“It’s not where I met you,” Curragh reminded her.
She cocked an eyebrow. “I wasn’t friends with them. I only went once. That was enough.”
He was happy for two things— for the distraction from the earlier subject, and that she wasn’t friends with the other cops. He didn’t like rule-enforcers.
He wasn’t in a hurry to divulge they weren’t human. That Draik had blurted the question without thinking was so like the wolf that it made Curragh want to punch his wounded head. Draik always caused trouble. Even done without malice, it was still a nuisance.
“Okay, look,” Kara said, turning to him, eyes alight with an idea. “If this tunnel exists—who’s to say others don’t?” She engaged the other two. “The prohibition tunnels could lead to places all over the city. What if one of those boarded up off shoots leads to Viktor?”
Curragh stared with a dawning realization. “This is how he moves without anyone seeing him.”
Kara added, “When they tried to question the wives and children of the Russians we took down, they’d vanished without a clue. This is how!”
Xavier clapped his hands together once, and said loudly, “Holy shit! That’s it. They use tunnels under the city!”
“You have to wait.”
They all turned to Draik, surprised by his dark tone. Kara stood up. “Why?”
“I need my full strength.”
Curragh began to argue, “We can handle this,” but Draik’s temper flared hot.
“You think I’m going to let you go after the people who did this to me, without me?!” Draik tightened his blanket. “No fucking way.”
Curragh clamped a firm hand on his friend’s shoulder. “No. You should be there.”
Draik’s teeth ground together and he gave a curt nod. “Okay.” His eyes turned suspicious. “You’re not going after him while I’m sleeping, because I will never forgive—”
Xavier bit off the rest. “—I promise you, brother. We will wait for you.”
“We’ve waited this long,” Curragh said. “This time he won’t be ready for us. We can take our time, plot it out. It’s not certain if one will lead us to him, but if it does, we will have a plan of attack and be ready to engage in a battle.”
Kara drew his attention by announcing, “Kruglov’s going to lie low for a bit. We hit him hard, taking down five of his top men. The ones you saw before you found her. They’re all dead. He won’t make any big moves right now.”
The phone in Xavier’s pocket buzzed and he pulled it out. “It’s Howard.” He answered the call. “What’s up?”
Curragh and Draik had to pretend they couldn’t hear the other side of the conversation, neither aware they looked a little ridiculous in their attempts—one staring at the broken tile floor, the other at a wall.
Howard’s volume was low, like he could be overheard. He was probably at work. “Hey. I just wanted to let you know that Viktor’s men are dead.”
“We know,” Xavier said.
“Oh? Okay, well, also…Detective Monaghan quit the force.”
Xavier smiled. “We know that, too.”
“Really? Oh, well…I know there was something else. Oh yeah! Kruglov has been lying low.”
Xavier chuckled. “Thanks Peters. You’re a big help.” He hung up.
“I’m just glad he’s okay,” Kara sighed. At their pause, she shrugged, “Never mind. It doesn’t matter.”
Curragh waved her over as he walked out of the bathroom. He looked back at his packmates. “Since we have some time…don’t bother us.”
“Wait wait wait,” she said, staying put and pointing into the tunnel. “I want to explore this thing.”
Curragh stopped walking and cocked his head. He looked from her to the hole in the ground, and returned. “Okay. But we’re going alone.”
“Where’s your flashlight?” she asked as he started down before her.
He wanted to share a smile with Xavier, but didn’t dare. He could see in pitch-blackness without aid of manmade light. “I don’t need one.” He climbed down the dusty metal rungs and looked up as he heard her begin to follow. “Nice view.”
She laughed and called down. “Stop embarrassing me in front of your friends.”
“They could give a shit,” he chuckled, jumping to the dirt floor and reaching up to help her the rest of the way.
From the bathroom, Xavier poked his head over and said, “Have fun.”
Draik followed suit. “Don’t you dare break down those barricades.”
“I won’t! Stop being paranoid,” Curragh told him. His friends disappeared and he heard them walk back into the warehouse with Xavier still assuring Draik that they’d keep their word. Of course they would. Curragh hadn’t thought it through. If someone had done to him what they had to Draik, he’d want to tear them apart himself, too. No help needed, he’d like to think. But they did need each other for this one. His ego had to admit they were up against dangerous men who’d do anything.
As soon as she got close enough to grab, Curragh held onto Kara’s hips and lifted her off the stairs with ease. Her arms flailed a second, but she gave in and allowed herself to be placed down in front of him.
“I’m not that light.”
“You’re not that heavy either.”
“Nobody’s ever lifted me like that before.”
“Well I’m not nobody.” He mussed up her hair and grabbed her hand, leading her into the darkness.
Chapter Thirty-Six
Kara wasn’t the biggest fan of dark caves without a light to lead the way, but she wasn’t about to admit that. Curragh seemed so confident he could handle navigating in the dark, so she also didn’t want to challenge and risk emasculating him. She loved—was absolutely turned on by—his strength of masculinity. She was happy to surrender to it, no matter how uncomfortable and new surrendering was to her.
