Lover's Bite

“No one says ‘spooks’ anymore, kid.” Reaper swallowed hard, then nodded. “But yeah. I think they’re Agency. They can be dangerous, and there’s no point in all of us being at risk.”

Roxy smacked the steering wheel. “Right. You’ll just send us on our merry way while you take the heat alone,” she snapped. “And if you get your ass killed, then no great loss.”

He glanced her way, and his eyes softened. “Rox, I’m not gonna get my ass killed. I’ll drop out of sight for a while. Lay low until the heat’s off. And it’ll be a hell of a lot easier for me to do that without a half dozen soldiers, no matter how loyal, marching along behind me. Don’t you think?”

She sighed—probably, Jack thought, in frustration that she couldn’t argue with his logic.

“So you’re not going to continue tracking Gregor?” The question came from Ilyana, who sat close behind Jack.

“Oh, I’m going to. Just quietly and discreetly. I might lie low for a few days before I put forth too much effort, though, just to try to shake these agents off my tail.”

Everyone looked at him, Ilyana, waiting, as if she didn’t think he was finished. He hesitated, then went on. “Look, Gregor admitted he was working for the CIA. His rogue activities had a purpose. He and his gang have been murdering and feeding on the innocent with the full knowledge, approval and support of the Agency, all just to lure me in. Everyone knew I was the one the vampires would send to shut him down, to take him out.”

“Because you were an assassin when you worked for them,” Ilyana said, her voice soft. “Before you became a vampire.”

“Yes. And because they’re aware I’ve continued in that role, when necessary, ever since,” Reaper told her. “Gregor was supposed to capture me and hand me over to my former employers. But he got greedy, decided to try to drain me and take my power instead, then kill me.”

Jack nodded. “I picked up on that much before I switched teams,” he said. “Gregor developed a real lust for killing, for taking whatever he wants without remorse or repercussions. And he’s been gathering money along the way. You feed on the wealthy, you tend to make a profit in the process. He’s been raking it in, pillaging, really. And I think he’s drunk on his power. All he wants is more.”

“Absolute power corrupts absolutely,” Reaper quoted softly.

“What do you think the CIA intends to do with you, if they ever do get you back?” Jack asked him. “What the hell do they want with you now that you’re a vamp?”

“I was the best assassin they ever trained, Jack. Imagine how much better I’d be now that I’m a vampire. And they’ve already mucked up my mind to the point that they can control me by dropping a single word. You’ve seen the results of that.”

“They probably think of you as a valuable secret weapon,” Roxy whispered.

Jack lowered his head, unable to look any of them in the eye for a moment.

“They’ll stop at nothing to get me back,” Reaper said. “And that includes kidnapping or even torturing any one of you. I can’t have that on my conscience. I’d have to turn myself in if that happened. So do me a favor and take off, so I won’t have to.”

That, too, was impossible to argue with, Jack realized. Reaper was good.

“I’m willing to go off on my own,” Ilyana said softly. “But I intend to continue the search for Gregor. If you like, I can contact you when I find him.”

Every eye in the van focused on her. She had only just joined them and had no reason to be so invested in their mission.

“Is it vengeance you seek?” Vixen asked.

Ilyana shot her a look.

Vixen seemed to shrink a bit more deeply into her long copper hair and began playing with the ends, as she tended to do when nervous. “I mean, he held and tortured me, too. But…honestly, for your own sake, it’s better if you can look ahead, rather than behind you.”

“I don’t want vengeance,” Ilyana said softly.

“Then why—”

“He has something of mine. That’s as much as I’m going to say. I won’t rest until I get it back. So if any of you want me to call you once I find him—and I will find him—then give me a means of reaching you before I leave.”

Topaz dipped into her pocket, scribbled a number on a scrap of paper and handed it to her. Roxy did the same.

“I intend to stick with you, Reaper,” Seth said from the backseat.

“Not this time.” Reaper quickly looked over at Roxy. “Or you, either. Come on, guys, cut me some slack here. Just for a little while. Scatter and wait. I’ll call you back when things cool off. It won’t be long.”

They all sighed. Topaz finally spoke. “I actually have some personal business to attend to. I’ll be in California. Jack has my contact info.”

“Can you get me a copy, hon, before you go?” Roxy asked. “I’ll make sure everyone else gets it, too.”

Topaz slanted him a look, and he returned a sheepish shrug. “They don’t trust me any more than you do, I guess.”

“Can’t say I blame them.”

“Here,” Roxy said, reaching past Reaper to open the glove compartment. “Why don’t we all just jot down some info? A cell phone, a friend, an address, an e-mail, anything. As long as we each have one means of communication that we can commit to checking often and not changing.” As she spoke, she pulled out a small notepad and a couple of pens, and passed them around the van.

“If you know how to reach me, they’ll still have reason to come after you,” Reaper said.

Jack shook his head. “They’d have no way of knowing we had your number. They could just as easily assume we do, even if we don’t.”

Reaper hesitated, then sighed and nodded. “You’re right. Okay, then.”

Everyone jotted and passed, until they all had copies of each other’s info. Then, finally, Seth said, “Can I take the Mustang?”

“Yep,” Reaper said. “And Roxy will keep Shirley. She and I can drop the rest of you wherever you want. But let’s get on it. I want us scattered to the winds before dawn. Okay?”

“Not exactly,” Jack said. And he shifted his gaze from Reaper to Briar, who sat beside him in silence. “I think Briar should stay with someone.”

“I can take care of myself,” she said softly.

“I know you can. No one said you couldn’t. But, uh…well, you can’t be trusted on your own, can you? Like the rest of us, you know the word that can be used to turn our friend Reaper here into a whirling dervish of death. Unlike the rest of us, we can’t just have you running around all alone.”

She narrowed her eyes on him. “I could kill you as easily as looking at you.”

Jack actually felt his lips pull at the corners, though he didn’t exactly smile. “There you are,” he whispered. “Where have you been, Briar?”

She crossed her arms over her chest, quickly covering the flash of anger with her new expression of bland disinterest. “You can assign me any babysitter you like. I’ll stay until I want to leave. And when I want to leave, nothing’s going to stop me.”

“She stays with me,” Reaper said.

Briar’s studied expression showed a hint, a very brief hint, of panic.

2

The adobe-style mansion sprawled beneath the stars, with countless arches and a clay-red pottery roof, bright red doors and bright green trim. The front walkway was made of flagstones that had been in place so long they appeared to be part of the ground. The drive was paved and curved inward toward the house, then away from it, forming a giant, gentle S as it looped toward a massive garage that could easily house six vehicles. The apartment above the garage was larger than many people’s houses.

Topaz stood beside the taxi, her back to the cab, her eyes on the house. The lawns rolled, the grass far from lush but rather spotty, with bare spots and red rock peering through. Cacti of every type filled the spaces in between, some of them flowering, some small and compact, while others stood with their arms raised above their heads like the stereotypical “reach for the sky” cacti in countless Western films.

Sand crept up to the very edges of the lawn, invading every time a breeze came up. Beyond the villa, ocean waves filled the night with their song, a chorus of harmonic whispers, growing louder, more insistent, but never becoming shouts. Not even when the waves broke and tumbled over the sand, then retreated in the closest sound there could be to silence. Shuuuuushhhhhhh. And then there was the fragrance those waves left in their wake—freshly laundered sunshine, brine and the sea.