Nothing. Not even a tingle in his gums.
The image of Abigail sneaked into his thoughts. Her eyes, her lips, her mop of curls and curvaceous body. Good God, how he'd like to get his hands on her. He'd show her just how high her dopamine levels could go.
With a hiss, his fangs sprang out. And his vision turned red, a sure sign that his eyes were glowing.
The men all flinched, staring at him with alarmed expressions. Hell, he was shocked, too. Red glowing eyes meant one thing. He was hopelessly hot for Abigail.
"Excellent," President Tucker whispered.
Gregori closed his eyes, willing the redness to fade away. The president wouldn't be so thrilled if he knew it was his daughter who had inspired the demonstration.
"All right," the general grumbled. "You convinced me."
"Good." President Tucker rubbed his hands together. "Let's get down to business. We are prepared to declare the recent vampire mania a complete hoax."
Gregori forced his fangs to retract. "Thank you. We simply wish to live in peace and keep our existence a secret. Not only are we morally opposed to causing mortals injury, but intellectually, we understand that harming people would only serve to reveal our existence and ultimately bring about our own destruction."
The president nodded. "You sound very sensible. I believe we can work well together."
Gregori stood. "Then I will convey the good news of our agreement to my people."
"Not so fast." Schiller from Homeland Security raised a hand to stop him. "We will need a list of every vampire in the country. Their names and addresses."
Gregori had suspected they would make such a request. "There is no list." Actually the Coven Masters did have lists, but there was no way he would admit to that. Vamps were essentially sitting ducks during the daytime, completely unable to defend themselves. He couldn't trust the government to leave them alone.
Schiller snorted. "Of course there's a list. If vampires are drinking from bottles, like you claim they are, then there's a list for distribution."
Gregori sat once again. "Most vampires don't get home delivery. It would look odd to have blood delivered to your house, and vampires are experts at blending in and going unnoticed. We simply want to go about our jobs and our lives in secret."
"Do you really expect us to believe you're harmless?" the secretary of defense asked with a dubious look.
"For the majority of Vamps, that is true. Synthetic blood was invented in 1987, and since then, most Vamps have switched over entirely to bottles."
"Most Vamps?" General Bond asked. "So some vampires are still going around attacking innocent people?"
Gregori shifted in his chair. It looked like he'd have to go to Plan C. "Yes, just like there are some bad mortals, there are some bad vampires. We call them Malcontents."
"They're a small faction that takes pleasure in feeding off humans and killing them," Sean Whelan explained. "The good Vamps have been fighting them in order to protect us. Just a few nights ago, the Vamps defeated a small army of Malcontents. Their leader, Casimir, was killed in battle. That's what you saw on the video."
"The video showed a decapitation," Schiller said. "That doesn't sound harmless to me. Why should we trust you?"
"You can trust us because we've been risking our lives for centuries to protect you." Gregori leaned forward, his elbows on his knees. "You say you want an alliance with us? The alliance is already there. You just didn't know about it."
"What sort of things can you do for us?" the national security advisor asked. "What kind of powers do you have?"
There it was, the question Gregori had feared would come up. "Our sight and hearing is a little better than normal, but that's about it."
"What? You don't have special powers?" President Tucker shot an alarmed look at the CIA director. "You said they have supernatural powers."
Caprese regarded Gregori with narrowed eyes. "We believe they do."
Gregori shrugged. "We don't fly or turn into bats."
The general eyed him with a disgusted look. "If you can't do anything for us, why should we help you?"
Gregori adjusted his cuff links. He'd tell Roman and Angus that he had no choice but to demonstrate some powers. Otherwise these guys thought Vamps were worthless. "We have a few abilities you might find useful."
The president smiled. "Now that sounds more like it."
The general snorted. "We don't need these Vamps. They can't do anything our armed forces can't do."
Gregori leaned forward. "Mortals are not equipped to fight the Malcontents. We are. And we're willing to fight them to protect you."
The general shrugged. "We can solve that problem by getting rid of all of you. It's not like we'd be killing you. You're already dead."
"We're American citizens," Gregori said. "We go to work, pay our taxes, and follow the laws - "
"You're damned unnatural is what you are," the general insisted. "The world will be much better off without you."
Gregori clenched and relaxed his fists, wishing once again that he had a stress ball. There was no reasoning with the general. He'd have to go with Plan C. Show off some of his powers.
He removed the ice bucket from the stand and set it on the coffee table. Rising to his feet, he grabbed the thick wrought-iron stand and bent it easily into a circle.
"Excellent," the president whispered, his eyes gleaming with excitement.
"Let me see that." The secretary of defense took the metal loop and tried to straighten it. His face turned red with exertion.
"Superior strength," Caprese said. "Impressive."
The general shrugged. "Big deal. I have servicemen who are that strong."
Gregori zoomed around the men in a flash of vampire speed. The men reacted with gasps and startled expressions.
"Amazing!" the president said.
Gregori came to a halt behind General Bond and tapped him on the shoulder. "If you were a Malcontent, I would have snapped your neck."
The general leaped to his feet. "He threatened to kill me! Arrest him!"
"No, I didn't - "
"Arrest him now!" the general ordered.
The Secret Service man lunged toward him, but Gregori teleported to the other side of President Tucker.
"Mr. President, I wasn't - "
"What?" President Tucker jumped back. "How did you get there?"
"The president is in danger!" the general boomed.
"In here, now!" the Secret Service man yelled into his wrist communicator, then leaped onto the president.
The door crashed open, and two more Secret Service men dashed straight for Gregori. He levitated to the ceiling.
