Chapter 10

"This place is full of humans,"Vena said. "Look around. Not a fae or dwarf in sight. And the muscle isn't the furred variety. Plus, this is a weapon-free zone. We'll be okay."

Her words were calm and reassuring, but her sweaty hand as she pulled me up the stairs said something else.

At the top, we opened the door to a glassed-off room. Comfortable black leather couches lined the three walls, and groups of chairs took up the middle of the VIP lounge. The music was muffled, giving the people in the room a reprieve from the deafening speakers.

Most of them had turned to look at us when we'd entered. Vena confidently scanned the room.

Did she think our contact was just going to stand up and wave? I thought as my gaze swept the space.

At the back of the room, two men stuck out from the rest. They were hard not to notice.

Both wore black leather pants and unbuttoned black shirts, making their bodies blend together as they sat in an oversized chair under the dim lighting. The only difference between the two men that I could tell at this distance was that one had long dark hair and the other wore cat ears on his head and a diamond collar around his neck.

I tried not to gawk at their public display of horniness as the one with the cat ears lowered himself to rub his face on the other man's chest, his tongue coming out in flicks. His hand rubbed more than just chest as it dipped low into the shadows their bodies created. It was then I noticed the cat tail on the butt of his leather pants.

Before the cat-man could get too carried away, the long-haired man coaxed him back up to resume his attention elsewhere. The cat-man's grazing fingers followed his mouth up the other man's lean body.

The long-haired man watched us with eyes painted in black eyeliner and mascara spiking above and below his eye in theatrical goth style.

In a show of possessiveness, the cat-man curled onto the man's lap, wrapping his arm around his lover and threading his fingers through the man's hair. Cat-man tipped his head to whisper into his ear.

Goth-man gave a nod and then petted the cat, murmuring to him. Eventually, the cat relaxed enough to begin licking the man's neck.

The long-haired man gestured for us to join them.

"Is that him?" I asked Vena, hoping we could talk to someone who wasn't playing with a human cat.

"Won't know until we ask," she said.

She started forward. Resisting the urge to grab the back of her shirt, I followed closely.

The man being licked and kissed smirked at me when we reached them.

"Everly," he said. "It is a pleasure to finally meet you. You look delicious. My name is V--"

The cat-man bit him. While the bite drew blood, it didn't seem to faze V. However, it screamed jealousy. And when the cat-man turned his head to hiss at me, showing long fangs, it screamed vampire, too.

"Shit," Vena said, shoving her hands between my boobs. The knife was out and unsheathed a second later.

V inhaled deeply and chuckled. "You've saved us a truly concerning dilemma, Vena. Thank you."

"Fuck you and die," she said, holding her knife out.

He laughed outright. "You think you'll kill us with that paltry blade? You're adorable."

I grabbed Vena's arm and tugged it down.

"What was the dilemma?" I asked with false calm.

Humor danced in his eyes. "Oh, I like you."

"You might want to tone down your words of affection. Your cat doesn't appreciate them, and neither do I."

The cat stopped growling low at me and smiled. It was a hundred times creepier than the first tooth display. Probably because of the blood painting his mouth. He slowly licked it off.

"Pet," the cat said, "you were right. She is unique and interesting. I can see why she caught Cross' interest."

V, who was apparently nicknamed Pet, stroked a hand down the cat-man's back.

"You know I'm rarely wrong, Master."

The cat was the master, and V was the pet? Weird. I tried not to let their obvious role reversal break my brain.

"Before we can tell you anything about Cross, we need some kind of proof you know something about Anchor," I said.

The whole room started laughing, proving just how thoroughly screwed we were. While the rest of the club might be human, the VIP section wasn't looking that way.

"Anchor? The missing werewolf that your Master has been searching for?" V asked. We know nothing about him."

"Master?" I said at the same time Vena said, "Then why did you–"

Glass shattered behind us, flooding the space with loud music and shouting.

I spun around, but it was too slow compared to how quickly Cross moved. He caught me in his arms, his gaze black and full of rage as it swept the room.

"Leave or die," he growled at the onlookers.

Half the people in the room bolted through the broken glass doorway.

V moved Master off his lap and stood to clap. "Well done, Cross. An impressive display of power."

