by Talyn Scott
“You are half werewolf. Of course you have power.”
“This is nothing like I had before,” he said, trying to move his legs but they wouldn’t budge.
“I forgot about Mason. Don’t move, this time.”
“Just get me a wheelchair.” He grimaced at the thought of using the damn thing. “I want to see Jenny.”
“How do you know she’s here?”
“Me turning into the Undead wasn’t all Gage rambled about.” He leveled a look at Eagan. “No more Rites to Mate, no males preening for Jenny’s attentions, I’m her male. I will tell her so tonight.” Searlas gripped the bedrail, and it broke off in his hand.
“Settle down, man.” Eagan held up his hands. “You assaulted my neck. I can’t bring Jenny around you just yet. You must control your thirst and your temper.”
Another hiss escaped Searlas, deadly and sure. “Don’t tell me what to do concerning Jenny.”
“Look at yourself.” Eagan dropped his hands, holding them wide in a helpless gesture. “Allow your body to finish mending with all the blood I donated to you. Then, go see Jenny.”
Searlas clenched his teeth, keeping what he wanted to say locked deeply within him. Finally, he shook his head in agreement. “I”ll wait for now, but the minute my spine heals…”
Eagan nodded. “Wise choice.”
Jenny ran her hands up and down her arms, fighting to warm her body. She hated living below ground, hated the many nights she turned away from the moon, fighting her instincts to stay undercover for the vampire task force.
Walking into her tiny, utilitarian bathroom, she gathered a broom and dustpan, then set to work on cleaning up the broken glass courtesy of Gage MacGelton. By the time she finished, Syon walked in, his eyebrow lifting in silent chastisement as he took in the glass and smashed cabinet.
“I knew you were stronger than most female purebloods, but I never thought you could dent a stainless steel cabinet.”
“You’ve already heard, I’m sure.”
“Yes,” he admitted, “Gage MacGelton strikes again. If only you’d told me Searlas was his beloved nephew I would never have saved him.”
“If only you’d told me the truth about how you saved him,” she countered, while emptying the dustpan into the trash, “I would have never — ”
“Never what, agreed? Instead, wished him dead?”
“How could you have made him Undead?”
“What did you expect me to do? He was dead.” He held up his hands like a pendulum. “Dead.” One hand went down. “Undead.” The other hand went up. “There’s no other way for balance.” He brought his palms level.
“I thought you would have given Searlas a little of your blood, and then he would have healed.” No one knew exactly how vampires made Undead vampires, and Jenny wouldn’t ask, either, knew she wouldn’t get a straight answer out of Syon. “I’ve seen it done before.”
“Oh, I gave him a lot more blood than a little. And I did heal him.”
Now, she knew why Searlas had avoided her. He wasn’t even awake. Not that she wanted him to see her as he had before: unclothed, spread before him.
Even though she would never forget the brief time she’d spent with Searlas on the boat dock and thereafter on Bren Walker’s yacht, Jenny could never again see herself naked with any male. She hated her scars. Hated seeing the daily reminder of how those bastard Gryphs savaged her body. And she would never want to see pity or disgust in a male’s eyes.
“Gage just now figured out what was happening, said Searlas was rising.”
“Six months is a long time for a rising. Searlas must have been more damaged than I realized. Probably had to regrow major organs. Like his brain.”
She swung the broom at his head, barely missing. “Are you serious?”
“About everything but the brain, yes,” he said with a serene smile. “You needed a laugh.”
“I needed a laugh, not to be terrified. I’ve been terrified enough for today, thank you.” She put the broom away. “Gage is out for…everything.”
He stood in the bathroom doorway, staring over her head into the mirror. “It’s a good thing I didn’t leave my mark anywhere on Searlas’ body.” He placed both hands on her shoulders, squeezing slightly. “Gage is going to be watching more than ever.”
“I can’t stay here anymore. Besides Gage, no werewolf would be happy about waking up a vampire, which you already knew,” she accused. “And he’ll come after me.”
