by K. L. Kreig
Neither of them spoke as they stared each other down, the air thick with tension. Renaldo had to be thoroughly enjoying this and would never let him live it down. Just peachy.
“So I see your pet is safe and sound, Elle.” She moved so fast, all Mike heard were two bodies thumping against the wall.
“You shut the fuck up, Ren.”
Ren laughed, holding his hands up in the universal surrender position.
“Easy wildcat. Just making an observation, is all. No offense intended.”
Giselle let Ren go, muttering curses under her breath. She stormed out of the office without so much as a word to him or a glance back in his direction. Yep, Mrs. Hyde was back in full force. He didn’t know why and didn’t plan to delve too deeply into it, but deep down her disregard cut him to the quick. Wow, what a pussy thing to think. Had he suddenly grown a vagina?
To his surprise, Ren didn’t say a word about the compromising position that he’d caught them in. Hell, Mike should be falling at Ren’s feet, thanking him for interrupting what would have most definitely been the biggest mistake of his sorry life. Instead, Mike stayed silent while Ren thoughtfully regarded him.
“Glad to see you’re alive and in one piece, Detective. What did Elle tell you?”
Mike sighed and walked back over to the couch before sitting down on the plush furniture. Fuckers had a lot of money that was for sure. His head throbbed and suddenly he had a hard time concentrating. He was simply exhausted.
“She told me that my life was in danger and that I had to stay here for the time being. Unless I had a death wish. Which much to my, and probably your dismay, I do not. At least not yet. I have some things to accomplish before I spend eternity in a different kind of hell.”
“Wow. You are the most depressing and cynical human I have ever encountered. You need therapy, my friend.”
Mike didn’t respond. The truth hurt.
“There are a couple of extra bedrooms on the third floor. I’ll show you where you can lay low until the danger passes and you can go back home. We’re getting close to finding Xavier, and hopefully recovering those missing girls, which I know is both of our priorities.”
“Wait. Girls? What girls?”
“The missing girls. You do remember the case you’re working on, right, Detective?”
“Yes, but I only know of one missing girl. Sarah Hill. Have you verified other missing girls?” He remembered Kate mentioning there were others, but no other missing young women had been reported recently. At least not in Milwaukee.
“This is really a vampire matter, human, but since you’re here indefinitely, you may as well make yourself useful. The short story is there are over two-dozen girls missing around the country that we’ve linked them to the same possible rogue vamp that took Sarah. How about you get some shut-eye first and we’ll bring you up to speed with rest of the details in the morning?”
Mike began to protest, but Ren interrupted. Jesus, were all vampires such poor listeners?
“No, Detective. Not up for further discussion now. I don’t know what happened tonight, but it looks like you were injured and you look like death warmed over. You need sleep and a good meal. Only then will we talk about the case. I assure you—we will fill you in completely and let you help with whatever you can. But in the morning.”
Mike nodded once, knowing he didn’t have the strength to argue.
“Fine.”
“Good.” Ren ushered him through the massive house to a hallway with several doors and stopped at the third door on the left.
“You can use this room. Has an en suite bathroom. For your own safety, I don’t need to tell you to not wander around without supervision. We’ll have someone bring you breakfast and fetch you in the morning when Dev is ready to meet.”
“Ah. So I am still a vampire’s prisoner. Just with a king sized bed and a walk in shower with multiple showerheads.”
Ren smirked. “Don’t forget the room service.”
“Right.”
“Hand over your guns.”
Mike glared at him. He didn’t want to be completely defenseless in a house full of vamps. “I don’t th—”
“I don’t give a shit what you think, Detective. Hand them over. All of them. Now.”
Mike retrieved both of his guns. The one strapped in his arm holster and the other on ankle. He reluctantly handed them over to him and Ren turned, walking back the way they came.
“Fucker,” he uttered under his breath.
Mike turned the knob, stepping into his posh prison cell, when Ren called to him from down the hall.
