Her Vampire Ward

Her Vampire Ward

Ballard Protective
Services

Copyright 2013 Britten
Thorne

All Romance eBooks
Edition

All Rights Reserved

This book is a work of
fiction. Any resemblance to persons living or dead, places, events,
or locales, is purely coincidental.

Warning: contains adult
content

I
stood by with my brother as the black van sped into the parking lot,
tires spinning and spraying dust and dirt as it came to an abrupt
stop in front of us. We were far from the main road - we could only
hear crickets and frogs and other nocturnal animals in the area. The
run-down motel behind us looked abandoned from the outside; at least
to untrained eyes.

The
van's side door slid open, and two of our men escorted our newest
client between them.

A
vampire. Hence the cover of night.

"I'm
Daniel Ballard," my brother said, "This is my sister, Eve.
We'll be keeping you safe while you're in transition here." The
vampire opened his mouth to talk, but my brother cut him off. "Your
new name is Alek Yerzov. We'll fill you in on the rest later, but you
need to settle into that immediately."

"I
understand." His voice sounded raspy. He must have had a hell of
a time before we got to him. His button-down shirt was dingy and
rumpled, his straight black hair hung limp and greasy around his
head, and he kept his eyes on the ground. Poor guy. The report had
said that he'd been on the run for a long while.

It
had also detailed the sort of magic he’d been casting to keep
ahead of his pursuers. Blood magic. Dark, scary stuff. Nothing anyone
in our agency would ever dabble in. It was a miracle the vampire had
survived using as much as he had.

"You
can relax, now, Alek. You're safe with us," I said.

He
turned towards me, and I got a glimpse of a dark green eye before he
stared at his feet again. "If it's all the same to you, Ms.
Ballard, I'll relax when the sun rises."

"Fair
enough," said Daniel, "Follow me."

I
brought up the rear as we entered the old motel down a flight of
stairs through a basement entrance. I set the electronic lock and
flipped the mechanical one on the door behind us. I opened the nearby
filing cabinet and pulled out a tiny bowl of dried and blessed herbs
and a packet of matches. I lit the bowl and placed it on the floor.
That would activate the magical lock.

"All
clear," I called, and Daniel switched on his flashlight. He led
us into a stairwell and up to the second story. The long hallway had
its old carpeting still, and smelled like mildew. The other two men
nodded to us and broke away, heading for the office at the end.
Daniel unlocked a room midway down and allowed Alek and I to enter
ahead of him.

I
flicked on the lights. The two-bed room had no phone or television,
but otherwise nothing was out of the ordinary. The room was clean,
the furniture new.

Alek
sat on the edge of the nearest bed with a heavy sigh. "I'm sure
you guys are aware of everything already, but I need to re-state the
threat, here. I wouldn't feel right if I didn't. The warlock they've
got working with them... " He shuddered.

"We
know," I said. "Now that you're here, I can tell you. We've
encountered him before."

"And
your client?" He looked up at me, finally revealing his face.
Despite the dark circles, his green eyes were striking. He might have
been handsome, but he just looked exhausted. And afraid.

"Hey,"
I said, dropping into a crouch to meet him at eye-level, putting a
hand on his knee, "You're safe here. And as long as you follow
our instructions to the letter, you'll be safe back out there."

"The
client, Ms. Ballard?"

I
maintained eye contact. "Gone. He reconnected with his old life
and was found before he could testify. The whole case fell apart, and
he's probably dead."

Alek
looked away. "Thank you for your honesty."

"It
won't happen to you. Just do what we say." He nodded. "Daniel
and I will both be with you here until your new identity is ready."

"My
sister... "

"Don't,"
my brother and I both said, and I continued, "It's best for both
of you if you don't contact her."

He
looked away.

"I'm
very serious," I said, "We'll talk more after you've had
some rest, but you will have no access to phones until we're
satisfied that you understand."

He
met my eyes again and nodded. So weary, so sad. And trusting. None of
the vampiric arrogance I was so used to. I was struck with a need to
protect this one. But he had the look of someone who wouldn’t
follow that first, most important rule. The natural impulse to look
out for his sister would be a problem. This wasn't going to be one of
our easier jobs.

-

I
left my brother with the vampire. He would take the first shift,
making sure the creature got enough rest before going through all the
rules for the first time. Number one being, do not contact family,
friends, coworkers, acquaintances. It was the hardest rule to follow,
harder than answering to a new name and discarding the old. Harder
than abandoning all possessions. Harder than leaving bank accounts
behind.

I
glanced over his report for the twentieth time. Not so unusual.
Vampire, witnessed other vampires murdering one of their own. Some
scientist. He wanted to testify, do the right thing, and the
murderers brought in a real monster of a warlock to silence him. That
was what made this stand out. Why the warlock? It raised the issue,
why the scientist?

Not
my business. My job was just too keep Alek safe.

I
entered the control room at the end of the hall, where Alek’s
escorts waited. The modified hotel room was practically lined with
computer monitors and television screens.

I
left my weapons on pegs on the back of the door. "The spells are
active," Ian said. He and the other man, Joel, sat with cups of
coffee at a long desk in front of a smaller set of monitors. I
stepped up behind their chairs - they were watching the camera feeds
from our few occupied rooms, including Alek’s.

