SEDUCTIVE SUPERNATURALS: 12 Tales of Shapeshifters, Vampires & Sexy Spirits (233 page)

He turned away. Anger pulsed red-hot and violent through his veins. Hate wasn’t far behind.

“I’m sorry.” It came out so guttural, so torn with emotion that they were barely words.

“What did they do to you?” she repeated, her voice angry now.

“An experiment. Vector Force took a hybrid of the vampire virus that was discovered several years ago. They mutated it, shot us up with a serum and turned us into vampires.”

Kayla gasped. “Why? Why would they do that to you?”

“To make the perfect weapon. We can go anywhere. Pass through any security system undetected. We’re stronger, deadlier, faster, almost impossible to kill.” He looked up, locking his gaze with hers. “And we kill like nothing you’ve ever seen.”

Her jaw went slack as she stared at him. The seconds ticked by in silence. “Vampire? You’re a vampire?” she said, her words still raspy from the damage he’d caused.

Cole couldn’t take it anymore. Now that she knew the truth, and the monster that he was, there was no going back. He moved to the door. Put his hand on the knob to leave, but each movement was painful, slow, agony. He loved her. Wanted her. But he could never be with her. Especially now that she’d seen the true monster he’d become.

“Cole Wagner, where do you think you’re going?”

“Away.”

He froze as he heard the whisper-soft footfalls of her bare feet. She laid a hand on his back. The warmth of her hand invaded the cold chill that seemed to constantly envelope him. Jesus. After he just tried to rip out her throat and drink her damn blood, she still trusted him enough to touch him. The thought made him stop. His whole body shook with the effort not to run as hard and fast as his vampire strength could take him away from the woman he loved. Everything in his logical brain screamed at him to get the hell away from her. To protect her from himself. He couldn’t look her in the eye.

“You saw me, Kayla. I’m not fit to be around regular people. And I'm sure as shit not safe to be around you.”

Kayla pulled on his bicep, trying in vain to turn him around to face her. “That wasn’t you. That was what they made you. Deep down, you’re still Cole. You’re still the first guy I fell in love with.”

Cole sagged to his knees right there on her bedroom floor. “You don’t understand. I’m never going to be normal again. I won't—” His voice cracked and he lost the words in the thickness of his throat.

“You won't what?”

“I won't risk hurting you.”

“And I won't risk losing you.”

He looked up in to her face. Her golden hair fell in a soft, wavy curtain on either side, framing her cheeks. “You saw what I am. And if that doesn’t scare you, it scares the hell out of me. I can’t change it. I’ll never be just me again.”

“I’ll take whatever is left of you. I love you.”

Her words unraveled the coils of fear, doubt and loathing that had bound him up inside for so long. He could be loved. Not just loved, but loved by Kayla. If someone had told them him to believe in miracles he would have told the guy to fuck off. But this was an honest, real miracle standing in nothing but his T-shirt right in front of him. One he didn’t deserve.

“Kayla—”

“Cole, trust me. Stay.”

He stood, facing her. “I trust you. I don’t trust myself.”

“Then we’ll figure this out together. I haven’t given up on you, please don’t give up on us.”

Cole sighed, his gaze drifting to the marks beginning to show on the delicate skin around her throat. Yes, he’d hurt her, but it was a mistake he could prevent from happening again. He closed his eyes and sighed. He was strong, stronger than most men, capable of healing quickly, but Kayla’s simple please wounded him, robbing him of any of his ability to say no. He was helpless when it came to her.

“Okay.”

Kayla moved slowly, wrapping her arms around his waist, hugging him close, her cheek soft against his chest. He kissed the top of her head. If she could be that strong and determined, then so could he.

“I don’t know what my next assignment will be when I get back. I can’t offer you any promises. Hell, I don’t even know if where I’ll be next week.”

She nodded against his chest. “I know. But I love you, Cole, and nothing is going to change that.”

He stroked her back, ever so gently. She might say the words no commitment, but Cole knew Kayla. She was a commitment kind of woman. She deserved nothing less from him. “I’m sorry I hurt you.”

