Damn. She shouldn’t have given him the advantage by sitting down. For a long moment he merely stood there, staring down at her. Then he sighed. “All right, Wheeler, get some sleep.” He strode toward her door and turned the handle. She wondered if he was wearing a wire and if one of her colleagues was in a van out back, recording it all. For her court case. Looking back over his shoulder, her boss added, “But I want to see you in my office this afternoon.”
“Great,” she said. At least she wasn’t under house arrest…yet.
The door closed on his reply.
The night’s events caught up to her. Xandra sagged against the couch. She wanted to just curl up there and go to sleep—to forget the sight of Mack Saunders being dismembered by a hive of feral vampires. She didn’t want to worry about what she would tell Jeremy when they met in his office that afternoon. She wanted to forget about Dante and her ill-conceived attraction to him.
But she couldn’t.
Vestiges of his touch lingered on her body. She could still feel the gentle press of his lips against hers, feel the scruff of his unshaven face. Darker images lingered in her mind. If she concentrated, she could almost remember his wrist pressed against her mouth and his melodic voice demanding that she drink. She pressed the heels of her palms against her eyes to block out the images. If she didn’t get some sleep she wouldn’t have the strength to deal with either Jeremy or Dante.
She levered herself up off the couch and staggered up the metal stairs to her loft bedroom. Stripping off the sweats and shirt, she stood under the shower’s steaming spray. The hot water served to ease the kinks from her muscles. She halfheartedly massaged shampoo into her hair and let the water pressure rinse it clean. Not even bothering to blow-dry it, she fell across the bed. Sleep claimed her as soon as she hit the mattress. Then came the dreams.
***
She huddled beneath the covers, the winter blankets and extra pillows wedged around her head to muffle the noise. But no matter how suffocating she found it to be, it didn’t stop the terrible sounds from the next room.
Pushing back the covers, she glanced at the door handle. She’d promised her mother that no matter what happened, no matter what she heard, she’d stay in her room. A promise she’d never broken.
A promise that was becoming more difficult to keep by the second.
First came the terrible scraping followed by an ear-rending scream. Then came those horrible sucking sounds. Still, it was the desperate whimpers that grew fainter with each passing second that haunted her the most.
***
Xandra bolted upright. It took her a moment to recognize her own loft. Her neck ached from the position she’d been sleeping in. In her thrashing, she’d dumped both her pillows on the floor. Remnants of the dream seared into her memory, even as her mind pleaded with her not to go there. She remembered the rain, hiding beneath her covers and the terrible noises coming from the living room.
A deep shudder worked its way down her spine.
“It was just a dream,” she whispered to the empty room. Her mother had perished that night, and she’d been helpless to do anything about it. Though many years had passed, the traumatized child inside her was still trying to exorcise her guilt.
The phone on her bedside table shrilled, making her jump. Xandra had half a mind to just let it ring. Let Jeremy talk to her answering machine. The machine kicked in.
“Hey,” Alix said. “Just wondering how the date with Dante Nolastname went. Don’t keep me in suspense. I’m at the club.”
Xandra snatched up the phone before Alix could hang up. “Hey!” She was shocked at how hoarse and tired her voice sounded.
“Wow,” Alix said. “Did he wear you out or what?”
“Or what.”
“Oh no.” For an embarrassingly normal person, Alix had a remarkably developed sixth sense. “Should I come over?”
Now she’d succeeded in worrying her best friend. “No, give me half an hour. I’ll meet you at the club.”
***
Alix looked up as Xandra poked her head into her office. A giant coffee complete with cardboard sleeve waited for her on the corner of Alix’s desk. She leaned against the desk and reached for her coffee.
“Thanks.”
Steaming hot and loaded with steamed milk and caramel, it tasted almost as good as dessert. Just what she needed after the kind of night she’d had. Actually a stiff drink would have served better, but she had that meeting with Jeremy.
“So?” Alix asked, putting a wealth of meaning into that single word.
