by Tamsin Baker
I strode past with my shoulders squared. “Where are my belongings?”
“You don’t need them.” He grabbed my elbow and shoved me across the landing.
I shook off his hand. “I can walk. Where is he?”
“Petulant brat, aren’t you?”
“Arrogant bastards bring out the grouch in me.” I added how to weave a stake into my hair, retrieve and use it to my mental list of skills I needed to acquire.
“Right on both counts.” He gave a short bark of condescending laughter. “Down the stairs and to the left.”
He hugged my back all the way down the stairs and at the bottom he pushed past me and rapped on the first door on the left.
A deep, mesmerizing and melodic voice called for us to enter. About to walk into the dragon’s den, I squared my shoulders again.
#
“Miss Louisa Thompson.” The vampire sitting behind the desk rose gracefully and took my extended hand. He inhaled a deep breath and graced a gentle kiss on the back of my knuckles. “Magnus did not exaggerate. Quite exquisite. Do sit down, my dear.”
Power rolled off Quinn Underhill in waves. I’d felt similar from Nic, but not all the time and not to this extent. He looked like his image on Faith’s photograph, but better. Much better.
The sniffing was getting on my nerves. I might be a gourmet meal in an attractive thermos as far as they were concerned, but it was still rude. I snatched my hand to my chest and immediately regretted it. First lesson for dealing with vampires—never show nerves in front of an apex predator.
I recovered as best I could and gave Underhill a nod that I tried to infuse with both respect for his power and an expectation of the same for my position.
He gestured to wingback armchairs on either side of a fireplace and separated by a plush rug. “Whiskey?”
Whiskey wasn’t my favorite drink. But I wasn’t about to let him think me a wuss by asking for iced tea. “A sherry, perhaps?”
I sat and watched the two powerful vampires. For a few seconds, I got the impression they telepathically communicated with one another. According to Tilly’s notes, that was a real thing, not just made up for various fiction. The skill was strongest between vampires and their sires, and became stronger over time, which suggested Quinn had made Magnus, and most likely some time ago. Magnus. What a fitting name for the younger vampire who looked so like a TV portrayal of a marauding blond Viking warrior.
Quinn gestured to a wood and iron bar trolley cart. “And some iced water for our guest, Magnus.”
Magnus wore an impenetrable mask of indifference. Quinn took the seat opposite me. Magnus dragged a small table alongside my chair and set down a glass of glowing amber sherry and a tumbler of water.
I drank half the water while Quinn watched me in silence.
“You told Magnus you want to speak with me urgently.” Quinn swirled his whiskey and emptied the tumbler in one gulp. “It’s not often I allow a vampire hunter into my home. Use your time here wisely.”
“I’m a teacher at Dogwood Grove Private High. Two of my senior students are missing.”
“What has that to do with me?” He tapped his fingers against the armrest.
“They decided to investigate the new nests setting up in the area. Seems a likely scenario that they investigated the wrong nest and are now prisoners.”
“My domain is hardly new. Why not boyfriend trouble?”
“Neither have boyfriends.” Not many friends at all, except each other, but Quinn didn’t need to know that. “The evidence in Faith’s bedroom showed a well thought out and thorough plan of investigation and information gathering.”
“And you and the sheriff assumed I am responsible?” The anger in his voice was unmistakable.
“Not at all. Given your local knowledge, we’re optimistic you have information that will help us locate two innocent young women.”
“Hardly innocent if they have been stalking blameless vamps who have been living in the area for considerably longer than their ages combined and multiplied.”
“To be fair, they could not know newer nests from established—”
“Enough.” He lifted his palm and sent a command meant to silence me.
It felt alien, a thought circulating in my brain but obviously not my own.
I sat forward in my chair. “I don’t respond to the hypnotizing crap you direct at regular humans. If you don’t know anything, then fine, I’ll head to the next location before Ben and Nic start worrying I haven’t called in and come here to find me.”
“Nic Gravier? How do you know him?” Quinn tried, but couldn’t disguise his interest.
