Her chest rose and fell with heavy breaths. “What’s going on? Does this have to do with Brooke? Is there something you’re not telling me?”
He shook his head. “No. Everything’s in place.” If he was attached to her now, what would he be like in a month or a year? How could he just walk away when being with her made him feel alive? She brought light and color into his dark, dreary world. Ever since she fell into his arms, his heart seemed to beat again.
“Then what’s going on? Don’t try and deny you’re upset about something,” she insisted, not letting up.
“Let’s talk about this later. Can we head out?” This wasn’t the time and certainly not the place.
“Why, so you can sit and stew on the drive to Greenwich?” She crossed her arms over her chest. “I don’t think so.”
“Look, Gillian, I’m not used to discussing my feelings with someone. I’ve lived for over a century alone. I’m not going to change. I don’t do relationships.” Granted, he sounded like a bastard, but it might be the only way to make a clean break without prolonging her pain.
“I didn’t think you’d cave so quickly.” Her voice sounded shaky. “This must be some kind of record, even for you.” Her eyes filled with tears, and it made his chest ache.
“We don’t need to do this right now. There’s a big night ahead. Let’s dispense with the drama.” He wished he could backtrack and tell her everything would be okay, but he couldn’t find it in him to lie. Better to hear it now. He should’ve never gotten involved with her in the first place. She was young and beautiful with her whole life ahead of her. She deserved a real flesh and blood man, not a monster.
“Is that what this is to you, drama? After last night, and all the time we spent together? I thought I meant something to you. I guess I was wrong. I didn’t realize you only have sex with no strings attached. Why not just say the words, Garrett?” Tears streamed down her cheeks, and she let out a hiccup.
“Gillian,” he whispered, her name clogging in his throat.
He wanted to take her in his arms and pull her to his chest, swallow every tear with a kiss, and make love to her for hours on end. Wipe all doubts from her mind. But what would be the point? She’d only resent him in the end. He’d rather live with her anger than her disappointment.
“You’re a god damn coward,” she railed, swiping at her tears.
He couldn’t imagine another day without her, let alone a lifetime. He couldn’t bear the pain. How would he get over this…over her? “You’re right. I am a coward. Whatever we shared was well, unexpected, and I’m afraid it has to end.”
She was crying hard now, deep sobs from the soul. “It was unexpected? Is that the best you’ve got?”
A young, uniformed officer walked over, one that Garrett didn’t recognize. His scrutinizing gaze roamed over Garrett before he turned to Gillian, a look of concern etched on his face. “Is this vampire bothering you, miss?”
“I think we got it covered. You can get lost,” Garrett muttered, his anger getting the best of him.
The cop rounded on him and took a step closer. “Excuse me? I need to see some ID.”
Garrett cursed under his breath and flashed his badge. “This is a private matter, Officer.”
“My apologies, Detective. If you need anything, miss, you let me know.”
After the cop walked away, Gillian looked up at him with tears still in her eyes. “I’m not driving over to the party with you. I’m calling Natalya to see if I can ride with her.”
Garrett took a step closer to her and let out a ragged breath. It wasn’t supposed to happen like this. “You can’t change the plan, Gillian. You’re supposed to be driving to the party with me. Even if you’re upset and angry, you’re not in a position to make that call.”
“Try and stop me. I already have on my costume and I have the potion. I refuse to sit in a confined space with you.” She started to walk away and he stopped her by reaching for her hand.
“Gillian, please don’t walk away, not like this.” If only Garrett could go back in time when he held her in his arms, for that sliver of time, everything seemed right in the world.
“You’re just trying to push me away, afraid to make a real commitment, to see where this takes us. I don’t care if you’re a vampire, or if our time together is short. It doesn’t matter to me.”
Her words flayed him open. This need for her was growing into an all-out obsession, which was why he needed to let her go. “You say that now, but I couldn’t have you wasting precious years on me.”
