“No!” A scream ripped from her throat, and Caroline’s heart stopped beating when Roric’s did. Not dead, please don’t be dead. She needed him. Stakes don’t kill vampires, they just immobilize them, right? That’s what he’d said when she’d begged him to stake her. She stood frozen as she stared at his limp body.
But then the rogue leapt up and swung his head towards her, his fangs bared, and her body finally broke from its trance and revved into action. Her fingers scrambled at the door handle, trying to yank it open, but it was still locked. Where were the keys? She’d been looking for them when he showed up. No time to find them now. Why hadn’t she gotten in the car when Roric told her to? She should’ve ran as soon as she first saw the vampire.
Her eyes darted towards Roric’s car. Too far away. She’d never make it. What should she do? She didn’t have time to do anything, though, because one second the vampire was staring at her and the next he was right in front of her, pinning her to the car.
He put his hands on the car on either side of her and shoved a knee between her legs, trapping her. His body pulsed with adrenaline, his breath heavy and loud, hot puffs on her skin, sending an army of spiders crawling across it. His eyes glinted with the thrill of his victory, and his lips curled in a smile around his fangs.
“Caroline, we meet again. I was hoping we’d get a chance to finish what we started.”
Her body quaked as he ran his nose up her neck, sniffing deeply, but then his smile turned to a scowl. He hissed and yanked his head back, his dark eyes glaring. “You’ve already been changed! Who did this? Who did you drink from? Surely not him.”
Her eyes followed his as he flicked his gaze towards Roric, still paralyzed by the stake. With his body frozen and his blank eyes staring blindly at the sky, he looked as dead as could be. Could he really come back to life again? Not unless someone removed the stake, and even then, she had a hard time believing he’d ever recover. He wasn’t going to be able to save her this time.
The vampire turned back to her, snarling, and trailed his fingers down her neck and over her breast, squeezing the soft flesh. She recoiled and quivered.
“I thought I told you, I wanted you to be mine. My venom burning in your veins, my blood, bringing you new life. You didn’t want to become one of us, yet here you are, changed. You’ve disappointed me, Caroline. But it’s all right. You’re here now, and ready for me to take.”
He opened his mouth and bared his fangs, tilting his head as he went for her throat, and she pushed at his shoulders, trying to hold him back. But then his body convulsed and his eyes bulged as three gunshots cracked behind him. Caroline yelped as he slumped to the ground in front of her, revealing another vampire, gun held out in front of him.
He was as big as Roric, maybe bigger, with the same dark hair, but his was messy, finger-combed. His features were similar but held a hardness Roric’s didn’t have. He wore a black tee shirt and jeans with a holster across his chest. Another agent?
He shoved the gun in his holster as he stalked towards her. When he got to Roric, he bent over and yanked the stake from his chest then stuck it in Roric’s holster, but he didn’t wait to see if Roric was okay or not. Caroline’s breath caught when Roric’s body jerked and he gave a low groan.
“You okay, babe?” The vampire looked at her for a second as he unhooked a pair of handcuffs from his holster and clicked them open. She nodded mutely. He pulled the rogue vampire’s arms behind his back and latched the cuffs in place.
Caroline gasped when he nudged the vampire’s shoulder with a heavy boot and the rogue fell onto his back, groaning. His eyes were pained but still open. He opened his mouth and tried to talk, but nothing came out but weak sounds.
Grunting sounds came from Roric, and Caroline whipped her head up. Roric pushed himself up and rubbed at his chest then glanced over towards Caroline. “Taven?”
“Thought you might need that backup, after all. I tangled with this asshole earlier. He’s a lot stronger than he looks.” He wrapped a large hand around the vampire’s arm and started dragging him towards Roric’s cruiser.
Caroline shuddered out a long breath then rushed over to Roric, dropping to her knees beside him. “Are you okay?”
He blinked at her, confusion rippling across his face for a moment, then his grimace softened. “Yeah. It hurts like a bitch, but I’ll be fine. What about you? Did he hurt you?” His face pinched again, and he lifted a hand to her neck.
