Out of the Night (Harlequin Nocturne) (12 page)

Embarrassed, she placed her hands over her burning cheeks and grasped on to every image before it faded away the way dreams tended to do. She closed her eyes and let herself float on the sensations those memories had caused. It took only moments for her to grow truly hot and bothered again. She really should go take a cold shower and get her mind on the day ahead instead of something that hadn’t really happened.

But it’d been so long since she’d felt like that, so long that she wasn’t going to deny herself. Pushing embarrassment away, she let her hand slide lower under the covers and finished what Campbell had started in her dream.

When she finally made her way on shaky legs to the bathroom, she flicked on the light and looked at herself in the mirror, wondering if she looked different.

And she did. It took the image staring back at her to realize that until this morning, she hadn’t been truly happy in two years. A part of her that had been dormant was coming alive again. Heartache came on the heels of that revelation. She couldn’t put herself at risk like that again. It was too dangerous. Campbell might not want to hurt her, but he wasn’t always in control of his actions.

As she stared in the mirror and replayed the details of her dream, she wondered how she was ever going to convince herself that dreams would be enough.

* * *

Campbell met back up with the team at the cave just before dawn and sat on the edge of his desk as everyone gave reports of the night’s activities.

“What about you?” Kaja asked. “Where were you all night?” She raised a perfectly shaped eyebrow as if she knew exactly where he’d been.

“I went to check on Olivia DaCosta. She had two suspicious men come into her diner yesterday. Scared her and her best friend.”

The not-very-well-hidden smiles and snickers of his team faded at his news.

“It’s possible they were the guys who have been kidnapping other women. Could have been scouts. Could have been nothing more than a couple of grunts who needed some food. But it’s worth keeping an eye on the place when we can. I patrolled by the homes of the others on the list but saw nothing but a vamp snooping around.”

“But these kidnappers hit during the daytime,” Sophia said. “We can’t protect her or any of them then.”

And that fact tore him totally to shreds inside. “I have a call in to the Imperium representative here, see if he can make the NYPD listen. Until I hear back, we concentrate all our efforts on finding out who is behind this and shutting them down, hard.”

From the nods around the room, the team was in total agreement.

Campbell nodded toward Travis’s computer. “Do we have any shots at all clear enough to identify the abductors? Height, hair color, anything?”

“No. It’s as though they know exactly where the security cameras are and are very good at shielding themselves from them.”

“No demands have been made, so we know these aren’t your typical kidnappings,” Kaja said. “Those girls have been taken into the blood-slave trade. I’d bet my immortality on it.”

“Monsters,” Sophia said under her breath.

Campbell met the eyes of every member of his team. “If it takes us kicking down every vampire’s door in Manhattan to find those girls, we’re going to do it. We monitor every police report, every security camera in the city, every whispered rumor on the street. We get help from other teams if we need it. But I’m not having this happen in my own backyard.”

After forceful expressions of agreement, his team went to their respective desks and got to work, a renewed fervor in their efforts. The vampires behind these abductions had no idea what level of hurt was coming their way.

When he tried to work, his thoughts kept straying back to Olivia, hoping she was safe. His hand itched to grab the phone and call her, but it was too early. He’d already kept her up too late talking, kissing. God, that kiss had been even more amazing than he’d imagined. And stupid. Really, really stupid. Even after he’d jumped from her balcony, it’d been so difficult to leave. He hadn’t felt that human in a very long time. He’d been afraid if he left, he’d never feel it again.

And if he truly cared about her, it would be the last time he got anywhere near her. Each time he saw her, it got harder and harder to walk away, to not ask her to invite him in.

That last thought was what frightened him more than anything. If he ever lost control with her again and the worst happened, his team wouldn’t have the chance to take him out, because he would do it for them. He needed to assign one of the others to the patrol of her neighborhood and figure out how to ensure her safety during the day while he waited for the Imperium member to take his good sweet time getting back to him.

“Seriously?” Kaja said as she looked up to find Len walking back to his desk after warming up some B-positive in her mug. “Now I’m never going to be able to use that mug again.”

