Embrace the Darkness (Darkness Series) Page 24

  Refusing to respond, she opened the door. An airport cab pulled away from the curb. Vincent and Megan stood on her doorstep. Megan had a pocketbook over her shoulder. Vincent held an overnight bag out to his side as if it were a bag of garbage.

  “Where do I put this? Megan insisted we pack a bag and stay together tonight—like one big sleep over.” He scowled, as if being sociable physically pained him. “I assume you have a guest room.”

  Amber nearly laughed aloud, the tension of the last few minutes with Gerard draining away, leaving only remnants of her previous fear. “As a matter of fact I have two guest rooms upstairs.”

  Megan flushed. “I hope we’re not imposing.” She looked from Gerard to Amber, apparently noticing the tension between them. As if sensing at least part of the reason behind that tension, she added, “I don’t trust Vincent not to run off without us either.”

  Amber put her arm around Megan and dragged her away from Vincent. “They think that because they’re vampires, they’re invincible.”

  “They need us if they want to save Axel,” Megan agreed.

  Vincent slammed the door, getting their attention. Megan and Amber turned together to face two angry vampires with similarly annoyed scowls standing between the front door and the foot of the stairs.

  “Ask her who’s sleeping in the other guestroom,” Gerard said through clenched teeth.

  Vincent glanced to his right and glared. “I don’t think I have to ask.”

  “What the hell’s going on?” Reid stepped off the stair landing and into the foyer. He’d taken the time to dress, but his feet were bare. “I’d say you were making enough noise to wake the dead, but that’s kind of obvious since two of you are dead.”

  Gerard raised his brows, looking somewhat amused. Vincent’s scowl deepened.

  “You weren’t supposed to drag other mortals into this Detective Buckley,” he said, making her name sound like a threat.

  She dropped her arm to her side, stepping away from Megan. “Before you go all vampire on me, perhaps you ought to get your facts straight. Reid shared some vital information that could save all our lives.”

  Vincent and Gerard made eye contact, communicating without words. Amber hated when they did that.

  “Damn.” Vincent raked a hand through his dark hair. “That complicates matters significantly.”

  “What the hell?” Reid looked at Amber. “I didn’t say anything.”

  “Care to share the information with those of us who can’t read minds?” Megan asked.

  Reid bristled. “They didn’t read my thoughts. Did they?”

  If the situation hadn’t been so dire, the panic-stricken look on Reid’s face would have been amusing. But Amber wasn’t laughing. “No. Vincent read Gerard’s thoughts. It’s this thing they do. And it’s rude when they do it front of others.”

  Neither man looked the least bit apologetic. So, Amber and Reid told Megan about Surratt.

  “And the government knows we exist,” Gerard added.

  “Maybe we need to work with Surratt,” Vincent said. “If he’s made contact with the FBI , then maybe he has a plan.”

  “You can’t work with Surratt.” Just the thought of Gerard joining forces with the son-of-bitch who created the vampire that killed her mother and Andrew terrified her. How could he trust such a—creature? How could she trust Gerard if he did? Surratt had ordered Nicolas to erase her memories. She was a dhampir—a threat to vampires. Would Gerard see her as a threat if he worked with Surratt?

  Sympathy shone in Gerard’s gaze when he met her eyes. “We can’t decide anything tonight. Let’s save Axel first. We’ll discuss the future tomorrow night when Vincent and I return from Piney Grove.”

  “We can talk on the way to Piney Grove,” Amber said. “Megan and I won’t be staying here.”

  “Neither will I,” Reid said, crossing his arms over his chest.

  “Think you can keep up?” Vincent countered. “You and Megan are mortal. And Amber might be able to travel as fast as we do but she can’t travel that fast alone, and Gerard and I aren’t going to drag any of you into danger.” He turned to Amber, dismissing Reid. “Now show me the guest room so I can get some rest. The higher the sun climbs, the weaker I feel.”

  “Which is exactly my point,” Amber argued. “When you’re weak, the clone is weak. And when you feel strong and invincible, so will he. We need to go in at noon, when the sun is highest in the sky.”

