by Brit Blaise
Yam grinned at me, and the cobwebs began to clear. Once I finally sleep, it's a black-hole kind of sleep. "We're here. Get up."
"We're in Santa Marta?"
"We were in Santa Marta over an hour ago. We dropped off Manuela's body and Chevy."
"So where are we now?" I asked.
"We just docked in El Pajáro. You and Coop will find a car and drive to the villa you rented. It's either a long walk or a short drive. You don't appear to be in any shape for another hike."
I wanted to argue just on principle, but I didn't have the energy since I felt like an angry dishrag. Aren't vampires supposed to have boundless energy? "Give me a hand."
Yam smiled at me again and literally picked me up. I hung onto his neck and went along for the ride. He didn't put me down until we were on dry land, standing beside Coop. Then Yam hugged me. My heart dropped...I reached up to put my hands on either side of his face and tilted it down where I could get a close look into his puppy-dog eyes.
This wasn't like him. He didn't do puppy-dog. "What?" I asked.
"We can't reach Joe."
"No!" I threw myself back into his hug and held tight while I tried to think.
"We'll find him," Yam told me, but I think he was trying to convince himself.
I pushed back and did the fist thump thing on my shriveled heart. Tears started to sting my eyes and I refused to subject Yam to my feminine theatrics. "We will find him."
Yam thumped his chest back at me, and I nearly lost it. Instead, I punched him in the arm. "Where're all the rest of our guys?"
Coop met my eyes and sighed. This couldn't be easy for him. "Jorge and Raul stayed in Santa Marta to make sure Chevy is okay. It's just the three of us for now. We'll split up. You and I will go to the estate as planned, like nothing is wrong. Yam will come in through the back."
"Let's go," I said, before I remembered my gear.
As if Coop had read my mind, he pointed to my bag, near where he stood. I grabbed for it and he got it first. Ordinarily, I would argue. Instead, I followed behind him.
The huge mountain outside of Santa Marta where Coop and I had had our hiking excursion looked completely different from this eastern angle. The beach, what I could see of it, seemed like a tropical paradise...not the kind of place where someone would have to worry about dead bodies and vampires.
"One-hundred hours," Coop said to Yam. "Let's go."
I chased after him down the dock and onto a near dark and deserted street. The few we encountered stared at us. Coop seemed to know exactly what he was looking for and entered a small parking lot. A large wooden placard outside told me in Spanish they had cars for hire.
However, business hours were long past.
A minute later, we were sitting in an old Ford, while Coop hot-wired it. We drove for about thirty minutes before we found the villa. It was a beautiful, one-story house set against the backdrop of the Caribbean Sea. Despite its sleepy splendor, I couldn't shake the feeling of impending doom. I pulled my SIG from my waist, popped in a clip and loaded a round into the tube.
"Get your Glock and silencer out of your bag," Coop said, pulling into the horseshoe-shaped driveway of pebbles and ground seashells. "I need you to take the lead. We don't want loud gunfire alerting any neighbors or anyone in the hills across the road."
We'd passed homes all along the drive to the villa. The last thing we needed was to tangle with the local law and vampires.
Coop's brows drew into a tight line as he looked at me. "You think you can handle it?"
I popped the load back out of tube of the SIG and stuck it back into my waistband before I reached for my bag. After finding the G, I turned away and concentrated on screwing on the silencer. I could feel the adrenaline begin to pump with the final twist.
"I'm going to get out and walk around to open your door. Don't forget to act like we're lovers. That's the last thing Sandoval saw from us."
I watched Coop walk around the front of the car. I slipped the gun underneath my shirt, holding it with the barrel between my breasts. On second thought...I took it back out to make sure I had the safety set. While Coop opened my door, I considered taking the safety back off again.
"Show time," Coop said as he leaned down and offered his hand. Since my right hand was full, I swiveled and offered him my left. He made a production of helping me out of the car before he tucked me against his side with his arm over my back and draped down over my shoulder.
It was slow moving, but we made the best of it.
