“Repeat it back so I know you were listening,” Roman said as the SUV slowed and turned down the driveway.
“Don’t speak unless spoken to. Keep my eyes on the floor. Bow at the neck, and address him as Your Grace,” I parroted back to him.
“And if he asks, which he will likely do, your sire left without specifying where he was going, and you haven’t heard from him in over a week. And his name is?”
“Pablo Zajalmo.”
“Vo. Zajalvo,” he corrected me.
“Right. Pablo Zajalvo.” Oh God. I was going to butcher this and get us both killed. I just knew it. The look on Roman’s face said he feared the exact same thing.
We parked, and two men in black suits slipped out of the shadows. From the looser cut of their jackets and the way they’d left them unbuttoned, I could tell they were professional guards. They greeted us as we exited the SUV.
“Identification,” one requested.
Roman pulled a leather wallet out of the pocket of his shorts while I patted down my jeans, realizing I’d left my house with only my cell phone stuffed down in my front pocket.
“Shit.” I shot Roman a nervous glance as the second guard tucked a hand inside the fold of his jacket.
“Civilian Jenna Skye,” Roman said, nodding in my direction. “The duke requested her directly from a crime scene. There was no time to gather her personal effects.”
The man touched something on his ear, and I heard a faint hum, likely from an earpiece. My senses were still in overdrive from my recent feeding, and every tiny detail seemed to overwhelm me.
Finally, the guard nodded, but he didn’t take his eyes from me as they escorted us to the front door of the manor. The place was lit up, though, not as brightly as Nigel’s had been. And the landscaping was clean and sharp, but not exactly decorative. This wasn’t a place for parties. It was all business here.
The smell of leather and pine filled my lungs as we stepped out of the muggy night and into a foyer lined with plush benches. Massive, framed photographs of gorgeous landscapes captured at sunrise or sunset hung on either side of a pair of French doors at the back of the foyer. Several more were spaced between arched passageways leading to other parts of the manor.
“Agents Sorano and Natani are in interrogation downstairs,” one of the guards said to Roman. Roman nodded but continued to follow the man, until he stopped. “His Grace wishes to see the civilian alone.”
Roman opened his mouth as if to protest, but his lips quickly snapped shut. This duke ruled with iron fangs, it seemed. I really didn’t want to face him alone, but Roman had already turned and headed off toward one of the arched exits out of the foyer. He’d been an obedient servant for fifty years, and that wasn’t about to change tonight.
The guard, satisfied by Roman’s compliance, led me the rest of the way to the French doors. He knocked softly.
“Enter,” a muffled voice called out.
The guard pushed a door open and urged me inside. “Civilian Jenna Skye, formerly a K9 officer with the St. Louis County PD,” the guard announced before shutting the French doors in my face.
I blinked after him, shocked that whatever exchange he’d had with the person on the other end of his earpiece had yielded information that swiftly.
“Come closer. Let me have a look at you,” the duke called from across the room.
I stole a quick glance around his office, taking in another monstrous sunset photograph and built-in bookcases, before I remembered Roman’s advice and lowered my eyes to the floor. I inched forward, glancing up just enough to navigate my way to the wide desk resting like a throne at the back of the room.
“I won’t bite, my dear. I assure you, I’m well fed.” The comment felt like permission to look up, so I did.
I’d expected someone cold and broody, like Roman. But this man—who seemed hardly old enough for the title—was the picture of calm. His face was smooth, the soft edge of his jaw lined with a faint stubble that probably wouldn’t have dissuaded an unsuspecting human from carding him at a bar. If dukes went to bars.
Chocolaty curls framed his face, adding to his boyish charm, and the inside corners of his eyebrows hitched upward, giving him a perpetual air of sympathy. He pushed up the sleeves of his white Henley and folded his hands over the top of the desk.
“Kai tells me you wish to join Blood Vice.” His voice was soft and deep. It surprised me as much as his looks.
“Yes…Your Grace,” I added, remembering Roman’s instructions.
He smiled, but I couldn’t decide if it was to be pleasant or patronizing. “Your recent assistance with the serial killer case is a compelling reason for me to grant you admittance to the training program, though, a recommendation letter from your sire would be appreciated.”
Shit.
“My sire is missing, sir.” I bowed my head, hoping the statement didn’t sound as damning as it felt on my lips. “And I’m very recently risen.”
“How unfortunate.”
“I was hoping the training program would help me acclimate, and I have a dedicated harem in place—a human and a werewolf—who are eager to join Blood Vice, too,” I added since Roman wasn’t there to silence me with his death glare.
The duke was quiet a moment, and I feared I’d said too much. Then he leaned back in his chair and hummed a thoughtful note.
“That’s very ambitious for a vampling. But Kai is not so easily impressed, and you’ve already proven yourself useful.” He nodded, more to himself than to me. “And we are only as strong as the team we build. Good agents are in short supply these days—humans and werewolves as much as vampires.”
“Thank you, sir.” I closed my eyes and soundlessly blew out the breath I’d been holding. He hadn’t exactly said yes, but it was close enough that I accepted it as such before he had a chance to offer up any doubts or criticism.
