Hunting Colby

by Annie Nicholas

  I glanced over my shoulder, the muscles in my back aching from the extra weight I carried, and snarled. “I need him more.”

  Mutt slipped his arm around the human’s shoulder. “It’s all right, Rose. She won’t eat him.”

  If our evening hadn’t been turned inside out, I might have laughed. “Your friend’s scent is still fresh. Your sense of smell should be strong enough to follow it. Go find him.”

  Rose shrugged off Mutt’s hand. “What about me?”

  I ground my teeth. How did the alpha role always fall on my shoulders? “Stay here until you hear from Colby, and take care of gigantor.” I eyed the unconscious human on the floor by the closet.

  I strode away from the motel to my parked car and dumped my mate on the backseat, leaving Mutt alone with Rose. He’d have to find his friend on his own now.

  Colby had been hanging out with humans too long and it was time he came home to be with his own kind. I leaned over him and brushed his shaggy hair from his face. The touch of skin upon skin sent tingles over my fingertips. Something I’d experienced only when we’d first met and fought.

  My breath caught in my throat. I had him.

  Chapter Two

  Parking in an unlit corner of my hotel’s back lot, I exited the vehicle and swept my gaze across the area. I chose this place because it lacked traffic. No hookers or drug dealers seemed to have taken residence, and the only cars were in the front of the building. Curious onlookers would probably call the police if they watched me drag an unconscious man in my room.

  I opened the back door and slid Colby out. His head lolled to the side as he remained limp.

  Sweat coated my palms and waves of nausea assaulted my stomach. Checking his neck with my fingertips, I found a thready pulse. His chest rose with shallow breaths. Had he hit his head too hard?

  Hands under his arms, I dragged him inside and laid him on the carpeted floor. I rushed to the bathroom and wet a facecloth with cold water before kneeling by his side. The last thing I wanted was to hurt him. I had only wished for Colby to see me one more time. To be sure he truly didn’t desire me before returning to my pack with my tail between my legs.

  My stomach rolled again at the sight of his limp form. I ran the cloth over his face. “Colby?” I shook his shoulder. The hit he received shouldn’t have knocked him out this deeply. “Colby?” My voice shook. What should I do? Human hospitals didn’t understand shifter physiology, and the only pack physician I knew was in Rio.

  With trembling hands, I withdrew my cell phone from the side pockets of my cargo pants. Searching through my contacts, I dialed the only person I knew in this stinking city besides Mutt—the overlord of Manhattan, Cesio Nucci. The only reason Cesio associated with me was my connection to the king of all vampires.

  “Yes.” He answered on the first ring, his voice carrying a mild Italian accent.

  “Is there a shifter physician in this city?”

  “Who is this?”

  “Gwen Fatima Brizido. I belong to Master Tane.” I wanted to snap at him to hurry, but nothing would make a vampire more silent than a subordinate shouting orders.

  “Oh yes, you’re the one he sent to take care of the dog.” He chuckled. “How is he doing?”

  I gaped at the phone. Did he just refer to a Nos as a dog? Either this overlord was an idiot or powerful enough to not worry about retaliation. “Your young master is doing well in his studies.”

  He cleared his throat. “Are you in need of assistance?”

  “I need a shifter doctor. Do you know where I can locate one?”

  “Why would I know this?” He didn’t bother hiding his surprise.

  Cesio was an old-world vampire. Not all of them were as forward-thinking as my master. I sighed in frustration. Obviously, Cesio didn’t deal with the local pack. He’d probably watch one of us bleed to death before helping. “A fellow shifter is injured.” The racing of my heart should have been audible over the phone. I’d allowed my mate to get hurt. What kind of female was I? No wonder Colby didn’t want me.

  “Is he still breathing?”

  I stared at his chest and waited…and waited. It rose, and I sucked in a breath of my own. “Yes, but very shallow.”

  “Do you know CPR?”

  “Sort of.” I’d been in battles and had performed it a few times, never successfully.

  “That’s all I can offer you.” He disconnected our call.

