Monsters, Book One: The Good, The Bad, The Cursed

by Heather Killough-Walden

  Angel’s pupils dilated as she peered at him. He watched her eyes slip to his mouth, and he heard her thoughts recalling the sharpness of his teeth. Her heartbeat remained fast, and he caught the slightest scent of fresh desire.

  Jake’s body went very still in his seat, a predatory response. He waited for her answer, but not without some measure of mounting impatience. “Angel,” he said more firmly, “do we have a deal?”

  Angel licked her lips and finally nodded. “Yes,” she breathed. “It’s a deal.”

  He wanted to howl at the moon in triumph, but instead he simply opened his car door and got out, moving to the passenger side to open hers. He stayed there while she climbed out. She stood before him small but powerful, precious and perfect. Jake gazed down at her, and for all the world he didn’t want to let her go. Especially not now. Especially not so she could go see him. Gabriel Santiago.

  “Angel, about Santiago –”

  She held up her hand, cutting him off. Then she placed that hand gently to his chest. The contact made his insides light up as if he hadn’t spent the last several hours taking liberties with her on top of his car. “I know what you’re going to say, Jake. But I really do need to do this. I have to see Gabriel face to face and settle things between us.”

  I could settle them for you, he thought darkly. But that was the monster in him rising up, and now was not the time.

  Now’s the perfect time, it insisted.

  With practiced skill, Jake shoved the beast into compliance and sighed, pulling his silver pendant over his neck and holding it up before him. “Take this,” he told her. “Wear it for me.”

  Angel looked from him to the pendant, and her heart skipped a beat. He could read in her thoughts and hear in her pulse that she was deeply touched. But she remained demure as she nodded shyly, took it from his fingers, and slipped it over her head. “Thank you.”

  It was much longer on her than on him, but it looked good. He couldn’t help but imagine how the silver chain would shine, stark and bright against her silky skin as it dipped down between her perfect breasts. He wanted to strip her down then and there just to see.

  Shit. He swore internally and forced himself to step back out of the way so she could pass. Then he closed the car door behind her and followed her to her Jeep.

  He carefully looked the vehicle over, checking the tires, then dropping to a push-up to check underneath for unwanted gadgets. He jumped back to his feet and peered through the window to make certain the back seat was clear. It wasn’t until he realized Angel was watching him that he stopped and faced her.

  She was grinning and shaking her head.

  He blinked. “What?”

  “Nothing,” she told him, her bright eyes sparkling under the tall lot lights. “But you do realize that we’re in the Monsters safe house parking lot, right?”

  Jake stared at her a minute. Then he shoved his hands into his jacket pockets and shrugged, smiling. “Old habits,” he said. And if anything ever happened to you, I would cease to exist.

  As if she’d heard his thoughts for a change, Angel left the side of the Jeep and closed the distance between them. “I’ll be fine, Jake.”

  Jake’s jaw clenched. “We’ll start on the case tomorrow morning.” If nothing else, it was a way to get Angel right back into his arms. “I’ll need you back here at that time.”

  Angel raised her chin a little. She visibly bristled beneath the domination. “That’s too soon.”

  “It’s non-negotiable, Angel. You’d better call Santiago right now and let him know you need to see him.” That way, he could listen in on the conversation and make sure Gabriel didn’t give her a hard time.

  But Angel’s gaze narrowed. She wasn’t stupid. She could tell he was jealous and throwing his weight around because of it. For half a beat, he was sure she was going to put her foot down. But at the moment, she was so grateful to have a “legal” way to go after the monster killing people to get to her, she didn’t want to mess it up.

  So eventually she sighed. “Okay,” she agreed, pulling out her phone. He watched her bring up Gabriel’s contact number. But her finger hovered uncertainly over the call button. She was scared.

  Jake took the phone from her and pressed the button himself. Angel’s jaw dropped open, but Jake turned his back on her. Gabriel picked up on the first ring. “Angel!”

  “She’s with me, Gabriel.” He meant it in more ways than one, and he knew the Vega leader understood as much when he fell silent on the other end. But all around Gabriel were other noises, sounds Jake readily recognized as those of a fight.

