Luca lifted a sculpted brow. “You can tell I'm an agent just by looking?”
Tess flipped her sheet of long auburn hair over her shoulder, her gold eyes narrowed, and she wrinkled her pert nose. “You have that stench about you, yeah.”
The big vampire's even white teeth flashed in a smile, his eyes lighting with challenge as he looked over Tess with slow, unmistakable deliberation. “And you are?”
Her lips twitched, but her gaze cooled as she gave him just as thorough a once-over. Her expression said she wasn't impressed with what she saw. “Dr. Tess Jones. You?”
“Special Agent Luca Cavalli. FBI.” Taking a step toward her, he held his hand out for her to shake.
She sniffed dismissively. “Never heard of you.”
“Good.” His hand remained extended, a dare to see how she'd react. “My work isn't supposed to be broadcast on all stations.”
Her amber eyes narrowed to slits, and she shoved her hand into his grip, giving two brisk pumps and pulling back. Or she tried to. Luca's fingers tightened, and he ran a thumb over the back of her hand. A visible shiver passed through her, and her eyes widened in what might have been alarm as she jerked her hand from his grasp.
Mating rituals for the vamp-human crossover. Chloe rolled her eyes. “Okay, focus, people. Seriously.”
“Sorry, hon.” Tess broke eye contact with Luca, and he scowled. Chloe tried not to grin. She'd bet he was trying a little vampiric mesmerizing on her friend, but the subtle stuff only worked on the weak-willed, and Tess was anything but weak, Normal or not.
“What happened, Chloe?” Alex's gaze locked on her, and he ignored everyone else.
“Later.” She gave Tess a pointed look to remind Alex that they had a Normal in their midst, offered a weak smile, and nodded in Merek's direction. “Everyone, this is Detective Merek Kingston, Seattle PD.”
She didn't mention he was on the Magickal Task ForceâAlex would already have guessed, and Tess didn't need to know. A few more men joined their group, and the way they looked at Luca said he was speaking to them telepathically and that they were on his team.
Chloe shifted her weight to try to get more comfortable, but instead sent a sharp throb of agony ricocheting through her body. She bit her lip hard enough to draw blood, and when she finally refocused, she found that Luca had introduced the agents to everyone.
Alex shoved a hand through his dark hair and offered Merek and the new agents a solemn nod. His nostrils flared a bit as he caught their scent, his brilliant green gaze moving from one to the next as if marking their faces and scents in his memory. A few of the men shifted uncomfortably, and Chloe tried not to smirk.
A small smile crossed Luca's face, but before he could say anything, Tess ignored all the law enforcement officials and made an impatient gesture at Chloe. “So. Forget the âlater' business. Tell us what happened. Why are all these people here? That's a hell of a lot bigger response than someone gets for setting off a home alarm.” She waved a vague hand in Luca's direction. “FBI agents don't make house calls.” She flapped the same hand at Merek. “Detectives aren't usually first responders either.”
Chloe sighed, shifted on her sore feetâand why the hell were her
feet
sore?âand bit back a gasp of pain. As much as she wanted to be in denial about what had happened, her body was going to make that impossible very soon. “Damien and his fiancée were murdered. They thought I did it, then they realized Ivan was missing, and it may have had more to do with stuff at work.”
Tess tilted her head, keen intelligence transforming her face from merely beautiful to stunning. “Industrial espionage?”
“Yeah.” Chloe scrunched her shoulders in a short shrug that still managed to make pain shoot up her neck and down her back. She fisted her shaking hands in her pockets. Beads of sweat began to form under her hair. “You know how product development can be. That stuff is guarded like Fort Knox.”
Tess took a step toward her, and it was all Chloe could do not to cringe away from possible physical contact. “If Damien and Ivanâ”
“Yeah, I'm in danger.” She tilted her head at the silent teen, who watched her far too closely for her peace of mind. “Alex, too, since they don't seem to have a problem hurting family members.” Damien's pregnant fiancée came to mind, and Chloe's gorge rose. Yes, family members were definitely in danger, and she was suddenly grateful Aunt Millie kept a personal bodyguard.
