Dangerous Games

by Keri Arthur

Chapter Nine

 

  Houston, we have a problem. I was gripping the knife so hard my knuckles positively ached, but I hadn't yet drawn the blade from the sheath. I had a bad feeling that if I moved, if I so much as twitched, the thing in the corner with the fearsome-looking teeth would attack.

  And those teeth looked strong enough to bite me in half.

  There's a demon? Quinn's tension suddenly flooded the link between us, until I wasn't sure where his ended and mine began.

  If a hellhound is classed as a demon, then yeah, one of them.

  A hellhound is a stronger class of demon, and won't be stopped by the salt. It can, however, be burned by holy water.

  I awkwardly began to undo the lid of the water bottle one-handed. As shields went, it didn't inspire a whole lot of confidence. Particularly when the creature lowered its head and snarled again. The sound rolled around the room, and if I'd been in wolf form, hackles would have risen. This thing might be a demon, but it was a doggy demon, and my wolf soul just didn't take to being threatened by anything canine.

  Which is why I mostly kept my wolf in check. Sometimes she had absolutely no sense.

  Do I need to slice its head off to kill it, or will any old well-placed stab work?

  Slowly, carefully, I began to draw the knife from the sheath. The rumbling growl got louder, the threat in the creature's eyes sharper.

  I'm afraid you'll have to take its head off.

  Crap. That meant getting closer to those needle-sharp, feet-long teeth than anyone with any sort of sense would want to.

  The knife finally inched clear of the sheath. The hellhound's growl reverberated again, a low sound of warning and anger. Tension crawled through my limbs and sweat broke out across my brow. With the knife at the ready, I continued my awkward attempt to undo the water bottle.

  The hellhound sprang. I threw myself sideways, hitting the wooden floor harder than necessary and driving the air from my lungs. As I gasped at the shock, the bottle slipped from my hand and rolled away, spurting droplets of water that sizzled and steamed across the floor as it did so. I cursed and lunged after it, only to hear the click of sharp nails tearing wood as the creature came at me again. I rolled away and slashed sideways with the knife. The blade scraped across the hound's hide, slicing through hair but not skin.

  It snarled, revealing nasty-looking gums to accompany the nasty teeth. I jumped to my feet, waving the knife in front of me, trying to catch the creature's attention long enough to try an attack. It was smarter than that. Its gaze stayed on mine, luminous and deadly. The fear stirring my stomach got stronger. I hadn't signed on to fight creatures of myth and magic. Psychos and rogue vampires were more than enough for me.

  The hellhound sprung again. I twisted out of its way, slashing at the soft flesh of his neck, hoping to at least sever something vital. Rut it shifted at the last moment, becoming something less than substantial, and suddenly it was behind me.

  Teeth sank into my flesh, spilling warmth down the back of my leg. I bit back a scream and twisted around, driving the knife blade deep into the creature's right eye, into his skull.

  Blood gushed from the creature's eye socket, spilling warmly over my fingers. The creature roared and wrenched its head backward, tearing my flesh in the process. Pain Hashed white hot through my body, and my breath hissed through clenched teeth. But I kept a grip on the knife, and forced myself to move - hobble - out of the creature's immediate reach.

  My knife blow had been hard enough, and deep enough, to have struck brain matter. It should have killed it outright. It didn't, because this was no ordinary beastie. Something I'd partially forgotten in the heat of battle.

  The hound shook its head, spraying droplets of blood that hit the force-warding stones and sizzled out of existence. Then it leapt, arcing across the small space that separated us. Again I twisted out of the way, but this time it must have been expecting the move, because it shifted in midair. Its body hit mine, thrusting me forward with incredible force.

  I smashed into the wall face-first, crushing my nose and splitting my lip. Blood spurted, the metallic taste filling my mouth and making my stomach stir threateningly. For a moment, everything was red, and I wasn't sure if it was blood or the angry energy of the nearby warding stones. I pushed away from the wall, felt rather than saw the impetus of the hound's approach, and dropped flat and rolled. Only to remember the stones. I thrust out a hand, stopping my momentum inches from the warding circle even as I slashed at the air with the knife. The silver blade cut through the flesh of the creature's underbelly as it sailed over my length, missing the hissing wall of energy by a whisker. Black blood spurted from the creature's wound, spraying across my face and arms and stinging like acid.

  I swore and scrambled away, following the line of stones, using it to protect one side of my body, in much the same way as I might have used a wall. The electricity of it buzzed across my face, and the warning flickers of red fire cut across the shadows, giving the room a sullen angry glow.

  Slicing open the hound's stomach didn't appear to be slowing it down any, though I don't know why I expected it to when stabbing a knife into its brain had zero effect. As I stood there, staring at the creature staring at me, the realization came that this was a fight I was never going to win. Not playing it this way. He was too quick, too strong. And he was a demon without living restrictions.

  This thing is going to tear me to pieces before I ever get near its neck.

  Then use the power of the stones against it.

  Won't that warn our magician that something is going on?

  Yes, but if you do not think you can sever its head, then we have little other choice.

  Okay. I took a deep breath, then made a sideways leap for the barrier. The hound attacked the minute I moved, slashing out with wickedly barbed claws. I twisted and dropped at the last moment, but the creature's blow caught my left sleeve and tore into flesh. It didn't matter, because it was concentrating on me rather than where it was going, and that's exactly what I wanted. The creature hit the wall of energy and the stones reacted instantly. Red fire erupted, surrounding the hellhound in a whirling, incandescent cauldron of flame, burning it, consuming it, in little more than a blink of the eye, until there was nothing left, not even ash, to scatter lifelessly down to the floor.

  I blew out a breath, thankful the wards didn't appear to discriminate between evil and good. I guess that made sense, though. It was probably easier to protect the circle from all comers rather than raise a discriminatory type of magic. If that was even possible. One hellhound dead and gone.

  Relief spun down the telepathic line. Are you okay?

  I pushed into a sitting position and took stock. The wound on my leg was the worst - the creature's claws had sunk deep, tearing three bloody trenches down from my thingh. And it fucking hurt.

  The scratches on my arm were no less bloody or painful, but at least the hound's claws had only caught a fraction of skin. The top was a goner, though. My lip and nose hurt, but were really the least of my problems.

  The bastard got me a couple of times.

  Use the holy water to cleanse the wounds then, before shifting. Demon marks can fester and not heal otherwise.

  Even for a werewolf?

  Werewolves aren't immune to the forces of magic - whether they be light or dark - simply because you are creatures of magic yourselves.

  I shucked off my shredded top, then leaned sideways and picked up the bottle of water I'd dropped. The creature hadn't given me time to undo the lid properly before it attacked, so only a little had managed to escape. I undid the top the rest of the way, and poured some of the water over all the wounds.

