by Lynn Hagen
Devil’s eyes narrowed and Ryan saw the tips of his canines before they disappeared. “Stay put.” He rounded the fire truck.
Ryan tapped his foot, telling himself not to move. Then he took off after Devil as Henry made a beeline for the fireman he’d been flirting with.
Chapter Eight
When Devil rounded the fire truck, instead of finding Jeff, two Dark Knights were getting out of a car—Kivani Davenport and Nyx Roman. Devil had completely forgotten about the meeting he’d set up with them.
Kivani was a wolf shifter, and Nyx was all bear. Nyx was tall and muscular, with hazel eyes and dark auburn hair in a short but stylish cut. Kivani had the same build, only he had amber eyes and hair the same dirty-blond as Devil’s. It hung close to his shoulders in soft waves.
The stress of Devil’s evening mounted as they approached. One of Nyx’s brows arched. “Going for insurance money?”
“I’m leaning more toward arson.” Devil scanned the area but didn’t see Jeff anywhere. “I don’t need the insurance money, not when business is this good.”
“Just trying to ease the tension.” Nyx squeezed his shoulder. “I think we could all use a drink after the past two days.”
What did that mean? Did he know about Devil’s inability to track Jeff down? That wasn’t possible, but Devil was on edge. If Jeff had been here, had he started the fire? But why would he knock Terry out?
Too many questions circled in Devil’s head. He eyed Nyx and Kivani, then looked over at Ryan. His mate stood close but had given them enough space to talk in private. Devil took a deep breath, calming himself. So many things could have gone horribly wrong.
What if Ryan had gone into the bathroom while Jeff had been in there—if Jeff had been the one who’d started the fire? What if Ryan had been the one knocked out on the floor and had been discovered too late? The fear that clenched his chest told him his feelings for Ryan were growing.
Even with the chaos around them, Devil had never wanted Ryan more. His mate was shy and bold, funny and a worrywart, sexy, and yes, Devil had even grown to adore his drool.
You got it bad. Devil smiled at that thought. He did have it bad for Ryan.
Devil’s musing took a backseat when the fire marshal pulled him away, but he kept looking back at Ryan, making sure Jeff didn’t pop up anywhere. Devil only half listened to the marshal. He needed to find Jeff. Now more than ever he was determined to kill the bastard.
Ryan was now his only family. Not even Devil’s pack was there for him. In fact, they’d been moments away from calling a hunt down on his head before Devil had gotten the call from Christian. His alpha had warned him to never return to Seattle.
Devil hadn’t planned on it.
His throat felt tight as he stared at his mate, who stood there glancing around and looking lost.
“Are we done?” Devil asked the marshal.
“I’ll write up my report,” he said. “But it looks like someone purposely set the fire. There’s still a lingering odor of lighter fluid in the bathroom, and we found evidence of a burned matchbook.”
Devil ground his teeth. “I want the fucker found.”
“That’ll be the job of the police.” The marshal walked away.
Devil was enraged, relieved, and a few other emotions he couldn’t quite pinpoint. No one else had been hurt. The fire had been contained to the bathroom. It would need to be gutted and rebuilt, but that was the least of his worries.
“So it really was arson?” Nyx asked as Devil approached.
The crowd from the club had dispersed, but the streets were packed, the city alive, so stragglers kept wandering over like they were hoping to catch a glimpse of a dead body lying on the fucking sidewalk somewhere. The fire trucks pulled away as Devil stood outside Krave, seething with the need for revenge. “I think I know who did this.”
He explained to Kivani and Nyx about Jeff. He hadn’t meant to run his mouth, but he was just that angry. Devil didn’t want to lay all of this on Ryan’s shoulders. His mate was already going through a moral dilemma about Jeff needing to be killed.
But Devil needed to unload, and who was a better choice than two men who were supposed to be a part of a team?
“Dude,” Kivani said. “All you had to do was tell us you needed help.”
“I don’t need any fucking help,” Devil snapped. His pride wouldn’t allow them to think he couldn’t take down one fucking human. “I was just letting you know what was going on. This Hunter is proving resourceful. Watch your backs.”
