He collected his tie, coat, and cuff links. "I'll see you here at nine."
"No. I want you here at a quarter till. We teleport precisely at nine."
"Chillax, Whelan. It only takes a second to teleport."
"A quarter till. I'm in charge of this - "
Before Sean could finish, Gregori teleported to his condo on the Upper West Side. Fifteen minutes later, he'd showered, shaved, and packed a suitcase. For the meeting, he decided to wear a gray Armani suit, crisp white shirt, and his favorite red power tie.
He paused in the middle of buttoning his shirt. Roman had been right when he said it all boiled down to presenting the right image. He was supposed to be the safe, harmless Vamp who picked flowers instead of victims. Instead of biting young women, he helped little old ladies across the street.
With a groan, he yanked his shirt over his head, then tossed it onto his bed.
"Safe and harmless," he muttered as he selected a pale blue shirt. It would be a lot more fun to wear a tuxedo and vampire cape. And have a Hungarian accent like Zoltan. Instead, Gregori fastened his cuff links and put on a gray tie with thin blue stripes.
He removed his page of strategy plans from the pants pocket of his dirty clothes and studied the list, committing it to memory. He also had Angus's security plans to follow.
At thirteen minutes till nine, he teleported with his suitcase to the side entrance at Romatech, since arriving inside the building would set off an alarm. He swiped his ID badge and entered. Halfway down the hall, he passed by the security office.
The door opened and half a dozen MacKay employees spilled out into the hallway.
"Ye understand the plan, lad?" Angus asked.
"Yes."
"Yo, undercover brother." Phineas gave him a knuckle pound. "I'll see you soon."
"Sean's a little upset," Emma warned him. "He claims you're running late."
Gregori's mouth twitched. "By two minutes. Just to annoy him."
"Aye, doona let the bastard get to you." Robby patted him on the back. "We'll be waiting for yer call."
After a round of well wishes, Gregori excused himself and wheeled his suitcase down to his office. His heart swelled when he realized how much trust his fellow Vamps were placing in him. In spite of all the teasing, they really did respect him. He grinned to himself.
"It's about time!" Sean yelled as he entered the room.
His smile faded. "Chillax, Whelan." He grabbed his phone charger off the desk and stuffed it into an outside pocket on his suitcase. He noticed Sean was still glowering at him, so he slipped a few stress balls into the suitcase.
"How much longer are you going to take?" Sean growled. "It's ten minutes till."
"I'm ready." Gregori picked up his Droid. "What's the number for the safe house?"
"I'll make the call." Sean whipped out his cell phone. "I'm the one in charge. You're just going along to show how safe and harmless you are."
Gregori gritted his teeth as he pocketed his Droid.
Sean punched a number on his phone. "Garrett, we're ready. Keep talking till we get there." He sidled up close to Gregori. "Grab on to me."
"You don't know how to - "
"Shh." Sean covered his phone with his hand. "I've been a . . . you-know-what for only a few nights, and we've been busy with one meeting after another. I haven't had time to learn any of your damned tricks."
Gregori nodded. And it looked like Sean had neglected to tell his fellow team members about his transformation. "Give me the phone." He held out his hand.
Sean hesitated.
"I have to hear the guy's voice to know where to go." Gregori accepted the phone, then motioned toward Sean's suitcase by the door. "Don't you need to take that?"
"Oh, right." Sean hurried to the door.
With a grin, Gregori grabbed his suitcase and teleported. He arrived in a living room that was sparsely furnished with what looked like rejects from a thrift store.
The other person in the room stopped talking in mid-sentence. His eyes grew wide. "What? Where's Sean?"
Gregori parked his suitcase next to the sagging couch of burnt-orange velvet, then set Sean's cell phone on the scarred coffee table. He extended a hand toward the other guy. Garrett Manning was a member of Sean's Stake-Out team, and he'd participated undercover in a reality show that Gregori had hosted a few years back at the Digital Vampire Network.
"We've met before, remember? I'm Gregori Holstein."
"Uh, yeah. I'm Garrett." He backed away, refusing to shake hands, his expression growing more confused. "Weren't you supposed to bring Sean with you?"
"Damn." Gregori slapped his leg. "I knew I was forgetting something."
Garrett winced. "Sean's going to be really pissed."
"What else is new?" Gregori pulled out his Droid and called Angus, who immediately put him on the speakerphone. "I'm at the safe house. Looks like Garrett is alone here. Is that true, Garrett? Are you alone?"
"Well . . . yeah, but - " Garrett gasped as four men materialized in the room. "What the - "
"This is Robby and Phil." Gregori gestured toward the two Vamps and the shifters they'd brought with them. "I believe you've met Phineas before. And this is Howard. They'll be in charge of security from now on."
Garrett flinched. "But that's my job! This is a CIA operation. You can't just take over like that."
"Dude." Phineas gave him a pointed look. "Are you going to argue with a werewolf and a were-bear?"
Garrett gulped as he eyed Phil and Howard. Gregori bit his lip to keep from laughing. The shifters had both affected their steely-eyed, vicious looks.
Phineas rested an arm on Garrett's shoulder. "Let me give you some advice, bro. Keep the kitchen well stocked. You do not want to share your house with a hungry bear."
"I - I didn't realize shifters were real," Garrett whispered.
"Yeah, well, we're gonna trust you to keep quiet about that, bro." Phineas patted him on the back. "Or we'll have to wipe your memory clean for a year or so."
Garrett turned pale. "I can keep a secret."
"Good lad." Robby smiled at him. "I'm going back now to report to Angus. Good luck to ye all." He disappeared.
"Got any donuts?" Howard lumbered toward the kitchen.
Garrett jumped out of his way. "There's a box on the counter. Eat all you want."
Gregori motioned toward the fridge. "Did you stock up on blood?"
"Yeah." Garrett gave him a wary look. "Are you going to get Sean now?"
"Soon." Gregori glanced at the large bay window. "Is there a safe place for Phineas and me to sleep?"
"Yeah, the basement. Sean told me to board up the windows and put two beds down there." Garrett frowned at Phineas. "Did he know there would be two of you?"
"Dude, there's gonna be three Vamps," Phineas said. "Gregori, me, and Sean."
Garrett's mouth dropped open. "What?"
Gregori attempted to keep a straight face. "Hate to break it to you, dude, but your boss is a Vamp."
"No." Garrett shook his head. "You're just messing with me. Sean hates vampires."
"Then he'd better get a therapist to deal with his self-loathing." Gregori glanced at his watch. "Time to go." He teleported back to the side entrance at Romatech, swiped his card, and strode inside.
"You bastard!" Sean shouted as he charged down the hall, dragging his suitcase behind him. "I'm reporting you to your superiors." He stopped in front of the MacKay security office and lifted a fist to pound on the door.
It opened and Angus filled the doorway.
Sean froze with his fist an inch from Angus's chest.
Angus arched a brow. "Is there a problem?"
"Yes!" Sean gestured wildly toward Gregori. "That ass**le left without me! He's impossible to work with. You should fire him!"
"Now why would I do that?" Angus's eyes twinkled with humor. "I believe he followed my orders perfectly."
"What the - I'm in charge here!" Sean jabbed a finger in Gregori's direction. "That idiot was supposed to take me!"
"Chillax, Whelan," Gregori said. "It wouldn't have been safe to take you and all our luggage at the same time."