“He’s recovering.” Tanya sighed. “Martin said he won’t be getting up for a few days due to the amount of fragments that needed to be extracted from Andrew’s body. The hunters are changing their solid silver ammo to fragmenting bullets, Alexander. This is worrisome.”
He leaned forward in his seat, all attention on his childe’s voice. “Have they located our club yet?”
“I’m not sure. Dean said he has noticed some odd-looking bikers driving around the area during the day. It is unusual since our club is away from the main roads.”
“Tanya,” Alexander said, becoming completely still. “I want you to close the club.”
“For how long?”
“Until I say otherwise. It is too dangerous for everyone working for us to stay there. They will have paid leave until I summon them back. Understood?”
“Yes, sire,” she replied with newfound determination.
“I will meet you at the warehouse in an hour. Transport Andrew there and make certain you are not followed. Hire some professionals to keep the club intact while we figure out our next move.”
“I’ll get right on it.”
Once he hung up, Alexander’s pilot announced that they would be landing in twenty minutes. He dreaded and anticipated his arrival in Dublin. Since the clan union happened in Watford three months ago, the local Tarantula Clan of hunters had tripled their numbers. The vampires’ ability to hide from them in plain sight was drawing to an inevitable end. He may need to move on to another city and put humans in place to take care of Russian Roulette. Tanya did want to redecorate. It would not be such a bad idea to allow her to de-stress by designing the interior of their new property.
An hour later, he parked at the warehouse on the outskirts of Dublin. He scanned the surrounding area and offered his hand to Katharine, who willingly took it as she got out of the car. The green cocktail dress she wore kept riding up her milky thighs, drawing his attention to them more often than not. Together with her, he strode to a bearded vampire, Craig, who was waiting for them at the metal door.
“How was your trip, sir?” Craig asked.
Alexander did his best to dismiss the lustful look his security team’s member was shooting Katharine. He wasn’t about to control her or restrict her in the way Ghoul Master had been doing. She was free to choose whom she spent her time with, even if he did not like the idea of it. Pushing his thoughts to the back of his mind, he barked, “Is Tanya inside?”
“Yes, sir.”
Dismissing the guard, Alexander opened the door for Katharine and they entered the warehouse. “Please, make yourself comfortable in the living room.” He motioned to the cushy sectional sofas.
Aiming for his office on the second floor, he scaled the metal stairs, two at a time, to get there as fast as possible. When he didn’t find his childe in the office, he chose the next best place—the room Andrew often used to rest. It was a large bedroom he was recuperating in after the demon took him and nearly skinned him alive. That poor child had suffered enough at the hands of others. For his ability to learn and adapt, it was a pity, and Alexander wished to protect Andrew from future harm.
Luckily, his second choice was correct. He burst into the room to find Tanya sitting at Andrew’s bedside, reading something on her digital tablet while Andrew slept. The greyness of the young man’s face gave Alexander little reassurance that he was recovering well.
Alexander lowered his voice to a whisper, trying not to wake him. “How is he?”
Without looking up, Tanya replied, “I fed him two blood bags to help restore some of his blood levels. Damage like this would have killed any other youngling.”
A slight strain in Tanya’s voice gave away her agitation. Alexander rested a firm hand on her shoulder, making her look up with watery eyes. His heart melted at the sight of his childe in such a state of upset. He set the tablet she clung to on the nearby table and slowly helped her up. With a gentle nudge, he pulled her into his arms.
She buried her face in his shoulder. “Sire, I didn’t want to upset you more while you were travelling,” she said, sniffling, “but Laura Quinn was involved in this attack.”
Alexander stiffened only to push back his immediate worry. He tenderly ran his hand over her hair then patted her on the back. “You did well, Tanya. You did very well.”
She nodded and withdrew. Her fingers brushed away the stray tears she had shed. The lonely wet trails they formed on her ashen cheeks made his anger resurface. He hated seeing her cry. She was a strong woman who never showed her vulnerabilities to anyone. It only proved just how important a member of the family Andrew had become in the past year. After all, it was mainly Tanya’s job to help him through the toughest thirsts.
“Andrew is a strong man, and he has been through worse,” he said, tucking a lock of her blonde hair behind her ear. “You will be lecturing him about business in no time.”
She smiled but her joy bled away a second later when she focused on something behind him. “Who is she?”
Alexander glanced over his shoulder, seeing Katharine standing in the doorway. Her emerald eyes started to glow and, from her expression, he could tell that she did not seem happy about the situation.
“I should be asking the same thing,” Katharine hissed.
Lifting his hands up to create a physical barrier between them, he said to Katharine, “This is my childe, Tanya. Tanya, this is Katharine Sokolova.”
Tanya’s mouth fell open. “You don’t mean…”
“Yes. She’s the woman I believed to be dead.”
“But how? You said you buried her.” Tanya’s eyes narrowed. “What is she?”
Katharine scissored her arms and smirked. “I am undead, just like you.”
“You are nothing like me!” Tanya snapped.
Alexander glared at his childe after he noticed Andrew’s furrowing brows. “This is not a place for you to start an argument. Come to my office.” When his childe didn’t move, he grasped her by the elbow and marched her out of the room.
