On the Edge of Infinity (A Vampire SEAL Novel Book 5)

by S. B. Alexander

  My gut told me I wasn’t about to like his next statement.

  Hollings sat back. “The elders have agreed that we need someone on the inside of Edmund’s operation. Someone who can gain Edmund’s trust. I feel that person is you, Jo.”

  Jo choked then laughed. “Me?”

  “No way,” I blurted out. “She almost got killed the last time she was with Edmund. And what if one of the other elders is the mole? They’ll tell Edmund immediately. Sir, let me do my job. You want Edmund’s operation shut down? Then let me handle this. My team and I will do everything we can to bring him in.”

  Hollings rose. “Steven believes the only match to take out Edmund is Jo.”

  “What?” Jo and I asked at the same time.

  Hollings tucked a hand into his pants pocket. “Go down and chat with your father. I need to rethink my strategy. Then we can talk again when I get back from my business trip in a couple of days.”

  His strategy wasn’t worth shit. My team and I had come up with the strategy to take out an enemy, not an elder.

  “What about my dad?” Jo bounced her knee. “He’s innocent.”

  “Until we can put all the pieces of the puzzle together on the secretary’s murder, we can’t let your father out of jail,” Hollings said. “Besides, right now, the top echelons within the human government are content, knowing we have a suspect.”

  I stood and held out my hand to Jo, cursing under my breath that Hollings thought he could run the show. Maybe he could with Steven in command, but not with me. Maybe the blessing in disguise was that Steven was out of the picture for now. That way, I could get shit done.

  2

  Jo

  As soon as Webb and I were in the elevator, I tightened my shoulders, ready to argue with him over why I had mouthed off to an elder. Instead of questioning my actions, he checked his phone.

  I relaxed as the elevator traveled down to the second floor. “Are you really going to bring Edmund in alive?”

  He lifted his cobalt-blue gaze. My stomach fluttered.

  “I didn’t promise I would. I said I would do everything I could.”

  “I have to be honest. I had every intention of trying to find a way to work for Edmund behind your back, but I decided last night that wouldn’t be a smart move. And if I did work for Edmund, he would only be using me or kill me, and he would never trust me.”

  Webb snagged me to him. At the moment, I had this love/hate relationship with the handsome vampire. Or I should say I had more of a frustrated feeling that made me want to scream at him at the top of my lungs. I loved being close to him, kissing him, and doing so much more, but I wanted to take our relationship to the next level. He had some hang-up about waiting until we were married.

  He tipped up my chin. “Let’s talk to your father before we make any decisions.” He leaned down and kissed me lightly on the lips. “And thank you for being honest.”

  I didn’t want our relationship to be based on lies, and if we were going to capture or kill Edmund, we had to do it as a team. Edmund always had something up his sleeve, and his powers were getting stronger. Not only that, but if Edmund could read minds, I had to practice blocking him. I’d gotten better at keeping my father out of my head, but my dad wasn’t the enemy, and Edmund could use tactics to get in my head. I didn’t know what those tactics were, but I had to be prepared.

  “Together, we’re stronger. Our minds are in sync. Well, on some topics, they’re in sync.” I gritted my teeth, not only because of Edmund but because I wanted to climb up Webb’s body and do sexy things to him that I’d only dreamed about.

  His eyes flashed to vampire black. “Just think how beautiful making love will be when we have all the time in the world.”

  I poked a finger in his chest. “And what if we don’t make it to our wedding?”

  He cupped my face. “We will not die or fail in our mission to shut Edmund down.”

  “You know this how?” I wanted to believe him, although I hadn’t had any dreams to tell me otherwise like I’d had when I dreamt that Webb’s mission to Alaska would fail.

  “For the first time in my life, I have someone who I’m deeply in love with, and I will not let anyone or anything take you away from me. Besides, you just said we’re stronger together.”

  Dad, Sam, and Webb wanted to protect me, and while I loved them for that, I wasn’t sitting on the sidelines. “Then promise me one thing. I’m your equal in this fight. We make decisions together.”

