The phone rang again almost immediately.
I reached for it, half expecting it to be the unknown number again and Smith's cold voice in my ear, but instead I got Marco's Italian lilt wishing me a good evening.
"Hello, Lord Marco," I said cautiously.
"Ashley, cara, how are you?"
"I'm fine." Why was he calling me?
"I am on my way to the base to speak to this new vampire," he said. His tone was light as always, but there was a hint of something steelier underneath it.
"That’s kind of you," I said. Especially for him to be leaving before dark. Old Ones didn't need to sleep during the day, but there was still an element of risk going out in daylight. Marco had shielded cars, but accidents could happen.
"I have been informed there has been another attack?"
Informed by who, exactly? The vamp grapevine? I doubted Dan would have told Marco yet. Not when he hadn't yet interviewed the victim himself. "That's something you would have to ask Dan about," I said carefully. Giving out FBI case information was not something I wanted to do. Not even to Marco.
"Your Agent Gibson is a difficult man to contact sometimes."
"I just talked to him," I said. "Try him again now and he might be free."
"And why was he calling you? To tell you about the latest attack, perhaps?"
"We were discussing what we’re going to have for dinner," I said firmly. "My aunt is visiting."
"Visiting after her house was set on fire," Marco said. "Ashley, you know I know about what is happening here. Why are you being evasive?"
"Why are you asking me questions to which you already know the answers, my lord? I'm not trying to be rude, but I'm not allowed to convey FBI information—should there be any—to outsiders. You have to speak to Dan."
"The situation is getting too serious for such trivialities," Marco said.
I'd like to see what he would do if one of his people gave away confidential information. But I couldn't actually argue his point. The situation was getting serious, and we would be in even deeper trouble if the latest victim also became a plague vamp.
"You need to talk to Dan," I repeated.
"Have you spoken to Doctor Smith?" Marco said. "Has he reemerged now that there is a development in the case?"
I sighed. "That's something else I'm not at liberty to discuss, my lord."
"I will take that to be a yes," Marco said.
"That's up to you."
"You sound upset, cara."
"I'm not upset, my lord." I was upset, but not at him. Just tired of the whole situation. After months of this case, I wanted it over. I wanted a normal life back. I didn't want to walk around worrying about the people I loved every second of every day.
"Doctor Smith is still after the information he believes you hold, I would imagine. Especially if he is losing control of his creations."
"You think he's lost control?" My focus sharpened back on Marco, my stomach clenching. "What makes you say that?"
"Because I do not understand his strategy if this is not the case. I see no benefit to him in letting these vampires out to attack people. If it is you and your information he wants, he has shown in the past he is capable of arranging to get it without drawing even more of the wrath of the FBI down on his head."
"Thanks for the reminder." I bit my lip, feeling sick. Marco agreed with my theory. Thought Smith had lost control of one or more of his plague vamps. "Say one of them is acting on their own. What good comes from them attacking people one by one? If they wanted to increase their numbers, they would be doing more. They're in the same position as Smith, just drawing attention to themselves that can't be helpful." I focused on the view outside, trying to calm my nerves.
My bedroom window looked out over the yard. Where it was a fine and sunny day. Birds were singing in the trees. The usual sounds of the neighborhood rose around me. No one was going to attack my house in broad daylight. But I wanted the conversation to be over so I could go sit with Bug again. Though it might take more than muffins to make me feel better. "I don't understand what they would be trying to do."
"They may not have a choice," Marco said. "They are young. The young hunger. And if they have always been with Smith since they turned, they may not be good at fending for themselves."
"The attack at Esteban's wasn't just random," I said. "They made sure his security system didn't capture them. You know Esteban. He's got his clubs locked down tight, and his surveillance is expensive. That takes some skill to hack."
"Ah." Marco said. "Lord Esteban neglected to tell me that part. As did your wolf."
Damn it. That was a mistake. I'd assumed Marco already knew the circumstances of the attack if he'd been asked to speak to the victim. But it wasn't as though it was a vital piece of information. The damned vampire grapevine would have told him sooner or later, and I couldn't see Dan getting upset that I'd let something that small slip. "I'm sure Dan just forgot. It seemed more important last night to find out whether the man had been attacked by a plague vamp than how whoever did it got away."
