“She nearly got three Huntresses and Maggie killed,” Baxter reminded him, and Jensen’s eyes turned red for a fleeting moment before he closed them.
“I remember,” he responded. “But she’s a human, and she’s young, and that sadistic fucker has her mother.”
“Mitigating circumstances,” Baxter told him. “Plus, she’s Jackson’s sister, so she falls under Karma’s protection, too. No one within the VEB or Senate will harm her for that reason alone.”
“I know, and that’s one of the reasons I haven’t said anything concerning how I feel about her,” Jensen admitted. “Once we have her back, I will have to talk to Karma and Jackson though. There will be no hiding it once she’s back with us.”
“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it,” Baxter said and looked at his second-in-command for a second before focusing on Gina once more. “In the meantime, I think we should send a small team to Miami. Johnson is going to need help with whatever he’s run into there, and I don’t think Larson and Cook with be enough.”
“Who are you wanting to send?” Jenson asked.
“You,” Baxter answered. “And before you say no, you need to think about it. If something happens to Maggie, we will lose Johnson as completely as we lost Martin when he was killed. Think about how you’re feeling with Caia missing, and you’re not bonded to her yet. I’m not sure if Johnson and Maggie have completed the bond, but I know he’d be lost to us if she were killed.”
“Yes,” Jensen said without hesitation. “I know what my job is, and I know Karma won’t rest until Caia is found. And maybe while I’m there, I can find some clue as to where Caia is. Crompton was in Miami at one time, and someone who knows something about him may still be alive.”
“Pick your team, and I’ll talk to Nevaeh about sending a few Huntresses,” Baxter said and pushed off the SUV when Nevaeh walked out of the restaurant with Gina.
“Okay, Boss,” Jensen said and walked over to where the other agents were standing.
“Nevaeh,” Baxter said, pulling the Huntress leader’s attention away from the small group of humans with them. “I need to talk to you.”
“What’s going on?” Nevaeh asked as Baxter walked to them.
“Jensen is getting a small team together and they’re going to Miami. I was wondering if you wanted to send a couple Huntresses to join them.”
“Nikki, Sally, and Ashtyn will go with him,” Nevaeh answered immediately. “Nikki is very skilled, and I know Sally and Ashtyn are young, but they will be helpful to the team.”
“I know you’d never send someone who wasn’t ready into the field,” Baxter responded and looked at Gina again.
“I wouldn’t,” Nevaeh responded, and followed Baxter’s gaze. “All of my Huntresses are well trained before their first battle. And all of them know what they’re risking each and every time they pick up a weapon.”
“Yeah,” he said and mentally shook himself before focusing on Nevaeh again. “But things happen. Things beyond our control.”
“What’s going on with you?” Harrison asked the VEB leader.
“I’m not sure,” Baxter admitted. “It’s something I’ll be talking over with the Senate once we’re in California. But, for now anyway, we need to focus on helping Johnson and actually getting to California.”
“Yeah,” Nevaeh responded and looked at Harrison. “We will go talk to the Huntresses. Get your team together, and we will get them on a plane to Miami before hitting the road again.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Baxter responded and grinned at her before he walked away.
“She’s his copula,” Harrison said as he watched Baxter walk away.
“She can’t be,” Nevaeh said softly. “He said he tasted his copula, and he’s never tasted Gina.”
“I know what he said, but she’s his copula. He has the same look in his eyes that I had in mine before we bonded. She’s his, and once he claims her, he will be okay again.”
“If you say so,” Nevaeh responded and walked away before he could say anything else.
“I know so,” Harrison whispered and watched her rejoin the Huntresses before he looked at Baxter again. That vampire was a ticking timebomb right now, and he needed his answers before he exploded.
Chapter Three
“What’s going on?” Johnson asked quietly when he answered his phone.
“I wanted to let you know we sent Cook and Larson to Miami. They should be landing within the hour,” Baxter told him. “Where are you and Maggie in the meantime?”