She shook her head. “No, I’m okay.”
“Thank God. I’m so sorry you had to go through that.” He pulled her head down and rested her forehead against his, letting out a deep sigh. Caroline flinched but then relaxed against him, letting the tension dissipate.
After a long moment, he let go of her and dug his fists into the ground, trying to push himself up, his face straining with the effort. Caroline quickly stood up and grabbed his arm to help him up.
“Thanks.” Roric dropped his head like he was embarrassed and brushed the grass and dirt off his clothing.
“I’m gonna haul his ass to the Agency.” Taven’s voice interrupted the awkward moment. He shoved the rogue vampire into the back of Roric’s car and slammed the door.
“I want to be there for questioning. Let me get Caroline back to the house first, and I’ll meet you there in a few minutes.” Roric tossed the keys to his car towards Taven.
“You got 20 minutes, bro. After that I’m going in, with or without you. I’m not waiting for you to get your freak on with blondie. My car is at the entrance. Keys are in the ignition.” Taven opened the door and dropped into the seat then took off.
Roric’s face turned red, and he shook his head and glanced at her as he took a few shaky steps towards the cemetery entrance. “Will you follow me to the house?”
“Yeah, but are you sure you’re okay?” She shivered as the image of him staked and left for dead flashed through her mind.
He gave her a weak smile. “I’m not up for another fight, but I can handle driving.”
Caroline watched him walk away till she was sure he wasn’t going to fall over, then she dug through her clothes till she found her keys and slipped into her car. She sighed as the familiarity surrounded her like a blanket, wrapping her up in comfort and tempting her to drive away and never look back. The vampire was in custody; there was no reason she couldn’t go back home.
Except for the fact her life had completely changed since she was last there. She was a vampire now, and she needed blood — a steady source of it if the hunger roaring in her belly was any indication. She could never really go home again. With another sigh, she followed Roric out of the cemetery.
A few minutes later, Roric pulled up to the gate and punched in his code, and Caroline followed him around to the back of the mansion. He gave a curious glance to the little Honda sitting there but didn’t say anything.
He led her into a large kitchen with sleek, white marble counters and glossy, dark wood cabinets. The mansion was hundreds of years old, but the kitchen looked newly-remodeled with every modern convenience. He opened the door to a wide, stainless steel fridge. A metal serving bowl filled with blood bags sat on the shelf. Roric pulled it out and handed her a couple.
“I know I said you could drink from me, but I’m pretty weak right now, and I need to go to the station. Will you be okay with these for now?”
Caroline nodded her head. She didn’t intend to drink from him, anyway.
He grabbed a few for himself, too, and tore one open as he led her upstairs to his bedroom. He switched on the light, illuminating the large, masculine space filled with dark, antique furniture. His scent hung heavy in the air, and her mouth instantly watered, making it hard for her to remember why she didn’t want to drink from him. She clutched the blood bags to her chest.
Roric unclipped his holster then pulled his torn, bloody shirt over his head, giving her a glimpse of the firm muscles that bulged underneath the fabric and the barely noticeable spot where the stake had impaled him
. She gulped and tried to tear her eyes away, but he caught her looking and smiled at her. She wanted to run her hands down the ridges, but she managed to resist. He tossed the tee shirt into the trash, opened the dresser, and pulled out another one just like it.
“We only have a few hours till sunrise, so I’ll be back soon. Drink a couple of these and get some rest, okay? Promise me you won’t leave?” He stood too close to her, making her heart thump and her breath quicken. She dropped her gaze to the floor, and he lifted her chin with a finger so he could look in her eyes. She sucked in a gasp and her body tightened, sure that he was going to kiss her. Even worse, she wanted it.
Chapter 14
It took every ounce of energy Roric had to walk out of that room. He was weak, exhausted, desperately in need of blood and about ten hours of rest to recover from the staking. All he wanted to do was curl up in his bed, wrap his body around Caroline, and sink his fangs into her.
