Reign of the Vampires (26 page)

The whole house was silent, on pins and needles. Danika stood, gaze fixed on the door. Finally, she turned to Mason. “Please tell Doc we have a live rogue. I’ll be there in ten minutes.” She pulled her robe closed around her.

Mason nodded and stalked off. The slaves scattered out of his way. Danika locked eyes with Neeman. “Bring them in through the garage. I’ll be down presently.”

“Of course.” The cut above his eye had healed and his lip had normalized.

The trackers moved around her as she walked toward the staircase.

“What would you like me to do?” William walked up the stairs next to her.

“Damage control. I need you to be a presence for me here in the house for the next few hours. Listen to the slaves, smooth things over with them. Make sure that this is played down as much as possible. I don’t need a coven full of mutineers on my hands.”

“I’ll do my best.”

Danika closed her doors and moved to her bed, grabbed the pillow off it and shoved her face in. She screamed with everything she had, then breathed in and out several times, listening to the sound of it. She threw the pillow to the bed and hung her head. She wished her parents were there; they’d know how to handle all this. She felt very much unprepared for the duties of being the Vampire lord she was. She sat on the edge of her bed. Perhaps she should step down and let her uncle take over. He would run the coven with a fair and firm hand. But to do that would be letting down her parents and the legacy that her father had left to her. She wouldn’t let his memory die. She needed to find a mate. And she had two weeks in which to do it.

* * * *

Mason, Doc and the tracking squad waited for her in Doc’s lab in the basement. The lab had been put down on its own level with only the empty security bunker and a blood freezer to keep it company. They’d never had to use the security bunker, but during the war with the humans, they had kept it well-stocked in case they ever had need. Next to the bunker was a walk-in blood freezer, stocked to the top with blood and Savor. The whole level had its own back-up generator system that was solar-powered and would last indefinitely, as long as the panels weren’t disturbed.

Danika’s black platforms with pink bows clunked on the floor. She reached the bulletproof glass double doors and punched in the code for access.

Everyone stood around a gurney that was almost straight up and down. On it was a rogue covered in dirt and blood. He gnashed his teeth and cursed while Doc drew blood from his restrained arm.

“I’m going to rip your throat out. When I get off this bed, I’m going to take you down like a slow old gazelle, and I’m going to suck you dry. All of you!” he yelled. Doc finished drawing the blood and held a cotton pad over his wound. Within seconds, it stopped bleeding.

The trackers backed away a foot to give her space, but Mason moved closer to her side; his eyes wary.

The rogue had bloodshot brown eyes, messy black hair, and smelled as if he hadn’t bathed in months.

“What’s your name?” she demanded.

“Why should I tell you?” he spat.

Mason stepped forward, muscles bunched, his eyes blazing. Danika put her hand on his arm, but pulled it away.

“Because I’m the one who’ll decide whether you live or die tonight,” she said.

The rogue stopped thrashing and toned down to merely fidgeting.

“What’s your name?” she asked again.

“Simon.”

“Where did you get the human blood?”

“A vampyr gave it to me.”

“What vampyr?”

He started thrashing again. She didn’t have much time.

“Who gave it to you? How many of you are there? Where are you staying?”

It was too late; the rogue had gone back into a rage, swearing worse than ever. Then he looked Danika straight in the eyes.

“He’s coming for you. It’s you he wants. I was a test. The others were a test. But now, it’s your turn.” His eyes bulged from his head as he spoke and then he let out a bloodcurdling scream and went limp.

Danika’s blood chilled. “Wake him,” she said to Doc.

Doc checked the rogue’s eyes, and then his pulse. “I can’t, he’s dead.”

“He was fine a moment ago. What happened?”

“I’ll have to check.”

“You do that.” She turned on her heel and stalked out of the lab. Her body shook, and her hands trembled. She had to keep it together till she got to her room. She was at the elevator when a warm hand fell on her shoulder.

“Danika,” Mason said.

“Don’t.” She turned to him.

“How long has this been going on?” he pressed.