“Nic is involved.” I wasn’t about to share any intimate details, but Quinn needed to know that Nic was on my side. “A leech attacked me at one of Nic’s parties. I fought him and Nic finished him off.”
“I see.” Quinn drummed long tapered fingernails against the armrest again. “The name of this leech?”
“Adrian Boardman.”
“Don’t know him. Why are you not visiting his establishment?”
“Sheriff Miller is. You are on my list.”
Quinn held out his palm again and pulled out a mobile phone. He pressed a single button. Looked like he had Ben on speed dial.
“Nicolas.” Wrong. He had Nic on speed dial. I resisted the urge to swallow. Hell, I resisted the urge to breathe. I should have called Nic in spite of Ben’s order not to do so. Ben didn’t trust him, but I did. Quinn put Nic on speaker. “Louisa Thompson sits opposite me.”
“Louisa, are you okay?” Nic’s tone bode no one well.
“Yes. But Quinn does not appreciate our investigation into the missing girls.”
“Do you not wish to assist us, Quinn?” Nic didn’t miss a beat. My heart swelled with pride and gratitude.
“Of course. I am merely confused why a baby dhampir is questioning me rather than yourself.” Respectful without a hint of submissiveness.
“Due to the urgency, we split up. I was about to meet with Louisa to share notes.”
“Allow me to host you and I will also share what I know.”
“Ten minutes.” Nic disconnected the call.
At last, some information. But Nic was on his way here and he would not be happy. When Ben found out Nic was involved, he would be furious. Talk about being caught between a rock and hard place. Both vampires stared at me like I’d just appeared out of the ether.
“What?”
“Seems she has friends in both high and low places, Magnus.”
“I do, and if I don’t call Ben soon he’ll be here too.” Imagine three alpha males in one room—four, counting Magnus. Not a thing I wanted to see anytime soon.
The two vampires did that silent communication thing again and Magnus dashed from the room. He returned seconds later with my bag. Looked like they wanted to avoid Ben visiting alongside Nic as much as I did. I retrieved my phone and strode to the front door to make the call in private. Except how far did I have to go to avoid excellent vampire hearing?
Magnus beat me to the door and swung it open. “Watch your step out there, baby vampire hunter.”
“Always, adolescent Viking vampire.” I gave him a fake grin and marched outside.
Cursing the wind, and that I hadn’t thought to bring my car keys, I ran across the road.
Ben answered on the first ring. “Where the hell are you?”
“At house number two. Apparently, they have info but will only talk to Nic.”
He cursed under his breath, but I still heard the colorful language. My hearing seemed to be improving too. “Is that Quinn Underhill? He’s a pain in the ass.”
“Yes, and Nic is on his way. Should be here soon.”
“Damn it. Get rid of him, Louisa, as soon as you can.”
Not likely to happen once Nic found out what was going on. “I’ll do my best, boss. Better go.”
I ran back to the house and lifted my knuckles to hammer on the door. But I didn’t make contact. I was
whirled off the steps, lifted and shoved against a rough brick wall.
Chapter Fourteen
“I’m looking forward to hearing your explanation, Louisa.” Nic gripped my arms behind my back and pressed his torso against mine.
“You’re lucky I sensed it was you and not a rogue vamp with a death wish.” I tried to buck him off. Nope, not happening.
His hard shaft pressed against my core and he moved his pelvis enough to send ripples of anticipation across my skin. “The longer I wait for your explanation, the less you will enjoy the spanking you are due.”
“Nic.” I tried again to wriggle my hands free and push him away, but he just ground harder against me, his breath fresh against my neck. “I am not obliged to report my activities to you, nor am I into kinky stuff—”
“We will see about that. Now, talk.”
“Bossy, arrogant, alpha male.”
“You have no idea. Now do you want my help or not?”
I did, so I sucked in a breath and focused on the endgame. In between failed attempts to control my pulse and breathing, I gave him a summarized and whispered version of the evening since finding out the girls were really missing.
