Vampire in Geek's Clothing (Psy-Vamp Book 6) (17 page)

They were hunting a hunter—something Isaiah had never
expected to happen. Then again, he’d never expected to be falling in love with
a hunter either. He still wasn’t happy about having Phoenix with them tonight,
and he’d even tried talking her out of it again that afternoon, as had Justin.
Caitlin had even argued that it would be safer for her to stay home. Drew had
been the only one on her side about coming with them.

Caitlin and Lydia had been the ones to help Phoenix with her
disguise, and Isaiah couldn’t decide if he wanted to curse them or thank them.
Her body was barely covered by something that could be better described as a
shirt than a dress. He’d been trying to find a panty-line under the slinky red
dress, and he was seriously wondering if she actually had panties on at all.
The temptation to drag her back upstairs to check before they’d left the house
had been strong. If she bent over, he and everyone in the club would know the
answer. They’d also know if she was wearing a bra, since he was pretty sure, if
she moved the wrong way, her breasts were going to fall out.

While he’d seen plenty of women dressed this way, it had
never done much for him. He preferred women in more casual clothes. Then again,
he’d prefer an evening at home, watching movies, to a night at a club. Still,
he’d been half-hard since he’d seen Phoenix walk down the stairs in her
club-wear and red wig. The makeup, he could do without, but Lydia had insisted
it would do more to hide her. No one would be looking for a redhead trying to
grab everyone’s attention.

“Huh,” Aiden said thoughtfully as they walked into the club.
“You sure they’ll be here tonight?”

“Can’t you find them?” Justin asked.

“Nope,” Aiden replied.

“Don’t tell me your handy tracking skills are on the fritz,”
Justin teased.

“Fuck you,” Aiden shot back. “I never met the hunters, and I
know the real reason you’re making fun of my skills. You’re jealous that you
didn’t have me around to help when you were stalking Caitlin.”

“Stalking?” Phoenix asked with wide eyes. “This is the
second time someone’s mentioned Justin stalking Caitlin.”

“Justin doesn’t understand the whole dating process,”
Caitlin told her.

“So, he stalked her,” Aiden added. “And he didn’t do a very
good job of it since I wasn’t here to help him.”

Justin snorted. “Isaiah did a pretty good job of helping me
stalk her.”

“You helped him stalk Caitlin?” Phoenix asked, and Isaiah
wanted to kill his brother for sharing his involvement.

“I hacked into the computers at the college so I could
enroll Justin in the same classes as Caitlin,” Isaiah admitted.

“And that worked?” Phoenix asked, staring at Caitlin in
disbelief.

“Nah,” Aiden drawled. “There had to be a kidnapping before
things really worked out. Kidnapping is an essential part of the Draksel
courting process.”

Isaiah groaned. “You’re going to leave me after spending
time around my family, aren’t you?” he asked Phoenix.

Phoenix laughed at his distress. “No, but I would appreciate
it if you’d keep your stalking down to a minimum.”

Isaiah gave her a shy smile, glad she wasn’t freaking out.
“I’ll do my best, but you’re adorably stalkable.”

“Stalkable?” Caitlin scoffed. “That’s not even a word.”

“Let’s focus on finding the hunters and argue about grammar
later,” Isaiah suggested.

“I could have sworn you were with us when we met the
hunter,” Justin told Aiden.

“Nope,” Aiden replied. “I was at home with my very pregnant
wife.”

“I still can’t believe you aren’t home helping Tempest with
the babies,” Justin remarked.

“Tempest wanted me to go with you,” Aiden explained.
“Actually, she wanted to go, since she’s a super badass, but she was worried about
her boobs leaking all over.”

“Oh. My. God.” Caitlin glared at Aiden in that condescending
way only she could manage. “Do any of you ever think before you open your
mouths?”

Aiden pretended to consider her question for a moment before
shaking his head. “Not often.”

“Ugh!” Caitlin threw her hands up in the air. “You’re both
just as bad as Drew.”

“That was a low blow,” Justin told her before leaning close
to her ear, and Isaiah was glad for the loud music which prevented him from
hearing what his brother said to make Caitlin blush.

Since Isaiah didn’t normally join in their banter, no one
seemed surprised that he was mostly staying out of it now. There was a lot
going through his mind at the moment. For all he knew, this hunter might be
just as crazy as Phoenix’s sociopath cousin. He couldn’t stop worrying that he
was putting Phoenix in more danger by bringing her to the attention of the
local hunters.

Phoenix seemed completely at ease with the situation. He was
pretty sure the medication Justin had given her right before leaving the house
was helping. Justin had made a minor adjustment after she’d complained about
being a little groggy with the first dose. Phoenix seemed thrilled with the
results, except for the caffeine headache.