  About half a minute after the water hit my flesh, it turned white and began to bubble and burn like crazy. I clenched my teeth against the scream rising up my throat, and mentally swore for all I was worth at Quinn.

  His amusement drifted down the men
tal line. If I'd warned you, you wouldn't have done it.

  Too right, you bastard, I said, when I could.

  If you had changed before applying the water, you would have carried the infection into your body. You would have died from it, Riley, because there is no cure for the poison of demon bites once it takes hold.

  Not even a magical cure?

  He hesitated. There are magical cures, but I am no magician, and there are few left in this day and age who even believe in demons, let alone know the spells to cure their bite.

  Which is odd, isn't it, when you consider we have all manner of nonhumans still running around. I shifted shape as the bubbling finally cased, staying in my wolf shape for several seconds before shifting back. It healed the scratches on my arm, and stopped my split lip from bleeding, but my leg was going to take several more shifts to fully repair. And I was still going to end up with bruising, a puffy mouth, and a sore nose, no matter what. Thankfully, I wasn't seeing Jin tonight, because the mouth and the nose would be a little hard to explain away.

  But magic is a skill learned, Quinn said, and like any skill, it can be lost.

  Like the priests of Aedh are lost? I grabbed the water bottle and pushed upright. Pain slithered up my leg but otherwise, it was fine. There was no more bleeding, at least, though I had no doubt the already pretty bruising would get worse.

  The priests are not lost. They are destroyed.

  That one in the alley didn't look very destroyed to me.

  You did not see him. You only heard him.

  True. I considered the circle for a moment, then tossed some water toward it. The stones didn't react, allowing the water to arc right through the middle of them. The stream hit one edge of the pentagram, where it began to sizzle and steam.

  The holy water passed through the warding stones.

  Ah. Good. That means she's set the wards to react to flesh and blood, not inanimate objects.

  Then why did it react to the demon? They aren't real and living in the human sense of the word.

  They are when they're in flesh form. Sprinkle the salt liberally across the pentagram, then use the water to form two circles around the warding stones. Make sure there's about five feet between each one.

  Why? I began to spread the salt around, making sure my hand didn't actually go anywhere near the flickers of red lightning.

  Because evil might be able to step over one circle, but it can't step over two.

  I couldn't see why not, but then, I didn't know a whole lot about magic, holy water, and demons. Nor did I really want to learn anything more.

  I finished spreading the salt, covering as much of the pentagram's surface as I could, then did the two circles. The water sizzled like acid as it hit the floor, burning a light trench in the wood and filling the room with whitish steam.

  With that done, I got the hell out of there. Quinn pulled off his sweater and offered it to me as I closed the front door.

  I looked at the sweater, then at him. "You don't like me half naked?"

  "I love you naked, but you can't drive home like that because the cops will pull you over. "

  He shoved the sweater my way again. I crossed my arms and pointedly ignored the offer. I had clothes in my car if I wanted them. I didn't need his, no matter how deliciously warm they might smell. "Why would I be driving home?"

  "Because you need to shower and rest. "

  "And what will you be doing while I'm showering and resting?" I knew exactly what he'd be doing. I just wanted to know if he'd actually admit it. Admit that he was mollycoddling me yet again. I mean, hell, yeah, I was bloody and sore and in desperate need of a bath, but it wasn't the first time and it probably wouldn't be the last. And it certainly didn't stop me from doing my job.

  It was scary to think I now actually considered being a guardian my proper job. Lord, how things had changed.

  "I'm going to be taking care of our magician. " He placed the sweater on my shoulder.

  I shifted my shoulder and let it slip to the ground. "Not alone, you won't be. "

  His obsidian gaze seemed to be growing darker, deeper, until it felt like I was falling into a tunnel - a tunnel I could so easily, so willingly get lost in. This vampire might not be my soul mate, but that didn't mean there wasn't something good between us. Something special.

  An alarm went off somewhere in the back of my thoughts. I blinked, but the sensation of being caught by the darkness of his eyes didn't go away.

  "You will go home, Riley," he said softly, "and you will rest. "

  The tunnel seemed to be getting deeper and deeper, until it was all around me, swamping me, overrunning my will and my mind. All I could see was the coal-dark depths of his eyes and all I could hear was his words. The compulsion to obey them swam through me, beating at my skin, my nerves, my brain. So much so that I actually took a step back before I realized it. It took a whole lot of determination to stop a second step and remain still.

  I knew then what he was doing.

  Anger hit, fast and furious, momentarily weakening the force of his command. I slammed down my shields and severed the mental connection between us, but it was too late, far too late. The compulsion had already been embedded into my consciousness, a desire that beat at my senses with every rapid heartbeat.

  I clenched my fists and resisted the urge to scream and rant and rave at him. It took every ounce of control I had to simply say instead, "Don't do this. "

  He raised an eyebrow. "Don't do what?"

  My hands were clenched so hard my fingernails were beginning to dig into my palms. The pain helped keep my anger in check, and the compulsion momentarily at bay.

  "Don't play me for a fool, Quinn. I warned you once what would happen if you ever tried to use your vampire wiles on me, and I meant every word. "

  He looked away for a second, studying the street behind me, his expression calm, giving little away. If anything, that very lack of expression only increased the fury rising inside me. I hated the fact I could never read him as well as he could read me.

  Hated the fact he was forcing me to a decision I never wanted to make. And an action I never wanted to take.

  He looked back and said, "I'd rather have you angry and alive, than dead. " His fingers touched my cheek, his skin so warm against mine. "Be sensible. Go home and be safe. "

  I resisted the urge to press into his caress and jerked my face away instead. "No. And all you're doing is proving you still don't trust me. "

  "I trust you. I just don't believe you or the Directorate can handle these people. "

  "You can't go after these people alone. "

  "I destroyed them once. I can do it again. "

  "Quinn - "

  "No," he interrupted tersely, "I have lost too many people I care about in the past to evil such as this. I will not lose you as well. "

  His command still beat inside my brain, growing in intensity, until every muscle trembled with the need to obey. I wouldn't be able to resist it for much longer, and we both knew it. "Even at the cost of never seeing me again?"

  He smiled. "You're a werewolf. You can no more deny great sex than you can the moon change. "

  I stared at him for several seconds, shocked that he could even thinly that. And at that moment, I not only hated what he was doing, but I hated him.

