Luther's Return

Luther glanced at her, giving her a quick smile. “No, Yvette is too tall. And she doesn’t have your curves.” He gave an apologetic nod in Yvette’s direction. “No offense, Yvette.”

Luther was right, Yvette had a great figure, but she wasn’t curvy or big-breasted, though her long dark hair matched Katie’s.

“None taken. Though—” She smiled warmly at Katie. “—you know, honey, I’d do it in a heartbeat if I knew it would succeed.”

Katie mouthed a silent Thank you to her sister-in-law.

“But we have another vampire female in mind,” Samson interjected.

“Doesn’t matter who it is,” Amaury interrupted, standing up. “Haven’t you forgotten one tiny detail?” He pointed at Katie. “Katie is human. We must assume that Forrester knows that. He won’t make the same mistake as Mendoza. Anybody who knows that Katie used to be Hollywood star Kimberly Fairfax would also know that she can’t possibly be a vampire. As her stalker, he’d know that. So even if we manage to make another woman look like Katie’s twin, as soon as she gets close enough, he’ll recognize by her aura that the person we’re trying to exchange is a vampire. And the whole thing blows up in our faces.”

“Amaury’s right,” Gabriel agreed. “When that happens, who knows how he’ll react. What if he hurts Isabelle to lash out?”

Everybody started speaking at once, throwing out the pros and cons of such a move. Katie could barely concentrate on any one person’s opinion. She had to agree with the skeptics of the plan. They couldn’t trick a vampire, not by sending a vampire instead of her.

“It’s not gonna work,” she murmured to herself, wringing her shaking hands. “I’ll have to do it.” She looked up and pressed her hands onto the table, ready to rise and put an end to the fruitless discussion.

A wolf whistle next to her stopped her dead in her tracks. It ended all conversations in the room instantly. All eyes were now on Wesley.

“Now that I’ve got your attention, would you all like me to give you the solution to this problem?”

“Go ahead, Wes,” Samson encouraged him.

“There’s a little known spell that can temporarily shroud a vampire’s aura so that no other preternatural creature can see it, making the vampire appear human. It doesn’t last long. And it doesn’t change anything in terms of the vampire’s abilities.”

The vampires in the room exchanged doubtful looks.

“You sure it works, Wes?” Blake asked.

“You’ve got my word.”

“Good enough for me,” Blake agreed.

“How long will the spell last?” Samson asked.

Wes pulled up one shoulder. “Half an hour to an hour. Hard to tell. But if I get a few volunteers, I can test it out before the exchange.” He looked around the table. “So?”

Suddenly everybody avoided Wesley’s gaze.

“Oh come on, people!” he growled. “It doesn’t hurt! What are you: vampires or a bunch of sissies?”

“Try it out on me,” Samson offered.

“Me too,” Haven said.

Wes nodded. “Then we’re all set.” He turned to Samson. “And who’s going to play Katie’s role?”

There was a knock at the door. Samson went to open it.

A beautiful curvy woman stood there, long dark hair falling over her shoulders, long dark lashes framing her grey eyes. “I came as quickly as I could,” she said in a soft British accent.

“Come in, Roxanne.” Samson ushered her inside and closed the door behind her. Then he turned to the people in the room. “Most of you already know Roxanne. She started with us shortly after we opened Mission HQ. First in our V-Lounge, but she joined our bodyguard training program ten years ago, and has been working on various assignments since. I think she’s perfect for this.”

Katie noticed how Luther ran his eyes over Roxanne’s body, not in a lecherous, lusting way, but in the kind of way a discerning buyer did when examining a product he wanted to purchase. Then his eyes darted back to Katie to compare.

“And the eyes?” Luther asked.

“Colored contact lenses, nothing easier than that,” Samson said quickly.

Katie walked up to her. “Have they told you what they want you to do?”

Roxanne nodded. “Samson explained briefly when he called me.”

Katie turned to the Scanguards boss. “Have you given her a choice about this?” She didn’t want anybody to be forced into this. It was a dangerous undertaking.