by Trina M. Lee
“Doesn’t matter what they know.” Sipping from her drink, she smiled wickedly. “We’re going to kill them. I mean, we are going to kill them, right?”
“Yes,” Kale said, dragging both our gazes to him. “We are.”
Jez climbed over me and out of the booth, sticking her tight ass in my face. “Good. Let me just make a trip to the ladies’ room, and I’ll be ready to kick some ass.”
She left us there alone to sit awkwardly looking just about everywhere but at one another. Well, Kale sat awkwardly. My buzz enabled me to enjoy his unease, tasting it like honey on the air.
Kale tilted his head toward where Ebyn lounged on the couch, glassy eyed and dopey. “So is he your current favorite? The one that keeps you clean.”
Clean. As in not prowling the streets randomly slaughtering joggers or crashing college parties to paint the walls red. Like Kale and I had done together. I couldn’t think back on those times without a tremor racking me, a tingle in my loins.
I followed his gaze, rolling my eyes when I saw that Ebyn had already drawn the attention of two ladies with drinks in hand. “I suppose you could say that. Doesn’t keep me squeaky clean, but it helps. It’s just blood though. We’re not lovers.”
Inwardly I cringed. He didn’t need to know that. I didn’t have to go there.
Kale, who took many a victim to his bed, raised a brow. “No? Could’ve fooled me. From here it appeared otherwise.”
I shrugged, glad as hell vampires couldn’t really blush. “Yeah, well, it’s all part of the game.”
“He doesn’t really seem like the type I’d peg you for,” Kale mused, studying Ebyn with an amused grin. “Kind of a pretty boy, isn’t he?”
Ok, so Ebyn did fit that description. A snappy dresser, runway brands, and rarely a hair out of place, he was more high maintenance than the men I generally enjoyed. Ebyn served a different purpose than they did though.
“Are you jealous, Kale?” I teased.
“Incredibly.” Raw and honest, Kale gave a little half shrug. “I want to touch you like that.”
Trying to lighten the heavy mood that had settled, I said, “He’s just a victim. A willing one but a victim nonetheless.”
Kale didn’t miss a beat. “So am I.”
“Kale…” His name felt like heaven in my mouth and hell in my heart.
“Sorry.”
Whether driven by guilt, obsession, or the high I rode, I didn’t know, but I slid around the inside of the U-shaped booth to Kale’s side. I didn’t know what I was doing. We’d both find out.
Without thought or hesitation I touched his cheek and nuzzled his face. A wolfy gesture of comfort and affection. “We can’t keep being sorry. I don’t want the time we have left to be about that. Just kiss me.”
Intoxicated as I was on my recent feed, I fell headlong into Kale’s saccharine vibes. He claimed my lips like I belonged to him. Kissing me deep, like it would never be enough.
And it never would be.
His tongue delved into my mouth, tasting wolf. Memories flooded me, calling me back to him. Kale leaning against the Camaro on a hot summer night, tempting me to go on a hunt that would bring us close to death but leave us exhilarated. The scent of leather and cologne every time he was near. The sly grin he’d slip me right before the shit hit the fan.
And the way he felt. Touching me. Inside me. Lying next to me in his bed.
I plummeted into him. The nightclub surrounding us fell away as the kiss took on a life of its own. I couldn’t let him go without making love to him.
One last time.
It might just drive me the rest of the way to crazy town. But I was willing to risk it.
I felt the cool pull within me. Lost as I was in Kale, I sensed Arys too late. I broke off the kiss but he’d seen us.
Stopped dead just inside the door, a stony glare stole over Arys’s face. Jerking away from Kale, I hastily scrambled across the booth’s seat. By the time Arys reached us, I blocked him as he made a grab for Kale.
“Arys, don’t.” My command rang with panic, dredged up from a place of fear and fury.
“I’m supposed to just stand here and watch you fuck him in the booth? As much I enjoy watching you, my love, that’s not going to happen. Not him.” Fists clenched, shoulders vibrating with rage, Arys tried to shove by me.
