by Cynthia Eden
Mickey picked up a table and threw it at Jude. He swore and leapt to the side, swiping out with his claws.
“Dammit, you jerks are gonna pay for everything you break!” Catalina’s furious voice.
Noted. But no big deal because mostly, he just planned on breaking that idiot hyena’s face.
Mickey screamed, a high, shrill animal cry, and hoisted up another table.
Jude sprang across the room and knocked the table out of the hyena’s hands. Then he shoved the jerk up against the wall and pinned Mickey there with his claws.
Another desperate cry, one that had Jude’s ears ringing. Damn hyenas. They had the shrillest voices.
Jude twisted his claws and Mickey whimpered. “Who’s the new shifter, Mickey?” The guy was scum, but he knew every bit of shifter business that passed in the city. Hyenas and foxes always knew. They picked up every bit of gossip, every whisper.
Mickey shook his head. “No…new shifter.”
Not the answer he wanted. Jude sighed. “Ah, Mickey, why do we have to do this the hard way?”
The hyena flinched, and a soft, familiar scent teased Jude’s nostrils.
No, no way. She wouldn’t be there. Couldn’t be there.
But that scent—his cock began to swell.
Had to be her.
“Jude?”
Ah, hell. Talk about piss-ass-poor timing.
“Jude—what are you doing?”
Pretty much just what it looked like. Pinning prey.
“Help!” Mickey the idiot shouted. “This freak’s trying to kill me!”
Jude twisted his claws, because he could.
The hyena’s words choked off.
High heels slapped on the wooden floor. “You’re in a public bar, you can’t just—”
Sighing, he glanced back at Erin. Flushed face. Kiss-me red lips, and an are-you-crazy expression in her eyes. “Relax. The chick behind the bar’s a witch, the half-asleep asshole in the corner’s a charmer, and this jerkoff is a—”
“Shifter.” A whisper from her sexy lips. Her nostrils flared, just a bit.
Of course she’d know. Like to like.
Mickey whimpered and tried to appear pitiful. Jude had to give the guy credit—he looked pitiful. But he always did.
“You can’t do this.” Erin’s voice was still hushed. Maybe she wasn’t buying the whole the-bartender-is-a-witch story. “No matter what he is, you can’t just—”
A growl built in his throat. The rich scent of Mickey’s blood teased him. Maybe it was time Erin figured out just who, what, she was dealing with.
And sleeping with at night.
“Not a cop, sweetheart. Their rules don’t apply to me.” And what was she doing in the bar, anyway? Delaney’s wasn’t exactly well advertised in this city. More of a paranormals only club.
Catalina’s magic kept the humans out. They didn’t know why, but they just always walked right past the faded blue building with the white French doors on Louis Street.
“Lady!” Mickey’s squeak. “You gotta help me! This ass-asshole’s crazy. You need—”
He heard the inhalation of her breath. “Mickey McQueen.”
The hyena blinked.
“You’re wanted for three charges of assault and battery, McQueen.”
Yeah, and Jude would be collecting that bounty soon enough. “I want the name, Mickey,” Jude snapped, barreling right over Erin’s words. She wasn’t about to haul his prey away, not yet.
Mickey shook his head, a frantic move. “L-lady—”
“Have it your way.” The burn of his lengthening canines filled Jude’s mouth. His gaze narrowed on the hyena’s throat, on the pulse that thudded faster, faster. Jude lowered his head, teeth barred, almost tasting—
“No new shifters—none!” Mickey’s scream. Frantic. Mickey liked giving pain, but he wasn’t so much for taking it.
Jude stilled. The little asshole had to be telling the truth. Mickey had never been good at playing chicken.
No new shifters. But one new shifter was right beside him. How come Mickey didn’t realize that?
Erin grabbed Jude’s shoulder, jerked him back, and sent him hurling across the room.
Jude fell into a table. The wood gave way, smashing beneath him and sending his ass right to the floor. Hard.
“You’ll pay for that one, too,” Catalina said. The witch was just stating a fact. She didn’t sound too interested in the chaos.
