by Dannika Dark
I wanted to fold into Christian’s embrace. I wanted to forget all these problems and go back to our date night beneath the stars.
I wanted him to take off that damn robe so I wouldn’t be scarred for life for having sexual fantasies about him in a priest outfit.
“Go on with you, lass. Better we find his men before he gets out of here.”
“I’ll call and let you know the plan.”
“No diversions,” he stressed, tapping my nose with his finger. “I’ll not have you going into Patrick’s mansion alone. Promise me you’ll have someone with you if you get another hunch.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Mmm, I like that.”
I got all warm and tingly between my legs from the way he growled and ran his hand down my back. Christian’s gaze was molten, his lips hungry for mine as he licked them in anticipation of a kiss.
Just as he leaned in, Patrick moaned.
“Better go,” Christian breathed against my lips. “Before I have to knock him out again and take you against this door.”
“Promise?”
Chapter 24
After leaving Patrick’s room, I held a neutral expression as I passed Shepherd in the hall upstairs.
He pressed a bloody rag against his elbow. “What’s the plan?”
“I’m heading back. They’re still debating downstairs, so I don’t know how long it’ll be.”
He grimaced. “We’re not gonna be the ones driving them back home, are we?”
“I’d rather go home in a body bag. What are we? A taxi service?”
He chuckled. “Nobody’s got time for that.”
“If the other churches vote to leave, their opinion won’t matter anyhow. Father Martin should probably get their cell phones and other personal items ready to return. I have a feeling our job is done.”
Shepherd walked alongside me as I journeyed to the back door. “Three people already tried to break in.”
“Who?”
“Probably some pissants who stole a TV and want forgiveness before they go home and watch Netflix on it.”
“The Regulators let them get all the way to the door?”
“We can’t barricade the parking lot entryway from the street—someone might call the cops. They’re scoping out suspicious cars and using their noses. Two Regulators are guarding the inside doors.”
“Let me guess, Batman and Robin?”
“I heard that,” a man said from behind me.
I turned, not surprised to see Merry. The scabbard hanging from his waist tapped against his leg as he headed toward us.
“Miss me already?” I asked.
He tucked a loose lock of blond hair into the elastic hair tie that held it all together in the back. “What’s the plan?”
Shepherd folded his arms. “I feel like there’s an echo in here.”
I shrugged. “You’ll have to check with Father Martin for updates. I’m outta here.”
Merry reached in his pockets and put on his leather gloves. “I’ll walk you to your car.”
“I’m a big girl.”
“You’re also unpredictable, if I might add. Maybe I want to make sure you don’t put a knife in one of my boys.”
“Rest easy, Tony the Tiger. I’m impulsive, but I’m not crazy.”
“Wouldn’t Chester Cheetah have been a more suitable reference?”
“Jesus,” Shepherd said, biting back a laugh. “I’ll leave you two alone.”
After he disappeared, I gave Merry a thorough appraisal. “How do I know you’re not the one who’s going to put a knife in me?”
He stretched his fingers in his gloves. “Let’s walk.”
When we stepped outside, the humidity felt sticky against my face. But it wasn’t uncomfortably cold, especially since the wind had died down.
“That little incident earlier won’t be going in my report,” he assured me. “I’m hoping you’ll do me the same courtesy?”
“We don’t file incident reports.”
Merry straightened his collar so it was vertical. “No, but I would appreciate it if you kept it between us and didn’t discuss it with your contact. I’m a seasoned Regulator who specializes in murder investigations, but I’m relatively new to this district. Despite my references, it would ruin my reputation if my boss found out someone had gotten the upper hand on us, especially while we were guarding officials.”
I curled my hands beneath my sweater sleeves. “I get it. You’re afraid of the ridicule when people find out a girl took you down in ten seconds.”
He stopped and lightly gripped my arm. “That’s not it, female. You’re a tough adversary.”
I glanced around. “Your buddies might say something.”
“The men I work with have a code of honor. I trust them with my life. Teasing, I can handle, but a disparaging remark from my superior, I cannot. Incidents like these tarnish reputations and might prevent me from future promotions.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll make sure my team doesn’t talk about it. But a word of advice? Never attack someone unless your weapon is drawn and you’re ready to fight to the death. What if I had disarmed you?”
He inclined his head. “Duly noted.”
“I used to be terrified of you guys, but it’s hard to be scared of a man who won’t draw his sword.”
“I only draw it when I intend to use my weapon.”
“Your friend drew his. Is it because I’m a woman?”
He blinked and quickly shook his head. “A Mage usually poses no threat to me. Besides, it was just a misunderstanding.”
“I threatened a Regulator with a weapon. I’m pretty sure you have rules about no mercy when it comes to that kind of thing. Weather was ready to take Shepherd’s head, but not you.” I folded my arms and tried to hide my amusement. “You only bit me with two fangs—enough to paralyze but not to kill. I’m not sure what your code of conduct was up in Canada, but down here, it’s every man for himself. I lived on the streets for years, and people here will take advantage of mercy. They see it as a weakness.”
“Are you saying I should have killed you?”