I blocked him with my body and a small surge of force, just enough to show him I wouldn’t step aside. Behind me Kale rose to face Arys.
Not happening. Not on my watch.
“I was not going to fuck him in the booth,” I snarled. “Don’t be so crass. That’s not how this is, and you know it. In fact, if that’s all it was, you’d be totally cool with it.”
Arys stared past me to Kale. Veins stood out on his forearms. He was ready to explode. “Not. Him.” The promise of violence lurked in Arys, from the hard glint in his eyes to the twitch in his jaw.
I braced myself, certain he’d throw me aside and go for Kale.
“Why do you care so much, Arys?” Kale glided up behind me, clearly sending the message that he had my back. “I’ll be dead in a matter of days. I fail to see why you consider me a threat.”
I flinched. The way he said it, so matter of fact, it hurt to hear. It slammed my heart with a sense of urgency.
“I don’t,” Arys replied, cold as ice. “My concern is the damage you’ll do to her before you’re dust. You make her weak, Sinclair. And I won’t have that. Alexa is too good for you.”
I bit back a gasp. How I managed to keep from breaking Arys’s nose, I’ll never know.
“She is. I know that. But I have only a short time with her. And you have many lifetimes. If you don’t fuck it up. So why are you fucking it up?” Kale spread his hands, inviting a genuine answer.
And kind of inviting the punch that Arys threw. He jostled me in the process, but the hit was clean. His fist met Kale’s face with a sickening thud.
I threw up a hand, throwing an energy wall in front of Arys. Kale touched his nose and swore. Arys danced his fingertips along the wall. He’d take it down in no time.
“What the hell guys?” Jez arrived back on the scene, shaking her head at them like they were children shoving on the playground.
Arys dissolved my wall but didn’t come at Kale again. It was me that he impaled with his vicious scowl. “Don’t you think we have enough problems without adding him to the mix?”
Because Arys smelled like blood and bad behavior, anything I said would only feed his ire. And yet, the battle between light and dark being waged inside me encouraged me to antagonize him. To hit him where it hurt like he’d done with his cruel barb.
Lucky for me, Jez cut me off by putting herself in front of Kale, helping me keep them separated. “What are you doing here, Arys?” she asked. “You seem to be around a lot lately for a guy who hates this place.”
“Alexa and I have hunters to track. I didn’t expect to find him all over her like—”
“Like what?” Jez interrupted. “A man who knows he’s short on time and wants to enjoy the final moments with the woman he loves. You’ve already won this battle, Arys. She’s yours, and the whole goddamn city knows it. So stop acting like a jackass and grow the fuck up. Maybe try showing a little compassion for what Alexa might be going through.”
Jaw twitching, Arys looked like he wanted to eat her. And he probably did. “Careful, Jez. You’re not on my radar yet. You don’t want to be.”
She scoffed but knew better than to call him on that. Instead she grabbed Kale’s arm and dragged him away, trying to diffuse the situation. Arys and I faced off, ready to tear a strip out of each other.
Remaining calm proved difficult with the scorching hot anger that consumed me. “Please, don’t make the next few days harder than they need to be.”
“I could ask the same of you.” Flinging a hand at Kale’s retreating form, Arys bitterly hissed, “All you’re doing is making your own suffering greater. Why do that to yourself?”
Twin flames. Joined in ever
y way and divided just the same. I knew what this was really about.
“Do it to myself, Arys? Or do it to you? You suffer when I suffer. I’m sorry that you’re still getting used to this whole giving a shit thing, but I’ll deal with these last days however I damn well please.” Out of the corner of my eye, I spied Jenner making his way toward us. On his way to keep things cool.
At times we echoed so strongly within one another that it became tough to always know which thought or emotion was mine and which was Arys’s. Although I never spoke of the agony that racked me over Kale’s sacrifice, Arys had to feel it. He’d spoken of having to readjust to feeling such emotion, having been closed off to it for so long while he waited for me.
I imagined it was hard for him too, knowing I lived with pain that I didn’t openly share with him. But how could I? We were forced to share the deepest parts of ourselves but never able to understand each other’s pain. It didn’t seem fair.
