Authors: Lina Gardiner
"Vaslov's interest in me is getting a little more bothersome. Especially since they've got our dead vampire inside."
"Are we going in?"
"No. For now let's play along. For some reason he seems to want me to attend this club. I'll just have to make myself a lot more accessible."
"I don't like you using yourself as bait.” Britt turned off the GPS and returned it to the glove compartment.
"We can handle this guy, Britt. He's human, and he's messing with someone who's going to be very dangerous to his health.” She put the car in gear and slowly drove away.
Hung up on her choice of words, Britt smiled. She'd said
we.
Drago Vaslov smashed his fist against his desk and brought it back bloody. Didn't matter. He didn't feel a thing. He'd lost the feeling in his hands quite some time ago.
"Why the hell did you bring that corpse back here, Mannie?"
Mannie's jaw hardened. “You said you wanted me to make sure no one connected her to us. They can't connect her if they don't have the body."
Drago let out an irritated breath. “Unless they find the body here!"
"I thought it would be better if we decided what to do with her, before we got rid of her."
Drago looked at the dead woman, wrapped in a sheet from the morgue. The green material had fallen away exposing her breasts and the garish hole where a stake had plunged into her heart.
Using two fingers, he pushed back her lips to note her eye teeth. Longer than normal but they hadn't reached full size. She'd been killed before becoming a true vampire—she had been in transition.
"How will this help us identify who killed her?"
Mannie turned her head and pointed at the holes in her neck. “Aren't bite marks as good as finger prints in humans?
A little tension ebbed away and Drago smiled at last. “So they are. So they are, Mannie. I hadn't even thought of that."
"Don't you have all of your clients’ bite marks on record?"
Drago nodded, impressed with Mannie for the first time in a very long time. Why hadn't he thought of that? He'd been so focused on business, he wasn't thinking clearly. “I certainly do. Before I find women for any of my clients, I insist on getting bite mark records, just in case.” Even his phone-in client had to fax in his bite mark. He reached out to pat Mannie's shoulder, but Mannie moved away before his hand could connect.
Drago went to the computer and called up the program. Not sure if visually comparing the pictures would do it, he pulled out a digital camera, laid a ruler next to the bite and took a photo to digitally compare the bites. It would take a while to find out for sure, so he completed the picture, uploaded it into the program and left it to work.
"If one of my clients did this, we'll have to kill him.” He looked at Mannie. “Or should I say you are. I will not allow one of these blood suckers to ruin my business.” Nevermind the fact that the aforesaid bloodsucker paid him handsomely, he couldn't afford the risk of exposure. “You can get rid of her body now, Mannie. Make sure no one sees you."
Mannie snapped his fingers and two of the club's bouncers entered the room. They stared at the exposed vampire and grinned at each other.
Bile rose in Drago's stomach. For God's sake, she was dead. Sometimes, he didn't even want to think about what these men did with the bodies they occasionally had to deal with. But as long as they made people disappear, never to be found again, he could live with whatever their sick hobbies were.
He looked at his watch. It had been two days since he'd been in contact with Captain Vandermire. She was supposed to come back yesterday, but hadn't shown up. He'd put as much pressure as he could on the Mayor and the Chief, but Drago had the feeling the Chief was getting suspicious.
He'd tried to lure the Chief in, to get some control over him, but hadn't been able to.
Gritting his teeth, he smashed one fist against his desk again, making everything on it rattle. He liked to have much more control than he had right now. Closing his eyes, he visualized his prize. Vandermire was within his grasp, and he wasn't going to let her go. After all, she was the first woman anyone had ever paid ten million dollars to harness. That made the challenge all the sweeter.
Drago entered his private chambers, spun the tumbler on the wall safe, and pulled out an ancient Mayan urn. The rough clay felt wonderful against his fingers because this was the only thing he could feel any more.
To think he'd started out in this business as an archaeologist.
He laughed. He'd come a long way since then. It was in a Mayan ruin he'd found this urn almost full of the powerful paste that had made him richer than he'd ever dreamed possible.
