Chapter 17

Halo let her believe she needed to relax for the hypno to work, when in fact all he needed was to meet her eyes. His hypno ability was strong. Powerful. Of course it wasn’t on par with Rafe’s or the queen’s, but it would get the job of the moment done.

At least he hoped it would work. As she sat across from him drifting between the hypnotic world and the waking world, it occurred to him that someone could have used hypno on her in the past. It could be why she didn’t remember a reason why someone like Roth would want her head on a platter.

As he probed gently into her thoughts, it was like wading through a great big field. Random things floated by, like the words to a song she had recently heard and the fact that she wasn’t wearing any underwear. That made him chuckle. She was purposely directing the direction the hypno went in. It impressed him. It showed a great strength of mind as she lifted him higher into the corners of her mind.

“Remember the vampire from the recording,” he encouraged her in a soft voice. “Remember his face and the way he moves. The familiarity of it.”

“Yes,” she whispered.

“You’ve seen him before.”

“Yes,” she said, her brow creasing with concentration. “I didn’t like him from the moment I met him.”

Halo was surprised. Why would she have met him before? How long had it been? Why hadn’t she been able to recall him without hypno?

He realized he had asked all of the questions aloud in rapid-fire style when she chuckled at him, shook her head, and took his hand into her good one.

“Always so impatient,” she said softly. “Let’s start slowly, from the beginning.”

“Of course,” he said with a small smile. “Tell me about the beginning,” he encouraged her.

“Michael introduced us,” she replied simply, as if she hadn’t just dropped a bomb on them. “His name is Jonah. I have forgotten him because I met him only once and because Roth used hypno on me to make me forget the meeting.”

“Why would he do that?” Halo asked, directing the question to Danton who simply shrugged in response.

“I don’t know. I only know that it wasn’t part of his plan that I remember right away. He wanted you to find the information the hard way.”

“Using hypno. He could have effectively erased your memory so you would never remember, even with hypno, because he is so powerful a vampire. But he left it here for us to find. Why?” Halo asked with frustration.

“He’s messing with you. He knew you would find it. He said…he said he knows you. Knows everything about you. That you’ll never catch him.”

“We’ll fucking see about that,” Halo snapped. “So tell me, now that we’ve found the memory, what does he want us to do with it?”

“I don’t know. He never intended for you to escape. He had hoped you would be on his side by now. This was just a contingency plan. Just in case something went wrong. He didn’t want me to remember…Jonah. That’s all I know.”

“Tell me about Jonah. Tell me more about how you know him,” he encouraged her, taking her hand in his and stroking the back of it soothingly.

“Michael introduced us,” she repeated.

“When? Where?”

“It was about a year and a half ago. At a party.”

“How well did he seem to know him?”

“Pretty well. In fact, they seemed to be newly fast friends. They spent the entire night off in a corner talking.”

“Tell me about the party.”

“It was a birthday party for one of my friends.”

“Was it common for him to bring a stranger to a party that intimate?”

“Michael doesn’t have friends. He is too egocentric to think anyone else is worthy of him. So I was surprised. It stood out.”

“Did you see Jonah at any other time?”

“Not that I recall.”

“So Roth might have destroyed all other memories of Jonah except for the moment she first met him,” Danton said.

“Maybe. We should have Simone search her memory. She could potentially retrieve them. She is the one most likely to get to them. I’m sure Roth didn’t count on us bringing her to Simone.”

“Why not? He counted on you being with her long enough to search her memory. He might have planned for everything.”

“We were trapped together. He probably thought I would search her memory then for anything pertaining to her capture or vampires. He didn’t count on us escaping. Together.”

“It’s lucky that you did escape together. You didn’t think to search her memory while you were captive?”

“No. And I don’t know why I didn’t,” Halo said with a frown.

“But how would she have recognized Jonah without a photo to work from?” Danton asked.

“He told me Jonah was a vampire,” Felice responded even though the question had not been directed at her. That brought Halo’s attention sharply back to her.

“So you found out about vampires before?”

“Jonah was the one who kidnapped me initially,” she supplied. “Roth then proceeded to tell me all about vampires and how I was going to help him lure away a powerful vampire from the other side. I can only assume he meant you. Then he used hypno on me and made me forget everything about our first meeting so I was raw and unprepared for being thrown into that room with you.”

“That prick. Man, I’m going to kill him twice.”

“But first,” Danton said firmly, “can you tell us why he picked you? What made you so important to him?”

“It wasn’t him,” she whispered. “It was Michael. It was Michael who wanted me. It was Michael who wanted revenge on me. He’s somehow in cahoots with Roth. I don’t know how. All I know is that he was there, gloating, the entire time. He told me he was going to see me dead. Drained until there was nothing left but an empty husk.” She shivered, no doubt recalling the evil that had spewed from Michael’s lips in that moment.

“It is not uncommon for sycophants to work in tandem with humans. Humans who break the law and are willing to get their hands dirty. Michael must offer something Roth needs,” Danton said.

“That part doesn’t matter. I couldn’t care less why Michael is partnered up with Roth. I only care that the fuckers made her a target for no good reason except for his personal enjoyment and retribution. When I get my hands on that little fucker I’m going to rip his dick off.”

