Dark Spy’s Resolution Read online

  That was an unexpected confession. “Don’t you believe in the Fates? From what I understand, immortals credit them with happy matings.”

  “Not all immortals are believers. I doubt the Doomers even know about the Fates. They worship Navuh’s father, the god Mortdh.” Kri’s lips twisted in a smile that was more of a grimace. “It fits for an evil organization to worship a murderer who singlehandedly ended the gods’ era.” She pinned Jin with a hard look. “You should remember that when you deal with Kalugal. That’s what he carries in his genes, and I bet it’s the dominant part.”

  42

  Arwel

  Following a quick rap on the door, Rufsur entered together with another guy carrying a tray, and Arwel immediately picked up on his agitation.

  Normally, Rufsur reminded Arwel of Anandur. He was easygoing, positive, and difficult to rattle. Even the club fiasco hadn’t affected his pleasant demeanor.

  Not that Arwel had any illusions as to how deadly the guy could be. There was a reason that Kalugal had chosen him as his second-in-command, and it wasn’t his amiable personality. Like Anandur, the guy probably turned into a killing machine when it came to protecting his boss.

  But that wasn’t the reason Arwel hadn’t tried to overpower him and make a run for it. The place was locked down tightly, and Kalugal’s men who had been too far away to get back in time were locked out.

  Which led Arwel to believe that there were no escape tunnels.

  If there was a secret way into the bunker when it was locked down, Kalugal would have ordered those men to return and not stay away in the city. He didn’t have a large force, and every one of his warriors was needed.

  “Enjoy your lunch.” Rufsur opened the door and let the other guy out.

  “What’s going on?” Arwel asked, stopping Rufsur with his hand on the handle. “You seem agitated.”

  The guy turned around. “Our bosses reached an agreement. You and I will be traded for the spy. When she removes the tether, your boss is going to release me, and mine is going to release the spy.”

  Arwel’s gut twisted. “When is that going to happen?”

  “Tonight.”

  Fuck. Was there any way he could prevent the trade from happening?

  Maybe he could talk to Kalugal?

  Except since the abduction, Areana’s son didn’t seem interested in them.

  “Is your boss going to visit us at all? I find it curious that he hasn’t bothered to do so after going to all the trouble of kidnapping Jacki and me.”

  “Kalugal promised Kian not to interrogate you, so he has no reason to come here. If the spy sees him talking with you or Jacki and reports it to your boss, he might reach the wrong conclusion.”

  That explained it. Since it seemed like he would get traded without ever talking to Kalugal, Arwel’s only chance was to convince Jin not to do that. And the only way to communicate with her was to keep talking to Jacki about it over and over again.

  “I’ll come again with your dinner.” Rufsur looked at Jacki and cracked a lopsided smile. “Which will probably be the last time we see each other.” He ran a hand over the back of his neck. “Unless you are willing to go out on a date with me once this is all over.”

  “I’ll give it some thought.”

  Even without engaging his empathic ability, Arwel knew that she had no such intention. Rufsur was a good-looking fellow, and he had treated them both well, but Jacki wasn’t attracted to him.

  It was easy to sense the guy’s disappointment, but that wasn’t the emotion Arwel was interested in. What he wanted to know was the reason for Rufsur’s agitation. Since he should have a good idea about Kalugal’s plans for Jin, he might be afraid for his life.

  Then again, he was probably expecting treatment similar to what he would have gotten at Navuh’s camp, and that was reason enough to worry.

  Arwel could alleviate his concerns, and if Rufsur was still nervous after that, it wouldn’t bode well for Jin’s prospects of survival.

  “You have nothing to worry about from my people.” Arwel pushed to his feet and offered Rufsur his hand. “You’ve been cordial to Jacki and me, and I’m going to make sure that you’re treated just as well by my friends.”

  It could be that the only reason for Rufsur's exemplary behavior was Jin’s tether to Jacki, but Arwel could at least pretend to believe that Rufsur’s gentlemanly act hadn’t been for Jin and Kian’s benefit. “The clan is not like the Brotherhood. No one is going to beat you up or torture you for information.”

  As Rufsur took Arwel’s offered hand, his relief was palpable. “I’d appreciate you putting in a good word for me, but I want you to know that I didn’t expect anything in return for treating you right. Even though I was raised in the Brotherhood, I’m not like them. I left with Kalugal for a reason.”

  “He didn’t compel you?”

  “He only compelled our silence. We were free to choose.”

  “How many chose to join him?”

  Smiling, Rufsur shook his head. “You sly dog. I was being nice, and you are trying to get strategic information out of me.”

  “That wasn’t my intention. I’m curious about the percentage of Doomers who decided to stay behind. I don’t need to know the numbers. Just the ratio.”

  “Doomers?” Rufsur arched a brow. “Are you referring to Brothers?”

  Arwel stifled a smirk. “Doom is the acronym of Navuh’s organization. We nicknamed the members, Doomers.”

  “I see.” Rufsur chuckled. “Kalugal will have a good laugh when he hears that.”

  The fondness in Rufsur’s tone helped Arwel relax a little further. The guy liked his boss, and hopefully the feeling was reciprocated. Kalugal wouldn’t sacrifice a man who he considered a friend.

