by Cynthia Eden
He didn’t need a damn ambulance. Aidan’s fumbling fingers found the last chunk of the bullet. He yanked it out, ignoring the burning pain in his fingers and the faint tendril of smoke that drifted into the air. Silver is such a bitch. Aidan tossed the silver bullet fragment. Blood coated his fingertips. “No ambulance. No doctors.”
Blood slid down her cheek. She’d been cut just above her eye.
“Someone tried to take you. I wasn’t the target. You were.” The sirens were closer. Maybe some good, upstanding citizen had seen the crash and called the cops.
“Why would someone try to take me?”
That was a damn good question. And he intended to find out the answer. He could feel his wounds closing. That was good. Very good.
He saw the flash of blue lights as a cop car rushed toward him.
“You going to tell them that I’m…”
“Yes.” She nodded.
His hand rose. His fingers hovered over her cheek. “They’ll think you’re crazy.”
A second cop car raced up to the scene.
“You killed that woman. You killed Melanie,” Jane mumbled, her expression so stark.
She didn’t understand. “When a vamp comes at you with the bloodlust riding hard…you have two options. Stop the vamp or die.”
“Aidan…”
His fingers fell away from her. “If you’d ever had a vamp come at you, you’d understand. They live only to kill. To destroy. Melanie Wagner…someone else killed her outside of Hell’s Gate. They left her body out there for me as a message.” He had to talk fast.
“A message?”
“That the vamps are coming into my city. A war is about to happen. My kind against theirs. It’s been a long time coming, and I have to make sure that I keep these streets safe. If the vamps take over, the city will flow with blood. The humans won’t have a chance.”
Uniformed cops had jumped from the patrol cars.
“Just what is your kind?” Jane whispered.
He offered her a grim smile.
But he didn’t get to answer her. The uniforms were right on them. And they were demanding that Aidan raise his hands. Hmmm…maybe that Good Samaritan had reported that shots were fired. Or maybe they thought he’d been the one driving the pick-up. Either way, he slowly lifted his hands, making sure that his claws didn’t show.
“I’m a detective!” Jane said and yelled out her badge number even as she lifted her hands, too. “This was a hit and run! Someone…I think someone was trying to abduct me.”
Only that someone had failed.
Would they try again? We’ll just see about that shit.
Jane glanced over at him, suspicion in her eyes. He’d saved her sweet ass. Did that count for anything? Or was she still about to throw him into a cage? Wolves didn’t like to be caged.
He waited, vaguely curious about how this would play out. Call me a monster, sweetheart, I dare you. Call me…
“This man saved me.” She stepped in front of him. “He needs medical attention.”
No, he didn’t.
“He saved me,” she repeated again. Jane glanced over her shoulder at him. The blood still dripped down her cheek. “So we need to help him.”
***
That had been a freaking disaster. The van careened down the road, a van that didn’t contain Detective Jane Hart.
Dammit. Talk about a major screw-up. And now Jane would have cops looking for the van.
“She saw me!” Eugene Woods ranted as he ran a hand through his hair. “I know she did—she’s going to have my face on all the TVs in town!”
Yes, the cop probably would…and that was unfortunate. Virginia Malone looked down at the gun in her shaking hands. They were nearing the warehouse area. An area deserted on a Sunday morning. Sighing, feeling actual regret, she lifted the gun, pointed it at Eugene’s panicked body, and fired.
Eugene screamed, but the cry came too late. And in the back of the van, he didn’t exactly have room to dodge the bullet.
The driver swore and slammed on the brakes. “Warn me when you’re doing that shit!” he yelled back to her.
Eugene had grabbed his chest. He was gasping, struggling to live. He wouldn’t be living long.
The driver jumped out of the vehicle, rushed around, and yanked open the van’s side door. When he opened that door, she shoved Eugene out. He hit the ground.
He didn’t get up.
