by Cynthia Eden
“Why can’t you let her go? Don’t you think she’s been through enough?”
The night waited on him. How far away was she now? “The problem is that I have no idea what she’s been through. She didn’t talk to anyone I sent to her.” At first, he’d mistakenly thought that Ella would only be too happy to share. After all, his team had freed her. She would be grateful, right?
Not. She’d refused to speak. Refused to cooperate at all. And a woman—a vampire who did that—she has to be hiding something.
There was a beat of silence behind him. Silence from his sister was never a good sign. Slowly, he glanced her way.
When their gazes connected, Holly said, “You’re wrong.”
She never believed in sugar coating with him. One of the many reasons why he loved her. And he’d die to protect her.
“She did talk to someone. After days of silence, you walked in and she immediately told you her name.”
Yes, she had. Just how had Holly picked up that tidbit? “You’ve been with Connor, haven’t you?” It figured the guy would share with Holly. Connor’s brother, Duncan, was married to her.
Eric hadn’t been thrilled about that alliance, not initially. But then he’d seen that Duncan was willing to go to hell and back for Holly. That had changed plenty for him.
“She talked to you,” Holly continued. “I think that means something.”
He wasn’t sure what it meant. But he did know one thing. Being too close to Ella Lancaster was dangerous. She stirred urges in him, dark desires, that were better left alone. Control was important for him—and with good reason.
When his control splintered, people had a tendency to die.
“Why do you have to track her? Why—”
“Because I really do believe that Keegan James escaped that fire.” Though he hadn’t told anyone else that news.
Her dark eyes widened. “And you think he’ll go after her?”
Eric laughed at that question. He had spent many, many hours watching Ella. Trying to see past her mask and learn her secrets. “No, I think she’ll go after him.”
And payback would be a real bitch for the werewolf who’d tried to break the beautiful vampiress.
Chapter Three
Forty-eight hours later, Ella was ready for her vengeance. She’d showered. She’d slept. She’d gotten fresh clothes and more fresh blood. The fresh blood had come courtesy of some flirtatious young men. Frat boys could be so accommodating. Give them a little smile, and they’d blindly follow a strange woman into the nearest dark alley. They really better learn to watch themselves with that move.
The next vamp might not leave them alive.
She was in Washington, the state, not the district. She’d stayed away from the city, because she knew that werewolves didn’t like the cities so much. They felt too contained in them. The cities made their beasts all antsy—poor pitiful things.
So she’d gone toward the woods. Caught their scent.
Now she was ready for some vengeance.
Ella stared at the building in front of her. From the outside, it hardly looked impressive. A wooden structure. Short. Squat. Music blared from inside, and an assortment of vehicles filled the lot.
Humans were in there. Blind humans who totally didn’t understand the danger they faced.
And werewolves. At least four, judging by the scents she was picking up in the air. One of those scents was terribly familiar to her.
When she’d been taken, Ella had sworn never to forget the wolves who’d swarmed her.
And I just found one of that pack.
She sauntered toward the building, taking her time. She’d…acquired…a short mini skirt, and the cool air felt good as it blew over her legs. She was wearing boots with that skirt, what she thought were perfect, ass-kicking boots. And a black top completed her outfit—maybe that top showed off a lot of flesh. When the lure looked pretty enough, the fools always rushed in.
Frat boys. Werewolves.
They could all be the same.
She headed inside and paused just a few feet from the doorway. The interior was dim, but Ella could see perfectly. Her nose twitched the faintest bit, and then her head turned to the right. The four werewolves were playing pool at the back table. Acting as if they didn’t have a care in the world.
She was about to make them care. About so many things.
Ella pushed back her shoulders. She straightened her spine, and then she closed in on her prey.
***
“She dragged us nearly to the Canadian border,” Connor grumbled from beside Eric. They’d parked their SUV well away from Ella—and the bar she’d just entered. “Couldn’t the woman have traveled a little more slowly? I mean, hell, it’s like she’s some kind of missile, locked and loaded.”
Eric’s fingers were poised over his laptop keyboard. “I think she is.”
Connor turned toward him. “You really believe that bastard Keegan is alive?”
Ah, there was a whole lot of rage in Connor’s voice. He needed to tread lightly here. “Careful, buddy, your beast is showing.”
Connor growled.
“Still showing,” Eric pointed out.
“Sorry. We can’t all have ice in our veins like you do.”
Was that what flowed through him? Not quite. “I told you, there is a possibility that he survived.”
“I want him dead.” Hard. Brutal. And, considering that Keegan had attacked the woman that Connor mated with—well, his rage was certainly understandable.
“We’re not supposed to be executioners,” Eric said carefully. “We’re federal agents. Our job is to apprehend the criminals.”
Connor’s laughter was cold. “You think I don’t get it? Hell, man, I’m understanding you better and better each day. You want him dead just as much as I do. I saw the way you looked at that little vampiress. You hate what that jerk did to her. And that’s why you haven’t already gone in there, guns blazing. You think she’s killing him right now, and you’re trying to give her the time she needs to get her vengeance.” His fingers tapped along the steering wheel. “That’s why I haven’t gone in yet, too,” Connor muttered. “Figure she deserves her payback, even more than I do.”
