by Karen Lynch
“I…can’t say. I haven’t met him yet.”
Sara frowned. “You okay, Beth? You look a little flushed.”
“Yes. I mean, I’m fine.”
Jordan smirked at me. “Chris has that effect on most women.”
Sara’s mouth curved into a big smile. “Chris is here?”
“He’s in the garage with Nikolas.” Jordan finished off her water. “All we need are Emma and the wolf boys, and the whole gang will be here.”
Sara chuckled. “Good luck getting any of them out of Maine these days, especially Roland. If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, I never would have believed he would settle down.”
“Yep. Emma even has him housebroken.”
“Jordan!” Sara shook her head and started for the garage.
“Hey,” Jordan called after her. “Thursday night is girls’ night, so don’t make plans.”
Sara mumbled something that sounded like “whatever.” She reached for the door, but it opened before she could touch it. My stomach lurched when Nikolas entered, followed by Chris, who immediately pulled Sara into a hug.
“How was Germany?” Sara asked Chris when she pulled away from him.
He didn’t answer immediately, and I looked up to find his eyes on me. My stomach fluttered despite the tightness in my chest, and I grew angry at myself for letting him have any effect on me.
“Germany was great, but I missed you guys,” he said, still looking at me.
My jaw clenched. If Chris thought a few smiles and sweet words could undo the past, he was sadly mistaken. A few years ago, his charm would have worked on me, but I was no longer the naïve girl he used to know.
Sara said something, drawing his attention back to her, and I used that moment to make my escape. If anyone noticed me leaving, they said nothing.
Back in the guesthouse, I threw my shopping bags onto the couch and paced the living room, allowing my calm façade to slip.
I couldn’t do this. I couldn’t see him every day and pretend I felt nothing.
I’d told Mason I could deal with it if Chris showed up, but I’d been lying to both of us. I could leave, but it would raise questions I didn’t want to answer. Plus, Mason would insist on going with me, and I would not let him give this up for me. He loved Los Angeles and working with Nikolas, and I’d never seen him so happy.
I sank down in a chair and put my head in my hands.
What am I going to do?
* * *
I yawned and rubbed my tired eyes as I walked into the kitchen. For the second night in a row, I’d done more staring at the ceiling and punching my pillow than sleeping. I needed coffee, stat, and I was grumpy enough to maim anyone who got in my way.
Some people liked a big breakfast to start the day. I was a coffee person, and I kept the cupboard stocked with my favorite French roast beans from New Guinea. Even Mason, who usually woke up with the appetite of a pack of ravenous bazerats, wouldn’t dare touch my coffee beans.
He would, however, drink all the milk.
“Mason,” I growled when I opened the fridge and saw nothing but bottled water and juice.
I looked longingly at the coffee pot then down at the camisole and short cotton pants I’d worn to bed. Coffee or shower?
It was no contest. Pulling my bed hair back into a messy bun, I left the house, not even bothering with shoes. It was still early and the sun hadn’t yet risen above the trees, but there were lights on in the main house. Someone was always up here, manning the control room.
The house was quiet when I entered the living room through the French doors, except for the faint murmur of voices coming from the direction of the control room. I moved silently to the kitchen, not wanting to disturb anyone still sleeping, and I let out a happy sound when I opened the fridge and saw four large cartons of milk. Jackpot.
I was grabbing one of the cartons when I heard voices coming toward the kitchen. I grimaced at what I must look like, and then shrugged it off. No one could possibly expect me to look civilized before my first cup of coffee.
Raoul’s voice drifted toward me. “I’m going to recon the place for the next day or so.”
“Sounds good,” Nikolas replied. “Who are you taking with you?”
“Whoever is available.”
I turned as the two men walked into the kitchen. Raoul smiled when he saw me with the milk carton.
“Did your roommate drink all the milk again?”
I made a face. “Yes.”
He chuckled. “I have something that might cheer you up. How would you like to go on a stakeout with me today?”
“A stakeout?” I asked a little breathlessly, because that could only mean one thing. Vampires. My stomach fluttered in anticipation.
“We have reason to believe there’s a new vampire nest in Long Beach. If you’re –”
“Yes!”
Raoul and Nikolas laughed. Okay, maybe I was more than a little excited, but they were talking about a real vampire nest. New warriors never got to see a nest. This was exactly the reason I’d wanted to come to Los Angeles, to have opportunities like this one.
“When do you want to leave?” I asked, my coffee all but forgotten.
One corner of Raoul’s mouth lifted. “Can you be ready in an hour?”
“Ready for what?”
My body stiffened at Chris’s voice. Since his arrival two days ago, I’d managed to keep my distance from him, mostly thanks to Mason. My best friend had not been happy to see Chris, and the first thing he’d asked me was if I wanted to leave. When I said no, he’d stuck by my side whenever we were at the house, blocking Chris’s attempts to talk to me. The last thing I wanted was to dredge up the past, so I was grateful to Mason for running interference. I wasn’t too proud to hide behind my best friend, and I really wished he was here now.
