“It doesn’t matter now,” Nicholai said smoothly. “I’ll call Stephan’s penthouse later and catch up with Marcus.”
“Very well. Listen, you should know, depending on what Stephan and I uncover, we may need to call in the Alpha Council so be prepared to come to Wyoming if we need you.”
The Alpha Council consisted of six of the biggest, baddest vampires the world had ever known. The Special Forces group of the vampire world, their fighting skills and intelligence were unmatched. Vampires had a policing agency called the Vampire Enforcement Squad or VES, but the Alphas were another entity altogether. They had fought together for centuries, and the Council put an end to any vampire deemed a risk to the breed or to humans.
“Have you contacted the VES? What do they have to say?” Nicholai inquired.
Demetri hesitated. “No. I haven’t contacted the Vampire Enforcement Squad yet.”
“Would you like me to call Agent Bolovich and try to find out if they have any information about the attacks?”
“No!” Demetri responded a little too quickly.
Nicholai barely contained a chuckle. The last time Demetri had seen Tatiana Bolovich, they had not parted on great terms. They’d all worked together to rescue Marcus’s heartmate, Christina. In the process, Demetri had accidentally knifed Tatiana, and something had happened between them afterward. For when his cousin returned to Marcus’s home, he was walking funny, and Nicholai barely caught a glimpse of Tatiana kneeing Demetri in the family jewels before his cousin erected a mental barrier to keep Nicholai from seeing more.
Demetri took a deep breath. “Until we know for sure whether or not it is an animal attack, Stephan and I do not think it is a good idea to involve…”
Demetri stopped mid-sentence. Nicholai knew a second of concern, afraid his cousin might have run into the attacking beast.
Demetri quickly dispelled the alarm when he muttered, “The blonde that just walked by is gorgeous. I could really take a bite out of that. I wouldn’t mind having her in my bed. I bet she’d be a tiger.”
Nicholai laughed. “Demetri, you do realize you said that out loud.”
“Yes, but I said it so quietly no human would hear.” Demetri laughed. “I couldn’t help it, cousin. Sometimes when they look that good, you have to say something.”
A smirk grazed Nicholai’s lips. “Sounds like you found something interesting. Tell me about her. What does she look like?”
“She’s beautiful. Long blonde hair, tiny little body, curves in all the right places. And with those golden eyes, she looks scrumptious.”
“Sounds like your type, Demetri.”
“She certainly is,” he agreed. “I better go now. Duty might have to wait. I don’t have much time. Dawn approaches.”
The line went dead, and Nicholai jammed the phone into his pocket. It appeared his cousin might get lucky, and he wouldn’t mind doing the same with a certain brown-haired beauty sitting in his restaurant.
Chapter 13
Elizabeth noticed the large muscular man coming her way. How could she not? He was almost as large as Varrick, and men that size were few and far between. His cold, gray eyes raked over her like a predator. She moved to the side, giving him room to pass, when a strange odor assaulted her nose.
Elizabeth forced a breath through her nostrils to clear the aroma. Thankfully, it faded as she approached her car. She climbed into the vehicle and sat for a moment, wrapped tightly in her little blue parka.
She should get back to the compound. She’d snuck out while Varrick was off doing his courtly duties. Her original intention had been to grab a quick bite of breakfast while getting respite from the Demon King, but now that her tummy was full, a day of shopping called to her. Surely, Varrick would be busy for hours and wouldn’t miss her. She could hit a box store until the mall opened. Elizabeth noted the time on the console display. Plenty of time to get in some much needed retail therapy and still make it back in time for dinner.
A smile took Elizabeth’s face, and she pulled the car from the curb.
****
Nicholai returned from his phone call and chatted companionably with Julie and Penny until long after their table had been cleared of dishes. Now only the three of them remained in the place.
Penny glanced around the room. “Where did everybody go?”
“We closed two hours ago,” Nicholai volunteered. “Even the staff went home.”
Julie glanced at her watch.
“Wow!” Her eyes widened in disbelief. “I didn’t realize how late it had gotten.”
