Eternal Craving

by Nina Bangs

  He finally swung his chair around to face her. “I’ll tell you, but I have to make one thing clear. Only my respect for Kelly kept me from wiping your mind clean of what happened to night.”

  “You can’t do that.” Her response was more instinctual than reasoned. No one could take another person’s memories away.

  Fin smiled. It was slow and so glorious it made her want to cry. Did that make any sense? No. But after the park, she had every right to get emotional over whatever she wanted.

  “Tell me about to night, Jenna.” His gaze speared her, reached inside her, and did weird things to her thoughts.

  Okay, now that impression was definitely the product of a deranged imagination. She’d just opened her mouth to answer when a stabbing headache caught her by surprise. Where the hell had that come from? It was like an ice pick to her brain. But she tried to fight past it. “Kelly and I came home from shopping and you said I should go with Al and Jude to see…” See what? She frowned, straining to remember. There was an important reason why she was supposed to go with them to night. Where had they gone? What had they done? Jenna closed her eyes, tried to picture the night, tried to reclaim her memory of what had happened. Because every instinct screamed that something important had happened.

  Fin nodded. “Now I’ll return your memory. Then we can get down to business.”

  Suddenly, it all came flooding back, and the headache disappeared. The park, the monster, Jude. She breathed out a horrified breath. Fin had done what he’d promised. How? “Who are you?” It sounded like a cheesy line from some grade-B movie, but it fit the moment.

  He shrugged. “Who, what, it doesn’t matter. Let’s not waste time. I’ll tell the story, and you’ll keep quiet until I’m finished. Then you can ask questions.” Fin looked as if it pained him to grant her any questions at all.

  “Go ahead.” Jenna forced herself to relax as she slid a little farther down in her chair.

  “The Maya Long Count calendar ends on December twenty-first of this year at exactly 11:11. The Maya believed that time is cyclical. The present time period ends at that moment. Time then resets to zero and begins again.”

  She nodded. Lots of apocalyptic myths were attached to the 2012 date. But some people saw the final days in everything. Jenna didn’t.

  “The Maya understood the importance of numbers.” He paused. “So do I. I have an affinity for them. They guide my existence.”

  Jenna thought that was a bit extreme, but then everything about this group of men seemed extreme.

  “We’re the Eleven, and our destiny balances on that number. At 11:11 on December twenty-first, we’ll be at our most powerful. And that’s good for humanity. Because if we’re not successful in what we’re doing now, mankind will cease to exist at that moment.” He spread his hands in a symbol of inevitability. “Time will go on without you, your family, or any other family on Earth. And a new dominant species will arise. One that will bring chaos and destruction to this world.”

  Wow, he did bombshells well. Jenna knew her mouth was hanging open, and she felt like she’d never blink again. He had to be crazy. Then she thought about his mind-reading and memory erasing. Maybe not.

  Jenna automatically started to ask a question, but he put his finger over his lips, and she shelved the question for the moment.

  “Who are the enemy?” He steepled his fingers and stared at the opposite wall.

  Memories? Her intuition said yes. From his expression, they weren’t good ones. For no logical reason, her thoughts slid briefly to Al. Did he share those memories? Was that why she sensed all those emotions hiding behind the angry stare he showed the world? And why did she even care?

  “They’re a group of ten immortals. At the end of each time period, they appear to do what they do best—destroy. Not directly. They can’t personally lay hands on the dominant race. The last time this happened, they used an asteroid strike along with volcanic eruptions to get the job done. Now they’re getting nonhumans to do their work for them. The minute the new time period begins, they’re banished from Earth. But they always come back.”

  “Nonhumans?” Okay, mental overload alarm ping, pinging away in her brain. She thought about Jude. “Vampires?”

  Even saying the word out loud sounded stupid. When she’d told Kelly she thought Ty was a vampire, she hadn’t really believed it. She’d just wanted to believe, so she could get an awesome story. But she’d never thought—

  “Yes.”

  She took the concept a step further. “And others?”

  “Yes.”

  With that one word he shattered the shell of what she’d believed was her world. But what she’d believed in had only been a pretty veneer. The cracks revealed something dark, frightening, and totally impossible to accept in a few minutes. She’d need lots of time to think through this new vision of the universe.

  “Since I have no names for them, I call the immortals by numbers. They were granted access to Earth about six months ago. They’ve spent their time here traveling to major cities where they’re recruiting an army of nonhumans who’ll be ready to rise and destroy all humans on December twenty-first. They have no problem with their recruits starting to kill now. It helps to spread terror, and terror is their friend. We came to Philadelphia because I knew Eight was here.”

  “Eight?” His explanation was making her head ache again. The fingers she pressed to her forehead shook.

  “We banished Nine from Earth back in Houston.”

  “Banished? Not killed?”

  “They’re immortals. We don’t have the power to destroy them.”

  “You’ve left a bunch of holes in this plot. Why can’t—?”

  Fin exhaled wearily and leaned back in his leather chair. “Did I not explain the silence and question rules thoroughly enough?”

  “Right. Silence.” But questions about Al, about all of them, tripped over each other in her mind.

