Chapter 10
Piper shivered, and the nerves that were being a total buzzkill on her excitement settled down a little when she walked into the blood clinic and saw Caroline talking to some huge, tantalizingly scary-looking VEA agent.
The vampire walked away, and Piper grinned and bounced over to her friend, wrapping her up in a big hug. It was only when Caroline sucked in a deep breath then held it that Piper remembered she wasn’t supposed to attack her newly-turned vampire friend like that without asking first, in case she was hungry.
She yanked herself away and put a hand to her mouth. “Oops, sorry! Didn’t meant to get my deliciousness all up in your business. What are you doing here?”
Caroline’s smile dropped, and she twisted a lock of her long, blonde hair around her finger. She flicked her eyes up and down several times between her jittery hands and Piper before finally whispering, “See that guy over there in the Astros shirt?”
Piper craned her neck around, trying to see what people were wearing. There was a lot of black. Vampires seemed to like wearing it, except the vampire she’d come to see, of course. He was the least scary vampire in the world, as far as she could tell.
Finally, a gorgeous guy with sun-streaked, blond hair and skin the color of honey moved his toned arm, giving her a glimpse of the Astros logo on his tee shirt. Geez, that was just about the last thing she noticed about him. She swiped a hand down her silk blouse and wished she could reach a hand in to perk up her boobs. She settled for smoothing her wild, red curls instead.
“You mean the gorgeous hunk at the end of the row?”
Caroline bugged out her eyes and put a hand over Piper’s mouth. “Shhh! Yes, that one.”
She whispered through Caroline’s fingers. “What about him? Is he a vampire?”
“He is now. I turned him,” Caroline mumbled so quietly, Piper stared at her for a minute, trying to decide if she’d said what she thought she said.
Caroline nodded slowly when it was obvious that Piper was confused. Piper grabbed her friend’s arms and gawked at her then turned to look at the guy again. Man, he was hot. She could practically see the air sizzling around him.
“What kind of alien has possessed you? Because that’s the last thing in the world the Caroline I know would do.” She was whispering, but a few people still turned their heads, and Caroline dug her fingers into Piper’s arms. Right, vampires. Supersonic hearing.
“He’d been attacked and venomized. I didn’t know what to do, but I didn’t want to abandon him. So I let him drink from me.” Caroline’s face was so twisted up with conflicting emotions, it looked like it was made of Silly Putty.
“Holy crap, Care, I can’t believe you did that! Does Roric know?” Maybe Caroline was trying to help the guy, but it was still illegal, and her boyfriend was the frickin’ vampire police chief. He was gonna go ballistic when he found out, if he hadn’t already.
“Yeah, and he’s mad, of course, but he understands why I did it. Houston promised not to tell on me, but I feel responsible for him now. I’m waiting with him to get blood, and I’m going to mentor him because they don’t have any other volunteers available.”
Piper glanced back at the guy, checking him out. The muscles in his arm flexed as he flipped through a magazine, and he tossed his hair back with a flick. Man, he was cute. Roric was gonna be hella jealous if Caroline started spending a bunch of time with that guy. For the millionth time, Piper wished she was a vampire so she could offer to mentor him.
“Now that you’ve heard my soap opera, what are you doing here?” Caroline gave her a cheeky look.
Piper felt her pale, freckled cheeks get warm and bunch up in a wide smile. “I came to see if Davede wanted to have dinner with me.”
“You mean, have you for dinner?” Caroline winked and grinned.
“Did I hear my name?” The tall, hunky vampire came strolling up wearing a big smile on his face that made up for the preppy, Ralph Lauren khakis and polos he liked to wear. Davede was a little too tame for Piper’s tastes, but he was really cute, with caramel hair and chocolate eyes that melted a little every time he looked at her.
He’d fought off a vampire who was trying to bite her, which was sweet, but Piper hadn’t needed to be saved. She wanted to be bitten. She’d heard that letting a vampire drink your blood was intensely erotic, and she was curious to give it a try.
