Bad Mouth

chapter Twenty-one


When Kade emerged from the bedroom, he had changed into his ever-present faded jeans and a fitted, plain black T-shirt. His dark hair glistened and a few small droplets of water glided from the tips onto his neck. How she wanted to lick that path. He’d shaved, too, his angular face smooth, the shadow of hair absent. It would feel silky against her lips.

He approached where she stood at the balcony window. After he flashed a devastating smile, took her hand and led her to one of the sofas. His thigh rested against hers as he relaxed into his seat. She didn’t know how she’d survive the night the way he was taking care of her.

Thanks to him, she could see how she’d misjudged the Immortalis. Thanks to him, she was close to ending the serial bloodings. And thanks to him, she had an entire team to help her find Graham. A jag of melancholy hit when she realized she didn’t have much time before her work with him would end. Where would that leave their implausible relationship?

“The boys are on their way. Guns is swinging by Graham’s apartment as we speak. Luc was at his office, but he logged in remotely to Graham’s computer so he can tell us what he found when he gets here. He’s got one of his staff to work on the phone records. We should hear back about that soon. Ezra has his subjugates checking airlines, trains, buses, rickshaws…”

She didn’t think anything could possibly make her laugh right then, but he did. She kept her eyes on the budding nightfall in front of her. “You don’t like Graham. Why are you doing all of this?”

“Isn’t that obvious?” he murmured at her ear. She turned her head. Oh, that was a bad idea. He was right there, his breath on her lips. Her pulse rocketed to know she’d kicked his heart into gear again. He dipped closer. Another millimeter and his lips would be on hers yet she couldn’t pull away. A knock at the door slammed her nerves, and she flinched. Kade froze, but his face tightened, his brow drew down, and his eyes lit up.

“Don’t kill whoever it is, for crying out loud,” she said.

He stroked her cheek and grinned. “I’ll do my best.” He didn’t open the door all the way so she couldn’t see who’d arrived, but it couldn’t have been his team or he would’ve let them in already. She gave up and focused on the balcony.

She’d nearly kissed him again, and she still wanted to.

He wasn’t the monster she’d taken him for, and he was more gallant than she’d thought. She’d been wrong all this time about the vampires. None of that fixed the disparity between them. She would age while he stayed the same. He would feed off pretty young things, which was something she couldn’t handle. Even the thought of it made her fingers curl into the sofa like claws.

She shouldn’t even be thinking long term. They’d had sex. That’s all it was. He was course and raw, not the kind of man who wanted a love of his life. She needed love, and she needed monogamy and commitment even more. She needed to trust whatever love she found. That would be difficult because Will had torn her heart to pieces but she had it in her to try again. She didn’t want to be alone her entire life.

Kade leaned over her shoulder with a large bag. Luscious, sweet-and-spicy smells wafted from it, making her mouth water. The aromas of ginger and citrus enticed her. She set the bag on the table in front of her and began to unload it.

“Oh, I’m so hungry.”

He laughed at her enthusiasm. “I know. I heard your stomach growl earlier.”

She tilted her head back to look at him. “You were in the bedroom, and I was in the bathroom.”

“Take my word for it. It was loud.”

She reached up and patted his cheek. “Thank you, Sir Lancelot.”

“I’ll get you a plate.”

“As if not having one would keep me from this feast.”

“Barbarian,” he said. His lips settled on hers in a brief, tender upside-down kiss, and then he was gone. The zing of his kiss reverberated from head to toe a few times before the food demanded her attention. She dug in with relish, using her hands until Kade returned with utensils and a plate.

“You’re not eating?”

“I don’t eat.”

“Oh, you’re one of those.” She rolled her eyes.

“One of those? I’m not being a snob.”

“Sure.”

“Really, Val.” He laughed. “I’m a prince. I’m not allowed to eat.”

Now that was just an absurd restriction. She looked up from her meal. “Why can’t you eat?”

“I’m obligated by duty to be a purist. It’s not my choice.” He glanced at the food on her plate. “Human food smells quite appealing, and I’ve always wondered what it would taste like, but I can’t try it.”

“You’ve never eaten? Ever?” she asked. He shook his head. Such a pleasure as eating good food should not be denied anyone. She lifted a fork toward him.

“I can’t. Don’t tease me.” But his eyes followed the fork to her mouth. She savored the taste and licked her lips. He tracked every movement.

“Mmmm, so good.” She sighed and raised a brow. “You’re sure?”

“F*ck no.” He scowled at her, and she loved it. Teasing him was more fun than she’d imagined it could be.

Another knock came at the door. This time, the guys had arrived. Luc and Guns wasted no time attacking the leftovers. Apparently, Killian and Declan had no qualms about eating, though Declan barely touched his food, pushing more around his plate than he actually ate.

“Hello, beautiful,” Ezra said with a smile after he joined them. He kissed her forehead before leaping over the couch and the coffee table in one move to sit across from her.

“Show-off,” she muttered. He thought that was a riot, his raspy laugh echoing against the ceiling.

“So our missing VLO agent had something naughty on his computer. Naughty enough someone felt the need to wipe the whole thing clean. There wasn’t one file left on the damned thing.” Luc looked at her inquiringly. “Anything shady he might have been involved in?”

“No,” she said. “He’s as straight as an arrow can get.”

“This means whoever he’s with is someone he knows or has had contact with,” Guns said. “We’ll need a list of any and all acquaintances of his that you know of, clients, current and previous, business associates, friends, family. We need all of it.”

Killian cleared his throat. “I looked through the Slayer records again. There wasn’t anythin’ to indicate they’d taken the man.” His words held the faint lilt of an Irish accent. “How ’bout his shitty car, Guns?” he asked. He propped his boots on the table next to the food for only a moment before Declan kicked them off without a break in his stony expression or a look in Killian’s direction.

