“Who is your sibling?” Baxter asked, suddenly more interested in this Senate member than he’d ever been.
“A female named Nanette,” Eduardo answered, and Baxter inhaled deeply.
“Holy hell,” Karma breathed. She’d read the file they have on Nanette, and was shocked that the woman who had done such terrible things was related to Eduardo, a vampire she not only respected, but had also grown to care about.
“More like an un-holy hell,” Eduardo remarked. “I was two when Nanette was born. As part of the Spanish monarchy, we were extremely wealthy. Neither of us were in line for the crown, but we lived a life well beyond that of most of the people in Spain. When Nanette grew, she was a beautiful child, and she knew it. She used it to get her way from a very young age. When she was fourteen, she was set to wed the son of a very wealthy man from another part of the country. On their wedding night, the man died in his sleep, and she came back home. As a widow, she was treated with respect, and adoration. Two years later, she admitted to me she’d killed him. Poisoned him with belladonna.”
“Damn,” Baxter said when he paused.
“I was twenty when I was turned, and she was already on her third husband. When Crompton discovered I had a sister, he sought her out. He killed her husband before she could, and then turned her. She has been devoted to him ever since because he lets her do whatever she wants to males, both human and vampire.”
“She sounds sadistic,” Dylan muttered.
“She is,” Ramsey commented from beside Eduardo.
“Wait, isn’t she Jensen’s creator?” Baxter asked, looking at the Senate.
“She is,” Eduardo answered. “But that is something you’ll have to speak with him about. We are not our creators, as you well know.”
“I could have easily turned into mine,” Baxter muttered, and Zora laid her hand on his.
“You are not evil,” she told him softly. “You are a good vampire.”
“I am now, sweetheart, but I wasn’t always,” he told her.
“You are not evil,” she repeated. “You have never been evil.”
“Child,” Eduardo said and looked at her curiously. “How can you tell that?”
“I can see him,” she answered.
“See him how?” Constance asked her.
“He doesn’t look evil,” she told them.
“What do you mean by that?” Langley asked and Zora looked at him in confusion.
“That’s enough questions for now,” Baxter interjected before they could question her further. “We will be landing soon, and Zora needs to think about what kind of ice cream she wants.”
“Ice cream,” Zora said, and Baxter heard the seven year-old girl she was.
“Yes, ice cream,” Gina said and looked at Baxter.
“Chocolate peanut butter,” Zora said and Karma grinned.
“That’s my favorite, too,” she told her. “And I know the perfect place to get some.”
“Yes, we do,” Dylan agreed, and smiled at Karma.
“So, ice cream for everyone when we land?” Baxter asked.
“I do love ice cream,” Eduardo said, and they all started laughing.
Chapter Eighteen
“Tell me what happened,” Baxter said when Jensen walked into his office at VEB headquarters.
“Johnson was extremely angry about Maggie being taken, and bitten, by her ex. When she saw the reaction, it scared her, and he went bat-shit. While he was running to blow off steam and calm down, he got a phone call. It was Maggie’s mom,” Jensen started and sat in the chair across from Baxter. He ran his hand through his hair and gave him a complete rundown of the events that happened in Miami. It was a clusterfuck, shit-show, but there was nothing that could be done about it now.
“Is Maggie here?”
“They’re on their way. Maggie will be staying with Watson until Johnson faces trial.”
“I’m glad she decided to not listen to him.”
“She let him feed from her. She’s locked in as his lifemate, and I had zero doubt she’d be on the plane with the others.”
Baxter nodded and thought of Gina for a second. “I just hope the Senate sees that what he did was because of the bond.”
“I’m not fully convinced it was,” Jensen told him and sighed. “Johnson told me that Booker has wanted him dead since he left his organization. If that’s the case, part of it could have been for revenge against him.”
“Let me ask you a question,” Baxter said then stood from his chair. “If Nanette were around and posing a danger to Caia, what would you do?”
“Rip her head off and shove it up her ass,” Jensen answered, as thoughts of his creator filled his head. “But Booker wasn’t Johnson’s creator. He still won’t tell me who it was, but he did tell me it wasn’t Booker.”
“He may not be his creator, but he did work for him for many years. Not knowing what he did for the vampire is driving me nuts.”
“Are you going to speak with him before his trial?”
“Yes, but I’m not going to let him know Maggie is here.”
“Why?”
“Because if he thinks she did as he wanted, he’ll be weaker to questioning.”
“I fucking hate this,” Jensen said and rose to his feet to pace Baxter’s small office. “It feels like we’re losing another brother.”
“If things don’t go well, we may lose him. If that happens, I will move to have others brought up on charges though.”
“That will go over well,” Jensen commented. “But I agree. If they fire him, or worse, moving to have everyone who has violated our laws brought up on charges is the only fair thing to do.”
“It’s in the hands of the Senate, but I do have a little pull, and will be using it. Now, I have a meeting with President Isaac in a few minutes. I’ll call you after I meet with Johnson, and we can discuss what’s going to happen next, but you don’t have to stay here for the hearing. I am going to send you to California first thing tomorrow so you can lead the search for Caia.”
