Damek stiffened, turned and stared at her, his eyes glowing with lust.
“Oops.” She’d thought too loudly again. It was difficult for her to hide her feelings from Damek, especially her sexual ones.
“Later,” he growled.
Right. They had a job to do first. She looked around with interest, wondering what kind of place a vampire hunter would live. The living room had the requisite sofa, chair and big-screen television. There was a dining area beyond with a table that would seat four.
She walked through the room and peeked into the kitchen—stainless steel appliances, granite countertops and tile floor. Classy all the way and totally impersonal. It reminded her of Damek’s apartment, but she’d soon change that. She already had plenty of ideas of what she wanted to change in her new home.
His hand rested against the small of her back. “There is nothing here. Let’s check the bedrooms.”
“Okay.” They walked down the short hallway, past a bathroom that was small but luxurious. “This hunter had money.”
“Yes, he did.” Damek stood before a closed door. “I’ll have to find out where it came from.”
“You’ll get Craig to do that.” She’d come to realize that Damek liked the human male and enjoyed his clever mind.
“Most likely.” He paused. “Do you mind?”
“Why would I? I like Craig.”
Damek ran his hand over the door. “Can you feel it?”
Now that he mentioned it, she could sense a humming, almost a vibration in her bones. “What is it?”
“Power. There are powerful objects in this room. Let me go first.” He pushed open the door and stepped inside.
“Holy crap,” she whispered as she followed him, stopping just inside the door to look around. This was where the vampire hunter really lived. The room was covered with weapons and artifacts. She found herself drawn to a wall covered in swords. “Many of these go back hundreds of years. They’re not reproductions.” She’d seen many ancient weapons during her years of research, and the ones in this room were worth a small fortune.
“This is more valuable.” Damek stood beside Luther’s desk and thumbed through a book whose pages were old and brittle.
“What is it?” She hurried over to his side, wanting to see what he’d found.
“A personal history of vampire hunting dating back at least five hundred years.”
“Personal, as in his family.”
“Yes.” Damek shut the book and set it aside. “And there is more. Open your senses and look for an area where the energy is most concentrated.
Sonia focused all her power, wanting to learn how to use it. Every day was a learning experience for her, and while she didn’t have near the power Damek did, she was no slouch either.
“You know where it is, don’t you?” She scowled, drawing a slight smile from him.
“Of course.”
“Of course,” she mimicked. Shoving aside her frustration, she concentrated on the task at hand, letting her gaze flow over the desks, the walls and the bookcases. “There, behind that shelf.”
“Very good.” Damek walked to the bookshelf and felt behind it. She heard a click and then the entire thing swung outward.
“Wow, that’s cool.” It was like something out of a movie. A small steel door about two feet square was visible. “Can you open it?”
“Such insults.” Damek place his hand over the door and within seconds she could hear tumblers fall into place. He turned the handle and opened the door.
“I bow to your greatness,” she said, tongue firmly planted in her cheek.
“As you should,” came his quick reply. He reached in and drew out several leather-bound journals, a file and several boxes. He placed everything on the desk and began shuffling through it. The boxes were filled with old jewelry, a pocket watch and other memorabilia. They closed the boxes and Sonia carried them back to the safe.
Damek flipped through the journals. “We need to take these. This is information about the vampire hunters’ organization.” He opened the file and did a quick shuffle. “This is personal information, bills and such. This can go back.” He handed it to her and she took care of it.
Damek was right behind her and closed the safe with a thunk. He returned the bookshelf to its rightful place and took one last look around. “That’s all for this room.” He gathered the book and journals and ushered her out.
“What about his bedroom?” Sonia didn’t think they should leave any stone unturned. She didn’t want to have to come back. It was creepy enough being in a dead guy’s place, let alone going through his stuff. It would be more difficult if he hadn’t tried to kill her. Something like that tended to put things in perspective.
They went to the last door and opened it. Like most of the apartment, it was generic in nature. The bed and dresser were nothing special. Still, they looked through the closet and all the drawers, finding nothing.
“We need to leave. Now.”
She felt it too, a stirring in the air. Damek hustled her to the front door and out, pausing only to rest the locks. They started down the hallway toward the elevator, but he pulled her into the stairwell.
The elevator bell dinged and two men climbed out, walking to Luther Kostas’s front door. They banged on the door and waited. “Where in the hell is he?” one man asked the other. “It’s not like him to stay out of contact so long.”
“I’ve got a bad feeling about this,” the other said. The sound of locks being opened reached her ears and their voices faded as they entered the apartment. That was too close for comfort.
“Come.” Damek hurried her toward the elevator and she wasn’t surprised when the doors slid open the moment they stepped in front of them. They stepped inside and he pressed the button for the lobby. In no time they left the building and slid into the waiting limo.
Jerome pulled away, heading back toward her family home in Queens. She released a deep breath. “More hunters.”
“Yes.” He carefully set the books aside and reached for her. She went into his arms easily, loving how they felt around her. “We will watch and study them. As long as they are no threat to us we will leave them be.”
Sonia wasn’t certain that was the right thing to do but kept her own counsel for now. If any of the information they discovered might be helpful to The Keepers, she would convince Damek to pass it along to them.
When he kissed her, she forgot all about the hunters and her family waiting for them. There was only Damek. Their lips touched and tongues met and she lost herself in the heat between them.
His hand slid up her thigh to cup her butt as he deepened their kiss. Wanting to feel his hard flesh beneath his clothing, she flicked open the buttons on his shirt and found the sculpted muscles beneath it.
He settled her more securely in his lap so she was facing him and pulled her close until her pelvis was pressed against his erection. She broke their kiss, gasping for air. Her body still thought it was human and she didn’t mind. It was kind of freaky to think about not needing to actually breathe.
“I think we should see more of the city. Maybe drive around Central Park.” His hand slipped under her blouse and found her breast. He shoved her bra down and teased the pert nipple.
“Excellent idea.” No way could she wait until they got back to her apartment. With her luck, her family would catch them coming in and they’d have to spend more time at the party. And she needed Damek. Now.
He reached out and pressed the intercom button. “Drive around the city until I say otherwise.”
“Yes, sir.” Sonia could hear the slight laughter in Jerome’s voice and knew he was plenty aware of what was going on back here even though the privacy screen was firmly in place. Then Damek kissed her again and she didn’t care.