  It wouldn't last long - couldn't last long, because it was really only anger, not hate itself. But the words hurt, regardless. Did he really think so little of my integrity that he thought a good fuck could cure me of all concerns? Did he really think I wouldn't go through with my threat? "You have a whole lot to learn about werewolves, matey. Or at least this one. "

  "Go home, Riley. Rest and recover from your wounds. I'll see you in the morning. "

  "No, you won't fucking won't see me in the morning. Or any other morning. "

  "Riley - "

  "Fuck off. "

  With little other recourse le
ft, I spun and walked away. His gaze just about burned a hole in my back, but I didn't look around. I strode up the street, around the corner, and across the road. I didn't see the car, only heard the screech of tires as the driver swung to avoid me. A beer-fueled male hung out the passenger window and made several crude comments.

  I swore at him too, then shifted to my wolf shape. I wasn't in the mood for male attention of any kind right now - which just went to show the depths of my fury. The moon was riding high and the fever should have had some influence over my reaction to the comments and the man.

  I walked on, wishing I'd parked closer. My nails clicked on the concrete, a soft tattoo that echoed in time with the anger beating through my veins. Which is probably why it took me several more minutes to realize the compulsion to go home was nowhere near as strong as it had been.

  I stopped.

  Go home, go home, go home. The words were still a mantra in my brain, looping round and round. And yet, like the moon hunger, it was a compulsion that I suddenly seemed able to push into the background and ignore. Why?

  I shifted back to human shape. The force of the compulsion jumped back into focus, as strong and as sharp as the moon fever spinning through my veins. My feet moved forward without any real command on my part, padding along the pavement at a decent clip. Shifting back into wolf form seemed to once again ease both compulsions.

  Well, well, well.

  No one had ever told me that being in wolf shape would ease the fever, but in some ways, it made sense. Werewolves didn't make love while holding wolf form - at the very least, it was considered disrespectful, often an act of degradation, and, at the very worst, an act of rape. If you respected your partner, you just didn't mate in animal form. It was one of those unwritten rules every wolf, young or old, knew.

  Besides, what sane werewolf really wanted to ease the moon fever in any other way besides the time-honored, human-style method of mating?

  But how many people knew the force of a vampire's compulsion could actually be muted by body form? Quinn's order to go home had been embedded deep into my human brain, but wearing my wolf skin seemed to somehow transmute that order into something that could be, if not totally squashed, then at least ignored.

  Which was a very handy thing to know - not that it would matter anymore when it came to Quinn. He was out of my life, whether he believed it yet or not.

  The thought made me swear internally. At him, at my job, at fate in general. Dammit, why couldn't anything go smoothly?

  There were a lot of things I could put up with in a relationship - hell, I'd proven that by putting up with an arrogant, self-centered asshole like Talon for so long. Quinn could be that, and a whole lot more at times, but he could also be an amazingly caring and gentle man, and so totally fun to be with. We were good together, at least when he wasn't being an ass.

  But the one thing I've never liked is partners who tried to use force to make me do what they wanted. It was simply unacceptable.

  And that's the line Quinn had crossed tonight, even if he'd used psychic strength rather than physical strength.

  It's not as if he didn't know how I felt. I'd warned him more than once. Now I had to back those words up with action. Had to. If I didn't, he'd just ride roughshod over my entire life. Give a vamp an inch, and he'd sure as hell try to take a mile, and Quinn had proven that adage true time and again.

  God, why did he have to force the issue? Why couldn't he have just let me do my job, whether or not it was safe? Life itself was unsafe - death could hit anytime, any place. Wrapping me cotton wool was never going to work, no matter what he thought. I wasn't the type of girl who enjoyed being pampered and fussed over twenty-four hours a day. I could never be that type of girl, even if I wasn't now a guardian. And if that's what he wanted in a relationship, then he was chasing the wrong bit of tail.

  And speaking of chasing, this bit of tail had a job to do.

  Ignoring the pang of sadness, and the deeper, darker ache that seemed centered somewhere close to my heart, I turned around and loped back toward Jin's house.

  Quinn had moved from Jin's doorway and taken up residence in the shadows of a garden several houses down. I padded along on the opposite side of the street, keeping close to the cars parked along the curb, using the metal and the shadows to help hide my form. Not that I really thought he'd see me - he was watching for evil, not for a wolf. Besides, I very much doubted the possibility that I could shake his compulsion would even cross his mind.

  When I was close to Jin's house, I positioned myself between two cars, keeping low and deep in the shadows, and waited. There wasn't much traffic at this hour, but the night was far from quiet. People moved in the house behind me, flushing toilets and turning lights on and off. Laughter drifted on the night air, and somewhere in the distance music heavy in bass played, making me want to tap my paws.

  Quinn didn't move. Neither did I.

  Time ticked by. The moon reached its zenith and began to wane. I crossed my front legs and shifted my rear ones, trying to find a comfortable position. The cold, hard pavement wasn't helping the aches any.

  It had to be nearing three when a car finally pulled to a stop in front of Jin's house. It wasn't Jin - the legs that appeared underneath the car door as it opened were decidedly feminine, as was the flowery scent that spun through the air.

  The car door slammed shut, revealing a short blonde wearing four inch heels, rolled up jeans, and a purple crop top. She was a little on the overweight side, but absolutely stunning to look at. Her keys jangled loudly and silver flashed, drawing my gaze. Two letters hung from the ring - ME Short for Maisie Foster? If it was, she wasn't the least what I expected a mage to look like.

  She made her way through Jin's gate and up the steps. I glanced at the house where Quinn hid, and felt shock ripple through me.

  He was gone.

  Completely gone.

  And yet I'd seen or heard no movement and his car was still parked up the road.

  How could he leave without me catching some hint of it? He may have vampire speed, but even if he'd moved faster than a speeding bullet, I still should have caught some hint of it. Should have seen the disappearing flare of his life force.

  Frowning, I scanned the area with infrared, looking for some sign of him. Why would he wait all this time for Maisie, then run off? It made no sense at all.

  Then I caught the familiar scent of sandalwood and masculinity on the air. Quinn's scent.

  He was still here, even if I couldn't see him.

  I raised my nose, drawing in the scent, trying to find direction. It was coming from high above me. Not from the rooftops, but from the sky itself.

  My gaze went to the night and the stars, but there was nothing to be seen beyond the gathering clouds and the brightly shining moon.

  What the hell was going on? Vampires couldn't fly - not unless they were bird-shifters in their pre-vampire life, anyway. And whatever else he was, Quinn wasn't a shifter. Of that, I was sure.

  Then something he'd said a few months ago came back to me. I'd asked him how he'd gotten into Starr's compound without Rhoan or anyone else seeing him, and he'd said, I simply ceased to exist in any term the human mind recognizes.

  Shame he'd forgotten to mention the same damn talent allowed him to fly.

  My gaze went back to Maisie. She'd reached the front door and was searching through her bag. Obviously, she didn't keep her door keys on the same tag as her car keys. For a powerful mage, she was kinda dumb.

