On the Edge of Infinity (A Vampire SEAL Novel Book 5)

by S. B. Alexander

  “Do you remember anything that happened to you?” Nicki had lifted his spell a few days ago.

  “I had a heart attack,” he said. “Aside from that, my life has been a blur for the last several months.”

  Ben winced as his reddish-brown eyes flickered to bright red. “He doesn’t remember anything. I’ve asked him.”

  I opened up a telepathic connection with Ben. Ease up on the emotions.

  He shook his close-shaven head and responded with, Sorry, sir. I’m tired.

  Ben no longer defied me or gave me attitude like he had when he was human and a jealous guy after Jo’s love. He’d fought his physical change for months until he showed up on base, asking for our help. I could understand that he wanted a normal life, but what Ben was now was anything but normal, and he had to learn to accept what fate had given him. Unlike us, Ben was a pure human with no natural-born vampire gene. He hadn’t had a choice when Edmund injected him with a second-generation batch of vampire serum.

  “Ben, why don’t you head down to your room and get some sleep,” I said. “Your father is in good hands in the infirmary.”

  “Go, son,” Mr. Jackson said. “I’m not leaving.”

  Ben unfolded his large physique and patted his father on the shoulder. “I’ll be back later.” Then he sauntered out.

  I moved to Ben’s spot, only I didn’t sit. “Your son has been a great asset to our team. He’s going to make a fine soldier when he’s done with boot camp.”

  I stole a look at Jo, who was as beautiful as ever with her long black hair tied back in a braid, her cheeks flushed, her smile stunning. I love you, I said to her telepathically.

  Her smile grew to large proportions, causing my insides to spark to life.

  “Thank you, Lieutenant,” Mr. Jackson said. “I would like to spend some time with my son before he resumes his training.”

  “I’m sure we can arrange to give Ben some leave,” I said. “But it might be a couple weeks before we can let him go.” If we had to trek to Alaska, then we would need Ben to be part of that mission. His strength alone would serve us well.

  “That’s okay. It will give me time to take care of some things regarding my mother’s death.”

  I cupped my hands in front of me. “I’m so sorry for your loss.” His mother’s heart had stopped suddenly at Nicki’s hands. Nicki had scared the ninety-year-old woman to death. “I need to run, but if you need anything, do let us know.” I crossed the room to Jo. “Can I see you for a minute?”

  “Mr. Jackson, I’ll be back later,” she said.

  We closed the door on our way out. “What does he remember?” I asked.

  She batted silver eyes at me. “I read his mind. He remembers finding his mother dead, the funeral home, and the fire. Then waking up here.” She bit her lip. “We need to tell him what Ben is. Mr. Jackson is too astute not to see the changes in Ben. I want Ben to be happy. And he won’t be unless he has his father in his life.”

  “Can we table Mr. Jackson for now? We have a call with Crysta in about ten minutes.”

  “Did she find Edmund?” Jo’s voice hitched.

  “Let’s go find out.”

  Jo and I navigated the halls of the main military compound, where the heart of all action took place. Offices, meeting rooms, the lab-infirmary, the mess hall, the control room, and the barracks made up the four-story building.

  “Are you feeling okay?” I asked.

  Since she’d read Nicki’s mind, Jo had resurrected her past demons, and that had zapped the wind right out of her. She’d been quiet and withdrawn, and she didn’t want to talk about what she’d seen in Nicki’s memories or what was going on in her own head. I suspected she’d thought of her asshole of a foster dad, who had taken it upon himself to try to have his way with her. The end result—she’d been stabbed twice by him. I’d always promised myself I would kill the guy, but he was human, and Jo didn’t need to relive what had happened.

  We passed the elevators, making our way to the exit sign and the stairs. I needed to keep moving and not sit idle, or else I would fall asleep. The last three nights, Jo had slept in her room in her father’s apartment, while I’d slept in my bed at my quarters on base. Needless to say, without Jo in my arms, I couldn’t catch an hour of shut-eye. Then again, I was damned if she was in my arms all night because then I wouldn’t get any sleep anyway.

  “Why did my dad let Jonah escape with him?” Jo asked.

