Vivi Anna - [Valorian Chronicles 04]

by The Vampire's Quest

  He shrugged but still hadn’t turned to look at her. “Since I can’t shift and run it off…I thought, what the hell?”

  She laughed despite herself. Kellen looked way too good soaking wet. His T-shirt clung sinuously to his muscular build. She had to divert her attention somehow. Laughter seemed like a good option.

  Until he turned and looked at her.

  The laughter died on her lips and she had an urge to retreat. He looked feral, completely on the edge of himself. His eyes were on fire and they burned a path right through to her soul.

  Nervous, she fidgeted with one of the buttons on her blouse. “I’m sorry about Duncan. He had no right to talk to you about me.”

  “Don’t apologize for him.”

  “Okay, I won’t.” She risked a glance at him. He still stood in the rush of water, gazing down at her. His teeth weren’t even chattering. The man must have been impervious to the cold. She wished she was just as impervious to the way he was looking at her, as if he really wanted to eat her whole. Shivers raced up and down her arms and legs at the thought of that. Would he start at her toes, lavishing attention on every inch of her flesh?

  “What are you doing here?” he asked, his voice rough, husky.

  “I was…concerned about you.”

  “Well, maybe it would be best for everyone if you weren’t.”

  She stood, the sting of his words digging into her heart. To think she’d come out here worried about him, hoping that he would somehow allow her to comfort him. She’d been a fool to think he’d permit her that much. It would mean that he’d have to admit a weakness, and Kellen would sooner shift into a wolf than allow that he was vulnerable.

  “Yes, I can see that now. I was an idiot to think otherwise.”

  He clenched a fist, then relaxed. “Look, Sophie, I’m sorry. I can’t be whatever it is you want me to be. Maybe Duncan’s right and we have no business being together.”

  Those words, more than any others, slashed her to the bone. She shouldn’t have been surprised, though. Didn’t she just say the same thing to him earlier? That they couldn’t be together because he was a vampire and she was a lycan? She wished she could tell him that she had slept with him because of who he was, not what he was. But she wasn’t sure he’d believe her.

  “That’s it, then? That’s all you have to say to me?”

  “No, that’s not it.” He stepped toward her, his expression unreadable. He grabbed her arm and pulled her up into the fountain. The movement was so quick, his grasp so powerful, that she nearly slipped when her feet finally touched the stone. She reached for him and he wrapped his arms around her, bringing his mouth down to hers. He kissed her hard, with hot, wet lips.

  She was helpless to do anything but hold onto him as he feasted on her mouth. The jet of water gushed over them, but she didn’t care. She was oblivious to it. She was oblivious to everything but Kellen.

  Digging her fingers into his chest, tempted to tear at the wet shirt clinging to him, she kissed him back just as hard, just as fierce. She wanted him more than any man before. The intensity of it punched her in the stomach and she lost her breath.

  She came up for air as Kellen pressed kisses to her chin and down over her throat, nibbling and licking her wet skin. She was shaking, but it was more than just the coolness of the water sluicing over her that caused her quivers. Desire, hot and hearty, surged through her like molten silver and pained her just as much. It made her feel both exhilarated and terrified. To feel so much about one person unnerved her. Especially a man like Kellen—someone she knew had no intention of sticking around for long, whether of his own accord or by the life-threatening disease racing through his system.

  He had hurt her once. Could she stand another piece of her heart being chipped away? Because it was inevitable that he would in the end. He made it obvious that he was here for only a short while. That this was a detour.

  Her hands pressed against his chest, Sophie pulled her mouth from his. There were things she wanted to say, but she didn’t have the right words. She wasn’t sure if there were right words.

  Sighing, he rested his forehead against hers, but didn’t make a move to let her go.

  “You’ll hurt me again.”

  “I don’t want to, Sophie.” His voice was just a whisper.

  “I know, but you will. You won’t be able to help it.”

