by Billi Jean
“No, I don’t. Hell I don’t ken anything,” he muttered. “I heal faster than she does.”
That appeared to get through to Aubrey. She examined his face, then Markee’s, then said, “Or, she may no’ be immortal, but I believe she is,” she added quickly when he opened his mouth. “Let’s hope she is, aye?”
“Fine, whatever. Just tell Trouble. See if you can figure that out somehow. And you’d better inform the council, too, of what’s going on. We might need reinforcements. I want one phone call to be all I’ve got to make, okay?”
“You’ve got me,” Markee said, as if that was enough.
“From what I’ve seen, a full army of your kind might not be enough,” he warned. “This might be huge, Markee. And it might very well provide us with answers. Hit him, Aubrey. Half an hour, then I want him on his feet. Red eyes. Remember, the changelings with the red eyes are the ones to avoid. The others are okay. At least we hope so. And if I call, I want a team at my location within seconds.”
“Aye,” Aubrey murmured.
Markee frowned, but nodded as well. As soon as he did, Aubrey touched his head and he slumped and would have fallen if Kincaid hadn’t grabbed him and slung him over his shoulder.
“Damn,” he muttered. “I need a break from all this.”
“Soon,” Aubrey whispered. “Soon enough, I hope you both will earn a reprieve.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
“Who was that?” Charisa asked.
“That,” Hunter said with a smile, “was my human companion. He brings in Markee, this man’s son. Surely a motivator if ever there was one,” she added with a grimace at Balrick.
“Oh, you have to be joking,” Charisa purred, walking over to where she’d had her men tie Balrick down to a chair. “His son? I had heard how good you were, but this? The man and now his son within hours of leaving us. Truly,” she murmured, playing with her long blonde hair, “you are promising. Very promising.”
“I’m rich, is what I am, and much richer now.” Hunter examined her short nails. “The things I like cost, and money, well…” She sighed. “Money is always helpful if I can’t get what I wish by other means.”
“Ah, yes. I find it true as well. For this world, we must blend in, and to do so comfortably and in the style we are accustomed to, we must have money. But power? Oh, that comes with much more than money.” She faced Balrick. “Can you wake him?”
“Of course. Here.” Hunter stood, taking her time to learn the room well enough she could gate here if need be. Acting as if she’d just thought of it, she stopped with her hand up, power already blurring her palm. “Did you want to wait for his son, or…?”
Charisa wrinkled her lovely brow and tapped her lips with a finger. In Russian she asked her men what they thought, Hunter assumed. The taller one said something and shrugged. The other merely said something else in their language.
“When will he be here?” Charisa asked.
“Soon. My human said ten minutes. Should we wait? If so, I need to give him the security there aren’t any more of your pets hanging around.”
“My pets?” Charisa laughed. “Ah, yes, my pets are all accounted for. We’ve already taken a full batch. What a pleasant surprise to find you here already. Did you know I will be rewarded for him? Yes, much more than even the pets,” she said with a big grin.
“You found them all? Even the ones that got loose and ran off?” Now that was amazing.
“No, those we still track,” Charisa said that the way people spoke of pesky flies. “But all of these are accounted for. Your man will be safe enough. Is Balrick’s son alive?”
“I believe so. He said the Lykae would be out, though, so he must be carrying him in.”
“Ah, I see. Good,” she said, clearly pleased. “This will please my House greatly. This is my first assignment alone, as lead,” she confided. “It will not be my last,” she added with a snap to her men. Both walked over. “They will assist you. Your human…” Charisa paused, considering her words, Hunter assumed. “He is your lover as well as your servant?”
“He is my lover, yes, but he is also mine. He listens, shall we say, when I speak? It’s a nice touch.” Hunter put a bit of purr in her tone she hoped they bought. “And he likes the new look.”
“Amazing. A human that can knock out a Lykae. I had given it some thought, taking a human lover, but I fear I would harm one,” she added. “My men I do not worry over as much.” As she spoke, she possessively caressed one man’s arm. He seemed pleased, if the way he stared at the Vampire’s breasts meant anything.
