“I want to share something with you.”
“Does it pertain to the Aglaea division?”
He laughed. “Yes. Meet me at midnight.”
I looked around. “I’m free now. I’m at Rockefeller Center. How about I meet you for cheesecake at Junior’s? My treat.”
“No. Not until later. Midnight, the Financial District. It’s quiet then.”
Quiet in New York City was a relative term. But the Financial District would be a ghost town at midnight. The fact that he wanted as few people around as possible worried me. He knew I wasn’t working with any authorities, so he couldn’t be concerned about entrapment. And if someone followed me, a legitimate possibility, it would be easier to ditch the tail in a crowd.
Of course, there was the possibility he was a vampire himself.
“They call it the witching hour. The perfect time to discuss Aglaea.”
Way to ease my concerns, ass wipe. Witching hour was three in the morning, not midnight like everyone assumed, but for all I cared, he could repeat that mistake on his next cryptic phone call.
“I’m not sure I want to meet Hades at the witching hour.”
“Don’t make me sorry I called you, Rachel. I’ve already told you more than I should.”
I read his implied threat loud and clear.
“As a sign of my good faith,” he continued, “I will give you information that will prove I have knowledge of the inner workings of Aglaea.”
“I’m listening.”
“I know you found a suicide pill, and I know you had it analyzed.” He paused. “I’m sure the technician looked for toxins. He found VX, but you need to ask him if he looked for specific inert elements.”
“And what should he have looked for?”
“Blood cells. Ask him the unusual aspect he found and then tell me tonight at midnight. I’ll explain the significance.”
“How do I know you’re not working for the military?”
“No, my precious ewe. I’m the one trying to save you from your slaughter.”
A chill ran down my spine. “Am I about to be slaughtered?”
“One could say you’ve already been slaughtered metaphorically. But perhaps you’re being offered up as a sacrifice by someone else.”
“Who?”
“I’ll tell you when I see you at the address I’ll text to you.” Then he hung up.
Shit. I needed to get back to the hotel to see if I could dig up any information on anything he’d told me. And I needed to call Tom, my contact in the coroner’s department, on the way. He’d arranged for the pill to be tested.
I pulled up Tom’s number in a hurry, and to my relief, he answered right away. “Rachel? I’m surprised you’re calling me. Now.”
“You saw my report.”
“I can’t believe you did it.”
“You don’t believe me, either?”
“I didn’t say that. I just can’t believe you put yourself out there like that. It was a brave thing to do.” He laughed. “Stupid, but brave.”
I shook my head. “Thanks. I think. But there’s a reason for my call.”
“I figured as much.”
Ouch. But Tom had a point. I only called him when I needed something. Every time I swore to myself that the next time I called him it would be just to chat. But it still hadn’t happened. I knew I needed to treat Tom with more care, if only because I did need him.
As a forensic scientist in New York City, he had access to the kinds of information that could help me with my own investigations. I couldn’t officially use it in my reports, but it often either pointed me in the right direction or confirmed facts I’d already uncovered. I’d been in New York for a year and I’d known Tom for ten months. Truth be told, he was probably my best friend in town.
Other than Lea. But who knew when I’d ever see her again.
I definitely needed to treat him better. “I’m sorry. I’m a shitty friend. I’ll make it up to you.”
“You already owe me, remember? The wedding?”
“Of course.” I’d agreed to go to his co-worker’s wedding with him in exchange for his help with the pill.
“Are you gonna have time to go with everything else going on?”
“Of course.” I hoped.
“So what do you need?”
Now I really felt like shit. “I guess it pertains to the favor that got me the wedding invitation in the first place.”
“The fingerprint?”
“No, the pill.”
“Crap. That’s what I was afraid of. What about it?”
“I need to know about the inert compounds in the pill, specifically whether your friend found any blood cells. And anything specific regarding them.”
“Rachel, they test for specific things they’re interested in finding. But he found organic compounds, so he checked further.”