  Tossing the phone, I watched as Colby’s chest rose and fell. I leaned over him, ready to take control when and if I needed to. I didn’t know what the fuck I was doing.

  Give me a gun, sword, or any kind of weapon. I could fight with the passion of a thousand demons. I took lives but didn’t know how to save one. Sure, if a comrade went down during a fight, I knew how to dress a wound and apply pressure. This was different.

  I pressed my hand to my aching stomach and leaned over his face. “Please.” The plea hurt my ears. In my life, I’d never begged for anything. With a snarl, I thumped his sternum with the flat of my hand. “Wake up, damn it.”

  His eyes popped open.

  I gasped and landed flat on my ass. If he had cried boo, I wouldn’t have been more surprised. Rolling onto my knees, I reached for him as he rose on his elbow.

  He swatted my hand away. “You!” As if shaking off cobwebs, he shook his head and winced. “What hit me?”

  Instinct warred with logic. Every fiber in my body cried to care for him, but he appeared less than thrilled to see me. I should give him space but drew closer instead. I couldn’t stop my hands from supporting him. “A two hundred and fifty-pound Nosferatu baby.”

  Roaring, he leaped at my touch and pinned me to the floor. Injured or not, Colby was formidable, a perfect mate for a warrior. He scanned the room. “Where’s my team? What has he done to them?”

  His strong fingers circled my wrists, and I soaked in his touch. Shifters shouldn’t be separated from their mates for so long. I hadn’t realized how much I’d ached for him these last few months. “Nothing.” The word came low and husky. I had him right where I wanted him, in my room, touching me. “We left them at your motel still intact.”

  “He hit me.”

  I shrugged while pinned. “You were trying to stake his friend.”

  He made a noise of disgust and shoved himself off of me. “The vampire I was trying to catch escaped?”

  The tingles from his touch faded. “Yes.”

  “You compromised my mission, Gwen. What do I have to do to get you off my tail?” He rose to his feet, a flush of color tingeing his pale face, and crossed his arms over his solid chest.

  I sniffed the air. He stank of anger. This was how I’d expected our reunion to go, but I’d hoped once we were alone that Colby’s shifter instincts would take over. In Rio he’d been accused of an assassination attempt on my master. Both of us had been too focused on events to investigate this call of nature. Then he ran…

  Standing, I faced him. “I wasn’t after you. I was tracking the same vampire. So?”

  “He has Red.”

  My stomach took a nosedive. “Oh.” I took a moment to let that sink in further so my guilt could take firm root. I’d interrupted a rescue. Awkward didn’t describe my position well enough. I didn’t know any of Mutt’s friends, but he’d never mentioned them being criminal in nature, let alone having balls big enough to abduct Colby’s second in command. My temples pounded with a promise of becoming an epic headache. “Did you petition the city’s overlord?”

  Colby’s gaze narrowed. “I can’t imagine what kind of reception I’d get if I showed up at Cesio’s front door without any proof of the abduction.”

  I wasn’t used to thinking like an outsider. My whole life had been within the vampire nation. As a human, Red had some rights, but we’d have to prove that a vampire held him against his will. He’d need someone inside the nation to petition for his return. “I can call my master. He’ll get him released. What did he do?”

  Jerking his head
back, Colby let his arms fall to his sides. “He was doing his job!” He began to pace the room. “We’d heard some shady stories about increased vampire population in the city. I sent him to investigate. He never came home.”

  “Vampire procreation is strictly monitored by the Nosferatu.” Unsanctioned making of new vampires would be punished by death. “If you have proof, we have to report it at once.”

  “That’s the point of finding Red.”

  I grew still. Would have thought Red being his friend was a good enough reason to find him, but apparently not for Colby. “How do you know it’s that vampire?” There were literally hundreds of them in a city like New York. All of them fed from humans, but none were allowed to kill one or turn one into a vampire without permission. If they did, it would compromise their secret existence. The Nosferatu monitored their people closely. Even vampires had something to fear.

  Colby tossed a look of exasperation. “He’s the last vampire Red reported on before he went missing.”

