Midnight's Master

by Cynthia Eden

  “There is nobody else. You’re the best damned reporter at the station and you know it! Christ, look, I’m sorry for stepping on your toes, earlier, okay? You wanna date the king of all demons—fine, date the king of all demons. Just get your ass down here!” The scream of a siren sounded in the background. “Fuck, bomb squad is here. I need you.”

  He sounded just like the old Mac. Not dark and threatening. Just…Mac.

  This is my job.

  “They’re gonna scoop me, Holly. Come on…”

  But I can’t take a chance with my life. “I’ll be there, but I’m not coming alone.” She’d take the guards and they’d better stay close this time.

  “Fine—bring a damn entourage, I don’t care! Just get your ass over here!”

  Click.

  Sure didn’t sound like a man bent on her death.

  Holly grabbed her keys and rushed for the door.

  “This is Holly Storm, reporting live from Kent Towers, where bomb squad members have just wrapped up an intensive four-hour search of the building. No bombs were found…” A good thing in her mind. “But investigators aren’t closing the case yet. Now their attention will turn to tracking the person who made the false claim.” And throwing his ass in jail. “I’ll be back with more live news later in the day.” When most of the folks would actually be awake. “Back to you in the newsroom, Steve…”

  She waited a beat until she got the clear from Ben, then her shoulders dropped.

  For the last two hours, she’d been running on fumes. Those fumes were gone now and she’d be crashing in the next half hour.

  Where was Niol?

  Maybe he’d be back home when she got there.

  As long as he’s safe.

  Mac was gone. He’d cleared out when word had first come down about the hoax. The guy had been assured that he wouldn’t be scooped, and, satisfied, he’d taken off.

  And left her and Ben to carry the story.

  Poor Ben looked like he’d been beat, hard.

  But, then again, he had.

  “Get some sleep, Holly,” he said and she realized she probably looked the same way.

  Her side throbbed.

  “I’ll see you tonight at the station.” He dragged his camera away.

  Her guards stepped forward.

  “Holly!”

  She winced at the call, recognizing the voice instantly. Not what I need.

  She turned and caught sight of Zack. His face was flushed as he hurried toward her.

  “Your mother called and told me what happened—”

  Her mother had done what?

  “When I found out you were here, I had to come—”

  “Give me a minute,” she told the guards. Just seeing the man made her head throb.

  Some of the other reporters were still around and she sure didn’t want them hearing this conversation. The entrance to a parking garage was just a few feet away. She maneuvered Zack that way. The guards could still see her there, but the reporters wouldn’t be able to overhear this little talk.

  The sun had just begun its ascent and the pink colors from the sky spilled a few steps inside the cavelike entrance of the garage.

  He grabbed her shoulders and pulled her close. “You could have been killed.”

  “But I wasn’t.” She pushed him away. “Zack, stop doing this, okay? I am not your concern anymore.”

  A muscle flexed in his jaw. “I want you to be.”

  The guy was thick. “I’m with someone else now, Zack, and I’m happy with him.” True, and that realization stopped her. They were neck-high in trouble, but when she was with Niol, she was…happy.

  Well, damn.

  “I’ve met your ‘someone else.’ He’s not right for you.” His lips thinned. “He’s dead wrong.”

  “Not your call to make.” Holly took a deep breath. “You came. You saw that I was all right. There’s no reason for you to stay here anymore.”

  “Holly, I—”

  “We’re over, Zack.” Couldn’t get clearer than that. Her voice was calm as she said, “Stay away from now on, okay?”

  He stared at her. Eyes so intense. “If that’s what you really want…”

  It was.

  “I’m sorry for what happened. Sorrier than I can ever say.” He swallowed. “I fucked up, but I guess—I guess there are some things that can’t ever be changed, huh?”

  For a second, he was the guy she’d first met. The nice guy. Smart. With the kind eyes.

  “Good luck, Holly. I mean that. Have a good life.” He snapped his mouth closed, as if he wanted to say something else, but he was stopping himself. Then he spun on his heel. Strode to the row of cars parked on the far right side of the garage.

