CHAPTER NINE

L ogan stretched out his leg, the heel of his boot sliding under Oliver's chair.

"So we're going to war," he said, lifting his glass of beer and shaking his head.

"About time," Alex replied.

"Has Craig left?" Mack asked.

Kurt nodded. "Yup. An hour ago. Bri's a mess."

"Fuck I bet." Darnell chugged on his beer and placed it firmly on the table they were all sitting around at Max Bar. "The girls will look after her."

"She's staying at ours," Kurt shared. "With both Willow and Craig gone, Maddy wanted to make sure she wasn't alone."

"How is the queen doing?" Ben asked.

Everyone stared at one another. The queen didn't generally socialize with all the other females the warriors had bonded with, but she was close to Willow and Brianna.

This would be hard on her.

Willow was, after all, her sister-in-law.

"She's under heavy guard right now, as you know, but when I spoke to the king he said she was very upset," Kurt finally replied.

As one of the most experienced SLCs sitting around them, it made sense that Kurt would know the drill. He'd been protecting the royals for hundreds of years.

Logan spun his glass around the wet circle, its condensation left on the wooden table. He was eager to get into the field and see action.

It might help him get his mind off a certain human scientist.

Unlikely.

He'd had to stroke one out earlier.

Yet here he was thinking about Brooklyn once again, and what those nice round breasts would look like in his hands. And if she liked her nipples sucked.

Had she ever been fucked properly?

Roughly.

So that she lost all sense of the world as her orgasm screamed through her body.

Doubtful.

She probably liked it on top and rode her man like he was a fucking pony. Slow and steady.

Snore.

Logan was ready to get rid of all his built-up tension and testosterone. And frankly, all this tiptoeing around the human race was fucking annoying.

If it took a war, he was ready.

They'd kidnapped vampires, tortured them, and now taken members of their royal family.

The asshole who had hidden out in the castle after the initial attack had done a good job of staying undetected. Logan wasn't the only lethal vamp among them who felt guilty for not finding him.

"We fucked up." Darnell shook his head. "I should have seen him."

"We all should have," Ben said.

"Let it go," Kurt said, his experienced voice strong. "Now we need to prepare to destroy this enemy once Ari gives the order."

"One of us should have gone with Craig." Mack shook his head.

Both Mack and Callan had been training with the Moretti teams to become warriors. He'd heard rumors about their strength and skills as hybrids. Mack was a huge vampire and constantly expressed an eagerness to be involved in the action.

Callan less so.

He'd make a great SLC, but not an assassin. Mack didn't have the patience. From what he'd observed.

"Yeah. Fucking stupid going on his own." Alex grunted, then mumbled, "Not that I'd say that to his face."

Logan snorted.

"Our numbers are too small," Kurt said. "Trust me, neither he nor Brayden need our help."

Logan sipped his beer and waited for the guy to expand. Because they had the same odds as any of them.

Right?

"As much as I want to call bullshit on that, because you know I love nothing more than winding up that big fucking bossy vampire." Ben laughed. "I know you're right. But one dart and they're both on their ass."

Heads nodded.

"Exactly. God, I hate that shit," Logan groaned.

"Yeah, well, maybe stop harassing the new girl in the lab and she might stop shivering in her boots and get focused on creating the antidote." Mack tossed a nut at him. Logan reached out and grabbed it with vamp speed. Then tossed it in his mouth and gave him the bird.

Brooklyn.

For three seconds, he'd stopped thinking about her, and now his cock was twitching.

He fucking hated that he was attracted to a human.

It went against all his values.

"You still being a dick to her?" Ben asked.

"I'm not being a dick. Come on. She's a fucking human. Surely there are vampires who would be better suited for the job." Logan defended.

"Sage wanted her," Oliver said. "Don't be racist."

Logan rolled his eyes.

"That's not what that word means."

"It kind of does." Oli shrugged as he laughed.

"Seriously guys. You've seen the shit I've have. Humans are assholes. What if this turns into a multi-race war? You think Brooklyn is going to stay loyal and fight for us?" Logan challenged them all. Five faces stared as he started nodding, thinking he'd won the argument. "I'll answer that for you. She won't."

He slid his empty glass away and let that sink in.

"How do we know she isn't formulating an antidote then selling it to the humans?" he pressed.

Was anyone asking these questions of her or just blindly trusting she was some innocent?

She was a scientist, after all.

The day he learned what the BioZen scientists had done to Callan was one he'd never forget. Six months of torture. Cutting into him. Depriving him of darkness. Removing limbs and watching him regenerate.