Cross left me and had V by his throat in an instant. His nails broke the skin, sending rivulets of blood down V's neck. V continued to grin at Cross.

My phone picked that moment to ring.

"If that's Shepard, answer the phone and tell him to send his pack," Cross said. "There's a vampire infestation here."

I scrambled to answer the call as several of the vampires hissed.

"Shepard, we're at After Curfew," I said in a rush. "It's another vampire nest. Cross says to send your pack."

Shepard swore in my ear. Someone yelled, and a hand closed over my shoulder.

My gasp barely left my lips before Cross was tearing the vampire away from me with an order to close my eyes. I did and held onto Vena as I shook in my sensible waitressing shoes.

Why hadn't I called Cross first? Why?I chanted the question in my head and tried not to hear the squelching sounds.

"Everly," Cross said, cupping my face. "Where are you hurt?"

"Hurt?" I echoed, opening my eyes.

He had a drop of blood on his cheek.

"You were hurt," he said. "That's how I knew where to find you."

"No," I said, shaking my head, unable to look away from that drop of blood. "I'm not hurt."

He inhaled slowly, and his gaze drifted to the front of my shirt. His head followed. With his face dipping to my cleavage, I finally saw the room. It was trashed hard, and there were three dead vampires on the floor. None of them were Pet or his Master.

Then I felt Cross' tongue on my skin. My eyes went wide, and I turned my head to look at Vena.

She grinned at me. "My bad. I think my knife scraped you on the way out."

I pushed Cross' head away from my cleavage, and he stumbled back a step like he was drunk. Vena grinned and picked up my phone, which I'd dropped. I saw my call with Shepard hadn't disconnected and cringed as I held it to my ear and watched Cross shake his head.

"Shepard, the vampires are gone, and we're fine. We're leaving now and heading straight home. I'll let you know when we get there."

I hung up without waiting for his reply.

"Yes," Cross said. "You're right. We should leave quickly."

He grabbed my hand and ushered me down the stairs. Vena was right behind me. The dance floor was empty now even though the music still played.

Outside was chaos. People were still running around, and some were recording in another direction and saying things like, "Did you see how fast they moved?" while we jogged to the car.

Cross helped me into the front seat then took the keys from Vena. We pulled away just as the sound of sirens rang out in the distance.

"Who was that guy?" I asked.

"His name is Vivian Di Rossi," Cross said.

"What did he mean by, ‘You're choosing the wrong side'?" Vena asked from the back seat.

"Who said that?" I asked, realizing I'd missed something.

Cross sighed. "He meant that I was siding with the werewolves over my own kind. Why were you there, Everly?"

I looked out the window, unwilling to admit my stupidity had almost gotten me killed again.

"It was the meetup for that text I messaged you about. The one from someone saying they would exchange information on Anchor for information on you," Vena said. "We weren't going to tell them anything about you, though, Cross. I promise."

He gave a dry laugh.

"They already learned what they needed."

I turned my head to look at him.

"What did they need?"

"Proof of how important you are to me, Everly. And now they know."

"That's all they wanted to know?" Vena asked. "They said it was an exchange."

"Are you surprised?" Cross asked. "You're dealing with vampires."

"We didn't know they were vampires until we got there," I said.

"You should have told me you were going tonight," Cross said. "At the very least, I could have scouted the location for you." He didn't yell or look mad. Well, maybe just a little.

He reached over, taking my hand and bringing it to his lips. "What would have happened if I was too late? Had they been after your blood and not information, I wouldn't have gotten to you in time."

I glanced back at Vena, who shrank in her seat.

"But you got there in time," Vena said.

I felt the curl of Cross' lips as he kissed the back of my hand again.

"Why did I beat the wolves there?" he asked. "I thought they were tracking you."

"We turned off the tracking," I mumbled, hoping he wouldn't lecture me, too. I already knew I was going to get an earful from Shepard.

Cross' grip tightened on my hand but not enough to hurt, just enough to know that he was upset.

"I'm sorry," I said.

With a sigh, he gave my hand one last kiss and then released it. Pulling over to the side of the road before we reached the house, Cross looked at me. "Promise me that you'll inform me when you do things like this. I'm not here to stop you. I'm here to protect you. I can't do that if you don't tell me anything."

When I nodded, he glanced down at my cleavage. "Is the cut healed? You still have the faint scent of blood."

