The DarkWorld SkinWalker Series Box Set Vol II: The SkinWalker Series Books 4, 5 & 6: Blood Promise, Scorched Fury, & Fate's Edge (DarkWorld: SkinWalker)

by T. G. Ayer

  There under the soil-covered surface lay a thin square metal panel. Made to look like the stone of the floor, it blended into the surrounding rugged tiles aided by darkness and shadows.

  In the daylight it would be harder to hide, but I assumed our demon hadn’t cared. Considering the abandoned state of the property he wouldn’t get many visitors.

  I crouched in front of the panel and slipped a finger underneath it, before hiking a brow at Cassie.

  She nodded.

  I heaved the panel up and took few steps back in case we were peppered with gunfire. In case this was a trap.

  But no bullets flew out of the black hole, only that pitiful sound again. Cassie dug around in her rucksack and retrieved a heavy-duty flashlight. She flicked the switch and white light flooded the coffin-sized space below.

  A young man lay there, all protruding ribs, pointy elbows, and knobby knees. He was curled in a fetal position, his matted hair almost dreadlocked, dark arms hiding his face, his gasps somewhere between relieved and terrified.

  I touched Cass’s hand and she aimed the light away, leaving just enough illumination to cast a soft glow into the burrow. I knelt at the edge, afraid to touch him in case he panicked.

  “Are you okay?” I asked. Despite lowering my voice, I heard the sound echo within the room and inside the hollow dug-out.

  Stupid question, Kai.

  But it seemed to pull the boy from his panic and he shifted his hand from his face, revealing one very black eye.

  And one very ravaged neck.

  It didn’t take a genius to figure out the kid had been turned.

  Cassie sucked in a breath.

  “Whatever you’re thinking right now,” I told her, “stop.” I kept my attention securely on the boy, but my voice was hard and low, and meant business.

  “Kai, it’s protocol.”

  Protocol meant humans that were turned were considered a liability to be terminated at will. An archaic rule that I certainly didn’t agree with.

  “You know what you can do with your protocol.”

  Cassie snorted. “It’s okay for you. You’re not exactly ‘on the books’.”

  “Just tell them I didn’t give you a choice.”

  “And reveal to all and sundry that you have me by the brass ones?”

  “They’re brass?” I asked, a grin in my voice.

  She clicked her tongue. “Just get him out of there before I change my mind.”

  I didn’t respond, just sank to the floor and put one foot in the grave beside the shivering boy. His shoulders shuddered as I leaned forward and rested a hand on his bony arm.

  I’d barely touched him before he sprang away, slamming his head into the back end of the box so hard that I could have sworn I heard something crack. Closer inspection of the tangled mop covering his head told me he’d live.

  “I thought you said you were going to save him?” Cass peered into the hole. “Sounds like you’re going to kill him anyway.”

  I gave her a blistering stare and returned my attention to the terrified boy. Up close, he had more than just dusky skin and deep black eyes going for him. Give him a few meals and a hot shower and he’d be positively cute. If a little dead.

  I wasn’t sure how to deal with the damage to his neck, but that wasn’t a priority. Waiting only until he stopped shivering I moved in a little closer. Little by little, I managed to ease my way into the hole.

  No danger here, kid. Just your neighborhood kitty-cat come to curl up and purr.

  I’d made it all the way into the space thinking the feel of human warmth might help him when he looked up at me, his obsidian eyes gleaming as he studied my face.

  This close, I recognized the signs of starvation, the blue-black veins, the dark rings beneath his eyes . . . and the grayed, almost lifeless skin.

  I stiffened, but I wasn’t going to back away now. I refused to think he was so far gone that I couldn’t help him. It wasn’t his fault that he’d been turned.

  Or was it?

  I shook that thought out of my head. “Look, I’m not here to hurt you. And he’s dead, okay.”

  The dark eyes went wide.

  So he understood English.

  Progress.

  “We need to get you somewhere safe. Can you sit up?”

  He paused for a few seconds, his hands trembling while he considered my offer. Knowing his master was now truly dead seemed to have a positive effect on his terror.

