The others murmured, some in shock, some in sympathy. It made her curious to hear their stories.
“That was about five weeks ago, so obviously, I’m pretty new to vampirism. I was lucky. A VEA agent found me and took me under his wing. But if it wasn’t for him, I would’ve been all alone. I’m sure a lot of you feel that way, too, like no one in your life can understand what you’re going through. That’s why I started this group, so we can be there for each other.”
More murmurs. This time they all seemed positive.
“Would anyone else be willing to share their story?” She looked pointedly at Houston, hoping he’d help her break the ice. He smirked at her and took the hint.
“I’m Houston, like the city. I just graduated from Texas State with a degree in sports management, and I was out celebrating when I met a hot vampire chick at the bar where Caroline works. We were making out, and she bit me. Caroline went all psycho on her and scared her away.” He grinned as everyone chuckled.
Their openness had encouraged the others, and one by one, each of them told about how they’d been turned. A few had gone through the application process and been turned legally, but most were victims of rogue attacks. Some were angry and resentful, and others had embraced their new identity and seemed fine with what had happened. No one admitted it, but Caroline suspected that a few of them had actively sought out a vampire who was willing to turn them. But so far, no one seemed dangerous or threatening to her or the rest of the group.
By the time everyone told their stories, the meeting had gone on for about an hour. The people seemed to be connecting with each other, at least sympathetically. She had a million more discussion ideas, but she didn’t want to scare them away by forcing too much intimacy just yet, and she didn’t want the meeting to drag on too long. She decided to wrap up the formal discussion and give them a chance to chat with each other, instead.
“I think we’ll stop here, for now, but I’d like us to meet once a week. Does that sound good to everyone?”
They murmured their consent.
“Great, great. Same time next week, then? Feel free to stay and talk. There’s a clipboard where you can put your name and contact information, if you’d like, and I’ll make sure everybody gets a copy.”
They got up, stretching and reaching for snacks and drinks as they started to chat with each other. Caroline smiled and turned to Houston. She wanted to give him a chance to mingle, but she had to ease her mind first. “Thanks for coming. I’ve been worried about you. Are you doing okay? How are your cravings?”
“Yeah, sure. I’m fine. Going through lots of blood bags.” He rolled his eyes and nodded his head towards the bowl of bags on her coffee table. She hoped that was the truth. The fact that he hadn’t thought twice about drinking from her made her worry that he’d go looking for another willing, or not so willing, partner.
Houston glanced around the small apartment. “Where’s Roric? I figured he’d be here on security detail. I can’t believe he’d let you be here alone with all these new vampires.”
Caroline winced and folded her arms across her chest. “When I mentioned the idea, he freaked out, so I let it drop. He doesn’t know I went ahead with it.”
Houston gawked at her, sticking his hands in his back pockets. The move made his pecs stand out against his shirt. He wasn’t as massive as Roric, but still nicely built. He wasn’t as intimidating, either. She figured he’d make a derogatory comment about her relationship with Roric — the whole situation had her questioning their relationship herself — but he didn’t.
“Wow. I’m glad I came, then. The group seems pretty tame, but you didn’t know any of these people beforehand, did you?”
She shook her head and moved towards the table, reaching for a drink, anything to keep her hands busy. She felt uncomfortable, all of a sudden.
“You are one badass, little vampire, Caroline. No wonder he’s protective towards you. You’ll do anything if you think it’s right, won’t you?”
She wasn’t sure if he thought she was brave or just stupid. She didn’t know, either.
She gritted her teeth and waved her hand around at the small crowd. “Why don’t you get to know some people? Make some new friends. You’re the inspiration behind this, you know.”
Houston put a hand on her, stroking it down her forearm. “It seems like I’m the inspiration for a lot of your recent acts of bravery.”
He stared at her, daring her to deny it. She couldn’t, but it wasn’t what he thought, was it? She’d stopped the vampire from attacking him, but she’d acted on instinct. And she turned him before she knew anything about him because it seemed like the only option at the time.
After that, everything else she’d done for him had been out of a sense of obligation. It wasn’t about him, specifically. She would’ve done that for anybody, wouldn’t she?
But the fact that he was young, smart, gorgeous, and interested in her certainly didn’t hurt anything. Did she have an interest in him that went beyond her feelings of responsibility? He was a lot more her type than Roric was.
She was with Roric by default. She had strong feelings for him, but how much of that was because of what they shared — blood, sex, and a dangerous secret? She never would’ve been interested in him as a human. He was a huge, intimidating vampire with control issues and a violent career.
And she didn’t have to be with him anymore. She could take care of herself now. Did she still want to be with him? She’d been upset with him lately, but was it just a bump in the road or a sign of deeper problems?
She wondered what would happen when he found out about this meeting. Would he still be upset even though it went off without a hitch? It would be a good litmus test of whether his biggest concern was her safety or his lack of control.
Houston must’ve sensed what she was thinking. He put his hand on her again, his fingers burning into her skin through the thin fabric of her blouse. “I’m sorry I got upset with you last week. I shouldn’t have jumped you like that. I was out of line. But I like you, Caroline. When you figure out that Roric’s not right for you, will you give me a chance?”
