Killing Time

by Elisa Paige

  “I’m not.” He turned his head to meet my gaze, his eyes hot and heavy-lidded. “Your hunger feeds my own. But when you lie beneath my body the first time, it will not be in a dilapidated, filthy warehouse with two unconscious bitterns nearby.”

  I swallowed hard. “The first time?”

  A slow, sensual smile tugged at his perfect lips and he closed his eyes. “The first of very many.”

  The way he said it, with heat and need vibrating beneath his words, drew a shiver from me. I swallowed again noisily.

  “Sleep sweet, Koda,” I said when I found my voice.

  He mumbled something in reply.

  “What?” I asked.

  “I said I was calling ‘bullshit’ on you.”

  “About what?”

  He settled more comfortably on the sleeping bag. “That night at the hotel, you wanted me to believe you didn’t feel anything for me.”

  Remembering, I remained silent.

  “Whether you spoke the words or not, Sephti, you lied. You couldn’t kiss me or look at me the way you do and not want me as much as I want you. So no more bullshit between us.”

  Unable to refute the truth, I scrubbed at my face.

  “Wow. No protests?” He turned his head to study me. “I believe I will sleep sweet, after all.”

  The remainder of the night passed uneventfully, with Koda waking precisely three hours after I did my turn. Insisting he’d be fine, that he would catch up on his sleep later, he tried to get me to lie back down and rest until dawn. When I balked, he half-jokingly threatened to bespell me the way he’d knocked out the bitterns. I dared him to try, and after a moment’s appraisal, he relented. Thinking I’d won, I felt proud of myself for not crowing. Then he said one word.

  “Please.”

  Just that. Please.

  I didn’t want to be cozened. I was a veteran warrior. I’d stood sentry countless times in conditions that made our current quarters seem like the height of luxury. So I wanted to take my turn on the final shift before dawn, to pull my own weight. Had Koda ordered me to stand down, I’d’ve balked and had no hesitation doing so, with a few choice words thrown in. But his asking me and waiting without pressure for me to decide…all the while looking at me with his eyes dark and soft, a sweet, half smile on his alluring lips…

  I was such a goner.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Koda woke me with a kiss that was chaste yet held the promise of scorching heat.

  After checking my arm, he finally let me badger him into removing the splint. He said it was a day or two early, but I figured he would have put up more of a fight if he really thought the bone needed the support.

  Commanding the bitterns to awake—or, more accurately, stimulating the bindings to rouse them—Koda stood back while I ordered them to their feet. We finished off the cooler’s contents as we cleaned up our makeshift campsite. Once the truck was loaded, we climbed back in and got moving toward the Canadian-U.S. border.

  I was digging in my backpack for jelly beans when Koda told me Siska had called while I slept.

  “They were an hour from St. Louis,” Koda said, accelerating to enter the fast-moving traffic on the highway. “So when I told him what Jack said to you, Siska decided he and Nic would do some digging there.”

  Tearing the bag open, I took a fistful of candy and passed the rest back to the bitterns. Courtesy of Koda’s bindings, they were different creatures. Their sleepy-eyed, slack features reminded me of human gang members I’d seen after they’d filled their veins with drugs.

  “It’s a pity you can’t mass manufacture those leather necklaces,” I told him, watching as Onas and Târre lazily nibbled the jelly beans. Neither seemed to care that the other was in such close proximity to food. “There’d be hope for indoctrinated bitterns.”

  “You know better,” Koda said in a soft voice. “It’s a restraint, not a cure. When the bindings weaken, those two will be just as they were.”

  I sighed and changed the subject. “With Nic and Siska taking St. Louis, we’re heading to New Orleans?”

  “Yes.” He looked sideways at me. “I’m assuming you’re still determined to go after Philippe?”

  I smiled bitterly. “In the absence of a cure, yeah.”

  His lips thinned into a line and he went quiet. We’d gone about thirty miles when he broke the silence. “It’ll take us over a day to make the drive if we don’t stop.”

