“Of course we were going to help. He's a friend.”
“Well, you didn’t have to and—”
Charlotte's brow furrowed. “We did,” she interrupted.
Sarah groaned. “I'm making a pig's ear of this. Look. I'm sorry, all right? I'm sorry for what I said and did to you after you were turned. It was uncalled for and I really am sorry. Of course I'd have wanted you to live! You're my best friend. At least I hope you still are?”
Charlotte snorted out a laugh. “It hurt what you said, but I never stopped being your friend, Sarah.”
The other woman stepped closer to the bed. “So we're still besties?”
“As long as you can live with me and Sebastian being vampires, yeah.”
“As long as you can knock my boyfriend out again the next time he gets snared by a nymph?”
They both started laughing and the door opened, Sebastian coming back into the room. He looked between them, a small smile playing about his lips as he took in their happy faces. “Friends again?”
“Yep,” Charlotte said, a huge smile still on her face. “What did the Director want?”
He hesitated and shot a glance at Sarah.
For once her friend actually picked up on the silent message. “I really should go check on Mikey. See if he's all right.” Walking to the bed, she leant over and hugged Charlotte. “I'll see you later?”
“Sure.”
Her friend slipped from the room and Seb came to sit on the bed beside her.
“Is it that bad?” She asked, noting how tense he was.
“It was about Lucien. They think he's planning something so they're thinking of moving him somewhere else.”
“What's that got to do with you?” She asked.
Running his hand through his dark hair, he looked across the room and seemed to gather his thoughts. “I set up the Agency.”
“What?”
“After I was turned and went through what I did with Marielle, I set up the Agency as a way to stop what happened to me, happening to others. It started with members of the church. A priest took me in and I explained what had happened to me. Luckily, he took pity on me and told me that he and a few others had been ridding their city of creatures like me and much worse for a while and that they'd be happy to have my help. After a few months when we'd recruited more people to help us, we set up the Agency. It's evolved a bit over the years but it's still basically the same company I started decades ago. I passed the company over to a Director long ago and they only involve me when it's something major.”
“Like Lucien,” she said softly, fascinated by the story he'd just told her. She'd never thought of how the Agency had started life or who might have been behind it. She'd thought them long dead. But it had been Sebastian. She stared at him in wonder. “That's why you're the only paranormal who works here.” He gave a wary nod. “Wow,” she breathed.
Sebastian's lips turned up at her response. “Are you feeling better? Do you need some more blood? I gave you some as soon as you were comfortable and we've been giving you bagged blood while you were out.”
Charlotte's stomach let out an embarrassingly loud rumble at the mention of the liquid and she cringed. “I feel a lot better, but I am hungry,” she confessed.
Her lovers smile turned sexy and he leant over her to press his lips to hers in a soft kiss. Parting her lips, she sighed into his mouth as his tongue licked at her fangs. Jolts of euphoria ran through her body, obliterating what pain she felt and her hands came up to tangle in the dark locks of his hair.
Sebastian crawled onto the bed and hovered over her as they kissed. His tongue repeated flicked at her fangs and she felt her body respond, writhing beneath him. She gasped his name and arched off the bed, wanting—needing—to feel him inside her. But he didn’t even try to undress her. Instead he shifted his weight onto one arm and used his other to run down her body, circling her nipples, running over the slight ridges of her ribs, down past her navel and lower. All it took was a slight brush of his thumb on her clit and she shattered, her neck arching and her body spasming as she came.
Sebastian's hand gently grasped her nape and lifted her to his throat. She didn’t even hesitate to sink her fangs into his neck and drink. His blood tasted like nectar and she lapped at it greedily.
She vaguely heard his groan of pleasure and the shuddering of his body against her own.
After several minutes she stopped, feeling full, and licked at the bites marks on his neck and Sebastian rolled to lay at her side and pulled her into his arms. His lips brushed her temple, “Go to sleep, Charlie. We'll deal with Lucien later.”
Chapter Seventeen
Feeling refreshed, Charlotte stretched. Her hand came into contact with something hard and her eyes blinked open to stare at a clothed chest. Raising her eyes they locked with Sebastian's sapphire ones and they shared a smile. “Evening.”
“Evening,” he greeted and then bent his head to kiss her at length. “How do you feel?”
She sighed. “Truthfully? Amazing. Your blood does wonders for me.”
His soft chuckle had her lips twitching.
He pressed one last kiss to her lips before throwing the covers aside and getting out of bed. “We're going to move Lucien to another safe house out of the capital in a few hours.”
Charlotte sat up straighter at the news. “You are?”
“Yeah. We're going to send some of the better trained men with him, in case he has anything planned. If we have enough manpower it should be enough to put him off whatever he's planning.”
“I want to go, too.” She told him.
Seb glanced across at her, his eyes searching her face for long moments. He eventually shook his head. “No. You're too emotionally involved in this, Charlie. You're not going.”