“We could help,” Nyx offered. “All three of us tracking him down. I kinda need help myself with one of the names on my list, too.”
Devil was shocked Nyx would admit this. Nyx had been the one who had gone after Christian—the ancient vampire—to prove his worth. The bear shifter looked like he could take a human down with one hand tied behind his back.
“I think we underestimated the Hunters.” Nyx rubbed his jaw, looking up and down the street. “With Hephner dead, they’ve upped their game.”
“They’re fighting for leadership,” Kivani said. “Everyone wants to be king now that there’s a vacancy at the top.”
If Jeff was trying to prove his worth, shit, things could get downright ugly. “I guess the body doesn’t die when the head’s cut off. The Hunters are making their moves instead of fading into the woodwork.”
“Just give us his bio,” Nyx said. “We’ll help you take him down. We’re a team, right? I mean, I know we don’t know each other that well, but we were formed to eradicate Hunters. You’ll get full credit for him.”
Which meant Devil would be the one who got paid for Jeff’s demise.
Devil watched from the corner of his eye as Ryan wandered closer to the club door. “Hang on,” he said to Kivani and Nyx before heading over to his mate. “What’s wrong?”
“If Jeff was here…” Ryan shook his head.
He was thinking along the same lines as Devil. “Then he could be the one who started it.”
Ryan looked at Devil, tears brimming in his eyes. “People could have been killed. If the bartender hadn’t smelled smoke, Terry could have died. I’m not his fan, but…how could Jeff be so heartless?”
Devil enveloped Ryan in his arms. “Hunters are cruel, Ryan. Jeff would’ve killed everyone in the club to get to me.”
“But you weren’t even here.”
“Jeff didn’t know that. He probably assumed I was in my office.” But if Jeff was behind this, how had he found out about Devil, about the hit?
That was a damn good question, and Devil didn’t have an answer.
* * * *
Ryan chose to ignore the events of last night. He felt in over his head. The guy he was dating was a werewolf, his ex had turned out to be a murderer, and Mr. Rogers had refused to give him the day off. His boss had threatened Ryan with suspension if he didn’t come in.
So Ryan sat at his desk, glaring daggers at his boss and wishing he had laser eyes so he could burn Mr. Rogers’s balls off. Ryan hadn’t gotten to sleep until the wee hours, and now he was so tired his burning eyes keep trying to close.
“You’re taking this sick thing too far,” Seth said as he laid an arm on the top of Ryan’s cubicle. “No one feels sorry for you, faker.”
“I’m not trying to get sympathy.” Ryan yawned as he fought not to lay his head on his desk, but he was so exhausted it was a losing battle. “What do you want, Seth, besides to harass me?”
“Mr. Rogers has his eye on you.” Seth stalked away and Ryan rolled his eyes and gave up the fight. Just as his eyelids started to close, his boss was standing over him, his lips thinned and his eyes narrowed.
“I feel like a fool for believing your lies.”
Ryan lifted his head, staring bleary-eyed at him. “So I faked that vomit because I can throw up spontaneously?”
Mr. Rogers’s face screwed up in concentration, as though he was trying to come up with a plausible explanation without admitting that Ryan had really been
sick that day. “One of the employees saw you talking in the parking lot when you were supposed to be in the bathroom with an upset stomach.” Triumph sprang to his face. “Explain that.”
Ryan would wager a year’s pay that Seth had ratted him out. With a yawn, he shrugged. He was so tired he felt lightweight drunk. “I’ll give you an explanation tomorrow. Right now I’m battling the world’s biggest headache.”
“Don’t you dare go to sleep,” Mr. Rogers said with a snake-like hiss. “Is your name on the front of this building? No, so you don’t get to do what you want around here, buster.”
A small giggle burped its way up Ryan’s throat, then turned to full laughter. He wasn’t even sure what was so funny, or why he couldn’t stop as Mr. Rogers stared wide-eyed at him.
“You’ve lost your mind.”
