A Dangerous Man

by Raven Stone

  Chapter 56

  Degarr – Chicago

  Jamie was calm. Calmer than I’d expected, since I’d spoken the truth back there in Nadia’s condo. He’d never been with me to a meeting that was this dangerous. I’d tried to keep him out of it, but he’d made a good argument before we’d even reached Nadia’s place. And I knew if I kept excluding him, that I would lose him.

  Maybe I should lose him. Maybe in the long run, it would be better for him, to let him go, so he could join a pack. I wanted that for him. I did. I wanted Jamie to be happy.

  If I was a better man, a stronger man, I would have let him go, instead of adopting him.

  But when I’d gotten back from Houston, all I could think about was the people I loved. All I could think about was the idea that had flashed through my brain when I’d been talking with Alisha – the idea that I would adopt Jamie.

  I loved him. Allura called him my cub, and she was right. I hadn’t turned him, but I felt like he was mine.

  So I’d adopted him.

  He was permanently part of my life. He wanted that, and I wanted that too. But that meant letting him into all parts of my life. I couldn’t exclude him from dangerous situations anymore, and I couldn’t give them up either. That was another thing that Houston had given me. It helped me realized that I thrived on this life. It meant the people close to me would be in danger too. And I’d tried separating myself, cutting myself off from everyone I’d cared about before, but that hadn’t worked either.

  That meant I had to learn how to protect the people I cared about, even if it meant including them in things that left me scared for them. The best I could do was train them, teach them what I knew, and try to protect them, sometimes without them knowing about it.

  Frankly, Jamie was surprising me. He was taking to this life better than I’d imagined. He was learning, at the same time I was trying to learn to handle my fear and let him take part in things. It did help that he was a werewolf.

  Nadia, however, was a human. And right now, she wasn’t as calm as Jamie. I wrapped my arm around my waist, and kissed her neck.

  “You’ll be safe with me there,” I told her.

  “It’s not that.” She glanced up at me; her pulse racing from a different brand of fear.

  Oh.

  She was afraid of telling me her name.

  “Let me amend that. You’ll be safe with me,” I said.

  She bit her lip, before looking away.

  Then the elevator chimed, and I let her go before the doors opened.

  It was time for our meeting.

  Chapter 57

  Nadia – Chicago

  “Gentlemen and lady.” The mark greeted us.

  He stood in the middle of a room that looked like a cross between an office and a meeting room. There was a desk and a bookcase along the far wall, while the center of the room was dominated by two couches, a coffee table, and a set of overstuffed chairs.

  The receptionist closed the door behind us, and it sounded final.

  “Please sit.” The mark gestured to the options surrounding him, then chose a seat on the couch closest to the desk.

  He balanced one ankle on his knee while he waited for us to sit. He was slender, dressed in a suit, and had close-cropped brown hair. He looked normal, but there was something creepy about him. Every time I looked at him, I felt like spiders were crawling over my skin.

  Degarr chose the couch opposite him. I joined Degarr, while Jamie took one of the overstuffed chairs.

  For a moment, no one spoke. Degarr and the mark simply stared at each other.

  “It isn’t polite, what you’re doing,” Degarr said finally.

  The spiders on my skin stopped immediately.

  “It’s my right to know who’s in my building,” the mark replied.

  “It’s not in your rights to touch us like that, and you know it,” Degarr said.

  “You have my drugs,” he growled. “Of course I want to know who I’m dealing with.”

  “You could simply ask, instead of pawing at me like a teenager with his first hard-on.”

  The man’s eyes narrowed. “I wasn’t.”

  “You were far from subtle. Now tell me your name.”

  “You may call me Esmond. Now it’s your turn. Tell me your name. And, why don’t you show me what subtle is, while you’re at it?” he asked.

  Degarr smiled. “Are you trying to bait me into touching you with my vampire?”

  Esmond looked away.

  “You were.” Degarr leaned forward, his eyes lit with curiosity as he examined the other man.

  “Your name,” the other man said tightly.

  “John Degarr.”

  Esmond’s eyes shot to him. “I heard you had nothing to do with the vampire world anymore. That you’d started some business or something. Why are you tangling with me, interfering with my business?”

  “Are you aware of the effect your drugs have on vampires?”

  “Of course,” he snapped. “I formulated them specifically for that purpose.”

  “You came up with the formula?” Degarr asked, surprise in his voice.

  Esmond preened. “Yes. It took me well over a decade, but I did it.”

  “Why? Why on earth would you create a drug that gets rid of a vampire’s shielding when you’re a vampire yourself?”

  The mark leaned forward, his eyes gleaming as his hands came together. “To control them, of course.”

  Degarr went very still for a moment, then gave a thoughtful nod.

  “You rip their shields from them, and then they have to come to you for the antidote, if they ever want to be in the human world again.”

  “Better,” Esmond replied. “The antidote isn’t a one-time cure. It wears off. They have to keep coming back, again and again. They have to do whatever I want. Otherwise, no antidote. No shield. It’s the best way, the most efficient way, to control vampires, don’t you think?”

  He smiled. It was clear he thought himself incredibly smart, but his creepy smile sent a cold flush of revulsion down my skin.

