Chapter 26: Chapter 26

The smell of strawberries and a soft, sweet breath fanning my neck woke me up. My heart swelled at the sight of Mira slumbering in my arms, looking peaceful and content. Like before, I wondered how she could be so trusting around me. Especially now that she knew my secret. Wasn’t she afraid that I would give in to my baser instincts and suck her dry? Although, in Mira’s case, my baser instincts would lead me down another path, one that was more carnal in nature.

Having her this close with her intoxicating scent surrounding me was already wreaking havoc on my body. And if I didn’t put some distance between us soon, she might find herself in my bed against her will. I disentangled myself from Mira’s embrace, taking great care not to wake her up. I still needed to feed, and I didn’t think she would enjoy watching me gulp down pints of human blood in front of her. After making sure that I didn’t disturb her, I swiftly made my way to my private blood bank. It was only after my second pint of O+ that my new situation with Mira hit me.

She was moving in with me. We would live together.

A sliver of fear sliced through my gut. Living with a woman was a tremendous step for me. It was a first. I never shared a home with any of my other lovers before, not even Irina. Most of my previous liaisons didn’t even get to where it crossed my mind. I kept telling myself that I was only doing this to keep Mira safe. And that we wouldn’t be living together in the strictest sense since we’d have different bedrooms. We'd be together under the same roof, though.

What if I blew this again?

I had made a lot of mistakes with Mira from the moment I met her. I didn’t want to make new ones and jeopardize our relationship. But what about her expectations of me? Would I be able to meet all of them? What about my duties as an enforcer? Would she fine left here all alone while I went after rogue vampires? And would I be able to control my raging desires for her? Would I have enough strength to keep my promise of taking things slow? I must, if I were to make this work.

My vampiric hunger finally satiated; I went back to the sofa. Mira was still asleep, obviously exhausted from the flight back home. I hadn’t asked her how she got back, but I didn’t have to. I knew who aided her. Only Boris had a spare key to my condo unit. And since Mira was already waiting for me inside, it meant that Boris opened the door for her. Fucking bleeding heart. I should have a sit-down with Boris one of these days and reassess his loyalty. To be honest, Mira’s ability to enlist Boris’s help impressed me. My second-in-command wasn’t an amiable man, and not easily manipulated. She must’ve used some pretty powerful arguments to bend him to her will. And very few women could claim that honor.

Leaving Mira comfortably snuggled under a thick blanket, I slipped into my study to get some work done. First, I called up Tanner to confirm that he had everything under control at the safe house. Next, I checked up on my roving Knights. All were glad to report that there were no Newborns spotted in our areas of responsibility. It didn’t mean that they could slack off, though. Daybreak was still a couple of hours away. Anything could happen. It was then that I remembered the files Chavez gave me. In my haste to go up my unit, I’d forgotten to take the envelope with me. Stefan was out doing his rounds, so I relegated the menial task of retrieving the files from my car to Boris. My second-in-command came up with the files within minutes, wearing a sheepish look on his face.

“Boss,” he said when I opened the door.

“Well, well, well. If it isn’t my errant Knight-in-shining armor. Rescued any damsels in distress lately?” I said, raising a brow at the gentle giant in front of me.

Boris scratched the back of his shaved head and smiled self-consciously. “Sorry about that, Boss. But she said she wanted to surprise you. And it would’ve ruined the surprise if I phoned ahead, right?” he said, his dark eyes twinkling mischievously.

Fuck, what has Mira done to my Knight? In all my years working with Boris, I had never seen him smile or look embarrassed even once. Yet here he was looking like a schoolboy caught red-handed by the principal.

“Just don’t make it a habit,” I grunted, taking the envelope from him. “Come with me. I might need your opinion on these.”

“Sure thing, boss,” Boris said, reverting to his normal, serious self.

There were three files inside the envelope, one for each location where the bodies were found. To say that the contents shocked us would be an understatement. They horrified us. Irina was right. It was worse than we had imagined. The first file was for the five women left hanging on a hill, six or seven months ago. The autopsy reports on them confirmed they had recently given birth. All five of them. And if I were to make an educated guess, I would say that tiny teeth made the marks on their bodies, basing on the proximity of the holes to each other. This meant that they gave birth to live hybrids and had then been used to feed them.

