Surrendering: A Regent Vampire Lords Novel, Book #1

by K. L. Kreig

  The more he thought about it, the more he believed she had no idea of her heritage. She’d acted genuinely surprised when he told her she carried vampire blood. He just didn’t think she could be that good of an actress. He could now admit he may have acted hastily in keeping her captive while he figured this out. Did he need to go to that extreme? He didn’t know. What if she was lying to him? His whole Regent…hell, all of the regents could be in jeopardy. Shit. He should have trusted her more and by not doing so, he felt like a bastard of epic proportions. She would no doubt agree. Would she understand? Jesus, he hoped so.

  The sound of Elle and Damian’s voices arguing—loudly—brought him back to the moment at hand. Goddamn he wished he knew what had gone down between the two of them.

  “Elle, what were you able to find out from the professor?”

  Elle pulled her attention away from Damian, while they both continued muttering under their breaths. One of the reasons Dev had sent Elle to interrogate the professor was because she possessed a rare skill to memory sift. Alas, it only worked on humans, not vampires.

  “He’s been telling the truth about never seeing Xavier. I didn’t see any interaction with him, but I did see that one of Xavier’s lieutenants, Geoffrey, is the go-between, so we can definitively say Xavier is behind the kidnappings.

  “Geoffrey would meet with the professor every other week at the university, where he would turn over the results of the sleep studies. That’s how they are able to identify potential dreamwalkers. He also had to provide details on the participants that were interviewed for the study but weren’t accepted. Occasionally he would be told by Geoffrey to put a particular candidate he’d previously dismissed into the study.

  “The sleep study, along with their ‘alliance’ has been going on for over a decade, but just a few days ago the professor’s daughter was taken. Dickwad apparently grew a conscience and wanted to end the study after the vamps had taken an interest in Sarah Hill. When he tried to get out of their arrangement, they took his daughter as incentive for him to continue.

  “Sarah is the second participant in the professor’s sleep study that was identified with potential dreamwalker ability and so she was also kidnapped. The first girl, a Jamie Hallow, was kidnapped eleven years ago and was never found. The professor seemed genuinely broken up about her, which is why I think he tried to disengage with Xavier after they started focusing on Sarah. He didn’t want any more blood on his hands.

  “On a side note, when I mentioned Jamie’s name to our detective, he looked like he was gonna ralph on the spot. I got the impression this case was very personal to him and just got a lot more so. We should keep a close eye on him and make sure he doesn’t do anything stupid, like try to find Xavier on his own and get himself killed.”

  “And why would you care if something happens to your insolent detective? It sounds like he’s a detriment instead of an asset anyway.”

  Rom could be such a coldhearted asshole sometimes. Dev would rather continue their alliance with Thatcher as opposed to bringing on someone new, but Elle’s response peaked his interest. Elle seemed a little too passionate about making sure nothing happened to Detective Thatcher. He decided to let her respond instead of stepping in, as he was quite interested in her explanation.

  Elle glared at Rom. She had fear of no one or nothing. Dev worried that was going to be her demise someday.

  “Because, as much of a pain in the ass as Thatcher is, he has been somewhat collaborative and he’s house broken. Starting over again to train a local police detective takes a lot of time, effort and trust. And we don’t have that luxury at the moment.”

  Hmmm…sounded convincing enough. But he knew Elle like not many did. And there was something she hadn’t said in her well thought out explanation. Did she actually like Detective Thatcher? Wow…he hadn’t seen that one coming. Oh well, that was a conundrum to solve on another day. He had far bigger fish on his plate to fry at the moment.

  “Anything else?” Dev asked.

  “Yes. Since all of the meetings occurred on campus, the professor does not know Xavier’s location. I’m afraid this is all we’re going to get from him.”

  “Thanks, Elle. Good work.”

  Dev turned his attention to Ren. “Ren, were you and Damian able to get anything from our house guests? Are they still resting comfortably?”

