Wicked Love

by Michelle Dare

  She took a sip, then continued, “They wouldn’t leave us alone. One girl would come back, and another would take her place.”

  I held up my hand. “Whoa, back up a second. Who are they?”

  “The handlers. I counted six but think there were more.” Zack chose that moment to return. I quickly filled him in, minus the part about Tamara going to SangreLa.

  Tears poured from her eyes as she told us how the handlers would come and get the girls. They would take them one at a time, or sometimes in pairs, to a dark, cavernous room filled with vampires.

  “They let them feed from us. It hurt so bad that I wanted to die.”

  “A nest,” Zack hissed. I gave him a questioning look, and he shook his head. He grabbed Tamara’s hand and must have done some vampire voodoo on her because she suddenly calmed.

  “What happened then?” he asked.

  “When they thought we’d had enough, the handlers would pull us from the room and feed us their blood. Some of the girls didn’t come back,” she said in a lifeless, monotone voice.

  “How did you escape?” I asked.

  “One time, when they were taking me back, a door opened at the end of the hallway. I thought I saw some stairs. I thought, if I could get to them then maybe I could find a way out. The day before I escaped, three new girls were brought in.” Her eyes jerked to mine, and she gasped. My stomach dropped. “I recognized one of them,” she said, and burst into tears. Zack moved to calm her, but I stopped him.

  “S-s-she was a friend from college. I wanted her to go with me, b-but they’d been extra rough on her, and she was too weak. S-s-she said to find you, that you would help get the other girls out. She wanted me to tell you that s-s-she loves you.”

  My heart froze. Blinding fear pulsed through my veins as I jumped to my feet and shouted, “Who told you to find me, Tamara?”

  “Bailey,” she whispered. And my world came crashing down around me.

  9

  Amos had tried to call me. Why didn’t I answer? Because he was a sniveling weasel who I could barely tolerate. Regardless of how I felt about my brother-in-law, I should have answered his damn calls. While my sister was getting eaten alive by rabid vampires, I’d been floating in a fucking pool—so busy obsessing over count Zackula that I’d let everything else go. They had my baby sister. The thought of her in that place, with those things, made me want to cry. It also made me angry, beyond livid, furious enough to kill them all, including the vampire standing in front of me.

  Zack watched me while Tamara explained how she escaped—that while the girls caused a commotion in the holding room, she managed to get down the hallway and through the door. She made it up several flights of stairs before they caught up with her, but by then it was too late. As she opened the door and the sun hit her face, the two vampires on her heels disintegrated into ash. She couldn’t tell us where she was; she just ran until someone picked her up and drove her to the police station.

  Ignoring Zack’s watchful eye, I pulled my phone from my pocket and walked out the door.

  I had twelve missed messages: seven from Amos, two from my former precinct, and three from Tymon—all concerning my missing sister. I called Amos first.

  “Diana, where have you been? Bailey’s missing. I’ve been calling since yesterday. I even called the precinct, but they said you no longer worked there. She’s gone!” He broke into sobs. For all his faults, he did love my sister.

  “I know. I’m sorry, Amos. I’m here now, and I need you to calm down so I can ask you some questions.”

  “Sure, sure, go ahead,” he sniffled.

  Guilt beat at me as I questioned him about the night Bailey went missing. He explained how she’d gone out with a few friends, and that he’d tried to stay awake but ended up falling asleep before she returned home. He woke the next morning to an empty bed. On discovery that she wasn’t there, he’d called her friends. Both said she’d caught a cab home around midnight. The bar they’d gone to was none other than Venom. Coincidence? I think not.

  I got the girls’ numbers, then assured him that I was on it and would call the moment I knew something. I already knew something. I knew that I was going to track down Jessie fucking Patrick and do whatever it took to find out where my sister was.

  Unfortunately, Bailey’s friends didn’t have any additional information. Because Bailey lived across town, she’d taken a different cab. They’d all three waited outside together, however, the girls had left before her. Was Bailey taken from there, or was she lured somewhere else?

  My final call was to Tymon. To say that he was angry was putting it mildly. He wanted to pull me from the case, not because my sister was involved, but because he suspected something was going on between me and Zack. After he accused me of being unethical and unprofessional—and was just downright rude—I decided I’d had enough and ended the call. When he called back, I sent it to voicemail. When he called a third time, I muted my ringer.

