Dangerous Promise by Gwendolyn Cease Read online

  Talon answered her. “Depending on the age, some vamps can still drink, Tomas is one of them. If the vamp is young, or if he or she decided to drink the blood substitute, they can’t go back. It’ll kill them.”

  “First, it drives them mad,” Quenton added, “though they rarely recognize the signs.”

  “And also makes them smell like shit,” Grimm said. “Then they die.”

  “Juan, Tomas’ brother, didn’t,” Joelle said.

  “How?” Feral asked. “A vampire who gorges on human blood always dies, since it poisons the system.”

  “He drank some of my blood,” Joelle said. “It made him well.”

  Feral shook his head then turned his eyes on Talon. “This can never get out. No Liaison will be able to walk free if this information is discovered.”

  “And this is why we’re meeting here in secret,” Kenshin said. “The only people who know are in this room. It goes no further. It’s not written down. It’s not spoken of to anyone.”

  “You haven’t heard the freakiest shit yet,” Grimm said. “Styx and I ran into a vamp that could crawl a wall like a fucking spider.”

  “Perhaps we should start from the beginning,” Quenton suggested. “We want to make sure they understand the entire sequence of events.”

  They spent the next two hours going through everything that had happened. They started with Joelle meeting Tomas at a bar and ended with the blood-addicted vampire in the alley. Once they’d all finished speaking, silence fell over the room. Quenton thought Feral and Lucian looked a bit shell-shocked. He wondered if the two of them would stick or run away. If he were in their position, he just might say fuck it and get the hell out of town. He couldn’t imagine anyone wanting to walk into this mess if they didn’t have to.

  As the conversation continued, Quenton began to have a difficult time following along. Reaper, who sat next to him, had reached over and placed his hand on Quenton’s thigh. The warmth from his palm ran up to Quenton’s cock, and it had instantly hardened. Quenton tried to ignore him, but Reaper slid his hand between his thighs. He squeezed his legs together in an attempt to stop his movements, but Reaper shoved his hand up until he could move his fingers slowly along Quenton’s length.

  Quenton finally opened his legs because he wanted to feel Reaper’s hand on him again. It took everything he had in him to sit perfectly still while the other man stroked him through his pants. He was so damn thankful for his dark glasses because he didn’t want anyone to realize what was going on. He imagined sitting with his eyes rolled back into his head was certainly a dead giveaway.

  A lull in conversation finally penetrated, and Quenton’s brain came back online. He looked around and hoped to hell they weren’t expecting him to say anything. Thankfully, everyone seemed to be regarding Feral. He took a moment to glance over at Reaper and found the man watching him. The Hunter gave him a slow wink and withdrew his hand. Quenton didn’t know whether to cry, cheer or punch him in the face.

  “I don’t think, in all my years, have I heard of a vampire doing what you describe,” Feral spoke as he slowly stroked his mustache. “This blood cult is a danger not only to themselves, but the paranormal community.”

  “All we need is some human to take a video, and we’re fucked,” Grimm said. “There’d be no way to make that disappear.”

  “I will help you hunt,” Feral said. “I also know of Ancients we can call on. We must quit hiding in the shadows and step up. We’ve left it to you few for far too long.”

  “If an Ancient is involved, we’ll need the help,” Kenshin said before any of the Hunters could. “The information Maeve discovered means that the vampires are evolving into something we’ve never seen before. We also have no idea how many are out there.”

  “We also don’t know if these things will live longer,” Styx put in. “Normally, they have an expiration date, but now, who the fuck knows?”

  “There’s no way the changes are coming from just drinking Ancient blood,” Lucian said. “It’s been tried before, and the vampires lived a bit longer, but they still ended up dead.”

  “They also didn’t turn into something else,” Charon said. “They did the normal stinking like shit, going crazy, and either dropped dead or we hunted and killed them.”