He'd also found his first vampire feasting on the neck of a tourist at that dig. The vampire hadn't noticed him, but Drago saw enough to realize he was the real thing. By the time Drago had figured out what the paste could do for him, he'd made his first pact with a vampire. The arrangement proved lucrative enough to branch out, and before he knew it, he was building an empire.
That was twenty years ago.
He looked at his hands again. Constant exposure to the paste had killed his nerve endings. Without absorbing the chemical himself he couldn't make a mind to mind connection with his victims. Somehow the ancient Mayans had found a synthetic conduit to control thoughts, and he was the only man on the planet who knew about this miracle paste.
Loss of feeling in his hands was a small price to pay.
Jess hesitated outside the precinct door. Now that she was aware Drago had to be involved with vampires, she resolved to shut him down permanently. She tried to tamp down her anger, but it bubbled up with such severity her fangs grew before she could stop them.
She hated a lot of things these days, but being used was at the top of her list. And all trails led to the Dragon's Lair.
"Jess?” Britt stepped in front of her. “You okay?"
Without hesitation she looked into his eyes. It wasn't hard. His soul remained open to her. She reached out to his mind and felt him lose himself to her. Become hers.
The worst part, he didn't even try to stop her. Right now, she needed to feel his lips against hers. His hands on her body. Her instinct was immediate. She didn't take time to think about what she was doing. She just did it.
At first his eyes went blank, then his arms dropped to his sides.
She yanked him around the corner of the building into the shadowed alley where they couldn't be seen. Totally under her control now, his mouth took hers desperately, and she groaned with pleasure. Yes! Yes! She needed this so badly. His hands worked their way over her body, more lascivious than he'd ever been with her before. Probably because he didn't have full control of his own mind—her own need was driving what he did to her.
With rising tempo, his lips savaged her mouth, her neck, then moved down to her breastbone.
"Oh God!” she groaned in self-loathing, and shoved him away so violently he landed on his rear end on the other side of the alley.
As much as she didn't want to develop a conscience right now, she couldn't do this to him. Besides, his kisses weren't the same without freewill. Britt's inner strength was what she enjoyed the most.
Damn it. Damn
him!
She picked him up and led him back around the corner before he began to reawaken.
Unfortunately, she'd let his mind go too quickly in her haste to unburden herself from the horrible thing she'd done to him. Normally, she'd back out slowly, giving the person's brain time to normalize.
He suddenly stumbled backwards. Looked confused.
She hated herself for what she'd just done to him. The worst part was Britt would've happily kissed her without having his mind clouded. But then he'd know how she felt about him and she couldn't let him know.
"That's strange, I forgot what I was going to say to you.” He looked puzzled. Then he saw her face and reached out to touch her. To soothe her. After what she'd done to him!
She backed away. Shoved his hands away from her vehemently.
The look of confusion on his face added to the corruption of what she'd just done.
What did he expect of her anyway? She was a vampire! A creature of the night. She didn't play by human rules.
She cursed under her breath. “Never mind the station. Let's get back to the Rectory. There's nothing more we can do here tonight,” she moved too fast for him to keep up, and waited in the vehicle until he got there.
Britt seated himself next to her and cleared his throat, obviously still confused. “What just happened back there?"
She swallowed. Poor man, she had dropped control of his mind much too fast. “What are you talking about?"
He pointed to the building. “Something happened outside the precinct, didn't it?"
"Yes, I decided we should talk to Regent rather than go back inside."
If he remembered what she'd done to him, he'd never forgive her. Even worse, he'd been used by both his ex-wife and his partner. Trust had become a crucial issue for him, and rightfully so. Now she'd violated his trust in a way that was completely unforgivable.
She hated herself for what she she'd done to him.
"You're right, Jess, we should talk to Regent. He should be kept in the loop,” Britt said.
"Exactly,” she replied, swiping an errant strand of hair off her face and, for once in her life, paying rapt attention to her driving.
