“Crime scene guys found traces of blood in two other rooms on the second floor.” This came from Derek Martin, the blond agent who liked to keep one hand close to his gun at all times. Smart fellow. “Matched it to Donna Summers and Theresa Kite.”
The first two victims. No, the two victims they knew about. Sadie was sure there’d been more.
Michael Munroe hadn’t been a good little choirboy his whole life. There’d been other kills, but in Miami, he’d just stopped hiding the bodies.
Cocky asshole. Taunting the cops and scaring the humans.
“So this is where he brought his prey.” The sun was starting to set, the red glow falling over the building like a shadow made of blood.
She’d already walked the streets for most of the day. Talked to every person she could find in the area, but no one remembered Michael Munroe.
It wasn’t like the guy was easy to forget.
“We’re going over this building,” she said, pulling out her latex gloves. “Every single room.” Every single inch. Six stories, twelve rooms per floor. Sure, the building had been searched three times already—
But not by her.
Her nostrils flared. That scent was driving her crazy. The jerk sure had marked his turf. “Let’s get this done.” Her stomach was in knots. “I want to find this bastard.” She had to find him and stop him before he tortured and killed another woman.
The straps were gone from Su’s wrists. She lay against the mattress, tears drying on her cheeks.
“That it?” Miller asked, frowning at the demon.
Charles LaMoyne gave a nod, then glanced at Liam. “You’re in my debt now, Sullivan.”
Just where he wanted to be, owing a demon. Liam inclined his head.
“I’ll collect payment one of these days.” A smile, not the friendly kind. “Count on it.”
He would.
Charles turned away and headed for the door.
It had taken most of the day to find the demon. He wasn’t one to advertise his presence in the city. Most of the strongest Other liked to keep to the shadows.
The better to watch the game mortals played.
LaMoyne hadn’t helped the human out of the goodness of his heart. As far as Liam knew, there wasn’t much goodness in there. But Liam had saved his hide a year ago, when he’d stopped a human under Thrall from taking the demon’s head.
He’d hoped for an even debt exchange.
Should have known he’d have to pay a bit more for the help. Most demons didn’t do favors for humans. LaMoyne had made a big exception for him.
Liam glanced back at the woman. Her eyes were closing and she looked almost…peaceful.
Maybe she’d stay that way.
LaMoyne’s psychic talent was shading memories and twisting truth. When Su woke up again, she’d have the images from a car wreck in her mind, perfect memories to match her injuries.
She’d remember the squeal of tires and the crunch of metal—
But not the claws of monsters.
Liam turned away from her. He was bone tired, but, luckily, the sun would be down soon.
Maybe the headache pounding at the front of his skull would end then.
Hmmm…or maybe he should take a quick swing by phlebotomy for a little pick-me-up.
When Sadie stepped onto the second floor, every muscle in her body tightened.
Blood and death were in the air, so thick she nearly choked.
Liam had fought here.
Women had died.
And that sick freak had played.
His stench was so much stronger here. Her eyes narrowed. Stronger…and fresher.
Her claws cut through the latex.
Liam froze just outside of the elevator bank at Hudson Hospital.
For just an instant, he could have sworn that he’d caught a whiff of Sadie’s scent.
But, no, that was crazy. She wasn’t even close by. She was on the other side of town, searching that damn building.
A whisper of fear, a spike of anger.
Blood link.
Hell.
He attacked her first. Michael Munroe sprang from the room on the left, a fully formed leopard, and swiped his claws across her flesh.
Sadie fell onto the floor, hard, and heard gunshots blast around her. Her skin burned, blood soaked her shirt, and she knew that she was in serious trouble.
Lying in wait.
Leopards were patient hunters.
A man’s scream.
Gritting her teeth, she tried to rise. She managed to get to her knees and she pulled out her gun.
She’d save the claws and teeth this time, a bullet would work.
The leopard was crouched over Derek, his claws less than an inch away from the man’s throat.
The second agent, Collier Dulane, was on the floor, his eyes closed.
The leopard’s ears twitched and those claws moved in for the kill.
“No!” Her scream was guttural. She could take the shot, but Derek would die. Those claws were too close.
Shit.
The leopard snarled at her.
Her fingers tightened around the gun. Without the weapon, she was a dead woman. There wouldn’t be enough time to shift before he attacked.
Liam.
She needed him.
Her eyes dropped to Derek. His neck was twisted to the side and he stared at her, realization in his eyes.
Do it. He mouthed the words.
If she dropped her weapon, the leopard would attack her, she knew it.
And she knew that he’d kill Derek either way.
No. No, Derek was on her team, she couldn’t let him—
The leopard roared.
So did she.
Then she fired.
The bullet hit the leopard dead center in his outstretched paw, exploding through muscle and bone, then slamming into the wall just beyond him.
Derek managed to roll to the side, pushing hard to his feet.
The leopard rammed into him. The agent’s head hit the wall and he went down.
Sadie fired again. She hadn’t been able to aim for head or heart with the first bullet, and he was moving too fast now to get a clear shot. Only the head or heart would stop him. She fired—again and again.
