after all? So far, her fears of what might happen or what Doug might say were worse than reality.
“So we stick to the plan.” Doug snagged some silver stars and stuck them in the inner pockets of his coat. “We stake out the tunnel entrances under the hotel and get ’em as they’re coming in before sunrise. Right?”
“Actually, I think we should split up.” Olivia put the last clip of ammo in her belt and turned to face Doug. “If they come in early enough, then they won’t need to use the underground entrances, and they could waltz through the front door.”
“No fucking way, Liv.” His eyes flashed. “I’m not letting you out of my sight.”
“Doug.” Olivia tried not to be annoyed at his macho chauvinism, but it was no use. “I was a sentry for a hundred years. In case you’ve forgotten, I can handle myself.” Her voice rose as she spoke, and her body tensed. “I am not that scared, sniveling girl I was all those years ago.”
Doug swore loudly, put his hands on his hips, and stared at the fluorescent lights in the ceiling. Just when Olivia was about to start screaming her fangs off, he ran one hand over his short blond hair, and a smile cracked his handsome face.
“I sounded like a dick, didn’t I?” He glanced at her sideways.
“Yes.” She folded her arms over her chest. “A big, macho dick.”
“I’m sorry.” His expression softened as he placed both hands on her shoulders and looked her straight in the eye. “I know you’re capable and could probably kick my ass if you wanted to, but there’s one thing you need to understand.”
“What?” She braced herself for more male posturing and formulated her blistering response in her head.
“I love you, Liv.” His fingers gripped her shoulders tighter, and his throat worked as he swallowed. “I have been chasing you my entire life, and I kept every other woman at a distance because they couldn’t live up to you, or the idea of you. I never thought I was worthy of love or marriage or any of that shit. I thought I didn’t have what it takes to be a husband or a father.” He stopped, and his brow knit together. “Wait—can vampires even have children?”
“No,” she said through a laugh. Hell, the man wanted to have children with her?
“Really? Well, that’s too bad. I’d love to have a spirited little girl with your curly red hair and green eyes, not to mention your bad-ass fighting skills.” He kissed the tip of her nose. “Since she’d be as gorgeous as you, she’d have to be able to fight off all those rotten boys.”
“Doug,” she whispered in a shaky voice.
“No.” He shook his head. “Let me finish. There’s still a part of me that thinks I’m not lucky enough to feel this way, and I am fucking terrified of losing you. So,” he sucked in a breath and continued, “you’ll have to forgive me for being an overprotective dickhead. That’s not going to change. I feel more alive with you as a vampire than I did as a human, so you’re stuck with me. We stick together. No one hunts alone—that’s non-negotiable.”
He loved her. He said it and put his heart and everything else on the line. As her eyes searched his, she knew that no matter what happened, he would be there for her. Her eyes stung with tears, and a smile played at her lips. For the first time in centuries, she didn’t feel alone.
“Okay.” She nodded and looked at him warmly. “We stick together. We’ll check the West Village again and then go to the hotel before sunrise. We can glamour the clerk and find out if Moriarty checked in and what room he’s staying in, then ambush them when they come back to sleep for the day.”
“That’s my girl.”
He leaned down and captured her lips with his as he cradled her head in his hands, kissing her desperately, as though he might never get another chance. Olivia wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back as if it was indeed their last kiss.
They walked the Village much of the night but didn’t catch the scent or any sign of the rogues. After hours of coming up empty-handed, and with sunrise only an hour away, they agreed that it was time to hit the hotel.
They stepped onto the sidewalk in front of the luxury hotel, and the doorman smiled tightly as he looked them up and down. Doug buttoned his coat and gave the man a friendly smile as they approached. Olivia scanned the human and sensed his nervousness but wasn’t sure what they did to make him uneasy.
As he opened the door for them, Doug leaned down and whispered in her ear. “The two of us look like we stepped out of the Matrix. Most of the clientele at this place are decked out in high-end designer duds, not black leather.”
“Right.” Olivia rolled her eyes.
She was about to make another remark, but when she stepped into the plush lobby with red walls and art deco paintings, she was rendered speechless by the stink of rotting flesh and dirt. The scent of Rogue One filled the lobby and wafted over her in unpleasant waves.
Doug stood still inside the entrance next to Olivia, but based on the tension in his body and the look on his face, he’d picked up the scent as well. She reached out with her sonar senses but didn’t pick up on any vampires in the immediate vicinity. However, the perfectly manicured man behind the counter was looking at them like they’d landed from Mars.
“May I help you?” He looked them up and down with blatant disgust.
“Actually,” Doug said almost inaudibly, “you can.”
Olivia stepped up to the desk with him and placed both gloved hands on the gleaming black countertop. She leaned close and held the tall, slim man’s gaze as she glamoured him.
“We need information about a guest,” she said evenly. The clerk nodded, slack-jawed and eyes vacant, but he remained silent. “Do you know who Michael Moriarty is?” He nodded again as drool dripped down his chin and his hands rested limply on the counter. “Good. Has he been staying here?”
“Yes,” he said on a sigh.
“Excellent.” Her voice remained soothing and clam. “What room is he in?”
“Mr. Moriarty has all of the rooms on the ninth floor.”
“Wonderful.” Olivia put her hand out. “I’d like a copy of the master keycard please.”
She maintained her focus as the clerk handed her the keycard from a drawer.
“When I walk away, you will remember none of this. Do you understand? It’s been quiet, and you saw no one come or go. Is that clear?”
He nodded like a bobblehead doll. Olivia released her hold on the weak-minded man, and they whisked to the first floor hallway, leaving the clerk alone and bewildered. They ducked around the corner, and Doug snagged her around the waist with one strong arm and placed a kiss on her head.
“You are something else, do you know that?”
“I have my moments,” she murmured. Olivia held up the keycard and flashed him her fangs. “Time to clean house.”
They flew up the stairwell, and the stench of the rogues grew more pungent. It was strongest at the ninth floor landing and stuck in Olivia’s throat.
“We do one room at a time,” she said, peering through the small window at the top of the door. “And we do it as quietly as possible.”
“Shit.” Doug ran a hand over his mouth. “I can’t imagine this is gonna be fuckin’ quiet. Vamps make a lot of damn noise when they get dusted.”
“Not much of a choice.” Olivia gripped the door handle and drew her gun. “Ready?”
Doug nodded and drew both guns, but he captured her gaze before she ducked through the door. “Be careful, Liv.”
“You too, detective.”
Olivia ran the key through the reader on the first door, swung the door open, and they whipped into the room with guns raised. Olivia had seen plenty of death and destruction in her day, but this place looked like something out of a horror film.
The next three rooms they checked were the same, and all told, there were over thirty dead humans, but no vampires. Doug said nothing, though she sensed his rage building, knowing it was only a matter of time before he completely lost it. His anger ticked up twice as much with the dead women.
With only one room left, no sign of the rogues, and sunrise thirty minutes away, Olivia was beginning to think they found a new place to nest and had abandoned this one. She and Doug stood outside the last room, and