“In a hotel for the moment,” he answered, and Baxter could hear a slight change in his voice. Something was going on with Johnson, and he needed to know what it was. “But I’m going to check on renting an apartment or something for a while. I want to know what’s going on here.”
“I’d like to know that myself,” Baxter said and sighed. “Is there something you aren’t telling me, Johnson?”
“Like what, boss?” Johnson asked.
“Like why we got a call from a car rental place about a human employee having his neck broken less than half an hour after you signed for a rental car you never drove out of the lot,” Baxter answered.
“Fuck,” Johnson said softly, and Baxter knew immediately there was something wrong. “I can’t believe they killed that kid.”
“Who?” Baxter asked, not liking not knowing what was going on.
“I can’t tell you yet,” Johnson said, and Baxter ground his teeth in frustration. “I have to make sure Maggie is safe, then I will come in and tell you everything.”
“If you’re involved in something, I need to know about it,” Baxter told him. “I would hate to, but I will have agents sent there to bring you in.”
“Nathan,” Johnson said using his first name. “You know I respect you as a leader, and I love you like a brother, but if you send agents to bring me in they better be prepared to kill me, because that’s the only way I’ll leave Maggie right now.”
“Damnit, Leland,” Baxter nearly yelled. “I could order you to tell me what the fuck is going on.”
“You could,” Johnson responded. “But you’re just going to have to trust me. Once I know Maggie is safe, I will come in and tell you everything.”
“God damn it!” Baxter bit out. “I’m sending a team to Miami. They’ll be there if you need them.”
“Thank you, Nathan,” Johnson responded. “I’ll call you as soon as I have Maggie somewhere vampire can’t get to her.”
“Nevaeh is sending some Huntresses, too,” Baxter told him. “Nikki, Sally, and Ashtyn will be on a plane with Jensen and whatever agents he chooses, asap.”
“Good,” Johnson responded. “I have to go for now, but I’ll check in again later.”
“Just don’t break any laws,” Baxter told him, but knew he’d do whatever he needed to in order to keep Maggie safe.
“I can’t promise that, boss,” Johnson responded then ended the call.
“Fucking son-of-a-bitch!” Baxter spat out and ran his hand through his hair.
“What’s wrong?” Gina asked from behind him.
“Johnson is in trouble,” he answered and sighed. “He’ll be okay as long as Maggie is safe though.”
“He’ll be okay,” Gina told him as she placed a soft hand on his arm. When he sucked in a breath, she went to move her hand, but he stopped her by placing his, much larger, hand over hers.
“We need to talk,” he said and looked into her nearly black eyes. Her Native American heritage was visible in her coloring, and he couldn’t help but notice how much she looked like her grandmother.
“Nathan,” she said quietly when she noticed the look in his eyes.
His name on her lips was nearly his undoing.
“It can wait until we’re in California, but we need to talk,” he said again, and she looked at him in confusion.
“If it’s about what happened in Cleveland, we have nothing to talk about,” she said and turned from him only to have him grab her arm and spin h
er back around.
“It’s not,” he said as his eyes darted to her mouth. “It’s about this.”
He lowered his head and claimed her mouth before she could protest or pull away.
His scent and taste filled her, and she sighed at the feel of his not-so-gentle kiss.
When his tongue slipped into her mouth, he groaned as her taste filled him like no other ever had.
Someone clearing their throat nearby shattered the moment, and Baxter reluctantly pulled away and glared at Watson when his eyes landed on one of his best agents.
“We’re about to board the plane, boss,” she said and looked over to where Jensen was standing with the three Huntresses, and agents Maxwell and Harrington. Neither of the young agents had been with the bureau long, but both had proven to be solid agents over the past few weeks.
“Check in when you get there, and keep Johnson from breaking the law,” he told her, knowing she’d do whatever needed to be done to help Johnson.
“I’ll do the first, but the second may be out of my hands. If Maggie is harmed, I cannot promise not to help Johnson break the law.”