“Maybe. Depends on how possessive he was of you before he turned Undead.”
“I’d given myself to him only once. And Searlas is a halfling, so how possessive could he really have been?”
“Was a halfling,” Syon corrected. “Now’s he’s a Undead vampire blessed with extra immortal powers from his werewolf side, and there’s a good chance since he bore extraordinary wounds and once held human blood, that he won’t — ”
“Be able to go out in sunlight.”
“At the least, yeah.”
“Oh, Searlas is really going to come after me!”
“What about the werewolves coming after me? Particularly since you told your cousin Kalen you were working for me.”
“Yes, I told her I was working for you, but never anything about my caseload.” After Jenny had told Kalen she worked undercover for the North American Vampire Coven’s task force, Kalen tried to yank her out of the Joint Faction Facility by her throat. Then finally when Kalen had gotten ahold of herself, Jenny dropped the next bomb. Jayce Jordan had no clue.
“Alpha Jordan has no clue of what you’re doing?” Kalen’s mouth fell open. “You’re telling me that you’ve gone rogue?”
“I still belong to Pack.”
“Unless I’m mistaken,” Kalen replied with about as much sarcasm as Jenny expected, “when an unmated female belongs to Pack, she literally belongs to the Alpha.”
This was true. Jenny did belong to Alpha Jordan, in every way except sexually, since he was mated. That meant she answered to him, and several other Pack males — including Gage, for that matter. “Alpha Jordan has enough to think about.” She’d shrugged, trying for casual, though the thought of what he would do sent a wave of nausea through her stomach. “Besides, I’ll end up back on Sanibel before the Alpha notices anything.”
Kalen had looked at Jenny like she was an idiot. Then, her voice softened, pleaded. “Do you really think you’ll come back to Sanibel, any time soon?”
“I will.”
Jenny only hoped that promise wasn’t a lie. She stared in the mirror. “I needed someone I could trust to know what I was doing, in case something happened to me.”
Syon dipped his head, burying his face against her throat and inhaling languidly, as though he couldn’t get enough of her scent in his lungs. “And you still can’t trust me?”
Oh, that was a loaded question. “Kalen’s family, you’re not.” She’d been surprised when Commander Syon had offered her the option of working within his task force, had once thought he would demand for her to be his Blood Pet. Though he’d never asked for more than minor feedings to maintain her blood inside of him for emergency retrievals.
Goosebumps dotted her skin on that thought. If she ever needed Syon to hunt her by blood, in this dark world, Jenny would probably be dead or wish she were dead by the time Syon found her. “And I have six months left to pay on Searlas’ Blood Debt. So, in a way, you own me. How can I exactly trust someone who owns me?”
“By your choice, Jenny, you owe me for Searlas. I offered my original help for you and you alone, for free.” He lifted his head, placing his hands on her shoulders. The same hands Jenny had witnessed decapitating a Gryph it usually took two Pack males to kill. Power attracted female werewolves, and it was hard for Jenny to deny those ancient-driven demands hounding her. Even so, she’d not taken another male since Searlas, and she wasn’t about to start with Syon. “But you’ve created a new problem by telling your cousin Kalen.”
“How so?”
&n
bsp; “She’s bound to three mates now.” His thumbs rubbed tiny circles on her shoulders, knowing just the amount of pressure her scars could take. “Three werewolves who are a powerhouse into themselves, one of which is the Alpha of North America’s brother.”
“I know this.”
“Don’t you think Kalen’s going to tell them what you are up to, once she tells her mates she’s joining my task force.”
“I never thought she would do this.” Otherwise, Jenny would have kept her mouth shut. “Do you really think that Archer Jordan will squeal to the Alpha?”
“Without a doubt, and when he does, I’ll have Alpha Jordan blowing the cover off an investigation I’ve worked years to close.”
Intrigued, Jenny asked, “Would this particular investigation get me out of here for a while?” Away from all the shit piling up against her.
