The Vampire SEAL Collection, page 92
“Come on, Jo. We have a lot to talk about.” Darcy tugged on my wrist.
“Ms. Simpson, how is your mother?” Dad asked.
“The doctor is running more tests. He tells us not to worry.”
Darcy and I slid into the chairs, sitting across from one another.
“Jo, focus, girl.” She lightly kicked my shin.
“Ow. I was listening to… Never mind.” I was here to catch up with my best friend, although I was curious what was wrong with Ms. Simpson’s mother.
“How are you?” Darcy gushed. “I can’t even believe I’m here because my father made a deal with the devil. And”—she sucked in air—“I can’t believe your picture was in the newspaper. Have you seen it? What happened?”
She finally took another breath. I had to take in oxygen, just listening to her.
“Um…I’m not sure where to start, after all that.” I chuckled as I rested my elbows on the table.
“Sorry. I’ve been dying to talk to you. I don’t have your number. I tried to call Ben to see if he had it, but I got his voicemail. Have you’ve seen Ben?”
Dad’s voice entered my head. Change the subject. She doesn’t need to know about Ben.
Without looking at Dad, I shook my head. “No, but Sam told me he went to baseball camp,” I lied.
“Where is your sexy brother?” She smiled.
I narrowed my eyes.
“What? He’s hot.”
“Darcy,” I warned. “Sam’s off-limits.”
“He’s a big boy. He can make up his own mind,” she argued.
Not that I had any authority over who my brother dated, but I didn’t think Sam had the patience for Darcy, let alone for a human.
“Are you forgetting he’s a vampire? Wait. You like Ben. I saw how he kissed you on the boat.”
The kiss was passionate, and I got the impression Ben and Darcy were in love.
“Oh, yeah…” She touched her lips. “There’s nothing between us, not anymore. He took me to the school dance.” She sat back in her chair. “Afterwards we went to the movies a few times. Now, I don’t know.” She shrugged a delicate shoulder.
Excited voices pierced the air. We both glanced at the toddlers who were running in as though they had been given a cup of sugar before reading time.
“Children,” Ms. Simpson said in a raised voice.
A little girl bounced up to my dad. “’Mander, ’Mander,” she cooed.
Dad opened his arms, and she leapt into them.
“How is my little wolf?” he asked, twirling her.
Wow! I had a hard time digesting my father and kids. Maybe since I’d never seen him with small children.
“Come on,” Darcy urged. “We should help Ms. Simpson. We’ll talk more later.”
She bounced off to wrangle a couple of boys, and I had to find out who’d snagged my dad’s attention.
“Who is this pretty little one?” I asked Dad.
“Jo, this is Abbey Quade.” He settled the little girl on his hip while she rested a tiny arm on his shoulder.
“Hi, Abbey.” I raised my hand. “I’m Jo.”
“Why do you have thilver eyes?” Abbey’s cute little lisp sprayed saliva my way.
“Do you like my eyes?”
She straightened in Dad’s arms. “They’re not as pretty as Webb’s.” Freckles dotted her rosy cheeks as her dark lashes shuttered bright blue eyes. “Or my daddy’s.”
“Oh? Who’s your daddy?” I looked at my own father.
He wiped something from her nose.
Without warning, she leaned forward and touched my face with her tiny hand.
A tingle spread through my body before the room around me disappeared, and I was running through the woods. Why was I running? I glanced over my shoulder, but I didn’t see anyone. As I turned back, I tripped over a fallen branch. Footsteps trailed behind me. I pushed myself to my feet and looked over my shoulder again—and found a pair of red eyes glowing in the darkness. I couldn’t move.
In a snap, the vision was gone.
“Abbey, we talked about touching people,” Dad said, taking a few steps away from me.
What in the world just happened? I’d had a similar experience with Kraft, but I was the one touching him. Actually, I was drinking his blood.
Dad set Abbey down. “Go find a spot. Ms. Simpson is about to read.”
She ran across the carpeted floor, black hair sweeping from side to side.
“Care to explain, Dad?” I asked in a whisper. “She’s human, but her touch definitely wasn’t.”