It sure as fuck felt like it. Ryan laughed so hard he had to hold his side as a stitch worked around his stomach. Tears fell as he got to his feet. “I’m not even sure why I put up with this shit,” Ryan sputtered between fits of laughter. He grabbed his cell phone from his desk and pushed past his boss. “Don’t worry about suspending me. I quit.”
Later, in Ryan’s car, with the laughter gone, he gripped the wheel so tightly the blood fled his knuckles. What in the hell had he just done? How was he going to pay his bills? He felt like he’d stepped off the edge of a cliff and was falling to the jagged rocks below.
He numbly drove home, forcing himself not to panic. With his luck, he’d probably crash and his car would catch fire and make the buildings around him explode.
What have I done?
He pulled into the parking lot at his apartment building, then went upstairs and let himself into his unit. He had to call Henry. His friend would know how to fix this, or at the very least cheer him up.
What have I done?
Ryan felt like he was in a life-sized pinball machine that kept crashing him into one insane situation after the next.
He dropped his keys on the bookcase, locked his door, and kicked off his shoes. Ryan was so deep in thought that he hadn’t noticed anyone sitting on his couch until it was too late for him to escape.
Jeff had a gun aimed at him.
“What the hell?”
“Don’t play dumb, Ryan. It doesn’t suit you.” Jeff stood. “You should have listened to my warning. Now you’re in too deep and I’ll have to use you for leverage.”
Ryan played dumb anyway. It was worth a try. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. Put the fucking gun away before someone gets hurt.”
He felt like an idiot for trying to talk Devil out of killing Jeff. Ryan had had his doubts about the accusations against Jeff, but now he saw that Devil had been telling the truth.
“You’re a killer.”
Jeff gave him a withering glare. “And you’re sleeping with a filthy animal.”
Ryan was so over Jeff that he wanted to take that weapon from him and beat him over the head with it. Ryan wasn’t sure what he’d ever seen in Jeff now that his rose-colored glasses had been yanked off. He wanted to shoot himself for mourning their lost relationship in the first place, wanted to choke away every last memory he had of them. “The last twenty-four hours have been shit for me. Put the damn gun down and go home.”
Ryan was mad, and letting his anger take charge, but a large part of him was terrified. Jeff had an actual gun in his hand and was aiming it at Ryan, and Ryan wasn’t one hundred percent sure Jeff wouldn’t pull the trigger.
He’d already killed four people, and Jeff had broken up with him through a damn text. The guy held no love in his heart for Ryan—which would make killing Ryan easier. Where was Devil when Ryan really needed him?
He’d even settle for Henry right about now.
“You think this is a joke?” Jeff curled his lip.
Why hadn’t Ryan stayed at work? Why had he stupidly quit? Ryan lifted his chin and gave Jeff a challenging stare. What the hell are you doing? Are you insane? Just get out of the apartment any way you can.
“I don’t think this is a joke,” Ryan said. “I just can’t understand how you can go from being such a sweet guy to someone who is willing to take a life.”
Sweet guy? Really? Ryan was laying it on thick. Jeff had been fun and good in bed, but he was a bit of a snob, and never sweet. Now he was really wondering what he had ever seen in Jeff. He was the total opposite of Devil.
Devil made Ryan feel wanted, sexy, and breathless. The mere thought of him always had Ryan growing half-hard. Thinking about Jeff never affected him that way. He’d never ached for Jeff, never lain around dreaming about him, and never craved being in his arms.
Where in the hell was Devil? Ryan missed him like crazy. He’d started to make a habit of being at Ryan’s door when he got home. Then again, Ryan had left work early.
“You’re so full of shit,” Jeff said. “That was the problem with you. Always with your head in the clouds, oblivious to what was really going on.”
“Like Terry wasn’t all gooey-eyed for you?”
“Terry knew the real deal.”
What did that even mean? Ryan wanted to ask, but the tightness in Jeff’s eyes kept his lips sealed. He was pushing Jeff, but he didn’t want to cross a line and get shot.
Everything else in his life was upside down, and Ryan wanted to get out of this situation alive. He bit the inside of his cheek, unsure what to say since he’d never dealt with this kind of thing before. “Now what?”
