Vampire Vendetta Read online

  Not for the first time, he wondered if he’d actually succeeded in killing her. While that would save him the trouble of having to try again, that didn’t answer the question about where his daughter might be. It wasn’t as if he knew for certain that Megan had sought out her cousin Joss for sanctuary, but he’d already exhausted all the other logical possibilities.

  Certainly her parents hadn’t exactly welcomed her back into the fold. Most chancellors preferred to see their young stick to their own species, increasing the likelihood any resulting children would also be chancellors. And if they gave birth to either a full-blooded human or vampire, the expectation was that the child be given up to their own kind to raise, a fact Banan had been counting on.

  However, in a surprise move, Megan had defied both him and her parents by insisting that she be the one to raise Phoebe. Personally, he wouldn’t have given a rip if Megan lived or died, but unless he found his daughter and soon, his whole life was going to implode. And that was simply unacceptable.

  At last the sun was going down outside. He’d indulge himself with one more blood pack and then take off by himself. As long as he returned by midnight for the requisite meal with his host, he was free to wander the estate. Maybe he’d have better luck this time. Once he knew for sure that Megan was living on the estate, he’d leave.

  Back in the civilized comfort of his own home, he’d make plans for the best way to repossess his daughter. Megan would never willingly give Phoebe up to him, even though it was the sensible thing to do. Her rash actions had already caused him great inconvenience and threatened his comfortable lifestyle.

  The more he thought about it, it was clear Megan would have to die, regardless of how it happened. A better man might feel bad about that, but he certainly didn’t. She’d brought this disaster on herself. After all, cattle shouldn’t expect to have any rights. If she’d surrendered his daughter like any reasonable chancellor would have, neither of them would be in this fix. And according to his parents, his failure to control this one chancellor female cast doubt on his ability to rule the clan. Time was running out for all of them.

  Megan reached the clinic less than an hour before they’d have to open the door to patients. She fumbled for her keys and hurried inside, ignoring Phoebe’s fussing over being jostled. After flipping on her office lights, she set Phoebe down in her crib and patted her daughter on the cheek.

  “Give me a second to get settled, little one, and then I’ll take care of you. What do you say to that?”

  When she turned back to her desk, she about jumped out of her skin. “Seamus! You startled me.”

  He tried to look sorry, but gave up and grinned. “Sorry, but I was on my way by and heard you talking. I wanted to see if Phoebe answered.”

  Her pulse continued to race, although not because of Seamus’s unexpected appearance. No, the disconcerting effect on her libido was strictly due to his high-wattage smile. When it dimmed a bit, she realized that she’d been staring at his mouth for several seconds, very possibly with her own hanging open and drooling a bit.

  Time to get her head back on straight. “I wanted to get in early to catch up on the computer stuff before the onslaught starts again.”

  He held up his hand to stanch the flow of words. “Don’t worry. You’re fine. Get your daughter settled and do what you need to. If there’s a line at the door, I’ll pass out forms to everyone to fill out. That will keep them occupied until we’re ready.”

  Which reminded her. “Files! We’re almost out. That’s why I meant to come in earlier.” She started to reach for the box of empty files, but spotted a stack already assembled and sitting in the middle of her desk.

  “Never mind, we seem to have plenty.” She eyed him suspiciously. “Did you do this?”

  “Nope, not me. Joss stopped by earlier with lunch for me and looking for something to do.”

  When he reached for the files, his fingers brushed against hers, sending a rush of warmth dancing over her skin. By the way he quickly stepped back, putting more distance between them, she suspected he’d sensed the connection, too, and didn’t much like it.

  Rather than dwell on it, she cranked her smile up a notch. “I should be ready shortly.”

  “No rush, and I should warn you that I suspect Joss is going to come by again. I think she enjoyed being here last night.” He sounded a bit bewildered by that.

  She wrinkled her nose and grimaced. “I’ll talk to her. If I can’t do my job and take care of Phoebe, it’s not right to expect Joss to step in.”

