Caught in Darkness (21 page)

Holding her gaze, he reached into
his pocket again and pulled out a charger. “Plug it in and call Hunter for
yourself, since you clearly don’t have a phone in that purse. I’ll stay right
here.”

Narrowing her eyes on him angrily,
Veronica snapped, “You expect me to trust that?”

“If I’d wanted to hurt you we both
know I could’ve done it while you were fumbling with my phone,” he returned
coolly. “And, for the record, don’t even think of damaging it.”

She swallowed, instinctively
knowing that she could—at the very least—trust his threat. “The cord won’t
throw, and I’m not coming anywhere near you.” The words were barely past her
lips when he vanished from sight, the cord appeared beside her on the counter,
and then he was standing once again exactly where he’d been.

“You were saying?”

Holding her pepper-spray toward
him, she said, “Hilarious. Fine, I’ll call him. But I’ll be watching you the
whole time.” It was trickier to plug in a charger one-handed, and almost
impossible to attach it to the phone, but she managed. And, fortunately, he did
as he’d promised (this time) and stayed still.

Once it had turned back on she
realized she had another problem. She only knew the first three digits of
Seth’s number off the top of her head. Crap.

“If you don’t know his number,” the
vampire offered casually, “it’s in my contacts under ‘Hunter.’ Please don’t
misdial.”

Veronica ground her teeth. He had
to be toying with her. And the worst part was that he was getting away with it.
Hoping she would at least recognize Seth’s number if she saw
it,
she obligingly navigated to the contacts page and searched for ‘H,’ which
supplied her with a small list of names. Among them, as promised, was one
labeled
‘Hunter.
’ She selected it, studied the number
for a second, and decided it sounded right so she hit the call button and
picked the phone up.

Her eyes returned to the vampire—still
standing where he’d promised—as soon as the phone was against her ear. She kept
her finger on the button for the pepper-spray, despite suspecting he wouldn’t
even blink if she pressed down, and listened as the phone started ringing.

Chapter Twelve

Veronica waited with bated breath,
eyes glued to the tall, casually threatening vampire standing just beyond the
front door of Seth’s condo, as the phone rang.
Once.
Twice.

“Hunter.”

Never had as simple a thing as
someone answering the phone brought her such relief. But the sound of Seth’s
voice on the other end of the line—so calm, collected, and unsuspecting—was the
most beautiful thing she’d ever heard. Not that he would stay on the other end
of the line if she didn’t say something, but first she had to swallow and find
her voice.

“Hello?” Seth asked, clearly
growing impatient with the silence.

“Seth,” she finally managed. “I’m
sorry, I know you’re busy, but….” How did she explain this situation, exactly?

“Veronica?” That calm and collected
tone was fading rapidly. She could just picture the thin line his lips were
probably forming as he tried to figure out the most important question to ask
next. “What’s going on?” Yeah, that was a good one.

She opened her mouth, took a deep
breath, and blurted, “There’s a vampire I don’t know standing in front of me. He
let himself in and he says he knows you. He’s staring and it’s sort of making
me uncomfortable. Should I pepper-spray him?” Smooth, Veronica. Way to remain
calm in the face of adversity.

Seth was silent for a beat before
he asked, “Did he give you a name?” His tone was careful and calculated—the
kind that never really passed for casual.

“No,” she replied. “But I am sort
of using his phone….” Despite the truth of the statement it still sounded ridiculous
when she said it out loud. She was afraid of the man who’d given her his phone
so that she could call her vampire lover? He’s a big, scary vampire, too, so
he’s probably toying with me.

“You’re using his phone?” Seth
repeated slowly. There was another beat of silence, a distant sigh, and then he
added, “His name’s
Jasen
. He’s a work associate. Just
tell him I’m on my way and feel free to add that I would take extreme issue to
him laying a hand on you.”