"I'm going to kiss you," Coop whispered. "You search behind me, while I do the same."
His lips sent another shot of adrenaline through me. I fought to focus on the house and what surrounding area I could see over the top of his shoulder. "Nothing," I whispered into his mouth. But it had been something all right--he'd lit me like an octogenarian's birthday cake.
We continued on toward the door. It was a gigantic carved monstrosity that would easily impede a bullet. Coop tried the latch. The sound of a click surprised both of us. He gently swung it open.
I sensed a vampire had been there even before we crossed the threshold into a small foyer with open arches leading off on either side of us. A narrow hallway led off straight ahead, with a small door at the end.
Coop shut the door behind us and kept his back against mine while he nudged me into a turn. I pulled my weapon and felt him do the same. When I heard him chamber a bullet, I did likewise. I clicked off the safety, then held it low and to the left.
We started into the first room to our right and I saw blood on the floor. I nudged Coop, but he must have seen it at the same time since he started to move quicker. The closer we came to the bright red drops on the reddish-brown tile floor, the more I sensed a vampire.
"Keep moving," he hissed in half growl, half whisper.
We continued through the house, room by room, without finding a single thing other than the blood in the front of the house. In the master bedroom, a set of sliding glass doors hung partway open.
I had vampire vibes, but not close. At least this time I'd come prepared. I had three stakes stuck in my waist band. It gave me the creeps, but I'd done it once--I could do it again.
When I looked to the right of the walk just outside the door--more blood. Fuck!
Time was on our side. It would soon be dawn. None of the vamps I'd seen in Colombia had come out in daylight. I don't know why I can do it. Maybe I'm a hybrid. Straight ahead, a patch of sand led to the ocean. To the right, a rock crag ran from land and out into the water, forming a natural break.
I needed to go there. I couldn't explain it...I just had to.
In the next instant, I heard a growl. I jerked back to see Coop as he shed his human form. It was about as bad as seeing Manuela's dead body. The contortions he executed gave me the willies. His jaw elongated and long, sharp teeth grew downward...his skin slipped open to reveal fur. I had to look away. I wasn't ready to watch this.
A second later, he flashed by me, not at all like a wolf I'd seen at the zoo. He was like a hybrid--tall, half-human and half-beast. Even though I wanted to make a dash for it, too, I moved slowly. The sound of seagulls over by the rocks drew my attention. Something or someone had them riled.
Around the next boulder...I saw Joe. In the same instant, a vampire materialized behind Joe. I raised my gun and fired. I didn't take time to mull it over. The fact Joe was already bloodied told me of the vamp's intent. I emptied my gun in the vampire's chest as I raced toward them. I'd printed a pattern no bigger than my fist right over his heart. While I hadn't killed him, I'd done some serious fucking damage. By the time I made to his side, I had a stake in my hand and drove it into the one of bullet holes. He evaporated into brisk sea air, while the gory internal parts fell with a splat onto the rocks.
"How many?" I mouthed while I reloaded.
Joe held up three fingers and put one down. I worked my way over to him, careful not to lose my footing on the slick rocks. The closer I came to him...the harder it
became to not to cry. His face had a gray tinge, probably due to blood loss. His entire left side appeared to be covered with blood and he had teeth holes in his neck.
"It's worse than it looks," Joe said, more moan than voice, and then winked.
I leaned closer to examine him. Then I understood. I had to do something or he would die. I reached down to pull the knife I knew I'd find on his boot and sliced my wrist. When Joe realized what I was doing, he shook his head.
Fuck.
He didn't want it.
My blood poured down my hand.
I wasn't going to force him.
When, in the next second, he grabbed my hand and put my wrist to his mouth, I did start to cry like a baby. He drank until I grew weak and pulled away. I needed something to stanch the flow of blood from my wrist. When Joe somehow managed to deliver his belt, I hurried while I still had strength.
Joe managed a weak smile. "I lost the.38 you gave me."
"No big deal, I brought an extra. It looks like you're going to live." I pulled my 1911 from my waistband and handed it to him. "But lose this and you're a dead man."
