by Folsom, Tina
“I’m having a room made up for you on the top floor. It’s very secure and comfortable.”
Ursula tossed her a sideways glance. “You mean I won’t be able to escape.”
Vera gave her a chiding look. “Now, now. Why so hostile? I was planning to treat you like a guest. If you’d rather be treated like a prisoner, however, that can be arranged.”
Ursula pressed her lips together.
“Listen, my dear, I’ve been told what you’ve been through, and it’s something I wouldn’t wish on anybody. But it happened, and you have to let it go. I look at you and I see myself when I was your age.”
They reached the second floor and continued on to the next flight of stairs.
“Only I was pregnant then,” Vera confessed.
Surprised, Ursula looked at her. “But you’re a vampire, aren’t you? If you know all this about me and are associated with Scanguards, you must be one of them.”
She smiled. “Yes, of course. But I was human once. And young like you.”
“You’re still young. Look at you.”
“My shell is young, but inside, I’ve aged. I’ve grieved for the child I was never able to raise. And the years I wasted trying to get revenge for the wrong that was done to me. Don’t make the same mistake I did. It’s time to live.”
Ursula dropped her lids. “I wish it were that easy. But I’m not alone in this. There are others like me, and as long as they’re suffering, I’m suffering.” She hadn’t forgotten the women who’d become her sisters over those years, the women who’d endured the same hardships as she had.
“Let Scanguards take care of them.” Vera opened a door to a room and motioned Ursula to enter.
A young woman was putting finishing touches on the bed, then moved into the adjacent bathroom.
“Do you trust Scanguards?” Ursula asked.
“With my life. They’re honest and dependable. You won’t find anybody with higher ethics than the men who work for Scanguards.”
Ursula huffed indignantly just as the young woman exited the bathroom. “Well, if that’s the case, then I guess Oliver is the one bad apple that spoils the batch!”
“Oliver?” Vera asked, clearly surprised, and even the other woman stopped in her movements and stared at her. “Oliver is the sweetest man anybody could wish for. Full of integrity, honor, and—”
“Integrity? Hah! He betrayed me the first chance he got!”
Vera lifted her eyebrows, then turned to the girl who’d made up the room. “Is everything done?”
“Yes, Vera. The linen is fresh, and there are warm towels in the bathroom. Everything’s clean.”
Vera nodded. “Thank you, Karen, it’s very kind of you to help out. I know that’s not your job.”
“I don’t mind.” Karen left the room and pulled the door shut behind her.
The moment they were alone again, Vera’s face turned serious. “I’m sorry that you feel like that about Oliver. Maybe you’ve seen a side of him that I didn’t know. Anyway . . . ” She pointed to the nightstand. “This is a house phone, it only connects within the building. If you need anything—toiletries, food, or anything at all—just dial zero, and one of the staff will bring you what you need. There’s a selection of clothes in the closet. I’m afraid some of it won’t be to your liking, but there are some tame nightgowns and T-shirts among the items that will suit you.”
Vera turned to the door.
“I’m sorry. I’m not angry at you,” Ursula apologized, feeling bad because the woman had been open and friendly and all Ursula had done so far was complain. “I’m just . . . ”
“No need to explain. It’s none of my business, I’m sure.”
When the door fell shut behind her, Ursula threw herself onto the soft queen-sized bed and allowed her tears to flow freely. All she could think of was Oliver and the fact that he’d betrayed her.
27
Oliver ran faster than he ever had. Vampire speed could reach up to forty miles an hour for short bursts, and he was glad for it now. He didn’t care who may have seen him, questioning their sanity. All he was concerned with was to get home before his colleagues could whisk Ursula away.
His heart beat like a jackhammer, and his breaths rushed in and out of his lungs as he finally turned onto his street and ran up to the entrance door of his home. He jammed the key into the lock and opened it, then bolted into the foyer.
“Ursula? Ursula!” he cried out.
No reply. The beast inside him howled in frustration.
