Dangerous Promise by Gwendolyn Cease Read online

  She smiled. “Okay. But what if I need to talk to you? Sometimes I get scared. I don’t tell Momma ‘cause she worries.”

  “My number is right on her phone. You can call me anytime.”

  She didn’t look as certain as he wanted her to, but she nodded. “You can kiss me on the forehead, now.”

  He smiled and did as she bid. “Good night, Olivia.”

  “Good night, Grimm. See you later.”

  He stood as Kate entered the room so she could cuddle and kiss the little girl. He left them and took a moment to peek in on Abby. She lay flat on her back with her arms curled over her head apparently sound asleep. Grimm took the time to walk through the house, making sure everything was locked and alarmed. They’d been on their own for two years without his help, and yet he was loath to leave them. It was crazy, really. He had literally just met all of them, but they were his and he knew it.

  Grimm turned as Kate entered the room. He would have known it was her, without even looking, since her scent totally rocked his world. Okay, everything about her did that.

  “Thanks for staying with us,” Kate said, “and thanks for letting Olivia ask you a million and one questions.”

  “It was my pleasure.” He brought her hand up and kissed the palm then swirled his tongue over her flesh.

  She gasped but didn’t pull away. In fact, she stepped closer and laid her head on his chest.

  He held her and just enjoyed the feel of her body next to his. It would have been better naked and lying down, but he’d take what he could get.

  “I should go so you can get some sleep,” he said but didn’t move.

  “I won’t sleep. I never do. I usually work all night long then catch naps through the day.”

  He wanted to ask her about what Olivia had told him, but didn’t want to ruin the mood between them. There’d be time for questions later. Now, he just wanted to hold her. Moving to the couch he eased them both down so she was cradled against his body. She snuggled in and relaxed against him. Trust. She trusted him. He wrapped his arms around her, grateful for the gift she gave him. Tomorrow—tomorrow was soon enough for the questions and explanations. Right now he just wanted to enjoy the feel of his woman in his arms.

  * * * *

  Grimm walked out of the empty COM Center in search of Joelle. If anyone could get him an extra cell phone it was her. On the drive from Kate’s house, he’d decided that Olivia needed her own phone with one number programmed in—his. He didn’t like the idea of the little girl scared, and he certainly didn’t like them without him. The only reason he’d left was because the sun was rising soon. It wasn’t as if he would burst into flames or some other shit, but he would get burned and that took time and blood to heal. He didn’t want to deal with either right now.

  He tracked her down in the PIA cafeteria where she stood staring intently at the soda machine. The place was half-empty since the night shift was ready to go off and the day to come on, but Joelle didn’t notice the people buzzing around her. Slowly, she picked up a small cup and put some ice in it. He watched her a moment more, but she never chose a drink. She just stood and stared.

  “What are you doing?” He approached her.

  “Trying to decide if my love of caffeine or sleep will win. I so want a Cherry Coke, but if I drink one then I’ll be awake forever. But if I get a Sprite I just won’t be satisfied.”

  “Wow, okay, so while you’re trying to figure it out I need you to get me a cell phone.”

  She finally turned and gave him her full attention. “Why? What happened to yours? You didn’t lose it, did you?”

  “No, I still have it. I need another phone.”

  Joelle stepped aside as a tidy little woman walked past them to the soda machine. She eyed Joelle a moment before she filled up her cup. Joelle gave her a huge smile and turned back to Grimm. “And you need another phone because?”

  “Someone I know needs to be able to get ahold of me.”

  “Wait, you want me to give you a phone so some chick can call you? Tell her to get her own damn phone.”

  Grimm lowered his voice. “It’s not like that. She’s little, and she’s scared. She’s had some shit go down in her life, and I want her to feel safe.”

  “Grimm—”

  He cut her off. “Her mom already has my number, but I want Olivia to be able to call me when she needs to. Get it?” Shit, he hated having to explain himself, and he certainly didn’t like people in his business.

  Joelle smiled. “Okay, no problem. Let’s get you a phone that’ll be easy for her to use. How old is she?”

