Reveal (The Lamian Wars Book 2)

by C. M. Steele

  “It really is the best way to travel,” Nora said.

  “Yes, no more airport delays or long TSA lines,” I added.

  “Oh my God, that just made me think about my parents. I haven’t received a nasty worded email in weeks.”

  “Good, that means maybe they’ll stop bothering you,” he said, turning on the lights around the house and hitting the security passcodes. Draco left my side, giving Falcon a nod. He rushed around the place, searching for any signs of intruders. There shouldn’t be any or the monitors for the house would have gone off. He was back and holding me in his arms before a minute passed.

  “Everything’s clear,” he said, kissing my cheek.

  “Okay, so can I go in the lab for a minute?” Leonora asked.

  “A minute? Love, let’s go inside.” Falcon looked at us, then said, “If you want, you can join us or find us some food.”

  “I’m all for the food,” I said, pushing out of Draco’s grasp only to grab his hand and tug him toward the kitchen. “Come on, pregnant woman hungry here,” I sang.

  Chapter 13

  Leonora

  We walked into the lab and I took in the scene. It was clean and neat, just like Vigo liked. It was like a smaller replica of the lab at the company building. I stepped up to the nearest table and bent down to look at the microscope. Instantly, chills ran up my spine. My throat felt like it was tightening up and I couldn’t breathe. I began to shake and Falcon rushed me out of the room. I was sitting on Falcon’s lap on our bed. “Nora, talk to me.” I rocked in his arms, trying to get myself composed. “Leonora, damn it. What’s wrong?” I heard Charlotte and Draco running into the room.

  “What’s going on?” Charlotte asked, rushing up to me and grabbing my hand.

  “I’m sorry,” I panted, feeling the fear leave me as embarrassment replaced it. I looked up at Falcon. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to freak out.”

  “Shh. Calm down, my love. It’s going to be okay.” I felt his hold on me tighten as he comforted me.

  “It was too much to go in there,” Draco said. “Leonora, it’s understandable. We all know how close you came.”

  “No, Draco. I should have been able to handle it. It wasn’t the lab so much as the DNA report next to the microscope. It was labeled Nero Lombardi.”

  “What the hell do you mean?” Falcon asked.

  “Well, the samples were from all of your family and several others. So the reports were done. I know he was planning to upload everything in a program that was safe and with no internet or network connections.”

  “Did you mention to Vigo that you were coming to visit?” Charlotte asked.

  “No, I didn’t.” If I had, he wouldn’t have left that for me to see.

  “Well then, he didn’t mean to leave it there,” she added, gently reminding Falcon that it was merely an accident and for him to calm down.

  “I know. It’s just something I need to get over. After all, Nero lived in the castle and it doesn’t bother me to be there,” I replied.

  “Oh my, I didn’t even consider that,” Falcon woefully said. He was looking at me like he had been the worst mate in the world.

  “It’s fine, Falcon. It doesn’t have an effect on me.” He kissed my cheek and pressed his head against mine. I melted into his touch.

  Falcon and Draco’s cell phones rang at the same time. It was an alert. “Shit,” they yelled at the same time.

  “What’s going on, another attack?” I questioned, hoping that it wasn’t anything big. These battles are draining and scary as hell. My heart was having a hard time letting Falcon leave my side to fight evil.

  He shook his head. “No, there was an explosion at the lab. We have to get down there now.” His body stiffened with tension.

  “Let me use the restroom and we can go.” I jumped out of his hold and washed my face. Everyone was in the kitchen waiting for me. I could smell the bacon Charlotte had been cooking before I flipped out. She handed me a piece after turning off the stove.

  “We’ll get some food on the way back from the lab,” Falcon promised me.

  “That’s fine. I’m good for now. Are we driving?”

