by Tina Folsom
“I’m on it.” Blake nodded, a look of confident determination on his face. He looked at Delilah. “We’ll find her. We’ll get her back. I promise you.”
Then he waved at John, a vampire who’d joined the ranks of Scanguards two years earlier after leaving New Orleans and Cain, the king he’d served for almost two decades. He’d needed a new environment after a tragedy had befallen him, and Samson had provided him with a new home and a new purpose at Scanguards.
“What do you want me to do?” John asked, his southern accent still pronounced.
“Take a couple of men and interrogate the audience and the student actors. I also want all the stage hands and any of the University employees who were on site looked at.”
“You’ve got it,” John answered and walked away.
While Blake issued more orders, Katie squeezed her brother’s hand before releasing it and approaching Samson.
“Samson, I want to help. Please tell me how I can help.”
He glanced at her, giving her only the briefest of looks. “There’s nothing you can do. Scanguards will take care of it.” He turned toward his son and wife. “Where’s Patrick?”
“He’s with Damian and Benjamin.”
Samson nodded. “Join them and make sure everybody gets home safely.”
Katie felt somebody tug at her sleeve and pivoted.
“You should go home, too,” Wesley suggested.
“I can’t, Wes. It’s my fault. I changed roles with Isabelle. I didn’t tell Blake.”
“Go home, Katie,” Samson snapped behind her.
She whirled around and stared into his furious eyes.
“I don’t want to see you right now. Can’t you understand that?” he gritted from between clenched teeth.
Oh God, yes, she understood it. He knew it was her fault, and he was trying hard not to let his anger out on her. She had broken protocol by not telling Blake about the role change so he could adjust his security detail accordingly. It was her fault that there’d been moments where Isabelle hadn’t been guarded.
“I’m so sorry.”
“You heard my father,” Grayson interrupted, a protective arm around his mother’s back. “Leave!”
“Let’s go.” Wesley put his arm around her. “I’ll take you home.”
Reluctantly Katie allowed her brother to lead her toward her dressing room. Out of earshot of the vampires, she stopped and turned toward him.
“Wes, please, I want to help. I feel responsible. If I hadn’t changed roles with Isabelle, she would have been on stage, and maybe this would have never happened.”
“You can’t know that. Whoever took her probably just waited for the right moment.”
“But one of Blake’s men would have been there had he known Isabelle was going to be on her own backstage. I should have told him.” She felt tears well up in her eyes. But she couldn’t cry. Crying meant admitting defeat.
Wes opened the door for her and motioned to the interior. “Get changed. I’ll wait here for you, and then I’ll take you home.”
When the door closed behind her, silence suddenly greeted her. The voices and sounds from the corridor were muffled in the small room. She reached behind her back, trying to find the zipper, but the fabric tightened across her chest, making it impossible for her to reach far enough back to open the dress.
A sob tore from her chest. “Damn dress!” she cursed.
Frustrated, she ripped the door open. “I can’t get this stupid dress off,” she wailed at Wes who stood there.
“Oh, Katie,” he murmured, reaching his arms out to her.
“I’ll take care of it, Wes,” Yvette suddenly interrupted.
Katie looked at her sister-in-law as she came toward them, grateful for her concern. Yvette, beautiful with her long black hair and elegant in her figure-hugging red dress, ushered her back into the room and closed the door behind them.
“Hey, honey,” Yvette murmured and pulled her into a sisterly embrace. “It’ll be all right. We’ll find her. Scanguards takes care of their own.”
Katie sniffled and lifted her head to look at Haven’s mate. “I feel responsible.”
“Don’t,” she demanded. “Now let’s get you out of this dress.”
With expert hands, Yvette helped her get undressed.
Katie wiped her tears from her eyes. “Are the kids scared?”
Yvette rolled her eyes while she handed Katie a T-shirt. “The younger ones maybe, but the older boys are all suddenly turning into Rambo. Even Cooper.”