I glanced down and shifted my girls to get a better view. "Looks okay. Just a spot on my bra."

"Wasted," he muttered and then opened the car door. "Don't go anywhere alone. Stay with me or the pack. Never alone. Understand?"

I nodded again.

Cross leaned over, his hand wrapping around the back of my neck as he pulled me into a kiss that had Vena scolding. I only heard a little of it as Cross did his best to make me forget about the dead bodies in the club.

When he released me, he said, "Promise me you'll tell me your plans so I can help you."

I nodded once more, unable to do anything else but be Cross' bobblehead.

When he stood from the car, Vena slipped into the driver's seat and closed the door. Cross stepped out of the way so she could pull back onto the road.

My phone rang. "It's Shepard." I swiped to answer. "We'll be home in a second."

I quickly turned the tracking on both our phones to prove it.

As Vena turned the corner, we saw Shepard at our doorstep with the phone to his ear. He paced back and forth in front of the door, his fingers threading through his dark blonde hair.

When he saw our car, he stilled. A tingle of trepidation ran through me as our gazes met through the windshield.

"Want me to drive around the block?" Vena asked softly.

Shepard slowly shook his head, proving that he'd heard, and I swallowed hard.

"I don't think that will be a good idea."

She parked in front of the house, and Shepard was there to open my door.

"Thank you for making the right choice for a change," he said.

"Hey," Vena said.

He gave her a sharp look.

"If I were to start asking questions, would I discover that what happened tonight was because of your influence?" he asked.

I frowned, not liking the way he was talking to her. Or the way she looked down.

"I wish Anchor were here, too," he said softly, which stopped me from calling him out on his bullying behavior.

"That's why we went there," I said. "We had a lead on information regarding Anchor. Unfortunately, it didn't pan out."

He inhaled slowly, radiating barely contained rage.

"I can smell blood and vampire on you. I'm going to need more than ‘it didn't pan out,' Everly."

"You're right. Let's go inside." I didn't wait for his approval before making a beeline for the lit-up house.

When I opened the door, Doc stood from his place on the couch. His gaze shifted from me to the person behind me. I didn't look to see if it was Shepard; I already knew it was.

"I think I'll make us all a nice cup of tea," I said, dumping my purse near the door.

Shepard caught my wrist and spun me around. Two seconds later, I was backed into a wall with an up-close view of Shepard's rapidly rising and falling chest.

"No. You're going to start talking. Now."

"Hey," Vena said, sounding angry. "Everly didn't do anything to deserve–"

Shepard's attention snapped to Vena. "You're next."

"We get it," I said, struggling to control my rising temper. "We screwed up. We were there."

"Take your clothes off," he said.

"What?"

"This is too many times, Everly, that you've come back from a close call, smelling like the same vampire and offering half-baked excuses for why. Strip so I can see how bad it is?"

"It's none of your business how bad it is," I said, offended and angry.

Something flashed in Shepard's eyes. "Strip, or I'll end up tearing your uniform, Everly."

"I think there's a misunderstanding," Vena said. "Everly, he's not talking about your bloody bra. He still thinks you were bitten and under Cross' influence. And I'm happy to strip for you, Shepard, even though I don't smell like Cross. I'm not his flavor, apparently."

"Not helping, Vena," I said, holding Shepard's stare. "And she's right. I thought you were talking about my bra."

I unbuttoned another button to show him the very small blood stain on the center of my work pushup. His gaze locked on my cleavage as he inhaled.

"Doc, call Moreen. If Everly doesn't want to show me, she can show her."

I frowned. "I just showed you!"

"All of it."

"I'm not showing anyone all of it," I said, crossing my arms.

"It smells like you already did."

I seethed, my temper reaching a level typically reserved for Vena on one of her don't-fuck-with-me period days.

"I'm about two seconds from kneeing you and finding out if you yelp like a dog or whimper like a man, Shepard."

Some of the anger left his gaze, and his lips quirked slightly.

"Is that so?"

"I appreciate that you care about us. Truly, I do. We need that extra level of concern lately. And given what's happened with Sierra, I absolutely understand your fear that my brain's been tampered with. But if that's the case, monitor me just like you do Miles and Sierra. I'm betting neither one of them has been degraded with a strip search."

