Cole raised his brow as Mia’s phone emitted a tone.
“What? It’s Cyn’s ring tone. She likes Eminem.” She flipped open the phone. “Cole, do you mind?”
He nodded, and she answered the call.
“Hello…”
“Cyn… she’s gone. Missing. I’ve tried everything.”
“Kevin, slow down… what’s wrong?” She dropped her fork and panicked. “What do you mean she’s missing? Did you call the police? Did you try her cell?”
“Yes, I did all of that! I’m worried. The car was broken into, and a detective came out, and now she’s missing!” Kevin spoke fast, and his words ran together. Mia had never heard him like this before; true panic in his voice.
Her eyes darted to Cole and she placed her palm over the speaker. “Can you hear him?” She whispered and Cole nodded. She turned her attention back to Kevin, “Who? What cop came over?”
“I don’t know. Mia, she’s gone!”
“Okay. Slow down. Kev, let me call you back.”
Cole was already on alert by the time she hung up. “Cole, can you call the sheriff to see what detective came to their house? Kevin said the car was broken into, and a detective came out to take their statement around 5:30. Kevin left for work and hasn’t heard from Cynthia since.”
She felt her heart race as she looked at her watch. “It’s going on ten p.m. This isn’t like her at all. She’d never go a half-hour without talking to Kevin.” Her pulse elevated. “The police told Kevin that she’s an adult and hasn’t been missing long enough for them to do anything.”
Mia’s gut told her something was wrong, and she could tell Cole had the same suspicion as he called the sheriff. He quickly ran through the story, and his face remained expressionless. He closed his phone as he motioned for the waiter to bring the check.
“Mr. Barnett, I was told to relay a message to you. The owner, he… he is in your debt. There is no charge for your visit. Please, come back again.”
“Tell him I’ll speak to him about this. He still has a business to run, and I will pay him the next time I’m here.” The waiter bowed and disappeared before Mia’s eyes. Damn they move fast.
Cole was calm, and she was about to lose her shit. He took her hand, and pulled her from the seat. “Sorry to cut your dinner short, but John said to come in just in case there’s something to this.”
His calm tone didn’t stop her nerves from knotting. There was something to this. He knew something, and he wasn’t telling her—she could feel it.
***
It wasn’t until they arrived at the FBI building that she spoke. “Cole, did you find out who came to their house today?”
Cole glanced at her. “Yes. It was Russo.”
Although she was very worried for Cynthia, she couldn’t help but smile when Cole’s eyes found hers in the elevator.
It was after hours, and the waiting room was dark and empty. Mia’s thoughts went to Stacey and how Cole had erased her mind. Could a vampire really erase someone’s memory?
They were the first ones to arrive. Mia paced the room, the nerves building inside were making her tremble. She could feel something wasn’t right.
Cole sat in his usual chair with his legs stretched out. Mia couldn’t help but drink him in. Eye candy. No matter what he wore, you could always see the contour of his muscles through his clothes. He reached his foot out, tugging the chair in front of him closer to his, and then motioned for her to sit.
Her nervous tick had her leg bouncing as soon as she connected with the seat. Cole placed his hand on her knee.
“Easy, we don’t know anything yet.” His voice was calm as usual. She hated that, but respected and envied it, as well. He was the guy to call when shit went down; the person you could count on to get you home safely, or help you bury a body.
She needed a diversion from her thoughts, or she was going to drive herself crazy. Her mind already had Cynthia dead and mutilated.
“Cole, what’s on the 19th and 20th floor?”
“The 19th floor is sleeping quarters for our special agents and police. The 20th floor is a combination of test labs and offices.”
The door slid open. Nancy, Gonela, Cramer, Russo, and the sheriff walked in and made their way to the chairs.
The sheriff walked around the room. His fingers rubbed his mouth. Mia didn’t know where his mind was, but it wasn’t here. Rosetta walked in next; Mia hadn’t seen her since that night at the funeral home.
The sheriff rested his hands on the back of the empty chair and turned toward Mia. “What do you know about your friend’s disappearance? What I mean is… Has your mind picked up anything?”
Mia shook her head.
Nancy leaned forward and tossed a couple of bags on the table labeled “Evidence.” Detective Gonela stared at the sheriff, as he was adding something to the white board affixed to the wall.
“Sheriff, Mia’s mother is fine. I checked on her before I came here.” Gonela nodded as if he were sending a personal message to Mia that she was safe.
Mia felt a wave of negative energy. She slowly turned her head toward it, and Russo stared back at her. His eyes narrowed as she locked into his gaze and focused on his aura. A mixture of red shades and brown appeared. Just what she thought, selfish. She didn’t need to see the brown to tell her that. The red was disturbing though, and the different shades of it said he was very unstable, sexually. Look at that other shade of red. You hate me, don’t you, Russo? She wanted to blow him a kiss to see how far she could push him, but decided on a devious grin instead.