“He must have been watching us,” she said softly. “On the cameras. Seeing us…connect…would have infuriated him,” she said.

“Good. I hope it really pissed him off. Serves him right for throwing you away like garbage.” Halo leaned in to her and kissed her mouth softly, breaking the hypno connection. She kissed him back, just as softly, her hand trembling in his. It killed him that she had been singled out for abuse by that sick psycho. But he also felt empowered, knowing something he hadn’t known before. He was grateful. Now that he understood why she was a focus for Roth and his flunky human pet, he could eliminate the threat by eliminating them both. Danton rose to his feet and put a hand on Halo’s shoulder, squeezing briefly before walking out of the room. The signal was clear. Danton wanted to talk outside of her presence.

Halo began to mentally prepare himself for leaving her. Oddly enough he was finding it more and more complex a task. He didn’t know why. All he did know was that Felice didn’t belong in the vampire world. Certainly not in this seedy underbelly of the vampire world. He had to protect her. At all costs. Now that he knew how, it was only a matter time before he hunted down Roth and that little fucker of an ex of hers as well. He would no doubt be the easier of the two. Humans were ridiculously easy to hunt. They were weak in both body and mind when it came to predictability.

A light lit up in his mind. This was how he could find Roth! Find Jonah again and track him using the lesser vampire. It had been there all along, waiting for him to discover it. All he had needed was the last few pieces to the puzzle.

Halo extricated himself from the warmth and affection of her arms, albeit reluctantly. There was too much to do, too much to figure out. He had to be out in the world hunting. It was what he did best and it was the only way to protect her.

He didn’t know why Roth did what he did. He didn’t know what his big plans were. He only knew he had to be stopped…and he was the man to stop him.

She held on to his hand the longest, kissing the back of it fiercely as she met his eyes, her pupils glistening with sudden tears.

“You’ll be careful, won’t you?” she whispered to him.

“I will,” he said, something in him tightening. He wasn’t used to having someone give a shit about him. There was something infinitely good about it. It gave him a strange sort of strength. He felt as though with her in his corner he would be able to conquer anything.

It was such a peculiar sensation, nothing at all he was used to. He was used to finding strength only in himself. He didn’t need anyone’s support or concern—or so he had always thought. But there was something compelling about her tenderness and strength. It made it difficult to leave her. He wanted to bask in her affections and support. He was, Halo realized, starved for it.

The understanding unnerved him. He pulled his hand free and turned his back on her. He forced himself to pull away. Reminded himself he didn’t need anyone but himself—and that to think otherwise was to invite weakness into his life. She would make him vulnerable if he wasn’t careful. He enjoyed the freedom of not being burdened with worry for the well-being of others. He enjoyed the ease of no one being able to use anyone he cared about against him by simply not caring about anyone, save himself. It was better that way, he insisted to himself. He needed to keep free of encumbrances. He couldn’t be effective otherwise.

Or so he had always believed.

Halo left her room without a word about where he was going next. He didn’t have to explain himself to her. He answered to no one—save maybe his queen and even she held little influence over his bold and reckless ways.

He exited the room and Danton was out in the hall waiting for him.

“Do you have a plan?” he asked.

“Yeah. Hunt the fuckers down.”

“Who? Roth?”

“And Jonah. But I’m most looking forward to Michael,” he growled.

“A human? How is that vampire business?”

“It’s not vampire business, it’s my business,” Halo snapped.

“You had better think twice about that. There are laws against interfering with humans and the human world. Isn’t his involvement a problem for human law enforcement?”

“No,” Halo bit out. “Because what he has done involves vampires. How can human law be brought in on Felice’s kidnapping without exposing Roth and our kind? Michael’s dirty. He’s up-to-his-eyeballs dirty in this. And you can bet he knows exactly who he’s dealing with. You can bet he knows all about vampires and sycophants. How could he not? So isn’t it up to us to eliminate the threat he poses? Any human who knows about us is a danger to us. Those who consort with sycophants are even more so.”

“Don’t you think this is something for the committee to decide?” Danton asked.

“You only say that because you are on the committee. And if I went to the committee every time I wanted to hunt, I would never get anything done. You’ve always trusted me and my judgment when it comes to a target before. What’s different this time?”

“This time you are emotionally involved in your target,” Danton observed with a quiet voice.

“The fuck I am!” Halo burst out. “You don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about! He’s a mark, just like any other mark. That’s all.”

“That’s not ‘all,’ ” Danton said firmly. “You are invested in this. In what happens to Felice. Because you care about her. You care a great deal about her.”

He growled under his breath in warning. Danton was unfazed.

“Look, she’s a great kid and all, but she’s a kid. A human. I’m ten times her age or something like that. And she’s human. According to all you frickin’ snobs I shouldn’t have touched her in the first place except to feed from her.”

“That’s never stopped you from dallying with humans before. In fact, you are with a different human woman almost every night. It might be a step in a positive direction to see you stick with a single one for a change. And you wouldn’t have to hide what you are from her. She already knows.”

