Midnight Temptation

by Shari Nichols

  “Excuse me for a moment, and don’t even think about going anywhere,” he muttered to Gillian over his shoulder and walked a few steps away.

  He glanced at Dubrosky and let out a deep breath. “What do you have so far?”

  “I thought you’d be happy to know that a total of five vampires are in custody, including a very pissed off Kurt Lawrence. He’s being interrogated by the MBI agents as we speak.” Dubrosky smoothed her dark hair back into her ponytail, looking bewildered.

  “Did they say where they’re planning to take him and the others?”

  “From what I overheard, they’re taking them to MBI Headquarters, and then an appearance in front of the Council will follow. I almost forgot to show you this…” Dubrosky held up a photo on her iPad of an unconscious vampire who appeared to be bleeding all over the terrace with a set of kitchen shears buried in his stomach.

  “The plot thickens. Who do we have here?” Garrett rubbed the back of his neck, his irritation mounting.

  “According to his ID, his name is Damon Greystone. This is his penthouse. We’re still trying to work out exactly what happened to him. The paramedics just took him away.”

  “He’s unconscious?” Gillian approached them sounding wary.

  Garrett turned his attention to her and searched her face. “You wouldn’t happen to know anything about that would you, Miss Howe?”

  “He attacked me first, well, not physically. We were led up here under false pretenses.” Gillian ran a hand through her messy hair. “The vampire who’s bleeding, will he make it?”

  “Hard to say at this point,” Dubrosky said matter-of-factly. “My guess is he’ll probably need a transfusion.”

  “I don’t feel so good.” Gillian began to shake and swayed on her feet. Garrett rushed to her side in an instant. His hand reached out to steady her, torn between wanting to shake her for putting herself in harm’s way and wrapping her in his arms.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “I got dizzy for a minute. I don’t know what’s worse, the thought that I could’ve actually killed a vampire, or what he could’ve done to me if I hadn’t. I guess thinking about it made me a little queasy.” This close he could see the flecks of green in her eyes and the smattering of freckles across the bridge of her nose. Gillian Howe might be a royal pain in the ass, but she was a gorgeous one at that.

  “Trust me, you made the right call.” He’d known even before their eyes locked earlier that Gillian was near. He’d smelled her immediately. He was still trying to shake off the momentary panic of finding her up here with a sociopath like Kurt Lawrence. When he thought about what could’ve happened to her, his mouth went dry. He removed his jacket and draped it around her shoulders. The tempting blend of lavender and vanilla flared in his nostrils and made the front panel of his suit pants tight. His heightened senses picked up on her fear as well. Guilt slid in his belly. After what she’d been through tonight, the last thing she needed was the detective in charge checking her out.

  He cleared his throat and pulled a pad and ballpoint pen from his back pocket. Unlike most of his colleagues who used iPads and recording apps, he preferred to do things the old-fashioned way. There was something personal about ink and paper that made him feel closer to the words and tied him to the case. “What’s the connection between Miss Corey and Lawrence?”

  “They met through the charity circuit,” Gillian explained. “And tonight we hosted a charity speed dating event here at the hotel that the Lawrence foundation sponsored.”

  “Yes, I saw the sign,” Garrett muttered and scribbled a note on his pad before looking up at her again. “Then you’re telling me this is the first time you met him, and yet, you thought it wise to come up to the penthouse, two women alone?” He tried to keep the jealousy out of his voice and failed. He had no business chastising her on her whereabouts. But from the very first day he laid eyes on her, he couldn’t get her out of his mind. This investigation had to be his number one priority. For the sake of the case, he’d keep things strictly professional and remain detached. If he let himself soften where she was concerned, he risked not finding the bastards behind this mess.

  Her cheeks flamed red. “I don’t make it a habit, if that’s what you’re implying.”

  Hell, the last thing he wanted to do was start throwing accusations around. From what Alex’s fiancé, Willow, had told him, Gillian hated his guts. Why make things worse? Her opinion of him shouldn’t matter, and yet somehow it did.

