by J. N. Colon
Instead, I angled forward and continued to nurse my beer as the silence between us stretched.
“I’m back, sweetheart.” Jep reappeared, tipping his head forward. “What’s a pretty witch like you doing in Jake’s? We don’t get a lot of your kind here.”
Thankful for the distraction, I focused all my attention on the bartender. Would it be possible to obtain information without luring him away to his untimely death? “I just wanted to try something different.”
He quickly surveyed Caleb. “Does that include your taste in men? Because I can show you something a hell of a lot different than that faerie over there.”
The prince released a dark chuckle that vibrated the air around us. “Oh, it’ll be different all right. But different doesn’t always mean good, and I can assure you that my style has satisfied them from sun up to sun down and back again.”
I jabbed my elbow into Caleb’s ribs, earning a low grunt. “We’re not together.”
“Good to know.” Jep licked his lips as he studied me, bringing a hot flush to my cheeks. “What’s your name?”
“Thorn,” I said, absentmindedly picking at the damp label on the beer again.
“That’s interesting.”
Caleb gulped his beer and then banged it on the bar. “Don’t get too excited. She stings.”
I kicked his shin. Goddess Hecate. I’d never wanted to strangle anyone more than him. He was totally screwing this up. “Ignore him.”
The bartender smirked. “Believe me, I am.”
“So, Jep.” I ran my finger slowly down the condensation coating my bottle. “You’ve heard about the East Side Slasher?”
“Pretty much everyone has.” He whipped the towel off his shoulder and began drying a highball glass from the sink below. “If that psycho tried anything around here, he or she would get torn apart.”
I wasn’t so sure about that.
Glass shattered, and a scuffle between two men broke out near a pool table in the back. No one paid them any attention as if this was the norm for Jake’s. My gaze flicked to Caleb, who wore a knowing smirk.
Well, he had warned me this was a rough establishment.
I turned back to the bar, my hand running over several claw marks in the wood. A shudder wriggled down my back thinking about being sliced open by a pair of massive talons.
“I heard the killer might be a nightworlder.” I peered at him from under my lashes to gauge his reaction. Had I pushed this too far too soon?
Jep’s head tilted to the side. “You don’t say.” He placed the glass on the bar behind him and grabbed another from the sink to dry off. “That could change things.”
I took a sip of my beer, letting the bitter liquid coat my tongue. “I also heard the killer is purposely dropping the victims off in fae territory to stir up trouble for them.”
Jep glanced at Caleb, wariness creeping into his features. “I wouldn’t know about anything like that. We shifters like to keep to ourselves. As long as we’re left alone, we leave the others alone.”
He’d pretty much hit on our initial instincts. The shifters weren’t likely the ones behind the murders, but they could—in the very least—know something.
A customer at the other end of the bar waved her hand to get Jep’s attention. “I’ll be right back. Don’t go anywhere.” He winked before dashing down the bar.
Caleb tilted toward my ear. “What are you doing? You’re supposed to be using your powers to get information instead of hitting on him.”
“I can get information without taking drastic measures first, Tinkerbell.” He wouldn’t be so gung ho to use these powers if they were his.
A low growl rumbled deep in his throat. “Stop calling me Tinkerbell. I’m the Unseelie prince and not some damn fairytale character.”
I turned, pulling up short when our noses brushed. My heart slammed to a screeching halt. Holy shit. If either one of us moved a millimeter closer, our lips would touch. I swallowed hard, trying and failing to control my breathing.
The edges of Caleb’s mouth twitched. “Cat got your tongue again?”
“I, uh—”
A large, sweaty hand clamped around my arm and jerked me off the stool. “Hey there, witch. Why don’t you come dance with me?”
Caleb shot out of his seat and wrenched me away from the shifter. “Back off.”
The guy swayed, and bloodshot eyes narrowed on Caleb. Sweat and alcohol dampened the young shifter’s Chicago Cubs T-shirt. “I heard her say you weren’t together, so what’s the big deal?”
“Sorry, I’m not interested.” I stepped between him and the prince before the hotheaded fae started trouble. His fists had already balled up, itching for a fight.
The drunk shifter reached for me again. “Come on, girl.”
Before I could react, Caleb lurched forward and shoved the guy into an even beefier shifter playing pool.
He brushed the drunk man off and whipped around, skewering Caleb with a glowing citrine stare. “You got a problem, fae?”
Caleb cracked his knuckles. “Maybe I do.”
The raucous music from the jukebox cut off, pulling everyone’s attention to us.
My lids squeezed shut. Son of a bitch. This jackass was bound and determined to start a fight. “Would you just shut up.”
“You should listen to your girl and shut the fuck up before I break every bone in your body, faerie boy.” The mammoth guy dropped the pool stick onto the table, his arms like tree trunks by his sides. “Neither of you belong here.”
Shouts of agreement echoed, followed by a few kick his ass, Lawrence.
“You think you can take me, dog?” A luminescent sheen flickered over Caleb’s gaze before it melted away. “I can still give you a beating without my powers.”