Eric clenched his back teeth. “If Keegan isn’t in there, and I go storming in…then she’s going to realize we’ve been tracking her. I’m waiting out here just to see what happens next.” And he was seriously wondering why he’d chosen to bring Connor on this mission.
Because he’s helluva strong. And I might need some strong back-up.
“Right,” Connor muttered. “Just keep telling yourself that. But I know you’re hot for the vampiress…”
Helluva strong and helluva annoying.
***
She took her time closing in on that pool table, but the men tensed even before they saw her.
She’d expected that. For werewolves…a female vampire’s scent could be particularly sweet. And her scent would be sweet enough to tempt them.
“Fuck,” one growled. “Sex…and honey.”
Yes, that was what she’d heard female vampires smelled like to werewolves. Now she understood why.
Only female vampires could transform an alpha werewolf—and make him into a truly unstoppable beast. The scent of a female was designed to lure in that alpha, and to seal both of their fates.
“Hello, boys,” Ella called. The accent she’d once had was long gone now. She’d lived too long to keep any one accent. “Mind if I join this little game?”
They turned toward her as one. She could see the beast in their gazes.
She smiled, but didn’t flash fang, not yet. Instead, she sauntered forward and took the pool cue from the tall, dark-haired werewolf to the right. The one with deep gray eyes and a slashing scar that ran down his cheek.
I remember you, jerkoff. Do you remember me? She liked to think of herself as pretty unforgettable.
“Y-you’re a dead woman,” the scarred werewolf said.
Ella sigh
ed. “That is so insulting, and you know we’re undead.”
One of the other werewolves ran toward her. She just shoved the pool stick into his shoulder and thrust him back. His howl filled the bar.
Silence.
The really uncomfortable kind.
The werewolf’s howl had attracted every eye in the place.
Ella glanced around. “This is probably a good time for most of you to leave.” Rule number one in the paranormal world—don’t attract the attention of humans. A good vamp fed on humans in secret. A good vamp didn’t attack in a crowded bar. A good vamp didn’t—
Screw it. She was too tired of being good. Being good had gotten her captured and starved.
No one moved. Humans just didn’t obey instructions as well as they should.
The werewolf she’d just—um, pool cued—was rising and snarling and—shifting. Well, well, wasn’t he the one who wasn’t playing by the special paranormal rules, either?
Two others from that little pack jumped at her. She broke one guy’s nose with a flick of her hand. She sent the other hurtling onto the pool table half a second later.
The shifting wolf was snarling and his bones were popping and the humans were screaming.
They were also finally fleeing. Good for them.
But the werewolf with a scar hadn’t moved. He was staring at her with a sick smile on his face. “I remember you,” he said.
“And I remember you.” She wouldn’t let the fury overwhelm her. “Tell me…do you still enjoy drugging vampires and then bleeding them out to the point where they are near death? Do you feel good when you do that?” She stepped toward him. “Strong? Like one real hell of a beast?”
He laughed at her, and he was the one to flash fang. Long, deadly fangs. His hand reached up, and black claws had sprung from his hands. Those claws lightly slid over her cheek. He didn’t cut her. Good for him. Because if he’d so much as scratched her, she would have given him a new scar to enjoy.
“I am one hell of a beast,” he murmured.
“I’m not drugged this time,” Ella told him. “And if you want to see a beast…” She could feel the change starting to burn through her body. Her rage wouldn’t be contained any more. Not while she was facing this bastard—and he dared to laugh at her. “Then get ready for what I’m about to show you.”
***
A crowd ran out of that little bar as if they’d just seen a demon.
Or a vampire.
“Dammit,” Eric said as he tossed aside the laptop and then shoved his car door open. He’d expected Ella to take her prey out back, the way she’d done with the college boys at the club the previous night. He hadn’t expected her to flash fang in front of such a big group!
Cars were now racing out of the lot and one woman was screaming in the middle of that madness. “Monsters! Monsters! Fucking monsters!”
He ran up and touched the woman’s shoulder. “Ma’am, you need to—”
She tried to punch him. He ducked the blow and brought up his ID. “Federal agent, ma’am. You need to calm the hell down.”
She didn’t. “Fucking monsters!”
“I think there may be a gas leak on the premises,” he murmured as he tried to soothe her. “It’s causing people to see things that aren’t there.”
Her mouth hung open.
“Are you experiencing dizziness? Maybe a headache?”
She put her hand to her temple. “I do feel light-headed.”
That could be due to the fact that you smell like you swam in beer. “It’s all right, ma’am. We just need to clear the scene. It’s not safe for anyone to be inside right now.”
Not safe for humans, anyway.
He glanced toward the bar’s doors. No one else was running out. That meant it was time for him to go in. Let’s just see what hell Ella has managed to stir up.
***
Ella could feel the cuts on her back as the skin near her shoulder blades burst open. It was a pain she hadn’t allowed herself to feel in a very, very long time. Her body hunched forward as the change swept over her. Painful, consuming.
