I laughed against his chest. “So do you.”
His dick jerked inside me, and I gasped, sitting up with my elbows on his chest. I could feel him growing harder by the second.
“Again?” I arched a brow at him.
His hands slid to my bare cheeks, grabbing hold and slowly rolling me forward. “Definitely again.” He kissed me hard. “And again.” He nipped down my jaw to my ear. “I’m never letting you go.”
And for one blissful moment, I believed him.
Chapter 29
~DEVRAJ~
* * *
By the time we got our clothes back on, Isadora had slipped back into her distant, quiet mode. And I didn’t like it.
Too frustrated to talk about it now, I opened the door so I could walk around to the driver’s side. A sound hit me like a punch to the chest.
“What is it?” she asked.
I’d frozen in place with her door open, listening to the familiar bong of the church bells from Emma’s memories.
“Devraj?”
Pulling out my phone, I called Ruben, my blood racing like mad, pushing me to hunt. He answered on the first ring as I rushed around to the driver’s seat.
“Track my phone and get here now. Bring three men.”
“On my way.” Then he clicked off.
I revved the engine and took off, rolling the windows down.
“What the hell is going on?” Isadora asked, belting herself in.
“Those church bells. They’re close to where the other women are being held.”
“How do you know that?”
She stared a moment but then went silent, realizing I needed to listen. I charged out of the lot and wound my way toward the chiming bells down St. Charles Avenue. I veered to a sudden stop in front of a small Catholic Church just as the bells died.
“Are you sure those are the same bells?”
“Positive.” My sense of hearing was so acute I recognized the twangy ring of the third bell in each chime, exactly as it was in Emma’s memory. “He’s holding them within hearing of this church. Northwest of here, I believe.”
We both hopped out and stood on the sidewalk in front of the church, peering one way and then the other. I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply, catching a very faint, familiar scent. Jennifer. The young woman who’d been captive the longest.
My instinct was to bolt, but I couldn’t leave Isadora alone. Not this close to the kidnapper’s lair. When I looked at her, she seemed to read my mind.
“Give me your keys. I’ll lock myself inside. This isn’t exactly a dangerous part of town.”
“I’m not worried about you being accosted by college kids, and you know it.”
She held out her hand. “Give me your keys. I’ll be fine.”
Just as I did, Ruben appeared, a wake of wind nearly knocking me over, whooshing Isadora’s hair. Then Gabriel and two of his other men, Roland and Sal, appeared.
“Perfect timing. I need one of you to stay with her.”
“I’m fine,” snapped Isadora, opening the car to slip inside.
I glared at Ruben. “Leave one of them with her. We’re too close to this asshole’s nest to leave her alone.”
I was probably being unreasonable because this crew’s MO wasn’t to nab a girl off the street. But I wasn’t taking any chances.
“Roland. Stay with Isadora.”
Roland was big and badass with a shaved head, the most intimidating on first glance of Ruben’s men. I breathed a sigh of relief then traced at minimum speed down a side street, the scent coming from that direction. I stopped, Ruben, Gabriel, and Sal with me.
All vampires had extraordinary senses, but they didn’t hold memory scent like Stygorn did. I’d memorized all of the women’s scents the day after I arrived in New Orleans, so they’d need to rely on me to take the lead until we were very close.
They watched and waited in silence while I sought their scent. Once I found it, I traced again, slow enough they could follow, trailing Jennifer’s faint smell on the wind. Her scent grew stronger again until we all stopped in front of a tall, nondescript building.
“Looks like a dorm,” said Gabriel, peering in a window. “An abandoned one.”
An orange Renovation in Progress sign was pasted on the double doors. Looked like renovation got put on the backburner due to lack of funding or some other bureaucratic issue.
Ruben and I shared a glance before I nodded. “This is it.”
Gabriel wrenched the locked door open with a metallic crack, then we stood in a lobby/lounge area, musty and moldy from disuse. There were doors on the right and the left marked as the stairs leading to the upper floors.