“We'll take good care of them.” Luca gave Tess his most engaging smile. She arched an eyebrow and gave him another dismissive sniff.
They'd take good care of her? Chloe snorted, tears burning her eyes. Yeah, right. She felt totally safe with the FBI. Merek's body was a rigid line of rage as he moved closer to wrap a protective arm around her waist, and she hated that she did feel safer, even if the touch hurt. A lot. Three sets of eyes took in the gesture. Luca's gaze narrowed, Tess's mouth quirked, and Alex's eyebrows rose.
A wave of exhaustion she couldn't hold off any longer crashed through her system. The entire day swirled through her mind, and the street in front of her cartwheeled before her eyes. She closed them tight and set her hand on Merek's brawny forearm. “Will you do something for me?”
“Anything.” His warm breath brushed against her temple, and she shuddered.
“Keep an eye on my godson.” She swallowed, feeling unconsciousness creeping in to claim her. She welcomed it, letting her breath sigh out. “And catch me.”
Then her knees buckled, and she was caught, safe in his embrace.
4
“W
ater,” she said softly.
Her desperate thirst, and the croaky sound of her own voice, startled her awake.
A straw touched her lips, and she sucked down the cool liquid until she was replete. She was shaking a little when she relaxed back, the intensity of her thirst a shock to her system. A soothing murmur of voices in her head told her all was well. It looked like now that her clairaudience had woken up, it wasn't going dormant again. Before now, she could have counted on one hand the number of times her precognition had piped up. Every Magickal had different skills he or she excelled at, and this had never been one of hers. The last time she'd had a clairaudient episode had been almost ten years ago when she'd almost been mugged by a couple of Fae. Unseelie asshats.
The internal whispering tapered off, and she managed to pry her eyes open, but her pupils recoiled at the sudden brightness. Jerking her head away from the harsh fluorescent overhead lights, she blinked away the spots whirling before her eyes.
A glance at the window told her it was nighttime. She frowned. That felt . . . wrong. She felt like she'd been asleep for a while. Long enough for it to be daylight. “How long have I been out?”
“Almost twenty-four hours.” Alex had his back to her, placing the empty plastic cup on a tray next to the wall. He took a deep breath, his ribs expanding. “Feeling better?”
Chloe wiggled her toes, flexing her muscles one at a time to test for pain. Everything seemed fine. She flicked her fingers, trying a small spell to check her magic. The glass Alex had just set down popped straight into the air and landed like a miniature party hat on his head.
“I'll take that as a yes.” His tone was dry, but his pale eyes twinkled when he turned to face her again. He extended the claws on one hand, snagged the cup with the other, and set it to spinning like a top on one pointed talon. “So, yesterday was an interesting day.”
“Yeah, about that.”
“About that.” He set the glass down, folded his arms, and leaned back against the wall, the look on his face far too serious for someone his age. The light reflected off the design on his T-shirt, a logo for some teen rock band. In some ways he was a typical boy, and in others, he was already a man.
At sixteen, he was six feet tall and growing. His young shoulders were already broad and muscular, his features were blade-sharp, and his black-brown hair and bronzed skin only made his pale, celery green eyes stand out in contrast. The kid was good-looking and going to be a lady-killer someday. Chloe almost felt sorry for the girls in his class. Almost.
His expression didn't waver under her scrutiny; it retained the same calm impassivity he'd perfected the day his mother had died. It was hard to remember the carefree boy he'd once been, but she did her best to remind him to have a little fun as often as she could.
This wasn't going to be one of the times she could remind him.
She sighed and sat up straighter in her hospital bed. “How much do you know already?”
“Dad's missing.” Or dead like Damien, but neither of them voiced that thought. “Someone killed your ex-boyfriend and his fiancée. Someoneâmaybe the same someoneâtried to hack into Desmodus Industries' servers looking for information on the lycanthropy project you're all working on.” He angled a glance at her. “How am I doing so far?”