She pulled back and gazed at him, her brown eyes warm and comforting like a cup of hot chocolate on a stormy night. “You’re stronger than you think you are, not just in your body, but in your mind and your will. It’s not in control of you. You're in control of it. And together
we
can do anything.”

He gave her a faint smile. God he hoped the platitudes she was spouting off were true. But in the meantime he knew what he needed to do. It was time for him to talk to his commander about the Enochians and find out steps he could take to protect Kayla from them.

“I’ve got to make a call back to base.”

Kayla nodded and wrapped her arms around herself. “How about I go make us some coffee?” She tilted her head. “You can still drink coffee as a vampire, right?”

“Yeah. Coffee would be great.” He smiled, brushing the back of his hand against her cheek.

Kayla walked out of the bedroom and Cole found his clothes discarded about her room and pulled them on. Something didn’t feel right about being in the nude when he contacted his commander.

He dug his cell phone out of his pocket and dialed his commander’s private line.

“Jensen. This better be fucking good. It’s three am.”

“Colonel Wagner, reporting in, Sir.”

“Yeah, Wagner. There’s such a thing as caller ID. I know it’s you. Why are you calling me?”

“Sir, I’ve spoken with a member of the vampire clan in Seattle. There is another player, something they call Enochians.”

Silence crackled on the line. He had his commander’s full attention now.

“Go on.”

“One of these tangos entered the premises of a civilian to leave me a message. They know about Vector Force, Sir, and they're threatening to take it down.”

Another pause filled the phone, this one shorter than before. “Report back to base.”

“I have three more days of furlough, and I have some private matters I have to see to.”

Jensen mumbled a few choice curses. “Take care of your business, then get back as soon as you can.”

“Yes, sir. Goodni—”

A scream rent the air.
Kayla.
Cole dropped the phone and ran.

Welcome Home, Vampire: Chapter Seven

The kitchen was empty, except for the shattered mug, the dark pool of coffee spreading out on the floor and the tell-tale oversweet scent of angel food cake.

“Kayla!” he shouted. But he knew, damn it, knew from the deep twist in his gut that made him sick, that she wouldn’t answer.

Cole closed his eyes took a deep breath and concentrated, hoping like hell the vampire from Seattle wasn’t just blowing smoke.

Crawford!

He waited a few seconds.
Crawford! Jesus, if you can hear me, please respond. This is important.

What?
Crawford’s tone was surly.
Do you know what the fuck the time is?

They. Took. Her.
Considering the urgency, the importance of this weird, new form of communication, it was hard to form cohesive thoughts.

Who did they take, and who the hell are they?

Enochians came and snatched Kayla Pierce. I need your help to find her Now, goddammit.

Where the hell are you?

Her place. Military housing on Joint Base Lewis-McCord.

Military base? Even if I could transport my ass there, I wouldn’t. Transport here and I can help you.

Transport?

Gods, it’s like working with a toddler
, Crawford groused
.
You mean to tell me those dicks at Vector Force haven’t even taught you the basics of transporting yet?

No. Seriously, she’s in trouble. They took her—

I know. I heard you the first time. Be there in a second. Concentrate and let me see where you are.

Cole didn’t argue. He didn’t know what the hell Crawford meant, but at this point he didn’t give a damn. He had to get to Kayla. Sweat pooled at the edge of his hairline and began to run down his neck. He clenched his fists.
Concentrate. Concentrate. Concentrate.

A dark swirl of particles started to form in the kitchen, like greasy smoke leaking from the oven. Still Cole concentrated. The smoke shifted, as if it began to knit together into a more solid form. First black military boots appeared, followed by black fatigues, and finally the thick form of Crawford became solid mass in Kayla’s kitchen.

“Jesus. Lighten up kid, you’re gonna bust a vein.”

“They took—”

Crawford held up a hand. “I heard you before. You gonna waste time repeating yourself, or do you want to get the girl?”

“Get the girl.”

“Good. Now, I happen to know that Vector Force is holding a couple of these Enochians hostage.”

Cole frowned. First he'd heard of it. “What the hell for?”

“For the same reason they did stuff to you, dumbass. They’re experimenting—trying to see what they can extract out of them so they can replicate their powers for military use.”

“Powers? These things have
powers
?”