“But he’s only sixteen!” And in Katie’s eyes, her nephew was still a child, though he probably wouldn’t have liked to hear that.
“Don’t I know it? But he hears the twins talking about joining the search and off he goes, begging his father to let him help, too.”
“But Amaury’s boys are hellions! They aren’t like Cooper.” Cooper was a lot more sensible. More the thinking kind.
“Yeah, and guess who they got that from. Damian is cut from the same cloth as his father, and Benjamin is just like Nina. And together they’re unstoppable once they’ve gotten something into their heads. No wonder Amaury and Nina stopped having any more after those two.”
Katie sighed and pulled her jeans up. “Aren’t all hybrids like that? Thinking they’re invincible?”
“All hybrids of the Scanguards family sure are. They see their parents and what they do for a living, and they think that every vampire is like that: a fighting machine out to right all wrongs. They’re gonna have a rude awakening one day when they realize that not all wrongs can be fought and defeated. I try to instill that in Lydia and Cooper, but whenever they get together with the rest of the bunch, they want to be superheroes!”
“Can you blame them?” Katie put her hand on Yvette’s forearm, thankful that her sister-in-law was preventing her from spinning out of control. “They see their parents as superheroes, and they want to be just like them. Your kids want to emulate you.”
Yvette raised an eyebrow and tilted her head to the side. “Why do I suddenly feel like you’re trying to butter me up, sis?”
“I’d never do that,” Katie claimed. “Though there is one thing you could do for me, since you have Level A clearance at HQ.”
Yvette shook her head. “The answer is no.”
“You don’t even know what it is.”
“The answer is still no.”
6
Zane slammed his fist on the table, clearly enraged. The silver chains with which Luther was tied up rattled from the impact. They didn’t do any damage to his ankles, since those were covered by his pants, but the shackles around his wrists were another story. They burned painfully into his flesh. But he didn’t flinch. There was nothing Zane could do or say to make him change his answers.
“As I already said, I have nothing to do with the disappearance of Samson’s daughter.”
He blinked against the glaring lights in the underground interrogation room. The room was two stories high, with only one door and a mirrored window high up, facing the table Luther sat at. He assumed that somebody was watching from up there.
“Very odd coincidence then that you showed up here the same night, don’t you think?” Zane flashed his fangs. “Care to explain?”
Not particularly. “Maybe I was in the mood for a cable car ride or a stroll down the Embarcadero.”
The back of Zane’s hand slashed across Luther’s cheek, whipping his head to the side. But Zane would have to be a lot more forceful to do any damage. The time in prison had increased Luther’s tolerance of pain to a level that, to most other vampires, would appear impossible.
“That’s enough, Zane!” a voice came from the door.
Luther shot the newcomer a glance.
Eddie marched into the room. “Take a walk, Zane, I’m gonna have a word with him.”
Zane growled, but stepped back. “I’ll be back with my instruments later.” He turned and walked out, slamming the door behind him.
What he
meant by instruments was pretty clear: the bald vampire with the short temper intended to inflict pain by torturing him. What a waste of everybody’s time.
“Didn’t get a chance to say hi earlier,” Luther said to Eddie instead, turning his attention to his protégé. “You look good.”
“You don’t.”
Luther shrugged, motioning to his shoulder and face, both of which sported fresh wounds, which had already stopped bleeding. In a few hours he’d be as good as new. “Hazard of the trade.”
Eddie remained standing and leaned over the table, placing his hands flat on its surface. “Why are you here, Luther?”
“Can’t I look in on my protégé?”
“You didn’t come to see me. Not after what happened the last time we saw each other. We both know that. So cut the crap.”
Luther dropped his gaze to Eddie’s hands. The gold ring on Eddie’s ring finger was hard to overlook.
“So you’re married now. Who to?”
“He’s married to me!” Thomas’s voice came through the loudspeaker and echoed in the empty room. “Now answer his questions.”
