Finding Fire: Paranormal Romance (Bad Boys Of The Underworld Book 1)

by Crowe, Mallory

  “Whatever do you mean?” he said, still using that stupid cheerful tone.

  “You know me. You know my group. You know I’m looking for a vampire. It makes me curious about what else you know.”

  “I don’t know everything. What did you and Nicolas talk about?”

  He gave himself away. He did know she’d talked to Nicolas…

  She could use this. She could try to lure him into a meeting. A nighttime meeting, as Nicolas had suggested. She tried to make her voice sound more vulnerable and added a hint of fear. “I don’t feel safe discussing this over the phone. Anyone could be listening.”

  Let him make something of that.

  She was about to bring up the idea of meeting, but before she could, he said, “You’re right. We should meet in person to discuss these serious issues.”

  Anna didn’t quite believe this. It almost seemed too easy. Even so, she wasn’t about to fight him on it. “That’s a great idea. When would be good for you?”

  “As soon as possible would be best. We should meet tonight at one. There is a spot in Central Park that I frequent. It is very beautiful at night.”

  Beautiful? This wasn’t a date. Anna shook her head in bewilderment. “You want me to meet you at Central Park at one in the morning? That’s not happening.” The park was now much safer than it had been in the past, but she wasn’t stupid. Going to meet any stranger at one in the morning anywhere would be a bad idea, let alone in a secluded area of his choosing.

  “I guarantee you, Ms. Roberts, that you’ll be perfectly safe.”

  Anna rolled her eyes at his attitude. As if she would trust the man who wouldn’t even tell her his real name.

  However, she was much closer to trusting Nicolas. If she was going to meet with this strange man, Nicolas would be there as well. He needed her help with Aleksander, so he wouldn’t want her to get murdered by Mr. X.

  “Fine. Where is this place?” He proceeded to give her detailed instructions on the spot he wanted to convene. She wrote them down on a random sheet of paper lying around her office.

  “I’m looking forward to the pleasure of meeting you, Ms. Roberts.”

  “Pins and needles,” she replied before finally she gave herself the satisfaction of hanging up on him.

  She wanted to call Nicolas right away, but she had no way of knowing whether she was being watched. Her cell phone could even be bugged. It occurred to her that she was being paranoid, but a person could be paranoid and right at the same time.

  She lifted her overflowing bag and headed out of the office. When she finally reached the subway, she stopped at the first payphone she saw. The booth was rundown and covered in stickers, but at least it still had a dial tone.

  She held her cell phone in one hand and dialed Nicolas’s number into the payphone with the other. It seemed to ring forever, and there was a brief moment when she didn’t think he’d pick up.

  Until he finally did. “What?” Not the friendliest greeting.

  What did you say to your new vampire companion, who you almost let have sex with you on the side of your apartment building? “Um…Hi. It’s me. Anna.” Apparently one says a lot of stupid stuff.

  “Is everything okay? Are you in danger?”

  In danger? Probably because of the strange number she was calling from. “Um, no. No danger.” She lost the power of speech sometimes when she talked with him. “I got a call from our mutual friend.”

  There was a pause. “Did you get a meeting?”

  “Oh yeah, I got a meeting. He seemed rather eager to meet, actually. He also wanted to know about what we talked about and knew we’d met already.”

  “That doesn’t sound good. When’s the meeting?”

  “That’s the other strange part. Tonight, one a.m., in Central Park,” she said.

  “You agreed to this?” he shouted into the phone.

  She remembered recently thinking about how stupid that would be. “Well, I knew you were coming anyway. I figured I would be okay with you watching my back.”

  “Tell me exactly where he said he wanted to meet with you,” he said.

  She gave him the same instructions she’d been given. When she had finished, she asked, “When should I meet up with you?”

  “You aren’t going to see me.”

  “What do you mean ‘I’m not going to see you’?” she asked irritably.

  “You’re not going. It’s too dangerous. We don’t know why this guy has any interest in you, and he wants to meet in a place he chose. He’ll have the advantage.”

  “You’re going alone? What if he doesn’t see me and leaves before you can make him?”

  “I’ll work on that,” he said.

  “What if you get hurt?”

  “If they’re strong enough to stop me, I don’t think you’d stand much of a chance.”

  She really tried to be offended at that, but she couldn’t manage it. He was right. If anyone or thing managed to seriously hurt him, she wouldn’t be any help. “It’s too dangerous. Neither of us should go.”

  “This is safer than waiting to see who else he will give my personal information to. Besides, some stranger is watching the both of us. I’m very curious as to why he has suddenly taken up interest in us,” he said.

  She was beginning to hate it when he made sense.

  “Don’t you remember what you asked me last night?” She’d asked him a lot of things and nothing popped out in her memory. Luckily, he reminded her. “You asked that I consider your safety before rushing into anything.”

  He’d agreed, but Anna assumed he’d been lying. Did he actually care about her safety? Did she want him to? “I don’t want your protecting me to get you killed,” she said.

  He didn’t respond to that. A silence fell over the line. She didn’t want to hang up the phone, but she had nothing left to say to him.

