“Motherfucker!” I gave the invite back to Wilson.
“I’ll take that as a yes.” Wilson turned back to Ian. “Why would this … Chaos want Leah?” Wilson asked, anger causing his words to come out harshly.
Ian looked directly at me with his face as emotionless as I’d ever seen it, which usually meant he was hiding something. Shit.
“Chaos thinks you are my bloodslave.”
“Your what?” Wilson all but yelled, attracting more attention from the uniforms around us.
I shifted closer to Wilson and kept my voice low, already embarrassed by the unwanted attention of the officers around us. “A bloodslave is a human who’s been bonded so tightly with a vampire that they cease to have free will,” I answered. My voice was even and controlled. Good for me because what I really felt like doing was screaming. I felt the headache begin in my temples and knew that would be the price I paid for all this control. Headache or not, I would not lose control and give Wilson and Ian an excuse to attack one another.
“Son of a bitch!” Wilson put his arm protectively around my shoulders. I appreciated the gesture and I really, really wished Wilson could protect me from this, but I knew he couldn’t.
“What does our bond have to do with Chaos?”
“As a Marquis, it would be within his right to claim you.” Ian’s face went emotionless. It wasn’t a good sign.
“Claim me?” I whispered angrily, trying to keep this conversation as private as possible. “I’m not a damn possession!”
“No, you are not. But vampire law allows a Marquis to demand allegiance from a bloodsl… bonded human.”
“Fuck!”
“Indeed.” Ian agreed.
“What the hell is ‘details forthcoming’ supposed to mean?” I demanded of Ian.
“Chaos has a,” Ian waved his hand in the air, searching for the right phrase, “flair for the dramatics. She is—was,” he corrected, pointing to the victim, “Virginia Fitone, a vampire and suspected in a string of missing humans in Nevada.”
I looked at Wilson—his mouth was agape. It was hard to shock a thirty-year veteran cop, and captain no less, but clearly Ian had managed it.
“The missing person’s cases in Nevada weren’t public knowledge,” Wilson said through gritted teeth.
“No, they were not,” Ian agreed. “The Marquis does not rely upon human information to track rogue vampires.”
He turned to me. “Chaos will make the meeting arrangements. We have but to wait until he contacts us.”
A thought hit me and I could feel it as if I had been struck in the stomach. “You knew about this, didn’t you?” I asked, my voice starting to get a little shaky.
“No, My Love. I did not know about this. I would not have willingly brought you into Chaos’s spotlight,” he denied.
“Don’t fucking ‘My Love’ me. Why did you get involved with SINS? Why now?”
“The Marquis council suspects that someone is trying to build an immortal army. Chaos is the Marquis for North America. They know he is my Immortal Deity and asked me to assist Chaos’s investigation, knowing I have more power than he.”
“You knew he was coming here,” I accused.
“No, my … Leah,” he corrected, “I did not know. I knew he was near. I refused the request to assist him. That should have kept him out of the state.” He shrugged unapologetically. “He does not accept refusal well. He knows that if he gets to you, I will do as he wishes to get you back.”
Wilson shook his head. “Wait a minute, if you’re more powerful, why aren’t you a Marquis?”
A look of confusion crossed Ian’s face. He looked at me then sighed. He closed his eyes and bowed his head once ever so slightly. He had assumed that whatever we discussed would have become public knowledge. He now knew he was wrong. I hadn’t shared the details of Ian’s life with anyone, though I probably should have. At least with my family and Sam. I would have felt like I had used Ian for information though. It just didn’t feel right.
“As I have explained to,” he started to say “My Love” then checked himself, “Leah. I do not approve of their violent lifestyle. I take my blood from willing donors only, not by force. I like my existence the way it is. Has she not told you this?”
I felt the weight of Wilson’s gaze. “No,” he said slowly, “she did not. What I would like to know now is why.” He turned some of his anger toward me. I could feel it like tiny hammers pounding at my temples.
“It was not my story to tell.” It was my turn to shrug, hoping uselessly that Wilson would let it go.