  Quinn's scent sharpened, and I had a sudden sense of movement through the air, though there was still nothing to be seen.

  At the last possible moment, Maisie seemed to sense the same thing, because she swung around and gasped. A hand formed out of thin air, chopping down hard. Maisie dropped to the steps like a stone.

  Quinn's form seemed to merge from the night as he drifted down the steps, landing neatly and lightly next
to Maisie's body. He studied her for a moment, then looked around, his gaze skimming past my hidey-hole with nary a pause of concern. Then he bent, picked Maisie up, and walked down the steps toward his car. He placed her in the passenger seat, then climbed into the driver's seat, started the engine, and zoomed off. I watched the car disappear, then backed out of my hiding spot and shifted shape. The compulsion and the moon heat leapt into focus, but one was now stronger than the other.

  Maybe shifting into wolf shape several times had finally muted the strength of Quinn's order. Which was good, because I needed to go to the club and do some serious ache-easing.

  As my steps echoed across the still night, I pressed the com-link in my ear and said, "Hello, hello, anyone tuned in?"

  "I'm always tuned-in, unlike some former liaisons who shall go unmentioned. "

  Oh joy. The caramel cow. "And a good evening to you, too, Sal. "

  "What do you want, Riley?"

  Pleasantry, which I was never going to get talking to her. But I guess I wasn't overly generous with it myself, so I was hardly in a position to bitch.

  Which had never stopped me before.

  "Jack around anywhere?"

  "One moment, please. "

  The sound of heels clicking came through the earpiece, meaning Jack was somewhere other than his desk. "Riley?" he said, after a moment. "Did you take care of our mage?"

  "Not exactly. "

  "What happened?"

  "Quinn happened. " And just mentioning his name had the barely settled anger rising again.

  Jack sighed. "What's he done this time?"

  "He's just kidnapped our little mage. "

  "What?"

  "Yeah. We did foul the pentagram through which she was calling the demons, which according to him was better than destroying it, because it will force her to expend more energy making a new one. "

  "In dark spells, it's usually the magician's blood that fuels the summoning. Fouling it won't actually stop her using it, it'll just prevent her from calling through certain types of entities. "

  "Meaning I should have destroyed it?" That Quinn had spun yet another lie?

  "She would have sensed the destruction. It might have driven her - and the rest of them - underground. " He paused, and the sound of liquid hissing into a cup came down the line. He was either in the day-shift operations room or the foyer, where the other coffee machine was situated. "What happened after that? How come Quinn kidnapped the mage and why aren't you with him?"

  "Because the bastard pulled his vampire wiles on me - embedded an order to go home while our telepathic line was open. "

  "Game man. Has he still got his balls?"

  I grinned, and very much suspected there was nothing pleasant about it. Amusement wasn't high on my list of emotions right now. "For the moment. I did make an interesting discovery in the process of going home, though - becoming a wolf actually transmutes the compulsion. "

  "Does it? That's interesting. "

  "Yeah. Once I'd discovered that, I naturally headed back to see what Quinn was up to. That's when I discovered he could not only make himself totally invisible to all senses except scent, but that he could also fly. "

  "What?"

  "Well, I'm not actually sure if he was flying. I couldn't see wings or anything. He seemed to be more drifting. "

  "Even very old vampires cannot fly. "

  "But before he was vampire, he was half-human and half something else," I corrected. "And that other half is something that doesn't exist anymore. "

  "Only birds - or bird-shifters - fly. "

  "So do gryphons. So do a hundred other things that can't be classified as birds. "

  "None of which Quinn is. "

  I raised my eyebrows. "Then you know what he is?"

  "Nope. I only know what I've been told. "

  By his sister, no doubt, who was the next one up the vampire ladder from Quinn. Which, in itself, was a mystery waiting to be solved, because Jack was a whole lot younger in vampire terms than Quinn and his sister. "Quinn's driving a black Porsche. " I gave him the license plate number, then added, "He's got GPS in the car - don't suppose you can plug into the satellite and backtrack to see where he is going?"

  "It'll take a bit of time to find his car-code and then track him, but we can try. "

  "And in the meantime, what do you want me to do?"

  "Any word from Jin?"

  "No. " Of course, it was hard to get word when I had the phone off But I wasn't about to mention that because Jack would kill me.

  "Any chance that you could get an invite to their dinner party tomorrow night?"

  Who'd have guessed that was coming? "Can't you get the infrared working?"

  "No. He's got some of the most sophisticated shielding in that house that I've ever come across. We can get their body heat and positioning, but we're still only catching snippets of actual conversation. "

  "I can try. " Turning on my phone would probably be a good start. Given the frustration burning down the telepathic line earlier, Jin was one needy little demon. And while he could go out and get himself another girl, he'd gained a taste for werewolf flesh. And it wasn't a boast to say we did hard sex better than most humans, simply because we had the stamina.

  "Then try. We need to get into that house and see what they're up to. "

  I blew out a breath, and hoped like hell that Jin had learned his lesson and started fucking like a normal psycho rather than an abnormal one.

  Though was there any such thing as an abnormal psycho?

  "I'm heading to the Blue Moon, boss. Give me a call on the cell if you happen to track down Quinn. "

  "Will do. "

  I touched my ear once to turn off sound but not tracking, changed my clothes, then climbed into my car, and drove on to the club. As usual, there was a queue out the front, though given the full moon was still a few days off, it wasn't all that bad. I walked past them and ignored the annoyed comments thrown my way. If they were stupid enough not to make a permanent table booking in a club as popular as this one, well, that was their problem, not mine.

  Jimmy, the half-lion-shifter, half-human bouncer gave me a huge gold-toothed grin as he looked me up and down. "I like the dress, but the drying blood on your arms and legs is a bit of a worry. "

  "You don't think it'll catch on as a fashion statement?" I paid my entrance fees and struck a pose.

  He snorted softly. "No. You been in a fight again, girl?"

  "Everyone knows there's nothing like a good fight to get the hormones going. " I grinned and stood on my tippy-toes to drop a quick kiss on his cheek. "Anyone I know inside?"

  "Kellen came through about half an hour ago looking for you. "

  Ah, good. I was hoping he'd be here - it saved me the trouble of ringing him and inviting him down. Jimmy opened the door, and I scooted inside. The air was rich with the scent of lust and sex, and I breathed deep, allowing the atmosphere to soak through every pore, every muscle, every bone. The desire burning through my bloodstream leapt into renewed focus, and suddenly it was all I could do not to shuck off my dress, dump my bag, and go join the sweaty, passionate crowd pressed so close together on the dance floor.

  I loved this place. Always had. But in recent months, I hadn't come here as often as normal, and standing here now, I had to wonder why. I mean, Quinn had made it patently obvious he didn't like the werewolf lifestyle, didn't like our free and easy attitude to sex. despite the fact he was a benefactor of that attitude. And he hated me coming to the clubs when he was in town.