  “He’s ‘a well-respected entrepreneur and philanthropist.’ How was I supposed to know he's some kind of…?”

  “Human trafficker? In a matter of speaking, yes. What exactly did you see when you walked into the suite?”

  Vulnerability flickered in her eyes. “Carnage. At first, I thought it was some kind of vampire orgy, and then I realized it was, but with blood and not sex.”

  Her words hit too close to home. Now he feared she thought all vampires resembled the vile creatures depicted in horror films and graphic novels. “Believe it or not, all of us aren’t monsters, Miss Howe.”

  “No, just the ones I run into.” Gillian pulled the jacket across her body, and it dwarfed her slender frame.

  “What else can you tell me about Lawrence? Even the smallest detail might be significant in some way. This is important. It could help us get ahead of the press, which could mean the difference between tipping off the suspects and catching them. Please, try and think.”

  “I don’t know.” She exhaled deeply. “He looked like a clean-cut businessman. I do remember he wore this red signet ring on his pinky, and now that I think of it, my attacker had on the same one. What do you think it means?”

  Trying to block out the noise, Mulroney tuned in to the multiple conversations in the suite. “It could be some kind of brotherhood.” A brotherhood Garrett suspected was responsible for turning innocent women into blood slaves. He’d been down this savage road before, many lifetimes ago, and it didn’t end well.

  “How long have you been investigating his operation?” she asked, pulling him from a dark place.

  He debated answering the question, but he figured after everything she’d been through tonight, she had a right to know. “Long enough to find out that Lawrence and some of his associates would be up here in Damon Greystone’s penthouse tonight, which is why we set up surveillance from the hotel room next door.”

  If all went according to plan and the Council voted to put this case on trial, Kurt Lawrence’s sorry ass would be locked up in a high-security mage prison for a very long time. They didn’t call it Hellios for the high thread count sheets. Over the years, he’d seen guys like Lawrence before, rich, entitled, pretty boys that thought they could throw some money at their high priced lawyers and skirt justice. The bastard would be doing hard time if Garrett had anything to say about it.

  “What about the other girls, are these women all victims?” she whispered, glancing curiously around the room. “Do they know what they’re getting involved in?”

  “No, we don’t believe they understand the full extent of what it means to have a permanent blood bond with a vampire. From what we’ve gathered, most are kidnapped, and some tranced much like yourself and your cousin.”

  Gillian tilted her head to the side. “I don’t understand. If Lawrence had a room full of women up here, why invite Brooke and me to join?”

  Garrett smiled at the question, admiring her tenacity. “Last I checked I’m the one who’s supposed to be asking the questions, not the other way around. But if I had to guess, I’d say because he's a greedy bastard.”

  To Garrett the answer was obvious: Gillian was stunning, and Lawrence assumed he could auction her off like chattel to the highest bidder. As for Damon Greystone, the vampire appeared to have simply gone rogue. “After Lawrence demanded you come into the room and shut the door, did you say or do anything?”

  Her face fell, and then she let out a long breath. “I might’ve threatened to expose him and his operatio
n to my million followers on social media.”

  “Jesus, now you’ve made yourself vulnerable by poking a bear.” Lawrence had too much to lose to let anyone get in the way of his operation. If Lawrence was indeed responsible for murdering the Jane Doe, then it would only stand to reason that he wouldn’t hesitate to go after Gillian to get her out of the way. “We appreciate your cooperation, Miss Howe. We’ll be in touch if we have any more questions for you. In the meantime, lay off the social media. The last thing you want to do right now is to draw attention to yourself or to Lawrence for that matter. A squad car will drive by your house, and Miss Corey’s, to make sure you're safe.”

  When Gillian nodded, stress lines appeared at the corner of her mouth. “Do you think that’s necessary if he’s in the slammer?”