  “Grimm suggested perhaps the Ancient has a Liaison and that’s causing the change,” Quenton said. “Maeve said that if someone, who wasn’t familiar with Ancient blood, looked at Talon and Charon’s under a microscope, they might not realize what they were. Also, Joelle and Aislinn’s blood now shows more like a vampire than a human.”

  Lucian nodded. “You are changing.” He opened his mouth and in the place of regular canine teeth were two small fangs. “They will never be as pronounced as an Ancient’s, but you will get fangs.”

  Aislinn leaned forward. “That is so fucking cool. I’m going to have fangs.” She and Joelle high-fived each other.

  Quenton shook his head. Of course the two of them would be excited but imagined it was for the best. No matter what, they were changing, and there wasn’t anything they could do about it. So they might as well embrace the changes.

  “I will contact Scythe,” Feral said. “He is completely trustworthy. I know he will come to help. Besides, he owes me.”

  “While you do that, the rest of us need to see if we can contact the Ancients we know.” Talon looked around at the Hunters. “If an Ancient and his Liaison are the ones creating the blood-addicted, we’re going to need more eyes and ears on the street.”

  * * * *

  Kate drummed her fingers on the steering wheel as she waited for the girls. She tried to get to the school fairly early so she could be one of the first parents in line to pick them up. She didn’t like to sit in the car for too long, and she certainly didn’t want to get boxed in by other vehicles. If something happened, she wanted to be able to get away quickly.

  The doors to the school opened, and children started to slowly trickle out. She was the second car in line, so when the car in front pulled out, she moved up. Quickly, she put the car in park and jumped out as Olivia and Abby ran up to her. She gave the girls hugs and kisses then quickly popped them into the booster seats and buckled them in. Within two minutes, they were pulling away from the school.

  “Did you all have a good day?” Kate asked as she eased onto the expressway.

  “It was really good,” Olivia announced. “We had an assembly, and the fifth-graders put on a play. It was really funny.”

  “I don’t think it was supposed to be,” Abby chimed in. “One of the kids tripped and fell into another kid then they rolled off the stage.”

  “Was anyone hurt?”

  “No, the stage isn’t very high,” Abby said. “Besides, they fell on one of the teachers.”

  Kate nodded, trying not to laugh through Abby’s pronouncement. The little girl was sensitive about people laughing at others so Kate forced herself to keep a straight face through the story.

  “Where are we going?” Olivia asked.

  “I thought we would go to the mall to get you two new outfits, since Friday is picture day.”

  “Cool, can I get a Monster High shirt?”

  “Let’s wait and see what they have,” Kate answered her youngest.

  As the girls talked in the backseat, Kate drove and daydreamed of Grimm. The man had taken up permanent residence in her head. For the last week or so, he’d been coming over each evening to spend time with them. They played games, card and board, worked on homework and talked. Once the girls went to bed, though, it was adult game time. Damn, the man was lethal. He kissed and touched and licked until she came over and over. Just the thought of what he did to her made her nipples harden.

  The crazy thing was, he was totally focused on her pleasure, unlike the other men of her acquaintance. Grimm gave her orgasm after orgasm, but didn’t let her give him any. He told her that giving her pleasure gave him pleasure. When she protested, he told her that if he took his clothes off, he wouldn�
�t leave and neither one of them would get to work that night. She truthfully didn’t think that sounded like a bad idea, but with the girls in the house, she also didn’t want to take the chance of them coming into the room.

  She drove into the mall and parked near one of the large anchor stores. Kate always made sure she either pulled through or backed into a spot since she wanted to be able to immediately leave. She scanned the parking lot to make sure everything looked okay then climbed out to get the girls. It has been two years and nothing had happened, but she didn’t want to let her guard down.

  They went in the store and up to the girls department. Kate figured they’d start there and work their way out. Each of the girls had very distinctive tastes, and Kate usually let them pick their own clothes. Olivia, being the youngest, had to be guided a bit, but Abby very much knew what she liked. For an eight year old, Kate thought, she made really good clothing choices.

