Blood Lily (Lilith Adams Vampire Series Book 1)

by Jenny Allen

  “The price you women pay for those things, and I don’t just mean the outrageous price tags either.” He nodded at her shoes and laughed as she flipped him off and stepped onto the landing. Lilith shouldered past him with a glare and opened the only door, closing it firmly behind her.

  “Lily.” The warm richness of Gregor’s voice rolled over her easing everything else away. No matter how bad things got, Lilith’s father always made her feel better. She was definitely a daddy’s girl, no doubt about that, but Lilith made no apologies for it either. There was nothing wrong with having a good relationship with your father just because it’s about as rare as a movie vampire in a polo and khakis.

  She smiled and turned to see her father leaning against an old desk. Lilith took a second to glance around, taking in the rusting file cabinets and layers of dust everywhere except the desk and a chair in front of it. A huge glass window covered in dusty spider webs looked over the restaurant floor. The diffused light from the remaining fixtures downstairs filtered through the dingy window giving Gregor a sihlouette effect that made her chuckle under her breath.

  “You two arguing again?” There was a distinct humor in his voice. He was very aware of the friendly banter, but there was a fleck of concern in his face that she never quite understood. It wasn’t the first time she’d seen it, of course, but it was always fleeting. Besides, she didn’t usually make a habit of pressing her father for information that he didn’t volunteer, especially when it was probably something inconsequential. The most likely he just didn’t want her pissing Chance off. Gregor had a backup bodyguard in the extremely rare and elusive event that Chance might take vacation time, but good people were hard to find. Gregor had never been what you would call openly trusting.

  The thing that amazed her was how Gregor always looked natural, handsome and forgettable all at the same time. For as old as he was, he never looked dated. As he sat there dressed in charcoal grey slacks and a casual grey polo, she tried to imagine him in the black and white outfits of the puritans and just chuckled to herself. His face was lightly patterned with smile lines, but his skin was soft and pale which made him look no older than mid-forties. His dark hair was sprinkled with gray as was his closely trimmed beard. It always seemed impossible to her just how unassuming he could appear. She knew otherwise.

  Humans always display vampires reeking of power, standing out in a crowd, intimidating anyone in their path. They’d never met Gregor. He was always placidly calm, even when he was angry, but there was an intimidating strength underneath it. Very few people argued with him for long. Well, except her, of course. They didn’t have volatile fights or anything that dramatic, but she was as stubborn about some things as he was calm.

  Even with that quiet strength he wasn’t the sort of man who would stand out in a crowd. Average height, average build, average features, average age. He had centuries to perfect blending in and that’s precisely what he did. His clothes were always well made, but even they were neutral and average. Memorable people caught interest from all the wrong places, especially reporters. It was hard enough to stay out of the public eye being a successful investor in New York City. The last thing he needed was to be prodded by some reporter on his anti-aging secrets. It was getting tougher and tougher to hide in the electronic, inter-connected age of homeland security.

  “You’d be worried if Chance and I weren’t fighting.” She dropped her case by the chair and walked up to hug her father. His arms were strong and soothing and everything a hug from your dad should be. “It’s been a couple weeks since we’ve had dinner. “ She soaked in the comfort before pulling back and looking seriously at him. “So what is up with the cryptic meeting? Seriously, I thought I was gonna be hacked to pieces in that alley before Chance could open the door.”

  The smile faltered on his face for a splint second. Most people probably wouldn’t have even noticed, but then part of her training was reading faces and body language. There was a slight shift as he sat farther back on the desk. “Have a seat, Lily. I’m glad you made it safe. I was a little worried about asking you to meet me here, but, well, it’s a delicate thing and if I sent Chance it would have broadcasted exactly who you were meeting. I thought here it wouldn’t be unreasonable for one to assume that you were simply processing another crime scene.” There was the familiar hint of disapproval in his voice. One of those stubborn moments of Lilith’s involved taking her current job. Gregor made no secret of disliking it, but now wasn’t exactly the time to discuss those over-protective urges of his.