  But it wasn't until now that I realized just how much I'd curbed my wilder nature for him.

  At least I wouldn't have that trouble any longer. I could do who I wanted, when I wanted. I briefly raised my gaze, watching the hologram stars twinkle against the midnight-colored roof as I blinked away the sting of tears.

  Damn him to hell, I thought, and headed down the steps. Closer to the dance floor
, the sensual beat of the music was accompanied by grunts of pleasure and the slap of flesh against flesh. The fever in my blood rose to boiling point and my breath caught, then quickened. I wanted - needed - to get out there. To lose myself in the middle of that sweating, writhing crowd, to think about nothing more than sheer and utter pleasure.

  Once again I resisted the temptation to just dump everything on a table, and walked instead into the changing rooms. After a quick shower to wash the sweat and blood from my skin, I finger-combed my damp hair, then shoved my clothes into the locker. Once I'd clipped the key onto a chain around my neck, I finally headed out.

  The rich aromas of hunger and desire spun around me, a living thing that stole my breath and made the low-down ache even fiercer. Despite this, I stopped, my gaze scanning the lusty crowd. The moon fever might burn, but tonight there was only one I wanted. Someone totally to opposite Quinn in every way imaginable. Someone who was warm and caring and most importantly of all, dependable.

  Someone who not only wanted me every bit as badly as Quinn, but who wanted me as I was, not as I could be if only I would allow myself to be that bit more malleable.

  My gaze centered on the brown wolf dancing with several females on the far edge of the dance floor and anticipation zoomed through me.

  I moved into the crowd, flirting, dancing, and teasing, enjoying the press of so much flesh but never stopping, my eyes always on the main prize.

  He was dancing with several different females by the time I neared him, meaning he was merely cruising, waiting rather than participating. The thought had my hormones doing a happy little jig. I dropped a kiss on his shoulder blade and drew in his scent, so spicy and rich and male, then slid my hands around his waist and pressed my breasts against the heated flesh of his spine. As I echoed his dance moves, I skimmed my fingers down his abs, enjoying the tremor that ran through his muscles, feeling a sudden rush of power as he pressed back against me. Encouraging, demanding. My touch slid lower, caressing hair, then flesh. His penis was thick and hard, pulsing with desire. I caressed him, teased him, sliding my hands up and down his shaft as I slid my breasts up and down his back. His hunger flicked around me, a noose of heat that captured me, drowned me, making me hunger for him, making me ready for him.

  I slid my hands to his hips, gently pulling him backward, guiding him deeper into the thick press of flesh, until the smell of sex so was powerful it was almost liquid and space was at such a premium that it felt like a hundred different people were touching, pressing, caressing.

  We danced, my front to his back, a slow but carnal overture of what was to come. Sweat formed where our flesh touched, and the air was so thick with the heat of our desire I could barely even breathe. Then he turned, and smiled, before his mouth claimed mine and we were kissing like our lives depended on it.

  And when it all became too much, he lifted me up and onto him. Then he was in me, stretching me, filling me, in a way so pleasurable I moaned the glory of it to the moon.

  He began to move, thrust, and I moved with him, riding him hard, savoring the sensations flowing through me, until the waves of pleasure rippling my skin became a molten force that would not be denied. But as the shudders of completion ripped through us both, and the warmth of his seed flooded deep inside, a tiny part of me wished I was with another.

  I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. Forget him. Just forget him.

  Kellen wrapped his free hand around the back of my neck, holding me still as he claimed another kiss. It was a fierce and demanding thing, and I let his hunger claim me anew, determined to enjoy regardless of how sad that tiny part of me might be.

  "Your nose and mouth are looking a bit bruised," he said, after a while.

  "I had a bit of a run-in with the wall. "

  "Work or an accident?"

  "Work. "

  "Hope you made the bastard pay. "

  "Oh, yeah. "

  He touched my lip gently, sending desire quivering through my limbs. "It looks painful. Maybe I should stop kissing you. "

  "Like hell. " I pulled him again and kissed him hard, just to prove it didn't hurt. Even though it did, just a little.

  "I reserved a privacy room for us," he said eventually.

  "The one with the spa, or the one with the airbed?"

  "Spa. The airbed was gone by the time I got here. "

  "Good. " I'd had enough of things floating in the air that shouldn't for one night. I kissed him gently, then said, "I'm glad you came here tonight. "

  "Riley, I have no intentions of letting you be with anyone else any more than necessary. " He touch my cheek this time, fingers warm against my skin as he brushed sweaty strands of hair back behind my ears. "I want you to be mine, and only mine. "

  "Well, tonight your wish has been granted. "

  "I wasn't talking about just tonight. "

  "I know. " I smiled and touched his face, cupping his cheek and letting my thumb brush his familiar lips. "And maybe I'm ready to talk about that. But not here. Not yet. "

  His sudden smile was so filled with happiness and warmth that my toes curled. He scooped me up in his arms and strode purposefully toward the rear of the club and the privacy rooms.

  And as I leaned my head on his shoulder and listened to the steady beat of his heart, I realized that, in many ways, I was ready. Quinn might have hurt me tonight with his actions, but perhaps he'd also done me a favor.

  And perhaps it really was time to give my brown wolf a chance to prove whether or not we were meant to be.

  Rhoan was up and about by the time I got home. He looked out from the kitchen as I closed the door, and held up a cup. I nodded, threw my gym bag on the sofa, and collapsed down beside it.

  "You look like a wolf who's had a hard night," he said, offering me the steaming mug before he sat down on the sofa opposite. "Need I ask why?"

  "Kellen reserved the spa room at the Blue Moon. We made full use of both the bed and the spa. "

  Rhoan raised his eyebrows. "Kellen? What happened to Quinn?"

  "The bastard used mind control on me. "

  "Ah. " Rhoan took a sip of his coffee, his expression giving little away. But he was my twin, and I knew exactly what he was thinking even if we didn't share the empathy of twins. Quinn would get an earful for his actions, and I wasn't just talking about words. Rhoan didn't mind getting in the odd smack or two to emphasize his points when it came to anyone who hurt me.

  I sipped the coffee, and sighed in contentment at the nutty, hazelnut flavor. Rhoan had obviously gone shopping. "Anything of interest happen last night?"

  He shrugged. "My shift ended at two, and up until then they were all a model of decency. Depressing, really. "

  I grinned. "I'm betting you weren't the model of decency once you got back to Liander's. "

  "We!!, no. It's amazing the fun that can be had with a rubber monkey suit. "

  I didn't even want to go there. "So, what's next?"

