Those poor women. Clawed. Bitten. Their bodies hanging from the trees.
“How long are you going to keep pretendin’?”
Sadie’s gaze stayed locked on the darkness just beyond her small FBI office. She didn’t jump or gasp when she heard Liam’s voice. She’d known he was behind her.
His scent. The faintest whisper of his steps.
She swallowed. “Any sign of the leopard?” Liam had gone out with a team earlier that night, scouting the swamps in the southwest.
“Hell, no, the bastard’s good at hiding.”
True.
“You didn’t answer me, Sadie love.” A rustle of fabric. He was coming closer.
Her shoulders straightened. He hadn’t been back to her apartment, to her bed, since they’d discovered they had an unwanted guest watching them. It was good that he hadn’t come back to her. Sleeping with him had been a serious mistake.
A mistake that had felt too good.
“Look at me.” A gruff order.
Drawing in a deep breath, she took a moment before she turned to face him. She had to be careful with Liam. He’d always seen so much.
He caught her shoulders, pulled her around to meet his blue stare. “Are you done tryin’ to freeze me out?”
One blond brow raised. “Is that what I’ve been doing?”
His lips tightened. “Don’t fuckin’ play with me, Sadie. Two nights ago you were growling my name.”
And he was whispering hers.
“Now you tense up every time I get within five feet of you.”
True. Why did the guy have to look so sexy? That tousled hair. Those deep, look-into-me eyes. He made her want to forget.
But she couldn’t do that. Not again. Because being with him was too much of a temptation. “I have a case to work, Sullivan. I don’t have time to screw around—”
“Love, you’ve always had time to screw around with me.” Sensual memories filled his eyes.
Her breasts tightened. Ah, damn. “It was a mistake, okay? A weak as hell moment for me. Seeing you, after I’d thought…” Why was she even trying to explain? She didn’t really understand herself. “I was weak.” Better. “But we’ve got a case to work and we should keep things…professional.”
Silence. His nostrils flared. Then…“Bullshit.”
She blinked.
“You think I don’t know how you feel about me?” The hands on her shoulders tightened. Yanked her up against his chest. “I can smell the fear on you.”
Her hands rose and lodged against his chest. “I’m not afraid of you.” She wasn’t afraid of anything. She was a shifter, one of the strongest paranormals out there. The baddest of the bad. The creature who could transform and kill and—
“Bullshit,” he said again. “I know about your friend, you know. All about her and the night you learned to fear vampires.”
Her entire body went stone hard. Miller—that jerk. He should know to keep his mouth shut about her business. Her face was burning and she knew her cheeks had to be flushing dark red. “You don’t know—”
“Little Jasmine…killed by a vampire.”
Her claws dug into his chest as she remembered.
Long hair matted with red. A wound that wouldn’t close.
Tears on her tongue.
Screams—desperate pleas.
And Jasmine, her lips moving as she tried to talk.
But her throat had been ripped open.
She was dying. The light in her eyes fading, fading.
His laughter. Mocking. Close.
“You’re next.”
Liam shook her hard, sending her head snapping back. “Sadie!”
The past vanished. No, no the past was right in front of her. She could see the fangs, glinting.
Vampire.
“Sadie.” Softer now, almost a caress. “It’s all right, love. I understand.”
She shook her head. “You don’t know—”
His lips twisted. “I took your blood. You have to know what that means.”
Her brow furrowed. He’d only taken a few sips. Hardly enough to—
“We’re linked, Sadie.”
The blood link. Hell.
Her brother would freak.
She was about to. “No, that’s not possible. You didn’t take enough—”
His hands smoothed down her arms, his fingertips brushing ever so briefly around the outside of her breasts. “I feel you. Your anger. The fear inside. The pain. I can feel it all.”
She wanted to close her eyes and block him out, but she knew there was no escape.
If Sullivan was telling her the truth and a blood link connected them, there would never be any escape for her. He’d be able to track her anywhere, anytime.
The blood link was one of the most powerful tools a vampire possessed. By drinking, the vampire became linked with prey. Sometimes the link became so strong that it was rumored the vampires could eavesdrop on thoughts and even completely control humans.
Now she was one of the linked?
Shit.
Sadie broke free of his hold. They were sharing this office—thanks, Miller, I sure owe you—so she couldn’t tell him to get lost.
But she could get the hell out of Dodge. Her hands were clenched as she headed for the door.
“Sadie.”
She didn’t look back.
“I know what you see when you look at me.”
Her steps slowed, just a bit.
“I didn’t want this.”
He’d said the words before, but, this time, she believed him, and she looked back. “What did you want?”
A sad smile twisted his lips. “You.”
And she’d wanted him so much. That hunger and need, always there. She’d given in to her feelings the other night, and she knew, if she didn’t stay on her guard, that she would again.
She’d survived losing him once. It had hurt like a bitch, but she’d made it.
No way was she going through that hell again.
There was no future for her with Liam.
“You had me.” Harsh and so hard to say. She spun around, stormed for the door, and heard the faint whisper of his words follow her.
