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The barrage of texts got so bad, I had to take the phone from Devon and power it down so we could get some sleep. The part of the operation where we planned to ignore him had now gone into effect. Once this guy became furious at being ghosted, he’d show up at her apartment and try to nab her again. We’d already determined he was predictable like that.
I blinked my eyes open, after one of the best sleeps I’d had in a long time, and immediately reached over to the side of the bed, just wanting to pull Devon into my arms. I was greeted with nothing but cold sheets. I sat up, alarmed. My eyes scanned the room until I found her curled up on the plush chair in the corner of the room. She wore my T-shirt and was looking at something on her phone.
Immediately relieved, I said, “Good morning, beautiful.”
She looked up at me. “Hi.”
“I hate that I need more sleep than you,” I replied around a yawn.
Devon shrugged. “You’ll need less as time goes on. I’m much older than you, remember? In fact, you really shouldn’t be dating cougars. They bite.”
I threw back the covers with a chuckle and stood. “Come here.”
She set the phone down and walked over to me. Her sexy bed hair and the way her T-shirt fell right to the top of her creamy thighs made her look good enough to eat. I wrapped her in a hug.
“I love waking up with you here.”
“Same,” she replied.
“I’m so glad this is going to be over tonight,” she murmured. “I’m so used to my boring life that this has been so stressful. My anxiety’s through the roof.”
“We’ll be in and out, it’ll be a piece of cake,” I said into her hair before kissing the top of her head and squeezing her reassuringly.
“I’m coming with,” she said.
I released her and looked down at her, gently gripping both her biceps. “No, you’re not.”
The stubborn set of her lips and the look in her eyes I’d already come to learn colored her features. “Yes, I am. I’m not gonna sit here and chew off all my fingernails while I wait for you to get back. All of this crap is because of me. My bad decisions to work for criminals and not care about anything but money. I want to help.”
“No,” I said. “It’s safer for you here.”
“I can take care of myself, and I want in on the revenge.”
I gritted my teeth. “Then you’ll wait in the van.”
Devon lifted her chin. “The hell I will.” She wandered into the bathroom and closed the door.
Shaking my head, I went into my closet and pulled out the tactical clothing and boots. She will wait in the van.
I powered up the burner phone and read the twelve text messages. There were two voicemails, each threatening her using voice-altering technology. I saved them and then set the phone down.
Devon came out of the bathroom smelling like toothpaste and still looking angry. I reached down, tore the T-shirt off over her head, and gripped her upper arms. “Get your ass into the shower. Now. Or no Dick for you.” I looked down at my raging hard-on. We just called him Dick now. So original.
With wide green eyes, she nodded and turned around, obeying like a good little girl. I could only hope she’d be that compliant later when she wasn’t threatened with not getting any D.
“She may be the stubbornest of all the old ladies,” Viper said, shaking his head.
“You’re telling me,” I muttered. “I can’t believe she agreed to wait in the van.”
Viper and I stood in Devon’s living room, armed to the teeth and dressed in our tactical gear. We’d been here three hours. Shadow and Venom were outside the building hiding in the shadows. Phoenix had a pre-arranged vacation planned with Jemini. He’d wanted to cancel it to help us out, but we told him it wasn’t necessary. This should be an easy enough job.
“I told Andy to text us if she leaves or tries to leave.” Viper walked over to the computer and shook the mouse.
I already had my hand covering my face because I knew what he was going to see. He laughed. “Someone’s a fangirl.”
“Trust me, I asked her to change it. She won’t.” I walked over to the workstation. “Do you need to look something up?”
“Nah, was just bored. Wanted to see what kind of stuff she had on here. So far, I can see she likes guys with six-packs and long walks on the beach.” He pointed to the monitor above it depicting a Hawaiian shoreline.
“Something like that,” I said, trying not to smile.
A noise from the back of the apartment caught out attention. Viper put his finger to his lips and raised his face covering. I raised mine and followed him. With our backs flat against the hallway wall right outside Devon’s bedroom, we could hear the window opening. I peeked quickly around the doorframe and saw a man jump inside from the fire escape and land on Devon’s bed. With his gloved fingers, Viper counted down from three. When he reached one, we stormed into the room. The man, who was just about to look in Devon’s closet with his gun drawn, was taken by surprise when I kicked the pistol out of his hand and it went clattering to the ground. He grunted in pain and then tried to scurry past us. Viper tackled him to the ground.