  Holly blinked. Well, okay, that had gone much better than she’d hoped.

  Now, time to get out of there before the exhaustion had her falling on her face. She needed to—

  Holly froze. Then her gaze very slowly backtracked to the row of cars on the right side of the garage. Zack was sliding into his Corvette, his back to her, but two cars over—

  A white van sat parked in the semidarkness.

  There had to be hundreds of white vans in the city. Doesn’t mean that was the one that nearly ran me over.

  But…

  But she’d already stopped believing in coincidence.

  Her guards. Holly spun around. They were talking to someone. Who was that? Mac?

  “Hey! Hey, I—” Something slammed into the side of her head and Holly hit the concrete.

  Chapter 17

  She hurt. Holly didn’t want to open her eyes because the pain was so intense.

  And because she was afraid.

  A grinding teased her ears. Grinding, grinding…

  No, not a grinding, the sound of a car moving.

  The van.

  Her eyes flew open, but she could see only darkness. What the hell?

  She shook her head, twisting—oh, God, what happened to me? Her eyes—no, not blind, a blindfold. The fabric slipped just a bit. Holly tried to wrench her hands up but couldn’t move.

  She was tied, her hands bound behind her, her feet strapped together.

  No! Someone had lodged a thick cloth in her mouth, so she couldn’t cry out. Holly could only lay there, and wait for whatever the hell would come next.

  Kim, strapped to that table, blood all around her.

  No.

  Niol stared at the vampire before him, the stench of decay filling his nose. The bastard was smiling, long, thin fangs glinting.

  “You think I’m scared of you, demon? I’m fucking immortal! Nothing scares me!”

  Idiot. Had to be newly turned. Niol smiled. “Just because you can live forever, asshole, doesn’t mean you will.” He focused his power, felt that sweet rush of dark heat, and threw the vamp across the room.

  The guy smashed into a table. Niol moved fast, grabbed a broken piece of wood, and shoved it right over the vampire’s heart. “Now, for the last time, what do you know about the woman at Myer’s who hired those idiots to torch my bar?” Because it was all connected. Dots. Little fucking dots. All he had to do was follow the trail and find his killer.

  “S-she w-wasn’t into v-vamps…” Gasped out.

  Better. At least the asshole wasn’t denying he’d seen the woman anymore. Niol had gone through three demons and one shifter to get to this asshole. Connecting the fucking dots. Everybody remembered something. Remembered seeing someone, somewhere.

  This guy—Lane Mims—he was the link Niol needed.

  “Who was she interested in?”

  “D-demons. Only w-wanted to w-watch d-demons…”

  Niol’s muscles tightened. “Why?”

  “L-let me go!”

  “Tell me what I want and maybe I will.” He shoved the weapon a good half-inch into the vampire’s chest. “Tell me nothing and I’ll kill you.”

  Blood coated the vamp’s shirt. “D-don’t know wh-why. She-she just watched d-demons.”

  Because
she wanted to slice them to bits?

  “What else do you know about her?”

  “She-she was a student at MU.”

  Mellrune University. Niol’s blood heated. What were the odds?

  Lines of pain etched onto the vamp’s face. “F-followed her one n-night.”

  Yes, he knew that. Knew that old Lane made a habit of following human women—and sometimes doing more. When he’d been human, the guy had landed in jail twice for rape. Becoming a vampire sure hadn’t changed the guy for the better, and Niol knew his human habits hadn’t faded. “And?”

  “W-went to some lab at the u-university.” The vamp’s breath blew into his face. Rancid.

  “You mean to tell me you followed the blonde back to the university one quiet night…” Lane only hunted at night. “She went into a deserted lab, and you didn’t take a bite?” Niol shook his head. “Lane, I’m disappointed.” By your bullshit.

  The vampire’s eyes narrowed and the evil inside showed its face. “B-bitch wasn’t…alone.”

  Niol eased up the pressure on the vampire’s chest, just a bit. “Really?”