“I’m a witch with a wild side, I admit,” Hunter offered. “But I don’t worry over harming him, at least not too badly. Besides, his stamina and, shall I say, imagination? Never leave me wanting, if you understand?” She laughed when Charisa’s widened her eyes then appeared even more interested.
“Truly, this is interesting. I shall give it some thought,” she said, making Hunter uneasy.
“As long as you give it some thought on another human and not mine, and speaking of mine, I’ll go show him the way. Can you get them to bring another chair for Balrick’s son? That way they can be side by side.”
“Yes, good idea. We shall get them side by side, or perhaps facing each other. That way his father will see what he has to lose by continuing to deny us what we wish.”
Hunter wanted to know more, but knew if she didn’t go now, Kincaid would find his way down here. Then they’d have an argument in front of the trio. No way would he be able to hold back from it, either.
“Oh, good, a show.” Hunter saluted them on her way out. “Just save me some popcorn,” she called, as if she didn’t have a care in the world. Her heart was beating so fast she worried they’d ask her what was wrong.
Rick Kincaid. That was what was wrong.
I told you to stay. And instead of doing that, you bring Markee here? Did you bring Aubrey, too? A whole team? How else could you get here so quickly?
Panic—the sick feeling she had gotten used to feeling before she knew Rick Kincaid—grew. It’d been hard enough to leave him, now he was here, and she could tell no matter what she said, he wasn’t leaving.
She had exhausted herself coming here. She needed to sleep and to eat something to recover. Until then, they were stuck in the compound because they couldn’t leave, especially without Markee, who was now a prisoner as well as Balrick.
They would have to find a way, though, because she wasn’t standing by and watching another person being tortured while she did nothing. So that left them…what? She didn’t have an answer.
Rick, what were you thinking? Why come here?
One look at Hunter’s face and Kincaid knew she didn’t have a clue why he’d come. She truly has never had anyone who cared for her before. No one to care about whether she lived or died, or suffered, or just plain didn’t feel a chill and needed a goddamn jacket.
“You’re freezing. Where’s your jacket?” he said, then winced and adjusted Markee on his shoulder.
His back was burning from the strain. Markee was one heavy guy. On the hike here from the trees Aubrey had gated him to, he’d nearly dropped the bastard twice. The snow had gotten heavier, too, and he knew he was freezing, and he wasn’t even out in a T-shirt like Hunter. She slowed her run to him at his words, but continued until she could reach up and touch his face.
“I’m not cold,” she said, as if that was what he really wanted to know. She was shivering, so she was also lying to him. “You’re covered in snow.”
“Don’t leave me again,” he blurted, just because it needed to be said. “Teamwork, remember?”
Snowflakes settled on her lashes. “Yes.” She blinked rapidly.
“Good, now, do you need a crayon?” he snapped.
“I used ink. You read it. I know you did,” she whispered, sounding hoarse.
“Well, your plan sucked. Now we’re here, in the freezing cold again, and we have this big wolf to deal with,” he said, just warming up to a
full setting down.
“Hey, and that’s my fault? Don’t turn into Mr. Crybaby, now. I had this. I so had this, and now, what? We have two to save and possibly more.”
Well, for hellos she sucked, but that was fine. Mr. Crybaby. He hauled her as close as he could with one arm and kissed her long enough that she had to be warmer, because he was sweating.
“I missed you, Sparky.” He tightened his grip, unable to let her go.
“It’s been less than an hour since you saw me.”
“Who the hell walks around without a jacket on?”
“I do, I guess,” she offered, brushing at his face. “You have snow all over you.”
“That’s because it’s snowing,” he reminded her.
She gave him a quick kiss then pulled away. “I didn’t want to leave you, but Rick, I was right. I did the right thing. You are doing the opposite.”
