by AE Jones
The Pursuit – A Novella
Mind Sweeper Series Book 4
AE Jones
The Pursuit
A Mind Sweeper novella that delves further into Jean Luc and Talia’s story.
Thirty years ago, Jean Luc Delacroix believed he had found his mate in Talia Walker—until she walked out on him. While he has honored her wish to be independent, he cannot forget her. And when they’re thrown together again, Jean Luc’s feelings reignite. This time he will do whatever is necessary to make her his.
Talia learned everything she knows about love—and about being a vampire—from Jean Luc. But the memories of her forced turning and loss of humanity compelled her to strike out on her own to prove she could take care of herself. When she comes face to face with Jean Luc again, she wonders if her continued independence is as important as being with the vampire she still loves.
Before either can acknowledge their feelings, they are embroiled in a deadly case. A killer vampire is draining humans. When suspects are uncovered, the very foundation of the vampire nation is threatened. And when they get closer to the truth, and Jean Luc’s life is in danger, Talia risks her own life to hunt down the killer.
Will Jean Luc and Talia finally find the courage to follow their hearts? Or will the killer destroy them first?
Becky –
Thanks for taking this writing journey with me and making it fun in the process. Your support means the world to me.
Chapter 1
The woman lying on the lounge chair by the pool was movie-star gorgeous, even in death. Instead of a bathing suit, she wore a barely-there negligee of lavender satin. Early morning sun glinted off her expensively highlighted hair. Long lashes rested against her perfectly formed cheeks. And she had perky, bow lips. Talia had heard the expression but hadn’t understood it until today. This woman had obviously lived her life as the center of attention. Had that same attention lead to her death?
Well, at least Talia’s job with the Bureau of Supernatural Relations was never boring. There was always some supe messing up in front of humans, and she and her partner, Will, would then have to cover it up. But this? Her stomach turned. This wasn’t something they could cover up easily.
“Should I call the police?” Will asked.
“No.” Talia knelt down and examined the woman more closely.
“No? I don’t like where this is going, T. We can’t take her body.”
Talia stood. “We take bodies all the time.”
“Yeah, supe bodies. Never a human.”
“Well, there’s a first time for everything. If we don’t take her, how are we going to explain to the coroner about the twin puncture wounds on her neck?”
“Damn.”
She clenched her fists. God, what a waste. “It’s still early. Hopefully we don’t have too much of a containment issue yet.” She looked across the pool to the gangly man pacing back and forth. His T-shirt read Vegas Pool Services. “The pool boy found her?”
Will smirked. “The pool shifter-boy found her.”
Talia cringed inwardly. She should have sensed he was shifter. Shit. That meant he’d probably heard what she said. She glanced over at him. Yep, his scowl confirmed it.
What was wrong with her? She never slipped up on the job. She was at a murder scene, for God’s sake. It had to be the past week catching up with her. Between the shifter rebellion they had just squelched with the help of the Cleveland team and seeing Jean Luc again, she was still out of whack. But Jean Luc was on his way home, and she’d managed to avoid having any type of serious conversation with him.
She took a deep breath. Her personal drama would just have to wait.
“I’ll go talk to the witness. Can you pull the van around so we can load her in before the neighborhood wakes up? And give Nicholas a call. We don’t need our fearless leader stroking out on us if he hears about this from someone else.”
“Sure thing,” Will replied.
Talia walked around the pool to the shifter who had stopped pacing and now stood glaring at her.
“Sorry about the pool boy crack; it’s been a long morning already.”
“Tell me about it. I wasn’t expecting to find a dead human at my first stop today.”
She held out her hand to him. “I’m Talia Walker from the BSR.”
He grabbed her hand and shook it quickly. “Steve Williams.”
“How long ago did you find her?”
He checked his watch. “I called your office right away, so about forty-five minutes ago.”
“Do you know anything about her?”
“Her name is…was…Melanie Thomas. She was single. She moved in here about a year ago. Told me she was retired.”
Talia looked over at the woman lying on the chaise. She couldn’t have been much more than thirty. Talia then took in the pool with the high fence surrounding it and the back of the large house before turning back to her witness. Her eyebrows rose in question.
Steve held up his hands. “Hey, I know how it sounds, but that’s what she told me. I think she had a sugar daddy or whatever the norms are calling them these days. She paid me on time, and the rest was none of my business.”
“Did you ever meet anyone else here?”
“You mean a vamp like you? Nope. I never sensed any supes around here.”
Talia narrowed her eyes.
He shrugged. “I saw the bite on her neck when I found her, which is why I called you instead of the cops. This is going to cause big trouble, isn’t it?”
Dead human. Killer vampire. She watched Will come around the fence carrying a body bag. Now they were exacerbating the situation by stealing the body. Big trouble? What a monumental understatement.
* * *
Jean Luc turned onto the Vegas Strip. At night, humans and supernaturals were drawn to the strip by the neon promise of escape. But as he drove along in the early morning light, the city seemed to wilt in on itself. As did the tourists who trudged from one hotel to the next, determined to see as many glitzy sights as they could.
