“We’ve decided to teleport back to Kansas City,” Robby announced. “We believe Casimir will still be in the vicinity, mainly because his new buddy, Otis, will be there, looking for Olivia.”
Olivia frowned. “I suppose you need to use me as bait to draw him out.”
“Nay,” Robby said quickly. “I’d rather come up with another option.” He took her hand. “But for now, we’re moving to Barker’s office at the FBI building.”
“I’m coming with you,” J.L. insisted. “I don’t know how to teleport yet, but I do know how to fence.”
They armed themselves. Robby made sure Olivia had a dagger in addition to her pistol.
He slipped on some gloves, so he could load her pistol with silver bullets. “These willna kill a vampire, ye ken, but it will hurt like hell and slow them down.”
“Thank you.” She snapped her gun into her holster.
He stuffed a silver chain into one of the pockets of his black cargo pants. He’d learned months ago that he could teleport with the chain as long as it didn’t touch his bare skin or wasn’t wrapped around him. “This could be the night. If I can get this chain around Casimir, he willna be able to escape.”
“And you’ll finally have the revenge you’ve wanted for so long.” Olivia touched his face. “Be careful, I couldn’t bear to lose you.”
He kissed her brow. “Lass, ye’re going to be stuck with me for a long, long time.”
She called her supervisor on the speakerphone. Robby teleported her to Barker’s office, and Connor brought J.L. Angus and Emma arrived with Carlos.
Barker grinned when he saw J.L. and slapped him on the back. “You’re looking good.”
“Thanks.” J.L. peered into the main office. “Everybody’s gone home.”
“Yep.” Barker led them all into the larger outer office. “They think all the escaped prisoners are accounted for. Of course, Otis is still out there. Any ideas for finding him?”
“Maybe Yasmine used her debit card again.” J.L. headed for his work area. “I’ll check.”
“I’ll help.” Olivia followed him.
“Do you know how many vampires we’re up against?” Barker asked.
Robby sighed. They’d compared notes earlier about the battle in the storage unit. Three Malcontents had managed to teleport away in addition to Casimir and Otis. “We believe they have a total of five, but Casimir could have had more of his followers teleport in.”
The Vamps had five vampires, including J.L., plus two shape-shifters and Olivia.
“We could call in reinforcements,” Emma suggested. “Jack, Ian, Dougal, and Jean-Luc would be happy to help.”
“Let’s do that,” Angus told her, and she pulled out her cell phone to make the calls.
Robby glanced at Olivia. She was at her work station, turning on her computer. “I willna allow Olivia to be used as bait. Otis may have learned how to teleport. If he gets his hands on her, there’s no telling where he might take her. We would never find her.”
Jack and the others appeared. Robby introduced them to Barker, and Angus brought them up to date.
“Robby!” Olivia called from her desk. “I just received an e-mail from Yasmine.”
He dashed over to her, followed by the others.
“It was sent via a BlackBerry,” Olivia explained. “She wrote, ‘Help me, Olivia. They will kill me. I’m texting so they won’t hear. Come to the old warehouse at Pier 6 by the river.’”
“’Tis a trap,” Connor grumbled.
“Aye. Otis will be there waiting for you,” Robby told Olivia. “We canna let you go.”
She frowned. “I’m not helpless, you know.”
“Ye’re no match for a vampire,” Robby argued. “They dinna let Yasmine call ’cause they dinna want us using her voice to teleport.”
“I’ve located an office on Pier 6,” J.L. said as he typed on his keypad. “We can call the number and teleport there.”
Angus patted him on the back. “Lad, ye’re going to fit right in at MacKay S and I.”
J.L. smiled. “Just let me hitch a ride with one of you.”
Olivia sighed. “And what am I supposed to do?”
“I’ll stay here with you,” Barker said.
“Verra well.” Robby stepped back and drew his sword. “Call the number on speakerphone, J.L.”
All the Vamps drew their swords and waited for the beacon to teleport. The phone rang.
“Be careful,” Olivia told Robby.
He smiled. “Doona fash. I’m finally getting my revenge.”
