by Vivi Anna
“Leo,” she said as she swept through the door and toward the elevators. She pressed the up button, cursing under her breath that it was so damn slow.
Finally it arrived and the door slid open. She went in and pushed the button for her floor, then pressed the close button several times. “Come on. Come on.”
“Hold the door, please,” came a heavily accented voice from the foyer.
Olena saw the wrinkled and withered face of Mrs. Edda Jacobs come into view just as the door closed. She shrugged at the old witch. “Sorry, Edda.”
The door closed before she could hear what the cranky old bird said in response. She imagined it wouldn’t have been anything complimentary. The two of them had never gotten along in all the years that they both lived in the high-rise. Besides, what was an old woman like Edda doing out this early in the morning? It was barely 3:00 a.m.
The elevator couldn’t go fast enough. By the time it arrived at the twenty-fifth floor, Olena was impatiently tapping her foot and clenching her jaw tightly. When the door slid open she rushed out and ran to her door. She stuck the key in and threw open the door. Tossing everything onto the floor, she made a dash to the bathroom. Her white Persian cat chased after her down the hall.
She entered the bathroom, and after throwing open the shower stall’s door, she wrenched on the water taps. Bitter-cold water instantly rushed out. Her cat weaved her way through Olena’s legs, trying to get her attention.
“Not now, Marie.” Olena stripped off her clothes in one swoop, then jumped into the shower.
The icy water bit into her flesh like razor blades. “Ah, gods. That’s cold,” she shrieked. But she didn’t make a move to either step out of the shower or alter the temperature.
An ice-cold shower was the perfect cure for a sexual spell.
She stood under the arctic spray until her fingers, toes and every inch of skin was numb. Finally, she couldn’t feel the magic skimming the surface of her body, wriggling its way through her pores. She’d washed it away.
But no matter how much water she sprayed over her flesh, she could still feel the press of Cale’s lips on hers and the touch of his hands. That was something she didn’t think she’d ever rinse away.
The man was way more potent than any outside magical enchantment. Not even the most talented and proficient witch could sway her as much as he had.
She turned off the taps and stepped out into a huge terry cloth towel, heated by the towel rack.
Marie meowed at her from her perch on the counter by the sink.
Olena scratched the cat’s head. “Hello, little lady.”
The cat meowed again, sounding quite indignant, as she stretched up toward Olena’s fingers.
“Sorry for ignoring you. But it was important.
Trust me.”
She dried her body off, slid on her emerald-green robe, then gathering Marie in her arms, went into the kitchen. She needed some sustenance. The spell and its effects had wiped her of her energy. Hovering on the brink of release and not finding it was hell on a vampire’s system.
She opened the refrigerator and took out a bottle of blood. After twisting the cap off, she drained it in two greedy gulps. She set the empty down on the counter and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.
Marie meowed again, and pawed at the bottle.
Olena smiled. “No. You can’t have any of that. But I will get you some breakfast.”
She opened the cupboard to get the cat some food. Marie had been her only companion for a long time, thirty-some years. The Persian wasn’t a miracle cat. She’d just ingested a few drops of vampire blood at birth and now was very long-lived. Thankfully, she hadn’t inherited any of the other vampire genes. The thought of Marie drinking a saucer filled with O negative almost turned Olena’s stomach.
She was setting Marie’s food on the floor when a knock came at her door.
Startled, Olena pulled the tie on her robe tighter. Who could be at her door? No one could come up without first being phoned in.
Nerves shot up her spine, giving her an uneasy feeling. When she got to her door, she peered through the peephole. Valentino stood there, grinning happily.
“I know you’re there, Olena.”
She opened the door. “How did you get up here?”
“Invisibility spell. Quite simple really.” He said it with a prideful sneer. As if she’d be impressed with his trespassing.
“You have about two seconds to turn around and leave before I do something ridiculously painful to you.”
“I have information for you.”
“Why didn’t you give it to me before you deliberately spelled me and Agent Braxton into almost screwing on the hood of my car?”
He put a hand to his chest as if she’d insulted him. “I didn’t spell you. The club is a magic sex club, Olena. Just coming into the place put you at risk.”
She raised one eyebrow, not buying his story one bit.
“Besides I didn’t want to be seen giving you this information. Otto can be quite vicious when it comes to Luc’s affairs.”
“Affairs, as in sexual encounters or business dealings?”
“Both.”
She glared at him for another few seconds before giving him a nod. “Fine. You have two minutes.” She opened the door wider for him to enter.
As he stepped into her apartment, his gaze swept the front foyer. “Nice. I didn’t realize you were this wealthy.”
She glared at him. “I’ve lived a long time. Money is just one of the many things I’ve collected along the way.”
“Men being one of the others?”
“You now have one minute and thirty seconds.
Start talking.” She shut the door but never took her eyes off him. “And keep your hands in your pockets. I don’t want to find one of your juju bags full of whatever spells lying on my floor after you’ve left.”
“Wouldn’t dream of doing something like that.”
“Uh-huh.” She crossed her arms over her chest and stared at him. “What’s the information?”
