her voice a little shaky from the vibration of the chair. “Isn’t it hard?”
“You do smell fantastic, that’s for sure. I used to live with a human guy, a sweetblood, many years ago, so I got pretty used to it. It’s really not hard when you set your mind to it. Dom’s doing well, I see.”
“I think so, but he’d disagree. What happened to him? Your boyfriend. Did you guys break up?”
“Darkbloods got Keith during the damn day. I think he stumbled into their den somehow. Sorry. Don’t mean to freak you out, but that’s one reason Dom is so paranoid about you. He knows what they’re capable of.”
“I’m so sorry.”
“Thanks. Fifty years ago, and I remember it sometimes as if it were yesterday.”
Mackenzie closed her eyes as the chair kneaded the back of her calves. “Can I ask you a personal question?”
“Sure.”
“Did you two…you and Keith…take each other’s blood?”
“He didn’t know I was a vampire.”
How was that even possible? Mackenzie was attracted to everything that made Dom who he was—including his being a vampire. “Was it difficult to keep secret from him?”
“I drank from him only once and did manage to stop, but I was afraid of taking too much the next time, so I never did it again. I wasn’t really in love with him, eh? So it was no big deal.” Lily reached over and patted Mackenzie’s hand on the armrest.
“WE’RE AT A critical juncture, everyone,” Dom said. “The Darkblood lab is set to go online in two weeks, with several breeding pairs already lined up. Lily’s source tells us they are searching for a few more pairs. Their prisoners are undoubtedly being subjected to some of the most horrible testing procedures, let alone acting as forced donors, even though the operation isn’t in full swing yet.”
“Any idea where the facility is located?” someone asked.
“Just that its exact location is top secret,” Dom said. “Only those directly involved know where it’s at—not even the DB power structure has that information. All we know is that it’s somewhere west of the Cascades within three hours of Seattle. That’s a big area stretching north to the Canadian border, down to Southwest Washington and west to the Kitsap peninsula and San Juan Islands. We’ll have to take into consideration the ferry times as well as how long it takes to drive over the Narrows Bridge to Gig Harbor and up north over Deception Pass and onto Whidbey Island. Lily, you and your team have the southwest. Jackson, your team has the northwest. I’ll take a unit west to the peninsula.”
“How are we going to find the place if it’s cloaked?” asked Mitchell. He paced near the door like a caged tiger, clearly excited about going out into the field again.
“I’ve assigned each unit several Class-A scent-trackers. We’ve got a few of these individuals coming from the Horseshoe Bay office and Portland on day-transport vehicles. They should all be here by tonight. Additionally, Cordell has run a few search algorithms pointing out the most likely areas for such a facility to be located in each of the sectors you’ve been assigned to. This will be like a search and rescue mission, where you set up your perimeters and methodically cover the ground within. If nothing turns up, then you move to the next sector. We need to be methodical and quick, people. We’ve got lives at stake.”
“HOW LONG DO you think you’ll be gone?” Mackenzie sat on the bathroom counter, eating a handful of peanut M&M’s as Dom zipped up a small duffel bag.
“I don’t know. Maybe we’ll get lucky and find the facility soon.” He stepped between her knees, scooted her hips closer, and pressed a long kiss to her lips. His hand went automatically to her breast, stroking her nipple from the outside. God, it gave her a thrill to have him take what he wanted from her like this, whenever he felt like taking it.
“I’ll check in with you when I can,” he continued. “But you must promise me—” he leaned back and looked her square in the eye “—not to leave the loft under any circumstances unless you go into the field office. You know Cordell. He’ll be manning the command center and you are to go to him with any questions. If you need anything else, food or various sundries, call Xian and he’ll get what you need. The peninsula often has spotty cell phone coverage, so you may not be able to get ahold of