by Milly Taiden
Aria grabbed Emma’s arm and they hurried out. In the car, Emma let out a deep breath. “That was weird.”
Aria agreed. “It seems the situation with missing persons and vampire stories has remained bad.”
“Unfortunately, that’s what we needed to hear,” Emma said. “They’ve gotten so used to how things have been, they don’t question it anymore. Sad.”
“How many people do you think have vanished over the years?” Aria asked.
“What do vampires do after they…do what they do?”
Aria grinned. “You mean drink them dry?”
“Yeah, something like that. What happens to the body?”
She thought about it. “I’d don’t know. I’ve never dealt with that problem. Bury them?”
“I thought that, too, but that would mean thousands of bodies over hundreds of years, right? Somebody should be uncovering tons of bones in the area. Human bones take a long time to totally dissolve. Where are the vamps hiding the bodies?”
SEVENTEEN
Trevan squeezed the steering wheel so tightly in his hands, the plastic creaked. He was sure the other two smelled his anger. Of course, Roen had his head down, phone in hands. He was glad they didn’t ask questions.
“So,” Alain said from the front passenger seat, “what are we doing, besides smelling your anger and sex? Did you mate?”
He really needed to be more careful what he thought. How many times would he jinx himself before he learned? “We are checking out the clan area to see what we see. It’s changed a lot in eighty years.” He deliberately didn’t answer the other question.
She told him to go away. Him to go away. Nobody told him what do to, even his mate. Unless it was in bed, and he was mostly okay with that. She was so hot, so delicious… Him, go away? Not happening, woman.
He was going to protect her from herself, if need be. Someone was after her family and it was time to find out who and put an end to it. If only they had a clue who the guy at the marina was.
Roen spoke from the backseat. “We’re stopping to eat, right? I’m starving.”
“I remember seeing a restaurant down the road from a crematorium when we drove in,” Alain replied.
“Crematorium?” Trevan said. “Why would vampires want a place like that? If they want to turn into ash, all they have to do is walk outside at noon.”
His front seat passenger, cocked his head. “That’s a good question. Want to check it out?”
When they entered the west suburbs of the city where much of the clan lived, a chill ran down his back. The place felt creepy, even though it looked like any other outer residential section. Most people worked all day, so they weren’t home until nighttime. Difference was he knew these people were home, hiding, sleeping, until it came time to seek prey.
Just like Alain had said, Ataturk’s Cremations was a block from the restaurant. After seeing the lights were off and no vehicles in the parking lot, they pulled around back and stopped. Busting through the wooden backdoor was fairly easy. They listened for an alarm, but heard no sounds. Not too many people broke into crematoriums, he guessed.
He’d never seen cremation equipment, except for the black and white photos of concentration camps during the world wars. The image of an old, dirty brick structure resembling a pizza oven was what he expected. When he stepped into the back room, he felt like he was in a hi-tech computer-age facility.
The shiny white tile floor was spotless as well as the bright white walls and ceiling. Three-foot-square metal containers were stacked along walls and rolling gurneys lined another. In the center of the room stood a shiny steel monstrosity that looked almost like a vault.
There was a small square door in the middle on the front side where the casket slid in, and readouts, gauges, and displays next to it. The machine was one hundred percent automatic and state-of-the-art. So much for mud bricks and matches.
“Holy hell,” Alain said. “This isn’t what I expected. They must do some serious stuff here.” He gave a chin pop toward the containers along the wall. “Wanna bet ashes are packed in there?”
Roen shuddered. “Man, the ashes go in urns for each person. Not a metal box that big.”
Trevan sighed. “Roen, I don’t think they much worry about returning these ashes.”
“Trevan, how many bodies do you think can fit in each of these metal things?” Alain asked. He lifted one of the containers. “I’m guessing it’s around fifty pounds.”
“I have no idea how much—“
“Siri, how much do a cremated person’s ashes weigh?” Roen asked his phone. Trevan raised a brow. Was he serious about getting an answer?
“A human body cremated into ashes weighs between five and nine pounds depending on body size and bone density,” Siri replied.
Trevan was incredulous. “If that thing can wipe my ass, then I’m buying one.”
Siri replied, “I do not wipe asses. I only make them look smart.”
Alain hooted. “She’s right, Roen. You are definitely a smartass.”
“Don’t listen to them, Siri,” Roen said, cradling his phone next to his chest. “They’re just jealous.” He slid her in his back pocket. “You got your answer. There’s ‘bout seven bodies in one those, give or take a couple.”
They stood back and scanned the rows of stacks. Trevan felt sick. “Let’s see what’s in the rest of the office.” They walked through a door into a quaint office space with a few rooms. Looked like a normal business with desks and chairs. Trevan opened a file cabinet drawer and sifted through files. Alain and Roen went separate ways.
He pulled up a thick file and thumbed through it. The folder contained shipping forms to several business addresses. All for pick up or delivery of ashes. Landscapers, industries, medical facilities, filter manufactures, and others he didn’t know. And each form listed several containers. They dated back less than a year. Holy fuck! All these in that short of time?