“I don’t know where to start.” Xandra shook her head, sending waves of dark hair across her face. She usually tied it back into a ponytail, but she’d gone to sleep with it wet and once her hair caught a whiff of moisture, it rebelled. She’d decided to leave it that way. It made her look younger, more innocent. The tactic had always worked on Jeremy before. Even though she meant to look as harmless as possible to appease her boss, she was still packing a few weapons. Her purse was loaded with a holy water pistol as well as a couple of mini stakes. She’d snapped on her torque and cuffs as well. Usually she found them comfortable. Today the skin beneath the silver itched.
“Start with Dante Nolastname,” Alix prompted.
Xandra let out the breath she’d been holding. She settled into a chair and swung her feet up on the edge of Alix’s desk. Alix leaned back in her chair, waiting.
“Turns out Dante’s got good taste in food, for a vampire.”
She let that tidbit sink in while Alix’s eyes widened in surprise.
“He took me to a nice little restaurant.”
“Oh, like I’m going to accept that as a report. Come on girl, I want specifics!”
“I think we were actually enjoying each other’s company…until an underworld kingpin got whacked right in the restaurant.”
Alix choked on her coffee. “What?”
So Xandra told her everything. About Mack Saunders’s murder, the horde of feral vamps and Jeremy’s late night visit. She left out the details of what had happened between her and Dante. Jeremy might have Alix’s office wired.
By the time she finished, Alix was staring at her, chin propped on her hands, leaning across the desk in anticipation, her coffee forgotten. “Good God! Are you all right? What do you think got Jeremy all riled up?”
“I don’t know.” Xandra snuck in a little white lie. She would tell Alix anything, but she couldn’t run the risk that Jeremy or one of her own colleagues might be listening. “I could use some air. Have time for a walk?”
Catching the warning in her tone, Alix glanced around warily. “Sure.”
They strolled out into the cool afternoon. The rain that had plagued the city for the past week had finally moved off, leaving crystal blue skies and crisp weather. The sun didn’t burn, but her eyes found the light uncomfortably bright. Every car horn sounded impossibly loud. She hoped the side effects of taking Dante’s blood would wear off eventually, so she wouldn’t be doomed to a life of wearing sunglasses and earplugs.
“Too bad it turned out so rotten with Dante,” Alix offered, when they were sure no one was following them. “He’s a looker.”
“A good kisser too.”
“Damn, I knew it!” Alix made as if to look behind them, but Xandra stopped her. She took out her compact, pretending to rearrange a lock of hair that had fallen into her eyes and glanced behind them. The street was empty.
“Okay, I know what you’re going to say. Getting involved with Dante isn’t a good idea. Not when we’re kind of on opposite sides of the same case. Jeremy was really bent out of shape about it.”
“The man has a temper,” Alix observed.
“True.” Xandra had regaled her friend with tales of Jeremy’s legendary temper for some time. “But this was different. No matter what happened before, Jeremy’s always trusted my judgment.”
“Maybe there’s something about this Dante guy you don’t know.”
“There are probably tons of
things about Dante I don’t know. But—” She held up a hand to ward off Alix’s protests. “My gut feeling tells me I can trust Dante. And Jeremy was…well, different.”
“Different—how?”
“Meaner.” Finishing the last of her latte, she considered the question. “And that’s not all. I had one of my nightmares last night. A really bad one.”
Her friend stopped walking. She looked up at Xandra, the taller of the two, with genuine worry in her eyes. “After the night you had, I’m not surprised.”
Alix was the only person in the whole world who she’d even think of discussing her mother with. And even then, only very rarely.
Her friend studied her gravely. “Xandra, what happened to your mom was horrible. And you were only a little kid. You’ve had a tough few days. Jeremy’s upset with you. You feel vulnerable.”
They started walking again. “I thought that too. I’ve spent most of the day trying to convince myself of that. But I just can’t shake the feeling that there’s something really bad going down and everyone knows what it is except for me.”