I pushed the com on my earpiece. “We’ve got one inside the bedroom.”
“He’s human,” Viper said, holding him down with his forearm across his neck.
“Human,” I added into the mic.
“We’ve got two sitting in a van on a side street. They’re wearing some kind of white masks,” Shadow said. “Devon says those are the masks they wear.”
“Apprehend them and bring them up here,” I said into the earpiece.
Viper stood and said, “On your belly, now. Hands behind your head.”
The man complied.
Viper activated his earpiece. “Bring Devon up with you.”
“Roger that,” Venom replied.
A few seconds later, we heard a gunshot. Within seconds, the front door opened, and we went into the living room, Viper grappled with the human before tossing him into a chair. Shadow and Venom walked in with two men in handcuffs Bloome had spelled so they were unbreakable. They wore clownish white theatrical masks, one with a frown, one with a smile. One had a long blond ponytail tied at the back of his head.
They were plunked down on the sofa, then Shadow kicked one in the knee so hard, the guy cried out and started whimpering. “Fuck!”
“This one shot me,” Shadow snapped, pointing to his bicep.
I looked at it. “Grazed you, but still.”
Devon came over to me and put her arm around my waist.
“These them?” I asked.
She nodded. “I’m pretty sure. At least one of them. They all wore those masks.”
“Where’s our fucking website, Frank?” Ponytail asked.
I stalked over to him, ripped his mask off, and punched him in the face. “Shut the fuck up with that shit.” Then, I tore the other’s mask off and tossed it to the coffee table.
Ponytail slid his jaw back and forth and grinned up at me. “How chivalrous.” He looked at Devon. “Enjoy it while it lasts, Frank, because you’re dead.” He had amusement dancing in his brown eyes. “All of you. Especially you, you smelly-ass wolf.”
Venom chuckled with his arm folded. “You don’t look like you’re in the position to be making threats.”
“Who are you fuckers, anyway? Sending a human in here to do your dirty work?” Viper asked, pointing to the man in the chair glaring daggers at us.
Ponytail replied, “He was just casin’ the joint, weren’t you, Len?”
Len narrowed his eyes at the vampires. “You could have warned me there was more than one vamp in here, Gene. I was only supposed to snatch the girl.”
I lifted an eyebrow. “You sent a human in here to kidnap a vampire? You are as stupid as you look.”
Len pointed to his pocket. “I have a tranq in my pocket, was gonna drug her, then toss her out the window to the guys.”
“We’re three stories up!” Devon cried, throwing her arms up.
“You’d heal, they told me,” Len replied, now looking frightened.
“Shut up, Len,” the other said through gritted teeth. His black-colored eyes were glossy, probably from when he’d been kicked.
“No, Dean. You guys promised to turn me, but you keep putting it off. One more job, one more job. Blah, blah. Well, I’m done.” He looked at us. “I’ll tell you anything you want to know.” He glanced at his vampire cronies. “And you both can fuckin’ eat me.”
“You probably shouldn’t say that in a roomful of vamps,” Devon said with a sardonic laugh.
“Call the BSI,” Viper said to me.
“You got it,” I replied, pulling out my phone. We’d decided earlier not to kill them, but turn them in instead—help the FBI with the website case.
Gene laughed. “You guys are a bunch of pussies. Calling the cops? You think they can keep us in prison?”
I listened as Viper explained that their special prison was made to hold supernatural creatures as Nolan Bishop’s line trilled in my ear.
“Agent Bishop,” he answered quietly after four rings.
“We’ve apprehended the suspects from the human trafficking site. Two vamps, one human.”
He perked up and I could hear a lamp clicking on. “Is that so?”
“Yes, come get them before I kill them,” I replied, staring at the two vampires.
“Clubhouse?” he asked.
“No,” I replied and stated Devon’s address and apartment number.
“It’ll take me a while to get everyone assembled. Be there in thirty to forty minutes.”
“Better hurry.” I ended the call.
Dean looked over at Len. “We’re gonna kill you if we get sent to jail. You hear me, you snitch?”
