“What’s happening?” Dylan asked as he felt Karma’s body grow warmer.
“Ramsey’s blood is neutralizing the venom from the vampire who bit her,” Langley replied and smiled. “And she’s changing.”
“What exactly will happen during the change?” Harrison asked. “I know what happens when humans change, but she’s not human.”
“It’s the same process, only much faster,” Ramsey replied. “I have changed a Halfling one other time, and he awoke within a few hours of starting the process.”
“So, she won’t feel any pain?” Dylan asked, and stroked his hand down her arm.
“No, and don’t be surprised if she wakes up and remembers everything. The one other I changed heard everything that was going on around him, he just couldn’t wake up to respond,” Ramsey replied and smiled when he felt Karma’s fangs release him. “She’ll sleep for a few hours now and will wake up a full-blooded vampire.”
“Karma, baby, if you can hear me, I love you,” Dylan said as he laid down beside her and traced circles on her stomach like he had when he was waiting for her back to heal after Vincent broke it so long ago.
“Let’s give them some privacy,” Nevaeh said and ushered everyone out of the room before stepping out and closing the door behind them.
“What were you not saying in there?” Harrison asked once they were away from the room.
“We cannot be sure how she will be once she wakes up. She was already faster and stronger than any vampire we have ever encountered,” Aleyn answered. “Being a full-blooded vampire could make her very dangerous.”
“Not to anyone she cares about,” Langley added quickly.
“But to those she hunts,” Constance finished and they all looked at each other.
“That may not be a bad thing,” Eduardo said and sighed. “We are going to have to pull out everything in our arsenal to take down Crompton, and she could very well be our ace in the hole.”
****
“Dylan?” Her soft voice pulled him from the sleep he’d drifted into.
“Right here, baby,” he responded and raised up, so she could see him.
“I am so sorry,” she started, and he shook his head.
“It’s okay. We both reacted badly,” he told her and grinned when she shook her head.
“You aren’t going to let me off the hook that easily,” she said and shifted to raise up. “I acted like a child and recklessness almost killed us both.”
“Do you remember what happened?” He asked.
“Most of it,” she said. “I don’t remember anything from the time I stopped drinking from Ramsey’s wrist until I woke up.”
“They left, and I held you like I did that first time you were hurt, and we were together,” he told her, and she smiled. “Remember what you asked me to do then?”
“I asked you to just stay with me,” she responded and ran her fingers through his hair.
“Yes, and that’s exactly what I did, then and now. You couldn’t say the words, but I knew you wanted me to just stay with you. So, I laid here and traced circles on your stomach just like I did that morning.”
“I love you, Dylan Collins,” she said and pulled him closer.
“And I love you, Karma Black,” he replied and kissed her deeply.
Breaking the kiss, Dylan laid his head on her chest and sighed. “You’re not upset with me?”
“Why would I be?” She asked.
“For having Ramsey change you.”
“No,” she said and laid her hand on his back. “You did what you felt right, and I would have made the same decision if the roles were reversed.”
“Losing you wasn’t an option,” Dylan said, and Karma smiled.
“Neither is losing you, silly,” she told him and shifted under him. “I guess we should go find everyone and let them know I’m alright. I know Harrison and Nevaeh were almost as worried as you, and Baxter needs to know I survived.”
“Yeah,” he said and raised his head off her chest. “About Baxter.”
Her laughter made him growl and straddle her.
“He will never be more than a co-worker and friend,” she assured him and wiggled under him.
Her movements made him grow hard and he leaned down and nipped her lip.
“We need to ask the Senate about exchanging blood,” he said and nipped her lip again. “Because that is something I do not want to give up.”
“Mmm,” she moaned and wiggled under him again. “I don’t want to give up any part of you.”
“Let’s get a shower and cleaned up then go find out if it’s safe. If not, I’ll have Ramsey change me, too,” Dylan said and slid off her.
