He was jerked out of his thoughts when Lena pulled him out of the way of the EMTs. The cops left the Dubois woman in their care and motioned for Sandor and Lena to follow them out of the alley.
“We need to take your statements.” The senior partner got out a form and pen. “Can I see your driver’s licenses, please?”
While the officer copied down the information, Sandor kept his arm around Lena’s shoulder, projecting a sense of calm to help them pass the cop’s scrutiny.
“Are you in town for long?” the officer asked as he handed Lena her license.
“A couple of weeks. I used to live here, and came back to visit some friends who work for the fire department.”
That caught his attention. “Anyone I know?”
“Possibly. I had coffee with McCabe today.” She smiled. “Other than a few more pounds and less hair, he hasn’t changed a bit. I’ve really missed that laugh of his.”
Just that quickly, the interview turned from cautious to a little more friendly. “Did he make you pay? He always does me.”
Lena grinned. “No, I think he decided to be nice since I was visiting. Even so, I almost fell over from the shock of seeing him open his wallet.”
The cop smiled. “I figure he owes me about ten years’ worth of coffee.” Then he got back to the business at hand. “So what were you two doing in that alley?”
Sandor was surprised when Lena eased closer into his embrace. “Well, we were looking for…a little privacy. We’d made plans to meet over at the Center. We…uh, haven’t seen each other in a while.” She ducked her head, injecting just the right amount of embarrassment to make her statement ring true.
If she’d told the real truth, he could soon be on his way to jail—especially if the cops decided that he’d also been responsible for the attack on Mary Dubois.
He owed Lena one. And if he was right, she would collect.
A few minutes later, the police told them they could go. As he and Lena walked away, Sandor watched the flashing ambulance lights fade into the distance. The attacks had escalated—which meant the renegade’s lifespan was now much shorter.
Across the street, Sean moved farther back into the doorway to avoid drawing any attention to himself. He’d ordered Kenny to go straight home and stay there for the rest of the night. Ordinarily the boy would have argued, but Sean had forced him to meet his gaze. One look in Sean’s glowing eyes and Kenny had docilely trotted toward home.
Sean didn’t like to use compulsion on anyone except when he was hunting, but he had enough to deal with right now. For the first time in God knows how long, he’d lost control while feeding. Once he’d dragged the woman into the alley, he’d stepped back to let Kenny feed first. The boy had taken only enough energy from her to satisfy his body’s needs before gently handing her back to Sean.
It was Sean who’d gotten greedy and almost stripped the poor woman of even the minimal amount of energy necessary to keep her heart and lungs pumping. If Kenny hadn’t intervened, she would have been really dead instead of almost dead.
Sean knew he should’ve immediately summoned help for her, but 911 calls were recorded and could be traced. Torn between helping her and the need to protect his small family, he’d hidden across the street, immobilized by fear.
Then the scary-looking dude in the black leather coat had appeared. Sean had watched the guy duck into the bar and then reappear to drag the blond woman into the alley. Sean’s sense of honor had kicked in, driving him out of hiding. If the guy had intended rape or murder, Sean would have done his best to stop him.
But by the time he’d reached the mouth of the alley, the couple were seriously lip-locked and generating enough heat to light up the night. It was obvious that the man posed no threat to the blonde. From the way she was holding on to him, she was ready for whatever the guy had to offer. As Sean quietly faded back the way he’d come, something caught their attention.
He watched in stunned silence as both of them had immediately pulled guns and moved toward the spot where he’d left the woman hidden under cardboard. He’d taken advantage of their distraction to return to his hiding place, then he’d watched the rest of the drama from the darkened doorway across the street.
It wasn’t long before the cops and aid car came roaring down the street. Within a few minutes he’d known the woman was safe, because the EMTs would have been moving faster if they thought she was in imminent danger. The good news was that the cops had little or nothing to go on. Despite his screwup tonight, he’d made sure of that.