  “Will you call me by dawn? So I know you’re—” She was about to say “not dead,” but that sounded too harsh.

  “You worried about me, Annabelle?” It sounded strangely like flirting.

  She bit her lip. She was worried about him. “Well, as you pointed out, you’re not everyone. I would hate to lose that.” She hung up the phone then. She’d already said way too much.

  ~~~~~

  Nicolas stared at the phone as it suddenly went dead. An abrupt way to end a phone call, but Annabelle was strange that way. His mouth hooked up at the thought. It was stupid, him beginning to care about her. If this kept up, they’d both be in trouble.

  He shook the troubling thoughts away. He had a lot to do. It was just past eleven, and this meeting was in two hours. He wanted to get there well ahead of time to scout out locations he could observe from.

  The best-case scenario would be that he could see this Mr. X coming and recognize him on the spot. That way he could worry about questioning him later. If he didn’t know who the man was, then he would have to find some way of locating him after tonight.

  It was a chilly night, but he didn’t put on his jacket as he left the apartment. He needed to sneak around, and jackets were too bulky and tended to make noise. He started down the street at a leisurely pace. Running to Central Park would’ve been faster, but he wanted to conserve as much energy as possible. He considered feeding but decided against it.

  He’d fed on the bottled blood in his fridge after the fight last evening and that should hold him over for the night. By the time he’d gotten to the apartment, he’d been damn near ravenous.

  The swift anger at the two young vampires who thought to challenge him still prickled at him. Foolish newborns. Just because he was in exile didn’t mean he was powerless. More than that, he was pure, and even at his weakest could best them in a fight.

  Even so, he regretted getting pulled into the fight. He’d been so distracted by the breaking of the bottle and the shards of glass shooting toward Annabelle, his logical mind had disappeared.

  He’d been so focused on making the son of a bitch pay for the insult. In hi
s anger, he almost forgot about the other one. Annabelle had paid for his mistake.

  Even if the second man hit him after charging full speed, Nicolas would’ve been fine. He might have a small bruise that would heal in no time. Annabelle had no way of knowing this. She’d stepped right in front of the vampire without a second thought.

  She said she was scared of him, but he had a hard time believing it when she seemed so fearless at other times. It annoyed him all the more that she was afraid for him. She should be afraid of him.

  She was sitting home and worrying about him right now, when he was probably going to be the death of her. He did feel guilt, but he easily pushed it away. One human life was worth what he was fighting for. There was no telling what Aleksander would do if left to rule unchecked. He needed to stop him, and this human who was stupid enough to help him was his only chance.

  She was right when she said they shouldn’t have sex. He was already planning to take advantage of her. No use in treating her even more poorly than he already intended to.

  He hadn’t lied about her scent. He was intoxicated on it whenever he was around her. Even the day after she’d broken into his apartment, it had called to him. He hadn’t understood the feeling at the time. He thought it was the anger at being violated that had his heart pounding in his chest.

  It was just her who had that effect on him. When he was actually in her presence, it was so much worse. His mouth was always bloody, because he couldn’t keep his own fangs under control. He’d hidden it from her so far, but he didn’t know how much longer he could continue to do so.

  Hopefully he could be through with her by the end of the week. Nothing good, besides the thirty seconds of release, could come from them fucking. What would he even do with her in bed? She was a teacher!

  He knew what happened when men got women like her in bed. They started talking about the future…making plans. The only future he had for her was death, and that was in the rather immediate future.

  That logic didn’t stop him from thinking about being between her legs less than twenty-four hours ago. As scared as she seemed to be of him, she’d nearly exploded under him. He couldn’t help but imagine what they could do together with more time and a bed.

  She was very deceptively sexy. She didn’t try at all and dressed like a teenager. Her glasses also helped to hide her from the world. She was no girl, but a grown woman. A woman who would throw herself in front of a vampire for him and rub herself frantically against his cock as if she’d never been turned on before.

  Before long, he was walking in a neighborhood known for being dangerous. Women dotted the street, wearing very little despite the cold. He looked for one who met his requirements, but none would do. They were all too skinny, or tall, or short. None looked like Annabelle.

  It wasn’t until he was another block down that he found someone who would suit him. She was younger than Annabelle, but that was okay. This unfortunate soul sat against an empty building, eyes glazed over in a way only drugs could cause. He hoped she was lucid enough to understand him.

  At the sight of his money, she was eager enough to follow him anywhere. He pitied how quickly she agreed to go with a stranger, but was thankful he could find anyone in the short amount of time. If he had more, he would have liked to have Annabelle give him some of her clothes for this little girl to wear.

  Annabelle had been correct that it would be easier if she were there. But he couldn’t have her running in front of another charging vampire in the middle of a fight. If he played this right, Mr. X wouldn’t realize he’d been duped until it was too late.

  Soon enough they had reached the designated spot. There was still half an hour to spare, but Nicolas would have preferred more.

  He directed the girl to sit on a particular bench. She wore a sweatshirt that was similar in shape to the one Annabelle had lost on their first night. Another advantage for him. He had her raise the hood around her head, to hide her features so no one could see her face until they got very close.

