Revealed

by Zoe Allison

  Walter led them past the tables where staff members were working on various bodies. All of them were sadly scorched or dismembered beyond recognition, due to the accelerant used in the bomb blast, except the body they were approaching. It was obvious, even from a distance, that the cadaver was intact and in pristine condition with no signs of damage—much like the ones they had seen in London prior to the main explosion.

  “You see,” Walter told them, handing over some gloves, “that there is no outward sign of injury, and yet our studies so far point toward the cause of death being exsanguination. How can that be so with no major wound?”

  Vale shared a meaningful look with Vic. The cause of death was blood loss.

  Vic and Vale both moved around the body, studying it and taking notes. It was a young male in his late twenties or early thirties. Vale raised his eyebrow at Vic. She clearly understood his meaning, because she started to distract Walter by engaging him in conversation about one of the other bodies. He turned away, toward where the other staff were working. Vale swiftly bent to check the neck of the victim. Two tiny puncture wounds were subtly apparent. To the human eye, they were of no consequence. Just like in London. He quickly snipped a small cutting of the man’s hair, placed it into a plastic bag then pocketed it.

  Vale straightened as Walter and Vic turned around to face him again, glancing up at the CCTV camera in the corner. His lightning-fast vampire moves would be too quick to show up on the footage and to anyone watching it would just seem as if he had bent forward then straightened again. He nodded at Vic to confirm his findings.

  “Walter,” Vale asked. “What theories does the forensic team have for why this body is in such good condition?”

  Walter took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. “It was found a little way from the others. He was in a fireproofed stairwell and we think that’s why he was preserved from the explosion.”

  “And there are no others who were similarly protected?” Vic asked.

  “No,” Walter said. “At least with this one, the family will be able to identify him when they attend later. For the rest, we have to use dental records or DNA analysis.”

  Vale rubbed his chin. “We will discuss the findings with our colleagues back in Dresden and see if they have records of any similar scenario that might help us explain this man’s cause of death.”

  They stayed for a while longer, discussing general findings and details regarding the other bodies. Then Walter thanked them for their visit and they left to change and head out of the building. By now it was evening, and their next stop was the hotel, a short distance away.

  “Do you think we should have pointed out the neck marks to him?” Vic asked as they walked side by side.

  Vale shook his head. “There was no way to point out the real cause of death without revealing the existence of vampires.”

  Vic didn’t answer him.

  “You disagree?” he asked her.

  “No,” she said. “I know you’re right. But I just feel for the family, you know?”

  Vale took in her clouded expression. “You mean not knowing what happened to their loved one?” he said, quietly.

  “Yes…” Vic said, pausing.

  “What is it?” Vale asked.

  She cleared her throat. “Nothing.” She smiled at him. “It’s fine. I just feel sad for them is all. Anyway”—she gestured ahead—“the hotel should be just around the corner, right?”

  “Yes,” Vale said, appraising her demeanor. What was playing on her mind? Was it the same thing that had seemed to weigh heavily upon her after the London bombing—or something else? He found himself desperate for her to confide in him. Why is she holding back?

  Soon they reached the hotel and entered to collect their room keys from the reception desk. Upon introducing himself, Vale was promptly handed two keycards. The receptionist smiled. “Mr. and Mrs. Bianco, welcome. Your luggage is already in your room. It’s on the top floor.”

  Vic raised her eyebrows. “Room, as in singular?”

  “Yes, ma’am,” replied the lady. “We have our king-size suite for you, as requested at booking.”

  Vale frowned. “Is that definitely what was requested?”

  “Yes, sir. Why? Is there a problem I can help with?”

  “No,” Vic interjected, “it’s fine.” She steered Vale away by the elbow. “C’mon, Mr. Bianco.”

  They moved off toward the bank of elevators. Vale’s mind was racing. Priyanka. She had booked the hotel and clearly requested one room instead of two. What was her motivation for that? Surely she didn’t think she could engineer something to happen between him and Victoria. He glanced over to where Vic was calling the elevator. She returned to stand at his side, her expression flawlessly neutral.

