To Love and Serve Read online

  She had avoided her, partly out of guilt, but also from fear her mother would see that all was not well with her. “Maybe you can visit again soon.”

  “Maybe,” was all her mother said. Diana took that opportunity to hurry out the door.

  As she stepped onto the elevator, she texted Ryder that she was on her way up. He was waiting for her by the front door, sleepily tousled, his dark hair finger-combed in disarray. Loose pajama pants she knew he’d slipped on in deference to her, hung low on his lean hips.

  At his questioning glance, she said, “You were still asleep after Jesus left, so I decided to pop in downstairs.”

  He danced his fingers along her arm, then took hold of her hand. “You look…relaxed.”

  In truth, she was. Much more than she had been after her ADIC’s earlier visit. “I am. It was nice to visit with my family. Get some things off my chest. See my mother before she goes home.”

  “When you weren’t here when I woke, I thought maybe Jesus had asked you back.”

  “I’d hoped he would,” she said with a heavy sigh of frustration. “God damn it. He knows how much I want to go back to work. How much it means to me.”

  “Did he explain why, at least?”

  “He liked my profile, but he has two new agents transferring in. He wants to give them the case.”

  Beneath her hand, Ryder’s muscles tensed. “Fuck him. Especially after you practically killed yourself helping him.”

  “I know he’s just doing his job as a boss, trying to get the case solved quickly. But…”

  “I know, darlin’.” Ryder eased his arm around her and drew her close, enveloping her in a tight hug. She resisted at first, but finally accepted his comfort and returned the embrace. She sniffled against his chest as her tears dampened his skin.

  “I know you don’t want me to interfere, but…” he murmured softly. “If he doesn’t stick up for you soon, I’m giving the prick another piece of my mind.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Instead of a quiet night at The Lair, a few hours later Ryder found himself back in the basement of the Blood Bank.

  He stood by Diego as the slayers, Michaela and Benjamin, walked around the bodies of the two dead vampires, examining the wounds. Michaela leaned in for a closer view of the male’s ruined throat and wrinkled her nose. Benjamin stood beside the table, arms banded across his chest. His blue-eyed gaze was nearly glacial, his face set in harsh lines that hardened its boyishness.

  “He’s starting to get a little ripe.” Michaela’s skin had paled to a greenish color, but she pressed on. She turned her attention to the waitress and gestured to the throat wound. “It’s not as deep. Not as violent. It’s like he had some hesitation about what he was doing with her.”

  Diego looked unimpressed. “But he went through with it anyway. Angie was popular at the Blood Bank.”

  Benjamin’s laugh was flat and unsympathetic. “No surprise there. You fang boys just love your Buffys.”

  Before either of them could respond, Michaela whipped out her smartphone and stepped in front of him. “Mind if I take a few photos? I have a friend who might be able to offer some insights. I’ll send you copies of them and anything else that’s important.”

  Suddenly, it hit Ryder where he’d seen her before. Holy crap. “An FBI kind of friend?”

  She narrowed her eyes at him, and recognition slowly filtered into her gaze. “I thought you looked familiar. Jesus pointed you out to me one night upstairs. He told me he knew you, and that you were okay.”

  Ryder held out his hand to her. “Ryder Latimer. Hernandez and I have some friends in common.”

  “Diana Reyes,” Michaela supplied a second before she shook his hand. Her touch was hesitant, almost as if it pained her. “She’s your friend, right? I’m Michaela Ramirez.”

  Benjamin just stood there, clearly unmoved by Ryder’s friendliness and possibly pissed at Michaela’s actions.

  Not that it kept her from pressing onward. She glanced at Diego. “Are you part of the Scooby Gang as well?” Ryder cringed inwardly.

  Diego didn’t offer either of the slayers his hand or camaraderie. “I don’t know what you mean by that. Ryder and I are friends and business partners. I know the ADIC. He helped out my wife.”

  “An elder with a wife?” Michaela asked skeptically.