She stared at him ready to tell him to back off, but it was no good. She had to tell someone. “Since Xenock...” She couldn’t finish the statement.

“You think someone else made Xenock turn on you.”

“I saw he wasn’t well, but I didn’t want to believe it. In the end, when he attacked me, he was in the same rage that rogue was. He just kept chanting over and over.... ”

“Chanting what?”

Flashbacks stormed her brain. Xenock pacing at the end of her bed.
“She’s mine. I deserve her. We belong together.”

“Danika?” Mason placed his hands on her shoulders.

She blinked rapidly and then swallowed hard. “Yes, I have thought someone was after me. But I don’t have a clue whom.”

“Garon?”

“Until this week I never knew Garon had that much influence or reach. But now... Now I’m not sure.”

Mason pushed a stray hair out of her face. “I won’t let anything happen to you.”

Danika lifted her gaze. His hand was so warm on her cheek, and the small rune scar on her breast began to burn from the nearness of him. It comforted her. He stared deep into her eyes; she wanted to bury her head in his chest and feel the security of his arms wrapped around her. He leaned his head closer.

“Lord Danika.” Neeman called from down the hallway.

She stepped away from Mason, relaxing her features to assume a look of complete boredom “Yes, Neeman?”

“I think we should talk about this rogue problem; it’s getting worse.”

“Meet me at my office in two hours with a game plan, please.”

Neeman gave a tight nod and glared at Mason. The elevator opened and Danika and Mason stepped inside.

She was staring at Mason’s broad shoulders when he turned to her and pinned her with his fiery gaze. She wanted to melt right there.

“Danika, about last night—”

“Don’t, Mason. Last night was just both of us blowing off steam. I was overcome with the emotions of the day’s events, and passion took over. It was a mistake. I get that. Don’t worry, it won’t happen again. Especially now that I have to find a mate.”

“You know you don’t have to. You have—”

“You? Yes, I do have you. And I have William. But you’re a sort of human who cannot be turned, and William is a fledgling.”

“We can protect you. I can—”

“Like Sherman said, I need a mate who’ll keep Garon away.” It sounded harsh, because if she weren’t, he would end up in her bed again this morning.

“I’ll keep Garon away,” Mason said.

She wanted to believe him. She wanted to say yes, but she didn’t. “Only a male of my society will keep him at bay. You aren’t that man.”

Mason searched her face, but Danika held her resolve. That wasn’t what she’d intended to come out of her mouth, but it was the truth. She could no longer deny it. She had to choose a mate, and Mason wasn’t it.

The bell sounded and the elevator opened. Without a word, she slid past him and out of the elevator into the hallway. William waited for her, a piece of paper clutched in his hands.

Chapter
18

“You did this all by yourself?” Danika asked William for the third time. She looked over the paper again.

“I told you, I did.”

“But how did you get this list so fast? I don’t understand.”

“I went into your personal computer at your desk, for which I apologize yet again. I took your registry of the US and I narrowed it down by those who were mated, and then again by those who had children, and finally by financial statement. These are the top ten most influential males in the States.”

Danika recognized every male on the roster, but she hadn’t realized that some of them were as well off as they were. Branford, from New York, was the first on the list. A Vampire lord in his own right, Branford was known for liking his women: Vampires, vampyr, vamps, and humans alike, and not always one at a time. Not her thing.

Jossef, second on the list, was a shrewd businessman, but older than Danika’s father had been, and as dull as he was dusty. Roth, the third candidate, was interesting. He’d been the head of the Tracking Squad before Neeman, and now spent his time picking up humans for the slave market. She wondered if he’d been the one who’d found Mason.

The rest on the list were not as powerful as she would’ve liked, except for one name. A name she found surprising. She hadn’t realize that Neeman had amassed so much wealth from being Head Tracker. But she assumed his services were in demand, and everyone respected him, though he was a vampyr.