Then, silence.
His gaze tracked to Erin. The lady wasn’t even breathing hard.
“Hot damn.” An impressed voice, an annoying voice. Zane. He stood in the doorway, hands on his hips, and watched Erin with narrowed eyes and pursed lips.
Well, at least now he knew why Erin had showed up at Delaney’s.
Mickey rushed toward the door, his claws out as he lunged at Zane.
The demon hit him hard and fast, and Mickey went down with a sigh shuddering out of him and his eyes closing.
Problem one solved.
Jude shoved up to his feet. Erin rounded on him, her hands fisted. “You can’t attack suspects!”
He lunged across the room. Caught one of those deceptively delicate fists in his hands. Kissed it. The woman had just tossed his ass ten feet and he wanted her. She was sexy and strong and her eyes were so dark and gold. Perfect.
Flawed? Not fucking likely.
The tiger inside was all but licking his lips.
“Mickey is guilty as sin,” he told her. “We both know it.”
“Yeah, he is,” Zane said, stepping over the prone shifter and straightening his shoulders. His gaze swept over Erin, from her head to her toes. The asshole lingered a bit too long on her breasts. He came close to getting a jab in the face then.
She ignored the demon, keeping her attention on Jude. “There are laws, you know.”
“Human laws don’t always apply to us.” She should know that.
Her jaw worked. “You were going for his throat.”
And she’d protected the little prick. Mickey sure owed her. “I wouldn’t have bitten, sweetheart.” He dropped her hand and missed the touch of her skin almost at once. But Zane was watching with those too-sharp demon eyes of his. And Catalina was pretending to clean a glass, but he knew the witch caught every word, every look. “Just trying to push some information out of him.” It was the way he worked. He wouldn’t apologize for threatening the hyena. Wasn’t like Mickey was one of the “good” guys, not any day of the week.
Her arms crossed over her chest. “Doesn’t seem like your push worked to me.”
Maybe. Maybe not. “Why didn’t he catch your scent?”
A furrow appeared between her brows. “What?”
Jude glared at Zane, but the guy just crept closer.
Finally, Erin glanced over at the other hunter.
“Some arm you got there, lady.” Zane offered her a smile. The same flirtatious grin he tossed at every female he saw, and one that usually gave him good results. Smiles back, phone numbers, even a couple pairs of panties.
“You.” She exhaled on a hard breath. “I recognize your voice.” She would. Shifters were great at recognizing tones and cadences in voice patterns. Came from their acute hearing. “You’re the one who called and told me to come down here.”
Yeah, Jude had figured as much. Glaring, he said, “I thought the plan was for you to stop at the courthouse.” And not bring Erin into his hunt.
The demon shrugged. “She wasn’t scheduled for court today. Had to improvise.”
Improvise. Right. Zane had sent her right after his ass, and Erin had seen him at the worst moment.
Well, technically, it could have been worse. Mickey had still been breathing, after all.
“You said Jude needed me,” Erin’s voice heated. “That it was urgent, that I had to get down to this Delaney’s place—”
“We’re the best bar in town.” A murmur from Catalina.
Erin blinked.
“He did need you,” Zane
defended. “Why, you stopped the guy from crossing the line, from letting that wild beast out to attack and kill.”
Jude didn’t speak at that. He’d had control of his beast. He’d had control for years.
‘Cause the tiger had gotten loose once. He could still hear the screams sometimes. His prey hadn’t gone down easy.
He crept closer to Erin.
Zane’s head titled to the right, and he stared hard at Erin’s face. “You don’t seem too worried, lady.” A pause. “You’ve already seen the beast, haven’t you, Ms. Jerome?”
Her gaze darted to Jude.
“And you weren’t even a little afraid of him, were you?” Zane pressed.
No, she hadn’t been. Not when she’d seen him in tiger form. Erin hadn’t so much as backed up a step. No, no, she hadn’t looked afraid, she’d looked—
Thrilled.
Excited.
Not like a woman who was terrified of shifters.
