Famished

by Jacquelyn Frank

  “No,” he relented with a sigh. “No insult. I’m merely impatient to get under way.”

  “No need to hurry,” she said with a smile touching her sensuous lips. “There’ll be plenty of time for you to adjust and get into your work.”

  He knew she was missing the urgency of his need to jump right in. He had to say he almost didn’t understand it himself. He wasn't usually so impatient.

  He also wasn't usually so distracted by the provocative shape and dynamics of a woman who was positioned above him in rank. An attraction to such a woman was all but forbidden. It was also unwise. He had been feeling it since the night before…almost immediately upon seeing her. It had almost been enough for him to turn down the job. However, he wasn't about to let such a prime advancement of his career slip away just because of a little attraction. He was more than able to ignore the silky length of her hair, the pronounced curve of her waist and the long length of her legs.

  At least…he hoped he was.

  Chapter Five

  The rest of the meeting was really about bringing him up to speed on the top vampire matters of the week. It was a light, almost superficial meeting and he was struck with the feeling that they were trying to ease him into his new role rather than let him go at it full force, which was what he preferred.

  “I want to address the Draz problem,” he said abruptly just when they were winding up the meeting.

  Everyone went still. They exchanged looks and Simone frowned. “There’s plenty of time to address Draz,” she said. “You must take smaller steps as you begin this job.”

  “I don’t require small steps,” he said irritably. “I require work! I require problems and solutions. I require the ability to do my job! I am not a child in need of handholding. I am a warrior of significant experience and knowledge and must be treated as such!”

  They all were looking at him, their eyes wide and their postures tensed. Good. He was glad he was making them uncomfortable. It meant he was getting his feelings across.

  “Of course you’re right,” Simone sad softly.

  “Damn right I am,” he injected as she drew a breath to continue speaking.

  “But as I said, there is plenty of time for this. Draz isn’t going anywhere. You need to allow yourself to settle in first,” she finished.

  “You’re right. Draz isn’t going anywhere. Because we’re doing nothing to excise him from his comfortable place as crime lord of the sycophants of the east coast.”

  “Believe me, we are doing something,” Simone said as the hunter growled threateningly.

  “Then tell me what it is,” he said with intense feeling.

  “Very well,” Simone said with a small smile twitching at her lips. “We have our best hunter hunting him down. Halo?”

  “I’m tracking him,” Halo said gruffly. “He’s a slippery little fucker. I have some leads, but nothing concrete as yet.”

  “How are you tracking him?” Marcus asked.

  “I’m on the street. I have to track back to him through his lieutenants.” Halo smiled a feral smile. “I’ve taken several out already.”

  “And no doubt Draz has been alerted because you’re stomping about like a herd of elephants,” Marcus said with a frown. “It’ll only chase him further underground.”

  Halo growled again, this time moving threateningly in Marcus’s direction. Simone shot up out of her seat like a bullet in order to put herself between him and Halo, her hands going to Halo’s chest as she held him back.

  “Marcus,” she said firmly, “do you have a better idea?”

  “Follow his money,” Marcus said. “It’s how we tracked down sycophant leaders in England.”

  “Perhaps,” Simone said firmly, “you and Halo can work together and come at him from two directions, chasing him until he has nowhere to rest that is safe. Make him feel as hunted as he is.”

  Halo shrugged begrudgingly. “Just as long as he doesn’t get in my way.”

  “I’m here to help you…not hinder you,” Marcus said. “There’s no need for you to get bent out of shape. We can work together on this. I’m willing if you are.”

  “I don’t play well with others,” he said roughly.

  “Would you rather put up with me or would you rather let Draz get away?” Marcus asked pointedly.

  Halo shrugged again. “He ain’t getting away. Trust me on that. Like I said, I’ll work with you. You come at him your way. I’ll come at him mine. Just don’t get in my way.”

  Let’s keep in touch. We’ll update each other once a day telling one another how we’re doing,” Marcus suggested.

  “Great. Another meeting. Any more and I’ll be spending more time in here than I will be out there actually looking for him.”

  “We don’t have to have a separate meeting. It can be done here. That way it’ll be more efficient. Everyone will be kept up to date on everything all at once.”

  Halo nodded. “Okay then.”

  “Good. I’ll start today,” Marcus said.

  “Are both of you happy now?” Simone asked with amusement as she gave Halo a pat on the chest.

  “Whatever,” Halo said. “Are we done here?”

  “I think we are.” Marcus couldn’t help but think it was a very short meeting and not much had been accomplished. Then again, he had come in at the end of the meeting it seemed.

  He hoped his meeting with the committee was more productive. He also had to consider that not knowing what the committee was up to limited his contribution to the meeting. He had done all he could do as far as input was concerned.

  “I just want to say,” he spoke up as they all got to their feet, “I’m looking forward to working with all of you. I know it’ll take some time for us all to adjust to how each of us behaves and reacts, but I think we’ll figure it out. I’m willing to learn. I’m not trying to throw a wrench in the cogs of a working system…but I do want to help make it better if I can.”

