by Mark Henwick
No.
Tara’s voice? The feeling burst like a bubble, taking all the energy away and I staggered.
“I can’t stay,” I gasped and grabbed my shirt, turning away. “Rest. I’ll come back.”
“Amber?” he said again, but I was out of the room, out of his house before he could call me back. He would be okay. What he didn’t need was for me to bite him. And I didn’t need it. Or I did. I swung wildly between the two.
As soon as I was out of his house, I realized I couldn’t drive anywhere. The feverish Athanate high I’d experienced started to wear off, leaving me freezing and barely able to walk in a straight line. Everything seemed blurred. My head was spinning, my throat was dry and my stomach heaved.
I couldn’t go back to David’s—I’d bite him or Pia might show up. I couldn’t go to the hospital. I couldn’t stumble around Wash Park looking like I was a drunk reject from a Halloween party. And forget the people out there trying to kill me, I was having a good shot at it myself. It only dawned on me that I’d crossed a road when a car went past blaring its horn. I didn’t even know where I was any more.
Another car seemed to come straight at me, and then turned away. At least its lights had showed me the road sign. I fumbled and managed to get the burn phone out. Four in the morning. I couldn’t think of anything else, so I hit last number redial. Oh God, how to make an impression.
“Amber?” His voice was blurred with sleep.
“Sorry. I’m in trouble. Blood loss. Kentucky Avenue gate, Wash Park.”
“Just stay there. I’ll be there in five minutes.” He’d woken up quickly. No hint of anger, no questions about the time, no sense that I was asking too much. It gave me a tiny feeling of pleasure in the middle of the sickness. Just five minutes.
I wasn’t counting the minutes. I slumped down and tried to fend off the blackness that threatened to take me. A car pulled up and I felt a figure looming over me. It could have been anyone. It could have been the assassin that ZK was hiring, or only the local rapist. I couldn’t even see. I tried to get up. At that point, the lights went out completely.
∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞
I came around as he carried me into his house. My face was warmed by his chest and I breathed in the sweet smell of pine and mountain meadows. And, underneath that, like a shadow passing in the forest, I recognized wolf. It was like a balm to me. I stroked his chest and he snorted.
He did the basics as I had done for David. He wrapped me in blankets on his sofa and fed me warm soup. I was a long way from being bled out as David had been, but walking around in the freezing night had been idiotic. I knew that because Dr. Deauville told me so, very clearly, several times.
Well, I had certainly made a good impression. Damn. On the grounds that it couldn’t get much worse, I took advantage of him bending over me to snag his head and pull him down into a deep, sensual kiss as I slipped back into unconsciousness. A girl could dream. A girl could dream.
∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞
It’s dark in the tepee. There are embers in the middle of the floor. A thin coil of smoke winds up like a serpent, catching the moonlight.
The form opposite me leans forward. Light makes a patchwork monster; an ear here, a furry flank, the gleam of an eye, a row of huge, pale teeth. But because it’s a dream, I know who it is.
“My, what big teeth you have, great-grandmother,” says my demon.
Speaks-to-wolves turns her head, raising it. If she were still human, she would be rolling her eyes.
“You always were irreverent. Your mother is a Christian saint for putting up with you. Perhaps Old Man Coyote would have been a better spirit guide.” I hear her voice in my head.
“Are you my spirit guide?”
She sneezes amusement.
“Thank all the gods, no. But I’ve been helping your guide guard you against the snake spirits.”
The shadows beneath her split and a small wolf cub totters out. Her feet are too big for her and she’s tripping over them as she makes her way around to me. Her eyes are very bright and a little anxious as she looks up at me. I gather her warm bundle into my arms and she licks my face. I laugh in delight.
“This is my guardian?”
“She’s helped keep the vampire from the door for two years, but she’s not supposed to be a guardian, she’s supposed to be your spirit guide.”
“She’s very young.” The cub nips my jaw gently in protest.