“A shower sounds wonderful, but you sound better,” she told him and grinned.
“Why not have both?” He countered and started stripping out of his dirty and bloody clothes. “We can get clean, then dirty, then clean again.”
“You do have a way with words,” she told him as she stripped and walked into the bathroom. “But why get clean first?”
“I like your way better,” he replied as he picked her up and pressed her against the wall.
“You know just how I like it,” she said as he lowered her onto his hard cock and started moving.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
“Nice to see you up and doing well,” Aleyn said as soon as Karma and Dylan walked into the conference room.
“Thanks,” she responded with a grin. “What’s going on here?”
“Since you are a full vampire now, you can no longer craft your silver weapons, so we decided to see if you wanted to teach the Huntresses how to make them,” Nevaeh said and frowned at Karma’s expression. “What?”
“I can still craft them. I always wore gloves when I crafted them, just to be safe,” she said and looked around the room. “But, teaching the Huntresses, and everyone else, how isn’t a bad idea.”
“Well, then,” Harrison said and chuckled. “Why didn’t we think of that?”
“Because we aren’t Karma,” Holbrook said and grinned. “How are you feeling, Karma?”
“Like I was bitten by a vampire,” she responded and grinned.
“Always the smartass,” Harrison said and wrapped her in a hug. “Glad you’re okay, kiddo.”
“You wouldn’t have me any other way,” she replied after he released her. “Now, tell me what happened with Matthews.”
“Yes, please tell us,” Harrison said and looked at Karma. “They refused to tell us until you were awake.”
“We know for sure that Crompton is in Boston, and we have a firm location on where, but there’s a problem,” Ramsey said and sighed. “He is holding humans in the basement of the house he’s staying in, and it’s like a fortress down there. We could storm the house, but if he gets into the basement, he could stay in there for weeks.”
“Then we need to lure him out somehow,” Karma said and grinned. “Who knows I’m a full vampire?”
“No one outside this room,” Nevaeh replied and looked around at the faces she trusted with her life. “Why?”
“He thinks I’m a Halfling and will be easily manipulated because he’s been controlling Analia all these years, right?”
“Possibly,” Eduardo answered and tilted his head. “But he also knows you’re very strong and very different than anyone he’s ever faced.”
“I’m willing to bet his arrogance will lead though, and he will believe he can control me, to an extent, anyway,” Karma said and grinned again. “We should use me as bait.”
“Have you lost your fucking mind?” Dylan bellowed and everyone in the room jumped.
“No, I am quite sane, thank you very much,” she replied and walked to him. “Baby, think about it. If he thinks he can manipulate me and use me against all of you, he will take that chance. He wants to continue his business, and we are interfering with it.”
“I almost lost you once today,” he replied and sighed. “I know what you’re saying is true, but I don’t like it.”
“I don’t like it either,” Eduardo said and looked at her. “He’d be expecting some kind of trick. I think our best bet would be the element of surprise.”
“Then we have to take care of something first,” Nevaeh said and frowned. “Or, rather, someone.”
“Tonya?” Karma asked, and Nevaeh nodded.
“She’s human, and technically falls under human laws, but as a Huntress, you have the right to handle her treason however you wish,” Dristen said and looked around the room. “Does everyone agree?”
When everyone nodded, Nevaeh pulled her cell from her pocket and sent Nikki a text.
“Nikki will be here with Tonya in a couple of minutes. Karma, I want you to question her, if you’re up to it.”
“Sure, she never liked me anyway,” Karma replied and grinned. “She was jealous of how close you and I became in a very short time. She also hated that I was, technically, too young to join the Huntresses when I started training with you.”
“Is that why she always hated you?” Nevaeh asked and shook her head. “Yes, in age, you were too young to train with us, but your fighting skills, and knowledge of vampire, made you the perfect Huntress.”
“My age, and the fact I could kick her ass even at fifteen,” Karma answered and chuckled. “Remember when she challenged me to a sparring match when I was sixteen?”