  “She’s six.”

  “And her mom?” Joelle prompted.

  “Is special, and I don’t want to talk about her.”

  “At least tell me her name.” Joelle nudged him.

  “Kate, her name is Kate.”

  “Awesome,” she said, turning to fill up her cup with Sprite as she smiled brightly at the woman who was putting a lid on her cup. “Hello, Miss Parsons. How are you?”

  The woman huffed out a breath and walked away as Joelle turned back to Grimm. “Okay, now we can go.”

  Grimm shook his head as he followed her out. He could completely understand how Joelle and Talon were made for each other. They were crazy in their own ways but seemed to balance each other out or at least that’s what he liked to tell himself. He wondered if Talon thought the same thing or if the man cared. Probably not since he was totally gone over her. His thoughts went to Kate. Was he gone over her? Fuck, yeah, he was. He couldn’t imagine not seeing her or talking to her or tasting her. Once he got the phone, he’d call her, just to check on her. No, he couldn’t. She’d probably be sleeping, and he didn’t want to wake her. He’d wait and call later to see if he could just drop by, to check on them. Then he could give Olivia her phone. He almost laughed at how pathetic he sounded. He hoped like hell she was feeling the way he did. No matter what he would have to tell her he was a vampire. He couldn’t continue to let that pass. He wanted their relationship to work and to do that she had to know the truth.

  * * * *

  Quenton entered his quarters and dropped into the chair next to his bed. Damn, he was tired. After working to get Feral and Lucian settled, he’d informed Kenshin they were in-house and had finally made it to his rooms. He hoped like hell the couple could offer some insight into what was going on with Talon and Joelle, and Charon and Aislinn. He knew one thing was certain—the women were going to live very long lives. Lucian was human, or at least, he had been, but he looked no older than thirty. Quenton wondered how old he’d been when the two men had met.

  His phone chimed, interrupting his thoughts. He both hoped and dreaded that Reaper was on the line, but instead he saw Maeve’s name.

  “Hello?”

  “Hey, let’s meet,” she said, cracking gum in his ear.

  “Huh, I didn’t know cows chewing cud could talk on the phone. It must be a miracle of medical science,” Quenton said sarcastically.

  “Whatever, we need to meet and talk.”

  “Where?”

  “What about the library? That seems to be the big hang out spot, now.”

  “I’ll meet you there in twenty minutes.” Quenton heard her disconnect and sighed. The woman had no social skills at all. He wondered why he liked her.

  Feeling tired and grubby, Quenton showered and wondered what the hell couldn’t wait. He truly didn’t feel like climbing back into his normal attire and instead pulled out a pair of jeans and a tattered sweatshirt. Most people would be stunned to know he owned regular clothes, but then again, he didn’t let anyone get too close to him. He found that letting people in tended to cause hurt, and he didn’t want that anymore.

  Two short raps announced his visitor and Quenton opened the door to let Maeve in. She was more serious than he’d ever seen her before. The two of them didn’t speak until he led her through the darkened library and into his private rooms. Once the door was closed and bolted, she turned and dropped into a
chair.

  “Dude, there’s some serious shit going on,” she said, pulling a file folder out of the bag she carried.

  “Tell me.”

  “Talon and Charon’s blood is definitely different than the rest of the Hunters.”

  “Different how?”

  “Different enough that if someone glanced at the results, they might not realize they were Ancients. In fact, they might not know what they were.”

  “Are you telling me you couldn’t tell what species they were?”

  “I can tell because I’m the goddess of the labs. But somebody who wasn’t as familiar might think they were looking at a new species.”

  “And Joelle and Aislinn?”

  “The humans aren’t quite human anymore. Their blood carries more vampire markers than human. It’s like they’re all evolving.”

  Quenton removed his glasses and rubbed his eyes. “What about the vamp that was brought in? Did you have a chance to look at the body?”

  “Uh, yeah, and he is some kind of messed up. First, he stinks and not just because he’s dead. I’m working on him in a hazmat suit and a closed lab since I don’t want any of what he’s got on me.”

