by Karen Lynch
“It hasn’t even been two days.” Her brows drew together thoughtfully. “From what I hear, Nikolas was super protective of Sara early in their bonding, too. He was a total bear by the time they completed the bond.”
I shrugged. “Nikolas is an intense guy.”
She pursed her lips and studied me.
“What?” I demanded nervously.
Leaning closer, she lowered her voice. “You know what they say about bonded males going a little haywire if the female is a virgin.”
My mouth went dry. “Um, yes.”
“Nikolas was downright scary at times.”
“Can we please talk about something else now?” I pleaded. “What do you think of the club?”
She gave me a knowing look and turned to face the room. “It looks normal. Boring, really.”
My gaze swept the room again, taking in the smiling, dancing teenagers. Everyone looked happy, and I could almost feel the positive energy filling the air. If there was something wrong with this place, I couldn’t see it. Our people had checked into the club, and the owner was a local businessman with several restaurants in the area. Nothing unusual there.
“Let’s split up again,” I said. “I don’t think we’re going to find anything, but it’s better to be sure.”
She nodded. “I’ll hang out by the bar.”
“I’ll cover this side of the room. We’ll meet up again in an hour.”
As soon as Jordan left me, a boy approached and asked me to dance. Figuring I’d look less conspicuous if I was interacting with others, I said yes. I spent the next twenty minutes dancing with several guys and pretending not to notice their attempts to flirt with me.
Finally, I excused myself and headed toward a seating area where a few people sat and talked. The place was decorated with white leather couches and small lamps that cast an intimate glow. It seemed more fitting for an adult nightclub than for a teenage hangout.
“You look like you’d rather be somewhere else,” said a male voice beside me.
I turned my head to find a tall man with short blond hair and blue eyes behind dark-framed glasses. His mouth was curved into a wry smile. I would have guessed him to be around twenty-one.
“Why do you say that?” I asked him.
His smile widened, revealing a dimple in his left cheek. I immediately thought of Chris and then cursed him for invading my head again.
“Maybe it’s just wishful thinking so I don’t feel like the only one. This isn’t my usual scene.”
“What’s your usual scene?”
“I prefer a party with friends over a large crowd.”
I smiled. “Then why did you come?”
“I lost a bet, so my friend dragged me to this thing.”
He made a face and pointed to a dark-haired man on the dance floor who looked to be his age. His friend was slow dancing with a girl who couldn’t have been older than sixteen and who appeared to be totally enamored with him.
“I guess I shouldn’t be too hard on Wes,” my companion said. “He got me out of my dorm room for a few hours.”
“You go to UCLA?” I asked him.
“Yes. You?”
“I just moved here from Oregon, and I’m still trying to decide what I want to do with my life.”
“Aren’t we all?” He held out a hand. “Adam.”
“Beth.”
I gave him my hand, and he surprised me by lifting it to his lips and kissing the back of it.
“I’m delighted to meet you, Beth. I’ll have to thank Wes for making me come with him.”
I smiled as I eased my hand from his. The college boy had moves.
“What are you studying at UCLA?”
“Finance. I promise not to bore you with the details. I’d much rather hear about what you do.”
Adam wasn’t overly flirtatious, but he didn’t hide his interest in me either. He seemed like a nice guy, so I made sure I didn’t send him any mixed signals as I gave him a story about me staying at my friend’s place while I decided what I wanted to do.
“Leave it to you to find the prettiest girl in the room,” said a silky voice.
Adam and I turned our heads toward his friend Wes, who had left his dance partner to join us. Wes was taller than Adam by at least two inches, with olive skin, dark eyes, and a smile that could melt the heart of every girl in this place. Well, almost every girl. I was most decidedly off men at the moment.
“Beth, this is Wes,” Adam said.
“Pleasure to meet you, Beth.”
Wes shook my hand, and I couldn’t help but notice the Cartier watch that peeked from beneath the cuff of his Armani shirt. Adam dressed like a hip college student, but his friend had money and liked to show it off.
“Do you go to UCLA with Adam?” I asked him.
“No. I live in New York. I’m just visiting for a few weeks and trying to make the rounds with all my friends here.” He glanced at his watch. “Speaking of, we’re supposed to be meeting up with some people in thirty minutes.” He looked at Adam. “I’ll get the car and meet you out front in five minutes.”
“Okay,” Adam replied, looking like he’d rather stay here.
Wes said goodbye to me and left. I watched him go and turned back to Adam, who gave me a hopeful smile.
“Would you have dinner with me tomorrow?”
“I can’t. I’m sorry.”
“Coffee then?” he pressed.
“I would, but I’m kind of involved with someone.”
I almost laughed at my choice of words. Involved. That was putting it mildly.
Adam’s face fell. “He is a very lucky man.”
“Thank you,” I said, hating the way my heart constricted.
Alicia ran up to us. “Beth, have you seen Mei?”
“Not since I saw her with you. How long have you been looking for her?”
“Ten minutes.” Alicia craned her neck, searching the crowd. “She went to the restroom and never came back. I checked, and she’s not in there.”
“It’s a bit warm in here. Maybe she went outside,” Adam suggested.
