Vampire in Geek's Clothing (Psy-Vamp Book 6)

by Cassandra Lawson

  Phoenix sat up, still a little wobbly, and slid off of him, before giving up and collapsing on his chest.

  “That was incredible,” he rasped out.

  “I have to agree,” she said with a sleepy laugh. “You taste fantastic.”

  Isaiah groaned. “If you keep talking like that, I’ll end up fucking you.”

  “That sounds encouraging,” she purred.

  Isaiah had a feeling it was going to be a while before they were ready to leave the room.

  Chapter Forty-Nine

  Helena loved her job at the hospital, and she was grateful to Justin for helping her get it. Although, he insisted she’d gotten the job on her own, she never would have had the confidence to even apply had he not encouraged her to try. Now, she was not only working in obstetrics, she was admired by her colleagues. Tonight, she’d been called in to help with a high-risk delivery. The doctor on call had specifically requested her, which was a great ego boost, and one she really needed after her recent encounter with Josef.

  They hadn’t spoken since that day at Nathaniel’s home. Josef had messaged her with an apology several days later, and he’d even assured her he would respect her wishes. While she wanted to believe him, experience led her to believe Josef would try to manipulate her into returning home with him, something she couldn’t do. That was a life she had no intention of returning to.

  Looking around the deserted parking garage, Helena had a moment of apprehension about her decision to go in alone tonight, but she quickly shook off that worry, blaming it on her sons’ paranoia. While her sons were both going to be upset with her for going out without any backup, she’d had no choice. There simply hadn’t been time to make arrangements.

  “Excuse me, ma’am.”

  As the young man who’d spoken approached, the hairs on the back of Helena’s neck stood up. Why she was having that reaction to his presence, she had no clue. There was nothing inherently dangerous about his appearance. With blond hair and deep blue eyes, he was attractive. His round, clean-shaven face made him seem young and relatively harmless. Still, something about him made her uneasy. Although, she was willing to admit her reaction might be the result of her sons’ concern for her safety.

  Reaching a hand into the pocket of her jacket, she grasped the pepper spray. Even though she was stronger than any human, if there was a problem, she’d rather distract her attacker long enough to make it from the parking garage to the hospital.

  “Can I help you?” she asked with a pleasant smile.

  The young man blinked twice before responding. “God, you’re beautiful.”

  Rather than replying, she waited for him to answer her question.

  “You need to come with me,” he told her, proving her instincts were right, and he was up to no good.

  “I don’t think so,” she said, pulling the pepper spray from her pocket, fully prepared to use it.

  Unfortunately, the young man pulled a gun at the same time. “I’m going to have to insist. Now, be a good little vampire whore and drop the pepper spray. I’d hate to have to put a hole in your pretty face.”

  Helena allowed the pepper spray to drop to the ground, never taking her eyes off the man standing in front of her. “Why are you doing this?” she asked, grateful that her voice didn’t shake.

  “I need your family to hand over my bitch cousin,” he explained with a shrug. “I figure the vampires will want you more than her. You’re a true treasure.”

  The way he leered at her made Helena take a step back.

  “None of that,” he said with a chuckle, reaching out with his free hand to grip her arm. “Let’s get you settled into the trunk of my car so we can go somewhere more private.”

  That’s when Helena started shaking, which seemed to amuse him. “Trembling with need?” he asked with another chuckle. “Don’t worry. I’m not going to beat you or even fuck you. You’re safe with me as long as I get my whore cousin.”

  Somehow, she didn’t believe him. Looking around the parking garage, Helena tried to think of any escape when the needle pierced her arm.

  “What did you inject in me?” she demanded.

  “Just a little something to help you relax,” he assured her. “Now, let’s get you to the car before you collapse. If I have to carry you, I’m pretty sure I won’t be able to resist running my hands all over that sweet body of yours.”

  Helena shivered again, forcing her feet to move toward his car. The blackness came so quickly, she didn’t have time to react. One moment, she was struggling to put one foot in front of the other. The next, she was falling.