  I nodded. “And the girl was to lure him to you for questioning? Before or after you staked him?”

  “Gwen.” He used my name as if swearing. “Did Rose get hurt?”

  I hoped he missed my sharp intake of breath at the mention of her name. Searching his face, I detested the concern evident in his gaze. “She seemed fine.” I took a step closer to him. He’d best not think to replace me with a weak mortal meat sack. “Why?”

  “Soldiers are a dime a dozen. Good bait is hard to find.” He made a sour face.

  I trembled from the effort not to snarl. Colby made it impossible for me to be civil. Every chance he had, he tossed hurtful things in my direction. It was like listening to a porcupine shifter, each word stinging. Rose could make any male happy, but she wasn’t allowed around mine. “Are you sleeping with her?”

  His eyebrows furrowed. “I don’t like damaged goods.”

  The muscles in my shoulders twisted into such taut knots, I had trouble easing my arms back to my side. I was damaged. Clearing my throat, I kept from meeting his gaze. Jealousy gripped me in its tight claws. “We should return to the vampire’s trail.” I needed to change the subject before I took a bite out of him. Colby wound me up so tight I feared if I sneezed I’d break apart. Hunting sounded like an excellent release. “Only a few hours of dark remain, and his scent should still be fresh enough to follow.”

  The wind blasted out of my lungs as Colby slammed me against the wall, his forearm across my throat and his thigh between my legs, preventing me from kicking. “No, you and I have unfinished business.” His dirty blond hair stood up in odd angles as if he ran his hands through it constantly. Piercing green eyes bore into mine. They were what I’d noticed the most about him the first time we fought.

  His forearm dug into my throat, and I gasped for air, clawing at his arm. I couldn’t budge it. Mates didn’t hurt each other. Maybe I’d been wrong about us all along.

  “Stop following me.” He drew closer until his nose was buried in my hair and inhaled deeply. “Go back to your life with Tane and your pack. I’m not what you want.” With a jerk, he released me and paced to the door.

  I rubbed my throat. “How would you know what I want?” My voice came out rough. From bad handling or emotion, I couldn’t tell.

  He stopped before exiting and glanced over his shoulder. “What do you know about shifters who can’t shift?”

  The blood drained from my face. How did he know? Only my parents and brother were privy to my deepest secret, my darkest shame. I’d never been able to shift. It was a hereditary trait that had inflicted a few of my ancestors. I had all the shifter strength, speed, and senses, but only my eyes changed color.

  “I can see you know enough.” Sadness touched his gaze for a split second, so fast I wasn’t sure if I’d seen it. “Leave me alone.” With that parting sentence, he left me.

  My knees gave away. What a rock troll could not do, a few words from Colby had succeeded. I was crushed. All my instincts cried that he belonged to me. Pretending to doubt would only hurt me more. I would follow him to the ends of the world. I couldn’t stop thousands of years of evolution, but if he couldn’t accept me as I was, then we were doomed.

  I stared at the open doorway. What would I tell my parents, my pack? My brother was already furious that Colby had rejected me. He’d go berserk about this. Shifters only had one soul mate. There would be no others for me. Or Colby.

  It sometimes happened that mates lost one another. Accidents occurred, since fate could be a cruel mistress. My thoughts turned to the only shifter I knew who’d lost his shifter wife ages ago—a shadow of a male who existed within our pack but did not seem to live. Was this my future? At least he’d had the chance to love and be loved by his mate before losing her. Colby had rejected me from day one.

  A tear spilled unchecked down my cheek.

  Chapter Three

  “No, no, no. Don’t get all girly on me.” A pair of worn running shoes filled my vision until someone squatted in front of me and wiped the tear from my cheek. “Shit, I suck at this stuff.”

  I smacked Mutt’s hand away. “Stop touching me.”

  He wiped the tear’s dampness on his worn, dirty jeans. “That’s better. Is he dead?” He rose to search the empty bathroom. “Guess not. Where’d the bastard go? Did he hurt you?”