“You okay?” Caitlin asked, placing a hand on his shoulder.
Of course, it was enough to make him laugh because Caitlin wasn’t the type to
offer comfort.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Isaiah assured her.

Caitlin gave him one of her scarier looks, probably because
she didn’t believe him and didn’t want to have to push to find out what was
wrong. She might even be tempted to read his mind. Technically, she couldn’t
read minds unless the person projected their thoughts, which he and his family
apparently did.

“I don’t need you to comfort me,” he almost snapped, and he
wasn’t surprised by the sharp look Phoenix shot his way.

“Leave him alone, baby,” Justin said, looping an arm around
Caitlin’s waist. “He’s just worried that we’re putting his woman in danger.”

“Stop calling me his woman,” Phoenix told Justin. “I’m not
some piece of property to be owned by any man.”

“Now, I really wish Tempest was here,” Aiden said with a
laugh. “She would love watching you put Justin in his place. You will have to
forgive my cousin for being an ass. It’s just his way.”

“Don’t pretend you’re any better than I am,” Justin argued.

“If it ain’t Doc Vamp and his hot woman. What are you doing
out my way?”

They all spun to see the guy who’d spoken those words. He
was huge. Standing a few inches over six feet, the guy had broad shoulders and
muscular arms. His blond hair was a little on the long side, and his sea-green
eyes were calculating as he gave them a mocking smirk.

Justin’s slight nod to Isaiah confirmed that this was the
hunter they were looking for.

“We were looking for you,” Isaiah began, moving slightly in
front of Phoenix to shield her, earning him a hard poke to his back.

The hunter chuckled, looking over Isaiah’s shoulder at
Phoenix. “How is it that you vampires seem to find all the hot women with
attitude? You gotta tell me where they're hiding.” When no one answered, he
shrugged. “So, why are a bunch of vampires looking for me?”

“We need your help,” Isaiah replied.

With one raised eyebrow, the hunter regarded him “You do
realize how crazy that sounds, don’t you?”

Isaiah nodded. “This involves hunter business, or we
wouldn’t be coming to you for help.”

The hunter focused on Isaiah. “What kind of hunter
business?”

“Hunters being hunted,” Isaiah told him without blinking.

“Are you threatening me?” the hunter asked in a menacing
tone.

“Not yet,” Isaiah replied without backing down. “That could
change if you fuck with me on this. A woman I care very much about is in
danger, and I’ll do anything to protect her.” He did not miss the exasperated
sigh coming from behind him.

The hunter said nothing at first, merely studied him before
finally nodding. “Good answer,” the hunter praised.

“Are you going to help us?” Isaiah repeated because he
wasn’t ready to introduce Phoenix. He didn’t want to start things off with a
lie by giving a fake name, and he was pretty sure there weren’t too many women
named Phoenix around.

The hunter shrugged. “I’m going to listen to what you have
to say.”

“The show’s about to start, so we should leave before we
can’t hear each other,” Caitlin suggested.

The hunter leaned into Isaiah, pretending to whisper, but he
spoke loud enough for everyone in their group to hear. “She’s totally into me.
Once she gets over pitying Doc Vamp, she’ll be all mine. Then I’ll show her
what a real man can do.”

Caitlin snorted. “I’m surrounded by assholes tonight.”

“I seriously doubt my
wife
would go for someone like
you,” Justin said, wrapping an arm around her waist.

The hunter laughed. “Don’t worry, honey,” he told Caitlin.
“My uncle is a lawyer, and he can get that divorce through real quick when
you’re ready to ditch the doctor.” Without giving her time to answer, he turned
his attention to Aiden. “Who’s the rock star wannabe?”

“I was going for the biker look,” Aiden muttered.

“Yeah, not seeing it,” the hunter shot back before looking
directly at Phoenix again. “I cannot forget to acknowledge the gorgeous
redhead. Let me be the first to thank you on behalf of all the men in the club
for wearing that dress tonight. It has made my week, maybe even my month.”

The dick-wilting look Phoenix shot his direction was enough
to make the hunter cringe. “Ouch! It must not be my night with the ladies,” he
complained. “Where should we meet for this little chat?”

“I’ll send you the address,” Justin told him.

“Fine, but I’m bringing back up. Try not to take this the
wrong way, but I’d have to be an idiot to trust you. My gut tells me you’re
okay, but I don’t plan to set myself up to be killed.”

“Two hunters,” Justin told him. “Give me your number so I
can send you the address.”

The hunter nodded and gave Justin a number.