His words only deepened her confusion. Was it really obvious to others that she and Roric didn’t belong together, or was Houston just trying to convince her to go out with him? She gave an uncomfortable smile instead of an answer.
“I should go mingle.” She slipped away and busied herself, talking with as many of the attendees as she could before they left. Houston stuck around, chatting with a few people. Her gaze kept shifting to him, and every time it did, he sensed her looking and glanced her way, giving her a smile.
She felt a little twinge of something she couldn’t explain when he spent a long time talking to the only other girl there around his age, a pretty brunette with bright blue eyes and a bubbly laugh.
He lingered after everyone was gone, helping Caroline put back the chairs, and it felt more relaxed than before. He’d dropped the intense questions and made small talk.
“So, what have you been up to this week?” she asked him. It was a vague question, but it was the only one she could think of that might get her the answers she wanted without upsetting him.
She was still worried about where he’d been getting his blood, but she also wondered if he’d told his family and made any new plans for his life, now that vampirism had derailed his original ones.
“Not much, to be honest. I’m not sure what to do now. I certainly can’t pursue a career as a coach since I can’t go out in the sun.” Houston crumpled up a used piece of aluminum foil and tossed it towards the trash can with a sigh.
Caroline winced as it bounced off something in the can and skittered across the linoleum, derailed, just like his career. His was probably the worst career ever for a vampire. There was no way he could do that now. She felt grateful for once that she worked nights at a bar.
It was challenging being around that many humans, especially when she was first turned and her cravings wer
e so strong, but at least she could still do her job if she was careful. Houston would have to find something totally different. But did that mean he had to totally give up what he loved?
“You know, there’s probably other vampires who like to play sports. Maybe you could start a night league. It might be a good way to meet people.” She picked up the clipboard with the list of the meeting’s attendees, wondering if any of them could be a friend to Houston. She’d have to make sure he got a copy of the list as soon as possible. Maybe she’d suggest he take a picture of it with his phone before he left.
He glanced over her shoulder at the list. “Yeah, I guess I’m gonna need to make some new friends. I told a couple of mine, and they freaked out. I haven’t worked up the nerve to tell my family yet.”
“They might be more understanding than you expect. Not everyone is anti-vampire.” A guy like Houston had to have loving parents, maybe even aunts, uncles, and cousins who would be there for him.
“That’s true. I saw your friend, Piper, again. She seems pretty cool with it.” He laughed and smiled and blushed a little like there was way more to the story than he was telling.
Caroline froze, her hand crushing a bag of potato chips. “You saw Piper?”
“Yeah, I hung out at her place after I left your bar last weekend. She’s pretty awesome. Thanks for introducing us.”
A cold finger streaked down her spine. He’d gone to Piper’s house when his craving was out of control? Had Piper fed him? She did it at the clinic, but that was different than being alone in her apartment with him.
Did they have sex? Her feelings about that were way too complicated to sort out, but she had bigger worries.
What if he’d hurt her? Vampires were so much stronger than humans, and Houston was too young to know how to control himself. What if he’d gone too far and drained her? What if he’d changed her? A million conflicting emotions raced through her body, lighting up every nerve ending and making her stomach roll.
She hadn’t heard from Piper all week. That wasn’t unusual, but she would’ve expected her to call her about something like this. She needed to talk to Piper. Now.
Chapter 21
Something was up. Roric didn’t know what, but tension ate at his gut, making it churn. He tried to figure out what was bothering him as he drove towards the Agency, his hand thumping nervously against the steering wheel in time to the classic rock coming from the radio.
Caroline had been acting kind of weird all week. She was there every night — they ate, they drank, they had sex, they talked — but something wasn’t quite right, and he couldn’t figure out what it was, let alone what to do about it.
Plus, things had been intensifying with the rogue vamps lately, and it was taking all his time and attention. Last week’s attack at the dance club had been the first time he’d seen a group of rogues planning an attack and working together. Half a dozen of them had scoped out the dance club, stalking the humans.
According to the eyewitness reports, they’d each picked a victim and then attacked at the same time, biting them, injecting their venom, then forcing the victims to drink their blood to complete the change. Then they spurred the new vampires to start attacking other humans in the club.
By the time he and his agents arrived, dozens of people had been turned, and quite a few more had been bitten. The vampires who started it had all disappeared in the melee. It was a total shit storm.
The words of the vampire who’d attacked Caroline played over and over again in his mind. The rogue had implied that vamps like him would soon outnumber law-abiding vampires and humans wouldn’t be able to stop them. If they started planning mass attacks like the one at the club, it wouldn’t be long before that vision came true.
Roric wished he could’ve interrogated him more, but someone within the Agency had murdered him in cold blood in his cell. Was it revenge for something, or was someone trying to shut him up? Roric didn’t know, and he hated that it left him feeling suspicious of everyone.
