3 Hit the Road Jack (14 page)

“What’s been bothering you?” I immediately asked, cutting straight to the point.

“I don’t want to worry the others, but something doesn’t feel right about this mission. I have a bad feeling Lex.” He pretended to study his hands, though his eyes kept swaying towards me every other second.

“That’s not it Kai. I’m calling your bullshit. You don’t give a crap about worrying the others. You would have been the first to blurt it out if something was off. Now what’s really going on?”

“Do you plan to…” His face twisted,
showing
a cross between disgust and anger. “Do you plan to consummate with him anytime soon?”

My eyes narrowed at him. “Really Kai? That’s what’s got your panties in a bunch?” I scoffed. I couldn’t believe he was really asking me that question.

“I know it’s none of my damn business but do you know how fucking hard it is seeing you with him all the God damn time? You’re the first and only woman I’ve ever lov- cared about,” - he quickly amended - “like this. I feel like a crazy person. I can’t look the other way Lex. Hell, I’d even share you with him if he’d be open to it. That’s how much I fucking care.” He yanked his hair at the roots, disrupting his pony tail.

I knew I was staring at him, mouth open in shock. I couldn’t help it. Share me? Where the heck did that come from? Who shared a woman?
Better yet, what territorial vamps actually shared a woman? I thought we’d gotten past this; I thought we had an understanding. Clearly I was wrong. Clearly he wasn’t ready to understand my side of it. I wasn’t asking for support of my relationship with Kellan, only acceptance and respect. This wasn’t him respecting it though; this was him playing with my head, messing with my heart.

“We should get inside,” I whispered though I didn’t move a muscle. I continued to look at him in utter amazement and despair.

“Yea. I guess we should.” He opened the door and leapt out. He stood beside the door waiting for me, but he wouldn’t look at me. He looked everywhere but at me. I brushed past him, heard him shut the door, and headed for the club.

The clubs here didn’t look like the ones in America. It reminded me more of a café from the outside, despite the ropes
, line of people
and security at the door.
We bypassed the line
thanks to
Kai
glamouring a guard at the door.

The inside was blue with shades of green and white. The tiles were traditional blue and white with a yellow design painted on a few. A wooden bar took up most of the right side of the club. The entire first floor was a dance floor despite a large step down a quarter of the way into the space. Beyond the bar was a set of stairs leading to the roof I’d noticed from outside.

I weaved through the sea of people swaying to a catchy hip-hop song, surprisingly playing in English. The noise, the voices and conversations echoed throughout the space,
and
quickly knocked me
with
a headache. This was definitely one of the times I wish I could turn my vamp hearing on and off; heck, I’d even accept a mute button.

Kai headed straight for the bar, not bothering to look back at me, so I made my way to the back steps and up to the roof-top terrace.

The roof was just as busy as below. Unlike the tiles inside though, the roof was covered with wood, perhaps to avoid anyone slipping if it rained.
Music could be heard from downstairs, but no one seemed to be listening to it.
T
ables and l
ounge chairs covered the space that overlooked the water and the city’s landscape. It was nothing like NY or even Charleston; the tall buildings were all apartments and condos, dwellings, not businesses.

I quickly located Kellan in a corner chatting with a local female. My heart skipped a beat when she planted her hand on his bicep and gave it a squeeze of admiration. Serum flooded my mouth; my hands formed fists without my knowledge. My body was reacting, yet I was trying to suppress the emotions trying to surface.

I couldn’t get jealous. I wasn’t supposed to get jealous. We were on assignment, and tonight’s assignment was to get as much information from the locals as possible.

I cocked my head slightly studying the girl. She wasn’t ugly. Long, straight black hair flowed down her back; it was pretty, but seemed to dwarf her petite frame. She donned skinny jeans, a tight red shirt that bared her mid-drift and black stilettos. Her olive skin radiated, lighting up as she laughed at something Kellan said. I looked at him, checking if his expression was the same. He smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. His cute dimple didn’t make an appearance on his left cheek, which it typically did if he was genuinely smiling.

Abruptly he turned and looked directly at me. I froze up. He’d caught me red handed spying on him. Not that I was listening to his conversation. I couldn’t with all the other humans c
hatting so animatedly around me. He said something to the girl. She frowned as he left her standing there and headed directly towards me.

“Do I detect a bit of jealousy in that glare?” he smirked, pulling me into his arms. He leaned in, breathing against my neck. “It’s sexy as hell.” Goose bumps scattered across my forearms. I smiled against him. He gently kissed my neck, a sensual touch of his lips that sent heat straight into my lower stomach. I swallowed hard. Dear God he drew out a desire I didn’t know I had within me.

“Uh, we’re…” I cleared my throat. “Um, we’re supposed to be on assignment. We… we need information on Jack.” He chuckled, pulling my body flat against his; he placed a second sweet kiss on my neck. I nearly cried out when he licked my skin erotically. I couldn’t control the whimper though. Satisfied with my response, he stepped away.

I narrowed my eyes at him. “That wasn’t nice.” I squeezed my thighs together, trying to rid myself of the sudden overwhelming need I had to pounce on him.
“You’re just doing this because we’re in public. Try that behind closed doors and you’ll have to finish what you start,”
I challenged.

“I guarantee I’d have no problem with that.”
His eyes pierced me; his own desire prevalent
in the darkening of his irises. A dark teal seemed to bleed slightly from his pupils.