  Benjamin snorted. “You expect us to believe you’re capable of real love? Of caring and honor?”

  Diego’s jaw tightened to the breaking point and Ryder sensed the waves of power coming off his friend as emotion bit into his control. Thankfully, Diego pulled back and restrained himself from going full vamp. “Why is that so hard to believe?”

  Fearlessly, Michaela tilted her chin insolently and jerked her shoulders back. “Because we’ve seen what your kind do firsthand.”

  Diego flicked a hand in the direction of the dead vampires on the table. “And we’ve seen what your kind can do. That is, if you agree it was a slayer who did this,” he chided.

  Michaela’s bravado faltered. “The silver nitrate and the stakes with the St. Andrew’s cross are old school slayer,” she grudgingly admitted. “May I take the stakes for additional examination?”

  “Only one. We’ll want to do our own assessment on the other,” Diego said.

  With a nod, she whipped out an official-looking evidence bag. Obviously, she’d discussed this situation with Hernandez, and he’d offered suggestions about what to do. Ryder wondered just how close they were. They were at least a decade apart in age, and even further apart in demeanor.

  Using a bandanna she took from a pocket of her leather jacket, she carefully picked up one of the stakes from the stainless steel table and tucked it into the evidence bag. Then she slipped the bag into an inside jacket pocket. Ryder took note of the weaponry tucked into her jacket’s lining—a few wooden stakes, a trio of knives, and a small bottle. Holy water, he guessed. Not that it did much good on vampires like Diego or him.

  He still believed in the God who had doomed him to this life, while Diego had been a converso who had kept to his Jewish faith in secret through the centuries, and now happily practiced it openly.

  As Michaela let her jacket drop closed and glanced his way, understanding awoke in her gaze. “You two are different.”

  “Unlikely, Michaela,” Benjamin said.

  “If you stick around long enough, you may find that we’re not all the way you think,” Ryder said.

  “Maybe. If I stick around,” she said.

  It didn’t take much to gather she was more the rolling stone type. He pitied Hernandez for that, if he was truly involved with her.

  Michaela and Benjamin strode out of the basement. He had no doubt that beneath her cockiness there was fear. But Benjamin seemed like the kind who could take care of himself without much help. Which made Ryder wonder why he’d been sent to run an errand with the junior slayer.

  “I’m not sure I trust them.” Diego stared pensively at the door the slayers had exited.

  “I trust Michaela. But then, I don’t have the history that you and the others have with the slayers.”

  “What about Benjamin?” Diego asked.

  Ryder considered. “I’m not sure what to think about him—other than I’m guessing the Council doesn’t trust Michaela, so he was sent to keep an eye on her.” He motioned to the remaining stake. “There may be prints or other evidence on that. We could ask Detective Daly to help us out.”

  Diego nodded. “Good call. His wife is one of us. He’ll want to protect her. We can run by the Artemis Shelter on the way home and see what he has to say.” After they left the basement, they paused upstairs at the bar so Diego could give Foley instructions about the disposal of the bodies. Then they slipped out into the night. In front of the Blood Bank a long line of humans waited to get in, but Ryder sensed very few vampires.

  “News of the killings is spreading,” he said.

  Diego grimaced in agreement. “Vampires will be going to ground, or finding a diff
erent club. Hopefully being more cautious of strangers who are hanging around.”

  “Hopefully.”

  Diego jerked his head in the direction of a nearby alley. “Are you ready to fly?”

  Ryder nodded. “I’m ready.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  Diana had never been able to tell any of her human friends the whole truth about the night of the botched raid that nearly killed her and had resulted in her being contaminated with Ryder’s blood. She suspected her former partner, David Harris, also held back on what little he remembered. If either of them had revealed all the facts, the Office of Professional Responsibility would have thought they were both raving lunatics.

  As it was, the OPR review committee had noticed Diana’s reticence during her testimony. They’d likely read her caution as an admission that she’d done something wrong that night.