“What the fuck…” The scarred werewolf demanded, “are you?”
Ella smiled up at him. “I’m your death.”
He backed away. Her fangs were out, her claws ready to go in for the kill. And behind her…she could feel the stretch of new muscle. New power. New—
The doors slammed open. “Ella!”
That roar was oddly familiar. For just a second, Ella glanced over her shoulder.
Eric stood in the doorway. Oh, how cute. He had a gun in his hand.
She didn’t need guns.
Her shift was complete. She was whole again.
Her body began to lift, rising as she stretched her wings. Literally.
“Holy shit,” the werewolf gasped.
She saw Eric’s gaze go wild with total shock. “Ella?”
Her eyes narrowed on him, then she turned to the prey that mattered. The scarred wolf. Ella flew right at him. Her arms locked around him, and she lifted him up, holding him easily. Gunfire echoed behind her, followed by screams, but Ella didn’t stop. She burst through the window with her prize, and then she flew straight out into the night.
***
He’d shot three werewolves. They were currently on the floor, groaning in agony because their bodies were full of silver. They weren’t a threat to him, not anymore.
But Ella…
Eric ran to the broken window. She was gone. Long gone again. Only this time, she hadn’t run away from him. She’d fucking flown.
Connor burst into the bar. “What the hell just happened?”
Eric swiped a hand over his face. “A problem I didn’t anticipate.”
“Did I just see that vampiress with wings? Wings?”
He had. Her wings had been big, beautiful, and a strange mix of gold and black as they shot straight from her back. They’d looked like silk as they’d fluttered around her.
Impossible.
“What kind of paranormal has wings?” Connor demanded.
“The kind that flies,” Eric responded. He hadn’t recognized that scarred werewolf, but for Ella to take him, then that meant the guy was important. The key to finding Keegan? If the bastard was still alive?
“Stay with them,” Eric ordered as he waved his hand to the prone werewolves. One had been in the form of a beast when Eric shot him, but the guy had shifted back and was now sprawled naked amid a broken pile of beer bottles. “I’ll send back-up to you. Take the wolves in and keep them contained until I can get answers.”
He hurried to the door.
Connor grabbed his arm. “And just where are you going, boss?”
Eric glanced at the broken window. “She was really quite stunning, wasn’t she?”
“Oh, shit, you are—”
“I’m finishing the mission. I’m following Ella, and I’m seeing just what she can lead me to.”
Vengeance.
Or hell.
Eric figured it would be a toss-up.
Chapter Four
Her wings didn’t normally come out. That part of her life had been nearly wiped away centuries before, and it took a whole lot of fury for her to shift these days.
But at that moment, she had plenty of rage pouring through her. So much so that Ella could barely breathe through her fury.
“Is Keegan alive?” Ella demanded as she held tightly to the werewolf.
He twisted, struggling in her arms. “Bitch, you ca—”
She dropped him. His scream seemed to shake the very earth. Ella counted. One, two…
Then she swung in and before three—before the big, bad werewolf would have gone all splat—she caught him. Then she shot straight up into the air again. “Let’s try that once more. Is Keegan alive?’
“Yes! Fuck, yes! He survived!”
Her hold on him tightened. “Where is he?”
“Just…get me on the ground, and I’ll tell you.”
“I’ll drop y
ou to the ground if you don’t tell me, right now.”
“H-hiding out! He’s burned, badly. He can’t seem to heal from the wounds. Don’t know why…maybe he was hurt too much. He’s got a place, just over the border. He fled the US because he didn’t want that damn Para Unit coming after him.”
“He doesn’t have to worry about them.” She lowered them to the ground. “He has to worry about me.”
The moonlight shone down on them. He had to be feeling the call of the beast, but he wasn’t transforming. Curious now, her head tilted as she stared at him. “Who are you?”
“Reece.”
The name meant nothing to her. “You’re in his pack. You were there the night he took me.”
“I-I was just following orders!”
Her hand lifted and traced his scar. “How’d you get this memento?”
He didn’t answer.
She smiled. “Let me guess. You pissed off Keegan.”
He was sweating. But not shifting. Interesting. Odd.
“What will happen when Keegan finds out that you told me exactly where he is?”
And then…Reece laughed.
She didn’t like that laughter. It made her fury flare higher. They laughed the night they drugged me. When they drained the blood from me.
“We knew you’d come looking for us,” Reece suddenly said. “Four in the bar? Just four? Come on, you know a pack is bigger than that.”
Her gaze cut to the darkness of the trees.
“They followed you the minute you flew away with me. Keegan always suspected what you really were, and now we have proof.”
Her hands fell away from him as she backed up, worried now that she’d missed a threat. Her rage had made her careless…
“I’ve heard stories about those wings. About just what they can do.” His head tilted and he lifted his claws toward her. “Tell me…just how badly will it hurt when I cut them off you?”
“Come and try,” Ella whispered. “You come and—”
He lunged.
She snarled.
More gunfire blasted.
Ella paused, her gaze on Reece. He was just inches away from her and—he was bleeding. She could smell his blood and the deeper, thicker scent of silver in the air. Liquid silver?