Glancing at Gina, who had pulled from his embrace and taken a few steps back, he nodded before continuing.
“Just keep everyone safe, yourself included.”
“Will do, boss,” she responded and turned on her heel.
Once she was gone, Baxter focused on Gina again.
“This isn’t over,” he said and reached for her.
She shook her head and took another step back. “It’s not over, but it cannot happen here.”
“Ride with me,” he said and looked at Nevaeh, who was watching them with a blank expression on her face.
“Okay,” she said and sighed. “Let me grab my bag from the van.”
He nodded and she walked away before he could pull her against him and finish what had started before Watson interrupted them.
“I felt the steam from that kiss all the way over here,” a young agent named Grayson Hyde said and Baxter snapped his head toward him.
“Not a word,” he ordered and walked away before he ripped the vampire's head off for looking at Gina.
“That was some kiss,” Harrison said when Baxter stopped in front of he and Nevaeh.
Baxter glared at him for a second before turning to Nevaeh. “Gina is going to ride with me. I have an open seat in my SUV since Harrington is gone with Jensen.”
“Keep her safe,” Nevaeh told him.
“With my life,” he responded, and he knew it was true. He’d lay down his life to keep her safe, and he knew exactly why.
“That much I’m certain of,” Nevaeh told him and smiled. “You will figure it all out.”
“I will, but there are things I have to share with her before she and I can do anything about these feelings.”
“Like what?” Harrison asked, having heard Baxter’s story and some of the things he did before his creator was killed.
“After I talk to her, I’ll share it with everyone else,” Baxter said and turned back toward his SUV. “For now, however, we need to get back on the road. We can make it another couple hundred miles before we have to stop for the night.”
“Then let’s load up,” Nevaeh said and watched as Baxter walked away. Once he was out of earshot, she turned to Harrison. “We need to keep an eye on him. I have a feeling Gina isn’t going to like what he has to tell her.”
“I have that same feeling,” Harrison responded, but shook his head. “But I know he’d never do anything to harm her.”
“He knows Karma, or I, would kill him,” Nevaeh said, and Harrison chuckled.
“Maybe, but he’s also loyal to the VEB, and is the type of man who would never betray those he cares for. And believe it or not, he cares for Karma.”
“They all care for Karma,” Nevaeh reminded him. “She’s the reason they’re all here, after all.”
“She’s the reason we’re all here,” he responded and sighed. “Let’s load up and head out. I have a feeling it’s going to be a long drive.”
Chapter Four
“Tell me a little about yourself,” Baxter said as he glanced at Gina. They’d been on the road for about an hour, and the SUV had been mostly silent since they’d hit the highway again.
“What do you want to know?” She asked, then looked over her shoulder at the four vampire filling the seats behind her. “There isn’t much the VEB doesn’t know about me.”
“I know the basics,” he told her. He knew a lot more than that, but now wasn’t the time for that conversation.
“I’m a third generation Huntress. My grandmother joined the Huntresses just after she turned eighteen. Unlike most of the Huntresses, she hadn’t faced a tragedy at the hands of vampire, but she wanted to help those who had. She always told everyone she sought out the Huntresses after she encountered a group of vampire one night while walking home. A few years later, she swore a vampire drank from her, but didn’t kill her like she thought he would,” she stated, and it took every ounce of Baxter’s energy to not say something. She remembered him? How was that possible?
“She said those same vampire killed the man she was with. The man who fathered my mother. They weren’t married, but the tribe we’re from doesn’t follow the ways of the white man,” Gina continued. “My mom was only four when my grandmother was killed. She was raised by the Huntress leader, and joined the Huntresses when she turned eighteen.”
“So, you were born into the Huntresses,” one of the other agents said and Gina turned around to look at who had spoken. It was a young agent who’d been with the bureau for a couple of months.