“You obeyed Ben’s short-sighted order rather than contacting me?” He let go off my hands and cupped my face. “This spanking will be epic, and I will enjoy every moment of it.”
“I told you—”
He cut me off with a searing kiss.
When he pulled away, the cold emptiness that replaced his encircling grip sent shivers up and down my spine. He gave me a broad smirk and pulled me back to the front door.
Flushed and breathing hard, I resisted. “I need a moment—”
His jeans hung low on his hips. A snug fitting leather biker jacket covered a crisp white dress shirt and black tie. If it was possible for a man to be sexier, I didn’t know how.
“No moments. If they didn’t get that you are mine before, then they will now.”
His? Jeez, how did that happen? Most astonishing of all, it didn’t set off my feminist flags like it should have. In fact, it felt right.
Not that I was about to admit it. “I’m not a possession, Nicolas Charles Gravier.”
“The full name. Should I be afraid?” He smirked again.
I narrowed my eyes. “Shake in your hand-made Italian leather oxfords.”
Nic was still laughing when Magnus opened the door. Magnus took in my bedraggled appearance and lifted an eyebrow but said nothing. Nic marched into Quinn’s study, moving with a fluid, powerful grace that commanded deference and demonstrated superb control over every muscle in his body.
The power rolling off both men swirled and eddied, then disappeared as if they both sucked it back in to their cores.
Quinn gave a slight nod of his head and waited until Nic sat before sitting himself in the other chair next to the fire. A small table at the center of the rug held a bottle of Macallan M Highland Single Malt Scotch Whiskey and four heavy-looking tulip-shaped whiskey glasses. I smiled in approval, a stingier host would have provided only two not four glasses. At four thousand five hundred dollars per fancy crystal bottle, I’d never tasted the most expensive whiskey in the world, and I wasn’t about to give up the opportunity.
Magnus dragged another chair over next to Nic, then leaned against the mantle in an obvious sentry position at Quinn’s side.
Nic pulled the chair closer to him and motioned for me to sit. He waited until we all nursed a drink before speaking. “You have information, Quinn?”
Quinn nodded. “Alicia is ready?” He directed the question to Magnus, who left the room immediately. “Alicia saw something that bothered her a few days ago. Whether or not it’s the women you seek…” Quinn shrugged his shoulders.
“Alicia is a vampire here?”
Quinn gave me a slight smirk. “Not yet.”
Ugh. Had the poor girl been pressured into becoming a vampire? Or was she in fact a very happy girl and excited about a new future? It wasn't any of my business, unless she was being forced against her will.
Magnus returned with a very pretty blonde in tight jeans and a low cut, softly draped sweater. She bounced into the room and smiled at each of us in turn, her gaze dwelling on Nic’s devastatingly handsome profile for several seconds longer. She flounced to Quinn’s armchair, draped herself across the armrest, and fluttered her eyelashes at Nic. “You wanted to see me, Master?"
Full of confidence and sass, I couldn't see her as a victim here. Unless she kept ogling my Nic in that suggestive way, and I got the urge to thump her.
"Alicia, my dear, tell us what you saw at the old Compton property."
I resisted the urge to check the photos I took in Faith’s room to see if somewhere called the Compton property was included in her surveillance, but the name didn't ring any bells. Nic hadn't asked, so I assumed he knew where it was.
“You mean the two girls?" She lifted her forehead in apparent surprise at the question.
When Quinn nodded she launched into her story. "I don't often go down there. It's weird during the daytime and scary at night. But I wanted blackberries to make wine and the brambles grow wild all around the property.”
Brambles sounded like an excellent deterrent and incentive for any nosy parkers to keep out.
Magnus finished mixing and stirring at the bar trolley cart and he handed her a colorful cocktail, complete with an umbrella and straw.
Alicia grinned at Magnus and daintily sipped her drink. “Anyway, I was there—”
“What day was this, Alicia?” Nic’s deep voice rumbled through my chest. Some detective I was. I hadn't even thought to ask that question.
She met Nic’s stare, pressed her forefinger against her chin and pursed her lips. “I think it was Tuesday. No, wait, it must have been Wednesday.”
