Sexiest Vampire Alive (26 page)

“I’ll be right there.” She stood and picked up her portfolio. “It’ll be fine, Mom.”

Her mother sighed wearily. “I hope so.”

She waved at Madison as she crossed the room. “See you later.”

“Good luck.” Madison eased up close to her and lowered her voice. “With
everything
.”

Was she referring to Gregori? “Thank you.”
Thank you for not mentioning him to Mom.

With a smile, Madison patted her on the shoulder. “You’ve always worked so hard. You deserve to be happy.”

So Madison approved? Abigail nodded and left the room.

Sure, she wanted to be happy, but could happiness be found with a vampire? She’d certainly felt happy in Gregori’s arms last night, but what if that sensation proved to be fleeting? Could her happiness endure if it made her parents unhappy? What if her mother was right and Gregori’s attraction to her faded away as she grew older? What if he expected her to become a vampire, too?

She shuddered. Kissing Gregori was one thing, but getting involved to the point that he’d want her to become a vampire, too—that was really frightening.

She should stop this now before she fell totally, irreversibly in love. Stop falling in love? A chill prickled the back of her neck.

It might already be too late.

G
regori stood when Abigail entered the Oval Office. His chest tightened, and he fought an urge to pull her into his arms. She was wearing a lab coat as if she’d just come from work, and she had a leather portfolio gripped in one hand.

“Good evening.” He kept his face blank.

She glanced at him and nodded. “Gregori.” She smiled slightly at her father and the CIA director, Nick Caprese. “I hope I didn’t miss anything important.”

“We’re just getting started.” Her father motioned to the couches, then sat in the chair at the head of the coffee table.

Gregori sat to the president’s right and set his folder on the coffee table. Abigail took a seat on the couch across from him, next to Caprese. She must be trying to keep a distance from him. Hopefully that only signified she was trying to keep their relationship a secret. He didn’t want to consider that she might be having second thoughts.

She laid her portfolio on the couch beside her, then shifted her gaze straight to her father.

“Gregori teleported straight to this office from New York,” the president told her. “Very impressive. And he tells me you practiced teleporting with him last night and did extremely well.”

She nodded. “Yes.”

She was purposely trying not to look at him, Gregori thought. “I was just telling the president and Mr. Caprese about MacKay Security and Investigation.”

“And I verified with the British prime minister that they have a good working relationship with Angus MacKay and his employees,” Caprese said.

“Excellent.” The president turned to Gregori. “So you were about to tell us about a plan you developed with Mr. MacKay?”

“Yes.” Gregori opened his folder. “Angus and I selected the members for the team last night. We’re calling it the A-Team. A for Abigail.”

Her father smiled. “I like it.”

Gregori glanced at Abigail. She was focused on his folder, her cheeks slightly flushed.

He picked up the paper on top. “This is a brief bio and photo for the team captain, J.L. Wang. He speaks fluent Mandarin and can blend in among the locals. He’s been a vampire for two years. Before that, he was a FBI special agent stationed in Kansas City. For the past year, he’s been head of security for the West Coast Coven, headquartered in San Francisco.”

“Sounds good.” The president scanned J.L.’s profile, then passed it on to Caprese, who glanced at it, then set it on the coffee table.

Abigail slid the paper closer to her so she could see it.

Gregori picked up the next profile. “The second vampire on the team is Russell Ryan Hankelburg. He was a major in the Marine Corps during the Vietnam War. He’s an expert in weaponry and survival techniques.”

The president looked over his profile. “He was declared MIA in 1971. What happened to him?”

“He was discovered by some MacKay employees a year ago in a cave in northern Thailand,” Gregori said. “We believe he was in a coma for thirty-nine years. Angus managed to revive him by transforming him. The minute he heard about this mission, he volunteered. He’s eager to serve his country once again.”

“Admirable.” The president handed the profile to Caprese.

“So not only did he wake up Undead, but he lost thirty-nine years of his life?” Abigail asked. “That must have been traumatic.”

Gregori shrugged. “He’s a Marine. From what I hear, he adjusted quickly to all his new vampire capabilities.”

Caprese scanned his profile, then set it on the table. “These two men appear to be excellent choices. I’ll have to vet them, of course.”

“Of course. As vampires, we won’t be able to do much during the day.” Gregori refrained from saying they were actually dead. It was a vulnerability they didn’t want the government to know about. “We don’t want to leave Abigail unprotected while we sleep, so we’re bringing a few day guards.”

He lifted the next profile. “This is Howard Barr. He was a defensive lineman for the Chicago Bears.”

President Tucker took the paper and frowned. “I can see why you might need some humans, but why not take Josh and Charles?” He motioned to Charles, who stood by the door.

“Or some operatives from the Agency,” Caprese offered. “They have experience in this sort of mission.”

“Yes, but they’re not going to have abilities like our day guards.”

Caprese snorted. “I say we go with a few of my men. It’ll show that you Vamps are willing to work with us.”

Gregori winced. “I’m afraid we have to insist on our own guys.”

“Why?” Caprese sat back. “What’s so special about them? Do they crap golden eggs?”

“Something like that,” Gregori muttered. He and Angus had debated this for an hour. The shifters expected the Vamps to keep their secret. But if Abigail traveled with them, she’d have to know. And if she knew, then her father should know. If he found out after the trip was over, he’d be understandably angry that they had withheld the information.

Gregori leaned forward, resting his forearms on his knees. “The information I’m about to tell you is top secret even in the vampire world. I’d like your word that it never leaves this room.”

The president and CIA director exchanged looks, then nodded.

“There is another group of . . . people, supernatural like vampires, but different. They wish to remain secret for obvious reasons. I need your word that you will never attempt to hunt them down or harm them. They have trusted us to keep their secret, and it would be dishonorable for us to betray them in any way.”