“Wait, you’re telling me the tech knew to look for VX when he ran the tests?” I asked in disbelief. “A nerve toxin that was supposedly completely destroyed in the 1950s?”
“Okay, so I told him to look for the unusual.” He paused. “Do you have any idea what else you’re looking for?”
“I don’t know. Something unusual about the blood cells. If I can tell him what it is, he’ll explain the significance.”
“Him, who?”
I sighed, rubbing my forehead. “I don’t know who he is. But he knows things, Tom. I think he can help.”
“Help you do what?”
“Stop the evil people who are behind this whole scheme. If everyone refuses to listen to me, I’ll have to bring these guys down myself.”
“Rachel. That’s crazy.”
“When did that ever stop me? They pissed off the wrong person, Tom.”
“I’m going to regret this, but how soon do you need it?”
“Not to worry, you have a few hours. Midnight.”
He cursed under his breath. “Then I’ve got work to do.”
And so did I, if I was going to be ready to meet the guardian of the underworld.
CHAPTER 5
LEA
“Hold my hand, Cazador.” Ivan reached for me. I plopped my hand in his and bore down, my nerves getting the better of me. He grunted. “Okay, maybe that was a bad idea.”
My eyes were glued on the front door of the hotel. Four lanes of traffic and the sun shining onto the entrance like a veritable hammer. If I thought we could have waited a half hour, I would have done it. “Hurry.”
I’ll give him credit—he didn’t hesitate. With a jerk, he all but dragged me into the road as I struggled along in the high heels. The sun cut into my bare arms and legs, slicing into me like a dull, rusted razor blade.
The blare of a horn, screech of tires and the screams of someone royally pissed off could barely be heard above the thumping of my heart. A hiss slipped out of me.
And it hurt like a motherfucker. “Hurry,” I repeated.
Ivan scooped me into his arms and I curled into his neck to protect my face. “Talk to me, it’ll help block the pain. What’s your name?”
“Lea.” I drew a breath, my body shuddering as I fought to keep my focus. “Are they looking?”
“Yes.”
“Fuck.”
I tightened my grip on him. It was a piss-poor plan, why had I gone along with it? I knew better than to go out without weapons, without being covered. Yet Ivan had thrown this ridiculous outfit at me and I’d jumped into it like he was the one in charge.
We burst through the doors and the shadows and overhead lighting of the hotel lobby were a soothing balm on my exposed skin. I let out a sigh and Ivan lowered me to the ground. He kept an arm around my back. “They were watching, but not like they knew you.”
I took a swift look, peering over the top of his shoulder. The closest black sedan could be seen through the glass doors. Ivan was right; the men weren’t even looking at the hotel anymore.
“How are we going to find her? They probably have her room flagged, too.” Ivan ste
ered me toward the front desk.
I glanced up at him. “What makes you an expert?”
“I was an enforcer. It’s what I would do.”
I stepped up to the desk. The matronly concierge smiled brightly at me. Her eyes all but twinkled when they landed on Ivan. “Welcome to the Hilton. How can I help you?”
Her eyes were blue, so pale they were almost gray. Staring into them, I reached out and touched her nametag. “Mary,” I said in a soft, lulling voice, “I need to know what room a friend is in. And I want you to forget I asked as soon as you tell me.”
Her smile slipped at the edges, and her eyes lost focus. “Of course.”
I leaned forward, keeping eye contact with her. “Rachel Sambrook. I need a key card to her room.”
Her fingers flew over the keyboard. “Seventh floor, room 710.” She slipped a key card into the card reader. When it buzzed and clicked, she pulled it out and handed it to me. I took it and tucked it into my cleavage.
“Damn, that’s smooth.” Ivan squeezed my side and I flinched. Not because it hurt, but because it already felt far too natural to have him by my side.
I was not in the market for a pet. Certainly not one his size.
I backed up, my stilettos clicking on the tile. “Forget me, Mary.”
“Who are you?” She frowned and put a hand to her forehead.
