by K. L. Kreig
He almost needed help restraining her, but the thought of someone else seeing her beautiful naked body stopped him cold. He’d managed to drag her away from his throat and restrain her in the dungeon. Not a place his beloved belonged, but he’d had no other choice at the time.
He was baffled at her strength and her developing abilities. He should have easily been able to control her, but he was serious when he told her it took all of his strength to pull her away. Bloodlust makes you temporarily stronger, but it shouldn’t give her that much power. Now that they were bonded, she would gradually gain his same abilities, but it happened over a period of years, not minutes.
Of course, with Kate, everything was completely up in the air. He should learn to expect the unexpected, because every time he turned around, something new slapped him in the face.
His index finger rubbed back and forth as he admired his mating mark spanning the circumference of his left thumb. A matching one graced the same finger on Kate, confirming the bonding was complete. He had to admit he felt shamelessly possessive and virile at the sight of his permanent mark on her and vice versa.
While he was intensely proud of her strength and capability, the thought of his mate being anywhere near his nemesis had ice running through his veins. He loved her beyond his comprehension and could hardly breathe at the thought of anything bad happening to her. Reluctantly, he also knew she was their best hope at taking down a vampire that was once his closest friend. And the reality was he was helpless to stop her dreams, so he might as well use the information she saw to find him.
“Let’s get you back up to our bedroom so you can get dressed. As much as I’d love to keep you permanently naked, we have a rogue vampire to catch and some girls to save. You can tell me the details of your dream after we’ve showered.”
“Okay.”
The smile lit up her entire face up like a Christmas tree. A tidal wave of love washed over him and he knew he’d give this woman anything her heart desired. He was a complete and total goner.
And he’d never been happier. He only hoped that happiness didn’t come crashing down around him.
Chapter 43
Mike
Mike’s head falling forward startled him awake. Jesus H, the older he got, the harder it was to shake off his annual night of stupidity. He would do it for Jamie, though. She deserved that much. Coming right to the station after his graveside vigil, he’d managed to catch a few hours of restless shut-eye on a worn-out sofa, broken springs digging into his back.
He hurt like hell today and was dragging ass. Even the shitty coffee wasn’t helping this morning. They’d need a few more pieces of information from Professor Bailey, but the bastard didn’t show at the scheduled time yesterday. Jake had an arrest warrant out on his ass since, according to his assistant, he’d taken an unexpected and indefinite leave of absence.
“Man, you look like shit,” Jake said as he strolled into their office. “Hard night?”
No way was he gonna spill his secrets to his partner. That was his cross to bear and his alone. Jake knew something was up, but he had to give the guy credit. He never pushed for an explanation. It made him a great partner.
“Something like that. Any word on the wily professor?”
“Nah. We’re watching his house. I have a feeling he’ll show up.”
Mike nodded in agreement. Damn…even that small action had his head protesting. A two-day hangover was hell. He’d already swallowed half a bottle of aspirin and not only did it not help his headache, now he felt like fire ants were eating a hole in his stomach too. He was probably getting an ulcer. Just his luck.
He pushed all that shit and wallowing aside. They had a job to do and it didn’t matter how bad he felt, he would do it.
On his desk were a dozen new ‘leads’ on Sarah’s disappearance that he had to wade through to determine what was shit and what may be valid.
Pushing back his splitting head and sour stomach, he got to work. He wouldn’t fail his friend. He wouldn’t fail his friend’s daughter. He would find Sarah even if it meant putting himself in the ground.
Chapter 44
Xavier
“Sire, I have good news. Another successful delivery occurred this morning. Two more are progressing nicely and should deliver within the next few weeks.”
Xavier lounged in his office, his favorite Scotch in hand. He was sated for the moment, having recently devoured three, lovely fresh meals several nights ago at the human male’s house. He’d decided to leave the human male alive, for that was far more fun than relieving him of his heavy burden—the guilt of knowing it was his actions, or lack thereof, that resulted in the demise of his entire family.
Yes, he was a sadistic bastard. Smile.
“Good. And the new female?”
“Ah, progressing nicely. We’ve completed three rounds of inseminations and are monitoring her daily. We should know within the next couple of days if it took. If not, we’ll need to wait until the next cycle to try again, but all test results indicated she’s strong, healthy and fertile. I’m hopeful.”
His weakness cut him to the quick and generated an almost uncontrollable rage every time he thought about it. His breeding rates were off the charts successful, save one small fact. He had a goddamn genetic mutation where he spawned only females. He’d quit participating in the actual breeding many years ago, telling his lieutenants they had earned the privilege of helping him grow his army.
Other than breading, fucking, and feeding, females were useless, and since female vampires couldn’t breed, naturally they had to be disposed of. He didn’t share his former brethren’s reverence of female vampires.
Only two people knew of this genetic flaw and if his good doctor spoke of it, Xavier would quickly tear his throat out. Or draw out his torture painfully. Either way, he’d sign his own death warrant.
“Anything else?”
“No, my liege.”