I comforted myself with the reminder that Chris would leave again soon and my life could go back to normal. In a month or so, Sara and Nikolas were heading to New York City to oversee a new command center there. I fully expected Chris to go with them. Until then, I had to bide my time and do my best to avoid him. As far as I was concerned, we had nothing to talk about.
“Beth and I are going to recon a nest,” Raoul told Chris.
“How big a nest?” Chris asked.
“Small, maybe three or four vampires.”
I felt Chris’s eyes move to me, but I kept my gaze fixed squarely on Raoul until Chris spoke again.
“I can go with you if you need a backup.”
What? No. Anger and dismay flooded me, and I glared at Chris, only to find him looking at Raoul again. I opened my mouth to protest, but Nikolas spoke first.
“I think this would be a good learning experience for Beth, and she’ll be safe with Raoul.”
I could have hugged Nikolas at that moment. I turned hopeful eyes on Raoul, who gave me one of his familiar smirks.
“Beth and I can handle it. I’ll just have to make sure to get her some coffee on the way.”
I could barely contain my excitement. “I’ll be ready to go whenever you are.”
He came over and took two wrapped muffins from the basket on the counter. “See you back here in an hour.”
He and Nikolas headed back toward the control room, and I almost did a happy dance until I remembered I wasn’t alone. Chris was still there, and the look on his face said he was going to try to talk to me again.
Dread twisted my stomach. The logical part of my brain said I should just be an adult and get it over with. Let him have his say and move on. But the hurt sixteen-year-old in me wanted to run away and cry every time I saw his face. That part of me was frantically trying to think of a way to escape now.
“Beth, I –”
The door to the garage swung open, and Mason entered, followed by a laughing Brock. Mason came up short when he saw me alone with Chris, and my expression must have told him all he needed to know. He headed straight for me and wrapped me in a one-armed hug.
I immediatel
y ducked out of his hold. “Ew! You stink of fish and seaweed.”
The two of them laughed. Mason and Brock had hit it off since we got here, and Brock had introduced Mason to his first love: surfing. Mason had taken to the sport like a…well, like a fish to water. If he wasn’t talking about watching Nikolas spar, he was telling me about the perfect wave he’d caught that morning.
I didn’t mind. I liked seeing his face light up when he talked about the things that made him happy. And it wasn’t as if I hadn’t made new friends here, too. I spent half my free time with Sara or Jordan, sometimes both. Mason and I would always be close, but we were getting to know new people, and that was a good thing.
His eyes lit up. “We caught some great waves this morning. Brock knows all the best places to go.”
“You should come with us. Give it a try,” Brock said.
I made a face, and he chuckled. I liked the ocean, but my idea of communing with nature involved a mountain trail and a sturdy pair of hiking boots. At home, I used to drag Mason along with me, before he’d discovered his love of surfing. Now I either went alone, or Sara joined me if she was free.
“No, thanks. I’ll stick to dry land, if you don’t mind.”
Brock looked behind me. “How about you, Chris? You still surf?”
“Not in a few years.”
Suddenly, I had an image of Chris’s wet muscled body walking out of the ocean, and warmth infused me. I swallowed and pushed the thought to the farthest recesses of my mind. So, I was still attracted to him. What female wouldn’t be? It didn’t change anything.
I clutched the milk carton I still held. “I’d love to stay and talk surfing with you boys, but I have to run. I’m going on a job with Raoul today.”
Mason’s eyes widened with interest. “Oh, yeah? What kind of job?”
I could barely contain my excitement. “We’re staking out a vampire nest.”
“No way. Are you messing with me?”
“Nope. He asked me right before you got here.”
“Ah, man.”
I shrugged, deciding a little payback was in order. “Just think. If you hadn’t drunk all the milk again, I’d be over at our place right now, enjoying my coffee in blissful ignorance, and Raoul might have asked you to go with him instead.”
Brock snorted, and I thought I heard Chris chuckle behind me. Mason looked like someone had taken away his surfboard.
“Later, boys.”
Smiling, I headed for the door to the garage to avoid walking past Chris. I heard footsteps behind me, and for a second, I thought he’d followed me. Then I caught the smell of salt water and knew it was Mason. I should have known he’d have my back, no matter what.
I slowed to let him catch up, smiling my thanks at him.
He gave me a devilish grin and laid an arm across my shoulders again. This time, I didn’t push him away. It was a small price to pay.
Chapter 4
Chris
I placed the tablet on the desk and sat back in my chair, rubbing the back of my neck. It had taken me several minutes to realize I’d read the same paragraph at least a dozen times. At this rate, I’d never get through these reports.
Closing my eyes, I saw the same image that had occupied my mind since yesterday morning – Beth standing barefoot in the kitchen and looking like she’d just crawled out of bed. The sight of her had sent heat through me, and my hands had itched to release her hair from the bun and run my fingers through its softness.
“Argh.” I got up to pace the office. I had to stop thinking about her like this.
A groan slipped out because I knew that was wishful thinking. I’d thought I had dealt with this, until coming here and seeing Beth again. The moment I saw her in the garage, I knew I’d been deluding myself.