“Ruben and I will take the right, you both take the left.”
Sal and Gabriel nodded and took off, then so did Ruben and I, tracing down the hall of the first floor then up to the second and repeating the process. Still, I could smell her presence close. So close. By the time we reached the landing to the fourth floor, I halted in my tracks.
Ruben stopped and marched back to me. “What do you—?” Then he glanced up the stairs, his nostrils flaring. The scent of humans in the building was detectable to him as well now. “Fifth floor.”
We moved as one, tearing up to the fifth floor and tracing directly to an open room. An empty room. No lights or signs of life anywhere. We didn’t need light to see anyway.
“Here.” Ruben crouched on the floor and lifted a blanket, bringing it to his nose.
I met him and did the same. “That’s her. Jennifer.”
A drop of dark blood stained the edge of the blanket. Ruben reached over to the bed and lifted a leather cuff chained to the bed. “For fuck’s sake.”
He’d kept them chained. Fury lashed through my chest at the fear this asshole had instilled in these girls, at him taking what wasn’t rightfully his. Ruben traced out and to the next room. His fuming growl dragged me there, too.
An empty carton of cup-of-soup littered the floor next to an empty water bottle, but what had Ruben’s silver gaze cutting the room with rage was the paint chipped away by someone’s fingernail to write her name: Kara.
“I’m going to beat him bloody once we get him,” promised Ruben. And I didn’t doubt him for one second.
This was Ruben’s territory, his responsibility to protect humans from our kind getting out of hand. Not only was this a sin against these girls, but it was a challenge to his authority. I had no doubt he’d use Blake Bellingrath as an example once we found the fucker.
I swept the room but found nothing, then went to the next where I smelled the remaining scent of Emma. When I scanned the room, nothing but old mattresses on the single beds, I did find a half-empty cup of soda sitting underneath one bed.
I was sniffing its contents when Ruben asked behind me, “What is it?”
“Coke. But something else, too.” I inhaled deeply, trying to dissect the scent. Then it hit me, and I cursed under my breath. I’d come across this smell before in my dealings with low-life motherfuckers around the world. Most vampires didn’t need it. They could use glamour or the paralysis of their bite to subdue their victims, but some still dabbled in man-made drugs.
Ruben took the cup from me and smelled. A glint of silver rolled over his eyes, his jaw clenching as he said, “Rohypnol.”
“That would definitely make his victims go quietly from the places he abducted them.”
Because they’d likely be unconscious. Yet, he was still using it on them during captivity. The women were likely still fighting back. Good.
Gabriel and Sal suddenly appeared in the doorway, slightly winded since they must’ve completed the search of their entire wing then come to meet us.
“He’s moved them,” said Gabriel.
“He’s cautious, I’ll give him that,” I said to Ruben.
“Yeah, enough not to stay in one place too long with the girls. He may not want his customers to know where the girls are after their feeding.”
I couldn’t help the s
neer at the thought of these terrified women being hauled around like cattle.
“Let’s head back.” Just the look of this place, thinking of these women in captivity, had my beast clawing to get back to Isadora. I didn’t like her so near here.
We traced back within two minutes. Roland was leaning his back against my car, his gaze vigilant on the streets while he chatted with Isadora, who had her window down.
“No luck?” he asked.
“Some,” said Ruben.
Isadora popped out of the car. “You found where he was keeping them?” Her green eyes rounded with shock.
“Was,” I emphasized. “He’s moved them.” I turned to Ruben, all of us gathered beside my car now. “He likely has several places scouted so he can rotate their locations.”
“I wish it was Saturday. Time to catch this asshole,” Ruben ground out, his eyes stormy blue. “Are you ready, Isadora? Still want to do this?”
My sweet girl looked at each and every one of us hardass vampires, resolve set in the upward tilt of her chin. “Damn right, I’m ready.”