“You have my word,” President Tucker said, then gave Caprese a pointed look. “If you can’t keep a secret, leave the room now.”

Caprese arched a brow. “I was quiet about vampires for six years. I can keep my mouth shut.”

“All right, then.” Gregori glanced at Abigail, whose face had turned pale. “Howard is a shifter.” When he was met with blank looks, he explained further. “A shape shifter. He changes form at will.”

She gasped. “You mean like a werewolf?”

“The majority of shifters are werewolves,” Gregori admitted.

Caprese scoffed. “I don’t believe it.”

Abigail shook her head. “I don’t see how it’s physically possible.”

Gregori gave her a pointed look. “There are a lot of things that can be possible.”
Like a relationship with me.
Her cheeks blushed, so he assumed she’d understood his point. “If you need proof, I could bring Howard here and let him shift. He might rip the sofas in two, but—”

“Wait.” The president lifted a hand. “If he turns into a beast, will my daughter be safe?”

“Yes.” Gregori nodded. “He has complete control. And even in human form, he has super strength and speed and heightened senses. He can protect Abigail better than any human.”

“He’s a werewolf?” she asked him.

“Actually, he’s a were-bear. A Kodiak bear. Nobody’s going to mess with Howard.”

She stared at him with a stunned expression.

“The second day guard is Rajiv.” Gregori picked up the last profile.

“Do you know Maxim?” Abigail interrupted.

Gregori blinked. “Who?”

“Maxim. He’s a werewolf.”

The president stiffened. “Abby! You know a werewolf?”

“No! He’s the hero in Mom’s book . . . but I guess he’s not real.” Her face flushed. “Sorry. I hardly know what’s real anymore.”

Gregori refrained from smiling.

The president’s face softened as he regarded his daughter. “I understand how you feel, sweetie. We’ve had a lot thrown at us these last few nights.” He took a deep breath and exhaled. “Werewolves and were-bears—who would ever believe this?”

“You can add were-tigers to the list.” Gregori passed him the last profile.

Abigail gasped. “
Tigers?
”

Gregori chuckled. “Wolves, tigers, and bears, oh my!”

When the others continued to stare at him with stunned expressions, he cleared his throat and assumed a serious expression. “Rajiv has been working for MacKay S and I for a year. His tribe is from Thailand, but they originated in the Yunnan province. Came down the Mekong River, and then settled in northern Thailand. Apparently the were-tigers like to have a set territory for each tribe, and they ran out of room in Yunnan. The good news is Rajiv has relatives there, and he knows one of their local dialects.”

“And he shifts into a tiger?” President Tucker passed the profile to Caprese.

“Yes. He can shift at will.” Gregori closed his now-empty folder. “I’ll be going, too. And Abigail. So you have the six members the A-Team.”

“Why only two day guards?” Caprese asked.

“We’ll be teleporting around,” Gregori explained. “Three vampires means we can safely transport only three—Abigail plus the two shifters.”

Caprese gathered the profiles together in a stack. “I’ll let you know if I approve of these . . . men.”

Gregori gave him a wry look. “Try to do it within a few hours. The
men
are already in San Francisco. As soon as the sun sets in Hawaii, they’ll teleport there. Then they’ll move on to the MacKay office in Tokyo. In twelve hours they could be in the Yunnan province setting things up.”

Abigail sat up with an alarmed look. “They’re leaving without me?”

“You and I will follow as soon as everything is ready,” Gregori said. “The other four will establish bases around the province. Since the terrain is fairly mountainous, they’ll be looking for caves or abandoned buildings away from populated areas. They’ll set up beacons in these bases that only Vamps and shifters can hear. We use the beacons to know exactly where to teleport. And each base will be stocked with supplies: food, water, synthetic blood, sleeping bags, and so forth. I’m afraid we’ll be roughing it.”

She nodded. “I was expecting that.”

Gregori shifted to face the president. “The plan is this—careful and thorough preparation, everything set up, and then when it’s time to take Abigail in, we do a quick strike. Get her in and out as fast as possible. Two or three nights at the most. No one will ever know she was there.”

The president smiled. “I like it.”

“Laurence,” Caprese said, “I hope you realize the ramifications if your daughter is discovered. The Chinese could hold her prisoner, claiming she’s a spy.”

“I’m counting on the Vamps being able to teleport her out at the first sign of trouble,” the president replied.

“What if the Chinese realize she’s stolen some of their plants for research?” Caprese asked. “She could be in serious trouble, and your career would be over.”

“If I can save my wife, I don’t give a damn what people think of me,” President Tucker said. “I’m on my second term, so my career’s over anyway.”

“If I discover something useful with one of the plants,” Abigail said, “I’ll find a way to synthesize it so we won’t have to go back. We should only have to go once.”

“Exactly,” her father agreed. “What’s important right now is managing Abby’s trip without putting her in any danger.” He turned to Gregori. “I’m counting on you guys for that. Don’t let me down.”

Gregori nodded. Personally, he didn’t know how he could live with himself if something happened to Abigail. And if something bad did happen and the president blamed the Vamps, then they could all be in serious trouble.

He adjusted his tie. “If Abigail can give us some information on the plants, we’ll do our best to locate them ahead of time. Then we’ll take her in, grab them, and leave.”

She removed a short stack of papers from her portfolio. “I have the information here.”

“Great.” Gregori smiled at her, then turned back to her father. “Our first priority is your daughter’s safety. That’s why we’re trying to minimize the time she’ll be in China. But it would be seriously remiss of me if I didn’t suggest letting our men take care of the entire mission. With enough information, we should be able to find the plants she wants.”