“One more thing, Detective. If you hurt Giselle, I will personally cut out your shriveled up heart, after I first suck your body dry of every single drop of blood. Sleep tight,” he said with a wink and a smile.
Mike closed his bedroom door, locking it from the inside. For all the good that would do. If the vamps wanted him dead when he slept, well, then…he would be. And there wasn’t a damn thing he could do to stop them. Especially now that he was sans weapons.
He had one thought as he fell into bed, clothes and all, before drifting off to sleep.
What the fuck had he gotten himself into?
Chapter 53
Kate
Kate awoke with a start. Instead of the hard manacles that had bound her for the past however many hours, she now had hard, muscular arms binding her to an equally hard, muscular body.
Dev.
He had finally freed her. She was instantly grateful, but anger promptly overrode that emotion. She tried to free herself, but his arms tightened around her, holding her more snugly to him.
“Let me go.” Kate squirmed to get free, to no avail.
Dev sat them both up, her legs straddling his lap. His arms locked tightly around her. His hard cock pressed where she desired it most. Unbelievable. He was turned on. Her body involuntarily responded to his closeness. Traitorous little bitch. She was livid. With not only him, but also herself for her involuntary reaction to him. How could she be so pissed and wet at the same time? Ugh.
“I’m sorry, my love.”
“Sorry? You’re sorry? What exactly are you sorry for, Dev? Are you maybe sorry for tying your mate up without any explanation whatsoever? Or are you perhaps sorry for leaving me there for hours without coming to see me? Or maybe you’re sorry for sending in Doctor Scissorhands to cut my hair! Are you kidding me?”
She pushed on his chest, trying to dislodge herself from his lap, but he held on tight.
“Ugh! Let. Me. Go!”
“No. I won’t. Please hear me out, Kate. I’m new at this relationship stuff and that’s not an excuse, but it is the truth. I think I’m going to make a lot more mistakes before I get this mate thing right and so I’m apologizing for not only the many mistakes I’ve made over the past twenty-four hours, but also for all of the future mistakes I’m bound to make.”
Kate sighed. Why did he have to be so damn endearing? She was still angry, but it dissipated slightly with his genuine apology.
“You’ll have to apologize again for your future mistakes when you make them. An all encompassing one time apology will not be anywhere near sufficient.” Yes, her inner toddler tantrum came out.
He laughed. God, she loved that laugh. It sent chills through her entire body.
“Of course, my love. I’ll grovel as much as I need to stay in your good graces.”
“Good. At least we’re on the same page. So…what happened? What ever did I do to warrant being held like a criminal? And even criminals get due process, by the way.” Yep, she was still plenty pissed.
Dev took a deep breath before he began.
“Big D came to me yesterday with some rather shocking news and I overreacted. As I said, I’ve made a lot of mistakes in the past twenty-four hours and for that, I am deeply and truly sorry. What I did was unforgivable, but I beg for your forgiveness anyway, Kate. I didn’t trust you and I should have. That was wrong of me and mistake number one. I should have
talked to you before I just took action. I shouldn’t have avoided you all day.” He sighed. “So many mistakes.”
She was silent, not giving him any quarter.
“We got the results of your blood test back and…we know who your father is.”
Kate had a sudden sick feeling rush through her body. This was not going to be good news. “Who?” she whispered. She could barely get the word past her lips. She already knew what he was about to say.
Dev looked down at their joined hands, which she hadn’t realized they’d done. Oh God. He couldn’t even look at her. This was bad.
“Dev, who is it?”
He raised his eyes to hers and she saw sympathy. And anger.
“Xavier.”
Kate’s hands flew to cover her mouth. Xavier? The vampire who wants world domination? The vampire who’s kidnapping young, innocent women and using them as baby incubators? The same vampire who wants to kidnap her too? The vile, evil creature she’d just dreamt about? She was going to be sick.
