I Only Have Fangs for You(20)

As soon as the familiar tinny, salty, and bitter flavor filled her mouth, she felt herself relax just a little. She took another swallow and another until a calming warmth thawed the tension in her body, allowing her to relax, just a little. She rested her wrists on her knees, the glass still in her hand, and let her head fall back against the sofa cushions.

She didn’t feed enough; that was why she was so agitated. But even as she told herself that, she knew it wasn’t true. It wasn’t the hunger that had her so overwrought that she couldn’t stop the tremors making her limbs quiver like leaves rustled by a night breeze.

It was Sebastian.

She moaned, closing her eyes and trying to block out the memories, the feelings. She didn’t want to think about what had happened tonight. But she could think of nothing else.

She’d believed she could handle this. When the Society had decided that Sebastian Young and Carfax Abbey should be placed among the top of their list of vampires who were dangerous to mortals, she’d volunteered to be the plant who would sabotage him. She felt strongly about the way he seduced and used mortals. And she knew she could handle his charms.

Now she wasn’t sure of anything. Nothing had gone as she’d imagined or planned. Her sabotage attempts had failed. She never factored in that she would grow to like the employees of the club. And she didn’t understand what had happened between her and Sebastian tonight, but she knew she wasn’t unaffected.

She took another sip of her drink, then set it on the end table, because her hands were still shaking. Dropping her head onto her knees, curling herself into a tight ball, she tried to force away the sensations still tingling over her skin. She felt out of control and she hated to feel that way. Control was what she’d managed to gain over the years. And she’d never let go of it again.

But neither her mind or her body were listening tonight. Even now, she could feel Sebastian. Feel the sizzle of his touch on her wrist. On the back of her hand. Her cheek. Her lips.

You can’t do this, she realized. She had to quit the club. The whole thing was more than she could handle. She hugged her knees tighter to herself and closed her eyes. She had to tell the members of the Society. She could imagine their looks. I-told-you-so looks. Because they hadn’t believed she could stop Sebastian from the start. She should have known she couldn’t.

Releasing her hold on her legs, she straightened. No. She wasn’t going to think this way. Hadn’t Dr. Fowler made her realize that she didn’t need to cling to the shadows any longer? Made her realize that she could get her life back? She was a vampire now, but she still had her humanity. She had her soul. And she wasn’t going to go back to being the scared, hopeless creature she’d been before Dr. Fowler found her. And now she had also the Society of Preternaturals. They were helping empower her too.

She could do it. She just needed a new plan. A plan that was focused solely on the real problem: Sebastian Young. He was the one setting the precedent at Carfax Abbey. He was by far the biggest user of mortals.

“He’s the one who needs to be stopped,” she said to herself, even as she felt her nerves stretching taut. Her fear building up again. But she ignored it. She had to do this. She had to prove to herself she could.

Sebastian Young’s misuse of mortals had to be stopped. And she would be the one to find the way to stop him.



Sebastian poked his head into Mick’s office. Mick, his head of security, sat behind his bank of computer screens, his booted feet crossed on the corner of the desk. To others, Mick might have looked too relaxed, too insolent to be a good employee, much less a successful head of security. But Sebastian knew he was the best.

“Have you found anything?”

Mick shook his head. “I’ve got someone working on the health department’s computer system. He should be calling soon with a list of incoming calls on the twenty-fifth.”

Sebastian nodded. “And the police?”

“Nothing there. But I haven’t given up.”

“Good,” Sebastian said. “Let me know as soon as you hear anything.”

Mick nodded, and turned back to the computer monitors, his features looking starker, more brutal in the bluish light.

Sebastian left the office and headed through the back entrance into the club. The place wasn’t crowded yet, but he knew in a few hours the dance floor would be packed. He wondered if the anonymous caller would be there. If he or she was already there.

Even though the past couple of nights had been quiet, he still had the gut feeling that the person targeting his club wasn’t finished. Maybe he was being overly cautious, but he’d learned in two hundred years that it was good to follow his instincts. And his instincts were on high alert.