He grasped my arm and walked me over to the base of the stairs. I glanced upward. I loved the mathematical design of the room. The number pi bordered the edge of the ceiling. The bannister had three-dimensional geometric shapes, while celestial planets hung from the wood beams throughout the library.
“Abbey and her mother live on base. Her father is a sentinel and has been missing in action for over a year. She’s a special little girl. More than likely, her powers will develop before she decides if she wants to change.”
I remembered Sloan, one of the sentinels, explaining something about two of their teammates missing, which was why the military flew the POW-MIA flag. “Will her father ever return?”
“We’ve been searching for Quade and Crowe for a while.” Dad scratched his neck.
The children—a split of four boys and four girls—had settled down on the beanbag chairs. As Ms. Simpson read to them, all were enthralled, including Darcy, who lounged on the floor next to Abbey.
“What happens if Abbey touches a human? Will they experience a vision like I did?”
“Anyone can.”
“Is the vision I had of my future?” Please say no. Red eyes were an omen.
“Possibly, or she might’ve been showing you hers.”
Sawyer breezed in. “Commander, we have a situation.” His eyes fluctuated between gold and brown. “A fire broke out at the training facility. Two sentinels are down. And we have one of the Plutariums in custody.”
I gasped in shock as my heart crawled into my throat. Was Webb one of the sentinels? Oh, please let him be okay. Sawyer said two sentinels were down. Did that mean Sam wasn’t hurt?
Darcy jerked her head in my direction.
“Let’s go.” Flecks of red speckled Dad’s eyes.
Darcy ran up and grasped Dad’s hand. “What’s wrong?” Her brown eyes held fear.
“Go back to the group,” Dad ordered. “It’s not your father.”
I guessed he’d read her mind.
“Oh.” She let go and sighed.
“I’ll see you later,” I said to Darcy. I had no intentions of staying here, knowing my brother and Webb could be the ones hurt.
“Full report, Sawyer.” Dad took long strides as he left the library.
“We don’t know which two are down, and we’re not sure who they have in custody. Communication was cut off when Sloan radioed in.” Sawyer jogged alongside Dad.
Like Sawyer, I jogged to keep up with Dad. I prayed that not only Sam and Webb but all the sentinels were all right.
We had just crossed a street near the main building when Sawyer said, “Sir, one van is offloading the injured, and the other is headed to the prison.”
I sprinted for the medical facility, bursting through the lobby doors.
“Ms. Mason, slow down,” the sentinel on duty ordered.
I nervously stabbed the elevator button. Come on. I bounced up and down before banging on it again. As the ding sounded, Sam stormed into the lobby. A cut marred his right cheek.
“Are you all right?” I asked in a shaky voice as my heart was pounding to get out of my chest.
“Where’s Pops?” he demanded.
“Is Webb hurt? What happened?”
“Calm down, Sis. Olivia and Tripp had minor injuries.” He stalked past the circular desk. “Pops. Where is he?”
Fear wound through his tone. Why was he afraid?
“Tell me where Webb is.” My freaking heart was a beat from stopping.
“Sam,” called Ruth, our receptionist. “Your father just phoned. Meet him at the prison wing.”
“Where’s Webb?” I asked again.
“He’s not hurt. He was escorting Jonah in.” Sam rushed out.
Jonah worked for Edmund Rain as his right-hand man. I shook off the willies, and at the same time let out a sigh of relief that Webb was fine.
I ran out to catch up to Sam. The prison sat behind the main headquarters. The easiest way to get to it was to walk outside from the lobby and around to the back.
“How did you capture Jonah?” I asked as we made a right at the end of the building and down a side street.
The first time I’d seen Jonah, he’d been choking a cop, who he’d beaten into a coma. Then, when I was still human, he’d tried to capture me. The sentinels caught him and locked him in the base prison, but he’d escaped. He reminded me of a bad dream that kept returning night after night.
“I don’t know. It’s all a blur. One minute we were listening to an instructor, the next alarms were blaring.”
“How did you get that cut on your face?”
“I fought one of the Plutariums. Edmund has some new minions.”
