by Bree Younger
Claire was dumbfounded. For a moment she had absolutely no idea what to say. She supposed she should have expected this sort of reaction, but she didn’t have time to explain. The girls started bombarding her with questions, but she could barely distinguish one from another. Finally she held up her hands. “Look, I’ll talk to you all tomorrow night. Right now, Hawk wants to…ah…take me home. I just came back to get my purse.” Another excited burst of exclamations and questions hit her. Ignoring them all, she reached for her wallet and pulled out a few bills to cover her share of the tab. “I’ll see you guys later.”
Slipping the purse over her shoulder, she pivoted on her heel and beat a hasty retreat to the exit before they could stop her.
As promised, Hawk stood propped up against the wall beside the door, ignoring the interested glances of the women standing nearby. When he saw her, he straightened up and walked over. One hand resting warmly in the small of her back, he directed her to the exit. “Did you drive yourself here?”
“No. Leanne picked me up at my apartment.”
He nodded and pushed open the door. “Come on. My car’s right outside.”
He led her to a late-model SUV. It was black and looked expensive and powerful, not unlike the man himself. After they pulled out onto the road, she couldn’t hold back any longer. “Tell me.”
For a moment she thought he wasn’t going to answer her, but he finally shook his head. “I’m sorry, Claire, but her name was not on the list of rescued bloodslaves. They were all Eastern European. I was pretty sure when we spoke, but I wanted to double-check just in case.”
“No!” She felt like she’d taken a punch to the stomach. The back of her throat started burning, and she had difficulty swallowing. Tears blurred her vision, but she refused to let them fall. She’d told herself that she was going to be prepared for bad news. It had been a long shot, after all. Still, it was the only lead she’d had. A single tear slipped down her cheek, and she tried to wipe it off surreptitiously, hoping he wouldn’t notice. For just a second she felt an overpowering sense of defeat. Then she straightened her shoulders. She’d found one lead. She’d find another.
Hawk’s voice intruded on her thoughts. “Claire. I have some ideas I’d like to talk to you about.”
“Ideas?” She looked at him, wondering what he was talking about. She was having trouble focusing after the shock of bad news.
“Yeah, maybe we could figure out some ways we might find your sister. I’d rather have this discussion when we get to your apartment, if that’s okay with you?”
“Sure.” Refusing to let herself speculate on whatever it was he wanted to talk to her about, she studied his features. In profile, he was still a dominant presence, darkly male and overpoweringly attractive. He wasn’t handsome in the strictest sense of the word, but he drew the feminine eye with his blunt male strength. Claire studied his hands as they guided the car expertly through the busy streets. They were long fingered and surprisingly graceful. She could easily see them sliding over a woman’s body with equal dexterity as they maneuvered the powerful vehicle. She bit back a shiver at the thought of what sex with the dangerous vampire would be like and determinedly turned her eyes to stare out the window until they finally arrived back at her apartment.
When they pulled into her complex, she directed Hawk to the visitor’s parking and then led him up to her second-floor apartment. She unlocked the door and entered, throwing her keys carelessly on the table in the narrow entryway before leading him into the small living area. He took the seat she indicated, and she hovered uncertainly.
“Would you like something to drink?”
He shook his head. “No, thank you. Please sit down.”
Claire perched on the chair that faced him. “You said that you had some ideas on how I might find Cassidy?”
“Yes. I know you are disappointed that she wasn’t on the list of bloodslaves that we rescued from Simone, but truthfully, I didn’t really expect we would find her there. Those women were all of Eastern European descent, mostly from Russia and Latvia. They barely speak English. There was a slim chance your sister might have been there.”
“What’s going to happen to them?” Though she was disappointed that her sister wasn’t among the rescued women, she couldn’t help but feel empathy for their situation. It could so easily have been Claire herself.
“Right now they’re being taken care of by qualified personnel to help them recover from both the physical and mental trauma. Later, a lot will depend on what the women themselves want to do. We’re trying to keep their options open for them. Some have already indicated a desire to return to their homes. Others have said they’d prefer to remain here.”
“Good.” Her shoulders slumped. “I knew that Cassidy probably wasn’t one of those girls, but I still had to make sure. I appreciate your checking for me.”
He leaned forward and pinned her with his gaze. “There’s still a chance we could learn something from them. They were debriefed briefly, but since their English skills were poor, we couldn’t get much from them, though we haven’t given up. They now have translators and have been able to provide us with more information than they originally could. That’s one of the things I wanted to talk to you about.”
“I would appreciate all the help I can get. I guess I’m not exactly sure why you would go out of your way to help me.”
“I’d like to say that it was completely altruistic, but the truth is we want something from you and possibly your sister if we can find her.”
She felt her hopes stir. “Want something? Like what?”
“First let me tell you that I checked your story out.”
She shrugged. She had been certain he would. “And?”
“Everything you told me was the truth, as far as my men could discover.”
“And that means what?”
“It means I believe you, and I also believe that you have valuable information that might help us locate Simone and shut down her and her operation for good.”
