“I think it’s time to do a little research.” As much as he wanted to make love with Evie again, it was time to start thinking with his bigger head.
Neither of them would be safe until they dealt with the threat.
Craig deposited her onto the mattress and climbed out of bed. He raised his arms over his head and stretched. With each passing hour, he was starting to feel more like himself again, except a stronger, more-improved version. “Get dressed. We’ve got some work to do.”
“Dawn is coming soon,” Evie reminded him.
“We’ve got some time.” He pulled on his jeans. It still felt strange not to be wearing glasses, but he loved having better than perfect vision.
He watched as Evie quickly dragged on underwear, jeans and the blouse that Sonia had loaned her. Her hair was a curtain across her back. His cock jerked, but he ignored the insistent organ. They had work to do.
“Come on.” Craig held out his hand, smiling when Evie slipped her hand into his.
Damek stalked into Inhibitions, his mood foul. Byron was escorting out the last of the stragglers. It was past closing time. The bouncer glanced once at his boss and then looked away. Smart man, Byron. Damek was in no mood for idle chitchat.
He’d been busy since he’d left Craig and Evie at his place. He’d hated to leave Craig alone, but his young friend had quite a bit of self-control. More than he’d had when he was turned all those centuries ago.
Plus, there was an alarm on the apartment that would alert him if either Craig or Evie tried to leave. He had faith in his friend, but he hadn’t lived this long by being stupid or careless.
The stench of spilled liquor, desperate sex and pungent drugs permeated the space. Maybe it was time to close the nightclub and move on to something different. He’d owned Inhibitions for quite some time now and he never aged. Someone was bound to notice sooner or later and questions would be asked. He’d hate to let the place go, but there was always money to be made off of human vices, always another opportunity to be exploited. Not pretty, but true nonetheless.
Then he caught the lightest whiff of vanilla. Not perfume, but his wife’s soap. For the first time in hours, Damek smiled and made his way toward his office.
He pushed open the door and sighed, the anger draining from him at the sight of her curled up in his large hand-carved chair. She was reading from an old journal that belonged to a vampire hunter from the early nineteenth century. He was constantly on the lookout for such journals and purchased them when he found them. Sonia was fascinated with them and was piecing together the history of the vampire hunters. It seemed hunting paranormal creatures was often a family business, which was allowing Damek to build a database of people to watch.
She sensed his presence, lowered the book and smiled at him. His heart skipped a beat and he entered the office, shutting the door behind him. This woman was everything to him, and he would use every resource at his disposal to protect her.
His anger came roaring back and the walls undulated with his fury.
“Uh-oh. I know that look. What’s wrong?” Sonia tossed the book onto the desk and pushed out of the chair to go to him.
“Vampire hunters.” They’d had a few quiet years since he’d disposed of the last ones, the ones who’d almost killed Sonia.
She wrapped her arms around his waist and he held her close, never wanting to let her go. He’d come so close to losing her. “Tell me what you’ve found.”
“Either that idiot Vladimir Drake is killing indiscriminately or he’s creating new vampires that have no control or guidance. The police are finding bodies all over the city and are baffled. They’ve decided they must have some satanic cult in the city, draining bodies of blood.”
“Great. That’s all we need.”
His wife’s exasperation made him smile. She was more annoyed than frightened. “And of course, those reports have brought the vampire hunters to our fair city.”
Damek nodded. “They always show up when there are reports of unusual deaths.” His sigh ruffled his wife’s curls. He was tired of always having to fight. He wanted to live in peace. But as long as there were idiots like Drake and the bounty hunters, he had no choice.
She went to the desk, picked up the book she’d been reading and slid it into her tote. “Let’s go home and talk to Craig. We need to let him and Evie know what you’ve found out.”
She smiled at him and his love for her almost brought him to his knees. He would kill Drake and the bounty hunters if they threatened one hair on her precious head. She was everything to him.
“Damek?”
“We will go home.” He reached for her again, his cock stirring and his fangs dropping. “Soon.”
Sonia laughed as he lifted her against him. She wrapped her thighs around his hips and her arms around his neck.
“Soon,” she agreed.
Damek lowered his head and kissed his wife’s neck. He could scent her arousal, her need for him. He wanted her now and knew that need would never wane no matter how long they both lived.
Evie was fascinated as she watched Craig’s fingers dance across the keyboard. Data flew across the screen at lightning speed. “Are you actually reading any of that?”
“Of course.” He absently pushed his finger against his nose, stopped and laughed. “I keep thinking I have to push my glasses up.”
He went back to his work and she continued to watch him. They were both seated on the sofa, but Craig was perched on the edge while his fingers manipulated the keys. She was curled up next to him, watching.
Obviously, Craig was at home with computers. She could find her way around one, but he was way out of her league. He was a professional. She used it strictly for recreation. In fact, she didn’t even own a laptop. She had her cell phone, which she used for email, music, social media and surfing the web.
Or at least, she’d had one. She had no idea if it was still at her apartment or if Vladimir had taken it or destroyed it.
“What are you looking for?”
He never stopped moving his fingers. “I’m looking for any trace of Vladimir Drake or Richard Locke. I’m taking the search back a couple centuries because that’s how old you said he is. I could work better if I had several computers, but this is a start.” He glanced toward her and smiled. “Don’t worry, Evie. We’ll find him.”
And then what? She knew she had to kill him, but wasn’t sure how.
“How do I kill him once we find him?”
The front door opened and Damek and Sonia strolled in. Damek raised one imperious eyebrow, obviously having heard her last question. “You don’t kill him. I do.”
Evie jumped off the sofa and faced her scary host. “It’s my job. My right.”
Damek closed the door and helped his wife remove her sweater. “I admire your courage, but you cannot kill a two-
hundred-year-old vampire.”
Damek’s dismissive tone fired Evie’s anger. She was tired of overbearing vampires telling her what she could and couldn’t do. “How do I kill him?” she repeated. Craig rose to stand beside her, but she ignored him, her entire focus on Damek.
“Beheading works, but I’d recommend burning the body afterwards just in case. Some vampires can be destroyed by sunlight, but not all. A stake to the heart will kill a young vampire, but it will only slow down an old one.” Damek strode across the room and went behind the bar. He pulled several bags of blood out of the small refrigerator and opened them.
“Hey, I thought you said there was no more blood here.” Evie knew she’d heard him say that earlier.
Damek shrugged. “I lied. But it kept you from craving it, didn’t it?”
Truthfully, Craig had kept her so busy she hadn’t thought about it. Of course, they’d exchanged blood several times. It wasn’t the same as having fresh blood, but it had kept the bloodlust at bay. Now that she could smell fresh blood, she wanted it. Her fangs dropped and she licked her lips.