Page 115 of My Vampire Plus-One

“If they’re here, finding them will not be a problem,” Frederick said, sounding worried. Only then did I realize how much his previously calm demeanor had been an act for Evelyn’s benefit. “I only hope we’re not too late.”

THIRTY-ONE

Excerpt from security log at 131 N. LaSalle, Chicago, Illinois, recovered the following day

10:12 a.m.: Group of four oddly dressed individuals approached desk, asked to be buzzed upstairs. When I asked for some identification, leader of group waved hand and saidYou don’t need to see our identification. Group was informed I saw that in a movie once and that it wouldn’t work on me, but then a very peaceful feeling came over me and I realized Ididn’tneed to see their identification. Buzzed group in building with no further incident.—JSP

Amelia

Frederick had been wrong. FindingJohn Richardson wasnoteasy. After spending over an hour wandering the halls of the thirty-second and thirty-first floors of my building, carefully checking each cubicle and poking our heads insideevery office that wasn’t locked, there was still no sign of either him or anyone else from The Collective.

“Maybe he left,” I suggested, as we waited for the elevator to take us down to the thirtieth floor. “Why are we so certain he’s still here?”

“Because I can’t imagine he’d leave after finally finding me.” Reggie’s lips were pressed together in a hard, determined line. “He’s here, somewhere. We just need to find him.”

The firm’s mail room took up the majority of the thirtieth floor. The lack of offices with doors that closed made searching this floor faster work than searching the others had been. We walked as quickly as we could, turning our heads to peer inside each cubicle as we passed.

“There’s no one here,” Reggie said. The anxiety in his voice was palpable.

“Let’s check the mail room,” I said. “That’s probably where everyone is.” I hoped that was true.

It wasn’t until we heard cheerful voices coming from the break room at the far end of the floor that we realized where the people who worked here were.

“Happy birthday, Janice!”

“Forty looks great on you!”

“Oh my god, you got red velvet cake. That’s my favorite!”

We paused when we were about twenty feet away. “Should we go in?” I whispered to Reggie and Frederick. “I don’t want to be the accountant who crashes a mail room party, but maybe we could just quickly ask if they’ve seen anyone hanging around who shouldn’t be here?”

“That would only alarm them,” Frederick said. A moment later he asked, “What isred velvetcake, exactly?”

“I was wondering the same thing,” Reggie admitted.

“Is it made with actual red velvet?”

“I’ll explain later,” I muttered under my breath. We didn’t have time for this. “We have to keep looking for—”

“Looking for me?” John Richardson asked, from behind me.

My blood turned to ice in my veins. Holding my breath, and with my heart pounding a rapid staccato in my chest, I slowly turned until I was facing him.

Gone was every trace of the polite, bumbling CFO I’d been dealing with for the past month. In his place was someone much more ruthless. Someone determined not to leave until he got exactly what he wanted.

He snarled at me. And his fangs, hidden in plain sight when we were all in the conference room, were clearly visible now.

Which meant—if what I’d read inThe Annalsabout a vampire’s fangs was correct—that he was about to feed.

“I see you laid a trap for me, Ms. Collins,” he hissed, his words cold puffs of air against my skin. He leaned in close, until his fangs were less than an inch away from my throat. Hetskedat me, as though I were a misbehaving child. “Not very nice of you to lie to me, and not disclose you were in cahoots with our quarry this entire time.”

“You can’t do this here!” I blurted, my thoughts unspooling “This is an accounting firm!” As if that mattered in the slightest. But I was beyond reason, barely in control of what I was saying.

Reggie shoved Richardson away from me and jumped between us. “If you bite her,” he growled, his face a mask of fury. “No—if you so much asbreatheon her, I will stake you where you stand.”

On some level at least, I knew I shouldn’t find Reggie’s fierce protectiveness as hot as I did. But I was too stunned and terrified by what was happening to care.

John Richardson chuckled darkly, raising an eyebrow at Reggie and Frederick in turn. He shot a pointed look at their empty hands. “And with what will you stake me, naughty brother? Your fingers?”

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