“Those are the highlights, as far as I know them.” She closed her eyes at the emotionless little recitation, and crossed her arms. Her wrists were still puffy and a little red, but thankfully the major damage was gone. Normal technology rocked for some things, but magic was awesome for things like this. The Magickal doctors at Harborview were top-notch. Like most other public services, from law enforcement to education, major hospitals had private rooms for Magickals and medical professionals on call who had the skill to handle cases like hers.
“None of those highlights explains why you needed to be brought to a hospital. You were fine when I talked to you on the phone. The vibrations in your voice showed no real distress.” He let his arms fall to his sides. “Merek and Luca seemed to be having a lot of private chats last night while the doctors were working on you. They left me to entertain Tess and made sure I couldn't overhear them. So. Something else happened, right?” His pale eyes lasered through her, incisive and demanding answers she didn't want to give. Still, she'd never lied to this boy, and she didn't want to start now. He'd know anyway. He was far too intelligent and had senses far too sensitive to not know when she was prevaricating. So, she didn't.
“One of the FBI agents worked for a terrorist named Leonard Smith. He wants the drug your dad, Damien, and I have been formulating.” She met his gaze, but kept her face carefully blank. “After Luca went out to get you, the other agent brought in a Fae to try to pry information from me about my part in the werewolf project. She used spells. Dark spells. Black magic.”
He swallowed audibly. “If Luca hadn'tâ”
“Don't even think that.” She held her hand out for him to take, and after a moment's hesitation, he crossed the room to her. “None of this is your fault. Or my fault.”
“But it might be my dad's fault.” His strong fingers curled around hers, but his gaze held the awful pain of betrayal. His father could be a traitor to his entire race, to his son.
And Chloe couldn't take that pain away from him, because she knew it could be true, so she gave him the respect of honesty. “Maybe. That still doesn't make it
your
fault.”
His chin jerked down in an abrupt nod, but he said nothing more.
She tried to smile, but knew it was probably a weak parody of the real thing. “You're going to stay with me until we find out what happened to Ivan.”
His gaze snapped up to meet hers, blazing with relief he quickly hid. A small grin quirked his lips, and he gave an exaggerated sniff. “That's going to put a crimp in your social life.”
That her godson smelled a man all over her would have made most women blush, but no one who'd made it through medical school could be a prude about the human body, and she wasn't dumb enough to think Alex had much innocence left in that department anyway. She just shrugged delicately, plucking at the thin blanket covering her legs. “You're my godson. You stay with me.”
The grin widened a little. “Well. Okay. If you insist.”
“Your enthusiasm bowls me over, kid.” But she squeezed his hand.
A bark of laughter answered her. “I promise not to be too big a pain in the ass for you.”
“You can be as big a pain in the ass as you want. I might hex you a little for it, but you're still staying with me no matter what.” She held his gaze, making sure he could see, could
sense,
the depth of her sincerity. It was important that he knew he had someone, that he was wanted, especially after Ivan's blatant neglect since his mother's death. Jaya would roll in her grave if she knew, so Chloe hoped the afterlife kept that information from her friend.
“I love you, too, Chloe.” He tightened his grip on her fingers, but gently, as if he knew his own strength and tempered it for her. He was such a good kid. He deserved better than he'd gotten.
She pressed her free hand to her heart and made her eyes go wide. “Aw, now that's what a girl likes to hear.”
His white teeth flashed in a wicked grin that had to make the teenage girls pant, but he sobered quickly. “So, you were in protective custody, but . . . the FBI is done with you now that you gave all the project information to the bad guys, right? The terrorists don't want you anymore and you're safe?”
She swallowed, looked down at the blanket, ran her palm over the nubby surface, and worried a few loose strands between her fingers. “They didn't get any information from me. Not about the project, at least.”
“What do you mean?” Merek suddenly loomed in the door, his expression thunderous. He seemed to take up all the space and oxygen as he stepped into the room, snapping the door closed as though the act required great precision. His gray eyes locked on her face.