They didn’t worry him nearly as much as the guy with the blonde. That dude was flat-out scary. The image of him in that black duster, walking down the alley, gun in hand, was enough to terrify anybody. Even now, the guy kept looking around when the cop wouldn’t notice, as if he could sense he was being watched.
Sean’s gut was tied up in knots. Damn it, he hated being afraid. At the first possible moment, he’d bolt for the safety of home. And tomorrow he’d teach Kenny a lesson that he’d foolishly forgotten: no matter how good a hunter you were, there was always someone bigger and badder out there waiting to pounce. So they’d all lie low for the next few days, then find a different part of town in which to hunt. The last thing he wanted was to poach on another predator’s territory.
Lena had firmly told Sandor that it wasn’t necessary for him to follow her back to the hotel, but his car had been right behind hers since they’d left Seattle Center. His stubborn insistence shouldn’t have surprised her. The evening had spun out of control from the minute she’d recklessly followed him even after she’d realized he’d spotted her.
How on earth had she ended up in an alley kissing a total stranger? Her whole body tingled at the memory. From the first second that his mouth had brushed across hers, it had felt more like a claiming than a simple kiss. She shuddered to think how out of control things could have gotten in that alley.
Having sex up against a brick wall with a mysterious stranger had never been one of her fantasies—but after tonight, it was #1 on her list. Even now, her body insisted on reminding her of how good he had felt holding her, surrounding her with his strength. She ached to be touched gently, to be taken hard, to finish what they’d started.
But she was too smart to get involved with someone with secrets, especially secrets related to Coop’s death. Her mission took priority over everything else, no matter how much she regretted it.
She glanced up in the mirror again. Somehow she knew Sandor wouldn’t be satisfied to simply watch her disappear inside the building, and she was determined to thwart any plans he might have of going up to her room.
As soon as she turned in to the hotel parking lot, she whipped into a spot near the door, then dashed for the entrance. If she could make it to the elevator before Sandor got into the building, she’d be safe. She would hit the buttons for all the floors so he’d have no way of knowing where she got off, and the hotel staff were trained to never give out room numbers.
As the doors slid closed behind her, she breathed a sigh of relief—or maybe regret. She wasn’t sure.
Sandor smiled as he waited for Lena’s elevator to return to the lobby. An ordinary man might have been unable to follow her, but his senses were more highly evolved. He stepped into the elevator and punched every number, just as she had. All he had to do was step out onto each floor until he found the one where her scent extended beyond the elevator door.
She was on the fourth floor. He stopped every few feet to test the air, narrowing the possibilities to one of the two end rooms. He leaned close to the door on the right and listened. Nothing but the soft rumble of snoring.
He stepped across the hall and tried again. Success! The room was silent, except for the sound of a rapid pulse and shallow breathing coming from just a few inches behind the door. He raised his hand and knocked.
Lena didn’t answer.
He could unlock the door with a carefully controlled energy impulse, but he didn’t want to scare her. Besides, that wouldn’t
work if the door also had a chain. He knocked again.
“Go away, Sandor. You said you wanted to make sure I got back safe and sound. I’m here; mission accomplished. Now leave.”
He smiled at her stubborn refusal. “Lena, we really need to talk.”
“Tomorrow.” Her pulse was slowing as she convinced herself she was going to win this round.
“No, now.”
He pushed at her defenses with a small compulsion, reluctant to mess with her mind any more than he had to. He still needed to smooth out what he’d done to her earlier in the alley.
He heard her hand come to rest on the doorknob. At the click of the lock being turned, he stepped back to give her some space. She was already feeling crowded; this wasn’t the time to add to it. He took off his duster, hoping to appear less threatening.
“It’s late.” She blocked his way, clearly not ready to surrender.
“I know, but we need to talk about what happened.”
“If you think we’re picking up where we left off back in that alley, you can just forget it.”
Despite her obvious reluctance, she moved back. He hadn’t been referring to those heated moments back in the alley, but knowing that kissing him was foremost in her mind was a pleasant surprise. He decided to tweak her a bit.