  He moved his hands up her back, then around to cup her face with his palms. Dipping his head, he looked her deep in the eyes. She felt like drowning in the illuminated blue depths.

  With eyes open, he touched her lips with his and murmured against them. “You destroy me, Sophie St. Clair.” After another brushing of his lips, he let her go and took a step back.

  Finding it difficult to breathe, Sophie turned away from him and stepped out of the fountain. Water sloshed in her shoes as she trudged back across the park toward the lab. She wrapped her arms around her body to stem the shivers that erupted over her.

  Luckily, she had another change of clothing in her locker, but she wasn’t sure what she could do to stop the cold rushing over her. It had nothing to do with the wind against her wet skin, and everything to do with Kellen’s parting words.

  Kellen didn’t want to watch Sophie walk away, but he couldn’t tear his gaze from her as she moved across the grass toward the lab, arms wrapped around her torso. He was an idiot for pulling her into the fountain. What was he thinking? Or may be the problem was that he wasn’t thinking. His only thoughts had been about kissing and touching her. Selfish, arrogant thoughts, with no mind to what was best for her or what she needed.

  How he ended up in the fountain in the first place boggled him. The last thing he could truly remember was walking down the hall, searching for Gabriel. Then everything blurred after that. He knew he had run into Duncan, and the lycan cop had words with him. Harsh words, if Kellen could recall, warning him away from Sophie. Then the lycan had touched him. Something had snapped inside Kellen’s mind.

  All he could think about was how hot he had been. Burning from the inside out, it had seemed. His vision had been red and hazy, and Kellen thought he desperately needed something to cool him down. The breeze outside had done nothing to help. But when he had spotted the water jetting from the large stone fountain, he knew that was where he should go. Jumping into it had not been a conscious thought.

  Then he sensed Sophie approaching him, and he had heard her voice, and everything came crashing down around him. He became hyperaware of what he had done.

  He had looked at her, staring up at him, her eyes flaring angrily, and his one thought had been to touch her, to taste her sensuous mouth. After that, his mind had blacked out and emotion took over. Wild, feral emotions that were starting to overcome him. Anger, hunger, lust. They were his constant companions. It was as if he was going through his initial vampire transition again; lost, confused and unpredictable.

  He was a danger to Sophie. Beyond the fact that they were from different species, and her pack had certain rules, he was no good for her. He didn’t want to hurt her, not emotionally, and definitely not physically. If something happened to her he’d never forgive himself. For once in his life, he actually considered the consequences of his actions.

  And it didn’t feel particularly welcome in his body. To make room for a conscience, he had to part with other things, like recklessness and carelessness. What if he missed them? Could he get them back?

  Kellen jumped out of the fountain. A few people were milling about the park, watching him from a wary distance. He didn’t blame them. He was becoming wary of himself. His episodes were becoming more frequent. And he was finding it more difficult to control the results. He knew a time would come when he’d be completely unaware of his actions. Only the disease pumping through his veins would be in charge.

  Wringing out the water from his shirt, Kellen trudged across the grass and toward the main building. He hoped they had dryers in the men’s washroom that he could use. He could just imagine wha
t Gabriel was going to say. He’d be surprised if the inspector didn’t kick him off the case and send him packing back to America.

  Maybe that was what he should do. It wasn’t really his case. He didn’t work for the Nouveau Monde crime unit. He was visiting as a civilian and just happened to be in an explosion that killed the doctor he had been hoping to see. It’s not like he knew the man.

  Kellen stopped walking. Something didn’t add up. There was something peculiar about the doctor’s secret apartment. Closing his eyes, he tried to picture the guy’s place before it blew. Images of the living room skipped by. The stacks of magazines and newspapers came to his mind. It was strange and obsessive in itself. But there had been something, hadn’t there? Something that pricked Kellen’s mind as odd, even eerie.

  The newspapers.

  The top one was a Necropolis Times. Why would the doctor have a paper from Necropolis?

