Hide & Seek: Games and Fangs (Ravana Moon #2), page 5
“I don’t have time for this, old man. Either you tell me, or our working relationship will be severed. Along with your head.”
“I’d listen to her, Kyron. She’s in a mood,” I said low behind her knowing I’d get a little love tap for it later. I could handle it.
“Either way. I don’t do business in front of others. It’s a part of my upstanding reputation.”
“Upstanding for what, being a snitch?” She moved toward the male a few steps, and the vampires around us moved in. “Either tell me, or I rip up our contract with a silver dagger.”
“I don’t know.” His voice shook, and Ravana looked left and right at the oncoming enemies.
“Something you don’t know, I find that hard to believe. Sure, you don’t want to rethink your answer? You do know the penalty for not giving me my due.”
“Yes, Red. I am well aware. Why else do you think I have protection? I know I’m no match for you.”
“Neither are they, not with me here with her,” I yelled to Kyron. “It’s best to tell her.”
“I’ll make sure you go first this time. Just test my patience.”
“Fine,” he held up his hands to stop his men, “I don’t know his name, but he comes from your Sire, so maybe you could ask him. Since I’m also aware that Emerick is working for you and the Order now. Everyone knows. Seems this one male, in particular, doesn’t like it.”
“So, he’s another of Em’s creations, or like Red?”
“He’s neither. A regular vamp. He was never tested, just changed. He comes from your hometown I’m told.” The vampire tapped his cane on the ground. “Now, that is all I know. Please…leave.”
“If I find out you know more, and you’ve kept it from me…”
“Yes, a final termination notice. I understand.”
Chapter Six
Ravana
Walking back to the Tower with Massimo was like holding a live grenade; the pin was pulled and the target set but I would instead have it explode in my own hand than risk having to answer any questions. Like the one I could see forming in his mind as it was in mine. Who the hell from our home could have been turned? Also, why would they want me dead? All things I would rather not have to deal with on top of anything else. Not to mention it was just another thing on the long list of reasons to want our Sire dead for, and I couldn’t kill him. Not until the tests on Massimo and Torrid were complete.
At least he hadn’t asked. He walked back with me, hand in hand like an almost normal couple walking home after a night out on the town. A date night even. Something we’d never be able to have. Not in this lifetime. Not in the last either. The least I could do was take in the new scent of him. Blood no longer mixed with the pungent smell of musk. He’d taken the time to get a haircut since we’d come back from New Jersey. His hair spiked in the front and had been shaved down to almost nothing on the sides and back. He looked like a dark-haired surfer. His skin had tanned in the weeks since he’d changed, spending as much time as he could beneath the sun’s rays. His hand was steady, the muscles flexed in his forearm as we moved together, the veins pulsing at the surface. Somethings were harder not to notice.
It wasn’t until we entered the front doors of the Tower that I saw the gentlemen walking behind us. I’d been too swept up in my own mood, my own feelings of being next to Massimo that I could have made a fatal flaw. When we turned on them in the foyer the men jumped back a step.
“May I help you?”
“Are you…” the man began with a stutter and then straightened his back and started again. “Are you Miss Moon?”
“Yes.”
“I’m Mr. Parker, this is Mr. Valt. We have correspondence from Amanda for you.”
“I see.” The door to the elevator opened and we stepped on. I hit the top button on the wall. When the panel opened, I placed my thumb in the reader and the doors closed. “How is dear Amanda?” I asked callously as we waited for the metal box to reach the top floor.
“Eager.”
“How so?”
“She’s eager to have the forms making you the CO signed and returned.”
I nodded slowly as the doors opened, then moved as quickly as possible to the apartment. Massimo sauntered in before the men in suits and gave me a questioning look as I sat at the desk and checked my email. Then I reached for my cell and dialed Amanda’s number. With no answer, I tapped the end button and did the next thing I could think of.