Abigail and Madison Tucker rushed inside with their Secret Service guard. The other two guards were jumping, trying to grab his legs, while the first one was pulling their father out of the way. The men were arguing with one another. Whelan was cursing at him. And the general was pointing at him and shouting.
Madison grinned and clapped her hands together. "This is so awesome!"
Abigail's stunned gaze lifted to him on the ceiling.
"I can explain," Gregori began, though he doubted she could hear his voice over all the noise.
She crumpled onto the carpet in a dead faint.
Chapter Eight
Abigail blinked her eyes as the world slowly came back into focus. For a fuzzy moment, she wondered why she was lying on the floor. And why was there so much shouting? Her father and Madison were kneeling beside her and watching her closely.
"She's fine, Dad," Madison yelled over the noise. "She just fainted."
Fainted? She never fainted.
Dad touched her cheek and smiled. "That's my girl."
When he stood, Abigail's gaze lifted and she gasped. Good Lord, now she remembered what had caused her to faint. Gregori Holstein was floating on the ceiling! And three Secret Service agents were bouncing on the sofas trying to grab hold of him. "What - ?"
Madison squeezed her arm. "You were right, Abby! He's a vampire!"
"What?" She blinked, and he was still there, watching her with a worried look. Good Lord, this was real. This was horrible! "No!" She scooted back on the floor.
A grimace of pain flashed across his face.
Her breath caught. Had she hurt his feelings?
He turned away from her and slowly floated down to the floor.
"Arrest him!" the CIA director shouted, and two Secret Service agents seized his arms.
Abigail scrambled to her feet. "Don't hurt him!"
His gaze snapped back to her.
Her heart lurched. Out of all the noise in the room, he'd heard her voice. She pressed a hand against her pounding heart, terrified he was a monster and equally terrified he would be hurt.
"Everyone, quiet!" Dad shouted, and the room grew silent. "Now let's sit down and discuss this calmly." He motioned to the Secret Service men. "You can let him go."
"Laurence, no!" Mr. Caprese gritted his teeth. "Mr. President, he threatened to kill the general."
Abigail gasped.
"Oh my God," Madison whispered.
Mr. Holstein cursed under his breath. The Secret Service men continued to hold him.
"He must be arrested and detained," Caprese continued.
"I seriously doubt we can detain him," the president replied. "Am I right, Mr. Holstein?"
"Yes, sir. I could vanish from here or any holding cell, and you would never find me." His gaze shifted to Abigail. "You would never see me again."
That should be a good thing, she thought, considering he was a vampire and he'd threatened to kill one of her father's advisors. So why did the notion of never seeing him again give her a strange sensation of loss?
She looked away, her heart racing. It was baffling. Part of her feared him. He was some sort of unnatural creature. But another part of her found him oddly attractive. It had to be scientific curiosity. He presented an intriguing subject for study. Right. And his handsome face has nothing to do with it. She winced, directing a spurt of anger at herself for finding a dangerous creature like him attractive.
She turned back to him, her fists clenched. "Is it true? Did you threaten to kill the general?"
His eyes flashed with anger. "Do you believe I'm capable of killing in cold blood?"
"I have no idea what you are capable of."
He stared at her a moment, then inclined his head. "You are correct. Trust has to be earned."
Her mouth dropped open. That was not the response she had expected. "Why - why did you threaten him?"
"I said I'd kill him if he were a Malcontent, but he isn't one, so there was no threat. I was merely giving a demonstration. Like this." He vanished, leaving the Secret Service men grasping at air. He reappeared, standing behind her father's desk.
Abigail gasped. He could actually teleport!
"Awesome," Madison whispered.
Mr. Holstein spread his hands. "I have no intention of harming anyone."
Could that be true? Abigail wondered. Could there be such a thing as a harmless vampire? It sounded like an oxymoron.
"You can believe Mr. Holstein," the stocky man who had arrived with him said. "Even though the Vamps have a number of impressive powers, they are basically safe and harmless."
"Stow it, Whelan," Mr. Caprese muttered. "That's not what you told me when you started the Stake-Out team. You said the Undead were dangerous, and this one has just proven it."
Mr. Holstein folded his arms over his chest. "If I was truly dangerous, none of you would be alive to talk about it. But as Mr. Whelan has discovered over the last few years, we are harmless. We're morally opposed to causing any injury to humans."
"Of course." The general sneered at him. "You wouldn't want to diminish your food source."
Mr. Holstein glared at him. "We're not inhuman monsters. We all started our lives as humans. We had human parents and a human childhood. Many of the older Vamps have descendants. Younger Vamps like me still have family. How could I view a human as food when my own mother is still alive?"
He was a young vampire? Abigail wondered what had caused him to become Undead. What exactly did it mean to be Undead? Gregori Holstein was moving about, thinking, talking. Didn't these things require an active circulatory system? Her mind raced with one question after another. So many unknowns, but one thing was for certain. Mr. Holstein was fascinating.
She winced inwardly. She couldn't allow herself to be distracted by this man, no matter how mysterious and handsome he was. She had to hold firm to her mission. All her years of study and hard work had been aimed at one goal: discovering a cure for her mother. She had no time for studying this . . . vampire, no matter how fascinating he was.
"Mr. Holstein makes an excellent point," her dad said. "He's still basically human. I think we can trust him."
The Homeland Security director, Mr. Schiller, snorted. "Are you kidding? He has powers we can't hope to compete with."
"But we don't use them to harm mortals," Mr. Holstein insisted.
"What other powers do you have?" the national security advisor asked.
Mr. Holstein shrugged and skirted the desk. "You've witnessed most of them. Levitation, teleportation, super speed and strength."
"And heightened senses," Abigail murmured softly.
He looked at her, and that shot her heart rate into warp drive. The corner of his mouth lifted.