  He squeezed his eyes tighter, trying to recall the paper’s headline. There had been a picture. In the photo there had been a group of people. The caption read: Necropolis’s Finest Save the City from Ruin.

  It was a story about the crime scene unit, and Kellen had been in the forefront of that picture.

  Forgetting his wet shoes, Kellen picked up the pace and ran back to the lab. He needed to call Caine and get a copy of that newspaper.

  The doctor was watching him even before he made that appointment!

  Chapter 15

  A half hour later Kellen was on the phone with Caine. Wearing a lab coat and a pair of old, worn sweatpants that Gabriel had stuffed in his locker, he carved out a path in front of the computer, waiting for his old boss to e-mail him the newspaper cover.

  “Why did you want this again?” Caine asked. Kellen could hear the vampire typing.

  “Our bombing victim had a ton of newspapers in his secret apartment. One of them was the Necropolis Times, with the OCU’s picture on the front page. That’s just too much of a coincidence for me.”

  “Yes, that does seem odd.” More typing. “It should be coming through now.”

  Kellen tapped at the keyboard, opened his e-mail account and watched as the full-page spread of the newspaper filled his screen, pixel by pixel.

  “Thanks, Caine.”

  “No problem. How are you faring in other matters?”

  Kellen rubbed a hand over his head. “Everything’s cool.”

  There was a long pause on Caine’s end. Kellen knew the vampire could sense his lie. Even over the phone, the vampire could probably smell his untruth. He possessed that much power.

  “Okay. Will you be coming home soon?”

  Home was an alien notion for him. He had never truly felt at home anywhere.

  Movement at the door forced Kellen’s head up. Sophie walked into the room, her shoulders back, her chin high. She wouldn’t even meet his gaze.

  “I don’t know,” he finally said into the phone. “There are a few things I need to take care of first.”

  “Ah, I see. It’s always about a woman, isn’t it?” He sighed. “Call if you need any more help.”

  “Sure will.” Kellen didn’t say goodbye, but flipped the phone closed and set it on the computer table in front of him.

  Sophie handed him some paper. “Here. Gabriel told me to give this to you.”

  Taking the offered paper, Kellen glanced over it. It was an in-depth report on Dr. Jonathon Bueller, including his family history.

  “This is exactly what I needed. I’m surprised Gabriel knew what I was looking for. I didn’t get a chance to tell him.”

  “I did the report.”

  Surprise lifted his brow. “You did?”

  “I remembered something you said earlier about the doctor being the key to all of this, so digging deep into his past made sense. Plus, with him having a secret apartment, I thought maybe he had a secret identity, as well.” She pointed to the first page he was holding. “If you look there, Jonathon Bueller doesn’t go back very far. In fact, it looks like he didn’t really exist until about the 1970s. But we know that the doctor is a few hundred years old, so I cross-referenced his birth date and his possible country of birth, considering he had an accent, and something did show up.”

  Kellen flipped to the second page of the report. As he skimmed the contents, his gut turned over. “He changed his name.”

  Sophie nodded. “Looks like he was living two lives.”

  “Frederick Brenner, born 1789, in Munich, Germany.” Kellen mulled over the name in his mind. He recognized it from somewhere. Setting the papers aside, he tapped at the keyboard to bring up a military website. There was a search engine to find veterans that served in all the wars. He typed in Frederick Brenner. After a few minutes, the search pulled up a listing. Kellen’s stomach lurched into his throat.

  “He served in World War Two and in Vietnam.”

  Sophie moved up beside him and looked at the computer screen. “Did you know him?”

  He shook his head. “I don’t remember. Brenner is familiar, but I knew a lot of men over there.”

  “Did many vampires serve in the war?”

  “You’d be surprised. We make pretty good soldiers. Stronger, quicker—heal faster, don’t tire as easy.”

  “Super soldiers.”

  He frowned. “What did you say?”

