Grave Illusions

by Lina Gardiner

  “Yeah, I called to give him a quick heads up. He insisted on going with us.”

  “I don’t care, as long as we get Regent back in one piece. Let’s go.”

  Britt had barely braked to a stop before Jess jumped out of the truck at the designated meeting place. She couldn’t contain the vampire tonight. Normally she kept that feral side hidden from the team, but tonight she was what she was, and God help anybody who got in her way.

  The worst part was she didn’t know where to look for Regent. That made her feel more impotent than she’d felt in the last fifty years.

  She spotted James first. He didn’t approach her, but she didn’t have time to wonder why. She had more important matters to take care of.

  Drake was at the forefront of the group. She hadn’t seen him for the last week, only spoken to him on the phone. As stressed as she was right now, she still couldn’t miss how awful he looked. His eyes were sunken and he had dark shadows under them. After they’d rescued Regent, she’d have to sit down with him and find out what was going on.

  “Everyone on the team knows why they’re here, Jess,” Britt said in an official voice as they crossed the parking lot. “There’s no need to explain what’s going on,”

  Thank God, he’d taken the initiative to contact the team. And speaking to her in his strong, competent voice while they crossed the parking lot had helped to soothe her inner turmoil. He’d once again been able to effectively calm her. She needed to hear his voice. It helped keep her together.

  “Jess, I’m sorry to hear about Regent,” Drake said, stepping forward as she and Britt neared the group.

  “Thanks. Have you got anything solid that might help us track down these vampires?”

  His gaze shifted down and he shoved his hands into his pockets. He didn’t have to speak. His expression of hopelessness said it all. It wasn’t like Drake to succumb to defeat, and she sure as hell didn’t want to see it on the face of her superior officer right now.

  She expelled air through her nasal passages, irritation humming through her. This was the first time in her life that she’d disliked cops. If they couldn’t help her brother she’d lose all faith in them. What could her haphazard team do against vampires anyway? She was crazy to believe they could help.

  Britt touched her elbow, and she glared at him. “There is something. Some information,” he told her.

  “Why the hell didn’t you tell me?” She wrenched her arm from his grasp, trying to exorcise her looming rage.

  “I couldn’t tell you because I wasn’t sure there was anything to tell.” He turned and watched Sampson climbing out of his VW Bug, smiling hugely. “I called Sampson last night. Told him to get something from his source and fast. When he heard it was for Regent, he said he’d do what he could. Even then I wasn’t sure if he’d have any luck.”

  He edged himself between her and Sampson, almost like a buffer, giving her a chance to get herself fully under control before the next bit of news was thrown at her. She wouldn’t want to appear anything but composed in front of her team, especially in a situation like this.

  In this case it was easy, all he had to do was point out the positive as he said, “Since Sampson rarely cracks a smile, I’d say he’s got something for us.”

  Jess hung her head for a second and closed her eyes. When she opened them, she knew her teeth were back to normal and her eyes sparkling green. “Thank you,” she whispered.

  “We’ll get through this, Jess,” Britt said, his voice inaudible to anyone but her and probably James.

  Britt turned his head and saw James watching him through lowered eyelids. The man’s brows were drawn together in a frown, his stance was edgy and mouth set in a grim line.

  What the hell was wrong with him?

  Chapter Twenty

  Regent tried to lift himself into a sitting position. It was hard to do with his arms tied behind his back, plus he was weak. A smelly burlap bag covered his head, but, thankfully, they hadn’t bothered to gag him. Probably because there was no one that could hear him—or help him if they could.

  The bag had a loose enough weave that he could tell it was dark inside the building where we was being held hostage. His stomach gurgled noisily. He was hungry and had to take a whiz. Hadn’t these people heard of the Geneva Convention? They should at least give him bathroom privileges. But then, his captives weren’t people, were they?

  He leaned his head back against something hard, probably a wall. How long had it been since they’d abducted him? His back was stiff and his feet felt like they were numb blocks.