“Guides appear that way to begin with.”
“I love her. Can I speak to her like I speak to you? What do I call her?”
“Her name is Hana. It means sky. She will speak to you soon.”
“When?”
“When your spirits are in balance.” I feel her pity like a heavy hand. “Child of two peoples, daughter of two spirits, woman of sorrow and anger, cursed and blessed. You tread a difficult path, Amber. You are none of the things they will think you are. In the end, you will have no guides but yourself. But Hana will talk to you when your spirits balance.”
“How do I find a balance?” I ask.
I sense laughter. “You’ve already begun.”
There is light in my face, blinding me to the textured darkness. I can’t see the tepee any more. I bury my face in Hana’s fur to hold her to me, and breathe in the scent. It speaks to me of forests and meadows, the joy of running through the autumn sunshine. The rush of wolf in my blood.
A quest for balance.
I woke clutching Alex’s blankets to my face.
MONDAY
Chapter 52
I unwrapped myself from the layers of blankets and I let them go reluctantly. They smelled of Alex and Hana. I wanted to be warm and safe in the tepee, but I was too full of energy to lie down and go back to sleep on the sofa.
It was later than normal for me. The workload had taken its toll, but even though I had only been asleep for a few hours, I felt clearheaded and bursting with energy. I did some stretches. I wanted to storm into Alex’s room and wake him up, but I restrained myself and went tiptoeing around the house. I would go in later, with coffee as a peace offering.
I liked his house. He was heavily into timber beams, pioneer-style wood and leather furniture, fireplaces, rugs and big windows. It was on the sexy side of bachelor. He didn’t have a library, but his bookcase in the living room showed a wide interest. There was a whole shelf on the Arapaho and Cheyenne peoples. Even his old medical books were there.
And there was a picture of a girl, bronzed and raven-haired. Much prettier than I am. I walked away.
I checked myself in the bathroom mirror. The skin around my neck looked red and sore, but there were no wounds visible.
I went up the split level to the kitchen and started to make the coffee. I was looking in the fridge for a clue to breakfast when he wandered in sleepily, dressed in sweats.
“You’re up,” he said, with a smile. “And you look better in the morning.”
I huffed, punched him on the shoulder and then kissed it better. And suddenly, we were standing there in the kitchen with our arms around each other. I hadn’t felt this way in far too long. And at least this morning, I didn’t pass out when he kissed me.
I leaned back against the railing above the hall, pulling him close. My heart was trying to hammer its way out of my chest, but he just stood in front of me, looking vaguely puzzled.
Come on, wolfy. How many neurons does it take? Boy, girl…
“You’ve changed,” he said.
“I guess I’m feeling unstressed today, yes. I feel better.”
“It’s not that,” he said. “Well, there’s that too. But it’s your scent.”
“I haven’t had a shower this morning, maybe we should share—”
“No, not that. Your vamp signature, your marque. It’s weaker.” He looked even more puzzled as his brain processed all those clever nose signals. “And instead, you smell like pack.”
“I’ve been sleeping in your blankets, Alex. Of course some of it will rub off on
me.”
He nuzzled against my neck and inhaled. My skin rippled with goosebumps. He growled and when his head came back up, his eyes had become more gold than green, very focused and bright. It was deliciously scary.
I pulled him harder against me. The heat blazed off him and seemed to seep into my bones. My legs went wobbly, and it was a good thing I was caught between him and a hard place. Actually, I was caught between two hard places and I was just fine with that.
“I seem to have trapped you,” he murmured. “Should I be a gentleman and offer you the chance to surrender?” He bent forward again.
“On the contrary.” I sighed, leaning my head back so that his kisses unfolded like tiny blossoms on my neck, all the way up to the tickly, sexiest bit just behind my ear. “I’ve got you right where I want you.”
I spoke the literal truth. I could feel him through my jeans and his sweat pants and he was on the exact spot. Talk about pressing my buttons.
