by Tina Moss
“Why?” A sense of foreboding washed over her.
His face darkened. “Do you trust me?”
“What? I-I don’t know. I hardly know you.” Her insides cooled, the ardor vanishing. The truth hit hard. She didn’t know him at all. Yet she wanted to…badly. And if that just didn’t send her running for the hills. She clasped her arms over her chest. “What does it matter?”
“Your life may be at stake, so I’d say it matters.” He pinched the bridge of his nose, then scrubbed a hand down his face. “Look, I need you to come with me and not ask questions, okay? I’ve kept you here too long. Strife was trying to get you out of town or so she claimed.” His eyebrows drew together. “I don’t like the vamp, but I agree with her. We need to get to a safe house.”
She looked around. The alley seemed to grow smaller and a lot more hostile. She had no reason to be afraid, not when she’d finally started to get a hold on her power, but what if those things attacked again? She didn’t want to be a killer. “Okay. Let’s get out of here.”
His forehead crinkled, lines of suspicion dancing across his brow.
“What?” she cried.
“That was too easy.” He took her hand as if she’d bolt.
She gave him a sly smile. “Agent Rede, every now and again I might be agreeable, but I’m never easy.” Her lips pouted in a frown, recalling their kiss from a moment ago. “Well, not usually.”
He smirked, mischief glimmering in his expression. “Don’t worry, Ms. Benenati. It’s my animal magnetism, hard to resist, has that effect on women.”
She threw him an incredulous look and sighed. “Well then, I guess I should be grateful I have a rabbis shot.”
He laughed, a rich baritone filled with male confidence. “Not to worry. I don’t bite.” He stole her earlier words. “Well, not usually.”
“Somehow I don’t quite believe you.”
He grinned and led her toward the fence. A quick shift of his hand provided a set of razor sharp claws. He swiped a hole in the links big enough for both of them. Holding the pieces apart, he ushered her through the space. “After you.”
She mumbled her thanks and stepped onto a grassy expanse. “Where are we?”
Tucking her hand in the crook of his arm, he said, “Don’t worry. Follow me.”
They walked across the field toward a long strip of pavement. The lines in the road and the roar of planes in the distance revealed their location. “The airport?”
“Your instincts to run this way were excellent.” He motioned toward the airfield. “I’ll inform our pilot to fire up the PCD jet. We’ll be leaving Phoenix for a while. My team will gather some of your belongings.”
“No. No way.” She tried to pull from his grasp. “This is crazy.”
“I’m afraid this is the lone strategy to guarantee your safety.” He ignored her attempts to escape and tightened his grip. “Sera, please.”
Her feet sank into the floor along with her heart. The reality of the situation sent her mind into a tailspin. “What’s going to happen?”
“Nothing. I’m going to keep you safe, and you’re going to enjoy a vacation. That’s all.”
She didn’t dare tell him, but her safety was the least of her worries. The fire crackled inside her, dull like burning embers, but waiting to be stoked once more. She prayed it didn’t rage into an inferno and burn them both.
Chapter Twelve
Sky Harbor Airport, Phoenix, Arizona
The pilot and ground personnel fired up the government jet, but not fast enough for Talon’s liking. Usually the PCD’s twelve person rigged out plane, complete with TVs, laptops, and leather seats, provided the perfect means of transportation. Not today.
Talon paced the runway, anxious to get Sera to a safe house as fast as possible. “I want to be in the air in ten minutes. Not a second longer. You get me?”
The crew chief nodded and waved for Talon to mount the metal steps. “No problem, sir. Let’s have you join the lady now.”
His body tensed at the mention of her presence. He yanked the red muffs from the man’s ears. “If anyone asks, I’m alone on this flight. No one.” He stalked closer. “Be sure you hear every word. No one is to know another is aboard. Understand?”
“Yes, sir. Of course, sir.” The crew chief shook his head. A gleam of sweat appeared over the man’s upper lip.
“Good.” The biting night breeze blew across his face, doing nothing to defuse his frustration. He stepped aboard the jet.