  Ren laughed. “Well, they were until little dick over there used his firestarter ability. Damn, I thought the whole fucking house was gonna burn down around us.”

  “Fuck off, Ren. And it’s called an interrogation tactic. And it was only one of them I ashed. Besides, I got the fire back under control…without too much damage.” Damian glanced at Dev. “I’ll pay for the repairs, of course, Dev.”

  Christ. Put Ren and Damian together and the two acted like prepubescent children.

  “Were you able to learn anything before you burnt him to a crisp?”

  “Unfortunately not. He was loyal till the end to Xavier. Now the other one we were able to get a bit of useful information from.” Glaring at Ren, he continued, “Of course, it took my special interrogation technique to pry it out of him, but he did tell us that he reports to Geoffrey and that, upon Geoffrey’s orders, they were there to capture your woman, Kate.”

  “Christ, Damian, we already knew they were there to kidnap Kate! Tell me something I don’t already know.” Dev was having a hard time holding it together and everyone else was noticing.

  “Chill. Give me a chance to finish.”

  Dev nodded. “Continue.”

  “They were to take her to Xavier. They had orders to do whatever it took to get her there, short of killing or feeding from her, as they suspected she was a dreamwalker and Xavier wanted her alive. They wanted Kate badly and if they couldn’t capture her directly, they thought your detective may be persuaded to help, so they also sent a team to his house as well.”

  Elle gasped and immediately fled the room. Dev could only guess she was going to check on Thatcher. This was one big clusterfuck.

  So they were at her house to do her harm, not get an update on him and the other lords. Based on this new information, he knew without a doubt that Kate was not a traitor, and he felt lower than the lowest scum of the earth. How she carried Xavier’s blood, he did not know, but he aimed to find out. He needed to stop Esmeralda immediately, before she started her spell.

  “Ren, go find Es and tell her to hold off on the spell until I talk to her. Don’t let her out of your sight. I don’t care what you have to do.”

  “It would be my pleasure.”

  So Xavier knows she’s a dreamwalker, which put her in twice as much danger. He also knows she was in the police station. Which meant Xavier also had minions deep within the MPD and likely knew about the lords’ involvement in protecting Kate. Did he also know that Kate was his Moira?

  Dev needed to wrap up this meeting, but fast. “Rom, were your experts able to find anything?”

  Rom nodded once and began handing out papers to the group. “Of course. They were able to uncover seven additional documented sleep studies, similar to the one that Professor Bailey was apparently conducting. Two others in your Regent, two in Damian’s and three in mine. We have a list of the universities and professor’s conducting them, which is what I just handed out. I’ve already instructed my people to interview the professors in our Regent, which they will do first thing tomorrow morning. I’m quite certain there is a connection to Xavier here as well.”

  “That’s a great lead, Rom. Damian and I will do the same and we’ll reconvene here again tomorrow evening for another update. For now, I simply want them interrogated and watched. Although I doubt it, any one of them may be the key to finding Xavier. Are you in need of Elle’s skills?”

  “No, I have several sifters at my disposal in my Regent,” Rom replied.

  “I, as well,” added Damian.

  “Good. Anything else to add?”

  Silence.

  “See you tomorrow, then
, gentlemen.”

  Was the tide finally turning their way? He fucking hoped so.

  Chapter 50

  Kate

  Kate didn’t know how long she’d been captive in this desolate room. She’d cried, screamed and pleaded, but Dev never came back. She had even tried to talk to him through their connection and he ignored those pleas as well. She wasn’t sure how that worked exactly, if they needed to be close together or not, so she didn’t know if he’d even heard her.

  She had absolutely no idea what she’d done to deserve this sort of treatment. Yesterday had been hands down the best day of her entire life. She thought it had been for Dev too. She’d run almost every gamut of emotions possible since she’d been locked up.

  Anger.

  Confusion.

  Hurt.

  Despair.