He crowded her a little, watching her eyes widen and then narrow. “Honey, as nice as kissing you was—and I do plan to get back to that—that’s not why I’m here. You never answered my question about why you’ve been following me.”
If she was disappointed, she hid it well. “I never admitted to following you anytime but tonight.”
“Like you said, it’s late, so let’s not play games. What are you hoping to gain from dogging my footsteps?”
She rubbed her hands up and down her arms, as if cold. The room was chilly from the air-conditioning, but that wasn’t what was putting those shadows in her eyes. He fought the urge to offer the comfort of his arms; that would only complicate the situation. He retreated a couple of steps.
“Maynard Cooper was my friend. More than a friend. Someone murdered him, and I intend to see the bastard behind bars for it.”
“I got that much. But why follow me?”
She shrugged and turned away. “Kerry Thorsen is the only link I have to the events that led to his death, and you were at her house.”
“She wasn’t the only person involved in the fire that night; there were lots of other witnesses.”
“And I’ve talked to a few of them personally, and read all the statements that were taken. No one remembers much except the smell of smoke and how panicky they all were. Kerry Thorsen seems to be the only one who kept a clear head. She’s also the only person Coop interviewed. That makes her stand out from the rest of the crowd.”
Sandor leaned against the wall and crossed his feet at the ankles, settling in to stay as long as it took to get an explanation out of her. “Okay, I understand why you wanted to talk to Kerry, but I wasn’t at the fire that night.”
“I never said you were.” Lena’s chin came up a stubborn notch. “If you’d give me a straight answer as to why you’re walking laps around the city, maybe I’d quit following you.”
“Only maybe?”
“Oh, yeah.” She nodded toward the duster tossed on a chair. “There’s not a woman alive who wouldn’t walk a few extra blocks to watch a man wearing one of those. Even you.”
He couldn’t help it; he laughed. “Thank you. I think.”
She glared at him. “Don’t let it go to your head. It’s the coat drawing the attention, not you.”
He pushed away from the wall and closed the distance between them. To give her credit, she stood her ground when he crooked his index finger under her chin and lifted her gaze to his. “Okay, so you like leather dusters, and you’re checking out all the leads you can find to help you locate your friend’s killer. Let’s move on. What happened when you touched Mary Dubois tonight?”
With a small burst of energy, he removed some of the haze he’d put around her memories from the alley.
Lena jerked back as if he’d hit her, and he watched in horror as her eyes rolled back and she collapsed, out cold. He scrambled to break her fall, catching her just before she hit the floor. Damn it, he hadn’t used enough energy to cause a reaction that strong. Even if she was part Kyth, she should’ve been able to absorb it with no damage. What the hell was different about her?
He checked her pulse and her pupils. He had to get her off the floor and onto the bed. Then he’d call Kerry and Ranulf to get over here to do a reading. Maybe among the three of them, they could figure what made Lena Wilson tick. Kerry’s healing abilities might come in handy, too.
He jerked back the covers on the bed before picking her up. Ignoring how much he liked the feel of her cuddled up next to his chest, he laid her on the mattress. She whimpered and stirred restlessly, as if caught up in a nightmare. Would touching her help, or make matters worse?
He decided to risk it. Cupping her cheek with his hand, he whispered softly, hoping that even if she couldn’t understand the words, she’d draw some comfort from the warmth of his hand and the gentle reassurance he projected with his voice.
After a few seconds she was resting more easily, but he suspected it wouldn’t last. He dialed Kerry on his cell, waiting impatiently for her to answer. When she finally picked up, he apologized for waking her before giving her a quick explanation of what had happened. He hung up after her promise to be there as quickly as possible. To make Lena more comfortable, he tugged off her shoes.
Nothing left to do but wait. He pulled a chair closer to the bed and studied Lena’s face as she slept. Even in deep slumber, there was tension in the faint lines around her eyes. He was willing to bet that it had been a long time since she’d been genuinely happy, if ever. Being different was never easy, especially when you had to hide what you really were from everyone around you. She had that in common with Kerry. At least he and Ranulf had been surrounded by their own kind.