“What kind of information?” Claire was curious.
“We need to learn more about the men who kidnapped you and where they held you. Things you might have overheard them say. Anything you can tell us will help us to get a better handle on Simone’s bloodslave operation. We’ve shut it down here on the coast, but who knows where she’s started up again. We need to find her and stop her once and for all. And if we locate your sister, she might be able to help us do that.”
Claire thought about that for a minute. She didn’t think that she had any information for him, but if he was willing to help her find Cassidy, she was willing to agree to just about anything. “Yes, okay. You want me to help you in exchange for your helping me. That’s fine. But I still don’t know what you think you can do to help me find Cass.”
He leaned back into a seemingly more relaxed position, but Claire could tell that he was still very alert. “We’ve interviewed the bloodslaves that we rescued, but, as I said, their English language skills have prevented us from learning much from them. They could describe the men who held them, but they didn’t understand much of the conversations that went on around them. And they had no idea where they’d been imprisoned. However”—he met her eyes—“they may have seen your sister. If the bloodslaves were held together at some point, it’s possible that they might have some information about Cassidy.”
Claire’s heart jumped with hope. “Do you really think they might help?”
He nodded. “Maybe. And if not, I have another idea.”
“What?”
“I know a witch who can track humans. She owes me a favor.”
* * * *
Hawk could see the shock on Claire’s face. “A witch?”
“Yes. I assume that you are aware that witches exist. The Council of Nine is composed of three members from each of the major paranormal races—vampires, werewolves, and witches.”
She nodded but looked unconvinced. “I read about it on the National Paranorma
l Association’s website. I’ve just never met one before.” The National Paranormal Association was an organization composed of the three known paranormal species. Its primary purpose was to disseminate information to the various groups and to promote understanding across the species. It had advice for the newly turned, a daily blog, and even a message board. Anyone accidentally stumbling across the site would simply assume it was one of many similar role-playing sites found all across the web. One had to register to use it, and approval was based on proof of paranormality. “And you think this witch could help find Cass?” she asked in disbelief.
He understood her skepticism. “They tend to keep to themselves more than weres and vampires do. Anyway, Gia owes me, like I said. Her primary ability is psychometry, which means she’s good at locating people using objects they have possessed. If you have something of Cassidy’s, she might be able to find her for us. It isn’t one hundred percent, but it is another option.”
He could tell from the expression on her face that she was skeptical. That’s why he had presented the other one first. “So, what do you think?”
She took her time answering, and he could tell that she was going over all the ramifications of what he was proposing.
Finally she spoke. “What if those bloodslaves don’t want to talk to me? They’re probably frightened of vampires after what they’ve been through.”
“I’ve already cleared it with Quinn, who has spoken with the people who have temporary custody of the rescued bloodslaves. The women have agreed to help as much as they can. They don’t hate all vampires. After all, it was vampires and werewolves who rescued them.”
He could see an eager gleam finally lighting her eyes.
“All right. I agree. I’ll help you. When can we get started?”
Hawk was relieved that she had agreed, though he’d been pretty sure that she wouldn’t miss out on any chance in finding her sister.
“We can head out tomorrow night.”
“I’m working tomorrow.”
“You were. I’ve made arrangements for you to have the next week off. There were five human bloodslaves and one werewolf female rescued. The humans are in a private halfway house in Hattiesburg. The werewolf is with the Piney Woods pack. I talked to Ricardo Diaz, the Alpha, and he’s agreed to let you speak to her tomorrow night. After that we’ll head up to Hattiesburg. We’ll spend the day there and speak with the rest of the women. If that doesn’t pan out, we can go on to Jackson, where Gia lives.”
“Sounds like you have everything planned out.”
“I’ve been working out all the details the last couple of nights. We’ll be gone at least three or four nights, much longer if we actually locate Cassidy.”
He studied her as she took it all in. He knew he had been a little high handed with everything, and she’d looked annoyed when he’d told her he’d already made the plans for her to be off work. But the thought of possibly finding her sister had kept her from arguing with him.
“Why are you doing all this for me?”
“I told you, I think you have information that we would find valuable.”
“I know, but still it seems like you’re going above and beyond what you would need to do. I’d have probably given you whatever information you wanted in exchange for knowing whether or not my sister was on that list.”
He noted the suspicious way she was eyeing him. “Let me ask you a question. Why didn’t you just go to Quinn or Ty Buchanan in the first place and tell them your story? Why try to sneak around and risk getting caught?”
“I wasn’t sure they would help me. I couldn’t take the chance that they might turn me down and throw me out of the casino.”
“That’s what I figured. You don’t really understand a lot about the Buchanans if you really thought that. They want to help. All you had to do was go to them, and they would have done anything they could to find your sister. And that is why I’m helping you now. Once we knew your story, we had to help.”
She studied his face as though seeking for the truth in what he was saying. At last she nodded. “Okay. I guess it’s just hard for me to know who to trust these days. I’ve had kind of a rough year.” She grimaced.
He allowed himself a small smile. “Yeah. So I understand. You seem to have come though okay, though. There aren’t a lot of people who can make it through the change with their sanity intact.”