  Aaaand…she was back to anger. How could he do this to her without any explanation? That rat bastard! They may not be able to divorce, but there was no way she was putting up with this shit when she was released. She knew she couldn’t return home because she was still in danger, and she may be angry, but a fool she was not. However, she was most certainly going to move into one of the other bedrooms. The one farthest away from him. Preferably after a hard swift kick to the family jewels.

  Dev hadn’t bothered to pop in and explain why the hell he’d kept her locked up like a rabid dog, but Leo, however, had been in to feed her several times. She wasn’t hungry, but he pleaded with her to eat something anyway. It wasn’t his fault she was in here, so she reluctantly complied and ate enough to keep him off her ass.

  She pleaded with Leo to tell her what was going on, but he was loyal to his master and would only tell her that Dev would be in to tell her himself sometime soon. He said that every time he was here, but Dev never came. Leo was kind, as usual, but he’d been a little more distant than he normally was. What the hell was it everyone thought she’d done! Apparently vampires didn’t believe in the due process clause of the fourteenth amendment.

  She was cataloging creative ways to get revenge on Dev, when the door opened and a man that she hadn’t seen before walked in. She was completely vulnerable and immediately on alert.

  “Hi, Kate.”

  “Who are you?” Her pulse skyrocketed, fear coursing its way through her veins.

  “Oh, I’m sorry. I forgot we haven’t met yet. I’m Doctor Dirk. Most everyone calls me Big D, though.”

  Big D. Yes, Dev had referred to him several times. He was the one running blood tests on her.

  “Why are you here? Where is Dev? Why am I locked up like this? What in the hell is going on here?” She was practically hyperventilating.

  “Whoa, there. That’s a lot of questions at once, Kate. First, I’m very sorry for these unfortunate circumstances of our first meeting. I’ve been quite looking forward to meeting the woman who stole Lord Devon’s heart.”

  She just stared at him, not knowing how to respond, so apparently he took that as a sign to continue.

  “As for why you are locked up, I’m afraid you’ll need to discuss that with your mate. I’m not at liberty to say.” He turned around and set down a phlebotomist kit, which she hadn’t realized he’d even been carrying.

  “What the hell are you doing with that?” She was now petrified.

  Instead of a needle, he withdrew a pair of scissors from the kit and turned to approach her.

  “I just need a small sample of hair and I’ll be on my way.”

  “Uh, the hell you will.”

  While she apparently possessed the skill of stasis, actually controlling it was an entirely different story. She’d also been working with Dev on trying to use that ability this week and she hadn’t been successful. He’d told her that sometimes it can take years, or even decades, to master the skills a vampire possesses and use them upon demand. And they still weren’t sure why she could tap into a power she wasn’t supposed to be able to because she’d not been blooded. She would gradually take on the skills Dev possessed, but so far she hadn’t been successful in doing anything vampire-like since their mating. Now would be a really good time for that to change.

  So as the doctor came toward her, she attempted to use the techniques Dev had been trying to teach her.

  Earlier in the week, they had used Ren as the willing victim, him pretending to be an attacker. She could hear Dev’s soft, seductive voice in her ear as he stood behind her, coaching her.

  Imagine your target as being perfectly still, like a statue.

  Imagine he can’t move a muscle.

  Imagine him frozen to the ground he walks on.

  That’s it, Kate.

  Now, imagine my cock driving in and out of your hot, sweet pussy while your climax makes you cream all over it.

  Well, that had been the end of that particular lesson and onto another one entirely. Her entire body flushed and readied for her mate.

  Jesus, Kate. Focus.

  She concentrated, imagined…aaaand nothing. Shit! He was now at her side, clipping a small chunk of hair and placing it in a clear vial. Damn it. What good were these stupid powers if she couldn’t even use them.

  After he’d placed the items back into his kit, he turned around and looked at her sympathetically.

  “I’m sure Dev will be in very soon, Kate. He loves you very much.”