While Lilah’s haughty voice echoed through my memory, telling me the twin flame bond was not a gift but a curse, I turned to acknowledge Jenner.
His ice-blue gaze flicked over Arys and me in turn. “Need a referee?” he snickered. “It’s feeling pretty tense over here.”
“Yes, actually, I think we do.” The smile I tried to project didn’t quite make it to my face.
Jenner was a smart enough guy. Spying Kale and Jez, he put it all together. “Arys, man, you have to lighten up. You’ve got this perpetual storm cloud over your head lately. Unclench. You’ll feel better.”
Arys hit Jenner with a glower strong enough to boil water. “Nobody asked for your opinion. In fact, nobody asked you to be here at all.”
“Ouch.” Jenner chuckled, unfazed. The two of them had been sniping at each other for decades. “You’re in a mood. Let’s go out. We’ll take care of that stick up your ass.”
I kept expecting Arys’s fist to connect with Jenner’s face. He was asking for it. I knew he stuck himself out there to keep Arys’s attention off Kale. Occasionally Jenner reminded me that he wasn’t a total prick.
“There are hunters in town looking for wolves to sell on the black market. They took a shot at Alexa last night. We’re going to track them.” Arys’s shoulders relaxed as he turned his attention to the real matter at hand.
Jez joined us, shouldering her way into our little group. “Kale and me are in this too, so either you boys play nice, or we split up.”
Considering this, Arys’s gaze strayed over to Kale. The two of them shared a lengthy stare, an unspoken communication of their undying resentment.
Arys nodded. “I guess we’re splitting up.”
CHAPTER NINE
Tracking the hunters wasn’t all that hard. They mentioned a casino, and only two casinos in the city attracted visitors. So Arys and Jenner headed to the one in our massive tourist trap of a mall, and the rest of us headed to the big one on the north side.
Arys was less than enthused that I chose to go with Kale and Jez. As difficult as it was for Arys and I to be together, the real fuckery of the whole thing was how much harder it was to be apart. Still, Jez needed this throwback to the good old days. I probably needed it too. Besides, Arys could use some cool-down time.
We spent the drive to the casino listening to Jez chatter. I soon realized she kept up the conversation to prevent any awkward lulls. To keep us from dwelling on what was coming. I gazed out the window of her Jeep, eyeing the moon with suspicion. Every night it grew fuller. The moon I once waited for with eager anticipation I now loathed.
Once inside the casino I caught a whiff of Wyatt and the men he’d brought with him last night. Faint though and tainted by the cloying scents of many humans, alcohol, and food, I could only determine they’d been here.
Figuring out where they’d gone proved challenging. The three of us made our way through the place, questioning staff and anyone who appeared to have been there way too long, plugging change into machines. The constant ding and clang of slot machines accompanied our efforts.
Nobody had anything that could help us until we came across a woman who nodded at Wyatt’s description. “Son of a bitch told me to meet him at his motel room, but he never showed. Wasted an hour of my time. Far as I’m concerned, he owes me money.”
Since a lady of the night wouldn’t part with good information for free, I dug a hundred out of my jacket. “And this motel room would be where?”
She plucked the cash from my hand and stuffed it into her bra. “That place right down the street. Room forty-three, I believe.” She jerked a thumb in the direction of the motel before she sauntered off to find a man in need of her services.
We had something to work with. That was promising.
The motel where she sent us had dozens of closed and faded doors facing the cracked parking lot. Rundown and dank, not a damn thing about it felt inviting. No one here would notice, much less care, if you brought a vast array of weaponry on your travels.
We got in the room easily enough. The stink of Wyatt was everywhere. Unfortunately, nothing else was. The place was empty. Any personal belongings had been cleaned out. Certain we would come for him, he’d wasted no time in vacating.
“I can’t shake the feeling that he’s still in town,” I mused, surveying the empty room with the faded bedspread and matching curtain. “He’d be an idiot to stay, but he doesn’t strike me as the type to give up easily.”
