With Charlotte and
Simon off being happy newlyweds, Della has resumed her work with The Agency—and
Adam is back to helping her when she allows it. When a vamp cares for your
family like she’s his family, you
have to give a little trust, though Della is hiding this new whatever-it-is
from Amelia and The Council until she figures out what to do with him.
Adam was intrigued
with Agent Seven from the moment they met and getting to know Della over the
years has only intensified his feelings. Romance is impossible when her touch
can burn him dead, but following her around the globe brings new life to his
never-ending existence.
Until Adam’s personal
boogeyman Vittore kidnaps them both, tricks her into using a Sword of Cato, and
makes a vicious bargain—reunite Della’s spirit with her body in exchange for
Adam’s immortality. The only way to save her is to enter the sword’s spell
world, but the consequences will change Della and Adam forever.
This story is
intended for readers over the age of 18 due to adult language, sexual content,
and adult situations.
Chapter One
Della
2009
Still hard to wrap
my brain around Charlotte
Not only was she
the doppelganger for a woman who died in 1530, she’d also become a
vision-carrying badass.
She and Simon did
the courthouse route to make it legal in May, but then stood up in front of her
home church for an intimate evening ceremony for her family.
After sundown so
Adam could attend, of course.
There was no
denying the love Charlotte and Simon shared.
They got misty-eyed saying their vows and only had eyes for each other. Made me wistful, knowing I’d never have this.
Adam and I were best man and maid of honor,
which would’ve gotten really awkward if Charlotte
Darius sat up
front along with Charlotte
“You clean up
well, Miss Seven,” he murmured as we left the chapel.
“Thanks. You,
too.”
I still didn’t
know what to do with a vampire with manners.
Or kindness. The most primitive
part of me never said vampire when he
walked into a room, just noticed he was the most stunning man I’d ever
seen. His eyes on me made my insides flutter
and a smile weakened my knees. It was
difficult to remain objective when my hormones said whoa every time he talked to me.
There was a
reception with drinks in the fellowship hall.
Simon and Charlotte danced and cut into a small cake for photos. Then someone called for the Best Man and Maid
of Honor to dance. My eyes went wide
while Adam tilted his head in that way of his when he was studying a person’s
body language. Or waitin’ for a
response. His brows rose in challenge.
Simon saved me by
thanking everyone for coming and toasting his new bride.
I mingled with
family as I was s’posed to, but my luck eventually ran out.
“Not avoiding me,
are you?” Adam said behind me.
“You’re not the
important one today—they are.” I pointed
at the newlyweds. And called on every
bit of my training to keep my pulse steady with him hovering by my
shoulder. The danger signal in my spine
was practically screaming in this proximity.
“So I can’t
convince you to dance to Sinatra.” His
velvet voice caressed my ear.
“Why? Every other
woman here can touch you without killing you. Pick another target to charm.”
He chuckled. “Oh, I already know my ‘charm’ is lost on
you. But we can be friendly in-laws, can we not?”
“In-laws? That’s a
stretch.”
“Charlotte
I turned to
him. “What do you want, Christmas cards
and an invite to Thanksgiving? That isn’t the life we live, Adam. Charlotte and
I barely knew each other before that whole mess and I doubt much will change
now she has her life back. It’s not part of my job to hang out with—” A man cutting around the tables bumped into
the back of me, pushing me into my vampire frenemy.
Adam caught me by
the hips. My hands had splayed on his
suit coat. I looked up and he wore an
expression I’d never seen before. “Are
you alright?”
I pushed off him
to steady feet. He felt so solid. His hands finally dropped.
“Excuse me, Agent
Seven,” he muttered, and walked away.
His pace picked up until he was a blur out the door.
We went to dinner
afterward with her closest relatives—minus the vampire, then the newlyweds disappeared
to parts unknown.
By her e-mails,
they were happy.
Job well done,
then. All I could ask for, right?
I didn’t know
where Charlotte and Simon were based these days. Her work made her travel a lot. Honestly, I was glad to not be involved in my
cousin’s adventures anymore.
The Agency was
uncomfortable with agents associating with non-humans and I hated lying about
my actions. The lengths I went to in
helping her were only because she was family.
I finally
understood Nicholae’s last words, though it didn’t turn out like he hoped. Instead of a day-walking vampire pawn, Charlotte
When a vamp cares
for your family like she’s his
family, you have to give a little trust.
Though I hadn’t
seen him since my cousin’s second wedding.
Amelia was
certainly happy we hadn’t seen Adam in two months. She’d never approved of his assistance.
It wasn’t right…I
knew that…but…
I missed him.