The stark bone interior matched the ivory leather seats and two-seater couches. To the rear of the plane, four chairs faced each other in a perfect square. A wood table sat between them, bolted to the floor. Each seated compartment contained a laptop, stored safely with encrypted codes. If the plane fell into enemy hands tomorrow, it would take an eternity to crack the computers’ safeguards thanks to PCD genius psyke twins, Meg and Mack.
Unlike shifters or vampires, psykes most closely resembled humans’ anatomies. Their advanced mental faculties, however, individual and different for every psyke, put them in the strictly other category. The PCD twins particular talents to track information and know certain things—especially when you wanted to hide something—always gave Talon pause. Not that Meg or Mack would ever peer into his brain without permission, of course. And not that he had anything to hide. Right. Keep telling yourself that hot shot. He shoved away the bitter thought and looked over at Sera.
She sat on a forward facing chair in the middle of the row. Her head leaned against a window, her long legs tucked under her. She rubbed her hands against her arms. The short denim skirt and torn blouse could do little against the jet’s frigid air.
Talon swallowed the lump in his throat as he stared at her. His mouth watered like a lovesick dog. He tore his gaze from her sleek curves. He shook his head at the power she held over him, not liking it one bit. Procuring a blanket from a front cubby, he draped it over her body.
“Thank you,” she said softly. Her chocolate brown eyes watered. She snuggled into the cotton material, a smile crossing her face.
He sat beside her. The urge to offer comfort and protection warred with his need for detachment. As an agent of the law, he couldn’t get involved with a witness. It went against every moral fiber in his being, against every lesson he’d ever been taught. But it was more than that, it went against a failsafe born from a nightmare he relieved in his mind.
Screams. Gut-wrenching, awful screams filled his ears. He didn’t move. His legs froze as if carved of ice. He stuffed his fist into his mouth to keep from crying out. Bang. Thump. Scream. The pattern repeated over and over. Bang. Thump. Scream. Eventually the screams changed to moans, then whimpers, then silence.
The visceral images staggered him. The memory of what emotion could cost, the merciless price of it, hit him in the gut. He would not let his feelings bleed him dry. Lust. It’s just lust for the pretty blond. This attraction to Sera ate at him, the hunger growing stronger each minute in her company.
“Shit.” The curse sprung from his lips before he could stifle it.
“What is it?” she said, a sluggishness to her words.
“Nothing, sorry.” He fingered his cell phone, then held it up for her to see. “I’m going to make a few calls. Why don’t you try and get some rest?”
“Ok.” Her hand flew up to cover a yawn. “That’s a good idea.” She burrowed deeper into the leather seat. A sliver of her slender ankle peeked from under the blanket. “And Talon, thanks for coming for me.”
“Sure,” he mumbled, securing the cover over her foot. His fingers grazed her calf and she hummed her approval. He pulled his hand away as if he’d touched fire. Hell, maybe he had. “It’s my job.”
He walked to the plane’s rear with swift steps. When out of earshot, he cursed his traitorous body. “Stupid. Stupid.” The small contact with her bare skin, the most innocent of caresses, had his blood roaring in his veins. “Like some damned teenager.”
Longing for a shower of
the icy persuasion, he sunk into the chair and switched the overhead air to high blast. His phone throbbed against his palm, distracting him from the aching lust. “Four messages.” He flicked through the missed calls and snorted at the voicemail. “Can’t they do anything without me?”
The heavy mantle of obligation pressed down on his chest. A family trait of duty before all else instilled in him since birth. He tended to saddle the weight of responsibility pretty well, if he didn’t say so himself. But this mindboggling, all consuming, magnetic pull toward Sera fired his brain in ten different directions. It’d be so easy to let the team handle the shit, and take the time learning every inch of her body here and now. His cock throbbed as he recalled her soft skin, her sweet scent, her wanton mouth.
The piercing cell’s ring ripped him from the fantasy with a jolt. He flipped over the device in his hand, thanking the saints for the little electronic miracle. His whole body shuddered. He’d never wanted to cast caution aside before and thinking how close he came to that edge for her... “No. That’s not who I am.”