Nicholai shot her a wry grin. “It is amazing how fast time runs when you are in the presence of beautiful women.”
Julie and Penny giggled.
“I believe you mean how fast time flies,” offered Penny.
“Yes. That is it. How fast time flies.” A deep chuckle rumbled in his chest. “Forgive me. Sometimes my English gets a little mixed up.”
Julie stood. “We should be going.”
Nicholai leapt to his feet, grabbed the coat from the back of Julie’s chair, and held it for her. After nestling the trench onto her shoulders, he took the liberty of wrapping his hands around her hair and pulled it out from beneath the coat. The brunette locks cascaded down onto her shoulders as the soft strands flowed through his fingers.
After helping Penny on with her coat, as well, Nicholai pulled his own on and grabbed an umbrella from behind the bar. He fished the keys from his jeans pocket then escorted the women outside, pausing long enough to flick off the lights and lock the door behind them.
“Come, ladies. I will escort you to your hotel.”
Julie gestured toward the umbrella hanging from his wrist. “Why did you bring an umbrella?”
“You will see,” he replied cryptically. “You never know. It might just snow or something.”
As if on cue, flakes began to fall from the sky. Heavy, wet, slushy flakes. Nicholai smoothly opened the umbrella and raised it above their heads, then pulled Julie beneath his arm.
“You need to scoot in close, ladies. It is barely big enough for the three of us.”
His broad shoulders took up most of the space under the umbrella, and Julie was only too happy to snuggle tightly against him. A thrilled traveled through her at being so close to him, and she wondered if Penny felt the same. His masculinity wrapped her in warmth and protection.
“So tell me,” he began. “Where are you staying?”
“We are staying at the inn. At the end of Main Street.”
“Very good choice. I know the owner there.”
“We’ve met her, too. She seems nice.”
“Absolutely. She is one of the sweetest ladies I know, next to the two of you, of course.”
Though Nicholai seemed to have shortened his gait to match the women’s, their strides ate up the distance much too quickly for Julie’s liking, and all too soon they arrived at the front stairs of the inn.
Nicholai slid his arm from around Juliette’s shoulders and ran his fingers down the length of her limb, where he captured her hand in his. When their eyes met, he smiled a warm grin that reached the corners of his amber eyes. “I would very much like to see you again.”
Excitement tickled her tummy. Juliette looked up at him from under her thick lashes. “I would like that.”
“Would you come to dinner with me tomorrow evening?”
Juliette glanced over his shoulder at her friend, who nodded her head up and down so furiously Juliette thought she might bruise her brain.
“Yes.” Julie flashed him a big smile. “I’d be happy to go to dinner with you.”
“My dear, you have made my heart sing. I will pick you up here at seven o’clock tomorrow evening if that works for you.”
“Yes, that will be fine. I’m looking forward to it,” Julie volunteered.
“As am I.” Nicholai lifted her hand to his lips. “Until tomorrow, sweet Juliette.” His warm breath whispered across her hand as he spoke before his lips brushed the s
oftest kiss on the back of it.
Julie gave him a little wave, then closed the door to the inn.
After greeting the young lady behind the registration counter, the women climbed the stairs. As they reached the top, Penny linked her arm with Julie’s.
“You’re coming into my room,” she commanded, then opened the door and pulled Julie inside. The two women kicked their shoes off and sat down cross-legged on Penny’s bed.
Penny spoke first. “He is absolutely gorgeous.”
“I know. I can’t believe he asked me out for dinner.”
“Are you kidding me, I can’t believe he didn’t ask you to snog him, what with the way he looked at you all night.”
Julie lightly smacked her friend’s arm in jest. “Oh please. I didn’t notice him looking at me like that.”
“Oh, come on, Julie. He looked like he could eat you up.”
Juliette allowed a small smile to grace her face. “He did seem like he was interested. Didn’t he?”
“Interested?” Penny scoffed in disbelief. “No. Not interested. I’d say more like enthralled.” A blush heated Julie’s cheeks before Penny continued. “If you hadn’t agreed to go out with him, I would have throttled you right then and there on the sidewalk.”
