Bad Mouth(22)

“Yeah, they did.”

“Anyone else connected or just those two?”

“Just those two.”

“It does make some sense. What better way to hide a murder than make it look like the local deranged population did it? The bloodings were already public knowledge.”

“Now you sound like Rollins.”

Kade had mentioned humans framing vampires. She proposed vampires framing other vampires. “Graham, I was talking about a vampire framing one of the deranged.”

“Now that really doesn’t make sense, V. Why would you think that? The tests prove the victim wasn’t bitten by a vampire.”

“So the vampire killed the victim without biting and made it look like a typical blooding.”

“Why wouldn’t the vampire just bleed the victim? No one can tell the difference between the bites of Legion or Dominorum, rogue or deranged. A real bite would make the blooding even more authentic.”

Her jaw dropped. Did she have that much of a one-track mind? Maybe Kade had been right when he said she wasn’t listening. Even with evidence proving a false blooding, she would put a vampire in the murder seat.

“You’re right. I’m just…having trouble switching tracks, I guess. So the question now is why would a vampire be at the body dump site with a couple of humans? And who were they?”

“And if they didn’t commit the murder, why didn’t they turn it in?” he asked.

She slumped down onto the desktop, laying her head on her crossed arms. “I feel like we have more questions than we started with.”

“I have another one for you.” He patted her head. “What are you doing here this time of night? If you’re not working with Mr. Goodfang, you should be in bed.”

Her head lifted. “Oh, I did come for something.” She jumped around the desk to get to the computer, shoving Graham’s chair to the side. “I need information on a vampire named Killian.”

“AKA Ian McCready. Height of six foot two inches. Weight around two hundred and twenty-five pounds. Age is more than two centuries older than Kade, approximately six hundred and eighty-five years. Long, dark, reddish-brown hair, usually worn tied back. Red eyes—of course. He is a member of the Legion, and he is not an adjuvant. He owns a horse ranch outside of Tacoma. He has a very, very, very healthy bank account and a collection of very, very, very fast cars. He enjoys snow sports, piña coladas, and long walks on the moonlit beach. What else do you need to know?”

She smiled despite her mood. “You looked him up already?”

“You wanted a background check on Rollins.”

“You checked his friends, too?”

“Of course. What kind of amateur do you take me for?”

She was getting to be quite adept at ignoring his comments. “Can he flash?”

“How the hell would I know? Nobody gives out that information. The Dominorum doesn’t even want the public to know that’s possible.”

“I thought you were a supersleuth,” she said. He grunted but didn’t reply. “How long has Kade known him?”

“I’m not sure, but best guess puts them over two hundred years of acquaintance. Why are you asking about him instead of Rollins?”

“What about Ezra?” she asked, again avoiding his questions like a pro.

“They’ve all known each other a long time. Centuries. Why does that matter?”

“I don’t know if it does yet. Who are Kade’s closest friends?”

“Ezra, obviously, and Killian. Declan, also a Legion. Those are his closest friends. Got a bunch more Legions and a handful of Dominorum he spends some time with, but he mostly keeps to himself. And of course, he meets often with Olen Rex and Evangeline.”

“What’s his relationship with them?” She couldn’t believe she hadn’t told Graham about Kade’s parentage. He only knew Kade was a Dominus with royal connections.

“Fellow Dominorum, I guess.”

So it wasn’t common knowledge among humans that Kade was the Dominorum prince, destined to become the next Rex. The vampires sure knew who the heck he was. Perhaps the Immortalis intended it to be a secret, but he’d shared that information with her freely. Why would he do that?

She fixed her gaze on the darkness outside the large windows behind Graham, steeling herself for her next question. “Where does he go to feed?”

A lump landed in her stomach as she asked the question. She’d avoided thinking about it before, and she really had no reason to ask now. It was entirely irrelevant. There was something intimate about a vampire feeding from the body of a sexy, young human, though it was simply about sustenance rather than sex. Too bad they couldn’t just drink from a bag. It could solve a lot of problems between humans and Immortalis.

“Aha. You thought I wouldn’t know this, but I do. He doesn’t leave to feed. He has a private service when he’s here. He has his own service donors at his home in Glacier.”

Worse than she’d imagined. He fed at his leisure in the privacy of his penthouse. Vampires normally fed from several sources to avoid draining to the point of shock and he had his own little feeding harem.

If she had claws, they’d be out right then. Unreasonable, illogical, absurd. She’d never let him feed from her. She intended to end whatever their relationship was. Now was a bad time to worry about what he did with someone else’s flesh.

“Can we get someone to keep an eye on Killian, Ezra, and Declan?”

“It’ll be tough. You know vampires are hard to tail, but I’ll get people on it.” He stood and shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know why, though. We should be looking for the humans who killed those two faked bloodings.”

“Graham, we still have five very real bloodings committed by the deranged. We still have several adjuvants somewhere performing these derangements. And we have Will.”

“Hmm. Looks like our workload’s multiplying.”

“I’m done thinking tonight. I’m heading out.”

“All right.” He stroked her cheek. “Get some rest.”

When she got home, she tried to follow that advice to no avail. She shifted constantly. No comfortable position existed on any piece of furniture in her apartment that could counteract her rioting insides. Finally, she curled up on her bed and let the tears loose. With no one there to see them, no one could point fingers at her.

No matter how many times she told herself there wasn’t any evidence Kade was connected to the murders, in her gut she knew. He’d worked his way inside of her body and soul, and she’d stupidly let him in. The more she thought about it, the more the anger and the betrayal snowballed. If he wanted to play games with her, she might as well play back.

She was through being used by men.





Chapter Fifteen


Kade stood outside the Towers, claws of indecision gripping his chest. He hadn’t called for the car to take him to the Ancients’ mansion. He wasn’t sure he should risk flashing, but he didn’t have much choice. He had to face them tonight.

And Val might return soon. That put a smile on his face, although it didn’t last long. He’d never given lying a second thought before he met her, but he hated lying to her, even by omission. He could only imagine what she’d say if she knew he could flash. He didn’t want to find out.

Then again, he wasn’t sure he wanted answers to the questions he had for the Ancients, either. Nothing they said could justify what they’d done.

What the f*ck could he do, anyway? Kill the Ancients? He was in no way prepared or willing to take the reins of the Dominorum, if he wasn’t strung up by his balls for heresy first. Shit, he could go rogue, but then he’d have to deal with the Legion Trackers as well as the Dominorum’s Enforcers.

A quick glance around indicated the area fortunately clear of unwanted spectators. He braced himself, stilling the respiration Val had sparked earlier, and sprinted. Within seconds, the air shoved at him with tornado-level force. Protective shields slid over his eyes and the scenery blurred, the city lights forming wavy streaks on either side of him. He had no room for navigational mistakes this deep inside the city. The smallest brush against an obstacle, living or not, would instantly end his expedition.

The four-hour trip to the Ancients passed in less than ten minutes. He ended the flash a half mile down the drive and collapsed onto the damp, mossy ground. Good thing he wasn’t breathing or the Ancients and their entire staff would hear him wheeze and huff all the way from the mansion. Flashing such a distance required an enormous risk, especially at his young age, and took longer to recover than it took to make the trip.

After a lengthy respite, he stood, steam curling over his shoulder from the residual body heat of his back. He jogged at a normal pace to the shadowy hulk housing the vampires who had spawned him. It wasn’t in him to wait on the vast stone steps outside, so he let himself in. A faint echo of footsteps came from upstairs, but the creator of the sound wasn’t who he searched for. Their footfalls would not be heard.