“Luc does have some family around. A niece.”
“And?”
“I know that Otto doesn’t like her.”
“So?”
“Well, if you check Luc’s will, I’m sure it will say that he’s left everything to her and not to his longtime lover and friend, Otto.”
“Including his interest in your little magic sex club?”
He nodded.
Interesting. The information definitely went toward motive, and Otto definitely had means. But what did it have to do with Interpol? What would be their interest in a simple robbery and murder?
“Do you have a name, address?”
“Ivy Seaborn. Not sure where she lives. She’s only seventeen, but I believe she lives out on her own.
Both parents are dead. Luc was her only family as well.”
“Is she vampire?”
He shook his head. “Dhampir. From what I hear she’s pretty powerful in magic.”
“Sounds like you’re jealous.”
He sneered, and in his eyes she could see something dark. It was there for a moment and then vanished. “Not likely.”
She nodded, but she didn’t believe him. He was jealous. Either of this teen’s power or of something else.
Olena opened her door. “Time’s up. Thanks for the information.”
Grinning, he walked back to the door, but hesitated in the threshold. “You know, I remember you from the club.”
“I don’t think so.”
“Yes, I remember it well. Nineteen forty-two.
I was only a teenager then. But I can still recall a Russian beauty performing on the stage. It was the most erotic scene I’ve ever had the privilege of watching. It still fuels some of my dreams.” He eyed her up and down. She had the sense that he was trying to see through her robe.
She frowned, trying hard not to wrap her arms around her body. She didn’t want to give him the satisfaction. “That was ov
er sixty years ago.”
He waved a hand in front of his face. “Longevity spell. I have a lot of power as well, Olena. I’m not simply a sex-magic conjurer.”
“I’ll have to remember that.” She would remember that about him, and more. On the surface Valentino seemed genial and polite, but she didn’t think for one moment that his visit to her home was anything but rife with ulterior motives.
He stepped through the door, but before she could shut it on him, he put a hand out. “I wonder what your friends at the police would think about your depraved tryst at Phantasia. You put on quite a show.”
Olena just laughed. “Please, I’ve worked in the French court of Marie Antoinette. I have done far more decadent things.” She shut the door and locked it.
Valentino was kidding himself if he thought he had something to hold over her. Olena had been around long enough to not harbor guilt over what she’d done in the past. It just took too much time and energy to stress over the past. Especially since she had so much of it to stress over. Nearly three hundred years was a long time to exist while worrying about past transgressions. Besides that, her friends at the lab knew her well enough to know that there were some things she was never going to share with them.
And that was fine with them. They had skeletons in their own closets. That’s what made it so interesting to be working with them, she thought.
Padding into the other room, she snagged the cordless phone from a side table and punched in Gabriel’s cell number. He answered on the third ring.
“Bellmonte.”
“I have some new information about Luc Dubois.”
“Your trip to the club went well, then?” She could hear something odd in his voice.
“Were you sleeping?” she asked.
“Nope. Just resting my eyes.”
She glanced at the clock on the wall. It was four-thirty. She mentally smacked herself in the head.
Gabriel usually didn’t start his shift until six. She was usually on the night shift, coming into work at four in the afternoon and working until four in the morning or later. But this case needed more than her usual twelve-hour shift.
“I’m sorry, Gabriel. I didn’t realize what time it was.”
“Don’t worry about it.” She could hear him moving around, probably sitting up and reaching for his omnipresent pen and notepad. “What did you get?”
“Luc Dubois has a young niece. Ivy Seaborn. We need to run a search on her and get an address. She’s the recipient of his fortune.”
“Maybe his lawyer will have the particulars. I’ll put a call in right away.”
“All right. Thanks.”
“So, how’s it going with Agent Braxton? Are you playing nice with him?”
At the words, Olena remembered stroking her hands up and down Cale’s chest. Remembered his lips making their way down her chin to her neck.
Her heart picked up a beat just thinking about it. Oh, yeah, she was playing real nice.
“Yeah, everything’s fine. He’s not so bad.”
There was silence on Gabriel’s end. Then he sighed. “Why do I get the feeling there’s something going on that I most likely don’t want to know about?”
“Probably because there is.”
He sighed again, more heavily this time. “Okay.
I’ll see you at the lab.”
“I’ll be there in a couple of hours. I need a catnap.”
She hung up and went into her bedroom. She flung the robe off and padded across the thick ivory rug to the king-size platform bed. Flinging the duvet aside, Olena slid into the comfort of the cotton sheets. She nestled her head onto the pillow and closed her eyes. She just needed a good hour of sleep and she’d feel rested and ready to go again.
Except when she closed her eyes, images of Cale popped up. Cale grinning down at her, his hands molding her breasts, his eyes dark and dangerous. The tip of his tongue peeking out to lick his bottom lip. Every single thought of him was sexual in nature. Every single one. She was doomed.
She opened her eyes again and sighed. Despite the fact that she’d washed away the spell, she was still fully aroused. But the last thing she could do was sate herself with Cale. He was hands off. At least for now.