Jean Luc stopped at the light. He would be facing his own determined female soon enough. In truth, she was not his female anymore. But he planned to rectify the situation. If Talia would let him. She was not expecting him, and he had no idea if the surprise would work to his advantage or make it worse. He was supposed to be on his way back to Cleveland with Kyle and the rest of the team, since the shifter case here was resolved. Instead, he had dropped them at the airport, and Kyle had given him a last minute pep talk.
“Remember, she still cares for you. I can tell.”
Jean Luc was not as convinced as Kyle appeared to be, but he was willing to take a chance. He had pulled her duffle bag out of the trunk and placed it in her hands, turning her toward the airport doors. “Text me when you land, ma petite.”
Kyle spun around. “So what are you going to say to Talia?”
Why did she leave me? Does she still care for me? “I do not know yet.”
Kyle scowled at him. “What do you mean, you don’t know? Don’t you think you should figure those things out first, before you go see her? Am I going to have to tell you what to say, too?”
A whistle sounded, and a policeman gestured at him to move along. “I need to move the car, Kyle. Let us discuss this later.” He shooed her toward the door.
She had shouted over her shoulder, “Call me when you need help!”
A car horn sounded, and Jean Luc jerked back to the present. The traffic light had turned green. He put his foot on the gas and headed down the strip again.
Talia was still amazing. When he first laid eyes on her again a week ago, her be
auty had almost stopped his heart. Not that he needed it to remain beating in order to live. She had cut her hair so it framed her face. It had been gorgeous when it was long and wavy, but now her face was the center of attention. Perfect mocha skin and brown eyes with flecks of gold. When she was angry or aroused, the gold actually glowed. And it was obvious her vampire powers had far surpassed even his expectations when he had trained her thirty years ago.
He still had not prepared anything to say for the moment she opened her door. But something would come to him. He had not remained alive for the past four hundred years without the ability to think on his feet.
His phone beeped, and he glanced over at it on the passenger seat. A text from Kyle flashed on the screen. Don’t blow it, Frenchie.
Chapter 2
Talia closed her eyes and stood perfectly still while the warm water sluiced down her body. Not that a shower could wash away the memory of the dead woman, but she needed a couple minutes to herself.
She was finally alone. The Cleveland supe squad had left early that morning, and five minutes after they left, she and Will had been called out to deal with the body. The past week had been stressful enough—what with shifter pack coups and collateral damage that had turned her house into a temporary hospital.
She turned off the shower and reached for a towel. Oh, who was she kidding? The stress had more to do with one ridiculously confident and sexy vampire.
Jean Luc.
It had been twenty-five years since she’d seen him. How could he still affect her so? He still had that wonderful, long black hair he tied back in a queue. One look into his dark eyes, and the room spun. Damn him. But she’d hid her attraction to him well. She’d become a master at burying her emotions. Because he’d not shown any emotion. Cool and collected the whole time. And now he was gone. She could return to her normal life. The one she’d chosen when she pushed him away.
But first she needed to track down Melanie’s killer.
Talia tucked a towel around her before wandering into her bedroom. She heard a splash and glanced out the window overlooking the back yard. Will was doing his morning laps, his way of relieving stress. It was a cold morning for Vegas, but that didn’t keep him from his daily ritual. He hadn’t been able to come over during the past week because of all her houseguests, especially since he liked to swim nude. Shifters weren’t shy as a rule. She smiled and went to her closet. As far as partners were concerned, he was a good one. If he wanted to swim nude, she didn’t have a problem with it. She wasn’t shy, either.
After dressing and going downstairs, she decided to make coffee for Will. Even though she couldn’t drink it anymore, she still loved the rich fragrance. Maybe she would make him an omelet, too. There was still some food left over. Unless Will brought his own food, her refrigerator was normally bare. Except for her bags of blood, of course.
She padded into the kitchen, started the coffee, then pulled out a frying pan and prepared the eggs. She hadn’t cooked anything for herself in decades, but she still remembered how. She used to be a pretty good cook, but eating was one of the pleasures stolen from her, along with her humanity. She tightened her fist around the spatula, bending the metal slightly. Stop! She hadn’t thought about her turning for a long time, and dwelling on it didn’t help. Seeing Jean Luc had brought it all back. If not for him, she might still be in hiding.
Jean Luc was the reason she had finally embraced her vampire nature. It was either that or cease to exist, and she wouldn’t give the bastard who turned her the satisfaction. One day, she would find Chris and make him pay.
She watched the eggs bubble in the pan. Hmm. Too soon to touch them. Patience was needed when making omelets…and when planning revenge.
After a few moments, she folded the omelet, reached for a plate, and slid the eggs onto it. Perfect.
The doorbell rang, and she frowned. Who could that be, at this hour? She headed to the door and faltered as tingling ran up her spine and teased her brain. Shit. It couldn’t be. There was only one supe who did that to her. She strode to the door and yanked it open.