I said nothing as we backed away.
“Seriously,” Ivan said as we turned our backs to the desk and Mary, “that was damn slick. Does it work on werewolves?”
When we reached the elevator bank, I paused and stared at the doors. The last time I’d been in an elevator, things hadn’t gone so well. “Stairs.”
I led the way to the discreet door in the corner of the lobby.
Ivan took several big strides to make it there before me, then held the door open. I glared at him, but he didn’t seem to notice. “You didn’t answer my question.”
“I’ve never tried. Werewolves are stubborn.”
“Ah, so you’ve noticed.” He grinned at me from a few steps above. I didn’t grin back.
At the seventh floor, Ivan peered out the door and took a long slow breath. “Just humans, nothing nasty waiting.”
I grunted softly. “For the moment.” I pushed past him and caught a glimpse of myself in a mirror at the far end of the hall. Bright red dress, raven black hair, stilettos that gave me an additional three inches but still didn’t make me as tall as Ivan. My reddened skin was already repairing itself.
“Stop staring at yourself; you look good.”
My eyes popped wide, but I refused to give him the satisfaction of seeing me shocked. I kept my back to him and strode down the hall. But the damn heels weren’t working with me. They sunk into the soft carpet and seriously impeded my movement. I stopped and pulled them off, then walked the rest of the way to Rachel’s room barefoot.
I knocked, not expecting an answer. Her scent was faint, suggesting she hadn’t been here for hours. I paused, thinking the scenario through. If the men below were going to take Rachel, they’d want to do it quietly. They’d wait until she’d been back in her room for a while, wait for her to relax. Which meant this was where I would wait on her.
The key card blinked a steady green when I put it in the slot. I opened the door a few inches with one toe, then put my face to the opening and breathed in. Nothing but Rachel.
A sigh of relief slid out of me as I stepped into the room.
Ivan of course followed. He stretched as he paced through the room, then flopped down onto the bed. “Nice. Maybe we could come back here sometime.”
Time to set him straight. “Ivan, let me be crystal-fucking-clear. You and I are not an item. I’m tolerating you only because you did help me get in here.”
“And I helped you get into the TV station,” he pointed out with a far-too-innocent look in his eyes.
I glared at him. “Rachel is going to show up in a very short time and you will leave when she does. Understand?”
He shrugged. “I do what I want. And I know stuff.”
I rolled my eyes. “Please, you think that is going to work on me?”
“Hoping.”
I paced the room while we waited, and Ivan was smart enough to keep his mouth shut. Rachel should already be here.
I was about to go looking for her when the doorknob rattled. I raised a palm to Ivan, keeping him where he was. Just in case.
The door whooshed open and Rachel stepped in. Her eyes were on me in a flash and her hand went to the small of her back. I grinned. “Like the new clothes?”
“Holy fuck, Lea. You scared the shit out of me.” Her eyes flicked to Ivan. “Who’s that?”
“Ivan, meet Rachel,” I said.
He stood and held a hand out to her. I batted it down. “No, you are not making friends. Time to go home like a good doggy.”
“You’re going to need me again.” He swatted my ass as he went past, then slid out the door without another word.
“What the fuck was that?” Rachel shook her head. “I feel like I just walked into one of those weird dreams after eating too much spicy food at the market.”
“Long story.”
Rachel moved further into the room and slumped into a chair. “Okay, I know this goes without saying, but obviously you aren’t on a plane.”
“Obviously.”
“Why not? And what’s with the dress?”
I sat on the edge of the bed, letting the crinoline skirt bunch up. Feeling exposed in more ways than one. “I couldn’t leave you here to face the fallout on your own. Not when I was the one who pushed you to do it. And the dress is courtesy of the suits downstairs.”
“You didn’t make me do anything, Lea. And I saw the suits. Waved a finger at them.” Rachel grabbed her ponytail and absently tugged on it. “I will admit this is probably one of the worse days I’ve had in a long time.”