“Kansas City Exports,” a female voice answered the phone. “How may I help you?”
Robby and his eight companions teleported, landing in a small office with a shrieking woman. Angus quickly erased her memory, and they all dashed from the office building. They headed toward the old warehouse.
Angus silently divided them into three groups of three, then they slipped inside. Angus took his group to the right, Jack veered to the left with his group, and Robby led Connor and J.L. down the wide path in the center.
Dim lights shone overhead with dust motes dancing in the weak, golden glow. The air was musty and stale. Robby passed rows of stacked wooden crates and boxes, then came to an open area in the center of the warehouse.
On the far side of the open area, close to a double stack of crates, Yasmine sat tied up in a chair. Definitely a trap. She couldn’t have sent the text to Olivia with her hands tied behind her back.
A clash of swords sounded on the right, then another clash on the left. Angus’s and Jack’s groups were under attack.
Robby slowly advanced into the open area with Connor and J.L.
Yasmine spotted them. “Help! They’re going to kill me!”
“That’s what you said last time!” J.L. yelled back.
“I’m sorry,” she wailed. “The prisoners said they would kill me if I didn’t find someone else for the vampires to feed on.”
“So you chose me?” J.L. glared at her.
“Please!” Yasmine cried. “I’m so scared. I didn’t know Otis would become a vampire!”
“Doona approach her, lad,” Connor said.
“Don’t worry,” J.L. grumbled. “I’ll never trust her again.”
Yasmine’s desperate look vanished and she glared coldly at them. “Where’s Olivia? I promised him Olivia.”
“He will never have her,” Robby said.
Yasmine lifted her chin. “Fine by me. She’ll never love Otis like I do. I can make him happy—”
“You stupid bitch!” Otis zoomed from behind the crates and backhanded Yasmine across the face. “You failed me again.”
“Otis,” she cried. “I’ll do anything for you.”
J.L. charged toward Otis, but he teleported away just as J.L. lifted his sword. “Damn!”
Yasmine laughed. “You’ll never catch him. He’s too smart for you.”
Connor ran behind the crates to see if another vampire was hiding there.
J.L. gave Yasmine an incredulous look. “What is your problem? How can you help a monster like that?”
“Otis needs me. He said I was different from the others. He said I was special. He hates other women, but he loves me.”
J.L. scoffed. “He loves Olivia.”
“No!” Yasmine struggled against her ropes. “He said I would be with him forever. All I had to do was help him drive Olivia crazy.”
“You’re the crazy one!” J.L. yelled.
“Enough.” Robby held up a hand. The clashing of swords in the distance had stopped. He pivoted, searching the warehouse, then focused on Yasmine. “Is Casimir here?”
She glowered at him. “Why should I tell you anything? Otis hates you. I told him Olivia was dating you, and that’s when he had me put the apples in her apartment to punish her. I’m the one who really loves him. When he realizes that, he’ll change me into a vampire. Not Olivia. And then we’ll be together forever.”
“He’s just using you, Yasmine,” J.L. mutte
red.
Connor emerged from behind the crates. “It’s clear.”
“He loves me!” Yasmine shouted. “Otis loves me.”
“Enough, woman!” Connor shot a vampire mind zap at her, and she slumped unconscious in her chair.
“Wow,” J.L. whispered. “I need to learn how to do that.”
Connor shrugged. “’Twill no’ make you verra popular with the ladies.”
The other Vamps ran into the open area.
“We killed two,” Angus reported.
“We killed one,” Jack said.
“Bravo,” a voice said from above. Casimir stepped off a rafter far overhead and floated down to land on top of the crates. He held his sword in his right hand. His long coat didn’t hide the fact that his left arm was bent in an unnatural way. His left hand was gloved and curled up against his chest. “It only took nine of you to kill three of my men. How very brave of you.”
Robby reached a gloved hand into his pocket to grab hold of the silver chain. He teleported to the top of the crates and whipped the chain out.