The ground was either dirty pavement or dirt compacted hard by time and the wear of nearly a century’s worth of foot traffic. It was impossible to know which, for sure. After they’d walked for a time, and he’d guided her to turn left and then a little right at a fork, he stopped and took her hand.
“See this?”
He pressed her hand onto a wood slab. “One of the boarded up paths?”
“Yeah. The first one.”
“Wow. I can’t believe you can see where we’re going,” she whispered, running her hand along the piece.
“I have excellent night vision.” His voice had an edge of pride to it. “Come on.”
“Okay.” He laced his fingers through hers, his so much thicker, and led her onward. To think that Viktor might be at the end of one of these tunnels was exciting. She just might be able to do what she set out to do now—make that man stop all the suffering he caused. To be on the inside with an underground group of men who didn’t have to play by the rules, was exhilarating, too. She wondered how they were going to do it. What would be the plan? How many rules would they break? She felt like someone who’d left the congregation because in order to save the innocent, she had to commit sins.
“Hey sexy…” she said with a forced smile. “Can you walk a little slower?”
“I won’t let you run into a wall.”
She couldn’t help but laugh a little. “Good to know.” After a few more steps, she ventured, “Where are you from, by the way?”
“Northern part of Montana. We moved here five years ago.”
“We?” she asked. “Oh, all three of you moved here together?”
“Yeah. But Xavier stopped hanging out with us for a while. He went…well, that’s his business.”
She waited for more, but he was a man of few words unless more were needed, so she dug deeper. “How long have you all known each other?”
“Since we were…” he paused and as though to correct himself from saying the wrong thing, said in a different tone, “kids.”
“Were you going to say teenagers?”
“What? No.” He guided her around somethi
ng. “There’s a rock. Be careful.”
“Thank you.” She stepped around, his hand on her back. It was like being blind and learning how to dance with someone for the first time. “What were you going to say then?”
“What do you mean? I said what I was going to.”
“You paused…like you were going to say something other than kids.”
He kept leading her into the darkness.
“Curragh?”
“Huh?”
“Just stop a second.” She tugged on his hand, the cool air motionless around them. “Hang on.”
“What is it?”
It was so strange not being able to see anything. She knew she was facing him because of how his hand was bent, and the heat of his breath warming the air between them. “Tell me something about yourself. I have to admit that walking in this cave with a man I hardly know is a little—”
“—You still don’t trust me.”
“Hey, don’t be impatient. I have every reason to want to know more.”
“Say you trust me and I’ll tell you more.”
She began, “How can I—” but then his free hand cupped her chin as if he was looking into her eyes. It was blacker than coal buried a mile deep, so she knew he couldn’t possibly be. How good was his eyesight?
“—You know in your gut,” he told her with authority. “You’re a detective, aren’t you? How can you say you love me if you don’t trust me?”
It was a good question, and one she could answer. She couldn’t love him if she didn’t trust him. The second she couldn’t trust her ex-husband, she no longer loved him. In fact, being with Curragh made her wonder if she ever loved Mike. These new feelings were so strong and grounded in her gut that everything else seemed to pale against it. But how could she trust a vigilante?
“I…” Kara went quiet, unable to explain. The hand that cupped her chin dropped and he continued onward, leading her carefully and more slowly now, as though he was trying to show her she was safe.
“I trust you,” he muttered.
They walked for a long while, sometimes stopping for him to ‘show’ her another barricaded pathway. The entire time, confusion fogged her mind until images flashed before her like a slideshow only she could see. Him carrying her out of the bar to save her reputation appeared, and sure, he’d left her in that kitchen, but only after she’d told him how horrible he was for how he’d saved her. She was partly to blame for his not sticking around. And yes, he’d punched some people out, but he’d done it for her. He didn’t benefit from those fights.
Then she saw him carrying poor Katarina, and how much he cared about what happened, and had stuck his neck out to save the woman. How he’d brought her to Kara, which showed he really did trust her, a proof of honesty.
And then the memory returned of him outside the window, his face telling her she was in danger—and how he’d crashed through it at just the right time. How he’d yelled at her to get the young Russian girl to safety as the guards came running in with guns.
Hell, he was practically a superhero.
And then his love for his friend, how distraught Curragh was when he came to her for solace. Anyone who cares like that has to have a heart worth trusting.
Kara tugged on his hand. “Please stop.”
“What now?” he mumbled, but it was really a mask over fear. She heard it. She knew the sound well. He was scared she was about to say something he didn’t want to hear.
He stopped walking. They stood in silent darkness again. She reached up and felt his face, traced the lines. He closed his eyes when her fingertips found them, and she brushed gently over his lashes and then placed her hands on both his high cheekbones.
“You don’t know me very well,” she whispered.
“I know you enough!”
“Shh…please,” she gently begged. “You know me by instinct and by what you’ve seen. And I know you the same way. It’s hard for me to trust people. I’m a cop. Or…I was. I’ve seen horrible things, and I come from a family who wasn’t so nice.”
He covered her hands with his and brought them down, holding them onto his warm chest. His voice strained as he demanded, “Did they hurt you?”