He brushed her hair back from her face, wishing he could offer her more in the way of comfort.
A few minutes later, Kerry and Ranulf knocked softly on the door. Once inside, the Viking jerked his head toward Lena, who moaned softly and stirred a bit.
“What the hell happened to her?”
“Earlier tonight, I figured out Lena was the one who’s been following me, and I set a trap to catch her. Once I managed to get my hands on her, I pulled her into an alley to confront her. A few seconds later, we heard a noise and stumbled across the renegade’s latest victim.”
He clenched his fists, his eyes lighting up with fury. “This time the bastard damn near drained a woman dry, then left her bleeding and buried in a pile of trash.”
Kerry looked horrified. “Will she be all right?”
“I think so. Lena got her name, so I can check with a contact at the hospital later.”
His Dame looked grim. “Good, let me know what you find out. If necessary, I’ll pay a quiet call on her before she’s discharged. Now, back to Lena. What happened to her that caused this?”
Sandor let his frustration show. “I left her alone with the woman while I went for help. When I returned, Lena was kneeling beside the woman, frozen like a statue, with a look of utter horror on her face. I had to forcibly pry their hands apart before I could get through to Lena. I think she was trapped inside the injured woman’s mind. I couldn’t afford to have the police show up and find me with two injured women, so I put my hands on Lena and used my energy to break her mind free.”
“Was she reading the injured woman, or the other way around?” Kerry crossed to Lena’s side.
“It had to be Lena reading the injured woman. For one thing, she picked up on the woman’s name.”
“My money’s on Lena,” Ranulf said. “After all, she tried to read us that day at the house.”
Sandor ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. “Damn, I’d forgotten that. If Lena was picking up on the
woman’s memories of the attack directly, no wonder she looked shell-shocked. That would have been hell for a sensitive. But she doesn’t feel like Kyth to me. Maybe she has enough of our bloodline to give her one of our gifts, but not the whole package.”
Kerry turned to her husband. “We should both try to get a reading on her.”
When she started to reach down to touch Lena, Sandor stopped her. “There’s more. I blocked her memories of her experience in the alley. When she first stood up after letting go of the injured woman, she seemed understandably confused. Then in the blink of an eye, she was looking at me as if I’d just sprouted horns and a tail. I don’t know what I did to trigger such a powerful reaction from her, but she definitely sensed something about me that she didn’t like.”
“Let’s try to get past her defenses to figure out what’s going on,” Kerry said.
“Let me go first,” Ranulf said. “I’ve got a better chance of protecting myself if she senses the invasion and goes on the attack.”
Kerry stepped back. Although her gifts were stronger than Ranulf’s or Sandor’s, she had far less experience in wielding them.
Ranulf picked up Lena’s hand and closed his eyes. The seconds stretched out as he stood there in absolute silence, his eyes unfocused and staring down past Lena’s face. Then he gently set her hand back down on the bed and stepped away.
He silently motioned for Kerry to try. As soon as she touched Lena, the Dame jerked, as if hit by a jolt of electricity. At the same time, Lena’s eyebrows drew down in a frown and she fought to yank her hand free. Kerry held on tighter, her expression turning grim. Sandor wanted to throw himself between the two women, to stop the pain they were both feeling.
A second later, Kerry reached down with her free hand to lay her palm on the sleeping woman’s forehead. With that, they both looked more peaceful, as if Kerry had broken past the ugliness that had Lena tied up in knots.
When Kerry finally relinquished her hold on Lena, she drooped in exhaustion. Ranulf immediately wrapped her in his arms; the energy in his hands flared brightly in the darkened room, then arced back and forth between the two of them as Ranulf fed his wife some of his own supply. When she was replenished and stabilized, Kerry rose up on her toes to give her husband a quick kiss.
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