by Karen Lynch
I was starting to have a whole new level of respect for Nikolas. I’d known it was difficult for him to hold back his feelings for Sara, and being bonded for as long as they had before they’d mated was unheard of. I wished I could say I had his willpower, but I knew I wouldn’t be able to hold back with Beth like he had with Sara. Beth was like a drug in my system, and I was already craving my next taste.
“The one in San Francisco was opened a month ago,” Nikolas said, drawing my attention back to the conversation. I realized they were discussing the club we’d found.
“Same owner as the one in Los Angeles?” I asked.
He shook his head. “We don’t know yet. David is still following the paper trail. Whoever set it up is good at hiding their tracks. Fortunately for us, David is better than them. And Kelvan thinks he’s found another club in San Diego. One of the teams there is going to check it out.”
“The Lilin is not going to be happy to have all his clubs shut down in a matter of days,” I said. “And Charles said the Thomas family has already left for an undisclosed location. Losing the clubs and the girls is going to force the Lilin’s hand.”
“I know,” Nikolas said gravely.
“I took pictures of the Lilin’s tattoo on the Incubi we caught last night and sent them to David and Kelvan. They’re going to see if they can find something in the demon archives. It’s a long shot, but you never know.”
“Did you get anything out of the Incubi?” Geoffrey asked me.
“We tried but no luck. Charles is going to keep interrogating them, but I doubt they’ll give up anything useful. They’re fanatics and so devoted to their sire they’ll die before they betray him.”
Geoffrey frowned. “Why don’t we let them go and see if they’ll lead us to him?”
“Won’t work,” Nikolas said. “It’s been tried before with other Lilin. The captured Incubi never returned to their sire. They committed suicide to protect him.”
“They really are fanatics.”
I expelled a long breath. “That’s what makes them so dangerous. There’s nothing they wouldn’t do for their sire.”
Nikolas’s gaze went to Sara. “I never thought I’d say this, but I wish Eldeorin hadn’t chosen now to take a vacation in Faerie.”
I felt my eyebrows shoot up. Nikolas couldn’t stand Eldeorin, who took every opportunity to annoy the hell out of him. The only reason Nikolas tolerated the arrogant faerie at all was because Sara liked him. She thought of Eldeorin as her cousin and mentor, and under his tutelage, she was learning to master her Fae power.
The fact that Nikolas wished Eldeorin was here spoke volumes about how serious the situation was, and it doubled my worry for Beth’s safety.
Two of Geoffrey’s guys called to him, and he went to see what they wanted. After he walked away, I looked at Nikolas and found him watching Beth and Sara.
“They’ve become close,” I said.
I was happy Beth and Sara had hit it off. Not only was Sara mated to my best friend, she was one of my favorite people to be around. After Beth, that was. I imagined the four of us traveling together and working as a team, and I liked the idea very much.
“Sara cares a lot for Beth.” He gave me a sideways glance. “She’s rooting for you to win Beth over.”
“Tell her I’m working on it and I appreciate the cheering section.”
Nikolas chuckled. “How is it between you two? She seems less tense around you.”
“She’s fighting it, but she’s coming around. She agreed to go to dinner with me.”
“Tonight?”
“Yes.”
I hadn’t told Beth that yet. She was shy about going on a date with me, and I wasn’t going to give her time to talk herself out of it.
I knew from overhearing one of her conversations with Sara and Jordan that she liked a particular French restaurant, and I’d called them from the plane to reserve one of their private dining rooms for tonight. It was romantic and intimate, and the perfect setting to woo my beautiful, reluctant mate.
And if all went well, we’d end the night with another one of those incredible kisses. Or two.
Chapter 12
Chris
“I GIVE UP.” Brock lifted his head from the mat and waved in surrender. “Mercy.”
I walked over and grasped his hand, pulling him to his feet. He staggered slightly before putting a hand against the wall to steady himself.
