Bound by Night (The Moonbound Clan Vampires) (17 page)

Chuck was well aware that Daedalus had gone outside the law to acquire vampires. Doing so would be faster and cheaper, and it would bypass regulations regarding the number of vampires allowed in specific spaces—not to mention directives regarding their treatment.

“Yes,” she said sickly, disappointment in her brother putting a cold knot in her belly, “I do. But apparently, Daedalus doesn’t.”

She could practically feel the anger steaming off Chuck. “How do you know we have her?”

“Because one of the vampires who was with her heard a hunter say he had a buyer from Daedalus lined up. So she’s got to be at one of our facilities.”

“Please,” he scoffed. “You believe a fucking scumbag vampire? You’re smarter than that.”

She went taut at her brother’s nasty words and condescending tone. “I have my reasons for believing this, so please, just check on it for me.”

He uttered a nasty curse under his breath. “Hold on.”

She waited, listening to Chuck type furiously on his computer’s keyboard.

“Got it,” he said. “Feral number eight-two-six was sent to the South Seattle B-lab.”

She frowned. Besides the main corporate offices in downtown Seattle, there were nearly a dozen Daedalus holdings around the city, from laboratories and training centers to manufacturing plants and vampire-holding kennels, but she didn’t know about a lab on the south side. “B-lab? What is that?”

There was a long pause, and the longer she waited, the more her stomach churned. And the more agitated Riker became. She heard the
clink
of ice in a glass and then the pour of liquid.

“Nicole, you haven’t been back for long—”

“What. Is. It?”

Chuck’s voice went low. Almost to a whisper. “It’s a research facility. Top secret. Only a handful of people know about it.”

“And why is that?” When he paused again, she repeated the question, sharper this time.

“Come on, Nikki. You know how those vampire-rights freaks get. We don’t need them up our asses because we aren’t giving those poor, helpless vampires cable TV in their cages or some shit.”

She couldn’t believe what Chuck was saying. “Bullshit. It’s because we’re running the facility outside the confines of the law, isn’t it?” She cursed at his lack of response. Which, really, was an answer. “Why wasn’t I told about it?”

Chuck’s pauses were really starting to piss her off. Finally, he said, “Plausible deniability.”

Jesus.
What were they doing in that place? “I need you to get Neriya out of there.” She looked over at Riker, who was watching her like he expected her to drop clues to her whereabouts or maybe just shout for help outright. “Now.”

“Nicole . . . that won’t be possible.”

“Why not?”

“The partners won’t allow it,” Chuck said, impatience leaking into his voice. Yes, it must be such a burden for her to ask for something as simple as releasing an illegally obtained vampire.

“What do you mean, they won’t allow it?” she snapped. “They have no choice. I’m giving an order.”

“That’s the thing. You don’t give orders anymore. You missed the meeting, Nicole.”

Unbelievable.
“I missed the meeting
because I was kidnapped
. I think, given the circumstances, my inability to attend a board meeting can be overlooked.”

“It’s too late. They enacted code twelve-point-two-nine of the company bylaws.”

She swallowed. Hard. Her father had made sure his offspring retained full control in the event of his death . . . unless said offspring was incompetent or unable to fulfill his or her role as CEO. In which case, after a board hearing, the CEO could be stripped of that position, and his or her company shares would go to the next in line to inherit.

Which, in this case, was Chuck.

“So . . . you’re in charge now?”

His answer was a long time coming. “Yes.”

Anger lit her like a fuse, but right now, she was more concerned about her survival than her company.
“Then you can get the vampire out of the facility yourself, in order to make the trade for me.”

“I’m sorry, Nicole. I can’t.”

Her mind spun at his incomprehensible answer. “You’re in control of the company. You can do whatever you want!”

“That’s where you’re wrong. This is a legal matter now. If I help you, I’ll risk the company and jail time.”

Her legs turned to rubber beneath her, and she sagged onto Riker’s couch. “I don’t understand. Why is this a legal issue?”

Again, there was a long, tense pause. Finally, Chuck said firmly, “Because the VHS somehow got hold of the video documenting the vampire deaths you signed off on, and it’s now on every news channel on the planet. Public outrage has grown. It’s a small minority, but they’re loud. They’re calling for your arrest on charges of cruelty and inappropriate execution.” She heard more
clink
ing of ice in a glass and the gurgle of another liquor pour. “I’m sure it’ll blow over. The majority of the population doesn’t care about a couple dozen dead bloodsuckers. The board thinks that as long as you aren’t in charge of the company anymore, the VHS will be satisfied. But that means you need to stay out of sight. At least, until we announce your kidnapping.”