  By the time Zack appeared, I was done with talk and ready for action. On the way to the car, I laid out the plan. We were going to Venom, and we were going to make Jessie tell us where Bailey was.

  “We can’t,” Zack replied.

  I stopped walking. “What do you mean we can’t? He has my sister, Zack.”

  “We don’t know that, Diana.” His calm, cool tone made me want to kick him.

  “Okay, let me explain how it’s done in my world. I gather information. That information can either be a lead or a dead end. If it’s a lead, I follow it. If it’s a dead end, I let it go. Jessie is a lead.”

  “I’m not disagreeing with you. However, as head of the SVO, I can’t just waltz into Venom and accuse Jessie Patrick of wrongdoing without proof. Yes, he’s part-owner of Venom, and yes, he looks guilty, but we need proof. Also, it’s broaching on four in the morning. Venom closes at dawn, which is less than an hour away. I’ll need to be home before then.”

  The thought that my sister had to suffer one more second in that hellhole was unconscionable.

  As if reading my thoughts, he said, “I’ve put in a call to Milo. He’s head of my day security. I’ve asked him to put some men on Jessie. They will follow his every move. If we still have nothing by tomorrow evening, we’ll go see him. I need you to hear me, Diana. We’re going to do this my way.” I conceded, not because I agreed with him but because I was worried what he’d do if I said I didn’t.

  Once we were in the car, I addressed what happened in the hospital. “What did you mean when you said it was a nest?”

  For once, he was forthcoming. “To turn a human into a vampire, they have to be drained. I’m talking one heartbeat away from dying, before they’re fed vampire blood. Sometimes it works, but most of the time it fails, in which case, the human dies anyway.” His eyes shifted from the road to me. “It takes a powerful vampire to make a nest.”

  One person came to mind. “Lenora?” I asked.

  “Possibly.”

  “So what? She’s building an army?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “By nest, I take it you mean a bunch of newly turned vampires?”

  “The correct term is baby because essentially that’s what they are. A baby comes out of the womb with two instincts: to eat and expel. Baby vampires are somewhat the same, minus the expelling part. It takes a year, sometimes two, for them to gain the ability to reason. Until then, they are extremely dangerous.”

  My sister was being fed to a nest of baby vampires. “If Lenora is behind this—”

  His hand found mine, and a feeling of well-being washed over me. “If Lenora is behind this, I promise she’ll be taken care of. For now, we need to focus on your sister.”

  Zack didn’t push for me to spend the night with him. Instead, he drove me to my apartment, where he walked me to my door and gave me a chaste kiss goodnight. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed. Just because he came to my rescue with Victoria, then whisked me back to his private lair and gave me the best sexual experience
of my life, didn’t mean we were going steady. Was it wrong that I kind of wished we were? Was it bad that I wanted more? Was I completely screwed up? Yes, yes, and yes.

  As good as my cushy new bed looked, I was too anxious to sleep, so I made a pot of coffee and planned. My baby sister was all I had left. Zack said his people were on it, but I didn’t know his people. I knew me. I trusted my intuition, and my gut told me that the key to finding Bailey was at Venom. He wanted proof that Jessie was involved? I would get him his damn proof, but I was going to do it my way.

  After scarfing down a protein bar, I took a quick shower. One of the first things I’d learned in the academy was that long hair could be used as a weapon. Not if I pulled it into a tight bun. I also learned to choose clothing that allowed you to bend and move, yet still offered protection. I went with a black, long-sleeve, fitted top and army-green cargo pants. The shirt would hide the machete strapped to the middle of my back, and the cargo pockets were perfect for stashing extra ammo. I completed the outfit with my favorite Salomon boots. They were perfect for tactical maneuvering as well as for storing throwing stars and additional knives—both of which I would need to get at PHD headquarters.

  Instead of parking in my usual place, where I was bound to get noticed, I found a vacant spot on the side street adjacent to the armory. The plan was to get in and out without getting busted. Unless Tymon had put out a warning, no one would think twice about me being there. That is, until later when they saw what I was doing on the camera feed.