The duke picked up a pen from his desk and scribbled something in a leather-bound journal. “Leave your harem information with Belinda, and I’ll have the official letters sent out by next week. The program starts the second week of September. If you have any questions about what to expect, speak with Kai.”
“Thank you, Your Grace,” I repeated, not knowing what else to say.
He looked up from his desk and gave me another placid smile. “You’re welcome, Ms. Skye. Dismissed.”
I bowed at the neck again, like Roman had said to do, and quietly exited his office. The two guards stood outside the French doors. Across the room, Roman waited on a cushioned bench near the front entrance. He stood when I approached him.
“Are you finished?” he asked, glancing over my shoulder at the guards. I could tell he wanted to ask more, but it could wait.
“I need to leave some information with…Belinda?”
Roman sighed with quiet relief, but then his head jerked up as the office doors opened behind me.
“Agent Knight,” the duke called. “A word?”
Roman nodded. “Of course, Your Grace.” He spared me a quick glance. “Belinda’s office is in the north wing. One of the guards can direct you to it. I’ll catch up with you after.”
He disappeared inside the duke’s office, leaving me alone in the foyer with the straight-faced guards. The one who had requested my identification pointed to the hallway branching off to my left.
“Take the stairs. First door on the right,” he said.
“What, no escort?” The good news had emboldened me, and my heart felt lighter and braver.
The second guard smirked. “Everyone in this house is the duke’s first line of defense. If Belinda can’t handle a little green fang like you, then she doesn’t belong here.”
Green fang? I wondered if I should be insulted, but seeing as how I’d just survived my first encounter with the duke, I decided to swallow my offense and headed off to register my harem for training at the bat cave.
This was the bloody finish line, and I was going to tear through it with my head held high and still attached.
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Chapter Twenty-two
Mild, supernatural destruction was the final straw when it came to the overdue remodeling projects happening around my house. And Laura’s eye for interior design was much appreciated in that regard. Left up to me, I would have restored everything to its original condition—the condition it had been in before Mom died.
“I gotta hand it to you, sis,” I said, stepping back to inspect the freshly painted wall in my bathroom. “The lavender looks great in here.”
“Right?” Laura finished peeling away the tape around the windowsill and beamed at me. “And it goes so well with this new vanity.”
She clicked her polished nails on the marble counter laid over white drawers with silver handles. The dark-stained vanity that had been there since we were kids had made the room look small and cramped. Soaked with blood, it was even darker. Luckily, the stains had come out of the grout around the floor tiles.
Thinking of the woman whose blood I’d spent hours scrubbing out of my bathroom, I wondered what had been pulled out of her in interrogation. After relaying my harem info to Belinda the night everything happened, Kai had volunteered to drive me home, insisting Roman would be tied up for a while.
While the beefy trainer wasn’t as tightlipped as Roman, he didn’t offer up anything more than the press release version of the case. The two killers were part of a mutual harem, and no one was entirely certain why they were tasked with hunting vamplings. The matching bite marks on their necks gave Blood Vice something to compare to marks on staff from several clubs where vampires had gone missing, and one other human had been arrested that night for further investigation.
I had my own suspicions, but I couldn’t voice them to Kai. I couldn’t tell him that I was familiar with that dainty impression. That it had marred my own flesh not too long ago, though, it had since healed. I still felt it sometimes, like a hot poker in my neck, whenever I remembered the night Scarlett had taken a bite out of me.
I wanted to call Roman and talk to him about it, but I had a feeling he’d recognized the bite mark, too. And I couldn’t bring myself to ask him a question I knew he’d insist was not my business.
I was just a civilian who had helped with a little undercover work. I wasn’t an agent with clearance to know anything important. Not yet, anyway.
“It’s about that time.” Laura glanced down at her watch and sighed. “The cab should be here in ten.”
I bit my bottom lip and tried to smile at her, but I couldn’t. “He better be nice to you, or I’ll bite his face off.”
Laura’s uneasy laughter let me know that she hadn’t missed the literal undertone of my threat, but when I teared up, she threw her arms around me and sighed again.
“You better call me.” I sobbed into her hair.
“Every day,” she promised.
A second set of arms squeezed around us, and Mandy sniffled.
“I hate you,” she said, squeezing until I felt a vertebra low in my back pop and Laura grunted. Duncan wriggled his way between our feet and howled a mournful tune until Mandy let go and bent down to scoop him up. She kissed the pooch between the ears and rubbed her teary cheek against his short fur. “I hope your stupid soap opera is canceled and you have to live in a cardboard box.”
Laura snorted. “I love you, too.”
Mandy hugged her again, squishing Duncan between their stomachs until he yipped and squirmed out of her grasp. The doorbell rang, and his little toenails skittered across the tile as he raced out of the bathroom.
“They’re early,” I whined. “Why is everyone so damn early all the time?”
Laura fingered her running mascara. “I’ll call when my flight lands,” she said to Mandy, then shot me an apologetic smile. “It will be daylight by then.”
I nodded and rubbed the heel of my hand across my cheek. “I’ll bug you after sunset tomorrow.”