Ramirez walked over. “Well if it isn’t the Spook Squad.”
“Just give me the damn report, Ramirez,” Wilson said.
I was grateful for the interruption and didn’t know if Ramirez chose that moment to intervene on purpose or if it was purely coincidental. Either way, I jumped at the chance to turn the conversation away from me.
Ramirez put his attention back on the small notepad he carried in his hand. “The medical examiner says he’ll start the autopsy first thing in the morning. There are no obvious signs of trauma and there was no identification on the body.”
“She was a vampire. She was known as Virginia,” Ian insisted and all eyes turned toward him. “I am sure your medical examiner will find that she has been dead for more than one hundred years. Chaos would not have killed a human and blatantly left it for human police to find.”
“But he would kill a vampire.” Doubt rang clearly in my voice.
“The death of a vampire would not bring the wrath of human law enforcement,” he said without emotion. “He was conducting Marquis business.”
I took a moment to think about that and, well hell, he was right.
Wilson finally managed to wipe the look of surprise off his face with a slight shake of his head. “We’ll let forensics deal with that,” he said gruffly.
I turned away from Ian. “Have the M.E. call me as soon as he knows more,” I said.
“Yeah, yeah.” Ramirez waved his hand toward me. “I know the drill.” He hesitated and put his hand on my shoulder. “I’m really sorry about Ben, Leah. He was a good kid.” He tapped his badge. “We’re all sorry.”
It was then that I noticed the black tape band across his badge. I looked around a saw all of the officers had black bands across their badges. It was a sign of respect and remorse for a fellow officer.
I choked back a sudden, gut-wrenching sob and stepped away from the men.
I quickly composed myself then took a look around the train yard. Time to focus on work. I had to; thinking about Ben would tear me apart.
Nothing obvious jumped out at me. Heaven forbid it be easy.
I made my way over to the antique passenger car and hoisted myself up. I slid open the door and was assaulted by a puff of dust, disturbed by the slight evening breeze. The light from the parking lot gave the interior enough glow for me to survey the train. Again, nothing.
If the soul was here, I couldn’t see it. I would have to wait for the autopsy report to be sure, but if I didn’t see or feel the soul, chances were the victim either wasn’t killed here or had been dead a while. Or, I reluctantly admitted to myself, Ian was right and she was a vamp killed by the Marquis. If it wasn’t recently, I wouldn’t find her soul.
I jumped down from the train and opened myself up to the emotions in the air around me. Still no soul, but I could feel that the cops around me were all feeling a mixture of sadness along with a sense of duty, the need to put on your mask and do what needs to be done, no matter how disgusted you were with the situation. Wilson’s feelings projected all of that along with a mixture of relief that I was safe.
For the moment anyway.
From Ian I felt nothing. No emotion whatsoever. I guess it’s a vampire thing.
My phone rang. “Wolfe here,” I answered.
“It’s Sam. I need you to meet us at the watch house.”
I felt a wave of excitement cross over me. I loved my job, even if I
had to kill bad guys to keep the good guys safe.
“We’re going in tonight,” Sam continued. “I can’t get in touch with Donovan so I asked Joaquín to supply backup.”
“What about Ian?” I asked because I knew he could hear both sides of the conversation.
“That’s up to him.”
Ian nodded. “We’ll be there in an hour,” I said.
Wilson promised to call me the second the medical examiner’s report was finished, then Ian and I made our way back to his car.
The little demons were still pounding at my head with hammers so I took a couple of aspirin out of the small bottle I kept in my pocket and dry swallowed them. “You know Joaquín will be there?” I asked Ian.
His eyes narrowed. “I heard.” I felt the car accelerate slightly.
“You’re no good to this mission if you can’t keep your head in the game,” I warned.
Ian grunted.
“Just drop me off and go home, Ian. I don’t need any more shit today.”
“I will be on my best behavior.” Ian finally looked at me. “I would, however, prefer that he keep a distance from you while I am in your presence.”