“We have this thing called water. You use it to wash dishes,” Len replied, then took a long drink just to further irk her.

Kaja wrinkled her nose. “I could use the entire New York City water supply and never get the stench of that vile stuff you drink out of there.”

Len just chuckled and went back to work. Kaja gave him another hard stare before resuming her work, as well.

Campbell shook his head. He didn’t know why those two were like a case of sibling rivalry on steroids, but they’d been that way from the day they’d met. He shifted his attention back to the computer screen, where he was looking through the business records for both of the companies whose vehicles had been used in the abductions. He wanted to see if someone at either place had a reason for wanting to go into business with vampires or faking the reports of stolen vehicles.

But the more he tried to concentrate on the task at hand, the more his thoughts diverted back to Olivia and how she’d felt in his arms. The way she’d talked to him as if he were just a normal guy, how she’d put herself at risk by coming out onto the balcony. She’d been so beautiful, and he’d found himself wishing he’d met her before he’d been turned, before she’d met her fiancé.

He also remembered the meals she’d been preparing the night before and how he wasn’t able to talk her out of delivering them. As his gaze wandered the room, it lit on the wall full of weapons and blessed cuffs. An idea popped into his head. Not a perfect one by any means, but something that might prevent Olivia from going out alone. Unwilling to make the necessary call in front of the others, he got up and went to his room.

He picked up the phone and dialed.

“St. Patrick’s Cathedral,” came the bright and cheery voice on the other end of the line.

“Hey, Chloe. It’s Campbell.”

“Hey there. What’s shaking in the Bat Cave?”

“Kaja and Len snapping at each other again. You know, business as usual.”

Chloe chuckled. “I swear those two are either going to kill each other or fall head over heels for each other.”

This time it was Campbell’s turn to laugh. The idea of those two together just didn’t compute. “If ever there was a story of oil and water,” he said.

“So what can I do for you this bright and sunny day?”

“That’s right, rub it in.”

“Sorry. Just trying to help you live vicariously. So do you all need more holy water?”

Chloe Ferris, the younger sister of Ethan “Doc” Ferris at the blood bank, was basically a dealer for V Force. They needed holy water to do their jobs, and her job as secretary for St. Patrick’s Cathedral put her in the position to get it for them.

“No, we’re good for now, thanks. I... Listen, I need a favor.”

“Sure, if I can help.”

Campbell stared at the ceiling and tried to convince himself he was doing this for all the people Olivia helped and not just her.

“We helped a woman a couple of days ago whose car was stolen. She was out delivering food to the homeless, which I guess is something she does on a regular basis. Travis is trying to find her car, but until then she has no transportation.”

“And you want me to provide the wheels for her meals.”

“Is that too much to ask?”

“No. I think it’s a great idea. I just wish people could see this side to you guys.”

“Maybe someday.” But again, he wasn’t sure if it was a good idea for humanity’s safety.

Chloe sighed, and he knew the look of frustration she likely wore. She’d tried, unsuccessfully, to get the church to consider the possibility that all vampires weren’t bad. To them her brother was one of the damned, a demon who should be burning in hell. Though she was one of the perkiest, happiest people he’d ever met, that particular fact weighed heavily on her.

“Before you agree too quickly, I need to tell you something else,” he said. “You’ve seen the stories of the abductions on the news?”

“Yeah. It’s awful.”

“We have information that makes us believe that vampires are behind it.”

“So this is what they’ve been talking about on the news, the humans working with vamps?”

“Yes. We suspect the Nefari, or at least someone who knows he can make a nice income off selling humans to the blood-slave trade.”

“Oh, no.”

“It gets worse. There is a list of targets and the woman who delivers the meals is on it. So she’s in danger until we catch these people. You would be, too.”

He felt awful for asking Chloe, the one human before Olivia who didn’t think they were a pack of ravenous beasts, to put herself at risk.

“Stop it,” she said.

“Stop what?”

“You’re feeling guilty for asking me when it makes perfect sense that two people are safer than one. We can watch out for each other.”

“How do you know what I’m thinking?”

“I’m an intuitive genius?” she said, a smile evident in her voice. “Now, what’s the lady’s name and number?”

