The Vampire SEAL Collection, page 41
“What does POW-MIA stand for?” I asked, looking up.
“Prisoner of War. Missing in Action. Two of our SEALs disappeared over a year ago during one of our missions. We did everything we could to search for them, but we still haven’t found them.”
I stared at the flag; it had a silhouette of a man bowing his head. How awful. I recalled the feelings I had when Sam went missing and a pang of sorrow hit me for the families of those two soldiers. I dropped my gaze and rubbed one of my eyes where a tear had escaped.
Sloan had his hand on a metal plate of the memorial with his head down.
“What’s this?” I asked as I moved next to him, pointing to an inscription on the metal plate.
Viking I
In memory of our fallen comrades.
We are unyielding in our fight.
We are gentle in our love.
We are unwavering in our mission.
We are courageous for our country.
“Who was Viking I?” I asked.
“The Navy has several SEAL teams. The human SEAL teams are identified by numbers such as Team One, Team Two, and so on. The vampire SEAL teams have names such as Viking I or Jupiter Sentinels, although you wouldn’t find a human military or human government official to explain the differences.”
“There’s more than one vampire SEAL team?” I asked with raised eyebrows.
He nodded. “On this base you have the Sentinels and now, Viking II. The other two SEAL teams stationed here are all human. Your father likes to keep one human team and one vampire team on base at all times. The others are deployed on missions around the world.”
“Why one human and one vamp?”
“Sometimes it’s necessary to have humans with us. It just depends on the mission. And you remember our motto? We protect both the paranormal world and humanity. We try to stop things before they get out of control.” Sloan’s voice had become melancholy.
His hand brushed over the names on the steel plate. His eyes were no longer hazel, but pitch-black.
“Are you okay, Sloan?” I placed my hand on his arm.
He didn’t say a word.
“Did you know those guys who died?”
“I knew everyone of them.”
I read the memorial again. I stopped on the last name, which I hadn’t seen earlier. Then again, I wasn’t paying much attention to the names.
I stifled a gasp. The last name on the memorial read Ella Case.
“Is that Dr. Case’s sister?” I asked, pointing to Ella’s name.
“Yes,” he said. His response seemed choked and he turned and walked to the front door of the library.
“Did you know her?” I followed, climbing the steps behind him.
Ella had died in a battle in Afghanistan, through friendly fire, no less. According to my dad, one of the Sentinels had killed her accidently. Was Sloan the Sentinel who killed her?
“Let’s go inside.” He placed his hand on the door and pulled it open. “We’re done with the history lesson for today.”
I didn’t argue. Since he was going to be my bodyguard, I had a few weeks to ferret information from him. While I was eager to bury my head in books in the library, I couldn’t help but think of Dr. Case. When I gave blood this morning, I’d asked Dr. Vieira about him. He’d said Dr. Case was doing well. Dad had locked him in a safe house somewhere on base. The Sentinels were still questioning him. I didn’t know if I was happy for him or mad he didn’t die.
I sloughed off thoughts of Dr. Case and walked into the building. Cold air rushed past me, as if it were trying to get out in a hurry. Sloan entered, letting the door close on its own.
“The library is up.” He pointed to a set of stairs to our left.
I dragged my hand along the railing as I clambered up the stairs. Pictures of fighter jets, aircraft carriers, ships and submarines dotted the walls, interspersed with groups of military men all bunched together as if taking a high school class picture. As my gaze roamed the picture galleries, I spotted a trophy case on the floor below. Gold statues sat inside, symbolizing wins in football, baseball and basketball.
“Does the military have their own sports team?” I asked.
“We do. It’s all for fun. One way to exert some energy when we’re not deployed.”
Cool! Sam would love that. I thought of Ben at that moment and how he loved baseball as much as Sam. After all, Ben lived next door to Buster Greene, the catcher of the World Series Black Sox.
“Walk down the hall. The library is straight ahead.”
Sloan’s voiced snapped me out of my brief stupor over Ben.
I stopped at the half wood, half glass door that had the word Library stenciled beneath the window.
“You can go in,” Sloan said, grabbing his cell phone out of its holster as he stopped.
Pulling open the door, I walked inside. The fresh scent of lemon and wood accosted me. I glanced around and the floor to ceiling mahogany bookcases glinted under the fluorescent lighting overhead.
The expanse of the room was incredible. The library had to be similar in size to half a football field. Computers and tables and chairs and two floors of books packed, stacked and ready for me to digest. The top floor wrapped around the main level, rimmed with a spindle wood railing. Higher up, crown molding edged the ceiling with the infinite number of pi—3.1415926535—engraved in the wood, framing the room.
Makeshift planets hung from the ceiling and reminded me of the planetarium at Durfee High School. A children’s area sat off to my right. Small wooden chairs and beanbag cushions surrounded the main table where Winnie the Pooh books were splayed out on top. Were there military families on base?
The door opened behind me.
“Pretty neat place, isn’t it?” Sloan asked.
Neat wasn’t the word I would use. Freaking awesome summed it up for me.
“I haven’t seen you smile like this…well, ever,” Sloan said. “Geez, I’ll have to tell your father to let you come here more often.”