I sighed heavily.
“I will keep my distance from him, My Lo … Leah. I suggest you do the same.”
“Is that a warning, Ian?” I asked, slightly amused.
“It is, but not because of my own personal agenda.”
I made a sound that said how much I believed that shit.
“Fair enough,” Ian continued.
“Jealous much?” I asked.
“Only when it comes to you.” He pulled the car into a parking lot behind the stakeout building then took my face in his hands. “Just promise me you will be cautious, My Love.” He kissed me then. Slow and deliberate with just a slight feel of possessiveness.
I pushed him away. “You have no right.” Before I finished the sentence he was out of the car and walking across the parking lot. I had to take a few deep breaths to slow my racing heart. Damn but the man knew how to push my buttons.
* * * *
Ian stood in the shadows on the side of the boarded up building we were about to raid and whispered through my mind while I prepared for battle in the dank room of the abandoned building.
“There are several vampires in the building, My Love, all of them young. I do not sense anyone strong enough to be a Deity. Whoever has made them has left them. I sense that at least some of them are huddled together in the cellar.”
“Stop calling me ‘My Love’.”
“You are hardly in a position to argue.”
I squeezed my eyes shut and prayed for patience.
“Why would they be huddled together?” I asked through our mental connection. It’s very unusual for vampires to remain close to one another. They’re usually loners unless there’s an extreme need to feed. Then they will sometimes rely upon one another to search for blood. “They haven’t fed.” I answered my own question.
“Very astute, My Love. They will be most dangerous now, like a newborn snake that does not know how much venom to inject in their prey; a newborn vampire will feed until their meal is dead.”
“I don’t want to lay out a buffet for a feeding frenzy. I will kill them if I have to.”
“If?” Ian asked.
“I won’t kill them for the sake of killing them, Ian. I want them captured alive or undead anyway. I plan on capture and interrogation.” I fastened the Velcro on my vest. “Sit tight. I need to tell Sam.”
Sam disagreed with my capture and interrogation strategy. He conceded that any information on Ben’s killer would be helpful, but unless we caught the lead vampire, the one turning the newbies, we shot to kill. He didn’t want to risk another human life.
I, of course, accepted his decision with grace and appreciation. “Are you out of your fucking mind? We need at least one of them alive! We don’t have any leads on Ben’s killer.”
“I will not risk another life, Agent Wolfe. You assured me Ian didn’t detect a vampire powerful enough to be the ringleader. Now, unless you doubt Nightwalker’s abilities…”
“I don’t.”
Sam let out a breath of impatience. “You are already too close to the situation. If you can’t handle this then I’ll put you on leave and request back up from another division. Is that perfectly clear?”
“Yes, sir.” I gave him a one-finger salute and went to check the surveillance equipment.
I kept the contact between Ian and I open in case anything changed. Joaquín hadn’t arrived yet.
“Will they be weaker this close to daylight?” Sam was dressed in full armor that covered him with silver-plated panels from neck to thigh. The vest wouldn’t prevent an all-out vampire attack but it might give the wearer an extra second to protect himself. Sometimes a single second could really make all the difference between life and death. It also came equipped with nifty little pockets to hold an assortment of weapons. I personally had five silver blades tucked in various places throughout my body along with two guns, one loaded with silver bullets, the other with lead bullets.
I felt a small warm stream tingle down my backbone and nearly dropped my gun before I had it fully in the holster. I muttered a curse under my breath. “Knock it off, Ian.”
“My Love, am I distracting you?” he said with a hint of amusement, obviously still tuned into my head.
“Something you want to share with the class, Leah?” Sam cut in.
“And to Sam’s question, yes,” Ian answered through my mind.
To Sam I said, “Yes, they will be weaker closer to daybreak.”
To Ian I said, “Shut up.”