Campbell gave her Olivia’s contact information and told her how to get to the diner. “I want you both armed when you go out, no exceptions,” he said. “And be aware of everything and everyone going on around you. Don’t go too far from your car.”

“Okay, Dad.”

“I’m not old enough to be your dad.”

“You will be before long.”

“I don’t age, remember?”

“On the outside.”

“Remind me why I like you,” he said.

“Because I’m impossible not to like.”

“Oh, yeah, that.”

She laughed, and he thought some guy would be very lucky to win her heart. In a world that was full of too much darkness, she was like a bright ray of happy sunshine.

“I’ll help her as much as I can,” she said.

“Thanks. You’re the best.”

“I know. If only some hot guy with a pulse would notice.”

Five minutes after the call ended, Campbell was still staring at the same spot on the ceiling and still thinking about Olivia. What had gotten into him? She wasn’t the only beautiful woman he’d ever seen, not even the only one since he’d been turned. He should be directing his attention toward a female vampire if anywhere, but something unnamed was pulling him toward Olivia. And it wasn’t just her blood type. Wasn’t even the fact that she was stunning. What the hell was it?

Chapter 11

O
livia burned with guilt all morning as she and Mindy worked to feed the breakfast crowd. She hated that she’d broken her promise to her friend, hated that she couldn’t talk to her about what had happened.

She glanced through the pass-through and saw a young redheaded woman approach the front counter. Mindy stopped clearing tables to help her.

“What can I get for you?” Mindy asked.

“I’m here to see Olivia DaCosta.”

Olivia froze for a moment before telling herself that this woman looked about as likely to be a kidnapper as Bugs Bunny. She wiped her hands and went to stand next to Mindy.

“I’m Olivia. How can I help you?”

The pretty redhead smiled. “Of course you are.” Before Olivia could ask what that meant, the other woman glanced over to where a few older guys were in the corner drinking coffee and shooting the bull. When she looked back at Olivia, she said, “I’m Chloe Ferris, a friend of Campbell’s. He sent me to help you.”

“Help me?”

“I understand you need to deliver some meals and are without wheels.” She gestured to where she’d parked outside. “I happen to have wheels.”

Mindy made a sound of disgust and stalked toward the kitchen.

“Excuse me,” Olivia said to Chloe then raced after Mindy, who was headed toward the back door. “Min, wait.” She grabbed Mindy’s arm, but she shook her off.

“You’re still in contact with that vampire, aren’t you?” The look on her face was one of wounded disbelief.

Olivia hesitated for a moment. “Yes.”

“You promised me you wouldn’t.”

“I tried. But he really is different.”

“I’ll remember to say that at your funeral.” Mindy grabbed her jacket and left, slamming the door in her wake.

Olivia stared at the door for several seconds, her heart breaking. She didn’t have many friends left, and she’d done the one thing Mindy might never be able to forgive. Slowly, she forced herself to turn and retrace her steps to the dining room. She noticed the coffee drinkers had left their money on the table and vacated the premises.

“I take it she’s not a fan of Campbell’s,” Chloe said.

Olivia shook her head. “No. Her mother and sister were killed by vampires.”

“Ah. I understand, then.”

Trying to get her mind off Mindy and how she might have just walked out for good, Olivia asked, “How do you know Campbell?”

“I work at St. Patrick’s Cathedral. I provide V Force with the holy water they need to do their jobs.”

“Are you...a nun?”

Chloe shook her head, her riot of beautiful copper curls bouncing around her face, and laughed. “That’s the funniest thing I’ve heard in a long time. No, I’m just the church secretary.”

“Oh.”

“But I like to think of myself as a covert operative.” Chloe shot Olivia a wide smile. “I sneak holy water out when the priests aren’t around. The church doesn’t do shades of gray well. It’s all good or evil, and vampires are firmly ensconced in the evil column. But I know better. My brother was turned, and he’s the same guy he always was unless he’s hungry. Luckily he doesn’t get hungry since he works at the blood bank.”