"Your wolf needs to consider both angles. It is important to consider your enemy's plans as well as to deal with his actions," Marco said.
"It's also important to know who your enemy is. And right now, we don't. Which makes it hard to know what they're planning. I hope you’re successful in your attempts to help the victim remember tonight, my lord. The FBI can only do so much to keep the news of what’s happening under control. If there are many more attacks, it's going to get out. Even if nobody knows the vampires are infectious, a spate of attacks is going to cause trouble."
"Human trouble," Marco said. He sounded almost weary. He'd been a vampire before the vampires and werewolves had come out of the darkness and made peace with the humans. Back then, vampires were slaughtered if they were discovered. And it wasn't as though humanity had immediately adjusted to the fact that supernaturals were real and everyone had welcomed them with open arms. Marco had witnessed more than his fair share of human-led violence.
"Yes," I agreed.
"Which may make what happened to your aunt's house seem tame in comparison," Marco said. "So, we need to know how to deal with them. Which returns us to Doctor Smith."
"Who still eludes us all."
"I know. The man is clever. But if one of his vampires has gotten loose, then he is running out of time. So, has he contacted you?"
He wasn't going to give up. "I can't confirm that."
"Just like you cannot confirm that Jason may have succeeded in assisting you with the problem of what your father left for you?"
"How—" I cut myself off. I couldn't ask how he knew that. That would be confirming that it had happened.
"Jason is having discussions with me about his powers. And how to use them. Last night when he came to me, I asked how you were, and he was very vague. He is not usually vague about you. He has quite strong opinions about the danger you have put yourself in of late."
"He does?"
"Of course. He is your friend. He worries. Which I imagine is how you persuaded him to try to find what was in your head. That was foolish, cara. Jason is young still, inexperienced. He is powerful, and will grow stronger, but letting someone into your mind is not without its risks."
"I know that, my lord. I've done it several times now." My tone was sharper than wise. After Tate had taken me, when I'd been worried that he'd left some sort of seed of thrall in my head that might make me susceptible to him if he took me again, Marco had looked for me and freed me. The experience hadn't been pleasant. I'd been traumatized and scared out of my wits to let another vampire in. But he'd been kind. He hadn't hurt me, and he'd taken some of the fear away. He'd offered to take the memories away, I remembered. Just like someone had taken away the memory of however my dad had managed to leave his message in my head. Clearly a vampire had helped him.
But who? Was it a common vampire power, to remove a memory totally? All vampires could thrall people and make them compliant in the moment. And memories of a thrall could be foggy. But they still existed.
I should ask Jase. Marco would know, but I didn't want to let him know too much about what my dad had done. Not yet. Not when I wasn't even supposed to let him know we'd found something.
"Including with Jason?" Marco asked.
"That's another one of those things I can't confirm, my lord."
"Ashley, you are making this conversation difficult."
"Then hang up and have it with Dan, my lord. He's the one with the authority to tell you what you want to know."
"But he is not the one who needs to hear this message first. Your wolf is not always fond of me to begin with."
He had a message that Dan wasn't going to like? Fuck. Whatever it was, I doubted I’d like it either. I gripped the phone tighter. "And what message is that, my lord?"
"That if Jason was successful, then perhaps the easiest way to draw Smith out and end this matter is to offer him what he wants."
"And what is that?"
"You."
I sat for a long time after Marco ended the call. Had he really suggested I should dangle myself in front of Smith as bait?
My body screamed a very clear “no” at the thought. My brain wasn't that happy about it either. But it couldn't quite let go of the idea that, crazy as it was, maybe it would work.
The thought still made me want to throw up. I locked it away before I made myself ill. We weren't that desperate yet. We had new leads to follow. We had some of my dad's data, and we'd have the rest soon enough.
I sent Dan a message to let him know Marco called. He didn't call back, so I assumed he was still busy at the hospital. I went back into the kitchen and ate Bug's muffins and chatted and tried to pretend everything was just fine.
