Blood Secrets-Valorian 1 (8 page)

B efore Caine and Eve could step through the door to Caine’s office, Baron Laal Bask was stalking down the hallway toward them, a maniacal expression on his pinched, pale face.

“Caine, we need to have a little talk.” He brushed by them both and stormed into Caine’s office.

The smell of fury, like the sulfur from a lit match, wafted to Caine’s nose. This was obviously not going to be a pleasant conversation.

Turning to Eve, he said, “Why don’t you set up in the analysis room?”

“Okay…” She hesitated, as if wanting to say more.

“I’ll be there when I can.”

After a brief nod, she made her way down the hall. When she was gone, Caine took a deep breath and crossed the threshold to his office.

“What’s up, Laal?”

The baron whirled around on Caine, his eyes glowing like twin headlights. “Are you mad?”

Caine brushed past him, set his kit down beside his desk and sat in his high-backed leather chair. “Not that I’m aware of.”

Laal leaned over the desk and pointed his long, bony finger at Caine. “You assaulted a detective. And a human one at that.”

Caine returned the vampire’s glare. He desperately wanted to grab Laal’s finger and snap it in half. “I didn’t assault him. I actually stopped him from striking Eve.”

Laal let out a deep breath and backed up from the desk. “You know what, I don’t care what happened. What I do care about is that their captain called Mistress Ankara and she in turn called me, yelling and screaming.”

“The usual,” Caine retorted as he turned on his laptop.

“She wants me to fire you, Caine.”

Leaning back in his chair, Caine shook his head. “She always wants to fire me, Laal, and knows she can’t. So tell me something new.”

“All right.” Laal sat down in the opposing chair across the desk from Caine. “The human woman is to be your lead on this case.”

That brought Caine forward to lean on the desk, now acutely interested in the conversation. “I have a lead. Jace.”

“Instead of being on the side, we want her on scenes collecting evidence firsthand.

Mistress Ankara thinks it would be best all around if Ms. Grant is a more prominent investigator in this case.”

“As in, best for her political aspirations with the human community.”

Laal just gave him a tight-lipped smile. The baron didn’t need to confirm or deny the statement. Caine knew exactly what Ankara Jannali was all about—domination and control.

“Eve is out of her element here. She almost got snacked on at the crime scene, for Christ’s sake.” Caine shook his head. “She’s not ready to be the lead on this case, or any other for that matter. I’ve seen her personnel file. She only has two years’ experience, and that is in the lab. She’s still green in the field.”

“Nevertheless, she is to be—”

“Jace is lead on this case,” Caine interrupted. “He’s earned it, and I won’t take it from him to satisfy our illustrious Mistress’s hard-on for politics.”

Laal smiled as if he was pleased that Caine refused the suggestion. “Then I’m taking the case from you and giving it to Montgomery to head up.”

“What? You can’t be serious.” Caine balled his hands on his desk into fists. “Monty is an incompetent ass.”

“Oh, don’t be melodramatic, Caine.” Laal leaned back in his chair and crossed his legs, in apparent joy at rattling Caine’s cage. “He’s done some good work. And he’s always cooperative, unlike you.”

“I cooperate when the suggestion has merit. This one does not. It’s a bunch of bullshit to rein me in.”

“It is what it is.” Laal tilted his head and smirked. “Now, do I transfer the case over to Monty?”

The baron knew all too well Caine’s weaknesses. The lab was his baby. He’d spent months setting it up, getting it organized, buying the equipment. All funded by his own sizeable fortune. A vampire didn’t live as long as he had and not amass some wealth. And when a man was as intelligent and inventive as Caine, that man became so rich he had more than he could logically spend. Caine had sunk nearly all of that extra money into the lab. Whether the law dictated it or not, Caine felt like he’d created the lab out of nothing, like giving birth.

Sighing, Caine slumped back into his chair. “Fine. But if she dies out there, I will tell Captain Morales that you sent her out there ill-prepared and defenseless. And your political aspirations will be destroyed.”

Rising to his feet, Laal smiled. “Well, I guess it’ll be your job to keep her safe then, won’t it?” He brushed at his suit jacket as if flicking off dirt. “Pleasure to see you again, Caine. We miss you at the Club. You should really consider rejoining, you’re looking a little tense, on edge. Nothing like a little vigorous sport to cure that.” After tipping his head, Laal headed for the office door.