“You’re giving up on us because of some misplaced moral code?” She shook her head in confusion, and he felt her pain, a feeling of deep sorrow that tore through the center of his chest.
“Don’t you see? I have nothing to offer you. I couldn’t give you what you want. It would be selfish. The woman I told you about, Lilly, the one from my village, what I didn’t tell you last night was that she still wanted to be with me, even when she realized I became a vampire. She said nothing could keep us apart.”
“Why do you make it sound like a bad thing?” she said in a soft voice.
“Trust me, it was. After I watched my family die, I clung to the last shreds of my humanity, and part of that was holding onto Lilly. Eventually, she grew concerned about how people would perceive our relationship. I was weak and still devastated from losing the people I loved most in the world. I looked forward to those few stolen moments I shared with Lilly. I agreed to live and love her for the time we had.”
Gillian glanced down at the handkerchief, still gripped tightly in her hands, before her eyes met his once more. “What tore you apart?”
“She became consumed with finding a way for us to be together forever. She needed an Ancient to turn her, so she went to Malcom. Of course, he was happy to oblige. It became a conquest for him, and another way to destroy me. Very few people can take the pain during the transition. Most humans die, which is why there are so few of us in the grand scheme of things. Lilly succumbed to the toll it took on her body. Don’t you see? Her blood is on my hands.”
“You can’t blame yourself, Garrett,” she whispered and placed a hand on his cheek. “It’s not like you forced her. She made the choice herself.”
“Yes, but I should’ve never gotten involved with a flesh and blood woman. This is why I don’t do relationships. They can only end one way, in tragedy.”
“Saje found a spell using the water from Sybil’s Cave in one of the Grimoires. What if a cure exists?” The soft lilt of her voice became clogged with fresh tears. “You need to have faith.”
“Nothing can turn a vampire human again. Believe me, if there was such a thing, I would’ve tried it by now.” There’s no sense believing in fairy tales. It would only lead to sorrow.
“You’re not even going to let us try?” she whispered in a shaky voice.
When he remained silent, Gillian took a step back with a horror-struck look on her face. “I guess that’s all the answer I need.”
At that moment, an announcer’s voice broke through the deafening silence from a megaphone. He called a number over and over again. To Garrett, his voice sounded muffled as he could only focus on his gut-wrenching pain.
Gillian glanced over at the books of tickets stuffed into his front jacket pocket and waved her hand. One of the books soared up in the air and flipped to the number that the guy kept calling. “It looks like you’re a winner. You better go collect your prize.” With that, she turned her back on him and walked away, leaving him staring at the spot, long after she was gone.
Garrett couldn’t imagine how he could be a winner when it felt like he’d just lost the most important thing in his life.
Chapter 26
Garrett maneuvered the silver Lotus Evora, courtesy of the MBI, down a narrow, winding road, and past what looked like centuries-old oak trees until he came to a clearing. The vehicle was registered to Sebastian Beam in case someone from the Brotherhood traced the license plate.
When he spotted the black MBI van parked behind a delivery truck, he pulled over. They chose this point on the map, a stretch of ten miles from the actual house, to meet. The plan involved Gillian jumping into his back seat and staying hidden until he got through the gate.
He wasn’t sure how she’d act once she saw him or what they’d say to each other after the scene earlier at the park. But he couldn’t think about that now. This was about rescuing Brooke Corey and the other victims and finally getting enough evidence to bust up the Du Sang Brotherhood once and for all, not the state of his ill-fated love life.
Once he turned off the engine and got out of the car, careful not to get his Victorian waistcoat caught in the door, he undid the middle button and let out a deep sigh. The coat stretched tight over his shoulders and back, restricting his air supply.
His knee-high, buckled boots kicked over the gravel as he approached the van. The side door slid open with a hiss. Nick Hastings, a demon special agent he’d worked with on occasion, and from what Garrett now knew, Saje’s beau, stepped out to greet him. Like most of his kind, he stood close to seven feet tall with an imposing, muscular frame. “Hey man, you look the part,” said Hastings, shaking Garrett’s hand with an appraising glance at his costume. “I’m sure you’ll blend right in.”