She tried not to shrink back at the intensity of his gaze. Not because she was afraid of him, but because it took everything she had not to throw herself into the security of his embrace. The only secure place in the world that she knew of right now. Some part of her mind registered that the reason she'd slept so well the whole day before was that Merek had been there, holding her hand, murmuring quiet, soothing encouragement whenever her eyes cracked open. Her fingers flexed as she remembered the slight calluses on his palm.
No. She wouldn't let herself rely on anyone,
need
anyone. She'd been there and done that, and she wouldn't go back. She
could
handle whatever came her way. No matter how much it scared her. Clinging to him for comfort stopped now. She lifted her chin. “I meant exactly what I said, Detective. They didn't get any information from me about the Desmodus Werewolf Project.”
“How is that possible?” He looked incredulous, but the expression softened to one of sympathy as if she were a small child in deep denial. “The spells they were using . . . Sweetheart, there's no way you have the kind of training to withstandâ”
She held up her hand, ignoring the fact that her hands and wrists still showed signs of what the terrorists had done to her. “I'm not talking about Magickal commando training to ward off black magic or torture spells or whatever.
My
training,
my
expertise, is in potions. I formulated a magic potion to erase certain portions of my memory that pertain to the specific details of this project.” She let her hand drop to her lap. “If I go more than a week or two without taking it, it will wear off, but since work is basically a daily event, I have to take a counter potion every morning when I arrive at Desmodus.”
His gaze sharpened. “Why would you do all that? Did you suspectâ”
Again, she cut him off. “I didn't suspect a thing. For me, it's standard procedure, and it's approved by my superiors. If the potion wasn't so complex to create, they'd probably make it mandatory for all their employees. The projects I work on are subject to industrial espionage. We have people working round the clock on securityâMagickal beings who are recruited from the special Magickal branches of the military and secret services.”
“I know this.” He folded his arms, towering over her from the end of the bed, his gaze still steely. “That doesn't explain why you were drugging yourself, Doctor.”
She crossed her arms over her chest, mimicking his pose, then rolled her eyes when his gaze zeroed in on her breasts. “Would you want to be the one who gave up vital information on a project the
Vampire Conclave
has invested billions of dollars in developing?”
He shifted his stance, wincing. “No.”
The Vampire Conclave was not a nice bunch of people. They didn't suffer fools, and Chloe didn't ever want them to think she was a fool they'd been suffering. She shuddered just considering the kinds of things they could do to her. Ruining her career would be just the start. “So, when the officers told me they'd have to bring me into MTF Headquarters for questioning and it might take a while, I took the potion. After everything else that happened, I'm more convinced than ever that it's safer for me and for Desmodus if I use my concoction. I can't tell anyone what I don't know, and when I'm not at work, I don't know enough to be a danger to the project.”
Calculation flashed in his gray gaze. “Smith and his people don't know that.”
“Obviously.” She shrugged, still relieved that moving didn't hurt the way it had the night before. “And if they'd asked how to make the counter potion, they'd know how to make me remember. As it is, they got nothing they could use. Even if they did have the information on how to create my potion, they'd have to have someone with the same level of expertise as I have with potions.”
He unfolded his arms and slipped his hands into his pockets. “How many people in the world are there who could do that?”
“Not many.” She forked her fingers through her hair, wincing when she felt how stringy it was from dried sweat. Gods, she needed a shower. “The Conclave hires the best in their respective fields, so . . .”
“Yeah.” He frowned, brows contracting. “Well, this is both good news and bad news.”
“Yeah, they're going to keep coming after me thinking they just need to torture harder.” Alex had drifted over to stand by the window, obviously hoping silence would keep him from being kicked out during the adult conversation, but now he made a strangled noise in the back of his throat. She closed her eyes, but forced herself to continue. “But if you circulate that I take a potion and
can't
remember no matter what they do, it'll just encourage them to find someone who can recreate my counter potion. If they just experimented on me until they got it right . . .”
Now it was Merek's turn to choke. “That's not a possibility we're going to consider.”