AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The man stepped back, and his expression changed from unsure to calculating with a subtle sneer. “I was looking for Mrs. Tate, but I believe I have the wrong house.” The voice was obsequious, giving Danny the feeling of the creeps.
"There is no Mrs. Tate here." Danny held his gaze as he spoke, letting him know that he didn't believe a word he was saying. The man smiled and spread his arms out to his side as he continued to step back.
"My mistake." He said, and after several seconds of silent staring, he turned and jogged to the car parked at the curb and got in the passenger side. He waved as they drove away. Danny took down the license but didn't get a look at the driver. He remained on the porch for a few minutes before going back inside and locking the door.
He then checked all his doors and windows to make sure nothing had been tampered with and everything was secure. Something was going on, and it was starting to piss him off.
The guy at the door had a purpose for being there, but Danny had no idea what it was. He checked the area of the porch and the door for anything that didn't belong there but found nothing. After doing the same to the back door and the first-floor windows, Danny had to be satisfied. Instead of going back upstairs, he stretched out on the living room couch and managed to catch a couple hours of sleep before his alarm went off at five.
Parc would be there in two hours, and he knew the man well enough to know that he would come early, so he headed upstairs to shower and change.
Parc checked the low-dollar motels in the vicinity of the strip where Vic would likely stay. He wasn't like the two grunts that he dealt with earlier. Vic had a professional air about him and probably came into town specifically for this job. He was working for Dominion, so he lived in Columbus, but just as Cross had stated, he wasn't a member of the coven, just hired help.
Zeke found no coven affiliation for Vic, and vampires never hid their membership. It was a point of pride and belonging. They dangled that carrot in front of Vic, and he would probably do anything they asked. He didn't know the man, but he had a look of desperation and loneliness. Vic didn't like being unaffiliated. Cross thought it was all about money and power, and that might be right, but Parc felt that Vic probably craved a sense of belonging as well. He won't turn on Dominion he'll do whatever they ask, and that's a disturbing thought.
He cruised around town asking questions, but no one could or would help him locate Vic. The man would show himself sooner or later, and Parc planned to be there. Just like the other two, he planned to put the run on the desperate little vampire and warn him off, Officer Danny Atwater.
Parc paid a visit to Danny's landlord before heading back to the Club to get ready for his dinner date. The man was not lying when he said he gave the key to no one, but his home had simple locks, and stealing the key or getting an imprint to cut later would have been quite simple, especially for vampires who move swiftly and silently.
His locks were now changed, and with the alarm system and cameras, he should be safe. No matter how many times Parc told himself that, he struggled to believe. The vampires admitted to working for Dominion and admitted breaking into Danny's home, and with that information, Parc's concern for his clueless mate was through the roof.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Parc picked up dinner from the Riverside Restaurant with steak and potatoes, two sides, and dessert. He also stopped at the corner store and picked up a bottle of wine, not the best, but the finest the place had to offer. It was nearing six-thirty, and he didn't want to be late, for time spent with his mate was precious.
When he approached the front door and was about to knock, something grabbed his attention. It was a scent, and he recognized that scent. It was Vic. Victory Storm had been at his mate's door sometime that afternoon. The scent was still present and strong enough to be identified, so it was only a few hours old.
He knocked, and Danny answered immediately with that same smile that warmed every part of him. He stepped inside and handed some of the bags off to Danny.
"It smells really good." He said as he carried the bags to the kitchen. Parc followed and set everything on the counter. As soon as their hands were free, Parc pulled Danny into his arms and kissed him deeply and slowly, taking his time and experiencing everything from touch to taste to the growing commitment between them. This was the perfect part of the day and the time he spent with his mate. Life could be so beautiful at times.
He slowly released him but kept him with the circle of his arms. "It's so good to see you." He said and kissed him again and ran his hands over his body. "I do love these form-fitting jeans." He squeezed and massaged that gorgeous ass and then reluctantly released. "We need to eat because I have so many plans for this evening." He said with a purposeful leer.
"Plans." Danny drew out the word. "I like the sound of that." They got the table set, poured the wine, and sat down to a delicious dinner. Parc had checked the locks and the alarm and noticed the camera out front when he arrived.
He was trying to come up with an opening he could use to ask about Vic but didn’t know how to approach without it sounding strange and perhaps stalkerish. Thankfully he didn’t have to struggle too long before Danny broached the subject himself.
"I had a visitor this afternoon." He started, and the look in his eyes said it was not a pleasant experience.
"Who was it?" He already knew, but he had to have Danny tell him.
"I think it was Victory Storm, the man you spoke of yesterday. I remembered seeing him at the Club during the raid. He had dark hair, dark eyes, and an unnaturally pale complexion." He continued eating as he described their interaction, and it did not sit well with Parc. Vic was not to be trusted, and the fact that he came here lurking around the front of the house told Parc he needed to keep his mate close.
Vic would have scented him and now knows that they have a relationship if he didn't already know that fact. Tomorrow he would enlist help. Maybe Hofer and Noa both had excellent tracking skills and together, they would find that little bastard and send him back to Columbus.
“Did he bother you?” Parc poured them another glass of wine. Danny shook his head.
"Only in the fact that he woke me up when he tried opening the door." That grabbed Parc's attention, and he set his fork down and gave Danny his undivided attention.
“He was trying to break in?”
"I don't know; he pulled on the nob a couple times, looked around, and was about to leave when I opened the door and confronted him." Danny took a sip of his wine. "He said he was looking for a Mrs. Tate and claimed he was at the wrong house. He just seemed like a liar to me. He was duplicitous to the bone." Parc chuckled at his mate's spot-on suspicions.
"You called that one right from what I know of Vic. He is not to be trusted. It bothers me that he was hanging around your place on the heels of those other intruders." Parc was not going to leave his mate alone and unguarded again until they figured out Vic's game or Dominion's game. He was getting pretty sick of them bothering his mate.
"Here it's the video from the front door camera." Danny handed Parc his phone, and Parc watched as Vic walked up to Danny's front door and tried the nob and then shook the door slightly, and then stepped back and observed the front of the house.
"That's Vic, and I guarantee you that he is up to no good." They left it there and finished their dinner and dessert and, after cleaning up the kitchen, moved into the living room. Parc could not get the fact that his mate might be in danger out of his mind.
