Authors: Lina Gardiner
"I know you wouldn't hurt Regent, or me,” Britt said, rubbing the quarter inch of shadow on his unshaven jaw. He looked lean and angular, and totally kissable. She tried to shove that thought to the very furthest recesses of her conscious mind, but images of the way he looked at her in his apartment the other night exploded into her memory and she had to force herself to maintain her stance.
"You know nothing of the sort. And if you're wise, you'd remember
what
I am. Not who I am, Lieutenant John Brittain."
She turned and stalked away, slammed out the door and left Britt to mop up Sampson. He'd be a wreck after losing another patient and John would be a better choice to soothe the poor man.
She trusted Sampson, just like she trusted Britt. In fact, she had a pact with Sampson that no one knew about. Not even Regent. If she ever turned evil, he'd find a way to take her out. To kill her.
Holding her head in her hands, she stood outside the SUV in the black of the night and prayed she wasn't being sucked into that dark existence against her will.
She wouldn't let it happen. Not without a fight.
Britt followed Jess to the police station a few minutes after assuring Sampson they'd find out what the hell was going on. He left the man looking barely mollified and sipping a soothing cup of herbal tea.
He knew exactly where Jess had gone.
Raised voices penetrated into the hallway before he got close to the Chief's door. No vampire hearing required. He walked by casually, trying to catch the drift of the conversation.
The Chief spotted him. “Detective Brittain, in my office, now!"
Britt turned his head and feigned surprise. Chief Brown probably wanted a buffer between himself and Jess, and any able-bodied cop would do.
Jess didn't acknowledge Britt when he entered the room. Her entire focus was on the Chief, who appeared to be holding his ground against Jess, even though the tension in the room was palpable. “I don't agree with you,” she said. “This is something I should handle on my own."
"I thought we'd decided you wouldn't go there on your own. That you'd find someone to back you up."
She looked repentant. “It wasn't an order, sir."
"It is now, and John Brittain is going to be your backup."
"What? No,” she said.
"Yes,” said Brown. “And that is an order. No discussion.” He brushed invisible crumbs from his hands, and leaned back in feigned repose. “Report back at the end of the week, whether you learn anything or not. Dismissed."
Britt had no clue what the Chief was talking about. But seeing the sparks flying from Jess's eyes, he'd wait to let her tell him after she'd cooled down.
"You haven't answered my question,” Jess said to Brown, staring at him, pulling his gaze into her own. No doubt, making him experience the bleakness she could instill. That cold sense of dread that filled one's senses and left a lingering feeling of hopelessness. Just a couple of seconds. That's all it ever took. When she allowed him to break contact, he looked away from her. Britt almost felt sorry for him. Almost.
"Why did you have the bodies removed from our lab? I know you realize the repercussion of having these victims autopsied by regular M.E.s,” Jess said.
Brown's face turned to pale marble, and he took a long, hard breath. “I don't have a choice.” He gave her a suspicious look. “And, if you happen to have any idea who stole that body from the morgue, I'd suggest you warn that person that surveillance has been heavily upgraded so that no one can get in and out without being caught on hidden cameras."
When the Chief scanned the interior of his own office Britt guessed he'd probably just stuck his neck out to tell her that.
"This whole situation is crazy, and dangerous. How will we control the population if they learn the truth? The last thing we need are lynch mobs in the city,” Jess told the Chief.
"I'm working on containing this thing. And trying to make sure Sampson is the only ME who handles these cases. If things go the way they should, he'll have the body back within a few hours."
"Why didn't you just say so?"
"I just did. As I said before—dismissed!” He turned his back on the two of them and opened an email on his computer.
Jess glanced at Britt angrily, then turned and marched out of the office.
He followed her but remained silent. In fact, he followed her right into her office and closed the door behind them.
When she heard the door latch she spun around and glared at him. “What are you doing? Did I ask you to come in here?"
"No. But I think we need to talk about what just happened in Chief Brown's office."
