“Does this happen often?”
“You mean not feeling well after traveling the speed of light?” Her reply was muffled by her hands as she leaned into them. “I don’t normally go running faster than the eye can track. I swear my eyes are twitching in their sockets.”
“If you’re going to get sick—”
“Oh, for crying out loud.” Janelle stood so quickly, she wavered on her feet before plopping back onto the sofa. “I’ll walk myself home right after I get my bearings so I don’t soil your damn penthouse suite.”
He cleared his throat, pretty sure this wasn’t going to sit well with her either. “You can’t go back to your apartment.”
“Why?” Janelle attempted to level her gaze at him, her eyes indeed moving rapidly. No wonder she was feeling ill. “I’m capable of cleaning up whatever your brother did to my place. I don’t need your help. I just need a second to get this damn room to quit spinning.”
Vlad walked over to the large picture window overlooking the Eugene skyline. Red tinged the horizon as dawn loomed. Janelle would no doubt be expected to be in her office soon. She didn’t have the luxury of not having a time clock to punch. He’d need to talk to her about that as well. It might benefit them both if he were to keep a close eye on her, should she take a leave of absence. He supposed that would be met with the same animosity of not going home.
“You have a job to go to,” he said matter-of-factly.
“You just figured that out?”
Vlad didn’t miss the sarcasm in her tone. He wasn’t used to being disrespected; why he allowed it from her he wasn’t sure. One thing was for sure, though, she’d be staying with him. And if she refused to take a temporary leave from her job, he’d shadow her regardless of her employer or her thoughts on the matter.
“Maybe you should call in.”
Janelle leaned back in her chair, looking a bit less peaked. Her gaze traveled to the large clock on the wall. “I’ll be fine. I’m not due in for about an hour and a half. I have plenty of time to get home, shower—”
“Iubi, you aren’t going home.”
She stood, wobbled a brief second then caught her bearings. She propped her fists on her hips. “You can’t order me around like I’m one of your grandsons. So unless I’m being held against my will, I’ll be leaving. No need to drive me, I can call for an Uber.”
“Kane is sending someone over to clean up your place.”
“What?” If looks could kill a vampire, he’d be dead. “Why on earth would you send a stranger into my home?”
“It was ransacked by my brother.”
Janelle took a deep breath as though she were dealing with an unruly child. Christ, he was only trying to protect her. “I’m capable of cleaning the mess. Besides, how will they get in? Not to mention how I’m supposed to know if anything is missing.”
“I broke the knob on the door to get in. I’ll have it fixed,” he quickly added. “As far as missing possessions, I doubt you have anything of use to my brother.”
“Why would he break in?”
“To scare you.”
She opened her mouth to reply, then shut it as if she thought better of it. Janelle seemed to be mulling over Mircea’s reasoning, then said, “I won’t be intimidated. I’ll report the break-in, send the lab over.”
“You can’t do that.”
“Why the hell not? You’re seriously starting to piss me off, Vlad.”
Vlad scrubbed his face. Why couldn’t he have been obsessed with someone a bit less frustrating? “Iubi.”
“Stop calling me that. I’m not your damn love or your baby.”
“There’s a human heart in your refrigerator.”
Janelle’s legs gave out and she fell back onto the sofa. “Jesus. Your brother’s a psychopath.”
“He’s worse.”
“What could be worse than a person with who lacks morals and kills without conscience?”
“An immortal vampire who has zero regard for humans.” Vlad walked over to the sofa and knelt in front of her, taking her hands in his. “He’s promised to take your heart.”
She licked her lips. Good, he was finally seeing an inkling of fear in her eyes. A shiver passed through her. “Whose heart is in my refrigerator?”
“The vampire you had a vision of, the one where Mircea took his head. He used his heart to send you a message.”