  Steven had gotten a release from the elders since Nicki had confessed. Jonah, on the other hand, hadn’t been so lucky. Steven had protested, wanting Jonah to remain on base, but the elders had been steadfast in abiding by vampire laws. I’d been relieved. I didn’t trust Jonah, no matter how much Steven read his mind or how much he trusted Jonah. We didn’t have time for an enemy to jump ship and join us.

  “I suspect it was your father’s way of testing Jonah. But it’s a moot point now.”

  She stopped on the fourth floor landing. “So my dad isn’t getting his hand slapped for escaping custody?” Her voice echoed.

  I snaked an arm around her until my hand was seated in the curve of her lower back. “Sounds to me like you want your dad back in jail.”

  She angled her head, exposing her creamy neck and carotid artery that was pumping furiously. My fangs dropped as she pressed her chest into me. I lowered my head until my canines were grazing her neck. My body hummed and tightened, while my throat burned to take a sip of her blood.

  She moaned as I licked a path from her neck to her ear.

  “We can’t,” I whispered in a voice that was familiar yet foreign.

  She slipped her hand in between us, rubbing me everywhere. But when she lingered on my groin, the stairwell darkened. I pushed her up against the wall and was about to sink my fangs into her when my phone trilled, freezing me as the sound pierced my eardrums. I eased back, or more like wobbled, before I checked my phone. A text from Tripp read, Crysta will call in five minutes.

  Jo heaved a breath, her cheeks pink, her eyelids hooded.

  I rubbed my chin, thinking of sea turtles and otters so my cargo pants would loosen. Suddenly, I was glad we hadn’t slept in the same bed for the last three nights. My resolve was close to breaking, and at any moment, we would be naked, entwined, and making love for weeks.

  13

  Jo

  Webb and I made it from the stairwell to Dad’s office in the control room. With all the foreplay he and I had been doing for the last month or more, I was surprised Webb hadn’t caved on his promise not to make love to me until we were married. But I smiled, knowing we were closer to taking out Edmund, which meant our wedding was closer. Lately, all I could think about was a Christmas wedding. I thought it would be beautiful to get married amid red and white poinsettias, Christmas trees, lights of all colors, and in a room filled with family and friends. If I wanted that wish to come true, then we had about five weeks to kill Edmund.

  The desk phone rang, jolting me back to reality.

  Dad pushed a button on the phone, which sat atop a metal desk separating Tripp and me from Webb and Dad.

  “Go,” Dad said.

  “So who is in the room?” Crysta asked.

  “The commander, Webb, Jo, and myself,” Tripp said.

  Normally, the entire SEAL team would be part of the meeting, but Kraft and Kodiak were out on a small job. Sam was in the training room, working with Matthew, and Olivia was stuck with babysitting Abbey, although she’d told me that she’d been enjoying the little girl and the distraction from war, death, and Edmund. I couldn’t blame her. With Dr. Case in a jail cell, I’d been helping Dr. Vieira nonstop with targeting a dosage for the antidote.

  Crysta cleared her throat. “Here’s what you’re up against. The warehouse is two or three football fields in size. A high security fence secures the compound. You know, like the ones that you find around prisons. There’s been minimal activity up until today. Several truckloads of new humans were brought in and off-loaded. I did see Patrick Ma
son but not Edmund. I’m trying to get blueprints of the place. I have a buddy in Anchorage who can help me get access to the city planner’s office.”

  Webb’s focus was on the phone as though the piece of technology held the magical recipe for shutting down Edmund and his operation. “What about access points?”

  “Two gates in and out. Guards are all over the place—outside the perimeter, inside the perimeter, and on the rooftop. I won’t know how many doors go into the building until I can see the plans. I could only scope out three sides. The fourth butts up to a mountainside, almost as if the building is tucked into it.”

  “Are the guards human or vampire?” Tripp asked.

  “Both, according to the cool glasses you gave me that distinguish a human’s body temperature from a vampire’s. However, the human guards are only on the rooftops. I’ll have more information tomorrow when I get my hands on the blueprints. I would start planning your mission. In fact, if I were you, I would blow that warehouse to pieces. Take everything out in one shot. Anyway, if you don’t have any questions, I’m going to sign off.”

