He closed his eyes absorbing her goodness for just a moment. Then he stood and pulled her toward the dance floor.
As they approached the dance floor, the song ended to be replaced by a slow ballad. Becki snuggled as close to Trevor as she could without being intimately joined. She wrapped her arms around him and dropped her head on his shoulder. She was currently breathing into the hollow of his neck.
Trevor suddenly realized this might not have been one of his better ideas. He was trying to do the right thing for once in his life, and she was not making it easy.
#
Royce checked his cell phone again. Why the hell wasn’t Becki responding? He had been trying to reach her since early this afternoon.
Sean and Joanna were busy at their respective computers and had been for hours. The clicking keyboards echoing throughout the living room were about to drive Royce up the wall.
“Boss, you are going to want to see this,” Sean said. His computer had begun emitting an incessant beep.
“What?” Royce responded absently. He was trying to figure out why a strange chirp was coming from his phone.
“Trevor Simmons just walked into the pub,” Sean said more urgently.
“What pub?” Royce asked, pressing random buttons on his phone. How do you turn this damn thing off?
“Becki’s pub…and she’s still at work.”
Royce vaulted over the back of the couch where he had been lounging. As he tucked a weapon into the waistband of his pants near his lower back, he yelled, “Keys!”
“Shit! The Vamps are moving too,” Sean declared.
“Turn this damn noise off,” Royce bellowed, “I can’t think!”
Typing furiously Sean questioned, “Joanna, do you have a reading on their direction yet?”
“Working on it!” Joanna responded, pounding the keys on her own computer.
The noise stopped as a set of keys magically sailed through the air. Royce snagged the set of keys, shoved his blessedly silent phone into his pocket, and flew out the door.
As he exited the parking garage, his cell phone began to ring. Since his car’s built in Bluetooth was set to auto-answer, the call connected immediately.
“The pub, Royce,” Sean announced urgently. “They’re headed to the pub!”
“Find Landon! Find him and tell him to meet me there,” Royce directed Sean.
The Moultrie Werewolf Pack-- Landon’s pack-had claimed Charleston as their territory centuries ago. A treaty between Moultrie Pack and Vampire Nation protected Charleston from actively feeding Vampires. The treaty specifically forbade the consumption of human blood within Moultrie Pack Territory. The terms extended to prohibit feeding from “donors” as well.
V-Scan, a high tech, infrared type device, could pick up even the smallest traces of fresh human blood in a Vampire’s system. Sean had placed V-Scan transmitters strategically throughout the City. So far, the Vamps were still abiding by the terms of the treaty.
However, the treaty was tenuous at best. Royce’s gut told him the Vamps were getting hungry. If they were indeed headed to a rendezvous with Trevor Simmons, Royce needed to make damn sure Becki was not within a mile of that warlock.
He was glad he had dumped the SUV for something with a little more power under the hood. Joanna worked the traffic lights to ensure a clear shot as he blew past anything in his way. She had also cloaked him temporarily, making both he and the car invisible for the journey.
His phone sounded again.
“Vamps are en-route to the pub, Royce. Landon is on his way with some friends to help keep things in check,” Sean reported.
“Son-of -a-bitch!” Royce felt sweat bead on his forehead. “Slow them down!”
“Who do you think you’re dealing with, big brother?” Joanna interjected sarcastically.
“They’ve already run into a little traffic problem along the way,” Sean assured him quickly. “You should be able to get Becki out of there before they arrive.”
Royce smiled. “Good work, Brat,” he said as he affectionately acknowledged Joanna’s brilliance prior to disconnecting.
Neon lights greeted him in the distance announcing “Jim’s Pub.”
“Lifting the cloak now,” Joanna’s voice moved through him. Telepathy-- one of the ‘perks’ associated with having a Witch in the family…NOT!
“If Landon is not there soon,” she added, “I’m joining the party myself.”
“The hell you are,” Royce responded verbally as he whipped into the parking lot at top speed. He and Joanna could communicate without actually speaking, but it freaked him out a little. If he spoke the words, it was more like a phone call.
“You will stay put--I mean it. This is non-negotiable. I don’t want you near those blood suckers. Do you hear me,