He thought about it for a minute. “It’s too dangerous.”
“Come on!” she chided. “It’s not as though I’ve been busting jaywalkers.”
“Very well,” he said in exasperation. “Foreign vampires, as well as other vampires sneaking in under Pack’s radar, are here for virgins.”
Jenny rolled her eyes.
“I can’t believe you just rolled your eyes.”
“This is old news.” She shook her head. “Vamps have always hunted virgins. My mother said it was because their blood tasted sweeter.”
Syon looked at her like she was nuts. “You don’t say?”
“Tell me the rest.”
“From what we’ve gathered, vampires, who have lost their Brides or perhaps never met them and gave up their search, buy who they want to spend eternity with — changing the female into a vampiress in the process.”
Jenny chewed her lip, thinking about that. She knew that the only way a vampire could claim a Bride that wasn’t his true soulmate was to make love to an untouched female, a virgin.
“What we’re concerned over, greatly concerned over, is that many of the females are humans.”
“Humans who know about us?”
“Yes, and what we’ve pulled out so far is that there are underground clubs, involving humans and creatures alike, which cater to these vampires and the greedy women who will sell themselves to the highest bidder. All over the world, college-aged females have been selectively and secretively approached for various virgin clubs. Their biggest numbers, however, are right here. Unfortunately, mixed blood females are the highest number of those accepted into the club, mostly here in Southwest Florida.”
Ice formed in Jenny’s chest when she realized why. Mixed bloods accepted the conversion to vampires much better than humans. Whether any female agreed to the conversion or not, Pack would not tolerate these deplorable clubs to continue on its turf. Not only would they lose what few females they had left, but they would also risk humans discovering they walked among mythological legends that weren’t mythological at all. Humans tended to freak out when faced with the unthinkable, spreading fear like plagues long past. And thanks to these clubs, many humans now knew of them.
“From what our undercover sources can decipher, the humans and mixed bloods are being told the truth in every stage of the ritual. The vampires are telling them exactly what will happen, and the females are more than happy to accept their new husbands.”
By his look, she knew there was something more. “Tell me the rest.”
“The Coven has associated the nearest club chapter with the three females taken from The Blue Pelican the night the Gryphs attacked.”
“So,” she realized, “not every female willingly signed up for a vampiric husband.”
“No.”
“Maybe this is what I’m supposed to do.” Her throat tightened at the thought. “Can we at least get the three humans back?”
“We’re working on it.” Startled by her enthusiasm, Syon cocked his head, searching her eyes. “You can pose as a virgin, infiltrating their operation.”
Many vampires could tell if a female was a virgin by scent alone. “Won’t they know I’m not a virgin?”
“Most vampires aren’t that intuitive, but you have a failsafe just in case.” He looked down, his eyelashes fanning his sharp cheekbones. “I don't want you to do this, though, not this.”
“Why not?”
He trailed his fingertip over the side of her right breast, but she didn’t stop him, knew it wasn’t a sexual gesture. “We’re akin, you and I, sharing the scars of life. I don’t want anything else to happen to you.”
“But we can’t let this mess continue, and those humans haven’t a chance without us.”
“If,” he said so quietly she barely heard him, “Searlas doesn’t — ”
“You’re beautiful, Syon,” she admitted, thinking the Commander might, in fact, be in love with her cousin Kalen, “and powerful.” She stepped out of the bathroom. “But I cannot give you only my body when my heart is hurting this much.” She stepped out of the bathroom. “We both deserve better.”
His face sobered as he followed her out. “On that we agree.” Syon checked his watch. “I’ll have the assignment delivered to you in our usual way.” He looked around her room. “Take anything from here you want to keep with you for a while.” Eyes meeting hers again, he said in a warning-filled undertone. “You will be gone for a while, you know. Your friends and your family will think you’ve disappeared, because you will have disappeared.” He didn't ask if she was sure of her decision; he never did second guess her. But this time Syon was waiting.