  He gave a tiny nod, so small a movement I almost missed it. Sliding an arm behind him I ignored my instinctive flinch and my panther’s discomfort. I just waited, supporting him as he tried to lift himself upright.

  Time seemed to move in slow motion as he progressed to his knees and then to sit on the side of the floor. With him out, I glanced up at Cassie and gave her a short nod.

  She rolled her eyes, her version of ‘finally’.

  Then she pressed the button to the comm in her ear and summoned Larsson, our on-call teleporter who materialized within seconds, his red hair a stark contrast to the drab day.

  He took my arm and we jumped from the grotty hut.

  Chapter 4

  LARSSON TRANSPORTED US DIRECTLY TO the Sentinel offices. Then he disappeared with a smile at Cassandra and a short nod to me.

  Not a small-talk kinda guy.

  The light from Cassie’s flashlight bounced around the room and she shut it off and stowed into her backpack. Though we’d jumped time-zones, inside the room time didn’t seem to matter.

  The room was intimidating, small, square, filled with a gigantic mirror and steel walls. Screamed interrogation.

  And I worried that the boy would panic, but he kept his eyes on my face as if the sight of me was enough to calm him. Odd that I would have a reassuring effect on anyone.

  The boy wavered on his feet, his knees threatening to collapse under him. His face seemed paler, if that was possible. Cassie and I grabbed his arms before he toppled over and plunked him down on the nearest chair.

  We didn’t have long to wait before the door slammed open with a crash.

  The kid sprang to his feet, clutching my arm so hard his ragged nails bit into my skin and drew blood. But I didn’t brush him off.

  My attention fixed on the man who strode inside. He was tall. Maybe a full head taller than me. Muscles bulged under the cotton of his long-sleeved white shirt and he’d dressed like he’d grown up wanting to be a spy. The only thing missing was the dark glasses which I suspected he’d left behind on his desk, wherever that might be.

  Good thing he ended up being a spy because he looked far too grumpy to be the kind of person to live a life that didn’t make him happy. He’d be a danger to his fellow man.

  “What the hell is going on here?” His voice rang around the room, the metal helping to bounce the sound ominously around us.

  Cassie’s cheeks paled slightly but she stood her ground. “We had a survivor.”

  “A survivor who has set off every alarm in the building.” His voice grated on my ears.

  “What did he do to set off the alarms?” Cassie might have sounded sweet but there was a cold edge to her tone.

  “Where do I start?”

  “Paul—”

  “Don’t Paulson me.” Dislike and resentment simmered in both words and tone. “Just because the people upstairs want her doesn’t mean she has the right to break all the rules.”

  His voice was iron.

  I didn’t know him and I already didn’t like him. “He’s my problem. Not yours. I’m not asking for Sentinel’s help. There’s a guy I know who will be more than happy to take him.”

  Paulson’s black eyes widened. “You think that because you have a solution to the problem, it’s okay to break our rules?”

  Really didn’t like him.

  I stepped into his personal space. Stabbed an index finger into his chest. “Look. Paulson.” I spit it at him. “Those are your rules. My rule is ‘Don’t kill innocents’. Which is why he’s here.” I je
rked my chin to the poor kid who’d remained utterly silent during our exchange.

  Paulson glared down at where my finger drilled into his sternum.

  I didn’t move, and when he lifted his gaze back to mine his eyes were hot, hard, and bitter. Enemy. If he hadn’t been one before he was now.

  He twisted away to face Cassie, breaking my contact. “Just get him the hell out of here,” he grated. “Before I decide to throw the three of you into Decontamination.” And he stalked off.

  I listened to his retreating footsteps. Paulson, for all his bluster, couldn’t do anything about my choice except to make a lot of noise.

  Like Cassandra, he and Sentinel had little control over what I did that wasn’t entirely case-related. The case was the vamp-demon, not its victims. They didn’t care about the victims beyond the fact that they might be a danger to society. Our young vamp didn’t look like much of a threat. Even Paulson with his panties in a bunch knew as much.

  Right now, Paulson, in his ignorance was making a huge case for me opting to work for the High Council.