  “Some ass-asshole with her. S-started m-making out w-with h-him the minute…she w-went inside—place smelled l-like f-fucking bleach—”

  Niol bet the lab had smelled better than the vamp. He clenched his back teeth and ordered, “Tell me what the man looked like.”

  The vamp’s head shook. “C-couldn’t…s-see much—”

  Niol smiled. “I know you, Lane. I know you like to watch.” Watching and hurting. That was the way Lane got off with his prey.

  A smile, trembling with pain but wide with memories. “N-never know h-how close…to-to d-death they are—”

  His fingers tightened around the wood. No, some people never knew.

  He’s not an innocent. After the jerk finishes telling me what I want, no reason I can’t stake his ass.

  Holly’s face flashed before him.

  “What. Did. He. Look. Like?”

  “T-tall. B-blond.”

  Every damn dot connected. Fuck.

  “B-big d-dick—”

  His cell phone rang.

  The call that saved the asshole’s life.

  “Hold him,” he snarled to the demon on his right.

  Thomas gave a grimace but took over vamp duty.

  Niol glanced down at the phone and felt his gut tighten. Holly’s guards. But, no, it wasn’t them.

  It was a number he’d never seen before. His eyes on the squirming vampire, he punched the button to take the call. “Who the hell is this?”

  Laughter. Cold and high.

  “Got somethin’ of yours.” The voice was female. Mocking.

  “Do you?” He’d never sounded calmer or been more afraid. Not Holly. Not her—

  A lamb among wolves. And she hadn’t even known it.

  “I’m going to slice her open, from groin to neck.” More laughter.

  Niol fought not to incinerate everyone and everything around him. “Don’t touch her.” The demons around him stilled at his fury.

  They knew his moods well and he saw their eyes jerk to the exits.

  “Try and stop me.” A taunting whisper.

  The vampire whimpered.

  “If you really want to save the demon reporter, then come and get her.”

  A trap—one meant to catch and kill him. Niol didn’t care. The crazy bitch had the perfect bait. “Where?”

  More laughter. “You come alone—and you tell no one—or you’ll find Storm in pieces.”

  The woman had just asked for her own death. “Agreed.”

  A sound that could have been a purr. Then she rattled off the address and said, “Can’t wait to see you, love.”

  The call ended and the rage exploded.

  She was bait. Holly curled against the floor of the van. Bait to lure Niol to his death.

  “You’re awake, aren’t you, demon?” That voice seemed familiar.

  Holly didn’t move.

  “I know you are.” Screamed.

  Not even a flinch. She wasn’t about to let her body betray her.

  Where had she heard that voice?

  “Your lover’s coming, and I’m going to have so much fun playing with him.”

  The van jerked to a stop. Holly let her body roll forward. Her head rammed into some kind of bag.

  “Dammit, she’s still out.”

  Not alone. Holly forced herself to keep breathing slowly. The psycho woman was talking to someone else. Holly had only heard the woman speak. She’d woken just before the bitch called Niol.

  “You think he’ll really come after her?” The woman asked, her voice high and shaking with excitement.

  One of the van’s doors squeaked open. A second door opened immediately after.

  Definitely not alone.

  Christ. Where have I heard that voice before?

  She could have told the woman that, yes, Niol would come after her. Holly didn’t doubt it for a minute. He’d come after her and bring hell’s fury in his wake.

  She’d seen the fury before and knew that she’d see it again.

  Provided, of course, she could stay alive until he came for her.

  The doors slammed shut. One, then the other.

  Breathe. Breathe.

  Squeaks and groans as the van’s back doors opened.

  Then hands closed around her ankles and yanked her toward the killer.

  “Come on, Holly, you’re not fucking fooling me.” A man’s voice.

  And this voice—she knew it instantly.

  No.

  He jerked her up and ripped away the blindfold.

  Holly blinked and stared up at the face she knew too well.

  Zack.