“And I think you should pay attention to that gut instinct to be careful.” She looked around nervously, despite Xandra’s urgings not to. “I’m just a club owner, so my advice isn’t worth much. But somehow you’ve gotten yourself in over your head here. Watch out for Dante, if that really is his name.”
“What about Jeremy?”
“Watch out for him too. Whatever’s going on, it doesn’t sound good.” Alix glanced at her watch. “I’d better get back.” She gave Xandra a hug. “Be safe,” she whispered in her ear.
Watch out for him too. Alix’s warning echoed in her ears as Xandra climbed the steps to the nondescript office building that housed their administrative offices. She wondered if any of the accounting firms and computer graphics companies that occupied the lower floors knew what really lurked above them. Probably not.
She wished she’d taken time to eat breakfast or lunch. But then, if Jeremy was truly in an ugly mood, maybe it was better to have an empty stomach.
Swiping her security card, she pushed open the door that led to the hallway that housed Jeremy’s office. Voices echoed down the hallway. Jeremy’s and another that sounded oddly familiar. Mavis wasn’t at her desk, so Xandra continued on. Jeremy had demanded to see her. He could damned well make the time.
She peeked in the open office door. Jeremy noted the movement and looked up from his desk, annoyance crossing his features. “You wanted to see me?” Xandra did her best to look innocent.
But then she caught a glimpse of the man seated in the chair across from Jeremy. A man sitting in the so-called “hot seat” like he didn’t have a care in the world. A man with golden hair and amber eyes.
Dante.
Chapter Six
Jeremy centered her in the crosshairs of his blue gaze. “Come in, Xandra.”
She wiped every shred of emotion from her face and crossed the room to the second chair Jeremy kept in the corner. The boss wouldn’t be fooled by her impassive expression. He’d taught her how to do it. And until now, she’d always felt free to be herself around Jeremy.
Apparently not today. Xandra offered Dante a bland yet inquisitive smile, the kind strangers gave each other when they were trying to be polite. Jeremy noted the look and frowned. Dante got up to move his chair aside, so Xandra could pull hers up in front of Jeremy’s desk.
“You know Dante Rodriguez,” Jeremy said. A statement, not a question. The weight of a wealth of things left unsaid hung between them. Rodriguez. So he did have a last name. And apparently some Spanish ancestry. If Dante had revealed anything about their association to Jeremy, he made no mention of it, merely kept his face schooled to the same polite blankness as hers.
“Yes, we’ve met,” Xandra said, keeping up the pretense. Annoyance got the better of her. Last night Jeremy had threatened her. She hadn’t come to his office to play games. “My question is, what’s he doing here?”
Jeremy’s mouth tightened at the corners at her blatant question. Dante looked mildly amused.
“It would appear that the metro police are not pleased with the way we’ve handled our mutual concern.”
“What?” She whirled to face Dante. “You launched a complaint against me?”
“Not me personally,” he said in that low, smooth voice. “Mack Saunders’s family, however, are making a lot of accusations.”
“And that’s not our problem. It’s the police department’s job to serve and protect, not ours.”
Dante merely smiled. He leaned back farther in his chair, one denim-clad leg crossed over the other. He wore the soft leather jacket he’d been wearing last night. It seemed to have fared far better than her clothes had. But then, Dante hadn’t been attacked the way she had. She had to wonder about that.
“Technically that’s true, Ms. Wheeler,” Dante said, a mask of decorum. She wanted to swat him. Just last night Jeremy had warned her away from Dante, and yet here the man sat in his office like an honored guest.
“But that won’t stop the Saunders family from digging into matters they have no business interfering in,” Jeremy cut in. Xandra had the most awful feeling she knew just where this conversation was heading. “So, I have no choice but to take you off the case.”
The anger she’d kept bottled inside surged to the surface. “You can’t do that!”
Jeremy regarded her calmly, as if they were discussing the weather instead of a major blow to her career. “I just did.”
Dante focused his golden eyes on a mark on the wall over Jeremy’s left shoulder.