He steadied his breathing, letting his mind clear. When the firestorm passed, he picked up the call. “Hello?” Gravel coated his greeting though he tried to clear it.
“Talon. Holla-friggin-louya. Slick was throwing a conniption. Do you know how worried your boy was?” Jame’s teasing mixed with traffic honking. Sirens’ cries rebounded in the distance.
“Yeah, I got that from the four messages. Tell him I’m fine.” Talon ran a hand through his hair, then rubbed his neck and shoulders.
“Will do.” Her wide grin shone in her words. “So, what’s new with you?”
He snickered at her sarcasm. “Oh you know, Jame, protecting a witness from a gang of serial killing perps. You?”
“Ya-huh. I’ll get to your witness in a minute. But let’s see. Lots going on with me. I seduced that pitiful newsie, got some juice about a dirty cop, dealt with the press, traced my boss’ mysterious all call, broke up a fight with a numb nut shifter and snippy vampire, and I was thinking about getting some pink streaks for my hair.” Her babbling stank of sniping. “But then I thought, nah, pink’s not my color. Stick with the platinum.”
“Jame. Can we cut to the part where you chew into me, and I remind you I’m team leader?”
“Oh yeah. That reminds me, oh fearless leader, the next time you issue an all call a bit more heads up be nice.” A Texas grunt of agreement slipped through the background noise. “See Bull agrees. Now, that I got you on the line, finally, want to let us in on the secret?”
“Wait.” A hollowed pit, the size of a grapefruit, settled in his stomach. “The fight you broke up, who was the vamp?”
“What’d you mean? Drake. Who else?”
“You didn’t find another vamp at the scene? A female, around five-five, black hair, goes by the name of Strife?” Dread crept up his spine.
“Talon, W-T-F! This is why we need directions, not some blank message. The only vampire at the coordinates when we arrived was Drake.”
“That son of a bitch.” Talon crushed the armrest while trying not to smash the phone. “Where’s Drake now?”
“He’s with us, of course. We’re on our way back to the office to go over details from the scene.” Jame huffed. “Why? Did you think he’d take off again?”
“Arrest him,” his voice lowered, a rumble in the depths.
“What?” Her screech hurt his ear.
“Jame, arrest Drake now,” he shouted. “Another vampire was at the scene when I left. She’s called Strife and is the leader of Veritas. If he was the only one there, then he let her go.” His blood boiled. “Arrest him.”
“Christ, Talon. Are you sure? I mean, Bull, smelled another vampire in the area, but he couldn’t track the scent.”
“I talked with her.” His eyes trailed toward the window, narrowing at the dark clouds in the night. “She abducted Sera, claimed to be protecting her.”
Her voice sounded too thin across the digital line. “What do I charge Drake with?”
“Accessory to kidnapping.” He squeezed the phone.
“It’ll never stick.” She sighed.
“We don’t need it to stick. We just need him locked up, so he can’t help the enemy.” The buzz rode under his skin, begging for a shift. “I don’t trust anyone with,” he caught himself before he slipped and said her, “this.”
She didn’t respond. Silence lagged on for one heartbeat, two, three.
“What is it?” The pauses spoke volumes. “Come on, don’t go quiet on me now.”
“I meant to tell you after the press conference, but the all call came and that madness.” Her hesitation grated his nerves, but he waited for her to continue. “Meg did some digging, like you asked, and the witness, Sera. She’s on our recruitment list and she has a record.”
“Details, Jame. Don’t give it in pieces. Spell it out.”
“Yeah, yeah, okay. Her father, a police chief turned senator, put her file under lock and key. Back in her high school days, she came under suspicion for an accident.” Grueling silence reigned. A news clip appeared on the cell screen with the headline, “Teen Boy Remains in Coma after Car Blaze.” Scanning the article, Talon discovered teenaged Sera had been with the boy at the time of the incident, surviving the two-alarm fire without a single burn.
Talon growled. “A car accident?”
“Yes.” She paused again. “Talon, the police didn’t think it was an accident. They suspected her of starting the fire on purpose.”
