by Folsom, Tina
“Don’t coddle him,” Rose cautioned. “He’s a grown man.”
“I’m still responsible for him.”
Ursula watched their exchange with interest. So this was Oliver’s sire, the vampire who’d turned him. And by the looks of it, he was nothing like any of the vampires she’d encountered in the last three years. Rather, he looked like a concerned father. He reminded her of her own father, how he’d worried when she’d moved to New York to go to college. At the beginning, he’d called her daily to reassure himself that she was all right. Maybe that memory was the reason why she now wanted to soothe Quinn’s concerns.
“Oliver went out to feed. He’ll be back soon.” She kept the fact that he was looking for the man whose wallet she’d stolen to herself. It wasn’t something she could reveal without giving away things she wasn’t willing to share. The situation was complicated enough.
Quinn let his eyes wander over her face. “So you know that he doesn’t drink bottled blood. Does that scare you?”
She hesitated. When she’d seen Oliver only a short while ago with his extended fangs, his sharp claws, and his red eyes, she’d felt true fear course through her, but now, that memory seemed so distant that she couldn’t recall the feeling. “I don’t know,” she answered honestly.
“Why don’t we all sit down for a bit? I’m exhausted from the trip,” Rose confessed and pointed toward the living room.
Having no reason to refuse her invitation, Ursula walked into the living room. She eyed the clock over the mantle. Oliver had been gone for a long time. Had he run into trouble with the vampire whose wallet she’d stolen? She knew she shouldn’t worry about him. After all, he was a vampire and a trained bodyguard. And he was armed.
A prickling at her neck suddenly made her turn her head back to the door. Her heart nearly stopped: Oliver was back. He stood between door and frame and stared at Rose and Quinn, not even noticing her.
“What are you doing back so soon?” he asked, his voice clipped.
“Is that the way you welcome your family these days?” Rose replied, bracing her hands at her hips.
“Of course not,” Oliver deflected quickly and walked toward her. “Welcome home, Rose, how was your honeymoon?” He pulled her into a quick embrace, when his eyes suddenly fell on Ursula.
When he freed himself from Rose, he nodded to his sire. “You must be tired from the trip. Why don’t you two go upstairs and rest? I can carry up your suitcases.”
Quinn frowned. “Oliver, I’m older than you. So don’t think you can just brush me off. We’re home early because of what’s happening here.”
Oliver tossed a glare at Blake. “I could’ve handled the situation without interference from anybody.”
Blake squared his stance, glaring back. “Right!”
Quinn lifted his hand to stop their argument in its inception. “Blake didn’t call us. Maya did. She was concerned about you two being alone with Ursula.”
Oliver stared at his sire, clearly fuming. “I don’t need a chaperone!”
“Neither do I!” Blake immediately took his half-brother’s side.
Ursula almost had to chuckle. One minute the two were practically at each other’s throats, the next they stood side by side against the head of their family.
Ursula caught how Rose rolled her eyes and shook her head. “Kids,” she heard her murmur softly. Then Rose looked at her. “Ursula, why don’t you and I go upstairs and leave these three alone to work out their differences? I for one can’t stand any more display of testosterone right now.”
Hesitantly, Ursula nodded.
“I’d better take all my clothes out of the guestroom so you’ll be more comfortable,” she added.
“But I was sleeping in Oliver’s room,” Ursula blurted, before she could stop herself.
Rose’s head snapped toward Oliver, her eyes glaring at him. “Oliver! I can’t believe you’d take advantage of a frightened young woman like that. That’s despicable!”
Oliver thrust his hand through his hair. “I didn’t do anything! I didn’t sleep in my room!”
Rose huffed indignantly. “Of course you didn’t sleep!”
Before Ursula could say anything else to defend Oliver, Rose pulled her out of the room.
