Full Moon Rising (Riley Jenson Guardian 1)

We continued searching the drawers. I was on my final one when I found a folder marked "White Phantom Project." It wasn't anything I'd ever heard of - though I was hardly in a position to hear or see anything top secret - but something about the name stirred my curiosity. Inside, there were old floor plans, building sketches, and the like, as well as the names of several people who no longer worked for the Directorate. I handed the folder across to Quinn. "Look at this."

He took it and had a quick glance. "It doesn't give us much." He glanced at the name on the spine, and his frown deepened. "You know, Genoveve is a form of Guinevere, which is both French and Welsh. I believe Guinevere means either white wave or white phantom."

"So?"

"So, white phantoms are a form of vampire."

I raised my eyebrows. "Really?"

He nodded. "It's a bit of a stretch, but at this stage, I think we can afford to grab at anything."

He tossed the folder on the chair with the other one. We finished searching our prospective drawers but didn't find anything else. I picked out a couple of the disks, then Quinn relocked the cabinets, grabbed the folders, and walked across to the phone

"All calls from the offices are recorded," I said, as he picked up the phone

"I'm not intending to use it." He held out a finger. On it was a pinhead-sized dot. "The latest in bug technology."

"The Directorate's a government department. It's regularly swept."

His smile made my hormones do their jig again. "My labs are developing this one, and so far, it's gone undetected in a number of government buildings."

I raised my eyebrows. "And why would you be bugging government offices?"

"Not all offices. Just those trying to place sanctions on my businesses."

"And, handily, you just happened to be carrying one of these little bugs around in your pocket?"

"No. The labs developing them are in Melbourne. I went there yesterday and picked one up." He smiled at me. "Of course, I've now warned your boss what I'm up to, so I daresay I'll have to develop new spying methods."

He placed the dot on the base unit, then walked around the table and held out a hand. "Shall we go?"

I glanced at the wall clock as I wove my fingers in his. "Jack didn't want us to meet back at the farmhouse until five. That gives us three hours to fill in before we have to leave for Seymour." I met his gaze and tried to restrain my grin. "What do you think we should do to fill in the time?"

"Feel like a coffee?"

"No."

He unlocked the door and wrapped a hand around the handle. "How about a midnight snack?"

"It's well after midnight and the only thing I'm interested in sampling right now" - I swept my gaze down the front of him - "is something I've already tasted."

"Do you always talk this dirty to mates?"

I laughed. "My dear vampire, I haven't even begun to get dirty yet."

Amusement and desire vied for prominence in his eyes. "That almost sounds like a threat."

"Take it any way you want. As long as you take me, I don't care."

"Oh, you can be sure that I intend to take you." His sexy grin teased my hormones as he opened the door. "Just not here. Out you go."

I went, and ran nose first into someone who was little more than shadow. I yelped, and jumped back, my pulse going a mile a minute. But even before the shadows found form, I knew it was Gautier. His smell wrapped around me, a noxious scent that made me want to scratch at my skin. Quinn's hands came down on my shoulders, his fingers pressing deep, as if warning me not to speak. Like I needed a warning

"Director Brown," Gautier said, oily tones soft and somewhat respectful. "I thought you'd gone home sick."

"I had. Now I'm back. What do you want?"

"Nothing. Just doing my nightly check."