A little.
Why couldn’t he be
human?
The outskirts of
Vegas were one of the last places I wanted to be in July, but Thirteen and I
had been assigned to a treaty conference as peacekeepers. A Native American tribe and clan of
half-demons had a dispute over who owned a particular mountain they both
considered important. We were there as a
deterrent to any violence in their arguments.
One of the easiest
parts of our job, and therefore one of the most boring. Plus standing in one place all day killed my
feet, which is why I was protesting Thirteen’s plans for the evening.
“Come on, kid,
you’re twenty-one now—let’s celebrate. Five years in this business is something
to be proud of and there’s no better selection of fun than in Vegas.”
His motto was work
hard, play hard.
“All I want is to
soak my feet and get some sleep.”
He draped his arm
across my shoulders and began steering me to the parking lot. “Seven, you’re in danger of becoming the
oldest and most boring twenty-one-year-old ever. As your mentor, I can’t in
good conscience allow that to happen.”
I glared at him
out the corners of my eyes. “You’re not
going to shut up about this, are you?”
“Nope.”
“Would it help if
I filed an official protest?”
“You wanna stand
up in front of the whole council over this?”
Wilting, I said,
“No…”
“Thought so. Get
in the car.” A little shove toward the
passenger side, and he was opening the driver-side door.
“I’m not drinking
tonight,” I said firmly.
He put the sporty
rental in reverse and peeled out of the parking spot. “Oh, surprise. Lucky for us, there’s more to
do than get wasted.”
The trip into the
city was way above the speed limit.
Adrenalin junkie. The Agency
usually sent Thirteen on missions that required an agent to have no fear—or at
least less than it made good sense to feel.
The Alpha might be the longest at the job, but Thirteen had the most
impressive record. As far as I knew, he
never lost.
Younger recruits
considered him a god among monster killers, but I knew the man.
More than most,
anyway.
He had plenty of
secrets, like most of us. I was
definitely curious, but I wanted him to tell me because he trusted me. He knew me better than anyone in the Agency
except Amelia, and he was the first guy to make me feel safe since my father
disappeared.
With his classic
surfer good lucks, it was no wonder I crushed on him in my teens and a full
smile still gave me butterflies.
But agent
relationships were forbidden ever since one of them knocked up a recruit in the
‘80s. A night of platonic fun could even
be pushing the rules if noticed by the wrong Council member. They wanted us to walk a fine line between
trusting each other to get the work done and remaining aloof to prevent
attachments that might compromise a mission.
Because the
mission always came first.
“How about we
compromise: treat me to a good meal, then let me get back to my room. You’ll
have the whole rest of the night to find more lively company.”
Most likely female
company.
“I’m not making
two trips out here. Relax. A little fun won’t kill you.”
That point was
dubious. “But it might get a reprimand
in my record.”
“Only if you rat
us out. There’s nothing in the rulebook preventing us from gambling at legal
institutions. Or drinking at a legal age. Or anything else considered legal in
the US
I crossed my arms
over my chest. “I’m just not a city
girl.”
“Indulge for one
night. I haven’t seen you in three years and it’ll probably be another three before
we’re in the same place again. Let me celebrate the birthday of my best
student.”
“Fine…” My most put-upon sigh. “As long as you feed me.”
He laughed and
shifted the car into another gear to go even faster.
Of course he took
me to The Strip. Then only a small
surprise the women who worked here recognized him. But at least everywhere was
well-air-conditioned, unlike my room. The
night outside was hotter than Hades.
“Want a postcard
for your mom?” he asked as we passed a gift shop.
“She wouldn’t approve.”
His brows
rose. “Of receiving a postcard or you
being here?”
“This place
represents every bit of trouble a young person should avoid. Amelia told her
we’re a relief aid organization and that’s what Mama still believes.”
“Well, you know
what they say…what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.” That mischievous grin was up to no good.
“Can we just find
somewhere to eat?”
He eye-rolled and
started walking. He had a loping walk
that got female attention, confident movement just shy of a swagger. We were both dressed casually, so at least it
wouldn’t be somewhere fancy. There was
too much glitz and showing off here. I’d
rather be where the locals hung out, but Thirteen was a Malibu
He had the good
sense to take me to an all-you-can-eat buffet.
With senior citizens.
The old gals had
no shame about admiring the view.
“I think you have
some fans,” I murmured to him.
He looked up from
the lobster, spotted the table, and winked.
It caused a lot of tittering.
“You’re such
cougar bait,” I teased.
“I’m not the only
one drawing attention.”
“Pfft.”
He shrugged. “You’re the only chick in here under sixty.
