by K. A. Linde
He dragged his eyes back to her. “I could sense you somehow. It was like something in my veins just knew that you were there.”
“My blood?” she asked in confusion.
“No. I don’t know. It was as if you were calling out to me and I was the only one who could hear your cries.”
“I thought it was impossible. When you looked right at me, I didn’t think you actually knew I was there. I thought I’d imagined the whole thing.”
He nodded. “It made no sense to me at the time. Now it feels right. Also, if you saw me that night then I understand more your frustration with Penelope.”
“Yeah,” she whispered. She didn’t want to talk about Penelope right now. She had just discovered that their connection was so acute he could sense her across a crowded ballroom when he couldn’t even see her. Her heart lurched at the thought.
“It is complicated, but she does not hold my heart,” he said fervently.
“Are you…together?” she asked carefully.
He breathed out. “In public. A cover, as we always were.”
She swallowed, taking a step backward to prepare herself for the rest. “And in private?”
“No,” he said at once. He reached out and took her hand. “Penelope knows that it is for the cameras. That it is our cover to be the Saint and the Martyr after her injuries and with her becoming mayor.”
“Does she know that?”
Beckham’s eyes slipped over her distraught features. “I will remind her if that will put your mind at ease.”
Reyna swallowed the words that she wanted to say. That she would never be at ease with Penelope anywhere near him. But she understood what he wasn’t saying. That his cover was more important than ever. He couldn’t bring suspicion down on himself as that might compromise everything. It was easier to have Penny as his public image even if they were not truly together. But at least it was a cover. They weren’t really engaged. They weren’t really together. She felt as if they were moving back in the right direction. Back to where they had been before the kidnapping.
“What happened with you and Harrington after I was kidnapped? Obviously, if you retain your cover with Penelope, he doesn’t suspect you?”
“He does suspect me. I was investigated after your disappearance. The penthouse was raided. But after I found out what happened, I knew that I would have to go to Harrington and tell him that you’d run away. He said that he’d heard from one of his contacts, Everett obviously, that something had gone wrong. I told him that I’d been drinking from Penelope and so I never knew that you weren’t my blood-type match. He wanted to pin something on me about your disappearance, but he couldn’t exactly tell me that he had you in his clutches. And since I came forward immediately, he had to go on as if nothing had happened. The investigation wasn’t fruitful.” Beckham shrugged. “He might still believe that I’m part of Elle, but I have been careful about my involvement. It was the reason that I couldn’t come to you right away. I needed to be seen out in public when you escaped so I had an alibi. It killed me to wait.”
Reyna’s heart wrenched at the words. At what he’d gone through in her absence. “So, what does this mean for us?”
Beckham responded by moving back into her personal space. His frame was huge and he dwarfed her small body. But his hands were surprisingly gentle as they slid into her dark hair, tilting her head up to him. Her body responded on instinct, melding against his. His body was hard and solid and strong. Then he brought his mouth down to cover hers and the world slipped away.
As everything with Beckham, he was not gentle or submissive. Once his lips were on hers, he commanded the kiss. His tongue breached the seam of her lips, opening her to him. She gasped as their tongues touched. He was coaxing and delving for more and more and she gave him all that she had.
Her head was light and dizzy. Her heart was pounding in her chest. Nothing else existed outside of this moment. Not the rebellion or Penny or consequences to their actions. She wanted nothing in the world more than this man. He was responding in kind and she was not going to let him get away this time.
He started to pull back and she reached for him, holding him close again. He growled low in his throat. His hands skimmed down her neck, over her shoulders, down the curve of her waist, and to her hips. He dug his fingers into her skin, pulling her tight against his body. He backed her up into the footboard of the bed and everything ignited in her core at the thought of how they could use that bed.
“Please,” she whispered against his lips shamelessly.
“Reyna,” he groaned.
“Becks.”
He gently moved back a step, holding her at arm’s length. “You make it very difficult to stop.”
“Then don’t stop.”
“I can’t lose control with you again.”
“You won’t.”
“You said that last time and it didn’t make it any more true.”
Reyna sighed. “It’s been so long, Becks.” She reached for the waistband of his pants and tugged him back against her. “I had…dreams about us.”
“Dreams?”
“Together,” she whispered. “Vivid dreams.”
Both of his eyebrows rose at that. “Incredibly difficult to stop.”
“I don’t want you to stop.”
“I have other things that I must do tonight. I can’t stay.”
“You’ll come back?” she whispered.
He nodded. “I’ll come back.”
“Soon?”
He nipped her bottom lip. “Very.”
“I hate this.”
“I know.” He pressed his forehead against hers. “Sydney recorded your conversation about what happened while you were in Visage.”
“What?” she gasped, wrenching backward. “Did you…did everyone…?”
“Just me. She let me hear it.”
Reyna’s cheeks colored. “I didn’t know she was recording.”