“Caleb, what are you doing?” My fingers dug into his shoulder to force some sense into him. “We’re outnumbered two to a couple dozen.” We weren’t in Shade or even fae territory, and he was acting like an arrogant prince who owned the place.
A resonating snarl rolled through Lawrence as he stepped forward and crooked his meaty hand at Caleb. “Show me what you got, twinkle toes.”
“Gladly.” With lightning reflexes, Caleb darted forward and punched Lawrence in the jaw, making his head twist back.
And then chaos exploded.
Someone grabbed me as shifters quickly formed a circle around the two fighting men, blocking my view.
“Let me go!” My elbow flew back, cracking into a nose. I whipped around, finding Jep holding his face while blood spurted between his fingers.
Oops.
“I guess twinkle toes was right.” His muffled voice barely made it over the shouting. “You do sting.”
I huffed and spun, forcing my way into the mass of hot, sweaty bodies. A hand clamped around my arm, but I sent a jolt of magic out, and the bruising grip disappeared. My heart battered my rib cage. This was worse than a mosh pit at a harvest festival in Illyria.
At least everyone was fully clothed.
Caleb finally came into view, and my stomach bottomed out. The shifter’s thick, muscled arm wrapped around the prince’s throat, choking the life out of him.
Panic hemorrhaged through my bloodstream. Shit! I have to do something.
But Caleb broke out of the shifter’s hold and flipped him over, slamming him into the ground.
Shocked cries rang out.
Whoa. Maybe I’d underestimated the prince. He must have taken it easy on me when we fought in the alley beside Shade.
Even so, we needed to get the hell out of here before more shifters decided to join the fight.
As I breached the edge of the circle, iron arms snagged my waist and dragged me back through the shouting bodies. I tumbled out just as a fist slammed into my face.
Pain exploded across my cheek. What the hell?
“You really think your prissy ass can walk into Jake’s and leave without getting that pretty face messed up?” The younger of the two shifter women from the bar sn
eered, her hands balled into tight fists.
My muscles tensed. I was not in the mood to deal with Missy.
I’m going to kill Caleb.
“You should walk away.” Purple sparks crackled over my hand as my powers surged to the surface.
“Two can play that game.” She barreled forward and slammed me onto a pool table.
The back of my head thudded against the felt-covered wood while bright lights flashed, and a metallic tinge lingered in the back of my mouth.
A groan slipped out. This chick was crazier than a witch on a blood moon Friday the thirteenth.
She jumped onto the table, her pupils elongating into slits while her irises burned the color of a setting sun. “My man is going to eat your little faerie boy for dinner while I handle you.” Jagged teeth sprouted in her mouth, saliva dripping from every sharp point.
“You’re making a mistake.” I kicked her off and rolled out of the way.
Missy’s sharp talons snagged my tank top, and she yanked me into her ruthless grasp, crushing my body against the pool table. Her lethal jaws snapped at my neck.
Shit. She aimed straight for the jugular.
And she wouldn’t stop until every drop of my blood spilled.
Chapter 11
My instincts took control, and I reached for Missy’s shoulder as my death raker powers surged forward. One touch and her life would be mine.
Did I really need to kill the shifter to stop her attack?
No.
But once the venomous claws of dark magic latched onto Missy, the buzz of her fading existence drowned out the chaos in the biker bar. The secret craving for all things evil had me under a spell again with no end in sight.
Before I had time to construct a wall in my mind to keep her memories at bay, images flooded from Missy. My muscles jolted as I watched her shift into a wolf for the first time, bones cracking and agonizing wails ripping out.
Another slideshow zoomed by, showing her as a runaway teen meeting Lawrence. He took her in, and she joined his pack of brash werewolves.
A new crop of memories materialized, ones involving a group of vampires loitering outside of a building.
Missy flinched above me, and the vision blurred out of focus. My pulse spiked. For some reason, she didn’t want me to see this memory.
I pushed forward, propelling myself back into her mind. “What are you hiding?”
The scene sharpened again, revealing a large black door with a bronze lion head knocker.
A vampire appeared, the gas lights around the door glowing eerily on her alabaster skin. Raven locks flowed all the way to the waist of her leather pants.
The shifter bounded up the steps, her reflection emerging on the tall windowpane to the left. The rounded shape of a plush couch and a long coffee table came into view from inside the dim room.
Was this a house?
“Mila, where are we hunting tonight?” Missy asked.
Shifters and vampires hunting together? The two groups didn’t usually get along. And were they killing these humans or just playing with them?
A wicked smile curled Mila’s lips, showing her fangs. “Up by the—”
My connection to Missy shattered as someone ripped her away.
Startled, I shot up, my hand lifting to bring my victim back. That girl had information. And the death raker in me wasn’t anywhere close to being satisfied.
Unfortunately, Missy was out of my reach, being shoved onto a stool at the bar as weakness ravaged her. I hadn’t drained her to the point of death, though.
A huge shifter moved in front, cutting off my view. Veins popped along his bulging muscles as his scorching golden eyes seared me through strands of toffee hair.
All the moisture disappeared from my mouth. The look on his harsh face was the same one a predator gives his prey before striking.