“Locke is going to follow his scent here. He’ll find the body.” She looked at the driver. He would understand that they had to get away. It’s always us against the world. “Can you make sure Locke doesn’t find us?” Because she couldn’t let Locke mess up this job. Too much was riding on it. Too many lives were at stake.
They’d been hired for one reason. The payout—the payout was going to be freaking huge.
The driver stepped closer. Only…he wasn’t just the driver. John “Johnny” Smith was her lover. The only person in this whole world that she cared about. The light glinted off his hair. A mix of brown and blond. A little too long. Rough around the edges.
Just like we both are.
Behind him, Eugene was still gasping.
“No one will find you, baby,” Johnny promised her. He caught her hand in his, squeezed. She gave him a weak smile.
“H-help…” Eugene. Still talking. Still living.
She’d put the gun down, but her lover reached for it. He turned, aimed at Eugene and said, “Sorry. Nothing personal, but we can’t have you pulling us down.”
She jerked at the blast. She shouldn’t have been startled. She’d known it was coming. If her lover hadn’t done it, she would have pulled that trigger herself. It was just…
He won’t ever do that to me. And I won’t do it to him. We’ll protect each other, always. It’s what we do.
Johnny glanced back at her, flashing her a wide smile. “We’re gonna have to strike fast. Before the detective has a chance to prepare for us.”
Yes, yes, they would.
He pulled the door shut again. She crawled toward the front seat.
When he cranked the van, she found herself looking out toward Eugene. He wasn’t moving anymore.
“We’ll move fast,” Johnny said. “And make sure that wolf doesn’t screw things up for us. Hell, even with silver in him, the guy didn’t stop.”
Because Locke was too strong. Not an average wolf at all.
“We have to make sure he isn’t around next time,” Johnny said, voice thoughtful. “Get the cop alone, and we have her.”
Right. Another job done. And what happened to the female cop once they turned her over to their client—that wasn’t Virginia’s business. She’d get paid, with more than enough cash to get the hell out of Louisiana. She was sick of the swamps. Sick of that town.
Time for someplace new.
After this last job…
Maybe she could take a break from blood and death for a while.
Chapter Five
Jane didn’t know what the hell had just happened. An EMT had checked out the cut above her eye—he’d put some stinging antiseptic on it and slapped a quick bandage over the wound. He’d tried to get her to go to the hospital so she could get thoroughly checked out, but she’d declined. Yeah, okay, so she’d passed out a minute or two—she wasn’t about to be sidelined. If she went to the hospital, she’d lose—
“Locke!” Jane yelled because she saw him trying to slip away. Right. Like she was going to let that happen. “Aidan Locke!” She shoved past the EMT and hurried toward Aidan. Aidan was the one wearing a blood-stained shirt, but no one was trying to push him into the back of an ambulance. Maybe because he looked too…scary. Dangerous?
Wild?
He turned back at her call and he frowned down at her. “Go to the hospital.”
She’d never liked being told what to do. Her eyes turned to slits. “Just where do you think you’re going?” Over his shoulder, she saw the redheaded guy—Garrison. He had a car waiting at the curb and he was
pacing nervously beside it.
“I’m going to find the bastard who tried to take you.” Aidan spun away from her.
She grabbed his arm and spun him right back. “Not without me you aren’t.”
He growled. The animalistic sound should have scared her. This whole nightmare she was living should be freaking her the hell out but, actually, Jane felt oddly calm. Is this shock? And his growl…
She found it oddly sexy. Which probably meant she had some serious freaking issues she should work out with a shrink somewhere¸ sometime.
Only that time wouldn’t be right then. Because right then—“How are you even going to track him?”
He flashed her that wide smile, the one that showed his sharp, white teeth. Then Aidan tapped his nose. “Once I’ve got a scent, I can follow my prey anyplace.”
Those words actually sounded like a warning. She filed that warning away for later.
“He touched you. He was sweating and scared and his scent got on you. Now I’ve got him.”
“You can do that?” Tracking a man by his scent seemed as crazy and impossible as…having claws sprout from a guy’s fingertips.