Nevaeh laughed and nodded. “You had her on the mat before she could take a step toward you.”
“Yes, and she really hated that,” Karma replied. “Let’s see how she feels about me now. They’re coming up the hall.”
Nevaeh opened the door before Nikki could knock and the two Huntresses stepped in.
“You wanted to see me?” Tonya asked and looked around the room.
“Yes,” Nevaeh responded and pointed to a chair in the middle of the room. “We have a few questions to ask you.”
“Questions?” Tonya asked, feigning confusion. “Questions about what?”
“Not what, who,” Karma said and straddled a chair in front of Tonya.
“Who? The only people I know are in the Huntresses,” Tonya said, almost tripping over her words.
“Why do people think lying to me is a good idea?” Karma asked, and looked Tonya in the eyes. “Tell me everything you know about a vampire named Crompton, and I may let you live a bit longer.”
“Crompton?” Tonya asked. “The only thing I know about Crompton is what I’ve learned in meetings.”
“Again, with the lies,” Karma said and rolled her eyes. “You can tell me what you know, or we will use you as bait to capture him. Yes, we know where he is.”
“You will never get to him,” Tonya said with a sneer.
“Oh, I thought you didn’t know him,” Karma countered and grinned.
“Fine, I do know him. He and I have been lovers for nearly eight years. When he discovered Nevaeh became head of the Huntresses, he sent me undercover to keep an eye on her. He’s always had a hard-on for Nevaeh, but once you joined, his focus shifted to you,” she said and locked eyes with Karma. “He has a fascination with female Halflings, and you became his sole objective.”
“Now I understand why you hate me so,” Karma said and grinned. “I was cock blocking you, in a sense, and didn’t even know it. That is absolutely fucking beautiful.”
“Why Karma?” Dylan asked.
“He wants to breed with a Halfling and see what happens. He’s hoping to create an army of indestructible vampire.”
“Fuck!” Nevaeh said. “Analia!”
“He wouldn’t touch her if you paid him. He’s revolted by her because she’s your daughter. He wants Karma, and will stop at nothing to get her,” Tonya said and grinned. “Even if it means killing all of you.”
“Good luck with that,” Karma said and looked over her shoulder at Nevaeh. “What do you want me to do with her?”
“Kill her,” Nevaeh answered absently. “She is of no further use to us.”
“What? No! I know where Crompton is and can get you to him,” Tonya said and Karma grinned.
“We know where Crompton is, too, and after what you just told us, I can get us in without any problems.” Karma said, her grin growing wider.
“But if you just show up, he will know it’s a trap,” Tonya said, and Karma chuckled.
“We know. We aren’t stupid,” Nevaeh told her and chuckled, too. “We have to be subtle, but we cannot trust you not to try to warn him, so, you must die.”
“Plus, we know it was you who freed Matthews back in September. For that, you are hereby guilty of treasonous acts against the United States government and the vampire Senate,” Ramsey said and looked at Karma. “You may proceed.”
“I’ll be quick,” Karma responded and quickly snapped the woman’s neck before falling back into a chair.
“You okay?” Harrison asked.
“She was the first human I’ve ever killed,” she confessed and covered her face.
“Karma, it needed to be done. She was a traitor and would have handed us over to Crompton without a second thought,” Dylan told her and gently rubbed her back.
“No, I know, and it’s not killing her that’s bothering me. It’s the fact that I liked it,” she said and laid her head on the table. “I’m a horrible person.”
“No, you’re not,” Ramsey assured her and chuckled. “We all take pleasure from killing, it’s vampire nature. I would be worried if you’d killed her slowly and enjoyed it, but still not worried enough to call you horrible.”
“I don’t think you’re horrible,” Dylan said and sat beside her. “I think you’re one of the most caring people I’ve ever met.”