Juliette laughed. “I could tell. Who could have missed you nodding behind his back like that? I thought your head would come off, you nodded so hard.”
“Well, how else was I supposed to make sure you said yes?” Penny crossed her arms over her chest. “So, where do you think he will take you for dinner tomorrow night?”
Sympathy brought a concerned expression to Julie’s face. “Oh, Penny. I’m so sorry. I didn’t think about that.”
“Whatever do you mean?”
“I didn’t think about you. What are you going to do for dinner?”
“Oh, honey, don’t you worry about me. I can take care of myself. I’ll find myself some supper. It’s not a problem. I want you to go out with him and have the time of your life.” Penny patted Julie’s leg reassuringly. “Have fun. You deserve it. Perhaps a fling with a sexy Russian is exactly what you need after mourning Steve and the girls these past three years.”
Julie’s first instinct was to protest, but she had to admit, Penny was right. Her bestie was so kind, encouraging her to go out. She felt thankful to have a friend like her. She couldn’t ask for a truer friend.
A horrific thought made her eyes enlarge. “Oh my gosh! What am I going to wear?”
“Don’t worry. I’ll help you find something. Let’s go into your room and look at what you brought. If you can’t find anything you like in your closet, we can always go shopping first thing in the morning.”
More shopping sounded exhausting. Juliette liked shopping as much as the next girl, but being in the GUM for the past two days had just about equaled her spending quota for the year. Juliette stretched and gave a big yawn. “Can we put off the wardrobe check until tomorrow? It’s late, and I’m really tired. I want to brush my teeth and crawl into bed.”
Penny mimicked her yawn. “Yeah, might be a good idea. I’m tired, too.”
Julie stood, picked up her shoes, and headed to the door adjoining their rooms. “Good night,” she called over her shoulder when she opened it.
“Good night, sleep tight. Don’t let the handsome, Russian bedbugs bite.” Penny giggled when Julie closed the door with a soft click.
Juliette shucked her clothes in record time then piled them in her suitcase. She slipped into her nightgown, brushed her teeth, and washed her face. The cotton sheets on the bed, cool and inviting, welcomed her as she tucked herself in. When she closed her eyes, an image came to mind—a handsome Russian with dark hair and amber eyes whose sensuous smile was so hot Juliette feared it would melt her heart. She couldn’t wait to see him again tomorrow. His courtly manners made her feel special. The awareness that her dream man was real and wanted to see her again made a contented sigh pass through her lips. The thought played in her mind while she drifted off to sleep.
Chapter 14
Having just finished some therapeutic shopping in Mason’s Bluff, Elizabeth crawled into her car and brought the engine to life. Her gaze scanned the passenger seat where hiking boots sat at the ready.
Normally, she adored hikes. Something about being out in the wild, communing with nature, felt right. The wilderness called to something deep within her soul. Being in the woods brought out her baser instincts. She slept better, lived better after she’d been on a brisk hike.
However, tonight a definite urgency spurred the hike. She’d lost track of time in the mall, and now the sun was setting. Varrick must have discovered she wasn’t in the compound. He would be furious with her for not informing anyone where she intended to go.
Elizabeth hit the heater in the Volkswagen, trying to take the chill from her bones, though whether it was from the cold outside or the fear of Varrick’s ire, she couldn’t be sure. It wasn’t far to the hiking trail that would take her back up the mountain to the compound, perhaps twenty minutes. Just enough time for the interior of her car to get toasty warm. She shook off her hood and unzipped her parka.
Elizabeth’s car quickly ate up the miles to the trail. After parking, she glanced back at the purchases she’d made.
Better to leave them for another day, she decided. Varrick will have enough to be upset about without seeing how much I spent today. I’ll send a guard down to retrieve them tomorrow.
She jogged around the car and sat in the passenger seat. With the ease of having done so on a hundred other occasions, she laced up her boots, then zipped her parka, and took off at a brisk pace down the trail.