  He sipped his coffee and appeared to consider the question. Annoyance stirred. I knew my twin better than I knew myself, and right now, he was hedging. "Spit it out, bro. "

  "Well, we have planned an official little raid on a certain hotel room rented by one Quinn O'Conor. "

  "I want in. "

  "Riley - "

  "That bastard has used and abused me for the last time. It's about time he started taking me seriously. "

  "Slapping him in handcuffs won't make him do that. "

  "Maybe not, but just think of the pleasure it'll give me to watch his expression as I do it. "

  He snorted softly. "You haven't even asked why we're arresting him. "

  "Because he's with the dark mage. "

  Surprise flitted across his otherwise calm expression. "You knew that?"

  "Discovered it last night. " I hesitated. "I also discovered that changing shape mutes a vampire's compulsion. "

  He nodded, as if it were something he'd long
known. If that were the case, he could have told me. "So you're the reason Jack was tracking him in the first place?"

  "Yep. " I downed the coffee in several gulps and rose. "What time is the raid planned?"

  Rhoan glanced at his watch. "Jack wants us there at ten. " He looked at me and smiled. "He knew you'd want in. "

  "I'm getting predictable, and that's just sad. " I glanced across at the clock. "I've time enough to freshen up, then. "

  A hot shower didn't do a whole lot to shake the tiredness, but at least I felt cleaner. I grabbed some pants and a thick sweater to combat the chill of the day, then retrieved my boots from the grip of the dust bunnies under my bed. Not only did these particular boots have a nice big heel, but the heel itself was made of wood. A handy thing if a certain vampire got antsy. Not that I'd stake him with the intent of killing him, but hurting him just a little was a tempting prospect.

  Once dressed, I grabbed my ID, credit cards, and cell phone, then headed out. Rhoan tossed me my gun. "If you forget it this time, Jack will kill you. "

  "Only if some tattletale tells him I keep forgetting it. " I reluctantly strapped it on. "I don't want to start relying on these things, bro. "

  "I know. But sometimes, a werewolf's teeth and a vampire's speed just aren't enough. Trust me on this. " He gave me a quick hug, then ushered me out the door. "And if you are going to do this job - and we both know you really have no other choice - then you have to learn to use all the tools of the trade. Whether you like them or not. "

  Speaking of tools. . . I pulled the phone from my pocket and turned it on. To find a dozen voice messages awaiting me, all from Jin. I listened to them as I followed Rhoan down the stairs. Each was basically the same - an apology, a demand that I ring. It wasn't until the last one that he sounded anything resembling contrite.

  "That's one bad boy who has it bad for you," Rhoan commented, as he opened the passenger door of his old Ford and ushered me inside.

  "He just adores the way I take a slap," I murmured, concentrating on sending Jin a semi-cold text message. I might be under orders to get into that dinner party tonight, but I didn't have to be all meek and mild about it.

  "A lot of bad men seem to like that," Rhoan commented, after getting into the car and venturing into the traffic. "Must be something in their makeup. They get their rocks off on giving others pain. "

  I looked at him. "Is that why you enjoy the job so much?"

  He shrugged. "Sometimes, different is good. "

  "Different from Liander, you mean?"

  He gave me a keen glance. "I love Liander, don't get me wrong, but sometimes, I just need more. My work gives me that, Riley. "

  "He's not complaining about the men you do within your job. He's complaining about the ones outside work. "

  Rhoan sniffed. "Yeah, well - "

  "Don't give me that 'yeah, well' bullshit. Liander's a good man, and he doesn't deserve the crap you hand out. At the very least, you should talk to him. "

  "I can't. "

  "Why the hell not?" My phone rang. I looked down and saw it was Jin. I ignored it and looked back at my brother, waiting for a reply.

  He scrubbed a hand across his jaw as he looked in the rearview mirror. "Because I don't want to lose him. "

  I blinked. Of all the excuses I'd been imagining, that certainly wasn't one of them. "What?"

  "If I confront the issue, he may decide to walk away. I don't want to risk that, Riley. I really don't. "

  I reached across and touched his knee. "Liander loves you, and he's not going to walk away unless you push him to it. And that's precisely what's happening now - he's very frustrated by your refusal to talk about the situation. "

  He looked at me. "Frustrated enough to walk away?"

  "Yes. "

  "Fuck. "

  "Yes. "

  "I can't do monogamous. I don't want to do monogamous. "

  "There's always compromises in any relationship, Rhoan. Maybe this is one you and Liander have to come to. " And I honestly didn't think Liander would mind Rhoan having other partners in a work situation. As long as he was committed outside of it. "If you care for him as much as you say, bro, it might pay to give a little. "

  He grimaced. "I don't know - "

  "Talk to him. At least do that. "

  "Okay. "

  "Promise?"

  "Promise. "

  "I'll nag you endlessly if you don't. "

  He laughed. "You do anyway. " The phone rang again and he glanced down. "And for God's sake, answer that, before the poor man has a coronary. "

  "Him having a coronary could solve some problems. "

  "Not if he's a demon who can just go get another body. " Rhoan glanced in the rearview mirror again. "Answer the damn phone. "

  I pressed the receiver and said, "Hello," even as I flipped down the sunshade and slid aside the cover of the vanity mirror. Rhoan kept looking at something behind us, but for the moment, I couldn't see what.

  "I'm sorry," Jin said, voice warm and contrite. "I acted like an ass last night. "

  "Yes, you did," I said coolly. "And it wasn't appreciated. "

  "Can I make up for it?"

  "I don't know. Can you?"

  "Would an expensive lunch be a start?"

  Given I had no intention of spending any more time in this man's company than necessary - and I did use the term "man" loosely - lunch was definitely out. "It would be nice, but I can't today. "

  "How about dinner, then? A friend is having an exclusive dinner party at his Toorak mansion, and the food and company are usually excellent. "

  Yeah, I just bet they were. "I could be tempted. "

  "Could be?"

  "Most certainly. "

  "Shall I pick you up?"

  "I prefer to drive. That way, I have transport in case there's a sudden ass attack. "

  He laughed. "Then I shall meet you at my friend's. " He gave me Kingsley's address. "I promise, no sudden ass attacks tonight. "

  He was either very sure of the attraction between us, or he was trying to regain my trust by making out like he had nothing to hide. Why else would he give me the address? I mean, he had to be very sure I wouldn't report it to someone - like the cops. "Good. What time shall I meet you?"

  "Seven. "

  "Until then, then. "

  I hung up and shoved the phone back in my pocket. "One job done. "

  "You be careful in there tonight. "

  "I'll be fine. And you'll be listening in via the van - won't you?"

  "Yeah, but there's still too many variables we just don't understand at the moment, and I've just got an edgy feeling it could all go ass up. "

  He looked in the mirror again, and I frowned. "What the hell do you keep looking at?"