“I need to send the crime lab—”
“You can’t. The DNA would be all wrong. We can’t let the authorities to get their hands on it. There would be too many questions.” Vlad let go of her hands and placed a palm against her cheek. “We take care of our own. That’s why you can’t go home and it’s also why you need to take a leave of absence. I can’t keep an eye on you twenty-four-seven if you’re doing your job.”
“What?” Janelle batted away his hand. “You can’t order me around. I have a job to do and I won’t be intimidated. If I don’t go to work, I won’t have a job to go back to.”
Vlad should have known she’d be stubborn about this. “Then I’ll trail you at work.”
She chuckled. “You can’t be serious. What would I tell my coworkers? My boss?”
“You let me handle what we tell them.” He needed to use another strategy to get her to see reason. “With me by your side, you stand a much better chance at catching Mircea. Without me, you have a zero percent chance.”
Her gaze darkened, undoubtedly offended. “You seriously doubt my skills as a special agent then.”
“Not at all, Janelle.” Vlad stood, paced the floor to the window and looked out again, giving Janelle his back. “I know my brother’s skills as a vampire. He can get places you can’t without being seen. He can scent your arrival long before you get there. He’s stronger than you and your coworkers. And the worst of it, he’s stronger than most vampires, which says a lot. You can’t go tracking a 500-hundred-year-old vampire and expect to live.”
“If he’s that damn strong, then how do you expect to stop him?”
Vlad turned, wiping all emotion from his face. “Because I’m more powerful. I made him.”
* * *
Janelle stared at Vlad. What kind of hell had she stumbled into? 500-year-old vampires. Fangs. Heartless killers. Not to mention these demons had been on earth longer than she’d been alive.
How had they stayed in the shadows without detection all these years?
Vlad had mentioned the dissimilarities in their DNA and how they needed to keep it out of the hands of the authorities, more specifically out of the hands of the crime lab. Heat traveled through her body, shame for what she had already done by giving the lab Vlad’s hair, his DNA.
Not wholly human.
Janelle needed to confess, make known her faux pas, though she shuddered at the thought of telling him. Vlad would be furious and rightly so. Maybe she’d sneak into the lab, find his hair and DNA results, and destroy it all. Unfortunately, doing so would not erase the technician’s memory. The cameras protecting the lab would also prove her wrongdoing and solidify a criminal case against her, marking her as a felon, gain her jail time, and make sure she’d never work in law enforcement again.
It might be reasonable to think she’d at least be safe from his psychotic brother in a six-by-eight-foot cell, but Vlad had already said no prison system could hold him, which meant Mircea could get to her as well.
“He promised to take your heart.”
Janelle was pretty sure that wasn’t an idiom and Mircea meant his avowal literally. As much as she hated to admit it, she needed Vlad. Not once had she had to rely on another for her safety. Janelle prided herself on being a top-notch special agent. She may have had partners who’d watched her back while in the field, but never had she felt so defenseless.
Moisture filled her eyes, though she refused to succumb to tears. Janelle had worked years for the DEA; being hardcore was second nature. Breaking down over a vampire wanting her dead wasn’t going to happen any more than if Mircea was part of a Mexican
cartel.
Pull up your big girl panties, Buttercup.
Janelle had always known of the possibility her life might one day end on the job. It was a fact every special agent knew, kept in the back of their mind, and worn like armor. To forget could cost them or their partner’s life.
But how could she possibly defend herself against an immortal?
The answer was quite simple. Her gaze rose to the vampire standing just feet away. He looked sexy as hell all decked out in his jeans and T-shirt and unquestionably deadly. He held his shoulders back, his spine straight, his hands folded in front of him while looking at her with real concern. This vampire who had better things to do than babysit a DEA special agent had taken it upon himself to see she stayed out of the hands of his scary-as-fuck brother, the one from her latest visions.
Vlad Tepes, a real-life badass vampire, was prepared to kill for her. Janelle more than liked this vampire and that thought alone scared her more than his brother’s threat to take her heart. She had no business falling for a vampire, let alone one old enough to be her great grandfather many times over. Talk about him robbing the cradle, not that he had any 500-hundred-year-old prospects. Did he?