“Delia!” Yelling through the apartment usually brought her out of hiding. I forgot that wouldn’t work in the future with the lab being moved to another floor and made a mental note regarding the thought.
“Yes, Ravana?” Delia came out of the back hall that led to the library.
“One, an intercom system between the floors needs to be installed. Two, know anything about the suits sent here by Amanda?”
“I might.” She stepped into the living room and looked at the two men who were murmuring amongst themselves about legal documents and accounts. “You’re human?”
“Hardly, ma’am. We’re lawyers,” Mr. Valt said holding a briefcase out to her as if the thing made it obvious.
“Ha, good one,” Massimo jeered taking a blood bag from the fridge.
“In all seriousness, we have other business to conclude before our flight back to the New York office.”
The taller of the two, Mr. Parker, with his slicked-back hair and high cheekbones, pulled a stack of papers in a blue file folder from his briefcase and dropped them on the desk in front of me. “It would be nice if we could do this without delay.”
I laughed under my breath and felt Massimo’s hand touch my shoulder before I could stand. Looking up, he gave me a wary look and removed his hand.
“Gentlemen, Ms. Moon has a lot on her plate at the moment. Why don’t you see to your other business and come back for these?”
“No, Massimo.” I stood with the folder in hand. “I don’t think that will be necessary.” I moved to the island with the folder and opened it to the first page.
The document was fundamental in nature. Just a formality, saying I would resume as head of the company. Not that I was looking forward to making all the tough decisions, but it seemed Amanda was stonewalling me into it.
“Wait, this says Amanda is to be removed from supernatural investigations permanently. What does that mean exactly?”
“It means she’s been uncovered as a traitor. She has been working with the PCI to infiltrate the Order and needs to be dealt with. You think the fact that Kelly made her way into your office is all the genius of a Keeper?” Mr. Parker looked at Delia and added, “no offense, ma’am.”
“Far be it for me to argue the genius of a Keeper. We are just feeble human creatures after all.”
“Delia, not now.” A pen was presented to me by a nervous looking Mr. Valt, which I started to wave around as I spoke. “For your information, my Keeper could run the entire organization from her smartphone. Also, since Kelly is a PCI agent, she is not a Keeper. So, word your statements accordingly.” To give Delia a boost I showed a little fang for enthusiasm.
Mr. Parker looked a bit more anxious. He stuttered as he spoke again. “I apologize. I did …forget that one point. If you just sign, then we will be on our way.”
“Hold on another minute. This says your taking Kelly into custody. You are returning her to her superiors at the PCI? I don’t think so.” I scribbled my signature on the document implementing me as head of the Order once again and closed the folder. “I’m not signing the transfer order. However, since I just signed the document that puts me in charge, I also don’t have to.”
“Miss Moon, this is highly irregular,” Mr. Valt proceeded.
“It’s Ravana, and I don’t care. I also want Amanda brought here to my holding facility, so she can be properly interrogated. That is all gentlemen.” I turned on my heel and headed toward the lab.
“I don’t think that will be possible. We have strict orders…”
Spinning once more I used my supernatural speed to place myself directly in front of Mr. Parker who was disparaging. “You have orders from whom? Considering this is my company, as I am the one who bought out the original owner, I give the orders. Now I suggest you leave and get to it, I’m feeling peckish.”
My tongue began to slide across my lips, ending at the tip of a pointy fang and the two men turned tail and sprinted across the apartment to the door. I didn’t stop my seductive, hungry leer until I heard the ding emanate from the elevator.
Delia left a short while after, wanting to dig up more information on the previous Controlling Officer of the Order. I’d known Amanda for almost twenty years. I couldn’t believe she was working for the PCI, but stranger things had happened.
Chasing hellhounds around Seattle and new enemies popping out of the woodwork made me tired. I didn’t need sleep as a regular vampire did, or as a human, but my body did feel run down, and at the moment I was exhausted. Although once my body slid in between the sheets on our bed, I seemed to have caught a second wind.
