Mia rubbed her wrist as she walked behind Nancy. Her heart beat fast and a weird feeling wrapped around her. She froze. Tilting her head to the side, she stared at the tiny window on the second floor. Someone was watching her. She could feel it. Reaching her energy forward, she probed further into the mysterious voyeur. All at once, the feeling was gone, and she grabbed her head in pain. It felt as if an ice pick had rammed through her skull. “Nancy, you go see if they need help, and I’ll scout out some more leads.”
“Are you sure? You don’t look so good.”
“I just have a headache.”
“Okay.”
Once Nancy was out of sight, Mia hurried to the staircase. She rolled her fingers around the cold, metal railing, and a jolt of electricity shot down her spine. Dipping her head, she swayed, and clenched her stomach. Fragmented whispers filtered into her ears, yet no one was around her, that she could see anyway.
“He’s up here…”
“Who?” She asked, and looked up the empty staircase toward the murmur.
“Hurry.”
Mia took two steps and grabbed her head again. This time, she cried out but kept the painful plea low. “Tell me who’s up there?” she asked the second voice. Others whispered, and she couldn’t make out the words. They were talking over one another. She tightened her grip on the railing and took two more steps.
“Save us.”
“Don’t go up there alone!”
“He knows you’re coming.”
Mia swayed and squeezed her head. “Stop!” Her vision blurred as she focused on the door at the top of the cement steps. She pulled herself forward until she stood on the top platform. When she wrapped her fingers around the handle, the pain stopped. She whispered, “Are you guys still here?” Whispered warnings pelted her, and she looked down the steps toward the sounds. She stifled a gasp with her free hand and gawked at the many headless apparitions lining the stairs. Her brief thought of retreat was interrupted as the door swung inward, yanking her inside and slammed shut behind her—sealing her fate.
When she swung around to face her captor, it took all of her strength to keep her knees from buckling. “Drew?” She gawked at the man behind the desk who discharged vampire energy. Locks of untamed, blonde hair swung over his vibrant blue eyes. It couldn’t be him. This had to be another cruel act from Vincent. She knew her eyes were wide, but she didn’t care.
“Surprise!” With a smug grin, he tilted his head and held his arms outward.
“No. It-it can’t be.” She watched his movements as he took a familiar bag of labeled blood from the drawer and uncapped the extended tube.
“See, you’re not always right. Are you?” He blinked his eyes rapidly, a trait he was known for, as he squeezed the tube and dispensed blood inside a rectangular dish. He filled three long notches until the blood pooled evenly in each rut. Grabbing a straw, he snorted an entire line of blood and then stared at her. “I really thought you’d be happier to see me, Sis. Did you already write me off or figure I was dead in a ditch somewhere?”
“More like hoping,” Mia declared and crossed her arms at her chest.
“Aw, there’s the smart ass bitch I grew up with.”
“What? What did I ever do to you?” She barely got the last word out before Drew approached with speed, wrapping his hand around her throat, he pushed her back against the wall.
“What did I ever do to you?” He growled. A painful expression danced across his face.
“Excuse me… Rock.” A voice sounded behind them. Drew sniffled. Releasing Mia, he ran the back of his hand under his nose leaving a red smudge on his skin before turning toward a dark-haired girl.
She closed the bathroom door, walked over to his desk, and grabbed the straw. “Can I get a hit?”
“No.” He flashed to her side and grabbed her wrist, pulling it away from the blood. “Not until I get my supply back. Leave us, now.”
The woman glared at Mia with such jealous suspicion her aura darkened to a dirty green, much like Velvet’s. Mia challenged her gaze until she shut the door and then returned her attention to her brother. “Rock? How poetic… to be nicknamed after your favorite drug.”
“Shut it. Where’s my stuff?”
Mia walked to the desk and traced her index finger along the top. “Old habits die hard.” She blinked, and he was behind her. When she turned, he grabbed her throat and held her against the desk. She struggled as he leaned down until he was inches from her face.
“You have no clue how hard it is to fight these urges. Not only the need for blood… it’s everything. The cravings are amplified, and it burns when I don’t give in.”
“It will pass.” Mia said through clenched teeth. He blinked and relaxed his grip around her throat.
“You got it all figured out, as always. Little miss fix it has all the answers.”
“Let me up.” Mia grabbed his wrist and attempted to move his hand from her throat. He tightened his hold once more. She tilted her head, trying to find something to help her. What she spotted made her stomach knot. “It was you?” She couldn’t keep the sadness from her tone as she eyed the space saver bag on the chair in the corner. She’d read the reports, and now the headless spirits made sense.
“She said let her go.” Mia closed her eyes at the sound of Cole’s voice.
Drew stared at Mia as he spoke, “Detective Barnett, welcome to my establishment.”
“Your establishment is in lock-down. Release Agent Starr, we’re trying hard not to kill anyone today.”