Alicia shook her head. “No. Mei wouldn’t do that, not without me.”
Warning bells started to go off in my head, but I didn’t want to scare Alicia. Not yet.
“Come on. I’ll help you look for her. Jordan’s over by the bar. Maybe she’s seen her.”
I said a hurried goodbye to Adam, then Alicia and I went in search of Jordan. She hadn’t seen Mei either, and the look she shot me said she and I were thinking the same thing. We had another missing girl, and this one had disappeared right beneath our noses.
There was no sign of Mei in the club, and the man at the door said he didn’t remember a Chinese girl leaving. Jordan and I went outside to be sure. Across the street from the front entrance of the club, Chris stood, leaning against his bike, and he straightened when he saw us. I didn’t want to talk to him, but a girl was missing and time was of the essence.
“What’s wrong?” he asked when we ran over to him.
“A girl’s gone missing from the club,” I said in a rush. “Have you seen a Chinese girl come out in the last twenty minutes?”
“No.” He pulled out his phone and made a call. “Brock, anyone leave by the back door in the last half hour?”
He shook his head at us as he continued talking to Brock. “Not sure yet. No, stay there for now.”
“If she didn’t come out through either door, she has to be in there somewhere,” Jordan said. “Beth and I will go in and find her.”
Chris held up a hand, and I thought he was going to argue against me going back to the club. He surprised me when he said, “Are you girls armed?”
“Did you really just ask me that?” Jordan scoffed and showed us the blade tucked into her long boot.
“Beth?” he asked.
“I have a knife.”
“Okay. Be careful in there, and stick together. Call me if you get into trouble.”
Jordan and I went inside the club and worked o
ur way from one end of the building to the other. Near the back door were an office and a locked door that read “Staff Only.” I made short work of the lock and discovered a flight of stairs to the basement. We listened, but no sounds came from below.
Jordan waved at the stairs. “After you.”
The stairs led us to what was obviously a storage area. Past that was the furnace room and one with nothing but wiring and electrical boxes. It was in the last room that we found what we were looking for. Dread coiled in my gut at the sight of the low-heeled shoe lying next to an open grate in the floor.
I looked at Jordan. “You want to go first?”
She grinned wickedly and pulled out her knife. “This is what I live for.”
And then she jumped into the hole.
Chapter 8
Beth
I LANDED LIGHTLY beside Jordan in a tunnel lit by a single light bulb. The tunnel disappeared into the darkness in either direction, and I looked at Jordan for guidance.
She looked in one direction and then the other, her mouth pressed together in concentration.
“If we knew what we were dealing with, I’d suggest we split up. But we’d better stay together for this one.”
“Which way do we go?”
A shuffling sound echoed down the tunnel, but I couldn’t tell what direction it had come from. Jordan cocked her head and nodded to her right.
“This way. Stay close.”
We ran down the tunnel, our demon sight allowing us to see in the dark stretches between the lights, and our enhanced hearing picking up the faint sounds of footsteps in the distance. Whoever was up ahead, they were walking at a steady pace, so they had no idea they were being followed. Or they didn’t care.
We slowed when we came to another tunnel. Jordan put a finger to her lips then pointed to the left to let me know we were close.
I nodded, my heart racing as adrenaline surged through me. A voice in my head told me we should have called Chris and waited for him, but the thought of Mei down here, frightened and helpless, spurred me on. Gripping my knife tighter, I followed Jordan down the new tunnel.
It wasn’t long before we sighted our prey. Anger and relief made my blood roar in my ears when I saw the man with Mei draped over his shoulder, her long black hair swaying as he walked. From here, I couldn’t tell if she was hurt, but her lack of movement said she was probably unconscious.
My foot kicked a loose piece of concrete, and I swore silently as the man spun to face us. He was young, no older than twenty, with dark hair pulled back in a short ponytail and a small goatee.
His eyes widened at the sight of us. I waited for him to open his mouth and show us a pair of fangs. If he was a young vampire, we could take him easily. If he was older, we might have trouble. But there were two of us, and we were highly trained.
We stared at each other for a few heartbeats, none of us moving. He sized us up, and then he turned and ran.
He didn’t get far. Carrying the girl slowed him down, and Jordan tackled him before he made it ten yards. I reached them as they went down, and I was able to catch Mei before her head slammed into the concrete floor of the tunnel.
Her captor, moving too quickly to be human, rolled and threw Jordan off him. He came to his feet and took a step toward Mei and me, his hand covering a spreading black spot on his stomach.
I reached for the knife beside me, and his eyes flitted to the weapon. In the dim light, I saw the gleam of silver around his pupils. Incubus.
He must have decided Mei wasn’t worth the risk because he ran off down the tunnel.
“Stay with her,” Jordan ordered as she gave chase.
I gently laid Mei on the floor. Her eyelids twitched, and she moved her mouth, but no sounds came out. I lifted one of her eyelids and found dilated pupils. She looked like she’d been drugged. Or worse.
Standing guard over the girl, I took out my phone and called Chris. The signal was bad down here, and I heard him say my name several times before I was able to tell him where I was. He ordered me not to move and said he was on the way.