We’d killed a few of his team members at the mansion last week. I guessed we had more Plutariums to kill now. Not something I was looking forward to.
We turned right onto the courtyard that separated the prison building from headquarters. A chill came over me as I looked up at the brick structure. I hadn’t been in this place since Edmund staked me with cobalt swords.
Sam and I crossed the carpet of grass where we met Sentinel Kraft, who guarded the entrance. He wore his usual garb—black cargo uniform with fingerless gloves. His blond wavy hair touched his broad shoulders, and colorful tattoos painted his arms.
“Are they up or down?” Sam asked, as though he were in charge.
“Third floor. End of the hall,” Kraft said with his arms crossed over his chest.
“Wait here, Sis,” Sam said over his shoulder as he stepped in.
No way. I wasn’t waiting out here. I had to make sure Webb was okay. I ignored my brother and walked up to the door.
Kraft raised his hand. “Sorry, Jo. I have orders not to let you in.”
“What!”
Sam vanished inside.
I was about to argue when Webb appeared in the doorway. Red slashed his arms, blood covered his left earlobe, and his right eye was swollen shut.
I ran to him. “Are you—?”
He held up his hand to stop me. “Fine.” His voice was hoarse. “Kraft, the commander may be a while. I’ll be in the medical facility.” He squinted his good eye as he stepped out into the sunlight. “Let’s go.” He grasped my arm as though he were carting me off to my own prison cell.
A stray dandelion brushed my leg as we crossed the courtyard. Once we were in the entryway of the main building, Webb shoved me against the wall, sweeping his gaze over me. His fangs descended. Blood sped through my veins. I automatically twisted my hair up off my neck as though he compelled me to expose my skin. He growled his approval before he lowered his head, his fangs inching closer. My pulse quickened.
He sucked my skin. I moaned. His tongue swirled once, twice, as if prepping the spot. He licked his way around my ear and neck, his fangs scraping, teasing. My tummy knotted, a warm feeling slithering down. My fangs descended.
“Webb, you need blood,” I said weakly. “Take mine.”
His spine stiffened as he jerked away. “Come on. Let’s go see Dr. Vieira.”
I slumped against the wall. “Why won’t you drink from me?”
“I told you why.” His swollen eye twitched.
“I don’t want to wait another month.” I sounded like a two-year-old.
“Jo, this isn’t up for discussion.”
Stubborn vampire.
I wanted to protest and demand he take my blood, but I’d only be wasting my time. So I pushed off the wall. “Webb, what happened?”
“We were ambushed. Somehow Edmund found out where we were.”
We climbed the steps up to the fourth floor.
“The other mole?”
“More than likely,” he said, touching his bad eye.
“What’s my dad going to do to Jonah?”
When we reached the fourth floor landing, he opened the door. “Don’t worry about Jonah.”
“You don’t want to tell me, do you?” I asked, walking into the hall.
He kept silent as he stepped alongside me.
I tried another angle. “Was Kate there?”
“No,” he barked.
Silence stretched between us as we made our way to the medical facility. By the way he snapped, part of me got the impression she had been there. Then again, he could just be in a bad mood from the raid. I wanted to push for answers, but an argument wouldn’t help him or me.
12
The medical facility was divided into two areas. Against the left wall was a gray metal box with a slatted roller door. Above it was a hooded vent. A stainless-steel bench lined both sides of the metal box. In front of it, a black lab bench spanned the length of the room, with small openings on each end for access to the area between the two structures. A refrigerator and a sink were along the back wall, with wood cabinets to the right.
A familiar face greeted us when Webb and I entered the medical facility. I hadn’t seen Dr. Case since he’d locked me in a coffin to die. His wavy brown hair had grown out, curling around his ears. His brown eyes seemed to shudder with regret as he looked at me.
“What’s Dr. Case doing here?” I asked Webb.
“Penance,” Webb said as he strode down the center, passing four desks on his right. “Case. You’re behaving, I hope.”
I stayed and leaned against the first metal desk, eyeing Dr. Case, who was behind the lab bench next to Dr. Vieira.