  "I think we picked up a tail. "

  I flipped down the vanity mirror again. "Where?"

  "Three cars back, white Toyota. "

  The car wasn't hard to spot - it wasn't like he was trying to hide or anything. "You sure?"

  "Not a hundred percent. It's just a hunch. "

  I'd back Rhoan's hunches over most people's certainties any day. "You want me to call it in?"

  "Nope. You feel up to a little interrogation session?"

  I raised my eyebrows, and tried to ignore my pulse's little jump of excitement. "We got time?"

  He glanced at his watch. "Five minutes to spare. "

  I rolled my shoulders, and gave in to that flicker of excitement. "Let's do it, then. "

  Rhoan grinned, then flicked another glance at the mirror and swung into a side street, pressing his foot hard on the accelerator. The tires squealed as they slipped then caught, and the car shot forward. Another look at the mirror, another left, and then he was stopping. I jumped out of the car and ran into the shadows of the nearest building, hunkering down in the doorway so I was less likely to be seen. Rhoan moved off, but slower this time.

  Within a minute, the
white Toyota slid around the corner and accelerated. I waited until they'd almost passed, then slipped my laser from its holster and shot out both the nearside tires. Then I was up and running.

  The car skidded to an awkward stop, inches away from a blue Ford parked along the curb. Up ahead, Rhoan had stopped at an angle, letting the car block the road as he scrambled out.

  Two men tumbled from the Toyota. The driver headed toward Rhoan, while the passenger came running in my direction. I stepped in his path, and a grin split his strong, hairy features. "You're not going to try and stop me, are you, little girl?"

  "You're right," I said, moving in so fast he barely had time to blink before my fist was buried into his gut. "I'm not going to try and stop you. "

  The air left his lungs in a whoosh, and he collapsed to his knees with an odd sort of wheeze. I grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and dragged him back toward the car. A quick look ahead showed that Rhoan had the driver under control.

  I threw hairy guy into the side of the car. He hit headfirst and cursed. I ignored it, patted him down for weapons, then caught his right arm and pressed it up and back against his spine. His curse became a hiss of pain.

  "Ease up, girly. I ain't done nothin' to you. "

  "You're following a guardian. While that may not be illegal, it's certainly considered an insane practice by most. Especially us guardians. "

  "You ain't no guardian. "

  I pushed just a little bit harder on his arm, then with my free hand, got out my badge and shoved it in his face. "Proof enough, buddy boy?" He nodded, and I put the badge away. "Why were you following us?"

  "I was paid to, wasn't I?"

  "By whom?"

  "I don't know. I didn't talk to the contact, did I?"

  "Did your friend the driver talk to him?"

  "Yes. "

  I reached sideways and opened the passenger door. "You will get inside the car and you will not move out of it or I will cut your flaming legs off. Understand?"

  He nodded. I shoved him inside, slammed the door shut and walked across to Rhoan. He had the driver spread-eagled against the rear of our car, and was leaning against him, one elbow planted in his back to hold him in place as he went through the driver's wallet.

  "You get the name of his employer?" I asked, stopping at an angle so I could keep an eye on hairy guy.

  "Not yet. He's demanding we arrest him, and that he gets his phone call before he says anything. "

  I raised my eyebrows. "You did tell him we're guardians, not cops, didn't you?"

  "Nope. Why bother with niceties when it comes to scum?" He closed the wallet and shoved it back into the man's pocket. "You want to do the honors?"

  "Honors?" the driver squawked. "What fucking honors? What the hell are you talking about?"

  We both ignored him. "You know it's a pain in the ass using telepathy on crap like this - why don't you just beat it out of him?"

  "Beat? You can't beat me - it's against the fucking - "

  Rhoan dug his elbow in a little harder and the rest of the driver's sentence was lost to his yelp.

  "He's human. "

  "So fucking what? Just beat him up, get the name, and let's get on with it. "

  "Okay, okay, I'll talk. "

  Rhoan gave me a grin, then wrapped his arm around the driver's neck and drew him upright. "So talk," he said, voice soft. Deadly.

  "It was a man called Gautier. Met him last night. Said he needed us to follow you and report back where you went. "

  Gautier. Was there no getting rid of that prick ? "Was that all he asked you to do?"

  "Yes," the driver wheezed.

  Rhoan leaned close to the guy's greasy head, and said, "You're lying. "

  "Trackers. We set them on your car, in case we lost you. "

  Rhoan tightened his grip until the man's breathing became a desperate gasp. "That all?"

  "Yes. For God's sake, yes. "

  "Where did you have to report back?"

  "He gave us a phone number. "

  "Then give it to me. "

  The man wheezed out some numbers. Rhoan spun the man around and pushed him toward the car. "You warn your employer about this little episode and I'll make sure I pay you a little visit. "

  The man caught his balance, then wheezed, "I won't, I won't. "

  "Good," Rhoan said, voice all mild. "Don't let me see you following me again, or it won't be just your tires my partner shoots out. "

  The man ran for his car, threw it into reverse, and left - flat tires and all. I shook my head at my brother. "You enjoyed that, didn't you?"

  "And you didn't?"

  I grinned. "All I need now is another coffee, and my morning will be complete. "

  Some part of me was scared by that admission. Scared by the fact I did enjoy roughhousing that scumbag. Scared by the fact it would be so easy to let instinct take over completely, to become the one thing I never wanted to be - a hunter as skilled and deadly as my brother.

  The possibility was there. It was definitely there.

  I shivered and rubbed my arms. "You want to check your side of the car for traveling bugaboos? I'll check this side. "

  Rhoan nodded. Ten minutes later we had five tracking bugs sitting on the front of the car. "Gautier wasn't taking any chances," I said, picking up one and crushing it under my heel. "What I don't get is why he'd even bother to employ idiots like that. Especially if he can now move around in daylight himself. "

  "Maybe he still has some restrictions. Maybe whatever magic he's getting from these people is only short-term. Which means he needs outside help to track our movements. " Rhoan crushed several more bugs under his heel.

  "Gautier mentioned something about coming after me once he gets all that he's been promised. " I dropped a bug and stood on it. "I've gut a bad feeling we had better stop him before that happens. "

  "We will. Neither Jack nor I are about to let anything happen to you, Riley. "

  Yeah, but my brother was only a dhampire, and Jack was only a vampire. If Gautier's warning was anything to go by, then he was becoming something more. Something deadly and not of this world.

  The thought had chills skating across my skin. I ignored them and crushed the last of the bugs, scattering the metal remnants with a toe. "You want me to report the phone number to Jack?"

