“I didn’t believe it at first,” Jennifer said from her hospital bed. “I thought I’d either died or was hallucinating. But there was this...team of vampires who busted in and set us free. They unchained us and led us across the street to a human-owned building so we could wait for the sun to rise. Just after dawn several ambulances arrived, so I can only assume they kept their word and called them for us.” She shook her head slowly. “These vampires captured the one behind our abductions, said he would be made to pay. I still half can’t believe it, but it makes me wonder about all my assumptions.”
When the filmed clip ended and the camera refocused on the reporter outside Mount Sinai, she looked every bit as stunned as Jennifer Watson.
“Law enforcement officials have indicated to us that they had their doubts about the story at first, but each abductee relayed the same details in separate interviews. This is one of those events that has just left everyone scratching their heads, but rest assured we will stay on the story and bring you more information as we have it.”
As the news anchor shifted to another story, Olivia lowered the volume. When she turned back toward the bed, Mindy’s eyes were open.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you,” Olivia said.
“It’s okay.” Mindy glanced at the TV. “So it wasn’t all a dream?”
“No. I’m sorry.”
“It’s not your fault, so stop acting as if it is.” She didn’t seem upset, just put out. In fact, she sounded enough like her old self that hope swelled in Olivia.
“Can I get you anything?”
Mindy shook her head on her pillow then stared at Olivia.
“What?” Olivia asked.
“You love Campbell, don’t you?”
She’d hoped to not have to face this conversation so soon.
“It’s okay if you do,” Mindy said.
Olivia couldn’t believe her ears. “It is?”
“Yeah. If it wasn’t for him and his team, we might be dead now. How many times has he saved you now, four? Even I can’t argue that he’s evil after that.”
Tears popped into Olivia’s eyes as she squeezed Mindy’s hand. “Are you sure?”
“Yes. I should have listened to you sooner.”
“You had reason not to. More than once I thought I was crazy.”
“Don’t get me wrong,” Mindy said. “I still believe most of them are monsters, just that there are a few exceptions when they’re not thirsty.”
Olivia couldn’t argue with that, because she agreed with every word. She shivered as she remembered Salmeri’s hand on her, the cold, hopeless feeling she’d gotten the moment she’d seen the nameless vampire in the black cloak. She hated the idea that he was still out there somewhere. She just hoped V Force’s raid forced him to flee and stay far, far away.
Despite her experience, hope bloomed inside Olivia. Hope that this story would start to change people’s minds about all vampires being evil. Maybe if the details of vampire society started to come out, Campbell would stop being so resistant to being with her, might stop worrying that he’d bring her nothing but sorrow. Even as he’d rescued her and held her close, she could feel some sort of barrier still between them. She needed to find out what it was so she could break it down.
She told Mindy she was going to the cafeteria, but when she reached the end of the hallway she called Chloe. “Hey, it’s Olivia.”
“I was just about to head to the hospital to see you and Mindy. How are you?”
“We’re fine. Listen, I have a question. Do you know where the new V Force headquarters is?”
Chloe hesitated before answering slowly. “Why do you ask?”
“Because I want you to take me there. I need to see Campbell.”
“I can’t do that.”
“Why not? Campbell won’t hurt me, and the rest of the team doesn’t have my blood type.”
“They’re not the only vampires there, and not every vampire has the strength to resist the call of the blood like Campbell does. Hell, even he can’t always overcome it. You know that.”
“Chloe, please. If I could just talk to him.”
“No, Olivia. No matter how much you beg, the answer will remain no.”
“But—”
“No. And it’s not just for your safety but also for theirs. The fewer people who know, the better. The only reason I know is because I have to deliver the holy water.”
Olivia understood, could even appreciate her friend’s concern for her, but it was getting really damn old. She was going to find Campbell, one way or another.
* * *
Campbell stared at the pencil he was twirling between his fingers. He despised Nicky Salmeri for many things, but perhaps most of all for the thought he’d put in his head. The one that someone was eventually going to take Campbell out, and that if he let his relationship with Olivia continue, she would be the one left behind grieving. She’d already been through that once. And he’d seen how thinking he’d died in the bombing affected her. She didn’t deserve to be subjected to it again.
And then there was the fact he had not shared his darkest secret with her. Each time he thought about doing so, he wondered if he could face seeing her horror, watching as she realized she’d been wrong about him all along. Realized that he really was a monster and ran away from him forever.
“When you get that look on your face, it means you’re thinking too much,” Kaja said from where she sat with her booted feet propped on the edge of her new desk. “And if I were a betting vampire, I’d say it has something to do with Olivia. When are you going to stop being an idiot and go see her again, anyway?”
Campbell tossed the pencil onto his desk. “Well, haven’t you made a one-eighty on that topic.”
“What? I’m an incurable romantic.”
Len literally choked on a drink of blood he was taking, this time from his own cup. Kaja had threatened him with castration if he ever drank from hers again, and even vampires wanted to keep that particular body part intact and functioning properly.
“It doesn’t seem fair to her when I could be killed tomorrow.”
“Seriously, that’s the excuse you’re going with?” Kaja asked.
“It’s not an excuse. It’s true.” And he couldn’t tell Kaja the bigger reason.
“For you and every cop in the world. Pretty sure a lot of them have girlfriends or, gasp, even wives.”
“They don’t have the strike of having died once already against them.”
“Do you think she cares? Seems to me you’re the only one hung up on that anymore.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about. Until you’ve found someone you really care about, you can’t know.”
Kaja dropped her feet to the floor and stood. “You know, Campbell, I respect the hell out of you. But sometimes you can be a real ass.”
He didn’t try to stop her, because she was right. But didn’t that just prove his point that he was no good for Olivia? Vampire, the constant target of the Soulless who would love to take out a V Force member, jerk. Three strikes and you were out.
The door opened and Ray walked in. But he wasn’t alone. When Campbell saw who was with him, he stood.
“Baroness.”
She made a dismissive wave. “Please, call me Catherine. After so many years of hearing myself addressed as Baroness, it’s grown quite stuffy.” She and Ray came farther into the room.
“Can we get you anything?” Sophia asked.
Catherine smiled. “No, dear, but thank you. I’m here to congratulate you on a successful mission. It is a good thing to have so many humans back where they belong through the help of Souled vampires.”