And when he’d come back to her after the hunt, she’d done her one-eighty and seduced him.
Hands off to—
Hands most definitely on.
Not afraid.
Considering the shifter asshole after her, her attitude was a bit…surprising, to say the least.
“I’m not afraid of a little cat,” Erin said, voice soft and husky.
Little?
Zane’s loud laughter shook the room.
Jude was pretty sure he heard Catalina snort.
More laughter came from the demon. Then, after a couple of deep breaths, he managed to say, “Yeah, I guess if I were strong enough to throw him across the room, I wouldn’t be scared, either.”
The guy could throw him across the room. And had. At least three times sprang to mind. Two of those instances had happened right there in Delaney’s. Some nights, the place could get good and wild.
Erin cast a glance toward Mickey’s body. The hyena was still out cold. “I need to call the precinct and get a squad car out here for him—” She broke off, shaking her head. “I-I need…” Her voice thickened a bit and she lifted her hand, pushing her fingers against her right temple. “Th-that h-hurts…”
Jude stiffened and his stare jerked to Zane. The demon’s laughter was completely gone now and he was focused totally on Erin.
Bastard. He’d been waiting, biding his time to catch her off guard.
With a demon, one big-ass portion of his strength was psychic in nature. Demons could slip right into the minds of humans.
Erin could be half-human so would Zane be able to—
“Get out.” A grated demand, shaking with fury. Erin’s head jerked toward Zane and she bared her own teeth. Wickedly sharp teeth.
A low, pain-filled cry broke from Zane’s suddenly white lips, and his knees gave way beneath him. Before he could fall face-first into the floor, the witch was there, catching him, wrapping her arms around him.
Then Catalina stared at Erin with fear in her eyes.
Well, damn.
Chapter 8
What did he see? What did he see?
The drumming of her heartbeat filled Erin’s ears as she fought for control. The demon—the tall, dark, good-looking asshole had to be a demon—had slipped into her mind. She hadn’t expected an attack. She’d been too focused on Jude and the demon had slipped right past her defenses.
Broken.
Twisted.
What if he knew? If he’d seen into her, he’d know her secrets. If he told Jude—
“I want you out of my bar.” A woman, her long hair so blond it almost looked white, cradled the demon. Her green eyes glinted with a swirling combination of fear and fury. A combination Erin could respect. “I want you out, and I don’t want to see you again—whatever you are.”
Jude stepped in front of her. “Easy, Catalina. I think old Zane was the one to draw first blood. And he’d better explain himself, now.”
The fire in Erin’s temples had eased, but the ache that remained sent a wave of nausea through her. A demon’s touch. Her dad had warned her about demons and their tricks. Some demons could slip so easily into the minds of humans. Some were strong enough to see thoughts, to walk in dreams, and even to control their prey.
I’m not prey.
Zane wasn’t looking quite as tan as he’d been when he first sauntered into the bar. He was braced against the woman, Catalina, and she didn’t so much as buckle beneath his six-foot-plus frame.
Zane licked his lips. “Just…checking out the waters for you…hunter.”
Erin swallowed. “Don’t ever do that again.”
Slowly, very, very slowly, he lifted his arm from Catalina’s shoulders. “Don’t…worry. Won’t.”
“No, you won’t.” Jude’s fierce voice.
“Just wanted to see…what you were.”
Her cheeks flushed. Not with fury—that would have been good. Humiliation. What I am. No one knows, not even me.
One person thought he knew, and that guy was a sadistic freak.
No, I’m not like him. I won’t ever be.
She hoped, anyway. Because with her mother’s genes, there really weren’t any guarantees that she wouldn’t go bad one day.
“Not demon.” Zane’s eyes were on hers now, his head up. She held that stare, refusing to look away. Erin wasn’t really sure what had happened to the guy. Okay, what she’d done to him. She’d acted on instinct when she felt the probe in her mind.
There’d been a push at her, shoving at her thoughts—
So she’d shoved right back.
Instinct.