“Screw you,” Caine grumbled right as the baron passed over the threshold.

He knew Laal had heard him by the way the vampire’s shoulders flinched. But he kept on going as if Caine had said nothing.

Rubbing a hand over his face, Caine leaned on his desk, suddenly exhausted. Sure, he’d been running purely on fumes for the past six hours. He hadn’t had a decent sleep, or any sleep in the past thirty-six hours due to this case. But what exhausted him was figuring out how to explain to Jace that he was moving Eve, a human, ahead of him on the case.

He could explain the politics to the lycan, but he knew that Jace couldn’t care less. All Caine’s fiercest team member wanted was to follow the clues. By nature, Jace was a tracker, born and bred to follow his nose. Now Caine was going to put a barrier in front of him.

It wasn’t going to be pleasant. Jace wasn’t the most even-tempered person Caine knew.

He could be volatile in certain circumstances, and those circumstances had now appeared.

He picked up the phone and punched in Jace’s beeper number. No time like the present to engage in deadly combat with a one-hundred-and-ninety-pound lycan.

Within minutes, Jace appeared at the open door. “Hey, Chief, what’s up?”

“Shut the door and take a seat.”

Jace lifted a brow while he swung the door closed. “Uh-oh, what did I do now?” He stalked over to the chair and flopped down into it.

Caine leaned on his desk and looked at his investigator, unsure how to proceed. Jace had a level of unpredictability that Caine didn’t like. It was probably the only reason Caine hadn’t promoted him to a level three investigator. This was going to be the case that Caine would’ve evaluated to give him that promotion.

Jace smirked. “That bad, eh?”

“I have to place Eve on lead.”

Springing forward in his seat, Jace growled, “Excuse me? I don’t think I heard you right.”

“I’m sorry. The baron gave me no choice in the matter.”

Jace exploded out of his chair and prowled the room. “I can’t believe this. An NOP

comes into our lab and takes our case. What else does she want, our souls?”

Anger swelled over Caine. He didn’t like the way Jace spoke about Eve. He understood the lycan’s animosity toward humans. Out of them all, Jace had suffered the most, despite his claims otherwise. However, his seething hatred toward Eve made Caine want to jump out of his seat and defend her. It was irrational, but the feeling was present nonetheless.

“Jace, I understand your resentment. I feel it, too, but I would ask that you refrain from using that word in referring to Eve. She has done you no wrong, and is only here to help.”

Stopping in his tracks, Jace glowered down at Caine. “Eve is only here to help,” he echoed. “What is the matter with you, Valorian? Are you attracted to her or something?

You want to nail her, is that it?”

Before Jace even had time to blink, Caine was out of his chair and looming down at him.

The urge to wrap his hand around Jace’s neck surged through him violently, like a rabid fever. He had to clench his hands into fists to stop from reaching for Jace.

“This is exactly why I won’t promote you, Jace. You are irrational and hotheaded. That may help you gain status in your pack, but the only thing it does here, in my lab, is create unnecessary tension and conflict.”

Caine could taste the lycan’s fury. It was thick and cloying, almost overpowering. But he didn’t back down. He couldn’t, not when confrontation was the only thing the stubborn lycan understood. In this lab, Caine was the alpha male.

Finally, after several tense minutes, Jace took a step back and dropped his gaze, indicating Caine’s superiority. “I won’t work under her.”

“Understood.” Caine nodded. “And I didn’t expect you to, either. This is my lab, and I run the show. She’s just going to be the star attraction for a while, like a circus act, okay?”

After a few moments, Jace’s anger abated and he slowly unclenched the fists at his sides.

He nodded, indicating his agreement.

Sighing with relief, Caine stepped back and sat on the edge of his desk. “Why don’t you take a few hours? Go home, get some rest, eat and come back refreshed.”

“Is that an order?” Jace asked, his usual humor alight in his eyes.

“Make it a strong suggestion.”

“All right, Chief.” He turned and reached for the door. Turning the knob, he threw it open and took a step out. Eve stood framed in the doorway, her eyes as wide as dollar coins, and a look of utter surprise on her face at running into nearly two-hundred pounds of solid lycan.