  She snorted. He hadn’t told her he loved her yet. But in fairness, neither had she said it to him.

  “If he loves me so much, then why the hell would he do this to me without any explanation?”

  He stared at her for long moments, and she thought he would walk out without answering.

  “Because he loves his people just as much.” He turned and walked out the door before she could ask any further questions.

  What the hell did that mean, he loved his people just as much? Did he think she was a danger to his people? How could he possibly think that? She couldn’t even do anything remotely dangerous!! She couldn’t even stop this guy from cutting her damn hair!

  She tried calling out to Dev again. Begging, pleading for him to talk to her. To release her.

  As with every other time she’d tried…nothing. Crickets.

  She decided then and there that a kick to his jewels was probably far less than he deserved.

  Chapter 51

  Dev

  Dev stood outside of the room in which Kate was being held, gathering his thoughts. He’d wanted to get to her sooner, but had a few things to handle before he could devote the time necessary to his beloved.

  He’d dispatched Manny, Ren, and several others to interview the two other professors in his Regent. He would have dispatched Elle, but she’d fucking disappeared and he couldn’t reach her. She’d get a goddamned earful when she returned.

  He’d retrieved Kate’s hair and blood samples from Esmeralda, but he couldn’t be certain that she didn’t secret some away before Ren tracked her down. She insisted she hadn’t. Of course, he didn’t believe her, but he couldn’t prove it or keep her here.

  Unfortunately he’d put himself, and Kate, in a compromising position by doubting her and jumping to conclusions without first asking or investigating, and that worried him. He didn’t usually make careless mistakes like that. Kate had his head all fucked up and he’d better get it back on straight and quick, or he would put his life, and hers, in peril.

  He slowly and quietly opened the door, preparing for his mate’s ire. He was both grateful and disappointed when he found her sleeping. And it looked like her sleep was fitful, as she was thrashing about.

  He quickly undid her restraints and flashed them into his bedroom, where he held her tightly to him on their king sized bed. She had not awakened so she must be in a very deep sleep. Was she dreamwalking again? He was so proud that he had a Moira with such a special ability, but he also knew it was difficult on Kate, and for that, he wished she didn’t have to bear that burden.

  He held her as she dreamed and thought about what Olivia had told him when he’d asked her
opinion on how to handle this delicate situation only a short half hour ago. He had no goddamned clue how to be a good mate and this was an epic fuck-up, so he needed some womanly advice.

  “When a woman is wronged, her trust is broken and trust is both difficult and timely to regain. While flowers and gifts are nice, and always welcome, of course, a good bit of groveling goes a long way to repairing the damage quicker. You didn’t trust your mate, my lord, and that was a big mistake. She deserved the benefit of the doubt before you jumped to the worst conclusion possible. So in this case, I would advise groveling. Lots and lots of groveling. Kate is a reasonable woman and it’s clear she loves you very much. I’m sure she’ll forgive you…eventually. Good luck, my lord.”

  He was a Regent Lord. He didn’t grovel…to anyone. But in this case, Olivia was right. Groveling was not only the right thing to do, but also probably the only way Kate would forgive his insolence.

  He only prayed groveling was enough.

  ___________

  Kate

  Kate waited as long as she could for Dev before sleep overcame her. Her last thought before drifting off was that she hoped tonight was a dreamless one, because she could not deal with any more stress than she was already under.

  Unfortunately that wasn’t to be. As soon as sleep took her, she was sucked back into that horrid place where helpless young women were held against their wills and unspeakable things happened.

  Kate was immediately drawn to Sarah, as always. She lay in her bed, staring at the crumbling drywall ceiling, a completely blank look plastered on her face. Kate wondered how Sarah would possibly be able to recover after they rescued her.

  Stay strong, Sarah. We’re going to bring you home soon.

  This time it was easier to pull herself away from Sarah to once again look around the compound. This time she hoped she could get more information that would help save these poor women.