The leopard sprang at her and the beast within Sadie roared again for her freedom.
Sadie.
For a moment, her image swam before him. He felt a white-hot lance of pain across his chest. The cold splash of blood.
Then—nothing.
Terror had his heart nearly stopping. The blood link between them had grown so strong that he knew what was happening to her.
He was losing Sadie.
Hell, no.
Liam forgot about the elevator and ran for the stairs. Screw the damn sunlight that was still fighting the night. Sadie needed him.
Hold on, a thaisce. My treasure. And, dammit, she fucking was. The only thing of value in his world.
Hold on.
A red haze filled her vision. Blood. Hers. His. The leopard was in control of Sadie now, and she was fighting for her life—
And the lives of her two agents.
Pain was constant. The attack from him had been vicious. The guy outweighed her by a good forty pounds in animal form, and he had insanity on his side, always an advantage for a killer.
But she wasn’t powerless. Sadie had rage and her desperate desire to stay alive.
So she fought him. Every slash of his claws led to an assault from hers. She wasn’t letting him leave this room. He wouldn’t kill again.
His teeth clamped on to her shoulder.
And another growl rumbled from the doorway.
Through the fury, she saw him, coming like an avenging angel—no, more like a pissed-off devil.
Another leopard. Golden fur lined with the dark rosettes of her kind. Mouth open in a snarl. Teeth glistening with saliva.
She recognized his scent immediately, even before she saw his glassy stare.
K
yle.
He launched across the room, his hind legs kicking back to send him soaring. His teeth locked on to Michael, ripped and tore, and the scent of blood deepened.
Sadie took a moment, panting, gathering her strength. This was it. She could feel the approaching kill in the air.
No escape. Michael Munroe was about to answer for his crimes.
And she didn’t think the devil was gonna cut him any slack.
Her whiskers quivered as she leaned down in a crouch, waiting for the perfect moment to join the growling, biting blur that was the other leopards.
Now. She shot forward, teeth and claws ready.
Together, she and Kyle took the killer down, and his furious cries echoed around them until—
Silence.
Then the snap of bones.
Sadie and Kyle eased back. The battle was over. The leopard had shifted, an automatic survival instinct. Michael Munroe’s wounds were deep. His choice was either shift or die.
When the transformation was over, Michael lay naked on the floor, breath choking out.
Sadie let the white-hot fire of the change sweep over her. The guy wasn’t in any shape to attack now. She had to check on her men and get them an ambulance ASAP.
She didn’t care about her nudity. Her clothes had shredded when she shifted into the cat. She’d been badly wounded, was still hurt—the shift hadn’t healed her completely—but thanks to her rush of adrenaline, the injuries barely slowed her down. Kyle was snarling over his brother, so that situation seemed under control. Now her priority was her men. Men who looked like they were stepping too close to the cold door of death.
Derek groaned. He tried to raise his arm, but his hand dropped back to the floor. Sadie scrambled around him, searching desperately to find the cell phone she’d lost. Ambulance. Humans couldn’t survive this kind of abuse without help. She had to get an ambulance—
The quiet snick of a gun’s safety release whispered in her ears. She turned, too slowly, and saw that Michael had managed to get a gun. In a split second, she recognized it as Derek’s weapon. She’d seen it fly across the room earlier, then forgotten about it in the snap of teeth and the swipe of claws.
Kyle, still in leopard form, snarled and swiped with his claws just as Michael fired at him.
The leopard fell.
Then, smiling, bleeding, Michael turned the gun on her—
And he fired again.
Liam froze just outside the building on Montay. All of the breath left his lungs in a rush and fire exploded in the middle of his chest.
The pain drove him to his knees.
A pain that wasn’t his.
No.
He tried to rise, but fell onto the cement. “Sadie.”
She was slipping away from him. He knew it, and the pain seemed to rip his heart apart.
He’d reached her too late.
Tires squealed behind him. Doors slammed.
“Sullivan? Sullivan!” Miller grabbed Liam and jerked him to his feet.
The pain began to fade and an icy numbness took its place. He stared up at the building, now covered by the darkness of night.
“Is Sadie here? We can’t get her team to answer us, there’s no contact—”
Miller’s voice was buzzing in his ear.
Yeah, she was there. He could feel her.
But for how long? She was hurt, bad, and he knew the cruel bitch that was fate was trying to steal his Sadie away.
Not going to fucking happen.
Chapter Nine
He’d never forget his first sight of that room. The blood. The bodies.
Sadie lying like a broken doll, her lashes still against her too white cheeks.
He fell to his knees beside her. Touched her face. Slowly, so slowly, her lashes lifted. Her golden eyes didn’t glow. They barely shined at all, and they were full of so much pain.
“Sh-shot her…”
His head jerked up at the hoarse whisper. Kyle Munroe was pushing himself off the floor. “M-missed my h-heart…” Liam saw the hole in his chest then. Damn, weren’t shifters supposed to heal from—
“B-but he got h-hers…”
The room spun.
