Tessa’s POVMy heart stopped beating.Jolene didn’t look phased, but she did smile politely at me.“It’s so very nice to meet you, sweetheart,” she said. “What can I get you for food?”I was at a loss for words. I looked at Joseph who only had an amused look on his face. He was holding back a laugh. He was doing this on purpose to make me squirm.But why?What was the purpose of that??I didn’t even realize that Jolene was talking to me until Joseph cleared his throat loudly, momentarily bringing me out of that trance.I looked up at her, trying to fixate my eyes on her face.“What are you ordering?” She asked again.Oh, right… I needed to order.Though, I wasn’t so sure I’d be able to stomach anything right now. I was starving, but that hunger quickly went away as soon as those words left Joseph’s mouth.His girlfriend.What the hell was he thinking?If word got around school about that, he could kiss his career goodbye. I could kiss my reputation goodbye as well.Not that I had much
Tessa’s POVFinally.It was Saturday. I didn’t need to get up early. I didn’t have to go to school. I could just stay in bed for a little longer.I hadn’t been sleeping all that well since my lunch hour talk with Emily Thorton.Even though Joseph told Emily he wasn’t on the market anymore, I don’t think Emily would give up that easily.Joseph also told me we shouldn’t cross the boundary of professor and student.Now I wasn’t dating Joseph, so I didn’t have much of a reason to be upset. I once had sex with him but at the time I didn’t know he was my professor. My face warmed at the very memory.I often thought about that night and what would have happened if he wasn’t my professor. Would I have seen him again? Would we have continued that sexual relationship? Or would it become more?Nothing… I told myself. I wouldn’t have become anything. It was just a one-night stand. I thought he was a callboy for crying out loud. I tried to pay him!Suddenly, I felt embarrassed. My face was warm fo
Josephs POV“Are you out of your goddamn mind?!” I roared into the phone, feeling fury rising through me.I was seeing red.This plan was so careless and stupid that I was thrown away so that people as powerful as the Nightwalkers would think of something like this.“There is no fucking way in hell we are using Tessa as human bait!!” I seethed.“Joseph, we think it’s the only way we can truly lure them,” Mulligan said calmly. “They aren’t going to come out of hiding for just anybody. It’s Tessa they want.”“I’m not allowing them to get her,” I hissed. “You are fucked in the head if you think I’m willing to—”“We are running out of time,” Mulligan said firmly, stopping my words. “These vampires are not going to stop until Tessa is in their possession. They are being sloppy because they are sending us a message.”A message?Why hadn’t I thought of that? Of course, they were sending us a message. Leaving Natalie alive and then leaving that body out in the open. They were sending us signs
Tessa’s POVI stared at Joseph, feeling a mixture of rage and hurt.I couldn’t believe he was keeping this stuff from me. All those times he told me his meetings with the Nightwalker police have been boring and uneventful, he’s been lying to me. I wanted to yell at him and curse him out, but all I could do was stare at him with such shock.He still looked angry though, maybe even a little annoyed.He also didn’t answer my question, which was infuriating to me.“What did you do, Joseph??” I asked again, pressing my lips firmly together.“I manipulated her mind into thinking it was all fake,” Joseph answered, keeping his red eyes on mine. “I couldn’t have her going around and talking nonsense about vampires.”“So you basically gaslit her?” I asked, furrowing my brows together. “She’ll be committed.”“She was already going to be committed. The doctors were bringing her to the psych ward because she was going on about vampires,” Joseph said, shaking his head. “Regardless, it wasn’t workin
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 l
Tessa’s POV“It was an ambush,” Mulligan continued. “We didn’t expect there to be more than one vampire. But they were expecting a trap, and the result was Noah getting critically hurt. Thankfully, Joseph was able to put a stop to these vampires with our help and they were locked up. But Noah suffered greatly.”I felt sad by this story. I felt sad for Joseph. I lowered my gaze and stared at my hands. I was so awful to him for not letting me do this. I didn’t understand, but now I get it.He was afraid the same thing would happen to me.“Joseph blamed himself for not being able to protect Noah. He blamed us as well. He went into retirement and fell off the grid for a long time,” Mulligan said, a sad look in his eyes.“You said that Noah was hurt critically, but that's not that he died right away. Did he die on the scene, or afterward?” I found myself asking.“He died within the hour. It was painful and agonizing for him. It was terrible to watch. Joseph wouldn’t let us put him out of h
Tessa’s POV“We have an apartment across the city. We will prepare it. Tessa will be unaccompanied in that apartment,” Mulligan explained again.“What about school?” I asked, staring around at all their determined faces. Joseph’s face was a mix of worry and anger. I knew he didn’t want to go through with this plan, but he knew we didn’t have much of a choice.“I’ll make some calls,” Mulligan assured me.The Nightwalker Police had special connections and could basically make anything and everything happen in their favor. I wasn’t worried about it, but I was worried about Ruby.How was I going to explain to her that I was not going to be at school for the next unforeseen future?“I’ll ask Emily to substitute for the next few days,” Joseph finally spoke after remaining silent for so long.My heart tightened painfully at the sound of her name.He kept himself from looking at me, but I could see the dismay and anger on his face. I wanted to reach out and provide him with some kind of comfo
Joseph’s POVIt took everything I had to keep myself under control while at the headquarters. I thought I was going to rip out Jordan’s heart for suggesting this stupid plan.The amount of rage I felt was lethal.Tessa was afraid of what I might do, and I didn’t blame her.After what happened with Noah, I didn’t want to chance anything like that happening to Tessa. I couldn’t live with myself.I could tell that Tessa was the kind of girl who would run into the eye of danger.This mission was going to be different than Noah’s mission. This time, I wasn’t going to take my eyes off her. The first sign of danger and I will be there. I was determined to make sure she was safe during this mission.In the car ride home, I couldn’t stop thinking about all the potential dangers we could be facing. Right now, we only think there are two vampires, but there could be more. We need to be prepared for any possible ambushes.Which meant I needed to set guards in certain areas. I wanted every corner