  I looked at his profile, noting the neutral expression. I could tell he was unhappy about my decision to go through with my plan—no big surprise there, he’d been opposed from the very start—but I was warmed by his willingness to help me. I’d figured he would, but his actually doing so brought tears to my eyes.

  Blinking, I turned my head to look out the window, letting my hair screen my face from him. “Then let’s not stop.”

  “In that big a hurry to die?” he snapped. Before I could respond, he sighed. “Sorry.”

  “We’ve been through this,” I reminded him gently, shooting a sideways glance at him. “Halloween is less than three weeks away. It’s my only chance until next year to cross to the fae plane.”

  “Yeah. I know.” He swore under his breath. “Three weeks.”

  I looked down at my hands, fisted in my lap.

  He swore again. “If that’s all we have left to us, I’ll be damned if I spend it watching my back.” Looking in the rearview mirror, Koda murmured something. The bitterns’ heads nodded as they passed out. “With those two unconscious, you and I can take turns resting while the other drives. With breaks only to get food and gas, we should make it to New Orleans by tomorrow night.”

  “All right.” It was what I’d been hoping for, the chance to kill Philippe and get my plan underway. Finally. And yet, the idea that the first big hurdle might be a little more than thirty hours away was somehow unwelcome.

  Keeping my eyes resolutely down, I faced the reality I’d managed to dodge—fulfilling my plan meant more than the fae lords’ deaths or the very real possibility of my own. It also meant the end of my time with Koda, something my tenaciously self-imposed tunnel vision had helped me avoid. Acknowledging it now drained the blood from my face and left my hands ice-cold and trembling. A sensation like vertigo sent everything spinning as if the ground had dropped out from beneath my feet.

  He tapped my left fist to get my attention. When I looked up, he murmured, “Tomorrow night, we’re staying in a hotel.”

  Wondering if he meant what I thought, I ventured, “A shower would be nice. If there’s a store, I could get some clothes.”

  His eyes flared. “For what I intend, clothes would only get in the way.”

  The look he sent me set my heart thudding and heat pooling in my belly.

  Smiling to himself, he focused on the highway and floored the big truck. “Maybe we can get there faster.”

  Other than the border crossing—wow, I’d never known I could sift an entire truck, its passengers and its contents—the remainder of the trip went as Koda had suggested. He ensured that the bitterns slept the entire time, so I was a lot more relaxed than I would otherwise have been. A lot more rested, too. We were flying along on I-10, entering New Orleans’s outskirts, when his cell rang. I was driving, so he checked the caller ID.

  “It’s Nic,” he told me.

  As soon as he answered, she began ranting, her tone angrier than I’d ever heard it. I couldn’t make out the words, however, try as I might.

  Koda didn’t say anything, just let her rave. After a few more minutes, she ran down. He muttered, “Yes, I heard everything you said, Nic. But the timing sucks. We have other plans.” Her voice exploded from the earpiece and he laughed, a hard sound that carried no amusement. “I’m pretty sure that’s a physical impossibility.”

  “What’d she tell you to do?” I asked, grinning.

  “You don’t want to know.”

  “Yeah, but I can imagine.”

  Returning his attention to the call, he interrupted Nic’
s strident monologue. “You’ve repeated the address four times now, Nic…Yes, I am fully capable of remembering it. Anything else I should know?” He went suddenly still, his fingers white-knuckling on the phone. “In New Orleans? When?”

  I glanced at him, alarmed by his masklike expression.

  He glanced at the dashboard clock. “Great. Just great.” Koda turned the phone off and tossed it into a cup holder. He sat facing forward and rigid.

  We went a couple miles in tense silence before I couldn’t take it anymore. “What is it?”

  He seemed lost in thought and there was a brief pause before he answered me. “Oh, uh…she said…she said my brother’s here. Ahanu.”

  This wasn’t what I’d expected. Plus, something about Koda’s answer seemed off. “Why is he in New Orleans?”

  “He visits a lot. His fiancée lives there.” He stared out the window. “Siska also told Ahanu I was headed for New Orleans. I’ve been avoiding his calls, so…” Koda shrugged.