  “I don’t mind her being here. After all, she owns the place, or at least Rafferty does.”

  “True, but it’s your clinic.”

  He looked decidedly uncomfortable with that idea. “Not really. One of these days, Rafferty will find a physician to take charge.”

  “That wouldn’t be fair, not after you’ve gotten everything up and running.”

  “There’s a lot about life that isn’t fair, Megan.” Then Seamus made a show of checking the time. “I’d better get moving. Come along when you can. No rush.”

  Then he was gone, leaving her staring at the empty door and wondering if she’d offended or embarrassed him. Okay, so maybe she wasn’t exactly neutral on the subject, but it was clear that Seamus had worked hard to make the clinic opening go smoothly. From what she had seen, he treated each patient with calm, professional courtesy. Despite the crowded waiting room, he hadn’t acted rushed, taking the time to make everybody feel important.

  He did the same thing to her sometimes when he turned that powerful intelligence in her direction, listening to each word she said as if she were about to utter the wisdom of the ages. Or maybe she just liked to think that she mattered in even that small way to him.

  Now wasn’t the time for such thoughts. She needed to get to work. After a quick check to see that Phoebe had settled in, she started to head for the reception desk. Before she reached the door, though, Seamus was back and looking worried. Really worried, in fact.

  “Seamus?”

  “Megan, I just got a call from Rafferty. He’s had a vampire visiting the estate this week, evidently checking out the innovations Rafferty has made in how he runs things around here. This guy has been making the rounds with the boss, but he’s out on his own right now. There’s a chance he might stop by here tonight.”

  “And you’re telling me this why?” Although she couldn’t keep the fear from her voice. It couldn’t be Banan. It just couldn’t. In all the time they’d been together, he’d never shown any interest in where his family’s money came from. His talent was in spending money, not making it.

  “Don’t play coy, Megan. Now’s not the time.”

  He was right. “Did Rafferty mention any names?”

  Seamus’s eyes gleamed with anger and his fangs flashed as he said, “This vampire’s name is Banan. Banan Delaney.”

  Chapter 7

  Megan heard Seamus’s words, but they held no meaning. From his worried expression she knew he was telling her something, probably something important. But as she struggled to make sense of them, her head filled with a deep swirling darkness, and she could no longer feel her legs beneath her. Suddenly, she was sitting down at her desk with Seamus’s hand on the back of her neck and shoving her head forward.

  “Damn it, Megan, put your head down and breathe.”

  Despite her confusion it registered in the back of her mind that although he was angry, he kept his voice pitched low and calm to avoid disturbing Phoebe.

  She managed to choke out, “Sorry, I don’t mean to be a bother.”

  “But you are that,” he grumbled, but softly as if he didn’t really mean for her to hear his words.

  She concentrated on regaining control. When the world quit spinning she pushed herself back upright. Her first thought was to take Phoebe and run, but she immediately rejected the idea as futile. She had nowhere else to go, and now wasn’t the time to let fear rule her decisions. Her life and that of her daughter could v
ery well depend on what she did in the next few minutes.

  When she attempted to stand up, Seamus backed away to give her room to move but stayed close enough to catch her again. Bless the man, he might not like being a hero, but he was one right through to the core. If she hadn’t sworn off vampires, she’d be seriously tempted to… No, she wouldn’t go there. There was too much at risk.

  “Sorry, Seamus. You always seem to be in the right spot when my life goes into meltdown, although you might not think that’s a good thing.”

  She moved past him to stand over the nearby crib where her daughter was sound asleep, sucking on her fist. It was time for some painful truths.

  “You’re suspicions are right on the money. Banan Delaney is Phoebe’s biological father. We were lovers for a few months.”

  She tucked Phoebe’s blanket in around her and then stepped away from the crib. “I guess that much is obvious, though, isn’t it? Either way, I was a fool. I thought he loved me, that we had a future together.”

  Seamus’s big hand came down gently on her shoulder. “A vampire of his status would never marry outside of his class, especially when he’s the heir to the family fortune.”