No, no that wasn’t possible, he’d know, he’d—
Hear the rush of her blood spilling out. The broken beat as her heart struggled. Bullet had clipped the side. Too damaged, can’t work, weakening.
“B-bastard’s d-dead now.”
Liam didn’t even glance toward the body. He could smell the stench of death.
“B-but he-he got h-her.”
“The hell he did!” His arms were tight around her. He wouldn’t look at her chest. No, he didn’t want to see the wound, but he could feel it, as if his own chest had been ripped open.
“You’re not goin’ anywhere, Sadie, you hear me?” He was rocking her, back and forth, faster and faster.
Her eyes were open, but her pupils were locked. Her breath barely seemed to whisper past her pale lips.
How the hell is she even still alive? The question blasted through his mind, terrifying him.
But he knew the answer. A shifter’s strength. Right then, he thanked the God he’d forgotten two years ago, then whispered a prayer for his forgiveness.
Because Liam knew what he was going to do.
“Stay with me, a thaisce.” His fingers brushed over her neck. His head lowered and his mouth hovered over her throat.
Would she want this life?
An insidious whisper from within that he ignored.
His teeth pressed against her flesh. The blood flowed faster from her now, but the scent didn’t tempt him.
It scared the hell out of him.
“Sadie…” No more time to waste. She wouldn’t have any blood left to take soon.
His teeth pierced her flesh. Blood trickled onto his tongue.
Sadie. Don’t leave me.
“What the hell are you doing, Sullivan?” Miller grabbed him, trying to force Liam to release his hold on Sadie. “That’s not what she wants—”
Liam raised his head, a rumble rolling in his throat. He wasn’t about to let her go. “Fuck off!” A scream of fury that shook the room. “She’s not dying. She’s too strong. She’s—”
Needed too much.
He’d just found her again.
How was he supposed to live for centuries without her?
No. No, he couldn’t.
“She doesn’t want this.” Absolute certainty. “We can get her to a hospital. They can stitch her up, fix her like they did Munroe—”
“She’s got less than a minute left.” His voice broke. He lifted her, cradling her as gently as he could. He braced her, pushing her head toward his throat. Her cool lips skimmed over his skin. “I feel her leaving. If she were human, she’d have died when the bullet drove into her.”
He knew Sadie. Pure shifter will had kept her alive. The beast inside fighting a battle to heal, a battle that couldn’t be won.
Too much blood loss. Not enough strength.
“You can’t do this!” Why was Miller getting a conscience? “She doesn’t want—”
“I know what she fuckin’ wants!”
He knew…and what he knew tore his guts apart.
Sadie wanted her beast. The leopard within that had been a part of her since birth. The leopard that would die if he turned her. He knew the stories. A shifter lost the power to transform when she was reborn as a vampire.
That life ended, and a new one began.
He caught the back of her head in his hand. “Sadie…”
Choices.
Piss. This damn life—always about choices.
He wouldn’t take her choice away. His had been taken away. He wouldn’t do the same thing to Sadie. But he couldn’t just sit there and let her die.
Fuckin’ hell—don’t leave me! A cry that shook his soul.
“L-live…” Rasping.
His eyes widened. He tilted her chin back, stared into the eyes that saw him and held agony.
“Sadie?”
“L-live…”
Sadie James was the strongest woman he’d ever met—and she was a fighter, till death and beyond.
She was choosing—him and life, with seconds to spare.
He bared his throat to her, guided her head because she was too weak, and felt the sharp sting of her teeth.
Live.
Sadie took his blood…and died.
Very, very slowly, Sadie opened her eyes and she found herself lying on a soft bed—her bed. The lights were off and darkness cloaked the room.
But she could see perfectly.
Her nostrils flared and she caught the scent of flowers. The fabric softener she used on her sheets. The vanilla-scented candle she kept in the living room.
She raised her hand to her chest and found the skin healed.
She’d survived.
Part of her had, anyway.
Her fangs were out and the hunger, a great, gnawing hunger for food—no, blood—had her belly clenching.
The door squeaked open and her gaze shot across the room to zero in on Liam.
He stared at her, not speaking, and she could see the worry on his face.
Her hands clenched around the sheets.
“Sadie…” He shook his head. “Do you know what happened? Do you know—”
“That I’m a vampire?” Yeah, she knew. She remembered everything. Every horrifying moment. She could still feel the twisted thud of her heart. Broken.
She’d known death was coming for her, and while she didn’t fear the other side or what waited, she hadn’t wanted to leave.
It had been too soon.
In that moment, when the fog had cleared from her eyes and she’d seen Liam gazing down at her with such fear on his face, she’d known she would have traded anything, everything she had to stay with him.
Even her beast.
And she had.
“It’s not as bad as you think. You don’t have to kill to live. You can get blood from a hospital.” He swallowed, then said, “You’re not linked to any other vampires, just me. You have no Born Master who can control you. You’ll be as strong as before—you just…have to take it easier during the daytime.” He crossed to her side as the words poured out of him. “You’re still the same, Sadie, you’re—”
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