"Well, we know she didn"t do it alone. She didn"t have to, not with her security clearance. Bix, she could have signed anybody in or out of here." Tameth clicked a few b.u.t.tons and opened another file. "Wait a second, here"s something. Looks like she requested clearance for a small jetcraft for a medical emergency last night. The request was active for about two hours, between ten o"clock and midnight. No flight plan is listed. Huh. Wonder how she pulled that off. It"s got to be somewhere."
"I want to know where the h.e.l.l Natasha took my woman. Grab one of the Beta Seekers and have them work with you. I want to know the second you get a breakthrough."
Tameth copied the files to a shared folder on the system, swirled her chair around and pinned him with a hard stare. "Bix, we just got here this morning and you haven"t rested or eaten. Do both, or you won"t be any good to Carin or any of the rest of us."
"I"ll sleep later. We have work to do and I want out of here as soon as possible." His vid-cell emitted a low vibration. He flipped it open and stared into the bluish-white eyes of Kenoe Hatsept.
"We"ve found something in your woman"s lab. You"d better get over here."
"This better be good," Bix snarled, snapping the phone shut. Tameth was on his heels all the way back to the main house and up to Carin"s labs. Kenoe met them at the door, his movements urgent.
"Check this out," he said, pushing a strange-looking round of ammunition into Bix"s hand.
Bix"s brow furrowed, followed by wide-eyed understanding as he took in what he was seeing.
"It"s all doc.u.mented in her notes," Kenoe explained. "Your woman has amazing foresight. She"s been working on a weapon. A weapon for you, Bix."
With Dr. Lyons and the help of the V.C.O.E. weapons masters, his Carin had replicated Sidheon"s destructive serum and used it to create poisoned rounds for them to use in the hunt.
And thanks to Carin, they had hundreds of them.
The closer Carin got to wakefulness, the more nauseated she became. The feeling was much too familiar, reminding her of the effort it took to fight the pain meds pumped into her body after Sidheon"s brutal attack. An attack requiring major surgery and Bix"s blood the very same night if she was going to live.
She took a tentative breath, sure with her enhanced vamp senses any strong scent would make her hurl on the spot. The air was a bit dusty, but breathable and cool. Not wanting to alert her captors she was awake, she kept her breathing even, eyes closed and quietly inventoried her body.
She didn"t feel any pain anywhere, but she was stiff as all get out. Cracking an eye open, she looked around as well as she was able and breathed a sigh of relief. She was alone on a very comfortable bed in a nicely appointed room. But where? Couldn"t possibly be a hotel. Surely someone would have asked a few questions about an unconscious woman being hauled into the building. Brilliant hues of orange and pink shone through the sheer curtains of a large square window near the bed. Wherever she was, the sun had been up for at least several hours. Her keen hearing picked up the sound of roaring waves. The ocean.
Carin bit down on her tongue to keep from cursing a blue streak. She wanted to yell, rant and slap herself in the head for being so d.a.m.ned gullible. Trusting Natasha was tantamount to deserving the Darwin Award. The first thing she should have done when the woman claimed Bix was injured was reach out to him along their bond. She"d have probably discovered he was just fine, relaxing after a day of searching for Sidheon in whatever city he was in tonight, or rather, last night.
Not once had Bix forgotten to contact her since he"d been gone. If he"d been hurt wouldn"t he have called her, either by phone or telepathically, instead of Natasha? How could she have been such a dolt? Now here she was, G.o.d-knows-where, with Natasha and no telling who else. And did Bix even know she"d been taken? Geez, what a mess.
Her throat was parched and there was a nasty taste on her tongue. Must be the side effect of whatever drug Natasha had given her.
Oh, just wait until I get my hands on that d.a.m.ned woman, she thought, struggling to sit up so she could scratch. Such a simple action shouldn"t have given her so much trouble. What the...?
Well no wonder-her hands and feet were tied and her neck itched furiously where Natasha"s very long, but thankfully thin, needle had pierced her flesh. Hunching her shoulders trying to get to the irritated skin made her head whirl and her stomach roil from a bit of vertigo. And now she had to pee. Double d.a.m.n.
And what about Bix? Where was he? Quieting her mind in hopes it would also quiet her stomach, Carin reached inside herself and called out to Bix. The little corner of her mind where she could always feel the faint hum of her husband"s presence was...empty. The strong, bright silvery thread of consciousness that connected her to Bix seemed clouded over as if it had no substance. With every reach, every touch, it slipped out of her fingers. He simply wasn"t there. The knowledge that she was truly alone sent her churning stomach into overdrive.
The sound of m.u.f.fled footsteps caught her attention. The door eased open and the room flooded with a scent with way too much rose in it for her tastes. Natasha.