She chewed her lip. Of all the men on the list, she was more likely to make things work with Neeman than anyone else. She’d been harsh to Neeman lately to try and get him to search elsewhere for a mate, ironic now that she was about to ask him to be hers. Her heart sank. Heaven knew they had chemistry; that was undeniable, but she did not love him. She closed her eyes and lifted her head, sucking in a deep breath. At least she’d be able to bear sharing his bed, unlike the other men on the list. Her cheeks flushed at the thought, and she opened her eyes to see Mason studying her.

“What?” she asked.

He said nothing, simply turned and walked into the kitchen.

* * * *

Mason was so conflicted he thought he might combust and set the whole house on fire. Every part of his being wanted her, but he knew what it would mean if he were to take her. Keeping his beast under lock and chain every time they made love would be impossible. That was a problem in itself. He’d attacked her the previous morning, and he hadn’t even been in his true form. He didn’t want to think about what it would do to her if he ever was. And someone hurting her was bound to set off his true form at some point. It was just a matter of time.

Danika needed to find a mate, of that there was no doubt. Now more than ever it was apparent that she needed protection, and not only the kind he gave her as a bodyguard. He could keep Vampires and vamps away from her, no problem. But if a war broke out, he’d be useless to her. No matter how he’d want to protect her, he’d have his own problems to deal with at that point. Mason wasn’t sure whose names were on that list, it didn’t matter. She was his now. Calling another male her mate would never change that. He pounded his fists on the granite counter top making the slaves scamper from the room. He’d made his choice. He’d chosen her instead of freedom; he wouldn’t leave now. But one thing was certain. Whomever she mated, sooner or later Mason was bound to end up killing him.

* * * *

Danika sat in her office for an hour and a half trying to get the real estate holding file from the county courthouse. Since the outbreak, records had not been what they once were in the city, something else that she put on her docket to take care of. She finally got the woman on the other end to agree to find them and have them sent over first thing. Danika hung up the phone as William entered, followed by Mason, Neeman, and Ian. She’d forgotten about Neeman, and the thought of him being on her list made her flush.

She didn’t stand. “Have a seat.” She pointed to the two chairs in front of her desk. Mason seated himself on the couch a few feet away, and William turned to leave.

“William, I’d like you to stay, please,” she said.

William nodded, then pulled in the chair in from his desk.

“Well?” She looked at Neeman. “What’s the plan?”

Neeman rubbed the stubble on his chin. “I’m not sure there is one.”

“How did you find the rogues?”

“By accident, I’m afraid. We’ve been going out at night since we heard of the others attacking Mason. Scouring the streets, going from bar to bar looking for anything out of place. On our way home, we ran across them. We were driving to the barracks when we hit one with the car. He came out of nowhere. We got out to see what we’d hit, and saw a bloodied rogue. As we were putting him down, we were jumped by the rest of them. Had we been two minutes later, we would have missed them.”

“Where did they come from?”

“Main Street heading north. Two of our trackers took off in the general direction, but all they found were a lot of abandoned buildings and businesses closed for the night.”

“William.” She turned toward him. “Have Ian tell you where they found the rogues, and then I want the city records for all buildings within a two-mile radius.”

“That would take you forever to figure out where they came from, if they came from the area at all,” said Neeman.

“Possibly, but I want to check it against some other records I’m looking into. I’m hoping by the end of the week to narrow down our search. Right now all we know is that someone or someones are feeding vamps human blood. We need to find out why.”

“What if it is a distraction?” said Mason.

“What?” She looked at him for the first time.

“What if the rogues are meant as a distraction to throw you off the trail of something else?”

“Like what?” Neeman asked.

“I don’t know. But someone is toying with Danika. Testing maybe, to see what will happen.”

“The rogue did say someone was coming for you.”

She shifted in her seat. “I heard him.”

Neeman’s eyes narrowed. “You knew someone was after you. That’s why you bought Mason.”

“The thought had crossed my mind.” She looked down at her hands and twisted her ring, so as not to meet his gaze.

He stared at her in disbelief, then fell into his chair, shaking his head. “Danika, why did you not tell me? I would’ve sent extra guards for you.”

“Because, Neeman, at the time it was none of your business.”