Annie Nicholas - Bait

“No, at least not what you are implying.” I shifted self-consciously on my seat. “He helped me into a car and told me he wanted to introduce me to an important magistrate. I have to point out here that Rurik’s powerful. He’s not fresh-outta-the-grave, he’s old and strong. Some of the vampires at that party were even stronger.”

“We noticed.” Colby ran a finger along his injured jaw.

“Rurik offered me as a ‘gift ’ to a real bad ass vampire he referred to as Master Dragos.” Colby and Red exchanged a quick look.

“Describe him.”

“Tall, bald, pointed ears, skin so pale it looked transparent. He had an intricate black tattoo on his scalp that extended down his neck. I can’t express how much he frightened me. Power just oozed from him. He was—” I searched my vocabulary to find the right word “—compelling.”

Colby sat back in his chair, fingers steepled under his chin. “Did he like you?”

“What?” The question threw me. “I mean, he accepted me, and made me dance with him.” Heat crept up my cheeks. Red would use this to tease me. I could hear the wheels turning in his head from here.

My boss ’ green-eyed gaze stayed clear and direct. He never looked tired and he never looked happy. “Dragos.” He ran his fingers through his messy hair once more. His eyes never left me. “Can you work him if I find him?”

“Colby!” Red’s voice snapped across the room and made me twist in my chair.

They glared at each other as if having silent communion. “Never mind, Connie.” Colby pulled at his hair again. “We decided earlier you’re in too much danger. These aren’t the kind of vampires you’re used to working with. Red will get you on a flight home.”

Red picked up the duffel bag and approached me.

“Now wait a moment there, big boy.” I waggled my finger at him. “I’m not done reporting. This has been a tough night for everyone.” Turning back to Colby I met his steely stare. Hints of strain showed around his eyes. He didn’t tell me everything. He never did. “Rurik told me about a vampire government. It sounded like something more global than territorial. I think Dragos is part of that.”

He opened his mouth.

“Wait, don’t interrupt me yet.” I held up my index finger. “He also told me they have a ‘no-killing-people ’ policy. It attracts too much attention to their kind and they want to remain obscure. If this is so, why have we been hunting so many killers?”

“He sure told you a lot for a first date.”

“I know. It struck me as odd. Is he lying to me?”

“He’s just playin ’ with your head,” Red commented from his post by the door. “He has his own agenda and he’s usin ’ you.”

“It wouldn’t be the first time. He makes my head spin.” I rubbed my hands across my face and tried to stay awake.

“Don’t discount all this yet.” Colby’s comment did a better job at waking me. “Something has stirred the vampire community this past year. It’s true, Connie, the killings have been increasing. We’ve never been so busy. I just assumed it was because we’re in America, where control is still being fought over. Things settled in Europe centuries ago so the vampire communities have been stable. Until now.” Colby spoke quietly to himself. “I wonder what is stirring them up. We’re missing something.” He rubbed his temples. “None of this makes sense.”

“Maybe if you told me more, I would know what to listen and look for.”

He raised an eyebrow at me and leaned forward. “Then you’re interested in going back?”

Red muttered under his breath behind me.

I shifted in my seat under Colby’s scrutiny. “Maybe. Depends on what you’re about to tell me.” This would be a milestone in our working relationship. We had a need-to-know agreement and Colby didn’t think I needed to know much.

“I hate it that Rurik got past your mental shield. Do you know how deep he went?”

“N-no. How could I tell? Each time felt different.”

“Each? How many times did he touch your mind?” His shout made me jump and my cheeks got warmer.

“Three.” I looked at the edges on the worn, wooden desk. The varnish peeled in places but the areas were smooth with age.

“I wonder if he had time to glean any information from you.” He leaned back in his chair and clasped his hands over his flat stomach. “Or enthrall you. Your behavior will be suspect from now on.” His stare traveled to Red. “Maybe we should send you home.”

I wouldn’t argue with him. He was right. It wasn’t just my behavior I worried about but my judgment too. I wanted to go home, but then the team would have to go to vampire territory to complete their contract. Not have their quarry brought to a battleground of their choice. Could I live with my cowardice if say, Red were killed because I ran away with my tail between my legs?

My decision to withhold the information of Rurik following me was suspicious. Did he do something to my mind? I didn’t sense anything different, except I think I liked him. Yet, I still held my tongue. If I couldn’t trust my own thoughts I’d go mad second guessing myself. I am who I am.

“If you send me home, you’ll be endangering yourselves. I can lure whomever you want to you safely. Have I ever failed you?”

“It’s against my better judgment, but I want Rurik bad, and I wouldn’t mind a meeting with his Master.” He watched his own hands and avoided me. “I saw the way he looked at you at the club. Rurik would follow you again.” Colby continued to think aloud. “Would Master Dragos?”

“No, I get the impression he’d eat me on the spot if I ever encountered him again.”

“Hmm, figures. I think he might be a Nosferatu vampire. They’re much more volatile.”

“We don’t know for sure what he is, Colby.” Red stepped away from his post, bag forgotten in his hand. “He could be just a freakin’, big, bald vamp.”

“You saw him before he escaped the building. He had the markings on his head. We both did. Connie’s description fits.”

“There hasn’t been a sightin ’ of a Nosferatu in centuries. They’re a myth, like the Loch Ness monster.” Red almost never argued with Colby. He was his right hand man, his enforcer.

“Red, most people think vampires are a myth and look what we do for a living.”

I felt left out. “Nosferatu? As in the movie?”

Colby gazed at me. “We don’t know much. There are some drawings and vague descriptions in our oldest records. They’re a species of vampire, probably the source of their kind. To sum it up, they’re hairless, powerful, vampire warriors. Uber-vamps.”

“Uber-vamps, sounds like Dragos.” I remembered the power and confidence that oozed off him. I also remembered the fear in the eyes of Rurik’s people as Dragos approached them.

“I wonder why you’re still alive.” The softness in Colby’s voice didn’t match the hard look in his eyes.

“I really thought I was riding on an express elevator to the afterlife until you showed up.”

Red stepped up to the desk. “Is it possible Dragos enthralled Connie? Used his power to track her here?”

“I thought you didn’t believe in them?” I couldn’t help myself. Red was so fun to tease.

“Wise ass.”

I curled my lip at him playfully. “We shouldn’t go down Paranoia Lane just yet. If we were followed, we’d be waist deep in trouble by now.”

Colby still leaned back in his chair, thinking about my information dump. “I live on Paranoia Lane, but you have a point. We don’t know enough to make any decision presently. Something big is happening. I can sense it.” He leaned forward, drawing our attention. “I’ve changed my mind. Connie, you stay.”