I went back to the center of the gym. “Come on. We’ve only been sparring for thirty minutes.”
He groaned. “Is that all?”
“You sound like a new trainee,” I taunted, bouncing on my feet. “Let’s go.”
“I’ll go a few rounds with you,” Nikolas said from the doorway.
“Oh, thank God,” Brock muttered, limping past him.
Nikolas stepped into the room, dressed in sweats and a T-shirt, and joined me at the center of the mats with a familiar gleam in his eyes. He was the only one who could best me in hand-to-hand, and we both knew it.
His attack came lightning fast and without warning. I parried the strike with equal speed and countered with a kick to his thigh that would have put Brock on his ass. Nikolas gave me the little smile that caused younger warriors to tremble in fear and landed a numbing blow to my shoulder. I smiled back. This was more like it.
The thing about sparring with your best friend and longtime partner is that you know each other’s fighting moves better than anyone else. Nikolas and I had fought together so many times I could predict his reaction before I made a strike. And the same was true for him. We were so evenly matched that all we could do was fight and wait for a sliver of an opportunity to land the winning strike.
We traded blow for blow until I lost track of time and my body was slick with sweat. A group of people had gathered outside the door to watch, but my focus was on my opponent. He’d beaten me in our last full-on sparring session, and I was determined to win this one.
My Mori fluttered excitedly, telling me Beth was nearby. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught a glimpse of long blonde hair, and I shifted my gaze to her for one brief moment.
It was all the opening Nikolas needed. In the next instant, I was on my back staring up at the ceiling with his heavy weight on top of me. Hoots and clapping came from the doorway as I conceded defeat and shoved my friend off me.
He rolled over onto his back and to his feet in one movement. Reaching down, he extended his hand to me. I took it and let him haul me up. We walked over to a set of metal shelves where he grabbed two towels, tossing one to me.
“Thanks,” I said, wiping sweat from my face and neck.
“You good now?”
“Yeah.”
He slung his towel over his shoulder and gave me a dry look. “You want to tell me what has you in such a pleasant mood?”
“I’m not in a mood,” I muttered, causing his brows to lift.
“I thought things were going better between you and Beth. You said she agreed to go to dinner with you.”
“They were, and she did agree.” I exhaled loudly in frustration. “But dinner didn’t happen. Nothing has happened since we got back. Except work.”
“Ah.” Nikolas nodded in understanding.
The day we’d returned from San Francisco, I’d told Beth we were going out that night. She’d looked surprised but shyly agreed. An hour before we were to leave for our date, a call had come into the command center from one of the other teams about a large lamprey demon infestation in the subway. Almost every warrior at the command center had gone down in the subway tunnels, dealing with the problem.
The next day, we’d gotten word from one of Sara’s demon contacts about a new gulak slave operation in Baldwin Park. That night, there was a rash of vampire attacks, and we’d spent the whole night answering calls and patrolling.
Yesterday, Nikolas and I had spent the better part of the day following up with informants and in conference calls with the Council about the Lilin situation. By the time
I’d gotten free, it was too late for dinner. I was starting to think some higher power was determined to keep me from my date with Beth.
It wasn’t like I hadn’t seen her in the last three days. She’d worked alongside me on every job, but there was never time for personal talk. At home, there was always someone around, making it impossible to get her alone, even when we had some time to spare.
I didn’t know what was worse, the time I spent away from her or being close to her and not able to touch her and talk to her like I wanted to. The need for physical contact with her created a dull ache in my chest, and I caught myself fantasizing about kissing her at the most inconvenient times. If I didn’t get some alone time with her soon, I wasn’t going to be fit to be on duty.
“It’s been a busy few days,” Nikolas said as if he’d read my mind. “Things seem to be back to normal, and we can handle it if anything comes up tonight.”
“You sure?”
He smiled and thumped my shoulder. “Go spend some time with your mate.”
“Thanks.”