The old dudes are gonna look.”
Not being a ham, I
kept my head down and focused on filling my plate. Once we’d picked our first course, Thirteen
led me to a table in the corner where our backs would be to a wall. Prime rib was normally out of my price range,
but since he was paying, I was stuffing myself silly with succulent cow.
“Do the gray areas
ever bother you?” I asked.
He swallowed his
latest bite. “What do you mean?”
“Like this
case—the half-demons. We have this list of peaceful Creatures we’re supposed to
not kill and this other list we kill on sight. Say we get rid of all the bad
ones one day—then what? The Agency’s priority is human.”
“The clan we’re
dealing with is half human.”
“How did they get
that way? I’d never heard of them until the assignment came through.”
A waggle of blond
brows. “The old-fashioned way. They’ve
lived in Southern Nevada almost as long as the
First People have. Tribes mingle.” He
shrugged. As if that explained it all.
I sighed. “Sometimes I feel like a peacekeeper…and
sometimes I feel like an exterminator. What is the end goal? No Creatures? No
magic? The Council tells us these things are good and these things are bad, but
aside from the obvious, they don’t tell us why. How do they know what to
trust?”
“Centuries of
experience. Where do all these questions come from?”
My plate was
suddenly a safer spot to gaze than the intensity of his blue eyes. “I don’t know…stuff comes up.”
Like annoying
vampires that don’t have the good sense to act like vampires.
“You’ve always had
too much mind, Seven.” He slapped the
table. “Enough shop talk. We’re supposed
to have fun.”
“Sure. Sorry.”
He elbowed my
arm. “Eat up. I’ve got a lot more to
show you.”
When I was just
shy of a food coma, he dragged me into a club.
The bouncer just
nodded us through the door, more proof of Thirteen being known.
A sea of bodies
bouncing to heavy bass.
The intense
assault on my enhanced senses almost made me sick.
Thirteen brought
me upstairs, where we stood at a railing overlooking the crowd. Most of the women were practically falling
out of their tops.
“How can you stand
this?” I yelled over the music.
“This is life,” he said in my ear. “We do the hard shit so they can dance and
hook up and spend the night caring about nothing. Look at the smiles. Listen to
their cheers. The air is full of pheromones. I do my job so they have the
freedom to make normal human mistakes without a Creature taking advantage, and
if I live long enough, maybe I’ll get to join them.”
Always teaching
me.
Then I felt a
tell-tale tingle up my spine and reached for the knife tucked in the back of my
shorts. Thirteen’s hand clamped on my wrist.
“We don’t hunt
here. Shadow Knight jurisdiction.”
“But…”
He met my eyes,
getting my attention away from the vampire in the building. “You’re not an agent tonight, Seven. Come on,
let’s gamble.”
It felt wrong to
leave a building with a monster in it, but at least the casino was a lot
quieter. Thirteen showed me the games,
but I lost more than I won, and begged off for the slots. He chatted up a cocktail waitress with too much
cleavage while I sunk nickels into the machine.
Was it a surprise
when he handed me the car keys and said he’d see me in the morning?
Nope.
Agents might not
be BFFs, but we definitely gossiped about missions, and everyone knew how
Thirteen liked to spend his off hours.
Some female agents bitched about it, calling him a skirt-chasing pig,
but it was just envy. He never flirted
with dipping in the company pool, like some of the guys did, and being
unattainable only made him hotter to them.
They didn’t know
how fun he was not to have as a
teacher. If I was one of the best at my job,
it was because he made me this way.
A really hot,
pushy, older brother in the most annoying years of my life.
****
The treaty was
signed the next day and we went on separate paths.
He hugged me at
the airport in one of those one-arm pat-you-on-the-back ways guys do with
friends. Then tucked a stray strand from
my ponytail behind my ear. “Be safe,
kid.” For a moment, his happy-go-lucky
mask slipped and I saw caring and concern in his eyes.
For just a second.
I nodded, said,
“You, too,” and we went opposite directions to find our gates.
The rest of 2009
was routine for me—securing harmful artifacts, assisting exorcisms, and
capturing werewolves.
Didn’t see or feel
Adam.
Emails from Charlotte
Then I got two
weeks at home for Christmas. Mama baked
until every cookie jar her friends possessed was overflowing, and we had
Christmas Day supper with cousins.
But being home so
long was hard for me.
More time I spent
with people from my old life, the more I had to lie, and it made me miss my
comrades. I didn’t have to pretend at
the Agency or with Adam or Charlotte, and the freedom to be myself had become
very important.
Guess I did sound
old for a college-age kid.
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