“Ursula, where are you?” he repeated and ran to the stairs when he caught a movement to his right. He whipped his head toward it.
Quinn stood in the door to the living room, his hands buried in his pockets. “She’s gone.”
Furious, Oliver stormed toward Quinn and pushed him against the doorframe. “Where is she?”
His sire shook him off with ease. “They took her to a safe place.”
“Where?”
“I can’t tell you.”
Oliver narrowed his eyes. “You can’t or you won’t?”
“Both.”
“Then you’re against me.”
Quinn shook his head and gave him a stern look. “I’m protecting you. The state you’re in there’s no telling what you’ll do. Do you really think I would allow this kind of temptation to remain right under your nose and watch how you destroy yourself? I didn’t sire you to see you throw away your life!”
“You have no idea what’s going on inside me!”
He noticed that Rose and Blake had come out from the living room.
“None of you! You have no trust in me! I can make my own decisions. But you don’t believe that I can resist temptation. You think me weak! I’m not a child, goddamn it! I know what’s right and wrong! But you all believe that you have to think for me! Give me some fucking credit! All I wanted was your support and your love! And instead you suffocate me! You treat me like a juvenile delinquent who’s about to commit a crime! Damn it! I was never going to hurt Ursula! I care about her!” He took a breath of air, filling his lungs, before he continued, “She trusted me! And now?”
He knew what Ursula thought of him now. He didn’t have to be a brain surgeon to figure that out. She hated him—he was certain of it—because she thought that he’d betrayed her trust and broken his word. He’d promised her to keep her secret safe.
Oliver pointed his finger at Quinn. “If anything happens to her, I’m making you responsible.”
Then he turned and ran to the door that led to the garage. He descended the stairs, jumped into the minivan, then raced out of the garage and into the night. He had to find Ursula.
He reached Scanguards’ headquarters in the Mission a short while later and drove into the underground parking garage, letting himself in with his access card. After parking in his assigned space, he took the elevator to the executive floor. When the elevator doors opened, he noticed the frantic activity that made the normally-quiet floor buzz like a beehive.
Oliver approached the large meeting room, where many of his vampire colleagues were hovering. He tapped one of them on the shoulder.
“What’s going on, Jay?”
“Zane’s called a meeting. Looks like we have some info on those crazies we’ve been patrolling the city for. Rumor has it, Zane captured one last night. I guess we’ll be handed new assignments.”
Oliver nodded. He was already aware that they’d captured one of the leeches, as Ursula called the vampires who’d frequented the blood brothel. “It’s not a rumor. Where’s Zane now?”
Jay shrugged. “Beats me.” He glanced at his watch. “Meeting is supposed to start in fifteen minutes.” He grinned at the crowd that had already formed. “Everybody’s licking their chops already, eager to get some action.”
“I can see that.” At least it meant that Scanguards was now engaging with full force, trying to find out where the blood brothel had relocated. It made him feel marginally better. But it wasn’t his priority at thi
s moment. Finding Ursula’s whereabouts was. “Have you seen Thomas?”
Jay jerked his thumb over his shoulder. “Probably in his office.”
“Thanks!”
Oliver marched down the hall and stopped in front of Thomas’s office, knocking briefly.
“Come,” he heard Thomas’s voice from inside.
He pressed the door handle down and pushed the door open, entering quickly. Thomas looked up from the computer.
“Uh, figured you’d show up eventually.”
“Where is she?”
Thomas tsked. “What, no niceties? You’ve gotten downright rude since you’ve been turned.”
Narrowing his eyes, he glared at Thomas. “Well, we can’t all be as nice as Eddie, can we?”
Thomas’s expression turned to displeasure. “If you think by pissing me off you’ll get me to tell you where Ursula is, you’re a worse strategist than I thought.”
Oliver placed his hands on the desk and leaned over it. “Where are you hiding her? Here in the building? In one of the cells?” The thought sent a shiver down his spine. Knowing that Ursula was locked up somewhere made him angry. He felt his gums itch as a result, his fangs eager to descend.