  “And?” Quenton prompted.

  “I know he’s a vamp, but he sure doesn’t look like it. He wasn’t becoming an Ancient, either. He was something totally different and not good, either. His organs, muscles, tissue and bone are deformed. His brain has these weird growths on it, sort of like tumors, but they were changing the structure.”

  “Grimm said that when they saw the thing it was literally crawling the walls.”

  “I can believe it. The fingers were elongated and had…spider feet. There’s no other way to explain it. This person had hairs on their hands and feet and those hairs had even smaller hairs. In a spider, the hairs are called setules, but I got no word to describe this guy. Oh wait, creepy, that’s what I would call him.”

  “Hell.”

  “You said it. Once I’m done with the body, I’m going to burn it. All the samples I’m taking are locked up so only I can get to them. I don’t want to take the chance of anyone finding out more than they already do.”

  “Agreed.”

  She handed him the file. “Give this to the Director. It’s the only hard copy—everything else is on my personal laptop. Nowhere else. If he has questions let me know.”

  Once she was gone, Quenton sat back in his chair and closed his eyes. This thing was getting more fucked up as they went. In his gut, he knew they had to bring Feral and Lucian in on what was going on because things were going to get much worse. The two men wouldn’t be as effective if they didn’t have all the information, but he had to convince Kenshin of the fact. He just hoped the Director would listen since Quenton found that his gut was rarely wrong.

  Chapter Six

  Kate poured a class of wine and handed it to her best friend. The brunette with the royal blue streak in her hair smiled and took a deep drink. Tori, Kate had to admit, was as different from her as night to day. The other woman was tall and slender with a variety of tattoos and piercings decorating her body. She had a take-no-shit attitude and, to anyone who didn’t know her, they’d have thought she was lucky if she bagged groceries for a living and could speak without grunting. The persona Tori projected was so far from what she truly was that it made Kate laugh. The woman had graduated top of her class in high school as well as college and had just graduated with her PhD in computer engineering. Tori was visited regularly by companies longing to hire her and toss vast amounts of money in her lap. Her pat response was to smile and tell them to come back when they had a real offer.

  “So,” Tori prompted, “talk about your date. Who is he? Where did you go? And why didn’t you call me to hang out with the chicklets?”

  “I took the girls with me,” Kate said, pouring her own wine. “We went to their favorite Italian restaurant near the bookstore, and we had a really good time.”

  Tori made snoring noises. “I didn’t ask for the Facebook version. So who is he? Where did you meet him?”

  Kate hesitated. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to tell Tori about Grimm, but everything was happening so fast. She felt more for a man she’d only known a few days than she did for ones she’d dated for months. She wasn’t sure what that meant. Okay, yes, he pushed all her hot buttons, but that wasn’t it. She felt a deep down connection to him she’d never felt with anyone.

  “Kate? What’s going on?” Tori put her glass down and got her serious face.

  “Remember when we went out dancing, and the guy I danced with?” Kate asked.

  “Oh hell yeah. Mr. Sex-on-a-stick? Who could forget?” Tori fanned herself dramatically then stopped. “Him? You went out with him? Really? How?”

  “We saw him at the bookstore, and he had coffee with us.” Kate shrugged, still not sure how Grimm had gone from a guy she met in a club to…wow.

  “What do the chicklets think?”

  “They really like him. Olivia even lent him her Calina the Vampire books.”

  Tori rolled her eyes. “She barely lets me look at them.”

  “I know and Abby’s already asked when we’re going out on a date again.”

  “Okay, so the girls like him, but what about you?”

  “Truly? I’ve never felt this way about anyone.” Kate saw the look on Tori’s face and rushed on. “I know it’s fast, but there’s something there I can’t explain. He’s not like anyone I’ve ever met before.”

  “I want to meet him,” Tori said. “Yeah, he’s way good to look at, but I want to make sure he’s good enough for you.”

  “He might stop by tonight,” Kate replied, thinking about the text Grimm had sent her.