My hands found the firm chest of the male lying next to me. Massimo gave me a sideways look. He had plopped down as he always did, on his back with his right arm tucked under his head. His left one stretched under my neck to hug my shoulders so I could snuggle into him. He made me sleep with the curtains open. The bright light was blinding as the sun rose but spending almost a hundred years in the dark made him crave the light.
“Feeling frisky, love.” His eyes looked down at me as he squeezed me closer to his body.
“Maybe just a little.” I flicked his nipple and pinched it between my fingers, rolling it back and forth as he did with mine.
“Your heading in a direction that’s only going to tire you out further.”
“I’m aware.” The nail of my index finger grazed his skin as I led it down the happy trail on his abdomen to the waistband of his shorts. “I don’t think I’ll mind the sacrifice.”
When my hand gripped the elastic around his middle, his hand grabbed my wrist in protest. “Please, for the sake of my wardrobe, let me do that.” In a split second his shorts were removed and discarded to the floor.
“Are you complaining again?”
“Wouldn’t dream of it, love. Those just happen to be a favorite. I don’t think I’d be able to replace them if you shred them off me.”
“Oh, yeah. What about all my ruined blouses? I have to go shopping at some point to replace those.”
“Well,” his hand moved to the elastic band of my thong, “I guess it’s a good thing you’re going shopping.” Before I knew it, my panties were flying across the room, and he lifted me to remove the camisole I was wearing.
His mouth assaulted my nipples with full force, as his hand squeezed my breast. Fingers dug into my hip, and my hands moved frantically against his back. My mouth went to his neck, and he moved forgoing his assault to allow me access. His nod was all I needed as I watched the vein in his neck throb against his skin. My fangs dropped. Blood sprayed into my mouth, warm and thick. Massimo fisted his hand in my hair, and I felt him thrust inside of me. His moan snapped me from the bloodlust. His fist jerked my head back. I trembled as he moved against me. Scraping my nails down his back, I bit into his flesh with vigor. Then flipped us so I was straddled over him.
Massimo sat up, his arms cradling my body against his chest. I moved over his member letting him enter me again. My body quaking as an orgasm ripped through me, and then another.
“The things you do to me,” Massimo whispered against my neck. I could hear his breath deeply against me. His lips lingered against my flesh, first open, then closed and he pulled away. No matter how much I craved it, he never fed from me. Though I have not yet voiced my want, I had felt the need. I wondered what it felt like. He’d let me feed on him nearly every time we had sex. Though, not once did he even try.
Once sated, our bodies fell against the mattress. Massimo’s face looked so relaxed with his eyes closed and his hair no longer falling over his face. I ached to reach out and touch the lines that traveled from his lips to his chin as he smiled in his sleep. Suddenly I was so content I let myself drift, knowing the male that held me in his arms was mine. I had fought so hard for so long to stay away from him, and yet there he was. My past caught up with me in many ways. Would he know whom from our hometown had been turned?
The only way to figure that out would be to ask Emerick when we woke. He would have to tell us what he knew about our village, one way or another.
Chapter Seven
Delia
If she doesn’t kill me when she wakes, it’ll be a miracle. I found nothing. Though it was kind of difficult to find anything when I didn’t have a name. To find a name I’d at least need a location, but I didn’t have that either. Hopefully, Emerick would cooperate and tell them who it was from their village that he turned. Maybe they would have their memories back enough to figure out who would have held a grudge against Ravana. Of course, being who she was now, anyone from so long ago could have new reasons to hate her. Most creatures of the supernatural persuasion wanted her dead. Finding someone who knew her and liked her was like finding a needle in a haystack the size of an entire continent. It was a difficult task.