"Are you okay?"
Coop joined us in time to hear Joe's question. His clothes, tattered and soiled, hung from his lean, muscular body. "Don't you have it backward? You're the one covered in blood."
Joe put a hand on my arm. "He got Jenna with a knife before she staked him."
It surprised me to hear Joe lie to Coop. He'd lie to Coop to protect me? Or himself? When I gave Joe my blood, there were no more secrets between us. He didn't have to ask if I was a vampire...he knew.
And now...he'd be just like me. Unless... I didn't thirst for blood. Hopefully, Joe wouldn't either.
"It's no big deal," I said. "I feel better already. How many did you get? Joe said there were three."
At a sound, Coop and I both turned in sync to see another vampire running away from us and toward the side of the villa. Coop took off and I turned away. If he intended to change into a wolf again, I didn't want to see him. Besides, Joe needed me. And I didn't have the energy right then for another fight. Even though I knew, if this vampire got away, we could kiss goodbye any hopes of getting Carlos.
"Jenna, about what happened back there..."
I hated this. "Joe, you don't have to say anything."
"Like hell I don't. You saved my life."
Yam walked up. His clothes hung in shreds, too. I shuddered to think of him in wolf form.
"You, too, Joe?" Yam asked.
"Me, too?" Joe looked confused.
Yam smiled at me. "She saved Raul's ass today, too."
When Coop came back a short time later, he was covered in vampire soot. I remembered back to the day I walked into the bar to meet these guys. Who knew I'd love them all?
Chapter 10
* * *
"So we proceed as planned?" I asked.
"Seems like the way to go," Coop said.
"We're still playing at being lovers?" It hurt to say the words in front of the guys. They were probably taking bets about whether Coop and I were really doing it.
"With your assistant missing, makes sense I would offer my help," Coop said. "I don't think it will make Sandoval suspicious."
I didn't have a snappy comeback for this conversation. In fact, I wasn't feeling snappy at all. And something strange clawed at my insides. Something I couldn't name and had never experienced.
Coop didn't seem to notice as he concentrated on his cousin. "Joe, you need to see a doctor. Chevy will take you to his cousin's in Santa Marta."
"I'll be fine," Joe said.
Coop sneered until Joe threw his hands in the air in resignation.
Yam moved next to me and pulled me against his hard body. "How 'bout we get you to the car before you pass out?"
I smiled at him, laid my head on his chest and he rocked back on his heels...sweet. I like to be rocked.
When I came to, I was in bed in the hotel room in Santa Marta. I'd thought about how nice it would be share this bed with Coop. Fat chance now. I moved to feel the sheets against my body. I lifted them and looked. Against my naked body?
Coop? It had to be.
What was I going to do about him? No way could things stay status quo.
"Mail call," Coop said on the other side of the door.
Male call? Was he crazy? "I'm still sleeping."
"Jenna, you have a message from Wilson. Do you want it or not?"
A message from John? Maybe if I pretended to get really excited Coop would get my message and back off. "Of course I want it. I can't wait."
Coop opened the door and looked in as if he feared I might be standing on the other side of the door with a bat. What had I done now? Did I do something to him after Yam rocked me to sleep?
I looked around. "What time is it? Who took off my clothes? Did John want me to read that?" I pointed to the newspaper in his hands.
"Is that how it's going to be?" he asked with a growl.
I shrugged. "Answer my questions?"
"Let's see." Coop glanced up, as if remembering. "It's morning. I did. And no, just look at the advertisement."
"You're sure?"
"Coop shook his head. "It's too early for this. If you're pissed because I took your clothes off, too bad." For some reason he turned red...very red.
It all came back to me. How had I forgotten that? I distinctly remembered having his cock in my mouth again.
I ducked my head under the covers and reached out of the sheets to make sure everything important was covered.
