I dealt with the bio lock. It required the palm print of the man at my feet and then the ID tag he wore around his neck. It took under a minute and I was sweating from the nerves by the time I was done.
Please let that be all…
The door unlocked and I froze.
There were two guards.
One of them held a weapon trained on the door, but this wasn’t one of the annoying pulse weapons.
It was an old school UMP9 and I’d bet my eyeteeth it was loaded with some sort of silver ammo.
Considering the NHs restrained in various forms around the room, silver was the best weapon to pack. There were more than the four we’d been looking for—Justin had said there might but I hadn’t been prepared for almost double that number.
Considering what they were dealing with, the UMP was probably underkill, but it could still cut me in two. The same could be said for the witches.
I doubted the shooter would be fast enough to use it on a shifter or vamp, though.
I hit the floor and rolled, coming up in a crouch near the feet of one of the witches.
She knew I was there.
She couldn’t see me, but she’d sensed me—heard me, smelled me, something.
The female cat shifter knew I was there, too. Shanelle. From the corner of my eye, I saw her nostrils flare as she drew in a deep drag of air. As she let it out, a faint smile curled her lips.
That smile made me uneasy.
Deal with the problem at hand, then with her.
“Where is it?” That came from the second guard. He stood in the middle of the room, a knife in one hand and a limp body in his arms.
A witch.
Her eyes were open, but dull and glazed and even when he pricked her neck with the knife, she didn’t react.
I readied another dart.
It hit its target as the man jabbed her harder with the knife. “Who’s here, you little…”
He stumbled.
The woman fell to the floor, limp, her neck bleeding. Her wound wasn’t fatal.
The first guard spun, watching as his partner staggered and then went to his knees.
In the split second I had, I took him out, too.
A collective breath left the monsters around me and I stiffened as first one, then another, and another turned my way. There were seven of them in there, not the four Justin had believed.
“Are there more?” I asked softly.
“Not yet.” The words came from the female shifter. “But there will be. Hurry.”
Wasn’t planning to dawdle, sweetheart.
Working my way around the room, I freed the witches first, then the oldest of the two vampires. “Are you Icarus?”
He stared at the empty air—or what he thought was empty air—for a brief moment. “I am.”
“Abraham has been searching for you. He’s waiting.”
He just inclined his head and without asking, he moved to the wolf straining to free himself. The wolf was big, bulky and despite the snarl tightening his features, he was gorgeous.
Skin a dark, deep brown and through heavy dreadlocks, I could see eyes the color of gold. He growled as Icarus freed him.
I saw his plan in the subtle tensing of his body.
“No!” I shouted.
He didn’t even slow.
Icarus caught him and threw him to the ground.
“Off me, leech,” the shifter said, his voice a low, dangerous snarl. “I want blood.”
Icarus didn’t move. “You’ll have to get it later. We have no time.”
“I’ll just slaughter them all,” the wolf panted.
Hurriedly, I freed Shanelle and then as she moved away from the wall, I ducked behind her.
Behind the shield of her taller, curvier body, I let the invisibility fade and then I moved back to face them.
She hissed and leaped away, landing on her hands and knees nearly ten feet away. It would have been funny if I had the time to appreciate it. “We can’t kill any of them,” I said, striding forward and placing myself between the wolf and the two unconscious mortals.
He tossed his head, throwing the dreads from his eyes—no. Eye. I hadn’t seen the injury until that moment. He only had one eye and despite the puckered scar where his other one should be, I had a sick feeling that wasn’t an old wound. “We won’t kill anybody. I will kill them.”
“No.” I twitched my wrist, letting a blade fall into it. “None of them can die.”
He snarled and lunged—I was snatched back before I had a chance to react, cold arms binding me to an even colder body. I tensed, fighting the fear that choked me. The vampire who held me still hadn’t spoken. Icarus eyed him for a second and then looked at me.
“Alejandro, you may release her. My dear, round up the others,” Icarus said, his voice smooth and unperturbed.
The silent vampire behind me freed me right as I found my tongue—ready to lash out, cut, fight, bite—anything to get away.
He said nothing at my obvious fear and moved to join Icarus, who stood as a wall between the wolf and the guards.
“Drake.”
It was Shanelle who spoke. The wolf—Drake—tensed as she picked up the UMP on the floor. Her small hands looked almost comical on it, but she held it with confidence.
“We’re leaving and you’re not going to interfere. If you try, you can stay here…in pieces.”
Damn. Too bad I’d already decided I wouldn’t like her.
“Where is he?”
It was the first words any of them had spoken since Justin had appeared out of the darkness with what looked like a work van too battered to even run. But it purred like a big cat and cut through the night like a dream.
From my position in the front seat, I asked, “Who?”
Her nostrils did that funny flare thing again as she scented the air. Her gaze locked on me.
“The man who hired you. Where is he?”
Justin chuckled. “You’re looking at him, sweetheart.”
“But I—” Shanelle stopped then, an assessing look in her eyes. “You’re working for somebody then?”