Shepard exhaled heavily and shifted his gaze to the right.

"Neither one of them means as much to me as you do, Everly."

"Then don't do something that will push me away."

"I'm trying not to." He backed up a step and ran his hand through his hair. "Okay. Fine. Starting now, you're under twenty-four-seven watch. No more separate cars. No more closed bedroom doors at night. Your guard is going to be within four feet of you at all times."

"Well, that's going to make going to the bathroom a little awkward," Vena mumbled, earning a warning look from Shepard.

"No problem," I said. "We can do that."

"And there will be six men watching the house at all times. I could smell the vampire's scent trail all over the place out there."

Vena's expression lost its lingering humor. "Are you kidding me right now? You're wasting that many people here? Because of Cross? We already told you he's fine. You should be using your manpower to search for Anchor."

"You should have thought of that before pulling tonight's stunt," Shepard said.

Their gazes locked. Both were too stubborn for their own good.

I headed to the kitchen. "Vena, you use the bathroom first."

Vena pivoted on her heel and marched to the bathroom.

Turning on the faucet, I filled the kettle and started heating it while I fished out the nighttime calming tea. Everyone was going to need a strong cup of it before bed.

I felt Shepard watching me from the kitchen entry but didn't look at him or talk to him as I went about my task. I hoped that meant he had enough sense to know when to back off.

"Everly, talk to me," Shepard said.

"I already agreed to become a virtual prisoner. What else do you want from me?"

"For you to not put yourself in danger. To not smell like vampire every time I see you."

"I agree to the first. And I hope you know I've never once purposely put myself in danger. The last few weeks have just been really unlucky for me.

"But I don't agree with your second request. Cross is the only vampire I talk to, and whether you like it or not, he's been helping me and your pack. He doesn't bite me or compel me. He was the one who rescued us tonight, and he also said to tell you about the infestation at the club, which has been two clubs that have been taken down because of him. And by doing so, he has ostracized himself from the vampires."

"Everly--"

"He picked his side by rescuing me and outing them, Shepard. Cross will probably be hunted now by his people. I don't want him being hunted by you, especially since he's been helping you. And he's told me repeatedly to trust you; that you will keep me safe. He doesn't have any prejudices against you like you have for him."

"Everly, you can't trust vampires. He probably has an ulterior motive for helping you."

"I am one comment away from shutting down this conversation and quitting Blur."

Shepard blinked and then raised his palms. "We'll table this discussion for the morning when we've all slept and have had time to reflect."

The kettle whistled, and I turned my back on him while I poured the water into mugs and dropped tea bags into them.

"Where is Doc?" I asked, handing one of the mugs to Shepard.

"He'll patrol outside."

"Who is inside?"

Shepard hesitantly blew steam from his cup. "Me."

I considered him for a moment. "I'm not stupid or ignorant. I choose to ignore what I don't want to deal with. Before now, it was the game you and Cross have been playing with me. Kissing me where the other one kissed me. Touching me so the other one knows and can smell their scent on me.

"Believe my warning, Shepard. I'm not going to be a chew toy between you and Cross. I'm taking my cup of tea and going to bed. I'll leave the door open, but I swear if you start checking me for bite marks while I'm sleeping, you will learn what fear is. Got it?"

He dipped his head in acknowledgment, and I carried Vena's cup to her room to set it on the nightstand. Just as I was leaving, she came out of the bathroom.

"It's all yours," she said.

"Thank you. I put tea on your nightstand."

"You're my favorite roommate." She leaned and whispered, "Who is my other roommate tonight?"

At my scowled expression, she gave a nod. "Want to bunk with me tonight?"

Ordinarily, I would have said no. I liked my bed, and Vena tended to spin like an alligator catching its prey. Only, the prey was her blanket, and I would be left to spoon her for warmth if I got cold. But after the deaths at the club and the argument with Shepard, I could use a little BFF time. I'd just make sure to wear my spring pajamas.

"You can tell Shepard he can use my bed if he wants to," I said and placed my cup on her nightstand as well. "I'll go shower."

Maybe once I didn't smell like Cross, Shepard's unhinged mind could reset.

I hurried through my shower, looking forward to drinking my tea and sleeping.

However, Shepard was waiting outside of the bathroom door, blocking my path to Vena's room.