  “Crysta,” I said. “What type of weapons are the guards carrying?” We needed to know if they were armed with guns that shot the bullets filled with the sedative. If that wasn’t the case, then Dr. Vieira and I didn’t need to worry too much about the antidote.

  “I’ll double-check tomorrow,” she said.

  Dad leaned slightly over the desk, his mouth closer to the speaker. “One more thing. Any sign of Rachel?”

  “No, sir. But I’ll check with my contact. This isn’t that big of a city, and locals know when new faces are in town.”

  “Be careful, cousin,” Tripp added. “Edmund could have a slew of locals working for him.”

  “Got it. Talk soon.” Then the phone went dead.

  For two beats, no one said anything. I imagined the three of them were calculating a plan. As for me, I didn’t know what to say. I was on board with following their orders unless they wanted me to stay away from Edmund, which I couldn’t do. He would die by my hand, no matter the consequences.

  Dad moved toward the door. “We’ve got a lot of planning to do. Tripp, get two men and take inventory of the weapons. Webb, get a large map up in the war room and also a head count on soldiers available. That includes the other SEAL team as well.”

  “Sir,” Tripp said to Dad. “Agent Thomas and Wyman will be here in two hours.”

  “I can read their minds,” I said.

  Dad gripped the doorjamb. “We need to do this by the book. We’re dealing with humans and their government. We don’t know what they know. Edmund and Patrick could’ve prepared them for our supernatural powers. Besides, we need to follow our vampire laws and not reveal what we are to humans, especially the CIA. I would like to stay out of jail.”

  Webb kissed me on the head. “See you later.” Then he and Tripp left.

  “I have to run up to the apartment,” Dad said. “I forgot my phone.”

  “I’ll go with you.” I’d been wanting to talk to Dad about Mr. Jackson and about my dream. With everything going on, I’d barely had time to see Webb, Sam, or Dad.

  After a two-minute trek from the control room up to the fourth floor, Dad and I were in the open-plan apartment—a massive room that blended the living area with the kitchen. While Dad disappeared into his room that was tucked away down a short hall, I ventured over to the expansive wall of windows, standing in the path of the sun’s rays that spilled in. I closed my eyes, feeling the warmth of the sun and relishing the calm before whatever storm lay ahead.

  “Are you ready for that storm?” Dad asked.

  I flinched. I didn’t even hear him come back. “I’m ready for a life without running, fighting, and always looking over my shoulder. So yeah, I’m ready.”

  He sat down on an ottoman in front of the oversized chair and tied his boot.

  I moseyed over and eased down on the sofa adjacent to him. “Dad? Will you allow Ben to explain to his dad what he is?” Webb had gauged Mr. Jackson’s overall demeanor but hadn’t spent enough time with Mr. Jackson to tell if we could trust him. “I know we have laws, but Ben wants a relationship with his dad, and Mr. Jackson should know what his son is.”

  Dad straightened. “Pumpkin, we have too many other things to worry about right now. And I’m not sure telling Mr. Jackson what Ben is is the smartest thing to do. Let me think about it. I would also have to run it by the council.”

  I played with the seam on the leg of my jeans.

  “What else is on your mind?” He chuckled. “I’m seeing an empty brain right now.”

  I laughed. “In my dream, your dad said I would be the one to kill Edmund. Do you believe he’s right?” Deep down, I knew my grandfather spoke the truth. But I wanted validation from someone who was alive and not in my dreams. “Do you also believe what he said about Abbey is true too?”

  His green eyes searched mine. “My dad always had an ability to see into the future. He knew you and Sam would be powerful. He knew when you would be born. He even knew that your mom wouldn’t live long enough to see you and Sam grow up. So, yes, I do believe him, although I don’t want you to fight Edmund.”

  Silence ticked by as I waited for an onslaught of all the reasons why Dad wasn’t going to let me fight. But when second after second passed, it became clear that he would support me.

  Dad’s phone rang. “Rachel,” he said, “where are you?”

  “How’s Abbey?” Rachel’s voice held fear and sadness.

  Dad walked over to the window. “Abbey is safe. Tell me where you are.”

  Rachel sniffled. “I can’t.”