“Nope.” Justin sounded almost cheerful and I watched as his gaze flicked to the back. The corner, I thought, where three female witches huddled together. They hadn’t spoken; they barely seemed to realize we were there. After a moment, he shifted his attention back to Shanelle. “You were in the right place—wasn’t going to leave you there—but you weren’t who we went in after.”
Looking out the window, I stared at the night as it sped by.
“Kit?”
“Yeah?”
When Justin didn’t respond right away, I looked over at him. He opened his mouth, but then after a few seconds, closed it without saying anything. He shook his head, clearly deciding against whatever he’d been about to say.
Sighing, I rested my head on the padded cushion of the seat. I was exhausted.
I was also ready to be done with this and get back to East Orlando.
To Damon.
Because even though she was off-base about why we’d rescued her, I knew why she’d made the assumption.
I could still smell Damon on me. No doubt she could, too. She’d just made the wrong assumption…and now we had the next couple of hours for her to figure out the right assumptions.
Maybe I had a little of that insane possessiveness Damon was always displaying, because all I wanted to do was get back to him—mark my territory.
Chapter Ten
I didn’t go home.
My body screamed for sleep, but I had Justin take me to the Lair.
Fortunately, he’d taken Shanelle to the Assembly first—Shanelle, Drake, the others. Since their kidnapping and captivity was somewhat of an issue, as Justin had called it, he’d decided it would be better if they all spoke with the Assembly first, filed their formal complaints and all that bullshit. Complaints—after being kidnapped and tortured.
Even if they knew who’d done it, nothing would be done to them.
/> But if they had the complaints filed, they’d have something of a defense if the people who’d done it attempted to come looking for them again. At least if it happened here in Florida. The laws here, at least, were slowly getting better and we had some protection.
While she was tending to that, I had every intention of finding Damon.
Sadly, he wasn’t around when I got there.
Voices went quiet, briefly, as I climbed out of the car. Justin joined me at the curb, looking almost as haggard as I felt. He held my bag out and glanced around for a moment. “What’s up between you and the female?”
He didn’t clarify which female.
I didn’t need him to.
Chewing on my lip, I debated on what to tell him and finally just gave him the truth—or the abbreviated version. “She used to have a thing with him.”
I didn’t clarify which him.
Justin didn’t need me to.
His brows went straight up and he dragged his hands down his face. “Well, shit.”
“Yep.”
His gaze came back to me. “Are…” He hesitated, clearly searching for the right words. “Are you…back?”
Although I hadn’t told Justin the personal details of what was going on between Damon and me, I think he knew me well enough to guess. “Yeah.” I shrugged self-consciously. “There was never a question of it, really. I…I love him. I just needed time.”
Justin reached out and this time, when his fingers brushed my cheek, I didn’t move.
Maybe he did still have feelings for me, but first, last and always, he was a friend. “After what you went through, if you didn’t need time, I’d think there was something wrong with you.”
“There are all sorts of things wrong with me,” I muttered. I caught his hand as he went to lower it and gave it a quick squeeze. “But…yeah. I needed time. He gave it to me.”
He gave me too much time, but that didn’t matter now. “We’re fine, though. And she….”
I pursed my lips for a moment. “She was coming down here because there was business between her clan and the assembly, but also because…” I blew out a breath. “She’s got this idea that she can come back and reclaim her position.”
“Reclaim.” His green eyes glittered like glass. “So she was here before. With Annette, I assume.”
We were speaking in low voices due to all the shifters around, but at the mention of the former Alpha’s name, I glanced around. Nobody seemed to pay us any attention. The operative word there—seemed. “Yes, she was.”
We left the other part unsaid. And Damon.
My hands curled into fists. “She thought he sent me after her.” Slipping Justin a hot look, I said fiercely, “She can’t have him.”
He laughed. “Kit…I don’t think that’s even an issue.” He leaned in and kissed my brow. “I’ve got to go. The witch…”
As he straightened, I tried to figure out which witch. I couldn’t.
He looked away. “Lila.”
Lila. The one they’d grabbed when I went in. She’d been catatonic the entire drive back, making no sound, no response, no matter what anybody had said or done.
“She’s the one you were really after,” I said softly.
“Yeah.”
“Why?”
When his gaze came to mine, the green was all but blazing. “Because she’s the only one I’ve ever known to have escaped the hospital.”
Those words punched the air right out of me. “Escaped…”
“Yes.” The air around him sparked, a sign of his agitation, too much energy rolling through him. “She escaped. But somehow they found her.”
For the first time in months, I strode into the Lair and I was stained with soot and smelling of smoke and sweat. We hadn’t taken the time to stop on our way out of Georgia and my skin all but itched with the need to wash up.
Yeah, I knew how to make an entrance.
Nobody spoke to me as I made my way inside, but I wasn’t given the eyes-on-toes treatment I’d gotten when I’d first returned to the Lair after my kidnapping. It wasn’t until I was nearly to Damon’s quarters when somebody fell into step with me.
Scott looked like he’d just stepped off the cover of a men’s fashion mag, dressed in a collarless white dress shirt, his custom-fit suit a deep, steel gray. I looked even more ragged next to him. “Hello, Kit,” he said, his voice polite.