  “You’re like super soldiers because of your enhancements.”

  Heart racing, Kellen headed out the door of the computer room. Sophie was right on his tail. “Where are you going?”

  He strode down the hall to the workroom that held his replications of the two bombs. Quickly snapping on gloves, he rushed to the table and picked up the first bomb. Peering close, he examined the metal pipe close to the cap. He turned it over and over, until something piqued his interest. Just under the cap was a symbol and letter etched into the metal. A triangle with a D in the middle.

  After setting that one down, he picked up the other, searching for the same thing. He found it right under the cap, etched into the steel. The same symbol.

  “What did you find?” Sophie stood next to him peering at the bomb, excitement lighting her eyes.

  “Maybe something. Maybe nothing.”

  “Tell me.”

  He set the pipes down. “The letter D is etched in the metal inside a crude-looking triangle. A lot of bombers mark their creations with some kind of trademark—a symbol or initials—to claim it as their own. It’s an ego thing.”

  “So you think this triangle and D are symbols?”

  He nodded.

  “Maybe it’s the initial of his first name,” she suggested.

  “Could be, but I don’t sense that.”

  “Then what?”

  “Can we cross-reference the patient files with military records?”

  “You think our guy served?”

  “Yeah, I do.” He sighed. “I’m thinking he may have been in the same ordnance company I was in during Vietnam. Delta Company.” He lifted the sleeve on the lab coat to reveal a faint mark on his forearm. A tattoo that was quickly fading, the ink dissolving into his bloodstream. It was an eagle and in its talons was clutched a black triangle. In the middle was the letter D.

  After two hours of looking through files and cross-referencing them with old military records, Kellen and Sophie managed to sift out five possible suspects; eight males and two females, and all of them were vampires who had served in either WWII or Vietnam. Kellen kept the files on the two females to the side.

  Sophie cocked her brow. “Why are you tossing them out?”

  “Women don’t bomb.”

  “Why not?”

  He shrugged. “Because it’s not personal enough. During all the time I’ve been doing this, I’ve never met one female bomber.”

  “Doesn’t mean it can’t happen.”

  “No, it doesn’t, but the odds are really slim.” He patted the other files. “Let’s concentrate on the probables first. Besides, women didn’t serve in the field during Vietnam.”

  “M
aybe either of them or both are the sister or mother or wife of someone who did.”

  “That’s possible but highly unlikely.”

  “Fine, but I think you’re being sexist.” She swiveled in her chair, giving him her back.

  The tension in the room could fill a hot air balloon and lift it to the moon. When immersed in the job, everything went smoothly. They worked with each other as if they’d been partners for years instead of just days. But the second they veered from that course, friction developed between them.

  It didn’t surprise him, though. He would have been concerned if he didn’t feel the conflict between them. It actually would have stung his pride a bit to know that she was finding it easy to work with him despite their short history.

  Looking at her back, he was about to say something, when Olena swept into the room, carrying brown bags full of takeout. The heavenly scent of chow mein floated to him.

  “Anyone hungry?”

  “Olena, you are an angel.”

  She laughed. “That’s one I’ve never been called.” She handed Kellen a bag.

  He ripped it open and inhaled the delectable smell of Chinese food.

  “You shouldn’t thank me, anyway,” she said as she tore open another bag. “Sophie ordered it.”

  He turned to look at Sophie. She smiled with a mouthful of noodles. “What? I was hungry for Chinese and thought everyone could use a break.”

  “I could kiss you right about now.”

  “Please don’t.” She dipped her head down, putting her attention back on her food, but not before he caught the blush on her cheeks.

  God, he loved when she did that. He was smitten and couldn’t deny it any longer. And the woman ordered him Chinese food. How could it get any better than that?

  Contented, Kellen opened the lid of one Styrofoam container and dug into the chow mein with the plastic fork. Once the food hit his tongue, he was moaning with happiness.

  “Mmm, man, this tastes good!”