  “I just might be processing one here tonight.” She meant it as a joke but it came out as a flat statement. Logically everything he said made sense. Well, all except the need for such secrecy. She slowly lowered herself into the chair with an expectant look and waited for Gregor to continue. When he didn’t say anything she figured that maybe she should help him out. “So what is this delicate situation?”

  Gregor looked down at his hands, pausing, like he didn’t know where to begin. “I received word from Spencer today.”

  That caught her attention. Spencer was her cousin. Gregor’s brother, Duncan, and his family lived down south somewhere. Contrary to popular culture, vampires don’t congregate in large groups. With technology these days a mass amount of vampires in one city would draw far too much attention eventually. As a result they were all pretty spread out. She hadn’t seen Duncan, Spencer, his sister Miriah, or the rest of the family down there in quite a few years. A knot of worry began building in the bottom of her stomach. “Is he ok?”

  Gregor let out a sigh and looked up at her. There was a definite weight in his sky grey eyes. “Duncan is missing.” He hurried through the words like he was pulling off a band aid really fast. “He’s been spending more and more time at his winter home south of Knoxville. Spencer and Miriah were supposed to have dinner down there the night before last. He wasn’t there. They figured perhaps he’d forgotten, so they stayed in the guest room. He never showed up and Duncan wouldn’t be caught out past dawn. He’s too old to survive that." Gregor’s voice was heavy with concern as he looked back down at his hands. The expression seemed to age him instantly. Of course, it could have just been the guilt and worry weighing on him.

  “Could he have gone back to the city?” She knew as soon as the question left her mouth that Spencer wouldn’t have called if he hadn’t checked something so obvious but she didn’t know what else to say. There were too many possibilities racing through her mind.

  Gregor simply shook his head. “He checked. It’s a delicate situation because as you know, Duncan and I have been discussing taking things public with some of the other elders. There are only a handful of others that know anything about our discussions, like you, Miriah, Malachi and Spencer. It’s possible that something leaked out. Maybe this is some sort of retaliation. Of course, it could be something more mundane, like an accident, but with the possibility of it pertaining to our communications about going public…” He shook his head again like he was deep in thought, running through things in his head as if she wasn’t even there. Suddenly he looked very tired.

  “Surely there isn’t that much opposition to the idea? I know people don’t really like change, but with technology advancing and national securities tightening down it’s getting harder and harder on us. If it wasn’t for the brilliant idea of our own private labs to develop treatments and secure small blood banks for research purposes we’d be in a world of hurt. Even with that it really only takes one determined reporter to bring it all out into the light in black and white. It’s only a matter of time.”

  He nodded, grateful for the turn of conversation. I suppose logical, political thought was easier to deal with than thinking about his brother. “There is opposition of course, more so among the elders. Not all of us old stuffy bastards are as comfortable leaving the shadows. There is the fear of the knee-jerk reaction due to popular culture’s portrayal of our kind. There’s the fear of being studied, researched, dissected. They aren’t unr
easonable fears. But this? Turning on our own kind?” He let out another tired sigh. “I just don’t know.”

  Lilith glanced down, like she shouldn’t be seeing her father look so vulnerable and her eyes caught on the aluminum kit next to her chair. That reminded her. She looked up quickly. “Why did you ask me to bring my kit?”

  An actual smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. “Oh, that. Yes, well, I thought it would look appropriate for you to be carrying it, in case you were followed. Can’t process a scene without a kit, right?” There was the familiar warm glint in his eyes for a second. He seemed to actually enjoy the intrigue and charade of a possible crime scene. He didn’t like her working crime scenes but making some superspy secret meeting was cool? The thought was almost enough to make her smile. Almost.

  Lilith narrowed one eye and just watched him. There was something else, something behind the youthful glint in his eyes. “Why would you be so worried about me being followed?”