“Are you okay, iubi?”
Love. Surely, it was a term of endearment and nothing more. With his looks and the fact he had probably been around the block many times already, she doubted this sinfully hot vampire would fall for someone as ordinary as her.
“I’ll be fine.” And as much as it killed her to say so, she added, “With your help. You’ve convinced me I can’t do this on my own.”
Vlad took the few steps separating them and knelt before her again. “I won’t let anything happen to you.”
Janelle believed him, that this deadly immortal would kill for her. Vlad didn’t strike her as someone who was in the habit of making false promises.
“We need to come up with a plan. I can’t just take a leave from my job. My boss wouldn’t allow it on such short notice without me being damn near on my deathbed. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have a job to go back to when this nightmare ends. And you shadowing me on the job? I need his permission for that.”
“Then we’ll get it.”
“How?”
“How easily you forget my powers of persuasion. I’ll hypnotize him into doing my bidding, then no one will question my being with you. I’ll no longer need to use my,” he paused, giving her a wink, “parlor tricks.”
Janelle couldn’t argue with his plan as it did make sense. Vlad would have access to anything she did and everywhere she went. He’d be by her side protecting her from his noxious brother.
“I need to go to the office soon.”
“I’ll go with you. You’ll introduce me to your boss and I’ll make sure he allows me access to you and your cases.”
“What will we tell him?”
“That I’m a special agent undercover with the ATF. The case you were handling dealing with the drug smugglers who got their throats ripped out by a rival cartel is also on our radar for smuggling guns. It will look like we’re working the same case and I need you and your office’s cooperation.”
“Why undercover?”
Vlad smiled and stood back up and began pacing. “If I tell him that I need you to go undercover with me, we’ll no longer have to worry about your nine-to-five office. We’ll periodically report back with false statements to placate him until we annihilate my brother. Then you’ll be able to return to your job when our supposed case falls apart and I’m called back by my superiors.”
Captain Robbie Melchor was far too astute to accept their story at face value. He’d want to get affirmation from Vlad’s supervisor.
“What if he wants to talk to your boss? Captain Melchor is a control freak. He’ll want to cover his bases should something go down while we’re undercover. He won’t take your word. He’ll want verification so he’s not to blame.”
“I’ll give him Kane’s number. He can act as my superior. With my prior hypnosis, he’ll believe whatever Kane says.”
Janelle didn’t like this one bit. What if hypnosis didn’t work on Robbie the way it didn’t on her. This plan was far from foolproof. Vlad might be able to walk away when this was over, but she’d be jobless and Robbie would make sure she wouldn’t be able to get another position in law enforcement.
She let out a sigh, leveling him with her gaze. “This better work, Sir Bites A Lot, or I’m out of a job, and I’ll be holding you responsible.”
He chuckled, his eyes twinkling in merriment. It was a stunning sight since the big guy didn’t seem amused often. “‘Sir Bites A Lot?’ Sounds like a name for a cartoon character and not a frightening immortal.”
Janelle smiled. “What would you’ve preferred?”
“A carnal vampire with impure thoughts when it comes to my sidekick.”
“A bit too long for a nickname. So I’m your sidekick?” she asked, liking the sound a bit too much.
“You are for now.” He placed a finger next to his lips. “How about smoking hot vampire?”
She raised a brow. “Egotistical much?”
“I don’t hear you complaining, not to mention the fact I can scent your desire when I’m near proves as much.”
He had a point, causing her to groan and her face to heat. “If we’re going to be spending a lot more time together, then we need to set some ground rules.”
“Which are?”
“No biting.”
Vlad laughed again. “Fine. No biting as long as we can have—”
“No sex.”
“Well, that certainly does suck.” He grumbled. “So much for what I was going to add.”
“If we’re to keep our eyes and ears open, we need to focus. Finding your brother is our top priority, not getting into each other’s pants.”