  “I hope your boss has a good sense of humor.”

  “He does.” Rufsur rubbed the back of his neck. “Kalugal handpicked each of his men. We were not the average Brothers, and when he decided to run, most of us followed him. On our own in the big world, we have become like real brothers. You might think that Kalugal runs a military organization, but that’s not how it is. We are a family. But don’t think we would be easy to take down. We are all warriors as well, and we've kept up with our training.”

  “I have no doubt.”

  In that regard, Kalugal’s people were not that different from Arwel’s. Annani’s clan was a family first and an organization second. The difference was that clan members were related to each other either by blood or by mating, while Kalugal’s men were not.

  Still, Arwel chose to believe that their bonds of friendship were just as strong as those of blood, and that if Kalugal could help it, he wouldn’t let harm come to his second-in-command.

  43

  Wendy

  Wendy kicked at a patch of snow. “Do you know how far it is to the town center?”

  “It’s far, and we can’t go there. You need to stay hidden.”

  She huffed out a breath. “No one is looking for me in Big Bear. It’s not like my wanted poster is plastered on every utility pole.” She leaned on his arm. “Imagine how nice it would be to get a cup of coffee and maybe even a piece of cake.”

  She didn’t have any money, but Vlad did. He wouldn’t mind paying for her. “Can you check on your phone? The map application can tell us how far it is on foot.”

  Reluctantly, Vlad reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. Wendy had seen him use it before, but she hadn’t noticed whether it was one of those new models that were unlocked by scanning his face or a fingerprint. If she were lucky, it would be a simple phone that required a numerical code, and she could memorize it.

  Her prayers were answered when Vlad punched in a series of six numbers that were surprisingly easy to remember.

  Why would he use a stupid code like that?

  The guy was too naive for his own good. Naturally, she wasn’t going to comment on it and let him know that she now knew how to unlock his phone.

  “The town center is on the
other side of the lake. It would take an hour and a half for us to get there.” He showed her their location on the map.

  “That’s not too bad. We can make it there and back before nightfall.”

  “I’m not taking you there. If we are gone for more than an hour, Mey is going to send Bowen or Leon after us.”

  “Bummer.” She let her chin drop.

  Since the coffee shop plan wasn’t going to happen, she needed to come up with a different one.

  Could she take Vlad’s phone without him noticing it?

  She could pretend to need to pee, which wouldn’t be a lie, go hide behind some rocks and make the call. Vlad might notice the outgoing call she’d placed to a number he didn’t know, but by then, Director Simmons would have sent people for them.

  Perhaps she could ask Vlad to give her the phone while she went to take care of business because she needed the flashlight feature?

  Peeing in nature was a potentially dangerous endeavor, and he knew how scared she was of spiders and other creepy crawlies that might be lurking between the rocks.

  But what if he refused?

  This might be her only chance, and she didn’t want to risk blowing it. The best thing would be to steal the phone, and to do so, she would have to kiss the boy.

  He would be too stunned to pay attention to anything other than her lips on his. And if she used her tongue, he was probably going to faint.

  The problem was that Wendy had never kissed a boy, and her knowledge of kissing was based on movies and romance books. Still, it shouldn’t be too difficult, especially since she was quite sure Vlad was just as inexperienced as she was. Even if she was a bad kisser, he probably wouldn’t know if he had no one to compare her to.

  “Vlad?”

  He looked down at her. “Yes?”

  “Did you ever kiss a girl?”

  His cheeks reddened. “Of course.”

  “I mean a romantic kiss, not a kiss you give your cousin or your aunt.”

  His cheeks turned crimson. “No,” he admitted.

  “Neither did I. I mean kiss a boy, not a girl.”

  “Really?” He smiled shyly. “I was sure that a pretty girl like you must’ve gotten plenty of kisses.”

  The guy was just too sweet.

  “I’ve never wanted to kiss anyone before.”

  Vlad stumbled, but managed to stop himself from falling and turned to her. “And now you do?”

  Wendy nodded. “I like you, and I feel safe with you. I haven’t felt that way about any other guy.”

  She wasn’t lying. Not about that.

  What a pity that after he discovered her betrayal, Vlad was going to hate her guts.

  But it was for the best.

  Her future had no place for a boyfriend, but Wendy wasn’t sure that she was strong enough to push Vlad away. The betrayal would do that for her. She might cry a few tears, but she’d get over it.

  Lifting to her toes, she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him down. “Let’s be each other’s firsts.”

  With a pained sigh, Vlad closed his eyes, but he didn’t bring his mouth any closer to hers, probably waiting for her to close the distance. Which was fine by her.

  Wendy the seductress was about to be born.

  Lowering her hands to his shoulders, she kept going down until she reached his lower back. He’d put his phone in the back pocket of his jeans, which meant that she would have to cup his ass to get it.

  That would shock him for sure.

  His lips were a mere inch away from hers, but closing that distance took a monumental effort. With butterflies flapping frantic wings in her stomach, partially in excited anticipation of her first kiss and partially in fear, Wendy put her mouth on Vlad’s.

