Annie Nicholas - Bait

“She didn’t give them to me. I took them from her. She used them gloat at my ignorance. Rurik had the opportunity to kill me a few times. Instead he’s helped me. I trust him.”

He stared at me a moment longer. “Okay then.”

I hugged him as relief made me limp. The anxiety and stress of the last few days seemed more bearable now that Red would help me.

“Yeah but you gotta convince the boss. Once I can reach him.” He handed me the thin stack of pictures. “Why do you smell like smoke?”

“I barbecued my first vampire.” There should have been fireworks and confetti but all I got was his glare.

“Tell me the rest.”

“At Dragos ’ party I met a vampire named Elizabeth. She had a thing for Rurik so she snatched me from his place and tried to kill me. Her plan was to frame Rurik for my death so you guys would storm his home and kill his people. She’d save Rurik and keep him for herself.”

“We guys? As in the troops? She knew about us?”

I nodded.

He hit the steering wheel. “Shit, how?”

It seemed like everyone knew about us but Rurik. So much for being a covert operations team, our time in Budapest was up. Tane knew about us, hell he hired us, and Dragos ordered him to do it. Once they found out about Lizzy, we were dead.

A chill ran through me. Dragos, Lizzy, and Tane were a storm of headaches. “We’re in trouble,” I whispered. “They’re going to come after us.”

Red dialed a number on his cell phone then hit the steering wheel again. “Still no answer. Colby was checkin ’ out somethin ’ on the Nosferatu. He said you told him not to trust his contact so he started a deeper investigation on him. It led to the one named Tane.”

A small weight lifted from my shoulders. Finally, he found out who really hired us. My relief was short lived as I realized that I might have inadvertently sent Colby to his death. The weight fell back onto me and it felt heavier.

“You don’t seem surprised.” Red twisted in his seat to face me.

“I’m not. What do we do now?” In the grand scheme of things the pictures were a small victory. Colby was missing and we would have Nosferatu hunting us soon. “We should warn the others to get out of town.” I proved Rurik’s innocence, my obligations to him were finished.

My heart ached with loss. If we could have had some time, without chaos and schemes, our relationship would have been nice. I still wanted that.

“You knew his contact to be a Nosferatu and didn’t tell us?”

“Red.” I poured a plea for mercy in his name. Tane’s blackmail tied my hands behind my back. Or not. It sounded like the vampires would come after us anyway, especially with Colby missing. Tane just lost his leverage with me. Red and I stared at each other. “I couldn’t at the time. Tane’s been blackmailing me with the team’s lives. He’s the one who hired us and he wanted me to inform him of our actions.”

“That’s the secret you’ve been keepin’?”

I nodded and glanced out of the van’s windshield.

“Hired by a bloodsucker. I’ll call and warn the team but we don’t leave people behind. We wait and search for Colby first.” He started the van. “We also need to speak to Rurik.” The van revved as he stuck it in drive and pressed the gas. We were out of the parking lot before what he said registered.

“Why?”

“He’s more than just a hunk, Connie. He’s Overlord of Budapest and has a lot of resources. Ever hear the sayin’, ‘The enemy of my enemy is my friend.’? Sounds like we have a common enemy. Those Nosferatu know about us and I don’t think they plan on being our friends. Maybe you can convince him to back us up.”

“Uh, Red. That may not be the best idea.” I held on to the van’s dashboard as he took a corner then snatched at the seatbelt and buckled myself in. “He’s upset with me, Evel Knievel.”

He glanced at me. “Whatcha do?”

“He found the pictures Colby gave me in my suitcase. Then put two and two together to figure out I’d been used as bait. That we were hired to kill him.” The words tumbled out as I spoke. It came out so fast I wondered if he understood.

I could see he rolled his eyes by the reflection in the windshield. He understood. “How much does he know about our operations?” His voice rumbled with irritation. Red used to be a drill Sergeant in the army and had great control over his vocal cords.

“I never really got the chance to explain anything.”

“What about the rest?” He stopped for a traffic light, almost kissing fenders with the car ahead of us.

“There’s more?”

“That you love him.”

“I barely know him.”

He chuckled. “You’re a piece of work, ya know. You’ve lied for him, proved his innocence, then killed his mistress.”

“She wasn’t his mistress!”

“You’re in love.” He sped up with the green light.

The last thing I wanted to talk about with Red was my feelings.

Traffic thinned and buildings got further apart, we’d left the city. Rurik’s neighborhood drew closer and my anxiety level rocketed. “This is a terrible idea.” Red didn’t hear my whisper over the roar of the van’s engine.

“Sounds like you two need counselin’.”

“You offering?” I cracked a small smile his way.

He barked a laugh. “If I had a death wish I’d go shark hunting in a chum bathing suit.”

I laughed and it felt good. My redheaded grizzly bear had a wonderful knack for that. Colby may be the brains of the outfit but Red was the glue that kept it together.

We pulled into the long driveway and parked behind the rust bucket. My laughter died.

Marie wrapped herself around me when she opened the door. She mumbled incoherent Hungarian things then drew us into one of the sitting rooms, all the while calling out for Rurik.

“What happened to you? We were so worried. Who was that man who carried you off? Rurik has sent everyone out to find you and it’s left us defense—”

“Enough, Marie.” Rurik’s quiet voice silenced her. He drank me in with his eyes from across the room as he stood in the doorway. The light reflected off his black untidy hair. Even after the fight at the party he’d maintained an impeccable appearance. In a few strides he’d crossed the room, almost too quick to see, and lifted me to his lips. He consumed me with his kiss.

My spirit soared to be in his arms again. I dropped the pictures and ran my fingers through his silken hair to pull him closer. All my reservations about him shattered. Who was I trying to fool? I loved him.

He pressed his tongue into my mouth to taste me in lazy sweeps. A deep moan vibrated in his chest.

“I guess you two don’t need a counselor.”

Rurik jerked away from our kiss. His moan turned into a growl as he twisted to set me down behind him, barring me from Red. With preternatural speed he snagged Red off the floor by his shirtfront. “Was this the slayer who stole you from me?” Red hung a foot from the floor and dangled from Rurik’s grip as if he weighed like a child. He’d paled so his freckles stood out.

“Put me down.” The order snapped with the expert confidence being a drill Sergeant gave you. “I didn’t come here to fight.”

“No, you came to stake me.”

“A few hours ago I would have gladly done it but Connie’s changed my mind.”

Rurik twisted to glare at me. “How can you bring this here?” He shook Red with his last question. “You said you believed me.”

“I do and I can prove but not if you hurt Red. Put him down.”

His body tensed as he fought with indecision. I asked him to trust me after all I did so far betrayed him. Our decision to come here was a mistake. Red should have listened to me.