  “Hello, Steven,” Edmund said.

  I flew off the sofa to stand next to Dad.

  The furniture in the room began to shake as Dad’s face reddened.

  I grasped his wrist, shaking my head, then mouthed, “Calm down.”

  He inhaled then exhaled slowly. “Edmund, you know you’re not getting your daughter.”

  “Oh, I will, because I’m sure you don’t want me to kill Rachel.”

  “Don’t listen to him, Steven,” Rachel yelled. “I’ll die before I let him have Abbey.”

  Dad’s fangs lowered as his nostrils flared.

  “Your silence says you’ll listen,” Edmund said. “So if you want to see Kraft and Kodiak again, then you will comply with my request.”

  Dad wrenched a hand through his black hair, silver banishing the green in his eyes. “Bullshit. No way you have my men.”

  Edmund belted out a sickening laugh. “I’ll send you proof.” The line went dead.

  Tension, fury, and rage—soupy, thick, and suffocating—poured off Dad. Even though I wasn’t an empath, every one of his emotions strangled me.

  Dad stormed out faster than a 747 airplane at top speed.

  For a split second, I didn’t know what to do, then the door slammed so hard that glass shattered from somewhere in the kitchen. Nimble and fast, I darted out of the apartment and into an empty hall. I had no idea where my father had gone, but I knew he wouldn’t do something as stupid as exchange Abbey for his men. I sprinted through the halls, down the stairs, and into the control room. I ran by desk after desk until I was in the doorway of my dad’s office. But it was empty.

  “What’s wrong?” Sawyer asked.

  I turned toward the vampire with kaleidoscope-colored eyes. “Have you seen my father?”

  “No. He left with you,” Sawyer said.

  I hurried out and checked the war room. Empty. I navigated every office on the second floor, even Webb’s. Empty. I did the same on the third floor. No Dad.

  I called Dad’s phone. It rang until the line clicked to voice mail. I hung up and darted down to the basement. As I did, I called Webb. The line rang and rang. Argh! I was about to head to the training room to tell Sam what was going on, when I heard voices coming from the opposite end of the hall where the weapons room was located.

  “Commander,” Tripp said. “What are you doi
ng?”

  I rushed into the weapons room to find Dad collecting daggers, stars, swords, and a gun. I caught his arm. “Dad, stop.”

  Black threaded through Tripp’s bronze eyes. “What happened?”

  My dad growled, the sound downright scary, as the guns and daggers on the table before us started dropping to the floor or flying across the room.

  I stomped my foot on the tiled floor to let the elemental energy of the earth fill me. Then I sucked in all the air in the room as Tripp grabbed onto his neck, unable to get a breath.

  “Get out,” I said to Tripp.

  He obeyed faster than a speeding train.

  My dad hardly felt my wrath like Tripp had. Then again, he was as powerful as me. He didn’t stop in his quest to pack weapons into a duffel bag.

  I tried again to squeeze the air from his lungs, not to hurt him, but to weaken him so he would stop. But the more I sucked the air out of the room, the faster every dagger and star in the room flew around us, swirling like a tornado.

  If Dad wanted to play, then I would. I fisted my hands at my side and concentrated on each dagger until they were all pointing at him. Then I moved so I was facing him. I lifted my arms up and out. “Dad, please stop and talk.”

  “No,” he said in a voice I didn’t recognize. “Edmund will die.”

  “I don’t want to hurt you, Dad.”

  The muscles in my arms were taut, holding the daggers steady, ready to stop my dad.

  “You can’t hurt me.”

  The door flew open. Before Dad or I could react, Webb tackled Dad to the floor. The daggers clanked and rolled, while the stars Dad had been holding in midair embedded in the far wall.

  Dad shoved Webb off him. “None of you are stopping me.”

  Both men brushed themselves off as they stood.

  Webb glanced at my dad. “What are you talking about?”

  “Edmund has Kraft and Kodiak,” Dad said.

  Webb reared back. “Impossible. They were trailing Agent Thomas and Wyman.” He looked at his watch. “Kraft and Kodiak should be back any minute.” Webb rushed over to the doorway. “Tripp, call Kraft or Kodiak. See where they are.”