SEDUCTIVE SUPERNATURALS: 12 Tales of Shapeshifters, Vampires & Sexy Spirits (229 page)

“What did he say?”

The tip of her pink tongue lightly brushed her bottom lip, then she gave him a quick glance and took a deep breath, as if to steady her nerves. “He said if anything happened to him that there was no one he’d rather see me with then you.”

Every cell in Cole’s body went on high alert, his hands closing into fists as if that would help him maintain a grip on his sanity. “What?”

“I know. Crazy right?”

More than she knew.

“I mean what guy tells his wife that he’s okay with her getting together with his best friend?” she continued, her voice overly casual. “But there was something in the way he wrote it, almost as if he knew something was going to happen and he wanted to make sure I knew he was okay with me moving ahead with my life.”

Cole released the iron grip of his fist, forcing his hand to relax. “And you’re sure he said he was cool with it being me, specifically?”

Eyes on the road, she nodded. “Yep.”

There wasn’t any apprehension or worry in her features, just acceptance. A series of emotions rolled through him, one after another. Relief. Guilt. Anticipation. Getting this kind of approval from Jack from beyond the grave helped silence some of the annoying voices plaguing him every time he’d thought about Kayla over the years. Jack had trusted him to take care of the person he’d valued most. But knowing that Jack had sensed there was still an attraction factor between his best friend and his wife, that depressed the hell out of him. Jack had never said anything about it, or made any indication that he’d been aware the feelings still lingered. Then again, maybe he hadn’t known. Maybe Jack just trusted him totally the way Cole had trusted him. No questions asked.

“Kayla, be honest with me, are you okay with that?”

Her gaze strayed from the road and lingered on him. “If I weren’t okay with it, I wouldn’t be going on a date with you, now would I?”

“You might. I’m not half bad looking. You know you’re safe with me. And you’ve been alone awhile—”

She smacked him on the arm, a playful smile just toying with the edges of her lush mouth. “Don’t go getting a big head over it. Really, I’m okay. Like I told you I’ve had time to adjust to the idea that Jack is gone. I’ve mourned. I even pulled a box of his things together that I’ve been contemplating donating, but I saved them for you to look through to see if you wanted any of it. A little piece of me died inside when he did, but it’s been awhile, and now I’m ready to feel alive again.”

Man, did he understand how that felt. The only problem was, he’d made a rash decision in the depths of his despair and done something that couldn’t be undone. He’d let Vector Force turn him into a vampire and he’d never be just human again.

* * *

As they followed the Seattle Underground tour group, they wound through the dark walkways, their steps sounding on wood, then bare dirt, then wood again. The air was damp, the smell of a dozen bodies, and the drum of their heartbeats should've made the sound and scent of Kayla impossible to discern, but Cole could've picked her out her unique signature in a pitch black mine filled with a thousand other people. Occasionally overhead rays of light filtered through the purplish bits of glass still embedded in the cement sidewalk overhead. It was weird to think that down here was a whole other world that had once been part of 1890s Seattle.

The voice of the tour guide echoed back to them as Kayla held tightly to his hand. Maybe she didn’t like things that lived in scary, dark corners—like monsters. Too bad. He pushed the unhappy thought away. He was going to soak up every moment of the next few days with her and store it up to last him the rest of however long he had to survive as a vampire. Hell, maybe forever.

Information on Vector Force was need to know, and neither he nor his commander fit that category. As far as Vector Force was concerned, he was an experimental weapon, created from biological agents developed by some brilliant genetic research scientist in Seattle who had mutated the vampire virus enough to create living vampires.

The military geniuses had taken her research one step further. Now, with nothing more than a shot to the arm, and a hell of a transition, a solider amped up on Vector could use his hands and teeth as lethal weapons, be practically invisible, and nearly indestructible. Except for the insane need to drink blood to survive.

They were living vampires with heartbeats. They could survive nearly anything beyond being blown up, incinerated to ash or decapitated and he had no desire to learn how they’d figured that out. They were stronger, almost super-human in their ability to move more quickly, see and hear, hell, smell more, than the average solider.