Olivia scanned the empty diner. “We’ll have to make the deliveries quickly so I can get back before lunch. Looks as if I’ll be running things by myself.” Suddenly, she wondered if talking to Campbell, kissing him, had come at much too high a price.

“Quick we can do. I have to get back to work, too.”

Olivia went to the kitchen and boxed up the dinners.

“Here, let me take that,” Chloe said, and reached for the box when Olivia returned to the front. “Campbell wants us to be armed when we go out. You got something?”

The idea of a church secretary with a weapon struck Olivia as really out of place, but she guessed over the past two years lots of people had started taking precautions they’d have never considered before.

“Yeah. Be right back.”

She made quick work of running upstairs and slipping her Glock into the back waistband of her jeans and covering it with her shirt and wool peacoat since the temperature had taken a dip overnight.

Olivia changed the sign on the door to show when she’d be back, then locked the door before hurrying outside and into the passenger seat of Chloe’s little blue SUV.

“Where to?” Chloe asked.

“Central Park.”

As Chloe zipped out of the parking space, turned the corner and dodged a garbage truck, Olivia realized how cooped up she’d felt the past couple of days and how freeing it was to be outside of her building.

“So have you done this for a long time?” Chloe asked.

“About three years.”

“Like I told Campbell, I think it’s awesome. There’s just not enough kindness and selflessness in the world anymore. People have let the fear replace them.”

“You don’t seem afraid.”

Chloe shrugged. “Don’t much see the point. As long as I don’t go out at night and don’t do something stupid, things are pretty normal.”

“Until now.”

“We just have to be cautious. Doesn’t mean we have to go around afraid all the time. That’s not the kind of life I want to lead, especially after it was spared during the Bokor outbreak.”

Olivia decided she liked Chloe a lot, really admired her attitude and outlook on life. “So how did you start working with V Force?”

“My brother was turned toward the tail end of the pandemic, and Campbell’s team found him and helped him through his transition. Now he’s sort of their unofficial doctor. Ethan told me about them and how they did their work. When he told me that their source for holy water at St. Patrick’s had died, I went the next day and made a very successful argument for the church to hire me so I could help V Force. Of course, I didn’t tell the church officials that last part.”

“If you don’t mind my saying, you have a very different attitude toward vampires than I’d say pretty much everyone.”

Chloe glanced toward her. “Except you.”

“Oh, no, I held the prevailing attitude until a few days ago.”

“Really? What changed then?”

“Campbell showed up outside my building to apologize for almost killing me.”

Chloe jerked her attention to Olivia, a wide-eyed look of surprise on her face. “What?”

“He didn’t tell you how we met?” Olivia said.

“Um, no. Wait, Ethan told me Campbell came into the blood bank recently in full-on bloodlust. Is that when it happened?”

Olivia pushed down the remembered terror. “Yeah. I’ve never been so frightened in my life.”

“And an apology changed that?”

“Sounds insane, doesn’t it?”

“Or fate.”

“I think it’s more likely I’ve gone completely loony.”

Chloe made another turn and headed along the edge of the park. “Maybe not. He’s attractive. A good guy.”

“A vampire who shares my blood type.”

“Okay, I’ll grant you it’s problematic.”

“Try impossible.”

Chloe didn’t have anything to say in response. Her inability to claim that there was a way Olivia and Campbell could maybe see where things would go caused a fresh sadness to wash through Olivia.

When they reached the area of the park where Olivia normally distributed the meals, Olivia directed Chloe to a pull-off. With the box of food in hand, Olivia made her way toward the group of people sitting on the benches passing the time, Chloe beside her.

“Olivia,” an older man said as he stood and toddled toward her.

“Hey, Herbie. Your arthritis bothering you today?”

“Oh, you know it. Weather changes and my old bones feel they have to protest. Where you been? We were worried.”

“Have had a little trouble with my car.” No need to concern Herbie and his friends any more than they already were. They had enough to worry about surviving day to day.

Attitudes toward the homeless hadn’t changed after the pandemic, so their lives certainly weren’t any easier. People in power were still more likely to hire and rent to the people coming to New York from other cities, states and countries than those who’d lived here their entire lives but who called the streets their home.

