Vampires Among Us [Vampires Among Us 1] (Siren Publishing Classic)

known they needed help. A shudder ran up her spine as she thought about what would have happened if Marshall hadn’t shown up when he did.
    “If you two love birds would like to join me in the kitchen, I’ll explain,” Marshall replied with a grin, as he turned on his heel and walked out of the room.
    Kevin stood up and quickly rewrapped the sheet around Erica, toga style. Marshall might be his best friend and second-in-command, but he wasn’t seeing Erica in that sexy nightgown she had on. Besides, Marshall wasn’t the only one in the house. He had seen several of his guys when they barged in through the window and door. After she was sufficiently covered, Kevin picked Erica up and walked out of the bedroom. He couldn’t wait to hear Marshall’s explanation himself. He had thought the team would be in Brazil another day or so.
    Just as the couple started to enter the kitchen, the front door opened, and Mr. Atkins walked in. “Erica, are you okay?” he immediately asked as soon as he had spotted her. Erica squirmed a bit in Kevin’s arms, and he slowly lowered her down to stand in front of him. Once he was sure she was steady, he gave her a gentle nudge. Mr. Atkins opened his arms, and Erica ran to him. He encircled her in his arms as she finally let go and cried tears of relief. He knew she was probably still in shock over what had just transpired, and he held her gently as she cried silently on his chest. He glanced over to Kevin who gave him a small nod. There was no jealousy coming from Kevin. He was glad that Erica felt safe enough to go to his old friend.
    After some time she was finally able to pull herself together. “Oh, I am so glad to see you, but what on earth are you doing here?” she inquired, as she took the handkerchief he offered her to wipe her remaining tears.
    Marshall sauntered through the kitchen doorway with several bags of blood in his right hand, and wine glasses in the other. “Let’s sit in the living room, its more comfortable,” he stated, as he headed to the bar.
    Kevin followed him, and soon the three men were sipping wine glasses full of blood, while Erica was nursing a rather strong drink Kevin had handed her. “It will help you calm back down, baby,” he had stated, as he pressed it into her hands. It was some kind of liquor, she noted, as she felt it burning her throat on the first sip.
    Now, sitting on the couch with Erica curled up against him, Kevin waited for what he was sure was going to be an interesting story. He found himself very curious as to how Mr. Atkins as well as most of his team knew where Shawn was and had reached them in time to stop him. He was damn grateful to see them. He just wasn’t sure how they had managed to pull it off. When the window had shattered, it broke Shawn’s concentration just long enough for Kevin to get the knife away from Erica’s throat.
    “Okay, out with it. How long have you guys been here, and how did you know Shawn was here in the first place?” Kevin asked as he looked between Mr. Atkins and Marshall. As he watched the other two men, Kevin found himself inwardly cringing. Both he and Erica now knew Shawn had been watching them as they made love on the beach the night before, he hoped they hadn’t had any other unwanted company.
    “Jim spotted Shawn in his neck of the woods earlier this evening, and recognized him immediately from the bolo Charles had put out on him. He watched him swim across the inlet, and called Charles to see if anyone was at the beach house. Charles called us as soon as he hung up with Jim to put a plan together,” Marshall explained, and then glanced over to Mr. Atkins.
    “Right, and as soon as I got wind that our little gal here was in trouble, I fired up the boat and told Marshall he had ten minutes to get as many team members together as he could, or I was going in solo,” Mr. Atkins continued with a wide grin on his face.
    Jim was a vampire Forest Ranger in charge of a strip of forest across from the beach house. He had been a friend of Charles and Kevin for many years.
    “Leave it to this Navy guy to want to go by boat!” Marshall chuckled as he gestured to Mr. Atkins. “The team and I were in the air when Charles called me, alerting me to the problem. I simply had the pilot change course and drop a few of us out when we were flying above the boat.
    “We had just reached shore when you called,” Marshall continued.
    “Well, I am thankful you guys showed up when you did,”