Oliver watched as Rose and Ursula left the room. This was terrible timing: he didn’t need Quinn and Rose sticking their noses into his affairs right now. He had too many things he had to keep quiet: the fact that he hadn’t followed Zane’s orders to put Ursula on the next plane to Washington DC, the fact that Ursula’s blood was a drug, and that he’d been able to find an actual client of the blood brothel she’d been held at for three years. Until he knew how to proceed, he couldn’t let anybody at Scanguards know about these things.
He hoped he could keep Quinn in the dark for long enough to figure out a strategy. If Maya was the one who’d told him about this situation, then Quinn didn’t know very much yet. Maya didn’t know what had transpired in Hunter’s Point; neither did Blake. Therefore Quinn couldn’t know that Zane had ordered him to send Ursula away. And he couldn’t know yet that they had found nothing at the building in Hunter’s Point and therefore dismissed Ursula’s claims.
Shit, how had everything gotten so complicated?
“Everything is under control, Quinn, trust me.” Oliver forced a confident look onto his face.
“Sure it is,” Quinn said dryly. “Why don’t you explain to me what’s going on?”
“What did Maya tell you?”
“Enough for us to pack our bags and leave England to rush home. So, update me. What’s happened since?”
Oliver swallowed. “We found the property in Hunter’s Point where Ursula was held. But they had already cleaned everything out by the time we got there. I assume they figured she would come back with help, so they fled. We don’t have any leads yet where they might have taken the operation.”
He felt his body get hotter. How he hated having to lie to his sire. But the less he knew at this point the better. If he was aware of Zane’s orders, there was a chance that Quinn would try to separate him from Ursula, and he couldn’t risk that. She trusted him to protect her, and he could only do that when he was with her. Besides, he needed to speak to her in private to tell her that he’d been able to confirm her story.
“Hmm. What else?”
Oliver shrugged, trying to look casual. “Nothing else. We’re working all our contacts to find out if anybody has heard of the place and knows where they might be now. They’re holding a dozen other girls captive. They need our help.”
“And the fact that you guys didn’t find anything at the property in Hunter’s Point didn’t bother any of you?” Quinn wondered.
“Would have made me wonder if she’s telling the truth,” Blake threw in, looking at Oliver. “You know we all had doubts, even you.”
“Go ahead and bother Zane by asking him if he still has doubts about her story. See how he likes it being questioned,” Oliver bluffed. Would Blake fall for it? And more importantly, would Quinn stop asking questions?
“Fine, whatever. Just saying. I wish you guys would let me go with you to those raids. I never get to do anything fun,” Blake complained. “No wonder I’m always out of the loop. Even Cain gets to patrol the city for those crazy vampires, and he’s only been with Scanguards for a few months.”
Quinn put his hand on Blake’s arm. “What do you know about those crazies? It’s classified information.”
Blake grinned. “Cain told me ‘cause I’m family. He said they were going crazy in the city, like some drugged out animals.”
Oliver’s ears perked up. Drugged out? He’d never heard them described that way—when the vampire staff at Scanguards talked about them, they used words like bloodlust, but what if those vampires were on drugs? Or rather drugged blood?
Was it possible that there was a connection between the blood brothel and those incidents they’d heard of where vampires had gone completely crazy as if they were suffering from
bloodlust?
Tonight, Zane had gotten a call that several of those crazies had been spotted at a nightclub in town. Oliver had to find out what had transpired there. Maybe it would provide the lead he needed to find the new location of the blood brothel.
“Hey, Quinn,” he interrupted. “Listen, it’s great that you and Rose are back. We missed you. Didn’t we, Blake?”
His half-brother nodded quickly.
“I’d better turn in. It’s close to sunrise, and it’s been a busy night.” He hugged his sire.
“It’s good to be home, son.” Quinn smiled when he released him.
Oliver was about to turn, when Quinn put a hand on his shoulder. “About the girl.” He motioned to the upper floor.
“What about her?”
“Don’t do anything you might regret later. She’s vulnerable.”
Oliver was careful not to show that the remark irked him. He knew she was vulnerable; he didn’t need Quinn to tell him that. “If you’re insinuating that I might bite her, let me tell both of you once and for all: I won’t.”