“Send me the address, and I’ll let you know when I can make
it there,” the hunter said before walking away.

“We probably should have decided where we’re going to meet
the hunters in advance,” Justin stated. “We need someplace private where we can
talk without worrying about being overheard.”

“How about Lyd’s condo?” Caitlin suggested.

Isaiah nodded. “I like that idea. With the condo on the
market, we’re not putting anyone in danger.”

Justin nodded and pulled out his phone to message the hunter
before Aiden stopped him.

“Are you going to use your regular phone?” Aiden asked. “We
could grab one of those prepaid ones and activate it so we have a more
anonymous way of communicating with them.”

“I already have one on me,” Isaiah offered.

“This is better,” Justin insisted.

“Justin is right,” Caitlin agreed. “There’s too much
distrust for this to work. Someone needs to give in and show that they can
trust the other.”

“We don’t trust him,” Justin pointed out.

“Just send the information,” Phoenix said with an
exasperated sigh. “You do realize you can change your number, right? I’ve seen
that house, so I’m sure you can buy a new phone if it comes down to it. It
would be a pain to change your number with you being the doctor, but it can be
done.”

Justin nodded and sent the text to the hunter.

Despite Phoenix’s nerves, as they waited for the hunters to
arrive, she didn’t feel a panic attack coming, and that was a huge relief.
Isaiah had been on the phone with Drew for the last five minutes, basically
telling Drew no in different ways.

“I’m not telling you where we are.” Isaiah rolled his eyes.
“I’ll look into it later.” More eye rolling. “I already told you I’d try to
find her. Now, I need to go. The hunters should be here any minute.” An
exaggerated sigh accompanied the eye rolling this time. “You do want me to keep
Phoenix safe, right?” Isaiah’s face softened this time. “I know you want to be
here, and the fact that I almost wish we’d brought you with us is proof I’m
losing my mind. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

Without giving Drew time to say anything else, he ended the
call and tucked his phone into his pocket.

“When did you become Drew’s new bestie?” Aiden asked.

Isaiah sighed. “I’d like to say it’s because of his
connection with Phoenix, but he started calling me incessantly before that.”

“He’s got a lot going on,” Justin added thoughtfully. “I’m
not sure Drew knows how to deal with it, and you’re one of the only people who
won’t hang up on him.”

Caitlin nodded her agreement. “He’d rather call Trish, but
the whole thing with Hunter makes him uneasy—or it did before Drew learned that
he’s his brother and not his son. He might start calling her after things
settle down.”

“Somehow, I doubt that,” Isaiah grumbled.

Phoenix heard her phone chime and looked down to see it was
Drew calling.

“Is he honestly calling you now?” Isaiah asked.

“Just give me a minute,” she told him. “Hey, Drew. What’s
going on?”

“Hey, Nix,” he greeted her. “I was thinking about what we
need to do to find your crazy cousin.”

“She’s not crazy!” Phoenix insisted.

Drew snorted. “Seriously, Nix, the chick is so nuts,
squirrels probably follow her around. Before you say anything, I get that this
is a whole pot talking about the kettle situation in your mind, but try to
think of it as an expert opinion. I’ve lived crazy my whole life, so I can tell
when someone’s cord doesn’t quite reach the outlet, if you know what I mean.”

“Drew,” she warned impatiently.

“Fine,” he relented. “I was thinking about what we need to
do to find your pathologically high-spirited cousin.”

“Why are you so worried about finding her?” While she and
Drew had been good friends, he’d never struck her as the type to worry about
someone he’d never met. That probably came from being raised by a serial killer
who took him out on kills. He would have had to learn to distance himself from
people to survive his childhood.

Drew’s hesitation proved he wasn’t sure of his own reasons.
“I don’t know, Nix,” he admitted. “She’s dealing with this shit alone, and someone
needs to be on her side. The whole thing doesn’t make much sense to me, so I’m
not really sure what I’m trying to accomplish with all of this.”

“I’m on her side,” she argued.

“I get that, but you’re hiding, too. She needs me,” Drew
added more quietly. “Hell, she might be the only person in the world who’s ever
needed me, Nix.”

“I’m sure that’s not true,” she tried to reassure him.

“It is true,” he insisted. “You ask any of my uncles or
cousins, and they’ll tell you I’m a fucking burden. Not a single one wants to
deal with my shit, and I can’t blame them. I was tagging along on kills when I
could barely talk. I’m a mess, and I don’t have much to offer anyone.”

“You were a good friend to me,” she reminded him.