“Ooh… Agent. Now that’s something I didn’t know.” He released her neck and flashed behind the desk. “That means someone has been keeping secrets.”
Mia grabbed her throat. Gasping for air, she stood. Cole held the dark-haired girl from earlier in his grip. He turned to her, staring into her eyes he said, “You may go.”
When the woman walked from the room, Mia stared in wonder. “She’s human?”
“Yes. And this asshole is feeding her laced vampire blood.”
“Gotta keep her strength up. You know, for feeding and fucking.” Drew said, with an arrogant grin.
“I’m sure we share no commonality when it comes to either of those.” Cole’s face remained expressionless, but his tone held an edge of disgust.
“Really? Because we have a common friend…” Drew tilted his head and flicked his gaze to Mia before returning it to Cole, cocking his head in the opposite direction. “She loooves pillow talk. You make me look like a saint.”
Velvet. “Dark hair and red heads? One would think you had an affection for blondes—after what you did,” Mia said, stepping back until she could feel Cole close enough to touch.
Drew blinked rapidly and tilted his head. “My dear little sis… I hate fucking blondes. Every one of those irritating, blue-eyed, righteous bitches reminded me of you.”
Ouch. “What is your problem with me?” Mia glared at him.
“You did this”—he paused and looked away from her—“do you have any idea what it’s like to be constantly reminded that I’m not as good as you?”
“Oh, stop. Don’t even try it!” She stepped forward with clenched fists by her side. “You will not blame me for all your mistakes. I didn’t force you to do drugs. And I damn sure didn’t force you to knock some woman up”—she held two fingers in the air—“twice and then abandon your kids, just like we were abandoned!” Her anger mounted. She felt her nails dig into her palms, and her hands buzzed with energy. She wanted to hit him. His expression fell, and he stared at her, blinking.
“I have kids?”
She shook her head in disbelief. “That’s just like you—”
“Mia.” Cole reached forward, wrapping his hand around her bicep. He nodded toward Drew, and she observed him closer. He seemed lost.
“I have kids.” He looked up at her, confused.
“You’re an ass.” She grabbed the desk with her mind and nudged it forward until it hit his legs. He looked down as if inspecting the wood and seemed to recover from something, before he challenged her gaze.
“Is that all you got, little sis?” He stared at her silence. “I’ll take that as a yes. Where are my children?”
“You—” Her words stopped when Cole grabbed her arm again and shook his head.
“I see.” Drew’s expression turned deadly, and he held her stare with animosity. She felt his energy release into the room, and a familiar feeling soured her stomach. “They killed me because of you.”
His aura materialized the harder she focused on his energy. She gasped and cupped her hand over her mouth as muddy blackish-grey appeared. “No…” Her words a whispered plea.
Cole watched Mia’s eyes gloss over, and he knew exactly what she was seeing. Her shoulders slouched, and a barely audible whimper escaped her throat. He felt her sorrow swim through his veins, and he fought not to hold her.
“I’m going to find my kids,” Drew grated out.
“No.” Mia shook her head. “Leave them alone.”
“You see, Sis, here’s the fun part about this.” He paused, and blinked rapidly again. “While you were suppressing your weirdness, I was embracing mine.” He threw his arms forward, and the desk followed his command.
Cole grabbed Mia and spun her around, tucking her into the shelter of his body. The desk crashed against his back, split in half, and continued forward until the pieces hit the wall. When Cole turned back with his fangs bared and ready to fight, Drew had fled.
“He’s gone?” She walked forward. Her emotions were unchecked and leading her power. Debris from the desk moved out of her path as she walked toward the spot where her brother had stood. “Cole… he’s gone.”
“I know.” He placed his hands on his hips. “Mia, look at me.” The chair bounced from leg to leg as if trying to achieve lift off. She needed to cap her energy. When she met his gaze, her features fell. “We’ll find him. Right now you have to get yourself under control before we can do that.”
“But”–her lip trembled—“he’s…”
Cole pulled her into his embrace, tucking her head against his chest. He placed his chin against her hair. “Darkened. I know, my love. I’m sorry.”
Mia pulled away from him. “The children. We have to go, now.”
“You need to tuck everything back inside you, Mia.”
“I wish I had a vampire switch so I could just shut everything off.”
“No you don’t.” He reached for her arm. “Breathe and relax.”
“I got it.” She shook her head and wiped the corner of her eyes. “Why didn’t he remember the kids?”
“Maybe someone erased him before they turned him.”
“Velvet?” The name sounded like profanity on her tongue.
“I’m not ruling it out.” He entwined their hands. “Let’s go tell the others. They should be in the parking lot. We found enough to close the club, and we’re confiscating evidence. I was looking for you when I ran into the girl coming down the steps.”
“Cole.” She pulled his hand, stopping him at the door. “How am I going to kill my brother?”
“My love”—his hand smoothed across her cheek—“I’ll kill him for you.”