But Beckham was resolute. He ignored her embarrassment, and revealed the fierce predator that he so rarely unleashed. “One day I will rip out Harrington’s throat for what he did to you. That is a promise.”
And somehow that was a relief.
Chapter 18
Reyna hated that Beckham had to leave. That they’d had to cut short the reunion they should have had in the first place. She had so many questions still. So much that they needed to discuss. And also…her body was aching for more of him.
After a quick shower to wash the remnants of the club off of her skin, she changed, grabbed some lunch, and headed down to the medical wing. Meghan had said that Jodie was going to be fine, but she wanted to check for herself.
When she entered the sterile environment, she shuddered as memories flooded her mind. She waited for the feeling to pass before opening her eyes again. The medical wing was still there. She wasn’t back in Visage. No one was going to force her to do anything she didn’t want to do.
“Miss Carpenter,” Dr. Washington said, stepping out of a lab with a smile. “Good afternoon.”
“Is Jodie here?”
“She was released this morning with a bill of good health from Meghan. I believe she is likely sleeping off a hangover at the moment.”
“I see. Well then, I’ll just…” She gestured to the door.
“Could I steal a couple minutes of your time since you’re here?”
“I’m not going to donate blood,” she said hastily.
He waved his hand. “I simply wanted your opinion about something.”
“About something medical?” she asked suspiciously.
“Yes, I would like your insight.”
Reyna chewed on her bottom lip. This felt like a trick, but she couldn’t see what it could be.
“I’ll listen, but I don’t know if I have any insights.”
“Fair e
nough.”
Reyna followed Washington into a lab. It was white and clean, full of medical equipment. It looked like a science experiment gone wrong with microscopes, petri dishes, blood samples, test tubes, and an assortment of other things she couldn’t even put names to.
“As you may have remembered, last night at the meeting you sat in on, we briefly mentioned the presence of diseased blood in the population,” Washington began.
“Okay.”
“Some blood illnesses are common, such as anemia, which is usually a result of an iron or vitamin deficiency. Others are not so common, such as sickle-cell anemia or hemophilia. You’ve heard of all of these cases, yes?”
Reyna nodded. “I’m not an idiot.”
“Of course you’re not. I’ve seen your test scores. You would have gone on to a top university if they would have funded you. Ah, easier times.”
“You looked at my high school test scores?”
“Visage has access to everything, and since I was working for them up until you were taken, I had access to whatever I wanted. As I told you, I have known William a rather long time. He trusted me with top-level security.”
“So…did you already know about the other patients under Visage?”
Washington frowned. “Unfortunately, yes.”
“Then why didn’t you do something?” Reyna raged.
“I was doing something. I still am doing something.” He pointed to his lab. “This is what I’m good at. I’m not a fighter. I never have been able to stand up to William or his ambitions. I never could have gone in and retrieved you as bravely as Meghan did. But I gave her all the information she needed to get you out of there, and I worked on the inside for many, many years, as Beckham does now. Do not discredit my service to the organization because it does not align with what you wish it could have been.”
Reyna sighed. She understood what he was saying. But she still thought it was shitty that Elle seemed to forgive him for his transgressions against humanity just because he had grown a conscience.
“But as I was saying…blood diseases,” he said, returning to his lecture. “Many of these have no impact whatsoever on a vampire’s eating habits. Anemia is problematic to the human if they cannot produce enough red blood cells after having been fed on. Or hemophilia would be incredibly problematic for a human if their blood is unable to clot even with the added clotting components found in vampire saliva.”
“Venom,” Reyna told him.
“Excuse me?”
“Vampire venom. Saliva sounds way too scientific. Also…gross. I’m really going to make venom a thing.”
Washington laughed. “Venom it is.” He leaned forward and made a note in his chart. “Anyway, a few new diseases, however, have sprung up in the last hundred years that affect vampires both physiologically and cognitively. The most prevalent is called cogitare anemia. Have you heard of it?”
Reyna shook her head. “No. What is it?”
“Humans are the carriers like mosquitos carry malaria. It does not affect them except that it appears like they have regular anemia with a deficiency in red blood cells. But in vampires…” Washington shook his head. “Here, take a look. This is what happens to vampire blood that comes in contact with a human host infected with cogitare anemia.”
Reyna leaned forward with interest despite herself. She pressed her eye to a microscope and watched the interaction as the two were combined. Her eyes widened with shock as the perfectly normal vampire blood seemed to shake and tremble against the invasion of the new blood.
“Whoa. What the hell kind of reaction is that?” Reyna asked, pulling back.
“What you’re witnessing is the deterioration of the antigens on the blood. Antigens are markers on the surface of red blood cells that invoke an immune response and are what determines your blood type. There are 342 different known antigens in a person’s blood. The most common are the Rh antigen, which you either have or you don’t, and the ABO antigens.”
Reyna leaned back against the counter. “So, this disease destroys antigens in the blood cell? If a person is A negative or B positive, and it rips that away…what does that mean for the vampire?”