“
Where’s
Carolyn?” I asked. Another regular, she manned the control room
when most of us were in the field or dealing with the clients.

“
Sent
her on a coffee and smoke break,” Joel said, sipping his own,
“She’ll be back in ten.” I spotted Daniel on one of
the little monitors, sitting on the end of one of the hotel beds and
reading something on his phone. Alek slept on his back on the other,
shoes discarded. At least I assumed he was asleep - one hand was
draped across his eyes.

I
always felt sympathy for our clients, but something about Alek
bothered me. Maybe it was just seeing such a powerful creature
brought so low. He wasn't as large as Daniel - few were - but he was
a big guy, and strong, and a damn
vampire
.
He should not be so afraid. He shouldn’t have had to resort to
the type of magic he had. I wished he’d hired us earlier.

“
Any
updates from the field?” I asked.

“
The
identity is good to go,” Ian said, “They’re still
working on the spells at the residence, though.”

I
sighed. “Okay. Wake me up if anything changes.” I walked
through another door, into the adjoining room. Clothes littered the
desk and chairs. I flopped onto one of the two beds on my stomach and
hoped the pillows were at least vaguely clean as I shut my eyes. I
already knew I wouldn’t sleep. I was way too wound up. Daniel
and I had spent half the night driving a second van around the
pick-up location. The vampires had found Alek before we’d
arrived, which meant the warlock would have been on his way. We were
finally able to block their vehicle coming up a one-way street,
buying Alek enough time to get in the other van. I was a good driver,
but we weren’t the only cars on the road. My adrenaline was
still running.

I
heard the door open and shut again, but I didn’t lift my head.

“
You
okay?” Ian asked.

“
Yeah.
Long night is all. Still can’t believe it took us so long to
pick him up.” The bed sank as he sat next to me.

“
He
almost bolted once we did locate him. That warlock is a real piece of
work.” Strong fingers pressed into the back of my neck,
massaged away some of the tension. I groaned in appreciation.

“
I'm
afraid we’re going to lose this one, too,” I said.

“
Think
so?”

“
He
had the look when he brought up his sister.”

Ian
sighed. “I hate it when you’re right.” He kissed my
neck. “Want to fool around a little?”

I
contemplated it. Ian and I had been sort of involved on and off for
almost as long as we’d worked with each other. We weren’t
really compatible and we both knew it, but kept waking up together. I
guess we should have taken it as a sign that we were both working way
too much.

“
All
right,” I said, rolling onto my back. It wasn’t as if I
was going to get any sleep either way. “Let’s get
complicated.”

Ian
chuckled. His dusty blonde hair stood in all directions - he looked
the way I felt. “Let’s try to avoid that.” He
kissed my neck, placed a hand on my breast and gently squeezed. I ran
my fingers through his hair with a sigh. He was warm, familiar, and I
finally started to relax as his lips worked their way up to my jaw,
and then my mouth. He tasted like peppermint candies, as always. I
kissed him back, taking in the sweet flavor.

He
pulled away to kick his shoes off, then laid on his side next to me.
He wedged a knee between my legs and planted his mouth back on mine.
We’d tried to make more of this than it was in the past, but we
were at the point where we could finally accept that this was nothing
more than a comfort. A winding-down after intensely stressful days.

His
hand found its way under my shirt and bra to knead my breast. It was
a clumsy move beneath all the layers of clothing, especially with the
harness I was wearing to hold my knives. But we couldn’t start
stripping while on call. It was enough to get me going, though the
adrenaline still helped. Warmth bloomed between my legs, and I moved
closer to press myself against his thigh.

God,
was I worn out. It was such a relief to let myself fall into his
kiss. Sucking on his tongue, grinding against his leg, it awakened a
very simple need in me and put the day’s complications far in
the background.

The
lights dimmed, and the first alarm sounded. It was a low hum through
the building, meant to alert us without alarming the clients. Ian and
I both sprung into action, neither of us hesitating or saying a word.
He stamped his feet back inside his shoes as I left the room.

“
Report?”
I asked as I burst through the door. I retrieved my weapons and
checked them - gun with the silver bullets, loaded. Gun with the
wooden bullets, loaded. I strapped the holster across my waist.
Sword, loosened in its sheath, slung over my back. I didn’t
bother strapping it on just yet. I peered over Joel’s shoulder.
Daniel was on his feet in the room, but Alek was still asleep.

“
Just
a probe,” he said. He indicated a different monitor. The hotel
was a bright green dot in a sea of darkness. A very dim cloud, also
green, appeared from one end of the screen and slid across, passing
right over us. “Coming from far away,” he continued,
“It’s got to be the warlock. He isn’t getting a
lock on us or anything. Yet. But the dude’s got quite a range.”

“
I'm
back!” Carolyn burst into the room. The short blonde woman
entered behind me and squinted at the green monitor. “Gimme my
seat, Joel. You and Ian go patrol outside. Keep the fires lit. I’ve
got the room from here.” The two men left. Carolyn flipped a
switch on a small panel below the monitors and spoke into a tiny
microphone, “Can you hear me, Daniel?”