  Glancing sideways at Koda, I passed a slow-moving elderly man driving an equally ancient car. “You have?”

  “Yeah.”

  Thinking that we were all going to be in the city and wondering if Koda would want me to meet him, I imagined what that introduction would be like. Given the whole fae thing, probably not good. “His opinion matters.”

  Koda inhaled, blew the air out. “Only up to a point.”

  A little silence built between us as the late-afternoon traffic thickened. We were approaching the Mississippi River, its banks covered as far as I could see with buildings and shipyards and enormous cranes. Koda directed me to our exit ramp, and after a series of turns, we found ourselves driving down streets whose sidewalks overflowed with angry humans.

  There seemed to be two factions, both sides carrying signs and banners, both equally furious with the other. When I stopped at a light, a man staggered into the intersection, shoved there by another man who was screaming profanity.

  “What do the signs say?” I asked Koda.

  He glowered. “More anti-supernatural crap, directed mostly at vampires. But it looks like the smarter humans are figuring things out. They’ve included some of the other supe species in their signs, too.”

  “So why are they fighting?” I winced as the two men started pounding on each other.

  “Why do humans ever fight? They’re trying to beat their opinions into those who disagree with them.” Koda folded his arms across his chest. Tipping his chin to the mob on the left side of the street, he said, “That group’s signs demand the death of all supernaturals, starting with vampires. So much for New Orleans’s rep for attracting the immortals. The other group wants to make peace with them.”

  “Before or after Philippe’s vampires rip out their throats?”

  The light changed and cars trying to get across the intersection honked their horns as the two men brawled back and forth. A handful of people from both sides waded into the fight and one of the original guys went down, blood dripping from a gash on his cheek.

  Police in riot gear raced around the corner at a run, batons and shields at the ready. At the sight of them, the combatants abruptly broke off their battle and ran in the other direction, the officers close behind.

  “Nic said it’s like this all over the country,” Koda muttered. “Idiots.”

  The light changed again and traffic began to unsnarl itself. I eased the big truck forward, careful of the close space. “I’ll grant you, they’re only hurting themselves. But what would you have them do?”

  He shook his head. “I didn’t mean the humans. I meant Philippe and his people. There’s absolutely nothing to be gained by the chaos he’s causing.”

  “From everything I’ve heard of him, the chaos is the point.”

  “Yeah. That’s my impression, too.” Koda slammed the truck’s sun visor down. “Guess he’s a happy sonuvabitch now, huh?”

  “Not for long, if I have anything to do with it,” I growled with satisfaction.

  His jaw muscles working, Koda popped the visor back up. “Stay on this street for four more blocks, then turn left.” The cell rang again, and with a curse he answered it. “We’re five minutes away.”

  The light went red and I stopped, using the opportunity to look at Koda. I’d never seen him so worked up. The belief that his upset was based upon Ahanu’s likely reaction to my presence sat like a boulder in my gut.

  He barked, “Yes, I said ‘we.’” Clicking off the phone, he hurled it back in the cup holder.

  A honk behind us roused me and I saw that the light had turned green. As I accelerated, I said, “This place we’re going. Your brother’s there?”

  “Yeah.”

  With Ahanu so close by, if Koda didn’t at least mention me to him…My mouth dry, I worked to keep my tone level but failed miserably. “You’d said you would tell him about us when you figured out how to explain it.”

  “Yes, absolutely.” Koda studied my expression and his voice went soft. “You think I’m upset about Ahanu and whether or not he’ll approve of us?”

  “You’re not?” I asked, shooting a quick look at him.

  “No. I can see why you’d think that, though. Shit, I’m sorry. Sephti…I wasn’t totally honest with you before.” Taking his irritation out on the sun visor again, he finally shoved his hands in his armpits and glared out the window. “Nic confirmed that Philippe is here, in New Orleans. She said a combined tactical force that includes units from the FBI, New Orleans SWAT and an elite squad of slayers on loan from Rome plans to infiltrate his home later tonight. It’s over in the Garden District.” He looked at the clock again. “They’re probably assembling now. In three hours, they’ll go in. Nic said they have a kill order. Seems the officials are resorting to Old West justice.”