  I turned back to Cassie. “Friend of yours?”

  She pursed her lips and glared at the empty doorway. “Walter? He’s not all that bad, really.” Then she sighed. “To be quite honest, he’s a right arsehole. There is really no way to say it nicely.”

  The boy let out a soft sigh, and collapsed, my lunge toward him too late. I couldn’t grab hold of him in time and he hit the floor with a thud, his grayed skin a stark contrast against the black tiles.

  Cassie sighed and held out a hand. “Here I was thinking I should follow protocol and bring you two to Sentinel first.” She snorted in disgust. “Come. Let’s get the boy to safety before Paulson changes his mind.”

  I grabbed onto her hand and leaned forward to hold onto the kid. “Can you get Larsson to take us straight to Storm’s place?”

  She nodded and within seconds Larsson appeared and whisked us from the room.

  Chapter 5

  WE REAPPEARED IN THE SPARSELY-decorated waiting area of City Deep, Storm’s shelter. Storm, who had no last name as far as I knew. The same Storm who was a friend of Grandma Ivy’s, and who—early in my career when I’d needed direction—had pointed me at Tara for weapons.

  Storm was formidable, an Immortal who devoted his time and considerable clout to City Deep, the city-based clan that comprised all species, welcomed all strays, and helped them get back on their feet by teaching them the necessary skills for a fresh start.

  Storm seemed too good to be true, but he wasn’t. He was the best of the best and we were all so glad for it.

  As our feet met solid ground, I tightened my grip around the boy’s bony frame. Cassie helped me lift him and seat him on the sofa behind us.

  “Watch him,” I told her. “I’ll fetch Storm.”

  Cassie arched her brows. “What? You trust me alone with him?”

  I rolled my eyes and hurried out of the small front office and across the corridor to Storm’s office. The place was quiet, as evenings always were with Storm placing priority on homework before fun.

  Storm had taken over a small hotel on the Southside and converted it into his own shelter for kids. Dozens of homeless children lived here under his guardianship. They attended the local school and got themselves back on track all while he ensured they behaved themselves. So far, he seemed to be making a success of it.

  Lily and Anjelo were both excellent examples of his success.

  Storm had saved Lily Marks, my Lynx walker sidekick and friend, from a life on the streets. But for his intervention she’d have probably died of a drug overdose. Many Walkers who struggled as she had with an inability to shift fully, often turned to drugs.

  Anjelo Alvarez, on the other hand, had left Tukats—our panther clan home in the mountains—to follow in my stupid footsteps. Thanks to Storm, he’d been able to steer clear of a lot of trouble until he reconnected with me.

  He’d remodeled the entire ground floor of an old hotel, sectioning off areas for his personal apartment, maintenance, and office-space for himself and Chloe Murdoch, his Healer Mage assistant. The lobby he’d converted into the waiting room in which Cassie now sat with the boy, and the old restaurant into a general dining and common room for the students who drifted in and out of the place.

  The old hotel rooms had been converted into dorms for the dozens of people he took under his wing.

  His door sat ajar as I reached it, a sure sign he was available. I knocked lightly against the frosted glass that made up the top half of the door and waited only seconds until a deep, sexy voice bade me enter.

  I pushed the door open and walked in to find Storm was not alone.

  A girl looked up from the side of Storm’s desk, her hands filled with a stack of files. Her heart-shaped face, and deep brown eyes were familiar.

  She gave me a shy smile and waited. Without the pasty makeup it would’ve been easy for me not to recognize her. But a few weeks back she’d been standing on the side of the road, barely sixteen, wasting her life away in the world’s oldest profession.

  Her pimp had turned out to be a wraith whose life I’d happily erased, probably leaving his prostitutes with nobody to force them to keep working. I’d given this girl Storm’s card for the Shelter and told her to come to him if she needed anything. I thanked Ailuros she’d actually listened to me.

  “Kailin,” said Storm as he got to his feet. With his looks the man could be a supermodel—the cheerful smile on his way-too-beautiful face, the wide strong jaw that inspired trust in the kids and people around him, those deep eyes that let everyone know how much he cared. All that beauty and he spent his time here, helping people. Gorgeous and admirable.