  He’d prefer to give her the money half now and half later, but he was worried he’d have to leave quickly and not have time to pay her. He could force her to stay put, but then she would have no way of defending herself if the situation got dangerous.

  He would have to use intimidation and charm on this one. Charm to convince her that no sex would be involved and that she should be safe, even if the last part was a lie. He also used a bit of intimidation to get her to think twice about running with his money.

  When he was all set with her, he looked for a place to watch. There were no tall hills around that he could perch on to watch below. He decided a tree would be his best bet.

  There were plenty of weeping willows lining a stream not too far from the meeting spot. He climbed up one and perched behind the cover of the draping branches.

  At exactly one, a man walked up. By the extra fast pace he moved at, without showing the exertion of jogging, Nicolas knew he wasn’t human. He wore a large trench coat, and that worried Nicolas. Vampires who wore lots of baggy clothing were usually wearing lots of weapons underneath that clothing.

  He stopped when he saw the Annabelle stand-in on the bench. He looked all around him to see whether anyone else was around. He also looked up to the trees, but his eyes appeared to pass over Nicolas. He approached the girl.

  From his vantage in the tree, Nicolas could see the girl got visibly nervous when she was approached. The man didn’t say anything to her as he walked up. He put a hand on her arm and pulled her to stand up. She struggled a bit but stopped as soon as the man took out his wallet.

  He handed her a small wad of bills. “Leave here, and don’t come back tonight.”

  She nodded and ran with the money. Suddenly, Nicolas was grateful he hadn’t used any mind tricks on her. If he had, this vampire would know another was near.

  This man didn’t have any interest in the girl. Nicolas assumed he must not be Mr. X. So who the hell was it? The man turned, and his face caught a bit of the light. A human wouldn’t have been able to make out his features from this distance at night, but Nicolas wasn’t human. Recognition washed over him.

  This man was Aleksander’s. He was one of his most trusted guards. He was beside Aleksander when he killed Kirill. He’d almost gotten Nicolas. He recalled his name was Besnik.

  He had to get the hell out of here before he was spotted. This was no newborn vampire to fight. This was an experienced one with many more weapons than Nicolas had currently.

  He didn’t want to move and give away his position, so he stayed his ground and waited. Soon another vampire approached Besnik. This one also wore disturbingly baggy clothing.

  As he neared, Besnik smiled, and the two men embraced in a hug. They exchanged hellos, when one of their cell phones rang. The newcomer answered it.

  “This is not a good time,” said the new one. He listened. “What do you mean?” More silence. “We’ll take care of it.” He hung up the phone.

  He leaned forward to Besnik and said something so quietly, even Nicolas’s hearing couldn’t pick it up. Whatever the mystery caller had said, it spooked the two men. They each pulled very long, sharp swords from the depths of their long coats.

  Nicolas had a very bad feeling. The two spread out and looked for something, or, rather, someone. Nicolas had been made.

  Someone set him up. Besnik was one of Aleksander’s main confidants. This scene made it apparent Nicolas was spying on the man. Made it appear as though he planned an attack on Aleksander. He was, but he didn’t need anyone to know that.

  He might be able to take them in a fight. He was stronger than both of them. Despite his strength, there were still two of them, and they both had swords. All he had were the daggers he always carried with him.

  His best bet would be running. He could probably outrun them. He was stronger, and he knew the city very well. He didn’t like betting his life on “probably.”

  Both men looked in the opposite direction of the tree th
at provided him shelter. He leaped down and put his full speed into escaping the park. To a human eye, he would look like little more than a blur.

  He knew they heard him the second he moved, but he never looked back to see the men behind him. He was quickly out of the park and running on the streets. He stuck to the road. The large cars were easier to avoid at high speeds than the random people walking on the sidewalks at this time of night.

  He wanted to let Annabelle know about the new development, but he couldn’t stop to warn her. He could only hope Mr. X didn’t plan to go to her when she was unprotected at her apartment. She should be smart enough not to invite anyone inside. She was smart enough not to invite him.

  It might take him all night to lose the men chasing him. It took a lot for a vampire to lose a fresh scent trail, but Nicolas was very old and knew all the tricks.

  In his determination to survive, he forced his legs to move even faster.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Anna had a difficult time just sitting around and waiting for Nicolas to make contact. She desperately wanted to call him. Sitting and waiting in her tiny apartment was driving her insane.

  She tried to get some grading done, but it was much too difficult to focus on the words she was trying to read.

  Eventually she went to bed, but sleep wouldn’t come to her. Around three in the morning, she pulled out her laptop, hoping the Internet would distract her from her worried mind.

  She checked up on some of her vampire sites. There wasn’t anything interesting or new on any of them. There was no news from the Stakes. She wanted to tell them something. All this searching for the supernatural and Anna had been hanging out with one for the past two nights. It seemed only fair that she give them a heads-up.

  At the same time, she didn’t want to give Nicolas away. She opened up her email she used for her vampire hunting purposes and typed in Dennis’s email address. She stared at the blank screen for a few minutes as she debated how much information to share.