“Yet when shit hit the fan, you didn’t even consider calling
me for help,” he pointed out. “Don’t bother trying to make me feel better. I’m
not after sympathy, despite how it must sound. Listen, even when I thought
Hunter was mine, he didn’t need me. Hell, it was more than that—what he needed
was for me to stay as far away from him as possible. I grew up with two head
case parents, and no one needs that kind of shit. Even though my dad wasn’t
letting out his inner-slasher, he ignored the stuff my mom was doing and let
her drag me along each time she took a ride on the crazy train. This is the
first time in my life I’ve genuinely believed someone needs me, and I gotta do
something to help her.”

The knock on the door wasn’t a welcome interruption because
Phoenix got the impression Drew really needed to talk. “The hunters are here,
so I need to go, but I promise we’ll talk more about Shayla later.”

“Sure, babe. Be careful.” He hung up without waiting for a
reply.

“That was Drew,” she explained quietly. “Something is really
bothering him.”

Justin was already typing on his phone. “I’m asking Lydia to
call him. She’ll drag him out for another spa day. For some reason, she thinks
that’s what everyone needs to cheer them up.”

“It would make me feel better,” Aiden mumbled.

Justin snorted. “Why doesn’t that surprise me?”

Aiden opened the door, and three hunters, two men and a
woman, walked into the condo. She recognized the giant blond from the club. The
woman was close to Caitlin’s height with a sinewy build, vivid purple hair
secured in a large clip at the back of her neck, and eyes so blue they almost
looked purple. The other man wasn’t very tall, and had more of a wiry build,
dark hair, and a beard in serious need of grooming.

Without her disguise, the other hunters recognized her
immediately, proving her disappearance from the Seattle area was common
knowledge. Now, the question was whether they’d heard about her aunt and
uncle’s murder.

“Wanna tell me why you’ve got a missing hunter with you?”
the big hunter asked before giving her a wink. “I like you better without the
wig, honey.”

“Really, Mason?” the other guy huffed. “That’s what you’re
going to start with? Could you stop thinking with your dick for five minutes?
Or, at the very least, stop flirting with a killer?”

“Knock it off, Brandon,” the woman snapped. “Does she look
like a killer to you?”

“I didn’t kill anyone,” Phoenix insisted.

“I figured that out all on my own, honey,” Mason assured
her. “I’m a pretty good judge of character, and you don’t have the killer
instinct. That’s probably why you ran in the first place.”

“I’m not convinced she not a killer,” Brandon grumbled with
his arms crossed in front of his chest like a petulant child.

Mason ignored him. “Let’s do the whole intro thing, so we
can move on to business. I’m Mason. This is Talia and Brandon. I know who
Phoenix is. You wanna give me names? Or, should I call you Doc Vamp, the
rocker, the hacker, and my future wife?”

“Do I look like I’m going for a rocker look?” Aiden asked,
earning him an eye-roll from Justin before Justin made curt introductions.

“Justin, Isaiah, Aiden, and
my
wife, Caitlin,” Justin
replied, pointing to everyone as he introduced them.

“You keep calling her your wife like you’re insecure,” Mason
mused. “Must mean you know how much she wants me, and you feel like you need to
remind her. Makes sense, since she’s probably already wondering how she can let
you down easy.”

“Did you two want to take your dicks out and have a pissing
contest?” Caitlin asked.

“Maybe later,” Mason replied, ignoring her sarcasm. “For
now, let’s get down to business.” His eyes focused on Phoenix. “There have been
a lot of people looking for you.”

“Because they think I killed my aunt and uncle?” she asked.

“That’s made finding you more urgent,” Mason replied.
“Technically, we were supposed to be on the lookout for you after your
disappearance, but most of us didn’t care that much about finding you. The
murders are a different story because we can’t have a rogue hunter out killing
people.”

“It’s not just the recent murders either,” Talia added. “The
hunters from your territory have been told you also murdered your own parents
and another breeder before you took off.”

“That one’s harder to prove with no bodies,” Brandon added.
“There’ve also been a lot of people wondering why they’d wait this long to
mention those murders.”

“There are plenty of territories where you’d be in a shit
load of trouble in a room full of hunters,” Mason told her. “You’re lucky. Our
elders aren’t convinced they’re getting the truth.”

Phoenix was so angry with the accusations that her voice
practically shook. “These are all lies. I didn’t kill anyone.”

“That’s what our elders believe,” Mason stated. “They
pointed out that people who are resistant to training as hunters, generally,
have issues with killing, and that makes it very unlikely they’d kill off
family.”

“Do you know what happened to your parents and the other
breeder?” Talia asked.