Now I was beginning to really like Sloan. I needed an ally to help me with my father.
“Where do you want to start?” he asked. “We have two hours. I know my way around this place. I usually come here to unwind after a long deployment.”
Was that why my dad assigned Sloan as my bodyguard?
“I’m not sure where to begin.”
“Your father said something about the vampire special powers. Did he explain the different types?”
“Webb did, but he didn’t go into detail. By the way, what’s yours?”
“I have a few. My strong one is one of the elementals.”
I raised my forehead, remembering what Dad had explained last night and the marking on his upper chest.
“I can do things with water,” Sloan said.
“Can you be more specific?”
“Let’s find you one of the books and you can read up on it. I have to make a few calls. Webb’s been trying to reach me.” He walked to the base of the stairs. “Up here.”
Following him, I grabbed hold of the banister and stopped as he continued his trek up. I scanned the railing up then down and did this a few more times. Like the rest of the library, the banister had an ornate design. Whoever designed the library had a peculiar, or fascinating, imagination. Three dimensional, geometric shapes decorated the entire banister. A square sat at an angle on one of its corners creating a diamond shape. I climbed onto the third step and the next shape on the banister was a right-angled triangle, which had a formula underneath it—the Pythagorean theorem. All the way up, different shapes dotted the rail. When I finally reached the fourth step from the top, I paused. The last shape in line was a circle made of plexiglass. I ran my hands over the globe. A bright red triangle floated inside with the words Inscribed Angle.
Cool!
“Sloan? Who designed this place?”
“A lady Dr. Vieira knows. A Ms….Oh, what’s her name?”
I had one foot on the step above me and one foot on the step below me when Sloan said, “Ms. Costner. Yeah, that’s it.”
I lost my balance and stumbled, but caught myself.
“I’m sorry. Did you say…Ms. C-Costner?” I stuttered as the words left my lips.
Was she the same person I knew from Durfee High School? The last time I’d seen Ms. Costner had been in math class, and that was weeks ago. She’d been discussing Pythagoras and his philosophy on there being three worlds. If I recalled correctly, the Supreme World was the supreme mind—the soul, as she had explained. The Superior World was home to immortals and the Inferior World belonged to humans. Was Ms. Costner speaking of three worlds in the literal sense? Could she be a—
I was frozen on a step, holding onto the bannister when Sloan tapped me on the shoulder.
“Hey there. You okay? You’re pale.”
“Yeah,” was all I said as I followed Sloan to the far corner on the third floor. A dozen questions surfaced. Did she know my father? How did Ms. Costner know Dr. Vieira?
An ominous prickle made its way through me.
“Do you know if Ms. Costner is a vampire?”
“Sorry, Jo. I don’t. I’ve never met the woman.”
Wonderful! Another mystery to solve. Then again, why did Ms. Costner designing this place bother me? If she was the same person I knew, I wasn’t going back to Durfee High School anyway.
Sloan took out a badge from his tan cargo pants and hovered it over a grey pad. The orange light on the pad flashed to green and a door whooshed opened.
“In here.” He waved a hand, motioning me to go in.
All thoughts I had evaporated. Like the room outside, this place was amazing.
“All this is dedicated to our world and species. Your dad keeps it under lock and key. No humans allowed.”
Sighing, I inhaled, taking in the scent of very old books.
Large bookcases stretched along every wall from floor to ceiling, with a ladder on each bookcase. Several pendant lights hung above while tables and big, plush chairs peppered the room. This place was larger than any of the foster homes I had lived in.
From where I stood I spotted a section on psychology of vampires. I made way to the back wall, admiring the thick carpeting beneath my feet.
“Jo, is there anything specific you’re after? Do you want to read up on elementals first?”
I pondered his question for a second. No. Dad’s explanation on the four elements was enough for now.
“Do you know where I can find info on telekinesis?”
“You’ll probably find it under psychokinesis. The terms are similar. Check the back wall in the psychology section.”
I trailed my fingers over the spines of several books on the psychology of vampires. I pulled one out and opened it up to the table of contents. Nothing about telekinesis. I replaced the book and continued scanning the spines. Another one caught my attention. I removed the leather-bound book and read the cover—Dracula Meets Hamlet. I glanced up at the shelf. The book next to the one in my hand read Shakespeare and the Vampiric Life. Who wrote this stuff?
I turned to ask Sloan, but he was no longer there. He was probably outside on the phone. I replaced the book and continued searching. As I scanned the next section, Sloan cleared his throat, suddenly back in the room.
“What is it?” I asked.
“We’re headed there now, sir,” he said before he holstered his phone. “We’ve got to go, Jo.”
“What, now? We’ve just got here,” I protested.
“Sorry. I have orders. I need to deliver you to Dr. Vieira.”
I tore my gaze from the books. “What’s so urgent?” I asked, looking at Sloan.
“No clue. I don’t ask questions, I follow orders. And your father wants you in the medical facility ASAP.”
Was there something wrong with my blood?
Sloan made sure the door to the secret room was locked before we traipsed down the stairs to the main library floor. A human heart thudded from somewhere in the building and my fangs dropped. Sloan went out into the hall first then waved me out.