Casimir pointed his sword at him. “Do you think you’ll get revenge? The joke is on you, MacKay. I found a new way to torture you, and the wound will cut deep. You see, Otis stole the Asian’s cell phone last night while I was feeding on him.”
J.L. felt his pockets. “He’s right. It’s gone.”
Casimir chuckled. “I wonder if the lovely Olivia will answer a phone call from her friend? If she has, Otis has already teleported there.”
Robby’s blood turned cold.
“What will you do, Robby?” Casimir sneered. “You can make a feeble attempt to kill me, or you can rush back to your woman and discover you were too late to save her.”
Olivia was pacing in Barker’s office, waffling between anger and anxiety. She was worried about Robby and J.L., but also angry that they hadn’t allowed her to go with them.
“Relax,” Barker said from behind his desk. “They’ll be fine.”
“J.L. isn’t used to being a vampire yet. He shouldn’t be fighting so soon.” Her cell phone rang, and she checked the caller. “Oh my gosh, it’s J.L.”
She flipped the phone open. “Hello?” She shot Barker a worried look. “J.L.? Are you there?”
“I’m right here, darling.”
She gasped and spun around. Otis was in the office, holding J.L.’s phone.
“Shame on you, darling.” Otis affected an injured look. “You were supposed to come to the warehouse. But lucky for me, I had another way to find you.”
She dropped her phone and drew her weapon.
Barker jumped to his feet, aiming his pistol.
Otis tossed the phone on the floor and stepped toward her. “Now, at last, we can be together.”
Barker shot at him, but Otis vanished. Olivia spun around, looking for him.
She heard Barker gasp. His face contorted in pain, then he slumped to the floor. Otis was standing in his place with a bloodied knife in his hand.
“They left you poorly protected, didn’t they?” He wedged the knife under his belt.
Rage exploded in Olivia. She fired her gun. And missed.
Otis had moved out of the way at vampire speed, his body zooming across the room in a blur. He knocked the gun from her hand. She jumped back and drew her dagger.
Otis smiled. “You like knives, too? I knew we were perfect for each other.”
She lunged forward, stabbing at his chest, but again he vanished. He was suddenly behind her, yanking her up against his chest and ripping the dagger from her hand.
She elbowed him in the ribs and stomped on his foot. When his hold loosened, she broke free and ran for her dagger on the floor.
He tackled her from behind, slamming her onto the carpet. Before she could catch her breath, he flipped her over. She swung punches at his face, but he grabbed her wrists and pinned her arms down.
“At last.” He breathed heavily. “I’ll make you mine forever.” He reared his head back and his fangs sprang out.
She kneed him in the balls. He hissed, and lifted her up just to slam her back onto the floor.
Pain shot through her skull. Her vision cleared in time to see him drawing closer to her neck. She struggled, but he was too damned strong.
He flinched and pulled back. “What?” He regarded her with horror. “You’ve been marked. You let someone else bite you?”
“I’ll never be yours. Never,” she hissed.
“You bitch!” He pulled his knife from his belt.
A silver chain was suddenly looped around Otis’s neck and he cried out in pain. The knife tumbled from his hand.
Robby yanked the chain tighter, and Otis’s skin sizzled. He hauled Otis off her. Otis flailed his arms, trying to reach Robby behind him.
“His knife,” Robby growled. He yanked Otis to his feet, still squeezing him around the neck with the silver chain.
She spotted Otis’s knife on the floor beside her, grabbed it and scrambled to her feet. “This is for all the women you tortured and killed!” She plunged it into his chest.
He turned to dust.
She dropped the knife to the floor. Robby dropped the chain and pulled her into his arms.
She held him tight. Even so, she started to shake.
“’Tis over, sweetheart.” He hugged her. “He’ll never threaten you again.”
“Is it really over? Did you kill Casimir?”
“Nay. I left him to save you.” Robby kissed the top of her head. “I couldna bear to lose you.”
A moan sounded behind the desk.
“Oh my gosh, Barker!” Olivia skirted the desk and found him on the floor. Blood oozed from his wound.
He blinked up at her. “You’re all right?”
“Yes.” She fumbled for the phone on his desk. “I’ll call an ambulance.”
