by C. M. Steele
“Well, everything is going wonderfully.”
“That’s good to hear. Really, having another scientist with the time to work on the cure is such a blessing for us. We’ve had to step back because of the human aspect of the research lab. It stinks, but there’s too much at stake if we don’t act like a normal laboratory.”
“Yes, that I understand. We studied potential troubles a lab could get in with the government.”
“Okay, if everything is good, I have to go upstairs and make sure Charlotte isn’t choking Falcon’s assistant. God knows the woman deserves it.”
“Good luck with that,” I said with a laugh. There was no way Charlotte would lose her cool unless the broad turned off Charlie’s music. That would be grounds for a fight and Veronica would lose.
“So now that you’ve seen the lab, I’ll show you what I’m working on and you can start to look over my notes. There’s a lot of nothing going on in them, but perhaps a new set of eyes could find something that I missed.”
He pointed to the cabinet with the many lab notebooks. Wow. There was so many in there I wondered how many he had and when he started.
“So how long have you been working with them?”
“Since the first month after the curse struck my mate.”
“Oh no, I’m sorry for your loss.” The tears welled up in my eyes immediately. The thought of losing Falcon feeling too real and awful.
“She’s not dead, but she’s very different. We were lucky that we tested the light on us.
“Where is she?”
“We have a home here. Falcon has always been there to help me and my family stay whole. I promised that I would do all I could to find a cure for my wife.”
“Do you have any sons?”
“We had two sons. Now we have one. He did not understand the dangers. Still to this very day, my heart weeps for his life lost. I hate Stavros, but he hides so well that no one will find him.”
“With all of your special abilities, I’m surprised you haven’t found him.”
“We have come close many times, but then quit when everything led to a dead end. Every time we came for him, he and his people would slaughter a human village, so we stepped back. He has a gift many of us do not. He has to because there is no way that he could evade us for so long. I have been thinking for years that he has to have something special or it’s pure luck. Either way, he has been brushed to the side because the fight at the time wasn’t worth it.”
“That makes sense. The population is greater now. Do you think they have been involved in terror attacks just to strike at you all?”
“I hadn’t thought about that. It’s a very good possibility. It would be a good way to hide their violence. I believe he resides in a third world country, perhaps hidden in a jungle.”
“That’s possible since most of the time the light doesn’t reach the forest floor. Question, do any of you shape shift? Like turn into a bat or wolf like the movies?”
“Not that we’ve ever seen. What are you thinking?”
“I mean, it would be an easy escape from a hiding place unless he can transport himself.”
“He couldn’t teleport before, but perhaps things have changed over time,” Vigo tossed out.
I nodded and added, “Well, they say DNA mutations can occur rather quickly during cell replication. Have you taken samples from the same individual over time?”
“Yes. Falcon, Draco, my wife, and I have all given samples for years.”
“Was there a variation?”
“Before the new technology there wasn’t an easy method of evaluation, so until the past three decades we’d been essentially frozen in the research. This lab opened fifty years ago, but there have been so many advances that we hope to find something in the DNA markers that has been mutated.” He started smiling at me with the biggest grin.
I arched my brow, damn near scowling at him. “What’s so funny?”
“Nothing’s funny, but I’m thankful you’re here. You’ve already pointed out something we hadn’t even considered.” He hugged me tightly. I was taken aback and frozen for a moment before I heard a loud growl.
“Falcon,” I turned, pulling away from Vigo. “It’s not what you think.”
“It better not be,” he stated, looking at Vigo with a deathly glare. I moved completely away from Vigo and rushed up to Falcon.
“You know it couldn’t be,” I reminded him.
He wrapped his arms around me possessively. “No, but that doesn’t mean I want anyone with his arms around you.”
“I’m sorry, sir. It’s just she’s brilliant,” Vigo said with enthusiasm that made Falcon look at me in surprise.
“Have you discovered something already?” The glee in his voice made me feel bad that it wasn’t as simple as that.
I shook my head because I wasn’t that brilliant, I was just looking at it with new eyes. “No, I haven’t. I’ve just been talking out of my ass, and well, he thinks I’ve come up with a good theory.”
“Talking out of your ass, sounds like a new gift,” he teased. “But what is it?”
“She believes that Stavros may have a shapeshifting ability.”
Falcon let go of me for a moment and ran his hand through his thick brown hair. “Wow. How have we not thought about it?” He seemed to be really upset with himself. Well, I supposed having dealt with this for centuries and not exploring this angle came as a bit of a shock. Of course, it wasn’t the only thing they had to deal with, but when you believe something to be impossible, you don’t even pursue it.
“Because there has never been a shifter in our midst,” Vigo added.
“We must look at his family lineage. Do you think the wolves would know?”
“I don’t know,” Vigo replied.
Falcon started pacing the floor, moving from one end of the table to the wall then coming back to us. “This will frustrate me until I know if that is a true possibility.”
Was he telling me there were werewolves, too? Oh, fucking shit. “Wait, there are other non-human beings?” This was something I missed. I looked back and forth between them.