  Jess would be so upset. She had a habit of losing control, in the vampire sense, when she became extremely agitated. Britt would have to prove his worth while they searched for him. If the man could keep her calm, he’d have accomplished the last task Regent hoped Britt was capable of.

  He tilted his head and listened, wondering if he’d become delusional. Every now and then he thought he heard a baby crying, then a mother crooning. Not likely in a place like this. If the other sounds around him were accurate, he was in a deserted building. Pigeons were roosting in the eaves. That meant there had to be openings where they could get in. He couldn’t see, but he could smell the scents of rotting wood, and something else he couldn’t identify.

  Could there be transients living here? Or just vampires? But vampires lived in the lap of luxury and indulged themselves in the best of everything. They had no trouble surviving in this world full of corruption and criminals. In fact, they fit right in.

  A moment of dizziness swept over him, and a pain tingled through his left arm. He told himself to hang on. Jess was on her way. And God help those soulless beasts for taking him. She’d never let them escape.

  He started praying again but stopped when he thought he heard a woman moaning close by.

  “Who’s there?” he said, turning his head back and forth in futility. No one answered. Whoever had made the sound had stopped just as quickly.

  A rustling noise in the opposite direction brought Regent’s head around. He turned to it. Bright light shone toward him. Sunlight through the eaves? No. It moved away from him then scanned back over him. “Jess? Is that you?”

  Laughter erupted from several directions. A sharp pain pierced Regent’s chest, as he felt himself being lifted off the ground like he weighed nothing. Regent screamed when the pain struck again. This time it was his neck. It felt like something sharp had pierced his skin.

  “Here’s the deal,” Sampson said from the front seat of the black departmental SUV which was big enough to hold nine team members. “My source was very reluctant to tell you this. In fact, I nearly lost my own life when I had to put a wee bit too much pressure on him.” He made a face and wrapped one hand around his neck. “But, I guess that’s part of the allure—the frigging fear.”

  “Thankfully, sweet talk is one of the many things you do well,” Jess said seriously .

  Britt wondered if she even knew she boosted people’s ego like that. He’d tell her some day. Prove to her she was more than a killing machine.

  “Which way from here?” Britt was driving. Griz sat in the passenger seat and Jess, Drake and James were in the backseat. He kept an eye on Jess in the rearview mirror. She was quiet. Too quiet. Her eyes had become coal black again, and he could almost feel the anger simmering beneath her thinly veiled façade of calm. He pitied the poor bastards who thought they could get away with kidnapping Regent. And not just because of Jess; everyone on the team loved Regent. He was a nice old man. And a priest!

  “Keep going straight,” Sampson said. “We’re heading out of the city.”

  Jess started to protest. Or panic was more like it, Britt realized when he saw her. Along with darkened eyes, he could tell her teeth had grown even though she kept her mouth tightly closed. She had a tendency to transform fully into a vampire when things got bad mentally or physically.

  Sampson quickly added, “It’s not far, won’t take long at all. They’re holed up in an aband
oned shoe factory about half an hour outside the city.”

  “I expected them to be at a place like the Ritz,” Jess said. “Maybe they are smarter than I’d pegged them. I never would have looked for them in a dump. It’s too cliché. And not at all what real vampires would consider doing.”

  “Is Prometheus the leader?”

  “Not sure.” Sampson gave his shiny bald pate a rub. “I’ve been hearing conflicting information. Some say it’s Prometheus, some are saying it’s a two member vampire team. Either way you look at it, word is they’ve built up their numbers considerably.”

  Jess glanced at Drake. “Have you contacted the rest of the undercover ops teams?”

  “No. I’ll call right now. They’ll be on their way in minutes.”

  Britt had known Drake for a long time, and he’d thought the man was acting weird back at the parking lot. Now he was sure of it. Drake’s hands were shaking hard enough that he had trouble dialing the number on his cell. And since when did he have to be told to make a tactical move? It was his forte. He was one of the best at it.

