by Rose O'Brien
“Based on the interviews that Alex and Lu did with the captives and our tracking data, I think it’s safe to say that Medina and his goons are using vehicles we haven’t seen or tagged to move the captives out of that warehouse and on to wherever it is they send them.”
The captives that had been able to talk told them that other people that had been held with them were moved out every few days, maybe once a week. It was hard to tell because the room they were kept in hadn’t had windows.
They did know that they were moved in large fleet vans because they’d pulled them into the warehouse to load them. None of the people loaded in those vans ever came back, they said.
Alayna had a sick suspicion what happened to those people. Dead bodies with signs of vampire predation, plus people being held and moved like cattle, well, that added up to one thing.
“Someone is running a blood buffet,” she said.
Unfortunately, they didn’t know where the meals were being served. And the bodies being dumped the way they were made absolutely no sense to anyone at the table.
“Could it be a delivery service?” Budock asked.
“We don’t know yet, but it’s certainly on the list of possibilities,” Alayna said. “It might explain the body dumps, if they’re serving inexperienced vamps that don’t know how to dispose of a body discreetly.”
“They may have thought it was discreet. Sapien law enforcement probably never would have put it all together,” Dumeril said. “Blanca’s murder was the aberration. We think she died at Revelation or one of the other nearby clubs. Maybe Medina ordered a late dinner and got sloppy?”
“I think Blanca was a message,” Budock said.
“What makes you say that?” Alayna said.
“They couldn’t have dumped her in a more public place,” Burdock said. “There was no hiding the bite marks. They may as well have dumped her on our doorstep.”
“He’s right,” Alex chimed in. “In every case study I’ve seen, when a body dump gets that public, someone is trying to get attention.”
“But if someone is running a blood buffet, why would they want attention? It doesn’t make any sense,” Alayna said. “We can circle back to that. What I’m really concerned about is whether they still have captives somewhere. I want all of you to put your ears to the ground, knock on the door of every informant, snitch and insider in this town. We’re going to flush these bastards out.”
“They’ll know we’re coming,” Alex said.
“That’s the point,” she replied. “They’ve had no problems coming straight at us. I say we do the same to them.”
As the team rose one by one and left the room, Alex lingered, finally catching her eye and holding it.
It wasn’t anger that she saw in his gaze. There was a fire snapping in those dark eyes, a low, slow burn that made something in her stomach flutter.
Alayna came around the table and headed and for the door, her shoulders squared, her body tense, and her eyes locked on his. In a move that was entirely too smooth, he rose, shut the door and blocked it with his body. Those big arms were crossed over his chest, his head was slightly tilted to one side and one eyebrow was raised.
Silence stretched to a painful, quivering tension as she met his eyes. Enough. She couldn’t stand it anymore.
“We have work to do,” she said making a move around him. Mistake. He shifted and she came right up against that chest. She should have stepped back, but her treacherous body refused to do it.
“Not until we talk about what happened last night.” His voice was low, the same voice he’d used in bed last night. Her cheeks instantly heated at the thought of the things he’d said when he’d held her against him, moving inside her body.
Then he’d said those words. I love you, Alayna.
Last night shouldn’t have happened. That’s what she wanted to tell him, but her mouth was too dry to form words. Not that she could string words together right now, not with the way he was looking down at her.
Sleeping with him was a terrible idea. In her head, she was trying to chalk it up to hormones and her lack of sexual activity over the past few weeks. But she was lying to herself. This thing with Alex was beyond physical, was beyond chemistry. Those words he’d said proved that.
And it couldn’t happen.
His hand brushed her waist, and she stepped closer without thinking, that hand coming to rest at the small of her back. Her breath was coming faster and now and she was having a hard time controlling it.
She was about to open her mouth, to tell him what, she didn’t know, but he spoke first.
“About what I said last night. That wasn’t when I meant to say it or how I meant to say it,” he said. “But I did mean it. I do mean it.”
Shit. She was really hoping he was going to take it back, blame it on the moment. Plenty of guys said stupid things when they were about to come. Nope, not her Alex. Apparently, he made life-changing declarations.
“You don’t even know me,” she said.
“I know enough.”
He knew nothing. If he did, he’d run from her. When he found out, he would run from her.
“I have so many secrets,” she whispered.
“You’ll tell me when you’re ready.”
“And when I do, they’ll tear the heart right out of you.”
He was silent for a moment before he leaned down and said in her ear, “I don’t expect you say it back.”
Good thing, too, because she could never say those words. Even if they were true. Which they weren’t, she told herself firmly.
She pushed past him and it took every ounce of her considerable willpower not to look back at him.
***
A few hours later, a large basket of tequila bottles clanked against Alayna’s hip as she slammed the Mustang’s door and started to climb the grassy hill, Alex a few steps behind her.
The moon was hidden behind heavy clouds, and the darkness wrapped around them as they walked. They didn’t talk as they moved through the wooded area. The beings they would be speaking with could already hear their approach and chatter might seem impolite.