  Degarr stared at the other man, before finally responding. “Master vampire.”

  “Master King,” Esmond corrected.

  The ghost of a smile touched Degarr’s lips. “You think you’re going to be a king, in King Gabriel’s territory? How are you going to accomplish that?”

  “He’s dead, you fool,” Esmond sneered. “You really should spend some time around vampires.”

  Degarr swallowed, and his eyes dropped. “How long?”

  “Over a year. Maybe two, by now.” The sneer dropped from the other man’s voice, and he leaned forward. “You really didn’t know?”

  It took everything I had to keep my face blank.

  “I hadn’t heard that, no.” Degarr said quietly. He raised his gaze. “Who told you?”

  “Everybody knows that. For what it’s worth, I’m sorry for your loss,” Esmond said.

  Degarr ran a hand over his mouth, his eyes muted. Then he visibly pulled himself back together.

  “Thank you. About your drugs –”

  “I’ll be happy to pay you whatever you paid Green,” Esmond replied. “That would be much easier than trying to find someone else to make them again. I would have paid him already, but there was a small delay with my funding.”

  “You have an investor?” Degarr asked, his eyebrows raising.

  “Of course. It’s how I was able to pay for the first shipment of the drugs, and the first test. Now that we have a successful test, my investor’s said the additional money should reach me in just a few weeks. If Green had waited, if he’d had just a bit more patience, he would have found that out.”

  “You scared him.” Degarr’s tone implied his words were a compliment.

  “I did,” Esmond replied, pleased.

  “So, do you have the antidote yet?”

  “It’s right up here,” Esmond tapped his head. “The investor’s sending money for that too. I’d welcome another partner,
if you’re interested? Especially someone already experienced in establishing a kingdom, like you.”

  Degarr sat back. He rested his hands on his knees, his expression turning thoughtful.

  “You’d be back among vampires again, and you’d be back in the power structure. I could also make it very worth your while,” Esmond added.

  Degarr ran a hand over his mouth again, his grey eyes deep in thought.

  Was he actually considering this?

  I thought he loved Gabriel. I thought he was a good man.

  But if that was true, why would he go into business with someone like this? He knew about the dungeons, and he’d heard Esmond’s plan, just like I had. This man was going to hurt people, especially if Degarr helped him.

  How could he do this?

  I knew my face was blank, I knew I hadn’t moved, but my heart was racing.

  Both vampires turned their heads and stared at me.

  Esmond’s eyes lit up.

  “Your human’s scared,” he said softly.

  “She doesn’t trust me.” Degarr smiled ruefully, his eyes meeting mine. “You should know, love, that you can always trust me.”

  His gaze stayed on me as he retrieved a phone from his pocket, and held it up to his ear.

  “Did you get that?” he asked.

  Then he lowered the phone, holding in front of him and tapping the face.

  “Every word. I didn’t know I was dead. Someone must have forgotten to tell me.” The voice on the other end was tinny thanks to the speaker, but clear enough to hold a tone of amusement.

  “No.” Esmond’s eyes shot to the phone like it was a living snake held between him and Degarr.

  “Yes,” Degarr said with a smile. “You can come in now.”

  “He’s here?!” Esmond screeched.

  All semblance of him being confident, smooth, and in control, disappeared as he looked for an exit. It would have been funny, if I hadn’t known the evil things he’d done.

  The door opened and Nightfall members came into the room.

  I blew out a breath, my heart finally slowing down as I realized that Degarr had never been considering Esmond’s offer. That was a ruse, just like him pretending that King Gabriel was dead. I was embarrassed that I’d fallen for it.

  Degarr’s lips curved upwards as the sound escaped me, and a twinkle lit his eyes, before he turned his attention to the others.

  Two vampires dressed in head-to-toe grey walked in, followed by a third vampire in a charcoal suit. One of the vampires in grey immediately grabbed Esmond before he could try to run past them and escape; pushing him back down onto the couch. A Nightfall joined them, clamping a beefy hand over Esmond’s shoulder.

  The second vampire in grey stayed by the third vampire’s side. Curious, I took a better look at the third vampire.

  My mouth went dry.

  Dark brown eyes that look black in the right light. Dark brown hair. Narrower build. Confident, arrogant, charming.

  I was staring at Degarr’s lover, King Gabriel. Only, Degarr had forgotten to include a few keys words in that description, like the fact he had a presence, an air of command to him, and that he was devastatingly handsome.

  The man in question let his gaze roam the room, taking all of us in, his eyes lingering on Degarr before reaching Esmond.

  The spiders started marching along my skin again.

  “Cut that out,” Degarr said, before looking at the King. “He’s trying to get us to touch him with our vampires. Don’t do it. Any of you.”

  “Thanks for the warning,” King Gabriel replied.

  The spider sensation stopped abruptly.

  The King focused his attention on Esmond, his dark eyes taking in the other vampire. “So, you wanted to be King. You wanted to follow the old ways, and do it in my territory.”

  “I thought you were dead,” the vampire replied.

  “Who said I was dead?”

  “Plenty of people,” Esmond said.