  “Did you get positive proof they have Regent?” Jess asked Drake when he finished his call.

  “I’m afraid I’ve learned very little,” he said, then turned to stare out the window.

  Sampson picked up the slack just in time. Britt could feel Jess’s anger turning to magma. “My sources say they’re definitely at the abandoned shoe factory. It took guts for my vamp to come forward and give me this information. It’s always a crap shoot. You have to take the information where you can get it and pray that it’s good. In this case, I think it is. Remember, I’m working with vampires who are stuck between the big bad vamps and me trying to cure them. They can’t turn their back on their Master because he’ll kill them, but they want me to find a cure so they don’t dare leave me swinging either.” He released a wheezy breath and twisted in his seat so he could see Jess in the back. “You know I’d do anything I could to help you, Jess.”

  “Thanks Sampson. I … I really appreciate it.”

  “There’s just one problem. What if this is a trick? We could be walking into a helluva trap,” Britt suggested calmly, noting the instant fear that illuminated Drake’s eyes.

  “Then they’re in for a helluva fight,” Jess said without missing a beat. At least she’d gotten herself back under control.

  “Get your pep talk ready, babe, because we’re almost there,” Britt said, not caring who noticed the endearment. He wanted the whole world to know he loved Jess. “No need to announce our arrival just yet. I’m going to stop a couple miles from the place. That way you can talk to the team, and we can figure out a plan of action while we wait for the rest of the troops to arrive.”

  Britt was still concerned about James’s reaction earlier. He’d looked damned pissed when Britt had soothed Jess by telling her it would be okay. Britt stole a quick glimpse at the vampire who’d fought at Jess’s side for decades. James was staring out the passenger window as if he’d been totally unaffected by Britt’s statement. Britt would’ve sworn James wanted Jess for himself, so why the cool as a cucumber routine? With VNA running in his blood, being cool wouldn’t be one of his strengths. If James thought Jess was his, would he let Britt stake a claim on her?

  It was a question he’d have to think about later. Right now he had to concentrate on rescuing Regent.

  Jess paced in front of the vehicle parked near a shrub-filled field surrounded by dense forest. The field was full of crickets and frogs, and other animals making noises that were setting her teeth on edge. She wanted quiet so she could think. She also wanted to get a grip. Her brother relied on her and it was damned well time she pulled herself together.

  She straightened her back, raised her head and did just that.

  “Jess, we need to talk. Alone,” Britt whispered. They were at the outside edge of the camp they’d set up in the field.

  She nodded once and turned toward him casually.

  “See that copse of trees on the other side of the assault vehicles?” he said. “Meet me there in five minutes. This is important. Don’t tell anyone, and I mean anyone, what we’re doing.”

  Again she nodded, but managed to make it look as if she was merely stretching out the muscles in her neck.

  Five minutes later, she met Britt fifty feet into the forest. He stood behind a huge pine tree. He looked like crap. His expression was about as broken down as she’d seen it. Even worse than the defeated expression she’d seen the first time in Drake’s office when he’d said he was a cop killer. Whatever this was, it had to be bad. Her worst fears sprang into her heart and twisted like a sharp edged knife.

  “What’s going on, Britt?”

  “It’s Drake. He’s dirty.”

  She lowered her head and placed a hand against the pine tree’s rough textured bark to support herself. “I didn’t want it to be true.”

  “You’ve had reservations about him?”

  “Only recently. In the past two weeks he hasn’t been available to meet with me. We’ve had every one of our meetings over the phone. That’s not only not like him, and it’s also detrimental our work. Decisions can’t be made effectively over the phone. Plus there’s always the fear of a phone tap.” She leaned a hip against the tree and crossed her arms over her chest. “I was suspicious. I had the feeling someone on the inside was dirty, but I never dreamed Drake could have anything to do with it.”