  "Yeah. He'll have it tapped and watched, though I doubt Gautier will be foolish enough to go there. He'll probably have a remote dial-in arrangement. "

  Most likely. One thing Gautier could never be accused of was dumbness in the line of duty. We got into the car, and I phoned Jack while Rhoan drove on to the hotel.

  It was one Quinn and I had been to a few times in the past. I climbed out of the car and looked at the Langham's luxurious foyer, and suddenly wondered how many other women he'd escorted through the marble and crystal opulence.

  Not that I minded Quinn having other women. It was just the lies. The saying one thing and doing another. Dishonesty was something I just couldn't forgive.

  "Heading in now, Jack," Rhoan said, as he walked around the car and flashed his credentials at the valet people. He glanced at me. "Jack said to stop being a pain in the ass and turn the com-link sound on again. "

  "Oh. Yeah. " I lightly pressed the little button. "Sorry, Jack. "

  "One of these days you're going to be tied up and in serious trouble because you've got your com-link off and can't call it in. "

  "I said I was sorry. "

  "Forget the sorry. Just quit doing it. "

  "Okay, okay. " We entered the lower foyer and ran up the scrumptious staircase. Rhoan headed over to reception while I continued on to check out the dining area. The rich aroma of toast and sweet pastries made my nose twitch, but I tried to ignore the luscious food on display and scanned the area. No sign of Quinn or the dark mage. My gaze drifted to the food, and my stomach rumbled.

  I somehow forced my feet away, and headed back
to reception. "They're in six-twelve," Rhoan said. "Apparently he had food delivered half an hour ago. "

  "Why? He doesn't need to eat and she was unconscious. "

  "Obviously, that's no longer the case. "

  Obviously. The question was, why did he force me away and then kidnap her? What did he need to do that he couldn't let the Directorate in on?

  "Quinn won't take this lightly," Jack said. "Whatever he's up to, he doesn't want us to know about, and that means he'll probably fight capture. "

  My stomach did an odd flip-flop. I wasn't sure whether the cause was excitement or fear. "Even against the two of us?"

  "Sentimentality doesn't play a whole lot into the thinking of an old vampire," Jack said, voice dry. "Not when he's on the hunt. "

  "Great. " I looked at Rhoan. "Let's get this over with. "

  We headed up. As we approached the room, I blinked, flicking my vision to infrared. Two bodies jumped into focus, one far darker than the other. Oddly enough, Quinn was the brighter one, and closer to the wall. Maisie sat near the window. I glanced at my brother.

  He pointed to me, then to the right. I nodded, and pressed a hand flat against the door as he got the keycard out of his pocket. He looked at me again, and raised an eyebrow in query. I took a deep breath, then readied the laser and nodded again. He swiped the card through the slot, and I flung the door open, waiting until he was in before following him through.

  There was an exclamation, a flash of red light, a blur of movement, then Rhoan was being tossed sideways like so much rubbish and that blur of heat was coming at me. I pressed the laser, aiming low, scouring the carpet and the end of his toes, not wanting to permanently hurt him. There was a brief whiff of rich spice and seared flesh, and Quinn was on me. I ducked his blow, dropped to the ground, and swept with a leg. Incredibly, I hit him, knocking him off his feet. His butt hit the floor with a thump that would have bruised the tailbone of any other man. And though I'm sure he could have moved, he didn't. Just sat there with a somewhat surprised look on his face.

  At any other time, it might have been funny.

  Right now, when it was just another instance of how much he underestimated me, it wasn't.

  I rose and aimed the laser at him. "Move, and next time it'll be more than your toes. "

  The surprise melted away, and anger sparked to life, burning in his dark eyes, heating the very air around me. "What are you doing here?"

  "My job. Rhoan, you okay?"

  "Yeah. Bit of a bruised jaw, but I ducked the worst of it. " Footsteps whispered across the carpet. "He has the mage confined. "

  "Good. " I looked at Quinn. "You want to get up?"

  He did. And the closeness of him, the rich, glorious smell of him, had my hormones doing giddy little cartwheels. I couldn't ever imagine a time when I didn't want this vampire, moon-heated lust or not. But as I kept trying to tell him, while sex might play a major part in my life, there was only so much shit I could take before the enticement of good sex began to wane and frustration and annoyance took hold.

  Quinn and I had passed that point ages ago.

  "How did you find me here?" His voice was low, rich with the lilt of Ireland. Which usually meant he was barely controlling some emotion or other. His accent was rarely noticeable, otherwise.

  "I asked Jack to track you after you knocked out the mage last night. "

  He raised his eyebrows, surprise evident yet again. "You countermanded my order to go home?"

  "I did. Fancy that. " I looked past him. "You want him cuffed?"

  "There is no need - "

  My finger tightened reflexively against the laser and a soft whine filled the room. "I am itching for an excuse to shoot, you know. "

  "Cuff him if you want to," Rhoan said.

  "I want. "

  "Revenge for last night?" Quinn said, amusement playing amongst the anger.

  "Just doing my job," I said, and met his gaze.

  I'm not entirely sure what he saw in my eyes, but the amusement and the anger fled abruptly. "Riley - "

  "It's too late, Quinn," I said softly. Wearily. "I'm tired of listening to your excuses, tired of the one-way traffic. I am a werewolf, I am a guardian, and it seems you can't accept either. "

  "We had a deal - "

  "Would that be the deal you keep breaking?" I caught the cuffs Rhoan tossed my way. "Tell me, how long have you been using our telepathic bond to curb my visits to the clubs?"

  It was a guess, but a reasonable one. I certainly hadn't been restricting my visits consciously - but my reaction in the Blue Moon last night had certainly proved that they had indeed been curbed. And the wolf within wouldn't have done it willingly - hell, she wanted more visits, not less.

  So it had to have been an unconscious decision. A decision caressed into compliance by a link so light I wasn't even aware of it.

  He didn't say anything, and that in itself was damning.

  "Turn around and place your hands behind your back. "

  "There is no need for this," he said quietly, even as he obeyed. "And there was a good reason for sending you home last night. "

  "I don't care if there was or there wasn't. And there is every need for me to do this. There are consequences for every action, Quinn. It's about time I started making you pay for yours. "

  "We - "

  "Are finished. " I looked at Rhoan. "You ready?"

  He nodded, then looked at Quinn. "Don't try anything. If she doesn't shoot you, I will. "

  "For interrogating a suspect?"

  "No. For abusing Riley's trust yet again. " He picked up Maisie, throwing her like a securely cuffed sack over his shoulder. "Let's get this show on the road. "

  I stepped back and waved Quinn past me. He gave me his vampire face, but the air fairly burned with his anger. And surprise.

  He hadn't expected that I'd really end it. Hadn't believed that I'd meant what I said.

  Now all I had to do was find the strength to really walk away.