  “Are you sure you do not want to ask if they have another room?” he said. He didn’t want her to feel uncomfortable.

  “Nah,” she said, meeting his gaze. “If we do that, it’d arouse suspicion. Why would a married couple book a double room then on arrival demand separate ones?”

  Vale smiled. “Because they had an argument en route about him leaving the toilet seat up?”

  Vic laughed. “Yeah, that might do it.”

  The elevator arrived and they entered. Vale pressed their floor button and the doors slid closed. “Listen,” he told her. “You really can tell me if you don’t like this idea. I don’t want you to be uncomfortable.”

  She sighed. “Vale, chill. It’s fine. We’re just bunking together. It’s not like we both haven’t done that loads of times with other agents on missions.”

  Vale mulled it over. She was correct. It was often the case when the cover for a pair of agents was a couple. So why was it making him nervous? It must be because he hadn’t been expecting it. Come to think of it, Priyanka probably hadn’t had any particular motive in booking it the way she had. She must have just decided that a couple would be a more efficient cover. He was sure she had gotten the message that there was nothing between him and Vic except camaraderie.

  They arrived at the correct floor and made their way to the suite. On entering the room, Vale was struck by its opulence. There was a partial screen to one side, beyond which lay a king-size four-poster bed. A large sofa was positioned in front of the window overlooking the city. He was relieved to see the couch, because it meant he wouldn’t need to sleep in the bathtub. There was no way they would be sharing a bed.

  Vic unzipped her bag and extracted her toiletries. “I might head for a shower in a sec, unless you want in there first?”

  He shook his head. “I will take one after you.”

  Vale placed his own bag down and took a seat on the sofa. Vic came over to sit next to him. “Have you been here before?” she asked.

  “Yes,” he said. “A long time ago. You?”

  “Yeah,” she said. “This was actually the location of my first mission working with Gareth a few years back.”

  Vale watched the curve of her mouth as she spoke. He flicked his eyes back up to hers. “You two are good friends.”

  “Yeah,” Vic said. “He’s a pretty cool guy. Laid back.”

  Vale smiled. “I hadn’t worked with him until the Glassmarsh case. But I was grateful for his help when we rescued Amber from Angelique.”

  “I’ll bet,” Vic said. “We need as many good guys as we can get.”

  Vale leaned into the cushions. “Indeed.” He rubbed his neck. “Sometimes I feel like this case is never going be over.”

  Vic pursed her lips and blew her breath out. “Tell me about it.”

  Vale rested his head back and watched her. “It was as if we were really close to shutting it down—”

  “Then things got more complicated,” she finished for him.

  He smiled. “Reading my mind now?”

  Vic laughed. “To be honest, I sometimes find you hard to read.”

  He raised his eyebrows. “Oh?”

  She smiled, sinking back into the sofa. “Don’t get me wrong. Most of
the time I feel like we’re in tune. That’s why we’ve been an effective team.”

  He nodded. He had been thinking the same thing about her.

  “But sometimes,” Vic continued, “you sort of go into yourself. You become all pensive and disappear for a bit and I have no idea what you’ve been thinking.”

  Vale’s heart rate picked up. He often had to think on his toes when out in the field and trying not to reveal who he really was. Those were the occasions where he retreated into his own mind—except no one had ever seemed to notice, until Victoria.

  He glanced over to the window. “I think I just need to do that when things get a little overwhelming, you know?”

  “Yeah,” she said. “I do.”

  Vale met her eyes again. He felt he had memorized the entire spectrum of their blue-green hue over their recent time together. He tried to ignore the draw he felt toward her. “It is good to have a colleague who I would also describe as a friend.”

  Vic smiled, but something flashed in her eyes and she shifted her gaze away before he had chance to read what it was. She fiddled with the cushion next to her. “How’re Amber and Hayden?”