Chapter 12
Cale had stood in a cold shower for at least an hour. By the time he got out, his skin was wrinkled and he had uncontrollable shakes. But at least he didn’t have an erection. It had thankfully gone down after the first half hour. The next half hour under the icy shower spray was to make sure it stayed down.
Wrapped in a terry cloth robe and drinking hot black coffee, he sat on the sofa in his hotel room and dialed the number to Richard, his superior at Interpol. It rang five times before anyone answered.
“Alcott,” came a muffled male voice.
“Did I wake you?”
“As the matter of fact you did, Braxton. It better be important.”
“I need you to run a couple of names through the special case files.”
“You really didn’t need to call me this damn early for that.” He sighed. “Why can’t you call them yourself?”
“You know why.”
“Ah, right. Sorry. I forgot.”
Marta worked in the special cases section of Interpol. This was the place that gathered and compiled extensive dossiers on Otherworlders known to be involved with crime. That was how they had met, working a case.
“What are the names?” Richard asked.
“Luc Dubois, Otto Krause and Valentino De-
Costa.” Cale sipped his coffee. “I need everything on them. Business dealings, known associates, family lineage.”
“What do you have going there? Armed robbery, extortion, what?”
“Not sure yet. But I know there are a bunch of people involved.”
“Vampires?”
“And others.”
“Okay, I’ll get these names to Marta and call you when I have something. Call me if you need any more help.”
“Thanks, Richard.” Cale shut his cell phone and set it on the table. Taking his cup, he sat back in the overstuffed sofa and considered all the leads he had.
It didn’t take long because he didn’t have much. Just bits and pieces. Images of a bomb, which he’d gleaned from touching a piece of wire during another case, a group of vampires, a young woman with bright blue eyes. Nothing much when put all together. But after talking with Valentino and Otto at the club, he knew that either man or both were involved somehow. It was something to do with Luc and his business dealings. And not the legal ones.
Whatever was in his safety-deposit box at the time of the explosion was the key. Luc Dubois had been in possession of something that was worth a bundle. Something worth killing him over. After working so many cases, Cale knew it was almost always about money and power. No matter what species, people were motivated by only a few things—anger, lust and greed.
Lust. Now there was something he was getting right up close and personal with. He knew all about that one. Even now, without a sex spell, his thoughts of Olena turned carnal. It was difficult not to think about the woman in reference to sex. Not with her full, pouty mouth and luscious body. And he with his hands full of her generous breasts barely an hour ago. It was enough to make a grown man cry.
If he could go back in time to the club, he wasn’t sure if he would’ve agreed to let her go. He knew it had been the right thing for them to resist the temptation of the spell, but he wasn’t happy about it. Giving in to it would’ve been a much better plan in his mind. He’d certainly be a lot happier.
Cursing under his breath, Cale set the coffee cup down on the table and lay back on the sofa. He needed a couple of hours of sleep, then he’d be able to get back into work. The sooner he could solve this thing, the sooner he could move on. And the sooner he could forget about Olena Petrovich.
When he got back to the lab, he still had Olena firmly on his mind. It didn’t help that the moment he saw her in Gabriel’s office, his body clenched in re
sponse.
She avoided his gaze as he entered the office. He nodded to Gabriel, who was sitting on the edge of his desk.
“Get some sleep, Agent Braxton?”
“Not much.” He risked a glance at Olena. She was looking at Gabriel, but by the faint smudges under her amazing eyes it looked as if she hadn’t gotten much rest, either. He was smug enough to enjoy that a little.
“Olena’s gotten some new information that has given us a good lead.”
Cale swiveled around to look at her. “When did this happen?”
She moved out of the shadows and came to sit in one of the visitor chairs in front of Gabriel’s desk.
“I had a visitor.”
Her fluid movements gave Cale a whiff of her alluring perfume. It took all he had to not take in another noseful.
“Who?”
“Valentino.”
“That snake,” he growled.
She nodded. “That was my thought as well.”
“What did he tell you?”
“The name of Luc’s niece. Ivy Seaborn.”
Gabriel opened the file in his hand. “I was able to get a copy of the victim’s will and it names Ms.
Seaborn the heir.”
“She gets it all?” Cale asked.
Gabriel nodded. “Everything.”
“I wonder how the boys feel about that.”
“From what I could sense from Valentino, he wasn’t too happy,” Olena said. “But he was even more thrilled to inform me that Otto wasn’t happy, either, since he expected to be named in Luc’s will.”
“It doesn’t work as a motive to kill him, though.
It wouldn’t make any sense, especially since the girl would get everything.”
“No, it doesn’t,” Gabriel interjected. “And what, if anything, does it have to do with the safety-deposit box at the bank?”
“We need to track down this niece,” Cale said. Thoughts of the girl with the piercing blue eyes flashed in his mind. He wondered if this was part of his vision.
Olena produced a piece of paper and waved it in the air. “Done. Got her address.”
“Luc Dubois’s lawyer has tried to contact Ms. Seaborn, but with no luck,” Gabriel added. “So she may not even know her uncle is dead.”