And that was one promise he was determined to keep. No matter the cost.
***
Oliver waited for the noise in the house to settle down. Finally, it seemed Rose and Quinn had gone to bed and Blake had withdrawn to his room. Rose had set Ursula up in the guest room, clearly not wanting her to stay in his room again. But they would have to do a lot more to stop him from seeing her.
He waited an additional hour after all the noise had died down before he snuck out of his room and walked barefoot toward the guest room. The floorboards creaked under his feet, but nobody seemed to hear him.
When he reached the door to the guest room, he listened for any sound coming from inside, but heard none. He couldn’t risk knocking, afraid that Rose or Quinn might hear him from the master bedroom across the corridor, so he simply eased the door open and squeezed inside, pulling it shut behind him.
The curtains were drawn, but some light filtered into the room, enough to clearly see that Ursula was sleeping, even if he weren’t a vampire with night vision. He quietly approached the bed and sat on the edge, leaning over Ursula. With his mouth at her ear, he whispered to her, “Ursula, baby, it’s me, Oliver.”
A choked breath came from her. Afraid she might make too much noise, alerting everybody in the house, he slid his lips over hers and pressed a soft kiss onto them, ready to intensify it if necessary.
“Oliver?” she mumbled.
“Yes, baby.”
“Mmm.”
The humming sound she issued was reason enough for him to urge her lips apart with his tongue and delve into her inviting mouth. Within an instant, his hunger for her pushed to the surface. He had to force himself to pull back, reminding himself why he was here.
“I have news.”
She opened her eyes and pulled herself up to a sitting position. She still wore one of his T-shirts, and that fact pleased him. Of course, if she were sleeping in his bed, she wouldn’t be wearing anything. Instead, he would cover her with kisses and caresses.
“What happened?”
He listened for any sound from outside the door before he continued. “We have to be quiet. Quinn and Rose will be pissed if they find me in here.”
“Are they very old-fashioned?”
“No, just very protective of innocents.”
“But I’m not—”
Even in the darkness, he noticed how she blushed. He couldn’t resist pressing a kiss on her pink cheek. “I’m sorry about what happened earlier.”
“You mean them showing up unannounced?”
He shook his head. “No, about what you saw in the van. When I was . . . hungry.”
“Oh.”
“I know I scared you. It won’t happen again. I’ll make sure I feed more often, so you won’t have to see that again.” When she didn’t answer and dropped her lids instead, he wondered whether his words were making it worse. After all, he was still feeding off humans, even if he promised her not to bite her. “I am what I am, Ursula. I’m trying hard to change, but it’s . . . difficult.”
She laid her hand on his forearm. “I understand.”
His heartbeat accelerated. “So we’re okay? I mean, you and I, are we good?”
“We’re good.” She smiled up at him. “You said you had news.”
“I found the vampire whose wallet you stole.”
Oliver sensed the excitement that went through her.
“Please tell me what he said.” Her eyes hung on his lips.
“He confirmed that he went there for the blood. He knows it has a drugging effect.”
“Did he tell you where they went?”
“He says he doesn’t know.”
Disappointment spread over her face. He used his hand to tilt her face up. “Don’t worry. It’s early yet. If they moved the blood brothel somewhere else, then it might take them a few days to notify all their customers. We have to be patient.”
She nodded, even though he could see that she wasn’t fully convinced. “I hope you’re right.”
He stroked her cheek with his thumb. “In the meantime, I’ll be checking out another lead.”
“What other lead?”
“Leave it up to me. When I have something more concrete, I’ll tell you about it. I just don’t want you to get your hopes up in case it doesn’t pan out. Please trust me, we’ll find them.”
“I hate waiting.”
“It won’t be long.” Then he stood. “I’d better go.”
She put a hand on his arm, holding him back. “Please stay for a little while, just until I’ve fallen asleep again.”