“If he knows what you are, he may have called in reinforcements. They could be anywhere.” Kale kept his distance, lurking on the other side of the intimate space.
Our close proximity was tough for me too. Every moment brought temptation. I couldn’t help but be painfully aware of him. My mind fogged with his honey-drenched vibes.
Jez pulled out her phone, her thumbs busy on the screen. After a moment she said, “Smudge just got word of several men splitting off into small groups near the River Valley. They must have found a wolf there.”
“Shit. Let’s go.” Although I could have reached Arys telepathically, I opted to keep the door between us closed. Instead I tapped out a simple text message, telling him where we were headed.
I received no reply.
The North Saskatchewan River Valley was a popular place for local shifters to run. A heavily wooded area in the heart of the city, it wound its way along the North Saskatchewan River, providing the nature experience so many wolves longed for. If the hunters had found a wolf, we needed to find them.
During the drive over, I called Shaz. He confirmed that one of his wolves had not checked in yet tonight. He wanted to meet us, but he needed to stay and protect his clubhouse. Being in a low-traffic warehouse area, I hoped the hunters would never find it.
“Where do we even begin?” Jez looked out on the valley from where we stood above.
It had no shortage of places for someone to hide. Or many someones as the case might be. Stretching several kilometers, the River Valley was vast.
Kale led the way down to the nearest walking trail. “If they’re here and split into small groups, we’ll come across some of them eventually.”
We followed along behind him, constantly aware of our surroundings. Mentally I reached out to sense for supernatural energy, finding none beyond the three of us. Maybe Shaz’s missing wolf wasn’t even here. Still, if the hunters thought so, then we had to be thorough in our search.
It felt good, the three of us, doing a job together again. Back in the day we’d been a hell of a team. Nostalgia caught me in its bittersweet hold. A lump formed in my throat, and I swallowed hard.
We covered a lot of ground, finding no one. This had to be some kind of ploy to send us off in the wrong direction. Maybe the hunters had put on a show for our watchdogs, and the real hunting team was somewhere else.
Being a leopard and somewhat of a winter wimp, Jez shivered and huddled close to Kale. He put an arm around her shoulders, drawing her tight against his side as they walked. I lingered behind them, watching as she gazed up at him with a smile.
Again I looked up at the moon and cursed it. Blaming the moon for a demon’s curse probably wasn’t fair. I mean, what had the moon really done other than exist?
I didn’t want to do this. Didn’t want to watch the two of them embrace every moment they had together before it all came crashing to a halt. Because of me.
My eyes burned and I blinked back tears. This wasn’t the time.
A sudden awareness of others brought me out of my moment of self-pity. Someone was nearby. I whistled, low and short, just enough to get Kale and Jez’s attention. They stopped to glance back at me.
I felt a werewolf ahead.
Sure enough my sister stepped out of the bushes in front of us, a small team of agents at her back. She seemed equally surprised to see us. The agents reacted, raising weapons. When she waved a hand, they lowered those weapons but remained on alert, waiting for instruction.
This was the second time she’d done this to me. Startled and annoyed, I asked, “What the hell are you doing here?”
“Same as you I guess. Looking for the hunters. My sources report more have arrived.” Brown hair tied up in a messy bun, dressed all in black, Juliet eyed me defiantly. “I told you I wanted to help. This affects me too.”
“I can’t imagine how bringing a bunch of human nincompoops along could really help. We need stealth. Power. Another pack of idiot humans with guns, we can do without.” So maybe I had some pent-up tension. Directing it at the FPA agents might have been misplaced. Or it might have been dead-on accurate.
Juliet pursed her lips, refusing to be goaded into a sibling argument in front of her people. “Everyone here is well-trained. Only the best get sent to this death-trap of a city now. Pretty sure we can handle it.”
I frowned, further argument burning across my tongue.
Kale stopped me. “There’s strength in numbers,” he said, making nice. “We’d be happy to have you accompany us, Juliet.”
He caught my eye and smiled with a little half shrug. The man was running low on time. Who was I to challenge him? Especially when that smile beat on the walls I tried to resurrect around my wounded heart.