Only mildly surprised, Luther looked up at Eddie. “Congratulations. So I was right then.” And though he didn’t want to admit it, he was pleased for Eddie. At least he’d found himself and the happiness he deserved.
“Why are you here, Luther? You still hate them so much that you want to make them suffer? Is that it?”
“I’m all fresh out of hate.”
It was the truth, but it didn’t make him feel any better. Because the disappointment still sat deep within his bones, still gripped him day and night and didn’t let him go. No matter what he tried, he couldn’t shake it, couldn’t get over the betrayal. And the guilt that surfaced with it. Because in part, he was to blame, too.
“Fine, you don’t wanna talk. Then let’s watch a little movie together.” Eddie’s voice sounded calmer now. He motioned up to the window, giving his lover behind the impenetrable glass a sign. “Thomas, run the surveillance footage.”
A moment later, a panel in the wall retreated and in its place, an oversized monitor appeared. The image on it was black and white and grainy, but Luther had no trouble recognizing the place where the video had been taken: in the corridor of the university.
Samson’s daughter, dressed in a long burgundy gown, her hair in an upswept hairdo, looked not unlike Katie. In fact, with their hair made up the same way, and wearing similar dresses, they could easily be mistaken for sisters. Though, of course, in reality Luther would never mistake Isabelle for Katie. Something had stuck out about her. Something he didn’t see in Isabelle, something about the eyes.
But before he could think on it more, a man appeared on the video. He seemed to say something to Samson’s daughter, though there was no audible sound. Luther had expected that. Eddie had mentioned earlier that the video didn’t have any audio.
The struggle was short. Despite her hybrid powers, Isabelle couldn’t shake her attacker. But her lips moved, and Luther leaned forward.
“Who is he?” Eddie asked.
Luther shook his head, watching Isabelle’s lips move again and again. I’m not in Berlin? It didn’t make any sense. Was he reading her lips correctly? Why Berlin? No, he had to be wrong. I’m not Amberly? That didn’t sound right either. For a moment he tore his gaze from the monitor.
“I don’t know him. The angle of the camera. It makes it impossible to see his face.”
He watched as the man dragged his victim away, his hand over her mouth now to prevent her from screaming.
“I can’t help you.”
“That’s not good enough.” Eddie turned toward the observation window. “Lie detector?”
“I’ll set it up,” came Thomas’s voice through the speakers.
“Lie detector?” Luther scoffed. “Haven’t you forgotten one tiny detail? I’m a vampire. Polygraphs only work on humans.”
A proud expression crossed Eddie’s face. “Thomas invented one especially for vampires.” He leaned closer. “Just a word of warning: the UV blasts sting.”
“Well, that’s just perfect, isn’t it?” As if he needed any more burns on his body.
7
Katie ducked into a niche and watched as Thomas left the observation room. The moment he turned a corner, she rushed toward the closing door and jammed her foot between door and frame before it could close again. She peered through the gap and saw her brother Haven sitting at the controls.
Relieved she slid into the small room and closed the door behind her.
Haven whirled his head to her, growling. “What are you doing here, Katie? Didn’t you hear Samson?”
She walked to him and pulled the chair next to him out from underneath the console.
“How did you even get in here? HQ is practically on lockdown.”
Katie shrugged, giving him a sheepish smile. “Sorry, but I had to come. I know in my gut that I can help. I have to do this.” She leaned toward him, giving him a brief hug.
Haven was a big softie who loved her and couldn’t deny her anything. As if he wanted to make up for the time when he hadn’t been there for her. A long time ago, he’d risked life and limb to find her after she’d been abducted as a baby. He’d since made peace with the man who’d taken her, because it had been vital to keep the balance of power in the vampire and witch world.
“Please,” she murmured, employing all her sisterly charm. “Just let me watch. Maybe I’ll see something that will help us find Isabelle.”
Haven sighed. “If Samson catches you here, you’re on your own.”