“I knew I had to help Cass. Without that”—she shook her head—“I honestly don’t know what would have happened to me. This is certainly not what I expected my life to be like. Just learning how to survive as a vampire was hard enough.”
“How did you manage? You said you escaped from the men who changed you, but you had no resources. I can’t imagine how difficult it would have been.” He couldn’t completely contain his curiosity about her.
“I was scared. Really scared. But I was still pretty close to Atlanta. After I got away, I managed to make it back to my home, hiking and hitching rides. As soon as I arrived back at the house, I packed up whatever I thought I might need, grabbed my bankbook and other important papers so I’d have access to my money, and got the hell out of there.”
“You were afraid they’d come looking for you?”
She nodded. “I wasn’t sure if they’d just stumbled on us by accident or if they’d been watching us. I thought it would be safer if I just disappeared for a while. I called the neighbors and told them that a relative of ours had invited us to visit her in California. They agreed to watch the house for me. Then I cleared out, planning on finding somewhere to hole up until I could get some kind of handle on what I’d become. I knew I had to figure out how to survive before I could find Cassidy.”
Hawk felt his admiration for her grow and with it his attraction to her. “And how did you do that? Figure things out?”
He saw a smile crease her lips. “You know I’m a techno-geek, right?”
“Ahhhh.” Realization struck him. “You started looking online.”
“Of course. Oh, a lot of it was just crap. Wannabes and fantasy writers and some real sicko stuff, let me tell you. Then I stumbled on this blog. It was called Blood Ties by a woman named Anabel St. James. And I just knew.” She rolled her eyes. “Sounds stupid, but I knew she was the real deal just from reading some of her blogs. I e-mailed her, asking her all kinds of questions, and I guess she felt sorry for me and how ignorant I was. We started chatting online. She sent me the link to the NPA website.” She sent him a sideways glance. “I don’t know if you’re aware, but they have a whole section devoted to New Turns who have no one to help them cope with their new lives. It actually was a lot of help. Of course, you have to be registered, which puts you in their database. I wasn’t too crazy about that, but I was feeling pretty lost.”
She licked her lips, and he was careful not to show how much the simple movement affected him. How much he wanted to bend down and lick them himself, to sample their sweetness before sliding his hand across the silky softness of her cheek and burrowing into her hair as he held her still while he took her lips in a hard tasting.
“I can understand that.”
“Wow, I’ve been doing a lot of talking. Are you sure you don’t want something to drink? I think I have a bottle of A positive that I’ve been saving.”
“Sure. I’ll take a glass.” He knew he should probably leave. They would have a long night tomorrow, but he couldn’t resist the urge to find out as much about her as he could. Maybe he would be able to figure out what it was about her that appealed to him so strongly.
“I’ll be right back.” She got up and walked into the kitchen. Hawk sat there, listening to the domestic sounds of Claire rummaging through the kitchen cabinets. It was actually quite a comforting feeling, and he’d almost managed to relax when he heard the splintering noise of glass breaking and a sharp cry of pain.
“Claire!” He jumped up and rushed into the next room to see her standing over the sink, a large gash in her thumb oozing blood. He immediately step
ped behind her and lifted her hand to examine it. “What the hell happened?”
She managed a trembling smile over her shoulder. “I’m such an idiot. I accidentally broke one of the glasses.” He looked down and saw the broken shards in the sink. He studied the wound and realized she wasn’t seriously injured, especially not for a vampire.
He turned on the cold water and held her hand beneath it, letting the flow wash away the worst of the blood. The gash was about an inch long and fairly deep. He looked it over carefully to be sure there were no small pieces of glass embedded in the wound. Spotting a dish towel sitting beside the sink, he grabbed it and held it over the gash to absorb the worst of the blood. The tantalizing smell of Claire’s blood taunted him. Knowing he was probably making a mistake, he lifted the dish towel from her hand and stepped closer. He pressed against her back, letting the heat from her body seep into his. As he reached around her, the back of his hand brushed against her breast, and he heard her gasp at the contact, but she didn’t draw away. Without thought, he grabbed her wrist and twisted it around so that he could see the injury more clearly.
Slowly he lifted her hand to his mouth. He felt Claire stiffen as his tongue stroked across her skin, licking up every drop of her blood, the coagulant in his saliva stopping the bleeding and healing the wound. The taste of her blood sent arousal slamming into him. She relaxed, leaning back against him. He wondered if she could feel his hardened shaft pressing against her buttocks and then was left in no doubt as she rubbed against him in a tantalizingly sensuous movement. He was surprised but pleased at her response and knew that she’d sealed her own fate. Still, he tried to give her a chance to stop things from progressing further.
“Claire. This is probably not a good idea.” He said the words even as he pulled her closer, his hand tunneling under her shirt to spread with eager possession against her skin. He felt the quiver of her stomach muscles as his hand spread out wide over her midriff. She leaned back and rested her head against him, and he bent to nuzzle against the tender spot where neck met shoulder.