“Thanks, boss,” Jensen said, and Baxter could hear the relief in his voice.
“Now, I have a meeting to get to, and you should see Karma before you leave. Tell her everything that happened, because she will be at the hearing.”
“I will,” he responded and looked at Baxter. “And I will see you again before I leave.”
“Yes,” Baxter said and opened his door. He wasn’t sure why he’d even closed it, honestly. The only beings in the office were vampire, and they could hear what was said if they wanted to.
Once Jensen was gone, Baxter grabbed his suit jacket off the hook by the door and slipped it on. He hated wearing a suit and tie, but he was meeting with the President of the United States, so he would deal with it until he was home.
“Hey, boss,” one of the vampire sitting at a desk called out as he passed her.
“Hello,” he responded with a smile, even though he couldn’t remember her name. She wasn’t a field agent, and he’d never worked with her, but he should at least know her name. “I’m sorry, but I don’t recall your name.”
“Brandy,” she said and smiled at him. “I work in communications.”
“Yes,” he said and recalled her file. She was young, and had joined them just after the VEB was formed. “I remember you now. You joined us from California, correct?”
“Yes, sir,” she said and smiled at him. “Do you think Agent Johnson will be okay?”
“He’ll be fine,” Baxter answered, and tried to remember when she and Johnson had crossed paths. “How do you know Agent Johnson?”
“We met just after I was changed. He was in California and he found me one night when I was just about to feed from and kill a man. He stopped me, and taught me how to feed without killing. He essentially saved my life.”
“He’s a good man,” Baxter told her. “Who has a good woman beside him through all of this.”
“Thank you for talking to me,” she said and walked out through the op
en door.
Once he couldn’t hear her footsteps, or smell her, any longer, he pulled his phone out. There was something about her that just didn’t sit right with him, and he knew just who to call to find out what he needed to know.
“Ask and ye shall receive,” Woods answered in her usual perky voice.
“Woods, I need information on an agent,” he said and heard her inhale deeply before speaking again.
“Yes, sir,” she said, and he heard her tapping on the keys of her computer. “Name?”
“First name is Brandy, and she works in communications,” he answered her. “I don’t know her last name.”
“Lynn,” she told him. “Communications Agent Brandy Lynn. She started with the bureau just after it was formed.”
“Can you email me her complete file, please? I was just talking with her, and something just doesn’t seem right.”
“Emailing now, sir.”
“Thank you,” he said and shook his head. “And Woods, great job tracking down Johnson.”
“He’s going to be okay, isn’t he?”
“If I have anything to say about it, he will be,” Baxter answered. “And he will be happy with his copula.”
“Yeah,” Woods responded. “Anything else, sir?”
“No, that’s all I needed,” he responded. “You’ll find someone, and when you do, you’ll completely forget about Johnson as anything other than a fellow agent.”
“If you say so,” she said and hung up.
Shaking his head, he walked out of the office, and down the stairs. He had a meeting to get to, and an agent to save.
****
“Something isn’t right,” Baxter said softly as he read through Brandy’s file.
“What’s wrong?” Gina asked as she sat beside him on the sofa. “What are you reading?”
“Agent file,” he answered her. “She ran into me at the office this afternoon, and something just seemed off about her, so I had Woods pull her file and send it to me.”
“What isn’t right about it?”
“Her creator,” he answered then pulled up another file on his laptop.
“What about her creator?” Gina asked, and tried seeing the file he’d pulled up.
“The vampire she has listed as her creator was dead before she was created,” he told her as he turned his laptop so she could see it. “Her creation date is in two-thousand three, but the vampire she has listed as her creator was killed in two-thousand.”
“How do you know when he was killed?”
“She, and I know because I killed her,” he responded. “She was killing humans without regard. I was kind of working with a hunter organization at the time, and we took her and a small band of her creations out in May of two-thousand.”
“So, what’s she lying about?” Gina asked.
“I don’t know, but I will find out,” he told her.
“How?”
“We may have to use some Huntress interrogation tactics,” he told her and grinned. When she shuddered, he closed his laptop and set it aside then pulled her into his lap. “But that’s a last resort. I’ll question her about it in a couple days, and have Karma present when I do.”
“If you don’t mind me asking, what were you two talking about?”
“Johnson,” he answered. “She asked me if he was going to be okay, and I asked her how she knew him. She said they met in California just after she was changed, and he essentially saved her life, but that didn’t add up to me. Johnson wasn’t in California in two-thousand three. He was living in Canada from two-thousand two until two-thousand five.”
“Oh,” she responded and snuggled into his arms.
“I’ll figure it all out,” he said and pulled her closer. “Is Zora asleep?”
“Yes,” she answered, and he rose to his feet with her still cradled in his arms.
“Then let’s go to bed. I’m exhausted, and I promised my girls I’d show them the sites of the city tomorrow,” he told her.
