CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

O liver had telepathed to say he was on his way up, so Ben opened the laptop and set it up for a call to Ari. By the time he was through the door, they were ready to go.

“Has sleeping beauty woken up yet?” Oli asked.

He shook his head.

“Hey, so we aren’t mentioning Anna tonight to Ari,” Ben clarified as Oliver sat down beside him, stretching a long denim-clad leg out under the dining table and rolling up the sleeves of his black shirt to his elbows.

“You need to think long term about this, Ben. She could be in this condition for a long time. Meanwhile, you have a job and life which doesn’t include looking after a patient.”

Ben ran a hand over his face. “I just need more time.”

“Which you’ve been saying since I got here, man, and things are getting more fucked up. Now tell me, is Anna your mate?”

He’d had enough of this kind of talk. Ben was sure he would know if Anna was his mate. This was different. Sure, he was highly attracted to her, but from the moment they’d met, he’d known she was different.

Now he knew why. She was one of the victims of this crime against vampires, and he was going to get vengeance on her behalf. No vampire should have to suffer the way she had. Ben was determined to make sure Anna never lived another day in fear.

Her beautiful spirit would be able to dance once more.

“No. It’s not that,” Ben answered. “When you meet her, you’ll understand. She’s just...awesome. Oli, you’ve read the notes from those labs. The fuckers have to pay. She’s...it just shouldn’t have happened to her.”

His fists were back in a clenched position, just as they did every time he thought about what had happened to her.

“I’m not arguing that. But have you thought about what will happen when we get called back? What are you going to do with her? Who will look after her?” Oliver asked.

I can’t leave her.

The thought fell out of his head before he stopped it.

His eyes met Oli’s, and before he gave the male a chance to pursue any further questioning, he pressed the join button on their video call.

Oliver cursed.

The screen blinked, and the familiar faces of their colleagues appeared.

THIRTY MINUTES LATER , they had their orders. They were to wait until tomorrow night, as Ari was expecting some new intel to come from another agent, before they were to proceed to the execution.

“I want audio during the interrogation, Ben,” Ari instructed. “Then I’ll instruct you on how we proceed depending on what we learn.”

“Roger that.”

“I’ll photograph as much as I can while we are there and download the data,” Oliver added.

“If we don’t execute, are we wiping his memories?” Ben asked.

“Could be tricky, but see how it goes. Make a call on-site,” Ari replied. “The whole thing is going to be a big clean-up job, but that’s why Oliver is there.”

A sound came from the bedroom.

Ben turned his head slowly, staring at the door. As calmly as he possibly could, his eyes returned to the screen. “So, if that’s everything—”

“Ben?” the beautiful voice croaked.

Fuck.

I’ve got this. Go to her, Oliver said.

“Is there a problem?” Ari asked, his eyes narrowing.

“Ben brought a girl home. She’s been KO’d in the bedroom. Tequila. Lightweight human. You know the drill.” Oliver smirked. “Go, book her an Uber. Get rid of her.”

Ben forced a grin and shrugged. “Duty calls.”

Fuck. Anna was awake.

He stood and gave them all a two-finger salute, then flashed into the bedroom where Anna was attempting to sit up.

“Hey, take it easy,” Ben said, easing pillows behind her.

“Ben?” Anna asked, looking confused. Her hand flew to her forehead as her eyes darted around his dark bedroom.

“Yeah, baby, it’s me,” he responded gently.

“Where am I?”