  In truth, whether or not she’d made any mistakes, she still bore responsibility for what had happened that night because she’d been the Special Agent in Charge. So when Jesus told her David had broken up with his long-time girlfriend, Maggie, who was her best friend, Diana knew she had to do everything possible to get them back together. She needed to help Maggie understand. She’d invited her friend over for dinner, hoping to find the courage to tell her everything.

  Everything. But she knew Maggie would be disbelieving of what Diana would tell her. As a forensic specialist with the FBI, Maggie relied on facts and evidence in her life.

  Maggie placed her fork on her empty plate after they’d eaten. “I just don’t get what’s up with David. He’s been so different since the raid, but he won’t talk about it.”

  “It was a crazy night, Mags. From the moment I led the team toward the apartment where that terrorist bomb was supposed to be, everything went wrong.” So wrong, Diana thought, recalling her fear as she realized she’d been shot and that her team was being decimated by the terrorist group’s gunfire and the explosives they had set.

  Maggie grasped her hand. “I can’t imagine what it was like.”

  “It’s hard to imagine and even harder to remember. I was so scared for my team. For David, when I realized a bomb had gone off where he was stationed. It’s been hard to think about everything, much less talk about it.”

  “I’m glad you’re talking about it now with me. Call me stupid, but I keep praying one day David will also open up and stop running away from me. Or should I say rolling away.” She mimicked David pushing the wheels on his chair.

  Diana grabbed the bottle of wine and topped off their glasses. “Drink up. You’re going to need it for what I’m going to tell you next. I know I do.”

  Maggie used two unsteady hands to pick up her glass, gulp down a mouthful, then set it aside.

  “Everything happened so suddenly the night of the raid,” she began. “So much was happening so quickly, it was impossible to think. After it was over, I asked myself if I should’ve known the CIA bastard on my team was a traitor. If I should’ve asked for his personnel file sooner. But I never suspected, although I pegged him for a misogynist. I guess that’s why he attacked me first.”

  “What do you mean, he attacked you first?”

  Diana met her friend’s puzzled gaze. “I was commanding the lead group that was supposed to secure the room where our man was undercover and waiting for the delivery of the bomb they were going to use. As I got to the door, something hit me from behind. I didn’t know what it was at first, only that my body got rubbery. And then there was a second blow, and pain. So much pain.”

  “You were shot? But when you came to see David in the hospital, you were fine.”

  “I wasn’t fine when the assault started. I was dying, Maggie. The bastard had taken me out and then instructed his people to attack the rest of the agents on the team. They blew up the command post David was manning.”

  Maggie frowned. “But David and another agent survived. They said it was a miracle they were able to get out of the room, considering how much damage there was.”

  Diana grabbed her glass of wine and took a small sip, then held the glass in her hands to keep them steady. “What David won’t tell you is that someone pulled them from the room. He saw them, and asked me to explain when I went to the hospital to see him…but I couldn’t.”

  She hadn’t been able to tell David, her partner and then best friend, that two vampires had saved his life. She also hadn’t been able to tell her other best friend Maggie in all that time.

  “But you will tell me tonight, right?”

  Diana hesitated, then nodded. “The two men were Ryder’s friends. He’d asked them to help David while Ryder helped me.”

  Maggie shook her head, totally confused. “What were Ryder and his friends doing at an FBI raid?”

  “He wanted to protect me.” She leaned forward, placed the glass on the table, and met Maggie’s gaze head on. “Ryder and his friends aren’t like you and me. They’re…vampires.”

  Maggie jerked back, disbelief in every line of her body. “You’re kidding, right?”

  Diana shook her head. “No. I’m deadly serious.” She winced inwardly at the word choice, then breathed out. “I know it’s kind of…”

  “Insane?” Maggie supplied incredulously. But then something settled into her features. She shifted closer again. “You really believe this, I can see it in your eyes. I can help you through this…whatever it is, Di.”

