“Let’s say we’d like some confirmation. What’s your name? Please don’t make me ask again or we’ll have to let Xavier finish the interrogation.” Whatever was going on, Jessica was sure she didn’t want that.

“Jessica.”

“Jessica! See, that wasn’t so hard. Now, Jessica. We have a bit of a problem here. You see, we need to get in touch with our colleague, Roman, who we believe you are acquainted with.”

Jessica hesitated. Although she was super pissed with him, she didn’t really want anything bad to happen to Roman. She wasn’t sure where these people fell on that spectrum. Did he owe them money? Was Roman part of something criminal and these thugs were looking for him to exact some kind of revenge or message or payback?

“I haven’t seen Roman since yesterday,” she decided on.

“We’re wasting time! She’s admitted to being with him! I’m not going to stand around while my mate is missing. Let’s torture this bitch and get the information we need,” Snow White—Arabella—said.

“I hate to agree with Arabella,” Xavier started, “but—”

“You know what? Wait a minute. Mate?” Now Jessica was laughing hysterically. “Well of course! Mr. I’m a Vampire Rich Dick has a girlfriend or is it wife?” She looked at Arabella, still laughing, becoming a tad unhinged. “Un-fucking-believable.” She wondered why she was trying to protect him at all.

Xavier, Arabella, and Ashford were all speaking at once, arguing with each other, while Jessica muttered to herself, intermixing scoffs, and random noises.

There was a loud sound, three hard bangs of a cane hitting the ground. The room went still. Everyone seemed to defer to the gentleman who looked like he was the oldest of the bunch by about 30 years. His eyes were black and matched his hair except for gray streaks at his temples.

“Jessica,” his voice was just loud enough for her to barely hear, “did you harm Roman?”

“No.”

“Do you know where he is?”

“No.”

“When was the last time you saw him?”

“Last night, or I guess that would be this morning. Maybe around one-thirty or two?”

“I believe this human is speaking truthfully.”

Jessica expected someone to argue with him, Xavier or Arabella for sure, but no one said a goddamn word.

“Would someone please untie me and tell me what the fuck is going on?”

Ashford looked to the man for confirmation and received a slight nod. He moved toward Jessica and simply pulled the ties off with his hands. Jessica absently rubbed her wrist where she had been bound, already feeling better.

“Well, it would seem something has happened to Roman. He never showed up for our breakfast meeting this morning, and no one can locate him. His phone was found in his room, which was also a little trashed. We thought there was a struggle, and your scent was found in his room. Also, well, sounds like Roman already may have mentioned it…” Ashford paused for a moment, again seeking permission from Gray Wings, as Jessica was calling him, which he received. “Roman is a vampire; we all are. And he could be in real danger.”

Jessica’s first instinct was to reject what Ashford had just said, but the feeling in the room gave her skepticism pause.

“And I believe, my dear,” Gray wings was speaking again, “that you are the key to bringing him home safely.”

CHAPTER 10

“Oh, you’d like my help now? Well I guess you should have thought about that before busting into my house, kidnapping, threatening, and berating me.” Jessica got up to move toward the door, but Xavier was quickly blocking her.

“You’re not going anywhere. Sit your ass back down.”

“I can’t believe we’re just going to trust her; no way this pitiful human bitch could have seduced Roman.” Arabella looked like she was going to keep talking, but a scathing look from Gray Wings seemed to shut her down. Jessica wanted to punch that woman in the face and was seriously considering such an uncharacteristic act, but he met her eyes next, and Jessica had the sense that he knew what she was thinking. He raised an eyebrow at her, and she could have sworn she saw the beginnings of a smirk, but it vanished quickly.

“Everyone’s on edge, so I’ll excuse your outburst, Arabella. Once.” He motioned to Vance who brought Jessica a bottle of water. The tension in the room was starting to break, and she felt like her senses were returning to her.