She dropped into her chair. “Nothing happened. We're being kept in the dark."
"I have something to tell you, but I don't want to say it here. Can we meet later tonight? After I take my team out on patrol?"
She flashed him a curious look. “Where and when?"
"In the establishment next to the spot where we first met.” He'd deliberately withheld the location just in case the walls had ears.
Her head lifted and she squinted at him suspiciously. Then she nodded.
It was well after two a.m. when Jess arrived at their designated meeting location outside the bar. This place brought back memories best forgotten. A breeze ruffled leaves in the small green space on the other side of the street. The sounds of nature used to be pleasing to Jess when she was human. She now tried to recapture some of those feelings but couldn't quite manage it.
"Fancy finding you here.” His voice came from behind her and startled her. She jumped.
Instant concern crossed his face. Of course he realized she should have heard him coming. Why hadn't she?
She pretended not to care. “What's going on, Britt? Why did you want to meet here?"
"Back in Chief Brown's office, when he was talking about added surveillance cameras in the morgue, he kept glancing around his office. You were ticked at him at the time, so in case you didn't notice, I thought I'd apprise you. I don't think he felt that he could talk openly."
"Really?” She pursed her lips. “You're right I didn't notice. I seem to be missing a lot of things lately.” She slumped. “What the hell is going on, Britt? And what's wrong with me?"
"I intend to get to the bottom of it, Jess. I'm not going to give up until we figure this thing out."
His words washed over her and warmed her. “I guess now's the time to tell you, the Chief insisted that you be my backup in future.” She held up her hands. “But only when it comes to finding out about Vaslov. For some reason, Vaslov's a little too interested in me. The Chief wants me to play along and find out what his agenda is."
"I can't say that plan impresses me. What the hell is the man thinking!"
"He thinks I'm a cop who can handle it.” Her words were ice.
"Of course you can handle it, but after what happened in the alley, it's not safe to...” He gaped at her. “You were supposed to have backup that night, too, weren't you?"
No doubt Britt knew he'd made a mistake the minute the words came out of his mouth. Even before she'd chastised him so succinctly. He'd inadvertently insinuated that she needed help to do her job, and she didn't appreciate it.
She glared at him, infusing him with the essence of darkness. He deserved it this time.
But, when his face paled and his gaze flinched she broke eye contact. Damn it. She hated being a vampire some days. “Yes! I ignored his orders the night I passed out in the alley. I wasn't supposed to go alone.
"From now on you have backup,” he said. “Let's get to the bottom of this thing, and the sooner the better."
Jess avoided making eye contact.
"No matter what our personal problems are, we can work together as professionals."
He'd hit home. Her mask slipped, just a little. He'd touched the lingering element of woman inside the vampire. As much as she tried to deny it, just possibly she wanted him as much as he wanted her.
"What about your current murder investigations? Whoever killed those women is not a normal feeding vampire. He's calculating, and he's deliberately leaving a body trail. It's your job to find out who it is,” Jess said.
He shrugged. “Until the body is returned to Sampson, and we decide what to do with Kellerman, I've got time. Besides, the Chief ordered me to be your backup."
"I'll agree, for now. But don't take that as an invitation to try to follow me if I don't want you to."
He nodded. He'd probably been waiting for her to say something about his failed attempts at tracking her.
"Deal. I couldn't keep up with you anyway."
Surprised he'd just admitted that, she softened, but wondered how long could he work with her without letting personal feelings get in the way? “Then for now we have a truce?"
"Truce,” he said. “What about you? Are you feeling okay now?"
She straightened her spine. “Great."
"Really? Back to normal, then?"
Damn. Without a doubt, he'd seen her jump. Knew he'd caught her off guard. No sense lying about it. “Not quite,” she admitted. “But things are improving."
"How so?"
"I haven't passed out since that night in the alley.” Cynical, but what the hell.
"Jess, I know there's something wrong with you right now. You're not yourself."