The fact that he was so protective moved her deeply. “Yes. My dad did.”
“Where does he live?!” Curragh growled.
Paused by the violence in his tone and the guttural sound, Kara didn’t answer at first. Then she wrapped her arms around him and whispered, “Thank you.”
Curragh sounded very confused as he asked, “For what?”
“For wanting to hurt him.”
“I will hurt him!”
She smiled and pressed closer to him until he embraced her in return. “He’s dead, or I just might have let you do that.”
Curragh held her tight. His arms felt so good to her, his body so like a wall of strength she could lean on. She’d never had that before. She’d always had to be that for herself, and she didn’t realize how exhausting that was until this very moment. As he kissed the top of her head, she confessed, “I trust you, Curragh. Please don’t break my heart.”
His body stiffened and he lifted up her chin again. “I will never.”
“Oh you will,” she chuckled. “When you care about people, they can hurt you, and they do.”
Even though she couldn’t see him, she knew he was frowning. “I’m not talking about arguments, or times you want to hit me for being…me. I mean I am going to call you my wife and from now until that day, and after, I will not do anything to break your heart. I will piss you off, but your heart is safe.”
She wanted to believe him. “Okay.”
“Kara.” His voice was insistent.
“I said okay. Just give me time.”
She felt his lips on hers and she responded to the kiss, rising on her tiptoes and throwing her arms around his neck. His hands worked down the backside of her jeans and he kneaded her ass as his tongue moved with hers. Soon they were naked from the waist down, the cool air and her need for him sending goosebumps all over her body. She shivered and he lifted her up, her legs wrapping around his hips. His cock found where it wanted to go and they moved together, gasping and moaning into each other’s mouths. One of his arms held her back, the other cupped under her ass and he stood there in the tunnel with her riding him like she weighed nothing. She clenched around his length as she tucked her face into his neck muscles. Listening to the manly noises he made pushed her body to open to him more. The sounds of their lovemaking ricocheted off the carved out walls and she moaned long and loud as the orgasm threatened to overtake her. She went to kiss him again and gasped.
“Your eyes!” They were glowing—the color of the palest green glass.
He froze and averted his face, still inside her. She climbed off him in a hurry and grabbed his chin after a couple awkward attempts to find it.
“Look at me, Curragh.”
“No,” he moaned.
“Look at me!” The memory of that man screaming, Monsters! slammed into her. “Look at me, godammit.”
Curragh’s eyes opened and sure enough, she hadn’t imagined it. “Kara,” he said so quietly she almost couldn’t hear it.
“What are you?” she whispered back, stunned. Every time he blinked, she couldn’t see him again. “Stop it. Keep them open!”
“Don’t be scared.”
She didn’t know what to say to that—there were so many feelings she was having that defining and removing just one was impossible. “What. Are. You.”
He sighed and looked away for a second. “I’m not human.”
“I can see that! What the hell are you? Are you an alien?”
His eyes narrowed a little under a smile he couldn’t suppress. “No. I’m not a fucking alien.”
“Well, then what?” Her mind was spinning. “You just said you wouldn’t break my heart!”
Pain appeared in his eyes and they began to lose their light. “I said you’d be pissed at me. And you are. But if you
r heart gets broken because you don’t want what I am, then that is not my fault.”
“It’s going away. The glow—it’s leaving.”
“It got out of control because of how I feel about you. I wasn’t holding back and I didn’t know he had begun to take over.”
The walls felt like they were closing in on Kara. “He? Oh my God, are you possessed by a demon?”
Another small laugh. “I’ve never had these questions before. Sorry. I’m not meaning to laugh at you.”
“Who is ‘he’?”
Blowing her mind, he answered simply, “My wolf.”
Kara’s mouth dropped open. “You’re a…” She couldn’t finish the question. Suddenly she was very aware they were alone in a cave far from anyone, and that he might just be a werewolf. Everything she knew about them was bad news. And she did not want to become one!
“Oh my God,” she whispered, backing away.
“Kara. Let me explain.”
Her naked backside hit the rough surface of a wall and she gulped hard against the terror that was starting to grip her senses. “You’re a werewolf,” she moaned.
“Let. Me. Explain.”
Holding fast to the wall, she began to move back in the direction they’d come. “I know what werewolves are!”
“No. You don’t.”
“You kill people!”
He didn’t argue, and she really flipped out then. She began to run, but couldn’t see the bend in the passageway and slammed headfirst into a wall. Crying out, she pushed off it and tried to escape, but he was on her. His arms held her fast and he crooned into her ear, “Kara, Kara baby, stop it. You don’t have to be afraid of me. I’m not what you think.”
“Let me go! Let me GO!!” she begged.
“I can’t. I can’t do that.”
Fighting him off was no use, he had her arms pinned and he sat on the ground with her on him. He was flaccid now and his legs held hers in a vice grip. “Oh God, please don’t hurt me.”
“Kara! You’re hysterical. I need you to calm the fuck down.”
Helpless, she began to whimper. “Why won’t you let me go?”
Werewolves of Chicago: Curragh (Werewolves of... Book 6) Page 13