  “We existed sixty-five million years ago when the immortals last visited Earth. They met no resistance that time. We had no weapons that could defeat them.”

  A slow smile tipped up the corners of those marvelous lips, and for just a moment, Jenna saw another man inside Fin.

  “This time we can fight. And fight we will. This time we have—”

  Whatever he would have said was cut off when someone knocked on his door.

  “Just a minute, Shen.” Fin didn’t sound any happier about the interruption than she was.

  It said a lot about her acceptance of his power that she didn’t wonder how he knew who was on the other side of the door.

  “Find Al. He’ll tell you the rest of what you want to know.”

  “I can ask Kelly.”

  “No, you can’t. Kelly and the rest of the Eleven were called out for something important.” A shadow dimmed those silver eyes for a moment.

  “Something important? Kelly didn’t say anything about going back out when I just saw her. How do you know she was called out?”

  “I always take a look into the mind of anyone standing on the other side of my door. Safety issues. Shen is about to give me the details.”

  That scared Jenna. “Kelly isn’t in danger, is she? Why does she have to go with Ty anyway?”

  “Your sister isn’t in danger. But she’s Ty’s driver. She has to be with him.” He held up his hand. “Let me reword that. She wants to be with him.”

  “Why does he need a driver? I—”

  “Enough.” It was an order. “You’re like your sister, an endless stream of questions. Al can answer all of them.”

  Endless stream of questions, hah. If she weren’t so traumatized by everything to night, she’d give him questions until they squirted out his ears.

  She rose and headed for the door, determined to track down Al and wring every last bit of information from him.

  “Jenna.”

  She looked back at Fin.

  “I hope you decide to stay.”

  “Maybe.” Definitely. Unless she
could find a way to drag her sister back to Houston without Ty. Fat chance of that happening, though. So she’d be staying here as long as Kelly might be in danger. And from what Fin had told her and what she’d seen, there was a whole lot of danger going around.

  “I don’t invite many people to my condo. I invited you.”

  “Thanks?” What was he getting at?

  “Sixty-five million years ago, I had a series of visions. You were in one of them. You’re very important to the Eleven, Jenna.” With that parting shot, he twirled his chair around to stare out at the city again.

  She knew a dismissal when she heard it. That was fine, though, because she couldn’t have gotten a word past the shock clogging her throat. Numbly, she opened the door and almost knocked down the man on the other side.

  He was about six feet tall and lean, with dark hair, dark eyes, and a big smile. “Hi, I’m Shen, Fin’s assistant. And you’re Jenna. If you need anything while you’re here, let me know.”

  All she could do was nod dumbly and slip past him. Then she went in search of Al.

  Chapter Six

  Al didn’t even pretend to be amusing himself. Things were happening, and he was sitting in front of a freaking TV.

  Someone had slaughtered—and slaughtered was the only word for it—a bunch of humans and left the body parts in a used furniture store.

  A member of the local werewolf pack had caught the scent of death as he walked past and investigated. Almost buried under the stench of blood and body fluids, he’d caught a fading whiff of nonhumans. He’d reported to his pack leader.

  Luckily, Fin’s relationship with the Houston pack leader had paid off in timely info from the Philly pack leader.

  Fin had ordered all of the Eleven except for Al onto the streets to see if they could track down any of the killers. When a mass murder happened in a city where the immortals were at work, it probably could be traced back to them. Eight must’ve had a busy night.

  Shen had taken care of mobilizing a cleanup. If the ones who did the slaughtering were hoping to make a splash on the news with this, they were in for a disappointment. Yes, there would be missing-person reports, but the bodies would never be found, and no sign of the murder would remain at the store.

  And what was he doing while everyone else was out being useful? He was sitting on a couch staring at a blank screen. He wasn’t even motivated to turn the damn TV on.

  Grounded like some kid. He tried to work up a healthy rage, but for once he had other things on his mind beside his soul.

  What was Fin telling Jenna, the truth or an elaborate lie? She’d seen too much to night, so he must be laying out the truth. Would she pack her bags and take the first flight out of town? She’d panicked to night, but who wouldn’t? She might stick around for her sister. But she sure enough won’t ever relax around you again.

  Footsteps coming toward the media room warned him that he was about to lose his precious solitude. Good or bad? He wasn’t sure, because before she even entered the room he knew it was Jenna. Her distinctive scent of cool mint and hot temptation went before her. She wouldn’t be happy to know how easy she was to identify.

  She walked into the room, glanced around, and then hesitated when she realized he was the only one there. A ripple of bitterness touched him. Yeah, Fin had told her the truth. She was afraid to be alone with him now.

  But he was in a defiant mood, so he patted the spot beside him on the couch. “Have a seat. What do you want to watch?”

  Jenna hesitated for just a few beats too long before walking to a nearby chair and sitting. She didn’t look like she was here to watch TV. Her expression said she was a woman with a mission. Crap.

  Smoothing her fingers over the arm of her chair, she leaned back and crossed her legs. Must be trying to look relaxed. It wasn’t working. He could smell her fear. It was a scent he’d always gloried in, as long as it wasn’t his. It had always meant he was close to a kill, and the kill was what his life had been all about in that other time.

