Chapter Twenty-Five
She woke me up with her mouth on my skin, somehow building a fire that I thought had finally petered out. My limbs were still heavy, my muscles sore from hours of tightening and releasing. “How do you have the energy?” I croaked, as she lavished attention on my breast, shooting pleasure straight to my center.
“I don’t need much sleep. Few hours a night, max.”
I shook my head in disbelief as she moved to my other breast. Fatigue fell away as she wound me tighter. I pulled her down next to me as we used our hands on each other. We held on as we came apart in the dampened light coming in from the bottom of the curtain.
“Let’s not leave bed today,” she said, wrapping her limbs around me. She was a full-contact sleeper.
It was strange, having someone touch me without hesitation. I burrowed into her embrace, marveling at how safe I felt, at how much she felt like home. Her skin was cool, but she made me warm. Fulfilled. Happy.
“I love you,” I whispered against her neck. I was Carma’s. She was like a song, decadent chocolate, sunshine. Now that I knew how she felt in my arms, I could never walk away.
She stilled, then wrapped herself even tighter around me. This time, we made love in slow strokes and gasps, our gazes locked as we both came apart. I buried my head in the crook of her neck to hide the sting in my eyes.
I had to tell her.
I had to come clean.
This could destroy us.
Her fingers ran over the skin of my arms, ghost bumps chasing her touch. Our breathing slowed and I laid my head on her shoulder. “I need to tell you something.”
“You can tell me anything.”
I swallowed hard. “I’m…” Afraid? Scared? “Terrified.”
She tightened her arms around me. “I’ve got you.”
“I—”
A door closed.
“Princess?” Lucinda called. “You up?”
“Oh shit!” Carma breathed, rolling out of my arms and scrambling off the bed. “Hold on, Mom!” she called, then quickly slid to the door and clicked the lock.
I pulled on my leggings and tossed my T-shirt over my head. “I can go out the window. Just come back with my shoes.”
Carma straightened. “No.” She walked over and kissed me hard. “I’m all in if you are, which means telling my mom.”
“Are you sure?” I wanted her to say yes. I needed her to say no.
“Hell yes.” She gave me one more kiss. “You ready?”
“Let me wash you off my face first?”
She giggled. “Good point.” She looked toward the door. “Mom, we’ll be out in a minute!”
I scrunched my nose and poked her in the side. “You said we. She’s going to freak out.”
“So what?”
I rolled my eyes as we moved to the bathroom. I used her face wash and mouthwash but gave up on my hair. Bedhead was popular these days anyway. When we were as presentable as we were going to get, she took my hand and unlocked the door.
Lucinda was sitting at the kitchen table with two Thinner shakes in front of her. She gave us a long look. “Ah, I figured.”
“Mom, Mina and are I in a relationship now.”
I squeezed her hand. Carma didn’t beat around the bush and I was so proud of her. But, if I wasn’t lethal and hadn’t had years of Magnolia’s stares, I would’ve been terrified at Lucinda’s face.
Her driver opened the front door, saw the standoff, then cleared his throat. “Uh, I’m going to go put gas in the car,” he muttered then backed out of the house.
She just studied me for a long moment before picking up a shake. “I see.” She picked at the plastic lid. “This is the new extra-strength version I requested. If it’s any good, they’ll go to market next month. It would cut weight loss time in half. We could be international by next year.”
She tried to pull the tab to open the lid, but the tab came off in her hand. “Once we get better packaging.” She looked up at Carma. “I was hoping you’d be at my side.”
Carma walked over and grabbed the second shake and tried to open it. That tab broke off in her hand, too. She walked over to the kitchen and took out scissors, cutting the lid open. I tensed at her hiss as she shook her hand. “Clumsy me. Cut myself with the scissors.”
She handed the opened shake to her mom. “I’ll be by your side only if you’re okay with Mina being by my side.”
“How will it look if my daughter, the VP of the company, is having an affair with my assistant?”