  The elevator bell dinged before the door slid open.

  He kissed me on the lips. “You have my promise.”

  I could have read his mind to be sure he was telling me the truth unless he’d taken that magic potion that Ms. Costner had whipped up to block anyone from his thoughts. I decided against it. I had to trust him.

  The elevator was about to close. I didn’t move as a thought hit me. I could get Ms. Costner to whip up a batch for me. That way, Edmund couldn’t read my mind.

  Webb grabbed the door then took my hand. “What is it?”

  “I just realized that the potion Ms. Costner made for you to block anyone from reading your mind would help me if we decided to send me in to work for Edmund.”

  He cocked an eyebrow. “Brilliant.”

  I squared my shoulders, feeling quite sated that I’d come up with a great idea.

  We wound our way down the cold hallway to the guardian who was standing at attention outside the room in which my dad was being held. Webb and I came to a halt, while the vampire with beady brown eyes and a goatee waved a wand over me then Webb. Once we were cleared, he knocked twice before someone on the inside opened the heavy door.

  We were met by another guardian who, like the one outside, was dressed in a dark business suit. The majority of the guardians that worked for the elders were always dressed in suits rather than police-like uniforms.

  The small, claustrophobic room had no windows, but it did have a table and two chairs, which were occupied by my dad and his attorney, Mr. Rose.

  My dad rushed over and threw his arms around me. “Pumpkin, I’ve missed you.”

  I squeezed him as hard as I could. I’d been in foster care most of my life, so when my dad found Sam and me, our father-daughter relationship had been tense. Since then, we’d come a long way, and I loved him dearly.

  He brushed my hair off my shoulder. “You look tired.”

  “I’m okay,” I said. “You’re the one who looks like hell.”

  Dad’s black hair was rather long and oily, and black circles marred the underside of his dull green eyes.

  “Have you had blood recently?” I quickly glanced at Webb, who had the same concerned look that I probably had.

  “We’ll remedy that,” Mr. Rose said on my left.

  I shifted my gaze to my best friend’s dad, who didn’t look as haggard as he had when he worked on my case. Then again, my court trial had been several months ago, and Mr. Rose’s problems of owing a vampire a ton of money had been settled thanks to my dad.

  Mr. Rose raked his brown gaze over my face. “It’s good to see you. Darcy misses you.”

  I missed her too. “As much as I would like to see her, I better not for now. But do tell her she will be my maid of honor.” I beamed as I batted my eyelashes at Webb.

  Mr. Rose’s eyes went wide as he regarded Webb then me. “Congratulations. When is the big day?”

  “We’re not sure yet,” Webb said. “We’ve got problems to deal with at the moment.”

  Mr. Rose stuffed his belongings into his briefcase. “Steven, let’s resume our discussion tomorrow. Jo. Webb. It was good to see you.” With his briefcase in hand, he walked out.

  “Snyder, give us a few minutes,” Dad said to the guard.

  The sharply dressed vampire studied Dad. I scratched my head as to why the guardian was even in the room. With no windows and one exit, which Snyder was protecting, Dad couldn’t escape unless he could teleport, and no vampire in our world had that ability.

&nb
sp; Without a word, Snyder removed himself, closing the door with a soft click.

  Dad sat down, while Webb held out the other chair for me. Then he anchored himself to a spot on the wall off to my right.

  “So, talk to me,” Dad said. “Tell me what’s going on back on base.”

  “First, Dad, did you tell Hollings that I was the only one who could take out Edmund?”

  Dad closed his eyes for a second. “I didn’t say that. What I said was that Edmund might open up to you again, although it will take more than one person to bring Edmund down. The bigger questions to consider are—how is he gaining more supernatural powers? How is he able to read minds? Has my brother, Patrick, developed some type of concoction that is making Edmund’s powers stronger? No other vampires have had the power our family has had.”

  I gnawed on my lip. “And why didn’t he or I die when we were both stabbed in the heart with a cobalt dagger?” That one question had been plaguing me since our showdown at the funeral home a couple of weeks ago. I’d asked Dr. Vieira, but his conclusion had been that the dagger missed our hearts.

