Thicker than Blood

11. Geordi

CHAPTER 11

Geordi

U gh. I drop my forehead to the stainless steel table after hours spent staring at my blood trying to figure out what went wrong with the vaccine. I’ve got nothing.

The lab door opens and I pop my head up, quickly realizing I worked through the entire night. No wonder my eyes hurt and my stomach is painfully empty.

“Don’t tell me you worked all night again and haven’t had any food or drink except iced coffee.” Enyo has his hand on his hip but in his other hand is a bag. The scent of fresh pastries and greasy breakfast sandwiches pushes back the stale air of the lab quickly.

“You brought me food?”

“I saw the lights on and figured you pulled an all-nighter.”

My stomach growls, and I try to snatch the bag as Enyo gets closer. “Bless you.”

He laughs softly as he opens the bag to hand me my favorite glazed red velvet cake donut and a bacon and cheese croissant.

I practically moan. “You went to Betty’s.”

“Nothing but the best. You okay?”

I shake my head, already sinking my teeth into the delicious pastry. “How do they pull this off?” I stare at the donut for a second. “So moist.”

“Geordi?”

“Hmm?”

“Focus. What happened with Elias?”

I lean against the workstation, chewing and considering how to answer. “A lot.”

Enyo’s face lights up. “Do tell. Did you bang him?”

Rolling my eyes, I shake my head. “You know the answer to that.”

“You did?”

I huff a laugh, blowing a few crumbs of donut with it. “No. He’s… complex. Interesting. More human than I expected.”

“In what way?”

“Just talking to him. He’s not aggressive or uncivilized. He’s very cultured and seems intelligent.”

“We sort of knew that though with our research.”

“Right, but…” I take another bite of donut to stall.

Enyo grins. “You did something. Admit it.”

“I did not.” Blowing out a breath, I replay all that happened. “The vaccine had an unexpected effect.”

Enyo’s eyes go wide as his mouth forms an O. “What?”

“We did a controlled test. First, he used his compulsion on me without any defense.”

“Oh, dang. What did it feel like?”

“I kind of can’t remember. At the time I thought it was pleasant, but the longer I’m away from it, the hazier it is.”

“Whoa.”

“But then I injected the vaccine. Hurts like hell, by the way.”

Enyo scrunches his face.

“Elias did his thing again and…” I card my hand through my hair. The memory of that test hasn’t faded at all. I can still feel his lips, see the way his eyes held mine, taste his kiss.

“And?” Enyo prompts. “Quit edging me, dude.”

“Cone of silence?”

“Hell yeah.”

“Instead of defending against compulsion, it basically unlocked my inhibitions. Any restraint I had was totally absent.”

His jaw drops as he whispers, “Dude.”

“I know. I kissed Elias.”

He gasps. “Oh my gods. You did what?”

“I kissed him. Climbed all over him like a monkey. The only thing that prevented total disaster was that it wore off really fast. It was only seven minutes. That’s it. It felt like it worked at first, but it was only for a few seconds before it shifted.”

“What was it like?”

“Good.”

He levels a hard look at me. “Good? Come on, Geord. Let me live vicariously.”

“It was a nice kiss.” My cheeks burn with restrained heat. I huff a breath. “Fine, it was heaven. Best kiss ever.”

Enyo rubs his hands together. “You kissed a vampire. The vampire.”

“I’m aware. He has a pleasure palace in his basement.”

“Come again?”

“All kinds of supernatural beings gather there for sex and feeding and stuff.”

“Did you see it?”

I nod, shifting my attention to the breakfast sandwich just to avoid meeting his eyes.

“And?” Enyo shoves my arm. “Tell me.”

“Take a second to imagine the pleasure palace of a vampire. It’s that and more.”

“You saw people having sex?”

I nod, biting into the sandwich. “There were mortals,” I add after finishing my bite. “They were there voluntarily. There was a blood orgy and?—”

“A blood orgy?”

“Yeah. It was like a sex club but most of the patrons weren’t human. Elias had to protect me by tasting my blood. Apparently that put his scent on me.”

Enyo simply stares at me with a shocked expression.

“They could smell me, and allegedly, I smell good and pure to a supernatural nose.”

“You let Elias feed?”

“No.” I shake my head. “He just pricked my finger.”

“Mind. Blown.”

“Same. I need to figure out what’s wrong with the vaccine. It’s the opposite of what should have happened. I’ve been looking at my notes all night and I can’t find the deviance.”

“Maybe there isn’t one. Maybe it just had a weird effect on you. You need more participants to understand how it works.”

“I don’t have approval for that.”

“Yeah, well you didn’t have approval for this either.” He grins. “Take me to the pleasure palace. I’ll test your vaccine.”

“It’s too dangerous.”

“You did it and survived.”

He has a point. “I could ask Elias to come here.”

“That changes the testing criteria.” He grins, knowing he’s got me. “It has to be apples to apples.”

“Fine. You’re right. What time is it?”

“Time for you to go home and take a shower. Maybe sleep for a few hours. I’ll finish your documentation.”

“Thanks, En.”

My phone buzzes across the table and Meredith’s name flashes on the screen. I grab it to answer.

“Hey, Meredith.”

“How’s it going so far?”

“What?”

“Geordi. You had a mission, remember?”

“Right. Of course. I met with Elias. He’s gonna reach out to some vampires he trusts to get information.”

“Okay. And on your side?”

“I haven’t started yet.”

“What are you working on? Whatever it is, this takes priority.”

“I know. It’s related, but I’ll get on it.”

“Good. Ronald Shaw is coming to meet you later. Bernard volunteered him. He’s his nephew and used to be military until he came down with a lingering virus. He’s better now, and he has skills that can be used.”

“Military? Come on, Mere. Do we want to go down that route?”

“ Former military. We could use the insight.”

“True. Okay. What time?”

“Three.”

“I’ll be here.”

I end the call and slump against the workstation.

“What’s wrong?” Enyo asks, munching on a donut hole.

“We have to work with Bernard’s nephew Ronald. He’s former military.”

Enyo shrugs. “Maybe he’s hot.”

“Which matters how?”

“Not all of us get us to smash faces with Elias Caswell.”

“That one was a one-time event.” Flustered now, I grab my messenger bag. “I’ll be back at three to meet Ronald.”

“Make sure you set up a meeting at the pleasure palace.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

I make my way through the building, waving to security on my way out. When I step outside, the cold air sobers me enough to make driving home slightly less dangerous in my exhausted state. I’ll deal with Ronald and Elias and this broken vaccine later. Right now, I need to get a few hours of sleep.

When I pull into my parking space, it takes me a second to orient myself. I clearly drove here on autopilot, my thoughts tied up in vaccines and sexy vampires. Is that another side effect of the vaccine? Or maybe that’s just the side effect of making out with Elias.

I rub my face and grab my stuff to exit the car, then slog through the snow-covered lot to my apartment, passing all the people who have to get to work but need to brush off and warm up their cars first. Inside, I lean against the door, kicking off my boots and peeling out of my coat as exhaustion sinks in and takes over. I make it to my bed to pass out for a few blissful hours, but as I close my eyes and nestle in my bedding, the face I see is his.

The vampire Elias.