  Vale smiled at the thought of his sister and best friend. “Great. They are having a fantastic time.”

  “Are they still in Scotland?” Vic asked.

  “Yes,” he said. “They even asked me to go out there once this is all finished.”

  “Great idea,” she said. “You could do with a break.”

  The idea of it was tempting. “Yes…” The all-too-familiar heavy foreboding settled into his gut. “But there is so much to do here. Once the mission is over, there will always be something else.”

  Vic frowned. “Vale, not everything is your responsibility. Let Priyanka and Mr. X deal with what comes next. Take the vacation.”

  He rubbed his neck, wondering why it felt so tight all the time. “I will think about it.”

  “Don’t think too hard,” Vic said. “Just do it. Perhaps you overthink things then talk yourself out of your gut feeling on the subject.”

  He glanced up. She was right. He tended to overthink. “Maybe,” he said.

  Vic was watching him as he tried to rub the knot out of his neck. She tilted her head slightly. “Don’t miss out on time with your family, Vale. It’s the most important thing when you have a good one.”

  Something in her tone caused him to drop his hand and sit a little straighter. He met her gaze. “What about your family?”

  She shook her head. “I don’t have one.”

  Vale studied her. “What happened to them?”

  Vic’s expression didn’t alter but there was pain in her eyes. “They’re dead. They were killed.”

  Vale’s breath caught in his chest. “I am sorry.”

  She shrugged. “I’m not.”

  He frowned. Her eyes said otherwise. “Why is that?”

  She sighed. “They were as malevolent as they come. I’m just sorry that it wasn’t me who finished them.”

  He reached out and took her hand.

  Vic smiled and gave him a squeeze. “It’s okay. It was a really long time ago.” She let go and got to her feet, picking up her bag of toiletries. “I’ll take that shower now.” She headed toward the bathroom.

  “Vic,” he said.

  She looked back at him. “Yeah?”

  He gestured toward the bedroom. “You can have the bed. I will take the sofa.”

  She paused. “Sure? It’s big enough to share.”

  Vale’s anxiety spiked at the thought. “No. You have it to yourself.”

  “Well,” she said, “let’s at least toss a coin for it. It’s only fair.”

  He smiled, trying to cover his rapidly firing nerves. “You have it. I insist.”

  Vic shrugged. “Okay.” Then she left the area for the bathroom and locked the door behind her.

  The hum of the shower started and Vale rubbed his forehead. He didn’t know why the thought of them sleeping in the same room was so stressful to him. He tried to distract himself by going through the stuff in his bag and taking out what he needed to wash, then making a pile of his clothes for the morning. The sound of running water ceased, causing him increasing anxiety. He hoped Vic would be wearing more than just a towel when she emerged. He was uncomfortable about a colleague wandering around in a state of undress. Any colleague? Or just Victoria?

  Vale opened a magazine that he found on the coffee table and tried to concentrate on it rather than dwell on the noises coming from the bathroom, but he found himself re-reading the same paragraph three times. He rubbed his eyes and startled at the sound of the bathroom door opening. He deliberately kept his gaze down as he heard Vic move past the sofa.

  Her footsteps paused. “Vale?”

  He didn’t look up. “Yes?”

  “Bathroom’s free.” She hesitated. “You okay?”

  “Yes of course,” he said, his heart pounding. “Why do you ask?”

  “No reason,” she said. There was another moment’s hesitation, then the sound of her walking away.

  Vale hazarded a glance as she entered the bedroom area and was relieved to see that she had already changed into pajamas while in the bathroom. There was no door separating the sleeping area, just the partial screening, so he hadn’t been keen on the idea of her changing in there.

  He grabbed his wash bag and went into the bathroom, closing the door behind him. He quickly stripped and climbed into the shower, turning the heat up in an effort to soothe that kink in his neck. The unexpected realization that Victoria had been standing naked in that very spot a few minutes before intruded on his thoughts. Quickly he turned off the shower and climbed out.