“Your girls?” She asked, but didn’t raise her head from his chest.
“Yes, my girls,” he responded. “You and Zora are mine, and I will protect you both with my life.”
“I love you, Nathan Baxter,” she said and kissed his chest.
“And I love you, Regina Whitecloud,” he told her, then kissed her forehead as he opened the door to his bedroom. “Now, let’s get some sleep.”
“Sleep sounds amazing,” she responded and looked at the very large bed in the center of the room. “But, so does something else.”
“I couldn’t agree more,” he responded and tossed her playfully on the bed before climbing in beside her. “And I do look forward to hearing you cry out my name again.”
Chapter Nineteen
Over the next two weeks Baxter and Gina spent every free moment showing Zora around DC. There were a few times when she’d slip into what could only be called a trance, but they didn’t seem to stop her from having fun. He, on the other hand, was starting to get concerned. She was such a bright child, an observant child, but there was something not right about these episodes she had, and he wanted to know what was causing them.
On the night before Johnson’s hearing, after Zora was asleep, Baxter sat beside Gina on the sofa and pulled his laptop into his lap. He’d been researching what Zora experienced, and he had some information he wanted to share with her.
“Gina,” he said as he opened his laptop and keyed in the password. “I have something I wanted to talk to you about.”
“Sounds serious,” she said and looked up from the book she was reading.
“It is, sort of,” he said and sighed. “It has to do with Zora.”
“What about her?”
“Don’t get mad, but I’ve been doing a little research and I think I have figured out how and why she sees people.”
“Oh? And how have you done that?”
“Look at this site,” he said and turned his laptop so she could see it. “I stumbled across it while doing a basic search of psychic abilities.”
As Gina read, her mouth formed a small o, but she didn’t say anything until she finished reading the article he’d highlighted.
“A clairvoyant empath,” she muttered and closed her eyes.
“Maybe,” he responded. “That’s the closest I can find to describe what she can do, but it’s not completely accurate, either.”
“It’s pretty damn close, though,” Gina remarked.
“What can you tell me about her father and his bloodline?”
“Not much, why?”
“I know she didn’t get these abilities from your family,” he told her as he sat the laptop on the table and turned to face her. “So, I was wondering what her father’s heritage was. I’m hoping we can figure out what this is and see if there’s a way she can block it unless she wants to use it. I know it’s not really affecting her right now, but as she ages, it may. Or, and if this happens, I will kill any vampire who tries, but if someone finds out they could try taking her and using her somehow.”
“Do you think Crompton would try to take her like he took Analia?”
“He could try, but he would fail,” Baxter told her, and she heard something in his voice that told her he really would destroy anyone who tried hurting Zora. “She, like you, is mine. I will do whatever is necessary to keep you both safe.”
“Even if it means breaking the law?” She asked, and he knew she was hinting about Johnson’s trial tomorrow.
“Yes,” he answered honestly. “And I know I’m not the only one. Any vampire would be like that if his or her copula was in danger, even if the danger was only perceived.”
“How do we find out more about whatever this is that Zora can do?”
“Her father was part of a tribe of Hunters, correct?”
“Yes, as was mine,” she answered then her forehead wrinkled like it did when she was thinking. It smoothed out a moment later and she frowned. “Come to think of it, I remember my mom telling me that my fa
ther was from the same tribe of hunters that Jaxon was from.”
“That’s some coincidence,” he said and ran a hand down her hair. “As soon as we can, we will track down those Hunters and see what they can tell us about Jaxon and his linage. There’s something there that gave her this ability, and I want to know what it is.”
“Jaxon’s father broke away from the Hunters after Jaxon was killed. We still worked with them up until Nevaeh started doing favors for Demetri. They didn’t agree with her allowing Karma to train with us, they overlooked it because she was a Halfling, but when we started helping the Senate, they cut ties with the Huntresses. From what I’ve heard, they still hunt, but not as actively because of the VEB. They don’t believe there are good vampire, despite the many good things the VEB has done, and they feel all vampire will eventually violate the laws, or the laws will be changed because the vampire will get bored with everything.”
“Some may get bored with the way things are, but the majority of us are thankful we don’t have to hide any longer. Do you have any idea how tiresome it is to have to move every few years before your neighbors realize you aren’t aging? You can never have true relationships except with other vampire, you can never truly be yourself. Now, we can be ourselves and, as long as we follow the laws set forth, we can finally enjoy our immortality.”
“I know that, but some of the other Hunter tribes don’t. They don’t because they aren’t working with the VEB daily like we are. We see it. We see all of you and know how much you’re enjoying being able to protect others.”
“Then maybe we should reach out to some of the others and extend an invitation for them to join us in our fight.”
“I think that’s a wonderful idea. Getting more tribes involved will mean a little less travelling, but it would also mean putting together teams to fight with those tribes.”
“We could do that,” he told her. “We have close to a hundred agents now, so it wouldn’t be difficult to do. Also, we are looking for new recruits all the time, and can send them wherever since most of us don’t have family alive.”
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