I dropped my arms at my side. “Do you really think you could have? I know Chitahs revere women, but that will always be your weakness, and one of these days, a woman is going to be the end of you.”
He rocked with laughter, a hand over his stomach and eyes tearing up.
I turned away and headed to my truck. “You need help.”
His laughter died down. “Come now. Haven’t you heard? A woman will be the end of us all.”
I rolled my eyes as he started laughing again. It sounded like something Christian would say. Why did all men think that women would be their ruin? My life had been exclusively ruined by men, not women.
When I reached the front of my blue pickup, I ran my hand alongside her frame and got in. I loved the interior smell—it wrapped around me like a security blanket of memories. I’d even found a candy bar wrapper wedged between the seats when I was fumbling around with the lap belts the other week. Little things like that made it paralyzing to get through the day. I was the reason I couldn’t see my father, and that was a heavy burden to carry. I missed him. I missed all the years I’d never have with him because of all these fucking rules.
Packing up the past was a necessary evil, and it wouldn’t be fair to involve my father in a world of immortals when he hadn’t asked for it. He deserved a normal life, and it was selfish to want otherwise. But sometimes, late at night, when I was tossing and turning in bed, I heard Fletcher’s voice creeping into my worst nightmares: “I’m going to find him, and I’m going to kill him.”
My stomach knotted as I turned the truck in a circle and exited the parking lot.
“That’s just great. I’ve finally become the stereotypical brooding Vampire. Maybe I should just wear all black and lament the death of my mortal soul.”
A Regulator loitering on the curb lifted a bottle of alcohol wrapped in a paper bag to his lips, but he had his
eye on me the whole stretch of the turn. It yanked me out of my thoughts and reminded me of our current situation. Christian had just blown the lid off the murder mystery, and now that Patrick saw us as a threat, it was a race against the clock to locate Cyrus and his men before Patrick devised a plan to destroy Keystone. He wouldn’t do anything just yet—not as long as we had the kid.
A pickup truck passed me going in the opposite direction, and I took notice since not many people in this city drove trucks. Through the rearview mirror, I observed several men in the back with what looked like baseball bats.
“Nah, couldn’t be. They’re just out celebrating… with bats.”
My gut instinct told me they weren’t touring the city or driving home from a baseball game. I gripped the wheel, annoyed that I didn’t have my phone to call Christian and give him a heads-up just in case.
They can handle any trouble that comes along. No need for me to intervene.
Christian was counting on me to get home and touch base with Niko. If we could just capture one of Cyrus’s men, it would help us build a solid case against Patrick. There were plenty of Regulators outside the church. Shepherd could handle himself.
“Dammit.”
I jerked the wheel, and the tires screeched as I spun in a circle and sped back to the church. I instinctively reached in front of the seat toward the floor where my father always kept his gun. The holster was still there, but he’d taken his weapon before selling the truck. I already knew that, but occasionally, I lost sense of time.
I blew through an intersection and turned the corner before slowing the vehicle down. The church was up ahead on the right, and I wanted to check out what was happening before charging in like a madwoman and getting my head taken off by sleep-deprived Regulators. After parking by the curb, I strolled up the sidewalk, my hand gripping the T-shaped handle of my push dagger. On the upside, I didn’t hear the sound of alarms, screaming, or someone getting their skull bashed in with a baseball bat.
“You’re paranoid,” I muttered, stepping onto the sidewalk.
These couldn’t be the same attackers as the first church, not if they were going to rush Regulators with nothing more than sporting equipment.
When I neared the parking lot turn-in and didn’t see the Regulator with his bottle of booze, I sharpened my light. As I curved around the bushes, I noticed a black boot poking out. It didn’t move when I nudged it.
The hair on my arms stood on end from either fear or the staggering amount of static I’d built up from nervous energy. I leveled down, containing the power before it spiraled out of control. Bushes and trees bordered the outer edge of the parking lot, so I walked alongside those bushes instead of cutting straight through the open area.
Where the hell is everyone?
Instead of going around to the side entrance on the left side of the building, I headed right and cut between two buildings. The rectory and a small youth center were on my right, and a winding sidewalk separated them from the church. It wasn’t until halfway through that I heard a ruckus. I jogged across the dead grass to the end of the building and gripped the corner wall, peering around back. Two Regulators were engaged in a spectacular swordfight with men who wielded identical swords. I was willing to bet those men had lifted the weapons off the Regulators they’d knocked out.
One Regulator impaled a man straight through his gut, but the guy backed up and freed himself. Blood seeped between his fingers where he held his stomach, and seconds later, he shifted into a massive leopard and lunged at the Regulator.
My eyes swung to the right. Three Regulators had a Vampire surrounded, but none of them had impalement wood. While they could decapitate him with their swords, it was risky to get too close. Only certain types of wood could paralyze a Vampire. Cedar was one I knew about. The amount was also important, as a single toothpick couldn’t bring down a Vamp. I searched the property and flashed toward a tree before snapping a branch off.
As I flashed by a Regulator, I shoved the branch in his hand. “See if that works.”