From deeper in the tunnel, I heard a yell. I sent up a silent prayer that Jordan was okay. She was tough and a skilled warrior, and Incubi hunted alone. At least he’d have no friends waiting down here for him.
The air moved a second before Chris arrived in front of me. If I hadn’t been expecting him, I would have screamed at his sudden appearance.
“You okay?” he asked, not even winded. His gaze moved over me as if he needed to see for himself that I was unhurt.
“Yes. Mei is unconscious, though. I think it’s an Incubus trance.”
He crouched beside the girl, checking her eyes and breathing. “You’re right. She’s in a trance.”
A shudder went through me when I thought of what would have happened to Mei if we hadn’t found her. “Do you think all those girls were taken by an Incubus?”
“It’s possible but unlikely. Incubi only have to feed once a week, less when they get older. One Incubus wouldn’t need that many females at once.”
He frowned as if he’d thought of something. I opened my mouth to ask him about it when running feet announced Jordan’s return. She entered the circle of light, and I jumped to my feet when I saw black stains on her top.
“Did you get him?” I asked her.
Anger flashed in her eyes. “He got away, but it’ll take him a few days to recover from that gut wound.”
Chris stood. The set of his jaw told me he was unhappy before he spoke.
“You should not have come down here without backup. You had no idea what you were walking into, and you’re lucky it was a single Incubi.”
He was right, but his condescending tone irked me. It was clear from Jordan’s raised eyebrows that Chris had never spoken this way to her. I knew it was because of me and the bond.
I had to end this before it got worse and caused problems between Chris and his friends. It would mean leaving Los Angeles, and I hated the thought of leaving the friends I’d made here. But I couldn’t ask them to choose between me and Chris.
I opened my mouth, but nothing came out.
“We did what we had to in the moment,” Jordan said unapologetically. “How’s the girl?”
“Entranced. She’ll be fine in an hour or so.” He stood, lifting Mei as if she weighed nothing. “Let’s get her out of here.”
“What happens now?” I asked Chris, walking behind him.
“Now we bring in a team to go over this place. If either of you got a good look at the Incubus, we’ll pass the description along to Adele and see if she can identify him.”
“I saw him,” I said.
Jordan sheathed her blade. “I did, too. I also saw a tattoo on his arm.”
“Tattoo?” Chris asked. I detected an edge in his voice that hadn’t been there a moment ago.
“On the inside of his wrist. It looked like flames with writing underneath. I couldn’t make out the words.”
Chris sped up. “Come on. We need to get Mei back to her friend.”
Jordan and I exchanged a confused look.
“You going to let us in on the secret?” Jordan pressed him.
“Not here. We’ll talk at the house.”
There was an urgency in his tone I’d never heard before. I couldn’t help but wonder what worried a seasoned warrior like him.
Something told me it was nothing good.
Chris
The team I’d called in when Beth and Jordan had told me about the missing girl was outside by the time we reached the street. I sent them in to search the club and the tunnels for more Incubi.
When Beth had called me to tell me she was in a tunnel beneath the building, fear had twisted my gut in knots. The fact that she was a trained warrior and a skilled fighter should have reassured me, but I was finding it hard to think logically where she was concerned.
Beth went to find Mei’s friend Alicia, and I went with her. If my suspicions were right about what was taking these girls, I w
asn’t letting Beth out of my sight until we were back at the command center.
Mei was awake when we returned, and I wasn’t surprised that she had no memory of the attack. As far as she and her friend knew, a human man had tried to take her away. I sent them home with a stern warning to stay away from clubs, and their frightened expressions told me they weren’t going to party again anytime soon. They left in Alicia’s car, and I sent Brock to follow them and make sure they got home safely.
Beth and Jordan had driven here in one of the SUVs, so I followed them back to the house on my bike. I called Nikolas on the way to tell him what Jordan had said about the Incubus’s tattoo. He hung up to make a few calls before we got there.
We parked our bikes outside the garage, and Beth and Jordan gave me expectant looks.
“We’ll talk inside,” I said.
Nikolas and Sara were waiting for us in the living room, wearing grim expressions.
Jordan looked between us and threw up her hands. “Will someone please tell us what the hell is going on?”
I waved for everyone to sit while I remained standing. I was a little too worked up to sit still.
“We assumed a vampire took the missing girls, but the attack at Luna points at something a lot more dangerous.”
Jordan’s eyebrows shot up, and Beth’s eyes widened. I knew they were both wondering what was more dangerous than a vampire.
“I thought this was a random Incubus attack until Jordan described the tattoo on the Incubus’s wrist. That tattoo is the mark of a Lilin.”
Jordan made a sound, but my eyes were on Beth, who sucked in a sharp breath as realization dawned. She’d studied demonology so she knew what a Lilin was, but reading about it in a book and facing it in person were two entirely different things.
Incubi were among the more powerful demons that lived among us. By the time an Incubus reached adulthood, he was already stronger than a new vampire. But unlike vampires, most Incubi did not kill the people they fed off, which was why they were not at the top of our kill list. That and the fact that they were solitary and territorial and usually killed each other off. Old age was something very few Incubi experienced.