  “And that’s something Amber and I can do without any help from vampires,” Reid said.

  “You’re not taking Amber anywhere,” Gerard snarled. Then he turned toward Amber, gentling his voice. “You need your rest too, chérie. You’ve been up all night. Even if you wanted to go to Piney Grove without us, it’s a 3-hour drive. And it’s after six now. The sun is up and we all need some rest. Even you, Sheridan.”

  “I’m good,” Reid said. “I’m ready to go if Amber is.”

  She yawned, feeling as if she hadn’t slept in weeks. “I need to rest, Reid. And you look like you could use a bit more sleep yourself.”

  Gerard stepped forward and put his arm around her. “Let’s go to bed. We’ll discuss it tonight when we’re all fresh and well-rested.”

  “It make sense,” Megan said, the voice of reason. “We’ll devise a plan in the morning—a plan that works for all of us. Tomorrow’s Saturday and we have until Monday morning before you have to go back to work. Right?”

  “That’s true,” Amber said, not meeting Reid’s gaze or agreeing to anything. She had no intention of waiting until the last minute to go after Axel.

  Reid pointed a finger at her. “Don’t even think of leaving this house without me. Got it, partner?”

  The reprimand sent a guilty flush to her cheeks. “Got it.”

  With an emphatic nod, Reid turned and headed back up to his room.

  After showing Vincent and Megan the other guest room, Megan took the quilt off the end of the bed and draped it over the curtain rod to prevent any random sunbeams from slipping through the blinds when the sun rose higher in the morning sky.

  “Don’t forget to take your antivirus injection now instead of waiting until you wake up tonight,” she reminded Gerard. Before leaving New York last night, Megan had suggested the new dosing schedule. “We’re going to need the two of you to remain awake and functional for as long as possible Sunday morning. The liposome sunblock and protective clothing should protect your skin, and if we’re lucky, changing the dosing schedule of the antivirus should allow you to stay awake longer during the day.”

  “Yes ma’am,” Gerard said with a smile in his voice.

  “Goodnight,” Amber said, allowing Gerard to lead her from the room and back down the steps.

  After injecting himself with the antivirus, he crawled under the covers and patted the mattress. “Come to bed, ma bien-aimée. We can argue about it in the evening when we’re both awake and fresh.”

  Injecting himself before falling into the regenerative sleep had worked for Gerard once before, but was it a fluke?

  Only time would tell. Time they may not have.

  “Okay. Fine.”

  Calling a truce, she double-checked the blinds and curtains to make sure they were tightly closed. Satisfied Gerard was safe from spontaneous combustion—or whatever vampires called it when sunlight touched their unprotected skin causing them to burst into flames—she slid under the covers and into his arms.

  Chapter 21

  Gerard’s skin began to cool. His fangs extended, touching his bottom lip.

  Amber looked at the clock. It wasn’t quite eight a.m. yet. Her eyes felt gritty from lack of sleep, her thoughts sluggish, but she needed to talk to Reid.

  She quietly slid out of bed and dressed. Then she slipped from the room and tiptoed down the hall and up the stairs. Feeling like a thief—or a perv who liked to watch people sleep—she let herself into the guest room on the right.

  “Reid,” she whispered from the door, afraid to step clos
er for fear of finding out her partner slept naked. “Reid, get up. We need to talk.”

  He bolted upright in bed. “Yeah. I’m still awake.”

  The covers slid to his waist revealing a sprinkling of dark hair over a leanly muscled chest. Reid wasn’t as broad or thick as Gerard, but he had a surprisingly well-sculpted chest. Flushing, Amber averted her gaze. “Put some clothes on and join me in the kitchen.”

  “Okay. Just give me a sec to get dressed.”

  Amber dashed from the room when naked legs came out from beneath the covers.

  In the kitchen, she put on some coffee and waited for enough to drip into the pot before filling her cup. Reid joined her a few minutes later. He grabbed a mug and sat across from her at the table. “We’re going without them. Aren’t we?”

  “That’s the plan.”

