Page 70 of Shadow Hunter

The Sergeant appraised Tiffany. “Your brother was a good hunter, Miss Solow, and from what I hear you seem to be quite the freelancer yourself. Perhaps if the Execution Underground ever allows women…” His voice trailed off.

Tiffany grinned from ear to ear. “Thank you, sir.”

“Brock!” the Sergeant barked. “What is this lovely young woman doing with your sorry ass?”

Damon opened his mouth to explain, but Tiffany spoke first. “With all due respect, sir, the misconception was my mistake. I overheard Caius speaking on the phone about something spreading throughout the vampires in Washington State and how it was following suit here. I assumed it to be the virus.”

The Sergeant paused and looked over his paperwork. “From what we’ve heard from our division in Seattle, there appears to be some sort of vampire organization forming, a whole separatecan of worms from this viral issue. The shit is about to hit the fan with these bloodsuckers. We need to get this under control as soon as possible.”

He folded his hands and leaned toward the camera. “This is what’s going to happen, Operative Brock. With her consent, and since her place in Caius Argyros Dermokaites’s inner circle means that she will be expected to maintain contact with his subordinates, Miss Solow will wear a tracking device that will lead us to the local vampire coven’s meeting location. Our best plan of action is to learn from the inside who is responsible for the spread of this virus, destroy as many of these monsters as we can and scatter their organization. I’m rushing in a team of hunters who will be under your command in this mission. Is that understood?”

Damon shook his head. He wouldnotbe responsible for placing Tiffany in harm’s way. Not again. She still wasn’t properly trained. “Sir, with all due respect, I’m concerned—”

“I didn’t ask you to think, Operative. I asked you to follow orders,” the Sergeant said, his gaze cutting daggers at Damon through the screen. “I said, is that understood?”

Damon glanced between The Sergeant and Tiffany. It didn’t matter that the Sergeant could make his life a living hell, Damon would fight anyone and everyone if that’s what it took to protect her, but as soon as he caught the hopeful look in Tiffany’s gaze, he swallowed his opposition down quickly. He didn’t like the idea of Tiffany being put at risk again. Not for a second. She was too important to him for that, but it was also clear that she wanted to be involved, wanted to be properly trained, and it was her choice to make. It always would be. Maybe this was her chance to create that opportunity for herself, to pave a way for women in the organization. Damon would never stand in the way of that.

Instead, he’d be by her side. Do whatever it took to protect her as his equal. Always.

“Yes, sir. I understand.” Damon nodded, his eyes darting toward Tiffany. “You may be a Shortcake, but you’re tougher than you look, Tiffany Solow,” he whispered to her.

Tiffany beamed, the pride in her smile washing his concerns away.

“Good.” The Sergeant looked at Tiffany. “Miss Solow, do you agree to act as an extension of the Execution Underground on this occasion and uphold our oaths, including putting your life on the line to save those of innocent civilians?”

“I do,” she replied.

The Sergeant gave a single nod. “That is all, then. Operative Brock, your team will be there in three hours.” He pointed a finger at Damon. “Don’t fuck this up, Brock. And hurry up and build your permanent division. I want to get the request in before the shit hits the fan with all these supernaturals crawling around your city. If anything goes wrong with this vampire raid, H.Q will blow it off until these damn bloodsuckers are taken care of, and I don’t want to risk innocent lives because you didn’t do your job. Choose your permanent team and then prep for the raid.” Without another word, the Sergeant logged off.

Damon released the breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding and slumped into his chair. Really? Pick his team now? A video had gone viral—bringing way too much attention to his city—somewhere out there a rogue vampire was hell-bent on spreading an infectious bloodsucker disease, he was expected to use Tiffany as a means of locating said psycho vamp, and yet the Sergeant wanted him to waste valuable time scanning resumes?

He let out a groan. Whether it made sense to him or not, an order was an order.

Tiffany placed her hands on his shoulders. “Are they all like that?”

Damon shook his head. “No, that’s just the Sergeant. He’s an ex-Navy SEAL commander turned E.U. hunter after his granddaughter got killed by werewolves.”

“Oh, wow.” Tiffany released him and stepped toward the door. She paused. “And what’s this about you daydreaming of me?”

Leaning his elbows onto his knees, Damon rested his face in his hands, trying to cover the fact that for the first time in his goddamn life, he was blushing. “Did he say that? I don’t recall,” he grumbled. God, the Sergeant really knew how to knock a man down a peg.

Tiffany laughed as she leaned against the door frame. “Well, since you have very little time before a group of vampire hunters starts knocking on your door...” She stood as straight as possible and pointed an accusing finger at Damon. Twisting her face into a scowl, she mimicked the Sergeant. “I suggest you get your worthless behind to work, operative!” she yelled.

Damon leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes, chuckling a little at her impression. “Fine. But I’ll never get any work done with you in here taunting me.”

Tiffany crossed her arms over her chest and shrugged. “All right. I can take a hint, but get to work.”

She left the room, and Damon watched as her deliciously curved hips swayed down the hall. A moment later, he got up and closed the door so he wouldn’t go chasing after her. He needed to focus. Clenching his hands on the desk, he thought about what lay ahead of him. Another raid with him as leader? Was he prepared to do that again, so soon after Mark’s death?

So many things could backfire. Though they did have one advantage this time, which they hadn’t had previously: an informant inside the coven.

He didn’t like the idea of Tiffany going into the coven’s meeting alone. Not one bit, but what other choice did they have?There was no other way for them to track the location, and the vamps weren’t stupid enough to allow her to bring an outsider with her. Not when they’d be on high alert already. It was the only way.

As much as he could, he pushed his worries aside. There were too many things he needed to do, and he’d heard the Sergeant’s order. As much as he wished otherwise, he couldn’t stop the Sergeant from utilizing Tiffany as a local resource. No matter how much he opposed it.

He typed in his security codes, and within seconds Chris’s face greeted him from the monitor. “That bad, huh?”

Damon met Chris’s eyes, as if to say ‘not now’. “Could you send me the resumes the Sergeant asked me to go over?”

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