“Trevan, get in here. You gotta see this,” Alain hollered from the other room. Both he and Roen entered at the same time. The room was packed with personal belongings: piles of purses, a dozen shoeboxes full of jewelry and watches and eyeglasses, new looking shoes thrown into a corner, fancy belts draped over tables.
Alain opened one of several heavy duty trash bags. “Fuck me.” He tipped it upside down and let the contents spill out. Wallets of every shape and color in the rainbow spilled out. He opened several, quickly spot checking. “They are from all over the U.S. Most are central United States, but there’s East and West Coast.” Alain’s face paled and he walked out.
Trevan was behind him. The atrocity of the meaning of the items in that room was beyond what any caring creature could handle.
They walked out the back door, got into the truck and left without saying a word.
EIGHTEEN
Trevan, Alain, and Roen sat in the dark restaurant, pushing food around on their plates. After leaving the crematorium, their appetites were as dismal as their emotions. How life could mean so little to someone was mind boggling. Those were the ones who didn’t deserve life. But then there was the argument that asked, who was he to decide who should live or die?
Everything was so complicated. All he wanted was his mate on a deserted island, naked. Simple and sweet. Now would be a great time for a beer. Maybe there was a bar open somewhere on this side of town. No vampires allowed.
Trevan pushed his plate away. “How about we find a place to have a drink and shoot some pool. I’m not much in the eating mood.” He grunted. “Never thought I’d say that.” They settled their tab and asked the cashier where the closest tavern was. Of course, it was a block on the other side of the cremation building.
Passing by the place, none in the group looked at it as they drove by. Thankfully, the bar came into sight quickly. Instantly, an eerie feeling settled over him. The place resembled Embraced down to the potholes in the parking lot.
No lights shined through the windows, nor were there any vehicles in the par
king lot. Seemed as empty as a lake with no water.
Trevan pulled the keys from the ignition. “You boys thinking what I’m thinking?”
Alain nodded. Roen said no. Both men in front turned to look at him in the back with the damn phone. Roen looked up at them. “What? Unless you were thinking how to get the blue box from the upper left to the lower right in six moves, then I wasn’t thinking what you’re thinking.”
Trevan snapped his hand toward the mobile. “I’m gonna shove that phone so far up your ass, you’ll push your right tit to answer when it rings.” Roen whipped it behind his back.
“Come on, Trev,” Roen whined. “We didn’t have cool shit like this when we were kids.”
“That’s because we had chores and work to do. Kids today don’t do shit. Now put it away and act like a responsible adult while we break into the bar.” Trevan and Roen waited in the truck as Alain tried the front door just to make sure it was closed. After a couple tugs on the knob, Alain walked around the side of the building.
Trev and Roen were quick to catch up. “I’m guessing they bring the victims to the back door just like up north. They seemed rather predictable,” Trevan said.
Alain agreed. “Yeah, certainly not a creative bunch. But they’ve managed to blend in well for years on this side of town.”
Trevan slid out his picks from his pocket and set to work on the back door. Within seconds, it clicked. Now the only worry was an alarm system. He opened the door, hoping the vamps’ arrogance at thinking no one would intrude into their place applied here as it did the crematorium. Lady Luck was on their side. No alarm.
Now they needed to figure out where a kidnapped person would be kept. At Embraced, they’d never been inside to see the layout of the back rooms. They had several hours of daylight remaining, so they weren’t rushed.
There had to be at least ten rooms along the back hallway. And each housed a different torture device or BDSM setup. Some he wanted to try on his new mate and others he tore to pieces. He didn’t care what others said, no one could want the amount of pain some items could inflict.
“Trevan,” Roen called, “over here. Found something.” The men gathered before a door that opened to a wooden stairway diving into the darkness. The stench of human urine and blood nearly knocked him out. He pulled his Maglite from his back pocket and switched it on. He could see fine in the dark, but he didn’t want someone jumping from a distant corner unexpectedly.
“Alain, keep a watch for anyone up here. Last thing we need is to be locked down there.” Trevan turned to Roen. “Let’s go.” The farther down they went, the stronger the reek became. He pulled the front of his shirt over his nose. How could vamps stand this shit?
At the bottom of the stairs was a sweaty concrete floor that added a touch of musk to the stagnant, cold air. The roughhewn walls and low ceiling created a cave or tunnel feel. He heard heartbeats and breathing behind the stairs.
Shining his light underneath the steps, he met the most atrocious display of cruelty he’d ever seen. Four females, looking to be in their young twenties, were barely clothed, one not at all, and chained to a cement block wall. They were all so thin that they didn’t look alive except for the small lift of their flat chests with each breath.
Lava-hot rage roared through Trevan like never before. Not even when he found his slaughtered family was he this over the edge. Instead of picking the locks on the shackles, he yanked them from the concrete wall.
The women roused, giving weak cries of defense, obviously thinking the vampires had come for them again. They did their best to reassure the ladies, but Trevan’s focus was getting them to a hospital. Two of the women made it up the stairs, while the other two had to be carried.
Alain pulled the truck to the back door and unfolded blankets to cover the ladies. When Trevan exited holding the last female, Alain’s eyes turned gold and he took a deep breath. The man’s chest rumbled, and Trevan smiled while setting his load in his friend’s arms.