She put a hand to her chest, and took in a ragged breath. “Oh my God, you scared me.”

Without a word, Jace sidestepped around her and stalked out into the hallway.

Eve watched him leave, her hands still visibly shaking. “Why does he hate me so much?”

Caine pushed away from the desk and approached her. “It’s not you he hates. It’s humanity in general he has a problem with.”

“Oh well, as long as it isn’t just me.”

Caine smiled. The woman was a lot tougher than he gave her credit for. “What’s up? You look like you have news.”

Instantly her demeanor changed. Excitement filled her eyes replacing the trepidation that was there only seconds before. “I got an address off that e-mail.”

“Good.”

“108 Fallen Road.” She glanced down at her notebook. “I did a search on the address, and it looks like a business called the Red Express.”

Caine nodded. “It’s a blood bar and Internet café, and not far from the Black Heart Hotel.”

“A blood bar?”

“It’s a place vampires can go for a…drink.”

Eve’s face visibly paled and he could see her neck working overtime, likely swallowing the bile rising in her throat. Her ignorance of these things frustrated him. He assumed she would’ve done her homework before volunteering for an assignment in his lab.

“It should be no surprise to you that vampires drink blood, Eve. It would be the same thing as ingesting milk to humans. It provides the vitamins and minerals we need to stay strong and healthy.”

“I guess I never thought of it that way.” She blinked up at him, an unadulterated innocence glowing on her beautiful face. A mere century ago, he would have ripped that innocence from her with his seduction. Thankfully, he had learned to control those desires, those hungers to take and devour in any way possible. But sometimes when she stood so close, intoxicating him with her delectable scent, he vehemently cursed his civility.

Turning on his heel, he marched to his desk and sat down behind it. “Well, you need to start thinking of it. This is not San Antonio, where your human sensibilities rule. This is Necropolis, where vampires drink blood, lycans fight for dominance in packs, and witches can conjure spells with a few well-placed symbols and an incantation. Violence and bloodshed are ways of life here.”

She closed her notebook and looked at him as if she’d been blindsided. He supposed she had been. “You’re right. I’m being naive about the situation. There is a lot I don’t know or understand.” She took a few steps farther into his office. “But I want to learn, and I really want to catch this guy.”

Caine ran a hand through his hair as he eyed her. She was regarding him with sincerity and an eagerness he recognized in his own team members when the hunt was on for a killer. He wasn’t angry with her. He was frustrated with his own reactions to her. At first, there had been distaste and annoyance at having been forced to work with her.

But now he didn’t feel that way.

His anger had turned into something far more threatening to a man in his position, and far more dangerous to Eve. His growing attraction to her could only lead to disaster. And if he wasn’t careful, something even worse for them both.

“Okay.” He leaned back in his seat. “Blood bars don’t open until sunset, so we have some time yet. Why don’t you get some rest and eat something.”

When she opened her mouth to protest, he put his hand up to stop her words. “There’s nothing else you can do right now. Trace is working the evidence they have. Lyra’s still decoding those symbols. It’s not going to go any faster by hovering over them. I know.

I’ve tried it. It doesn’t work.”

She smirked. “True. I’ve been on the receiving end of that.”

“There’s a cot in a separate room off the staff area if you don’t want to go to your hotel.

You can get some sleep.”

She nodded. “I don’t know if I can sleep, but maybe I could have some reading materials to pass the time?”

He stood up, swiveled around to his bookcase, and proceeded to slide out three thick volumes of Otherworld lore. He walked around the desk and set them on her outstretched arms. “Here’s a little light reading for you, then.”

She smiled at him over the top of the books. “Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it.” Caine returned her smile. “If anything happens I’ll find you. If not, I’ll see you in a few hours.”

She turned and headed for the door.

“Oh, and, Eve, stay out of Jace’s way. He’s a little…sensitive right now.”

Glancing over her shoulder, she said, “Yeah, I kind of figured that out for myself.”

He watched her leave, and then let out the breath he was holding. He hoped it wasn’t a huge mistake having her on the case. The baron was risking more than he knew by demanding it. Eve was out of her element and it could prove to be hazardous not only to the case but to her own well-being.