“I don’t know what kind of witch you are, but you’re not leaving this bar alive.” He leaped forward, changing into a coyote mid-air.
Air lodged in my throat as four massive paws landed on either side of me, sending me back into the hard surface of the pool table. Pain ricocheted through the back of my head again.
Son of a bitch! I’d have a concussion before this night ended—if I survived.
Sharp teeth nipped at my neck, hot saliva dripping.
Get it together and do something, Thorn!
A gust of wind roared through the bar, and the coyote flew back, crashing into a table, shattering it. A figure materialized, his back to the pool table.
“Don’t even think about it.” That low, threatening rumble sliced the chaos like a line of fire through grass. The first time I’d heard the prince speak, he used this chilling tenor on the former bartender at Shade of Nightworld.
Caleb glanced over his shoulder, heat wrapping around me as if his hands were the ones doing the wandering.
I took a shaky breath and crawled toward the end of the table, using his shoulder to help me down. “I think we should go,” I muttered through gritted teeth.
“You really should.” An older shifter with scars riddling his arms and a dark, turbulent expression jerked his chin toward the door. “Before I let my brethren tear you both apart.”
The hair on my nape rose. Clearly, this guy was an alpha and also the only thing standing between us and the rabid snarls and vicious maws crowding Jake’s.
“As if you c—”
I jerked Caleb’s arm before he could finish that sentence. I still wanted to rearrange his face for starting a fight, but I might have actually gotten a clue in the end. There had to be a reason Missy didn’t want me to see her hanging out with those vampires.
Caleb followed me outside, his body trembling with adrenaline. The chilly night air swept over my heated skin, cooling the sweat along my nape.
I cursed and whirled around. “I left my jacket.”
Caleb yanked me back as the doors swung closed. “Consider it gone.”
“That was literally my only jacket.” I stared at the door, willing it to open.
He steered me in the direction of his bike. “I’ll buy you another one.”
I didn’t want another one. I’d bought it with my first paycheck. It might have been a well-worn secondhand—okay probably third or fourth-hand—article of clothing, but it was mine.
“Are you seriously that upset about a jacket?” Caleb asked.
I ignored his baffled tone and kicked a rock out of the way hard enough that it sailed down the street. “I hope you had fun tonight.”
“I wouldn’t exactly call that fun.”
To Caleb, getting into a dangerous brawl at a rowdy bar was the definition of fun. I peeked at him from the corner of my eye. A wild mess of ebony and silver hair brushed the bruise forming on his cheek. A split sliced his bottom lip, and his shirt was torn, revealing a glimpse of tan, shredded abs.
My insides tightened. How could I possibly find him attractive right now?
“Tonight was a bust,” he muttered, rolling his shoulders as he unstrapped the helmet from his bike and handed it to me.
“Maybe not.” I pulled the helmet on and buckled the strap under my chin. “That girl was trying to hide something from me about a vampire named Mila. I think we should visit their part of town.”
Caleb scratched at the faint stubble growing along his jaw. “It could be a lead. We’ll check it out tomorrow.”
My head jerked back. “Tomorrow? Why not tonight?” I wanted to get this problem solved as fast as possible. Then I could return to my normal life—or life on the run, anyway.
“After the night I’ve had so far, I could use some fun.” His gaze ran down my body, lingering on my chest.
A deep blush crawled into my face. Just great. My shirt was ripped, showing part of my blue bra.
He slid out of his jacket and tossed it to me. “I don’t need you flashing everyone on the way back to Shade.”
I slipped on his jacket even though I really wanted to throw it back at him. Citrus and leat
her surrounded me, and I tried to ignore the flutters hammering low in my belly.
Gods, why did this stupid fae have to smell so good?
“You should really learn to relax and have some fun, Rose Thorn.” He straddled his bike, shooting a crooked smile over his shoulder. “You might like it.”
My lips puckered as I slid my arms around his waist. Caleb’s idea of fun could get me thrown in the slammer. Restraints of some kind would definitely be involved.
I leaned against the second-story balcony at Shade, nursing another tart drink the waitress kept bringing me per the prince’s instruction. Did he think my idea of fun was getting hammered at a club full of possible fae enemies?
Caleb’s entertainment of the night involved sitting in a VIP section below while human and fae girls fawned all over him. Jasper, the bartender from Shade of Nightworld, sat with him, eating up the attention.
My nostrils flared. I had to stop watching this disgusting show before the prince noticed, but it was like a horrific car accident. I couldn’t look away no matter how much the sight of Caleb whispering into that brunette’s ear churned my gut.
My free hand curled around the rough vines wrapping the balcony. Why did I even care what he did with those skanks?
Because he should be following this lead with me instead of acting like the prince of playboys at Shade. My friend’s life hung in the balance.
I rolled my shoulders, trying to loosen my muscles. They’d been taut ever since I used my death raker powers again. The high of draining even a little of Missy’s life hummed under the surface, making me squirm.
Making me crave more.
The thudding music pulsated over me as I took another deep sip of the cocktail, sharp, fruity flavors popping over my tongue. At least Caleb had enough sense not to send those sickeningly sweet fae drinks. I would have marched down there and poured it over his head.