may miss a chance to find him.”

  His voice was gentle, as if he was afraid to spook her away. With a sigh, she nodded. “All right. I understand.”

  “Nothing on public transit, but if he has his car, I’d expect that,” Ezra said. “I’ve instructed my subjugates to continue the search. He could have used a different name.”

  “We need those phone records, Luc.”

  “Working on it, boss. Those always take longer, whether I work over the table or under.”

  Val eyed Luc warily. “What do you mean over or under?”

  “Well,” Luc said with a grimace, as if utterly conscious of revealing his law-breaking tendencies, “if the phone service isn’t cooperative, we need a court order. Or I can slide some bills under the table. Either way takes time. I could try hacking for the records, but that takes time, too. Any way you look at it, we won’t have those records until tomorrow at the earliest.”

  “What more can we do?” she asked. It felt like they were at a dead end.

  “I sent a friend to confiscate Fischer’s computer at the VLO,” Guns said.

  Her eyes widened. “You can do that?” He grinned at her, a dimple appearing on one cheek. From the surprised look on Ezra’s face, Guns must not smile often.

  “State jurisdiction,” he answered in a cocky tone. “They had no reason to say no. Haven’t heard anything back yet on what may have been on it.”

  A wave of helplessness overwhelmed her. Wherever Graham was, he’d spend another night there because they weren’t going to find him before tomorrow. Her vision blurred with tears. She bit her lip hard, trying to hold them back. She stood and strode to the window before Kade could do anything nice. If he did, she’d lose her composure completely. “I’m not sure what to do about the blooding cases. Honestly, I haven’t given them any thought today.”

  “It’s all right,” Kade said. “It’s not the first time cases have gone unsolved.”

  “But these are high-profile cases that have an impact on that misguided legislation. If they go into cold case files, the public will panic. They’ll think the killers are still out there, and it’ll light the fire under that bill.”

  Kade only laughed. “The bastards are still out there.” He stood and gestured toward Luc and Guns. They groaned simultaneously. “What? It’s the truth.”

  Val sat back down on the sofa. Her cases were shot, her legislation could destroy society as she knew it, her long-time friend was missing, and she was in lo—like with a vampire. She put her elbows to her knees and her face in her hands. Kade knelt in front of her and then pulled down her hands and held them in his.

  “Everything will turn out all right, Val. I swear it.”

  “Kade,” she said before she could give in to the urge to kiss him in front of his merry men, “I have to get rid of the labs from the last two bloodings.”

  He cocked his head. “You’d do that? How?”

  “I don’t know. I don’t want to lose my job.” She chewed her bottom lip anxiously. “Or go to jail for that matter.”

  “You need to have them retest the samples,” Luc said. “But first the samples have to be replaced with ones carrying the venom, if you could call that shit venom. I hear it’s pretty good stuff. Maybe the Slavers should have gone after that market instead.”

  Declan punched his leg but added in a flat tone, “It is good stuff.”

  Val turned Luc’s idea over in her head. It was absolutely brilliant. This might work. She could kiss the guy. A glance at him and then at Kade made it clear to her who she’d rather be kissing.

  “Luc, you evil genius. So a venomous sample it is. What blood types do you need, Val?” Kade asked, his mood markedly lighter. He pulled his cell out. “I’ll call my service.”

  Val checked her notes on her phone. “Both victims had the same blood type.” She frowned. “Type O positive.”

  He pinned a suspicious gaze on her. “Is this going to be difficult? I don’t want you doing it if it’s too risky for you.”

  “No, it should be simple. I have access and no one will think twice. Plus it makes sense to test it again. The results were too unbelievable.”

  Kade stood and addressed his team. “You fuckers have work to do tonight. Make Daddy proud.”

  Luc and Guns flipped him off and headed to the door. Ezra clapped Kade on the back, but only smiled and followed the humans. Killian and Declan both nodded to their prince.

  “Have we ever not made you proud?” Declan asked.

  Kade smirked. “Well, there was that one night that chick in the catsuit—”

  “I remember, fuck you very much.” The dark-haired Tracker never changed his brooding manner, even as he seemed to be joking. He kind of reminded her of Grumpy. With that, the pair left Kade and Val to themselves.

  Kade smiled as if he couldn’t stop. She shoved gently at his chest. “Don’t look so happy with yourself.”

  He only laughed and dialed his phone. She hit the end button before the call could go through.

  “What are you doing?”

  “I do
n’t know. Just…hold on.” She wrapped her arms around herself and considered him uncertainly. He’d stilled, his expression somber as he waited with endless patience. It was hard to look in his eyes. When she did, a crest of emotion rocked through her. She couldn’t let him call, couldn’t bear the thought of him holding some strange woman in his arms.

  “I want you to use my blood. I’m O positive.”

  His smiled disappeared. “Val, I’m not only making a sample. I haven’t fed since my last transformation nearly a week ago. I need to feed.”

  “Why haven’t you?”

  He looked away and gave a humorless laugh. “Because I was with you.” His gaze returned to hers. “Because I didn’t want my lips on another woman.”

  “I don’t want that either.” Her heart pounded at what she was about to do. “I want them on me.”

  Chapter Twenty-two

  Indecision skipped across Kade’s face. “I don’t know if—”

  “What’s wrong? Is it dangerous?” She’d never heard of humans dying after a feeding, other than illegal bloodings caused by derangements. “Will it hurt much?”

  “It won’t hurt at all. But I’ll see—”

  “Kade, everything I’ve been these past few days is the extent of who I am. No more, no less. I’m not perfect, but I have nothing to hide. You have nothing to be afraid of, not from me.”

  He nodded slowly. “All right. Okay.”

  “Do you really not want to?” Disappointment pressed down on her shoulders.

  “Oh, baby, I want to. Fuck do I want to.” His chin tilted down. “I was just…”

  She rubbed her palms over his chest. “I’m nervous, too. I’ve never—you know.”

  He murmured really low at her ear. “A virgin. How sweet.” She tried in vain to ignore his warm breath fanning along her throat.

  “How will we collect the sample?” She’d almost forgotten the whole reason for the feeding in the first place.

  “I have syringes.”