The Vampire's Priceless Treasure

by Kristen Painter

  It didn’t help that the numbers on the boxes weren’t all showing either. Some she couldn’t read until she moved another box off the top. Others had to be turned around.

  All in all, it took her a good couple of minutes of careful hunting to locate the Slavic boxes. Then she had no choice but to open them all to examine the contents.

  Her fifteen- to twenty-minute time frame was rapidly disappearing.

  She could only go so fast with the individual items. She didn’t want to damage a piece and be responsible for that. After all, she wasn’t here to steal the locket so much as borrow it until such time as she no longer needed it.

  Maybe a day or two. The inscription merely needed translating. That was it. At least, that’s what she imagined. But what if the locket was a bigger part of the puzzle than she knew? Maybe the inscription’s translation would help her figure that out.

  Using brute strength, she pulled the tops off the sealed crates. The nails squealed as they came out of the wood. She dug through the packing material and started unwrapping items one by one. When she didn’t find the locket, she replaced the items and sealed the crate back up, using her fist to pound the nails into place again. That way, when she found the locket, the cleanup would be done. The idea, after all, was to leave everything as she found it so that the missing piece wouldn’t be discovered until the exhibit was unpacked in Miami.

  But it was tedious work. And all the while, minutes kept ticking away.

  She’d seriously underestimated how long this was going to take. Finally, she found the half of the locket. She got the lid quickly back on the crate, peeled off her gloves, and stuck them back in her pocket, then held the piece up to the light for a moment.

  “At last,” she whispered.

  A soft whoosh filled the space behind her.

  “I knew you’d come for it.”

  She turned, snatching the locket into her hand. “Greyson. What are you doing here?”

  He scowled. “Keeping you from doing something foolish.”

  Panic welled up in her. “You don’t understand.”

  “I understand enough. You’re about to steal that locket, but I can’t let you do that.”

  “I’m not stealing it, I’m—”

  “Spare me the lies. I know you, remember?”

  “You knew the old me. I’m not like that anymore.”

  He rolled his eyes. “Sure.” Then he held out his hand. “Give it to me.”

  “No. I need it. Just for a day or—”

  Metal screeched against metal as the loading bay’s overhead door started to roll up.

  Kora froze, realizing too late that arguing with Greyson had caused her to ignore the arrival of the armored truck.

  She could not get caught stealing the locket. That would entangle her in too much drama to finish her task.

  So as the door revealed them, she did the only thing she could think of to buy herself an excuse.

  She grabbed Greyson by the collar of his jacket and kissed him.

  Greyson almost managed to sputter out a question, but his words died against Kora’s soft, lush mouth. He couldn’t even remember what he was about to say. Just that she was kissing him and running her hands over his torso like she couldn’t get enough.

  It was heady stuff, to say the least.

  He was vaguely aware of the men from the armored truck. Still held rapt by the kiss, he raised a hand, finger up, asking the people with the armored truck for one more minute. Whatever had caused this kiss, he saw no harm in letting it play out a moment longer.

  After some inscrutable length of time, Kora broke off the kiss. She smiled coyly at the men. “Um, hi. Are we, uh, in your way?”

  Deputy Jenna Blythe stepped forward. “Greyson, what’s going on?”

  He had a split second to make a decision. A choice that would color everything that happened from here on out. But no decision was without consequences. He picked the one he thought had the fewest. “I thought I should be here to keep an eye on the loading. And then…”

  Kora laughed. “Then I showed up and surprised him.” She grinned at him, trailing a finger down his cheek with surprising tenderness. “I guess our little secret isn’t a secret anymore, huh, sugar lips?”

  Sugar lips? He struggled to keep his top lip from curling. Instead, he smiled and pulled Kora close, his grip on her hips anything but loving. “That’s right, snuggle button.” He shrugged at Jenna. “The heart wants what the heart wants.”

  Jenna looked unconvinced, and Greyson couldn’t blame her. His lack of love for Kora was no secret. Nor was Kora’s reputation for getting into trouble.

  The deputy approached them. She cocked a finger at Kora. “Come over here and turn around. I’m going to frisk you.”

  Greyson almost groaned. This was it. Kora would be found out, and chances were, he’d end up going down with her. He could spit he was so mad. He should have known better. She was nothing but trouble. Lucien was going to owe him.

  Kora pouted. “What for?”

  “Because there’s too much money on the line not to.” Jenna put her hand on her Taser. “Now, Ms. Dupree.”

  If Greyson had needed to breathe, he would have held his breath. He wasn’t sure what Kora would do. The truck drivers were human. Doing anything that revealed her true nature would result in an even worse conclusion to this mess.

  For a second, Kora didn’t move. Then she lifted her chin, sauntered over, turned around, and put her hands on top of her head. She certainly knew the drill. She gave Greyson a smug look. “Go ahead, Officer. But you’re not going to find anything. I just came by to surprise my lover.”

  Greyson choked back a retort.

  Jenna frisked Kora with the kind of thorough intent Greyson had previously assumed was reserved for the most severe offenders. But all she produced was a pair of latex gloves from inside Kora’s jacket. “What are these?”

  “Gloves.”