Blood assailed his ears, pounding and churning. He choked on the words. “What happened?”
“Lots of circumstantial evidence. Nothing concrete. Judge dismissed the case, and daddy sealed the record.” A car door slammed, then a shuffle of papers. “She finished her senior year of high school at some lockdown Canadian boarding school, then moved the three thousand miles away for college and changed her last name. None of it came up in the background check. Meg had to fish it free.”
“So she was declared not guilty.” An image of Sera, surrounded by a burning light, flashed in his mind.
“Yes, but it doesn’t make her innocent.” Jame coughed into the phone. “Just be careful.”
Rage simmered under his skin. Whether it was directed at his warring emotions, Sera’s uncertain past, or Jame’s blunt warning, he couldn’t say. “I know what I’m doing. I’m not some wet rookie.”
“Gotcha, boss. Know you can handle it. But it’s my job to watch your back. Remember?”
“Yeah.” A sweet sigh rolled down the aisle, falling in his ears. Sera’s sleepy murmurings sounded like the softest breeze. It caressed his senses, driving him mad. “Keep an eye on it for me. No matter what I say, okay?”
“I always do.” She coughed, clearing some of the tension. “We’ve got bigger problems though. Meg thinks Sera landed on our recruitment list care of Sera’s daddy. Meg’s theory is Senator Papa’s being blackmailed. And he sent us the recommendation so we’d run the background on Sera, put two-and-two together, and protect her.” A gasp rang through the line. “But question is, protect her from what? And if this Senator is being blackmailed, who’s the blackmailer? And what the hell does it all have to do with these human murders?”
“Seven hells, Jame. Let’s take it a step at a time, huh?” Talon’s eyelids drooped, the events of the last few days catching up with him. “What’s Meg learned?”
“Haven’t touched base with her again.”
“All right. Here’s the plan. Keep Drake under lockdown for now. And get Meg on the line fast. I want to know the full story with this Senator and Ser...the witness.”
“Can do. But what about you? Will you be all right with her?”
“Whether she’s a victim or a suspect, she’s safer under our guard.” He rose, pacing the narrow aisle to catch a look at her. The blanket tucked under her trim figure, accentuating her delicate waist and ample breasts. His muscles tensed, adrenaline surging. With sheer force of will, he walked away and focused
on the plane’s interior wall as if it was a friggin’ Picasso. “We’ll figure out later what to do with her. For now, I’m taking her to a safe house. I’ll send the coordinates on a secure channel when we arrive.”
“Got it.”
“Jame, one more thing.”
“Yeah, boss?” Her huff signaled the end of her patience.
“Keep the boys in line. Last thing we need is dissension in the ranks.” He exhaled on a hiss. “And get what you can from Drake. I get you don’t like using your assets, but we need the intel and he’s got a soft spot for you.”
“Bleeding vampires.”
“I know. Just do what you can, okay?”
“Uh-huh. I’m on it.” Her words became throaty. “N-Not like that. I mean, on the job. Not on it, him.” She sighed. “I’ll get the information we need. What about this Strife?”
“We can arrest her for the kidnapping, but Sera would have to testify in court. And I can’t bring her out of hiding without endangering her life.” He rubbed his chin. “Don’t bring her in yet, but have Meg run the satellite grid. Find her. Track her movements. Let’s see if we can figure out whether she’s an ally or an enemy.”
“Okay.”
“Thanks.” He ended the call and continued to stare into the emptiness. His insides scrambled. He didn’t trust himself to know the right path. Something about Sera sent his thoughts into chaos. All logic and rationale faded into dust. A clean fresh aroma caught his attention.
“Is everything all right?” Sera stood before him wrapped in the blue cotton blanket. Her hair fell in a wild mass around her shoulders and draped down her back. The golden amber hue shone like honey in the cabin’s dim lighting.
“Yeah, fine,” he said, his words sounding rougher than he intended. “Long night.”
“Tell me about it,” she mumbled. Her eyes darted around the rear of the plane as if trying to discern something. She leaned against one of the seats.