Blood Secrets - By Jeannie Holmes Page 0,77
He pushed her to the floor, straddling her and pinning her to the cold linoleum. Screen Alex screamed for him to stop, to get off, but her cries were silenced as his fangs ripped into the soft tissue of her neck. The picture froze as Varik rose onto his knees, fangs bared and her blood dripping from his gaping mouth.
Alex sobbed and covered her face with her hands, trying unsuccessfully to block the memory of the attack. “Why?” she whispered into her hands. “Why are you doing this to me?”
“To help you.”
Her anger flared, bright and hot. Chains rattled and groaned as she gained her feet and cast her chair aside, shouting, “How is torturing me helping? How is keeping me chained helping?”
“He is the one who has bound you, not I. He bound you to him. He wants to control you, limit you.” The voice drew closer and the unseen hands returned to briefly grip her shoulders before sliding lightly down her arms. “I would free you. No restrictions. No boundaries.”
The video screen flickered, refocusing her attention on the still image of a savage and bloody Varik crouched over her.
“No pain,” the voice whispered in her ear. “Accept me and I will make certain he never harms you again.”
“And if I don’t?”
“You will. In time.”
The video sprang to life once more, playing out a memory Alex had tried very hard to forget. Unable to look away, she sank to her knees and wept.
Tasha sat in front of a closed-circuit video monitor and watched a clearly distraught Piper Garver attempt to pull herself together. She couldn’t blame the girl for being upset. It wasn’t every day someone watched a person—even if the person in question was a vampire—kill another human with their bare hands.
Sighing, she turned in her chair to face Damian and Varik, who were speaking in hushed tones a few feet away. “So what happens now?”
They looked at her.
“What’s going to happen to Piper now? She’s clearly a victim here.”
“She’s also an accomplice,” Damian said. “She admitted to recruiting girls for Beljean’s operation.”
“He forced her. He took every opportunity to abuse and threaten her.”
“He paid her,” Varik snapped. Ever since Alex was taken, his normally dark eyes had remained a bright gold, evidence of his intense emotional state. “The Bureau will take her situation and relationship with Beljean—all aspects of it—into consideration, but we can’t let her walk. We have to charge her as an accessory.”
“That’s bullshit and you know it.” Her anger flared. “That girl is an emotional wreck and if you charge her with anything, she’s likely to shut down completely and not give you any more information.”
“Don’t tell me how to run my investigation!”
“I would never consider telling the great high-and-mighty Varik Baudelaire how to wipe his ass much less run an investigation! But I am telling you that you’re making one hell of a big mistake right now!”
“Lieutenant Lockwood makes a valid argument,” Morgan said as she entered the small observation room, cutting off Varik’s potential response. “It would be more logical to cut a deal with Ms. Garver in exchange for information.”
Varik rounded on her. “I don’t recall asking for your fucking opinion on the subject.”
Morgan’s brows rose sharply as Damian laid a warning hand on Varik’s shoulder. Her voice sliced the air like a blade made of ice. “I will remind you once more to whom you are speaking, Director Baudelaire.”
“I know perfectly well to whom I’m speaking, and you aren’t going to intimidate me, Morgan.” He brushed away Damian’s hand. “So drop the SI shit.”
As Morgan closed the distance between her and Varik, Tasha scooted her rolling chair as far away from the two vampires as the small room would allow.
“You seem to be laboring under the false impression that I answer to you,” Morgan hissed. “Enforcer Sabian’s abduction doesn’t negate my role here. I will continue following my orders to find evidence of corruption, and if that means calling your actions into question along with Sabian’s, which I’m beginning to suspect would be a fair assessment, then so be it.”
“You fucking bitch. You have no cause to open an inquiry on me.”
“Oh, really?” Morgan’s gaze slipped to Tasha.
Tasha’s blood turned to ice, despite her racing heart, as three sets of golden eyes shifted their focus to her.
“What did you do?” Varik rasped, taking a step toward her.
Tasha stood and maneuvered her chair to stand between them. She glanced at Morgan, who nodded her encouragement. “After you cornered me in the