Her vision blurred with unshed tears as she recalled the look on his face the last time she'd seen him. She'd yelled at him to leave, and there had been so much pain and sadness in his eyes. Poor Jack.
"Aargh!" She was doing it again. Jack was not a poor, abandoned puppy. He was a vampire. She exited the elevator and trudged down the hallway to Room 843.
The problem was, now that she was under cover, she had too much time to think. It had been easier when the special task force had kept her busy.
They'd given her a new identity-Lara Booker. Everything was set. Her only job now was to check the bulletin boards every day in the twenty residence halls spread over the huge campus. She was waiting for the flyer from Apollo to show up.
The FBI had determined that Syracuse University was the most likely place for Apollo to strike next. Even so, they were covering all the bases. Female special agents were checking bulletin boards at several colleges. Whenever the flyer appeared, Lara would be called into action. She'd attend the seminar and get herself kidnapped.
But what if Jack was right, and her immunity to mind control backfired on her? It wasn't a problem she could discuss with the special task force. How could she tell them about mind-controlling vampires? The only one who would understand was her friendly neighborhood mind-controlling vampire, Jack.
Her heart raced as she entered her single dorm room and locked the door. Would he call soon? Would he come to see her? Did he still love her?
No! She wouldn't think about love. She would accept his help, then say good-bye. But what if he looked at her with that pain and sadness in his beautiful eyes? She couldn't bear to hurt him.
We're not all bad, he'd told her.
She leaned over the desk to peer through the window blinds. The sun was completely gone now. She removed her new cell phone from her handbag and set it on the desk. She stared at it, willing it to ring.
If what Jack said was true, then there could be good vampires and bad ones. Did the good ones attempt to keep the bad ones in line? LaToya had told her that Jack was trying to locate Apollo, but hadn't succeeded so far.
She paced across the room. The damned phone would never ring as long as she stared at it. What was Jack doing now? Was he drinking synthetic blood? Taking a shower? Getting dressed? Did he still love her?
The phone rang. She whirled to face it. Jack. She approached slowly, letting it ring again. "Hello?"
"Lara."
The sound of his voice poured over her like a hot bath. She just wanted to soak in it for hours. She mentally splashed cold water on herself. This was strictly business. "Hello, Jack. LaToya mentioned your offer to help me hear psychic voices. I'm willing to learn, if you're available."
There was a pause. She wondered what he was thinking.
"I have cleared my schedule for the next few hours," he said finally. "We could start immediately."
Lara exhaled with relief. He was acting businesslike, too. Thank God. "Just a moment, please. I'll check my schedule." She glanced down at the bare desk and drummed her fingers on the wooden surface. One-one thousand. Two-one thousand. "Yes, we're in luck. I can fit you in this evening. Do we need to do this in person?"
"Yes, we do."
She frowned. There was a strange echo on her phone.
"You can hang up now," he told her.
"Excuse me?" She heard a click behind her and turned. "Ack!" Her phone tumbled to the carpet.
With a hint of a smile, he slid his closed phone into a pocket of his black leather jacket. His gaze drifted to her bare desk. "So kind of you to fit me in."
She grabbed her phone off the floor and set it back on the desk. "You shouldn't sneak up on people like that."
"I thought you were expecting me." He walked toward her.
She jumped out of his way.
He paused briefly, frowning, then continued past her to the desk. With a silent groan, she realized he had been headed for the window all along.
He peered through the blinds. "This is Syracuse University?"
"Yes. Day Hall. The girl Apollo kidnapped from here last August lived in this same dorm."
"Does anyone remember her?" Jack asked. "Is her roommate still here?"
"The roommate graduated last December. I asked around, but everyone thinks the missing girl dropped out of school and went home." Lara perched on the edge of the narrow bed that was pushed against a wall. "She never made it home."
Jack paced back and forth down the length of the tiny room. She cast a few furtive glances his way, not wanting to be caught admiring his lean, graceful stride or his broad shoulders.
"Is there any way I can convince you to quit?" he asked.
She lifted her chin. "I'm not a quitter."
"Are you sure about that?" he muttered under his breath as he continued to pace.
Was he referring to their relationship? Lara's cheeks heated with indignation. He was a two-hundred-year-old vampire, for Pete's sake. Was she supposed to be happy about that?
"I'm not a quitter, either." He removed his leather jacket and draped it on the back of her desk chair. "I'm going to find Apollo before you end up doing something foolish."
"Oh, thanks for the vote of confidence." She glared at him.
He glared back as he sat down. "You're plenty tough for a mortal, but you're still no match for a vampire."
She looked away. "Exactly. I shouldn't be matched with a vampire."
"Let's get started." His voice sounded strained.
"Fine by me." She turned back to him and clasped her hands in her lap. "What do I need to do?"
"Nothing. I do all the work, and you just try to be... receptive to me."
She gripped her hands tighter. "Okay."
He leaned forward, his elbows braced on his thighs, and studied her intently. The gold flecks in his eyes seemed to grow until the entire iris was gold and gleaming.
Lara looked away, uncomfortable with the fierce energy radiating from his stare. The room seemed awfully hot. Her skin began to tingle all over. Especially her br**sts. The tingling sensation took a sudden turn south. She pressed her thighs together. She was suddenly desperate to feel a man inside her. And not just any man. Jack.
"Do you feel that?" he whispered.
She gulped. His eyes were actually glowing now. "What are you doing?"
"Turning up the power. This is how a vampire lures people in."
She stiffened. "So you can bite them?"
"I haven't bitten a woman since 1987, when synthetic blood was introduced."
"How considerate of you." She lifted her chin and gazed nonchalantly across the room. "I guess you're a bit rusty, 'cause I'm not feeling much of anything."
"Maybe you're just insensitive."
She shot him an annoyed look.
His mouth twitched. "You are feeling it. Your heart is pounding. Your temperature has increased. I can feel the heat coming off you like-"
"All right." She clenched her teeth. "Is there a point to this? I thought we were going to concentrate on hearing voices."
"I'm trying to assess your capabilities. Your sense of touch seems to be working fine. I think it's only your hearing that's off-kilter."
A blast of cold air nearly knocked Lara on her back. With a shiver, she righted herself.
"You felt that." He watched her closely.
"Yes." The cold air swirled around her, sweeping icy tendrils across her brow. "You're trying to invade my mind?"
He nodded. "Normally, I would be in by now."
She wrinkled her nose at him. "You don't make people squawk and do the chicken dance, do you?"
Now he gave her an annoyed look. "Do you hear anything at all?"
She shut her eyes and focused. There was a buzzing behind her ears that sounded like radio static. "Are you saying something now?"
"Yes."
She wondered what. She squeezed her eyes more tightly shut, frowning with all the concentration she could muster. The buzzing sounded louder and more masculine, more like Jack, but she couldn't distinguish any individual words.
With a sigh, she opened her eyes. "This isn't working. All I'm getting from you is a buzz."
His mouth curled up. "Was it good for you?"
"No." She scowled at him. "It's like having a pesky mosquito in my head."
"Damned bloodsuckers. I hate them."
"Isn't that the pot calling the kettle black?"