  “I’m on a job, Crow. What the fuck do you want? Put Angel on the phone.”

  Just then, Angel violently ripped the phone from Jake’s hand and put it to her ear. Her fire-filled glare brooked no compromise. He had to admit he was impressed. Especially when she said, “Gabe, ignore the asshole. I’m fine and I’m coming back to my apartment tonight. We need to talk right away.”

  Gabriel told her he would meet her at her apartment as soon as the job he was on for the Demon King was complete. Jake listened as Gabriel very clearly finished someone off and returned to the phone out of breath. “I’ll send someone to the border to escort you.” He hung up.

  Angel glared at the phone now too. Her mind was spouting all sorts of things about men and the brain between their legs at that moment.

  Jake tried not to smile. Instead, he placed a hand on her shoulder, drawing her attention. “He cares about you,” he told her honestly. “And so do I. Forgive us for that.”

  Angel relaxed beneath his touch, and finally she smiled. “Fine.” She put away her phone and said, “I’ll be right back, Jake.” Then, unexpectedly, she raised her hand to gently cup his cheek. She was so warm, so soft… Jake suppressed a groan and drew her into his arms.

  You’d better, he thought.

  She hugged him back, sliding her hands under his jacket. He shoved his hand through her hair, pressing his lips to her head in a tender kiss. She smelled so good.

  There was a primal hunger in him that had yet to be sated. It was stronger now than ever, and though Jake was happier in that moment than he’d been in his entire cursed life, he was simultaneously in agony. The man in him was satiated, his need for the moment filled by the woman he loved. But the vampire in him burned for her.

  He could smell her skin, her hair, her sex – hell, he could even smell himself on her. In her.

  And he could almost fucking taste her. He knew she would be sweet. He knew that if he sank his teeth in and swallowed, she would burn down his throat like priceless wine, scorching his insides rapturously as he slowly drank her down. Every inch of the monster in him right now was quietly fuming, silently raging, suffering in silent torment as he refused to meet its demands.

  He reined it in. Angel’s submission to him was enough. The sound of her gasping beneath him, moaning in ecstasy, screaming in bliss – the feel of her squeezing him fucking tight as he’d driven into her… right now, it was all that kept him going. Her trust in him was giving him the strength it took to let her slip out of his grasp and get into her Jeep.

  He watched her slide behind the wheel, start it up, and shoot him a winsome smile before she firmly shut the door. Then he watched her pull out of the lot to the exit gate. The Monsters member on duty buzzed the gate open for her drive through. Within seconds, her tail lights disappeared into the night.

  But Jake stayed where he was. What he would give in that moment for Gabriel Santiago to meet an untimely end.

  “You know, if you kill the leader of the Vega clan, I’ll be stuck with a year’s worth of paperwork, and what’s worse, I’ll have to let Killian claim second-in-command. You know he’d irritate the crap out of me as second.”

  Jake turned to see glowing blue eyes come out of the shadows as Cain stepped from the darkness to join Jake beneath the lamplight.

  Jake smirked. “Killian’s on duty right now, isn’t he?” That would be the most logical reaso
n for Cain’s teasing. Cain would know Killian could hear him through the mic on the building’s intercom, whether it was on or off.

  The intercom crackled to life. “And I’d make a damn sight better second than you, Crow,” said Kill over the speaker.

  Jake grinned. Cain smiled, but his blue eyes were too keen. They pierced through Jake’s barriers. Cain could tell something was wrong. There was no hiding anything from him.

  The tall and powerful blond, blue-eyed clan leader shoved his hands down the front pockets of his jeans and said, “We’re going on a poker run, Jake. I have a feeling I’ve just been paired with you, since Kill would probably rather run me over right now than run with me.”

  Laughter from the intercom.

  Jake ran a hand through his dark hair. “Yeah,” he said. He could use the distraction.

  The intercom buzzed to life again. Killian spoke. “Dave says we should give you two a head start since all that screwing you did today probably scrambled your brains a little, Crow.”