  Jenna frowned. “Why do you have them?”

  “Have you ever worked at a club like Insomnia? You never know what you’re going to find. I like to be prepared.”

  Jenna stuffed the gloves back into the jacket pocket. “You’re free to go. You, too, Greyson. I appreciate you showing up, but I’ve got this covered. And Deputy Cruz is on his way over. He’s escorting the truck to the state line. Anyway, it might be best if you saw Ms. Dupree back to wherever it is she came from.”

  “I’ll see to it.” Greyson wasn’t sure how Kora had hidden the locket so efficiently, but they were definitely going to talk. But not about the kiss. He never wanted to talk about that. Not about why it had happened, not how it had warmed him from stem to stern, not how he was thinking about doing it again just to see if his first reaction had been some kind of fluke.

  None of it.

  He took Kora by the elbow and ushered her through the library and back to the Basement access door. He swiped his card through the reader and got them down the steps. When they hit the Basement level, he spun her around. “What the hell was that?”

  “Self-preservation,” she snapped right back at him.

  He glowered at her. She wasn’t making any sense. “What are you talking about?”

  She crossed her arms. “What are you talking about?”

  “The locket.”

  “Oh.”

  He snorted. “You thought I meant the kiss?”

  Her eyes narrowed ever so slightly, and her head tilted to one side. “Still on your mind, I see.”

  “Only because it was so utterly revolting.”

  “Oh,” she said, making a big show of smacking the heel of her palm against her forehead. “I didn’t realize you were still pining for the blue-haired elf princess who tossed you aside for the necromancer.”

  The muscles in his jaw locked up. He forced himself to relax. “I’m not pining. That’s long over. I just don’t want your mouth on mine. Understood?”

  She shrugged. “I had to do something to cover why I was there. And I did. So cool
it. Jenna’s none the wiser.”

  “None the wiser? Really? She frisked you. Or did you forget that already?”

  Kora put on an obviously fake smile. “But she didn’t find anything, did she?”

  “No.” Greyson stared at her. Hard. “And why is that?”

  “Because I’m smarter than Deputy Blythe.” Kora leaned in, putting her hands on his chest. Then one hand dipped down into his jacket pocket and came back with the missing half of the locket. “And also, apparently, you.”

  A litany of curses filled Greyson’s head. He snatched at the locket, but Kora yanked it out of reach just in time.

  “Nope. I need this.”

  He growled at her. “It doesn’t belong to you.”

  “I’m not keeping it. I’m just borrowing it.”

  “Right.”

  “I am.”

  He gave her his best skeptical look. “So you’ll be returning it, then?”

  “That’s the plan.”

  “You’re lying.”

  She had the audacity to look miffed. “I am not. And as much as I’d like to stand here and debate this with you, I don’t really care, and I have to get back to the club.”

  She started to walk away from him, but he grabbed her arm. “Not until you hand over that locket.”

  She pulled her arm away, but turned to face him. “Greyson, it’s not going to happen, so let it go.”

  “Then I’m reporting you. To the sheriff, to your father, to Elenora. I’m not going to be on the hook for this. I’m done pulling you out of the fires you start. You want to walk around dousing everything in lighter fluid, be my guest, but deal with the consequences on your own.”

  She stared at him for a moment, then sighed long and hard. “Why can’t you just leave me alone? Just let me do what I need to do.”

  “I should just turn a blind eye to your thievery? Really?”

  “I told you, I’m not stealing the locket, I’m—”

  “Borrowing it. Right. You mentioned that. And then I called you a liar. We’ve done this.” He put his hands up, at his wits’ end with her, and started backing toward the library stairs. “I have to go speak to Deputy Blythe.”

  A low, guttural growl spilled out of Kora. “Fine. I’ll tell you the truth.”

  He stopped walking. He’d listen. But he was fully prepared for another of her stories that would be as full of crap as a baby’s nappy. “Go on.”

  She frowned and sighed again and shifted from one foot to the other. “I just need the full inscription on the locket so I can get it translated. As soon as I have that, I’ll get the locket back to the exhibit.”

  He shook his head and stared at the passageway’s lights. “You don’t even see the giant hole in that tale, do you?”

  Her brows bent in consternation. “What are you talking about?”

  He snorted. “You stole half of a locket. How on earth can you get the inscription translated when you don’t have the whole thing?”

  One side of her mouth curved up in an irritatingly charming grin. “Oh, but I do have the whole thing. The other half is already in my possession.”

  A few wheels turned in his thought process, and he realized something that made him angrier than he already was. “Then this is the second criminal act you’ve committed. That only reaffirms my need to turn you in.”

  “I didn’t steal the other half of the locket. It was sent to me.” Her eyes widened a little, like she’d realized she’d revealed too much. “Anyway, I have to go.”

  He flashed forward to block her path. “You expect me to believe that?”

  “I don’t care what you believe, but it’s true. And that’s all I’m going to tell you. Now get out of my way.”

  “Who would send you such a thing? And why?”

  “This conversation is over. Besides, don’t you need to speak to the deputy?”

  She was uncommonly resolved. He calmed his tone. “Kora, what’s going on? Why don’t you want to talk about it?”