“Thank god I’m not the only one who’ll be going crazy in the next few weeks with his new mate.” Alain slid into the backseat with the other three ladies. Their bodies were so narrow, there was still room for another. He kept his precious cargo in his lap, snuggled to him.
In under ten minutes, they were on the interstate on their way to the Central pack’s hospital. Even though a hospital in the city was much closer, they weren’t shifter friendly. Or even shifter knowledgeable, for that matter. Three of the girls were human and one a wolf. He wasn’t sure how the humans would fare in a facility that would’ve put them in a mental institution at the first mention of vampires.
He fished his phone from his pocket to call Mason. He hated driving and holding his phone at the same time because of how dangerous it was, but with the humans in the back he didn’t want them hearing over the truck speakers more than they had to. On the second ring, the Central alpha picked up.
“Mason, this is Trevan. We’re on our way back with four women we found chained up in a bar similar to Embraced.”
“Fuck, you’re kidding,” Mason said.
“I wish I were, for the women’s sakes.” Alain leaned forward and whispered into his ear. Trevan shook his head, holding back his anger. In a low voice he said, “Fuck, Mason. One of them belongs to your pack. She’d been there a while, not in good shape.”
Mason was quiet. Trevan figured Mason was doing his best not to tear into something and shred it to pieces. He knew how much Mason cared for his pack, even if he and Emma had been there a short time as the new alphas. They were his and he would take care of them.
Like Charlie Daniels sang, Hell’s broke loose in Georgia and the devil deals the cards.
He asked, “Is Aria still there?”
“No,” Mason said. “They went to the city. Looking for evidence to clear Aria.”
“Shit, Mason. Get them out of there. I don’t want them anywhere near that place, even if it is daylight out.”
“I hear ya. I’ll call Emma and have them get back here now. She’ll want to be with our pack member you’re bringing in anyway.”
“Thanks, man. See you shortly.”
NINETEEN
Aria paced the alpha wolf’s kitchen, ready to spit nails. She just knew that bastard Filip had been dirty. How long had this been going on under her nose? She felt like a fool. So much for putting trust in others. Another lesson learned the hard way.
All these years, she thought her people were going to be the first mass group to live to vampire old age. She wanted them to be happy and experience life to the fullest they could. And one day, walk in the sun again.
Trevan got up from the kitchen table where his men and Mason had been going through options of what to do. Emma remained at the hospital with their wolf and the girl’s family. Alain put up a big fuss about leaving her, but Emma said she would protect his mate with her life. That was enough for Alain to be pried away, barely.
When Aria saw the women’s condition, she nearly lost it. How many had died in the last seventy to eighty years? Those deaths were her fault. She should’ve protected them.
Her mate wrapped his arms around her. God, she felt so safe in his hold. So loved, so protected. The rest of the world went away when he was with her. Then why was she sending him away? For his own good. She had to keep reminding herself of that. She’d failed so many people in her life, not being there to protect them. She wouldn’t fail him. Couldn’t.
Trevan whispered into her ear, “Let’s go outside and get some air. We can’t do any further strategizing on raiding the other bars until Mason’s main crew gets here. He says that’ll be an hour.” She could do that. Being cooped up wasn’t ideal for a vamp.
Passing the pool, he asked her if she wanted to go to the pool house or walk in the woods. She wanted the open air, the vibrancy of life nature created. She needed to be surrounded by goodness and love. And she wanted the man next to her to push her body against a tree with his and take what he wanted. A second later, he
r back scraped over bark.
Hot lips pressed onto hers. The kiss was soft, sexy and full of need. Exactly what she needed. It didn’t last nearly as long as she wanted. Soon he was pulling away from her, meeting her gaze.
“I’m not leaving you,” he said, a stubborn tone in his voice.
“I’m scared,” she admitted. “I can’t protect you all the time.” He opened his mouth to argue but she placed a finger over his lips. “How can you think to stand up to a powerful vampire who killed my grandpa and my mom and dad? If he could do that, he is a lot stronger than you. No matter how much of a shifter you are.”
He nodded. “I understand.”
She blinked, ready for him to argue with her. “You…do?”
“I do. I’ll go, if that’s what you want, but under one condition.”
She stared intently at his face. Something was off. “What?”
“I want us to mate first.” He lifted a hand and caressed her cheek. “I will do what you ask, but I need us to be mated. This mate link will be the only way I can always know you’re okay.”
She frowned. His request was sensible, but still… What was he up to?
Another kiss and her mind muddled completely. Lips parted and he pressed his body to hers, pushing her harder against the tree. His gaze stroked her lips and then traveled up to meet hers again.
Clothes came off fast. There was no need for words or promises. Here and now was all that mattered.
He took steps back and flipped her to face the giant tree. Shudders raced down her spine. Grasping the wood, she clawed at the tree. He moved her hair over her right shoulder, leaving her neck and shoulders exposed. Then he dipped his head and kissed the back of her neck.
“I can’t stay away from you.” Her heart flipped in her chest. Electric pulses bombarded her core and made her sex throb. “I want you. No, I need you. You’re going to know how badly it is to want something and it not be in your control.”