  He wanted to see her before he had to go to work. Well, she wanted to see him, too. Sunday evenings were usually a time to wind down. The girls took baths early and settled in their rooms to read. Sometimes Tori came over for wine and girl-talk before they both started to work for the evening. Kate worked in the evening out of necessity. Tori did it because she was a night person. She hated the idea of keeping regular hours in an office. The company they worked for wanted Tori happy so they let her do what she wanted. Since the two women usually worked as a team, Kate got the hours she needed. As Tori saw it, the whole situation was a win-win.

  “Would you have told me about him if I hadn’t asked?”

  Kate thought about it for a moment. “Yes, I would have. You’re my friend, and I want your opinion. This thing between us is moving fast, I know it is. He seems really serious about us, but what do I know? I mean, crap, Tori, think about him. He is utterly gorgeous, and I’m me.”

  “What’s wrong with you?” Tori asked, heat in her voice.

  “Nothing, but he and I just don’t look like we go together. When I said something to him about it, he got really serious and maybe a little ticked.”

  “He should. He’s damn lucky to have you and the girls.”

  “That’s basically what he said.”

  “So, doofus, what’s the problem?”

  Kate laughed and shook her head. “Nothing, you’re right, nothing is wrong.”

  “Momma, Momma,” Olivia yelled from upstairs, “Grimm’s here. I see him.”

  “Damn, she never gets that excited for me,” Tori grumbled as they headed toward the front door.

  Olivia hurried down the steps in her Monster High pajamas that proudly proclaimed ‘Fangs are Fantastic’, and her matching slippers. Her hair was still pulled back in a ponytail from her bath, and she looked ridiculously cute and tiny as she beamed and danced at the door until the knock came. She reached up to open the door when Grimm’s low voice came through the solid panel.

  “Olivia, do not open the door. You need to let your mom take care of it.”

  “But I know it’s you,” she shouted back.

  Kate wondered how he knew the little girl was there. Abby raced in the room at that moment. “Momma, aren’t you going to get the door? Grimm’s here.”

>   “Yeah, Momma,” Tori prompted. “Get to it.”

  Kate turned off the alarm, opened the door and stared. The man looked the way he did the first night she’d seen him. He was dressed head to toe in black and looked mad, bad and incredibly dangerous. Until he smiled. The smile disarmed her, and she couldn’t do anything but smile back.

  “Hello, Kate,” he murmured low.

  “Hi.” She smiled and was about to introduce Tori, but Grimm leaned down and kissed her. It wasn’t the hot, intense kisses of the night before. This was soft and sweet and totally melted her insides. The girls giggled, and she blushed while she let him in the door.

  He caught her hand and held it as he surveyed Olivia’s dancing form. “Nice pajamas, and I like the words.”

  “Fangs are fantastic,” she said, holding her shirt out. “I even have my Monster High panties on.”

  “Olivia,” Abby said, “you’re not supposed to talk to boys about your panties.”

  “It’s just Grimm,” Olivia said. “He won’t mind.”

  As the girls talked about who should and shouldn’t be told about panties, Kate introduced Grimm to Tori. A tiny part of her expected him to flirt with Tori since every man did. Her friend was beautiful, and Kate had seen it too many times. Instead, Grimm smiled politely and shook hands with her, but nothing more.

  “Grimm,” Abby said shyly.

  He instantly knelt down next to her. “What do you have?”

  She held out a paper to him, and Kate recognized the math test Abby had taken on Friday. The little girl has gotten a hundred percent so Kate had hung it on the refrigerator. Now, she was sharing her accomplishment with Grimm. Kate held her breath waiting for his reaction, but then realized she shouldn’t have. He carefully took the paper and studied it then smiled.

  “Wow, you did great. There’re a lot of problems here.”

  “I really studied. I like math a lot.” Abby took her paper back. “Momma always hangs our papers on the fridge. Did your momma do that?”

  “No, she didn’t, but you’re really lucky your mom does.”

  “I hate to cut this short, girls, but you need to get to bed. We have to get up early tomorrow for school.”