  Dad rested his elbows on the table. “I agree with Dr. Vieira. Regardless, we need to infiltrate Edmund’s organization. We need to shut him down. We need to destroy all the research that Patrick has done. We cannot let anyone get their hands on that data. Then we can focus on killing Edmund.”

  “What about getting you out of jail?” I asked.

  “Don’t worry about me, pumpkin. Mr. Rose is a good lawyer. He’ll gather all the evidence and legal documents and do his job just as well on my case as he did on your murder trial. In the meantime, Webb, I want you and your team to focus on Edmund. Find him. Put out feelers. Check with our military sources in Alaska. The elders want Edmund alive to prosecute him, but we may have a bigger problem.” Dad stared at Webb, who had an unreadable mask on his face.

  “What could be bigger than Edmund?” I asked as the room dropped into dead silence. Dad and Webb had to be speaking telepathically.

  Several minutes ticked by until Webb pushed off the wall and began pacing. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

  “Under no circumstances can we let any of that happen,” Dad said.

  “Care to let me in?” I knew they wouldn’t if Dad found it necessary to speak telepathically.

  Webb’s nostrils flared. “Later.”

  “How’s Matthew Costner and the other human we rescued from Edmund two weeks ago?” Dad changed his staunch demeanor as though someone had flipped a switch.

  I shrugged. “The human isn’t awake yet. Dr. Vieira says he has a pulse, but it might be a while before the boy comes out of the comatose state. As for Matthew, he’s a healthy vampire. He can even go outside in the sun.”

  Dad scrubbed a hand over his unshaven jaw. “I can’t say I’m surprised with Matthew. After all, he comes from a long line of vampires.”

  “But he doesn’t carry the vampire gene,” I added. Dr. Vieira had once explained that natural-born vampires were produced by a male vampire and a human female who had Vel-negative blood type, which meant that Matthew’s father wasn’t a vampire.

  “No, but again, his maternal side is made up of all vampires,” Webb chimed in.

  “And how is Ben?” Dad asked.

  Dad had taken a liking to Ben, finally.

  Webb settled back against the wall. “Ben is learning to deal with his half human and half vampire state. He’ll be a good asset to the SEAL team in the future.”

  I smiled. Ben’s dream had always been to become a Navy SEAL, although not as a mixed breed, which was what Dr. Vieira had dubbed Ben.

  “What about Mr. Jackson?” Dad asked. “Has Ben contacted his father?”

  Webb shook his head. “We’re not there yet. Ben still has issues controlling the change in his eye color. However, he has talked to his father on the phone to let him know that he joined the military and that he’ll be able to come home when boot camp is over.”

  That wasn’t a total lie. Webb and his team along with my brother, Sam, had been training Ben on all things military and vampire.

  “So, Dad, do you think I should work for Edmund?” I wanted to do everything and anything to stop Edmund from succeeding, but we hadn’t been successful in any of our missions to thwart him. Even the dagger Sam had driven through his heart hadn’t killed him. I wasn’t sure I could or would be able to wipe Edmund off the face of the planet.

  Dad rubbed his chin. “I think that decision is up to you and Webb. I know Webb will come up with a solid plan. I also know we need to snuff out the mole. Whoever he or she is has been giving Edmund information, which is why he is always one step ahead of us.” Dad glanced at Webb. “Don’t tell anyone what your plans are, not even the elders. Select a handful of SEALs and no one else. Having said all that, I do want you to consider Jonah to be one of your team members.”

  Webb opened his mouth.

  Dad held up his hand. “Hear me out. Jonah has always been Edmund’s right-hand man. While you were detained in Alaska, Tripp was trying to get him on our side.”

  I’d forgotten all about Jonah. Webb had captured him at one of the SEALs’ raids, and as far as I knew, Jonah had been in the base prison.

  “We transferred Jonah to this facility I’m in a month ago,” Dad said. “I’ve been chatting with him for the last two weeks.”

