"I'm funding a government project. I don't have all the particulars." His eyes darted with the lie, but I knew I would get it out of him later, so for now I just let him talk. "There have been some problems."

"Because they are using vampires?"

His throat bobbed as he tried to swallow. I tracked the movement with my eyes.

"No, that's not a problem."

"Then what is?" I had a hard time believing that whatever vampires they were working with weren't a problem.

"Security mostly, guards going missing, they can't seem to keep the staff together. Issues with leaks. If this gets out to the media, the whole project could be pulled. I can't have that. The work is too important, and too many lives are at stake." His eyes were almost sincere enough for me to believe him.

Almost.

"Where is all this taking place?"

"Little town called Johnsonville in Ohio."

I tightened my grip on him, pulling his face close enough to kiss. Or bite. "Bulls.h.i.+t. Where in New York is it happening?"

His body shook. "I can't tell you. I don't even know myself."

"How does Rikers Island play into this?"

His eyes twitched and darted away from mine again. "I don't know."

I pushed him, sending him flying across the room. His body smashed hard into the far wall and he slid down without even a whimper. "Lying p.r.i.c.k."

Taking my time, I ransacked the room. Secret compartments were a specialty of mine and it didn't take long for me to find the one in the pedestal, under what had to be a three-hundred-pound, half-century-old vase. I lifted it and the tiny b.u.t.ton below it depressed, opening a panel within the pedestal.

There was money, which I took, and a few jewels, which I also removed. Payment for all the s.h.i.+t he'd put me through. I didn't need the money, but it would be nice if Calvin could retire in style.

But none of that was what I wanted. Under it all was a single file folder. I pulled it out and opened it.

Asclepius Project was stamped on the inside of the folder.

But there wasn't a single f.u.c.king sheet inside it. "Son of a b.i.t.c.h." I slapped the paper down and ripped the pedestal out of the ground, throwing it and the vase across the room and through the main door.

Two guards came flying in, guns raised. I knew they would have silver bullets in the chambers. It looked like my time with Victor was up.

I had no choice but to leap toward them. Rus.h.i.+ng them, I went for the guard on the left with the missing teeth and the dead eyes. Driving my elbow forward, I slammed it into his throat, taking him out with ease. The second guard swung toward me and I kicked back with my right leg, sweeping the weapon out of his hands.

He backed up. "Please, don't hurt me."

It occurred to me that these two might have some information I could use. "You won't feel a thing." I grabbed him and yanked him to me. Burying my fangs deep in his neck, I took a huge gulp of the coppery warm blood. His memories flickered through my mind: s.e.x with his girlfriend, s.e.x right after that with her best friend, standing on guard, masturbating while on his last lunch break. Nothing about the project, though, nothing at all.

I let him go and he slid to the floor, his eyes closed. "I hope your girlfriend caught you."

He smiled in his sleep and rubbed at himself, then slowed his movements as his heart slowed. Even as he died, he was trying to get himself off. Pig. I shook my head and left the underground bunker. Whatever information I needed I wasn't going to find here. But if not here, then where? Rachel was pumping her leads for information, but my gut said it wouldn't be enough. The only way we would crack this conspiracy was if we both gathered information from our individual sources.

I strode along the street as the night fell. Calvin had headed back to Rachel's place like I'd asked, so I was on my own.

I scanned the thin crowd around me. While I was dressed in an unusual manner with my tall leather boots, leather molded chest armor and hooded cowl, no one in New York even batted an eye at me. "Great costume," one guy said. "You here for Comic-Con?"

I nodded, and kept moving. Whatever they thought was fine with me.

The streets blurred as I walked, my mind going over the miniscule details we had collected. A government conspiracy involving vampires. There could be no good end to that. But where were they hiding the old vamps? And who was making all of these young, inexperienced vamps?

Peter could be behind this whole game. It was his style to work from the shadows. My maker would find a great deal of humor in watching me try to find him. Games were all the b.a.s.t.a.r.d knew.

I clenched my fist, barely resisting the urge to smash the wall beside me.

"Where are you?" I whispered into the empty night air.

A faint whisper tickled at my nose, like a perfume I could almost smell, could almost taste. Blood and chocolate and cologne.

Drawing in long deep breaths, I scented the air. There it was, a vampire. And a relatively new one by the scent rolling off him; still very human under the vamp smell. Tracing the scent, I wove through a box-filled alleyway to a less busy street on the other side of the block. There he was, twenty feet ahead of me. Sauntering like he didn't have a care in the world. Young and blond and built like a linebacker. He seemed to be searching for someone. Most likely, dinner.

My natural instinct was to rush him, take him down fast and hard, but I held back. Maybe these new vampires were the key to whatever mystery surrounded Victor and the Asclepius Project. So what if I befriended one, made him believe I was with him, and then pumped him for information? Young as he was, he probably hadn't even been warned about me yet. It was a chance I was willing to take. Worst-case scenario, I would just torture him for the information.

But this way, he would spill his guts without effort. Especially if he thought he was going to impress not one, but two pretty women.

A slow grin spread across my face. Yes, that would work.

Following him was easy, and I let my steps take me at a slow pace so I didn't close the gap between us. The last thing I needed was for him to get suspicious while I worked the details out in my head. I tucked my weapons away so they weren't visible, and swept the cowl off my head so my long dark hair flowed around my face and down my back. I knew the effect it had on men.