Kate jumped up and ran to the bathroom, spilling the contents of her stomach into the toilet. Dev was behind her, holding her hair, rubbing her back, whispering words of comfort. Oh my God. Now it all made sense.
Dev thought she was a traitor. Dev thought Xavier had somehow orchestrated this entire meeting with him.
She vomited again until all that was left was dry heaves; sobs racked her body. How could he possibly think she would betray him like that? She loved him so very much. She would do anything for him. Anything to protect him.
She stood up, brushed her teeth and returned to the bedroom, sitting on the loveseat at the opposite end of the room.
Dev had stood in the bathroom doorway, silently watching her. Probably trying to discern any deception on her part. Nice. Even though she had nothing to feel guilty for, she couldn’t even look at him.
She caressed the mark circling her left thumb. The one that magically appeared after their bonding. She thought about that night, how much she loved him, how grateful she was to have found such a fantastic man in her life. Her anger lessened.
“I didn’t know,” she finally voiced, turning to look him in the eye, so he would see the truth and sincerity in her words. Tears streamed unbidden down her face.
“I know, love.” He crossed the room with a tissue and knelt in front her.
“I love you. I would never betray you like that.”
He gathered her in his arms and sat them both down on the loveseat. “Oh, my sweet Kate. I know that and as I said before… I overreacted. I was so very wrong and I lov—”
“Oh my God.” My sweet Kate…
“What? What is it?”
“My sweet Kate,” she murmured.
“Kate, what the hell are you talking about?”
“He knows I was there.” She had completely zoned out and Dev was shaking her gently.
“Who knows you were where? Kate, you’re making no sense.”
“Xavier. He knew I was there. He talked to me. He…he—”
“He what? Knew you were where? What did he do, Kate? Look at me.” His entire body had gone rigid at the mention of Xavier.
She turned toward Dev.
“I just had another dream. I saw him. And he knew I was in the room with him. He called me by name. He—” She swallowed and whispered, “He killed a young girl in front of me. He threw her across the bed and it looked like she was dead. He told me the awful things he was going to do to me once he got his hands on me. He called me his sweet Kate.”
“Fuck.” He grabbed her arms, turning her fully toward him. “You listen to me, love. That will never happen. Do you understand? He will never lay a single finger on you. I would die before I let that happen.”
She nodded.
“You have to trust me, Kate. I won’t let anything happen to you. We’ll kill the bastard and he won’t be any threat to you. I promise you.”
Kate spent the next few minutes telling Dev about the rest of her dream, including about the newspaper she had found and the numbers she had seen on the computer screen. She described all the young women she had seen held in rooms similar to Sarah’s. She explained the way the compound looked and how she’d been drawn to Xavier’s room.
Dev surprised Kate with a slow, sensual kiss. She melted into him, her anger completely dissipating.
“I love you. I’m sorry I haven’t told you before now. You are an incredible woman. I’m proud and lucky to have you as my mate. I’m sorry. Please forgive me for my mistakes.”
She put her finger on his lips.
“I’m plenty pissed with the way you handled it, but I understand why you did it. It’s okay.” And she did. She understood that, as a Vampire Lord, he had great responsibility for his people and she wasn’t sure that she wouldn’t have reacted the same if in his position.
He kissed her, slowly, reverently, breaking away all too soon.
“Now, I know you must be tired, love, but we need an emergency meeting with the other Lords. Right now. We need to act quickly on your new information.”
Kate looked down at the sports bra and tight running shorts that she was still wearing from yesterday.
“If you don’t mind, I’d like to change and shower quickly. I’ll be ready in less than ten minutes.”
Dev smiled sinfully. He grabbed her hips, pulling her tightly to him. She could feel his hardness throbbing against her stomach. He leaned down to run his nose along her neck, nipping with his sharp teeth along the way. Arousal flushed through her body and the butterflies constantly residing in her stomach took flight once again. Her core clenched. Oh my, she wanted him desperately. She had been without him for far too long.