Anger washed through her and she shot out of bed to stand toe to toe with her lover. “How dare you! I have every right to be in that vehicle with that monster. Yes, I might want him dead but I'm also one of the more powerful people at the Agency. I have the same speed, strength and agility as he does, I can—”
“No!” He growled, his eyes flashing icy blue fire. “You are not going! You're nowhere near as strong as he is. He's older than me, Charlie. Even I don’t have the power, alone, to take him down.”
His words sunk in slowly but when they did she slumped forward into his body and his arms came around her in support. “I still want to go, Seb. If he escapes and hurts someone else like he did me and my family... I'll never forgive either of us.” His body tensed under hers and she waited for his reaction.
Sebastian finally muttered a curse and pressed a kiss to her temple. “All right. You can go with them, but if you go, I go.”
A smile played about her lips so she kept her head hidden in his neck. “Thank you.”
Two hours later, Charlotte watched a cuffed Lucien be led into the back of a white van. The back doors were open to reveal a metal cage, like those used in police vans to escort criminals only this one looked more durable. She hoped the metal was strong enough to deter this old vampire.
Lucien glanced over his shoulder, as Mitchell and Harry secured him inside the cage, and his eyes locked with hers. He cocked his head to the side as he looked her over, obviously sensing something different about her from the last time he'd seen her. Then he smiled.
It sent chills down Charlotte's spine and she quickly looked away, her eyes finding Mikey and Sebastian who were stood together, arms crossed, watching Lucien. They followed his gaze and when they realised he'd been looking at her, they straightened and moved to her side to block her from view.
“This is a bad idea,” Mikey said, his voice grim as he loomed over her. “You shouldn’t come with us. He knows you're not human any more.”
Charlotte avoided their gazes, feeling a little freaked out by Lucien's look herself, and readjusted her weapons at her waist. They'd been for show so that Lucien would think she was still human but it seemed he'd figured it out anyway. “It's too late; I
'm going.”
“Charlie—” Sebastian started.
She put up a hand to cut him off and asked, “If he already knows, what does it matter? You need me.”
Eyes flaring blue, he pulled her closer with an arm around her waist and crushed his lips to hers. She responded greedily, her fingers spearing into his hair and holding him close.
It was only as wolf whistles filled the garage that they pulled apart and her lover stared deep into her eyes. “If something does go down, don’t try to be a hero,” he told her quietly.
“I could say the same to you,” she murmured.
His lips quirked and he pressed a light kiss to her lips before letting her go. Turning to the rest of the group he asked, “Is he secure?” Harry and Mitchell nodded. “Right then, let's get on the road. I'll drive. Daniel, you can be with me up front. Everyone else in the back. Mikey? Keep an eye on her for me?”
“Sure, man.”
Charlotte placed her hands on her hips and glared at them, “I'm right here!”
Sebastian flicked his eyes to hers and winked before heading around the front to climb in the driver's seat.
Charlotte climbed in the back and looked around the interior. The cage where they'd put Lucien wasn’t visible from inside though there was a doorway that she assumed led to it on the back panel. It was bare of seating so, like everyone else, she slid to the floor, resting her back against one of the walls.
Mikey settled next to her, taking his role far too seriously for her liking, and the sliding side door was slid shut causing the interior to go almost pitch black, apart from a little light filtering in from the front windows.
Low conversation started up amongst the men about sports and she zoned out, the topic not being something she was interested in.
Charlotte used her senses to test for anything out of the ordinary in relation to Lucien. She couldn’t sense anything. She wasn’t sure if that was normal or not in the van, having no idea if it had some sort of blocker on mental practises. Turning slightly in place she pressed her hand to the interior wall, the one separating her from Lucien, and pushed her senses wider. Something seemed off, a slight disturbance in the vehicle. Closing her eyes she waited for the images to come.
Her eyes flew open and she backed away from the wall, bumping into Mikey.
“You okay?” He asked, sounding concerned.
“You were right, he did plan something! He—”
The van lurched suddenly, the tyres squealing as they fought for traction on the road. Sebastian righted the vehicle and swore colourfully. “Fuck! Three black hummers are following us.”
“Lucien's men,” she said.
“We can't outrun them, not in this,” Sebastian called over his shoulder as the van was hit again from behind. We need to fight.”
The sound of guns being loaded and checked filled the inside of the van and she got her own out of her holster.
“Charlie, stay in the van!” She opened her mouth to protest but he carried on. “I'm going to stop the car on three, we ready?” Sebastian called.
“Ready!” Chorused the men.
“One! Two! Three!” The van swerved to a stop and they quickly threw open the door and started firing. She stayed behind since Sebastian was her superior but at every shot she flinched, knowing those bullets could be hitting him or the other guys.
She only managed to stay still for a few minutes before she snuck out of the van and moved around to the back to check on their prisoner. When she saw the back doors were open, she raised her weapon and crept closer.
Using her senses, she knew exactly where the guy was and pushed the van door hard, knowing he wouldn’t see it coming. It hit him in the back of the head and he dropped like a stone to the floor.
One down, many more to go.
Circling the door, she froze when she saw Lucien was no longer in his cell and raised the gun as she spun around, only for it to be roughly pulled from her grip as another hand fastened around her throat and squeezed.
