Bad Mouth(4)

He rinsed the last clinging residue of blood from his chest and stepped from the shower. A frown pulled at his lips as he toweled off. The Ancients wasted their time with the humans. The Dominorum should be leading the Immortalis into the supremacy they existed for instead of allowing humans to lead them around by the nut sack, allowing humans to make rules regarding what should have been vampire business. They negotiated and compromised as if the humans were equals. In this, he conformed more with the Legion’s philosophies.

The idea of equality revolted him, but it wasn’t Kade’s place to protest, only obey. Wandering back into the bedroom, he threw on a fresh pair of jeans and a T-shirt, growling as he went, but no amount of dissent would get him out of the unsavory task of dealing with the pair from the VLO.

His experience with humans extended no further than ripping into their frail bodies and mutating them into something more than human. He didn’t want any contact beyond the sound of screams and tearing flesh, the warm, wet sensation of life ebbing away, and the weak, shuddering beat of a useless muscle. Whether the subjugate survived the change or not, each formed sweet retribution.

Olen had warned him the liaison humans were off-limits. Ordered to do them no harm, he had to assist them in tracking one of his own. Aiding the enemy. It was treason, though the Dominorum in general wouldn’t admit it. The Legion wouldn’t tolerate his involvement in the VLO’s investigation, and he didn’t relish the imminent backlash.

He’d tried to warn Olen and Evangeline about the Legion’s discontent with the Dominorum, but the Ancients refused to accept they had anything but iron control over the impure masses. Their pride would get them destroyed one day with Kade right alongside, because he would fight to the death to protect the Ancients from any being—whether Legion, Dominorum, rogue, or human.

He headed back down the hallway to the main living area and stepped out onto the enormous balcony overlooking the Puget Sound. The Sound was in a rare state of calm for this time of year, the wind and rain from the morning subsided. The sun must have eventually come out in the afternoon, but all that remained now of its passing was a red-orange glow over the horizon.

The view from the penthouse encompassed a panorama of Seattle. There wasn’t much he hated more than the sounds of human life around him, but he needed the bracing cold of the fresh air. If it had been his call, he would have met the liaisons at a more isolated location like the Ancient’s mansion or at his residence in Glacier.

He suspected Olen took delight in his discomfort or maybe wanted Kade to lose his mind and slay the humans. It sure as f*ck felt like another one of their irrational tests. Wouldn’t surprise him if the vesania had polluted them early. Vampire madness was a bitch.

The Ancients should have chosen Ezra, another adjuvant with many more years of experience than Kade. His friend would have been giddy with joy at the prospect of working with the humans.

The liaisons were due to arrive soon, and each passing minute tightened his knotting muscles. He rubbed the back of his neck to ease the tension and prowled around the penthouse. Nothing he did could shake his premonition of impending disaster.

He jerked his cell from the back pocket of his jeans and punched in a familiar number.

“Hey, it’s me,” he said the second he heard the coarse voice on the other end. “The damned VLO liaisons are on their way over to meet me here at the Towers to discuss the bloodings. I know what the hell you’re thinking, but I can’t do anything about it. The Ancients sent them.” He turned to the fast-darkening sky beyond the balcony, his mood turning pitch-black along with it. “I think we have a problem.”





Chapter Three


Graham hadn’t spoken a word to Val the entire cab ride to the Akkadian Towers, and that suited her fine. He’d spent the last twenty-four hours hammering at her opinions regarding vampires, and she’d had enough. One close contact with a sexy vampire and he got all goo-goo-eyed and only too happy to jump on their bandwagon.

If not for these coldhearted vampires, she wouldn’t have been dragged into this mess. She was supposed to be an administrator, only directing the case, but the gridlock with the Immortalis forced her to dig out her old, rusty criminal justice degree and play cop, whether she liked it or not. Her detectives had gotten nowhere on their investigation since the first murder several weeks earlier. The vampires, whether Dominorum or Legion, refused to interview with humans. A few human witnesses had come forward with descriptions confirming vampires were the murderers, but offered nothing the VLO hadn’t already known. Meanwhile, the trail was getting cold.

