Sean flinched. “But they don’t know where—” He turned to Gregori. “You bastard, what have you done?”
“I provided us the best security possible.” He glanced at his watch. “Would you look at that? It’s precisely nine o’clock, the exact time you wanted to go.”
“Don’t act like a smart-ass with me!” Sean growled. “I’m the one in charge of this operation.”
“Then teleport yourself. I’ll see you there.” Gregori no longer needed a beacon. The location of the safe house was imbedded in his psychic memory.
“Wait!” Sean stepped closer and lowered his voice. “You have to take me. The president knows me. And all the other men at the meeting. They trust me. You need me there.”
Angus folded his arms over his chest. “Do the president and his cronies know ye’re a Vamp?”
“Of course not! It just barely happened.” Sean shifted his weight. “I don’t want them to know. It would destroy their trust in me.”
Gregori nodded. He’d never seen Sean look so uptight and miserable. “Okay, I’ll play along with that. But it’s too late for Garrett. We already spilled the beans.”
“What? Dammit, Holstein. It should be my decision when to tell people.” Sean scowled as Gregori grabbed his arm. “You’d better remember from now on that I’m in charge. I’m getting fed up with your—”
Gregori teleported to the safe house, taking Sean with him.
“—sorry ass!” Sean completed his sentence.
“Are you talking to me?” Phineas asked.
“What?” Sean looked around. “Dammit! How many MacKay employees are here?”
“Three,” Garrett muttered. “Phineas and those two shifters in the kitchen, eating all our food.” He gave Sean an annoyed look. “You should have told me about shifters.”
Sean shrugged. “Need-to-know basis.”
Garrett scowled. “Is it true what they said? Are you a vampire now?”
Sean sighed and his shoulders drooped. “It’s a long, painful story. It would probably take hours—”
“He nearly died in battle, so Roman transformed him to save his life,” Gregori explained, then smirked at Sean. “End of story.”
Garrett eyed his boss. “But he looks the same.”
“And he acts the same,” Phineas muttered.
Sean snorted. “I am the same.”
Frowning, Garrett ran a hand through his hair. “How can you stay the head of the Stake-Out team? Isn’t that a conflict of interest?”
“You expect me to stake myself?” Sean growled.
“I’ve got a nice, big one you can borrow,” Gregori suggested.
Sean scoffed. “I think my new situation will actually help me in my fight against the bad vampires.”
“But you said all vampires are bad,” Garrett insisted.
Sean waved a hand in dismissal. “I was a bit premature in my observation. I know a lot more about it now.”
Gregori and Phineas snorted.
Sean glared at them, then at Garrett. “No one in the government is to know about my new status. Understood?”
Garrett gave him a dubious look. “Aren’t they going to notice that you’re dead during the day?”
“That may be normal for a government worker,” Gregori muttered.
Phineas snickered.
Sean waved that aside. “We’ve always done our work at night. That won’t change.” He took a seat on the couch. “We need to start the briefing.”
Gregori sat and listened to Sean explain once again how he was supposed to keep his mouth shut during the meeting and prove just how safe, harmless, and boring he truly was.
At nine-thirty, the limo from the White House arrived.
As Gregori strode toward the door, he chanted softly, “I’m too sexy for my cape, too sexy for my fangs—”
“What the hell are you talking about?” Sean scowled at him.
“Just a little positive thinking, dude. To get psyched up. You should try it sometime.”
Sean snorted, then paused at the door. “I’ve heard about you. You’re . . . well, to be blunt, a womanizer.”
Gregori gritted his teeth. His dear mother must have told Sean that. “What of it?”
“I know how you Vamps are around women,” Sean muttered. “And for some weird reason, women tend to find vampires really attractive.”
“Hoping to get lucky, Whelan?”
He shot Gregori an annoyed look as they stepped outside. “I’m warning you. You had better act safe, harmless, and boring.”
“I’ll attempt to smother my naturally charming personality.”