Crawford snorted. “You didn’t think they just flitted in on fucking fairy wings and made off with her, did you?”

Jesus. This new intel made his heart beat faster with fear. “How do we get there?”

“Can you concentrate on Vector Force’s base?”

“Yeah.”

“Then I can get us there.”

“How? It took me a full day to drive here.”

Crawford shook his head. “Transport, kid. I’ll teach you once this whole thing isn’t so FUBAR. For now all you need to know are three things,” Crawford held up his index finger, “one, vampires can’t transport to some place they haven’t been before, unless they are tapping into the mind of someone who is either in that location or has actually been to the location.” He held up a second finger. “Two: You’re gonna feel a slight pull when your body disperses and some pressure when it comes back together again.” One more of Crawford’s fingers lifted. “Three: Keep your eyes closed. Keeps newbies from getting sick and I’m gonna be pissed if you yak on my shoes. Clear??”

"Clear, let's do it!"

Crawford looked Cole up and down, taking note of his bare feet and jeans, and frowned. “That’s not gonna work. We need to go in as inconspicuous as possible.”

He held out a hand and the familiar swirl of dark particles began to knit into something in Crawford’s hand. A stack of black clothing, military issue from the look of it, and a pair of boots, appeared.

Cole swallowed. “How the hell did you do that?”

“Materializing is yet another skill you’d already know about if your scientists at Camp Dumbass knew what they were doing. I can teach you later. Right now, put these on and let’s get going.”

Cole shucked out of his jeans and put on the clothes right there in the kitchen. No sense wasting time. He didn’t have a sense of modesty. That had been wiped away along with a lot of other things when Vector Force turned him into a vampire.

Crawford stood beside him and put a heavy hand on Cole’s shoulder. “Hold on to your balls,” he said.

He looked Crawford in the eye. “Seriously?”

Crawford gave him a cocky grin. “Nah. Figure of speech. Shut your eyes. Let’s go.”

* * *

Kayla was terrified. One moment she’d been in her kitchen making coffee and the next a strange man had appeared, wrapped his massive arms around her and, poof, in the time it took her to scream he’d somehow brought her here.

Here
looked like an upscale waiting room at a doctor’s office. Clothed only in Cole’s T-shirt and her underwear, she felt overly exposed, but not cold. The temperature of the room was pleasant enough. She checked herself for needle marks to see if she’d been drugged. There weren’t any she could find. Maybe he’d tasered her. But then she hadn't felt any electric jolt, so that made no sense. Her fingers rubbed and the fraying edge of one of the cushion seams on the seat of the couch as she tried to think of what to do.

She was alone. For now. But she'd been kidnapped, and it stood to reason whoever had taken her would be back, she suspected sooner than later.

While the pale gray couch she sat on was plush and there was carpeting underfoot, and new magazines on the glass and chrome coffee table, she knew she was still a prisoner. A television screen was mounted up high in one corner of the room. There were no windows and only two metal doors. One door led to a bathroom. The other had no handle on the inside and couldn’t be opened. Kayla picked up one of the magazines and rolled it up tight. Not the best weapon in the world, but at least something to defend herself.

She flinched as the door snicked open. Heart pounding, mouth dry, she held the rolled magazine behind her back as the door swung inward. The man stepping into the room wasn't the same guy who grabbed her in her kitchen, but he was just as massive and scary looking. His shoulders were as wide as the door frame and his head almost brushed the top of the door opening. His blonde hair was a bit shaggy, brushing the sides of his angular face. He had the clearest, pale green eyes she’d ever seen. And he smelled sweet, almost as though he’d just stepped out of a bakery. Like a doctor who’s never met you before trying to gain your trust, he gave her an innocuous smile.

“I am Rex, don’t be afraid.”

Kayla didn’t even bother to reply to that one. She walked away, refusing to look at him, and made sure the couch sat firmly between them. She had every reason to be scared out of her mind.

“We have no intention of harming you.”

Kayla snorted and glared at the stranger. “You kidnapped me. That doesn’t exactly fill me with confidence as to your intentions.”

He wedged himself into one of the two chairs facing the coffee table. With his size, it looked like kid furniture being used by an adult. “Are you in need of food or drink?”