“My parents and my cousin, the other breeder, are still very
much alive, but they’re all in hiding,” Phoenix began cautiously, not wanting
to reveal too much about Shayla. “They ran when I did. I’m not even sure where
to start.”

“Let me save you a couple of steps,” Mason offered. “We
already know the hunters in your area believe that everyone born with a
hunter’s mark has to train to be a hunter. It was only a matter of time before
someone decided they didn’t want to train and ran.”

“You don’t think that way in this area?” Aiden interrupted.

Mason shook his head. “There’s not much call for hunters
these days, so if someone doesn’t believe it’s their calling, we’re fine with
letting them out of it.” Mason gave Phoenix a knowing smile. “That’s why we
have so many witches out here.” A look of realization flashed in Mason’s eyes.
“I can’t believe I didn’t think about you going to one of our witches until now.
That’s why I didn’t recognize you as a hunter, isn’t it? You got your mark
spelled to help you stay hidden. How did you even find out about that? From
what I’ve heard, the information isn’t offered up to young hunters in more
traditional areas.”

“My uncle told me about it when I was ten and he realized I
wasn’t going to become a hunter,” Phoenix explained. “Unfortunately, I think I
put the witch who helped me in danger, and his brother is dead now.”

“More dead people,” Brandon grumbled.

Phoenix ignored him and gave them a brief explanation of
Hayden’s obsession with her when they were younger and his desire to be a
hunter. There was no getting around including her time with Drew, and she was
surprised by how little the other hunters reacted to that. She explained Shayla
running because of Hayden’s lack of stability, leaving out Shayla’s pregnancy.
She reluctantly finished by telling them about her call from Shayla.

“Two breeders on killing sprees,” Talia mused. “You don’t
see that sort of thing often.”

“Shayla is not on a killing spree!” Phoenix insisted.

“She’s right,” Brandon agreed with a nod. “One kill isn’t a
killing spree, and it sounds like she did it to protect Phoenix.”

“And you suddenly think that’s a good thing, Bran?” Mason
asked with a laugh.

“Fuck you, Mason,” Brandon shot back, flipping him off.
“There’s no way Phoenix could make up something this crazy, meaning it has to
be true.”

“Your other cousin needs killing,” Talia spat out.

Phoenix felt relief wash over her at the realization that
they believed her. She’d been alone for so long, and now she suddenly had
hunters and vampires on her side.

“So, what can you do to help?” Isaiah asked.

That question was met with silence from the hunters as they
considered their options.

Mason finally spoke. “I’m not sure what we can do. Before we
can offer anything, we have to run it by the elders.”

“I can’t see them turning you away,” Brandon assured
Phoenix. “The likelihood is they’ll just claim you.”

“That would be the most likely scenario since it will make
things easier for the Seattle hunters, as well,” Talia agreed.

“How would it make things easier for them?” Phoenix asked.

“You’re a problem they don’t want to deal with,” Mason
began. “If they’d wanted to deal with you, efforts to find you would have been
made sooner. As it stands, they put the word out you were missing, but they
weren’t really looking for you.”

“No one wants to deal with a squeamish hunter,” Talia
explained. “You’d be an embarrassment to them since they think all hunters
should be proud of their heritage. By just disappearing, you made their lives
easier. I’d be willing to bet they don’t believe you killed anyone, but they
have no choice but to look for you. If you’re claimed by this territory, it
means they can say you’re our problem.”

“I’m surprised they aren’t putting more effort into finding
the breeder,” Brandon mused. “That’s the part of this that makes no sense to
me.”

“Unless her parents didn’t tell them she was missing,”
Isaiah said thoughtfully.

“Why wouldn’t they mention it?” Talia asked.

“They may have been embarrassed,” Phoenix suggested, not
adding that they would have tried to keep it a secret if they had figured out
Shayla was pregnant when she’d disappeared.

“If your arse of a cousin, Hayden, was willing to kill his
own parents, he’s not going to just let you go,” Aiden pointed out.

“I think you’re right,” Mason agreed. “You need to get
Hayden and prove he killed his parents.”

“Or, you need to kill him,” Brandon added, and he laughed
when everyone stared at him. “What? I can suggest breaking the rules from time
to time.”

Mason snorted. “Not since I’ve known you, but you’re right.
Much as I hate to say it, dead would be better in this case.”

“So, what you’re telling us is that you can’t do much but
talk to your elders?” Isaiah asked, sounding frustrated.

“Not officially,” Mason replied. “If things go to hell, call
me and I’ll try to help, but I can’t do too much without the consent of the
elders, and I’m not allowed to kill breeders. Even crazy psychotic breeders
like your cousin are off limits.”