“Right where I want you,” I repeated, my voice becoming hoarser. I clutched his shirt and rocked him against me. Exquisite tremors coursed up through me. It had been so long, and Lord, I had missed it so much. His teeth grazed my neck and I groaned.
He seemed to understand. I wouldn’t have minded at all if he’d carried me off to the bedroom, but there was something exhilarating about the unplanned position and something deeply, wildly sexy about him holding back and urging me on.
His hands snaked around my back, caressing and massaging. His mouth came down on mine again and my feelings ran out of control. Everything was moving so quickly.
I tore at his shirt frantically, and when that ripped, I grabbed his butt and pulled him against me. I broke the kiss, flinging my head back and grinding my body against him. It felt like my body caught light and I screamed out as my climax came crashing through me in waves.
“Oh my God, Alex,” I gasped, as I clung to him, panting.
He was chuckling, holding me gently, still pressing, but so lightly. “Been holding back a little recently, hot stuff?” he said into my ear, and kissed it.
I smacked his shoulder, bare now that his shirt was in tatters. Seeing the damage made me laugh. “Sorry about your shirt.”
“Obviously not a very good shirt,” he said, his lips tracing lazy patterns down to my throat.
“Get me naked, boy, or I’m off again,” I murmured, digging my fingers into the solid muscle of his back and playfully nipping at his jaw.
My cell rang.
I snorted and nuzzled his neck. This was me-time. I’d turn it off in a second.
“You’d better check it.”
I couldn’t believe it. “The wolf is telling me to be responsible?”
“Sometimes,” he growled and retrieved the phone out of my back pocket. I suspected that was just to get a chance to grab my butt, and I wasn’t complaining, but anyway, I ended up with the cell in my hand, and a smile on my face, briefly.
“Shit.” The caller ID showed Jen.
“Go on. Answer it.” He reluctantly disengaged and headed for the coffee. I felt chilly without his furnace heat pressing against me. I wanted to drag him to his bed for wild, wolfy sex. I answered the phone instead.
“Yes?” I said.
“Amber, help. Please.” Jen’s voice sounded fragile, and it brought the ache crashing right back into my heart.
I sighed and closed my eyes. I really didn’t need this now, whatever it was. But I couldn’t end the call. I’m not made like that.
“Talk to me, Jen,” I said.
“Bernard. Troy. Oh, God, everything, Amber.” She was close to tears.
“Calm down and tell me.”
“I got a letter this morning, like Victor said might happen. A ransom demand for Troy. I was just about to call José—Captain Morales—when he called me. He said Bernard had asked to meet him. José was trying to tell me something and then there were shots. The call cut off. Now, I can’t reach him or Bernard.”
“Who have you spoken to?”
“Just Victor. He was here anyway. I wanted to talk to you. I mean, I know…”
She faltered and stopped. Yes, I’d sort of resigned yesterday. But I felt the weight settling on me again, and this morning I felt stronger. I’d been in the wrong with Jen. Morales, Verdoon and Troy needed me. They weren’t innocents in the way Emily had been, but if I wasn’t about doing what I could for these people, what was I here for? I was going to see this through. Top wouldn’t have wasted time thinking about why, once the decision was made. Neither would I. My mind clicked into work mode.
“Jen, first off, call the police on your landline.” I gave her Edmunds’ number. “Explain to Lieutenant Edmunds that I believe that this is related to the other incidents we’ve worked on together. Tell him I’ll be calling him as well. While you’re doing that, pass me over to Victor.”
“Thank you, Amber.” I could hear her take a breath to say something else, but nothing came and she handed me over.
Victor’s basso rumble came on. “This’s not lookin’ good, girl.”
“I hear you, Vic. Look, I just know this all ties up with Tucker. I have a feeling that if we find Troy, we’ll find Morales as well. Have you got anything, any suspicion, on where they could be holding Troy?”