  “What do you want to do about it? Given the likelihood that Drake’s dirty, there’s a high probability the vampires know we’re coming. How do we know that phone call he made was even to his men? Right now there are only five of us. We can’t fight a horde of vampires with that few people.”

  “You’re right. Plus the other teams should’ve been here by now. She blew out a breath, pulled out her phone and called the department. She told the officer what she needed and hung up. Savage anger broiled up her spine. “As we feared, he didn’t call them.”

  “I figured from your conversation.”

  “They’ll be here in twenty minutes.” She grit her teeth and saw the muscles bunching in Britt’s jaw, even though he kept his anger hidden.

  “Don’t beat yourself up,” he said. “At least we know now, and it will give us an advantage. I don’t think we should wait. Let’s act as an advance party. Go in, find the vampires, then retreat until the others get here.”

  “You’re right. We don’t want to do anything to tip the scales in their favor again,” she said, allowing herself a moment to admire his dark good looks, his muscled biceps and strong neck. More than that, she admired his dedication. If anyone could help her save Regent it would be him. She had no doubt about that. He wouldn’t turn out to be a traitor. But then, she’d never expected Drake to be one, either.

  James would be there too, of course. He’d been distracted lately. Maybe a little jealous? They’d been so close for years, and with her friendship with Britt blooming, they didn’t have as much to talk about.

  “We’d better get back. We don’t want Drake to realize we’re on to him.”

  Britt stepped closer to her, placed his hands on her shoulders and pulled her against his chest. She inhaled his masculine scent. He felt warm to the touch. His hand gently cupped the nape of her neck before his fingers tangled into her hair and she lifted her face to his. His gaze caught hers. Captured her. Held her. When his lips brushed hers, just a featherlight touch, she closed her eyes. Her breath caught in her throat. And she waited for him to kiss her again.

  Teasing her, he kissed the corner of her mouth the next time. She wanted him to devour her. She wanted him to love her. But she waited, thrilled at every touch of his lips, his tongue on her flesh. And when his mouth finally took hers, she was lost in a world beyond anything she believed she was capable of experiencing.

  “Stop,” she said, finally. Burning with desire, she opened her eyes and saw the same wanton look in Britt’s expression. “We can’t do this now.”

  Britt frowned. “You
’re right.”

  She pulled herself away from him and straightened her hair. “Let’s go.”

  He nodded, but looked her over in a seductive manner that made her sorry she had to stop him. He turned to walk away and she grabbed his arm. “You fight like the devil in there, Britt. Don’t you dare die,” Jess said vehemently, surprising even herself.

  He raised an eyebrow and gave her one of his sexiest smiles. “Not going to happen, babe. We have unfinished business.”

  “If that’s what’ll help you get through this alive, I promise to make that unfinished business the most exciting you’ve ever experienced.”

  “Honey, you sure know how to up the ante and give a man the will to make it out alive.”

  Jess walked out of the clearing ahead of him, knowing he was watching her every move. She went straight to the truck to gather the weapons and begin sorting them for distribution.

  There was a lot on the line today, and she couldn’t bury the feeling that she might never see Britt again.

  This was a fight they might all lose.

  Chapter Twenty-one

  When they finally got a good look at the factory, Jess’s mood sank. This place was a dilapidated monstrosity. It was bigger than she expected, with four levels of weathered gray brick that looked as if it was built in the Dark Ages. Windows were boarded up, some were smashed out. Black holes gaped from exposed window casings, and Jess knew vampires were watching. Waiting. She could feel them. Smell them.

  Drake was at their side. She’d tried to make him stay behind to help with the logistics and command. It was where he should be. Where he would be normally if he wasn’t dirty.

  Britt moved silently beside her through the tall grass and spiky tree growth surrounding the factory. Drake, Terry and Griz were on her other side. A line of vampire hunters and one traitor. Everyone had grim expressions. Except for Drake, they were a team in the real sense of the word, and Jess was proud to serve beside each of them.