  “We can’t underestimate the scope of his connections. He’s managed to establish quite the crime network. Our intel tells us he’s got people working on the outside. We like to take extra precautions.” Garrett’s gaze narrowed. “Do you have any questions for me?”

  She lifted her chin. “Yeah, when can I get my shoes back?”

  Chapter 4

  Sitting in the back of Mulroney’s Jeep, Gillian rested her head against the leather seat and tried to relax. When his partner, Detective Dubrosky, had insisted on driving her and Brooke home, her first instinct was to decline, desperate for some space away from the arrogant vampire. Unfortunately, Brooke accepted, and Gillian was too exhausted to argue.

  The car glided through traffic at a steady pace, and if it wasn’t for the blare of horns, the squeal of tires, and the static from the police radio, she probably would've passed out cold. In the last two days, she’d gotten a total of six hours of sleep. She didn’t think there was enough caffeine in the world that could remedy the situation.

  “How are you holding up? Are you sure you’re okay?” Brooke whispered from the seat beside her. “You’re awfully quiet, which is unusual for you.”

  “I’m fine,” she said with a shrug, anxious to put this whole ordeal behind her and get on with the rest of her day, after she caught up on about ten hours of sleep. “It’s you I’m worried about.” With everything that took place, Gillian hadn’t gotten a chance to ask Brooke exactly what went down when she walked in on her and Kurt in that hotel room, but from the haunted look in her eyes, she guessed they shared a similar experience. “What happened back there?”

  Pieces of her blonde hair spilled out of her chignon, and she couldn’t seem to stop shivering. “Kurt was laying it on thick, saying that he was really into me. The rest of the night’s pretty fuzzy. I don’t feel like myself. I don’t want to be alone right now. Will you come back to my place?”

  “Of course.” Gillian reached out to squeeze Brooke’s hand and then glanced out the window at the colorful storefronts. People bustled along the sidewalks on their way to work, and the routine of it put her somewhat at ease. She turned back to face her and smiled. “Let’s try and forget last night ever happened.”

  “I recommend that you tell only one person, the fewer people who know, the better,” Mulroney murmured from the front seat. This was the first time he’d spoken since they’d gotten into his car. His pale blue eyes slid to hers in the rearview mirror, and her heart skipped a beat. “For everyone’s safety.”

  Gillian reached into her purse for her phone and glanced at the screen. It exploded with likes and comments from her recent posts; if any of them only knew the half of it. She had a few texts from Saje, reminding her of tonight’s Mabon Ritual. Luckily, today was her day off so she could go crash for a few and get her bearings before she went back to work.

  “Don’t worry. I don’t plan on saying anything about this to the others. It’s one of the few things we agree on.” Ellen and the other girls had been through enough this past year. Things were finally getting back to normal around the coven. From what she’d overheard Detective Dubrosky say to Mulroney, all of the vampires involved in the blood ring were in custody. So why worry them unnecessarily?

  “I guess there’s a first for everything, even in this particular instance.” Mulroney agreed, his tone brimming with sarcasm.

  Her first instinct was to rattle off some flippant reply, but she figured it was best to keep her feelings to herself when sitting in the backseat of a detective car, especially when the detective in question distrusted her with a blatant intensity.

  Gillian observed the vampire sitting in front of her, reluctantly admiring the way his long, tapered fingers covered the steering wheel and the confidant way he maneuvered the vehicle. While part of her couldn’t stand him, he was nothing like the vampire who had tried to mind-roofie her. Mulroney lived by a code—a code that she suspected made him worthy of his badge.

  She’d never forget the first time Mulroney showed up at the manor. She had assumed it was Belinda, one of the witches from her coven ringing the doorbell as she was notorious for losing her keys. Gillian had just stepped out of the shower, never expecting the plain-clothed detective—who came to accuse her and her coven mates of being linked to an organized crime syndicate—to be so good-looking. The whole thing had caught her completely off guard.

  Mulroney pulled up to Brooke’s apartment building on Hudson Street and cut the engine. “We’re here,” he announced, and the four of them got out of the car.