“Sweetheart, I can do plenty.”
She swallowed and glanced to the right. Garrison was staring at her with wide eyes. “I’m coming with you,” Jane announced.
“No, you—”
“I wasn’t asking.” She marched around him and toward the car. “I’m the cop here. The one with the badge. I’m also the one that freak tried to grab. So if I say I’m coming…” She climbed into the passenger seat. “I’m damn well coming.”
She heard Aidan swear, but then he stalked around the car and got in the driver’s seat. Garrison jumped in the back.
Aidan turned on the ignition and Garrison leaned forward. Shit, had he just sniffed her, too? She whirled, glaring at him.
“S-sorry about last night,” he muttered.
“You shot at me.”
“S-sorry.”
“Sorry doesn’t cut it when you take a shot at me.”
Aidan was driving through the city. His window was down and it seriously looked as if he were following some kind of scent in the air. She probably should have checked with some of the cops on scene before she hauled ass, but Jane hadn’t wanted to risk Aidan leaving her, and she knew he would have.
She needed to stay with him because she was afraid if he found her would-be abductor first…
Aidan might kill the guy.
And that wasn’t happening. Jane wanted to question the perp. She wanted to find out just why he’d come for her.
If Aidan hadn’t been there, what would’ve happened?
“I’ll make it up to you,” Garrison rushed to say.
She glared at him before facing the windshield again. “I need to toss your ass in jail.”
“Jail isn’t for werewolves,” Garrison mumbled.
Werewolves. He’d just confirmed her fear. She needed a drink. Maybe three.
“Can’t lock us up with the humans,” he continued, voice almost sulky. “It doesn’t work that way.”
So she was figuring out. “Then how does it work? Who punishes you jerks?”
From the corner of her eye, she saw Aidan’s tanned, powerful hands clench around the steering wheel. “I do.”
The car jerked forward and she threw up a hand to grab the dashboard, balancing herself. “What? So you’re some kind of paranormal law?”
“He is the law,” Garrison rushed to say.
“Garrison,” Aidan snapped the name. “Shut the hell up or I’ll dump your ass right here.”
She was all for dumping the guy but before Jane could goad Garrison into saying more, Aidan had floored the car. For a moment, the crash flashed back through her mind. Screaming metal. Broken glass. The hard, jerking impact—
Aidan’s hand flew from the steering wheel and grabbed hers. His fingers linked with hers, holding her securely. “It’s all right.”
No, it was actually hard to breathe. Her heart was racing too fast. Her whole chest ached.
“You’re scared,” Garrison supplied from the backseat. “Your scent changed and—”
Aidan slammed on the brakes. “Get the hell out.” He kept his strong hold on Jane.
Garrison scrambled from the car. “But I thought I was supposed to be protecting—”
“I’ve got her. Get your ass back to Hell’s Gate.” Then he rushed away with a squeal of his tires.
Breathing got easier for Jane. Why, she wasn’t sure. But Aidan kept holding her hand and he didn’t mention anything about her scent. Her heartbeat slowed even as the car raced through the streets.
“I’m not going to let anyone hurt you.”
Her brows lifted. She should probably pull away from him. It wasn’t as if she needed someone to hold her hand. Never had.
“I don’t understand just what’s happening with you,” Aidan continued. “What you are, but I figure you’ll trust me soon enough, once you realize I’m not all bad.”
She swallowed. Licked her lips. Then said, “Not all bad? So what…you’re half bad?”
She saw the curve of his smile. “At least three-fourths.”
Jane got the feeling he was telling the truth. Hell, she knew he was. This wasn’t some safe, easy guy. No good guy. He was dangerous. Not human. And he was still holding her hand. “Why?” Jane forced herself to ask as they headed toward the warehouse district. “Why do I matter to you at all? Why care if someone grabs me or not? I’m surprised you didn’t just let him haul me away.” This part was the absolute truth, and something that she just didn’t understand. “It would’ve been easier for you. After all, I was dragging your ass to jail.”