“And I’ll have you again.”
The great Sadie James was running scared.
Liam probably should have been amused by that fact. There was something that could scare the superwoman, er…shifter, after all.
But he wasn’t amused. He was pissed off.
She had no fucking right to fear him. Sadie should know better. He wasn’t some psychotic who would start slaughtering the innocent.
He had fangs.
He drank blood.
So what? Everybody had flaws.
Liam prowled through the city streets, hearing the flow of music and laughter echo around him. After Sadie’s glorious exit—he’d gotten a fine view of her hips swaying—he’d decided to hunt. Solo.
It was night, he was at full power, and he was more than in the mood for a fight.
Or a fuck. But since Sadie wasn’t particularly acting like she was in that mood, he’d settle for knocking the shit out of some deserving bastard.
Because he wasn’t fucking anyone else. He’d had lovers since his Sadie. The blood hunger mixed with physical lust drove him nearly mad, so he’d had no choice but to take others. But since he’d tasted Sadie again—knew the pleasure he could find with her—he didn’t want to lay with another.
Two women and a swaying man hurried out of his way when he stalked toward another club’s entrance. Fire. What the hell kind of name was that? The last joint he’d searched had been Taboo. Screwy names. He’d keep…
The scent of blood teased his nostrils.
Liam stilled. The women whispered and he felt their gazes sweep over him.
His canines pressed against his lips.
The scent’s too strong.
There was no feeding room in this part of town. He shouldn’t be smelling this sweet scent here, not with the blood seeming
to weigh down the very air around him.
His head jerked to the left. His ears, sharper than a human’s, but not close to being on par with a shifter like Sadie, strained to hear.
The music drummed. High laughter.
There were too many people out. So much noise.
A whimper. His eyes narrowed. Could have been a word. Could have been—
Help.
Piss. Liam snarled and took off running.
He knew exactly where the scent of blood would take him and he was more than ready for this fight.
“Why the hell are you telling Liam my personal business?” Sadie’s fisted hands came down hard on Miller’s desk. “I work for you, but you don’t have any right to tell my secrets.”
“Not even to your lover?” His voice was expressionless.
“Ex-lover,” she gritted. Not that it was any of his business. Boundaries. Miller needed them, desperately.
“Hmmm…weren’t you together at your place on Saturday?”
She sucked in a breath. “If you’ve got me bugged again, Miller, I swear you’ll—”
“Relax, James.” He smiled at her, an almost…warm smile. Weird, seeing it on a snake. “That was pure guess.”
Bastard.
Fear was in the air. A harsh smell, one that blended with the rich scent of fresh blood.
A fact of life: Most vampires liked fear. Their bodies responded instinctively to it.
Many vamps that Liam knew got off on the fear. They loved power and they loved making prey tremble.
Liam, well, the fear just didn’t do it for him. Whenever he caught that acidic odor, he remembered his last night as a human.
Fear. It had been the last thing he’d smelled as a human. His own wild, overwhelming fear. And it had been the first odor he’d caught on waking. Two of his men had still been alive. Barely. Seconds from death. Their fear had burned him, even as the blood around him triggered new instincts.
No. He wouldn’t remember that night.
He had another monster to catch.
Buildings loomed around him. Tall and dark, with windows of thick glass that looked black in the night.
His heart raced, his eyes narrowed, and his nose twitched.
Where are you?
The question was not for the victim, but for the—
“Help!” Not a murmur this time. A woman’s scream.
Up ahead.
A building with a FOR SALE sign. No lights. About seven stories. A chain across the front entrance.
His legs burned as he ran, traveling faster than a mortal could. He saw the window on the second floor. The broken glass.
Broken deliberately? The better to smell—
Animal. Savage. The scent hit him even harder than the blood. Shifter.
“Oh, God, help me, somebody—”
No one else was going to help her.
Liam let his own claws spring out from his fingertips. “Get ready, bastard, here I come.”
“I can’t keep working with him, I—” Sadie broke off, frowning. The hair on her nape was rising and a knot had twisted her stomach.
“Sadie?” Miller frowned.
Her lips parted. “Where is Liam?” She’d left him in the office, but…
She spun around, dashing for the door.
“Wait, James! I’ve got—”
Scaling the building wasn’t hard. He was at the second story window in less than thirty seconds. The stench of the shifter was stronger, and so was the sweet smell of blood. He hurtled through the window, shattering the remnants of the broken pane and feeling the sharp sting of jagged glass cut into his arms and side.
Liam rolled, rising in a crouch with his arms up and his teeth bared.
He saw her first. Curled in a fetal position in the corner, the woman was whimpering. Blood covered her bare limbs. Dripped onto the floor around her.
The shifter had done one hell of a number on her.
A growl rumbled. “Like the look of all that blood, do you, vampire?” A man stepped from the shadows near the door. His claws were up, stained red. “Thought it might tempt you.”
Liam lunged, jumping the span of the room in an instant and grabbing the shifter by his neck. “Fuckin’ bastard.”
The shifter slashed with claws, cutting into Liam’s chest and breaking his hold with a fast twist.