  Her mouth pursed, and for a moment, he thought he was about to get kissed again. Then she scowled at him. “Greyson, don’t act like you care about what’s happening with me all of a sudden. I know how you feel about me. What you think of me. You’ve made that abundantly clear.”

  “Those feelings are mutual, and you know it. Doesn’t mean we can’t put those feelings aside for a moment if you really need help.” He shrugged one shoulder. “Despite what you think of me, have I ever done anything that wasn’t to help you?”

  “You mean, have you ever done anything to help me that my father wasn’t paying for?” She raised her brows. “No.”

  “Help is help.” He crossed his arms. “What’s going on?”

  “I can’t tell you.”

  “What do you think will happen when I let the deputy and your father in on your theft?”

  She glared at him, the anger in her eyes almost visible as flames. “For someone who purports to be such a bad boy, you’re a complete suck-up, you know that?”

  “I’m not going to apologize for being an adult. You should try it sometime.”

  “Shut up, Greyson. I’m being very adult, for your information.”

  He was getting to her. He smiled. “Then keep it up and tell me the truth.”

  She glanced around. “Not here.”

  Now that was interesting. “Where, then?”

  “Back at the club. My office.”

  “Fine.” He held his hand out. “But until you explain everything, I’m holding on to the locket.”

  “You promise not to turn me in until you hear my side of the story?”

  “I promise.”

  With a much put-upon sigh, she handed the locket over. “Don’t lose it, though, okay? I’m not going to get a second chance at this.”

  Kora was happy for the silence that accompanied them back to Insomnia. Not that she didn’t enjoy the verbal sparring she and Greyson engaged in, but she needed to get her head together and figure out what she was going to tell him.

  The Fox had commanded her silence about this mission, but she had to tell Greyson something. Would the Fox truly penalize her for needing help? Surely he didn’t expect her to do this completely on her own?

  For the first time in her life, she was concerned about breaking the rules. Who was she that it bothered her? Or better yet, who was she becoming? An adult, apparently. Wouldn’t Greyson be proud if he knew?

  Well, maybe not so much proud, but surprised at the very least. Maybe as surprised as he’d been by that kiss.

  A little smile bent her mouth, but he couldn’t see her and wouldn’t know what she was smiling about anyway.

  That kiss had been a stroke of genius on her part. It had been the perfect cover. And as kisses went, she’d had worse. Much worse, truthfully. Greyson, once he’d recovered from the shock of her impulsive action, had turned out to be pretty talented in the kissing department.

  A fact that pleased her and mortified her in equal parts. The mortification was all due to how pleased she’d been with his response. The way his mouth had known exactly how to set fire to every nerve in her body.

  Almost as if he’d imagined kissing her before. Was that…was that possible?

  “What now?”

  She glanced at him. “What do you mean?”

  “You sighed.”

  “No, I didn’t.”

  “Yes, you did.”

  “I was just…breathing.”

  “Vampires don’t need to breathe.”

  “I’m half reaper, you know.”

  He shot her a look, then shook his head and went quiet again.

  She picked up the pace, stopped thinking about the kiss, and tried to figure out what she was going to tell him. She wasn’t sure she could get away with less than everything. It wasn’t the kind of situation that could be explained piecemeal. One detail would lead to another, and before you knew it, everything would be out.

  Maybe she’d swear him to secrecy first. Impress on him how he abs
olutely had to keep everything she told him in confidence. But would he? He was her father’s man, after all. Could she trust him not to tell Lucien?

  She had her doubts about that.

  “I’m going in this way. Where are you going?”

  She turned to see him stopped at the Insomnia exit. “There’s another door a little farther down. Leads into the offices.”

  “You go that way, then. I’m going to check in with the women who came with me this evening, make sure they’re all right. Then I’ll come back to your office.”

  She hesitated.

  He frowned. “I’m not going anywhere else, I promise.”

  She didn’t like it, but she didn’t have much choice since she’d handed over the half locket. “Please don’t take off with that locket. You don’t understand yet how important it is to me.”

  His frown evened out to a hard line. “I said I promise. I can’t do more than that.”

  Kora had said please. Greyson hadn’t been aware she actually knew that word. Even her kiss hadn’t shocked him quite so much. Whatever was going on with this locket was serious business. He hoped she would tell him the truth about it and not another of her wild tales, like she usually did when she had to explain her ridiculous exploits.

  He went back into the club and up to the VIP lounge.

  Undrea greeted him with a smile. “Long phone call.”

  He nodded. “And it’s only led to more business I have to attend to. Listen, the tab is taken care of. You ladies enjoy what’s left of the evening. I’m very sorry, but I have to go.”

  Mattie lifted her glass, which he saw was now water. “I need to go home anyway. This is about the latest I’ve been out since I moved here. But it was so much fun.” She smiled at him. “And very generous of you to cover the bill. If you ever need any honey or beeswax, you just let me know.”

  “I will.” Although he couldn’t imagine when that might be. He smiled at Caroline. “I hope you had fun as well.”

  Her grin was instantaneous. “I did. Very much. Good thing I have today off, because I plan on sleeping until dinner.”