  “If Duncan’s disappearance has anything to do with our plans, it’s entirely conceivable. I simply wanted to be cautious.” He shifted his weight, slightly. He was lying. It felt like a slap in the face. He’d never lied to her about something that mattered, but there it was. The slight pause in his voice, the quickness in his eyes, the small flex of the muscles around his mouth, the slightly elevated pulse. It was all there, but the steely undercurrent in his voice was enough to tell her that pushing the issue would be like pushing against a brick wall.

  Lilith swallowed the lump in her throat and tried to move past the gut wrenching moment. “What about other motives? I know Duncan did a lot of research in the Goditha lab down south somewhere. I know he was instrumental in developing cloned blood to keep us farther under the radar. Perhaps he had another breakthrough, something someone wanted or wanted to stop?” She leaned forward to dust a speck off her shoe, giving her a moment to compose herself.

  “It’s just outside of Knoxville and it is not beyond the realm of possibilities, though his work in the lab as of late has been minimal. He’s been devoting more and more time to his personal research projects. He hasn’t felt it necessary to share the details with me or Spencer for that matter.”

  “What about Miriah? Would she know what he’s been working on? He’s always been closer to her than Spencer anyway.” When there was no verbal response, she supposed she should probably be more concerned about her cousins. “How are they holding up?” She busied herself with straightening her pant leg, still struggling with seeing more than she wanted to in Gregor’s face.

  Being able to read faces was sometimes a curse, especially in close relationships. She’d lost a few boyfriends that way. White lies compound and you start to notice every little one until you just can’t seem to trust anything about them. Lilith didn’t want that kind of relationship with her father. She wanted to trust him. Whatever the reason, he wasn’t holding back out of malicious intent. That much she was sure of. Still, it stung.

  “Well, that’s why I wanted to see you, Lily.” That caught her attention and she looked up at him, knocked out of her thoughts. Lines of worry and nervousness crossed his smooth face. “I need you to fly down to Knoxville and look into this for me. You’re exceptionally skilled in your field of investigation and you’re the only one that knows all the possible facts.”

  Her eyebrow arched automatically at that last bit. If Gregor noticed, he didn’t say anything. “I suppose I can see how that makes sense, even if I don’t know all the possible facts, just more than most.” Gregor definitely noticed that, but she continued before he could say anything. “I can make a call to Alvarez, talk to him about covering things for a few days. I won’t tell him the reason. I can probably arrange for a flight out tomorrow, pack a few things. I might need to bring the laptop and a few other pieces of equipment.” Her mind was running through all the logical lists of things to be done, items she needed. Oddly, it always relaxed her, gave her a focus that freed her from the chaotic emotions in her head. In some ways she was more like her father than she realized.

  “Lily.” There was warm amusement in his voice. “Hold on. Definitely make the call to Alvarez, but I do have this for you.” He handed her an envelope and quickly dug his phone out of his pocket and pressed a few buttons.

  After peeking inside she looked up at Gregor with mild confusion. “Two tickets?”

  Just then the door swung open and Chance leaned casually against the doorway. “You rang, Gregor? Need me to escort Lily home? You did pick a pretty seedy neighborhood.”

  “Not quite. I’m sending you with Lilith to Tennessee.” The shocked look on both their faces brought a smile to Gregor’s. “Now that was well worth the effort of secrecy.” He clapped his hands together in a moment of youthful glee and just grinned like some cartoon version of an evil mastermind. Evil but in a cute, non-threatening way.

  “But, Sir…” Chance lost his casual comfortable tone and adopted a more businesslike air. Gregor held up a hand to stop him and lost the grin for a more appropriate air of authority.

  “I’ve already talked to Timothy. He’ll take over your usual duties. There is a situation in Tennessee that I need Lilith to look into and I don’t want to send her that far away into something possibly dangerous alone. I can trust you implicitly and that’s not something I can say about many people. I trust Timothy to help me with business but I don’t trust him to look after Lily. I made promises to her mother before she passed away and I won’t neglect them, so I need you to protect her. I know you, of all people, will do whatever it takes to keep her safe.” There was an oddly significantly look that passed between them before he turned that significant look on Lilith. “She can brief you as she sees fit.” He held Lilith’s gaze with the last sentence and there was an unspoken novel there.

