Page 53 of My Mr. Vampire

“For the blood. Thank you.” He muttered against my temple before pressing a kiss there.

I turned to look at him, studying the softness that returned to his model features. His eyes had returned to their normal honey color. His supernatural glow had faded back to normal.

“You never have to thank me.”

His smile was tender, almost human until he licked his lips revealing his fangs. “But I do.”

We laid in comfortable silence for several minutes. The pain from the puncture wounds on my neck had already subsided. There was a pleasant tenderness that would remind me of this moment throughout the day.

This was pure bliss. Yet, there were still so many questions I should be asking. For now, though, they would have to wait. I nestled closer to Zand’s side, allowing myself this moment of peace before whatever was coming next.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

HARLEN

Iwas on the team now, per my brothers’ instructions. I had a meeting with Natasha, and I still wasn’t sure if I liked her. She was important to Zand, and she was a part of the package if I wanted to stay in his good graces.

I walked into her office and took in all the surveillance cameras mounted on the walls. I slouched down in the chair across from her desk, waiting for her to acknowledge me. Her fingers moved across the keyboard with military precision. Tap-tap-tap was the sound merging with the soft hum of the six monitors arranged in a horseshoe around her enormous desk. The head of security had summoned me. But now she wanted to ignore me.

Things had changed so drastically from when Zand was back in LA. My meek and well-mannered brother was a vampire boss. He was in charge of a clan. People were in his organization, and they listened to him. He was, in some ways, their vampire king. This was in complete opposition to the vamp he was just a few years ago.

My brother Alexander Valentine had amassed an empire. My brother was a king to his people. I was proud of his accomplishments. Being the brother of the King had to come with perks. I didn’t know what they were yet, but I was going to wait around and see. Chicago was a new start for me, too.

In this town, I had Morgan. She was the human whose company I enjoyed. Just like Zand, I wanted Teresa out of the picture. As much as Zand didn’t want to be reminded of her betrayal. She was a reminder that I had betrayed him. She had to vanish, and I didn’t care if that meant a voluntary disappearance or an ultimate death.

“What are you doing?” Her heavy accent jarred me from my daydreams of Morgan’s tits. “Why are you fidgeting like a child?” Natasha asked without looking at me. My eyes went down to my knees. I hadn’t realized I was even moving. “Sit still.” She ordered.

I forced my knees to stop bouncing. I leaned back and crossed my arms instead. Natasha Ivanova, The Guardian, as she was known in our secret circles. She was the closest thing to a Wonder Woman vampire that I’ve ever encountered. Not that I’d tell her that to her face. She’d probably shot me with a flamethrower for the comparison, or torture me in some sadistic way.

“I’ve been sitting here for five minutes,” I said, glancing at my wristwatch. “If you wanted me to watch you type, you could’ve just sent a video.”

The corner of her mouth twitched. “You believe yourself to be funny. Patience is a virtue, Harlen Corbin Valentine.” She said my first, middle, and last name like it offended her.

I leaned forward, resting my elbows on her spotless desk. “Yeah, well, I have patience. But I thought I was here about Teresa. I thought you had some news.”

Natasha looked up from her keyboard. She fixed her cobalt blue eyes on me, eyes that seem to catalogue every weakness. “This is precisely why I called you here. Come, to this side of my desk.”

I rose to my feet, walking around the desk and took my place behind Natasha. She tapped a key, and suddenly all six monitors sprung to life with different camera angles. My eyes focused on the grainy black and white footage from what I recognized as Chicago’s Street cameras. It took me a moment to realize what, or rather who, I was looking at.

“Teresa.” I mouthed the name of the woman that seduced me into betraying my brother.

My brother’s ex-wife moved through the footage like a ghost, her posture perfect, her stride purposeful. Even in the grainy surveillance footage, there was something seductive and predatory about the way she navigated the night streets. She wove in between humans with the grace of a shark moving through a school of fish.

“How did you find this?” I asked, leaning over Natasha and closer to the screens.

“I hacked into the law enforcement database and city traffic cams CCTV network.” She explained with no sense of remorse.

Now I really understood why Natasha was Zand’s right-hand man or woman. Not only was she beautiful, but she was also a skilled fighter. She was smart. She was the total package and someone you would want on your team. Now I wondered how he found her. Or did she find him? Zand was surrounded by people that would fight for him, and I didn’t know any of these vampires. I had no origins or backstory.

“And I’m sure you acquired those tools legally.” I joked.

Natasha ignored me, typing commands that make the footage advance frame by frame. “I tracked her from where you and Zand confronted her two nights ago. We last saw her atThe Castle’s side entrance. She walked down the alleyway going east.”

The screen showed Teresa emerging from the alley. Her face was turned away from the cameras. She swiftly moved east, then south, crossing through areas where the camera coverage was spotty. Natasha had pieced together her route like a puzzle, sometimes with only seconds of footage before Teresa disappeared again, only to resurface a few paces away.

“Do you think she knows where the street cameras are?” I asked.

“Maybe, but she’s not that smart. All the cameras aren’t visible to the general public. I find that the newer vampires seem to forget the things that were so common when they were humans. Teresa is a new vampire. She doesn’t have the time we all put into being vamps.”

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