That bugged me more than anything. Unless they had a mole here, which was highly unlikely, there was no way they should have any of that information. Unless…
“Come with me,” I said, leaving the room and making my way to his office.
Once there, I slid into the seat behind his desk and began typing away on the computer. I’d noticed a few glitches earlier that day when I’d tried to access files. It was as if the connection slowed to a near stop at certain points and I’d thought it had something to do with them having spotty Wi-Fi. But, now, I wasn’t so sure.
I typed in a few keywords that had nothing to do with the searches I’d attempted earlier that day. The connection was smooth as the pages loaded. That was the problem. For a bunch of vampires with an unlimited bank account, there was no way they’d have a poor connection. They’d pay for the best.
I tried accessing Zed’s computer again, as I’ve done before and the connection slowed to a near crawl, making it impossible for me the work. I needed that speed to get past the firewalls and gain complete access but no matter what I tried; it still wouldn’t allow me access. I tabbed to the browsers I’d already loaded and even then, I was hit with a ‘no internet’ message.
Closing down the browsers, I tried it again, but this time, the moment the internet slowed, I pulled up another program I’d installed on the computer that morning. It gave me the message I’d feared, but one that would explain why they had so much information on me.
“What is it?” Smoke asked, coming up behind me.
I placed a finger to my lips. The bug they’d planted was sophisticated enough I was certain they could hear just about everything we said and it was network wide, meaning every device on this connection was infected. Not for long.
With a little bit of magic, I was able to contain the bug before completely wiping it out. Once that was done, I looked back at Smoke who was eying the screen with a confusion I understood.
“There was bug in the system. That explains why they knew so much about me and how they knew you planned on intercepting that transport.”
With the bug gone, accessing Zed’s laptop was easy. Other than a ton of social media messages, there was nothing there that seemed suspicious except for a video of him meeting with Council Woman Agnes. Without sound, I couldn’t tell what they’d been speaking about, but that didn’t matter. What mattered was that the meeting had taken place at all. Why would a council woman entertain a meeting with someone like Zed, unless she was in on his scheme?
“Do you see this?” I asked, pointing toward the screen.
The anger that filled his expression told me he had.
“We need to pay the council woman a visit,” he said, grabbing his leather jacket from the back of the office chair and shrugging it on. “You can come with us if you want.”
“Sure,” I said, more surprised than anything.
He reached into his pocket and grabbed his phone. After pressing a few icons, he placed the phone to his ear. “Meet me at the house in five.”
Chapter Fifteen
Davina
The ride to City Hall was awkward. I sat in the backseat of Smoke’s Chrysler and Jackson occupied the front with Smoke driving. Even with the comforts the luxurious car provided, I still couldn’t help the uneasiness that settled in the pit of my stomach. Jackson didn’t make it easier when he turned around in his seat a few times to glare at me.
“Leave her alone,” Smoke said, making a turn onto Tenth Street.
“Why is she here?”
“Because she’s the one who figured out the council woman was working with Zed.” Smoke tossed up his hand in frustration.
With a huff, Jackson threw himself back in his seat. “Well, don’t expect me to baby her if anything goes wrong.”
Smoke pulled into the parking lot across the street from City Hall. “Here’s the plan. I’ll go grab her and you two stay here.”
It was a shitty plan. Leaving me alone with Jackson was the worst plan he could have come up with, considering Jackson wanted me dead. Jon had filled me in on that little detail before, warning me to steer clear of him until he got used to the idea of me being around. And I had no problem doing so. After last night’s attack, the last thing I wanted was someone else trying to take a bite out of me or worse.
I opened my mouth to protest but Jackson beat me to it.
“No way. I’m not staying in this car with the blood bag. I’ll go.”
A sigh of relief escaped me when Smoke agreed. “Fine. Just please bring her back in one piece. We don’t need another episode.”
Jackson tipped his head and exited the vehicle, leaving us there with me feeling like maybe Smoke should have left. I didn’t want the council woman dead. Dread filled me as I thought about Smoke’s words.
“Maybe you should go with him,” I said, not entirely liking the idea of being left there alone, but that would be better than having the council woman’s death on my conscience.
Smoke’s chuckle filled the vehicle. “It was an inside joke between brothers. He won’t actually kill Agnes.”
I wanted to believe him but there was still a lot I didn’t know about the vampires, especially when it came to their relations with the human population. I sunk down in my seat and gazed out the window. Vehicles floated by, filled with normal people, doing normal things, and I couldn’t help the tug of longing that pulled me. I’ve wanted to be one of those people for so long, but now, I was beginning to think that would never be the case for me. Not with the work I was doing with the vampires. And who knew how long I’d have to work off fifty grand?
“Your wheels are spinning,” Smoke stated. “Want to tell me what you’re thinking about?”
“Not really,” I grumbled. Even if I had told him, I knew he wouldn’t understand. How could he? He’d been a vampire long enough he’d probably forgotten what it was like being human, wanting a normal life.
I could see him glancing at me through the rearview mirror and I could tell by the crease of his forehead he was concerned.