She pushed off the wall. “No. To be honest, I lost some of my abilities again tonight. I didn't hear you approaching."
"What would cause that?” He shoved his hands into his pockets.
"Your guess is as good as mine. This has never happened to me before."
"We'll figure it out."
She grunted disdainfully. “All I can say is it's a good thing I'm not out with the team hunting vampires right now, isn't it?"
If she were truly honest with herself, maybe she'd never be able to go back to being human again. She'd grown accustomed to her abilities. A shiver ran down her spine. If nearly having sex with Britt made her regain some humanity, what would happen if they made love?
Britt touched her shoulder and she tensed.
"Jess, the other night, when you saw the man in the alley, what did he say to you?"
She'd almost forgotten about that. What the hell was wrong with her? When she forced herself to remember, gooseflesh broke out on her arms. “He said we meant something to each other."
"So, it was someone you knew?"
She shook her head. “No. I don't think so. There was something strange about his face though. It was surreal. Waxy, maybe a mask.
"Do you think he caused you to faint?"
She shrugged. “I have no idea. If he did, why did he let me go?"
"How do we know he did? Maybe you fought him and just can't remember."
Jess stopped in her tracks and stared at the ground. “That's something I've been contemplating, believe me.” Her memories were too fuzzy to dredge up anything concrete.
Britt pinched the bridge of his nose. “Is this job always going to be this complicated?” he asked. “Is there ever going to be a day when we go out and take down some nasty vampires, then go for a beer before we go home to relax?"
"Probably not.” She looked at him from the corner of her eye and began walking down the sidewalk. “You didn't really think being a vampire hunter could ever be ordinary, did you?"
"No, I guess not. I just wish things were a helluva lot clearer. At least with Prometheus we knew we were up against an old, master vampire and his team. If this stranger from the alley is able to cause you to faint, and lose your memory, how the hell do we fight that?"
Jess's hands started to shake. What if it wasn't another vampire who'd caused her recent episodes? What if she'd been completely taken over by her dark side that night? Is that what she had to look forward to in future? If so, how could she be trusted with anyone? Especially those she loved?
Verlie Post checked her Rolex. Ten past nine. She'd be late. She paid the cabbie and dashed through the front doors of the club.
The bouncer recognized her immediately and let her in. She stopped just inside and looked around. What the...? There was no one else in the building. Strange. At this time of night the place was usually humming with people.
She'd been coming here for the past two months. As Deputy Commissioner of Operations for the NYC Police Department she rarely had time to go clubbing. But since she'd met Drago Vaslov, she couldn't seem to stay away. Sure he had appeal, but not in that way. At least not for her. She was gay.
So why did she keep coming here?
A funny sound buzzed through her head, and she felt her adrenaline surge. She turned to find Drago, tall and exquisite looking in his tuxedo.
"My dear, you're late."
"Sorry, the cab had a flat. I had to flag down another one."
"No problem, I'm glad you're here now."
She looked around the room. The place was as quiet as a mortuary without patrons. She frowned. “Is the club closed tonight?"
"Yes. This is a special night. One for just the two of us."
She held up a hand to stop him right there. “Wait, you don't understand, I'm not interested in..."
When he tipped his head and closed his eyes that buzzing started at the base of her skull and grew in volume until it filled her head. Suddenly, she felt as if she'd been sucked into a black vortex with no light at the end of the tunnel.
The last thing she remembered, was being taken for the very first time into Drago's office. Some weird equipment was laid out on his desk. She heard chanting before she felt the blackness envelope her.
Jess's cell phone vibrated on her hip. Funny how well the thing worked when she remembered to charge the battery. “Captain Vandermire speaking."
"Jess, Sampson here. You'll never guess who just returned to the lab."
"Our latest victim?"
There was a pause at the other end of the line. “How'd you make them do it so quickly?"
She laughed. “I can't take any credit. Chief Brown said he'd have her sent back to you within a few hours. He's working against the current, it seems. He doesn't want those bodies going to the other morgue either."