  Chapter Fifty

  Phoenix wasn’t sure what the protocol was for answering Isaiah’s phone. He’d run downstairs, and the call was from his mother, so she decided to answer it.

  “Hello,” she said.

  “I need to speak to Isaiah.” There was an unmistakable tremor in Helena’s voice.

  There was no doubt in her mind that Helena was in some kind of danger. “What’s wrong?” Phoenix asked.

  “I need to speak to my son,” she repeated, and then let out a squeak.

  “Helena!” Phoenix shouted.

  The next voice on the line, Phoenix recognized all too well, and it sent a chill down her spine. “Answering your vampire’s phone,” Hayden asked in a disapproving tone. “Are you serving the vampires in every way now, you little slut? How many of them are you fucking?”

  “What do you want, Hayden?” she demanded. “Whatever it is, I’ll do it as long as you let Helena go.”

  She wasn’t stupid enough to believe he’d actually let Helena go, no matter what she did, but she figured this would at least buy them both some time. Time to do what, she still had no clue, but hopefully she’d come up with some sort of plan.

  “Give me your phone number, and I’ll send you directions,” he ordered. “You come alone, and I’ll have someone meet you. If they see anyone with you, I’m going to kill the vampire whore. That is, after I have a little fun with her. She’s much too pretty to just kill her.”

  Phoenix felt her anger surpass her fear. “Don’t you dare touch her!”

  “You don’t give the orders, slut,” Hayden growled. “You are mine, and you will do as you’re told or the pretty vampire whore will pay the price for your stupidity. Am I making myself clear?”

  “Yes,” she told him, and rattled off her number before ending the call. Grabbing the medication Justin had given her for anxiety, she took one pill and slipped another in her pocket in case she needed it. After putting on one of Isaiah’s hoodies, she snuck out of the room and headed down the hall toward the stairs to the kitchen. Thankfully, she made it out of the house and to the garage without running into anyone.

  “Where are you going?” Josef asked from the shadows just as she entered the garage. Her heart was in her throat when she spun to face him.

  “I’m just going out for a little while.”

  “Don’t lie to me,” Josef told her. “From the looks of things, you’re trying to sneak out of here without Isaiah knowing. Tell me what’s going on, and I’ll help you, but I’m not about to let you go alone.”

  “My cousin has Helena,” she admitted softly.

  Josef nodded. “We’ll call the others on the way.”

  “No!” she told him. “Hayden is having someone pick me up, and he said if I wasn’t alone, he’d hurt her. We can’t risk that.”

  Josef considered the situation before opening the back of the Range Rover and lifting a section in the back to reveal a large hidden compartment. “There should be enough room for me to hide under here,” he told her. “I’ll send a message to make sure Aiden starts tracking you, and I’ll follow you after they pick you up.”

  “Won’t you be a little conspicuous in this thing?” she asked.

  He nodded. “You’re right. Maybe we’ll get lucky and they’ll take the Range Rover. If not, I’ll have Aiden pick me up. You’ll need my code to get out the front gate. I’m assuming Isaiah didn’t
give you one because he didn’t want you leaving.”

  She nodded, and he rattled off the code as he climbed into the compartment in the back of the Range Rover.

  Phoenix waited until they were out of the canyon to pull to the side of the road and text Isaiah, not wanting to give him time to stop her.

  Hayden has your mom. I’m going to meet him. Don’t text me back.

  She deleted all the messages except the one from Hayden with the directions to the meeting spot. With any luck, Hayden wouldn’t kill her the second he saw her. Actually, she was pretty sure he wasn’t going to kill her anytime soon. What she was really hoping was that he wouldn’t torture her the moment he saw her. At least, she had the beginnings of a plan. Don’t die and don’t get tortured. It was a start.