Her lip curled. Demon? Had he really thought she was like him? “No, I’m not.” And just what the hell had Jude done? Gone running back to his hunter friends and told them about her secrets?
Can’t trust anyone. She knew that.
So why did it feel like she’d just been punched?
Erin straightened her shoulders. “If this little game or test or whatever the hell it was has finished, I’ll call the cops and get out of here.” The sooner, the better.
“Erin.” A rumble from Jude. Dark and intense.
Damn him. Her eyes narrowed. “I told you what I am. You didn’t need to have your friend attack me.”
Then, because her claws were almost out and her teeth were burning and the rage had her heart racing, Erin marched for the door. She’d call for backup once she was outside. That’s what cell phones were for—screw making a call from the bar.
The demon and the witch very wisely sidled out of her way.
But Jude grabbed her arm, spinning her around, and she tumbled against his chest.
Too close. Her nostrils widened and she caught his heady scent. No, no, no.
“This wasn’t my plan.”
“Wasn’t it?” Because she didn’t believe him, not for a minute. He’d wanted to know. He’d said it himself. He’d wanted that demon to see her. Thought the plan was to go to the courthouse. Asshole. He hadn’t trusted her.
Granted, she hadn’t trusted him, either. But Erin decided to ignore that point, for now.
“You just told me about your mother,” Jude said, his hold tight. “You never said what your father was.”
She jerked away from him. Too easy, that. “He was a man, Jude. Just a man.” With psychic powers, sure. But her father had been all too human. After tossing one last glare at her hunter, she shoved open the glass door and strode into the harsh sunlight.
Silence. One minute. Two.
Catalina cleared her throat and pointed to the destruction that was her bar. “Night Watch is going to be paying for that. Tell Pak I don’t want a check this time. Cash only.”
He nodded.
Her fingers trailed down Zane’s cheek. “Never gonna learn, are you?” Then she eased away from him, shaking her head.
Jude glared at the bastard.
Zane winced and lifted a hand to his head. “Uh, some sympathy would be good here, man. I mean, your girlfriend just tried to fry my brain.”
Jude’s back teeth c
lenched. Control. Probably a good idea. He should stay in—
“And talk about being ungrateful. Where’s my thanks? At least you know she’s not a demon hybrid now. I got in her head enough to know she’s human, part anyway. But she’s—”
Jude grabbed the demon and lifted him a foot in the air. “You hurt her.”
Zane’s eyes widened even as they flashed black. “I’m the one with the sledgehammer banging in his head.”
“Don’t ever hurt her again, got me?” He didn’t care how many cases they’d worked together. “A look—you told me you just wanted a look to see if she was using glamour.” Demons could see right past the glamour that disguised others of their kind, unless you were dealing with a level ten. Nothing and no one could penetrate a level ten powerhouse’s veil.
The faint lines around Zane’s eyes tightened. “I was takin’ a look. A real long, deep look into your girl.”
Yeah, and judging from the way she’d looked at Jude before she’d stormed out of the bar, Erin was pissed. Because she thought he’d set her up.
And didn’t I?
Aw, hell.
He dropped the demon. The agile asshole landed easily. “Why’d your look hurt her?” He’d seen Zane work humans before. They usually had no clue what was happening to them. Zane’s psychic skills, his ability to ferret out secrets, were part of the reason why their cases broke so quickly.
When the two of them worked together, they were usually a pretty good team. Usually.
“Why’d it hurt her?” Jude demanded again.
Zane’s shoulders lifted, then fell. “Don’t know.” His lips thinned. “Never happened quite like…that before.” He exhaled. “That lady packs one hell of a psychic punch.”
Physically stronger, psychically stronger. No way was she a weak hybrid.
Shifting abilities or not.
“There is something…something you should know—”
A groan from the floor—one that came from a slow-waking Mickey—broke across Zane’s words.
Jude glanced down at the shifter, frowning.
“I didn’t get deep in her mind,” Zane said. “She blocked me before I could, but, hell, it was dark in there, man.”
Jude’s eyes rose to the demon once more.
“Dark.”
Now what the hell did that mean?