“Scott.” I flicked him a look. “Where is he?”
I didn’t have to ask to know he wasn’t here. If Damon had been in the Lair, he would have met me before I even stepped inside.
“Attending to some business.” He reached the door to Damon’s quarters before I did and opened it, allowing me to precede him inside. He lingered near the door as I moved deeper inside. “If this is urgent, I can notify him.”
I almost said, Please…
But it wasn’t urgent that I see him right that moment. Maybe I wanted to, but I didn’t have to.
“No.” Looking around the broad, open space, I asked, “Is it okay if I wait, though?”
“Of course.” He opened the door. “Shall I have somebody bring you some food? You look as if you’ve had an eventful day.”
“I...” I almost refused and then I stopped. “Yeah. I can eat. Anything is fine…as long as it’s no longer bleeding.”
He chuckled. “I’ll make sure the food is cooked, Kit. I promise. Perhaps a burger and fries? You’re fond of fries, if I recall correctly.”
He recalled correctly. Once he’d been my shadow and I bet he could even tell me all the places where I was known to enjoy fries. “That works.”
“I’ll see to it. And I’ll make sure the burger no longer bleeds.” He winked and slid outside. I turned in a slow circle, looking around the room.
I hadn’t brought anything with me other than the gear I carried in my bag. There was an extra set of clothes in there, but I didn’t want work clothes. I wanted something warm and soft against my skin as I cuddled up on the lake-sized bed that took up almost a quarter of the opposite wall.
Ducking through the door that led the shower and his office, I moved into his closet. There was a built-in set of drawers and I tugged open the top one, staring down at the clothes I’d left here more than a year ago.
Everything was still in there.
Jeans, panties, bras, shirts, the spare work clothes I’d brought just in case.
I took out underclothes, a pair of soft cotton pajama bottoms and a faded T-shirt that had Memphis scrawled across the chest.
Exhaustion beat at me as I stumbled into the lavish bathroom. It was done in earth tones with gold accents, more elegant than you’d expect from a guy like Damon.
The only thing that kept me from falling asleep in the shower was the fact that I knew I’d drown if I did. Once I’d washed the soot, blood and sweat away, I fell face-first onto Damon’s big bed. It was soft as a cloud and I grabbed the pillow, bringing it to my chest.
It smelled of Damon.
Smiling, I closed my eyes.
It was a surprise when I woke up curled around Damon.
The feel of his hand curved over my ass was a surprise after so many nights alone. A surprise, yes. But a welcome one. Snuggling deeper into him, I murmured, “I don’t want to move. Ever.”
His hand smoothed gently down my spine and his lips brushed over my brow. “Good morning, Goldilocks.”
“Somebody’s been sleeping in your bed.”
He laughed softly. “My favorite somebody.”
He moved and I caught my breath as he pulled me on top of him.
“You smell like smoke.”
“Job got hot,” I said, reaching down to trace my finger along his cheek. His skin was warm, five o’clock shadow darkening his jawline.
“What time is it?”
“A little before three. Scott said you’ve been here since ten.”
I yawned and my jaw cracked. “Yeah. Spent most of it sleeping.”
He nodded at the tray on the ta
ble across the room. “He sent food, but it’s cold by now. I’ll call for more.”
I sat up, eying the burger and fries. I hadn’t even heard Scott come in. It was unsettling, but there was nowhere I was safer than in Damon’s quarters, whether or not he was there.
“I need to call Justin—check in and see if he got everything wrapped up.”
“You need food.” His voice was flat. “Kit, you’re exhausted.”
I grimaced as I threw my legs over the side of the bed. It was so tall, my feet didn’t even touch the floor.
“I’ll eat.” I was exhausted. Sighing, I looked around, searching for signs that anything had changed.
“This job…”
I looked at Damon. His nostrils flared as he breathed in the air.
Nerves clenched inside me. “Yeah?”
“What exactly were you doing?”
“I…ah…” Shrugging, I looked away. “I told you about it. NHs were being held against their will. We busted them out.”
I felt his reaction more than saw it. Because I wasn’t ready to talk about Shanelle yet, I turned back to him, crawling across the lake of a bed until I could bend down and press my lips to his.
I bit his lower lip and he groaned, pulling me to him.
I’d missed this more than I’d thought possible.
As he cradled the back of my head, a wave of emotion flooded me, left me feeling stupid with love. Wow…
That was it.
Just…
Wow.
The last of the walls I’d unconsciously erected between us started to topple. I could feel myself surrendering completely to the need and love that still burned inside me. I was tired of being away from him, tired of the fear that wouldn’t go away.
Breaking the kiss, I lifted my head to look down at him.
I’d hidden from all of this for too long while I struggled to come to grips with everything. Now that I was ready to deal with it again—deal with us—I was back in that crazy area where what I felt for him was constantly throwing me off balance.
Emotions had never been my strong suit and what I felt for him was too big. But that didn’t mean I’d give it up. And if some sexy shifter with a need to take back her place in his life tried to come between us, I’d cut her down.
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