Herbie gestured toward Chloe. “You have a mighty pretty chauffeur.”

“Why, thank you,” Chloe said. “You’re a handsome devil yourself.”

Herbie got a good laugh out of that, as did the rest of his buddies.

The guys tried not to show it, but they were obviously glad to get a meal. Olivia couldn’t help wondering if they’d eaten since she’d seen them last, if the shelters that provided food had been full. Though it wasn’t her fault, guilt nevertheless swamped her at the thought that they’d been hungry all that time. Chloe endeared herself to her even more when she sat down next to Herbie’s best friend, Roscoe, who was trying in vain to get a splinter out of his finger. She pulled out her tweezers and made quick work of it.

“I think I’m in love,” Roscoe said, earning himself a kiss on the cheek from Chloe.

When they got ready to leave to head to another part of the park, Herbie grabbed her hand, then Chloe’s. “You girls be careful. We’ve been hearing awful stories about girls being stolen right off the street.”

“We’re being careful,” Chloe assured him.

Olivia squeezed his hand. “What have you heard?” Maybe he’d know something that could help Campbell and his team.

“These girls get taken, and nobody sees them again. Get taken underground. Permanent blood supply for big-shot vampires, the ones with money.”

“What else?”

Herbie shook his head. “That’s all I know.”

As Chloe drove away from Herbie and his friends, something about what he’d said was tickling the back of Olivia’s brain.

“You okay?” Chloe asked.

“Yeah.”

But she remained unsettled throughout the rest of their deliveries and all the way back to the diner. “You want to come in for some pie? I have fresh lemon meringue.”

“That sounds wonderful, but I’ll take a rain check. Got to get back to work.”

“Thank you for doing this. It means a lot. And thank Campbell for me, too.”

Chloe smiled. “I think I’ll let you take care of that last part yourself.” She glanced at the diner. “I hope you and your friend patch things up.”

“Me, too.”

By the time Olivia got inside, she had to race to get ready for the midday rush.

“Where’s Mindy?” asked Faye Jarvis, who worked down the street at a chiropractic clinic.

“She had something she had to do today.” Like be furious at Olivia.

When the last of the lunch customers left, Olivia collapsed into a chair, exhausted. The quiet began to weigh on her, making her realize how alone she was. Though he was the reason she was alone, she called Campbell since she knew he wouldn’t be asleep.

“Raines,” he said, sounding distracted.

“Hey. I called to thank you for sending Chloe over to help with the food deliveries.”

“No problems?” He sounded less distracted but still not totally like himself.

“No. We’re both back at work.”

“Good.”

“Campbell?”

“Yes?”

“Why are you helping me?” She felt as if she was treading into dangerous territory but that she had to know the answer to the questions uppermost in her mind—was he experiencing the same types of feelings she was? Was that kiss playing over and over in his mind? Did he think it was a mistake? Did he think about it at all?

He was quiet for several moments before saying, “Atonement. For what happened that first day.”

“Oh.” Her heart sank, and she chided herself for caring so much when she knew nothing could come of it. What a fool she was.

“Why did you want to know?”

“Curiosity.” She tried to sound casual and hoped she’d pulled it off. How had she totally misread the look in his eyes the night before? The urgency of the kiss? Had she simply seen what she wanted to see? “By the way, I don’t know if this helps at all, but when I was talking to one of the guys in the park today, he said he’d heard that the girls who are being taken are being kept underground. For vampires who are wealthy enough to pay big bucks for them.”

“That’s not a surprise.”

Though he didn’t sound derogatory at all, his comment felt like a slap. Maybe it was just that she wanted to be able to help and had offered up nothing useful.

“Okay, I...I don’t know what I thought. Listen, it’s busy, so I need to get back to work. Thanks again.”

“You’re welcome.”

She hung up as his last word still hung in the air, the only sound in the emptiness around her. She scolded herself for being such an idiot, but that still didn’t prevent tears from blurring her vision as she sliced a large piece of lemon pie. When she got through the rest of this day, she was taking what was left of this pie upstairs and eating every single bite. She’d eat her way back to sanity.