I shuffled closer to Tripp and his phone. “I had spotty coverage at the club.”
“Sam,” Jo said in a sleepy tone.
Hanging my head, I said a quick prayer of thanks that nothing had happened to her. “Sorry to wake you.”
“What’s so urgent?” she asked.
“Go back to bed. I’ll talk to you in the morning.” My voice cracked on the last word, a rush of emotion consuming me. I would stake my own heart if anything happened to her.
“It is morning,” she teased.
“Go, angel,” Webb said to her. “I’ll be a few minutes.” A rustling noise came through the line then faded before a door closed. “Now, did you get any intel on Roman?” he asked.
“You might want to hear this in person, and you should wake my dad.” He’d returned earlier that day from his council meeting in Boston. My father had been promoted to serve on the Council of Elders. His job was to oversee the vampire military. In turn, Webb had stepped into the commander position, but my dad was heavily involved in what the SEAL team did. “I would rather not keep repeating myself. And it seems we have bigger problems than Roman.”
“Fuck me.” Webb growled before he hung up.
Tripp collected his phone. “I need to check on something in the control room. You and Ben head down to the war room in fifteen minutes.”
I nodded to my superior officer and was about to check on Ben when my phone chirped. “Yeah,” I answered without even looking at the screen to see who was calling.
“You’re a hard vamp to track down.” The man’s voice was brusque and one that I knew.
“Roman. How did you get this number?”
He chuckled, the annoying sound grating on my every nerve. “I have my ways. So, who were the humans?”
I let out a roar of laughter.
“You find that funny?” Roman asked.
“What I find funny is you assuming I would tell you about the humans.” I didn’t know who they were, but I wouldn’t tell him even if I did. All he’d kept talking about after the women had left was how he would hunt them down.
I had no recourse to stop him. Not yet, anyway.
“I’m curious. What did you do to piss off three gorgeous humans whom, I might add, I’m dying to taste?”
I growled low.
“You want a taste too. I saw it in your eyes.”
I wanted more than to sample Layla’s blood. Irritation scraped along my arms. “What do you really want, Roman? I don’t have time for games.”
What I knew of Roman had only been on paper. He was quite intelligent. He held several degrees in chemistry, law, and business. He’d worked for a pharmaceutical company that made one of the raw ingredients in some drug used in operating rooms. However, seeing him in the flesh gave me a newfound hunger to take him down. He reminded me so much of Edmund Rain that I was ready to snap his neck before ripping his head off.
“You realize they’ll be calling you for your help, don’t you?”
He was right. I was the only one who could bring Layla’s sister out of the compelling spell. “I’m not telling you anything about them. Is that the main reason you called?” Surely he knew I wouldn’t give him that info.
A horn sounded in the background.
“Did you know that your DNA is worth millions?”
I rolled my eyes. “So? Are you targeting me for your own scheming ways?” As head of a blood syndicate, his motives were money and power.
“Nah,” he said casually. “I found someone who is worth more than you.”
“Yeah? Who?” I knew he wouldn’t tell me, but I had to ask anyway. However, if he named my sister, I wouldn’t follow military protocol or the vampire government’s edicts.
“Tsk. Tsk. Tsk, Mason.” His tone held that you-know-better-than-to-ask attitude.
“Get to the fucking point already.”
It was too late to trace the call. By the time I called down to the control room, Roman would be gone.
“I’m giving you forewarning,” he said. “First one who gets to the humans gets to taste their sweet, savory human blood.”
I pushed my fingers through my hair, and the strap fell out. “And what did I tell you about touching the humans?”
“Since you’re tailing me, then you should know I don’t follow the law.”
“You called to goad me?”
“Just taking your temperature, Mason.” Then he was gone.
I had to get to Layla before Roman did. Otherwise, I might not get the chance to find out why she wanted me or who she was working for. More importantly, her life was at stake.
5
SAM
By the time I entered the theater-style war room, Tripp and Webb were huddled near the long conference table at the bottom in front of a giant movie screen.
Ben grumbled as he lagged behind me at a slow pace. Luckily for Ben, he would make a full recovery thanks to his vampire side.
“Doc said to keep drinking water to flush your system,” I tossed over my shoulder.
Doc didn’t have a fast-acting remedy, but he’d taken Ben’s blood to send to our lab in Boston to identify what substances the humans had used. The symptoms Ben had didn’t align with the endotoxin that some of our team members had been victim to years back. It didn’t exactly mimic the drug Edmund Rain had used to subdue vampires either.
Until we knew more, we had to be on high alert.
“The burning isn’t as bad,” Ben said, “but I feel like I could sleep for a week.”
I chuckled, the sound echoing in the ample space and bouncing off the high ceilings. “I’m ready to kick back with a case of beer.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Ben returned.
Webb flicked his chin at me as I approached. He looked like death in his jeans and scrappy T-shirt. It was rare to find him in anything but his uniform or to see the dark circles beneath his vibrant blue eyes. Since his promotion to SEAL commander, he’d been busting his butt nonstop. It was a position he’d tried to get out of, but my old man had insisted he take it.
“You look like shit,” I said to Webb.
“I can’t believe you talk to him like that.” Ben winced in pain.
I could because he was my brother-in-law, though I didn’t get away with too much.
Webb gave me one of his deadpan expressions. He was the master at hiding his emotions, something I needed to learn, particularly when I was in a challenging situation. “And you look like you’re ready to tear off some heads,” he volleyed back. “What happened tonight? Tripp gave me the short version. I want to hear everything, but we’ll wait for your father, who should be here shortly.”
Ben stood at parade rest, hands behind his back, feet shoulder-width apart. “Sir.” He bobbed his head at Webb then at Tripp, who stood next to Webb.
“Are you doing okay?” Webb asked Ben.
“I’m good, sir.” Ben focused on the movie screen behind Webb and Tripp. “Nothing I can’t handle.”
Tripp raised one eyebrow, knowing full well Ben had been whining like a baby up in the infirmary.
The side door from the control room squeaked open. My old man stalked in, ready to take on an army or two. The man didn’t sleep. His green eyes were bright. His black hair was perfectly combed, and he was sporting a close-shaven beard. Unlike Webb’s casual attire, Steven Mason was dressed to impress—a sharp black suit, crisp white shirt, no tie, and black patent leather shoes that were shinier than the big-ass diamond my sister wore on her finger.