"h.e.l.lo, Carin. Glad you"re awake." She walked over to Carin"s bed, sat on the side and checked the bindings. "Comfy, I hope," she said snidely.
Carin felt her temper rise but smashed it down ruthlessly. She would have to keep her head if she was going to get through this. Scientist to the forefront, woman. Get some d.a.m.ned answers.
"Natasha, what are you up to?" Carin asked, deliberately slurring her words. Let the woman believe she was still loopy from the sedative. "Why did you take me from headquarters? And where"s Bix?"
"Bix?" She looked down at her watch, mumbled something about eighteen hours, and said, "When we spoke last, your darling Bix was on his way back to the U.S. He should have walked into V.C.O.E. headquarters sometime yesterday evening. Only he won"t find you there."
"Yesterday evening? How long have I been here?"
"About thirty-six hours," she answered acidly.
"Thirty-six hours? What the h.e.l.l did you give me to knock me out? A horse tranquilizer?" h.e.l.l, no wonder she had to go to the bathroom. Thirty-six whole f.u.c.king hours. Well, d.a.m.n.
"A little bit of vamp pharmaceuticals at work."
Oh, so now she was a guinea pig, too? This just got better and better.
"It"s a neuro-inhibitor mixed with a strong sedative. Keeps you from being able to engage your psychic abilities and makes you more...compliant. You"ll feel kind of funny for a little while longer yet."
At Carin"s look of wonder, she continued, "The night of your bonding, the Matriarch said Bix had found his bondmate. Many of the younger vampires probably had no idea what she was talking about. But I understood perfectly, and if I know Bix, he"s taught you how to use that bond. We can"t have you calling in the cavalry, now can we?"
Well that explained why she felt fuzzy in the head and couldn"t hold her psychic bond with Bix long enough to call out to him.
"Look, woman, I"ve never done anything to you. Why take me?"
"Because I want to hurt Bix as deeply as possible."
"Now what the h.e.l.l kind of sense does that make? You once claimed he was your mate. Why would you want to hurt him?"
"Because he took you, a puny human woman, instead of me. Because he"s scorned me for years. I"ve saved myself for him, and for what? For him to push me aside?" Bounding from the bed, the woman paced the room ranting. Half of what she said made sense but if she was trying to play on Carin"s sympathy, she was coming up awfully short.
"But everything is fine now," Natasha purred. "I"ve found a new lover, one eager to take me. And take me often."
"So you want to hurt my man because he didn"t want you," Carin snorted incredulously, shaking her head. "You know, you"re awfully pathetic for a vampire female. You sure you"re not some other species or something?"
Carin refused to flinch when Natasha raised her hand threateningly.
"Shut. Up." Fist in the air, she hissed, "I want nothing more than to smash your face in, you b.i.t.c.h. But my lover wants you unharmed. What for, I"ll never know. After he"s done with you, and I do mean done, Bix will be in need of, uh, shall we say, comfort? And I"m more than prepared to give it to him."
"And what does your lover think about your obsession with another man?" Carin asked hotly.
"Don"t be so naive. Oh, I forgot, you can"t help it. And everyone seems to believe you"re so smart."
Carin c.o.c.ked her head at such venomous condescension. It was as if Natasha took the relationship Carin shared with Bix as a personal affront.
"The answer should be obvious. I"m a means to an end for him, and he"s a means to an end for me. And the end will be Bix and me. Period."
"Well, who is this idiot who would endanger his life for you?" Carin asked pointedly.
Carin"s eyes went beyond large when the bedroom door opened again. She looked back and forth between Natasha and the new occupant, rolled her eyes and laughed.
"Oh, you"ve got to be kidding me."
Sidheon sidled up behind Natasha, reached under her arms and stroked her large b.r.e.a.s.t.s. The woman hummed as his pale fingers moved over her body. After what felt like endless moments, the creep stepped back from Natasha, gave a nipple one last flick with his thumb and looked down at Carin as if she were a piece of meat cooked to order. She wanted nothing more than to sink into the floor and disappear, but forced herself to meet his gaze boldly.
"h.e.l.lo, Carin. How nice to see you again."
"Kiss my a.s.s, Aleth." She wanted to take the words back when his gaze slid down her legs and raked over her b.u.t.t.
"Tempting offer, I may just take you up on it. And if you"re a good girl, I"ll make sure you get your breakfast."
Just before the words "f.u.c.k" and "you" slipped out of her mouth, her stomach grumbled embarra.s.singly loud. Carin clamped her lips shut. Besides, from the menace she felt emanating from him, and what Bix told her, Sidheon was as ruthless as they came. And with her hands and feet tied, she couldn"t run or protect herself. There was no choice but to bluff through this, scared s.h.i.tless or not. "I think I can manage to be good, at least until my husband gets here. Then we"re going to spend some time kicking the vampire s.h.i.t out of you." Carin grinned shamelessly as Natasha"s mouth flew open in an outraged "Oh." Sidheon"s glinting blue eyes filled with heat of the amorous kind. His predatory grin tipped up into a true smile when she said, "And by the way, I take my eggs over hard and my bacon crisp, but not burnt, thank you."