They seemed to be waiting for her to say something, but Jessica had no idea what to say. She had clearly stepped into some shit here that was way over her head. Her emotions were in turmoil: she was crazy angry, but her convictions were losing steam. Vampires? Should she even still be mad at Roman? He wasn’t actually lying to her, and if she replayed the scene through a lens of honesty, she realized that he wasn’t trying to blow her off, he was trying to be honest with her.

And she was definitely pissed with the whole kidnapping and hostage situation, but taking another look around the room and opening herself up instead of remaining closed down, she saw a group of people—er, vampires—who were actually terrified for their friend. Above everything, there was deep fear and concern for Roman as they clearly loved him too.

Wait, too?! What the fuck are you saying, Jessica? This is getting out of hand.

Gray Wings was intently focused on her, seemingly watching every thought that passed across her face, waiting for her to catch up. She drank some more water before finally speaking.

“If Roman is in trouble, I’ll help in any way I can.” Every pair of eyes in the room bored into her. “I mean, I’m not sure what I can do that you all can’t. I’m not really a fighter.” She heard Arabella harumph and almost decided to prove that last statement wrong.

Before anyone could say anything, there was a banging on the door and a distinct voice to Jessica yelling something about “where the hell is her granddaughter!” Gray Wings actually looked intrigued at this turn of events and motioned for Xavier to get the door.

When he opened it, an irate Maureen came storming into the room, pushing past Xavier, looking much larger than her five-foot-four stature. She immediately spotted Jessica and went quickly to her.

“Jessica! Baby girl, are you okay?” She was patting Jessica down from head to toe, taking in her disheveled look of pajamas and slipper socks. “What did they do to you? Are you hurt?”

Vance snickered and said, “Calm down, Grandma. We barely touched her.”

Maureen turned to him. “You shut your mouth, bloodsucker, or I’ll rip those lips right off your face.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Vance said, sitting at attention, and catching some chuckles from around the room.

“That goes for all of you sons of bitches!” Maureen said, fixing each one of them with a glare, effectively shutting them all up. “I swear to God, if anyone has hurt my Jessica, I will disembowel you where you stand.”

Jessica was overjoyed, if not a bit confused, to see her gran. But this was an interesting side of her; she had the distinct impression that her grandmother could do exactly what she just threatened.

“How did you find me?” Jessica asked, pulling Gran into a hug. “It doesn’t matter. I’m glad you’re here. And listen, it’s okay. They’re not… there was a misunderstanding.”

“Misunderstanding my ass!” Maureen said. “We’re leaving.”

“Gran, someone they care about is missing and possibly in danger. Someone I care about, too.” She met her gran’s eyes and saw some understanding start to blossom.

“I see,” she said, taking in the room again. Maureen took a step back, eyeing Jessica very closely with a once-over. She then noticed the quiet gentleman who seemed to be watching everything with growing amusement. He nodded at Maureen who closed her eyes, sighed deeply, and nodded back, the two of them appearing to share some sort of knowledge lost on the young ones in the room.

She turned her attention back to Jessica. “Alight, hun. I think I’d like a moment alone with you. If you’ll excuse us for a few minutes, I’d like a word with my granddaughter.” Maureen was only speaking to Gray Wings, who nodded, and anyone in their way moved to the side to let them pass.

“Let’s take a little walk and get you something more appropriate to wear, plus, we need some distance so the vamps can’t hear us.”

Jessica was frankly too tired, confused, and worried to question her gran. They took a winding pathway to the elevators, rode down through the building in silence, and then navigated the casino’s main floor to a gift shop. Jessica just stood there while her gran put articles of clothing into her arms: a pair of jeans, a black T-shirt with the least amount of rhinestones they could find, a matching underwear and bra set, fancier than any of Jessica’s existing lingerie, a wacky pair of socks, zip up hoodie, and slip on sneakers.

Jessica went and changed in the bathroom, then she and her gran found a table in the food court. Maureen went and bought them some coffees, then settled in across from Jessica, taking her hands into her own.