His head turned toward her. That bright stare met hers, just for an instant. “I’m not letting anyone take you from me.”
He didn’t have her. They were strangers. Sure, she might have felt some weird attraction to him, but, honestly, she’d always had a weakness for bad boys. Those dark guys who pushed her. Who made her feel the tiniest bit…
Unsafe. Out of control. On the edge.
Yes, right, another issue to deal with when she finally got around to getting some counseling. If she hadn’t been so scarred by her previous encounter with a shrink—so very long ago—maybe she would have tried the therapy route.
Maybe not.
“Fuck,” Aidan suddenly snarled and he spun the car hard to the right. Her gaze shot around the area and she saw the body—and the blood.
Fuck, indeed.
She barely waited for the car to brake before she was lunging out and running toward the body. One look, and she knew it was the man who’d tried to take her. He was sprawled on the ground, eyes closed, chest bloody.
Her hand flew to his throat. No pulse.
“Two shots,” Aidan snapped. “They wanted to make sure he was dead.”
“They?”
“The driver of the van. Whoever the hell shot me.”
She patted down the dead man’s body, but he didn’t have any ID that she could feel, and she didn’t want to touch him too much—if there was DNA or other evidence on him, she didn’t want to destroy it.
“Can you find them?” Her gaze flickered over the dead man’s face. An average face. Not handsome. Just…bland. Round chin. Thin lips. Heavy brows. “The ones who were with him, can you get their scent, too?”
He put his hands on his hips. Turned to the left. To the right. He didn’t answer her.
“If they killed him, their scent has to be here, right? You can track them.” He didn’t even need to try jerking her around.
His eyes gleamed. “I can track anyone.”
Good. She glanced back at the dead man. A shiver slid over her. What is happening in this town?
***
Ditching a werewolf wasn’t easy, Virginia knew it. So when they dumped their van and stripped their clothes at the edge of the mighty Mississippi, she knew they were going for a swim.
The water was breath-stealing
ly cold when she jumped in. And swimming—it was harder than she remembered. This job sucked.
The stinky water sloshed toward her mouth as she followed Johnny. They’d get back to land soon. Get clothes that would be waiting for them—they had planned for situations like this one, after all.
Get clothes. Get dry. Get in a new ride.
And get that bitch detective.
The water hit her in the face. Werewolves were such pains in the ass.
***
Night had fallen once again. Aidan stood on the second story balcony of Hell’s Gate and looked out at the city. This city—people loved the night here. They loved their drinks. They loved their music. They loved raising some hell.
Only until that hell takes your soul.
He hadn’t been able to find the others who’d been involved in the attempt on Jane’s life. He’d tracked them to the river’s edge. Found their dumped van—and their clothes. Clothes for a woman and a man. They’d jumped—ass naked, from the looks of things—into the river.
Obviously, it hadn’t been their first time to flee from a werewolf.
Music pumped below him. He watched the bodies on the street. Men and woman. Young and old. So many careless humans.
And…her.
He’d been aware of her, of course. Her scent had gotten beneath his skin. In him, and he didn’t know why.
Jane Hart stood in the middle of the street. Her head was tilted back. That dark, thick hair of hers slid loosely over her shoulders. She wore her battered jacket and the jeans that fit her round hips and long legs like a second skin. Her eyes were locked right on him.
She hadn’t tried to tell her captain about the big, bad werewolf. She was keeping his secret. For the moment, anyway.
He leaned forward, wrapping his hands around the wrought-iron railing of the balcony as he stared down at her. She made for quite the enticing picture, did she realize that? Such incredibly tempting prey.
A man rushed up behind her, and he put his hand out, reaching for her shoulder.
Every muscle in Aidan’s body tensed and he pushed forward onto the balls of his feet, ready to jump over that balcony and rip the guy away from her.
But…
“Not interested,” he heard Jane snap as she pushed the guy away. The guy stumbled back into the crowd, and she looked up at Aidan once again.