“Mia, did your friend’s boyfriend try to call her?” Nancy asked, pulling Mia’s attention away from Russo.
“Yes, he said everyone has tried to call her cell.”
For the first time, Cole’s face masked with concern as he looked at Mia. “You haven’t tried. Give me your cell.”
She took the phone from her purse and handed it to Cole.
“I’m going to put it on speaker, and you talk, okay?” Cole waited for her response as he scrolled through her address book. Once he pressed Cynthia’s number, he placed the phone on the table. The instant the call was answered, Mia stopped breathing.
“Ahh… Mia. I haven’t seen you since the gas station. How’s your blood? Are you keeping it warm for me?” The voice was cold and calm.
Cole abruptly stood, placing his hands on each side of the phone.
The sheriff latched on to Cole’s shoulder, trying to calm him. A million things were going through Mia’s head. Should she play it calm, or be a bad ass? She wasn’t prepared for this or trained like the others. She didn’t know how to handle psychopaths, not to mention, psychopaths who were already dead. She took a deep breath before she responded, deciding to be herself.
“Glowing Eyes, how’s the energy I stole from you? I see that you needed a weak human to get it back. Did I hurt you that bad?” Although fear raked her insides, her tone was as smooth as glass.
His response shook the phone, moving it on the table. “I’m gonna have fun draining you dry. But first, I want to have a little fun with you. I want those blue eyes.”
Cole’s grip tightened on the table, the top bowed underneath his hands. The sheriff applied more pressure to his shoulder, and squeezed. “Here, blue eyes. Someone wants to say ‘hi.’” Bass’s tone was nothing less than deadly.
“Mia,” is all Cynthia got out before Bass came back on the phone.
“You’re lucky she’s still alive—the bitch stabbed me.”
Mia smiled on the inside. Cyn always said, “Don’t fuck with a Jersey girl, or she’ll stab you.” Guess she wasn’t kidding.
“Bass, you hurt her, and I’ll…” Cole put his hand over Mia’s and gave her a look of caution.
“You’ll what? If you want her to live, you’ll come and give yourself to me.”
Cole looked as if he was about to burst. The control he was showing was commendable, but Mia didn’t know how much more he could take. She leaned over Cole’s arm and put her mouth to the phone.
“Oh, I’m coming to you, Glowing Eyes. You can bank on that. And I’ll drain every ounce of energy you have left. Send your men. Come and get me!” She felt an icy rage building inside her as she spoke.
Cole slammed the phone shut, and everyone looked at him as he glared at Mia. “Do you have a death wish?” He was clearly upset.
No, he was pissed.
“What? You’re going to go get her right?”
When he looked away from her, her eyes widened.
“No, we are not.” He turned back to her as he spoke.
Her mouth dropped in disbelief. “Cole, you’re not going to save her?”
He squared his shoulders, and she glared back at him. “No, she is expendable. There is something going on that is much bigger than her and—”
“And what? Me? So, as long as you catch the big fish, it doesn’t matter how many little fish get slaughtered? Is that it?”
Cole stood, pushing her back with his chest. “Now is not the time for human emotions.”
She backed away from him, glancing at everyone in the room. Their expressions held the same conclusion as Cole’s. Glaring back at Cole, she had a mixture of feelings wrapped so tight in her belly, she thought she would vomit. She was upset for giving into him, letting her guard down and wanting him. Now this? She didn’t want anything to do with him but knew it was too late for her heart.
“Fine. I’ll get her myself. If he wants me, he can have me.” Before Mia reached the door, Cole stood in front of her like an unmovable barrier.
“Sit down!” His voice was a thunderous command.
The sheriff swiftly took her arm and led her back to the chair. Nancy stared at her with a grin. What the fuck is she looking at? Mia’s thoughts were about to erupt as she jerked her arm away from the sheriff’s grasp.
Rosetta’s voice broke through the tension in the room. “I couldn’t track the the stuff Cole left for me at the funeral home, but Gonela was able to pick up a scent. We tracked it back to a location in Lake Worth. I spoke with Tom earlier, and there was vampire blood in each of the three bodies from our cases. He’s trying to gain access to the other two now.”
“And we still can’t locate Vincent.” Nancy was still staring at Mia as she spoke.
Mia’s reality finally crumbled. “You guys are vampires. Why can’t you just go kill everyone and control this? This makes no sense to me. You’re supposed to be these powerful creatures, but you sit here and do nothing.” Her voice sounded foreign and unfriendly.
The sheriff left a trail of wind behind him as he quickly came to stand in front of Mia.
“Now that’s enough, young lady. Yes, I’ve taken a liking to you, but that doesn’t give you the right to insult my people. We are sworn peacekeepers, some for many decades. We still have to follow the law, Mia, or we would be no better than them. I understand that you’re upset about your friend, but there is nothing we can do right now.”
Mia fought back the tears, refusing to let them fall this time. A rage she had never felt before brewed inside, and it felt like an electric fence was hugging her.