“That’s the plan. What’s going on? Any updates?” Garrett craned his neck to see over Hasting’s horned head into the van. Still no sign of Gillian. But he knew nothing in this world could keep her away from her cousin, not even the way things had been left between them.
“We’ve got a full tech team inside this baby. Commander Smith connected small antennae to the AC units, allowing us to pick up on everything through surveillance cameras. The receiver can transmit a signal, which allowed us to park further away to reduce visibility. But the signal doesn’t cover the whole property. All of you will be connected by microphones, so you can hear each other’s conversations. From here we’ll be able to hack into Malcom’s private computer and get the goods.” Hastings handed him a mic.
“And that’s when we have a chat with Mr. Lawrence.”
They’d already had enough to lock him up and throw away the key before, but now that he jumped bail and crossed state lines, he had no more get-out-of-jail-free cards. He’d have no choice but to make a deal, one that involved giving up his boss. Garrett placed his ear pierce, untied the jabot around his neck, and buried the mic inside the white, flowy shirt that came with the costume.
After a series of beeps and static, he did a soundcheck. “Can anyone hear me?”
All three agents, Denopoulos, Smith, and Teague, responded immediately. The only one who didn’t respond was his partner. “Have you seen Dubrosky?” His words caught in his throat when Gillian stepped out of the van.
She looked like a vision, a beautiful angel that would never be his to cherish again. The realization left him numb. The good witch costume from earlier was gone, replaced with a sexy cop costume. She no longer wore a long, flowing skirt, but a skin-tight mini dress cut up to mid-thigh, showing an indecent amount of her long legs. She’d replaced the low-heeled boots with high heels. An oversized cop hat covered most of her face, and a small purse dangled from her hip.
The idea of putting herself in harm’s way, dressed like that in a room full of blood-thirsty vampires, made his gut burn. He swallowed hard and tried to focus on the plan. “You’re to stay put in the back seat of my car until the valet pulls into the garage. Once you get the go-ahead, you go in through the side patio door at the west entrance of the estate. Big Red, one of the agents at the party disguised as a waiter, will leave it open for you. You walk in and blend with the other women in costume until you get the signal. There’s no way the guards could keep track of what everyone’s wearing. If anyone stops you…”
“I’ll pretend I’m lost. Natalya went over everything with me several times,” Gillian said and stared at the long, blond wig on his head now pulled into a black ribbon. It dug into his scalp and made his head itch. “Lestat from Interview With A Vampire? Clever choice. No one will ever recognize you.”
“I told you I favor the classics.”
Her eyes darted to his shoulder holster. “Is the gun real?”
He nodded. “Not only is it real, but it’s also loaded with silver bullets for the occasion.”
“Then you might want to use this.” Gillian reached inside her purse and pulled out a spray bottle. His eyes instantly burned, forcing him to take a step back. “Let me guess, vampire repellant?”
“Try spraying it on the gun. It won’t affect you once it gets absorbed into the metal, but it should mask the scent of the bullets.”
The plan was for Smith to meet him at the security checkpoint, but Garrett supposed a little extra protection couldn’t hurt. “Why don’t I let you do the honors?”
After Gillian sprayed the gun, she shoved the bottle back into her purse. “All set.”
“We just need to fit you with an earpiece and a mic.”
At that moment, Dubrosky poked her head out of the van. “Hey, partner. We’ll be your eyes and ears from here on out.” She angled her head in Gillian’s general direction. “Try not to worry, she’s been briefed. It was my idea to pick up a shorter costume so her dress wouldn’t stick out from under your cloak. At least now she doesn’t look like a character from a children’s movie.”
“Right. It makes sense.” Garrett said through gritted teeth. He took a tentative step closer to Gillian and her lavender scent perfumed the crisp night air. She wore her hair up in the cap with tendrils falling around a glittery, black mask. He’d give anything to know what she was thinking right now.