“Yes,” she answered, and his face twisted in confusion. “My mother may have been very young when my grandmother was killed, but she was strong already. As she grew up, she had zero intention of joining the Huntresses. Just before she turned eighteen, which is when one can officially join, something happened, and her life shifted. She joined on her birthday and never looked back. My father was a member of a hunter group they worked with sometimes. They met during a raid, and decided to give it a shot. He was killed before she even knew she was pregnant with me.”
“Wow,” the agent said.
“What’s your name?” Gina asked him. She’d seen him around, but hadn’t worked with him.
“Grayson Hyde,” he answered, and Baxter narrowed his eyes at the agent who’d made the comment about his and Gina’s kiss earlier.
“Well, Agent Hyde, since the time I was born, all I have ever known is being a Huntress. I started learning the basics in vampire hunting and killing when I turned five, and I killed my first vampire when I was eighteen. That was a long time ago, and there has only been one point in my life where I wanted to walk away from hunting. It was a brief time, and ended when the man I thought I’d spend the rest of my life with was killed by the vampire he was hunting,” she said then turned and looked out the windshield as the memories of Jaxon filled her head. She’d been twenty when she’d met him, and the connection was instant. She’d loved him beyond reason, and both had been ready to walk away from hunting and raise their baby away from that life.
“Was he a hunter like your father?” One of the female agents with them asked.
“He was,” she answered and looked at the female who spoke. Her caramel colored skin shined in the late afternoon sunlight coming through the window. “What’s your name?”
“Paxton Norris,” she answered and smiled softly at Gina. “I’ve only been an agent for a couple of months. Agent Johnson was training me until this morning.”
“Agent Johnson is a good one to train you,” Gina said, and Baxter growled softly. “If I’m ever turned, I’ll still want to train with Karma and Nevaeh.”
“I’ve seen Karma fight. She’s scary good,” Agent Norris said, and Gina smiled at her.
“Just don’t fuck with her family,” Gina told the agent before she looked back at Baxter. She hadn’t missed his reaction to what she’d said about Johnson, and she w
ondered if it was because he wasn’t here, and possibly in danger, or if it was something else.
“Gina,” Baxter said softly, and glanced at her. “Why would you ever be turned?”
“If I’m ever at the point of death like Nevaeh and Delanie was, I would choose life over death,” she told him. “My grandmother and mother never had that option because they didn’t know good vampire existed. Now, we all know all vampire aren’t bad. Unlike Nevaeh and Delanie, I have made it known I want to be changed if it will save my life.”
“You have no idea what you’re asking for,” the other female agent with them said and Baxter growled again. He’d just been told Gina was willing to become a vampire if her life depended on it, and one of his agents was trying to convince her of not doing it.
“I know exactly what I’m asking for,” Gina countered. “Since meeting Karma, and working with the VEB, I have learned so many things I didn’t know about vampire. After Nevaeh was turned, I realized that becoming a vampire wouldn’t be the worst thing to happen to me.”
“I still think it’s crazy to want this,” she said and looked at the other agents with them. “If given the choice of being turned or death, what would you choose?”
“I’ve only been a vampire for three years,” Agent Norris said and shrugged. “I was out with my best friend and her fiancée when we were attacked. We were all three turned. Kylie and Lucy decided to stay with our creator, and I stayed with him for a while, but when vampire came out of hiding, I went my own way. I joined the VEB two months ago after Kylie and Lucy were both killed in a territory battle between our creator and some other vampire.”
“Who was your creator?” Baxter asked, not remembering the name from the young agent’s file.
“Braxton Fletcher,” she responded, and Baxter nodded. He was on the watch list, but hadn’t violated any of the laws since they’d been put in place. “I know he’s on the watch list, but I never saw him do anything that violated the laws. He even disbanded his organization when the laws passed. A few of his creations stayed with him, but most of us went out on our own. Had Kylie and Lucy chosen to go with me, they’d still be alive.”
Gina's Passion (Vampire Huntress Sage Book 4) Page 2