Marius had done his worst to screw up her life, so it was ironic that he’d really helped her instead. Living with him had given her access to his computers and his passwords. With those advantages, she’d planted information under his access code. She’d created two secret Council files—one with a reference to a fabricated new weapon and one with a nonexistent “cure” for vampirism. Knowing that both of those items would be invaluable to the Federation, she’d deliberately left a back door to those files open and waited for the traitor to make their move.
It had been a risky gamble, but one that paid off. The traitor hadn’t bothered to hide his personal information when he’d downloaded the files. It would have taken weeks to circumvent the Council anti-hacker programs with an anonymous identity, and since Sable had set the files for automatic deletion in a couple days, she’d forced his hand. He’d used his own unique access code and revealed his identity in his greed.
And now his gig was up, as the archaic saying went.
Sneaking into the house through the kitchen door, Sable moved into the living room and crawled up the wall to the ceiling. She could hear Hoff packing quickly, shoving documents into a bag along with a few articles of clothing. Her fingers twitched restlessly around the hilt of her lasersword, preventing it from slipping out and crashing to the floor below. She walked toward the hallway with noiseless steps.
Waiting.
Hunting.
Hoff fell silent and her senses heightened. She crouched low, hugging the ceiling, as the hairs on her nape stood on end. And then she heard it, the sounds of transports moving into the drive.
Damn it, how did the Task Force get here so fast? With a smothered curse, she crawled from the ceiling to the floor without a sound. Preparing to pounce, she was startled by a steely arm wrapping around her throat.
“Vamp bitch,” Hoff hissed in her ear. “I’d hoped those Federation ships would kill you! They would have too, if you hadn’t had Atkinson on board to assist you.”
Sable stilled, but she wasn’t afraid. She could easily break the human male in half with her bare hands. “Not a wise move,” she said casually. She felt a sharp prodding against her back.
“Feel that?”
“Yeah, don’t rip my tank. It’s my favorite.”
“I’m going to rip your heart out,” he growled. “And then I’m going to stake it through. The Federation is working on a program to eradicate your kind. I can only hope the information I sold them will speed up its inception.”
Sable rolled her eyes, grabbed the arm that crushed her windpipe and broke it.
The wooden stake in Hoff’s other hand pressed against her skin and then sank in an inch. It burned like forged metal and she hissed, her fangs descending, her animal nature springing to the fore. She spun on him, furious and prepared to kill. Vamps didn’t get defensive. They killed. Fully a predator, she lunged for his throat and was tackled from the side, the force of the blow carrying her across the room. In pain from the stake wound, Sable fought viciously against the men who held her down.
“Taylor!”
As she registered the sound of her captain’s voice, she felt the red haze of fury drain from her. She stared up at the STF agents who struggled to restrain her.
“I’m fine,” she growled. “I said I’m fine!” she repeated when they refused to release her.
“See?” screamed Hoff. “You can’t trust them! You can’t control them! They’re infected, diseased, rabid animals that need to be put down. They’ll kill us all. We’re nothing but food to them.”
Sable leapt to her feet and glared at the wild-eyed, red-haired man who struggled between the grips of two agents. “Get him out of here.”
Captain Donnie stepped into the doorway after the agents dragged Hoff away. His countenance was grim as he came toward her. “What the hell is the matter with you, Taylor? You’ve never lost control like that before.”
She winced. The captain was right. She’d let her personal turmoil affect her actions at a time when she should have been in control. And she knew why. Living with Marius was driving her insane.
“I’m sorry, Captain. You’re right.” Her shoulders drooped. “I’ve been having some…issues. They got the better of me.”
Donnie shook his head and sighed. “I promised you three months leave of absence when this case was over. Why don’t you start them now? Just send your report to me by the end of the week.”
Sable nodded. “Thanks, Captain.”
Then she headed home to Marius.
* * * * *
Sable entered one of the dozen ostentatious, opulent mansions that belonged to Marius Drake and was grateful that she’d never have to enter it again. While she’d been in the database under Marius’s access code, she’d stumbled onto something that had shattered her heart. Derek wasn’t at all the man he’d said he was. She’d been staying with Marius trying to protect Derek and it turned out he didn’t need her protection at all. That meant neither of the master vamps had a hold on her anymore. She was free and once she packed up her stuff, she planned to hole up for a while and wait for her broken heart to heal.
She was two steps up the staircase on her way to pack her bags when the growling and crashing in the expansive ballroom halted her ascent. Weary, but curious, Sable lifted her nose and sniffed the air. She smelled the two Master vampires immediately. Their territorial hormones filled the air, their heady and intoxicating blood pervading her senses, making her heart race and her palms damp.
She moved to the open doorway of the ballroom and surveyed the damage. The place was a mess. The heavy, three-story tall velvet drapes hung in tatters and every piece of furniture in the room lay smashed to pieces.