Chapter 29

Tessa’s POV

I knew my entire face was incredibly red. He had this amused look in his eyes, despite his face being expressionless and I’m not sure how he managed to do that.

The last thing I wanted was for Chief Mulligan to know about my one-night stand with Joseph, but here he was… putting it on display.

Mulligan looked between the two of us with raised brows, saying nothing as awkwardness sat in the middle of the room. None of us spoke for a short while.

I looked down at my feet, hoping that the heat would soon leave my face and it would return to its normal color.

“I’m just saying—”

“Shut up,” I said quickly, raising my gaze to meet his eyes.

He looked at me for a moment longer before shrugging and turning back to Mulligan who stood before us awkwardly trying to avoid all eye contact.

“Are you two done?” He muttered. “We need to find out if our theories are true. We have to figure out if it’s actually Tessa’s blood and scent that is drawing in these new vampires and killing those who get close to her.”

“If that is the truth, then Ruby is in danger, and I can’t be around her…” I breathed. “They already tried breaking into her apartment once. I can’t let that happen again.”

My heart ached at the very thought. Ruby was my best friend and I’m with her all the time. The thought of not being able to be around her killed me. I wouldn’t even be able to explain to her why I couldn’t be around her.

It would break her heart as well and probably destroy my friendship.

If only I could tell her that Joseph was a vampire and all these animal attacks around the city were actually new vampires that haven’t been domesticated yet. Oh yeah, and my blood is like a drug to them, and they kill anyone who has picked up my scent while being around me.

I wondered if she would even believe me if I told her any of this. I hardly believe me and I’m experiencing it.

It didn’t matter though. Joseph would never allow me to tell her this information. I promised him I wouldn’t say anything, and I couldn’t go back on my word.

“So, we should test them and try to draw them out,” Mulligan continued.

Before I could ask him any further questions about how we were going to draw them out, Joseph asked first.

“How exactly do you think we are going to do that without putting Tessa in immediate danger?”

“We can use one of her clothing items,” Mulligan suggested. “It was strong enough to get Morgan killed. I’m sure it’ll be strong enough to lure them out of hiding. At least for a couple of minutes.”

Joseph thought about that for a moment longer.

“I could try to finally capture them if they come out of hiding,” Joseph agreed, looking at me as if he were looking for my approval of the plan.

“I don’t get it. If you are this big and almighty vampire, why is it taking so long for you to capture these new vampires? They can’t be faster and smarter than you,” I said, narrowing my eyes at him.

“They are incredibly stealthy and because they constantly feed off both humans and animals, they have all sorts of different scents that throw even the oldest vampires off. They hide in the shadows, and they only come out when they know they won’t be detected. But if they do have to come out, they blend in with humans fairly well,” Joseph explained.

“We can go to the national park now. It’s late enough that there won’t be anyone there. We can plant one of her clothing items on a bench and then hide away until they make an appearance,” Mulligan suggested. “I think that’s the best way to draw them out and find out for certain that Tessa’s blood is attracting them.”

They were both in agreement with one another. Despite my own uncertainty about the matter, I kept my mouth shut.

I was wearing a scarf that I took off and handed to Officer Mulligan. He then went to grab a plastic bag and put it inside. When I questioned him about it, he simply said, “It’ll keep your smell sealed to the scarf.”

The national park wasn’t far from the headquarters. Once we left the headquarters and started walking back towards the field, I was astonished when I turned around and the entire building was gone again.

Behind me was all the field and the wilderness in the distance. It was as if the headquarters were never there.

How they managed to do something like that, I would never understand. I wasn’t even sure if I wanted to ask at this point. I’ve been given so much new information, things I never thought could be real, that my brain felt like it was about to explode at any moment.

I trailed behind Joseph while he was talking to Mulligan about something I wasn’t listening to. It sounded like casual conversation and not something that was important to our case. I think I heard Joseph saying something about the writing class he teaches and how his students are very promising.

But all I could think about was how dangerous I was to Ruby.

Usually when Ruby returns home regardless of where she goes, she either takes a shower or a bath. So, I’m sure my scent was long gone from her body. However, it was all over her apartment and that’s what was worrying me.

They already broke in once when they smelled my scent. They could do it again.

If they’ve been watching me, then they know where I’ve been staying. They know my scent is all over there.

Once we reached the park, I noticed that there was only one working light, and it was dimmed enough to not make much of a difference. The park was so dark, I wasn’t sure how Joseph or Mulligan was going to be able to see anything. Let alone capture vampires.

I wondered if Joseph had some insane night vision being a vampire. I wanted to ask him, but both Mulligan and Joseph had gone so silent, I thought maybe it was best if I remained silent as well.

“I’m going to plant the scarf along with this camera,” Mulligan whispered, holding up the bag with my cardigan inside of it. “Then we will head back to the headquarters.”

“Wait, we are going back to the headquarters?” I asked, looking at Joseph just as Mulligan went toward the park bench. “What was the point of us being here then?”

“To strengthen the illusion that you are here. We were worried your scarf wouldn’t be enough,” Joseph explained.

He kept his hold on my arm like he was afraid I’d be snatched at any moment.

“We walked here because we wanted the trail of your scent to linger. I’m going to teleport us back.”

Mulligan returned to us moments later and nodded at Joseph that the camera and scarf have been planted. Joseph grabbed Mulligan’s arm and within seconds, just as I blinked, we were standing inside Mulligan’s office.

I nearly jumped out of my skin when the setting around me changed so quickly.

“Holy hell!” I gasped.

Mulligan pulled out his phone and logged into the camera that was left at the park. It was the perfect view of the scarf on the bench. It almost looked like a still framed photo until I saw the movement of a shadow, startling me.

We all watched in silence as someone walked through the shadows and into the faint light that occupied the park.