Chapter 5- The Human was Taken

Marcus’ POV

“You know better than to get involved with the human’s in the office, Mr. Jones.” The disapproving look my secretary Halley casts in my direction is enough to have my ears burning slightly. I duck my head down to avoid letting her see the sudden redness darkening my ears and ignore her admonishment. 

There is something different about Samara. I don’t know what it is, but something draws me to her in a way that I have never felt before. I know it is wrong to get too close to the humans that work for my publishing company, but ever since the day that I saw her when she started working here, I have found it harder and harder to stay away. 

I have found myself coming up with a hundred excuses of why I need to suddenly show up in her office, or in the conference room where she is presenting books. It is to the point that even the staff here at Millenium Publishing has taken notice of my frequent appearances in the meeting that Samara attends. 

It is because of this reason that I have slowly taken a step back from her and have been keeping my space. That is until tonight when I saw her alone in her office this late at night. Most employers would be ecstatic to have an employee as dedicated to her work as Samara, but for me I only pity her. Such a young and vibrant woman shouldn’t be cooped up in a stuffy office all day long. 

“For God’s sake Marcus!” The angry voice of my secretary, Halley, pulls me from my thoughts and brings about more of the annoying heat to grace the tips of my ears and my cheeks. “You’re not even listening to a word that I have said.” She stops in the middle of the hallway, moving her arms up to wrap around under her breasts in a disapproving look.

“What is it about that mortal that has you so enthralled?” Her eyebrow lifts in question as she studies my reaction to her words intently. Letting out a shaky breath, my hand moves up to run through my dark hair nervously as I fight to stay under her gaze. 

After a few minutes of contemplation, I decide to ignore her question all together and continue to make my way down the dimly lit hallway to where my office is located. I hear a huff of irritated breathe leave Halley’s lips before the sound of her heels clacking against the marble floor follows me down the hall.

Once I reach the door to my office, I spin on Halley quicker than the eye can see and stop her in her tracks. “I will see you in the morning, Halley.” I tell her, dismissing her presence before she can continue to berate me for my near mistake of moments before. 

With one last look of contemplation, Halley nods her head in agreement before spinning on her heel and making her way to her desk situated to the side of my office door. Letting out a breath of relief, I turn and make my way into my large, sparse office in search of my briefcase and the paperwork that I have to take home to complete before tomorrow’s afternoon meeting. 

You would think that a company owned and operated by vampires would have evening hours instead of regular, daytime hours, but alas…Cassius likes for us to blend in with the humans, forcing us to work as they work. This is easier for those that go into businesses that are meant to be open overnight, but for those of us that don’t, it makes it harder to adjust. 

Especially for the newbies that still have to avoid the sunlight. Thankfully for me, that is not something that I have to concern myself with anymore, but it does make it difficult to be a vampire when you are keeping human hours throughout the week. That is why my compromise is to have our meetings later in the afternoon. 

When I have gathered my briefcase and loaded it with all of the paperwork that I have to go over once I get back to the mansion, I make my way towards the glass door that had closed behind me upon my entrance. Before I can wrap my hand around the steel doorhandle, the door suddenly bursts open and standing before me is one of the overnight security guards with a look of alarm written on his face. 

I go to open my mouth to admonish the young vampire over his sudden intrusion when his next words stop me mid-motion. “It is the human sir.” He pants as if he is out of breath, still not used to the fact that he doesn’t actually need oxygen to breathe any longer. “She has been kidnapped.”

My briefcase drops to the floor of my office, opening upon impact and flinging my neatly organized papers in all different directions. Without a word, I run past the young security guard and quickly make my way to the security offices located down the hall. How in the world could this have happened? You have to have a badge to get into the building. 

The head overnight security guard jumps in his seat as I barrel in through the closed door, not bothering to wait for it to unlock fully. He spins around in his seat and casts me a look of fear upon seeing the displeasure written on my face. It is Jacob’s job to ensure that my employees are safe from the creatures of the night that frequent this place. 

“Show me.” My eyes flash to a bright red color, indicating the anger that is seething just below the surface and is begging to come out. I can feel my gums tingle where my fangs are located, the large incisors close to showing themselves to the human. Jacob is one of a few humans who actually know about the supernatural world and it is his job to ensure the two don’t meet.

Jacob jumps to action in his seat, pressing a few keys on the keyboard in front of him before the image of Samara riding down in the elevator appears on the monitor in front of us. We both watch in silence as she exits the elevator in the parking garage with a distracted look on her face. She doesn’t even notice the man standing off in the shadows until his looming form is in front of her. 

By the time Samara notices the dark figure, he is already placing a white cloth over her beautiful face as he drags her backwards across the parking garage. The man then drags her into a white van that shouldn’t be there before taking off out of the parking garage with the delectable Ms. Smith.     

Jacob’s heartbeat accelerates in my ears, the smell of his fear tickles my senses, exciting the beast within me. Jacob gulps loudly, the motion from his gulp makes his throat throb from the motion, igniting a need for blood deep in my gut. My fangs threaten to burst through my gums at any moment in search of the sweet nectar that flows within his veins. 

I take a step back from Jacob to calm the growing need that is threatening to take control. Once I have the beast within me under control, I return to Jacob’s side and motion for him to replay the video. Something flashing across the screen catches my attention as I watch Samara being dragged into the van for the third time. 

“Zoom in on the guy that is dragging Ms. Smith into the van and slow down the video.” Jacob quickly gets to work to do my bidding. When the tattoo that I had seen appears on the screen once again, I hollar at Jacob to pause the video.

“This is not good.” My brows draw together in worry as recognition fills me upon inspecting the tattoo. It has been a long time since I have dealt with the Black Market Auction, but I think it is about time that I pay them a visit.