“I am part of this team, just like you. Do I look like I want you to get hurt or suffer just so I won’t?”
“That makes no sense,” she whispered fiercely. “I had this.”
“Together we have this. Now, what’s the plan?”
She groaned and leaned her head on his sternum, of all things, then exhaled, waking Little Rickie the rest of the way.
“I don’t know. I had just myself and Balrick, so it was easy. But he was a liability I was okay with losing. You,” she said, staring at him with a look he’d not seen on her pretty face before. “You, I’m not willing to chance. So…” She nibbled her lip, giving him a speculative frown.
His heart raced at her words, filling him with some serious hope that she loved him—or at least saw how essential he was to her.
“So, we go slow and easy. Markee will wake up, pretend to be asleep if we need and when we know enough, we break loose, maybe take the Vampire girl along for the ride, just so we have someone who can talk.”
Hunter stared at him as if he’d spouted the most amazing facts she’d ever heard. Then with a cry she clapped her hands.
“Oh, Kincaid!” She hugged him around the waist, almost making him drop Markee in the jostle, but he held on. “That’s brilliant. Brilliant!”
“We take the Vampire girl?” he guessed.
“Sure, why not? Markee can handle that alone. We concentrate on the two men, and voila, we have Balrick—who should be dead—and the girl who knows too much, and…and nothing,” she ended with a growl. “We can’t do that. We need your men. If they’re willing to take me to where they might be… How will taking the girl help? And we need to get inside. I said I’d be right back.”
“Slow down.” He gripped her shoulder. “We might have to play this by ear, so just slow down.” He adjusted Markee and moved her forward. “We see how it goes. If things go south, we take the girl and make a break for it. She has to know something about the changelings and if she does, we’ll get her to talk, okay?”
“Okay,” Hunter breathed, visibly calming down.
“How old is she, you think?”
She took another big breath then let it out. “I think around two hundred, maybe younger.”
“Two hundred years old?” he asked, guiding Hunter to start walking. “Damn, she’s not very smart is she?”
“What? Why do you say that?”
“Well”—he nudged her to keep moving and shouldered Markee through the door—“she already trusts a stranger, and now she’s happy you found Balrick and his son. Not even questioning it?”
“I didn’t lie,” she clarified. She shivered and rubbed her bare arms, which were goosebumped from the cold. Night had settled fully. He hurried them inside, already freezing himself, and he was wearing a jacket.
“Vampires are tricky with lies,” Hunter continued. “I stick to the truth or as near as possible. I suggest you stay quiet and just let me do the talking.”
“Are you insinuating I lie?” That kind of offended him for some reason.
She laughed, an old Hunter laugh. “No, but now I wonder. I meant, Mr. Sensitive, that you’re human, and well, I’m not.” She brushed her fingers off on her shirt and puffed on them, all tough girl.
“Sparky, you’re something, all right. Let’s get this over with, Markee weighs a ton.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
“Just remember, no getting hurt,” Hunter said.
Again.
Kincaid shot her a frown that kind of thing deserved.
“You’re the one to talk,” he got out, a second before the Vampire duo met them at the door.
She’d already told him not to get worked up, that Vampires could sense heart rate increases, but he’d known that from the intel he’d already read.
It didn’t help one bit. He had to concentrate on how many days they’d walk the beach before they’d be bored to get a moderate degree of control.
“Ready for him?” Hunter asked, as if it was another day in paradise.
“This way. Charisa has been called and will join us when she can. We will put him in here, next to his father’s cell. He is heavy?”
“He’s light as a feather,” Kincaid growled, knowing when someone was fucking with him and when they weren’t. He could sense Markee stiffen at the news and hoped like hell that they weren’t supposed to put Markee in a cell, too. That went against the plan, big time.
Both Vampires laughed. Hunter did not. She gave each a flat stare that shut them up and had them pressing the door open for him. That kind of thing made him proud. It was also something she’d never, not once, done with him. Not even back in Washington, when Little Rickie was embarrassing him, hanging out in the breeze.