Robby stopped her. “Ye may no’ need to. Barker, will ye heal if ye shift?”
“I think so. But I’ve lost a lot of blood.” He winced. “I’m sorry, Olivia. I wasn’t much help. I passed out.”
She squeezed his arm. “Don’t apologize.”
More Vamps appeared in the room.
J.L. ran toward Olivia and Barker. “Are you guys okay?”
“Otis stabbed Barker in the back,” Olivia told him.
Connor stepped forward. “I can teleport him to a Vamp doctor in Houston. We’ll make sure he heals properly.”
“Oh, thank you,” Olivia said.
Connor gathered Barker up and vanished.
Olivia gave J.L. a hug. “I was worried about you. Did you find Yasmine?”
“Oh yeah.” He made a face. “The woman’s crazy. We called the police to come get her.”
“What happened to Casimir?” Robby asked.
Angus sighed. “The bastard teleported away right after ye did.” He motioned to the pile of dust on the floor. “I gather this was Otis?”
“Aye. Olivia killed him.” Robby smiled at her.
“We did it together.” She stepped into his arms.
He hugged her tight. “We make a fearsome couple.”
Angus chuckled and nudged his wife. “I think we’ll have some wee bairns in the family soon.”
Emma grinned. “Oh, I hope so.”
Robby scoffed. “Do ye mind if we get married first?”
Olivia touched his cheek. “Are you proposing?”
“No’ here.” He kissed her brow. “But I know the perfect place.”
She smiled. “It’s a date.”
EPILOGUE
Patmos, one week later…
Olivia sat at the kitchen table in her grandmother’s house, nervously awaiting her Yia Yia’s reaction. Eleni Sotiris was staring into space with a stunned expression. It wasn’t every day that you heard your granddaughter was in love with a vampire.
Eleni had been thrilled when Olivia had suddenly arrived early in June. She’d been even more thrilled that Olivia was leaving the FBI. But this latest news shocked Eleni so much, Olivia felt her gran
dmother go blank for a few minutes.
“Are you sure?” Eleni asked. “Some people just have very pointy teeth.”
“I’m sure. I know it comes as a shock, but it’s true.”
Eleni sighed. “I can sense you’re telling the truth.” Her emotions took a dark turn, with disbelief and suspicion swirling around her. “He’s not hurting you, is he?”
“No, he’s a sweet and gentle man.”
“How can that be? Isn’t he some kind of demon?”
“No. Robby was dying on a battlefield when his grandfather transformed him. He was a good, honorable man, and he still is. His death couldn’t change who he is.”
Eleni pursed her lips. “I thought vampires were evil.”
“Some of them are. An evil person will turn into an evil vampire. Actually, I suspect they become even more evil. All that extra power goes to their head.”
“He’s not a devil worshipper, is he?”
Olivia snorted. “No. He was raised Roman Catholic. And he says he’s willing to become Greek Orthodox.”
“Oh.” Eleni’s aura of suspicion cleared away. “That’s good news.”
“And we can still have children.”
“What?” A surge of joy emanated from Eleni. “Why didn’t you say so from the beginning? Of course we’ll welcome your young man into the family.”
Olivia exhaled with relief. “Thank you. It’ll mean a lot to Robby that you’ve accepted him.”
Eleni waved a hand in dismissal. “I always knew he was the man for you.”
“I thought you had your hopes up for Spiro.”
Eleni shrugged. “Spiro ran off last month to get married.” She winced. “To Dimitrios.”
Olivia laughed. “I’m going to meet Robby on the beach after sunset. I can bring him back here if you like.”
“Of course!” Eleni bustled over to the refrigerator. “What would he like to eat?”
“He doesn’t eat, Yia Yia. He drinks synthetic blood out of a bottle every night.”
“You mean you won’t have to cook for him?” Eleni shut the fridge door, smiling. “That is perfect for you, child. I’m afraid you were never much of a cook.”
Olivia hugged her grandmother. “Thank you so much for understanding. I knew I needed to tell you the truth about Robby.”
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