Chapter 69

Tessa’s POV

“Are you fucking kidding me?!” Joseph growled and I saw how mad he was in his eyes.

They were completely red, and his face was the face of pure fury. I had never seen him like this before and it caused my body to tremble uncontrollably.

“We aren’t using her as human bait. I already said no!!” Joseph continued.

His anger was so powerful, I had to move away from him.

Nobody else seemed as frightened though. Maybe they were used to this kind of thing.

“She agreed to it, Joseph,” Mulligan said calmly.

“I vote we do it,” Jordan said, smirking.

He was sitting casually with his arms folded across his chest, staring at me.

“Yeah, you would vote that you asshole,” Joseph hissed to him.

Mulligan stood up quickly.

“Enough,” he said, raising his voice for the first time since we’ve been here. “Joseph, take a walk.”

“Excuse me?” Joseph asked, his face red with anger. “You realize I could kill you without even touching you, don’t you?” He threatened.

My heart stopped beating.

I didn’t like this side of him. I wasn’t recognizing him. He was completely manic, and I didn’t understand why.

Why was it so important to him that I wasn’t used as human bait? The Nightwalker police already said they would keep me protected. Why wasn’t that good enough for him?

“You kill me and my men will end you,” Mulligan said through his teeth, keeping his eyes locked on Joseph.

They were both glaring at each other. It was like nobody else in this room existed.

“I will not ask you again, Joseph,” Mulligan said. “Step outside. Get some air.”

When he didn’t move, I decided to speak.

“Joseph…” I said… watching as his muscles tensed. “Please…” I kept my voice low and soft, afraid if I spoke any louder then he would hear my fear.

Joseph finally pulled his eyes away from Mulligan long enough to look at me.

“I’d like to speak with him. Maybe we can come up with another solution. But we are wasting time by arguing. Those vampires are roaming the streets as we speak, searching for a new victim if they haven’t already found one. You need to calm down. Take a walk and then come back with a fresh mindset…” I paused when I noticed he wasn’t breathing as erratically anymore. “Please…” I added.

He stared at me for a moment longer before looking back at Mulligan.

“You have 10 minutes,” he hissed.

Without saying another word, Joseph was leaving the conference room, slamming the door behind him.

The room was silent, only the sounds of my quickened heartbeat could be heard.

“About time,” Jordan muttered after a beat of silence, rolling his eyes.

I was going to say something to him, but Mulligan beat me to it.

“Out,” Mulligan ordered, surprising Jordan.

He rose his gaze to meet Mulligan’s.

“What?” He asked, furrowing his brows together.

“I want to speak with Tessa alone. Everybody… get out,” Mulligan said in a low and threatening tone. I knew he was still wound up by Joseph.

Jordan groaned but he knew better than not to argue. He, and everyone else in the room, stood and began to walk out, one by one.

With only Mulligan and I left in the room, I felt calmer. I sat back down and allowed my body to relax.

“I’m sorry you had to witness that, Miss Tessa. I hope that doesn’t change the opinion you have on Joseph,” Mulligan, sitting down in his seat at the head of the table.

“That was really scary,” I admitted, staring down at my hands. “I never saw him like that before and I’ve been living with him for a couple of weeks now. I didn’t think he could get like that…”

“That’s the thing about vampires -- they are unpredictable. That’s why our organization has been highly trained and is skilled in dealing with the most temperamental creatures. It’s why we are trusted to handle cases like this,” Mulligan explained. “Joseph might be domesticated, and highly trained, but he’s still a vampire and still has rages and outbursts.”

My heart felt heavy in my chest.

I didn’t like that this was something that could happen again. Next time, I might not get so lucky. Next time, I might not be around the Nightwalker police. Next time, I might not have protection.

“It’s why you need to be careful, Tessa,” Mulligan said, softening his tone as he met my eyes.

I wasn’t sure what to say, so I nodded.

I didn’t think Joseph would hurt me, but then again, I didn’t know as much about him as I thought. His outburst was scary… and random.

“Why was he so against this plan?” I asked. “Doesn’t he want to capture these vampires?”

“He does, yes,” Mulligan said, sighing. “His refusal to go along with this plan isn’t his fault. He’s being clouded with a bad memory, and I can’t blame him for being careful. He doesn’t want ot lose another person. It seems he has grown fond of you, and he worries for your safety.”

“My safety? But I have the Nightwalker police to protect me,” I said, narrowing my eyes at him. “Don’t I?”

He nodded only once.

“Yes. But sometimes things happen that are out of our control,” Mulligan admitted with a timid frown.

“There’s something you should know, and you might understand things a little better once I give you this knowledge,” Mulligan began. “It might help you understand Joseph a little better.”

I was intrigued by what he had to say.

“Okay…?” I said slowly, keeping my eyes locked on his.

“Joseph spent the better part of the century as what the vampires call ‘a retriever’. Humans call them bounty hunters. He would seek out new vampires and bring them to the academy. He would also seek out criminal vampires and get them locked up. He worked closely with our organization during that time,” Mulligan explained. “Vampires had their own organization that he worked with as well. He was the only vampire our organization truly trusted. So, when we needed him, we’d contact him.”

I listened without interruption.

Joseph didn’t tell me he was basically a vampire bounty hunter. But everything Mulligan was telling me was in past tense. Which meant, he wasn’t currently a Retriever.

“Why did he stop?” I found myself asking.

“Joseph was never one to have human friends, but in this case, he had a friend. Noah was his name. Noah knew of Joseph’s identity and accepted him anyways,” Mulligan explained, much to my surprise.

Someone else knew that Joseph was a vampire?

“There was a vampire that was terrorizing humans. Mugging, taunting, feeding, etc. But he was a tricky one to capture, much like these new vampires. His friend wanted to help capture this vampire. That’s when we came up with a human bait idea,” Mulligan said, shaking his head.

“You used his friend as the human bait?” I asked, raising my brows. “Did it work?”

Mulligan sighed and leaned back in his seat.

“It did…” Mulligan said slowly. “But it cost a price.”

“What price??” I asked.

“The price of his friend…”

My heart fell into my stomach. Suddenly it all made sense.

Joseph didn’t want me to be human bait because he worried, I was going to die too.