“How stupid do you think we are? Do you think we’d hide her in plain sight where you can just waltz in with your access card and get to her?”
“Is that why Zane isn’t back yet? Because he’s out hiding her somewhere?”
Thomas didn’t flinch. He was too experienced to give away anything, but Oliver knew nevertheless. Zane was the one who’d taken Ursula.
“What does it matter? All that’s important is that you’re safe.”
Oliver let out a bitter laugh. “Safe? From what? Her blood? Don’t you get it? I won’t bite her. I promised her that. Do you think I’d go ahead and do what these assholes did to her? Use her for her blood?”
Which didn’t mean that he didn’t want her body—underneath him, panting in ecstasy.
“You say that now, but wait until the temptation becomes too strong.” Thomas rose. “If you don’t mind, I have a meeting to attend. And you’d do well to join us. After all, it was your case to start with. If only you had told us the truth about Ursula when you found out, it would still be your case. Tell me, Oliver, where do your loyalties lie? With us or with her?”
Then Thomas pressed a few buttons on his keyboard, presumably locking his computer screen, and walked out of his office, not waiting for an answer.
Contemplating Thomas’s words, Oliver dropped his head and studied his shoes. Scanguards was his life and his family. But over the last few hours he’d fought practically with every member of his extended family and basically told them that he hated them. All because of a woman. He’d never thought that it would come to that. He’d never believed that a woman could come between him and Scanguards.
Knowing he had to do something, he left Thomas’s office and stalked down the hallway. He stopped in his tracks when he saw the door to the emergency exit open. A second later, Blake emerged from it and snuck onto the executive floor.
Looking around himself, Oliver verified that nobody had seen his step-brother yet and quickly walked over to him. Blake jolted when he saw Oliver approach, but caught himself quickly.
“Are you crazy?” Oliver asked under his breath as he dragged him into a nook which housed a refrigerator and a few shelves. “You’re not allowed up here.”
“When you stormed out I felt bad. I just want to help,” Blake justified his actions.
Oliver shoved a hand through his hair. “You can’t. This case is strictly vampires only.”
“Damn it, I can help. I know enough about it to be of use. There must be something I can do.”
Oliver felt his frown deepen. “You can find Ursula; that’s what you can do.” Even though he knew that Blake had even less of a chance of finding her than Oliver did himself.
“Man, I had no idea they would just take her away. Doesn’t seem fair. You were the one who protected her in the first place.”
Oliver nodded, somewhat surprised that his step-brother was taking his side. “I did. She trusts me. Can you imagine what she must be thinking now?”
“But Zane’s never gonna tell us where he took her. You know him.”
“Hmm.”
“Who else knows?”
Oliver motioned his head toward the corridor behind him. “Thomas. But he isn’t talking either. I already tried. Unfortunately he isn’t gonna tell you either.”
Suddenly Blake grinned. “But he might tell Eddie.”
“Eddie?” Oliver echoed, when he felt a light bulb go on above his head. “My god, you’re right. Why didn’t I think of that? Thomas would tell Eddie anything. Everybody knows he’s got the hots for him.”
A movement to his left made Oliver snap his head to the side.
He stared right into Eddie’s wide open eyes.
“Oh shit!” Oliver cursed.
Blake let out a heavy breath.
It had been an open secret for a while now that Thomas harbored more than just friendship for the young vampire who lived with him. Everybody could see it, no matter how hard Thomas tried to suppress his feelings for the straight young man. The only one who didn’t know was Eddie himself—well, until now.
Eddie stared at him, frozen in place and shocked to his core. “Thomas . . . he . . . ” As if trying to shake off the words, Eddie shook his head. He looked distraught.
“Listen, Eddie, forget what you heard.”
The cords in Eddie’s neck bulged. “How the fuck can I just forget that?”
“Believe me, Thomas is an honorable man. He’ll never act on his feelings since he knows they’re not reciprocated.”