I don't think she believed me, but she was pretending everything was fine, too, and didn't call me on my nonsense. It probably wasn't the healthiest way to deal with the situation, and my counselor would no doubt lecture me about avoidance if I ever told her about it, but for the afternoon, it was going to have to do.
I needed to be able to function, so I couldn't wade into the emotions swirling around us yet. If I did, I might just drown.
Bug returned to her cooking, and I set my laptop up in the kitchen, doing some client work and continuing my analysis of one of Esteban's companies. I'd been working on this one for a few days already, and nothing had come up that made me think it was the source Smith had been using, so after a couple hours reexamining the data, I added it to the cleared list.
By the time Dan returned from the hospital, I'd made a small dent in the work that had piled up, and Bug had stocked every inch of my freezer. We'd both called it quits and made a pitcher of martinis. Usually we'd drink on my back patio, but given Dan's warning to stay inside, we'd taken them into the living room and were making plans to restock Bug's wardrobe, with something soft and soothing playing in the background.
Bug told us no in no uncertain terms when we raised the subject of going to a safe house. Dan and I tried to argue, but when she started to look wobbly, I pulled him away to the kitchen.
"She's upset," I said. "I don't want to upset her more. Let's give it a bit more time. Let her sleep on it."
He nodded. Which made me wonder what, if anything, he'd learned from the guy at the hospital. If it had been something that implicated Smith, and he thought we were really in danger, he'd be hauling us off to the safe house, no matter what objections Bug might have.
But I wanted to keep things normal for Bug, so I parked my curiosity and made dinner. Bug took herself to bed early, claiming the martinis had made her sleepy. I suspected she didn't want to be drawn back into a conversation about maybe relocating and let her go.
Dan cleaned up the kitchen and was yawning by the time he joined me in the living room. The trip to Kingsville this morning had thrown off our schedule. We both still had work to do, but if he felt like I did, then trying to power through another six hours or so until the time we'd normally call it quits for the night wasn't going to be fun.
I wanted a nap before I attempted anything requiring much more brainpower. I patted the sofa beside me, and Dan sat. I let myself yawn, leaning against him.
"Don't do that or we'll both be asleep before we know it," he said. But he slipped his arm around me and tipped his head back to rest on the back of the sofa.
"Would that be so terrible?" I snuggled closer.
"There's still work to do."
"There's always still work to do." I slipped my hand under his shirt so I could touch his skin, brushing my fingers over the muscles of his stomach. "But you know what they say about all work and no play."
He laughed. "I'm not sure I'm good for much play right now."
His skin was warm under my fingers. I could convince him if I wanted to. But curiosity got the better of me. "Did you learn anything at the hospital?"
"Other than a generic description of a vampire with dark hair and blue eyes, no. The guy was at the warehouses to put some stuff in a storage unit he rents down there. There are some covered walkways between a couple of the warehouses, and he was on one of those when a vamp stepped out of a doorway and grabbed him. He doesn't remember much after that. I think he was thralled fast."
"And he's infected?"
"It's looking that way." Dan glanced at his watch. "I guess we'll find out at sunrise. The hospital sedated him, and the team from Fort Lyman are picking him up. Marco's going to talk to him once he wakes up."
I sighed. Marco wasn't going to like that.
"Marco called me earlier. He seems upset about these attacks."
Dan tensed. "He left me a message, but I was busy. What did he say?"
"Tried to get more info out of me about the case. I told him he had to speak to you. But he said he thought maybe Smith wasn't in control anymore, too. That maybe some of the plague vamps are out."
Dan grunted. I took that to mean he still hadn't made up his mind about what he thought was happening. "Did he have any useful ideas about how to catch them?"
I hesitated, pulling my hand free.
"Ash?" Dan sat up a little "What did he say?"
"He said they would be young and hungry. He doesn't know what their agenda might be, so better to focus on Smith."
"We've been focused on Smith for months. It's not getting us very far."
"Yeah, well, he had an idea about that, too."
"Which was?"
"Give him what he wants. Me."