God, could anything else crazy happen tonight? When he answered that call a few hours ago, he never imagined he’d end up having his first taste of human blood, turning a human against her will, and being staked, all because of one little human he couldn’t seem to stay away from. Now, after all that, she was in his room, needing to feed and looking at him like he was a prime rib dinner, and he was leaving to go question the rogue vampire who started it all.
He hoped like hell she was still there when he got back.
He chugged a blood bag on the way back downstairs then grabbed two more for the road, just in case. This night was so far gone already, who knew what else might happen before he got home.
Taven’s car reeked of the god-awful cologne he drenched himself in, and Roric hoped his brother wasn’t stinking up his car. He held his breath the whole way to the Agency.
Commanding, white, block letters spelled out the words VAMPIRE ENFORCEMENT AGENCY across the front of the small, brick building. The Agency headquarters were in Modesa since that’s where the largest population of vampires lived, but hopefully someday they’d be able to add precincts all across the country.
Taven had parked in the spot reserved for Roric. Roric rolled his eyes and took Taven’s spot right next to it then climbed out and headed for the front entrance.
Serena sat at the front desk wearing heavy eye makeup and a pink, short-sleeve sweater so tight her nipples stood out. Her long, brown hair hung in waves, framing her cleavage. For once, though, he barely noticed her. She perked up and smiled at him. “Hi, Roric.”
He couldn’t even force out a proper hello, just grunted and kept walking back to the interrogation room. A glance through the small window in the door revealed the rogue vamp bound to the table with thick, metal shackles around his wrists and ankles.
He had his head down, and his face contorted as his body writhed, trying to expel the silver bullets. They were stunners, not deaders, meant to knock a vamp down not kill him, although they’d hurt like hell till they came out. Death was a pretty big deal to a soulless immortal, so vampires weren’t quick to use deadly force on their own kind.
Taven leaned against the other side of the table, scribbling on a clipboard, ignoring the vamp’s tortured moans. He looked up and smiled when he saw Roric’s face in the window.
Roric opened the door, and Taven pulled out a chair with a screech and sat down. “About time. If I had to listen to him yowl any longer, I was gonna have to go out there with Serena. I was so bored, I even started the paperwork for you.”
Taven slid the clipboard across the table towards Roric, but he didn’t take it. Taven was probably doing a piss-poor job of it, but Roric didn’t feel like doing it for him tonight like he usually did. All he wanted was to get this over with so he could go back to Caroline.
Was he really going to let her drink from him? If he did, he knew it’d be all over. He’d fall for her. He already had. She was everything he wanted — smart, strong, independent. Nothing like his mother. Hell, he’d wanted her so bad, he’d changed her.
But he’d turned her against her will, and she would probably resent him forever because of it, just like his mother had resented his father. So much so that she took her own life. Even if he could win Caroline over, would she eventually feel the same way about him as his mother felt about his father? How could they ever have a real relationship with that hanging over their heads? Still, he couldn’t get her out of his mind. The thought of her pounded against his head like water torture, slowly driving him insane.
He shoved the clipboard back towards Taven, too worked up to deal with something like paperwork when his whole world was collapsing. “You’re on duty tonight, not me, and you’re the one who took him down. You should fill it out.”
“Come on, bro, you know I hate this part. Consider it a thank you for saving your ass. Besides, you were just as involved as I was.”
Roric put his head in his hands, trying to stop the noise. “I just got staked, give me a break.”
Taven took back the clipboard with a scowl. “You just want to get home so you can play with Barbie. I don’t blame you. That chick is hot. Did you finally break your dry spell and tap that?”
Roric slammed his fist on the table and glared at his brother. “Shut the hell up, Taven. Don’t talk about her like that.”
The rogue hissed at that and yanked at his manacles. “You did turn her, didn’t you? She was mine!”
Roric jumped up and wrapped a hand around the vampire’s neck, his face twisted in a snarl. “She wasn’t yours to take!”
Taven shoved a hand against Roric’s chest and pushed him back, gawking at him. “Bro, what is up with you tonight? It’s like invasion of the body snatchers, or something.”