She clawed at Lucien's hands but it was no use, he was too strong. Black spots filled her vision and she passed out.
Chapter Eighteen
Her mouth was dry. Again.
“Open,” someone said, and she felt the brush of something at her lips.
Charlotte's lips parted, remembering yesterday as Sebastian fed her ice chips. Something dripped onto her tongue, something thick and bitter and she turned away.
A hand roughly gripped her chin and forced her face back. “Drink!”
She shook her head, “No.” Charlotte tried to raise her arm to knock the person's hand away from her face but they wouldn’t move. She tried again. They were stuck at her sides with restraints. Her eyes flew open and she blinked a few times to bring her surroundings into focus, her gaze locking on Lucien who was stood over her.
Charlotte snarled at him and yanked at her restraints but it was no use.
“Metal, much like the one used to detain me,” he explained. “Very hard to break.” Lucien moved away from her and sat in the plush chair at her bedside.
“What do you want with me?” She asked through gritted teeth.
The corner of Lucien's mouth curled up, “Several things. Did you know you are one of only a handful of women to make it through the transition? Hundreds have died over the centuries but you lived. You've intrigued me and I find myself fascinated by you.” His eyes tracked over her face before moving down her body. “I tried to turn a lover of mine many years ago and she died during the transition. I was angry for a long time after that and killed many people. Decades later I met another woman who I grew to love, Sara, and I tried to change her too. She too, died in my arms. I went on another killing spree after losing her and unfortunately for you, your family was one of my victims.”
“You're a monster!” She snarled. “Grief is just an excuse.”
Lucien inclined his head in agreement. “I am. So is Sebastian. So are you.”
“We are nothing like you!”
“I agree your history as a vampire is clean, your lover, on the other hand, is not. He murdered innocents in the past.”
“Because his Mistress told him to; not out of bloodlust and anger.”
A chuckle left the other vampire and he leant close. “I like your loyalty to him; your belief in him.” His finger skimmed her arm lightly and she shuddered in revulsion. “You are such a pretty little thing,” he murmured. “Beautiful, in fact.” His finger trailed higher, moving up to her neck. Charlotte turned her head away from his touch and jerked at her bonds reflexively.
“I've always wondered whether a vampire couple could reproduce but with the lack of females...” he trailed off and watched his finger as he drew it back down her neck and over a breast, pausing deliberately to circle her nipple several times until her body betrayed her and reacted to his touch. She gritted her teeth and glared at him as he ran his finger down to her stomach.
“I'll kill you for this,” she vowed. The older vampire just smiled and circled her naval lightly causing goosebumps to break out on her body. “I never had you down as a rapist.”
“You just don’t like the fact that you're responding to me.” He growled, obviously disliking her allegation.
“My body, yes. My head is shouting no; I'm saying no! No!”
Lucien's finger disappeared from her body and he took a step back from her. She could see the effort he was putting in to stay civil, his baser instincts both as a man and a vampire telling him to take and dominate. He was visibly shaking as he stood off to the side. “In that case, it seems you'll be gracing our research wing and will be tested to see why you survived the change and others have failed.”
Anything sounded better at that minute than being raped.
With his statement hanging in the air, he turned on his heel and left the room slamming the door behind him so hard the furniture rattled.
Dropping her head back against the pillows she let out a shaky breath.
Sebastian would c
ome for her. He wouldn’t leave her here at the hands of Lucien. He'd find her somehow and get her out of here. He had to.
The door opened and she sat up as best she could as four armed guards walked into the room with a scientist. They must be here to take her to the lab to start the experiments. Her heart thudded noisily in her chest.
They unlocked the chains from the bed and two of the guards clipped the shackle to their own wrists so she couldn’t escape without having to drag a dead body with her. She let out a resigned sigh and followed them from the room.
Feeling groggy, Charlotte forced her eyes open and glanced around the tiny cell she was now an inhabitant of. It was a quarter the size of her old one with nothing but a toilet and bed in.
Her head hurt, it was pounding like a bass drum, as did her arm, and she reached up to press her hand to the pounding sensation and felt something wet against her fingers. Bringing them back down she saw flesh blood on her fingers and snarled.
It was then she noticed the long gash running from wrist to elbow of her other arm. It hadn’t been closed by stitches which explained its long healing time. Reaching over with her other hand she pressed the skin together, her eyes filling with tears at the agony of the wound and banged her head against the wall to try and numb the pain she felt with a different one. When the skin was closer together she pressed it against the wall with her body and used her free hand to rip a strip of fabric from the bedding and wrapped it around the wound hoping it would hold it together good enough until it healed.
Once done she collapsed back on the bed feeling exhausted. It had been a while since she'd fed and with the loss of blood from the tests they'd performed her hunger was beginning to build much like that first time she'd felt it.
It only got worse as the hours passed until she felt like she'd go mad with it.
The cell door opened suddenly and Lucien walked in. He wasn’t alone. He had a man with him who looked about the same age as her. It would have seemed friendly if not for the hand Lucien had wrapped around the nape of his neck or the wide eyed terror on the man's face.
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