Sam went back to securing his weapons as Ian laughed through my mind, a tingling, exciting sensation I didn’t really want right then. At that moment, when I was getting ready to raid a house full of vampires, I needed calm, a complete sense of control and inner peace, knowledge I was doing the right thing, making the right decisions. Because what I was about to do left no time to think and no room for doubt. You don’t pull a gun unless you plan on using it. There are no take-backs, no do-overs, no moment of oops-sorry-I-didn’t-mean-to-shoot-you. I’ve met plenty of people in my profession that don’t give a shit about ending the life of a vampire, or any supernatural for that matter. As far as they’re concerned, they’re already dead and just don’t know enough to lie down. I am not one of those people and when I crawl into bed at night, or day, or whenever the hell I finally get a chance to sleep, I need to know what I did was right and needed to be done.
“That shit looks like it weighs more than you do,” Joaquín remarked flippantly as he walked in the door of the dingy apartment we’d been using as a watch house.
My focus once again broken, I snapped out, “Fuck you, Joaquín.” I shoved my last knife it its sleeve on my vest. I was tensed up for the fight and more than a little pissed about the shit at my house the other night.
Joaquín spread his arms wide with a smart-ass grin on his face. “I’m just here for backup. I don’t need to put all that crap on.” Sam and Joaquin would take the upper floor and make sure that Ian and I were not ambushed from behind. We weren’t sure how many vampires were in there or their exact location.
Joaquin put his hands on either side of my head and pierced me with his gaze. “I know you’re upset, Leah, and you have every right to be. I was out of line and I screwed up what should have been a reunion between us, a new start. I’m sorry.” He kissed me, light and quick but meaningful all the same. “Am I forgiven?” he asked sincerely.
Before I could answer Joaquín, I felt Ian growl through my head.
“Don’t,” I said silently to Ian. “I’ve got a job to do.”
I pushed Joaquín away, narrowing my eyes. “Back off, Joaquín.”
“I am trying, My Love. I do not wish to further distract you.”
I felt Ian’s comfort slide through me and the tension disappeared. “Thanks.” I let out my breath in one big whoosh and concentrated
on the job at hand.
“We have you online. Ramirez will man the video, Joaquín will stay on audio,” I heard Sam say through the earpiece built into the vest. Ramirez and Joaquín would stay behind to monitor us and act as back up if necessary. It shouldn’t have taken any more than three of us to bring in three baby vamps. Especially since Ian was a vampire.
“Let’s do it.” I pumped my shotgun with a resounding click-click and strode out the door.
Chapter Twenty-Two
We turned on the light in the cellar and the vampires scattered like cockroaches, each trying to retreat to the darkest corner they could find while hissing violently at us. The younger a vamp, the more effect light of any kind has on them. The single light bulb hanging in the center of the ceiling was giving these vamps one hell of sunburn.
The cellar floor was littered with the bodies of dead, emaciated rats. Apparently the vamps had been feeding on them in an effort to survive. I didn’t know that animal blood would sustain them, I’d ask Ian later. We had shut down the link between us so I could concentrate on the job at hand.
The smell was vile. A mixture of moldy dampness, unwashed vampire and other things I didn’t even want to think about. Personal hygiene was not a priority for these vamps and without the proper blood supply their bodies would start to decompose.
The large room we stood in had several doorways leading off it. A shadow darted across my left. I steadied the shotgun to my shoulder and fired. A slight scream, decidedly female, let me know I’d hit at least one target. Sam stalked the retreating shadow of a young vampire through one of those doorways.
I scanned the shadows around the room searching for any signs of movement. Ian was still at my side and whispered, “You injured the female in the doorway to the left and one male just moved into the corner behind us. We will take out the female first then corner the male.”
I shook my head. “I will take the female, Ian.” I could see by the set of his jaw that he wanted to argue but after a brief hesitation, he nodded and went toward the corner.
I kept my back to the wall as I slid into the doorway. It was darker here and I had to give my eyes a moment to adjust. When they did I saw the shadowy outline of a man, not a woman, his feet spread apart and arms held ready to do battle. So much for not being ambushed. The female was a decoy to lure me into an uneven fight.
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