Tanya didn’t fight him. She obediently followed him. As they headed to his office that was three doors down, he noted that Katharine was following them. He stopped abruptly, making Tanya bump into him. “Katharine, wait downstairs like I have asked you to, please.”
“Is that an order, master?” she fired back at him.
“No. It is a request.” Guilt struck him in the heart when he had to act in such a disrespectful way towards her.
“I understand.” Katharine inclined her head and headed back to the staircase.
With a sigh of relief, Alexander continued his trip to his office. He let Tanya follow him of her own volition. Once inside, he closed the door behind them and growled, “What were you thinking, behaving like that?”
Tanya’s left brow lifted. “Are you serious right now?”
“Completely.”
She rolled her eyes. “So, that’s it? You’ve found your long forgotten love again and are going to snap at anyone who speaks out of turn?” Her blue eyes flared with fire. “Do not try that crap on me, or I will make you pay.”
Alexander ran his hand through his hair and walked to his desk. He slammed his palms against the thick glass, making it quiver under the pressure he put on it. “I did not mean it, Tanya. I apologise…”
“What about Abigail?”
He raised his head and his eyes narrowed a notch. “What about her?”
Tanya flicked her blonde hair over her shoulder and cocked her hip to one side. “I didn’t want to say this, but she was the one who saved Andrew tonight. You should be chasing her, not a ghoul.”
That term brought foul aftertaste to Alexander’s mouth. He reached into his drawer and uncorked a bottle of scotch he had on hand. Taking a swig of his drink directly from the bottle, he grumbled a curse under his breath. He had forgotten about her. Too many things had happened in the past twenty-four hours for him to take it all in.
“She is a good woman, Alexander,” Tanya continued.
“Enough!” Alexander shouted. He regretted his action immediately after but did not apologise. Abigail could not get involved in their world. She wouldn’t survive, and it would be a pity to see her bright spark and stubbornness fading into nothingness. “I have nothing to do with her, and she has nothing to do with me. Are we in agreement?”
“But, sire—”
“Tanya,” he warned. “Katharine was created by me. I cannot abandon her after everything she has been through. I must repay my debt.”
She let out an unladylike groan. “You cannot expect me to babysit her.”
“I wouldn’t ask that of you.”
“And whether you like it or not, you should thank Abigail for her good deed,” Tanya added.
Closing his eyes to gather enough strength to not throttle her, he counted to ten. When he lifted his eyelids again, he gave her a curt nod. “I will thank her once we deal with everything here.”
“No. Now.”
Alexander chuckled in disbelief. “I am your sire, Tanya. Do not play games with me.”
“I’m not. I am telling you to do what’s right.”
“I just got here from St. Petersburg…”
She glared at him. “That’s an excuse. I’m certain you’ve fed before the journey.”
He glared back. “Alright. I will see her tonight to thank her.”
Tanya smirked. “And I will go keep an eye on the undead flesh eater.”
CHAPTER 13
ABIGAIL
By the time Abigail arrived at work, she thought her day couldn’t get any worse. She was tired, desperately wanted to have a prolonged hot shower and possibly a blow to the head to forget everything that happened last night.
How can I forget everything otherwise?
Alexander’s crazy friend nearly died next to her and there was a shootout in the city, which in the morning papers dismissively appeared as ‘a case of gang violence’. Who were those people? Andrew obviously knew based on his reaction, so why didn’t he run away the moment he spotted them?
She tapped the end of her pen against her lips and contemplated his possible reasoning. Nothing came to mind. Whatever Andrew was, he was like Alexander, weird and complicated. She needed none of that in her already messy life.
A tap on her shoulder forced her to spin around in her swivel chair. Her mouth fell open and her eyes turned the size of walnuts at the sight of a Greek god before her. She studied the man whose ruggedly handsome face was next to hers. Subconsciously, she started ticking all the boxes in her mind for the word sexy: wavy sandy hair, a pair of almond-shaped hazel eyes, an aquiline nose, athletic build, and tall. He was very tall, especially since she had to crane her neck back to meet his amused gaze when he straightened his posture.
“Miss Greene?” he asked in a deep, husky voice.
“Yes… I mean, I’m her. I mean—”
He chuckled and offered her his hand. “I am Glen Wilson, the new Editor in Chief.”
Realisation dawned on her like a slap to the face. This was the man I had to pick up from the airport? She should have continued waiting for him until the sun came up. Shooting out of her seat, she shook hands with him, enjoying the firm grip he had.
“I’m so sorry I didn’t get to pick you up last night. At the Airport,” she added and blushed.
His playfulness reflected in his honest eyes as he smiled. “It’s alright. The novelty of my looks wears off after a day or two, or so I’m told.”
“They’re probably lying,” she admitted without thinking.
He shoved his hands into the pockets of his expensive-looking charcoal suit trousers. His pristine striped grey and black shirt stretched over his toned torso and slim waist, and she had to fight back the drool.
“I came over to introduce myself to the staff but just realised that most of them have left for lunch. Anyway, starting today, I will be working from the office next to Jennifer’s,” he explained.