  Jake dropped his head and rubbed his eyes. Of course they knew.

  “So get going,” said David, who had obviously taken the mic from Killian. “Everything’s set up. You’ve got a three minute lead.”

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  Cain was quiet while Jake filled his own gas tank. Human motorcycle riders would do well to remain silent while fueling so they could listen carefully and be certain not to over-fill the tank. But Jake wasn’t human, and neither was Cain, and they didn’t need to remain quiet to hear the fuel in the tank just fine. Cain was thinking. And Jake had the sinking feeling he knew what about.

  He could feel Cain’s eyes on him. It was unnerving to be scrutinized by such a perceptive man, even after half a century and despite the fact they were best friends. “She knows what we are?” Cain finally asked point blank.

  Jake didn’t have to reply. Cain knew damn well Angel had found out about their true nature. The man could probably smell her on Jake, and the entire fucking clan apparently knew they’d done the deed. Jake wouldn’t have done so without being honest with Angel first. She meant too much to him.

  She knew what he was. With what she’d been through at the hands of his kind, he was mystified at how she’d handled the news. She’d neither set him on fire nor chopped off his head. Given she was a warden, he would have considered that alone a win. But then she’d let him make love to her on the hood of his car in the middle of the redwood forest.

  Jake braced one arm on the seat of his bike as he filled the tank and memories of the feel of her washed over him. It wasn’t a huge tank; it took all of a minute or two before he was done.

  “So, you baptize this union yet?” Cain asked as he took the fuel pump from Jake’s hand and inserted it deep into his own gas tank.

  Cain wanted to know if Jake had tasted her. In other words, he wanted to know if he’d bitten her.

  Jake felt his body stiffen. He turned and leaned back on the seat of his bike, crossing his arms over his chest and his legs at the ankles. He felt wound tight, ready to snap. “You serious right now?” He looked up, meeting Cain’s piercing blue gaze.

  “I’ve met your girl, Jake,” Cain said. He laughed softly, no doubt recalling how he’d helped Angel when she’d run from Santiago, right into Monsters territory.

  No need to remind me. Even that made Jake mad with jealousy. He didn’t want another man’s hands on Angel…. But if it had to be anyone else who’d helped her that night, he’d have chosen Cain.

  “She’s one in a billion,” Cain continued, “and I’m betting despite the fun you had tonight, she’s under your skin. So if she knows what you are, then what’s the hold up?”

  Jake looked at the ground and sighed. “I’m not having this discussion with you.” Though he now realized this was exactly why Cain had asked him to partner with him on this poker run. He’d wanted to have this talk about Angel. Which meant Jake probably wasn’t going to get out of it, no matter how hard he fought.

  No one said no to Cain. Sometimes they begged it… but that was different.

  Cain replaced the fuel nozzle in its casing at the pump. “Jake, a member of my team is driven to the point of distraction, and I can’t have that.” His voice was steady and calm as always, but stern. “I know you love her. And Angel cares for you, right?”

  Jake thought about the words her mind had let loose and tried rapidly to cover up. He’d caught them anyway. She definitely cared for him. He was pretty sure she even loved him back.

  “And she wants you,” Cain stated.

  Jake felt a twinge in his gums where his fangs were once again reminding him they were there and ready. Yeah, she wanted him. Her mind might have convinced her it was a very bad idea to learn everything a vampire had to teach, but her body disagreed whole-heartedly. Jake recalled her hitching breaths, the hammering of her heart, and the scent of her arousal as he’d pinned her to the shining black paint of his car and scraped his teeth along her throat. That, at least, she couldn’t hide from him. “That isn’t the problem,” he ground out.

  “Well, I know you want her. Hell, we all know that much. So, take her already.”

  “Damn it, Cain….”

  Cain recapped his gas tank. He studied Jake in silence, and finally draped his muscled forearm across the left handlebar of his bike. “I get it. You’re scared shitless.”

  Jake said nothing. There was no point in either confirming or denying it. Cain already knew. The bastard knew everything.

  “You think you’ll lose control and turn her.”

  No, I don’t think I will. I know I will.