Our moment was broken when a guy approached us.
Kellan immediately closed his mind to protect us.
I didn’t understand what
the stranger
said, but heard him say Jack which put me on alert immediately.
Kellan said something to him, before grabbing my hand and pulling me with him.

“I’m opening my mind. I’ll translate for you. I don’t know how I didn’t smell this guy coming, but he’s a vamp so be careful.”

“Where are we going?”

”To an alley down the street. He’s got information. We need to be careful though. He heard what you said and picked up on it.”

“Crap. I majorly messed up there, but if we get information, then it’s worth it.”

We followed the vamp through the club and out the door. I noticed the others mingling with the humans on our way out; even Kai was saddled up to a buxom blonde at the bar. A couple blocks
down, we took a left in
t
o a dark abandoned alley between two apartment buildings.

A quick glance around gave me an uneasy feeling. We were discussing ou
r
enemy with a stranger beyond a crowded street in a dark, abandoned alley. Despite being a
v
amp, I clung to Kellan's arm. I glanced warily at the vamp
before us
. Unruly dark brown hair hung down into his eyes further shadowing his face. A long black
trench coat
only added to the
cliché
of the situation. I watched him and Kellan exchange words
,
read
ing
Kellan's mind to understand the conversation.

"Last I heard he was in London. That was about two months ago," the vamp offered.

"Who's your source?" Kellan folded his arms over his chest, bulging his biceps, reminding the stranger of his strength. It must have been a human habit because the skinniest or fattest vamp could out-do you sometimes.

"I'm not a rat. You're going to have to take my word or nothing."

Kellan narrowed his eyes. The stranger crossed his arms nonchalantly as he leaned against a building, one leg bent and his foot flat on the wall.

"I dont think I trust him,”
Kellan said.

"We haven't come across anyone else with info so far and there’s no guarantee we will."

"I'd rather have no info than bad info."

"But we don't know for sure that it's bad."

"We don't know if it's good either."

"Ask him what part of London."
 
He translated the question.

"Do I look like a
free
GPS? You want more, it'll cost you."

Kellan tensed.
 
"Price?"

"Five thousand US dollars."

"Five hundred and not a penny more. Even that's too much for possible
bullshit
," Kellan countered. The set of his jaw told me he was walking if the guy tried to
negotiate
further. Apparently he recognized it too because he pulled out a piece of paper. Kellan pulled out a wad of bills and handed the equivalent of two hundred and fifty dollars. The vamp began to protest when Kellan held up a silencing hand. He opened the paper and read it before returning his attention to the vamp. "You knew what we were looking for
before the club
, now tell me how before I snap your neck," Kellan bit out.

The vamp didn't flinch. "You're not the only ones looking for him." He proceeded to pull a stack of papers out of his pocket, flashing the words on each. They were all the same. Kellan threw the other two-fifty at him, grabbed my hand and whisked us back out
o
nto the
main street and down towards
the
crowd
again
.

Chapter 14

Looking at the angry, determined set of his jaw as he dragged me alongside him was one of the sexiest faces he'd made. H
is muscles coiled and were ready to rip someone to shreds should they offer themselves up.
Power radiated off of him, a dominance required to
command
any presence or control amongst
v
amps. He was a force not to be reckoned with in this moment.

Kalel and Will met us outside the club.

“Where were you?” Kalel immediately asked.

“Checking out a source,” Kellan replied. He didn’t loosen up at all, holding tightly to my hand still.

“What information did the source provide you with?” Will pressed
with
his notebook and pen ready in hand, an eager expression upon his face.

“This.” Kellan handed the paper to Kalel. He quickly read it and passed it to Will who transferred the information to his pad.
I was curious, but didn’t bother questioning why he was so insistent on documenting everything.

“What’s your take on it?” Kalel asked, chin slightly raised towards Kellan. His hands comfortably slid into his pant pockets; his gaze was calculating the risks of staying versus going.

“I say we hold off for another day or two; see if we can confirm it at the least.” Kellan copied Kalel’s stance to the extent of his left hand in his pocket and his chin slightly angled upwards.

“We could run the risk of missing him and not confirming or uncovering anything new,” Kalel countered.

“We could run the risk of chasing a bad lead and missing a good one,” Kellan pressed, puffing his chest slightly. He was already worked up from the soliciting vamp, and now it was as if he was trying to start something with Kalel, who was only trying to help.

“Calm down. He’s just trying to help us weigh the pros and cons.”

“I know. I’m just pissed because I don’t know what the hell to do right now.”

“Listen guys, we can nit-pick over the information, back and forth on whether we stay or go all we want. Regardless we’re running a risk of some kind. In this case, I’m actually all for tossing a coin. It may not be the most practical idea, but it will stop us from over analyzing and wasting precious time.”

The guys abruptly sniffed the air. I couldn’t smell anything out of the ordinary which meant either blood or a vamp was nearby.

“It’s my dad,” Kellan stated. “He’d only show himself if something was up.” Butterflies broke loose in my stomach as my serum level rose. I looked over Kalel’s shoulder just as Al broke throug
h the crowd, his brows furrowed, but face unreadable.

“Let’s go,” he said, breezing past us. Kellan immediately tensed, rolling his shoulders to no avail.

“I’ll call Gabi and Rafi, you call Kai and Craig,” Kalel ordered, already catching up with Al.

“I’ve got Craig,” Kellan stated, pulling me alongside him.

I pulled out my cell, scanning the crowd with paranoia, praying Kai would answer.