Falcon nodded, grabbing my hands, which calmed me instantly. “Yes, there are vampires and shapeshifters, but shapeshifters have only been known to shift into wolves or dogs. There are also witches and wizards. There aren’t as many as there used to be, but there are several. It has been a long time since I have spoken with a shifter, so I don’t know about their evolution through the centuries. We don’t see eye to eye with each other.”
“No?”
He nodded again, taking a stool and sitting on it before pulling me against his thigh. “Territorial type issues. Nothing major, but it’s the way of things. They don’t trust us, so they believe we’re going to take their territory and kill their people.”
“Are you capable of doing that?” I asked. I knew nothing of them since I just learned that they were real.
“Yes, they are easier to kill than us, but most of us have never fought with them. Some of The Lamia throughout Europe and here in America have attacked them.”
“Do you have anyone you can contact to ask about vampire shifters?” I asked, rubbing my hand on his chest, which was pounding harder than normal. Maybe someone had an answer that could help us figure it out.
“Personally, I don’t. I’ll have to ask around quietly, but I don’t know if anyone would have that information,” he said. Standing up, he wrapped his arms around my waist and gave me a squeeze. “Okay. I have to go back up to another meeting, but I’ll see you in a little while.” He didn’t dare kiss me because we both knew that would be a bad idea.
“Truly, you are brilliant and Falcon is glowing with pride.”
“Thanks,” I said with a blush. Making Falcon proud of me felt amazing. Hopefully, I could keep it up.
Vigo and I worked hard, had lunch, and then went back to work. I didn’t get to see Falcon again and it sucked, but the day was almost over, then he was going to show me how much h
e missed me.
Chapter Twenty-Two—Draco
We had spent a wonderfully calm week together, and I managed to keep my hands off her for the most part during working hours. There were several times when I stole a kiss from between her legs or enjoyed her lips wrapped around my cock as she kneeled under my desk, but that was it.
“What do you want to do today?” I asked her as she stepped back into the bedroom. She kicked me out of the shower after I fucked her for half an hour and wasted most of the hot water. It was worth it, though, and she wasn’t complaining when she was crying out my name repeatedly and breathlessly.
“I want to go somewhere. Can we go to the movies? No one will be aware if we go a bit out of the way.”
“That’s perfectly fine. Did you want to ask Leonora and Falcon, or do you want it to be just us.”
“Just us, my heart.”
“Sounds wonderful. Why don’t you pick the movie while I hop in the freezing shower and get ready?”
“Good deal,” she said, dropping the towel that had been hiding her lovely body from me. Then all thought left my head and I pounced.
“Movie later,” I growled, pinning her to the bed, like I didn’t just come twice in the shower. She nodded and parted her thighs, knowing what I needed.
We laid there in the afterglow of another round of hot, sweaty sex, loving the fact that we had nothing to do but each other.
“Do you want to talk about your family, Charlotte?” I asked, sitting up in the bed and bringing her to rest her head on my chest.
“Not really, but I suppose it’s not a big deal. I lost them a long time ago. I don’t even remember them because I was only two years old. They took me with them on a vacation in Europe somewhere and they were killed, but I somehow managed to avoid being attacked, too. Then I was shipped back to the US to an orphanage. But that’s all I really know. I don’t know how they died or even where it happened.” They died in Europe and their bodies weren’t brought back? That seemed strange to me. If they sent her back to the US, it would have made sense to send her family back or at least keep records for her.
“Do you want me to have someone look into it?” I asked as she looked up at me from her perch on my chest.
“I don’t know if it’s a good idea,” she replied looking at me like she was haunted by something.
“Have you had a vision on it?”
She shook her head, and I wondered if she feared something else. I sat there and waited patiently for her to elaborate. “No, I haven’t, but it seems like something isn’t right, like perhaps my parents were mixed up with a criminal element. After all, I was tossed into an orphanage with no one giving two shits about me, no family notified or anything.”
“We’ll check it out, still. I’m not afraid of a criminal element that may no longer be alive or on their way out.”
“Thanks, Draco,” she muttered, rubbing her nose against my chest hairs and snuggling into me.
“Anything for you, Charlotte.”
Chapter Twenty-Three—Charlotte
Two weeks had passed since we started at Lombardi and Romano Laboratories. Everything had been going smoothly. That Veronica chick was working my nerves and I didn't see a real reason for her anymore. She was a risk the way she looked at Falcon. I believed the woman was obsessed with him. I brought it to Draco's attention, but he asked me what my visions said. Right now there wasn't anything, so he said I should let it go. I would just give her the cold shoulder from now on.
There were no special visions lately. Nothing overtly telling me that we needed to act, so it was just life with Draco, and it was magical. Other than the usual vampire perks, speed, strength, and agelessness, I hadn’t received any other abilities. It was cool because the visions were more than enough for me. I didn’t want anything else added. Leonora developed traits that I didn’t have. She could hear the inner thoughts of the humans around us. She said she hadn’t quite figured it out, but it does help her get along with her coworkers, something that she needs to do to keep from anyone getting too suspicious about us and our mates.
I was sitting in the cafeteria waiting for Leonora when in walked Veronica. Like I didn’t have to see her enough throughout the day, now she was here to pester me some more.