  “Thank you Marcus,” Simone said as she came close to him ad touched his upper arm. “We all appreciate that. Now, go with Danton. He’ll help you settle in to your new office. He’ll also be with you when you meet with the committee and when you meet with you head authoritarians. He’ll be here for the next couple of days. I suggest you use him heavily. He’ll get you up to speed.”

  He almost forgot to be a little insulted by her condescension she smelled so good. Her scent eddied around them, not quite an artificial perfume, but not entirely natural. He realized it was her hair products, body lotions and no doubt her shower gel that contributed to the soup of her scent, along with the aromas that were distinctly natural and very much her own. Pheromones and sensual body chemistry blended together perfectly to create this gorgeous fragrance that was uniquely her own, a fragrance that bewitched his sensitive vampire senses. Combine it with the stroke of her fingers on his biceps and he felt suddenly and richly connected to her. She pulled him in, seemingly drew him close. He didn’t want to argue with her and ruin the effect, so he let the remarks that insinuated he needed hand-holding slide. He wasn't a child but he felt as though they were treating him like one. However, to throw a tantrum about it would only solidify the impression of his being in need of parenting. He would try to tolerate it these next few days as he transitioned into his new role. He realized he had to exercise patience; something he’d always struggled with. He wasn't about to show that weakness to his new fellow co-workers.

  “I look forward to his input,” was all he said.

  She moved away from him, taking her glorious scent with her. He took in a breath before she got too far away and held it, his way of delaying the separation he supposed. Then he realized what he was doing and he exhaled a wry, breathy chuckle.

  “Something funny?” Danton asked at Marcus’s elbow.

  “Just…laughing at the folly of vampire nature,” he said. His attraction toward the queen was no one’s business. In fact, he had to make a concentrated effort to hide it…from others as well as her. Something
he was beginning to realize wasn't going to be as easy as he initially thought. If just her scent could affect him in such ways…

  “You’ll get used to him.”

  “Who?”

  “Halo. I assumed that was the folly we were talking about?”

  “Oh. Yes. He’s quite a character,” Marcus said, his eyes tracking the big bulk of the hunter as he left the room. “Big too. I don’t think I want to get on his bad side.”

  Danton laughed, a warm genuine sound, “You’re not off to a very good start. Halo is very territorial when it comes to his targets. He prefers to hunt them down alone. Chase them until they are looking over their shoulder constantly. Enjoying their fear as he methodically corners them leaving them with no choice but to fight him.”

  “He expects to fight Draz alone?” he asked incredulously once he was certain Halo was out of immediate earshot and he spoke in a severely lowered voice in spite of his shock.

  “That’s how he does things,” Danton said with a careless shrug of one shoulder.

  “That’s suicide. Draz is not likely to ever be alone. He’ll be surrounded by the strongest and most powerful sycophants around. Is he planning on taking them all out all by himself in one fell swoop?”

  “He might ask for help. It’s hard to say. Halo is something of a wild card. You never know what he’s going to do. But you can always count on him to get the job done.”

  “Didn’t I hear about him being kidnapped…someone forcing him to drink energy from a tainted source?”

  “Yes. And he had to fight his way out of a warehouse by himself while towing a civilian human.”

  “He came back from that? The feeding I mean,” Marcus asked, unable to sound anything but impressed.

  “Yes. It seems that a strong enough vampire can come back from a tainted feeding…if he can resist the temptation of the high it gives him. Halo didn’t tell me much about the experience, but he did tell me there was an incredible emptiness after he had cleansed himself. Like a part of him yearned for more of that poison. I can only hope it’s faded with time…for his sake.”

  Marcus took the information in, a new respect forming for the brute. Perhaps he had been too quick to judge. He was usually so good at sussing out a person’s character right from the start. However he did take the time to reaffirm and fill in the blanks of that instinctual information. Marcus wasn’t that prejudiced…or at least he tried not to be.

  “The human he had in tow. Did he survive?” Marcus asked.

  “Not only did she survive, he married her. Just last week. Around about the time you were interviewing for your job.”

  “So she’s faced the committee—and passed muster?

  “She sure did. Usually we reveal ourselves only to a select group of humans, as you know. Humans who can offer something to the vampire nation. Now, while she didn’t have anything of value to offer other than her love for our top hunter, she also had had too much exposure to us to safely wipe her memory…or to do it without leaving her with an enormous gap and a bullet wound that she wouldn’t be able to explain.”

  “You could have done that. Humans experience amnesia due to trauma all of the time.”

  “It wouldn’t have been fair at the time. She had been kidnapped along with Halo. The threat was still out there. It may be out there even now. If we erased her awareness of it, she would have been left defenseless.”

  “In that case I can see why you made the exception.”

  “She really is a wonderful lady. I think you’ll like her. She has a simple, clear personality and she always lets you know what she’s thinking. Yet she also knows when to keep her mouth shut and her secrets to herself. In the end that’s why we agreed to accept her. If she could hide from a stalker without revealing anything to anyone about how to find her, she could most certainly keep our secret.”

  “A stalker?” Marcus asked.

  “A somewhat long story. To shorten it, her ex was stalking her. It turned out he had a heavy hand in her kidnapping…if not Halo’s.”