  The early-morning timing worked to my advantage because not a soul was in sight. I made it in, got myself kitted out, then left—all without incident. Now, let’s just hope my luck sticks, and I discover a lead to my sister.

  I parked a block down from Venom—not too close to be discovered, but close enough to get the hell out if the need arose. I snuck in from the back and hid in some bushes. This gave me a perfect view of the loading dock. Next to the dock was a small staircase leading to a side door. I tagged two cameras: one above the door and the other on the opposite corner beside the bay. Lucky for me, they were motion sensors and not the new cameras that recorded in real time. It wasn’t long before a truck pulled into the back lot and parked in front of the bay. The side door opened, and a man walked out to greet the drivers. They chit-chatted for a while before he made his way down the stairs to unlock the bay door, then continued talking as he rolled it open and the men began unloading crates onto the loading dock. By then, I was ready to strangle all three of them.

  Finally, the men said their goodbyes. Both the bay and the door remained open, which meant that it was likely the sensors were disabled. Now was my chance. Bolting from the bushes, I sprinted across the parking lot. I was initially aiming for the side door, but at the last minute decided to go for the bay instead. I’d barely made it through the open doorway when I heard voices coming from the side door. I couldn’t see from where I was hiding, but it sounded like two men. Damn, that was close. Had I chosen door number one, I would have been toast.

  The smell of cigarettes wafted through the air. They must be on a break, which meant that I needed to go now. I quickly crept up the stairs. When I reached the top, I drew my gun and quietly entered the building. A long hallway greeted me. To the left was the side-door entrance. Moving to the right, I inched down the hall. After searching the entire main floor and finding nothing, I was on the verge of calling it quits, when I came across a stairwell. The place had a basement. Great. At least this one had lights. The door at the bottom had a small window. Pushing onto my tiptoes, I peered into . . . a dark hallway. Maybe this isn’t such a good idea.

  Like a dumbass, I chose to ignore the warning bells. Gun in hand, I cracked open the door and eased into the hallway, only to find myself face to face with a giant of a man. I gasped, he screamed, and I almost pulled the freaking trigger and shot him.

  “Who the fuck are you?” he growled.

  I lowered my gun and quickly swept it behind my back while at the same time dropping my shields. When Bruiser’s glow practically lit up the room, I let out the breath I’d been holding.

  In an extra-breathy voice, I said, “Oh, I’m sorry, I was looking for Jessie. I must have taken a wrong turn somewhere.” The glow from the stairwell window spilled across his scowling face. Bruiser wasn’t buying my act.

  “You must think I’m stupid.”

  Sighing, I gave him an eye roll—not that he could see it. Pointing my gun at him, I said, “A girl can always hope.”

  He smiled. It was then that I felt something hit the side of my neck. A sharp sting followed, then a feeling of wooziness. My hand wobbled as I reached for my neck. By the time I discovered the dart, it was too late. As my world faded to black, I heard him say, “Yeah, who’s stupid now, bitch?”

  The answer was me.

  I woke in total darkness. This time, it wasn’t in a stylish bedroom in a gorgeous beach house owned by a sexy vampire. No, this time, I was in hell—a rancid-smelling, pitch-black, dirty-floored hell. My head hurt, and my mouth was as dry as a salt lick. At least I was still shielding. It took a moment for my body to catch up with my brain. Once I could move my hands, I did a slow assessment of my weapons. The only thing missing was my gun. I smiled. Yeah, who’s stupid now, dick?

  Suddenly, the wall split open, and a blinding light infiltrated the room. That’s when I saw the faces—gaunt, emaciated, hopeless-looking faces. There were at least five of them, but only one stood out. Bailey. I didn’t dare call out to her. My eyes shifted from my sister back to the source of the light. It was a door, not in the wall but at the top of some stairs. Two vamps stood in the doorway. I didn’t have to drop my shields to know they were vampires. I could tell from their glowing eyes and glistening fangs. They started down the steps. One of the two was dragging something behind him. It didn’t take long to see that the something was a woman.

  “Is the new one awake yet?” the first one asked.