“Then get the fuck out. And bring me a female. I’m hungry all of a sudden.”
“Right away, sire.”
Chapter 45
Dev
“We need to put that cocksucker in the ground and yesterday!” A round of expletives abounded. The noise level in the room was nearly deafening.
They were in Dev’s lower level boardroom; a thirty-foot, hand-carved cherry wood table was the centerpiece of the room and could comfortably seat forty people. It was nearly full.
“Quiet!” Dev yelled. You could instantly hear a pin drop.
“No need to state the obvious. Let’s go over what facts we’ve all been able to gather in the last few days. Ren, start with your conversation with Detective Thatcher.”
Ren stood, his loud voice echoing off the walls.
“Apparently one Professor Duncan Bailey was the last person known to see Sarah Hill alive. He tried to run and is now in custody. It seems the good professor was in bed with a Master Vampire”—Ren air-quoted Master—“who threatened his family in exchange for his cooperation. Apparently this Master Vampire had recently acquired the professor’s daughter as collateral for his continued assistance.”
The usually quiet Romaric spoke up. “What type of assistance?”
“I’m getting to that. Bailey’s the head of Northwestern’s psychology department, and was running several sleep studies that focused on the dream state. Sarah told Bailey she was having some unusual and very realistic dreams and he asked her to be part of his little research project.
“Seems this vamp was looking for candidates for his own little experiments. In exchange for Bailey’s cooperation in handing over candidate names and the sleep project results, his family lived. He was also paid handsomely, I might add. Oh…and one more thing. Sarah was the second such young woman this asshole served on a silver platter to Xavier.”
Damian slammed his hands on the table as he flew out of his chair. “Son-of-a-fucking-bitch. That motherfucker is now looking for dreamwalkers?”
“It would seem that way, Dam
ian,” Dev answered. Dev knew Xavier was a sick son of a bitch, but even he had been surprised at Xavier’s depravity. It seemed his former bestie was back to his old tricks of kidnapping women and callously killing them, but according to Kate’s dreams, one was pregnant. How could someone keep their Moira in that depraved situation? So many questions and not enough answers.
“You mentioned Xavier. Have we confirmed it’s him, or is there possibly another player?” Romaric’s deep, ever calm voice interjected.
“The professor claims not to have seen this master vamp personally and Thatcher believes him. But they all refer to him as…my liege or lord, so, yes, we think it’s Xavier.”
“Fucking-A!” Damian shouted. The room erupted in shouts and curses.
Dev spoke calmly to Giselle. “Elle, tomorrow morning I want you to go down to the station and personally interrogate this asshole. Use whatever means necessary to extract all information from him.” Giselle was ruthless. The perfect vamp for the job.
Giselle smirked and nodded in his direction. She lived for this kind of job. A wolf in sheep’s clothing was a euphemism that fit her to a “T”.
Dev looked at Kate and his entire demeanor changed. His voice softened. His hard eyes filled with encouragement.
“Love, will you tell the others of your most recent dream?”
She looked nervous, and he was immensely proud when she stood confidently and recounted her most recent dream where she saw Sarah and two other females. One, noticeably pregnant; the other being raped. She recounted every little detail she could remember, including the landmarks outside the small window. Her description of the vampires and hostages was detailed and thorough. Too bad she hadn’t seen Xavier in her dream.
“So…” Damian began, rising up to his full six-foot-six-inch frame. “Let me get this straight. Are you saying in addition to Xavier tracking down dreamwalkers, some psychotic motherfucking rogue has actually let their Moira be used to help Xavier create his army?”
Dev sighed heavily. “It would appear that way, yes.”
“Well, fuck me runnin’. This is worse than shitting fire and falling in it.”
Ren burst out laughing, shaking his head. “Where do you get this shit, bro? Do you troll the Internet now to come up with new sayings?”
Damian smirked. “You’re just jealous of my timely and inventive wit, fucker.”
“Suck it.”
“Whip it out.”
“You couldn’t wrap your lips around it.”
“I can get my lips around a tootsie roll just fine, asswipe.”
“Children,” Dev loudly interrupted. “We have more important things to worry about than whose cock is bigger. Jesus. Damian, why don’t you and Ren go talk to some of the visitors you brought back from Kate’s and see if we learn anything enlightening. They should be nice and hungry by now and amenable to provide assistance. If you can keep your hands off each other, that is.” Dev hadn’t told Kate they’d brought back a couple of prisoners from her most recent kidnapping.
A simultaneous “fuck you” was uttered by both men.
“Elle, visit our professor and report back to me ASAP. Rom, don’t you have some contacts in the medical community that we could use to track down information on others who may also be on Xavier’s payroll?”
The man of many words that Romaric was, he simply nodded.
“Good. You work that angle.”
“Of course. I also have an excellent computer technologist. I will contact her straight away and see if we can’t glean a new lead using that method.” Rom stood to leave, along with his men. He was one of the most uptight vampires Dev knew.
“Perfect. Let’s all meet back here tomorrow night at midnight and see what new information we all have.”