  “I know that now, but at the time I didn’t.” Was it bitterness or fear leaving such a sour taste in her mouth? “He didn’t explain the facts to me until I was into my second trimester.”

  “I’m guessing he feared you’d end the pregnancy if he told you sooner.” Seamus’s voice was as grim as death.

  “Then he didn’t know me very well. Phoebe is everything to me and has been since the first day the doctor told me I was pregnant.” She sat back down at her desk. “I was so happy. I went rushing home and fixed a fancy dinner—candles and everything. I wanted everything to be romantic and perfect.”

  She looked up at Seamus, hoping to see something in his expression that hadn’t been there in Banan’s that night. There was something there all right. It might have been pity rather than sympathy, but even so, he nodded as if urging her to continue.

  “I thought he’d propose, we’d plan a wedding and build our lives around our new family. Oh, make no mistake, he acted happy enough. But after that night there was a new distance between us. I kept hoping things would change, but they didn’t. A few months later he announced that his parents would be adopting the baby to raise.”

  “What did your family say?”

  “They agreed with Banan’s parents. I think they would have preferred that I go into seclusion, hiding my pregnancy from their friends.”

  When tears streaked down her face, Seamus shoved a handful of tissues into her hand and backed away. The gesture made her smile. The man could face blood and guts without hesitation, but a few tears were obviously scary stuff.

  She sniffed and wiped her face. “Sorry, Seamus. I don’t mean to dump all this on you.”

  “I have a suspicion you’ve needed to unload.”

  She considered that. “Oddly enough, I do feel better. Or I would, if I knew for certain that Banan wouldn’t find me. He tried to kill me once. I can’t give him another chance.”

  “He won’t get one.” Seamus knelt down to her eye level. “I can keep you and Phoebe out of sight in my place tonight. He might have permission to check out the clinic, but he has no business poking around in my personal quarters.”

  “Won’t he be able to detect our scents?”

  “Let me worry about that. For now, let’s move the crib and changing tables into one of the exam rooms so they look like they’re here for my patients to use. Then we’ll get you settled in the apartment.”

  “But how will you handle the patients alone?”

  “I’ll call Joss and tell her that I sent you home because we thought Phoebe might be developing a cold. She’ll be glad to cover.”

  “Are you sure you want to get sucked into the mess my life’s become?”

  “No one deserves to have their life ruined, or ended, by the cruel, homicidal actions of another, Megan.”

  As he spoke, his eyes turned chilly, his expression hard, belying the gentle touch of his hand on her face. In a surprise move, he pressed a quick kiss on her lips before stepping back.

  “Now get your things together. Time’s short.”

  Damn it, Seamus knew better than to let himself “get sucked in,” as Megan had put it. But he couldn’t live with himself if he didn’t do everything he could to prevent Banan Delaney from finding Megan and her daughter. And that’s how Seamus thought about Phoebe—she was Megan’s daughter. That Banan happened to be the sperm donor was but an unfortunate accident of fate.

  If the bastard didn’t value Megan, he didn’t deserve the child they’d created together. But with the minutes ticking down until the clinic needed to open, now wasn’t the time to be considering how best to destroy another selfish vampire scion.

  At least Joss was on her way. He was convinced Megan had to trust her secret to more than just Seamus. He’d fight to the death to defend her, but he couldn’t provide around-the-clock protection for her and still do his duties—or seek his own revenge.

  Again, no time for that right now, either. They’d finished rearranging the crib and baby table in one of the exam rooms, and Megan was safely tucked away in his bedroom with her daughter. Satisfied with how things looked, he had one last detail to take care of. He took the lid off a bottle of rubbing alcohol and headed for Megan’s office. Then, oops, he dropped it. And clumsy him, he dropped it again in the lobby. It took quite a while for him to get it all cleaned up.

  The pungent odor of the alcohol should mask any remaining traces of Megan and Phoebe, unless Delaney’s sense of smell far exceeded that of the average vampire. Next he hurried back to the crib and table and wiped them down with an antiseptic with a strong medicinal odor.