I tossed my towel in the hamper and left the gym, letting my Mori lead me to Beth. I found her in the kitchen with Mason, who eyed me warily as I strode up to them. Beth gave me a confused look when I stopped in front of her.
“Are you free tonight?” I asked her.
Her eyes widened a little. “Uh…yes.”
I smiled as some of the tension left my body. “Will you go to dinner with me?”
I would have been happy to share a pizza with her in the guesthouse living room, but the odds of us having an uninterrupted meal were unlikely. Going out meant we were guaranteed at least three hours alone. More if things went as well as I planned.
She hesitated, and I caught the flash of uncertainty in her eyes. I was sure she would say no, and I let out a breath when she nodded.
“Yes.”
“Great. Six o’clock?”
“Sure,” she said breathlessly, making it hard for me not to close the distance between us and kiss the hell out of her.
“See you at six,” I said, backing out of the kitchen.
I knew I was grinning like a fool, and I didn’t care one bit. I turned and headed for the French doors, ignoring Mason and the three people in the living room who had all stopped talking to follow our exchange. I was going on a date with my girl, and I didn’t care who knew it.
* * *
I was buttoning my shirt when my phone rang at 5:30. I went into the living room to answer it and smiled when I saw Beth’s closed bedroom door. She was in there right now, getting ready for tonight, and knowing that made me as excited as a teenager going on his first date.
Distracted by thoughts of Beth, I answered my phone without even knowing who was calling. “Hello?”
“Chris, tell me you haven’t left yet,” Brock said in a rush.
My attention snapped away from Beth’s door. “I’m still here. What’s up?”
“We have Adele on the phone. Her club is under attack, and she’s asking for our help.”
“Under attack from who?” Adele had warlock wards on her place to keep vampires out, and there were few who would mess with the ogres she employed as security.
“Incubi,” Brock replied. “She’s holed up in her office, but they’ll break through her protections eventually.”
“Where is Nikolas?”
“Sara got a call about a disturbance at the local wrakk. She and Nikolas left half an hour ago to check it out.”
I rubbed my face and stared up at the ceiling. Is this some cosmic joke on me?
“Assemble whoever we have available and tell Adele we’re on the way,” I told him before I hung up.
I walked over to the closed door and knocked. A moment later, it opened and Beth stood before me, barefoot in a teal dress that made me forget what I’d been about to say to her.
She stared at me for a few seconds, waiting for me to speak. When I didn’t, she said, “Am I late? I just need a few more minutes.”
“You don’t need anything else,” I answered roughly. “You’re perfect.”
Pink tinged her cheeks. “I need shoes. I can’t go to dinner barefoot.”
Her comment brought me back to my senses, and I sighed regretfully. Now that I saw what I’d be missing tonight, I almost wished I hadn’t answered my phone.
“We have to postpone our date again. Adele’s club is under attack, and she needs our help.”
“Oh.” Her smile dimmed. Was that disappointment in her eyes?
She blinked, and it was gone. “Give me a minute to change,” she said before she shut the door.
Muttering a litany of curses, I yanked off my date clothes and dressed in jeans and a thin sweater. By the time I was pulling on my boots, Beth emerged from the bedroom, similarly attired and pulling her hair back into a ponytail. She walked over to a duffle bag near the table and began arming herself with knives and a long slender sword. I’d thought she looked hot in the dress, but damn, she took my breath away when she was dressed for battle.
Brock and Mason were waiting for us when we got to the control room, and the two of them were armed and ready to go.
“Who do we have?” I asked.
“Raoul and Jordan are meeting us there, along with Geoffrey’s team,” Brock said.
“Okay.”
Geoffrey’s team was seasoned and formidable. If I had to choose a team to be at our back, they were one of the best.
We took our bikes because they were faster, and we pulled up outside Blue Nyx ten minutes later. Dismounting, I removed my helmet and studied the building. There were no signs of trouble out here, but that meant nothing. Adele’s club was soundproofed so well that a bomb could go off in there and you wouldn’t hear a thing on the outside.