The doorbell rang again, and we all filed out of the bathroom and headed off to help Laura load up her mountain of pink, designer luggage. The porch light shone across the front lawn, and the new security light I’d installed over the garage added an extra halo of visibility. It felt necessary after the break-in, and it was also handy for other things, now that I couldn’t rely on the assistance of daylight.
Collins, who had helped with the painting project, was rinsing brushes under the spigot off the front of the house. He paused to tell Laura goodbye, and to get in one last jab at her for the ogling jogging. “My eyes are up here, honey,” he said, turning Laura’s face nearly as red as her hair.
As the driver closed the trunk of the cab, Vin’s green Volkswagen pulled into the driveway. He hopped out and gave Laura an awkward hug, wishing her a safe journey, before stepping up off the curb.
I stood in the dark with my misfit blood harem, our backs to the glowing lights coming from the house, shadows merging into one as they stretched out into the street, and waved Laura off.
My sister waved back with one of Duncan’s paws, stirring a yawn from the pooch. The valium she’d slipped into a chunk of leftover hotdog for him was finally taking effect. The cab pulled away, and a few second later, Laura was gone. Out of my life and back to Tinseltown.
“Come on, kid,” Collins said, nudging Mandy’s shoulder. “These brushes ain’t gonna wash themselves.”
She grumbled but reluctantly followed him back to the spigot where our paint trays lay soaking in the grass. I’d promised her steak, cake, and cornhole shenanigans in the backyard for her help. Plus, fifty bucks. Teens were way more expensive these days.
Across the lawn, I watched Mandy accidentally streak a paintbrush down Collins’ arm. He returned her kindness with his own brush, delivering a playful, French-glove slap across both of her cheeks. The pair of them cackled and went back to rinsing.
Vin’s arms wrapped around me from behind, and he rested his chin on my shoulder. “I’m really going to miss you.”
“I’ll miss you, too,” I said, though I wasn’t sure how true that was.
Part of me wanted to love Vin, but another part of me doubted if there was a place for him in this strange new life of mine. I wondered the same thing about Collins. It had been a little too much for Laura, and I didn’t blame her. At least I still had Mandy.
The girl was my saving grace. I was glad she had decided to stick around. I knew she wasn’t looking forward to being away from Serena for three whole months while we trained for Blood Vice, but we both agreed, we were in this together. I hoped Collins would come to feel the same way. I needed them, and not just for their blood.
I needed Mandy’s tough determination and knowledge of this new world, and I needed Collins’ human nature and link to my past. Vin was a luxury, and one I might have to give up eventually for his own good. For now, I was seeing how things played out. And I’d finally agreed to go to our ten-year class reunion with him this weekend. God help me.
The upcoming training program also meant a three-month break from Roman. Of course, I had a jump-start on that particular sabbatical. Other than the three official letters laid out on my kitchen table, I hadn’t had any contact with another vampire for almost two weeks. That would all change soon.
Everything was changing, and I guessed I wanted it to, for the most part. But change, whether good or bad, was scary and uncertain. I’d been resisting it for most of my adult life. I couldn’t anymore. Not if I wanted to survive. And not if I wanted to be happy.
Because I did want that. Maybe it had taken me dying to figure it out, but I wanted so desperately to be happy.
Mandy’s giggle drew my attention back to the water spigot, where she and Collins had escalated into a full-blown water fight. Mandy stuck her thumb in the end of the spigot, directing the blast in his face.
“Ceasefire! Ceasefire!” Collins pleaded, his chest heaving with laughter.
Vin kissed the side of my neck and released me. “I’m going to fire up the grill.” He slipped around the opposite side of the house, fading into the shadows and narrow
ly avoiding becoming a casualty of the water war.
Some people just weren’t cut out for battle. I would have joined in myself, but I was enjoying the truce the universe had allowed me far too much right now. I knew it wouldn’t last long, but looking at the glowing faces of those who had chosen to accompany me through the darkness inspired a level of courage I hadn’t felt since before my mom had died.
Dead or alive, I was going to be all right.
Catch up with Jenna and company in…
BLOOD IN THE WATER
BLOOD VICE BOOK THREE
Coming October 24th, 2017 – Available for pre-order HERE!
Jenna Skye and her blood harem are off to boot camp in Denver. If she can survive the three long months at the bat cave (the Blood Authority Training Center), she’ll become an official Blood Vice agent. But not everyone is thrilled about the duke allowing a baby vampling to train with the big fangs, and the undead have some pretty rotten ideas when it comes to hazing.
The training program also opens Jenna’s eyes to House Lilith politics, and soon she’s swept away into the dark current of warring vampire families and an empire on the verge of collapse—an empire no one can know she’s an heir to.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Thanks to everyone who gave Jenna Skye a chance and began this new series with me! I hope you’re all having fun and warming up to the new gang I’m consorting with these days. This series is moving along a little faster than Lana Harvey’s—there was a three-year gap between the first two Lana books, and only two months between Jenna’s first two books. Eep! What’s life without new and exhilarating challenges, right? But I hope releasing these tales a little closer together is making readers happy, because I ♥ you guys.
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