She was grateful for the silence. The conversation with Alex hadn’t gone well this morning, and the tension that had formed between them was making her itchy. She longed for the easy-going camaraderie they’d had before.
They moved through an oak grove and emerged into a clearing at the top of the hill. Alayna set the basket down, opened a bottle, and took a long pull, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand before returning the bottle to the basket.
They waited several minutes, the night sounds of insects, birds and furry things in the bushes settling around the two humans like a cloak. Alayna felt more than heard the sound of wings on the air. It was the pressure change that gave it away. A fire or earth mage would have missed it, but you couldn’t sneak up on a air mage from above.
Alex jumped back as the bird landed with a huge WHOOMP in front of them, its brown and black feathers fluttering and its golden eyes flashing in the dark. The body was about five feet tall, with huge clawed feet that had dug furrows into the ground on landing. Its wings must have been about fifteen feet across as it settled them around its feathered body. Its head was somewhere between an owl and an eagle.
It was decidedly a raptor, with a sharply curving beak that looked like it was made to tear flesh. Its yellow eyes were huge and round, with large black pupils that seemed to drink in the dark. Its feathers were a mottled brown and grey that blended perfectly with the trees in the dark. It stared at them from under sharply protruding brows that reminded Alayna of a bald eagle or a great horned owl.
The creature’s stare was deeply unnerving, and Alayna knew exactly how a rabbit must feel when it heard those wings rushing toward it. That feathered head tilted to the side, and fixed on Alayna and the basket.
This was one of the Lechuzas, the bird witches of Texas and Mexican legend. The legends had it they were witches that could transform into giant bir
ds. Some said they hunted the unwary or the sinful who walked on dirt roads at night.
The legends had it all wrong.
Alayna screeched several times, different lengths and different tones, in the formal greeting. The creature replied with a series of hoots and whistles, the traditional answer to the formal greeting.
The Lechuza shook itself, ruffling its feathers and settling its wings more tightly around its body. A screech filled the air along with the familiar sounds of a shifter in transition. Bones snapped and tendons popped. In the space of a few seconds, a man with deeply tanned skin and long dark hair stood in front of them. He would have passed for human easily if it weren’t for the luminescent yellow owl eyes that stared out of his face.
“Tequila? Really?” The former bird said, a Laredo accent coloring his words. “That’s kind of racist, you know.”
The Lechuzas weren’t humans that transformed into birds; they were birds that could transform into humans. These were rare creatures indeed in the supernatural world, with maybe a hundred or so scattered around Texas and northern Mexico. They hunted in small groups of six or seven, usually family groups.
They took game, small animals, sometimes livestock. Never humans. Alayna had put them on notice years ago that if they took humans, even the drunk and unwary humans they favored as prey, she’d take them all out.
His voice didn’t sound quite human. The tone fluctuated, and it trailed to a low squawk at the end of his sentences.
“It’s Texas. Everyone likes tequila.”
The birdman let out a squawking, hissing laugh.
“I’m just messing with you, Dragonrider. What can I do for you?”
So, he’d seen her and he knew about Z. It made sense that he would know about another arial hunter in the area. She wondered what he’d do with that information.
He bent down and picked up one of the bottles.
“El Diamante de Cielo? This is the good stuff, chica,” he said. He whistled in appreciation, but it sounded more like an owl’s hoot.
“Only the best for my friends,” Alayna said. “I need to know if you and the other Lechuzas have seen anything weird happening in or around your territory.”
“Chica, we’re just outside of Austin. Weird is a relative term. I need specifics, you know.”
“Vampires. Making meals out of humans. You seen anything like that?”
The birdman moved within inches of Alayna, walking with a slow, sensual grace that wasn’t even in the neighborhood of human. He could pick a handsome form, she mused. He was young, well-muscled. He was also naked.
He touched one of the locks that had come loose from her ponytail and ran it between his thumb and forefinger.
“That’s just nature, mi bonita. Predators and prey.”
His nakedness didn’t unnerve her, though she was sure he meant it to. She’d been around plenty of handsome naked men in her life. All of them had been strangers like this guy. Except the one that was glaring at them across the clearing. Alex was the furthest thing from a stranger she’d ever known.
“These guys are messy eaters. The sapien authorities are starting to get itchy. Nobody wants that,” she said.
He moved around behind her, trailing his fingers across the back of her neck. Under different circumstances, she might take him up on his not-so-subtle invitation.
Her eyes moved to Alex standing nearby. He was practically vibrating with the effort he was putting into keeping still. Was he jealous?
She felt warm breath on her neck, and the Lechuza whispered in her ear.
“They’re organizing hunts. About thirty miles northeast of here. The vampires bring the humans in, turn them loose in the woods, give them a head start. They never last more than a couple of hours. They drain ‘em dry and load the bodies up when they’re finished.”
Whoa.
Her eyes went wide, and she turned, the chief of the Lechuzas catching her around the waist and pulling her against his body. She could practically hear Alex growling from where she stood. She shot him a look that said she could handle this and he’d better not move a muscle.