“Go on." Nic circled his hand in a carry-on gesture.
“Like I said.” She rolled her eyes. “I was there with my basket and long gardening gloves. My basket was almost full so it must have been late afternoon and I left shortly after that, before the sun dipped below the horizon. I noticed the two girls because it’s unusual to see anyone else there and they were in what looked like preppy school uniforms. Also, they were bent forward over a tablet of some kind and whispering up a storm.”
I sucked in my breath. At last, a solid lead.
“And what about this bothered you?” Nic crossed his legs and brushed at invisible specs of dust on his thighs.
An image of me, bent across that knee with my bare butt on display, rammed into my brain and sent shivers of anticipation straight to my core. Nic suppressed a small smile. Damn vampire senses. He’d probably guessed at my reaction. I fought my rampant, feral and lust-fueled imagination into submission and concentrated on Faith and Cindy.
Alicia finished her cocktail and twirled the umbrella. "I didn't see them at first, but I accidentally left my shears on the ground where I’d been picking berries. I didn't want to lose them so I ran back via the path rather than the road and saw two vamps that I didn't recognize hiding in the shrubs and watching the two girls. The girls seemed completely oblivious, by the way. It was almost dark by then, too.”
Magnus cleared his throat and took up the story. "Alicia told me as soon as she got home. I went to the Compton property myself in case the girls were in any trouble, or we had two newbies that needed to be taken in hand. I found where the girls had been standing, but couldn't find them or the vamps.”
“Who is at the Compton Property?”
“That, I don’t know. If it’s been taken over by a new nest, they have not made any contact with me." Quinn stroked Alicia’s thigh in a possessive gesture. “I didn't know about the missing girls until this evening, or I would have made the connection and investigated further.”
Nic nodded. "I know that, Quinn. It is in neither of our interests for the new nests to get out of hand and draw attention from the human authorities.” He turned his gaze upon me. "Time for us to consider our next move, I
think.”
I grabbed my weapons, we said our goodbyes quickly and Nic nudged me to his vehicle.
“I drove Ben’s car here—”
“You are coming with me." He crushed his arm around my waist and gripped my elbow close to his side.
“I’m not.” I tried to drag my feet but Nic was too strong. “I’ll follow you there, and I have to call Ben.”
“You may call Ben because that is the right thing to do, but you are coming with me. Now.”
We crossed the road to a black Mercedes SUV. The doors opened and both Jason and Gaspard climbed out.
“You can drive, Gaspard.” Nic shoved me into the back seat and slid in next to me. “To the Compton mansion.”
I grabbed the door handle, but Gaspard clicked the safety locks and the handle wiggled ineffectively in my hand. Nic raised his eyebrows. “Did I say epic?”
“You will not be touching me.” I stabbed a finger into his chest.
Gaspard and Jason shared a quick look at one another.
As I clicked the seatbelt, Nic ran fingertips from my knee to my hips. I grabbed his fingers and squeezed. “Behave. We have to think of Faith and Cindy.”
“You’re right.” He stilled his hand but kept it wrapped over my thigh. “Call Ben while we drive to the property.”
“I’m surrounded by damn bossy-boots.” I wasn’t looking forward to this conversation, but I called Ben anyway.
He declined the call, then sent a “can’t talk now” text. I showed Nic.
“Must be busy sheriffing. Send him a short text so he doesn’t worry about you.”
“You mean so that he neither worries nor comes interfering?” I couldn’t blame Nic, I didn’t want to get caught between the two men again either. “Maybe I shouldn’t. He might be in silent stakeout mode.”
Nic shrugged. “I’m sure he will call or text when he can.”
“He might be staking out the Compton mansion. Wouldn’t that be funny?” I elbowed Nic in the ribs.
“Careful, woman. Pointy elbows. And no, probably not funny.”
“They are so not pointy.” I tried to give them a stealthy feel. Not pointy at all. He was right though. If Nic and I interrupted Ben on a mission, he’d definitely get all sheriffy on us.