If I wasn’t aware yet, I knew then and there that I was deeply and wholly in love with this woman. Once this operation was over with, I’d make damn sure she understood I wasn’t going anywhere.
Chapter 30
~ISADORA~
* * *
“Ready, girl?” Livvy stood next to me in the parking lot of Barrel Proof looking like a 1940s bombshell. She’d come straight from a photo shoot at Belle Chasse Navy Base. She modeled for a friend of hers who did pin-up girl photo shoots for his ultra popular website who cross-promoted the Cauldron and Maybelle’s.
While she was decked out in a tailored red dress, tight in the bust and waist then flared at the knees, I was wearing tight black jeans and a white halter-top that revealed a lot of skin but also could be tucked in. If I was going to be kidnapped and carried away by a vampire, I wanted to be dressed for the occasion.
“Ready,” I said, leading the way into the bar.
We found a two-top in the middle of the bar. The point was to be seen tonight. The place was already starting to fill up.
“I’ll grab us a few drinks. What do you want?”
“Old fashioned.”
“Something that strong?” I whispered.
“We’re supposed to look like we’re partying it up, right?”
“True.”
I made my way to the bar that stretched the length of the place. Most of the stools were already filled, but Darren wasn’t here yet. “Take What You Want” by Post Malone and Ozzy played from the speakers. I glanced at my watch. 10:10.
“What can I get you?” asked the good-looking bartender.
“Two old fashioneds please.”
There were several different gatherings in the bar. Couples and mixed boy-girl groups. So far, there were no other girl-only parties. That made Livvy and I good targets, which again had my heart pounding. I was actually doing this, and I couldn’t pretend it didn’t have me on edge. As it was, it was strange to not feel the sweet hum of magic under my skin. Jules had nulled us both right before we left, informing us she’d be in constant contact with Ruben to monitor the operation.
I was carrying the drinks back to the table right as Darren entered the bar. And another vampire right behind him. A cold sweat flashed across my neck and back. I tried not to stare, catching in a single glimpse the arrogant tilt of the second vampire’s head. Blond hair, pretty face, predatory eyes. Blake Bellingrath.
When I sat across from Livvy, I whispered, “That’s him that just walked in. And the other guy is Bellingrath.”
She leaned forward and took a sip of her drink, her red lipstick leaving a mark on the rim. “I thought they scouted alone.”
“I did, too. This is weird.”
A second later, my phone buzzed on the table. I’d carried in my phone rather than have my big handbag, knowing I wanted to go light. The phone was actually a burner phone that Devraj had given me. I unlocked the phone with my fingerprint.
Devraj: Bellingrath is with him I’m sure you see. Darren said it’s nothing to worry about.
Me: If you say so.
Devraj: We’re still a go. Unless you don’t want to. ???
I paused, glancing at the bar. Darren was ordering drinks. Blake was skimming the bar, looking for his next victim. Burning fury blazed through my belly, thinking of those poor women he had in captivity. And I could help set them free tonight.
Me: I’m a go.
There was a pause then the ellipses looped onscreen until his last message popped up.
Devraj: I’m so proud of you. I’ll show you how much later tonight.
I smiled then locked the phone and slid it into my back pocket. Leave it to Devraj to try and distract me from imminent danger with thoughts of naughty sex.
“That’s a saucy smile.” Livvy had drained her old fashioned by the time I slipped my phone in my back pocket.
“Might want to slow down there.”
She switched our glasses. “Now you go up there, stand right next to Bellingrath, and order another.”
My stomach sank. “You come with me.”
She shook her head. “I want his attention only on you. I’ll be unable to stop my word vomit.”
True. With or without her Influencer magic, Livvy beamed. She was the kind of person you wanted to look at, wanted to listen to. And though Darren had a serious compulsion glamour spell put on him by Devraj, we didn’t need any complications.