"Jenna...I--"
I held my uninjured arm up and gave him a talk-to-the-hand while tears ran down my cheeks. How had I lost control of everything? From the time of that first bite, I blacked out every now and then. This was not a good time to have it happen. "If you have something to share about our mission, do it. Otherwise, just save it." I stayed under the covers and did a thread count with my keen vampire eyesight making the weave obvious. Couldn't I get a break?
"Don't be angry. I brought you something to help with your quest. Read this, Jenna. It's your sure thing. Sandoval will make a move when he sees it. And we'll get him."
All of sudden, it wasn't so important to get Sandoval. All of a sudden I wanted to cry. So I did.
Loudly.
"Please, take a look at this newspaper ad."
He wasn't going to leave me in peace. I dried my eyes and took the newspaper. My necklace was featured front and center with a ridiculous price tag underneath. Maybe because it was written in pesos instead of dollars it appeared to be an outrageous amount of money. I couldn't even count all the zeros.
"Wilson sent a cellphone with that number and told us to take messages for Carly Bradshaw."
It sounded like it could work. "Did Sandoval call yet?"
Joe's came into the room. He looked like shit. "So far, bubkes. This phone rings every couple of minutes. A museum in Bogotá is interested in the necklace."
"You should've told us this necklace was worth a fortune." Coop reached for my neck.
I pushed his hand away. I didn't think Coop was as worried about the price tag as he was about John Wilson. And I didn't want to get into a philosophical discussion about Wilson's pretentious resources.
I grabbed my sheets, struggled with them, and headed for the shower. When I came back out to join my team, I wore my last pair of clean jeans and borrowed a shirt from Chevy. I had Chevy's crisp white T-shirt tucked into my waist. My 1911 was visible to everybody. At this point I didn't give a shit. My mini-G was on one ankle and my knife was on the other. Instead of singing in the shower, I'd made a mental wish list of accessories for my 1911 and SIG. I needed a bumper sticker saying, I accessorize--just ask to see my hardware.
Joe seemed excited to see me. Sandoval maybe?
"You have a date to show your necklace. Carlos wants to meet you for dinner."
"Don't get too excited," Coop said. "If we don't get Carlos Sandoval tonight, we're heading out come morning, before we
all end up dead. By now, too many people know we're here, and Sandoval has us outnumbered. Our only chance was the element of surprise. We're losing it with each passing second."
I nodded. It didn't make me happy, but I understood. We only had one slim chance to get him. I had to make it count, or else.
These men were willing to go the distance. Every word said confirmed my belief. In the thick of battle, I had complete and utter faith Coop would do all in his power to bring us both through it alive. Not once did I feel alone. Nor did I ever believe he'd sacrifice my life to save his. He'd been a true partner in every sense of the word, but this was our last realistic shot at Sandoval.
A dinner date with Carlos Sandoval. Oh, goodie. We decided Coop should come with me and I could pretend I hadn't grown tired of him yet. As if.
I took care to select an outfit to distract Sandoval. The man was a known player. I picked a little yellow number with big black polka dots. It was skin tight, just skimmed my ass and low cut. If I held it front of me instead of wearing it on my head, the matching wide-brimmed hat would cover more skin than the dress did. My outfit made me appear easy, less dangerous.
Only when I slipped into the matching yellow, four-inch heels accented with clumps of frosted cherries, did I think about what gun I wanted. Tonight I'd carry a purse. I opened the large yellow tote John had given me and laughed. The man was amazing. A gun rig was built into the side of the bag, so once opened I wouldn't have to fumble for my weapon. As an added bonus, the bag was large enough for my gun of choice. I chose the SIG. However, as I thought about it, I decided I could also carry the 1911 loose in the bottom of the bag. That left room for ammo and a stun-gun. And six stakes to root thru to get to gun number two! What more could a girl want?
Maybe a little payback?
* * * *
I strolled into the restaurant on Coop's arm amid curious stares from everyone inside the small dinning room. Coop looked good enough to eat. His long, black hair was pulled into the usual ponytail. He wore a black silk shirt and black slacks. The slacks caressed his tight ass like I wanted to.