  Showtime. He washed his hands, grabbed his lab coat and headed for the front door. He let in a handful of patients, handing each one a blank chart to fill out as they filed past him. By the time the last one was seated in the waiting room, a very worried-looking Joss arrived.

  He needed to head off the discussion until they were somewhere more private. “Mrs. O’Day, can I have a moment of your time?”

  She followed close on his heels as he led the way into Megan’s office. Joss noticed the absence of the crib immediately.

  “Seamus, what’s going on? How sick is Phoebe? Is it what Megan had?”

  He placed a finger over his lips and waited until he closed the door and turned on the stereo before answering.

  “Megan and Phoebe are both fine. They’re in my apartment right now.”

  Gone was the concerned friend, replaced by the fierce warrior. “Why? What’s happened?”

  Where to start and how much was his right to tell? “It probably won’t surprise you to learn that before coming here, Megan was being pressured to give up her baby by her parents as well as Phoebe’s biological father and his family.”

  There was no mistaking the anger that flashed through Joss’s expressive eyes. “The idiots. It’s that kind of stupidity that Rafferty and I are hoping to put an end to here on the estate. Just because it’s the way things have always been done doesn’t make it right. We hope to make things better for our people.”

  She slammed her fist down on the desk. “How can they think that anyone else would be a better mother to Phoebe than Megan?”

  Now wasn’t the time for Seamus to tell Joss what he thought about the changes she and Rafferty had made. It all sounded altruistic of them, but it was still their own self-centered needs that started it all. They might be happy, but others had paid dearly for their selfishness. But right now, this wasn’t about him—or his need to avenge his sister.

  “Here’s what’s going on. Your houseguest lied about his reasons for his visit. Banan’s here hunting for Megan and Phoebe. Before she came here, I’m convinced he even tried to poison her, but I have no way to prove it. Right now, she needs to stay out of sight.”

  “I’ll throw that sniveling bastard o
ut on his ass.” Joss’s fangs would do a full-blooded vampire proud. “That is, if Rafferty doesn’t stake him first after I tell him and Conlan what’s going on.”

  “You’d both have to get in line behind me, but I’m not sure it’s the best idea. If Delaney doesn’t find her soon, maybe he’ll decide she didn’t come here after all and leave. If we attack, he’ll bring the weight of all his clan down on us.”

  Joss’s eyes turned frosty cold. “The Delaney clan be damned. They have no jurisdiction here. That’s the law. Even the Coalition’s authority is limited within the borders of the estate.”

  “Maybe, but you and I both know that the law doesn’t always protect the innocent, especially when there’s enough money involved. Then the advantage goes to the highest bidder.”

  The words slipped out before he could stop them. Damn it, he could only hope that Joss thought he was talking in generalities. His control was slipping badly. They needed to move on to safer topics.

  “Look, we can talk later. I have patients to see. Can you cover the desk out front? All you need to do is have any new patients sign in and give them a chart to fill out. I’ll take them in order unless an emergency comes in.”

  Her eyebrows had snapped back down after her reaction to his last comment, but she let it pass. “Okay, and if Banan does show up, what do you want me to do with him?”

  “Let him look around, as long as he respects the privacy of my patients. If we try to control his movements, it will only make him more suspicious. I don’t plan on making him feel welcome nor will I keep my patients waiting to answer any fool questions.”

  He softened the remarks with a smile. “There, do I sound arrogant enough to be a real doctor?”

  Joss tipped her head to the side and studied him. “Yes, I do believe you do.”

  “Good. We’d better get moving. We’ve got patients waiting.”

  Banan flexed his hands and forced his fangs to retract. One more day. That was all he had left to find the bitch who’d kidnapped—no, stolen—his daughter. His mother had sent him a reminder that the annual meeting of the hierarchy in the Delaney clan would be held in just over a week. One of the agenda items would be a review of his role in the family businesses. His spending habits had already undergone a close scrutiny, resulting in a tightening of his access to clan funds.