She kissed him on the cheek. “You’re the best.”
He rolled his eyes. “Apparently somebody else is even better, otherwise you wouldn’t even have made it inside headquarters.”
She opened her mouth to respond, but Haven lifted his hand. “I don’t want to know whether it was Wes or Yvette. Then at least I won’t have to get mad at either one of them.”
Katie smirked. “That’s why we all love you.”
“Yeah, right.” He turned back toward the window and looked down at the goings-on in the room below.
“What are they doing to him?”
“Lie detector test.”
“What?”
Katie peered down into the room. Luther’s shirt was gone. His hands were chained to the table, his feet to the floor. A big machine on wheels stood next to the table. Thomas, with Eddie’s assistance, was placing electrodes onto Luther’s chest. She leaned closer to the window, focusing her eyes on Luther’s skin.
“Oh my God,” she murmured to herself. Luther’s chest was marred by scars. She strained, trying to get a better look. Burn marks? By the looks of it, there were many of them, large and small. She could only imagine the pain they must have caused when he’d obtained them.
“I thought vampires didn’t scar.” Katie exchanged a look with her brother.
“Maybe those are from when he was human.”
She nodded and changed the subject. “Does a lie detector test even work on a vampire?”
“This one does,” Haven claimed. “Thomas designed it.”
“He’s kind of a genius, isn’t he?”
“Yep, pretty brilliant. Though Eddie isn’t far behind.”
“How does it work?”
Haven shrugged. “Can’t really explain it the way Thomas can, but basically, when a vampire who’s strapped to the machine has the urge to answer a question with a lie, the electrodes administer a blast of UV light to his skin, burning him.”
“So a lie detector and torture device in one? But how does the machine know if a vampire is lying?”
“In principal it’s similar to how a human lie detector works. Something to do with subtle changes in the vampire’s aura that the naked eye can’t detect, but the machine can. And as soon as it does it sends a signal in the form of a UV blast. Pretty effective, if I may add. I’ve seen it in action.”
“How?”
“Eddie and Thom
as tested it out on each other. Made sense. Because of their bond, they could immediately sense when the other one would lie and then program the machine accordingly.”
Curious, Katie peered down into the room. Luther appeared calm, as if he’d resigned himself to his fate. As if he didn’t care what happened to him. An odd calmness emanated from him. It was Zen-like. It fascinated her, made her want to know more about him, and find out what went on behind the unreadable façade of his handsome face.
“He said to Samson that he was in prison for twenty years. What for?” she asked, turning to her brother.
“A murder plot.”
At Haven’s short answer, she gasped. “Murder?”
Her brother nodded. “It was before my time, and nobody talks about it much. But apparently he was trying to kill Delilah and Nina. Delilah was pregnant with Isabelle at the time. The attempt was thwarted by Scanguards, and Luther was put away.”
Open-mouthed, she stared down at Luther. “No wonder Samson was so enraged. Do you think Luther came back to finish the job? Maybe kill Isabelle instead?”
Ice shot through her veins at the thought.
“He denies having anything to do with it, and from what I’ve seen so far, I’m inclined to believe him.”
Haven pointed to the monitor to his left, and Katie followed his gaze. An image of a corridor was frozen on the screen. She recognized it. It was the area near the dressing rooms.
“He denies knowing the guy who took Isabelle. And from the partial face we have, so far we haven’t found a match in the databases. We’ll know more after the lie detector test. But no matter what the result is, Luther is dangerous. He’s not like us. He’s a criminal.”
Katie involuntarily shivered at her brother’s assessment. She could blame the air conditioning in the room, but she knew it was her body’s reaction to the man who was being interrogated.
Thomas and Eddie stepped back from Luther, giving her a good view of his scarred torso once more. Her fingers itched with the need to caress the marred skin, to feel for herself the damage that had been done to his body. As if she needed proof that he was somebody she had to stay away from. Somebody she should not find as fascinating as she did.