But he’d made it up to her by offering to give her a private tour of the blood clinic when her brother, Alec, wasn’t there to pitch a fit about it. She’d come there a few times since then, off the record, to hang out with Davede and let him snack on her.
“I’ll catch you later.” Caroline smiled and walked away, back to her sexy, new protégé who wore faded jeans and a tight tee shirt that clung to his abs instead of khakis and a polo.
“Hi Davede. How’s it going?” She put her hand in his and leaned in so he could kiss her cheek like he liked to do. So far, he hadn’t made any attempts to go much further than that, even though she turned into a raving ball of lust every time he drank from her.
Maybe it was for the best, though. She liked him, and she definitely wanted to keep doing what they were doing, but she wasn’t sure she wanted to be tied down to a relationship right now. She was young and still figuring out what she wanted from life. She wasn’t ready to settle down with a house in the suburbs and khaki-wearing guy with a 9 to 5, even if the guy was a vampire.
“Piper? What are you doing here?”
Piper’s cheek froze against Davede’s lips, and her whole body shivered at the sound of her brother’s voice. What was he doing here? It was supposed to be his night off!
Davede yanked his mouth away from her cheek, but it was too late. Piper’s hair was a bright red cape, waving for his attention, and Alec was thundering towards them like an angry bull. Piper put her tiny body in front of Davede’s large one, hoping to protect him from her brother’s wrath.
“Why is my sister here, Davede? And why are you kissing her? What else are you doing with her?”
His voice was loud enough to draw the attention of everyone in the waiting room, and his face was the same color as his and Piper’s hair. She’d never seen that much emotion on it. Usually, Alec was the poster boy for control. He was dressed like Davede in boring business casual. Maybe that’s why Davede’s wardrobe was such a turn-off — too much like her brother’s.
Alec grabbed Davede’s shirt in his fist and shoved his flaming face in Davede’s. He was a lot smaller than Davede, but he snapped at him like a vicious chihuahua. He was making a scene, and people were starting to whisper. Piper shoved against his chest till he took a step back and dropped his eyes to hers.
“We’re just friends, Alec. Remember, Davede rescued me from that vampire.” Alec didn’t know that she’d purposely let the guy drink from her, but he did know that Davede had played hero, trying to save her. Shouldn’t that count for something?
“Humans have no business being friends with vampires, Piper. Stay away from him.” He flashed her a scowl then turned it towards Davede, shoving a finger in his chest. “And I better not ever see you near my sister again, or you can kiss your job goodbye. She’s off-limits, got it?”
Davede put his hands up in the air and backed up, his Sperry loafers squeaking on the tile floors. “No problem, Alec. I was just saying hi.” He gave her an apologetic look and walked away.
Great, now he’d probably never want to risk seeing her again. She was so angry, she wanted to pummel her little fists into Alec’s chest. Instead, she propped them on her hips and glared at him. “That was rude and uncalled-for, Alec! He was just being nice. You should try it sometime.”
He narrowed his laser eyes at her like only a big brother could. “He was kissing you—”
“On the cheek.” She tapped her cheek and rolled her eyes at him. He was acting like Davede molested her or something.
“He shouldn’t have his mouth anywhere near you. He’s a vampire, Caroline. Any contact with humans
is a temptation. Do you understand that? He wants to drink from you, if he hasn’t already. Is that why you came here?” His lip curled in disgust.
“No, of course not!”
“Well then, why are you here? I know you didn’t come to see me. I’m not supposed to be here tonight, but I came in because they said it was really busy.” He looked around at the crowd for the first time. Everyone was blatantly staring at him, while an instrumental version of “Every Breath You Take” was playing from the speakers.
“Yeah, it is busy. There must not be enough humans to feed all the vampires. Maybe I should volunteer.” She pursed her lips and waved her head around. She couldn’t resist goading him.
“You sure as hell better not! Is that why you’re here?” His face was now redder than his hair, and she was pretty sure it was about to explode. She looked around to see who might get hit by the shrapnel and noticed Caroline staring at her with a worried look on her face.