“This investigation is far more dangerous than the others put together, isn’t it?”
A single nod yes.
Then she deserved more. “If I pull this off, giving you the information you require to take down whomever’s running these clubs, I want my debt with you cleared.”
“You don’t know what you’re hoping for. To take down the clubs? We’ve been working on this longer than I can admit, longer than I want to admit.”
“Then I’ll be out either way in six months.”
“Yes.”
“But if I come up with something sooner — ”
“That would be a miracle, Jenny.”
“Then the odds are in your favor, so why don’t you agree to my terms?”
“Because I don’t want you to do anything stupid to cut mere months off your Blood Debt.” He gestured for her to gather her things, dismissing the idea and barreling forward. “You’ll be placed into one of their special homes.”
“So they can keep an eye on me?”
“Yes, after all, you will be considered a precious commodity: a gorgeous, pureblood werewolf offering herself to the highest bidder for eternity. By any standards, you will fetch a fortune. So they’ll guard you well, too well.”
Interesting, Niall thought as he leaned away from Jenny’s door.
Chapter 10
Jenny clutched her attache case when the helicopter finally landed. For the past week, she’d gone through the process of interviews and a few minor tastings to prove her pure lineage, while hidden beneath the ground, moving among three different vampire lairs. All traveling required Jenny to stay blindfolded, so she wouldn’t know where the hell she was. Now, she was spent, utterly exhausted.
Currently, the trip from Captiva Island to North Fort Myers should have taken her fifteen minutes by air, but the transitions from limo to limo, then limo to helicopter had taken…She had no idea how long she’d waited to get here, but Jenny sensed the moon high overhead, felt the call deep in her bones. So it must be late, she realized.
She twisted in her seat, reaching beneath the black silk hood someone had placed on her head at the beginning of this journey.
“The hood stays on until I take it off,” warned a male next to her, his voice a whip of steel over the drum of the engine.
Jenny longed to reach for her only weapon, a razor thin blade embedded in her bra, which would easily pass as an underwire. Instead, she fisted her hands on her lap, wondering what Kalen would do the next t
ime she visited the Joint Faction Facility and found Jenny had disappeared.
“Don’t be nervous.” His voice softened, “Almost there.”
“I’ll try,” she said meekly. What Jenny really needed to work on was getting her head in the game. This game. All the thoughts, the variant possibilities swirling in her mind would keep her distracted, would get her nothing less than exposed. She cleared her throat. “It’s just, uh, I don’t want to blow this. I need the money.”
“You must really need the money to commit yourself to a life with a vampire.” He leaned closer. “You sure about this? I mean, honey, pardon me for saying, but you’re pretty damn hot. Even if you never find your true mate, I can’t see why any situation would force you to sell yourself to the highest bidder.”
She’d rehearsed her lines until they’d become a part of her. “I’m not feeling what the Alpha’s offering, and I need the money.”
“Okay, it’s your business. Just giving you one last chance for an out.” He leaned over her and unfastened her security harness in gentle yet immortal speed. “The second you step out on this roof, your decision is set in stone.”
“I’ve given this decision much thought.” She tightened her grip on the attache case. “I’m ready to move forward with my life, to find my chosen mate.”
“Very well.” He pulled her gently through the helicopter’s door, with his hand holding down her head. “Head down,” he barked over the cutting wind, “rotors.”
A gust tugged her flowing skirt upward, as well as her hood. Her escort finished pulling the silk hood from her face, yet he moved too quickly for her to catch even a glimpse of his face. Behind her, he placed his hand on her lower back and urged her to an open, awaiting door.
Warily, she stepped through.
When the door slammed behind her, Jenny turned around to find her escort gone. She wiggled the simple door knob, turning it right and left, and found herself trapped. But what did she expect?
“This way,” said a feminine voice of honey poured over glass. By her scent, she was absolutely nothing, which meant she was Undead for a lengthy time.