  “Hey,” I said, coming to a halt in front of his paper-strewn desk. “You need a secretary.”

  “I have one,” he waved a hand at the girl. “And we have you to thank for sending Niki to us.”

  I gave her a warm smile. “I’m so glad you came.”

  “You remember me?” she asked, her cheeks reddening.

  I grinned. “Of course, I do.” I jabbed a thumb at Storm. “Has he been good to you?”

  “Better than I deserve,” she said, her eyes darkening.

  “We all deserve better than we think we should get,” said Storm, his tone gently chiding as he watched her. She gave a small smile and he continued, “Now Kailin, what can I do to help?”

  “I have a new addition for you,” I said. “But only if you want him. I’m not entirely sure you will, so I haven’t left him on your doorstep in a cardboard box and taken off. He’s in the waiting area with Cassie.”

  Storm nodded and rounded his desk. “Very well. Let’s have a look at him.”

  He hurried off toward the waiting area with Niki and I close behind him. I wasn’t sure she should witness Storm’s assessment, but he knew me well enough to know chances were high I’d be bringing him a paranormal. His decision.

  Just inside the door, Storm stopped and glanced back over his shoulder. “Niki, if you can get that filing finished, then you’ll have plenty of time for your Chemistry homework.” It wasn’t a suggestion, but he phrased the command so nicely no one would argue with him.

  Niki nodded and began to turn away. Then she stopped and looked straight at my face. “I want to thank you for what you did that day. You didn’t need to save me, considering how I spoke to you. But you did, and for that I will always be grateful.”

  I smiled. She’d been a foulmouthed little creep that night and even Lily hadn’t been impressed. But Niki had made the right choice and listened. Gotten out of the game. “I did what I always do. And you can thank me by making a good life for yourself. You’ve got a nice start here.”

  “I will. I promise.” She did one of those little finger-waves and headed down the corridor.

  I watched her leave, her thin body now slightly more rounded after a few weeks of decent food and no drugs. I gave a small nod as one success story walked off, then turned back to the waiti
ng area hoping Storm would agree that another potential success story sat on his sofa.

  The boy lay on his back on the sofa with Storm bent low studying his neck. Cassie stood a few feet away hovering a little like a protective parent.

  I joined Storm. “How bad is it?” I asked, afraid of the answer.

  “It’s not reversible.” His words killed the air.

  Hope drained from me as if I’d been mortally injured. “So we can’t save him?” Poor kid.

  Storm shook his head. “Not from the vampirism. But once he’s healed, we can rehabilitate him to live a relatively normal life in society.”

  My gaze snapped to Storm’s face. “But he’s been turned.” Even I didn’t think it was possible for a vampire to survive in the normal world.

  “He’s been turned, yes. But, with help, he can get back to a more healthy stable state. We can give him the support he needs. He hasn’t spoken yet, but I’m pretty sure he’s too old for school so we can find him some kind of proper work to do.”

  The boy’s gaze shifted to Storm’s face. “Hack . . .” he whispered.

  Storm frowned and looked questioningly at me.

  I shrugged. “Hacker?” I asked and received a weary nod from the boy.

  Storm smiled as the boy watched him through half-closed lids. “Good. I have some IT work that needs updating.”

  That teased a smile from the kid. Encouraging.

  “What’s your name?” asked Storm.

  “Baz,” he rasped. “Sebastian Ross.”

  “Nice to meet you, Baz,” I said giving him a nod over Storm’s shoulder.

  Storm straightened. “Right. We’ll get him settled and I’ll have Chloe come and give him a once-over.” He turned to Cassie. “Infirmary?” he asked.

  She was about to take Baz’s arm when a gentle voice spoke from the doorway. “Niki said you needed me.”

  We all turned around. Chloe Murdoch stood in the doorway radiating calm as if it was something she sprayed on every morning like a fragrance. Her soft auburn curls were piled up on her head, delicate tendrils drifting to her shoulders. In her fifties she could easily pass for thirty.