  She shook her head. This isn’t happening. Why would Zack want to hurt her? Or Sam? Or—

  “Fucking demon.” He turned his head toward the woman. “See her eyes, Michelle? I told you she was just like the rest of them.”

  Michelle. Blond grad student Michelle. Ms. I’ll-Do-Anything-for-that-A Michelle.

  Michelle smiled at her, smiled with her perfect capped teeth, and said, “This is really going to hurt you.”

  Holly almost choked on the gag.

  “Let’s get her inside and on the table. We’ll keep her alive until he gets here.” Zack licked his lips. “I can’t wait to cut him open. Those other demon bastards said he was the strongest—”

  They’d probably been willing to say anything before they died.

  “I’ll find the secret with him, I know I will.”

  The secret?

  I was engaged to this freak?

  She shook her head again. No, Zack couldn’t be in front of her, he couldn’t be planning to kill her, to slice her up and—

  And Zack made his living dissecting specimens and studying them.

  He held up a syringe. “For old times’ sake, I can make this easy on you.” He reached for the gag and wrenched it out of her mouth.

  Holly licked her lips and tasted blood. Probably from that nice smack she’d taken into the concrete.

  “What do you say, Holly? You don’t have to feel the pain. One little stick and you’ll slide right into the darkness.”

  The darkness. “Fuck you, asshole.” She wouldn’t make this easy on him. Not Zack. This couldn’t be happening.

  His lips tightened. “Then, demon whore, get ready to scream.”

  And she did. A loud, long desperate scream that she really hoped someone would hear.

  Come on, just let one shifter be within a five-mile radius…

  Zack’s fist came right at her face.

  When she opened her eyes the next time, Holly was strapped to a table. An operating table. Oh, damn—not a nightmare.

  Michelle’s smiling face popped over her. “Wakey again, huh?”

  Yeah, it was a nightmare. Holly growled and jerked against the restraints that held her.

  Michelle leaned closer and whispered in her ear. “You should have taken the drugs. Zack l
ikes to play.”

  Bile rose.

  The blonde pulled back and glanced over her shoulder. Then she reached for the instrument tray and picked up a scalpel. The light glinted off the sharp edge. Another sweet smile. “He likes to play,” she said again, “and so do I.”

  And then the crazy bitch took the scalpel and sliced down Holly’s left arm.

  She screamed, her head jerking off the table.

  “No one’s going to help you, Holly.” Zack. Twisted, insane Zack. Zack the Demon-Hunter. His footsteps slapped against the floor and then he was beside Michelle. “Things like you,” he continued, “don’t deserve to live.”

  Her arm burned with a fiery pain and the blood flowed out, fast and hard. “And you think sadistic killers like you do?” Had he always been crazy? How could she have missed this?

  Shit—she was a reporter! She should have been able to see crazy staring her right in the face.

  But he’d hid so well from her.

  Zack frowned, his perfect brow lining. “I’m not a killer. I’m a scientist.”

  “You’re fucking insane!” If she got loose, she was going right for his throat.

  The lines faded from his forehead. “You would think that, I suppose. Being what you are.” His fingers reached out and smoothed back her hair.

  Michelle’s grip on the scalpel tightened.

  “I should thank you, Holly.” His fingers lingered on her cheek.

  She jerked her head away from him.

  “If it hadn’t been for you, I never would have even known about the monsters who live in this world. I didn’t realize what was right in front of me.” His lip curled in disgust. “The impure, trying to desecrate the human race with their taint—”

  She wouldn’t listen to his bullshit. “You’re the only monster I’ve seen, Zack. You’ve killed. Carl. Sam. Julia. Those weren’t specimens in your lab, they were people. People with families and lives and—”

  His fingers clamped over her mouth. “They weren’t people. They were demons.”

  The pressure of his hand was almost enough to break her jaw.

  “Demons…like you.” He glanced at Michelle. “I can still remember when I first really saw you. You’d been lying to me, tricking me—”

  “I told you she wasn’t good enough for you,” Michelle muttered, glaring. “Right from the beginning, I told you!”