  “What does a human woman have to do with kidnapping a vampire?”

  “They poisoned her with heroin, threw her in a cell with Halo and proceeded to starve him to death so he would eventually be forced to feed from her. I have a report all about the incident on my laptop. I’ll shoot it over to you.”

  “Not in an email,” Marcus said in automatic warning.

  “Of course not,” Danton said with a frown. “I’m not an idiot…I know the rules. I’ll have my assistant cross the floor to your office with a thumb drive.”

  “I’m sorry,” Marcus said with sudden chagrin. “Of course you know the rules. I just always feel the need to remind my subordinates to be careful. I know we have massive firewalls and an aggressive counter-attacking virus if anyone tries to access our servers; that we have dual access ports…one that allows us to interact with the world outside and another closed port exclusive to this building. I know we have taken all precautions…that we send files only by messenger or by overnight mail and those thumb drives holding those files are heavily encrypted and they too have an aggressive virus attached if anyone tried to decode it. I know all of this and still I don’t feel safe. Do you know why? Because of human nature. Vampires have been raised around humans for so long we’ve picked up bad habits, and one of those bad habits is forgetting that someone is always watching. Someone can easily listen in on even the most private conversations. Our task is to keep from being interesting enough for someone to want to bother listening or searching for us, but we are a proud race…vampire nature is just as bad as human nature…we excel at everything, and sometimes it’s hard to hold back. Especially our young. It’s hard for any vampire to restrict their achievements to within the nation.”

  “They must or they will face censure and perhaps even ultimate justice.”

  “I know. But a part of me is always reminding others to be careful. I don’t wish to see anyone suffer for a careless mistake.”

  Danton nodded sagely. “Be careful. In your zeal to protect others you might expose yourself.”

  “You’re right. Paranoia can be just as bad as laxness. I will try to be more circumspect and better measured in my reactions.”

  “That’s all anyone can ask. Now come on, we have a great deal to go over before lunch.”

  “You eat lunch?” Marcus asked. Most vampires tended to limit themselves to eating dinner like a human, since food did not give them much in the way of energy. They only ate to fit in to the world around them. Lunch when there were no humans around made little sense.

  “I eat all three meals. I am a sensualist. Food is so delicious that I find myself enjoying it whenever I can. In fact, I sometimes eat too much. I tend to overindulge in quite a few things. Food. Music. Lovemaking. More. I love it all. It brings balance to my life.”

  “But you have been feeling out of balance lately? That’s why you’re leaving?”

  Danton was silent a short minute.

  “Yes. You could say that. I feel a need to be more in the trenches, as they say. Physically bringing vampires in for justice rather than sitting and handing down sentences. There is some of that here of course, but I want more. I want to fill my life with it. I want to exercise my talents. If I don’t they’ll grow lax. Anyway, it’s just until I regain my balance. I’ll return after that.”

  “It could be some time in coming…or a short time from now.”

  “I think it’s not going to be something very easily achieved. You can assure yourself of some security for at least six months…if not a year.”

  “I wasn't worried. I’m grateful for this opportunity, no matter how long it lasts.”

  Danton smiled at him. “Good. I’m glad. I want to get to know you better these next few days. I want to know that our queen is safe in your keeping…as is the committee. I understand you have a much more conservative view on things than I do.”

  “You are more liberal?”

  “Not too liberal…but I do try
my best to take every case at its own merit. I make every effort to be fair.”

  “I will do the same. I did the same on Leopold’s subcommittee. I am used to sitting in judgment.”

  “I know you are. And you do well at it. If you didn’t you wouldn’t be here.”

  “Thank you. Now, shall we get started?”

  “Absolutely.”

  They walked toward Danton’s office together.

  Chapter Six

  Simone was kept busy the entire day and did not have time to think about her new authoritarian, never mind see him. It wasn’t until six p.m., when she was just wrapping up her day, that he appeared in her office.

  Darcy had gone up to the penthouse around five, leaving her without a buffer between herself and the outside world, so he was able to come directly into her office. He did so by rapping his knuckles lightly on her door and stepping inside a single step.

  “Busy?” he asked.

  “Just about done. What can I do for you?”

  “I was wondering if you wanted to catch a meal.”

  There were two common phrases vampires used when it came to eating. “Would you like something to eat?” meant eating a human meal. “Would you like to catch a meal?” meant hunting for a feed. She tilted her head and regarded him for a moment.

  “I am scheduled to feed tonight,” she said. She had actually been pushing her limits when it came to her energy quotient this week, but she didn’t tell anyone that. They liked to keep their queen well fed and tended to be over protective of her, but this transition of authoritarians had made Danton a little lax in seeing to her basic needs. Still, the meal had been scheduled a month in advance, so Danton knew he needn’t worry about her overmuch.

  She was never allowed to hunt alone. She always had to hunt in a pair and she always had to have more than one other bodyguard authoritarian with her. That made for a hunting quartet. The guards knew to keep a discreet distance, so it was more like a pair.

  “Are you ready for a feed?” she asked him.

  “I’m going to have to adjust to your schedule, but I am pretty close to it if you’re ready tonight. Maybe only a day off.”