Abigail nodded, too many times. She couldn’t help it. The guy was pulling her in with his charm and confidence. Even the American twang he had when he spoke was sexy somehow. She shook herself mentally. She couldn’t start hitting on her boss’s boss. It could get her fired.
Once her mind was more or less settled, she lifted her eyes to see that he was no longer in front of her but was making his way to his office. She breathed a sigh of relief and collapsed into her chair, letting it spin her in full circle. Although dating him wasn’t allowed, that didn’t mean she couldn’t check him out when he wasn’t looking. Taking a quick peek over her computer screen, she assessed his tight ass and sighed again.
Why does God want me to contain myself so much recently?
To keep from ogling him for the rest of the year, she started working on the O’Brien article. She needed to finish transcribing the audio recording into text before writing her piece. Jennifer wanted it done by Wednesday and it was already Tuesday. Not to mention that Abigail had jury duty starting next week. Just thinking about spending endless mornings at a courthouse, listening to the lengthy selection process for cases, made her grumpy.
Lost in her work, she had forgotten about the time. Someone cleared their throat, making her jump in her seat and drop her earphone onto her keyboard. She faced the offender, seeing Glen resting his arm against the half-wall of her booth.
“Would you mind getting me a cup of coffee?” he asked.
She automatically got up as if he pulled on her strings. “Sure. What would you like in it?”
“Surprise me.”
She smiled—something she hadn’t done in a long while. Her heart felt lighter as she made her way to the coffee vending machine in the canteen. She grabbed one of the disposable paper cups and placed it under the dispenser. For a whole minute, she mulled over the options. He seemed like the coffee with cream kind of guy. Her finger pressed the button, and she waited until the cup filled.
Jennifer entered the canteen with a stack of papers in her hands. She dumped them on the round table in the middle of the room and hurried to Abigail’s side. “I heard about what happened from Tanya. Are you okay?”
Abigail scanned their surroundings for anyone else who could be listening. Once satisfied, she blew out a breath. “Yeah, I’m fine. Crazy night…”
“You nearly got shot!” Jen hissed, trying to keep her agitated voice low. “What were you thinking?”
“Honestly? I have no idea. I just wanted to make sure the guy was okay.”
“I warned you about getting involved with Alexander’s business. You could get hurt or worse.”
The paper cup in her hand was starting to burn her skin, so Abigail set it on the counter. “I’m fine, though. Not a scratch on me. Can’t say the same about Andrew. That guy had no pulse when I checked it. I have no idea how he’s still breathing.”
Jennifer covered her eyes with her hand and rested her hip against the counter for what seemed to be support. “I’m going on a limb here and guessing that you know what they are.”
“I’m not entirely sure, to be honest. I would say vampires but that would put me in a room with a shrink.”
“You’re right,” Jen said, placing a reassuring hand on Abigail’s shoulder.
“About what?”
“About the vampires part.”
Abigail’s mouth formed a silent ‘o’. She stared at her boss in disbelief. Did she just say what I think she did? Her brows drew together. No. It couldn’t be. Abigail’s hand shot up to her face, slapping herself on the forehead. She had a one-night stand with a real vampire. A hot vampire, sure, but a vampire nonetheless.
“What happened? Do you have a headache?”
Abigail lowered her hand, meeting her boss’ concerned eyes. “No, but I think I need to get some sleep.”
“Then go. Take the rest of the day off and come back tomorrow. I’ll give you an extension on the article you’re working on.”
“Thanks, boss.” Abigail lifted Glen’s coffee off the counter. She left the canteen a
nd delivered the cup to his office, which was empty. A little disappointed that she didn’t get to see his reaction to her choice of hot beverage, she saved her work on her computer and headed home.
She woke up to the sound of her doorbell ringing over and over again as if someone had a problem with patience. After climbing out from under her bedsheets, she flicked on the light switch on her bedside lamp. The time on her phone told her it was 3:07 a.m.
With a groan, she walked to the door, yawning and covering her mouth. She peered through the peephole, seeing a rather annoyed Alexander standing on the other side. Her traitorous heart leapt with joy and her mind panicked.
“Abby, I know you’re in there. Let me in!” he ordered.
She scowled but opened the door for him anyway. “What do you want?”
“I have something to discuss with you,” he said matter-of-factly, pushing his way into her apartment.
“I didn’t—”
He pressed his body against hers and stretched his arm to close the door behind her. Her mouth went dry when she met his transfixing grey eyes. She couldn’t move an inch while he looked at her full of purpose.
Damn him!
Never breaking eye contact, in a business-like manner, he said, “I wish to thank you for your bravery and for contacting Tanya when you did. It was a dangerous situation, and you were willing to—”
She covered his mouth with her hand, glaring at his confused look. “Quit it with the telemarketing spiel. I thought I asked Tanya not to tell you I was even there.”
He pulled back and folded his arms. “Nevertheless, I have transferred a small compensation into your account. I’m certain you will be more than happy with the amount.”
Her face turned red with anger. “How did you find out my bank account details?”
“It wasn’t difficult. When I was here last, I saw a letter from your bank amidst other things and simply memorised your details.”
“Do you have an eidetic memory or something?”
Monochrome Interview Page 9