In short they were super soldiers, capable of slipping through nearly any security measure, because they
were
the weapons. But there was still a lot to learn. The military geniuses didn’t know everything. And, despite the military’s best efforts, they hadn’t convinced the real vampires, that had been the initial focus of the genetic research, to cooperate in revealing all their secrets.

“Isn’t it strange to think of all of this beneath the city?” Kayla said softly, giving his hand a squeeze. “It’s like a whole world no one even knows about.”

He looked around at the layers of brick and the abandoned shop facades over a hundred years old buried stories beneath the current streets of Seattle. Cole wasn’t exactly convinced anyone would want to know about it, unless they were a history nut.

Something smelled off to him down here. He couldn’t place it. It wasn’t a gas leak, or the random emotions of the crowd of tourists winding their way behind the tour guide over the wooden plank walkways, or even mold or mildew. It was different – a kind of musty decay with a hint of over-ripe sweetness.

“Ooh. Stop here and let me take your picture,” she said, pulling her hand from his to lift up her phone to snap a shot of him against the old bank vault doors that had once protected the collected gold of the city during the gold rush. He didn’t see the harm even if they were at the back of the tour and they were moving on without him and Kayla. He’d be able to find them easily enough up ahead. Hell, it wasn’t like he could drown out the sound of that many heartbeats all elevated and pounding furiously.

You ought to move along.

Cole turned his head slightly, wondering where they voice had come from, just as the flash from Kayla’s phone nearly pierced his brain.

“You moved!” Kayla said, laughing. “One more.”

He peered into the darkness, but saw no one, even though his vampire vision had been compromised by the flash.

Get going. You don’t need to be here.
Again the voice came, clear, as if the speaker had been right beside him talking in his ear, or worse yet, in his head. He grasped Kayla’s hand and pulled her behind him. “Who’s there?”

As if he materialized from nothing more substantial than shadows, a man built like a linebacker dressed in black fatigues appeared. His piercing ice-blue eyes, short-cropped blue-black hair cut of his physique marked him as a military man.

“Who’s that?” Kayla whispered from behind his shoulder.

“James Crawford. Security. And you are trespassing on our territory,” the man answered. His eyes narrowed as he inhaled deeply and peered at Kayla, then locked his gaze back on Cole. Crawford jerked his head in her direction. “She’s not a vampire.”

Kayla half laughed. “Of course I’m not a vampire. Don’t be ridic—”

Crawford locked his gaze on Kayla, his pupils dilating slightly. “You won’t remember me. You won’t remember what I’ve said. And you’ll be silent until I leave.”

Cole bristled. Now he could identify the scent he’d been confused by earlier – pure, all-natural vampire. Not one created by Vector. And the asshole had just put a glamour on Kayla. He stepped between the vampire and her, keeping one hand around her wrist, just in case. “Back off. We’re just on the tour.”

The corner of Crawford’s lip curled up into a sneer and he crossed his arms over his barrel chest. “Sure you are, and I’m Captain America. You want to tell me the truth?”

Cole frowned. “We’re on a date.”

Crawford raised one dark brow in question.

“That’s it,” Cole insisted.

“And you picked the Underground tour because. . .?”

“She said wanted to try some tourist things in our own backyard.”

The natural vampire’s features smoothed out.
So you aren’t here to contact us again about helping with Vector Force training?

Cole tensed, Vector Force was top-secret even within military circles. Why was this vampire approaching him about it? How did he talk without moving his mouth, let alone make it sound like he was inside his head? “How did you do that?”

Crawford gave a sly smile.
There’s a lot of vampire things your government handlers don’t seem to have caught on to yet. Honestly, we weren’t sure you test tube vamps would get a full skill set with the virus they were using on you. Obviously you can talk with other vampires. Just think it, the way you’d say it and focus in my direction. It’ll happen.

Cole focused in on the other vampire’s face and concentrated.
Why are you talking with me if you’ve declined helping Vector Force?

Well, for one, you’re in my backyard, practically knocking on my door. That usually draws attention.

Kayla hadn’t said a word or moved, just as instructed. The glamour was strong, but Cole could still feel the thrum of her pulse beneath his fingers, a smooth, even beat.