At the next corner he paused to lift his head and scent the air. This was my chance.

"h.e.l.lo, my friend," I called out and he slowly turned to face me. I let my hips sway as I approached him, even going so far as to run my fingers through my hair. "I see you're looking for a place to eat?"

He was young, even in human terms. Maybe nineteen at the most. Baby-fine blond hair dotted his chin. It wasn't helping him look any older, if that had been the intention. He rubbed a hand over his shaved head. "Yeah, maybe. You want to eat together?"

I slipped an arm around his waist and he put one across my shoulders. "I have the perfect place to eat. You'll love her." I gave him a wink and he laughed. If I could get him back to Rachel's place, we could interrogate him, maybe even make him think Rachel was going to be turned. Yes, that would work well.

"G.o.d, I love this life," he said as he tightened his arm around me.

"Don't we all," I whispered. "Don't we all."

CHAPTER 20.

RACHEL.

I hid around the corner of the hall, watching as Sean methodically began to check the booths and tables. Had he followed me? Or did he know the connection between Derrick and Brian? I felt bad about ditching the bartender without paying, but there was no way I could deal with Sean right now. I literally had seconds before he'd turn the corner to the hall. I had to act now.

I hurried to the door marked Private, thankful the bar's security measures were lax. It was easy to slip into the alley. I pulled a wool scarf out of my bag and pulled it over my head, tucking the ends under the collar of my jacket. My first priority was to escape Sean, but I still really wanted to find out what Brian knew.

I hid behind a trash bin, not surprised when the back door to the bar opened and Sean's head popped out of the opening. He glanced around before heading back inside.

So he knew I was here. He'd had me tailed.

s.h.i.+t.

I should have known better. I should have been prepared for it. Did he know I'd talked to Tom?

I pulled my phone out of my pocket and quickly called him. "Tom," I whispered as soon as he answered. "I'm being followed by the Feds."

"What?"

"I don't know if they saw us together or not, but you need to be prepared."

"Okay." His voice was tight.

"If they come to you, blame it all on me," I said, trying not to sound panicked. "Do whatever it takes to clear your name. Tell them I blackmailed you."

"Rachel, I'm not going to do that."

"Tom, listen to me. I'll sort it out on my end. Just take care of yourself."

"Call me later. Let me know you're okay."

"Okay."

I hung up and stuffed the phone into my front pocket, then waited for fifteen minutes before heading back inside. By then, a light drizzle had begun to fall and the sky was getting darker. Keeping my scarf wrapped over my head, I inched down the hall and peered around the corner. No Sean.

Brian was surprised to see me when I sat at the opposite end of the bar, still wearing my head covering. I pulled it lower and his eyes widened.

"Oh, f.u.c.k," he groaned. Panic filled his eyes and he backed up, banging into the counter behind him and knocking over a gla.s.s. The one guy in the place, sitting at the opposite end of the bar and nursing a beer, never even looked up.

I held up my hands. "Brian, I'm not going to hurt you. I only want to talk."

That only p.i.s.sed him off. He slid back over, leaning down toward my face. "I'm not worried about you hurting me, little girl. It's the big bad wolf that's gonna get us. Literally."

My chest tightened. "What's that mean?"

He released a bitter laugh and shook his head. "You don't know s.h.i.+t, do you?"

I put my arm on the bar and lowered my voice. "I know you know something about the Asclepius Project and I know you're scared because the government is running it."

"You still don't know s.h.i.+t."

"Then enlighten me. What do you know?"

"The less you know, the better."

I banged my hand onto the counter. "They killed my friend, Brian, and there's no way in h.e.l.l I'm going to let them get away with it. I need to know what you know. What you refused to tell Derrick."

He blinked. "Wait a minute... You know Derrick Forrester?"

"I've known him for seven years...knew him. They killed him." I swallowed the grief that followed those words.

But Brian seemed dazed by my news. "Derrick..." His reaction to Derrick's death seemed a little strong for a stranger.

"You two were friends?"

He shook his head with a blank look. "Sort of. I started talking to Derrick about a year ago...all online. We met in a forum."

"What kind of forum?"

He shrugged, trying to gather his thoughts. "Conspiracy theory stuff. I'd gone there looking for answers about things I'd seen."

"What did you see?"

He sucked in a breath, then released it. "I used to work at a place owned by a man named Victor. Amore Sangre. It was upscale, tips were good, but the clientele was...eccentric."

"How so?"

He grimaced. "I know this is going to sound crazy, but some of them liked to drink blood."

"They were vampires." Did I really say that un-ironically?

He nodded, then moved on. "But that wasn't even the strange part."

Of course it wasn't. "Then what was?"

He licked his lower lip. "Some of them disappeared, and I'm pretty d.a.m.n sure Victor had something to do with it. I didn't think much of it, until I saw something in storeroom."

"What?"

"One of our clients, but a non-vamp. One of the vamp tramps..." He shrugged at my blank expression. "Women-or men-who hung out with vampires for the thrill of it. They get off on the whole blood-sucking thing."

I shuddered recalling my own up close and personal experience with Caine. No thank you.

"I hadn't seen her in over a month, but the vamp she hung out with hadn't come to the restaurant for at least that long, so I didn't think anything about it until I saw her."

"Why would she be in the storage room?"

"She wasn't there of her own free will. She was locked in."

"Why?"

"She wasn't herself. They changed her."