“You’ve got this,” she said, pulling out her phone and pretending to be distracted, even though I felt her attention and awareness of the room in her posture and fleeting glances to the bar.
I walked steadily toward the bar where Darren and Blake had settled. Not looking at either of them, I maneuvered on the left side of Blake, lifting a hand to get the bartender’s attention.
I felt his gaze sweeping over my face. Rather than look his way, I flipped my hair over my shoulder, knowing he’d have full view of my fading bruise from Devraj’s bite. This was a big gamble, but Devraj argued it would be good for them to see. According to him, a “human” who already engaged as a blood host would be the perfect target. She wouldn’t be as traumatized by feeding their clients. Not like Emma whose fragile mind and body couldn’t handle being a host for the kidnapper’s clients.
I wasn’t sure I agreed with his logic, but he knew how vampires thought better than I did. And criminals, since he spent his life hunting them down and bringing them to justice.
“So, beautiful, you like to play?” came the sultry voice next to me.
Apparently, Devraj was right. The term play was used when a vampire courted a potential host.
Glancing at him shyly, which wasn’t entirely an act, I said, “Sometimes.”
“Another old fashioned?” asked the bartender.
“Yes, please.”
I pulled the cash from my pocket, but Blake put his hand over mine on the bar, trapping it beneath his. I was using cash only so I wouldn’t get caught with my real name on anything.
“Let me get it for you, sweetheart.”
“Thanks,” I muttered and put the cash back in my pocket.
“So, what’s your name?”
“Isabelle.” I finally met his gaze dead-on, wishing I hadn’t.
There are some people who hold their sins in their eyes. Piercing with all the wickedness he’d committed and desired to commit, his gaze held me hard. “Why don’t you stay and party with us, Isabelle?”
I shook my head and grabbed my drink from the bartender. “I’m with my friend. Sorry.”
Darren remained still and focused on the other side of him, nodding to me. He’d relayed to Devraj that I should play it submissive tonight. Blake didn’t want fighters.
I felt his eyes on me all the way back to the table. I settled and took a deep sip, needing the whiskey to take the edge off.
“That seemed to work,” she said. “His eyes are burning a hole through you.”
“Awesome. Now I want to throw up.”
“Hang on, Iz. We’ve got him.”
She then tossed her head back and laughed like I’d said something hilarious. I joined in the laughter, though not quite as enthusiastically. Checking my watch, I had eight minutes to be outside.
Livvy smiled playfully and leaned forward. “It’s all going to be fine. Don’t you worry.”
I knocked back most of the drink in the next few minutes, listening to Livvy carry on about the karaoke contest she had planned to promote the Cauldron. I already knew about it, but it was something to ramble about while time ticked down. Finally, she set her glass down with a loud clink and stood, lifting her vintage clutch off the table.
“It was so good to see you again!” she yelled, opening her arms for me.
I gave her a big hug. She whispered in my ear, “Now go get those mother fuckers.” Then she pulled away, laughing wildly like I’d said something hysterically funny. “We’ll catch up next month.”
She sauntered off toward the bathrooms. I refused to look at the bar, but I felt them watching as I headed out to the parking lot by myself.
I’d prepared for this moment, but it didn’t take away from the solid knot of dread twisting my insides. I walked slowly through the dim lot toward my car, knowing Devraj and Ruben were monitoring not far away.
My arms were clasped from behind and the growling whisper of a vampire brushed my ear. “Time to go to sleep, beautiful.”
A jolt of persuasion punched out of him. Strangely, I figured I’d be susceptible to it since Jules had nulled my magic. But somehow, it still didn’t work on me. Perhaps because this was a passive form of my magic, not like my potent healing power I used on others.
I let my body go limp and pretended to fall under his glamour spell. He lifted me in his arms, behind the knees and my back.
“Let’s go.”
For some reason, Darren wasn’t in charge of this hit. We were told they typically worked as a group, the three scouts coalescing on the one target. But tonight, it was just Darren and Blake.
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