“Don’t be ringing any wedding bells for me,” Halo snapped. “You’ve got this all wrong.”

“Do I? Maybe you’re the one who has it all wrong,” Danton mused.

“Shut the fuck up. You’re really starting to annoy me, Danton. You’re attaching way more emotion to this than I’m feeling. The most I feel is protective of her. She’s been used and abused…all to get to me. I owe her for that. I’m responsible for what happens to her next. I gotta protect her and the only way I’m going to do that is by putting an end to her ex and Roth and anyone else who might try and use her to…to…”

“To hurt you?”

“Yes, damn it! If anyone else were to think like that they’d think the fastest way to get to me would be through her and I can’t have that. I could never have that.”

Danton grew silent with a frown and Halo took that as a cue to leave him with his thoughts. He turned his back on Danton and began to walk away.

“You can try to walk away from this, but it won’t work. Sooner or later you’ll have to admit you have more feelings involved in this.”

“Yeah well, let’s hope you’re wrong about that. For her sake,” he growled.

“You keep saying this is for her safety and benefit, but how can you be so sure this is what’s best for her? Maybe the benefits of being with you are worth the danger.”

Halo walked up to the elevators and pushed the button, wishing Danton would shut up and stop following him.

“I doubt it,” he said bitterly. “I’m not worth it.”

That changed Danton’s expression to one of surprise.

“Halo, do you really think so little of yourself? Do you really think you have so little to offer her?”

Halo jabbed the button to the elevator a few more times, his impatience and discomfort showing.

“Yeah,” he said. “She’s better off without me…by far. Just look at her life so far. She’s been kidnapped, bitten and fed from, and shot to the point where she needed surgery. All since she met me. I’m like a curse—for her or any woman who hangs out around me too long. It’s best she shuffles off and moves away from me.”

“Even though that isn’t what you truly want in your heart?”

“What the fuck do you know about what I truly want or my heart? What, are you a psychic now? An empath? You suddenly have clear insight into me?”

“No. You’re just far more transparent than you think.”

“And you’re just imagining things that aren’t there.” Halo pushed the button one more time. The elevator finally arrived and Halo could have exhaled with relief but he resisted showing anything that might be interpreted as emotional response. He stepped into the elevator and glared at Danton to keep him from following him into the car. “Stay with her. Keep her safe for me.”

“Why do you care so much for her safety?” Danton asked, reaching out a hand to hold the door open. “Did you ever wonder about that?”

“I told you, I feel responsible. That’s all.”

“That’s all? I highly doubt that. I think you need to take a long look at your soul, Halo. I know you don’t do it very often, but you need to truly examine your feelings. I think you’d be surprised at what’s there.”

“Danton, go back and watch her,” Halo said dangerously. He reached for Danton’s wrist and physically peeled him away from the elevator door, pushing him clear so the door closed. Then he selected the lobby.

Thoughts churned in his head as the car carried him to the ground floor. Damn Danton anyway. The arrogant fucker thought he knew so much about everything. He needed to keep out of Halo’s business. He needed to keep his personal microscope to himself. Let him examine everyone else but not him.

Halo stopped by the guard desk and popped in the DVD just briefly enough to freeze a picture of the culprit and print it out. He took a piece of tape and taped it to the surface of the desk.

“There’s your bomber, fellows,” he told them. “Keep an eye out.”

“What do we say to the human authorities we’ve got swarming about?” one guard asked, keeping his voice very low so none of the humans standing in the lobby heard him. “As it is they are irritated we don’t have tape of the front entrance. They are looking at us suspiciously for that.”

“Let them look. If they see this picture just tell them he’s wanted for theft of some office supplies or something equally mundane. Just whatever you choose, make sure you all stick to the same story.”

“Theft of office supplies sounds good to me,” one guard said with a grin.

“Hey, this isn’t fucking funny,” Halo snapped, grabbing the guard by his shirt front and getting in his face. “You guys really dropped the ball. Don’t do it again.”

Halo released the guard who had gone pale. He nervously looked over to the humans in the lobby to see if any of them had noticed the interaction. None had. Halo smoothed a hand down the guard’s chest and rearranged his tie so it was sitting straight once more. He leveled a cool smile at the guard.

“So tell me, who is this guy to you?” He tapped a finger on the countertop picture. “If you let him in, you have to know who he is.”

“It’s our job to know who everyone is,” another guard said. This guard was not intimidated by Halo in the least, his demeanor easy but his body tense and aware. Halo respected that.

“Who is he? Where does he work? Is he here?”

The guard went to the computer on the desk and typed in a password. He searched through information for a moment then said, “His entry card was last scanned yesterday when he entered the elevator at three thirty-six to come back down to the lobby. He was only here for ten minutes,” the guard said.

“You got a bio of the guy in that thing?” he asked, nodding toward the computer.

“Only the basics. Where he lives in the building, what his job here is, what floor he works on.”

“Let me see.”

Halo looked at the screen and remembered every detail available on Jonah. Then he nodded his thanks to the guard.

“He’s dangerous. Keep an eye out,” he warned them.

Halo walked away from the guards and headed out of the building.