Blood Secrets-Valorian 1 Read Free Page B

voice an opinion, as of yet. The news was still trying to sink in. He had thought he was finished dealing with the human race. Had hoped.

    “Why don’t they just stick pins in our eyes? It would be easier to deal with.” Jace paced in front of Caine, his shoulders hunched and his hands clenched angrily.
    “I’m sure it won’t be that bad, Jace,” Gwen commented.
    “Like hell it won’t be.” Jace turned and snarled at Gwen. “I pity the poor sap that walks into this lab. He has to have some big balls to think he can just stroll in here and be welcome. Because I don’t play well with humans.”
    Caine eyed his team member. No, none of them played well with humans. They all had their sad, sordid histories before coming to Necropolis. A human had wronged every single one of them in some way. However, they needed help if they were going to solve this case and avoid persecution from the outside world. If this human had the resources to help them, he would take it, regardless of how he felt.

Chapter 3
    E ve Grant walked down the drab hallway with her chin up. The soft clink of her high heels echoed off the graying walls. Tucking a stray blond hair behind her ear again, she tried not to stare at her two beefy lycan bodyguards and the vampire baron walking ahead of her.
    He glanced over his shoulder at her and smiled, his straight, white, elongated fangs flashing at her. She gave him a half smile. Why did she ever volunteer for this job? She was not strong enough for this. No research in the world could have possibly prepared her for what she was getting herself into. Why did she have to open her big fat mouth at the emergency lab meeting and say that working in the OCU would be no big deal?
    Because as they finally reached their destination and Eve was about to meet the chief investigator of the OCU, Caine Valorian, a vampire, she realized it was a very big deal.
    She was scared…big-time. The fear was enough to make her want to pass out. When she stepped over the threshold of the tiny, stuffy office and came face-to-face with the most beautiful man that she had ever seen in her entire thirty years of life, she almost did.
    She’d been expecting to see a man with long black hair, aristocratic features and pale blue eyes, like the haunting creatures described in most movies and books. Caine did have dark hair but it was cropped short around his ears, with the front a little longer and falling over his remarkably sculpted and handsome features. A little gray peppered the sides, giving him an air of distinction. His eyes were haunting, but they weren’t pale.
    They were so blue she couldn’t even put a name to the color. And he was tall. Tall enough to make her five-eight seem dwarfish in comparison. Looking at him, she imagined that she would fit quite nicely into the crook of his arm.
    Oh Lord, she was in trouble. She had just arrived and she was already imagining the lead investigator on the case in flagrante.

    Squeezing her lips together, she pasted on her very-nice-to-meet-you smile and offered her hand.
    “It’s an honor to meet you, Mr. Valorian. I’m Eve Grant. I’ve heard wonderful things about you and the work your team does here.”
    He took her offered hand with a look of amusement. “Nice to meet you, Eve.” He glanced at the two bodyguards. “I didn’t realize you were bringing your own assistants.”
    When he pulled his hand away, she noticed that he rubbed it on his pant leg. She wondered if it bothered him to touch her. She had heard about some Otherworlders’
    aversion to humans.
    “Oh, no, these two don’t belong to me.” She started to smile when Caine smiled. “My Captain Morales thought it might be a good idea to have…ah, assistance into the city. Mr.
    Bask agreed.”
    “Of course he did,” Caine remarked as he glanced at the baron. Eve could see the obvious distaste for the other vampire in his face.
    “As I’m sure you realize, Caine, this situation is very sensitive and we