Taven was right. Roric’s behavior was wild, out of control, and completely out of character. If he wasn’t careful, he was going to reveal what he’d done to this rogue vampire who’d be all too happy to use that knowledge to blackmail him. Roric took several long, deep breaths and glared at the vamp who sneered back at him. When he trusted himself not to fly off the handle, he started in with his questioning.
“I personally witnessed you drinking from a human then attempting to change her in the cemetery tonight, going so far as to inject your venom. I’m sure she’d be willing to testify to the same. You gonna try to argue with that, or should I put you down as pleading guilty?”
The vampire just snarled at him, admitting nothing. Roric didn’t expect any different, though. The consequences were too severe for anyone to confess to that without trying their best to get out of it. Roric shook his head and leaned in closer.
“Why’d you do it, man? You know what happens to vamps who turn humans. Guaranteed death sentence.” He wasn’t sure if the question was for the vamp or himself.
The vampire glared at him with fiery eyes, his body still writhing around the bullets. “Don’t you see how twisted this is? You’re denying vampires the right to satisfy their natural urges, making it illegal to propagate our kind, forcing us to cannibalize ourselves. We’re the top of the food chain, not humans! But vamps like you have been brainwashed into believing we should submit to humans instead. You might be able to take me down, but more of us are created every day, and eventually there will be enough like me the humans won’t be able to stop us. And neither will you.”
Roric stared at him, trying to process what he’d said. It was true that rogue vampire attacks had been on the rise lately, and most of them were newly-turned. Every day there were more stories of missing humans and humans who’d been changed against their will. Were these new vamps part of some rebellion? He narrowed his eyes, contemplating.
“Tell us more about that, and we’ll dig those bullets out of you before we put you back in your cell.”
“You think I’d betray my kind because I was too weak to push out a few bullets? That’s what’s wrong with you! I’m not even a natural-born vampire, yet I have more loyalty than you! You, this agency, are a disgrace to our kind.”
His words hit Roric in the gut. Before t
onight, he was the most honorable vampire he knew. He never broke the rules. He was never even tempted to. But one chance encounter with a tempting human was all it took to ruin a lifetime of dedication. He was more like this rogue than he dared to admit.
Taven jumped up and leaned into the vampire, hissing in his ear. “Forget the bullets. Start talking and maybe I won’t give you a front row seat to the sunrise.”
“My loyalty is not to human sympathizers like you.” The vamp spat at Taven’s face.
Taven wiped the spit off and slammed the vampire’s head into the table then yanked the door open and stalked out. Roric followed behind him, leaving the vamp to stew for a while. Maybe they could think of some other way to motivate him to talk.
Taven kicked a boot against the cement wall and started pacing the short hallway. “You think there’s something bigger going on here than we know?”
“Sure sounds like it. Unless it’s just delusions of grandeur.”
Taven stopped pacing and sneered at him. “Delusions of what? Speak English, bro.”
Roric rolled his eyes. “You know, if you didn’t spend all your free time looking for someone new to suck, you might have time to read a book or something. What I meant was, he might be conjuring up the idea of a rogue rebellion to excuse his own behavior.”
Taven nodded. “It doesn’t seem so bad if everybody’s doing it.”
“Exactly. Let’s hope with him in custody, we’ll have a few less incidents to deal with.” Roric rubbed his grainy eyes with his fists. God, he was exhausted.
But the night wasn’t over yet. Serena showed up in the hallway then with an anxious look on her face. She glanced from Taven to Roric, not sure who to talk to.
Roric reached for the slip of paper in her hand. “What is it, Serena?”
“There’s been another attack.”
Chapter 15
Ivy clutched her stomach and bared her fangs as she twisted around on Taven’s satin bedding. It had only been a few hours since she’d drunk from him, but hunger tore at her belly like there was a wild animal in there, threatening to devour her from the inside out.
Compelled by the Vampire: Vampire Enforcement Agency Series Book 1 Page 9