“I understand, Sheriff. Humans are expendable to you, unless of course you need them around for food or”—she stood quickly and glanced at Cole—“to release some tension.” She locked eyes with Nancy who was still grinning at her. What is so amusing about this? Her eyes flicked down to the table.
“Nancy, is that evidence regarding the cases?” Mia asked with a taut nod toward the bag on the table. Nancy slowly and deliberately nodded as if she were waiting for Mia to put everything together. Mia stared at the clear plastic bag, and within it was Art’s pack of Reds. She glanced back at Nancy’s broadening grin. Her mind clicked. Grabbing the bag, she emptied the contents onto the table. Her stomach instantly clenched. She focused, refusing to give in to the nauseous feeling. The vision quickly flashed through her mind. She held onto them, slowing them down until they seemed weightless. She froze the next image, seeing the hand Art took the pack of Reds from. Staying inside the vision, she waited. She could feel the next clue; it was so close... Got it!
She knew Cole felt her energy soar, swirling around him as it did before, and she didn’t care. He rested his hand on her arm, his voice dissolved the images in her mind. “Mia, did you see something?”
She jerked away from his touch. “Nothing you’d be concerned about.” Turning quickly, she gave Nancy a quick nod, hoping and praying she’d understand, and then walked toward the door.
Cole blocked her exit, grabbed her arm, and tightened his grip as he pulled her into him. “Whatever you’re thinking, stop. What did you see?”
Mia narrowed her eyes, she felt used by all of them. Had she been a game to him? He’d been dead for a long time, maybe it was fun for him to toy with human emotions. She could come to understand many things about Cole and deal with them. However, at this moment, an evil vampire was holding her best friend, and they didn’t care. She unfolded the anger inside of her and directed it toward Cole.
“I saw a vampire who couldn’t get to a human mentally, so he tore down her walls and finally got to toy with her. Now he can move his cold, dead heart on to someone else.” Her voice was as cold as the painful look in his eyes. Ignoring the emotion, she jerked her arm from his grip and continued to walk toward the door. Again, he blocked her exit.
She could physically see his temper mount. Curling his lips back, he exposed his fangs. “Don’t push me. You may see something you don’t want to see, something that may give you nightmares for the rest of your life.”
Mia didn’t like being intimidated. Out of impulse, she reached out to push him back. Grabbing her wrists quicker than her mind could register the touch, he slammed both of them against the wall.
“You’re pushing me, Mia. Do you really want to do this, here? Let’s get this biting thing out of the way.”
The air charged with a powerful wave of energy radiating between them. When a vision flashed through her mind, she remembered her mission.
Knowing that Cole would hear her, she kept her voice barely audible. “You won’t save her from Bass. How am I supposed to react to you? You seem so cold and heartless. I don’t know you. Are you evil, Cole? Just like him? You are the walking dead—one has to think about where that energy comes from. Are you a demon like him?”
Cole’s grip tightened on her wrists, and she winced in pain. “How dare you compare me to Bass.” He pulled her closer to him. Glaring down into her eyes, his voice was like steel as he spoke through clenched teeth. “Everyone has a demon inside them. Everyone. It’s how you control the demon once it’s awakened that matters.”
The energy in the room made her mind spin. She contemplated her next move. She didn’t need him to save Cynthia or to help her. She was strong enough to do this herself. Her mind formulated a plan. She pulled away from Cole and walked back to the table where everyone stood.
“Mia, we have to follow the law—please, understand. This is the way it is. You humans have made it so the criminals have the upper hand. Vampire law is a little different, but since we have humans involved in this, we have to be careful.”
Mia ignored the sheriff’s words and passed the table to the back wall where the red button taunted her. She turned, and glared at everyone. Her hand hovered over the casing of the button. They stared at her, waiting for her to twitch so they could pounce. The tension in the room grew as Mia made eye contact with each one of them.
When she slowly dropped her hand away from the button, the vampires relaxed. In the next second, before Mia’s hand completely dropped, she smashed the glass case concealing the brand new silver fire ax. She had it in front of her before any of them could touch her. Russo was the first to step back as she gripped the ax, her hand dripping blood from the open wound on the top of her grip. She looked at the sheriff, blowing a lock of hair from her face.
“Not this human. I’m for killing them all.” She grasped the ax in her hands, loosely, with just enough room to swing. The lights above flickered as she walked past them to the door. Decapitation anyone? She grabbed Cole’s keys as she passed the table, moving faster as fangs popped around her. Backing out of the door, she pushed the tile to shut it behind her and ran as if Hell was on her heels.
The sheriff halted Cole’s forward motion. “Let her go. She’s obviously delusional if she thinks she can really get away from a vampire.”
Even if Cole knew the sheriff was right, his legs twitched to run after her. His mind urged him to disobey the sheriff’s order. He’d never seen her so focused, so determined to complete whatever her mind had set on. This time, she wasn’t running away from something, she was running straight for it. He had to go to her.