Not just limbs, but organs, which took weeks to recover.

The poor fucking guy.

Honestly, it was hard to look at Callan some days and wonder how the hell he was functioning with that mental and emotional damage.

He wasn't the only one, but he'd been kept far longer than the others.

Some vampires had died.

The very thought made his fingers itchy to wrap around every neck in that BioZen building.

And snap them.

"Because I trust Sage and I trust Ari, that's how," Kurt replied. "He wouldn't have allowed Brooklyn to step foot in the castle if he didn't trust her. Nor would the king."

Yeah, well, they were both a little distracted right now, so Logan decided he would keep an eye on her. The fact she was fucking gorgeous— a fact he was trying to ignore— made the job a little easier.

She wouldn't breach his boundaries.

AKA his zipper.

He'd never fucked a human, and he wasn't going to now. It was fun taunting the little mouse, though. He liked seeing her scared. So Brooklyn was now his official distraction while waiting for the war to start.

"I'm on in four hours," Mack said, standing and stretching. "Damn I need breakfast."

"I could eat," Logan said, climbing to his feet and collecting his phone off the table. "You coming, Oli?"

"No, I'm going to hit the training room," their head assassin replied.

Logan slapped Oli on the shoulder, then followed Mack out of the bar.

"Lunchroom or café?" Mack asked as they headed through the castle.

"Café. They do a great Big Breakfast special, and I'm starving." Logan rubbed his six-pack.

Technically eight.

But who was counting?

This morning, the castle was quiet, but a few vampires wandered the halls. Two females headed in their direction, blushed, and swayed their hips obviously.

"Ladies." Mack smiled, and his eyes followed them as they walked past. "Hot damn, look at that tight ass."

He glanced behind them.

Mack wasn't wrong. Yet, his cock stayed in the down position. Which it didn't do when he was near Brooklyn.

Fucking traitor.

Maybe it was a side effect of that damn serum.

Because he never found humans attractive.

Ever.

"You into guys?" Mack asked.

"What? No," Logan replied, surprised. "Well, I've had a bit of everything over the decades. Strictly vamps."

"Heard you had no females working at The Institute," Mack continued. "That had to have sucked."

Ari had set the rule right from the start. He believed females were a distraction and wanted to focus on training ultra top-level assassins at The Institute.

Now they also knew he had been flying undercover from the royal family, so he'd been incredibly protective about who he trusted and let in his world.

He thought about what Kurt said...that he trusted Ari's decision to bring Brooklyn into the castle. Logan had been trained by and worked for Ari for fifty years.

He absolutely trusted the ancient vampire.

That didn't mean he trusted or had to like Brooklyn—he never would—but Ari would had done his due diligence.

He knew he had a blind spot when it came to humans. And while he'd never understand why they hadn't sought out a vampire instead, Sage must have wanted Brooklyn for a reason.

So he'd suck it up.

But still watch her.

And her ass.

Mack, however, seemed to have an odd interpretation of their life back at The Institute on the West Coast.

"We didn't live in the Himalayas, dude. It's Seattle. Plenty of hot ass in the bars and clubs there. I wasn't a monk." Logan laughed.

Quite the opposite.

As vampires they had a powerful sex drives and there had been many threesomes and moresomes shared among the guys.

Not breakfast conversation, but hell, if Mack wanted to find a couple of hot females and make a night of it, he wasn't opposed to it.

He just had to have a talk to his cock and be clear: no Brooklyn.

She was the enemy.

Even if everyone else around them was momentarily confused.

They sat down and ordered their breakfasts as Mack asked more about how The Institute worked. When his meal was placed in front of him, Logan glanced up to smile and thank the server.

That's when a raven-haired human caught his attention. His body flared to life as he took in her soft skin and the vulnerability she oozed.

Which fucked him off.

In three seconds, he could snap her pretty little neck and be done with her.

And lose his job.

Logan glared until she finally looked up. He kept his cold gaze on her even when her cheeks turned pink, and his cock hardened and pressed against his zipper.

Stupid motherfucker that it was.

It was time to get laid.

That was the only explanation.

Since arriving at the castle, they'd been busy, so he'd had no time to fornicate with any of the females around. Clearly a mistake, and if he was finding a human attractive, it was time.

Brooklyn held his gaze, surprising him.

Although the slight quiver in her chin was a giveaway as his dark stare continued to challenge her.

Think you can play with a big bad vampire, little mouse?

Think again.

Logan let his fangs slide out and ran his tongue over them until blood pooled on it.

Because, why not?

He fucking hated her.