“No, I came here to meet Caroline.” She waved towards her friend, and Alec turned around to look. Caroline smiled and waved back.
The air rushed out of Alec’s swollen head like a deflating balloon, and his color slowly went back to normal. Caroline was a vampire, too, but Alec seemed a lot less worried about her than Davede. “Fine. But be careful, Piper. I know she’s your friend, but—”
“Don’t worry. I’m sure she’s much more interested in sucking on Roric than me. Now leave me alone so I can visit my friend.” She gave him a gentle shove. He scowled at her but stomped off down the hall.
Piper sighed and headed over to Caroline, dropping down in the chair next to her and letting her head thunk against the wall. “Crisis averted. Geez, I don’t know why he has to be such a control freak. He’s not my mother.”
“No, but he’s your brother, and he cares about you.” Caroline gave her a look that told her she should be thankful she had people who did.
“I don’t know why he’s so freaked out about the idea of me giving blood. I mean, he works at the blood clinic, for heaven’s sake! And they obviously need more volunteers.” She took another look around the waiting room. Yep, all vampires. She was the only human. They were all going to sit there waiting till another volunteer came in.
And a human was only allowed to donate once every two months while most vampires drank at least once a week. Sure, they could get bags of vampire blood instead, but most of them preferred fresh blood from the vein.
“How long have you been waiting?”
Caroline pulled out her phone to check the time. “Almost two hours. I really need to get back to work. The Taproom was busy, and I promised Gray I’d come back. I might have to get him some blood bags tonight and bring Houston back tomorrow.” She gave the hot, new vamp an apologetic look.
Piper gave him a once-over, and he looked back at her curiously. Up close, he was even more gorgeous, with eyes the color of Le Vian diamonds. Brown was a weird color for gemstones, but it was her favorite color of eyes. What she would give to have those eyes staring into hers with desire.
She was the kind of girl who went after what she wanted, and she wanted to have a vampire drink from her tonight. Not just any vampire. This one.
“Hi, I’m Caroline’s friend, Piper.” She stretched her hand across Caroline, and he took it.
“Houston.” He smiled at her, and it just about blinded her.
“You hungry, Houston?” She purposely stroked her neck, and his eyes followed her fingers. He gulped and nodded.
“I have an idea. Come with me.” She got up and marched over to the check-in desk.
“Hi, I’m Piper. I’d like to volunteer. Alec is my brother, and he said I could start tonight.” The girl at the desk had just come on shift, so she hadn’t witnessed the scene Alec made in the waiting room. Piper crossed her fingers that she wouldn’t go ask him.
“Oh, that’s great! We normally have new volunteers go through orientation, but we’re really busy tonight and could use you. I doubt you need it if you’re Alec’s sister. Let me just get your information.”
Piper did all the paperwork, and the woman entered everything in the computer. “Okay, well, we have lots of clients waiting, so I’m sure the tech will call you in just a second.”
Houston was still standing there looking confused. Piper grabbed his arm and pulled him up to the counter next to her. “A vampire can request a certain volunteer and schedule an appointment, right?”
The woman nodded slowly. “Yeah.”
“Great. Houston wants to make an appointment with me, for right now.”
The receptionist’s mouth slowly unhinged as she glanced back and forth between them, and Piper jabbed Houston in the ribs with an elbow.
He took the hint. “Yeah, that’s right.”
“Uh, okay. Um, let me just…” She tapped at her computer for a few seconds then looked back up. “Alright. I’ve got it in the system. You can have a seat, and they’ll be with you in a minute.”
Piper turned away from the desk, grinning, and Houston laughed and flashed her with that sunbeam smile. “That was totally awesome.”
Piper held out her palm, and he slapped it then draped an arm around her shoulder. A quiver raced down her body. They walked back towards Caroline who was shaking her head and chuckling.
“You can go back to work now, if you want. I’ll take care of your guy, here.” Piper bumped her hip into Houston’s.
“You’re unbelievable, Piper. You know your brother is going to kill you when he finds out.”