It was Veronica’s turn to take a
moment to process his words. She wanted to be reassured to hear that the scary
mystery vamp—
Jasen
, apparently—worked with Seth and
so had been telling the truth. But the way Seth had given her permission to
threaten him had her wondering if she shouldn’t still be a little wary.

“Okay,” she said after a beat. “See
you soon.” She was trying to play it cool, and that was stupid. Vampires had
super-hearing, so
Jasen
could probably hear every
word. He could probably hear her rapid-fire heartbeat, too.

“One more thing,” Seth said
quickly. “Try not to pepper-spray him, all right? It’s best to keep him calm.”

Well, it was a good thing that she
was already on edge anyway, or those parting words would probably really have
freaked her out. It’s best to keep him calm? That didn’t inspire a lot of
confidence.

“There’s no point in you repeating
his message,”
Jasen
offered smoothly as she set his
phone back on the counter. “And as long as you don’t push that button we won’t
have a problem.”

Veronica swallowed, still not
convinced she should trust him enough to put the spray down. “I don’t get the
impression that Seth fully trusts you,” she began, “so why should I?”

“Of course he doesn’t,”
Jasen
declared casually as he turned and made his way to
the couch. “He shouldn’t, and neither should you. But, for the moment, I’m on
your side. And don’t
worry,
I’m not thirsty, either.”

That was entirely not helpful. She
watched, feeling frustrated and confused, as he took a seat on the sofa and
leaned back, propping the heels of his well-worn boots on the coffee table.

“You’ll get tired if you keep
standing there like that,”
Jasen
pointed out without
even turning his gaze back toward her. “And Hunter will probably take some sort
of issue if he finds you standing there dressed like that. Do us both a favor
and go put some pants on.”

Speechless was the best way to
describe her reaction in that moment. She had to stop herself from sputtering
like an idiot—or, worse, from snapping at him in some
embarrassed
translation of self-defense.
That prickling feeling at the
base of her skull was easing, however, and she was actually beginning to trust
that he wasn’t about to tear out her throat.
Of course, it helped that
he wasn’t even looking at her anymore. So, maybe getting some pants on wouldn’t
be a terrible idea. At least she would be within reach of her own phone if she
needed it.

****

It was typical of
Jasen
to finally show up right when Seth had started
second-guessing his decision to call the man in in the first place. Not that
there was anything he could have done about it even if
Jasen
had taken a few more days (and he was honestly surprised it had taken as long
as it had). Still, the idea of
Jasen
finding Veronica
in his temporary home had him on edge.
Jasen
wasn’t
known for his manners (which made him horrendously curious about how she ended
up using his cell phone), and
Jasen
wasn’t
particularly known for his love of humans, either.
Then
again,
Jasen’s
not really known for his love of
anything.

All of which was a moot point,
because he was home and he would be able to see for
himself
exactly what was going on in the next several seconds.

Seth stepped into his condo to find
Jasen
sprawled out on the couch, booted feet on his
coffee table and arms stretched along the back in either direction. Veronica
was leaning against the kitchen counter, arms crossed and pepper-spray still
clasped in one hand. She was wearing one of his t-shirts over the white shorts
she’d worn the day before—though most of the shorts were hidden, as his shirt
was far too large on her. Both pairs of eyes fell on him as he eased the door
shut and Seth took a deep breath. Here we go.

“Took you long enough,”
Jasen
stated without actually straightening from the couch.

“I kind of expected you to call
ahead,” Seth returned with a single arched brow.

Jasen
shrugged, jerking a thumb toward the kitchen, and said, “Phone died at the
airport.”

Setting the slim bottle of mace on
the counter, Veronica pushed to a proper standing position and asked, “You knew
he was coming?”

Seth returned his attention to her
and nodded once. “I called him about a week ago.” Glancing back toward
Jasen
, he added, “I actually thought you’d be here a little
sooner.”

“Shit got crazy,”
Jasen
replied easily. With barely a pause he added, “
Oh, that
reminds me: Trista says you need to hurry up and
head home. She’s got something for you to do.”