As everyone left to attend to their respective tasks, Dev added, “Oh, and gentlemen, it’s no contest. My cock wins.”
Consensus was not reached on that point.
Chapter 46
Dev
Hours later a hard knock reverberated on his office door before it opened. Dev looked up from the papers he was reviewing as Big D’s large frame took up almost the entire doorway. And he looked grim.
“What did you find, doc?” asked Dev, as he stood and walked around the front of his large cherry desk.
Big D nervously cleared his throat. “Well, I have run several tests on the two blood samples I took from Kate, cross-matched them with all of the blood samples we have in the database and I come up with the same results. Every single time.”
Big D hesitated for several beats before he continued. He looked positively sick.
“As you know, we’ve already determined from her first blood sample that she has vampire lineage and has to be adopted as both the parents are human.”
Dev nodded. The doc was stalling and he was afraid his worst fears were about to be confirmed.
“Yes, I know that already. What else did you find out?”
“Her lineage has been traced back to the Illenciam bloodline.”
A roaring sound rang in his head, getting louder and louder so he couldn’t think straight. His vision turned fuzzy. He sunk down onto his leather couch in a fog. He’d suspected, but to have his fears actually confirmed…that was another thing entirely. His voice was barely a whisper. “How can that be?”
Big D looked directly into Dev’s eyes with sympathy. “I’m sorry, my lord, but they are not wrong. I have repeated them countless times. They are conclusive. There is no doubt that Kate is Xavier’s daughter.”
This could not be happening.
Holy. Christ.
This.
Could.
Not.
Be.
Happening.
Big D was talking, but he couldn’t hear any of the words. Nothing made sense. His world had just gone black. Blown to smithereens right out from underneath him.
Dev had been trying to justify Kate’s unusual display of power by convincing himself they didn’t know Xavier’s background. Being abandoned by his parents it was certainly likely there were others out there with the skill of stasis.
But…a daughter? His daughter? Did he know she lived? He must. Was this whole thing a setup to get close to him? How could it not be? Had Xavier somehow known Kate was his Moira? Had the rogues at her house simply been there to get a report back to Xavier? This made no sense, but what other explanation was there? Xavier had finally found a way to gut him. And gutted, he felt. He loved her. She couldn’t possibly betray him like this…could she? Xavier had taken away everything good in his life, now including his mate.
He could barely breathe.
Jesus, he had been completely blinded by lust…and love. He’d been led around by his dick from the moment he laid eyes on her, which was probably all part of the plan. Kate was one hell of an actress; he’d give her that.
Fuck! He’d put his entire Regent in jeopardy, not to mention the people he cared about most in the world. Those that had stood by his side for centuries.
The love of his life, his mate, was the daughter of the devil himself. His Kate was the daughter of his most abhorrent enemy, Xavier Illenciam.
Fate was a crazy, fickle bitch.
He was utterly destroyed. He wasn’t sure how long he sat there, but it was so long that doc had left, Ren taking his place. Ren didn’t say a word. Just stood by the door, in case he was needed. Dev couldn’t even look at him. The last thing he needed to see was compassion in his friends face. Or worse…pity.
Dev finally pulled himself together and went in search of Kate. Ultimately he was a Vampire Lord and his responsibility, first and foremost, was to protect all those under his reign and he could not—would not—let Xavier subvert that. He would ascertain if Kate was a traitor. God help her if she was. He may be bonded to her already and his life now inextricably woven with hers, and while his soul would die a thousand deaths being parted from her, he would do anything to protect those that relied on him for their safety and their very lives.
<
br /> He would get to the truth. By any means necessary. But deep inside he fervently prayed to a God he didn’t really believe in that this was just some giant, unbelievable cosmic fucking coincidence.
___________
Kate
Running on the treadmill, Kate just started her fifth mile at the twenty-one minute mark, while Dev caught up on work. She glanced at the beautiful intricate mating mark gracing her left thumb and butterflies took flight in her stomach. He was hers. That magnificent man was hers for all of eternity. It was both a terrifying and comforting thought.
She could hardly wrap her head around how different she felt now. How powerful she felt, after bonding with Dev. The changes she’d felt happening after she’d met Dev were now more noticeable, more pronounced after their bonding. She was getting used to her speed and agility. The constant loud pounding in her head had finally diminished and she could only hear it if she concentrated. She hadn’t tried flashing yet. She was petrified where she would end up. Dev said he would teach her when things calmed down a bit.
As she ran, she berated herself for the lack of work on her dissertation, as that’s really what she should be doing with her downtime, but she’d been unable to concentrate. So many crazy things had happened over the last several days, she felt like she was on a merry-go-round and couldn’t get off. And this merry-go-round was going at warp speed.
If anyone had told her a week ago there were vampire sex gods, freeze frame abilities, flashing, eternal mates, a vampire sadist, and dreamwalkers, she would have suggested a good psychiatrist and a nice big dose of Prozac. And maybe some much-needed time off of work—in an inpatient mental institution. At times, she wondered if this whole thing was a very long, very strange dream, from which she could not wake.