Walking back to the kitchen sink, Carma washed her hand and pressed paper towel to her palm. “Then consider this my resignation, Mom.”
Everything happened in slow motion. Lucinda looked to her daughter as she raised the shake to her mouth, a bright red drop on the rim of the cup disappearing under her pink lipstick. Lucinda’s eyes narrowed before rolling back into her head, and she collapsed onto the table.
“MOM!” Carma ran over, lifting her mom off the table.
I rushed over and pressed my fingers to Lucinda’s pulse point. The low thrum of her heartbeat was slowing. Oh no. “Babe, get your phone. Call for an ambulance.”
She ran to the bedroom to get her phone as I kept my finger on her mom’s wrist, counting her pulse. Forty beats per minute. Thirty. Twenty.
None.
I didn’t react, just waited as Carma gave the emergency operator her address. Something in my gut told me Lucinda didn’t just casually die in front of us. My suspicion was confirmed when she stirred awake.
Shit.
“Carma, go to your room and lock the door,” I ordered. “Please don’t ask me why, just go.”
“What’s wrong?!” She rushed over to us and I knew we were out of time.
Lucinda raised her head as Carma touched her shoulder. I ran for my shoes, grabbing Sydney and sliding back into the kitchen. Carma screamed as Lucinda stood and grabbed her. Lucinda’s fangs protruded from her mouth, inching closer to her daughter’s neck.
I attacked from behind, knocking Lucinda’s arms away. I shoved her back and grabbed Carma, shoving her behind me.
“WHAT IS GOING ON? MOM!”
“Babe, she’s not your mom right now.”
“Where’d you get that gun?!”
“Don’t have time for small talk right now. I need you to go lock yourself in the bedroom.” Lucinda took a step toward us and I took a step back, forcing Carma to move with me. “Your mom seems to be changing into a vampire.” Please don’t be feral like the last two.
“W-what?” Her voice shook and I wished I could turn around and hold her, kiss her, tell her everything was going to be okay. But I couldn’t and it wasn’t.
My gun was trained on Lucinda as she snarled, her eyes locked on me, but she didn’t attack. Her understanding the gun was dangerous was a good sign that she wasn’t feral. At least, not yet.
“Carma? Dial this number and put it on speaker.” I listed off SHAP’s main line.
Lucinda tried to round the table and I repositioned us. “Don’t move, Lucinda. I will shoot and it’s going to hurt.”
Carma made a terrified squeak but held the phone out as it rang.
“Dispatch, Val speaking.”
“This is Agent Summers. Requesting immediate back up.” I gave Carma’s address. “I’ve got a new vampire, Lucinda Marks. Need extraction. Civilian involved. Contact Agent Robinson.”
Val had been doing this job long enough to not show surprise, but the extra beat of silence told me she knew this was trouble.
“Contacting Agent Robinson immediately. Extraction team in route. Be careful.” The line went dead.
I moved us back as Lucinda skated around the kitchen table. “Take the phone, go lock yourself in your car. I’m going to try to get your mom help.”
“What the hell is going on?”
I shook my head. “Not really a good time for explanations.”
“Then you better talk fast.”
I glanced at her furious face. “I love you. Nothing about that is fake, you got me?”
“I got you.”
“I work for Supernatural-Human Accountability Partnership. I was assigned to investigate your mom because some unexplained vampires connected to Thinner kept attacking humans.”
“And me?”
I nodded. “And you.” Lucinda ran and I shot a warning into the kitchen floor. She startled and cowered back. I maneuvered Carma and me into the living room and near the window. I ripped the curtains open, letting in the morning light. Lucinda flinched and hissed again.
“Mom! Just stay there. Please!” Carma was crying.
I wanted to turn around and kiss her and tell her everything was going to be okay. But I wasn’t going to lie to her either. “Carma, your mom is turning into a vampire. I think it had something to do with whatever is in the shake and that drop of blood from your palm. Do you know what’s in the shake?”