“You need to place this in your bra,” he said and handed Gillian the mic. Their fingers touched and a shock of electricity zinged up his arm. His chest filled with longing and deep regret. “The transmitter can pick up all of our conversations.”
Hastings cleared his throat, breaking some of the tension. “On that note, I think I’ll leave you to it. See you on the other side.” He got back into the van presumably to give Gillian some privacy.
“I’ll use magick to conceal the mics.” She waved her hands and closed her eyes.
“Stars and moons, sand and sea.
Mother Earth let her cover thee.
This is my will, so mote it be.”
She opened her eyes and tilted her head to the side. Gillian bent forward, and he noticed a silver heart necklace now hanging from her slender neck. Their eyes met. “This will mask my scent and my heartbeat.”
“Frankly, that slipped my mind. Good thinking, Gillian.”
She ignored his praise and lifted the front panel of her dress. “I just need a minute.” Garrett caught a glimpse of a silver bra, and the outline of her pert, rosy nipples. Blood, fast and hot, rushed straight to his groin. If she was trying to torture him, she was doing one hell of a job.
“All set,” she announced after she adjusted herself. They did another soundcheck.
“Remember, Alex will be in a waiter uniform working with the catering staff, and Smith will be part of the security detail.”
“I’ll be the one driving the kick-ass delivery truck after you rescue Brooke,” Teague piped up into the mic.
“There will be other agents throughout the party, undercover as bartenders and waitstaff. They’ll be keeping an eye on you should you run into any trouble. Any questions?” Garrett asked, ready to get back on the road.
She shook her head and let out a deep breath, looking tense. “I don’t think so.”
“I’m parked close by, but I imagine the gravel will be treacherous in heels. Let me help you.” He reached for her hand, but she waved him off.
“I don’t need your help.” She hobbled along and managed not to twist an ankle.
She dropped the crystal in her hands. When she bent down to pick it up, Garrett caught the glint of the blade she planned to use on Brooke, strapped in a thigh holster. His mouth went dry. After they reached his car, he opened th
e door to let her duck into the back seat. She curled up in a ball and covered herself with his long, black cloak.
“Are you okay under there? Can you breathe?”
“I’m fine,” she muttered in a muffled voice. “Let’s get this over with.” He got the distinct impression she wasn’t only talking about getting to Brooke, more like she couldn’t wait to get away from him. He couldn’t blame her, not after the way he treated her.
“Fair enough.” He got into the car, turned on the GPS, and floored the gas. He peeled out of the clearing in the direction of the house. With one hand on the wheel, he reached for the mask on his passenger seat and covered his eyes. Showtime.
Once they reached the enormous wrought iron gate, he gasped. “You were right all along about the dragon shield. The satellite images from the drone didn’t pick it up. We’re nearing the security box. Remember to stay ducked down.” He pulled up and lowered his window. “The name’s Sebastian Beam.”
“Wait a moment, please,” said a voice on the other end. After a series of buzzing noises, the gate lifted. “You may enter, Mr. Beam.” He drove down a long, stone driveway to an enormous courtyard flush with grand, sweeping lawns.
When the sprawling, multi-level French country estate appeared, Gillian’s head popped up, visible in the rearview mirror. Greeted by Rockefeller era stone walls, ivy-clad pillars, and a slate roof, he now knew where all the blood money had gone. Incandescent lights lit up the house and made quite the visual against the backdrop of an inky sky. “Business must be good,” Garrett muttered in disgust.
“Holy shit, can you say Wolf of Wall Street? This is place is huge. It’s where I had the vision of Brooke. She’s here. I can feel it in my bones. Does this place belong to Kurt Lawrence?” Gillian asked in a sickened voice.
“No. It took some digging, but it’s linked to a credit card number used by Lawrence. It’s an entity owned investment property, and wouldn’t you know, the entity’s controlling principal is Malcom Von Scrivner. I see the valets. Stay down.”
Midnight Temptation Page 25