“Worse than last week?” I raised an eyebrow.
She laughed, but it was forced. “Okay, the worst normal bad day I’ve had in a long time.”
We sat in silence for a minute before I sucked it up. “I knew the fallout was going to be bad.”
“Yeah, so did I.”
I rubbed a hand over my face, wincing at a couple of burned patches on my skin. “No, I knew it was going to go south... I...”
“Spit it out, vamp,” Rachel snapped.
I stood up. “Fuck, Rachel. I used you as bait. How many people saw the report? Someone who knows about Stravinsky’s work will reach out to you. I was banking on it.”
Her blue eyes flicked downward. Just a heartbeat, but there it was.
“Someone already has, haven’t they?”
She stood, putting us nose to nose. “You threw me under the bus?”
“Yes.”
“You bitch.”
I grinned. “Isn’t that why we work so well together?” Ivan really was a bad influence on me.
Her mouth dropped open and she burst out laughing. “Shit. I want to hate you, I really do. But I would have done the report even if you’d told me I was being baited.”
I couldn’t help but heave a sigh of relief. A soft knock turned us toward the door. I took a sniff and frowned. “Ivan, go away!”
“I have your clothes and I think you’re going to need them.”
Rachel went to the door and grinned over her shoulder at me. “He’s cute. I like him.”
“He’s a werewolf,” I said as she opened the door. Ivan strolled in like he owned the place and handed me my clothes all rolled up. I grabbed the edge of my dress and yanked it over my head as soon as Rachel shut the door.
Ivan spun his back to me. “Give a guy some warning, would you?”
“Don’t expect me to be shy—” I whipped on my top and pants and bent at the waist to pull on my boots. The position put me eye level with the window.
Three sets of eyes stared back in at me. I moved with care. “Rachel, you remember those things that attacked us outside of the bakery?
”
“Yeah, why?”
“Don’t move, but we’ve got the same monsters.” I finished dressing, put my weapons in their places, and pulled the cowl over my head.
Ivan let out a low growl. “What the hell are those things?”
“Personally,” Rachel said, “I like the name demon dogs. They climb walls, have no fur, and are generally a pain in the ass.”
Her calm delivery was a cover for the stress that spiked in the room. “The door, Ivan.” I stepped back as the dogs started to claw at the glass, shattering it within seconds.
Ivan yanked the door open, and I grabbed Rachel and leapt into the hallway. Ivan tried to wrestle the door shut, but the demon dogs’ pale legs jutted out around the edges, digging into the wood. “They’ve got their claws between the door and frame. I can’t shut it.”
I yanked a silver stake from my boot. Lunging forward, I slashed down and cut three of the legs off. Howls rent the air and Ivan was able to slam the door shut.
“That won’t hold them long,” Rachel said as we strode toward the elevator. The light above it binged and the metal doors slid open.
Eight men in dark suits, guns out, spilled onto the floor.
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” Rachel breathed out.
I had to agree. “This way.” I pulled her toward the stairs just as another four men poured out of the stairwell doorway.
“You see, Ivan? Bad idea following me around.” I moved toward the smaller group of men. The stairwell would be easier to defend if it came to that.
“Oh, I knew what I was getting into.” He flexed his back and a low growl trickled out of him that curled down my spine. I shivered and focused on the task at hand.
“Lea, we can’t kill them. It’ll only convince them we’re dangerous and they’ll send more men next time,” Rachel said. I wanted to let out a sigh of frustration, but the first bullet zipped by.
“They don’t seem to have the same concern.”
I grabbed her and zigzagged down the hall. Ivan was ahead of us. He grabbed the first man just as his gun went off. The werewolf’s only reaction to the direct hit was to jerk and let out a snarl. The bullet popped back out of his bulky bicep and dropped to the floor as Ivan hefted his attacker into the air. Unless he was wounded with something silver or by another supernatural, he’d heal faster than me.
Replica (The Blood Borne Series Book 2) Page 3