  Her scent made him feel defensive—not a familiar emotion—and that made him mad. He shouldn’t care what she felt about him. “Okay, I get that you’re not here to watch TV or because you want to be with me.”

  Jenna narrowed her gaze on him. She had to recognize the aggression pushing at him, and she didn’t like it. Too damn bad.

  “I just got through talking with Fin. He explained the basics of what’s going on with you guys, but he left a lot of blank spots.”

  Al empathized. “Fin is all about blank spots.” How many times had Al felt that Fin lived in his own hidden world? Their beloved leader was a font of nonanswers. Al hated being manipulated, and deep in what passed for his heart, he believed Fin was using all of them.

  “Fin didn’t get to answer all my questions because someone named Shen interrupted. Fin said you’d fill me in on the rest.”

  Al wanted to be anywhere but here. Exactly how much had Fin told her? Did she know what he was? She might have a clue, but she probably wasn’t certain, because if she was certain she wouldn’t be here at all. Thanks, Fin, for laying this load on me.

  Somewhere in his mind, he heard Fin’s laughter.

  “Sure, what do you want to know?” Do you want to know how much I need your long bare legs wrapped around me? How about if I tell you how much I want to bury myself in your heat and feel your soul-deep shudder as I drive deeper and deeper? Sure, ask me anything.

  She nodded but didn’t quite meet his gaze. “What are you?”

  Ah, she was starting with the money ball. “What do you think I am?” Coward. He wanted her to say it first. He didn’t want to be the one to put the word out there and watch it scare the shit out of her.

  “I hate game playing.” Jenna finally met his gaze. Her eyes were cool and controlled.

  Brave lady. He shrugged. “Otherkin have nonhuman souls trapped in human bodies. Our cook, Greer, is otherkin. He has the soul of a tiger.”

  Al studied her expression. So far no panic, just intent interest. She nodded for him to go on.

  “Greer has all the instincts of the tiger, but he’ll never walk the Earth in the form of his beast. His soul is trapped. The Eleven are a kind of otherkin, but we have the power to release our souls.” And sometimes their souls escaped and ran wild.

  Some emotion flooded her eyes and then was gone. “The shadow I saw to night.”

  “Yeah.”

  “What happens when you release your soul? Do you shift?” She edged forward in her seat. She’d stopped stroking the arm of the chair. Her gaze was intent.

  “My soul manifests its physical form with every scary detail in working order. It’s a flesh-and-blood ancient predator stalking the city streets looking for prey. But it’s not powerful enough to completely overwhelm the human part of me. If you look closely, you can still see the shadow of my human form within the…beast.” That hurt. Not because he was ashamed of what he was, but because of how she’d react to that word.

  “Fin talked about sixty-five million years ago. That’s when the dinosaurs went extinct.” She swallowed hard, a brief sign of what she must be feeling if he could only get past the calm exterior. “So your soul is a T. rex?” She blurted it out as though the word burned her tongue.

  “Allosaurus.” He waited a beat. “Ty’s the T. rex.” Then he held his breath and watched her.

  Hours and years passed before she slowly nodded. “I see.”

  Did she? He didn’t think so. She didn’t see his agony at being an abomination in a time he despised. She didn’t see his aloneness without his pack, his failed attempts to fit in with this new pack. She didn’t see his disgust at his rage and inability to control it. “Anything else you want to know?”

  Then the most surprising thing of all happened. Jenna laughed. Sure, it was a shaky laugh, but a laugh all the same. And as far as he could tell, it didn’t sound hysterical.

  “Yes, I have lots of questions. But first let me savor probably the biggest story of my life.”
She dug her nails into the arm of her chair.

  Okay, maybe she did have a little hysteria going on.

  “The biggest story of my life and absolutely no one would believe it.” She looked thoughtful. “Of course, no one believed my alien abduction stories either. But in this case, I probably wouldn’t even get the story written.”

  “Why not?” He watched her wiggle her beautiful little behind into a more comfortable position on the cushion. Without warning, desire exploded, and his soul awoke.

  Oh, hell. Al forced his gaze away from her. He stared out the window, tried to concentrate on the city lights. Count them. One, two, three—

  A small gasp brought his attention back to her. She stared at him from wide, startled eyes. But he didn’t have any trouble reading the emotion churning behind those eyes. Lust. So strong that it practically oozed from her pores.

  While he stared at her, she wrapped her arms around her stomach and rocked forward. “Stop it. Just freaking stop it.”

  It took him a second to realize she was talking to him. Taking a deep breath, he imagined stepping into a giant bucket of ice. At the same time, he forced his soul deeper into its cave. When he felt nothing more than a normal sexual attraction, he looked at her again.

  Jenna had straightened and was staring at him with a mixture of fear and outrage. “What the hell was that? It was coming from you. I know it was, because I’ve never felt that kind of arousal before, didn’t think it was possible to feel it. It…it hurt.” She looked amazed by the revelation.

  It was time to ramp down the intensity. “Hey, sixty-five million years is a long time to go without sex. Besides, I have a big soul with the big emotions to go with it. Promise, I won’t broadcast around you again.”