Piper shrugged. “It’s not his decision to make. I’m a grown up, and if I want to be a blood donor, that’s my business.”
“Houston, I’ll call you as soon as I get off work, and we’ll make plans to get together and talk, okay? Somewhere more private.”
Houston nodded, and Caroline gave Piper a quick hug then headed out. They barely got sat down before the tech came out and called their names. Piper’s heart started pounding like a club remix as she followed the tech down the hall to one of the private rooms with Houston right behind her.
Chapter 11
Roric half-suspected it was the equinox or something, because this had been the longest night ever, and it wasn’t even over yet. He still had to interrogate the rogue he’d brought in earlier. After that, he was cutting out to spend some time with Caroline. He had a million things he wanted to talk to her about, starting with an apology for how he’d reacted today.
He turned on his lights and siren and sped back to the Agency, eager to finish up. The council members and television crew were long gone by the time he returned, and, thankfully, the Agency had settled back down to normal.
Raven was talking to Serena, the secretary, when Roric walked in. He ignored her and headed down the hall towards the cells, but she scurried after him, her tiny heels clicking rapidly on the tile floors, her shotgun pellet words peppering his back. “Roric, I didn’t talk to the vampire we brought in, but I don’t understand why you told me not to. My job is to help people like him. I need to talk to him if I’m going to do that.”
He swung around to look at her, and she skittered to a stop, putting up her hands to keep herself from crashing into him. Her sleek bob swung forward then fell back into place. She dropped her hands to straighten her suit jacket.
“I understand you want to rehabilitate these rogues, but the primary objective of this agency is to enforce the laws and punish vampires who break them. The first person who talks to anyone we bring in is me. Once I do my interrogation, then you can counsel them. But I don’t want you screwing up my chances of getting the information I need to prosecute. Understand?”
She blinked slowly and clenched her lips but didn’t say what she was obviously thinking. “Okay, but why didn’t you want me to talk to anyone about the suspect?”
“Because ever since one of our prisoners turned up dead inside his cell, I don’t know who to trust around here.” Her dark eyes got wide as she processed what he said.
He snarled as
the memory flashed through his mind — the open blinds on the cell window and the pile of ash on the ground. He still suspected Taven had done it to protect Roric because the vamp who was killed was the one who’d attacked Caroline, and the rogue knew that Roric had broken the law and turned her. But Roric didn’t know for sure, and ignoring what had happened only made him look guilty, so he had to respond like there was a potential breach inside the Agency.
Raven softened her voice and looked up at him with big eyes and a tiny pout. “I don’t suppose it would be possible for me to sit in on the interrogation. I was thinking maybe he’d be more likely to talk if he thought someone was on his side.”
Roric worked his jaw as he stared at her, contemplating. He normally did his interrogations alone or with Taven, but she wasn’t around when the breach happened, so she obviously wasn’t a suspect. And she was right, a pretty woman might help balance out his intimidation routine.
He crossed his thick arms over his chest. “Fine. But don’t interfere. And don’t discuss any details of what you hear with anyone.”
She beamed up at him with a broad, straight smile and put a soft hand on his bulging bicep, giving it a little squeeze. “We’re going to make a great team, Roric.”
He glanced down at her hand, and she let it slide down off his arm. “Go wait in the interrogation room.”
He spun around and pushed through the heavy, steel doors that lead to the jail cells. A few minutes later, he led their most recent detainee down the hall and into the interrogation room. Then he locked the suspect’s extra-thick handcuffs to the metal rings on the table. Raven sat with her knees pressed together in a chair in the corner, a notebook on her lap, looking totally out of place in the harsh interrogation room.
The man looked like a criminal, with gaunt features and prison tattoos, but Roric didn’t really have anything to hold the guy on, other than the fact that he wasn’t registered. But he still wanted to squeeze as much information out of him as he could. Humans were being illegally turned into vampires at an alarming rate, and he needed to find out why.
Obsessed with the Vampire: A Paranormal Romance (Vampire Enforcement Agency Book 2) Page 7