The sun was still up when I exited the building. Traffic was steady, the sidewalks were full of pedestrians. Nothing out of the ordinary was going on, so I headed down the street to our usual bakery while the information I did drag up went through my mind. A few things regarding a particular man who liked to forge old world weapons, for a price. I was also able to locate the damn witch we needed to break the spell on the vanadium blade. Another reason Ravana was likely going to tear my head off. Meralda was going to be a couple of weeks at least. Making my job a lot more uncomfortable. At least I had the hindsight to expect Red to ask me to find another witch. Something I did before leaving the Tower for the evening coffee run.
“Hey, Delia. Your usual is ready. Let me go in the back and grab it.”
“Thanks, could you add an apple fritter?”
“She’s going to be in a mood today, huh?”
“That’s an understatement.”
Kyle was an Order operative. A few were placed around the city to keep an eye on the nightwalkers while Ravana and the other agents were tied up in investigations. At the moment, everyone was on the hellhound case. While the vamps in the Tower were sleeping another two families were slaughtered.
“Here ya go. Two fritters.”
“I take it you saw the news?”
“Oh, yeah. This is a hard one.” He lowered his voice to a whisper. “Hellhounds don’t like each other. Not enough to form a pack.”
“You think that’s what this is?”
“Amanda seemed to think so before she was arrested, so I could be wrong.”
“I’ll mention that to the Boss lady. She seems to think Amanda is innocent.”
“Most of us think the same. She was set up, and my money is on your house guest.” He winked at me and turned around to get back to the line of people waiting to order.
I hadn’t thought to ask Kelly about Amanda. I could bring it up to Ravana and let her sort it out, or I could make a pit-stop on my way up to the penthouse.
Deciding to stop on the cell block floor hadn’t actually happened until I stepped into the elevator. I set the coffees and pastries on the floor next to the elevator before turning left toward her cell. The lights popped on in the hall with each of my heels against the cold silver plate used to line the floors and walls. Even if a vampire didn’t touch it, the amount of it in proximity to them walking down the corridors would make them uncomfortable. Enough so that they would not be able to use their full strengths, putting any vampire prisoner on an even keel with any human guard.
I stepped close before speaking. Looking into her cell which stayed lit all hours of the day and watched the rise and fall of her chest. She still wore the tattered dress she had on the day she’d been put in there. The brown was a few shades lighter than her dark hair. Her arm was draped over her eyes as she lay on her back. Her shoes were taken from her, so her feet were bare. She was given nothing. A tactic used by the Order when they wanted to break a prisoner. What did Ravana want her to break for? What did she think Kelly had left to give?
“Is someone there? The last moron who came to see me left the intercom on.” Her voice broke the silence that permeated the floor.
My voice squeaked, but I managed to get the words out before I could change my mind and run away. “Yes, it’s just me.”
Kelly jumped from her cot and ran to the window, her hands flat against the glass. “Delia! You didn’t come to see me. Are you ok?” She looked frantic at the space in front of her. The two-way mirror keeping my appearance from her, she had no idea where I stood, and her eyes wandered back and forth.
“I’m fine. I just have a question, and then I’ll leave you alone.”
“No, don’t leave. I have so much to say. So much to tell you. I—”
“Please, don’t,” I said as hot tears threatened to pool in my eyes. I blinked them back quickly, not wanting her to see, or rather hear the emotion in my voice. “I need to know about Amanda.”
“What about her? I’ll answer anything you ask, just please talk to me.”
“Was Amanda ever involved with the PCI?”
“Amanda? No. Who would have said such a thing? No, the only one working with the PCI was me, until—”
“That’s all I need, thank you.”
She began to protest, but I hit the button on the com, and quickly ran to the elevator.
By the time the familiar ding snapped me out of my trance, and I stepped through the door and into the penthouse, both Massimo and Ravana were in the lab hooked up to an I.V.
“Good morning. I have your morning coffee and took the liberty of grabbing a couple apple fritters.”
“Apple fritters?” Massimo looked between Ravana and me with a question but left it unspoken. By the look on Ravana’s face, he knew something was amiss.