  Diana knew that her friend, scientist that she was, needed more evidence. She went to the fridge and took out the small package sitting on the bottom shelf. It was filled with several vials of her blood she’d had Melissa draw. She had contemplated whether or not to share it with Maggie, but she no longer had any hesitation about what she had to do.

  She handed the package to her friend and said, “Why don’t you take these blood samples to your lab and analyze them? Then come back tomorrow so we can talk some more.”

  Maggie peered at the package as if Diana was handing her a bomb. Maybe she was. Once Maggie had a look at her blood, she would have lots of questions, but few doubts about the secret with which Diana had entrusted her. Science didn’t lie.

  “Is this about what happened to you? Why you can’t move forward and get on with your life?”

  Diana had never thought about the moving forward part of it, but now she realized how true that was. Since the night she’d been contaminated she’d been stuck in limbo, unable to be who she was and yet not really sure of who she’d become, or was becoming. As she’d said to Ryder, now was the time for her to become a new self, someone strong enough to face the shadows inside her.

  Strong enough to master them, so she could move on with her life.

  Chapter Sixteen

  The Slayer had held off on following the married vampires he’d scoped out at the Blood Bank. Although they were youngish in years and therefore weaker in power, it would be hard to fight two at once. Still, every time he saw the Barbie wife, he got a hard-on. The thought of taking her with her hubby watching only made it more tempting to try for a double kill.

  Maybe later. For the moment, he was observing the vampire called Ryder, who was sitting alone on a park bench. He’d hoped that Ryder and his friend, Diego, would split up, giving him a chance for another quick kill, but they’d hung together after leaving the Blood Bank earlier. Their destination, however, had provided him with another possible hunting ground—the Artemis Shelter. He’d sensed vampire power there. He’d definitely have to return at another time to check it out.

  But first he had to notch up another vampire kill and whip the undead into a frenzy of fear. Who better to vanquish than one of their elders, or Ryder, who seemed to have connections everywhere in both the human and vampire worlds.

  He was about to move in when Ryder rose from the shadows and walked out into the bright glow of the streetlights along the sidewalk. Despite the late hour, there were still a few pedestrians around, and enough street traffic that attempting a kill in so visible a place would be stupid. So he kept
to his camouflaged position deep in the underbrush.

  This group of wanna-be-human vamps made it simpler for him. They had homes and routines that were easy to find, unlike many of the other vampires, who kept their lairs well hidden and away from prying human eyes.

  He appreciated the treasure trove of possible hits Manhattan presented to him. He’d been hesitant about coming here when his brother announced their move so many years ago, but now he was excited by the possibilities.

  With a quick look around to make sure no one could see him, he stepped from the underbrush smiling broadly. A lightness in his step turned almost into a skip as he rushed through the park toward home. No, not home, he thought, losing some of his joy. It was only a temporary location. Almost a prison, since he was an outcast amongst others like him. Condemned to live apart so as to not risk death at the hands of those who should have protected him.

  They would pay for that injustice. For rejecting him. He could have been a certified slayer if not for their failure to recognize the strength of his power. Even his own brother, whom he loved more deeply than anyone else, had not understood and supported him.

  In time, his brother and the others would see their mistake and embrace him for the man he was. As a true slayer who deserved his spot on the front lines of their epic battle.

  …

  Diana awoke when she heard Ryder come home. She was in the bedroom, tucked beneath the covers, dozing and listening with one ear for his return.

  The stairs creaked as he mounted the stairs and undressed quietly, then eased beneath the sheets.

  She offered up a drowsy smile and half-opened her eyes. “Sorry, I was tired.”

  She’d done a lot of running around today, and as he encircled her waist with his arm and drew her near, he must have felt the chill in her body. He released a bit of his vampire and brought forth the demon’s heat to warm her.

  “Mmm. That feels good,” she murmured sleepily and burrowed close, twining her legs with his and nuzzling his chest with her face.