“It’s obvious your cover has been compromised,” Jeremy continued. “And you’ve been injured twice in less than a week. I’m putting you on a month’s leave.” He ran a hand through his gray hair. “Effective immediately.”
“Saunders’s family files a complaint with the police and you take me off the case?” She knew by Jeremy’s tone that she’d just been dismissed, but she refused to go. “That doesn’t make sense.”
“This case puts us all in a situation that has to be handled delicately,” Dante said.
“Our department can’t step in unless we can prove the vampires are a clear and present danger to society,” Jeremy said, repeating information she well knew. “But so far the vampires have only attacked members of the organized crime community.”
“And that makes it okay?” she protested. “We’re just going to step back and let the police look the other way?”
“Your questionable judgment is just another indication that you need some time off.”
Dante shot her a look of sympathy, which only intensified her fury.
“So go home, Wheeler.” Her boss leveled her a look that brooked no argument. “Before I call security.”
“I don’t believe this.” She got up and strode across the carpet to the door. Turning, she shot one last threatening look in Dante’s direction, then stormed down the hall.
Mavis caught her at the door to her own office. “Xandra.” The secretary’s voice sounded uncharacteristically timid. “Jeremy said you were to go straight home.” Behind Mavis lurked two members of the department’s security force in their black uniforms and Kevlar vests.
Xandra shot a furtive glance at her computer through the frosted glass doors. By now every byte on her hard drive had likely been searched. Her passwords had probably been disabled. She straightened and gave Mavis and the security team her friendliest smile. “That’s probably a good idea.”
Mavis looked immensely relieved.
The security team relieved her of her pass card, and she left the office empty-handed, except for the holy water and stakes in her purse. She made a show of hailing a taxi and driving away from the building, just in case Jeremy or Security was watching. She was certain they were.
The cab let her off around the corner. Xandra wandered into the mall that occupied an entire block. One of the entrances sat across the street from her office. The courthouse occupied the upper
floors of the building. She strode through the glass mall until she found a café that overlooked the street. The day was waning, the workers from the other offices starting to head home.
Xandra ordered a coffee and sat watching the window, waiting for Dante to leave.
Half an hour later, just as the sun dipped below the horizon, her vigilance was rewarded. He loped down the steps in a gait full of grace and restrained strength. With his motorcycle helmet dangling casually from one hand, he crossed the street and headed for the parking garage. Xandra followed him.
Underground tunnels connected the parking garage to the mall and the office buildings across the street. Is that how Dante had made the trip to Jeremy’s office? It was late enough in the afternoon. Perhaps that tinted motorcycle helmet he wore would protect him enough to make the trip downtown.
He strode up the ramp to the second level, where Xandra spied his motorcycle nested between a silver minivan and a fire-engine red PT Cruiser. She quickened her pace.
Seeing her coming, he dodged her assault, but she managed to grasp the sleeve of his jacket. “You son of a bitch! You set me up.”
Dante attempted to shrug out of her grasp, but she held on. And he let her. “Whoa!” He held up his hands in surrender. She let go of his jacket. “I didn’t set you up.”
“Oh, right.” Her hands clenched at her sides. “Then explain to me how Jeremy knew we spent the night together?”
At his stunned and wary expression, she almost gave him the benefit of the doubt. “I don’t know.”
“Sure.” She spat the word at him.
“Really Xandra, I don’t.”
“And you expect me to believe that?”
He shrugged, but she could tell by the expression on his face that he did want her to believe him. “Yes.”
“Well, I don’t believe you.” She paced away from him, then whirled to make sure he hadn’t jumped on his motorcycle to make a quick getaway. “You invite yourself on a date with me, and right in the middle of it all a well-known underworld kingpin gets whacked. And who does it but a horde of vampires. A phenomenon you’re supposed to be keeping an eye on, Mr. Vampire Liaison Officer. I get bitten, but none of them, not one of these supposedly deranged vamps takes so much as a sip from you!”
Feral Passion Page 8