Jordan and Raoul arrived a minute behind us.
“Geoffrey’s less than ten minutes out,” Raoul said, walking over to us. “Should we wait?”
My first instinct was to say yes because I didn’t want to take Beth in there without backup. But my gut told me Adele might not have time for us to wait.
“No. But we don’t know what we’re walking into, so let’s stick together until we know more. Beth, Mason and Jordan, don’t engage the Incubi unless there are too many for us to handle.”
Jordan scoffed, and I held up a hand.
“The Incubus you fought in the tunnel was strong, but the ones we encountered in San Francisco were a lot more powerful. We don’t know what we’ll find in there. You take your lead from us.” I looked at Beth. “And no heroics.”
My tone brooked no argument. Jordan huffed softly, and the two of them nodded.
“Okay. Let’s do this.”
Adele kept the club doors locked at all times, so I pulled out my picks as we crossed the street. When I reached for the door handle, it turned easily in my hand and the door clicked open. Not a good sign.
I looked behind me, and my eyes met Beth’s excited ones. My protective instincts were screaming at me to keep her outside, away from danger. But singling her out would embarrass her, and I couldn’t stop her from being a warrior. I didn’t want to.
“Everyone, stay close,” I told them, but my eyes were on her when I said it.
I eased the door open quietly and entered the short hallway, which led to the inner door to the club. I held up a hand to motion for the others to stay still, and then I enhanced my hearing. Faint thumps and shouts came from inside the building, telling me the hostiles were still here.
The inner door was unlocked as well, and I opened it quietly. The interior of the club was dimly lit, and the first floor appeared empty. From upstairs came loud pounding and sounds of fighting that told me the Incubi hadn’t been able to force their way into Adele’s inner sanctum.
I stepped inside and caught sight of Dolph’s massive body lying a few feet to the left of the door. I knelt beside the ogre and took in the deep gash in his stomach and the blood soaking his shirt. The slight rise and fall of his chest told me he was still
alive.
I reached for his shirt to check the damage, and a large hand grabbed my wrist in a bruising grip.
“Easy, big guy,” I whispered. “The cavalry is here.”
His eyes opened, and his mouth twisted in pain. “Mistress,” he gritted, trying to sit up.
“Whoa.” I pushed him back down. “We got this. How many are there?”
“Ten…maybe.”
I waved Mason over. “Stay with him, and keep pressure on the wound. He’ll start to heal as soon as we slow the bleeding.”
Leaving Mason with Dolph, the rest of us quietly moved farther into the club. Movement on the far side of the dance floor caught my eye, and I swerved in that direction. Fury built in me when I saw the scene before me.
One of Adele’s human waitresses lay on a leather couch, crying and feebly pushing at the Incubus leaning over her. Her top was ripped, exposing her bra, and a bruise was already forming on her pale cheek.
Beth let out an enraged gasp, and the Incubus’s head jerked up. The hunger in his eyes changed to anger at being interrupted and then to fear when he saw us. Whether he was one of the Lilin’s offspring or not, he didn’t stand a chance against five Mohiri warriors.
He moved quickly, leaping over the back of the couch and racing into the dark hallway that led to the back entrance. Before I could go after him, metal flashed and a dagger sailed through the air to disappear into the darkness. A choked cry sounded, followed by a crash.
I ran down the hallway with Brock at my heels and found the Incubus sprawled facedown on the floor, gasping his last breaths. Pulling out the knife, I used it to finish him off, then cleaned the blade on his shirt.
We went back to the others where Beth was trying to comfort the girl. Raoul offered up his jacket, and Beth laid it around the girl’s shoulders.
“Jordan, you and Beth stay with her,” I said.
I didn’t want to split us up, but the girl was in no shape to be left alone. And I wasn’t leaving either Beth or Jordan here by themselves.