He sucked in a sharp breath at the pain.
“Came alone, did you?” The shifter shook his head and his green eyes glinted. “Mistake, vampire. Serious mistake.”
The woman scooted even closer to the wall. Liam was aware of her furtive movements, but he didn’t dare glance her way.
He wasn’t about to give the shifter even a moment’s advantage.
“You really think you’re gonna take me in?” The shifter shook his head. “I’m not made for a cell. My kind don’t take so well to captivity.”
A chatty prick. “Who said anything about taking you in?” Miller had told him from the beginning that this was a death case. This one’s too dangerous. He likes the kill too much. Containment isn’t an option.
The leopard had made the extermination list.
Blood dripped from the cuts on Liam’s body and splattered onto the floor around his feet. “Ready to die, shifter?”
The blond man snarled. His bones began to snap and crack as the transformation swept over him.
Better the man than the beast.
Liam attacked with teeth and claws.
“You’ve got a tail on him?” Miller’s words had stopped her at the door. Sadie shook her head. “Why the hell would you put a tail on your own man—” She broke off, huffing out a breath. Never mind. Sneaking and double-crossing his own agents was the way Miller worked.
“I don’t trust him yet, not one hundred percent.” He leveled a stare at her as he cradled his cell phone to his ear. “Thought it’d be best to keep an eye on him.”
“Liam would have made any man on him.” The guy was good. And why, why was her stomach in knots? Why did she keep thinking about him?
Thinking that the Irishman needed her—and that she had to get to him, fast.
“He wouldn’t have spotted Lance.”
Lance. Hell. The fox shifter.
No one ever spotted that tricky agent.
“Where is he?” The demand was barked into the phone. “What? Shit, hell, yeah, go.”
Sadie rocked forward on to the balls of her feet. The leopard was snarling. The woman was shaking. “Miller…”
He was already on his feet. “Building at the corner of Burns and Montay. Lance said he heard screams and then Liam scaled the wall.”
Her heart slammed into her chest. “The other leopard?”
“Looks like. Lance is running in for backup, but Liam is gonna need you—”
She left him in her dust.
The woman wouldn’t stop screaming. The leopard wouldn’t stop attacking, and Liam couldn’t seem to stop bleeding.
Piss.
The leopard’s teeth had clamped on to him too many times. The beast’s claws had raked and pierced his flesh.
The blood loss would soon slow him down, even as his hunger for fresh blood—the injured woman smelled so sweet—pushed at his control.
The leopard slammed into him. Liam managed to wrap his arms around the shifter and roll. He gathered his strength and tossed the animal against the wall. Sheetrock littered the floor.
The door flew open. Liam turned, ready to face a new threat. A small man stood in the entranceway, his brown hair slicked back and his black eyes darting around the room.
Who the—
The leopard’s teeth sank into his shoulder.
“Ah!” He swiveled, drove his fist at the creature. The leopard fell back, dazed.
Vampire strength. Not something to sneer at.
“I’m here to help you, Sullivan!” The shout came from the man in the doorway.
Liam crouched, fully facing the crouching leopard. “Get the woman out!” The guy sure as hel
l wouldn’t be any help in a fight. One punch would knock him out.
But if he could get the woman to safety and remove the distraction of her flowing blood—
He heard the scuffle of footsteps. A woman’s moan. She was bad off. She needed to get to a hospital, right away.
And the leopard needed a swift trip to hell.
Time to send him there. “No more games,” he growled, knowing the man within the beast would understand him. “I’m going to—”
The leopard streaked past him and shot through the window, a blur of yellow and black.
“No!” Liam bounded after him, ready to hunt the bastard down and finish this.
But his right leg gave way beneath him and he hit the floor, hard.
Shifters had a well deserved reputation in the Other world. They were tough as nails and it took more than a few lucky swipes to kill them. It took one hell of lot to bring a shifter down.
“No, n-no, l-let m-me go!” The woman. Screaming. Sobbing. Fighting the weasel-looking guy.
She was using up strength she couldn’t afford to lose.
Casting one last look out the window—the leopard had already vanished—Liam promised, “I’ll find you again.” And they’d finish the battle they’d started.
Shaking, biting back vicious hunger and pain, he rose to his feet. The right leg was still weak, the shifter had torn into his calf with his teeth, but it would hold. For now.
Blood followed his footsteps.
The woman was fighting wildly, her dark eyes huge, her black hair flying around her. “No, d-don’t h-hurt—” She caught sight of him. A piercing shriek burst from her. “Devil!”
Maybe. “I’m the devil who saved you, lady.”
Her eyes rolled back. Liam caught her when she fell. “Hospital,” he ordered as his hands curled around her. “Now!”
He fought to stay upright. He couldn’t fall again. The woman came first. It was always about the victim. He’d learned that on the streets of Dublin.
As a kid, he’d seen violence first hand. The bombings. The murders. The survivors left standing with haunted eyes.
The victims came first.
Vampire or human, the rule was still the same for him.
Belong To The Night Page 21