"Natasha." Sidheon"s words held an unspoken command.
With a huff the woman stepped over to the door and opened it just enough to call for someone.
A figure Carin couldn"t make out from her position on the bed shadowed the other side of the door.
When Natasha was finished speaking with whoever it was, she slammed the door closed with a huff.
Sidheon moved to Carin"s side, leaned over her p.r.o.ne body and pressed his cold nose against her neck. Inhaling her scent, he groaned as he licked a small patch of skin on her collarbone.
Closing her eyes, she suppressed a shudder when his incisors came into play and the pressure of his fangs slowly began to give way to a sharp p.r.i.c.k.
Aw h.e.l.l no! She might be down, but she sure as h.e.l.l wasn"t out.
"Don"t you dare take my blood without my permission," Carin said quietly but forcefully.
Sidheon jerked back, eyes wide, his expression full of surprise.
"I see your mate has taught you some of the rules of blood taking. Not that I usually play by the rules, but I promise you, you will come to me willingly, Carin." With that, the sting left behind from his fangs was replaced by the p.r.i.c.k of cold steel. A needle.
"Just the neuro-inhibitor. We"ll leave off the sedative. For now."
A pale and sickly looking fellow shuffled into the room with a breakfast tray. Cowering, the man set it on the nightstand, untied her and scurried towards the door, followed by a glowering Natasha and a smirking Sidheon. Left alone to eat, she cursed as the deadbolt slid home.
Later, the same frail, pale man with tissue-like skin and lank hair ambled in to remove her dishes. It had been exactly what she"d asked for-eggs over hard with crispy bacon. Toast and coffee thrown in for good measure, which she sniffed first to make sure there was nothing in it to knock her out again.
She still didn"t know if her husband was well or not. With nothing in the room to occupy her mind, she warmed up by running in place and went through her martial arts exercises. One thing was for sure-if Natasha walked into this room alone, she"d get a royal a.s.s kicking.
Rest was impossible. Everything smelled like his wife. Every corner of their apartments made him think of something she"d said or done. Tired of tossing around in their bed, Bix showered, packed a bag and left the apartment for the communications center. He would sleep in his office there and be ready the moment Tameth had something.
He walked into the huge high-tech building and all conversation stopped. Every eye turned towards him. He knew he looked like h.e.l.l because that"s what he felt like.
Without a word, Alaan walked to the nearest phone, called down to the main building and had the cooks bring Bix food and blood.
He felt useless. Everyone was hard at work, either in Carin"s labs loading the modified ammo into cartridges under Kenoe"s direction, or here in the comm center trying to help Tameth wade through Natasha"s endless electronic files, looking for any sign of where she"d fled. Carin had been missing for more than thirty-six hours, yet all he could do was wait.
Stalking around the comm center like a caged animal, Bix had never felt so close to losing it.
They just had to uncover something and fast. The more time it took for them to get to Carin, the more time Sidheon had to harm her.
When he"d walked into Carin"s life, he"d had no idea the rogue had been keeping a quiet eye on the woman, coveting her all this time. And Natasha, the jealous b.i.t.c.h, had taken her to every loyal vampire"s worst enemy.
His head snapped around at the urgent call of his name.
"Bix, we"ve got something," Tameth yelled over the din of male voices filling the room.
"Where?"
"Northern California. Stinson Beach, to be exact."
"Alaan..."
"Already done, buddy, already done." And he was out the door, a trail of vamps right behind him, fully aware of what needed to be done. In seconds, the room emptied of everyone but Tameth and Bix.
"Tameth, send the data to Stealth One and Two."
"Yes, sir." Her fingers flew over the keyboard. "Hey, you all right?" Tameth asked.
Bix didn"t answer, couldn"t form the words. He had to concentrate on what he thought he felt.
He had to be sure because it would simply kill him to be mistaken. Just out of reach was a flutter in his mind, an awareness he hadn"t realized he would miss until it was gone. The bond with Carin. Faint, but there just the same.
He couldn"t have a conversation with her yet, but she was alive. Whatever they"d given her must be wearing off.
"Tameth, how long is the flight to California?" he asked, already moving towards his office to grab his bag.
"In our stealths, about two and a half hours."
"How soon can we be off the ground?"
"The planes were readied the moment we learned Carin was missing. Ten minutes to get the pilots in the c.o.c.kpits and we"re out of here."
"Make it happen."
"Done."