by Cat Devon
“I need to talk to you privately,” Craig said.
Keira watched the two of them head for the front of the boat, out of earshot. As she did so she couldn’t help wondering how ironic it was that she was spending Independence Day without any independence of her own.
Alex eyed his longtime work partner and close friend with concern. “You’ve put yourself at risk coming here.”
“You underestimate my abilities.”
“How unfair of me.”
“Damn right!” Craig reached into the watertight bag he’d brought with him. “I figured you might not have fed recently so I brought you some blood from my own fridge.”
“Thanks.” Alex quickly downed the contents. “I appreciate it.”
“No problem. But listen, something big is going on here and I’m not talking about the fireworks over Navy Pier.”
“What have you heard?”
“The idea that The Executioner is still alive and out there has everyone worried.”
“It’s a red herring. Someone wants us focused on that instead of the thefts. How was Warren killed?”
“His throat was slashed.”
“Any clues? He’s not a vampire. Why would The Executioner go after him? And what about the money trail Warren talked about?”
“I haven’t found anything yet, but then I’m no forensic accountant.”
“And we can’t call one in at this point.”
“I’m afraid Neville may have hacked into the police department computers to get a fix on you.”
“He probably has.”
“So where do we go from here?”
“I’ve got a few tricks up my sleeve yet but it’s best that I don’t share them with you,” Alex said. “Gives you plausible deniability. We should get back to Keira.”
“Do you trust her?”
“We’re working on that but yeah, basically I do.”
“This is serious shit.”
“I’m aware. I just killed a vampire who tried to attack us. It wasn’t anyone from our clan,” Alex said.
“Was it the Gold Coast clan?”
“No one I recognized, but I suspect it was one of Lynch’s vamps.”
“How did he know where you were?”
“He didn’t. It was just bad luck that he was there.”
“Where were you?”
“You remember when O’Reilly in vice had that high-end prostitution ring investigation?”
Craig nodded. “You went there? How was it?”
“We didn’t really stay long enough to evaluate the place.”
“What made you take Keira there?”
“It was the first place that came to mind,” Alex said.
Craig grinned.
“What?” Alex glared at him. “It wasn’t like that.”
“Of course not.”
“I wasn’t trying to whisk her off to a bordello or something.”
“Right.”
“It’s a love hotel. They have them in Japan and Brazil.”
Craig’s grin got bigger. “Nice to know.”
“I had to leave Vamptown in a hurry.”
“Sure you did.”
“And I couldn’t risk going someplace where Neville might track me down. Since that case wasn’t one of ours, I thought we’d be safe.”
“You thought you’d be safe in a love hotel with the sexy woman you have a thing for?”
“When you put it like that…”
“How would you put it?”
“Another way,” Alex muttered. “Getting back to Warren, did he say anything else about the case?”
“Just to follow the money trail.”
“Bunny said he was upset about funding being cut off for the work they were doing on developing artificial or synthetic blood.”
“That’s right.”
“How is Bunny holding up?”
“As I said, she’s blaming herself.”
“Tell her she shouldn’t.”
“I can, but it won’t make a difference.”
“Understood.” Alex glanced over his shoulder at Keira, who was standing by the railing, looking at the sky in anticipation of the upcoming fireworks. The runner lights were on, providing some illumination and preventing them from being ticketed by the authorities patrolling the lake for boating infractions.
“She’s not your usual type,” Craig noted. “You usually go for slinky hot female vampires in stilettos who follow the rules. No emotional involvement.”
“There’s nothing usual about Keira at all,” Alex said. “She’s special all the way.”
Craig remained silent as they rejoined Keira. “Are they still upset with me in Vamptown?” she asked.
“The answer to that would be yes,” Craig said.
“I thought they were supposed to be good vampires and not kill humans,” she said.
“Usually they don’t harm humans,” Alex said.
“Well, I certainly don’t want them breaking that rule for me,” she said. “How much trouble are we in?”
“A lot,” Craig said.
“A change of subject here,” Alex said. “Bunny told me about how you were turned during the Chicago Fire, Craig. The Executioner was also alive during the Chicago Fire. I’m wondering if there was any connection between you?”
“I didn’t know anyone by the name of Horace Turner.”
“He may have used an alias,” Alex said.
“Like what?” Craig asked.
“Like Russell Altman,” Keira said.
Craig’s eyes widened. “Russell Altman lived next door.”
“He started becoming a vampire hunter around that time. Maybe if we could figure out why, that would help us,” Alex said.
“Didn’t he explain in his journal?” Craig asked.
“No,” Keira said. “He was very vague. I don’t even know if he was married or had a family before ours.”
“If he was Russell Altman, he was married to Almina, who died tragically.”
“What happened to her?”
“She was murdered,” Craig said.
“By vampires?” Keira asked.
“I have no idea,” Craig said.
“I asked Neville to research Horace’s past. Do you know if he came up with anything?” Alex asked.