She glanced at him and he tipped his head slightly. Markee was awake, but faking it. And the shit just got serious. It wasn’t a cell they were led into, but it was a room with a chair. It reminded him of an interrogation room.
“He’ll be out for another ten minutes, maybe longer,” he muttered for Markee’s sake. They needed some time to get a sense of what was going on.
“Put him here.” The taller one kicked a metal chair at him. It scraped across the floor, sounding like a cat’s indignant howl.
“So, Balrick’s in a cell? That going to hold him?” Kincaid asked.
No one answered him until Hunter stopped inspecting a side panel, which he hoped meant she’d found something out, and gave the duo a ‘duh’ look.
“Balrick is half vampire now,” she muttered. “If he gets loose, I still get paid and it will cost more if I have to subdue him all over again.”
The taller one—he assumed older, too—smiled faintly. “The cell will keep him, but Charisa will as well.”
“Oh? And where is she?” Hunter asked, walking over. She put her hand on his arm and petted him, was the only way he could think to describe it. Any other time he would have nailed her for thinking he was a puppy, but with the two watching, he assumed she was marking him as not a safe chew toy.
“She is gathering our orders,” he said. “Your arrival with Balrick has changed our trip. She will confer with our superiors then complete arrangements with you.”
Hunter sighed as if that were bad news. Kincaid didn’t like the arrangements bit, but hoped it was just the man’s bad English.
“So, how long do I have to wait?” Hunter asked.
“She should not be much longer. We can show you to a more comfortable room, next to this one.”
Hunter made a bored face and exhaled. “I hope that’s true, because I have some other things to take care of,” she said vaguely enough to get both Vampires’ immediate attention. Then she did the last thing he expected his little Sparky to do. She leaned into his side and that hand slid over his stomach, near his belt and she gave him one sultry smile. “But a room might be lovely. You said next door?”
Little Rickie practically hopped out of his BDUs. He swore both Vampires’ eyes glowed and they shifted their feet, glancing at each other then fixing their attention back on Hunter—or Hunter’s cleavage.
If they’d been alone, he would have ha
d her in his arms, displaying some serious ownership over every inch of her, let alone her perfectly displayed breasts in her T-shirt. Heck, he was a guy. He’d already planned out how he was going to make certain all those bigger, badder immortals knew Hunter was no longer on the list of potential anything. But he got it. She was supposed to be the one in charge. He was the man who protected her and gave her everything else she needed. He sensed right now she wanted him to be on protection mode. He stood and allowed the sexy way she was killing him. He also stared the Vampires down.
They lasted until she tugged his head closer to her mouth and whispered how hot she was for him and next door would have to do. By the time he straightened, both Vampires cleared their throats and muttered something about seeing about what was taking Charisa so long.
“The room is open. We should return with Charisa in an hour.”
As soon as they left, Kincaid hauled her in and kissed the little witch until she was tightening her hands in his hair and riding his cock through his BDUs.
“You were great.”
“You were better! An hour. We just got a free hour!” she whispered, and slipped her lips along his and blew his mind away with a kiss that left no doubt she was ready to use that room next door.
It could have gotten way out of hand if someone hadn’t cleared their throat loud enough to make him ease off on grinding along her sexy pussy.
Hunter sighed and loosened her grip. “I really am hot for you.”
“Yeah, I know,” he whispered back. “You want that thing I do. I know.”
She smacked him lightly on the head, smiling at him once before she adjusted his shirt and then hers.
“All right, Markee, what are you doing here?” The tension in her shoulders clued him in on how hard it was to face her friend—or once-upon-a-time friend. Her voice wavered, but he didn’t think she could have stopped that.
“I thought I was here to help a friend,” Markee said, as gently as Kincaid could have demanded. Markee took a deep breath and hung his head, then lifted it enough to squint at her. “I fucked up, Hunter. You were in trouble, and I didn’t have your back.”