  “Shit,” Reid took a gulp of coffee, lowered the cup and raked a hand through his hair, spiking it on top of his head. “You know they’re going to be pissed if we go without them. And they’re vampires. Lucky for you, I trust you with my life or I’d be speed-dialing 911 for back up.”

  “Thanks for the vote of confidence,” she said, trying for sarcasm but feeling humbled.

  He smiled. “So, what’s your plan, partner?”

  “I want to leave for Piney Grove within the hour. If you drive, I can get a little much-needed sleep.”

  “Like I said earlier. I’m good. Driving will be the least of my problems.”

  She brushed away the guilt. She hated putting Reid in danger and she felt as if she were betraying Gerard. But she wasn’t breaking a promise. She’d never made one. “Axel’s suffered enough. He might be a vampire, but until proven otherwise, he’s innocent and we have to save him if we can. And we don’t have time to wait for Gerard and Vincent to wake up. When they’re awake, the clone’s awake. It’s too dangerous.”

  “You don’t have to convince me of the danger.”

  “Then we have to go today while they’re still asleep. If we can get to Piney Grove by noon or a little after, we can do what needs doing and keep this situation contained.”

  Reid eyed her over the rim of his cup. “Do you honestly think you can drive a stake through a man’s chest while he’s asleep—especially a man who looks like Gerard?”

  She swallowed her doubts—her fears. “No. But you can. And the clone isn’t a man. He’s a dangerous vampire without a soul or a conscience. Once he’s dead, he should—vaporize into ash or something. That ought to alleviate your guilt.”

  His brows came together over frowning eyes. He slowly lowered his cup. “Do you honestly believe that?”

  Heat rose to her cheeks. “No. But what other choice do we have? He’s a proven threat and neither of us have silver handcuffs.”

  Or silver bullets…

  “But we have Megan. She has a sedative. If we take her with us, she can shoot ’em up or inject them, or whatever she has to do to make sure Axel and the clone remain asleep until we figure out what to do with them.”

  Megan didn’t trust Vincent not to leave her behind any more than Amber trusted Gerard. But could she trust Megan not to alert Vincent of their plans—either consciously or sub consciously? Vincent seemed acutely aware of Megan’s moods. “I don’t know…”

  Before she could say more, Megan entered the kitchen. She looked about as sleep deprived as Amber felt.

  “I’m going with you.” She looked at Amber. “I think maybe you were right about Vincent’s blood mingling with mine. I can’t read your thoughts the way a vampire could, but I’m definitely more intuitive than I used to be. I think maybe I’m some sort of manufactured dhampir.” She laughed self-consciously. “I definitely picked up your non-verbal cues earlier. You didn’t say or do anything, but I knew you weren’t going to wait for nightfall before making a move.”

  “If you knew Amber, you wouldn’t have to be a mind reader to know she’s not going to wait around for anyone,” Reid said. “Once she has the intel, she formulates a plan and moves forward.”

  Reid was still in denial, but Amber knew the truth. By injecting herself with Vincent’s blood to create the vampire vaccine, Megan had turned herself into a dhampir—part mortal—part vampire. Whether the change was permanent or not was anyone’s guess. But for now, those changes could be as much of a hindrance as a help.

  “Can you mask your thoughts around Vincent?”

  “I shouldn’t have to,” Megan replied. “He’s asleep. Even with the antivirus, he shouldn’t awaken before noon—long after we’re gone.”

  “If we’re going to try and make it by noon, we have to leave now,” Reid said.

  Were they really going ahead with her plan? Were they going after a mad scientist and his vampire clone without back up?

  Do we have a choice?

  “I showered last night,” Amber said. “Just let me get my gun and my sterling letter opener.”

  “I’ll need to stop by the apartment and get my gun.” He rose from his chair and met her gaze with a nervous smile. “I don’t own a sterling silver letter opener, but I do have a silver dagger—remnants of my childhood fantasy days.”

  Megan smiled, but she looked as if she were going to be sick. “All I have is half a dozen syringes filled with the garlic extract vampire sedative.”

  “That might be the best weapon in our arsenal.” But how well did the sedative work? And for how long? And what the hell were they going to do with two comatose vampires? Put them in the trunk?