“Only that he had been using his Horace name since the early 1900s. Neville had no idea what happened before that time. Horace only married once and that was to Keira’s grandmother Sally. They had one child, a girl.”
Keira nodded. “My mother.”
“Who had one child, a girl.”
“Me,” Keira said.
“The first time we are aware of that he made a kill was a year before the fire,” Alex said.
“Could he have learned to be a vampire hunter in a year?” Keira asked.
“Unlikely. What about his parents? Did Russell ever mention his parents when he lived next door to you, Craig?”
“They were dead, that’s all I know. It was a long time ago.”
“Have Neville check into it,” Alex said. “Say you recognized the photo from the Chicago newspaper that he has dating back to that time.”
“What are you going to do?” Craig asked.
“It’s better you don’t know. Thanks for coming out here, bro.”
“Are you going to swim back to shore?” Keira asked as Craig readied his scuba gear.
Craig shook his head. “I borrowed a friend’s boat. There are plenty out here for the fireworks on Navy Pier later. The lake is a good vantage point for watching them. I don’t have far to go. Bunny is waiting for me.” Without further ado, Craig slid back into the water.
Keira stared down at the darkness of the lake. “I hope your friend doesn’t get into trouble for helping us.”
“He’s good at what he does.”
“So are you.” She shifted her attention to Alex’s face. “What’s next? Or is it better that I don’t know, either?”
“We can’t get off this boat until after th
e fireworks are over and the crowd gets smaller,” he said.
“I thought you could move fast enough that humans can’t see you.”
“I need the space to move.”
“Where are we going from here?”
“I’ve got to pick up some supplies from a drop point,” Alex said.
“Supplies? Do you mean blood?”
“I mean weapons.”
“So you’re not hungry?”
“I didn’t say that.” The blood Craig had brought was minimal. It was sufficient for now but wouldn’t last all that long.
“Should I be nervous?”
“Yes, you should be very nervous,” he said.
“Toxic blood, toxic blood,” she said, laughing at his expression.”
He grinned and looped his arms around her waist. “It’s not your blood I’m after. It’s you. Just you.”
He shifted her so they were in the shadows as he pulled her closer. Cupping the back of her head with one hand, he used his other hand to cup her bottom and position her as she rubbed against him. The thin cotton of her yoga pants and underwear didn’t get in the way of the friction created by the thickness of his arousal behind the placket of his dark jeans. Every thrust of his hips was matched by a thrust of his tongue entering her mouth the way she wished he’d enter her body. The heat was elemental, bypassing her brain and going right to the hidden juncture between her thighs.
“Fireworks,” he murmured against her mouth.
“Mmm. I feel them.”
“I meant in the sky.”
Opening her eyes, she looked up. The display had started, with the percussions from the explosion reverberating through her chest.
Sensing something, she focused on Alex. “Are you okay?” She’d done a story on post-traumatic stress syndrome in veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. They’d told her that certain noises could set them off—a car backfiring, thunder, or fireworks.
Yes, Alex had had more years to recover from his experiences on Iwo Jima, but did anyone ever truly recover from something like that? Or perhaps his memories were going back to his early days as a vampire. He’d basically told her nothing about that time in his life … or his afterlife.
There was so much she didn’t know about him.
“I’ll be okay when we figure this all out,” Alex said, tilting her head back up to the fireworks in the sky. “Until then, just enjoy the moment.”
She tried to but it was difficult when she knew that Alex was constantly on guard, his eyes checking their surroundings nonstop. Tension radiated from him. She wanted to kiss him and make it all better but knew that wasn’t the answer. Not right now. Maybe it would be at some point. If so, she sure hoped it came soon, because her body ached with desire for him.
* * *
“Where the hell are they?” Lynch demanded of the three vampires who’d been in his office when he’d decapitated Pierre and what’s-his-name. “Where are Sanchez and the hunter’s granddaughter?”
“We don’t know, master.”
“It’s your job to know,” Lynch said in a pleasant voice. “You do remember what happens to those who are not capable of doing their job?”
“Yes, master.”
Lynch adjusted the monogrammed eighteen-karat-gold cuff link on his impeccably starched and pressed French-cuffed pale-blue shirt. “It’s really sad how you all keep disappointing me.”
“Give us more time, please, master.”
“More time? Why? So you can screw up even further? What is the point of that?”
“We can find them, I know we can.”
“I’ll tell you what I know. I know that I gave you a job and you didn’t complete it.”
“But, master—”
Lynch silenced him with a wave of his hand. “And even worse, you talk back when I am speaking to you. That alone would be reason to discipline you. I’m the reason this clan is doing so well. I’m the reason it will do even better in the future. I will rule all the vampires in this city.”
“Yes, master.”
“And I will annihilate those vampires who refuse to go along with my terms. I will also annihilate those who are inept and just plain stupid. Like you.”
Lynch stood and slit the vampire’s throat. The other two who had remained silent didn’t say a word.