  When they walked into the area, Olivia made an immediate bee-line to the Monster High clothing. Kate let her browse then steered her to other selections, too. Abby, in the meantime, was carefully studying all the skirts. She didn’t flip through the rack as fast as possible, but took her time judging each selection.

  Two hours and four stores later, each of the girls had their picture-day outfits. In the end, Olivia had gotten her Monster High outfit that consisted of leggings and a shirt that declared she should be unique and fabulous. Abby, on the other hand, had meticulously created an outfit that consisted of a black skirt with ruffles and a top and cardigan in different shades of purple. The tights she had chosen were also black with tiny purple bows on them.

  They celebrated the new outfits by eating in the food court. Kate knew by the time they left and fought traffic, it would be going on nearly six-thirty by the time they made it home. She didn’t want the girls eating that late since they still had homework to do. She figured they’d eat and let the traffic clear out and still make it home around the same time.

  It was close to six when they finally left the mall and headed to the car. The sun was going down, but it was still light so Kate wasn’t worried. The apprehension came when she got to the car and realized it was tilting oddly to one side. As she moved closer, she realized that the two tires on the passenger side of the car were both flat.

  “What’s wrong with the car?” Abby asked. “It looks funny.”

  “The tires are flat,” Kate said as she pulled out her phone. But who to call? If she called emergency road service, she only had one spare tire.

  “You all need some help?”

  Kate quickly turned at the male voice behind her and stepped in front of the girls. The man, wearing faded jeans and a flannel shirt, smiled at her. His hair was cut military short, but his face was hidden behind a large beard and mustache. There was nothing about him that should have sent up alarm bells, but for some reason, Kate wanted him gone.

  “No, we’re fine, thank you,” she said firmly.

  “It doesn’t look like it,” he said, still smiling. “You have two flats. I can change one, but that’s not going to do you much good.”

  “And that’s why I called someone to pick us up,” Kate replied.

  “I’m more than happy to give you fine ladies a ride. I’d hate to leave you stranded out here all alone.”

  “We’re fine.” Kate backed up and began to shepherd the girls toward the mall doors.

  “My car’s just right there, so why don’t you come with me? It’ll be easier.”

  Kate could feel the menace in his tone though he continued to smile. They needed to get away. “Run to the mall, girls,” she told them as the man lunged forward.

  A security guard moved out from between the cars and shouted, “What’s going on?”

  The man immediately turned away and ran. Kate spun and hurried after her daughters. The three of them practically fell in the doors as Kate dropped to her knees and hugged the girls.

  The security guard came in after them. “What happened?”

  “I really don’t know,” Kate said, trying to steady her voice. “Our car has two flat tires, and he just showed up and wanted us to go with him.”

  “I saw the van he got in so I’m going to call it in. Why don’t we go inside the store?”

  As he called on his radio, Kate pulled her phone out and instantly dialed Grimm. Her hand shook as she waited for the call to connect. They’d known each other such a short time, but she couldn’t think of anyone she wanted to talk to more.

  “Kate?” His deep voice calmed her.

  “Hi, I hate to bother you.”

  “What’s wrong?”

  “We need a ride. The car has flat tires, and we’re stuck at the mall.”

  “Why are the girls crying? Why are you scared? Fuck it, never mind. I’ll be there. Where are you?”

  She told him exactly where they were. He told her not to move, and he’d be there since he was really close. She ended the call and hugged the girls tight.

  “Momma, I’m scared,” Olivia said.

  “It’s okay, baby, I called Grimm, and he’s coming.” Kate kissed her tear-stained face as she hugged Abby tighter.

  Olivia glanced outside. “He’s coming here?”

  “Yes.”

  She nodded and gave a watery smile. “I’m glad.”

  “Me, too.”

  Kate pulled the girls farther into the store, not wanting to be right by the doors. It was insane how quickly she went from feeling safe to being right back to where she’d been nearly two years ago. Would they need to move? Could they just change houses or would they have to leave town? They were settled. The girls liked the school they were in, and she loved the idea of being able to see Tori. And Grimm, this thing with him was something she didn’t want to give up. But if the girls were in danger then she’d have to go.

