Page 20 of Top Secret Vampire

I placed his phone on my desk and scrolled into FaceSpace, quickly finding my page. My gasp rang out when I read what someone—damn, that Tracy!—had posted in bold on my page.

It’s with considerable glee that I announce that I no longer plan to write or publish any more books. Although, honestly, I didn’t exactly write them. AI did.

I hate my fans. I hate everyone who reads my books, though I love all your money!

From now on, I’m going to spend my time lounging in my hot tub on my enormous balcony, raising a toast with expensive wine to all the money I’ve made off you gullible fuckers.

“No,” I hissed. “No!”

Chapter 8

Wolfram

At Reese’s cry, I mistified into her office, reforming beside her. I crouched, my claws extending from my fingers and my snarl ripped up my throat as I sought the threat.

There was no one inside the office but her and I.

“Are you alright?” I barked, retracting my claws and twisting my neck while loosening my tie.

She stared down at my phone before looking up at me, her face full of sadness and with tears shimmering in her eyes. That was all it took to make me stomp around her desk, looking for someone I could rip apart.

“Look what she did.” She poked her finger toward my phone, and I leaned close, reading quickly. “Fuck.”

“Right?”

I noted hundreds of replies, the ones I could see universally irate.

“Tracy,” I growled.

“Who else? No one else had access.”

“Except, possibly, whoever was inside your house.”

“The message has been posted for hours, long before we saw someone here. So, Tracy. How could she do this to me? It’s meanand nasty. I’ve got to get my account back so I can delete that post.” She feverishly scrolled into TickingClock and Instaplug, finding the same post on all her platforms. Shoving my phone away, she cupped her face in her hands, her shoulders shaking with her sobs.

“Hey.” I didn’t know what to do or say. I wasn’t a male who’d made many social contacts through my life for various reasons. Seeing Reese upset gutted me. I wanted to rip Tracy’s heart from her chest and hand it to Reese, but that wouldn’t make up for what the woman had done.

I couldn’t stand seeing her this upset. I tugged her chair away from her desk and took her hand, urging her to stand. Then I sat in her big chair and drew her down onto my lap, wrapping my arms around her. I might not be able to find the right words in a situation like this, but I could hold her.

“I’m sorry,” I said, my chin landing on the top of her head.

She trembled, and that made rage boil through me. How could I handle this threat?

“What can I do?” I asked.

“This is nice.” Her lips twitched as she looked up at me. “Do all the detectives hug their clients when they’re upset?”

“They should.”

She chuckled, though it came out forlorn. “I appreciate it. As for fixing this, I’ll reach out to the three platforms and reset my passwords. Then I can delete the posts and try to reassure my readers that I was hacked, that I don’t feel that way at all.”

“Will they believe you?”

“I hope so.” Her shoulders curled forward. “It might take some time, but I’ll show them this wasn’t me. As for AI, I’ve never used that in my writing. I’ve been publishing books far longer than AI has been around, and my readers know that. They’ll believe me.”

“Good. Will it take long to change your passwords?”

She reached out for her phone. “I hope not. It depends on how long it takes for the platforms to get back to me.”

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