Cole glanced around at the rusted pipes, old walls and layer of grit and grime covering everything.
You pure-breds
couldn’t come up with a better facility?

Crawford’s brows drew together.
You have no idea what we’ve got down here. And until we know what your unit intends to do with you fraken-vamps, we’re not giving up all our secrets. Until then, you need to keep a heads up. Real vampires aren’t the scariest thing in this city. There’s something out there more interested in taking out you test tube vampires.

What?

They’re called Enochians.

That’s all you got?

Crawford shrugged.
That and they are tailing you, smell like fucking angel food cake and aren’t human even though they look it.
Hell, even in his head Crawford’s voice sounded snide.

He paused for a second then continued.
Tell your commander that we’ll be in touch. Clearly you’ve got skills we didn’t anticipate. You’re more of a danger without the knowledge of how to use those skills than if we educate you.

How will he know how to reach you?

He’ll know.
With that the vampire vaporized into a swirl of dark smoke.

Cole glanced back at Kayla. He’d kept a hand on her the entire time, just to make sure she was safe from the other vampire. She blinked, and the unfocused glaze disappeared from her eyes.

“All done with the snapshots?” he asked cautiously, not entirely sure how long the effects of Crawford’s glamour might last.

She glanced around, blinked slowly a few times and worried her soft bottom lip between her nice even front teeth. “Yeah, I guess. Where’s the rest of the tour group?”

Damn.
Crawford could produce a strong glamour and he wasn’t about to mess with it.
Might cause Kayla more harm than good, and the less she knew about Vector Force and what it really meant, the better. His only option now was to play along and keep a keen eye out for anything that might come after the two of them. “They went on without us. Come on, let’s catch up.”

Welcome Home, Vampire: Chapter Four

By the time they climbed up the stairs that led out of the tour via the gift shop to the streets of Seattle, they were both famished. The problem was Cole wanted blood, and that wasn’t something you could just walk up to any street vendor or sandwich shop and get off the menu. Nor was it something he could share with Kayla.

That was another issue he'd have to address soon. Should he reveal what he'd become before he returned to base? Or enjoy the hell out of this brief moment in time together, and leave her with good memories?

He put off that decision for later. Right now he needed sustenance. Normal protocol was to head back to base and take emergency rations in the form of blood bags. Regular food would take the edge off his gnawing hunger, but it wouldn’t satisfy his vampire drive to feed. He didn’t want to head back to base and possibly get stuck there without a choice on if he could finish out his furlough or not. So Cole did the only thing he could do—he stuffed that need down along with a dozen others he’d been ignoring over the years.

“You want to get something to eat?”

“Sure.”

“What sounds good?”

“Clam Chowder. Can we go down to the waterfront?”

“Sure.” Clam chowder, sandwich, hot dog. It would pretty much all taste the same to him. It wasn’t really what his modified body craved, so it was all just fuel, a means to keep the bloodlust at bay.

They walked down from the Pioneer Square district through the older part of Seattle, and headed downhill toward the waterfront. The traffic was heavy with commuters all walking and driving onto the ferries, as well as tourists enjoying an early evening on the waterfront.

Rather than go into a restaurant, they grabbed cups of chowder and some mini loaves of warm, crusty bread from the seafood walk-up bar, and found a place to sit by the water.

The setting sun painted the sky in a brilliant wash of oranges, pinks and yellows over the tops of the Olympic Mountains across the Puget Sound.

Kayla happily ate, smiling in between bites. “You never really know what you’re missing until you sit down and just take a look around you,” she said, a hint of nostalgia in her voice.

“You missing Jack?”

She cocked her head, brown eyes boring into his. “You do too. But it doesn’t change the fact that things have, well, changed.” She paused, then sighed as she ripping off small bits of her bread to throw it to the seagulls. “He’s not coming back. You won’t get to shoot hoops with him, and I won’t get to have dinner with him or hear him laugh. But we can’t stop living just because someone we loved died. He’d want me to enjoy this moment. So I am.” She nudged him with the toe of her sandal. “Aren’t you?”