  “Yes. We don’t want to add any suspicion to us. The police look at the owners first before moving on to the actual culprits.” I could see the wheels turning in his head. With everything going on unrelated to the human world, this could be a brazen attack by The Lamia. We entered the garage with his pretty cars and took the large black Denali. Falcon didn’t drive, instead he took my hand and led us to the back while Draco drove and Charlotte sat in shotgun.

  “Falcon, I’m sorry about the lab. I hope it’s salvageable.”

  “I don’t know. If it’s not, I’ll be glad. We can have the private lab since the equipment was removed from the special lab. It all doesn’t matter, as long as you’re okay.” He kissed me fiercely before tucking me against his chest.

  Chapter 14

  Falcon

  We pulled up to the laboratory to see it still engulfed in flames. A very large crowd gathered around the fire engines. They were being forced to stay back as the firefighters fought the blaze. If we hadn’t moved the notes and the samples to the house, centuries of research would have turned to ash. I suppose that was a turn in a positive direction. Perhaps Charlotte had been wise to not tell us about the impending attack. If she had, the lab wouldn’t have been moved and now would be lost to us forever.

  All of us stepped out of the vehicle and walked toward the scene. We pushed our way through the huddled masses. There was a blockade set up and a large police officer stopped us. “I’m sorry, but you have to stay back. We don’t know what chemicals are in the building.”

  “This is our laboratory. I’m Falcon Lombardi and this is Draco Romano,” I said, pointing to Draco.

  “Do you know if there’s someone in there still working?”

  “There shouldn’t be anyone in the building. It’s been closed this past week for an impromptu vacation.”

  The cop arched his brow. Need arson in on this one. This smells like a case of an insurance fraud.

  “Officer, is there someone in charge? I’d like to speak to someone without a judgmental expression etched on his face. I can buy this place ten times over. We had important projects underway. Now either get out of my way or get me someone who I can speak with,” I demanded in a stern tone without raising my voice but pushing my accent deep into my words.

  “Yes, sir,” he muttered. Fucking rich, foreign prick. He continued cursing me while I laughed internally, keeping the grimace on my face.

  Two minutes later, two other men appeared. One was the fire chief and the other a man in a suit. “Hello, I’m told that you’re the owner of the lab.”

  “Yes, and my partner Mr. Romano.”

  “Can you tell us if there are any dangerous chemicals inside?”

  “Yes, there are gases used for testing. What I don’t get is how this is happening in the first place. There shouldn’t have been anyone here, and everything was shut down last week. Without some sort of tampering, this wouldn’t have happened.”

  “Do you have any enemies?”

  “I had to fire two employees in the past month or so. One attacked my fiancée on her way here, but she should be in jail.” If it was her or even Miller, they would be slowly tortured to death.

  “What about the other employee?” the suit asked, arching his brows and taking in our little group.

  “She was one of my scientists. She was fired for unseemly conduct,” Draco added, looking a bit annoyed with all of this.

  “Okay, once the blaze is under control, I’d like to continue this line of questioning.”

  “Certainly, sir.”

  Wow, these bastards are nailing those beauties? All the luck, the chief thought to himself.

  Falcon, there’s too many voices going off in my head right now. Nora practically shouted to me.

  Force them away.

  How? The questions are getting to me. I
forgot how new this was to her, and the larger the crowd, the harder it is to shut them out. It wasn’t an issue for me because it was something I had mastered centuries ago.

  Remember that they aren’t talking to you. I’m glad you can hear more voices now.

  Haha. You know a normal person would be nuts if they claimed to hear voices.

  It’s wonderful to hear you laugh. I pulled her into my arms with her back to my chest as we waited for the fire to die down. The news media cameras had been on the other side, but they had learned that we were there, so they came toward us. We straightened up and I just held her hand. I didn’t want more talk about us because people will be looking for any reason to attack or follow us. We couldn’t afford the attention with our real lives so volatile. I rolled my eyes and Draco grumbled, “Great.”

  “Mr. Lombardi, Mr. Romano?” a female reporter asked, looking between the four of us. The other reporters followed suit, making the number of cameras grow. This needed to end quickly.