  Pulling to an open spot at the curb, I put the truck in park. Letting out the breath I’d been holding, I looked at him for a long moment. Anxiety mixed with anger in his clouded eyes. “Why didn’t you tell me earlier?”

  His jaw muscles working, Koda growled, “You know why.”

  I nodded, for once ignoring the anxious denials and doubts jabbering away in my head. Reaching out to take his hand, I twined my fingers with his.

  He went still. “You’re not angry? I thought—”

  “That I was the kind of person who has to be in on the kill?”

  Chagrined, he gave me a half smile. “When you put it that way…”

  “Koda, I don’t care who does it as long as the bastard dies.”

  “So…we can go to the hotel?” He’d asked the question in a light tone of voice, but the underlying huskiness woke the goofy butterflies in my stomach.

  Lifting his hand to my lips, I brushed a kiss across the knuckles. The move startled us both, but still…it felt good. Natural. “Not until I know Philippe is dead. If the task force misses, I’ll do it myself.”

  He grumbled but reluctantly nodded.

  “What about your brother? Want me to drop you off?” I held my breath, not very proud of myself for testing Koda, but desperately needing to hear his answer.

  He leaned across the center console to cup my cheek. “No. I want him to meet you.”

  My whole body unclenched and I grinned, relief making me almost giddy.

  As usual, he read me easily and gave me a lopsided smile. “It won’t be pleasant, though. Ahanu is even more pigheaded than I am.”

  “Horrors,” I teased. “How is that possible?”

  Koda laughed. “A little respect, woman.”

  I held up my thumb and index finger about a half-inch apart and he laughed out loud.

  “So why are we going to see your brother first when Philippe is close at hand? We could set up nearby in plenty of time to watch him die.”

  “And risk tipping him off that something is brewing? No, we need to turn up just before the humans begin the assault.”

  I chewed the inside of my lip. “Okayyyyy.”

  “What is it?” Koda looked at me carefully. “
You don’t want to meet Ahanu?”

  The truth was I was suddenly terrified. But after my epiphany by the campfire, I understood that my response mattered to Koda. The same as I’d needed his answer to my stupid little test.

  Looking him in the eye, I nodded. “Of course I do. Just asking.”

  “Good. Because…” He stared out the window, all humor evaporating. “Three weeks, Sephti. Three fucking weeks.”

  I frowned, trying to parse his meaning. “I don’t understand.”

  “It means…” His words tapered off. “Aw hell, just…turn left at the corner. The house we’re looking for is yellow with white trim. It’s on the right.”

  After a tense moment, I pulled away from the curb and drove on. When we arrived a few minutes later, he gestured toward the garage’s open door. I turned into the short driveway on the house’s side and pulled in. It was just big enough to accommodate the truck, after we reached through the windows and folded the outside mirrors flat. Once we were parked, he hopped out and lowered the manual door, closing us in.

  I climbed out of the driver’s seat and stretched, more from nerves than stiffness. I still had some residual aches and pains, but was confident I’d healed enough to fight—always my measure for determining good health and well-being.

  “What about them?” I asked Koda, hooking a thumb toward the backseat.

  He leaned in the open driver’s door and spoke quietly. Lifting his hand, he sketched a design on the air in front of the sleeping bitterns. When he was finished, he came to me, a satisfied look on his face. “A bomb could go off in here and those two wouldn’t know it. The last thing we need is for Ahanu to see them in full bittern mode.”

  Taking my hand, Koda towed me through an inner door that led from the garage to a pretty kitchen with white lace curtains in the windows and fresh-cut flowers artfully arranged on the table. It wasn’t at all what I’d expected.

  “Does your brother live here?” Catching a glimpse of myself in an ornately framed mirror hanging on the wall, I hastily got my glamour in place. Even if Ahanu could see it the way Koda could, I figured every bit of cover might help.