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Jackson kept the vampire couple in his sights before he turned back to us. “Is tomorrow morning too early?”

Declan eyed me. “How’s that sound to you.”

I drew in a shaky breath. “Sounds like I’m meeting Dr. Reynolds tomorrow morning.”

CHAPTERTHREE

Twelve hoursand a restless sleep filled with sharp-fanged nightmares later, as well as a whole lot of second-guessing about what I’d agreed to this morning, Jackson arrived at our motel room door ready to direct us to the scientist.

It was a forty-minute drive across Los Angeles to what looked like a large, run-down warehouse on the edge of the city, in the middle of a deserted neighborhood. Declan did the driving, and he parked a hundred yards away from it, shielding the car behind a Dumpster.

We exited the car and began to walk toward the building.

“You’re sure this is the right place?” I asked as I warily eyed the unfamiliar location.

“Right as rain,” Jackson replied.

I shrugged. “Doesn’t look like much.”

“Were you expecting a neon sign with an arrow that says ‘secret research laboratory here’? That would kind of defeat the purpose, wouldn’t it?”

I normally rolled right along with sarcasm, but I didn’t have the patience for it today.

“It would,” I allowed tightly.

“It’s all underground,” he explained. “The place goes twenty stories down. It looks like this on the surface to keep the riff-raff away.”

“Do they keep vampires on site here?” Declan asked, scanning the area, his eye narrowed.

Jackson smirked at him. “Of course.”

I shot him a look. “Wait. There are vampires here and nobody told me that already?”

His grin widened. “Don’t worry. I promise nobody’s going to get bit. They’re locked up nice and tight like good little guinea pigs. Which is a good idea, since most of them are kept in a starvation state so they make better test subjects.”

“That doesn’t ease my mind in the slightest,” I replied. “But thanks for giving me more nightmare fuel.”

“You’re welcome.”

Old friend of Declan’s or not, I still wasn’t a big fan of Jackson Gale yet. But I had to remember that vampire hunting was a daily—or, rather,nightly—activity for someone like him, and he could find the humor in a subject that I found utterly unfunny. Gallows humor, I supposed.

However, I would be more than happy to upgrade my first impression of him if we found some valuable information here today. This was a vampire research facility that contained a doctor who could potentially help me cleanse my blood of the Nightshade. While ominous and nightmare-inducing, it sounded far more productive than a trip to the local library.

Suck it up, Buttercup, I told myself.Let’s go get you cured.

We walked around to the front of the building, and Jackson pushed open the large, metal front door, which was unlocked.

I grabbed Declan’s arm before he went inside. “Can I talk to you before we go in?”

“Sure,” he replied.

“Privately?”

He flicked a glance at Jackson. “Give us a minute.”

“Sure, I’ll be inside. Have fun.” Jackson smirked at him, then entered the warehouse and closed the door behind him.

Declan turned to me. “What?”