“But we would need to find them first.” Plans were forming in my mind. “It doesn’t sound as if they want to be found. I get the sense that they’ve evaded rather than tried to fight the Immortals.”
“I don’t blame them. We would need to figure out where they are, but an expedition to find them and bring them back would be perilous. If the Immortals are hunting the group…” He paused. “It feels terrible to say it, especially when we were so recently on the run, but if the Immortals have caught wind of a vampire group, they’ll almost certainly find them before we do. Or worse, we could lead the hunters right to the survivors’ door and die with them.”
He, unlike Arlonne, thought the group existed but was still a danger. Interesting. Good to know he was excited but cautious. I gave him a closer look, appreciating how handsome he was when frustrated. It really brought out the line of his jaw…
“Remember we’ve got our fun mission tomorrow,” I reminded him, to key up his frustration even more. “You need to be at the top of your game.” He scowled. Just the reaction I expected. And it was beautiful.
“I’m sick of all these publicity stunts just to try to convince people that we’re not going to randomly murder them,” he said, shaking his head. “All I keep hearing in the coverage is how difficult it would be to integrate us into human society. Most of us don’t even want that, and it’s distracting us all from the real problem. The tear between planes and the Immortals waging war against vampires are far more pressing issues. Why won’t the humans listen to us when we tell them that these things are just as dangerous to you as they are to us?” His genuine anger made me feel bad about teasing him.
“I know, but we need to be level-headed,” I said. “We’re still waiting on the international consensus on the supernatural. We can’t rush them any more than we already have. The US has yet to legalize any kind of vampire immigration. There are government officials chomping at the bit to detain or kill any vampires on sight, even with the reformed Bureau.” Fenton’s face flashed in my mind. “The new board is spending all its time on the Bureau investigation and monitoring the tear in the Canyonlands. They can’t let us help them fight the creatures coming through with our entire nation watching them like hawks.”
“They had no problem throwing their manpower at us,” Dorian muttered.
“When they had corrupt officials and no morals, they could do anything,” I agreed with a shrug. “We wanted the Bureau and the old board to be held accountable, and we made it happen. Now we have to wait for that process to finish, even when it doesn’t benefit us.”
“This isn’t something that can wait.” Dorian lifted his chin with determination. “I will not wait for the Bureau to give me permission to fight a war they helped start. At the end of the day, it affects vampires the most. It has already affected us more than most of them can understand.” He crossed his arms tightly across his chest and stared out the window. I could see the gears in his mind turning. He wanted to put plans into action.
So do I. But before we could, we had to let the ones we’d already set up run their course. Dorian always wanted to forge ahead in whatever way he thought was best, but we needed to be cautious. His single-mindedness had accomplished a lot and was especially endearing when directed at making me happy, but it wasn’t the most helpful right now.
“All this commotion isn’t great for the actual danger at hand,” I said in agreement. “I’m also itching to investigate the connection between the Bureau and these immortal enemies of yours. But Scotland won’t approve a mission without the American government’s permission, and we need access to the tear to take the redbills with us. If we tried to sneak into the US and got caught, we’d cause an even greater political mess, and you would lose any chance at asylum in Scotland. Or anywhere, in fact.”
His anger seeped away, and his shoulders dropped. I wanted to hug him again. “You’re right. It would be useful to have the Bureau’s backing to bless our operation with resources and permission. We need a way to get back to the tear and get supplies for it. I saw what they could do in their fight against us. Their pockets and determination run deep when they have a vested interest in a fight.”
Money and international opinion. It was a far cry from the usual strategies I preferred to utilize in battle, but it was a necessary part of our lives now. Congress had temporarily frozen our financial accounts for an audit to make sure there was nothing shady going on. Not that it mattered, since our combined human savings weren’t likely to be enough to charter a plane and supplies. Even if we had money, we needed clearance to enter the country. We had to play the political game, whether we wanted to or not. Dorian definitely didn’t… but at least he could see the reason we had to keep playing.
“We’ll press the issue soon,” I promised. “We need to put more pressure on international bodies to investigate the Immortal Plane.”
“Any ideas on how?” he asked, drumming his nails on his desk. His glacial eyes swept over me.
The memory of Castral’s blood came to mind, and I looked down at my hands. They were perfectly clean, but I could still feel the slick red with shadows across my fingers. The Immortal Plane promised danger. I thought about what would convince me to let the vampires have their way.
“Make humans see how much more dangerous the Immortals are, compared even to vampires,” I said. “Whatever these things are, they scare vampires. The governments and the public need to be scared too. We can use that fear to our advantage.”
I compulsively rubbed my hands together and went to tuck them into my hoodie pocket, but he stopped me. He gently grabbed my fingers and squeezed them. The heartburn flared, but the pleasure of his touch swallowed the pain. I closed my eyes for a moment, savoring our closeness. It was hard to steal these intimate moments together from our busy lives. As much as I wanted to touch him, sometimes the guilt of the never-ending work hung in the back of my mind. I could push it away at certain moments.
“We’ll figure it out,” he said. “Together.”
I nodded slowly. We would. I would refuse to stop working until we fixed this.
I dropped my gaze to his hand on mine and smiled playfully. “You can let go now.”
His eyes lit with mischief, and a smirk flashed to life on his elegant lips. “What if I don’t?”
I laughed, not resisting as he pulled me close. My nose brushed his. Excited butterflies stirred in my stomach. It was nice to step away from my professional role with him for a few moments out of the day. He pressed feather-light kisses across my cheeks and eyelids, slipping down to my jaw, my neck…
Pain pulsed behind my eyes, and I blinked black spots from my vision.
When I first arrived at the compound, the medical staff argued until I agreed to let them evaluate me every few days for heart trouble. They’d warned me not to push past my limits, and Dorian had ganged up on me with them. My body yearned to touch Dorian as much as possible, but my brain knew it was time to stop.
“I should get some sleep,” I croaked, halfheartedly pulling away. The anticipation faded, replaced by a deep disappointment.
“Are you sure you don’t want to stay with me tonight?” he asked with exaggerated longing.