He mentally patted himself on the back for keeping the quiver out of his voice.
“Now you call Devil,” Jeff said. “You tell him you need to see him, and you better be convincing.”
That wouldn’t be a problem since Ryan was already dying to see Devil. But he had to think of what to say to tip Devil off. He had no idea.
“So you can kill him in cold blood?” Now Ryan really hated Jeff. Hated him so much he prayed Devil snapped his neck.
“So I can put down one more abomination. I might have saved his life that night, but I saw those canines. I saw what Devil truly was. Since then I’ve been plotting how to kill him, and you gave me the perfect opportunity.”
Ryan folded his arms and glared at Jeff. “I’m not luring him here so you can end him.”
Jeff was across the room before Ryan saw him move. He shoved the barrel of the gun against Ryan’s temple. Feeling the cold steel made reality slam hard into Ryan. He hadn’t meant to whimper, but the sound had come out too quickly to stop it.
“Call. Him.”
Ryan pulled his phone from his pocket. His hands shook so badly he nearly dropped it. He dialed, his gaze locked with Jeff’s, and Ryan hoped his ex saw just how much he hated him.
“Put it on speaker,” Jeff demanded.
Ryan’s heart sank when Devil answered.
“Hey, sexy,” Devil said. “You at work or home?”
Ryan’s voice locked in his throat. He tried to talk, but all that came out was a croak. He’d only known of Devil’s existence for a month, only had his attention for a few days, and had only slept with him once, but Ryan couldn’t bring himself to destroy such a beautiful man—a man who was only trying to do the right thing by getting rid of the evilness in the world.
“Ryan?” Devil said, worry in his voice.
“Jeff has a gun to my head!”
The phone was knocked away before Jeff brought the butt down on Ryan’s temple.
* * * *
Devil wished he was in his office so he could have slammed his phone down. Being hung up on wasn’t as gratifying. He’d been riding with Nyx and Kivani, trying to hunt down one of the names on Nyx’s list.
“Turn this fucking car around,” he snapped at Nyx from the passenger seat. “I have a human to wipe off the face of the earth.”
“What’s wrong?” Kivani asked from the backseat. He’d volunteered to sit back there even though this was his car. Devil had a suspicion that Kivani liked being chauffeured around.
Devil told them about the call a
nd finally confessed that the beautiful young man who’d stood outside the club while the fire was put out was his mate.
“You should have given us the whole story from the beginning,” Nyx snapped. Kivani grunted in agreement. “This is your mate we’re talking about. And his ex is a Hunter?” Nyx sounded as if he were seconds away from exploding. “You should have never left him alone.”
Devil had thought Ryan was at work, and planned on being at Ryan’s apartment when his mate arrived home. Now his fuckup could cost him the one person in the world who was meant just for him.
He glared at Nyx. “Step on it.”
The car shot forward, careening through the city. Nyx made hairpin turns, slammed the brakes when a bunch of schoolkids were crossing at a light, then punched forward as if he was at a racetrack rather than on a city street.
“You put a scratch on my Lexus and I’ll beat you with one of the tires,” Kivani threatened.
“So what do you want me to fucking do, slow down?” Nyx asked.
“No, but I want you to be careful,” Kivani said. “Stop hitting every goddamn pothole in the city.”
Devil tried to call Ryan back but his phone just rang until voice mail picked up.
Ryan’s sexy, honey-colored eyes flooded Devil’s mind. He mentally saw the way his mate had looked at him as Devil took him, his needy breaths, his clawing fingers, and the way he sounded when he came. His heart fluttered at the way Ryan stood up to him and how insecure he looked sometimes.
In such a short period of time, Ryan had made Devil feel like a different man. Devil no longer felt the overwhelming loneliness he’d experienced his entire life. Ryan wasn’t someone who would betray Devil, but someone who would stick by his side no matter what. Ryan was his other half, and possibly, when they got to know each other better, his best friend. Devil had never had someone he could confide in before. Someone he could share special moments with.