Page 72 of Vanessa’s Bravery

A wet sheen appeared in her eyes.

“Baby, did I say something wrong?” he asked, instantly worried.

She shook her head and sniffled. “No. I’m just… I’m so happy that you liked it.”

“Liked it?” He chuckled. “I didn’t just like it. I loved it. Please tell me you need to drink blood every day, ‘cause I don’t think I can go without this for too long.”

Vanessa smiled. “Yes, every day. I’ve never tasted anything as delicious as your blood.”

“It’s all yours, baby,” he murmured and pressed his lips to hers, kissing her, when a ringing sound interrupted him.

Vanessa severed the kiss and looked toward the origin of the sound, her handbag. “That ringtone is for important Scanguards messages only. Sorry.”

She lifted herself off him and retrieved her handbag, reached inside and pulled out her cell phone. She tapped on the screen, then read the message. A moment later, she looked up. “We need to get dressed, and go to HQ.”

Her serious expression made him sit up instantly. “What’s going on?”

“I’ll tell you on the way.”

34

After taking an Uber to stop by Cole’s condo building to get his car, Vanessa and Cole arrived at Scanguards’ headquarters at the same time as many of her colleagues. Everybody headed for the large conference room, piling into it until there was only standing room left. Several of her colleagues eyed Cole, and she put her hand into his to indicate that he was with her. Vanessa caught her father’s look, and she could see his question in his facial expression. She nodded in his direction, letting him know that she’d told Cole the truth that they were all vampires. A quick smile played around Gabriel’s mouth, before he turned back to exchange a few quiet words with Samson.

While they waited for the meeting to begin, Vanessa pointed out to Cole who some of the assembled staff members were. She would introduce him later to some of her friends and colleagues who hadn’t met him personally yet, though she was sure that the news that she’d found her mate had already spread among them like wildfire. Nothing remained a secret in their society for very long.

Slowly, the conversations in the room quieted, and Thomas stepped forward to the lectern. He cleared his throat.

“Thank you all for coming,” he started.

Vanessa couldn’t help but notice that he looked a lot more earnest, if not downright upset, when he cast his gaze at the assembled staff members.

“The reason I’m speaking to you first, is because I’m the reason for the mess we’re in.”

Surprised gasps and murmurs bounced around the room.

“Had I made a different decision, a better decision, 37 years ago, none of this would have happened.”

“Thomas,” Samson interrupted.

“No, Samson, it has to be said. It’s my fault. And I take full responsibility for it.”

He tapped on a mouse, and turned sideways so that everybody could look at the picture on the large screen behind him. “This is Milo. He was my boyfriend back then. Thirty-seven years ago, he and his sister Ilona tried to rob Samson and Scanguards of all their funds. We foiled their plan, and killed Ilona, but I made the mistake of letting Milo live.”

More whispers traveled through the crowd, and Vanessa listened attentively. She’d never heard anybody talk of Milo.

“Milo is back. He’s the vampire who’s been turning incels into vampires and letting them loose on the city to wreak havoc among the human population. We can only assume that he’s back to take his revenge, not just for us killing his sister, but also for thwarting his plan to rob Scanguards.”

Thomas nodded at Samson, and stepped away from the lectern. Vanessa watched him as he walked to Eddie, his blood-bonded mate, who put his hand on Thomas’s arm, squeezing it, while he gave him an encouraging look.

Samson took his place at the lectern, continuing where Thomas had left off.

“I want you all to memorize this photo. It’s also being sent to your cell phones, so you can refresh your memory when you’re out in the field canvassing the neighborhoods. It has taken Milo 37 years to return. That means he’s had plenty of time to come up with a plan. Gabriel and I talked about this earlier, and we don’t think that turning incels is the only part of his plan. We have to assume, that he’s also turning other people, but in the absence of any other leads, we’ll need to start with what we know.”

Samson gave a nod in Gabriel’s direction, who now approached.

“Our first order of business is to find Milo,” Gabriel announced. “This will be mostly in the hands of our IT staff, who will comb through CCTV footage and traffic cams, trying to find Milo. We’ll run facial recognition, and have asked every IT staff member to report for duty. We believe that he’s holed up somewhere in the city to watch his plan unfold, and see the city descend into chaos, when more and more humans are being attacked. There’ll be a panic when this happens.”

“While the IT staff is busy with this,” Samson said, taking over from Gabriel, “our second priority is to pick up all the incels. Unfortunately, tonight our teams didn’t have much luck, since most of them were out, most likely hunting for blood. That’s why we’ll do it differently this time.”