  “No,” the King said softly. “Someone whispered into your ear. Told you I was dead. Said how easy it would be set up a kingdom of your own, now that I was gone.”

  Esmond’s eyes darted to the King, and away again. He didn’t say a word, but it was clear that King Gabriel was right.

  “Who?”

  Esmond pressed his lips together.

  “Do you think he’s going to protect you? You’re operating in my territory. You’re mine now,” King Gabriel said.

  “No,” Esmond said.

  “Yes. Every monarch in the vampire world follows those rules, old ways or not. You established a base, a home, in my realm. You even tried to start a colony, and you poisoned some of my people. You’re mine.”

  A shiver ran down my spine. Gabriel was different than Degarr, yes, but it was clear he was just as dangerous.

  “He –” Esmond stopped himself abruptly.

  “He wouldn’t do that to you?” King Gabriel finished for him. “Think about it. How important were you to him before all of this? My guess is you did something to attract his attention, and it wasn’t long after that he started whispering in your ear.”

  Esmond stiffened.

  “There’s a reason he didn’t send anyone who was already by his side. He didn’t want to risk losing any of them, but he could risk you. You’re just a pawn to him. And you’re not the first master vampire we’ve caught trying this,” he continued.

  “How many others?”

  “You’re the fifth.”

  “He said I was the only one.” Esmond’s voice was rough.

  “I’m sure he whispered a lot of things to you. Things he swore were only for your ears. I’d love to hear them too, if you’re interested in a bit of revenge,” the King said.

  “They’re bound to be lies,” Esmond said.

  The King smiled.

  “I’m sure they are. But even lies interest me.” He gave a nod to the Nightfall holding Esmond’s shoulder.

  The guard changed his grip, and urged Esmond to rise. The vampire reached his feet, and swallowed. Fear washed over his face, as the reality of his new situation struck him.

  “Wait!” He held up a hand towards the Nightfall, then turned his attention to the King. “What’s going to happen to me after I tell you everything?”

  “I can’t make any promises, other than to say we’ll talk about it,” King Gabriel replied.

  “Is there a chance you might not kill me?” Esmond said.

  The King considered him carefully.

  “There is,” he said finally.

  Esmond blew out a breath, relief rippling down his body.

  “A good start would be telling us why you want us to touch you with our vampires,” Degarr said.

  “You’ll lose your shielding, of course. I wanted you beholden to me,” Esmond answered.

  “Of course,” Degarr said, reaching his feet. “Beholden to you, for an antidote that hasn’t been created yet.”

  “It’s coming! I told you, my investor.” Esmond’s voice trailed off.

  “Your investor is the same person who told you about King Gabriel,” Degarr replied.

  Esmond was quiet for a long moment.

  “There’s no more money coming, is there?” he asked finally.

  “No,” Degarr said softly.

  “Fuck!” Esmond said.

  Then the King gestured to the Nightfall, and the man led Esmond out of the room.

  Jamie stood up and started talking with one of the Nightfall members, so I stood up too. Then the vampires in grey moved closer to the King, and people started filtering out of the room. In no time at all, the only ones left in the room were me, the King, his guards, and Degarr.

  Degarr would be leaving Chicago now. I knew that. His work here was done.

  And I couldn’t stop staring at him.

  This was it. I was out of time.

  My heart thundered in my chest, and my stomach churned liked a cement mixer.

  I tore my eyes away from Degarr, and my g
aze made it as far as the King. He stood there looking at Degarr with a touch of smile on his lips, staring at the other man as if he was one of the most amazing things in the world.

  He was right.

  I felt something sharp and painful in my chest.

  Degarr was amazing. He was passionate, and strong, and adorable. And he cared about me.

  What the fuck was wrong with me that I couldn’t even tell him my name?

  I was so caught up in myself that it took a moment for the King’s words to reach me.

  “Are you coming home with us, or are you staying for a while?” King Gabriel asked.

  Degarr turned his head, and caught my eyes. “It’s time. Are you going to tell me your real name?”

  I felt faint. I felt absolutely faint, my fingertips sweating and my heart pounding in my ears.

  “I–”

  The hopeful look in his eyes turned to sadness.

  “I understand,” he said softly. He stared at me for a moment longer, then turned his head away and nodded to Gabriel.

  Gabriel turned, and the two men headed as one for the door.

  Degarr was leaving.

  Leaving for good.

  It had been complete chance that I’d found him. It had taken months, and a good bit of luck. What were the chances I would find him again? And even if I did, I knew his answer would still be the same.

  This was it.

  If I wanted him, if I wanted more with him, then now was the time. Otherwise, this could be the very last time I saw him.

  My chest tightened until it got hard to breathe, and the room got blurry.

  “Wait! Just fucking wait! Goddammit!” I cried out.

  Degarr halted in his tracks, and Gabriel stopped a second later, right in the doorway.

  “Fine! I’ll tell you my name, you fucking asshole! But only four of you get to know it, and I get to read the damn background check.” I demanded.

  A smile burst over Degarr’s face.

  It was brilliant, that smile. So full of joy.

  “Deal,” he replied.

  He opened his arms, and I ran into them.

  Just like a silly, stupid, stupid girl. Nothing held back.