  As her body got hit by a thousand volts of electricity, it was a miracle that she retained the presence of mind to pull the phone out of his pocket and slip it into the sleeve of her puffer coat.

  Once her mission was accomplished, though, her mind did what it had always done in times of extreme stress. It disassociated from the deceit and immersed itself in the incredible experience of her first kiss.

  44

  Vlad

  As Wendy’s lips touched his, Vlad felt like he was getting zapped with a high-voltage current. The overload of sensations short-circuited his brain, and there was a brief moment of blackout, but then his neural system rebooted, reawakening completely rewired.

  Suddenly, there was something primal and feral inside him that was utterly new and yet familiar. It felt real, it was still him, but different.

  That ferocity that had lain dormant until now burst into existence, and he welcomed it like the first breath of truly fresh air after a lifetime of staleness.

  Vlad felt invincible.

  His arms, which had been hanging by his sides, shot around Wendy, and he lifted her up, crushing her against his chest and taking over the kiss.

  With a husky moan, she melted into him, and as his tongue darted experimentally to lick at the seam of her lips, she opened up for him. At the first taste of her, Vlad got light-headed and nearly lost his footing, but he wasn’t going to let her fall no matter what.

  Somehow, he knew what to do, and nothing about the kiss felt awkward, but it was sure as hell overwhelming. He wanted to consume Wendy, to become one with her and never let go.

  Hell, he wanted to strip them both naked and make love to her right there on the ground.

  As frantic as the kissing was, Vlad was aware of how crazy those thoughts were. He couldn’t act on them, mainly because Wendy was human, and the ground was too cold and too rough for her, but also because she wasn’t ready for that.

  Her humanity became painfully obvious when her small hands pushed on his chest, and he realized that she’d run out of breath.

  As Vlad let go of her mouth, Wendy sucked in a long gulp of air. “Oh, wow. That was one hell of a kiss. Are you sure it was your first? You are a natural.” She touched her lips with two trembling fingers. “Wow.”

  He couldn’t answer because his damn fangs were fully elongated. Instead, he nodded and lowered her gently until her feet touched the ground.

  They were out in the daylight, so Vlad could get away with the glow in his eyes, but the fangs were another story. He needed a few moments to beat them into submission.

  “I need to pee.” Wendy started shifting from foot to foot. “It must be because of all the excitement.” She giggled as she glanced around. “I need to find a bush or rock to hide behind.”

  He just nodded again.

  “I’ll be right back.” She jogged toward an outcropping of rocks.

  “Slow down!” he called after her while shielding his mouth with his hand. “You don’t want to fall and break something!”

  Wendy waved a dismissive hand in his direction, but she did as he asked and switched to a fast walk.

  He expected her to stop by the rocks, but she kept on going toward a larger outcropping further away. Was she that concerned about him hearing her pee?

  For a human, the first hiding place would have been far enough, and Wendy didn’t know about his super-hearing, but perhaps she needed a few more moments to collect herself as well.

  He was still panting like a locomotive, his shaft felt like it had grown to the size of a baseball bat, and his fangs were refusing to retreat.

  Regrettably, Bhathian’s class hadn’t covered what happened after the kiss. In Jackson’s case, the kiss had usually led to other stuff, which had resulted in biting the girl and then thralling her to forget the bite. But was thralling allowed after only a kiss?

  Bhathian had said that it was okay to erase the memory of the bite, and to change what the human female remembered about the immortal male who she’d had sex with, but not the sex itself.

  Still, hiding who he was should be the overriding factor, right? If he couldn’t retract his fangs, he would have to thrall Wendy to forget what she’d seen.

  How did other immortal males deal with that?

/>   Their fangs probably retreated much faster than his, so they didn’t need to worry about them showing. Or maybe a mere kiss didn’t trigger venom production and their fangs remained dormant.

  Vlad was a freak even among his own people, with fangs that were too long even in a resting position and elongated in response to the slightest of triggers.

  Not that Wendy’s kiss could qualify as such.

  It had been earth-shattering, mind-blowing, brain-altering…

  He wasn’t the same guy he’d been before. From now on, he would think of his life as having two stages. The one before the awakening, and the one after.

  Except, what was he supposed to do next?

  How would the new Vlad act? What kind of a man was he going to be?

  The answer to that was simple. He was going to be Wendy’s man. He was going to take care of her, protect her, and make her happy.

  45

  Wendy

  Wendy’s plan had worked without a hitch, but it had also misfired big time.

  She had the phone, Vlad was dazed and confused, but so was she. The kiss was supposed to be a diversion for the pickpocketing, but it had turned out to be so much more.

  Wendy was still reeling from it.

  Instead of Wendy the seductress, she was Wendy the seduced, or Wendy the confused, or Wendy the hot and bothered, or all of the above.

  Who would have thought that Vlad was such an amazing kisser? Or that he would take over with such confidence?

  Something inside him had snapped, banishing the shy boy and bringing out the man. And it wasn’t just the kiss. It was the whole experience. The way he’d effortlessly picked her up and crushed her against his chest, the way his tongue felt and tasted inside her mouth, the way his male scent had intensified, scrambling her senses and making her go limp in his arms.