They hadn’t done that yet? “You can’t be serious. Chuck, you have to get me out of here!”

“Nikki, I’m sorry. This is killing me, but I don’t know what I can do. Most of the board doesn’t know about the lab, let alone how we’ve been procuring vampires. If they find out—”

“The entire company will be at risk, and everyone involved, including you, will go to jail.”

“Yes,” he whispered.

Her heart sank. Dear God, she was screwed. He was going to let the vampires keep her. “Dammit, you’ve got to do something. You have to—”

Riker swiped the phone from her. “Listen to me, you human scum. You have twelve hours to get Neriya back to us, or your sister dies.”

Nicole sucked in a shocked breath, her heart squeezing painfully. She’d known she wasn’t exactly a guest here, but she thought she and Riker had an understanding that would at least make him a little hesitant to kill her.

He didn’t even have the courtesy to look her in the eye as he waited for her brother to reply. After a long moment, he quietly closed the phone.

“Well? What did he say?”

“He said he loves you.” Riker swore, and her heart stopped completely. “And he’s sorry.”

CHARLES MARTIN WAS
a piece of shit. Oh, he’d said he loved Nicole. He’d said he was sorry.

But it was all a load of crap. If Riker were in Chuck’s position, he’d stop at nothing to save someone he cared about. He’d spent months searching for Terese after she’d been captured. After he’d located her at the Martin estate, he’d spent months planning to free her. Then he’d spent another eight months searching for her again when she disappeared, only to return pregnant.

Chuck’s words were hollow, and Nicole knew it, too.

The devastation in her expression, her mottled cheeks, her liquid eyes, spun Riker off balance as she sat there, staring at the phone in his hand.

“He was stalling,” she said. “He had to be. He’ll come up with a plan.” She looked up at Riker as if trying to convince him that her brother wasn’t an asshole. “He will. I would. I’d do everything in my power to save him, even if it meant jail. I wouldn’t let him die. He won’t let me die—”

“Hey.” He cut off her rambling before she went into a full-blown panic attack. “You’re not going to die. I was bluffing about killing you, Nicole. Your brother might be bluffing, too,” he said, although he suspected that wasn’t the case.

She rubbed her arms again, and he felt like a heel for letting her get chilled. “But if he doesn’t come through, I’m screwed.
We’re
screwed.”

He didn’t like the way she’d said that, both because it meant that Neriya was in jeopardy and because it also implied that they were in this together. Which he supposed they were. He just didn’t like it.

“It’s not over.” He snagged the black hoodie jacket hanging next to the door. “It’s your company. If Chuck can’t help, you still have power.”

“I’ve been fired,” she said, her voice so devoid of emotion that he couldn’t get a read on her. “Daedalus is apparently no longer my company.”

“Fired?” He draped the jacket over her shoulders and carefully freed her red-blond hair from under the collar. His hand lingered longer than what was appropriate, but damn, her hair was so soft, so silky, and it looked good against the black leather. She gave him
a fragile but grateful smile, and he returned the smile like a kid with a crush. His heart even hammered in a crazy rhythm. He was a dolt. A big, vampire dolt. “Fired for what?”

Shivering as if he’d stripped her of clothing instead of giving her more, she looked down at her lap. “For slaughtering dozens of vampires in a lab.”

His heart hammered harder, this time for a different reason. Just when he’d thought Nicole was a different kind of Martin—and a different kind of
human
—she hit him with this.

“And you killed them . . . why?” He spoke through clenched teeth.

“I didn’t,” she said in a breathless rush. “Yes, I mean, the vampires were killed, but
I
didn’t order their deaths.”

“Then why are they blaming you?”

“Because my signature is on the execution order.” She lifted her gaze, the bold challenge in her eyes daring him to call into question her reasoning for signing the order.

Which was how he knew there was more to the story. Just forty-eight hours ago, he’d have believed she’d murdered dozens of vampires with no more thought than a butcher gave a cow. But now he wasn’t so sure. No, strike that. He was sure. The Nicole who had saved Terese’s ring and who had been so outraged at Lucy’s capture wouldn’t casually send dozens of vampires to their deaths.

