Robby's jaw shifted. "The Malcontents are the terrorists I told you about."
"The ones who tortured you?" she asked.
"Aye. We believe they murdered these people."
"Stop sanitizing the truth," Whelan snarled. "They drained every drop of blood from these people, then slashed their throats to hide the bite marks."
Olivia stepped back and bumped into the car. "Bite marks?"
"Did you find any blood around the victims?" Whelan asked.
She shook her head no.
"Whelan, enough." Robby glowered at him. "I need to talk to her in private."
"You haven't told her yet?" Whelan scoffed. "Typical. You bastards are never honest about yourselves."
Olivia swallowed hard. As much as she disliked Whelan, she was afraid he had a point. Robby had materialized out of thin air. And then, there were the other things, like red glowing eyes and leaving her apartment without unlocking the door. She realized with a jolt that he might have simply vanished. "What - what are you?"
Robby regarded her sadly. "I was going to tell you. Tomorrow night."
"Vampires!" Whelan blurted out.
Robby winced.
Olivia blinked. "What?"
"Vampires," Whelan repeated.
Robby's green eyes glittered as he glared at Whelan. "For God's sake, man, go away and let me handle this."
A cold chill teased the back of Olivia's neck. "There's no such thing as vampires."
"Think about it, Ms. Sotiris," Whelan said. "The victims were drained of all blood before their throats were slashed. They were manipulated with vampire mind control. That's why they have no defensive wounds. They never fought back 'cause they were completely controlled."
Vampire mind control? She didn't want to believe vampires existed, but Whelan's description of the crime scene was too accurate. Why would anyone steal a person's blood? Unless they needed it to survive. "How do you know what the crime scene looks like? You never went inside the house."
Whelan shrugged. "I've seen it before. They always use the same M.O."
She looked at Robby. He wasn't denying any of it. He was simply watching her with a worried expression. "Is it true? Do vampires really exist?"
He nodded. "Some are evil, but some are good."
She rubbed her forehead. This was crazy. She might as well believe in leprechauns and fairies. Vampires. Bloodsuckers. They'd slashed the victims' throats to hide bite marks. That meant fangs. A shudder skittered through her. Vampire mind control.
She flinched and looked at Whelan. "You controlled my mind." She moved closer to Robby, and he wrapped an arm around her shoulders.
Whelan rolled his eyes. "Oh come on. I'm not the vampire. I'm the one who told you about them."
"Leave us," Robby whispered. "Let me tell her."
Whelan snorted. "You'll just control her and make her stay with you, the same way Roman does to my daughter."
A chill settled on Olivia as memories flashed through her mind. Red glowing eyes, puncture marks in her pillow. Robby never answered the phone or e-mail during the day. She never saw him during the day. Never saw him eat or drink. And could never read his emotions.
She jumped back and stared at him. "No," she whispered. "No."
"Olivia, I can explain."
"Can you deny it? Can you tell me you're not a - " She couldn't even say it.
He stepped toward her. "Ye know I love you."
She stepped back farther and shook her head. He wasn't denying it. She couldn't believe it. He wasn't denying it.
"There's no need to be afraid," he said quietly. "We can talk about it."
A strange sound escaped her mouth, a cross between disbelief and despair. This was the important thing he'd wanted to tell her.
She glanced to the side. The people who had materialized earlier were gathered together by the road. They were keeping a distance and pretending not to watch, but they were casting worried glances at her and Robby and scowling at Whelan.
Vampires. They were all vampires. The murderers were vampires. And Robby.
"No!" She turned and ran into the cornfield. Green leaves swished at her. She batted them away and kept running. Vampires? No. It was ridiculous. It was crazy.
It made sense. It explained everything.
She charged through the field behind the houses. She needed J.L. and Barker. She needed real people.
"Olivia?" J.L. emerged onto the corn row she was running down. "What's wrong?"
"J.L.!" She sprinted toward him.
Barker joined him.
"Oh thank God. You're both okay." She ran into J.L.'s arms and hugged him.
"We were headed back to you," J.L. said. "Are you okay?"
"No." She stepped back, still breathing heavily from her run. And the shock. "You're not going to believe it. It - it's unbelievable."
"You figured it out?" J.L. asked.
"Yes." She pressed a hand to her chest.
"Wow," J.L. muttered. "I had no idea till Barker led me back to his clothes."
"What?"
"Then you don't know?" J.L. looked at their supervisor. "Maybe you should tell her."
"What?" Olivia repeated.
Barker sighed. "I'm a shape-shifter."
"What?"
"I was the Irish wolfhound. I shifted to try to track down the children, but I couldn't trace their scent."
She stared at him. "No."
"Yes," Barker replied.
She stepped back. "No." Her boyfriend had fangs, and her boss was a dog? Her world was tipping upside down. Where had all the normal people gone? She shivered. The normal people were the dead ones in the farmhouses.
She glanced suspiciously at J.L. "And what are you? Do you turn into an animal, too?"
"I wish. I think I'd be a dragon. That would be cool."
"No." She retreated another step. "Not cool." She heard swishing sounds behind her.
"Olivia?" Robby called.
She spun around. Dear God, no. He was coming after her.
"Is that Robby?" J.L. asked. "What's he doing here?"
"Vampire," she whispered. "They're all vampires."
"Holy cow," Barker muttered.
The dog speaks, she thought faintly. Green corn plants swirled around her, and she saw dancing stars.
"Olivia." Robby pushed through some plants into their row.
She stumbled back, and Barker caught her. She lurched away from him, and Robby made a grab for her. God, no. She was stuck between a vampire and a man-dog. The cornfield swayed, and everything went black.
CHAPTER 23
Robby swooped Olivia up in his arms. A surge of guilt shot through him. He should have told her the truth weeks ago. But was there ever a good time to tell someone you were a bloodsucker? The poor lass had run away in horror, and now she was in a dead faint.
"Wait a minute." J.L. regarded him suspiciously. "Why was she talking about vampires?"
"She just met one." Robby caught the scent of the tall man beside J.L. "Ye're a shifter?"
The man stiffened. "You know about shifters?"
"Aye. Are ye a wolf?"
"Wolfhound. I'm Patrick O'Shea Barker. FBI."
"Och. Ye're Olivia's supervisor. She's mentioned you before. In a favorable way, of course. I'm Robby MacKay of MacKay Security and Investigation. We have a few shifters in our employ."
"Really? That's interesting."
"Stop!" J.L. held up his hands. "Rewind. I don't think we sufficiently covered the vampire thing. Are you freaking telling me vampires are real?"
"Aye." Robby held Olivia close and strode along the corn row, headed toward the farmhouses.
"Where are you going with her?" J.L. followed closely behind.
Robby sighed. She probably didn't want to see him when she awoke. "Do ye have a safe place to take her?"
"We have rooms at the motel in town," Barker said.
"Good." Robby reached the backyard. The two FBI men flanked him and watched him warily.
"Aren't you one of the guys who materialized here?" J.L. asked. "How the hell did you do that?"
Robby winced. They hadn't realized they'd had an audience. He started down a worn path between the two farmhouses. "Does the car in the driveway belong to one of you?"