“I’m growing weary of all this incompetence,” Lynch said. “It’s getting very messy.” He pointed to a spot of vampire blood on his cuff before wiping the blood from his knife with the silk handkerchief in his jacket’s top pocket. “Do better, gentleman, or there will be hell to pay.”
* * *
“Are you ready?” Alex asked Keira. “Things have calmed down enough that it’s safe for us to move now.”
“Remember, I have claustrophobia. Do not take me someplace that is going to freak me out, like a tunnel or something,” she warned him.
“Are you afraid of heights?” he asked.
“No.”
“Good.”
“Why?”
“You’ll see.”
She wrapped her arms around his waist and held on tight. A moment later Alex said, “You can open your eyes now.”
She didn’t realize she’d closed them. Looking around she realized they were on the sidewalk in downtown Chicago. “Where are we?”
“Look up.”
She did. “We’re outside the Willis Tower.”
“I still think of it as the Sears Tower,” he admitted. “But yes, that’s correct.”
“It’s closed.”
“Correct again.”
“So how do we get in? Are you going to crawl up the outside of the building?”
“That’s Spider-Man’s thing, not mine.”
“Guess I was getting my superheroes mixed up.”
“I’m no hero, super or otherwise.”
As far as Keira was concerned, Alex was increasingly displaying heroic attributes even if he didn’t admit it.
“Spider-Man is Benji’s favorite. I’m worried about my godson. What if the bad vamps go after him because of his connection to me?”
“I told you I’ve got that covered.”
“When was the last time you checked to make sure they’re okay?”
“On the way here.”
“Wait a second.” She belatedly released him. “You were texting and transporting at the same time? That sounds dangerous. Isn’t there some law against that?”
“Not that I’m aware of.”
“Not being aware of a law doesn’t give you permission to break it.”
“Vampires can multitask.” Taking her hand, he pulled her around the corner to another entrance. When a security guard stepped out, Alex spoke to him. “You’re going to let me inside.”
The guard obeyed the compulsion order. Keira wasn’t sure what special vampire abilities Alex used after that to disable security cameras as they rode the elevators up to the skydeck on the 103rd floor. “Are you sure it’s safe?”
“I’m positive.”
“It must be nice to be so certain about things.”
“Have you been up here before?”
“I did a story when they first opened the skydeck. When I still had a job as a reporter. Since I never filed my story about the Taste of Chicago opening tomorrow they’ve probably fired me.”
“They didn’t do that.”
“Because you compelled them not to?”
“Because I emailed your story to them after reading it first.”
“When?”
“Your first night at the loft.”
“Those were rough-draft notes.”
“They sounded good to me. Your editor thought so, too. She said the story was good to go. And before you ask, no, I did not compel her to say that. I can’t compel via email. It has to be in person.”
“You could have gone to see her in person.”
“No, I couldn’t. I’ve been much too busy.” He gave her one of his badass looks. “You could say, Thank you, Alex.”
&n
bsp; “I suppose I could.”
Crossing his arms across his chest, he waited for her to say the words.
“Okay, thank you, Alex.”
“You’re welcome.” He tugged her into his arms. “Come look at the view.”
The lights of the city were magnificent. Because the platform extended out beyond the building, you could see even more than from a traditional window.
“Not scared, are you?”
“Not of this,” she said, stepping onto the clear glass floor that jutted out. “Pretty impressive, huh?”
“Very impressive.” Alex was staring at her instead of the view.
The sexual tension that had been growing all night was there in spades. Everything, all the kisses and caresses, was leading up to this moment of simply gazing into each other’s eyes. Her heart was streaking and her body hummed and ached with the need to have him buried deep within her.
“Are you in a hurry?” she whispered.
“No. We’re here for several hours.”
“Did you have something in mind regarding how we should pass the time?”
“Definitely.” He lowered his head. “Here, let me show you.”
Chapter Seventeen
Alex was a masterful kisser, there was no doubt about that. He did things with his tongue that were creative and masterful. Leisurely licks, sensual strokes, tantalizing twirls. He noted which she enjoyed the most and would elaborate further on that theme.
She responded with wild abandon considering she was standing on a ledge of glass. Her hands on his chest registered the pounding of his heart. She wasn’t the only one losing control here. His growl told her that he was as on edge as she was.
His mouth covered hers with raw hunger before lifting for a second to allow him to peel off her T-shirt.
“What about security cameras?” she murmured against his lips as she resumed their series of kisses.
“I disabled them,” he said while disabling her bra and tossing it aside.
His actions inspired her to remove his T-shirt and run her hands over the bare skin of his chest and abdomen. “You’re so hot.”
“So are you.” He cupped her breasts in his palms, brushing his thumbs over her nipples.
She tilted back her head as pleasure coursed through her. “You like that, hmm?”
“Yes.” More a gasp than an answer.
“Then you’ll like this.” He licked his way down the curve of her neck.