“I shouldn’t.” But her eyes pleaded with him, and there was no way he could resist. “Just for a few minutes.”
He pulled the blanket aside and slid underneath it, pulling Ursula against his fully clothed body. “Is that okay?”
“Yes,” she whispered and snuggled up to him.
His arms went around her back, one sliding down to her backside. As he palmed it softly, she purred like a kitten and draped her leg over his thighs.
“Sleep now,” he murmured and stroked his hand over her silken hair.
24
Cain sat in a small office behind a glass window that looked down into an interrogation room below. Next to him, Thomas gulped down the rest of his bottle of blood.
“About time that jerk is coming ‘round. I need some shuteye.”
Cain couldn’t agree more. After they’d brought the rogue vampire to Scanguards’ headquarters, the punk had passed out as if in a drunken stupor. At least that meant he’d stopped screaming for real blood, whatever he meant by that. For hours Thomas, Zane, and Cain himself had waited around in the V Lounge for the captive to gain consciousness. Amaury had long gone home after his mate had called him.
Even Cain had been able to hear Nina’s seductive voice on the phone, describing to Amaury what she was wearing. He’d never seen his fellow vampire move faster. Not that they needed Amaury to question the rogue. Zane had volunteered for that particular job, and he was already tapping his foot impatiently, waiting for the rogue in the room below.
Cain snapped his head to the door of the interrogation room as it opened and two vampires dragged in the struggling captive. His hands were cuffed in front of him. In order not to cause him any unnecessary pain, the vampire’s wrists had been bandaged so that the silver handcuffs wouldn’t touch his exposed skin. Whether the bandages remained on his wrists during the interrogation depended on his cooperation. And by the look on Zane’s face, Cain’s superior clearly hoped that the prisoner didn’t cooperate immediately so he could inflict some pain.
Thomas flipped a switch so the sounds from the interrogation room now came through the loudspeakers in the observation area.
“Leave him!” Zane ordered the two guards. They released the captive from their hold and left the room, shutting the door behind them.
Thomas pressed a button, locking the room remotely
so it couldn’t be opened from the inside. “You’re locked in,” he announced through the microphone by holding the speaker button down, then releasing it again.
Zane nodded in acknowledgement, then grabbed the prisoner by the neck and slammed him into the only chair in the room.
“Now we talk.”
Cain watched intently, knowing that he could always learn something from Zane.
The captive looked up defiantly, his eyes wild. He bent forward on this chair, seemingly unable to keep still. His hands twitched, and the cords in his neck bulged.
“I want blood!” he demanded, his eyes narrowing.
“You had enough last night,” Zane claimed. “You almost drained that girl. You’re lucky she’s alive.”
“Or what?” he spat in response.
Zane jumped, grabbing his neck once more. The captive’s hand came up. However, the silver handcuffs that made contact with Zane couldn’t do him any harm: Zane wore a long-sleeved shirt and leather gloves.
“Or I would have ripped your heart out while you watched!”
Cain glanced at Thomas. “He’s bluffing, right?”
“He’s done it before. I don’t see why he wouldn’t do it again.”
Cain tried not to show his shock at Thomas’s words, and instead focused back on the events in the room below. It appeared that the prisoner was reasonably intimidated by Zane’s claim and shrunk back into his seat.
“You won’t feed until I have the information I’m looking for.”
“You can’t hold me here forever.”
“Can’t I?” Zane tossed his captive the semblance of a half-smile. “Piss me off and I’ll throw you into an underground cell and forget you.”
The wary look on the vampire’s face was evidence that he started to believe that Zane was capable of doing just that.
“What’s your name?” Zane asked.
There was a short hesitation, then the answer. “Michael Valentine.”
“Not his real name,” Thomas commented to Cain while he already typed it into the keyboard in front of him.
“Funny name! How about your real one?” Zane continued.
“That’s my name. I was turned on Valentine’s day in 1900. Somebody’s idea of a sick joke. So I took the name.”