“Not there, Ian,” Guns answered. “Wherever he’s at, he drove there of his own volition. The bulletin’s out, but I doubt it’ll pop. He’ll know people are looking for him.”

Guns’ words hit her in a most unpleasant way, and her appetite fled. She pushed her plate away on the coffee table. “You all act like he went somewhere willingly,” she said. The faces looking at her all held a measure of pity. “I know him. He would have told somebody.”

“Val,” Kade said, dropping onto the sofa next to her. “It’s a good possibility he was willing. We’ve all had a lot of experience with missing persons, especially Luc. It’s what he does for a living. We’re not saying Graham was doing anything wrong in any way. But we have to plan for that scenario or we may miss a chance to find him.”

His voice was gentle, as if he was afraid to spook her away. With a sigh, she nodded. “All right. I understand.”

“Nothing on public transit, but if he has his car, I’d expect that,” Ezra said. “I’ve instructed my subjugates to continue the search. He could have used a different name.”

“We need those phone records, Luc.”

“Working on it, boss. Those always take longer, whether I work over the table or under.”

Val eyed Luc warily. “What do you mean over or under?”

“Well,” Luc said with a grimace, as if utterly conscious of revealing his law-breaking tendencies, “if the phone service isn’t cooperative, we need a court order. Or I can slide some bills under the table. Either way takes time. I could try hacking for the records, but that takes time, too. Any way you look at it, we won’t have those records until tomorrow at the earliest.”

“What more can we do?” she asked. It felt like they were at a dead end.

“I sent a friend to confiscate Fischer’s computer at the VLO,” Guns said.

Her eyes widened. “You can do that?” He grinned at her, a dimple appearing on one cheek. From the surprised look on Ezra’s face, Guns must not smile often.

“State jurisdiction,” he answered in a cocky tone. “They had no reason to say no. Haven’t heard anything back yet on what may have been on it.”

A wave of helplessness overwhelmed her. Wherever Graham was, he’d spend another night there because they weren’t going to find him before tomorrow. Her vision blurred with tears. She bit her lip hard, trying to hold them back. She stood and strode to the window before Kade could do anything nice. If he did, she’d lose her composure completely. “I’m not sure what to do about the blooding cases. Honestly, I haven’t given them any thought today.”

“It’s all right,” Kade said. “It’s not the first time cases have gone unsolved.”

“But these are high-profile cases that have an impact on that misguided legislation. If they go into cold case files, the public will panic. They’ll think the killers are still out there, and it’ll light the fire under that bill.”

Kade only laughed. “The bastards are still out there.” He stood and gestured toward Luc and Guns. They groaned simultaneously. “What? It’s the truth.”

Val sat back down on the sofa. Her cases were shot, her legislation could destroy society as she knew it, her long-time friend was missing, and she was in lo—like with a vampire. She put her elbows to her knees and her face in her hands. Kade knelt in front of her and then pulled down her hands and held them in his.

“Everything will turn out all right, Val. I swear it.”

“Kade,” she said before she could give in to the urge to kiss him in front of his merry men, “I have to get rid of the labs from the last two bloodings.”

He cocked his head. “You’d do that? How?”

“I don’t know. I don’t want to lose my job.” She chewed her bottom lip anxiously. “Or go to jail for that matter.”

“You need to have them retest the samples,” Luc said. “But first the samples have to be replaced with ones carrying the venom, if you could call that shit venom. I hear it’s pretty good stuff. Maybe the Slavers should have gone after that market instead.”

Declan punched his leg but added in a flat tone, “It is good stuff.”

Val turned Luc’s idea over in her head. It was absolutely brilliant. This might work. She could kiss the guy. A glance at him and then at Kade made it clear to her who she’d rather be kissing.

“Luc, you evil genius. So a venomous sample it is. What blood types do you need, Val?” Kade asked, his mood markedly lighter. He pulled his cell out. “I’ll call my service.”

Val checked her notes on her phone. “Both victims had the same blood type.” She frowned. “Type O positive.”

He pinned a suspicious gaze on her. “Is this going to be difficult? I don’t want you doing it if it’s too risky for you.”

“No, it should be simple. I have access and no one will think twice. Plus it makes sense to test it again. The results were too unbelievable.”

Kade stood and addressed his team. “You f*ckers have work to do tonight. Make Daddy proud.”

Luc and Guns flipped him off and headed to the door. Ezra clapped Kade on the back, but only smiled and followed the humans. Killian and Declan both nodded to their prince.

“Have we ever not made you proud?” Declan asked.

Kade smirked. “Well, there was that one night that chick in the catsuit—”

“I remember, f*ck you very much.” The dark-haired Tracker never changed his brooding manner, even as he seemed to be joking. He kind of reminded her of Grumpy. With that, the pair left Kade and Val to themselves.

Kade smiled as if he couldn’t stop. She shoved gently at his chest. “Don’t look so happy with yourself.”

He only laughed and dialed his phone. She hit the end button before the call could go through.

“What are you doing?”

“I don’t know. Just…hold on.” She wrapped her arms around herself and considered him uncertainly. He’d stilled, his expression somber as he waited with endless patience. It was hard to look in his eyes. When she did, a crest of emotion rocked through her. She couldn’t let him call, couldn’t bear the thought of him holding some strange woman in his arms.

“I want you to use my blood. I’m O positive.”

His smiled disappeared. “Val, I’m not only making a sample. I haven’t fed since my last transformation nearly a week ago. I need to feed.”

“Why haven’t you?”

He looked away and gave a humorless laugh. “Because I was with you.” His gaze returned to hers. “Because I didn’t want my lips on another woman.”

“I don’t want that either.” Her heart pounded at what she was about to do. “I want them on me.”