“Judging by your reaction, I’m guessing that was big information,” he said, putting his mouth inches from hers. “Is tequila the only thank you I’m going to get for that?”
She pushed him back with a hand on his bare chest.
“Are they hunting in your territory?” she asked.
“Yeah, the edge of it. But they come in force, usually about ten of them. We’ve only got five in the group right now.”
“And you’re not strong enough to take them on,” she finished.
Anger flashed in those hunter’s eyes.
“Everything in me wants to rip their flesh with my talons, but we can’t risk it.”
“If I brought in six heavy hitters, together we’d probably outnumber them. If you provide the arial support, I’ll provide the ground crew. How do your hunters like the taste of vampire flesh?”
“I like the way you think, airwalker. And you have good taste in hooch.” He trailed off and looked away, considering what she had said.
“What the hell? No one lives forever, right? Meet me here tomorrow night. Midnight. Me and mine will fly your crew in so the vamps don’t hear you coming. You can fly in on your own, right?”
She nodded.
“It’s a deal then,” she said.
“Not so fast, chica. When all of this is over with, let me take you out and then we’ll call it a deal, yeah?”
Alayna smiled.
“You’ve got some balls,” she said.
“Yeah, they’re right here on display. You like what you see?” His smile was brilliant, and his voice was teasing.
Her eyes never left his face, and her smile never left hers.
“You’re a shameless flirt, Feathers. Let’s see if we live through this run first, shall we?” she said.
“It’s Rolando, sweetheart. And I have a really good reason to live, now.”
She gave him a penetrating look from beneath her lashes as she turned and headed back down the hill. Alex followed, silent and brooding.
***
Alex was half asleep in his room at Alayna’s when he heard the front door open and close. Alayna had sent him home a couple hours before when his eyes had started to blur from exhaustion. The team had been working nonstop to compile the intel they’d gathered and prep for the raid with the Lechuzas.
Footsteps were moving down the hallway. She’d kept her distance today. He’d freaked her out with his admission the night before, so he’d resolved to give her some space. Even so, it had been all he could do to keep from growling at Rolando earlier. He wasn’t territorial or possessive when it came to women. But Alayna stirred up all kinds of new things.
The footsteps reached his door. Before he could call out to her that he was awake, his door opened a crack.
He stayed silent and still, wondering what she was going to do.
In the darkness, he couldn’t really see her, but he knew it was her through some combination of her scent, the sound of her breathing, and the way the figure in the door held herself. She was already so much a part of him that he was sure he could find her even in the darkest of places.
The figure slipped into the room like a silent shadow and moved to the side of the bed. Should he let her know that he was awake? Did she already know? She seemed to have super senses most of the time. He tried to keep is breathing even and his eyes closed.
There was the rustle of clothing and the thump of boots hitting the hardwood. The scent of her skin reached him, and her delicate fingers ghosted over his hair before gently caressing his cheek. He suppressed a shudder of pure pleasure at her touch and he was instantly hard.
His eyes snapped open and met hers for a second before he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her under the blanket with him. The satin of her skin slid against his, carrying the chill of dawn with it. She was naked.
She gasped as he rolled half on top of her, the ga
sp turning to a moan as his erection settled heavy between her thighs.
“You’re warm,” she murmured as her hands moved over his back and she buried her face where his neck met his shoulder. Her body was sagging with exhaustion, but she was practically vibrating with a likely combination of caffeine and determination.
“How did it go?” he asked softly.
“I think we’ve done all we can. Either we live through tomorrow or we don’t,” she said. “Called the brass, but reinforcements are currently unavailable. We’re on our own unless I can call in a favor.”
Her voice cut off as Alex’s mouth moved over hers in a slow kiss.
“You are not calling anyone,” he said, his voice low and husky. “You need rack time. I need rack time and your team needs rack time. We can get back to it in a few hours.”
She started to protest until he lowered his head and drew one of her taut nipples into his mouth. A groan escaped him as she responded to him, wrapping her arms around his shoulders, digging her nails into his flesh.
The night before had been explosively hot between them. Now, he wanted slow. He wanted sensual. He wanted to taste every inch of her skin and feel her come apart in his arms multiple times until she passed out beside him from exhaustion.
As he moved his tongue over her sensitive skin, she murmured, “Is this what you meant by rack time?”
He laughed against her, using his tongue and teeth until she was arching and breathless beneath him.
The night before had been all heat, raking nails, desperate hands, flashing teeth and urgent tension. It had been a gale-force thunderstorm.
This was gentle touches, languid kisses and caresses. The tension was still there, but it had reached an odd kind of comfort. This was more like a slow and gentle rain on a summer night.
Alex was aware that this was the first time Alayna had ever been with someone for the second time, and he was determined to show her how amazing that could be. He brought his hands to either side of her face, holding that deep blue gaze for a moment before he took her mouth again.
She reached between them, pulling his boxers off his hips. Her fingers found his erection, teasing him, urging him. He bit his lip in an effort to maintain control. Slow. Gentle. He kept repeating the words in his head like a mantra.