  “Why would he work for us?” Webb asked.

  Dad’s eyes lit up. “Because he learned recently that Edmund killed a human girl Jonah was in love with.”

  “How did Jonah find out?” Webb asked. “Does he have contact with Edmund?”

  “He overheard Hollings and I talking the other night about a list of humans who have shown up dead. Since then, I was able to not only chat with him, but read his mind. I think we could put him to good use.”

  “Did you find anything in his head about Edmund killing the Secretary of the Navy?” I asked. If Jonah was Edmund’s bitch, then he should know if Edmund murdered the secretary.

  “He wasn’t with Edmund that night,” Dad said. “But my brother was.”

  Webb shook his head. “Patrick won’t testify.”

  Snyder came in. “Commander, it’s time to go back to your cell.”

  Dad pushed to his feet. “I agree about Patrick. But one step at a time. Think about what we talked about. Start planning. The sooner we get Edmund out of the picture, the sooner we can get on with our lives.”

  I rose. “We need to get you out first.”

  Dad skirted the table and pulled me in for a hug. “I told you not to worry.”

  Tears pricked my eyes. “I do worry. I want you to walk me down the aisle. I want you in my life.”

  He rubbed a hand down my back. “I love you too. Look, I want you and Webb to do whatever it takes to stop Edmund’s operation.”

  And I wanted the same thing, but I also wanted to clear my dad of the murder charge. I had to somehow coax Edmund into a confession or maybe plead with my uncle Patrick to help his own brother.

  3

  Webb

  The lights in the hotel lobby were too bright for me. I felt as though I was on display at some auction. I did what I always did when entering a room—I checked for exits, I opened up my hearing and listened to conversations of people milling around, I swept the room, far and wide, quickly assessing each person who was either lounging in the sitting area, standing in line in front of us at the check-in counter, and those who were close by in the restaurant. As a SEAL, I was taught that no place was safe, and trust was hard to come by. Jo hovered close to me, searching the lobby too. I took comfort in knowing that she didn’t take anything for granted when she walked into an unknown place.

  I snaked my arm around her waist. “We’re good.”

  She sighed. “I know, but I had to be sure. I get the feeling we’re being watched.”

  “You should always have that feeling in a foreign place, no matter if you know the area or not.”

  “When are you going to tell me what my dad
told you?”

  “When the time is right.” I wasn’t about to divulge anything in a hotel lobby, and even then, I was contemplating whether to tell her at all. I very well could open a telepathic connection. However, Steven had warned me to keep the information close to my vest. Not only that, but if Jo happened to meet up with Edmund, and he did have mind-reading capabilities, I couldn’t risk her knowing anything about the CIA and their plan to extract all Patrick’s research so they could build super soldiers for their military.

  “Tonight, we don’t talk shop. Tonight is about you and me.”

  Her silver eyes glistened as a smidgeon of violet shone through.

  “Easy, angel. The last time you switched eye color in public, the press took pictures.” We couldn’t afford drawing attention from the media or anyone else.

  Her hand slid up my chest as we waited in line to check in. “What’s on the agenda, then?”

  Spending the night in a hotel was probably a bad idea since Jo was getting more frustrated by the day with me ignoring her advances, and I was a moron for torturing myself in the process as well. But I couldn’t care less how much I drove myself crazy as long as Jo was at my side. Sure, she could handle herself, but as she’d said, we were stronger together, and we were. I couldn’t explain why I had added strength with her near me. It was as though I was invincible. I suspected her blood had something to do with it. I made a mental note to consult with Dr. Vieira.

  “After we check in, we’re going shopping,” I said.

  She snorted. “You? Shopping? The last time we shopped was at a Target in Maine, and if I recall, you were antsy to get out of the store.”

  We shuffled forward when the businessman in front of us stepped up to the counter.

  “You’ll like what’s in store,” I whispered. “And please don’t read my mind. I want this to be a surprise.” I wished I had some of the mind-blocking potion from Alia Costner, but my only supply was at my house in Maine.