“But you’d like that.” She rolled her eyes, causing him to laugh again. “We can’t afford distractions.”
“Well, if I’m Sir Bites A Lot, then you’re Ms. I’m No Fun.”
Janelle couldn’t help but chuckle. She was seeing a whole new side to this man, one she happened to like. “I need to borrow your shower before we head to the office. I can wear what I have on, but we’ll need to stop by to my place later to get some clean clothes.”
Vlad rocked back on his heels, looking sheepish as if there was something he wanted to add.
“What is it?”
“I don’t suppose I could watch.”
Her breath caught in her throat. Surely, he hadn’t meant what she thought after the rules they had just discussed. “Excuse me?”
“You shower … in the shower. I could do some wicked mind tricks that are quite orgasmic and it wouldn’t be breaking your stupid rules. Or I could just wash your back.”
Janelle groaned, placing her palm against her face. She was definitely in over her head. Spending too much time with this one was a temptation she might not be able to resist. Giving Vlad her back, she headed for the shower and wondered about those newly mentioned parlor tricks of his.
Chapter 14
Janelle left the DEA’s visitor office with Vlad close behind. She didn’t have to look to know he was there. She felt him in every pore of her body. Working alongside him and keeping her desire in check was going to be a challenge. Not that anyone normal would know. But the fact he could scent when her libido kicked up in his presence took embarrassing to an entirely new level. She chomped on the gum she had just stuck into her mouth, hoping to keep her thoughts off the sinfully hot man who trailed her.
Focus, damn it. You have a job to do.
The first step in their hatched plan had gone off just as he said it would. Vlad Tepes, aka ATF Special Agent Val Tepp, had managed to print an obviously fake ID and pass it off as the real thing by his powers of hypnosis. He had enlisted his grandsons to secure a more legit-looking one should they need it in the future through some of the Sons of Sangue’s more shady connections. Janelle didn’t bother asking about those unknown associates. She figur
ed the less she knew, the better off she’d be if this all blew up in her face.
Vlad wore a pair of blue jeans, worn in all the right places with that lived-in look, cupping his ass quite nicely. Not that she noticed, of course. They had just left the secondhand shop about an hour ago where she had picked out a few outfits that might pass off as something a cartel soldier might wear. Soft flannel stretched over his broad shoulders, worn over a vintage Journey concert T-shirt. A pair of scuffed black military-style boots helped complete the look, left unlaced at the top. A bandana loosely circled his neck should he need to disguise the bottom half of his face, the same way many of the cartel hitmen and street gangbangers did.
Using one of her rubber hair ties, she had banded his black hair in a messy ponytail at the nape instead of his normal loose style. His mane no longer softened the harsh angles of his face or the square of his jaw, making him look scary as fuck. In short, his appearance now fit his undercover story.
The visitor’s pass gave him clearance to accompany her through the DEA building with no more than a few cursory glances. Vlad no longer had to use his hypnosis or parlor tricks as no one would question his being here if he stayed by her side.
“Have a seat, Val.” Janelle smiled, loving being able to order him around. They had a part to play. He did as she instructed, though the straight line of his lips, shadowed by his beard growth, told her he wasn’t used to taking directives. “I’ll call Captain Melchor and see if he has time for us.”
“I’m not spending any more time than necessary in this box you call an office.” He growled. “Make it happen.”
“You’re here as my guest.” Janelle smiled, holding back on the humor. “Play the role.”
“I’m playing the role of an undercover operative, a hitman for the cartel.” He didn’t so much as smile. His take-no-shit attitude was hot as hell. “I don’t take orders from anyone except the kingpin, not even you.”
She swallowed, failing at keeping her desire in check. “You play well.”
His nostrils flared, one side of his lips turning up. “If you don’t get that libido in check, Special Agent Ferrari, I’ll show you exactly how well I play before we go visit that boss of yours.”
Vlad (Sons of Sangue Book 8) Page 12