  Mutt bore the trademark bald head, pointed ears, and the palest of pale skin of his brethren. Unlike them, however, he also owned the sweetest of hearts. I feared for him. Compared to the Nosferatu I’d worked with and others I’d met, Mutt was a newborn baby, a street kid from the 1980’s gone vampire. A few years ago, when Rurik had killed Dragos, the old ruler of the vampire nation, Mutt had undergone the transformation from regular vampire to Nosferatu badass.

  I eyed the young appearing male leaning against the bathroom’s door frame and shook my head. It would take at least a few more centuries before he could stand up to the others in his clan. Until then, he was fresh meat.

  “Colby left.” I got to my feet and stretched the cramped muscles in my lower back. How long had I been sitting there? “Took you long enough to return.”

  Mutt frowned. “I was on the other side of town. Contrary to common belief, I can’t fly. Not yet.”

  I snorted. “None of you can.”

  “A little respect.” He waved at his appearance. Mutt’s clan might make most supernatural beings shiver in fear at just the mention of their name, but not me, not anymore. I’d helped kill one not long ago.

  I snorted once more. “Respect is earned, not given. You’re still…too inexperienced.” He had lots to learn besides fighting. As a human, Mutt had grown up alone in this country’s foster home system. Then he’d been turned vampire to work as a soldier in Cesio’s nest. So I had my work cut out for me when it came to teaching Mutt about honor.

  He grinned from ear to ear. “You know I’ll make you eat those words one day.”

  “I look forward to it.” I met his gaze directly. “Did you find your friend?”

  His smartass smile faded. “No. I spent more time trying to find his scent than following it. My nose isn’t as good as yours.”

  “The skill comes with practice, and you’ll get more tonight. We’re going back out on the hunt. I want to question this vampire now, and I always catch what I track.”

  His eyes narrowed. “I don’t doubt it, but are you doing this because of the slayer?”

  I schooled my face into the emotionless mask I’d been wearing for the last few months. “Yes. Why?”

  “Because this idea has PMS written all over it, and I’m not suicidal enough to screw around with slayers. It’s bad enough I knocked him unconscious. He’s probably carving my name on a stake as we speak.”

  “He wouldn’t…” Then I remembered Colby’s hatred of Master Tane and, well, all Nosferatu. “It’s not like you think. I just…” What? Wanted to jump his bones? “He won’t be involved anymore.” Except we were both chasing after the same vampire.

&
nbsp; “I know about you and your slayer problem.” He cleared his throat. “When you showed up at my home, I called Tane to confirm your credentials, and he told me about you.”

  “It isn’t any of your business.”

  “Not until now.” He eyed my tidy room and pointedly stared at my made bed. “I guess your talk didn’t go as planned?”

  My shoulders slumped and I sat on the cheap chair by the table. “He acted like it was more of an abduction. So no, it didn’t go over well.”

  “No shit. Shocking.” He sat across from me and set a syringe with a long, capped needle on the table. “Well, next time you can drug him. Just stab him in the heart and push the plunger. That should get his attention.”

  A burst of laughter escaped me and I couldn’t stop until new tears rolled from my eyes. “Yes, that would be an excellent second date. I’m not even going to ask why you’re carrying that.”

  “Better that you don’t.” He slipped it back in his coat. “You’ll find someone else, someone better, and have good stories to tell your pups one day.”

  “You don’t know anything about shifters, do you?”

  He raised his hands in despair. “How can I? I’m still figuring out what I am.”

  “There won’t be anyone else for me. Colby is it.” I banged the back of my head against the wall. “It shouldn’t be this hard. Usually when mates meet, sparks fly and they’re together.” I gazed at my hands. “Something’s wrong with me.” I knew what it was. He didn’t want me because I couldn’t shift. If I bore Colby’s pups, they’d run the risk of inheriting my disability.

  Mutt grasped my hand. “There’s nothing wrong with you. He’s the fucked-up one.”

  If only that were true. And to top it off, I’d screwed things up for Red. A human I actually respected and liked. I leaned my forehead on our grasped hands. “I was so focused on snagging Colby that I let your friend escape. They think he’s involved in kidnapping another slayer.”