  Panic crawled up my throat. If I didn’t get a handle on it, and fast, the gig would be up. I took a deep breath in and slowly let it out. It took a few more times before I had my shit locked down. One of the vampires started in my direction. I considered taking him out but wasn’t sure how many others there were, so I decided to wait.

  I could feel him leaning over me. “She’s still out,” he said.

  When I heard a cry, followed by more dragging, it took everything in me not to react. How was I going to explain this to Zack? Did it matter? I was up shit’s creek with half a paddle. Without his help, none of us were getting out of this mess alive.

  Zack, it’s Diana. Um, I’m kind of in trouble and could really use your help about now. No response. Maybe he can’t hear me with my shields up? I took a deep breath, then lowered them. Big mistake. Ants swarmed in, and my brain felt as if it were on fire. My mouth opened on a silent scream as agonizing pain raked through my head. I knew if I let it out, the game would be over, so I bit down hard on my tongue. It broke through the pain just long enough for me to reengage my shields. Ouch, that fucking hurt. Maybe I would wait a little while before trying Zack again. I slowly pushed my way up to a seated position. Once I was sure I wasn’t going to topple back over, I focused my attention on my sister.

  “Bailey, it’s Diana,” I whispered.

  It took a minute, but finally, I heard a faint, “Diana?”

  “Yeah, babe, it’s me. I need you to talk so I can find my way to you. Do you think you can do that?”

  “D-D-Diana?” she called again, then broke into sobs.

  “I’m here, Bay. I’m going to get us all out of this mess.” Once that was said, the entire room broke into hysterics. At least I now had no problem locating them.

  I reached my sister and pulled her into my arms. She was at least a quarter of her normal size, which was too thin—deadly thin. If I didn’t get her out of here, she would die. There was no option for failure. I had to succeed.

  Zack! Can you hear me? I really need you right now! Still no
thing.

  “Ladies, if I’m going to get us all out of this nightmare, I need you to stop crying.” It took a moment, but eventually, they calmed enough to answer my questions.

  I learned the layout of the nest, approximately how many handlers there were, the number of baby vamps I was up against, and that I was seriously fucked.

  10

  The door swung open. Quiet gasps echoed through the room as the light from the hallway spilled across our faces. The same two vamps as before entered with the girl. Bailey grabbed my arm, her scared whimper scoring through me. Anger simmered in my gut as we watched them drag her down the stairs and drop her at the bottom like a sack of potatoes. I could take them. The only thing stopping me was the thought that Bailey or one of the other girls could get hurt in the crossfire.

  “New girl,” one of them called out.

  “Don’t go,” Bailey whispered.

  I leaned over and kissed the side of her head. “Shhh, I have to. Stay safe. I’ll be back soon.”

  Helpless rage washed over me as I pushed to my feet and started toward the two vamps. I was going to lay waste to as many of these fuckers as I could, even if it killed me. I wasn’t going down without causing some major damage. “Blaze of Glory” popped into my head. Bon Jovi couldn’t have said it any better. One of the gruesome twosome must have thought I was moving too slow because one minute he was standing across the room and the next he had me by the back of the shirt. The last thing I saw as he dragged me up the stairs was my sister’s tear-stained face. I shouldn’t have looked back.

  A vamp stood at the end of the hallway. He was big—as in, body-builder-I-eat-children-for-breakfast big. One of the twosome prodded me to get a move on. I thought about taking them both out, then running for it. There was no doubt that vampire GI Joe would catch me but at least I would have a head start. No, not GI Joe, GI Fang. The second prod hurt. It also got me moving. I was in trouble—epically deep-shit trouble—the deepest I’d ever been in, and that was saying something because I was a giant shit magnet. Five steps farther and my walls began to rattle. That’s when I noticed that GI Fang was standing in front of a door. Not a door, but the door. My walls couldn’t withstand this many vamps. By the time I’d made it to the halfway mark, I could feel them starting to crumble. I could feel the baby vamps inside my head. Like a million tiny ants, they scurried over and under my shields. I had to fortify fast, or there would be no fight. Since steel wasn’t working, I opted for glass. Glass could crack but not if it was thick enough. It took some concentration, but by the time I made it to GI Fang, the ants had receded and my brain was a still pool of water.