  Vale took longer than needed, hoping she might be asleep by the time he left the bathroom. He put on his boxer briefs and it occurred to him that he was the one who would be wearing little. He only wore underwear to bed. He hesitated, his hand on the door handle. Then he decided to stop being so precious. Vic wouldn’t be bothered or even notice what he was wearing.

  He opened the door and went over to the sofa. Vic had placed a pillow and a blanket out for him. He peered toward the bedroom area. She was in darkness, tinkering on her phone.

  “Thanks, Vic,” he said.

  She glanced up from the phone screen. “What for?”

  He smiled. “The bedding.”

  “No worries,” she said, smiling back—and immediately returned to her phone.

  Vale hesitated. He had wanted to apologize for his state of undress, but Vic hadn’t even seemed to notice. He turned the light off and climbed onto the sofa, pulling the blanket over himself. His previous tension started to dissipate. He was just being oversensitive. Victoria clearly didn’t think anything of them sharing the room or his being partially clothed. She must feel the same as him. They were just friends and that was it.

  Eventually his mind relaxed enough to start drifting. Snatches of conversation and flashes of images intermingled in his consciousness, a brown-eyed girl with black hair laughed on a beach alongside a man with bright blue eyes, a beautiful blonde woman with a blue-green gaze smiled then a prison cell, containing a tall white-blonde female with a cold expression.

  Chapter Three

  Victoria stretched out in her seat, listening to the hum of the plane’s engine. She adjusted her eye mask to eliminate a chink of light and took a deep breath. Dammit. She could still smell his scent and sense his arm next to hers, despite her attempts to block him out. This trip is turning out to be torture.

  She had admired him long before she’d met him. Valentino was infamous at The Organization and his reputation had become known to her soon after joining. However, it still hadn’t prepared her for meeting him in the flesh during the Glassmarsh case. She didn’t believe in love at first sight, but it had been lust at first sight. And after getting to know him, she could see how love would follow quickly unless she put the brakes on her feelings. She was trying her best, but the battle was not easy. He was pretty much the per
fect guy—loyal, kind and brave—albeit married to his job.

  Vic wasn’t the jealous type, but it was hard to ignore all the women fawning over him. She had tried to play down her secret delight that they had been given a room to share the previous night, but that had been easy compared to the mammoth effort it had taken to act casual when he’d started walking around in that tight-fitting underwear. The guy had a body to die for, and the memory of it was making it really hard for her to be around him right now.

  Worst of all, though, was the fact that he clearly did not feel the same way about her. He seemed to like her as a friend and colleague, but he didn’t find her attractive. She got zero vibes of a romantic nature from him. Why on earth did he have to be such an amazing person as well as beautiful to look at?

  He shifted in the seat next to her and brushed his arm against hers. A million goosebumps erupted over her skin, causing her breath to catch in her throat. Unfortunately, she must have emitted an involuntary sound because the soothing bass of his voice sounded at her ear, his breath caressing her cheek. “What’s wrong?”

  She bit the bullet and pulled the eye mask off, trying to steel herself before seeing his face. Despite her efforts, the force of looking into his eyes still made her stomach flip. They were a rich caramel, and she could feel him studying her soul every time she gazed into them. She cleared her throat. “Nothing.”

  He smiled at her and she tried not to stare too hard at the way his face lit up. Vic flicked her gaze toward his sandy-colored hair. The urge to brush her fingers through it seemed momentarily overwhelming. Vic gripped the arms of her seat a little more tightly, heat rising in her face. She hoped to God that her cheeks weren’t coloring and giving her away.

  “Is it okay by you if we go straight to HQ when we land?” he asked.

  She swallowed. “No worries.”

  He pressed farther back into his seat and rested his head, still turned toward her. “You sure?” he said. “You have no other plans? I am aware that our trip was last minute.”

  “Nope,” she said, “no plans. I’ve no one to make plans with.” What? Why did I just say that?

  He frowned. “No significant other?”