The second file was for the three women found in the abandoned warehouse in my territory. Two had recently given birth, while the third one showed signs of a miscarriage. They all had the same pin prick marks as the other five. The last file was for the two women found behind a dumpster. Neither one showed any sign of recent childbirth or pregnancies, though both were raped. Something must’ve gone wrong in this attack. Boris suggested that perhaps the Newborns got carried away and killed the women accidentally. That’s why they left them behind the dumpster and not taken elsewhere.

This brought the first attack on Mira back to mind. If I hadn’t come along, those three would’ve done the same to her. Perhaps unsupervised Newborns were behind these accidental killings. The one in Cebu was under the tutelage of the Royal Guard I killed. Did the ones who sired these hybrids have mentors watching over them, too? However, the Newborns we captured at the warehouse didn’t have an older vampire supervising them. Or maybe they did, and we just came when they weren’t there with the Newborns. If only Ivan was awake, he could tell us if saw an older vampire lording over those Newborns.

Torres said this was happening in other cities as well. It could help us get a clearer picture of the situation if we could also access the autopsy reports on those other victims. It would, however, take time to establish reliable contacts within the police forces of those cities. And we didn’t have the luxury of time. And what if this was also happening in some other parts of the world? The Count wanted to keep our investigation limited to a need-to-know basis. I wondered who else needed to know about this now. Because the deeper we dug, the wider this thing seemed to be. Especially now that a Royal Guard was in the picture.

When the Count handed this assignment to me seven years ago, I thought it was a random incident. There were only half a dozen victims, all tortured and slaughtered before being put on display. And when we caught the three vampires responsible for their deaths, we believed it was over. The Count only made me stay here because vampires were flocking the major cities and wanted me to monitor them. Although there wasn’t any hard proof connecting those deaths to the ones on these files, I couldn’t dismiss the possibility that they were. We didn’t have any reason to ask for the autopsy reports on those women back then. But it wouldn’t hurt to look at them now. Chavez said he was part of that investigation. Much as I hated to owe the man, I could see no other way to confirm my theory. I must see those autopsy reports.

“Boris, contact Torres in the morning. Ask him if he could get the autopsy reports on the women from the case we had seven years ago. They might shed some light on the ones we’re handling right now.”

“Okay, Boss. I’ll get on it right away,” Boris said. “Any news on Ivan?”

“Tanner said he’s improving, but hasn’t regained consciousness. They’ll be doing some tests on him as soon as he makes better progress. His slow healing is quite unusual.”

Boris grunted as he shook his head in anger and frustration. “What about the women? Do you think they will remember anything?”

“Irina doubts it. They’ve been both dosed with memory-altering drugs. But let’s hope for the best. Maybe they’d be able to contribute...what the fuck is that smell?” I said, gagging at the powerful, greasy odor wafting from outside.

“Er...I think Mira’s up and cooking some of that bacon she bought from the grocery downstairs, Boss,” Boris said, acting like it did not affect him one bit.

“She went grocery shopping before coming here?”

“She asked if you had food in the fridge and I said you probably didn’t, so she bought some for herself.” Boris shrugged. “She bought some fruits, too, Boss.”

Fuck. I loved Mira, but her food choices were abominably smelly. I tried ignoring the stench and continued to discuss theories with Boris. But then, after a few minutes, the unmistakable aroma of garlic assaulted my nostrils.

“That’s it. We’re establishing house rules. And I draw the line at garlic,” I said, shoving out of my seat.

I was ready to wage war at my unwelcome culinary expert when the unhindered view of Mira’s long legs peeking out of a nondescript, oversized shirt greeted me. She appeared to have showered and had changed out of her street clothes. Her hair was damp and carelessly pinned at the top, soft tendrils spilling down her neck. I swallowed hard at the erotic images flashing inside my brain just seeing that slim column of flesh. She must’ve felt my presence because when she turned from the stove, she gave me one of her dimpled smiles, melting my heart and my anger instantly.

“Hey! I thought you had already left. You don’t mind me cooking, do you? I ate little yesterday and woke up starving. I have some fruits, too, if you want,” she said, tilting her head at me, exposing more of her lovely throat.

Fuck house rules. I couldn’t care less if she cooked a whole smorgasbord as long as she did it looking like that, I thought.

Oh, boy, was I in big trouble.

Because I knew that the next thing I would say was fuck taking it slow. I want her now and I will take her now. Suddenly, this bright idea of moving together to keep her safe didn’t seem too bright anymore.