"What the hell?" Dan growled. He sat up straighter, forcing me to sit up, too. His silver eyes flared as he stared down at me. "We're not using you as bait."
"It might work. Especially if he thinks we've made some progress on the case. Which we have."
"We're not handing your dad's data over to him either. I'm not giving him anything."
"If the plague vamps are out, or some of them, then Marco's right. And Smith. We’re going to need his help. He created them. Makes sense he might know how to cure them."
"There are easier solutions than a cure," Dan growled again.
Supernatural justice, he meant. Let the vamps deal with them their own way. Which was a measure of how exhausted he was getting, too. Because usually he was all about following the law.
But then he shook his head and slumped back against the sofa. "If only it was that simple. But some of them are innocent victims. Maybe not the ones who've stuck with Smith all this time, and not whoever is behind these attacks, but the men attacked this week are. A cure would give them their lives back."
"No one's ever cured vampirism." It was something my dad spoke about as the holy grail. But every company he'd worked for was focused on refining the vaccines to protect humans from vampires, not in offering an out to a vampire who'd changed their mind.
"No," he agreed. "I think we're talking about a cure for the infectious part. If they're not a danger to everybody, then they can just live their lives like normal vamps."
"So we do need Smith."
"That doesn't mean we need to hand him you," Dan said. "Hard no on that plan. Besides, we don't even know what's in your dad's data yet."
"There doesn't have to be anything useful in it to make him think there is. We could fake him out."
"Bait and switch still requires bait," Dan said. His expression was as stubborn as Bug's when she'd refused the safe house earlier.
I didn't think I was going to win the argument. Not yet. But I had the horrible feeling that Marco was right. To get to Smith, we were going to have to lure him out.
"Stop thinking about it," Dan rumbled.
He was right. There was no answer just now. Until we knew what was on those hard drives, we wouldn't be able to work out what the best play was. Marco would have more information from the new vamps in the morning. For now, we should focus on what we could do. But I didn't want to get back to work. Not just yet. I wanted a distraction. This day had been too intense already.
"How about you give me something else to think about?" I moved fast before Dan could react, swinging a leg over to seat myself in his lap. And then I kissed him. Hard and hungry. Feeding all that frustration and adrenaline into the one thing I knew would make me feel better.
Dan.
It was always him.
Solid ground and safety and pleasure and happiness all wrapped up in one person. He'd become the center of my world again so fast that sometimes it scared me. Because I'd lost the center of my world before.
But this time I was hanging on. And if I needed to lean into the bonds between us, to hold us together even as everything else we were dealing with tried to pull us apart, then I wasn't above using a little old-fashioned sex to do it.
Despite his protests of being tired earlier, Dan's reaction was fast. His hands closed around my waist, pulling me tighter against him, and we made out like crazed teenagers. He was hard under me, and I pushed into him, wanting him in all the places I was aching. Pleasure pushed everything else away. Made the world just Ash-and-Dan again.
"Perhaps we should take this to your room?" he said. "Don't want Bug catching us."
"Well, it wouldn't be the first time she caught me making out with a boy on the sofa," I said, grinning down at him.
His eyes, dark with pleasure, sharpened. "Is that right?" His voice was an amused deep rumble. That tone was one of my favorite sounds.
"There may have been a time or two," I said.
"Well, those were boys. I'm not a boy." He rolled his hips up, pressing into me. "And I want more than just a sofa and making out."
I wanted that, too. Wanted his skin and his hands on me. Wanted his mouth on me. Wanted mine on him.
"Take me to bed," I murmured into his mouth.
It was all the encouragement he needed. He stood, raising both of us off the couch with no effort at all. The benefits of sleeping with a werewolf. I still found the sheer power of his body thrilling. Even though I knew I had strength equal to his in many ways, I liked that he could pick me up and carry me away when that was what I needed.
And I needed it now.
We kissed as he carried me through the house. He knew the way, knew how not to bump into anything. We'd done this many times now. Each time it felt new. The sex could be wild, but beneath it all, my heart always knew it was home with Dan.
We made it to the bedroom, and Dan had just kicked the door shut when his phone began to ring.