The frosty mountain air nipped her cheeks as she marched along the uneven ground. Each heavy breath burned her lungs, but the pain made her feel alive. She reveled in the cold on her body. The air smelled fresh, cleaned by the recent rain. With each breath, she took a bit of the forest into her very being, at one with the outdoors.
Elizabeth listened to a bird sing its evening melody in a nest cradled high above in the branches of a maple tree. The pine trees swayed around her in the light breeze, their thick needles a striking contrast to the bare oaks and maples that surrounded them.
As minutes turned to hours and the trail disappeared, the moonlight created changing shadows on the forest floor. The gray and silvery tones cast a wintry glow over the land. The temperature dropped, and Elizabeth cupped her hands in front of her mouth and blew. She should have reached the compound by now. Darkness closed in, and she realized she was lost. A shiver ran through her as much from the cold as from fear.
Elizabeth plunged up the mountainside recklessly with a painful stitch in her side and her body shaking. The pain had hit her sooner than she expected because of the steep elevation. She held her waist and continued up the mountain, her shaky steps faltering with fatigue. She’d lost track of time, but it seemed like she had been hiking forever. Though her body shook from the cold, she was numb.
Her golden eyes searched the forest for a hint of a trail, something that indicated she headed in the correct bearing. She’d always had a natural sense of direction, but here in the freezing temperature, she’d gotten confused, unsure of which way to go. The ground, covered in a fresh snowfall, held no recognizable landmarks.
She slowed her pace, wiping the sweat from her brow, as she turned a circle to take stock of her surroundings. Eerily similar trees, with their attenuated bodies, surrounded her in stark contrast to the lush green pines. The fresh carpet of snow lay pristine in little mounds with only her footprints to mar it. If a path had been there for Elizabeth to discover, it was efficiently covered by the unspoiled snow, leaving Elizabeth to run aimlessly through the forest.
The compound can’t be much farther. You can do this. Keep going. Elizabeth encouraged herself as her boots caught on an immovable mound.
The rock, covered completely by the snow, had escaped her notice until her leg twisted. Now it had her full attention as pain travel from
her ankle to lodge in her brain.
“Damn it!” she cried, hopping on one foot, grabbing her injured ankle.
Sparing a moment, Elizabeth rolled her foot, testing the ankle’s range of motion. It moved; it burned like fire, but it moved.
“Not broken, maybe sprained though,” she observed aloud, gingerly putting her foot down and testing her weight on the injury.
Elizabeth needed to keep going. She needed to keep moving, keep going forward, get to the…get to.
Her thoughts wavered. Where was she heading? What did she need to do? Her mind clouded like the puffs of her breath in the air, pretty puffy clouds that danced in front of her eyes, disappearing in time for her to create another one. One after the other, cloud after cloud. Did that one have a shape? Perhaps she could make a cloud ring.
Her uncle blew smoke rings with his pipe. Pipes smelled good, she liked pipes, but she didn’t smoke. Smoking was bad, she learned that in school. School was fun. She liked gym class the best because she liked to run.
Her thoughts ping-ponged around her brain. Elizabeth found it difficult to focus, to concentrate. Automation alone made her step forward. As she did, the pain radiating from her ankle brought her mind into sharper focus. She needed to get up the mountain, find the compound, and find Varrick. Sheer determination kept her moving through each painful step as she struggled to remain on task.
****
Varrick stepped out of the infirmary and ran his fingers through his hair. Demons were highly susceptible to disease, and that more than anything kept their mortality rates high. They were capable of living a long time, much longer than a human, if they remained healthy. However, every exposure to humans brought the possibility of death wrapped in an invisible package called virus. He needed to discover how to protect his people, to save them.
It was a heavy burden on his shoulders, being responsible for an entire race, watching helplessly as young and old died. A burden he’d shouldered alone for decades, but now he had a mate to ease him, help him rule, lift him up when everything bore down on him. It was too good to be true. He needed to hold his mate in his arms, feel she was real.
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