  Detective Dubrosky turned to Brooke. “I’m going to check your place first to make sure no one’s inside. What’s your apartment number?”

  Brooke reached into her purse and handed the detective a heart-shaped key ring with a small copper amulet dangling from the center. “I’m in fourteen C.”

  “I’ll be right back.” Detective Dubrosky walked up the block to the red brick building in a blur of speed.

  A few minutes later, she came back and handed the keys to Brooke with an encouraging smile. “All clear. Hopefully, you can put this all behind you.” She got back in the car and began typing on her phone.

  Brooke turned to Gillian and covered a yawn. “I need to go crash before I pass out. I’ll meet you inside.” After she thanked Mulroney and his partner, she waved goodbye and walked up the block.

  “There’s one more thing to put to rest, Miss Howe.” Mulroney took a step closer, and she caught another whiff of his cologne. The clean laundry scent made her head spin.

  Gillian smirked. “Let me guess, you decided to arrest me after all?” Why did her voice sound provocative, almost flirty?

  “Tempting, but no. Would you be able to identify the vampire who tranced you in a line-up?”

  “I think so. I mean it was dark, but I have no doubt his face will be in my nightmares. What I still can’t figure out is why. Was this all for a few moments of undiluted pleasure?”

  “You think this is just about pleasure?” The way he said the word pleasure made anticipation curse through her veins in hot revolutions. “Some vampires have an addiction to blood in the same way humans do to drugs or alcohol. When a blood bond is made, those who have that predisposition become insatiable for the next fix and will do just about anything to satisfy the craving.”

  His words made her stomach clench. She tried not to think about what could’ve happened if he hadn’t shown up. “That should help me sleep tonight.”

  “I’m not about to sugarcoat the facts. It’s a good thing you won’t be alone. Last night was a bizarre evening.”

  She sighed. “Yeah, that’s certainly one way to describe it.” She took in the dark street with its pale pools of light from the streetlamps, which now seemed too far apart. A shiver slid down her spine.

  “Please, don’t hesitate to call if either of you remember anything else.” He closed the remaining distance between them and handed over his card. Their fingers touched, and a bolt of electricity shot up her arm like a live wire. Her eyes locked with his, and she wondered if he felt it too. If he did, he didn’t show it—his expression remained blank.

  After an awkward silence, she motioned to his Jeep. “I’ll let you get back
to work. Thanks for the ride, and well, for everything.”

  His ice-blue eyes stayed locked with hers, and she got the feeling he wanted to say more but shoved his hands in his pants pockets instead. “You’re welcome.”

  Gillian turned and walked up the sidewalk, glad to be rid of the sexy vampire. She’d had more than her fill of creatures of the night to last a lifetime.

  Chapter 5

  Late afternoon sunlight streamed in through the blinds. Gillian blinked and sat up, momentarily disoriented from waking in a strange bed. And then she remembered she’d crashed in Brooke’s guest bedroom. She glanced at the clock. She’d slept for almost seven hours straight and felt oddly refreshed.

  Her fingers trailed over Mulroney’s suit jacket, spread out on the bed. For reasons she couldn’t explain, she’d slept with it next to her pillow. Lifting the fabric to her nose, she inhaled his intoxicating male scent like some lovesick teenager. He’d ridden in as a kind of crazy-hot knight in shining armor—all self-important and judgy. It’s not like she needed him to save her. She’d done that without his help, even before he arrived. Still…

  She reached for his card tucked behind her phone, which sat charging on the nightstand, and turned it over. Her heart gave a little flutter when she saw his cell number written on the back. Debating what to do, she finally gave in and entered his digits into her contacts.

  After she pushed this ridiculous attraction to the back of her mind, she moved the duvet aside and got out of bed. She went to the window, opened it, and caught a whiff of roasted coffee and fresh-baked bread from the bakery across the street. She loved this neighborhood. It still managed to maintain its kitschy feel while being only a quick train ride from the city.