Since the day I’d arrived, she’d gone out of her way not to talk to me, and the more she avoided me, the stronger my need to see her became. I kept telling myself I just wanted to clear the air between us and to repair the damage I’d done to our friendship. I was lying to myself. I wanted more than her forgiveness, but I knew that was all I could ask for.
A phone rang in the control room, yanking me from my thoughts, and I heard Will answer it. Before I could walk to the door of the office, he called out to me. My gut hardened instinctively. Beth was out with Raoul again, staking out the nest, and my first thought was that she was in trouble. Raoul would never allow her to enter a dangerous situation without backup, but vampires were unpredictable and anything could happen on a job.
“What’s up?” I asked, keeping my inner turmoil out of my voice.
Will hit the intercom button, and Raoul’s voice filled the speaker.
“We’ve got trouble here.”
My heart began to pound. “Is Beth okay?”
“Yes. She’s here beside me. A van pulled up behind the house a few minutes ago, and I just heard a human scream inside the house. We need to go in.”
“I’m on my way.” I looked at Will. “Call in one of the other teams.”
“On it.”
I pulled out my phone as I ran for my bike and called Brock, who was patrolling Newport Beach with Mason tonight. I gave him the address, and he said they’d meet us there. Raoul and I could handle a small nest, but I preferred to have backup with humans involved. I had no idea how long it would take another team to respond if they were busy.
The house was an old Queen Anne Victorian surrounded by a short iron fence and well-maintained rose bushes. It didn’t look anything like what you’d expect for a vampire nest, which made it the perfect hideaway for them. Vampires looking to set up house liked to prey on older people who lived alone. They killed the house’s owner and moved in with no one the wiser.
Beth and Raoul were camped out on the roof of a small convenience store across the street from the house. They met me in the parking lot behind the store, which was closed for the night, and Raoul filled me in.
“We’ve spotted four different vampires coming and going since yesterday. I couldn’t see how many arrived in the van though, so I have no idea how many are in there now.”
“Young vampires?” I asked.
“Couldn’t tell from here.”
I studied the house. When Nikolas and I had worked as a team, we’d thought nothing of entering a small nest without backup. I’d worked with him so long we could practically read each other’s minds. Raoul was a seasoned warrior, but we’d never raided a nest together. We could wait for Brock, but we had no idea of the condition of the humans in the house.
“Raoul, you climb up to the roof of the porch and see if you can get in that way. I’ll take one of the downstairs windows. Beth, you stay here.”
She nodded, though I could see the disappointment in her eyes. No warrior wanted to stand by and watch the action, but new warriors did not enter a nest, at least not until after it had been cleared out.
Raoul and I approached the house carefully, splitting up after we’d hopped the fence. He went toward the porch, and I walked around the house, stopping at each window to listen for movement or voices inside. I peered into a small laundry room and knew this was the best entry point for me. The odds of a vampire using a laundry room were slim, so I could enter undetected.
I wasn’t surprised to find the window unlatched. Vampires were careless when it came to security, too sure of their own strength to worry about an attack. I eased the window up and slipped in, listening for sounds from the rest of the house.
Raised voices came from another room, and it didn’t take long to figure out they were arguing over what to do with the humans. A male vampire wanted to make them last a few days, and a female argued that there were plenty of humans in the city when these were gone.
I smiled. New vampires.
I left the laundry room and moved stealthily down a hallway toward the voices. Peering through an open door, I saw the two vampires facing off against each other in the middle of the living room. On the couch, two women and a man huddled together. The ma
n had blood on the collar of his white shirt, and the dazed look on his face told me he’d been fed upon. But the three of them were alive, and that was all that mattered.
A loud thump upstairs silenced the two vampires, and I ducked out of sight as they turned to the doorway.
“He’d better not be messing with her,” the male growled. “I told him that one was mine.”
Footsteps approached the doorway, and I prepared to strike. The male ran into the hall, his eyes going wide when he saw me. Before he could yell a warning, I drove my sword into his chest. He gasped and sank to the floor.
“Jack,” the female called.
I didn’t wait for her to come check on her friend. I sped into the living room, moving too fast for her eyes to track. She barely got out a scream before my blade silenced her.
One of the human women cried out, and I lowered my sword to appear less threatening.
“How many are there?” I asked them.
“F-four,” the other woman croaked.
“Stay here,” I ordered them.
I left the room, and I was at the bottom of the stairs when Raoul shouted from above. “We have a runner.”
Fear shot through me. Beth was out there alone.
I tore open the front door and raced outside in time to see a figure running across the dark street. He was headed straight for Beth, who still stood in front of the convenience store.
Beth moved. Metal flashed and the vampire staggered, grabbing at the knife buried in his chest.
I sped down the steps and sailed over the fence – and came up short when I saw Beth run out to intercept the injured vampire. Her face was a mask of determination as she swung her sword, slicing cleanly through his neck. He dropped, and she stared at the body with an expression of disbelief on her face. I knew that look. I’d seen it enough times on warriors making their first vampire kill.
My chest expanded with pride and the knowledge that I’d been here for her first kill. I walked toward her as she pulled her knife from the vampire’s chest and wiped it clean on his pants.
“Good work,” I said.