29. Janie
Chapter 29
Janie
T ana was still missing.
Of course she was. No one was worried except for me. Why didn’t anyone care? As I walked through the break room, a TV droned on about a missing woman an hour away. A chill went down my spine. The person at the station mentioned how people described this woman as a “party girl.” Would that be Tana? My heart lurched. I didn’t want that to be Tana; I had to find her.
I stepped away from the break room with my lunch and stepped outside. A few feet from the entrance, there was a picnic table. No one ever came here. It was mostly Tana and I. It felt even sadder to sit out here by myself. Tears threatened to spill and my shoulders fell as I sighed. The shadows in the grove of trees beside me shifted and Meical stepped out. Another step and he shifted from monster to human.
“You are sad.”
I looked at the lab as I blinked away the overwhelming urge to cry. “You shouldn’t be here.”
“You looked sad. ”
“You were watching me.”
Shadows curled up around my ankle, and I sucked in a breath. “Can you stop?”
“Sorry. Even non-sexually, my shadows find comfort in your touch,” he replied as he sat beside me. It seemed like such a normal move. He didn’t just slip from the shadows, but maybe he walked or drove here. Maybe, if anyone saw us, they would think this was a lover’s lunch date. Is this a date? His head turned, and he leaned against my body. “I told you I was watching you.”
“No privacy. How weird.” I shook my head. “We need to help Tana. We can’t delay. Have there been any pings?”
He smiled softly. “How’d you know I would know?”
“And you don’t?”
“Urien has the login information. He has been texting me with possibilities. He’s responding. He’s much hipper than me.”
I leaned back and groaned. “That doesn’t sound good.”
“Urien has lived many lives. He can blend in if he wants.”
“You believe that?”
“I know most vampires that have lived long lives are chameleons. I bet he knows all the tells.”
“When’s the first meeting?”
Meical sighed. “Tonight.”
“Are you worried?”
“No. I just don’t like it.” Another tentacle petted my thigh. “I worry about you.”
I reached out and grabbed his hand. “Is it bad that I am scared? But I have to power through. I have a bad feeling.”
“You’re holding hands with a monster. You have bravery inside you. ”
“Who saved me the last time it happened? You. I had a date gone wrong. Which might have happened to her.”
“Urien’s going to be following you. And I’m always here in the shadows waiting for you. You’re safe.”
“Okay. I’ll do it as long as we find Tana in the end.”
“It doesn’t work like that all the time, little one.”
I closed my eyes. Thinking about that possibility was something I wanted to avoid. “I don’t want to think of that.”
“I’ve seen death. I’ve seen their minds. Sometimes they don’t torture. Sometimes?—”
I squeezed my eyes shut. “Please, no. Don’t tell me anymore. I didn’t even want to watch the news in the break room earlier. Too many missing women.”
Medical pulled me into his arms as I fought back my tears. I still needed to go back to work. I couldn’t break down out here. “No one cares about her. It’s only me.”
“And me.”
“You don’t care.”
“But she means something to you which means I care. It means someone that I need to eliminate has her. It’s my duty to get rid of him.”
I sighed. “What time is it?”
“You have five minutes.”
“Thanks.” I pulled away and shoved the rest of my food into my mouth. I stood up and wiped my shirt off as I looked at Meical. His eyes traveled down my body. Did he want me? Did he like what he saw? His eyes flashed the eerie black from his monster form.
“I want to take you on a date.”
“Wasn’t the other night a date?”
“It was also business. I don’t think that counts. I want to gain your trust and I want you to let me into your heart. You’re in mine already. ”
I put my hands on my hips. “Only cause my sexual energy is flowing through your heart. If you have a heart. I don’t know monster anatomy.”
Meical smirked as he pulled me close and wrapped his fingers around my hair at the base of my neck. “Do you want to get to know monster anatomy?” Shadows wrapped around my calves and slithered up my legs. They caressed my inner thighs as he pressed against me. I sucked in a breath as I looked at his face. “That one dream that I slipped in and slid my cock inside you, you liked that one very much. It would be much better in real life.”
I panted. Every touch of his tendrils teased and taunted me. Then I remembered what I did this morning. I wasn’t that sort of person, was I? My panties were getting wetter as he held me. I swallowed. “Is that what it’s really like? It felt like ridges or bumps.”
He grinned. This wasn’t his human grin. This was his sharp and fancy, monstrous grin. I let out a staggered breath. “I feel your need, little human. You want me. Before your little date, I could tie you to the bed and show you everything I can give you. The undulating tendrils creeping into every orifice of your body. The way you break apart on my tendrils is everything I hoped for in a mate. I loved getting you off every night. I will make you writhe in desire over and over again. Give me a chance, Janie. I could make you blissed out.”
Tamping down my arousal, I shook my head. But damn, I was tempted.
“You want to use me for my desire.”
“That’s only a bonus. I can go eat anyone I want. Your desire is more delicious, special, and dear to me. I can go eat any criminal I want day or night. I could walk through those halls and get one man right now?— ”
“Who?”
“He’s lower on the evil range. He’s not a danger to you. I’ve been stealing a few years off him the last few months. No worries.”
I pursed my lips and pushed away. “I have to work.”
“Go to work, but think of my proposition.”
My heart thumped in my chest as I ran back into the building. All afternoon as I sat at my microscope, his shadows teased and taunted my lower body. Occasionally, they would glide over my mound and I would jump into the table. It was a long afternoon.