“Funny, London. Why wouldn’t I? You guys have a babysitter glued to my ass,” he replied scornfully. “Jo, nice to see you.”
“Is it?” His sarcasm rubbed off on me, bringing out my lingering anger at what he’d done to me.
Dr. Vieira lifted his head from a microscope. “Interesting reaction.” Then he glanced in the microscope again.
“Where’s Tripp and Olivia?” Webb asked as he unlocked the refrigerator on the back wall.
“I’m right here.” Tripp stalked out of the room in the back right corner, clipping his sentinel sword to his belt. “Olivia is still out. What did you find, Doc?” He smoothed back his sandy blond hair.
“The bullet was filled with a sedative,” Dr. Vieira said. “The same substance given to the sentinels who were guarding the prison the night Edmund escaped.”
“You mean the night I almost got beaten to death,” Dr. Case said.
My uncle, Patrick, had tried to kill him after Dad had interrogated them.
“Do you know what’s in this?” Dr. Vieira arched a brow at Dr. Case.
“Look, I agreed to help, but—”
“But nothing, Case. We made a deal—your help in exchange for the person who killed your sister,” Webb reminded him as he scarfed down blood.
I remembered Dad telling me a sentinel had killed Dr. Case’s sister. Was Webb ready to hand one of his brethren over to him? He’d worked for Edmund.
“You can’t trust him,” I said.
“We know, Jo,” Dr. Vieira said. “And we don’t. But we need his help. The thumb drive we recovered from the mansion has a slew of medical data we can’t decipher. We’re hoping Dr. Case can give us some insight.”
“Make no mistake,” Webb said, glaring at Dr. Case. “One misstep—”
“What’s so interesting, Doc?” Tripp piped up, slicing the tension in half.
“Something in the sedative seems to be attacking the white blood cells.”
“Are you saying Olivia could die?” There were only a few ways for us vamps to leave this earth.
“Not likely.” Dr. Vieira rubbed his jaw. “Whatever was in the bullet isn’t as strong as the endotoxin.”
“Why has Tripp recovered so fast?” He and I made eye contact as he walked up and leaned against the desk next to me.
“Luckily for Tripp”—Dr. Vieira removed the slide from the microscope—“his immune system is like granite because of his bloodline.”
“What’re you talking about?” I glanced at Dr. Vieira then back at Tripp.
Tripp’s mouth curled upward at the edges.
“Jo.” Webb set the blood container on the lab bench across from me.
“It’s okay, Lieutenant,” Tripp said. “She’ll find out, sooner or later. And it’s not a secret in our world. Some of my ancestors are wolf shifters,” he said casually.
“Come again?” I angled my ear closer to him, unsure I’d heard him correctly.
“My great-great-great-grandmother married a wolf shifter.”
“You mean you’re part vampire and part wolf?” My voice hitched as I fought to process the information.
“Tripp is ninety-five percent vampire. Only a small part of his DNA has the wolf gene. Because of this, his immune system is harder to penetrate,” Webb explained.
I’d only been kidding when I asked Dad if my DNA was part wolf. Nausea suddenly churned in my stomach. “Are you telling me there are people who turn into wolves?”
“Why is that so hard to believe, Jo?” Dr. Case asked. “You’re a vampire.”
I growled my annoyance at his cocksureness. Then I swung my gaze to Dr. Vieira. “My dad said my DNA had some anomalies. What does that mean?”
“What is she talking about?” Webb moved closer to me.
“Now, both of you. Don’t get ahead of me.” Dr. Vieira wiped the lens of the scope with a cloth. “I’ll know more after your physical tomorrow, Jo.”
The double doors whooshed open.
“Lieutenant.” Kodiak Snow, a sentinel, strode in, dressed in black cargo pants, black T-shirt, and black boots. His once shoulder-length blond hair was now cut short. “Ms. Simpson just called. Abbey Quade is missing.”
“How?” Webb asked.
“Ms. Simpson took them out to the park after the reading session. That’s all I know.”
“Has anyone called her mother?” Webb plucked his phone from his cargo pants.