  “Yes, these are the owners,” that initial asshole officer said.

  “Can we get a comment?”

  “We don’t know why the fire started or anything else. We’re still waiting to hear what happened.”

  “Are you going to rebuild the lab?”

  “We would like to, but it depends on approval from the government. With the potential for another incident like this, they will have the opportunity to refuse the rebuild.” The lights from the three cameras were on us and getting on my nerves.

  “Please excuse us. We don’t feel like discussing the matter at this time.”

  Wow, two fine ass men and their pretty women with some growing bellies are going to be famous very soon. Two pregnant women, the tabloids are going to be all over them.

  “Do you believe anyone was inside?” she asked with a smile, like she hadn’t been thinking of banking her career on my family.

  “No. No one should have been inside. Enough questions,” Draco stated, giving all them a glare. We turned away and walked down the street. There was the coffee shop and it was still open, so we stepped inside.

  “Do you think they’re going to follow us?” Nora asked, looking toward the window.

  “No, they have their current story they need to be filming, but now we’re going to be catching attention. I think it’s time we moved you both to the island.”

  “That sounds like a great idea, but we have to be careful. It’s still under construction. If it wasn’t for the fact that we don’t want others aware of it, the work would have been done sooner.”

  “What are we going to do?”

  “Let’s get you ladies something to eat, then head back to the lab and see what’s going on.” All in all, it took about thirty minutes for the girls to get their food and eat. As we approached, the fire died down. The temperature was over eighty and the wind almost nonexistent, normal for this time of year. The blaze had been isolated to the left side of the building. It had been the area where the most flammable materials were kept. The firefighters were earning every dollar as they fought the flames in that heavy gear. Beads of sweat dripped down the faces of the large crowd that gathered to watch our work burn to the ground. It was a human fascination for the macabre that had them all entranced by the violent red and yellow flames. This would be a feast for those who hated humans. By the time someone noticed the dropping bodies, the vampires would be on their neck, draining them. That would be Stavros’ world if we failed. He wanted slaves and dinner.

  The amount of cameras had doubled and they were standing by the fire chief, who was giving an interview. His eyes turned to me and he excused himself from the reporters. As soon as the same woman from earlier saw where he was going, she said, “There’s the owners.” I rolled my eyes and the chief smirked, shaking his head.

  “Let’s get you all to the command center over here,” he said, leading the way to the front of Miller’s empty lot, the one he wanted us to buy from him before he tried to claim my woman. “So far we don’t have anything on what set off the fire. It’s almost out and thankfully hasn’t spread to the trees.”

  Out of the corning of my eye I saw a firefighter with a mask over his face breathing into a mask. “It’s a hot night. Sometimes when the blaze gets too hot, the body doesn’t respond well. He’ll be okay; he’s young,” the chief answered my concern without me saying a word.

  “When will you know something?”

  “We can’t send anyone in until the place cools and it’s deemed structurally sound to enter.”

  “Thank you, Chief Collins.”

  “I’m going to head home before the mob of photographers follow us there.”

  “Ms. Dulles, can we ask you how far along you are?” a shout came from the glaring cameras.

  “She’s not pregnant. That’s a dick thing to say to a woman. How many months are you, fucker?” Charlotte said.

  “We’re live.”

  “Good, television worth watching because you’re a terrible reporter.” She turned to Draco and said, “Take me home.” Cheers and chuckles came from the crowd, but Charlotte didn’t let on that she noticed and walked ahead until Draco caught up to her. He wrapped his arm around her waist and kissed her hair.

  “Excuse us. Nora, let’s go,” I took her hand, and when I got to the truck I found out why Charlotte was in a rush.

  “The Lamia are going to attack the castle again,” she said. “We need to get going asap. The attack is imminent.” We drove down the road, and thankfully, no one followed behind. As soon as we were on the road to my home, Draco teleported the entire car to the house. Within seconds, we teleported again to the castle.