  Chapter Fifty-One

  Isaiah knew something was wrong the moment he walked into his room. There was no reason to think Phoenix’s absence meant anything other than she’d gotten tired of waiting for him, but he still couldn’t shake the overwhelming sense of dread. Tucking his phone into his back pocket, he decided to head out of the room to look for her and ran into Drew in the hallway.

  “Is Nix ready for self-defense lessons?” Drew asked.

  “I’m not sure where she is,” he admitted in a distracted tone.

  “Did you get in a fight?” Drew asked.

  “No,” Isaiah replied with a shake of his head. His phone buzzed, and he grabbed it, relieved to see it was a text from Phoenix. That is, he was relieved until he read the text.

  “What’s wrong?” Drew asked.

  “Hayden has my mom, and Phoenix went to meet him,” he explained, fear gripping his chest so tightly he could barely breathe.

  His phone buzzed again, and he was seriously tempted to ignore the message from his father, but decided to read it.

  I’m with Phoenix. Hiding in the back of the Range Rover. Aiden will be tracking her. She is meeting someone to pick her up and take her to where your mother is being held.

  “Let’s go!” Isaiah called out to Drew, before heading back into his room and opening the safe in the corner to remove weapons. He didn’t usually carry a gun, even though he had a concealed carry permit. Hayden had seriously screwed up when he’d threatened the women Isaiah loved most. Isaiah had no intention of letting the crazy asshole walk away.

  Drew whistled through his teeth. “You’ve got quite an impressive collection in there.”

  “Grab what you want,” Isaiah told him as he strapped on the shoulder holster.

  “Nah,” Drew said. “I’m not big on guns. Naturally, I can use one when I have to, but they’re too impersonal for my tastes. So, are we going to kill this fucker when we find him?”

  Isaiah gave a curt nod and jogged down the stairs toward the garage. “You can drive while I call the hunters and arrange to meet up with Aiden. It’ll be easier if we’re all together.”

  After they pulled out of the garage, Isaiah called Aiden.

  “Where are you?” Isaiah asked as soon as Aiden picked up the call.

  “Fucking traffic,” Aiden growled. “I’m almost in Castro Valley. Ivy is driving, but she can’t stay with me much longer because she’s running a group session in an hour. This is one she can’t miss.”

  There was no need to ask why Ivy was driving. Aiden was a terrible driver and had a tendency to go ten miles under the speed limit. If they were already in Castro Valley, they must have been on this side of the bay when his father had contacted Aiden. “Track my mom. Hayden will have her in the place he’s bringing Phoenix.”

  “Are you sure he won’t have her stashed somewhere else?” Aiden asked.

  “I’m sure,” Isaiah replied, confident in his answer. “He only came out here with two hunters, and I don’t think they have the resources to hire much help.”

  “Good point,” Aiden agreed.

  “Text me a location where we can pull over to the side of the freeway and pick you up,” Isaiah told him.

  “Will do,” Aiden agreed, and Isaiah ended the call.

  The next call was to Mason, in the hopes the local hunters would help them.

  “What’s up?” Mason asked by way of greeting.

  “It’s Isaiah,” he told him.

  “Yeah, I can read my Caller ID just fine,” Mason said impatiently. “I assume you’re not calling just to chat.”

  “Hayden has my mother and Phoenix,” Isaiah told him.

  “Fuck,” Mason hissed.

  “We’re tracking them,” Isaiah continued. “What I need to know is if you can help us.”

  “Yeah, we got your back,” Mason assured him. “Traffic is a bitch getting out of Santa Cruz at this hour, and I don’t know of any hunters up your way, but I’ll see what I can do. It’ll be at least two hours until we can make it out there. Where should we head?”

  “I’m not sure yet,” Isaiah admitted. “We’re tracking the car with Phoenix in it, but it’s still moving.” He figured he’d let Mason assume they were using some electronic tracking system since Aiden wasn’t all that happy with anyone knowing about his ability to track people he’d met by their energy. “I’ll send you details.”

  “Keep me posted on your location,” Mason told him. “I’ll grab some people and head up that way while we try to find someone closer.”