The sigh slipped out before he
could stop it and Seth nodded again. That was just what he needed. Trista was the
only remaining Original from the First Family and, therefore, the oldest vampire
alive. Her status as an Original meant that she was, technically, his superior—as
well as
Jasen’s
. She was also one of the few people
Jasen
actually took orders—or attitude—from. “I don’t
suppose she said what that something was?”

Jasen
scoffed, a faint grin lifting the corner of his lips, and replied, “You know
better than that.”

“I’m sorry,” Veronica interrupted,
having moved forward to the edge of the living room, “but, who’s Trista?”

The humor fled from
Jasen’s
face and he turned a scowl to her.

Seth got the distinct impression
that
Jasen
didn’t like her asking questions so, in
the interest of avoiding confrontation, he offered, “She’s sort of like our
boss.”

“Which is more than you need to
know,”
Jasen
added shortly as he finally pushed to
his feet. He narrowed his eyes at Veronica for a moment before returning his
focus to Seth and asked, “We aren’t really going to talk business with her
standing here?”

“Excuse me?” Veronica demanded
incredulously, indignant anger obvious in her eyes.

Seth moved forward, so that he was
conveniently positioned between them, and kept his gaze on
Jasen
as he replied, “She’s been in it practically since it started, so yes, we are. The
vamps we’re chasing are making a point to drag her in.”

Jasen
frowned thoughtfully. “You’re the one who identified them, then.”

Crossing her arms in front of her
chest, Veronica replied, “I am. They were dumb enough to hold an impromptu
meeting in the middle of the park on a Saturday, so I overheard what they were
saying.”

“Vengeful type, then,”
Jasen
muttered.
“Fine.
But she’s
your responsibility, not mine.”

“I already knew that,” Seth assured
him. Gesturing back to the couch he added, “You might as well sit down. Now
that you’re here it’s time to go over the details.”

Shifting his weight restlessly,
Jasen
declared, “You’re chasing three traitors with tempers
who’ve started killing their own kind as well as humans. How many more dead
since you called me?”

Nothing like
cutting to the punch.
Keeping his expression neutral, Seth replied, “Three—all
vamps. But the traitors aren’t responsible. The Slayer I told you about is.” He
was on the fence about whether or not to come right out and tell
Jasen
about the Slayer’s connection to Veronica.
Jasen
viewed Slayers the way most Slayers viewed vampires—the
only good one was a dead one. On the other hand, it’s stupid to think he won’t
find out.

Jasen’s
eyes narrowed darkly at Seth’s words. “Slayers do have a special way of fucking
things up, don’t they?” He paused, expression returning to normal, and said, “I
take it he got away. Have you seen him since?”

“He did,” Seth replied, though the
answer left a foul taste in his mouth. That second question, though, was
tricky.

“I have,” Veronica offered quietly.
The frustration and vehemence was gone from her voice and her arms had fallen
back to her sides.

Jasen
turned his attention to her, one brow lifting with curiosity. “You’ve seen the
Slayer?”

Veronica nodded, meeting
Jasen’s
gaze fearlessly, and Seth felt a brief, irrational
swell of pride. That pride was quickly swallowed up with fear of his own,
however, because he knew she was likely about to spill the exact secret he
didn’t particularly think
Jasen
should know. But she
didn’t know that, and there was no way he could pull her aside without arousing
Jasen’s
suspicions, and the very last thing he needed
was to have
Jasen
on his bad side.

“I was there when he killed those
three vampires,” Veronica began. “And then I saw him again the next day—which
was this past Monday.”

Jasen
was
frowning now, but it looked more thoughtful than threatening, and it was a
moment before he asked, “Did the Slayer see you either time?”

“Both,” Veronica replied. “He tried
to kill me the first time.”

“Not surprising,”
Jasen
muttered before asking the obvious question. “Does
that mean he didn’t try to kill you the second time?”