“Excellent question! If a vampire no longer has a blood type, then they can no longer drink from a blood type match.”
“Oh God,” Reyna whispered in horror as realization dawned on her. “They revert back to how they were?”
“Worse, I’m afraid. Without a blood type match, the disease effectively eliminates the ability for higher thinking and continues the animalistic tendency of my brethren. But if it goes untreated, the red blood cells can further deteriorate so that any blood they ingest in an attempt to eat will be rejected. Like when blood from a transfusion is rejected. And while the vampire is frantic for food, they seek out more people to eat and pass the illness back onto the human.”
“It’s passed from vampire to human. Does it pass from human to human?”
“Yes. Though we’re not entirely sure how as there are no symptoms in humans, which makes it more difficult for us to deal with. It is like men who carry the HPV disease with no signs and then spread it to women who can then get cancer. And this is the blood disease that has been circulating so effectively throughout the city.”
“What does that mean for the population?”
Washington frowned. “There are more rogue vampires on the loose, more humans are getting attacked, and the disease is spreading like a plague. I haven’t seen anything so widespread in decades.”
Reyna’s head swam with all the new information. A plague. A vampire-induced plague was spreading through the city. It seemed impossible.
“And there’s a cure?”
“We’ve found a way to stop the deterioration of the red blood cells. Thus, new blood cells would have to be created and a safe blood supply would need to be acquired to keep everyone safe, but we’ve never had an outbreak like this.”
“It sounds…engineered.”
“How so?” he asked.
“It sounds like someone is trying to drum up hysteria in the population. Like when the recession hit ten years ago, it was prime picking for Visage to look like a savior. No one bothered to look more closely because we were in such dire straits. A plague, this blood disease, sounds like a similar issue.”
“That is an interesting theory. It would fit with the intensity with which the disease seems to be spreading. Especially considering that we have a cure.”
“So…someone is keeping them from being treated?”
“It’s a possibility.” Washington drummed his fingers on the counter. “Well, thank you for your insight. It is always nice to have another person to bounce ideas off of.”
“You think he’s planning something, don’t you?” Reyna asked intuitively.
“William is always planning something.”
“But it’s related, right? Did he engineer this disease for his purposes?”
“I really do not know. Right now, I am hoping to find a cure for those vampires who were not fortunate enough to get treatment early. Also, I would like to find out if there is an indicator I’ve missed in the human blood so I can begin testing a way to stop it at the source. Maybe if I had a sample of your blood…”
“No,” Reyna said immediately.
“It would give me a basis of comparison,” he finished.
“Absolutely not.”
“Miss Carpenter, you can be of value here.”
“While this was all…enlightening,” she said carefully, “I don’t want to be of value in that way. I won’t be used for my blood ever again.”
“Reyna, please…”
“I don’t want to hear it. I listened to your spiel. I find the blood diseases interesting. I hope that you find a way to stop the cogitare anemia spreading in the city so that nothing else bad happens, but I am never
going to be anyone’s blood bag again. Got it?”
Washington sighed. “I do wish that you would reconsider.”
“Don’t count on it,” she said before turning and hurrying out of the medical wing.
* * *
—
When Reyna wandered downstairs to get lunch, her mind was still full of all of the blood science talk with Washington. She felt like a freaking hematologist after that one conversation. Antigens and antibodies and red blood cells, oh my!
She shouldn’t have been surprised that Washington had asked for her blood. But that was the last thing she wanted to do with her life. She’d had enough trauma around her blood. She didn’t want to work with it. In that moment, she missed her camera and the freedom to photograph whatever she chose. It wasn’t a job, per say, but it gave her purpose. She doubted she’d find anything like that here.
She picked up a sandwich, chips, and bottled water from the cafeteria and was going back to her room to eat when she saw her brothers sitting together at a table by the far wall. She angled toward them and set her tray down.
“Reyna,” Brian said, jumping up and more or less tackling her.
She laughed. “Um, hey!”
Drew was there in another second, pulling her into a hug. “We heard what happened.”
“You did?”
“You tried to run away?” Brian asked with a sigh.
“Guys, breathing room,” Brian’s fiancé, Laura, said from her seat.
Reyna waved them both off and took a seat next to Laura. Reyna drew her into a hug. “It’s been so long.”
“I know. Sorry, I haven’t been feeling well or else I would have found you already.” Laura didn’t look too well as it was. She was always pale, but she looked a little green. Her blond hair at least shone prettily as if she had taken special care with it. She’d even put on makeup. Reyna felt pretty drab in comparison.
“No worries. I’ve been a bore. Let me see your ring.”
A smile split her face from ear to ear as she shoved her left hand in Reyna’s face. It was an oval-shaped ruby with little diamonds encrusted around it on a simple band. Nothing too fancy, but still classy, classic, and beautiful. The fact that Brian was able to purchase anything on a meager warehouse salary was pretty amazing.