Her ex-husband was still missing. The images of his victim’s photos flashed in her mind—severed limbs, exposed organs, and blood. So much blood. If she hadn’t seen it herself, she wouldn’t have believed it. The derangement had twisted him into a vampire of the worst sort.

Interrogating the Immortalis had eroded what little patience she’d had with them, and the situation had only been amplified after her encounter with the Ancients. The vampires were abominations, freaks of nature. Murderers. One of them had murdered Will as surely as her ex had murdered his recent victim.

Her stomach churned. She couldn’t believe she’d been pushed to meet with the very object of what sickened her, pretending they were working together toward a common goal. The VLO was mistaken to believe an adjuvant would be keen on hunting down another.

“You still think the adjuvant’s a roadblock?” Graham’s voice came out soft, almost apologetic.

“Oh, you’re talking to me now?”

He looked sheepish but didn’t say anything more. Good. His defection to the dark side left a lonely ache under her ribs. She’d pulled away from Graham, put distance between her heart and their friendship, unwilling to ever again experience the nightmare Will put her through. She struggled with that nightmare even two years after the divorce.

Her phone rang as the cab pulled up to the semicircle driveway at the front of the Towers. It was Alice. The call meant she’d found something on Rollins. Val motioned for Graham to wait.

“Oh my God, Val, do not go in to see this guy. He’s dangerous as all hell.”

She’d never heard Alice so shaken. The deep command had Val pausing with her hand on the door. “I have to.”

A sigh came over the line. “Did you at least bring a weapon?”

“I’m not a cop. Why would I carry?” A beat of silence passed. “Okay, next time I’ll put my lady’s little helper in there, and I always carry pepper spray, thanks to you. Happy?”

“No. Rollins is bad news. He does things to the subjugates he transforms.”

“What things?”

“He mutilates them. I can’t even describe it. I’m sending pictures.”

“I’m not sure I want to see them. We’re about to go in.”

“We? So you at least have Graham with you. As if a lawyer would do any good.”

“I’ll be fine.”

“Sure. Say that again after you see the photos.” Alice’s multiple phone lines rang in the background. “You have media crawling all over each other to talk to you.”

“Send them to Glenn.” The VLO director, her boss, would be too happy to be in the spotlight.

“I hate to say this, but you should leave this to the detectives. You’re a paper-pusher, Val.”

“The Immortalis weren’t talking to them. There hasn’t been a vampire-on-human murder in nearly two decades and people are scared. I had to do something.”

“If you say so,” Alice replied. Val pictured her assistant’s reluctant shrug. “You should be scared to meet this guy. Just be careful.”

Val stared at the phone after the unusual call. If Alice the Unshakeable was upset over what she’d learned, Val would need to use extreme caution with the Dominorum’s pet desk jockey. Only, from what Alice described, he didn’t sound like some desk jockey. Now she knew why Olen had sounded so pleased with himself.

Val took a quick look at the first few photos Alice sent but couldn’t stomach any more. Her assistant hadn’t exaggerated. She flipped her phone shut and took a minute before sliding out of the cab with Graham trailing close behind. Ignoring his confused frown, she smoothed her sleek pencil skirt and inspected herself.

She’d opted for a more casual look than usual, a little bit of professional but a little bit of laid back. The dark navy skirt fell an inch shy of her knees, all business except for the deep slit up the back and the rear-hugging fit.

“Let’s go,” she said, not waiting to see if Graham followed. She walked briskly from the curved drop-off lane and crossed the narrow, minimally landscaped plaza in front of the Akkadian Towers. Forty-five floors of sleek, black skyscraper to rival Columbia Center in all but height loomed over them. There weren’t really two separate towers, but the design intended such an appearance. In contrast with the Ancients’ stone mansion, the Towers were tastefully elegant.