26

It was around noon when John’s cell phone rang. He’d already showered and gotten dressed quietly, but had let Savannah sleep in. After all, she needed her rest—as had he—and there wasn’t much they could accomplish during daylight hours. He’d been about to snatch a bottle of blood and gulp it down in secret, before Savannah was awake to catch him at it, when the call came. He put the bottle back in the refrigerator and shut it, before answering his phone.

“Grayson?”

“Got some news, John,” Grayson started.

“Let me have it.”

“We got a location on the hacker. Name’s Otto Watson. We traced his IP address to a flat in Marin City. We’re picking him up now.”

“You’re what?”

“We’re going in.”

“We?”

“Yeah, Ryder, the twins, and I.”

“And who the fuck made that decision? Your father’s gonna rip my head off if anything goes wrong.” And so much could go wrong when four inexperienced hybrids ran a mission on their own. They’d taken part in many missions before, including a very successful one not too long ago against a bunch of demons, but those missions had always been directed by somebody with more experience, with the hybrids following orders.

“Relax, John, we’re not novices. The four of us can handle it.”

That’s when it struck him. “Four? One of you guys is supposed to be tailing Alexi.”

“Damian said nothing’s happening with that guy. Alexi doesn’t own any properties anywhere that we can find. He’s a dead end. So I pulled Damian off his surveillance.”

“You can’t just do that.”

“Yeah, well, I made an executive decision.”

“Who the fuck made you boss? Last time I checked, your father told you to follow my commands and not the other way around.”

Grayson huffed. “Yeah, and last time I checked, you were a full-blooded vampire who burns in the sun. So, would you rather we wait till this evening so you can grab the hacker yourself and waste valuable time, or would you prefer to trust that we can do the job?”

Grudgingly, John had to admit that Grayson had a point. He just wished they would at least take a fully trained vampire with them, even if that person had to stay in the blackout van and monitor the operation from there.

“I want you to take every precaution. We have no idea who this guy is and whether he’s got backup, is armed, or—”

“Yeah, yeah, I know the drill. See you at HQ in a couple of hours.”

“Grayson—”

But the headstrong hybrid had already hung up.

John cursed.

“Something wrong?”

He spun around. His anger toward Grayson vaporized instantly.

Savannah stood at the entrance to the kitchen, wearing one of his shirts and nothing else. Her hair rumpled, an expression of concern flashed over her face. Despite that, she looked way too tasty for a vampire with an empty stomach.

“We found the hacker. My guys are on their way to pick him up.”

“That’s great news.” She hesitated, scrutinizing him. “But you don’t seem to be happy about it.”

“I’m not thrilled that they’re going in without me.”

“But they’re trained like you, right?”

If he allowed her to doubt this, her hope would be crushed, and he couldn’t risk that. “Of course they are. They’re the best.” He forced a smile. “I’m just a bit of a control freak.” Then he walked to her and drew her into his arms. “How about you shower and get dressed, and we’ll drive to Scanguards to meet them when they bring the guy back for interrogation?”

“Sounds good.” She glanced around the kitchen. “I wouldn’t mind a cup of coffee if you’re making some.”

“Sorry, I just noticed that I ran out of coffee. Haven’t had time to go grocery shopping,” he lied. “But I’ll get you a full breakfast once we’re at HQ. Their coffee is better than mine anyway. Can you wait that long?”

“Sure.” She smiled at him and eased out of his arms, then sashayed down the short hallway in a manner so sexy that he wanted to follow her and press her against the nearest flat surface to bury his cock in her.

But there was no time for that now.

While Savannah showered and got dressed, John consumed two bottles of blood, double his normal ration. And he needed it, because the more time he spent in close contact with Savannah, the more his hunger for her blood grew.

After washing out the bottles and disposing of them in the recycle bin, he made sure the kitchen counter was clean and he hadn’t left any traces of his feeding behind.

Again Savannah was ready to go faster than he’d expected. “I’m ready,” she announced from the entrance to the kitchen.

He turned to her and smiled. “Let’s go.”

Her forehead furrowed and she approached. “Did you hurt yourself?” She reached for his chin. “You’re bleeding.”

Fuck! He quickly turned before she could touch him and reached for a kitchen towel, wiping his chin and pressing it to the spot where apparently a drop of human blood had dripped when he’d been drinking greedily. “Must have cut myself shaving.” He pretended to press the towel against the spot a little longer as if he was trying to close the cut, when he knew there was none.

“No wonder.” She motioned behind her. “You don’t have a mirror in your bathroom.”

Crap! He’d forgotten about that. Since vampires didn’t have reflections, there was no need for mirrors. And since he never had human visitors, he’d never felt the need to install fake mirrors. They were in fact large computer monitors with a mirror-like surface and lenses behind it to record in real time anything in front of the monitor, making it look like a mirror. Many of his colleagues used them and found them practical.

“Oh yeah,” he said slowly, trying to buy himself some time, “it broke a couple of weeks ago and I haven’t had a chance to get the contractor in to get it replaced.” He grimaced. “Crazy work hours, you know.”

She seemed to buy it. “Let me see your chin.”

Reluctantly, he removed the kitchen towel.

She stared at the spot. “Looks like it’s fine.”

“Great. Let’s go. You must be starving.”

Eager to get Savannah out of his house before she found something else strange, John led her back to the garage and helped her into the car. Moments later they were on their way to Scanguards. Once there, he ushered Savannah back to the human lounge, which was much busier this time of day. But he knew he couldn’t stay, or Savannah would find it strange that he wasn’t eating.

“Can I leave you here for a half hour while I take care of a couple of things in my office?”

“Aren’t you hungry?”

“I’ll grab something later.” He kissed her on the cheek before she could protest. “Stay here. I’ll come pick you up when the team gets back with the hacker.”

“Promise?” She looked straight at him and he knew what she was asking.

“Don’t worry. I’ll let you watch while I interrogate him. From a safe distance.”

“What does that mean?”

“You’ll be in a room looking into the interrogation room. Same as in a police station. But I can’t let you into the interrogation room itself, in case the guy goes berserk and attacks you.”

“Okay.”

“Now eat something.” He brought his mouth to her ear. “’Cause I love your curves. Wouldn’t want you to lose any weight.”

Then he pivoted and left the lounge, and her enticing scent, behind him.