“Jean Luc.”
He didn’t answer, instead gazing at her face as if memorizing it.
Her throat tightened. “Has something happened? Where is everyone else?”
“Nothing has happened. I dropped Kyle, Doc, and Jason off at the airport. I am here because there are things I wish to discuss with you.”
She took a slow breath to keep her heart from speeding up. She would not let him sense her anxiety. “What do we need to talk about?”
He smiled slightly. “Are you going to invite me in for this discussion?”
Talia shrugged and stepped back from the door, allowing him into the hall but maintaining the distance between them. She led the way into the living room and gestured him to a chair, but he continued standing. The smell of eggs and coffee drifted into the room, and he turned to look toward the kitchen door.
“Have I interrupted something?”
She was not going to take the bait. The sooner he said what he needed to say, the sooner she could usher him out of the house. “What do you need to discuss?”
He hesitated again, which surprised her. Jean Luc was one of the most decisive males she had ever known, supernatural or not.
“I want to know how you are doing.”
She resisted the urge to huff like a spoiled schoolgirl. “Jean Luc, what is this? You stayed in my house for a week. And now you came all the way back to ask how I’m doing?”
His eyes tightened. “There was too much pandemonium before, too much that needed to be taken care of. I wanted to speak with you alone. I—”
“Is there a problem?”
Will stood in the doorway, a towel wrapped around his still-damp body. Said towel left nothing to the imagination.
Jean Luc took in Will’s appearance, and his eyebrow rose slightly. “There is no problem, is there, Talia?”
“No, everything’s fine, Will. Go eat your breakfast.”
Will smirked. “You treat me so good, partner.” He turned and sauntered out of the room.
Talia barely resisted rolling her eyes at his retreating form. What the hell was that all about? She turned back to Jean Luc who, if she wasn’t mistaken, was gritting his teeth. But that couldn’t be right. He couldn’t be jealous. Not after she’d left him. Not after all this time.
“What were you saying?”
Jean Luc’s gaze moved from the empty doorway to Talia’s face. “I want to know that you are doing well, that you are content. Are you happy here in Vegas?”
“Yes. I’ve settled in. The supernaturals in the city keep us busy, and Will’s a good partner. Are you happy?”
Jean Luc nodded stiffly. “Yes. Misha and I have been in Cleveland for ten years now.”
Talia smiled despite the tension rolling up her spine. “I miss that crazy Russian. Is he still eating enough food for a family of four?”
“Yes. He has turned Kyle into his pastry supplier.”
Talia’s stomach burned. Kyle. What the hell was she to Jean Luc? She definitely had something going on with the shifter leader, but she bore Jean Luc’s mark. He had bitten her. Talia bit her lip to keep herself from demanding answers.
Jean Luc continued, “It has been good to stay in one place. Doc and Jason are also wonderful additions to the team.”
She nodded. “You have a family now.” Which is what Jean Luc needed. And she was still alone. But that had been her choice.
He stared at her hard for a moment and opened his mouth. Were they finally going to get to the reason he came back?
His phone rang, and he closed his eyes at the interruption.
“Are you going to answer it?”
“No.”
After a few more rings, the phone went silent. And he took a step closer to her.
Her phone rang. She glanced over at the coffee table where she had left it and saw Nicholas’s name flash on the screen.
“Sorry, but I have to ge
t this.”
She walked over to the table to pick up the phone.
“Nicholas.”
“Is Jean Luc with you?”
She turned to face him. “Yes.”
“Good. He’ll be staying to help with the situation.”
She narrowed her eyes at Jean Luc. “We don’t need any help.”
“I disagree. Bring him up to speed, and when Marty is done with the autopsy, have him call me with the results.”
She ended the call.
“What situation?” Jean Luc asked.
Oh no, he wasn’t doing this. “Save it. You could have just told me up front that Nicholas had you stay.” Of course he hadn’t really stayed to see her.
He frowned. “That is not what happened—”
“Sorry to interrupt again,” Will announced from the doorway.
Talia swallowed a rude retort. Her partner had horrible timing. But at least this time he was wearing clothes. “What is it?” she snapped.
“Marty just called. He’s finished the autopsy.”
“Okay, let’s get moving, then.”
“I am going with you,” Jean Luc announced.
Talia glared at him. She didn’t have time for an argument, and Jean Luc had four hundred years of stubbornness going for him. “Fine. But I’m the lead on this. Got it?”
His right eyebrow rose infinitesimally. “Oui.”
She didn’t believe him for a second, especially when he hauled out the French.
Chapter 3
Jean Luc prided himself on his self-control. But at this very moment, it took every fiber of his being not to eviscerate the cocky shifter in the passenger seat of the van enjoying the omelet Talia had obviously prepared for him.
What exactly was happening between them? While Jean Luc and the others had been staying at Talia’s house, Will had spent little time there. But now he was back. And more than comfortable parading naked in front of Talia. Jean Luc took a deep breath, willing his fangs to retract.