  Any arguments died out quickly. Chance dutifully nodded and Lilith couldn’t really say anything since Gregor used his ultimate trump card. Her mother, Rosaline, passed away 11 years ago. She was attacked in Central Park, a robbery gone wrong. She’d lost a tremendous amount of blood which she might have recovered from, but too much time had passed before she made it to the clinic. They tried blood transfusions, even tried some of their experimental medications. In the end she was just too old to deal with the trauma.

  We aren’t impervious to harm and vampires do not get stronger as they get older. That tidbit of lore never made sense to her. How is it consistent in movies that bullets can’t penetrate vampire skin, but a nudge from a stake is like a hot knife through butter, well unless you happen to be really, really old? Years eventually weigh heavy on a vampire and they can’t cope with injuries as well as they could in their youth, much like Humans.

  Even their minds could become fragile. Yes, they had years, decades of experience, but they also had to be able to adapt to changes in technology, social structure, and to the world in general. In the past two centuries alone, there were earth shattering advances for someone who grew up when swords were the weapon of choice. Just as some humans have trouble handling change, some vampires just couldn’t take it either.

  It sounded like Duncan might be failing in that department. He was drawing away from his research and pulling away to hide in his country house, losing himself in books. When they start losing the ability to cope, they start to isolate themselves.

  Lilith shook off her thoughts and slipped the envelope into her case. “So I’m guessing there is no time for dinner then?” She actually succeeded in sounding light and humorous which almost surprised even her.

  Gregor slid off the desk and held out a hand to her with his warm, casual smile. “I’m sorry, Lily.” She took his hand and stood up as he pulled her into a hug. “Be careful. Be sure to call me, I’ll worry. I don’t like sending you, but I have no one else. If anything happens to you…”

  He released her and stepped back, turning toward Chance as his smile faded and that cold, commanding look took its place. “I’m trusting you with a lot, Chance. Do not disappoint me.” There wa
s a severity in his voice that gave her chills as well as something else, something unspoken between Chance and Gregor yet again that she didn’t understand. If she didn’t know better, she’d get the impression her dad was sending Chance as a spy, but she knew that Gregor was being honest saying that she was the only one he could trust. You don’t spy on people you trust. Whatever it was, it didn’t matter. It was probably just male posturing of some sort.

  There was a quick moment of mutual understanding before Chance cracked his usual casual smile. “Yeah, I’ll be careful too.” His sarcastic tone would have been dangerous coming from anyone else. Gregor merely shook his head and smiled.

  “The flight leaves in a couple hours. You two should go pack. I’ll have a car pick you both up at Lilith’s apartment. There’s also some cash in there for expenses, Hotel rooms and whatnot.” She couldn’t help but notice the emphasis he’d placed on the plural, Hotel rooms. Suddenly the male bravado made sense in an archaic caveman sort of way. Gregor started to head to the door and then turned quickly with a snap. “I almost forgot. I put in a request, so the car will have a cooler with supplies (blood). With your medical license, Lilith, and the paperwork in that envelope, you shouldn’t have any trouble transporting the “samples”. I didn’t want to take the chance that the supply in Knoxville might be compromised or inaccessible. Call me when you get settled in.” He leaned in the door and pressed a little kiss to Lilith’s cheek.

  Once he was gone, Chance and Lilith exchanged a helpless look. “Well, travel buddy. Guess I’ll see you at your place in a bit.” He nudged his shoulder against hers. His smile was warm but there was a faint undercurrent of fear and uncertainty that she didn’t really understand. You might think he had a cushy gig, but Gregor was too old to go out during the day, so he conducted all his business at night, in New York City. She knew of at least a dozen times he’d protected Gregor from muggers over the last few years. So the fear and uncertainty were definitely out of character. Maybe he was just anxious about flying, or about leaving the city in general. Since he migrated to New York City, he’d only left a handful of times with Gregor on business trips. Of course he could just be worried about leaving her father’s safety in Timothy’s hands.