She leaned down on the table and looked me dead in the eyes and said, “I see what you’re doing with Draco, but you will do well to stay away from Falcon. He’s mine.” Okay, nutty. She was going to have to be dealt with or Leonora was going to have a problem on her hands.
“Yes, Veronica. Enjoy your delusions.” I stood up, and that’s when Leonora walked in with one of her lab partners.
“Hi, Charlotte. Do you remember Dr. John Maloney?” She turned to him with a smile and said, “This is my best friend Charlotte.”
I didn’t like the way she was smiling at the doctor. I think Falcon would rip this guy’s head off. Veronica gave a cold stare to Nora, too. Nora tossed one right back at her.
“The warning goes for her, too.” The bitch stormed out of the cafeteria and I could see Nora looking at her with the grace of a queen, ignoring that she-devil.
“Don’t mind her. She’s been after Mr. Lombardi since she started here.”
“Why hasn’t he fired her?”
“Because maybe he likes having someone constantly obsess over him.” I saw her mood change and I knew it was jealousy rearing its ugly head. She shook it off.
“I’m going to have a talk with him about it today. That woman seems dangerous. I hope she doesn’t have access to the labs.”
“No. Only the scientists do.”
“Good, because she could be a real problem.”
“Yes, and I’ve never seen her so riled up about a woman here before. Draco used to have another assistant, but she quit one day and never came back.”
She ate her lunch, the whole time watching the door. After lunch, Nora excused herself, leaving me with the doctor. “So, Charlotte, I was wondering what do you do on the weekends.”
“Well, I spend a lot of time with my boyfriend now, but it used to be me and Nora.”
“Oh, okay. I hope I didn’t overstep anything.” From the growl I heard behind me, I think he might have.
“Ms. Reiss. I need to have a moment with you in my office,” Draco ordered, walking away in his stoic manner.
“I suppose I better head back.” I left shortly thereafter. I tried to talk to Draco telepathically, but it was like he wasn’t listening. I felt like I was being sent to the principal’s office. When I got up there, Veronica was stepping into Falcon’s office. I wondered what was going to happen. It was a pity that I didn’t know all the juicy details of people’s decisions. Then I suddenly heard her thoughts at the same time the elevator pinged. Nora stepped out just as a loud yell erupted in the room. Falcon stormed out of the office just as Nora walked towards it with her eyes wide.
“What’s going on?” Then her face went still and the first time I ever saw rage was that moment. I needed to pull her back before she killed her, which was about to play out if I didn’t stop her. I called out for Nora, who turned to look long enough for Falcon to wrap his arms around her.
“You’re fired.”
“But, Falcon, I thought you wanted me.”
“I’ve never shown you any interest. I want an assistant. I have a woman already.”
“Oh, so you brought your whore to work for you,” she hissed out, looking at Leonora in disgust. Falcon was the one to growl now.
“Veronica, please get your things and leave,” I said to her because Falcon was ready to end her and Draco wasn’t too far behind. Leonora seemed a bit upset, but didn’t look as angry as the others.
“Who do you think you are talking to me like that?”
Draco snarled, “She’s my fiancée, and you need to leave.”
She scoffed and turned to get her things. I waited there for her to get to stepping while Draco stood behind me. I knew that he was there to make sure the girl didn’t try to attack me,
but I could handle myself now. When he made me his, I gained the added strength to take on a bunch of snooty bitches.
“Leonora, my office now,” Falcon barked out. From the look on her face, she didn’t seem afraid and I knew that attitude was just for show. I’d bet that he’ll have her spread across his desk in minutes.
It took five minutes to get Veronica out of the building, and thank goodness, because Falcon definitely had Nora pinned to the desk, taking his fill. He was going to be leaving today to speak with his brother, so he was probably fucking her goodbye.
Chapter Twenty-Four—Falcon
Leaving Nora was going to be hard, especially after hearing that bitch talk about Leonora like she was nothing. I couldn’t believe that she had gotten so bold when she came into my office. Immediately, she locked the door behind her and I arched my brow, wondering what the fuck she was up to. Just do it, she kept repeating mentally to herself, but I didn’t know what ‘do it’ was until she started taking off her blouse. She didn’t make it more than two buttons, when I started yelling at her to get the fuck out of my office. I could hear the elevator and I knew it was Nora coming up to see me. Fuck, I was worried that she was going to tear Veronica apart. Not that I minded at all, but it would look terrible on the company should an employee disappear. We would have to answer questions eventually and it could be complicated. It was a mess I could do without.
I rushed out and straight to Nora. Calm down, my love.
Her breathing was heavy and harsh. I’m trying, Falcon.
Good, I’m firing her anyway.
Okay.
Once I canned Veronica, I called Nora into my office. That was never a moment that I wanted Veronica and I didn’t want that idea even circling in Nora’s pretty head. She was mine and I wanted her to understand that even though I only responded to her, I never had a desire for anyone else, especially that nut.
“Leonora, my office now,” I snarled, pretending to be irritated, but I had to know she was okay and needed to touch her. I waited for her to enter my office before locking it behind her. Swiftly, I pinned her to the door. “You know that nothing was going on, right?”