He scanned the streets of Modesa as he drove, the scene shifting before him as he imagined the quaint city as a war-torn rubble instead of his beloved hometown. There were small pockets of vampires all over the world, but Modesa was home to the largest vampire population in the US. That number was increasing rapidly as new vampires showed up every day. And for every new vamp who registered at the clinic, there were probably several more who didn’t.
Before, the Agency had been mostly a figurehead of authority. It’s existence had been enough to satisfy the humans that someone was policing the vampires. But rarely was his team called upon to enforce justice. Now, though, they were busy every day with reports of rogue activity. They were already struggling to keep up.
What would happen if the rogues started turning humans en masse? Were they planning a war? How would the humans respond if the vampires got out of control?
A vampire could take a human, no problem, but humans outnumbered vampires a million to one. If they decided they needed to eradicate vampires, they’d find a way to do it. Roric had no idea how to prevent it from happening except to catch as many rogues as he could before things got out of control.
He stalked into the Agency with a seed of an idea growing in his head and headed for the briefing room. His heavy boots thudded as he paced back and forth, going over his plan while the other agents meandered in, getting coffee and chatting casually with each other. None of them seemed to be as concerned about the issue as they should be. Maybe they needed a wake-up call.
When the clock struck 8pm, Roric slammed a fist down on the podium, vibrating the wood, calling everyone to attention even though a few agents hadn’t shown up yet. “Alright team, as I’m sure you’re aware, the rogue vampires are starting to work together and plan their attacks, which means we need to be more proactive, as well. Instead of waiting for something to happen, we’re going on the offensive, starting now.”
His gruff voice and penetrating gaze had them all shifting in their seats. Even Serena, the receptionist, who normally tidied up the counter, made more coffee, then went back to her desk, stopped what she was doing and stared at him. Usually, he was a lot calmer than this, and these briefings were more of a formality, than anything. But they couldn’t afford to be lackadaisical anymore.
“Clubs are a great place for rogues to attack because the chaos makes it easy for them to lure victims, attack, and get away without drawing much attention to themselves. Since the clubs should be full tonight, I’m pairing you up and assigning each of you a club to focus on. I want you to go in undercover. Hide your weapons, mingle, pretend you’re having a good time. But keep an eye out for any potential rogues. You see anything suspicious, you call it in, and everyone else will swarm the club and make their presence known.”
The group seemed to like the idea. He quickly paired them up and assigned each duo one of the more popular local clubs. He didn’t have enough agents to cover every place, but he picked the ones he thought were most likely to be struck. When the agents headed out, he felt more confident than he had in weeks.
Raven came up to him as soon as the room cleared out. She held up a flyer that said, “Support group for new vampires.” Roric blinked and leaned closer like a few inches would make a difference. He could read the flyer just fine; he just couldn’t believe what it said. The meeting was that night, and the address was familiar — 428 East Elam Avenue, Landen Apartments. When he saw the apartment number listed below that, Roric grabbed the flyer from Raven, scrunching it in his clenched fist.
“I saw this hanging up at the clinic earlier today. I was thinking about going. When I asked the receptionist about it, she said Caroline was organizing it. Why didn’t you say anything to me about it?”
Roric snarled up at Raven, and she gasped and jerked back. His whole face felt like it was on fire, and the muscles in his neck were so tight, they were cutting off his airway.
“Because I didn’t know about it!” he roared and crumpled the paper into a bal
l then hurled it across the room. Raven jumped and took a step back.
So that was what it was. He knew something was up with Caroline. She was too calm, too quiet. It was because she was going behind his back and doing exactly what he told her not to do!
Not only had she invited a bunch of unknown, new vampires into her home, but she’d done it without his knowledge so he couldn’t even be there to protect her. Wait a minute, when was the meeting? He stomped over to the corner where the balled-up flyer had landed and grabbed it, trying not to shred it as he unwadded it with hands still shaking with anger.
The meeting was tonight, and it was starting in less than half an hour. He still had time to get there. He grabbed his keys off his desk and stomped out to his cruiser, leaving Raven in his dust.
He was just about to turn into the apartment complex when his phone rang. He yanked it out of his pocket and jabbed at the button as soon as he saw the name on the screen.
Taven bellowed, “Bro, the bartender at Jazzy’s just called me. You need to get all the agents down there, now.”
Roric jerked the wheel, pulling his car sideways into a parking spot. Taven was off duty tonight. He wasn’t assigned to one of the clubs. And Jazzy’s hadn’t made the list, anyway. It was smaller, less popular. What were the odds that the rogues had picked one of the few clubs he hadn’t assigned anyone to?
Roric swore and hung up the phone then quickly alerted his agents to head to Jazzy’s. He looked at Caroline’s apartment for half a second before peeling out of the parking lot. If anything happened to her tonight, he’d kill himself, but he couldn’t ignore Taven’s distress call. Something bad was already happening at Jazzy’s, and he needed to be there.
Thankfully, he was only a few blocks away from the club. He didn’t see any other cruisers in the lot when he got there, but people were streaming out of the old building. He squealed to a stop in front of the entrance, not bothering to find an empty parking spot, then dashed inside.
Obsessed with the Vampire: A Paranormal Romance (Vampire Enforcement Agency Book 2) Page 15