Eve followed her out of the staff room and back into the drab gray corridor. Lyra opened her arms wide and looked up toward the ceiling. “You see, Gran, this is why I think all men are sexist pigs.”
Great, she’d been shackled with an insane person. What else could possibly go wrong?
Eve pretended not to notice that the woman was conversing with thin air, until Lyra turned around and cocked her head as if deciding about something.
“Yeah, okay, I’ll give her a chance.”
“I’m sorry, were you talking to me?” Eve asked.
Lyra shook her head. “Gran says you’re all right. That you have a part to play in all this.”
“Oh, okay.”
Eve lowered her gaze but kept walking. Maybe if she didn’t keep eye contact, the woman would ignore her.
“But I told her she’s crazy.”
Eve smiled and nodded. Right, her grandmother was crazy.
Chapter 4
“I got you what you needed. Now when can I expect payment?”
The figure dressed in black stepped out of the shadows in the drawing room and into a soft pool of moonlight streaming in through the floor-to-ceiling window. His hooded cloak kept his face partially hidden. He spoke from beneath his hood, “Payment. Hmm, what exactly are you expecting?”
The vampire shifted in his seat, licking his lips. Fear floated off him like cheap cologne.
Oh, how the cloaked man hated vampires. Basically useless creatures. Vain and pompous, without reason. They had their purposes certainly, like the errand he had sent this particular one on. But he hated dealing with them, hated the fact that he needed them for his plans.
“Three hundred and fifty thousand. Cash.” The vampire sat up straighter, trying to project confidence.
The cloaked man waved his hand in the air as if he was swatting away an insect. A big bald man dressed in black leather stepped toward the vampire and tossed a brown leather duffel bag onto his lap. The vampire squeezed the bag to his chest.
“Did you dispatch your accomplice?”
The vampire glanced up from inspecting the satchel and shook his head. “Not yet.”
“Well, see that you do. I’m not pleased you included him in our operation. We can’t have him walking around with information that can be used against me, now can we?”
“No. But I told you why I needed him. There was no way I could carry that much blood out by myself. Besides, he’s my main source of V.”
The shadowed figure sighed and waved his hand again. “Fine. Now get out. Our business is done.”
The vampire rose and walked to the exit, hugging the bag to his chest. The burly guard opened the double doors and promptly ushered the vampire out, shutting them behind him.
“Do you trust him?” a voice spoke.
The cloaked man turned and glared at the source of the voice, into a corner where another form sat, unseen, shrouded in the dark.
“Of course I don’t.” He moved and sat in a burgundy leather chair near the fireplace, where a low fire still flickered. “That’s why when he finishes his mission, he’ll be taken care of like the rest.”
“I heard the OCU has brought in someone from the outside to help with the case.”
He smirked. “I’m not worried about Caine and his team of misfits.” The police and crime lab didn’t concern him; he’d been playing under their radar for a long time now without interference. There was no reason to suspect that that would change.
“They brought in a human to help with the case. A human woman.”
Well, that did interest him. Sitting back in the chair, he chuckled. “Perfect.”