“Jackson shouldn’t be too long. It should be a simple in and out.” He turned in his seat to face me. “Jon tells me you made a little over a grand in tips last night. Not bad for your first night bartending.”
I shrugged my shoulders. “He scared up most of that by threatening anyone who was rude or had anything negative to say about me.”
“And that bothers you?”
“Of course, it does. How would you like it if you made a living by scaring the fuck out of everyone?” Or having a vampire force the patrons to tip more than the amount they paid for their drinks.
It hadn’t been lost on me that a twenty-dollar order came with a forty-dollar tip, and I knew exactly who was behind it. Though I was grateful for the money, I hardly doubt it earned me any respect.
Smoke cut me an incredulous look. “It wouldn’t bother me one bit. Money is money.”
Of course, it wouldn’t. I rolled my eyes and glanced back out the window.
“You have to understand,” he continued. “When you’ve lived as long as we have, and have gone through the troubles we have, you tend to see things in a different light. Trust me, it hasn’t always been easy for us.”
I continued staring out of the window, no longer interested in the conversation. Nothing he could say would make me believe they didn’t have things easy. They had all the money in the world to do with as they pleased, never having to worry about where their next meal came from, disease, famine, whether they’d have a roof over their heads…
We sat in silence for a few moments before he spoke up again. “I know a lot of your backstory, but there are parts of it I don’t understand.”
This time I turned to face him. I knew they’d looked into my background, and though it was a subject I wasn’t completely interested in talking about, I was curious to see what he’d have to say about it.
“Zed gave you fifty grand to place a bet on a game of dice. Why didn’t you just take the money an
d give yourself a better life?”
It was a fair enough question; one I’ve asked myself multiple times but it had been a dark time in my life. A time when I didn’t care about anything or anyone, not even myself. While fifty grand would have been a life changing amount of money for me, I couldn’t live with Zed over my head, making demands of me while I gradually paid him back.
My answer was simple, “I thought if I was able to win back twice the amount, I’d pay Zed off and be free to do as I wished. At the time, it seemed like a good idea.”
“And now?”
“Not so much. I basically swapped one slave owner for another.”
That wasn’t entirely accurate but I couldn’t help how I felt. Either way, I was indebted to someone and my life was no longer my own. At least with them, I knew where I stood, I knew what to expect. With Zed, I was never too sure. I’d heard of his antic from my other roommates, one who’d been told he would let her off the hook for a blowjob. Of course, she’d given it to him but he never honored his side of the deal. A few months later, he was back to collecting from her, demanding more and more until she’d had nothing to give.
“So, you consider us slave owners?” His brow lifted, but there was something comical in his expression.
“Not really. I just…” I paused.
I really didn’t know how to explain what I felt but by the look on his face, he completely understood.
“We’ll never ask you for anything you aren’t willing to give. I can promise you that. Jon would have our heads.” He laughed for a moment, but, without warning, his eyes darkened and he held a serious expression. “I’m sorry about this morning. I’m not used to having a human guest and I should have better prepared myself for it.”
He lowered his gaze and for a moment, I could see real sorrow in his eyes. It took me a moment to realize why, and when I did, it brought about a flood of emotion I wasn’t expecting. It meant a lot to me that he’d apologize and mean it, but he hadn’t actually done anything wrong. I wanted to touch him. More than that, I wanted him to touch me from the moment I saw him standing there in nothing but a towel, fresh out of the shower. Even thinking about it then sent my temperature spiking.
Taking a calming breath, that did nothing to calm the aching need I felt at that moment, I tried to steady my voice as I said, “You didn’t do anything wrong. If anyone is to blame for it, it’s me. I wanted to touch you.”
He looked at me as if my words made no sense to him, but said nothing. Again, we sat in an uncomfortable silence, waiting for Jackson’s return. He’d been gone a while but it didn’t concern me. I had no way of knowing how long these things usually took, never having kidnapped anyone before, and if Smoke was comfortable with the time that passed, I should be too. At least that’s what I thought as I stared down at my hands, twiddling my thumbs in my lap.
I glanced up at the rearview mirror to find Smoke’s eyes on me again. He didn’t say anything, he just stared at me with a heated gaze that had me wondering if he were having another episode. Unlike that morning, I didn’t feel anything different. There was no magnetic pull that made me lose sense of what I was doing, but there was definitely something there. Something almost tangible. I could feel the weight of his stare, as if my admission made him see me in a different light and dread slid through me.
After what I’d done to Devon, I could understand what he must’ve been thinking and if I was right, it was far from the truth. Before Devon, I’d only been with two other men - a boy in high school who I’d actually been able to build a connection with until his parents forbade him from seeing me, and a man I’d brought home from the bar one drunken night before finding out he’d been married. Never once had I used sex for personal gain, but I didn’t shy away from my sexuality either. It wasn’t my intent to sleep with Devon to gain access to his money, or at all for that matter, but I couldn’t deny the thrill of being able to have sex with someone where no strings were attached. The freedom to do as I wished without worrying who found out, or what anyone thought. That was the only good thing about being homeless with no real attachments.