  “Kate.”

  She turned to find Grimm striding toward her. Every knot in her body relaxed as she took him in. If she were seeing him for the first time, she’d probably run for her life, but she knew him and knew he would protect them.

  He stepped forward and gathered all of them in his arms. Kate clung and breathed deeply, thankful that for once, it wasn’t all on her. She’d been solely responsible for their safety and well-being ever since Abby was a baby, and she was tired. She needed someone else to be there, wanted someone else to be there, too. She needed someone else to help her do the heavy lifting. It was such a huge burden, and they’d known each other such a short time. But something in her, deep inside, told her Grimm was the one. She would have to believe and trust.

  “Ma’am, I’ve notified the police, and they’ll probably want a statement,” the security guard spoke as he approached.

  Kate leaned out so she could see him. “Thank you so much for calling them.”

  His eyes widened as he noticed the man at her side and took a step back. Grimm was intimidating and, right now, she was glad for it. Nothing and no one would hurt them with him here.

  “What did the vehicle look like?” Grimm asked. “What was the license plate number?”

  “It was a black, Ford van, and I only got a bit of the plate number. It was two, six, five, X.”

  “Out of state or in state?”

  “In state.”

  Grimm turned his attention back to Kate, and his face visibly softened. “I have people I work with coming to fix your car. As soon as they’re finished, we’ll leave.”

  “I don’t want you to have to do that,” Kate said. “I’m sure I can get someone to fix it tomorrow.”

  “I don’t want you to be without a car. It won’t take long. I need to do this for you.”

  Kate nodded and tucked herself back against his big, solid body. She knew it was wrong to allow him to take care of things, but she just couldn’t think. Everything had happened so damn fast, and she wasn’t prepared. Anything could have happened, and there wasn’t a damn thing she could have done about it. The thought chilled her to the bone.

  Grimm he
ld them close and did everything but chew nails to calm his fury. Something had scared them, scared them enough that Kate still trembled in his arms. He wanted to rush them to his home and guard them—he wanted to destroy whatever had threatened them. He counted backwards from a thousand, breathing in Kate’s scent as he held them. He wasn’t leaving them, he didn’t care what the schedule said. He had been blessed with these three humans, they were his, and he wasn’t leaving them tonight.

  At least, he had a description of the vehicle and a partial plate. From that, whoever this person was could be tracked. Once they found him, Grimm was going hunting. He didn’t care if the man was a human. He’d scared Kate and his girls. For that, he’d die.

  The earpiece he wore chimed, and he touched it. “Go.”

  “The tires are fixed on the vehicle you indicated.”

  As soon as Grimm had gotten the call, he’d contacted Joelle, who had sent out a team. She hadn’t asked any questions, and he hadn’t offered any explanations. He’d once chased a vamp in the mall and knew the place well so it hadn’t been hard to appear in a quiet area. Driving would have taken far too long, and he wanted to make sure he was with Kate and the girls when they went home.

  “What happened?”

  “It looks like they were slashed. Whoever did it didn’t try to hide what they’d done.”

  He ended the call and pulled back enough so that he could see Kate’s face. She was still pale but didn’t look as stressed. He lowered his head and brushed her lips with his.

  “Thank you for coming,” she whispered against his mouth.

  “I will always be here for the three of you. No matter what. You are my first priority.”

  “We were scared,” Olivia said, looking up at him with tears in her eyes.

  Those words sealed the man’s death warrant. Grimm didn’t care how long it took. Whoever he was, the guy was already dead. He just didn’t know it yet.

  “Let’s get all of you home,” Grimm said as he picked up Olivia.

  He ushered them out of the store to the fixed car. They were all so quiet that his anger bubbled up again. He clamped his jaw tight to still the growl trying to escape. Not now, he told himself—now, he had to be calm. Later he could let out the beast that lurked in the heart of every Ancient, but now wasn’t the time.