“Oh, I don’t mind at all, love. But I’ll be joining you. And we may be a tad longer than ten minutes.”
He was right.
Chapter 54
Dev
In the boardroom as everyone dispersed, there was a lot of excitement that they may finally be closing in on Xavier. After Kate had given the details of her latest dream, Dev, Rom, and Damian had each called on some of their best men to scout out the Door County area.
Dev knew that Xavier’s lair was likely shrouded with magical assistance, but Kate had some very good markers between the two most recent dreams, so he felt positive they’d be able to at least narrow down some areas to investigate further. Plus, he had a secret weapon on his side. Manny had the ability to see through shrouding, but only within close proximity. That was how they located Xavier before and foolishly thought they’d destroyed him in the fire. That was also why they’d been unable to locate him again. Using Manny’s abilities without focus would be like trying to find a needle in a haystack. Virtually impossible and highly ineffective.
It would be a difficult task now, as there were certainly lots of old barns, windmills and trees in the area, but if they could get close to Xavier’s lair, Manny would find it, of that he had every confidence. In fact, the shrouding actually helped, by acting like a beacon to those very few vampires who possessed the ability to see through it. Not a lot of vampires shrouding. Not many vampires he knew enjoyed getting into bed with a witch. It was a danger to one’s long-term health.
As much as Dev didn’t want to part from her, after the meeting, he had sent Kate back to bed to get some more sleep. Even though she was exhausted and needed the sleep, his Kate fought him, as usual, but he promised to wake her up in a couple of hours. And since he could hardly wait to take her again, he planned on keeping his promise.
He craved her.
He was addicted to her.
She had only been gone for thirty minutes and already he didn’t know if he’d be able to wait the hour and a half more to wake her up. He was hard as hell.
Dev couldn’t get Kate’s dream about Xavier out of his head. It only solidified Xavier didn’t know Kate was his daughter, but how could that be? No matter how he worked it, he couldn’t figure it out.
Something about this whole situation nagged him. Why wou
ld Xavier let his own daughter out of his sight? She could prove to be very useful to him, not only because of the fact she was a dreamwalker, but because it was clear Kate would be very powerful someday, blooded vampire or not. He couldn’t imagine how powerful she would be had she been blooded.
No, he was missing a critical piece to this puzzle. He just couldn’t quite put his finger on it yet.
Dev was contemplating that when Ren strode into his office, sitting down in one of the two guest chairs on the opposite side of his desk.
“I need to apprise you of a situation, my lord.”
Dev sat back in his chair, smirking. Ren looked nervous and ready for a fight and under any other circumstances he should be. Allowing a human in their house without his permission was an offense punishable by death. Fortunately for Elle, he couldn’t do without her and he knew Ren had a brotherly fondness for Elle, protecting her above all else. Well, above everyone else except for him, that was.
He should string this out, but he didn’t have the heart to put Ren through it. He was going soft. Fuck that. Devon Fallinsworth wasn’t soft.
“Oh?”
“Yes.” Ren looked a little surprised, but continued. “Well, you know that Detective Thatcher’s life was in danger and Elle ran out of here earlier this evening to check on him.”
Ren stopped and Dev arched his brow for him to continue.
“When she got to his house, she found three rogues staked out there, but Thatcher clearly wasn’t home. She found him just leaving the precinct.”
“And?”
“And he was unharmed.”
“All right. Is that all?”
“Um…not quite.” Ren hesitated.
“Jesus, Ren. Stop pussyfooting around. Spit it out.”
Ren stood, resolutely.
“In order to keep Detective Thatcher safe, Elle thought it would be best to bring him back here. Just until we eliminate Xavier. I agree with her decision.”
And there it was. Ren was defending Elle by agreeing with her impulsive decision, and by doing so, he would take any punishment that Dev dished out upon himself. Ren had balls of steel. That was why he was his lieutenant and had been for so many years.