“Karma,” Nikki said from the other side of the room. “As the only human in here, I have to tell you, I would have enjoyed killing her, too.”
“Knowing that does make me feel marginally better,” Karma said with a grin. “Thank you, Nikki, and everyone. I know she was a horrible person, but, and this may shock some of you, I rarely take pleasure from killing others.”
“With the exception of Vincent,” Dylan added for her and she laughed.
“Oh yes, I enjoyed every moment of driving a dagger through his heart,” she agreed and grinned. “If I could kill him a second time, I would just to see the look on his face again.”
“Hell, I enjoyed watching you kill that son of a bitch,” Nevaeh said and grinned. “Now, let’s figure out a plan to bring down Crompton and save Analia before it’s too late.”
“That’s another one I would enjoy killing,” Karma said and chuckled. “I think we should let Eduardo have that pleasure if the opportunity presents itself. Crompton did, after all, take his life many years ago.”
“Oh, I found out something else from Matthews before I executed him,” Ramsey spoke up. “He turned both Fuller and Matthews, which is part of the reason he could get them to do his bidding. The other part is they were both weak minded individuals and pretty horrible humans before being turned.”
“Something else we need to discuss,” Karma said and rose to her feet. “I think Baxter should take over the VEB and we met a vampire when we were in New Jersey named Zach Martin, who is going to apply once his contract with the shipping company is up in a couple of months.”
“Baxter would be great for the job, and we will create a file on Martin and have him checked out. Someone needs to call Isaac and tell him about Fuller,” Dristen said and grinned at Karma.
“I’m guessing that someone is me,” she said dryly. “I’ll do that later, but we need to discuss what our next move is right now. We cannot face Crompton without a well laid plan.”
“I have a couple of ideas,” Eduardo said and grinned. “Since he’s my creator, I can track him, to an extent, but that won’t help until we are closer to where he is at. On the reverse side, he can also track me. I was thinking we could head into Boston, and Karma and I could go for a walk in the general area he’s living. It would make sense that we would search in groups of two, and that the Senate w
ould be helping with the search.”
“So, you’re saying, use you and Karma for bait?” Dylan asked and laid a hand on Karma’s shoulder.
“Yes,” Eduardo answered. “If he kills me, which I doubt will happen, it won’t be that big of a loss in the long run, and we all know he won’t kill Karma unless he realizes she’s a full vampire. He won’t know that unless he’s told because her scent wasn’t altered with the change, which is strange, but will work in our favor.”
“What the hell do you mean it won’t be a big loss if you’re killed?” Constance asked with her hands on her hips. “Are you forgetting that, other than Crompton, you are the oldest vampire in existence?”
“No, and if I die in the process of eliminating Crompton, then Ramsey will take that top spot,” Eduardo responded, nonchalantly.
“And you call me tenacious,” Karma said and snorted. “I happen to think it’s a great plan, other than the part where it won’t matter if you die, that is.”
“Well, I happen to think it’s a reckless plan, but it’s the only one we have,” Ramsey said and sighed. “We will fine tune it tomorrow and head out first thing day after tomorrow. If anyone has any questions, now’s the time to ask them.”
“I have a question, but it’s completely unrelated to Crompton, or anything that concerns anyone other than Karma and me,” Dylan said and looked at the Senate members.
“Okay, what do you need to know?” Eduardo asked.
“I need to know if Karma and I will still be able to exchange blood, or if I will need to be changed in order to be able to do that.” Dylan said, and all heads snapped toward him.
“That is an interesting question indeed,” Constance said and looked to Ramsey and Eduardo.
“As lifemates, and being connected by the copula, and having already exchanged blood, you should be fine. If, when she bites you, you feel any burning afterwards, come find us and we will change you,” Ramsey answered and looked at Eduardo for confirmation.
“Yes, I agree,” Eduardo told him. “You should be fine.”
Nevaeh's Secret (Vampire Huntress Saga Book 2) Page 14