Lucinda took a step into the living room. A ray of sunshine hit her arm and her exposed skin started smoking. She snarled and took a step back, cradling her arm to her chest.
“Carma, do you know what’s in the shake? Is there something that could cause someone to become a vampire?” It sounded ridiculous to me, but there wasn’t anything about this situation that wasn’t.
She sucked in a sharp breath, her throat clogged with emotion. “Not completely,” she whispered.
“Not completely? Not completely sure what’s in the shake or not completely a vampire? This isn’t the time to be vague. We’ve got maybe a minute, possibly two before agents flood this house and we’re separated. I need to know what you know. You can be pissed at me later, but I need to protect you.”
Lucinda moved again, pacing to the hallway and back again.
“Mom said it wasn’t permanent!”
Lucinda lunged and I threw Carma behind her couch. I pulled a blanket off the back and covered her as best I could. “You okay?”
“Fine! Help my mom.”
I really didn’t want to put a wooden bullet into my girlfriend’s mom’s chest, but if she attacked Carma, I wouldn’t have a choice. I nearly cried in relief when Sebastian appeared.
“Jake’s forty-five seconds out!” Sebastian confirmed, walking toward Lucinda with no fear. Ghosts could distract vampires without the risk of being a meal. He put his hands in the air, showing he was unarmed. “We’re going to get you help.”
Her red eyes tracked him as he paced in front of her, talking in a soothing tone about how she’d be better soon. It was a lie, of course. Once someone became a vampire, there wasn’t any going back. The virus in the venom made the body its permanent host. The heart slowed and stopped and the lungs ceased needing oxygen. Reversing the virus couldn’t bring back a heartbeat.
Taking advantage of Sebastian’s distraction, I lifted Carma from the floor and ran into her hall closet, setting her inside and closing the door. I grabbed her side table and yanked it across the floor, relieved when it fit perfectly under the doorknob to keep her from escaping.
She banged against the wood, but I didn’t flinch. I just kept my eyes on the dance between Lucinda and Sebastian. “I’m protecting you!”
“I don’t understand!”
A crash emanated from the kitchen, and I nearly cried at the sound of porcelain teacups hitting the ground. God, what if I had spoken faster this morning, could this moment have been avoided? What if I hadn’t looked out my window last night? What if I had skipped this assignment?
This was exactly what I didn’t want to happen. “What did you mean earlier? When you said it wasn’t permanent?”
There was a long pause, but she stopped hitting the wood. “She said as long as we drank the shakes and followed the guidelines, we’d be fine.”
“Carma, how does it work? How do members lose weight?” I shifted, making sure Lucinda didn’t get near the back door. The worst thing that could happen was her running out into the world. “Carma, babe? Can you answer me?”
“It doesn’t make any sense.”
“My roommate is a century-old ghost. Try me.”
“Uh…she said it was some combination that would slow digestion. She promised it was reversible. But I started to have weird cravings, and I hardly ever sleep, I got more sensitive to the sun…and so I decided to investigate. There’s something in the shake.”
“Do you know what it is? Were you involved?”
“No.”
“Was Maggie? Rachel? Who knew?”
“No! No. Only Mom knew. And I guess the inventor of the shakes. Whenever Mom spoke about whatever the special ingredient is, it was a number.”
I made a mental note to hunt down the inventor. If the ingredient was in code, the factory mixing the shakes likely didn’t know what it was either, but a secret needed two people. I’d find Lucinda’s accomplice.
“AGENT SUMMERS!” Jake burst through the back door, closing it quickly. He took in the scene and leveled his gun at Lucinda. “SHAP is two minutes out.”
I tilted my head to the closet. “Carma’s safe.”
“Who’s here?” she asked.
“My partner,” I admitted.
“Partner?”
I ignored the question for the moment. “Carma, I need to know right now. Did you know what was going on?”
“No. No, I didn’t. I swear.”
I nodded. “Okay.”