  “Would that be such a bad thing, Crow?”

  If Jake had been drinking, he would have choked. His head snapped up, and his green eyes met irises of powerful blue. “I wouldn’t let her go, Cain.” If he turned her, he would keep her. He would never let her leave his side. She would belong to him body, heart, and soul. Because there was no way in hell he would let her sink her little fangs into another man’s throat. Ever.

  “I know,” said Cain.

  Jake’s gaze narrowed. “What are you telling me right now?”

  Cain regarded him in more enigmatic silence for a moment, then he straightened, coming around his bike to mount it. Once in the seat, he kicked up the stand with the heel of his boot and rolled the bike backward with strong legs until he was parallel to Jake, who hadn’t moved.

  Cain stopped flush with him and looked him in the eye. “Jake, this isn’t Neverland. Whatever it might look like, boys still grow into men. And men need women.” He nodded at Jake’s bike. “That saddle is big enough for two.”

  The leader of the Monsters clan started up his bike. The thunder of a V-twin engine filled the gas station’s lot. But Jake heard his companion’s next words loud and clear anyway.

  “And frankly, I’m sick of seeing nothing but your ugly mugs around me all the time.” He revved the engine, making it bellow before adding, “I could use something beautiful to look at for a change.”

  Jake watched Cain tear out of the lot. His words worked their way through him like a light switch flicking on, a contract being signed.

  Permission granted.

  And with a small smile creeping onto his sensuous lips and new purpose fueling his determination, Jacob Crow mounted his own motorcycle. The Vincent Black Shadow’s V-twin engine was so finely tuned, he could cold start it with one-kick, and it vibrated to life beneath him like a dream. Thunder signaled a coming storm as Jake roared out of the lot, following Cain’s tail lights into the mist-filled night.

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  “And there you are,” Angel whispered to herself as headlights fell in behind her Jeep just after she crossed the invisible line demarking Vega territory. “Right on time,” she muttered, shaking her head. Gabriel wasn’t taking any chances at all. Not that she could blame him with the Apex loose.

  Angel drove to her apartment, pulled the Jeep into the parking garage, and parked in her allotted rental spac
e. But the space that was normally occupied by a BMW beside hers was sporting a black four-door Audi instead. She narrowed her gaze thoughtfully at the car. Had Frank purchased a new ride?

  Why did she feel like she’d seen that Audi before?

  Angel pulled the gun from the holster at her back and double-checked its ammunition. Then she switched the safety off before sliding it back into the holster. She straightened her jacket and got out of the Jeep.

  She knew her Vega-assigned escort was still outside the parking garage, probably getting out of his vehicle right now too. She admittedly felt a little better knowing he was there as she made her way to the stairwell of the garage and peered carefully into the shadows.

  But as she ascended the steps and approached the third floor where the elevators were, she became increasingly troubled. There was a vibration in the air. A wrongness. It brushed along her skin like static electricity and buzzed slightly in her ears. She felt slightly light-headed when she got into the elevator. Sugar low? Anemia?

  The elevator was old, very old, created by the Otis-Fensom company in 1908. It was a “birdcage” model, with a gate that slid back and forth in front of it that had been reinforced with glass all around it in later years. Now, the elevator was no longer operated manually, so it wasn’t necessary for an operator to remain on duty twenty-four seven. But all the older panels, buttons, and equipment had been preserved and maintained for historical value alone.

  Angel closed the glass behind her, then closed the gate and latched it. Then she pressed the button for the thirteenth floor. By the time she reached the hall that led to her apartment door, she was moving slowly and cautiously, the feeling that something was wrong now sitting heavy in her gut. She came to a full halt in front of her apartment door and studied the door carefully. It looked like it always did.

  But something about it was also wrong.

  Angel drew her gun, looking over her shoulder down the long art deco hall that stretched in either direction. This apartment building had always reminded her of the hotel in The Shining. In fact, that was why she’d rented this room. Plus, it had come a good deal cheaper because it was one of the few buildings in San Francisco that had a thirteenth floor – and in fact, her apartment was #1300.