  “Maybe we should take one of the panel vans from Lifeblood,” Megan suggested as if reading Amber’s mind. “We can keep Axel protected from the sun light in back, and if we can secure the clone without killing it, we can keep him protected too.”

  “If we don’t destroy the clone, how will we contain him?” Amber said, thinking aloud.

  “Maybe we should contact whatever police presence they have in Piney Grove—or the Surry County Sheriff’s department,” Reid suggested.

  Amber wanted to laugh—not because Reid’s suggestion was ludicrous, but because their situation was so freaking unbelievable. “Unless they throw their prisoners in a forty foot pit or have sterling silver bars on their jails, I don’t think they’d be able to contain a rogue vampire either.”

  “But Weldon’s human,” Reid argued. “And I don’t want the case against him getting thrown out of court because we conducted a warrantless search outside of our jurisdiction.”

  She looked at Megan. Fear shone in her eyes—a fear Amber shared. Carl Matheson already knew about vampires. If he discovered Vincent and Gerard were creatures of the night…

  Amber had never knowingly broken the law, but she no longer had a choice. Gerard and Vincent weren’t heartless killers. She had to protect them. At all cost. “We can’t involve anyone else. We can’t get warrants, and we can’t follow normal police procedures.”

  Lines creased Reid’s forehead. “And how do you propose we justify storming a facility Weldon’s renting to search for evidence without a warrant? Even if we have probable cause that Weldon’s holding Axle Travers, Surry County is out of our jurisdiction. How would we explain being there?”

  “Vincent, Gerard, and Sonia can create whatever proof or legal documents you need after Weldon’s in custody,” Megan said.

  His brows shot up to his hairline. “You expect me to condone the manufacturing of evidence in a criminal case?”

  “Get real,” Amber said, feeling as frustrated as her partner. Normal laws didn’t apply when dealing with vampires. “We can’t get a warrant, and we can’t ask for help. We’re on our own.”

  “You really expect me to stake Count Dracula’s clone?” He shook his head. “What if I can’t? What if that thing wakes up? We need backup.”

  “No.” Breaking the rules didn’t sit well with him. Another reason Amber considered asking Gerard to erase his memory.

  “What about getting Carl involved?” he suggested. “He could get a federal warrant. Then, it wouldn’t matter what we foun
d. He could take care of the vampires and Weldon. We’d rescue Travers and still get credit for solving the case.”

  She no longer cared if she got credit for solving the case or not. She knew what had gone down that night at Lifeblood Labs. She just wanted to rescue Axel, destroy the clone, stop Weldon, and protect Gerard from Carl Matheson and any other government agency investigating vampires.

  “I don’t trust him or his involvement with Surratt. If Surratt finds out my memory has retuned and that I know what I am, he might come after me. And I don’t want to draw Carl’s attention to Gerard or Vincent.”

  “Amber’s right,” Megan added. “We can’t trust any branch of the government that knows vampires exist. They’d destroy them, contain them, or experiment on them. Probably all three. The government wouldn’t consider them human so they’d have no compunctions about the morality of their actions.”

  Reid shoved his coffee mug aside with a frustrated grunt. “Then what the hell do we do? We can’t go in alone, but if we wait for Count Dracula and Barnabus, we risk that clone waking up to snack on our necks or turn us into vampires.”

  Amber wasn’t afraid of becoming a vampire. Vampire blood flowed through her veins. She wanted to save Axle Travers. But if she discovered he’d killed innocent victims to feed his hunger, she’d be forced to destroy him.

  Time was ticking and they were burning daylight.

  She looked at the clock on the wall. It was almost nine. And Piney Grove was three and half hours away.

  “We should head to Lifeblood and get that van like Megan suggested. Megan and I can sleep in the back and you can wake us up when we get there. Since we have no idea what we’re going to find when we get there, our only plan is to stay alert and watch one another’s back.” She looked at Megan. “You can stay in the van. You don’t need to risk your life for our case.”

  She arched her blonde brows. Her bleary eyes brightened. “I’m doing this to protect my husband. I’d do anything to keep him safe. He’s suffered enough over the centuries.”