Shit! Not only was he not going to get Eddie to get any information out of Thomas, now he found himself defending Thomas even though he was pissed at him for denying him access to Ursula. But what he was telling Eddie was the truth: Thomas would never make a pass at Eddie. He’d kept his feelings under wraps ever since Eddie had been turned, and there was no reason to think he’d ever try to make the young vampire uncomfortable by exposing him to his feelings.
“God, I wish I’d never found out.”
“I’m sorry.” Oliver put a hand on his shoulder, wanting to calm him down, but Eddie pushed him off.
“Don’t touch me!”
Eddie turned on his heels and left.
Oliver exchanged a look with Blake who seemed just as sorry about this incident as Oliver.
“Fuck!” Oliver cursed again. He’d made a mess of things. A royal mess. How was he ever going to clean this up again?
28
After convincing Blake that it was unwise to stay on the executive floor, and making sure he left the way he’d arrived, Oliver headed for the meeting room, where the meeting was already under way. The least he could do right now was see if he could help apprehend the vampires who ran the blood brothel. After all, he had some information that he hadn’t shared with his colleagues yet. It didn’t mean, however, that he would stop looking for Ursula.
Oliver stopped at the open door to the meeting room and peered inside. Over a dozen vampires were assembled, and since there was no empty seat, he remained standing at the door.
Zane had arrived in the meantime, and he and Thomas jointly led the meeting, filling in the assembled vampires on what had happened at the nightclub and whatever information Ursula must have given them about the blood brothel. Surprised murmurs went through the crowd.
“We must assume that one sip of the blood these women carry can turn you into an addict,” Zane continued.
“I beg to differ,” Oliver interrupted, drawing the crowd’s attention to him.
“So you decided to join us after all,” Thomas said.
Oliver ignored the stab and stared back at Zane. “I met a previous client of the blood brothel earlier tonight.”
“Why are we being informed of this only now?” Zane griped, clenching his teeth.
“If you
hadn’t been so busy getting me out of the way so you could snatch Ursula behind my back, maybe I would have told you earlier!”
Zane made a hand movement, indicating him to shut up. “That’s nobody’s business. So, get to the point, unless this is another attempt to convince us to let you see her.”
Oliver narrowed his eyes, but decided not to fight him on this. There was time for that later. “The vampire was a leech. That’s what the girls at the blood brothel called the clients. Very fitting, I guess. He claimed to have only visited the brothel once, and I could see no signs of addiction.”
Zane huffed as if he didn’t believe him. “What else?”
“He was cooperative and agreed to contact us if he’s notified of the new location of the brothel.”
“How did you verify that he’s a former client? How did you find him when according to you he exhibited no signs of addiction or behavior that made him stand out?”
“I found his wallet.”
Zane raised an eyebrow. “Where?”
“In the building in Hunter’s Point.”
“The building was empty.”
“Not quite,” Oliver shot back, “it had a wallet in it. Ursula had stolen it from a client and then hidden it beneath the floorboards in her cell. I took her back there to search for it.”
“When you were supposed to drive her to the airport,” Zane added.
Oliver folded his arms over his chest and squared his stance. “Which we all know now was the wrong decision. If I had done that, I wouldn’t have found the wallet or the leech.”
But Zane didn’t take the bait and remained cool on the outside. “And when were you going to present us with this evidence?”
“I’m presenting it now, aren’t I?”
“After this meeting, I want to see you in my office, alone.” Then Zane looked back at the assembled vampires. “Now to your assignments. We have no lead yet as to where they might have relocated, but we assume they’re still in the Bay Area, because this is where their clients are.” He pointed to one of the vampires in the crowd. “Jay, you’ll be checking out the background of this Michael Valentine we apprehended. He’s still in our custody. Search his apartment, his mail, his computer, go through his phone, his address books, anything you can find. See if he’s received anything in the last two days that would indicate where the brothel has moved to.”