“So what did the order say?” Putting a lid on his inner drill sergeant, he sat on the arm of the recliner, doing his best to come across as nonthreatening. Right
now, he needed her cooperation, and her asshole brother had unintentionally given Riker a golden opportunity to swoop in and be the good guy. “Why were they killed?”

“Apparently, the lab where they were being kept was over capacity.”

“They were murdered because the morons who work for you were too stupid to count?”

“That about sums it up.” She got up off the couch and stared at the wall, as if she was as lost in his quarters as she’d been in the forest.

He wondered what she’d do if he came up behind her and folded her into his arms. His desire to comfort her was beginning to become a regular thing, wasn’t it? What was it Myne liked to say?
Never dust off your give-a-shit. If you do, you keep having to use it
.

“Nicole?”

“Hmm?”

“Why did you sign the execution order?”

“I didn’t.” Tugging the jacket closed tight at the front with one hand, she started to pace. “My signature is on the paper, but I don’t know how it got there.” Frustration seeped into her voice. “I’ve stayed up so many nights going over it in my head, trying to figure out how the hell it happened. But ultimately, it doesn’t matter. Even if someone else had signed the order, I was in charge of the company at the time, so the buck stops with me.”

It was a command principle he knew well. Being a leader came with perks, whether that meant a lot of money, a lot of power, or a lot of fame. But it also came with a lot of risks. A single incident, even involving
someone far down on the command chain, could end careers and ruin a lot of lives. The fact that Nicole was willing to take responsibility spoke volumes about her character, and he found himself softening toward her even more.

He’d done far more than dust off his give-a-shit. He’d polished it to a flawless shine the way he’d polished his combat boots and weapons so long ago.

Dumbass
.

Nicole pivoted suddenly and made a beeline to his desk. She grabbed a pen and a pad of paper and started sketching a series of lines.

“What are you doing?” She didn’t reply, just kept scratching furiously on the pad, her messy mop of hair hiding her face.

Without thinking, he stood and brushed a silky strand back behind her ear. The tips of his finger skimmed her cheekbone, her soft skin. She turned, and God, when her eyes met his, it was as if there was nothing between them. Nothing holding him back from tugging her hard against him and doing what he’d wanted to do to her in the cave.

His heart thundered behind his ribs, pounding painfully hard and fast. His intense response to her shocked him. She was the enemy. This was so wrong.

The argument was weak, and he knew it. Nicole might not be a friend, or even a neutral party, but she wasn’t the enemy.

He drifted closer. Tension bloomed in the span of space between them, heavy and hot, like a summer storm brewing on the horizon. She swallowed, and instinctively, his gaze flicked to her throat.

Nicole flinched, and in less time than it took to squeeze off a rifle round, the tension snapped. So awkwardly that Riker felt sorry for her, Nicole inched away and returned to her sketches with a shaky hand. More desires bubbled up inside him, feelings he hadn’t felt since Terese was alive.

His parents had always believed he’d grow up to be a doctor or some kind of teacher, so his enlistment in the Army had been a stunner for them. Delta had literally beaten most of the compassion out of him, and then decades of fighting humans as a vampire had sucked out the rest.

Until Terese.

With her, a harsh word or a raised voice would make her withdraw at best. At worst, she’d turn into a sobbing, trembling ball on the floor. The qualities his parents had admired in him had slowly surfaced again, only to be crushed and buried even deeper than before when Terese died.

Now, it seemed, they were creeping back into his life like a team of poachers. How long would it be before his rogue emotions took him down for good?

Nicole’s scribbles started to form a pattern. A building with landscaping around the property, fences, gates . . . He tapped the paper. “That’s one of your labs.”

She nodded. “A few years ago, my uncle showed me the basic plans for all of the offices, processing plants, and research facilities so he could explain how the security worked. Daedalus designed all the labs to be nearly identical so employees, equipment, and security could be easily interchangeable.” She labeled a
room with the word
MEDICAL
, another with
STAFF
, and another with
UNKNOWN
. “Chuck told me Neriya was being held at what he called the B-lab. There’s no reason to think that its design is different from any other Daedalus lab. I’m sure I can get in through the main entrance if word hasn’t gotten out about my dismissal from the company.”