  Chapter Fifty-Two

  Phoenix parked the Range Rover in the McDonald’s parking lot and wiped her sweaty hands on her jeans. Were it not for her medication, she was sure she’d be having a panic attack. She still didn’t have a good plan for getting Helena out safely. She was hoping she could talk to the hunters who met her and convince them that helping Hayden was wrong. She was surprised they’d agreed to let things go on as long as they had.

  The two men who met her weren’t hunters, from what Phoenix could tell, and she suspected they were probably humans Hayden had hired. That made it more likely the missing hunters were dead.

  “Don’t make any sudden moves,” one of them growled as he stepped closer to her. He had pale blond hair, dark beady eyes, a stocky build, and stood just over six feet tall. His large hands roughly searched her before tossing her phone and keys on the front seat of the Range Rover. “Good girl,” he breathed against her ear, and she had to fight the urge to break free from his grip.

  “Let’s hurry and get out of here before we attract any attention,” the other guy added as they guided her to the car and into the backseat.

  The second guy slid into the backseat beside her. He was smaller with a wiry build and an almost pretty face. He had black hair, soft blue eyes, and full lips. It was the cruel twist of his lips that led her to believe he was in this line of work because he enjoyed hurting others. What he said next confirmed her suspicions. “I’m sure we’ll get to play with you later. The guy paying us wants you to suffer, and he’s already hinted that we could have you for a few hours after he’s done fucking every hole on your body. That’s not all he has planned for you, sweets, but I don’t want to spoil all the surprises.”

  Phoenix ignored him, knowing he was trying to get a reaction out of her. The rest of the ride was relatively quiet. Apparently, the men were bored with her unless they could get a satisfying response. They wanted to see her fear, and she was determined not to give them the satisfaction.

  They drove to a canyon lined with only a few homes. The men parked behind an old barn, and Phoenix struggled to keep her breathing under control. She refused to let Hayden see her fear ever again.

  “Let’s go, honey,” the larger man said, grabbing her arm to yank her out of the backseat and lead her into the barn.

  The first thing she noticed was the foul smell. Her nostrils were assaulted with the scent of urine and feces, mixed with the tangy scent of sweat. Tied to chairs at the far end of the barn, were two men. Even slumped over, Phoenix noticed both were bloody messes, and she wondered if those were the missing hunters.

  “How nice of you to drop by,” Hayden called out.

  Hayden didn’t look
much different than he had the last time she’d seen him, nearly five years ago. The cruel twist of his lips was the same one she’d seen so many times growing up, but the madness swirling in his blue eyes seemed more intense.

  “How could I possibly resist your kind invitation,” she replied dryly, not looking at Helena. “I’m here like we agreed. Now, let the vampire go.”

  Hayden chuckled. “Where would the fun be in that?”

  “You promised you’d let her go,” Phoenix insisted, even though she’d already known Hayden would go back on his word.

  “I lied,” he said with a shrug.

  “Are you sure we can’t play with them both,” the larger human asked.

  Hayden looked seriously pissed, and his left eye twitched. “The pretty nurse is mine!” He scanned the area for an outlet for his rage before focusing on Phoenix. Stalking toward her, Hayden backhanded Phoenix hard enough to make her head snap back. It was a miracle she remained on her feet.

  Helena let out a little scream before launching herself onto Hayden’s back and tugging at his hair. That obviously was enough to stun Hayden because it took him a moment to react. When he did, he slammed his body against the wall, crushing Helena behind him.

  Phoenix launched herself at Hayden, but she was stopped short by the wiry human, who tackled her to the ground and held a gun to her head.

  Hayden had Helena off his back, and he was gripping her hair, shaking her. “You’re going to regret pulling something that stupid,” he snarled. “I’m going to enjoy hurting you both.”

  “Put the gun down,” Helena called out, and Phoenix felt the push in her voice. She almost laughed when she realized Hayden’s mistake in having humans guarding a vampire.