He gave me an incredulous look. After giving the wood a quick sniff test, he lunged at the Vampire from behind and stabbed him in the back of the neck. The Vampire had just enough energy to turn and swing, striking the Chitah on the shoulder and knocking him down. The poor man bellowed in pain, his bones broken. The Vamp, on the other hand, fell like a dying cyclone.
I did a quick scan of my surroundings. Two were entangled in a swordfight, but farther behind them, I witnessed two Chitahs knocking down a Regulator. They’d overpowered him, stolen his sword, and sliced his throat. I winced at the savagery. The Regulators on my right were too distracted by their screaming friend to notice.
I flashed toward the Chitahs and aimed for the tallest guy. The second my dagger found a home in his neck, I jumped onto the other one and sank my fangs into his jugular. My legs locked around his waist, and I did what I did best. He attempted to shove me off, but I was in my zone. I drank fast and hard, enough that his steps faltered. I tried to think of his blood as medicine, but the repulsive flavor made me want to expel every drop in one heave. Someone beat on my back several times, knocking the wind out of me. When I felt warm liquid trickling down my back, I realized the other Chitah had stabbed me with my own dagger. I let go and stumbled backward, putting distance between myself and the armed man.
The guy I’d attacked cupped his neck, swayed, and then hit the ground with a sickening thud.
One of the Regulators from the far end of the parking lot caught sight of us. He ran at Chitah speed and tackled the armed man from behind.
My next instinct was to protect the entrances. With five attackers in sight, I calculated there were more on the property. I’d seen at least that many in the back of the truck.
I jogged alongside the wall until it cut left into an alcove that led to the back door. Inside, the lights were off. When I neared the doors, I caught light glinting off a sword from inside. The Regulator inside neared the door and stared at me.
I pounded my bloody hand on the glass. “Open up!”
He shook his head.
I tugged on the locked handle. “We need help! Christian!”
If Christian was downstairs, there was no way he could hear what was going on up here, not with that many feet of earth between us.
Someone slammed into me from behind, and I smashed against the glass door like a bug on a windshield. The weight of him was crushing, so I used my hands to push back with all the force I could muster.
“Get… off… me!” I growled.
He used me like a battering ram, hauling me back by my sweater and shoving me against the door again.
“Now you’ve pissed me off,” I muttered against the glass.
I charged my light and spun on my heel to blast energy into his shoulder.
When the jolt surged through him, he recoiled for a moment and grinned. “I thought you were a Vamp. Interesting.”
My assailant was about three hundred pounds of muscle and looked like some Ukrainian weight lifter named Igor on steroids. Based on his reaction to my light, he was definitely a Mage. Fucking hell.
But I was a Stealer, and that meant I could pop his little cork and render him mortal. How hard could pinning him down be?
“Come to papa,” he said, wiggling his fat fingers in a come-hither motion.
Ignoring the blood trickling down my back and the throbbing pain, I flashed my fangs at him. Since he knew I wasn’t strong like a Vampire, I reeled in his gaze and stepped forward. “Look into my eyes,” I whispered, pretending I had the ability to charm.
He blinked rapidly and averted his eyes. I seized the moment and tried to flash through the small gap between him and the wall, but Igor swung his thick arms and wrapped them around me. I’d heard of tree huggers, but now I finally knew what it was like to be hugged by a tree.
“You’re not my type,” I growled, wriggling to my knees and loosening his hold.
He gripped the waistband of my pants and h
auled me off the ground. This reminded me of the first time Crush had taught me self-defense. I was twelve, and while walking home from school, an older man had offered me a ride. He was actually a neighbor who lived a few streets over, and he made me feel guilty for saying no, as if I’d done a bad thing. I told my father, and he said a woman should never do anything a man wants her to do. Then he called his boys over, and they took off and left me with a babysitter. Three hours later, the sound of motorcycles filled the yard, but they never talked about where they’d gone. For the rest of the night, they showed me how to claw, bite, and kick my way out of anything. But I’d also learned a few other tricks.
While dangling upside down from Igor’s grip, I quickly untied his bootlaces. “What do you plan to do to me?” I asked, trying to stall him so that he’d stay still. “That guy inside will slice off your head.”
“He hasn’t yet.”
I quickly tied a lace from each boot together and made a tight knot. When I finished, I put my hands flat on the ground and twisted. The button snapped off my jeans when I gripped the edge of the sidewalk and pulled myself toward it.
Igor had to step back to keep from losing balance, and when he tried, his knotted shoelaces caused him to trip and let go. He hit the ground with a bone-crunching thud.
I scrambled to my feet, straddled him, and sank my teeth into his neck. I tried to reach for his palms, but his arms were too long. My stomach churned at the taste of his blood, the dark poison just as black as the one I’d tasted before him.
When he came to, he grabbed my head and shoved me back. So I spat blood all over his face before punching him in the nose.
Igor groaned with revulsion and flipped over so fast that I couldn’t escape. Pinned between the concrete and three hundred pounds of stupid, I had no room to breathe.
He palmed my hands, pulling my light before I had a chance to even think about pulling his. I was too busy trying to breathe, trying to get away. But now my light was escaping, and he was on a juicer’s high. I fought hard against it, but once the stream was open, it was impossible to reverse.