“Stay to my right, against the wall. The librarian is on her way up.”
“I’m not going to attack her.”
“I’d rather not take that chance. Not on my watch.”
His phone chirped frantically.
“Why does your phone keep ringing?”
“It’s a text.”
“Is it my father again?” I murmured.
“No. Your father doesn’t text very much. He’s old school. When he wants something he calls or uses his telepathy.”
“Then is it the blonde receptionist you were flirting with earlier?” I asked, sliding a sideways glance at him as we climbed down the stairs.
He raised an eyebrow, glaring at me.
Hmm. Must’ve hit a nerve.
“Ms. Simpson? Can you please wait down the hall until we’re out of the building?” he asked as we stopped midway down. “She’s not supposed to be here,” he muttered.
Ms. Simpson looked up. Her red hair was twisted into a chignon with her feathered bangs sweeping to one side of her face. She winked at me before sauntering down the hall out of view. I inhaled, taking in her orange and citrus scent, which made my gums ache.
Sloan placed one hand around my arm, and eased me up against the wall.
“Breathe,” he whispered. He turned, looking for Ms. Simpson. “When was the last time you fed?”
“She didn’t seem afraid,” I stated in astonishment.
“Answer me,” he commanded, leaning in so that we were nose to nose.
“This morning.”
“You should feed.” He pulled me out the door into the bright sunshine.
The sun was high in the sky and the birds were quiet now. Heat radiated off the black tar and I removed my sweater. The mornings had been cool, almost cold, but by the time the sun rose to its peak, the heat did as well.
Sloan and I trudged toward the main building. He wasn’t as talkative now as he had been earlier, almost as if he were bothered by something.
I rounded the corner a step before Sloan and stopped abruptly and gasped. Suddenly, fire snaked through my legs, burning on its way down. The flames stopped at my knees, locking them in place, as I stared at a familiar figure.
A strong breeze picked up, whipping through his cinnamon hair, sending his scent of burned-sugar toward me. I inhaled and closed my eyes.
When I opened them, Ben and I locked gazes, and my heart plummeted to my feet.
My vampire instinct told me to run to him, but my human instinct told me to run away, far away. The yin and yang in my head wreaked havoc with my emotions and my hunger. If I ran to him, what would happen? Would I attack him like Sam had? Or would I just be the person he knew as a human?
I mentally slapped myself.
I was lifting my right foot, still unsure what I was going to do, when Sloan picked me up and carried me around the corner, pinning me against the brick wall.
“I want to see him!” I placed both my hands against his chest and pushed with all my vampire strength. He didn’t even budge. It was as if I were trying to move the brick building behind me. My eyes flashed, light fading for an instant. “Let me go!” Glancing up, I met Sloan’s pitch-black gaze.
“You will not move,” he bit out through fanged teeth.
A car door sounded. Was Ben leaving? Why was he even here?
“Let me…” I raised my knee and shoved it between Sloan’s legs.
He bent over, hands on his thighs, breathing heavy. I hadn’t known if that would work on vampires or not, but, hey, they still had their manly parts.
I ran around the corner at lightning speed, but it was too late. The black sedan had disappeared. I stomped my foot and screamed, letting out an animalistic howl, which sounded more like something coming from an angry lioness who had just lost her cubs.
“Stop, Jo. Stop.” Webb whispered, appearing out of nowhere and wrapping his arms around me. “Breathe. Deep breaths.”
I inhaled a few times.
“Why did you let her see him?” Webb growled at Sloan. “Jo. Shhh…I need you to breathe, beautiful,” he whispered, his breath caressing my ear.
At the sound of his silky voice, my body relaxed, tears spilling down my face. Why had Ben come here? Another question to which I had no answer.
6
Webb bent down slightly, positioning himself so his retinas could be scanned to unlock the door to the medical facility. We hadn’t spoken on our way up, which was fine by me. The voices in my head were still battling. The devil inside berated me, telling me how much of an idiot I was for not listening to him, and the angel was congratulating me for not giving in to my weakness. But my action or inaction had nothing to do with listening to my inner voices. Sloan was the one who held me back. Damn it.
I pushed aside my inner struggle and recalled the image of Ben. He looked good. Too good. His hair had grown, falling below his ears, and his dimples…I sucked in a breath. What was he doing on base?
“After you, Jo,” Webb said.
I planted my feet where I stood and wiped the remaining tears from my face.
“Look, your father is waiting inside. My advice? Erase whatever it is flashing through your mind. He’s not in a good mood.”
“Neither am I.”
He tightened his lips and shook his head. “It’s your funeral.” He flicked his head toward the door then followed behind me.
My father’s tall figure emerged in the window above the double doors to the lab. He stood, leaning against one of the lab benches, arms crossed with a scowl on his face. His brilliant green eyes had silvered.
Uh-oh.
The second set of doors swung open and a blast of power hit, disorienting me. I staggered to the side, extending my arm, searching for something to anchor myself to. Webb caught me as the floor rose sharply. Dad wasn’t just angry; rage dripped off him in sheets.