Shadow punched him in the jaw. “Shut it.”
I had an idea. “Give me the tranq,” I said to Len, holding my hand out.
He cautiously removed it from his coat pocket and handed it to me. I pulled the cap off with my teeth and spit it out on the ground. I looked at the vampires in the room. “Hold Ponytail down.”
Gene protested and tried to kick out while Viper and Shadow held him down. Devon and Venom made sure Dean didn’t try to get up.
I shot exactly half of the tranquilizer into Gene’s neck before shooting the other half into Dean’s.
“It won’t knock them completely out, but they’ll be a lot more compliant when the feds get here,” I said.
“Dean and Gene. How cute,” Devon said. “Those your real names?”
Gene attempted to flip her off but began to drift in and out of consciousness.
“You’re my hero,” Devon said, putting her arms around my waist and staring up at me as we waited for the agents.
“I just want this all behind us,” I said. “Evil is evil, they had to be stopped.”
“I agree,” she said, pressing her cheek against my chest.
“Do you think they’re going to send me to prison?” Len asked as the other two dozed.
“If you cooperate, I’m sure they’ll work with you,” Viper said. “Breaking and Entering and Attempted Kidnapping are serious charges, so I suggest you tell the feds they forced you, threatened your family, whatever else you can think of.”
“Also, don’t become a vampire. It’s not glamorous. Stay human, you’ll thank me later,” I said to him, stroking Devon’s back.
Len looked down. “I’ve been bullied my whole life. I just wanted to stop being so afraid all the time. To be a badass, get some revenge. Ya know?”
“Take some martial arts classes. Learn how to shoot a perfect grouping. Hit the gym. You’ll be amazed how empowered you’ll feel,” Venom said.
“Cops are here,” Andy said into our earpieces after a few silent minutes passed.
A knock on the door caught our attention. Shadow looked through the peephole with his gun up and then holstered it before opening the door.
Agents Bishop and Shields, dressed in tactical gear, along with two other men wearing the same, came inside. “These them?” Bishop asked.
“Vamps.” I pointed to the two sleeping beauties. “Gene and Dean.” I pointed to Len. “Human, very willing to cooperate.”
Shields instructed him to stand where she handcuffed him. She looked at Bishop. “I’ll take him alone and meet you at headquarters.”
He nodded and we watched her take Len out. We all lowered our face coverings now that the Len was gone.
“What did you give them?” Bishop asked.
“Len was kind enough to bring a tranquilizer with him. We only had one so they each got half. It won’t last long, so you should hurry,” Viper said.
The two men, who I could tell were vampires, threw the thugs over their shoulders in a fireman’s carry and left.
“Thank you,” Bishop said, shaking our hands. He looked at Devon. “Are you all right?”
“Yes, I’m all good. Thank you, Agent.”
“I suggest you stay off the Dark Web, young lady.” He grinned knowingly.
“Hey. I’m older than you,” she said, lifting her chin.
He winked a green eye at her. “I know.”
Bishop headed toward the door.
“Keep us updated on the case, huh?” I asked.
“Absolutely.” He opened the door then stopped with his hand on the edge. “Thanks for not killing them. We’re going to make an example out of them. They’ll make for great training videos.”
“You got vamps working for you, huh?” Shadow asked, jutting his chin toward the window.
“Everyone’s got a price,” he replied with a nod and then left.
“Kovah’s wife’s a vamp, and she works for them,” Venom added.
“That’s true.” I looked at my love. “Do you need anything else from here before we head back to the clubhouse?”
She chewed her lip and looked at her workstation. “That stuff cost a lot of money. Can I bring it?”
Viper chuckled. “There’s a spare office next to Face’s.”
“Jemini was gonna take it,” I replied.
“We can share,” Devon said. “I like her.”
“She likes you, too.” I kissed her nose.
“Let me grab some more clothes and toiletries, then we can go.”
“No hoodies,” I said as she made her way toward her room.
She disappeared into the bedroom, and the guys looked at me. “What?” I asked.
“Just never thought I’d see you smitten,” Shadow said with a chuckle as he pursed his lips and batted his eyelashes.
“Eat me,” I said, biting back a grin and heading to the bedroom to help Devon.