“Yuh. That’s what I was here for. Was going to talk to you.” He paused and I could hear Jen’s voice in the background talking to Edmunds. “Y’know Tucker’s business center down in Meridian?”
I knew the place. It was a complex which offered virtual offices, private meeting rooms and temporary office suites, just the other side of the toll road from Arapahoe County Airport. “Yeah, I know it.”
“Well, I been casting my lines wide and I got a bite down there from one of his workers. Main building top floor’s been cut off, and half the offices below. My information says there’s next to nothin’ going on up there. Cleaning crew been locked out. Delivery area been closed down at odd times for special deliveries. And someone carried a long package in a couple of weeks ago. A package that looked like it was movin’.” He sighed. “I wouldn’t go to the cops with that, but it was the best I got. Timing was right for Troy and there’s something off about that top floor.”
“So you thought we’d need to take a look. What did you plan?”
“Hold on, got something on my cell.” There was silence for a minute, and then he was back.
“Amber, listen up. There’s more activity down there now, maybe more special deliveries.” He paused. “When this was the chef, that’s one level of bad. They got Morales there as well, that’s a whole different game.”
“What did you plan, Vic?” I repeated.
He grunted and blew a breath out. “I got a couple guys in there rentin’ a temporary office. They’re there right now, just called in. But everyone who visits goes in through scanners—like an airport. They make a thing about security. We got no weapons inside, but I thought maybe we could go in and see if we can look around.”
“Vic, I’m going in there. I’ll call you back in fifteen and we’ll discuss how. Keep this cell free.” I ended the call and looked up. Right into Alex’s eyes. My stomach lurched. How many times could I get away with jerking him around?
I started to apologize and he waved it away. “You go fix what needs fixing, whatever it takes. Then we’ll sit down and, yeah, we’ll talk.”
I grinned—that kinda talk, oh yeah. I had half turned to go when he growled, caught my hips and spun me back. It was so fast, so shocking, that my hands came up automatically to push him away. But he was grinning back at me, and he just kissed my nose. The unleashed wolf looked out at me with his eyes—hot, hungry and promising. This was going to be so interesting later. I kissed his nose back. Must be a wolf thing.
He let me go and I ran out of his house and back to my car, still parked outside David’s. It wasn’t even four hundred yards, however difficult it had seemed last night.
Once I was in and driving, I called Edmunds and filled him in on Tucker
’s building, as quickly as I could. He agreed to get a SWAT team on a training exercise at Lincoln Station, next to the business park. If it came to it, and there were more ZK people than they could handle in the building, they would do containment and a bigger team would be called in. All of which we agreed we didn’t want to do until Morales and Verdoon and any other potential hostages were out of the building. The increasing desperation of the behavior didn’t sound like we wanted to be in a hostage situation. Edmunds asked how sure I was that this was where Morales was. I had to admit it was our best guess at the moment. He just grunted.
I signed off and said a quick prayer of thanks for whichever guardian angel had sent Edmunds my way.
I called Tullah and told her briefly what was happening. I promised to update her when I could. Then I called Victor back and told him what I wanted.
He didn’t like it at all.
Chapter 53
A little after 10:30 that morning, I trotted up the steps to Tucker Beacon’s Nexus Office Complex.
The building’s wings looked like some enormous layer cake, alternating brick and reflective glass. I was interested in the main block, the five-story office complex centered around an atrium and hidden from the outside by a sheer cliff of smoked green glass.
I was dressed as a courier and I was carrying the fourth package of the day for Victor’s fake company, who were renting an office suite on the second floor. Every package had come in on a chain of custody signature form, and had to be signed for by the recipient in person. After arguing about the first and getting someone to come down, the door security had let the other couriers in, content to put the packages through a scanner and let the couriers take them up.
“Jaysus, another one,” said the guy on the door. “Here, Frank, gimme the last pass.”
He handed it to me. “You’ll need this for the elevator and the door to the wing where the office is. Second floor, office 209.”