“Want to tell me what you were just thinking?” I asked, mimicking his earlier question to me.
He gave me a playful grin. “I was just thinking there are better things I could be doing with my time than waiting on this asshole to show up.”
“Like what?”
He didn’t answer the question directly but the look he gave me said it all. He grabbed the steering wheel, shaking his head before saying. “I think it might be better for you to move into Devon’s house.”
Startled by his words, jerked up in my seat. “Why is that?”
“I’m just having a hard time controlling myself around you, and…”
“What if I don’t want you to control yourself?” I asked, frustrated by his sudden change in mood.
That was the thing about Smoke. One moment he was hot, the next, he was overly cautious and I couldn’t help but be frustrated by that. It confused me, bringing me to a place where I didn’t know what to think or how to react to him. Pain shot from my palm up my arm and it was at that moment I realized I’d been balling my hands into fists so tight the nails bit into the flesh of my palm. I opened my hand to assess the damage, and sure enough, there were crescent-shaped impressions on the skin. Tiny droplets of blood leaked from the wounds and by the way Smoke sucked in a deep breath, I could tell he smelled it.
“Look,” he said, his voice coming out tense. “There is still a lot about me you don’t know. I’m just trying to protect you.”
“Protect me? I’m not a fucking child. I can make decisions on my own, so don’t give me that bullshit. Tell me the truth. I’m a grown woman. I can take it. But this…”
My voice was cut off by an alarm that blared so loud I couldn’t even hear the traffic passing.
“Something’s wrong,” Smoke said, before exiting the vehicle.
Chapter Sixteen
Jackson
The place was quiet, with the exception of a buzzing sound coming from the vending machines as I entered through the side entrance. It was the closest door to her office, meaning I’d only have to travel a short distance if she decided to put up a fight. Not that she would. Most humans knew when a vampire came calling, you answer that call, and even a council woman wasn’t immune to this rule. Still, I wanted to be certain I’d be able to get in and get out as easily as I could.
I clung to the walls as I ventured down the hall, making sure to stay out of sight of the cameras. It wasn’t because I was afraid of being caught on camera so much as it was the fact I didn’t want her to be alerted to my presence. At least not before I was close enough to get my hands on her. Sure, I could have zipped in and out with her, tucking her into the backseat with that train wreck of human before she realized what happened, but I needed some time. Time to think about what I was going to do, and time to speak to her without anyone hearing.
Smoke wanted to be the first to question her, but I couldn’t allow that to happen, not without assurances she’d keep certain conversations private, conversations that would no doubt see my head on a stake outside of the bar.
Treason between the vampires was punishable by death, regardless the reason and I had no doubt Smoke and Devon would see me dead the moment they’d discovered what I’d been up to.
I tried to push those thoughts out of my head, but the closer I got to her, the more vivid those thoughts became. I imagined myself pleading with my brothers, hoping they’d understand, even as they shook their heads and pulled out their weapons. There’d be no mercy. There’d be no redemption for me, and that thought made my chest ache.
I rounded a corner, ducking out of view of a security guard making his rounds. Just as I’d thought it safe to slide into her office, I heard the thud of the body hitting the floor, a sound I’d heard so many times there was no mistaking what it was. I glanced around the corner to see the security guard's body slumped up against the wall, his eyes closed and
body limp. It didn’t take long before I realized someone was after the same thing we were, but who? Whoever it was, they weren’t human. No human would have been fast enough to take out a security guard without me picking up a scent which could only mean… fuck.
I raced toward the council woman’s office, barreling through a thick wooden door that cracked and splintered as it crashed into the opposite wall. Before me was the council woman, her dark curls in the grip of a vampire I hadn’t seen in weeks. Marcus, one of the first vampires who’d disappeared in the last few weeks, peered up at me beneath a blanket of straight brown hair, his hand tangled in the council woman’s hair. With a grin that darkened his expression, he tugged at the woman’s hair, pulling her toward him as she scratched and punched at him, trying to get free. His brow lifted as he studied me.
“Jackson,” he hissed, drawing out my name in a way that had my skin prickling.
The red of his eyes had taken on a dark, almost purple tone, and his skin was much lighter covered in thick black veins. He’d been given the compound. It was clear in the way his pupils were dilated, giving him an almost maniacal appearance.
I lifted my hands in front of me, my palms facing him. “Marcus, this isn’t you.”
“You’re right, brother,” he said, tugging the woman’s hair again, making her fight harder.
She shrieked and I could see a shiver pass over him, as if he enjoyed the sound of it. Marcus had always been a bit of a bastard when it came to humans, but this was different. He pulled again, this time harder than the last and the scream that erupted from her had him damn near trembling as if the sound turned him on.
“Marcus,” I warned.
It did little good. He smiled, a mischievous grin that darkened his features. A shadow of rage passed over him and his muscles bunched, ready for a fight. Where before Marcus had no chance in a fight against me, now, I was dealing with a different Marcus. A Marcus 2.0, hopped up on drugs that kept him in a blood lust that amplified his abilities, much as it had done with Benny.
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