The slam of car doors announced the rest of SHAP had arrived. Presumably the ambulance had too, which they would deal with. Jake and I held our positions as the SHAP team, led by two vampires, entered the house and safely apprehended Lucinda. I talked to Carma through the door to let her know what was happening and where they would take her. She didn’t respond, but the soft sobs I heard broke my heart.
When it was just Jake and I left in the house, I pulled the table back and opened the door. Carma walked out but avoided getting close to me, her tear-stained face making me nauseated. How had this all gone so wrong?
“Carma, please pack an overnight bag. I will be escorting you to headquarters for questioning,” Jake said.
Carma, startled, looked between Jake and me. I could see her piece together that Jake wasn’t just the new IT employee, but my partner. “I’m so sorry we had to lie to you,” I whispered. I stepped between Carma and Jake. “She’s innocent.”
“Mina, don’t get involved.” He stepped toward me with his civilian black cane. He wasn’t recording us, thank God. I wasn’t ready.
“I have to,” I admitted.
His eyes met mine. “Lab results came in an hour ago. There’s vampire venom in the shakes. Venom and animal blood. Just enough to start the change but keep it in constant transition. Members are safe, unless they ingest human blood.”
“They made hybrids.” It wasn’t a question.
He nodded, his eyes never leaving mine. “Charges include making unauthorized vampires, violating the human-supernatural consent agreements, three attempted homicides due to unlicensed feeding, and at least three vampire deaths.”
My blood ran cold. Just the first charge alone was a life sentence. The others meant everyone involved would face a grueling trial and likely also face life in prison. “Jake…” My voice shook.
“I need you to pick a side right now, because this is about to get ugly.”
Carma stepped closer. “What are you saying? That my mother knowingly endangered her members? Impossible.”
My partner closed his eyes for a moment, then reopened them, focused on Carma. “Carma Nicks, you are under arrest for aiding and abetting the creation of a vampire clan—”
“She’s not involved,” I spoke over him, shaking my head.
“I didn’t know!” she added. “I would never, you have to believe me!”
He ignored us. “You will be brought to SHAP headquarters and brought up on charges. You have the right to representation from an attorney of your choice—”
“I’ll vouch for her.” My words were quiet, but they rang out like a gunshot, silencing the room. I closed my eyes, knowing this was it. Vouching meant an agent had a personal relationship—usually familial—with a mark. It was a line in the sand. To vouch meant I would have to admit, on record, my relationship with Carma.
It meant my career was over with those four words.
Jake didn’t look at me when he said, “She’s the vice president,” through clenched teeth. “Think about this, Mina.”
“I know.” I blew out a long breath. “But she told me she didn’t know.”
“And you believe her?”
I nodded once, and it felt like an act of war. “I love her.”
He flinched. It took him two swallows before he managed to ask, “Will you go on record?”
“Yes.”
He looked at me as he put his weapon back into its holder then leaned heavily on his cane, as if the weight of my words were too much. Pain sliced through his stoic expression. “You know what that means.”
I nodded once. “I know.” The nature of the relationship would be documented, and everyone, including my father, would know about our affair by the end of the hour.
I would absolutely lose my job and be a blacklisted agent.
He closed his eyes and took a step back, as if I had punched him in the stomach. He looked back at Carma. “You better be worth it.”
“Jake…”
“I’m going to make the call.” He gave me one more look, and my heart broke at the concern on his face.
I’m sorry, I mouthed.
He paused with his hand on the doorknob and I rushed after him, grabbing his arm. “Jake—”
He pulled me into his arms. “I love you and want you to be happy.”
My arms went around his shoulders. “I know.”
“This is gonna suck hard.” He breathed out a sharp breath. “I won’t be able to protect you from the shitstorm.”
“I know,” I said again.
He released me, his free hand holding my shoulder for a long moment, his eyes glassy. I gave him a firm nod, unable to find my voice in the emotions that clogged my throat. Then he straightened, nodded to Carma, and walked out.