In an attempt to forget what she'd done to Britt, she turned her thoughts to Regent. That didn't help either. All she could think about was the fact that Regent needed a break as her protector and he'd wanted her to ask Britt.
Regent was worried about who would keep her safe when the investigation began at the church. Thankfully, the Bishop of the diocese hadn't shown up yet, which was lucky because she hadn't told Britt about the pending investigation, yet. Nor had she asked him to be her protector. If she didn't do it soon, she'd be on her own.
"Man, I seem to be having a lot of headaches lately,” Britt said, pressing his fingers to his temple.
Jess cringed. By using her unethical wiles, she'd lowered Britt's serotonin levels to the point that he'd have a helluva headache and feel mood swings over the next hour. Again her stomach tightened. If only she could take back what she'd just done to him.
It hurt to see him mulling over something he couldn't quite fathom. Something she had done.
When they arrived at Saint Eugenia, she burst into Regent's office with every intention of going to her room and leaving Britt with her brother. Then she spotted Drago Vaslov in the chair facing Regent's desk.
The hair on her arms rose, and she had to fight the urge to grab him and make him talk.
Regent instantly flashed her a look of warning, telling her to calm herself and not give herself away. While both men stood, Jess moved into the fold of Regent's reaching arm. He squeezed her shoulders in what looked like a brotherly show of affection, but in reality was a calming technique he'd mastered over the years.
"Jess, I know you've already met Mr. Vaslov. He's here to donate a very large sum of money to the Church for much needed repairs."
Jess turned dark eyes on Vaslov and offered a fake smile that she was sure looked sickly sweet. It was the best she could muster under the circumstances. After all, he was in possession of a dead vampire's body. He had ulterior motives. And she didn't like him coming into her brother's life. Not at all.
"Isn't that nice,” she said, the words nearly sticking in her throat. Regent squeezed her again.
Britt came around the corner and stopped short. “Excuse me, Father Vandermire. I didn't realize you had company."
"Britt, please come in,” Regent said. “I'd like to introduce you to Mr. Drago Vaslov. This is John Brittain, but we call him Britt. He's Jess's boyfriend."
Without missing a beat, Britt's gaze swept over Jess in a proprietary way, a devilish smirk hovering at the corners of his mouth. He winked at her before turning his attention to Vaslov.
Jess's blood boiled. Regent squeezed again.
"Nice to meet you, Mr. Brittain,” Drago said, picking up his jacket from the back of the chair and flipping it across his arm. He looked at his watch. “I must be off. I have another appointment.” He held out a hand to Jess, which she accepted grudgingly.
Apparently unaffected by her reticence, he leaned over and kissed the back of it. “I look forward to your next visit to my Club, my dear."
Before she could say a word, Regent cut in, “Thank you again for your generosity, Mr. Vaslov. If you'd supply us with your mailing address, I'll have my assistant send you a receipt for taxes early next week."
"That'll be fine,” Vaslov said, not looking at Britt or Jess again before he left. Regent followed closely behind him on the way to the front door.
The minute Regent returned Jess said, “What was that about?"
"You mean the boyfriend thing?” Regent let a slow, mischievous smile sneak across his aging features. “I actually had a valid reason to do that."
Jess's arms were planted across her chest and she was drumming her fingers on one arm. “And that would be?"
"That man came in here asking all sorts of personal questions about you. He's way too interested, and I don't like him,"
Regent's smile slipped away. This was probably the closest she'd ever seen him come to bristling.
"Who does he think he is, coming in here waving around wads of money and trying to get information out of me like I'm a naïve old priest who doesn't understand the real world?” Regent moved to the desk and plunked into his chair.
"Regent, I've always known that you're a great judge of character, but this cements it,” Britt said.
"Why thank you, Britt,” Regent said, then instantly narrowed his eyes and his lips thinned. “Okay, spill it. You know more about this guy than you did when you left here tonight. What happened?"
Jess tipped her head toward Britt. “Besides being a good judge of character, he picks up on subtle messages very quickly, too."