  When we got there, we barricaded our women in the secured room and armored up before charging into battle. Our men were already standing guard as the sirens sounded.

  The battle wouldn’t last long unless they tried something new. We braced ourselves for the inevitable. We were all exhausted and perhaps that had been their plan, wearing down our soldiers at the expense of their own. Our forces had been growing as word spread that Draco and I had met our mates.

  The sun was nearly up, so we would lose half our forces due to the darkness, but we could manage just fine. We had more in the darkness because he didn’t ruin his own people. He wanted their love, support, and utter devotion.

  “Let’s handle them and get on with our day,” I said to Draco.

  We roared as we rushed into the fray, unsheathing our blades and swinging at the enemy. There had to be at least two hundred Lamian soldiers. Our army charged into the first rows, tossing bodies into the air. Others came leaping our way with their guns blazing. Some of my men fell but got back up swinging, slicing heads off as another stabbed the bastards in the heart, turning them to dust floating down to the ground. The little granules didn’t reach the surface before they were slicing the next Lamian soldier to bits.

  I was halted by a soldier that looked to be a foot taller than me and had me by at least fifty pounds. I don’t know what cave they dragged him out of, but that won’t stop me.

  “Prepare to die, fool,” he snarled at me. Pulling his blade from his sheath, he readied himself for battle. He came at me full speed, our blades clashing and metal ringing in the air. I moved around and he kept up, but I also hadn’t teleported yet. It was my favorite cheat code in this real-life combat game.

  “Is that all you got?” I asked, ducking to the side and avoiding his thrust toward my chest. The longer I toyed with this giant, the angrier he got. It was amusing to watch. His mechanics were lost to his rage and his blade swung wildly. I was about to strike the deadly blow when Gideon did it for me, piercing his heart. I grinned at my enemy and gave a shrug before swinging my katana swiftly and taking off his head.

  “Off with his head,” Gideon added with a chuckle.

  Chapter 15

  Draco

  It had been a week of pure silence. Four attacks in two days to nothing had made us wonder - what was Stavros doing? What was he planning
next? When would he strike again?

  Charlotte had nothing for me. She was having dreams, but with the baby, the dreams weren’t making sense to her at all. Leonora informed her that it was a human symptom of pregnancy, but I wondered if these visions haven’t materialized all the way.

  I made my way down to the command center of the castle to see that the new measures were being tested and functioning well. I’ve had the items for the island shipped several times over the past month for the preparations. Having the right connections in the building industry willing to do work off the books was sweet. I was going to New York with Charlotte today to work another deal.

  “Are you ready, old man?” she said, walking into the room.

  “This room is supposed to be secret.”

  “Yes, and I’m the queen of secrets. So are you ready?”

  “Damn, you’re cranky today.”

  “Well, I’ve never been to New York and I want to try the food.”

  “There’s a lot of places to enjoy there. We’ll make a short trip while The Lamia lay low.” I rubbed her belly that had started to show even more than before. It scared me a bit because any vampire could be a threat. Except for Falcon. He didn’t seem to care either way. All he wanted was a life of peace with Leonora. I wanted the same thing and didn’t want to rule, so I was hoping for a boy. Having a little girl didn’t interest me one bit.

  “On with it then,” she demanded. The pregnancy brought out the bold and playful Charlotte. Leonora said she was always that way.

  With a smile, I squeezed her tightly and we were in the middle of Central Park. I started tickling her as we walked out of the wooded area into the trail. “You’re such a perv,” she laughed, making it look like we’d gone in there to fool around.

  “How do you think you got that way?” I added, playing the proud cock.

  It was only seven in the morning here, but damn joggers were everywhere. I wondered how many bodies they find a year in this park. These people are all potential victims, and not just to our kind, but also to the nutty humans. They ran with headphones in and little to no awareness of their surroundings.