Taint of Shadow

by Cassandra Moore

  “Not even the fashion victims here wear jackets in May, so we have to dress it up.” The bottom hem tattered easily, and the front plackets looked good with ragged slices. “There. Take off your shirt.”

  Grousing, he pulled off his shirt and put on his ruined semi-vest. “I’m rethinking our relationship, Kayla.”

  With a chuckle, she ran her claws through her shirt to leave a bare minimum of ripped material. “I’ll buy you a new one. Moira have any electrical tape in here?”

  “Don’t you even think about it.”

  Armed and dressed to kill, they headed for the door. The bouncers didn’t give Noah a second look, but Kayla could feel their eyes on her as she put her hand out for the black ink hand stamp that said she’d paid her cover. One inhaled as if to ask a question, then shrugged and went back to his watch over the door.

  What’s one more freak in a freak show? she thought as they let the ebb of the crowd carry them into the throbbing heart of the club. Dented, rusted cages hung from stout chains throughout the warehouse-like establishment, rocked by the almost naked dancers inside them. Both men and women gyrated behind the bars, unconcerned that they could fall, or too inebriated to care.

  Bright, colored lights flashed through the foggy dimness in time with the beat the DJ spun. Waves of people rippled over the dirty concrete floor, an interior sea pulled by a musical tide. Others sat at the tables on the shore, sipping drinks as they violated the city’s no smoking ordinance.

  Sharks swam in this ocean and followed the scent of blood. As she and Noah found a position on a small dais along a wall, she watched as a man glided up to a woman who danced with her eyes closed, caught up in the pulse of the music. He cupped his body along hers and moved with his prey, crotch against her ass, hands smooth as they slid over her stomach to her breasts.

  Languid and lost, she reached back to run her hands through his hair. His cheek brushed hers, nudged her head to the side. For an instant, Kayla could see the flash of his fangs before they sank into the dancer’s neck. She didn’t break rhythm, just opened her mouth in a gasp and ground back harder against him.

  Noah’s nudge caught her attention. She followed his gaze to the edge of the dance floor, where the lights didn’t touch. There, the cages slid on tracks in the ceiling, pushed and pulled at will by the patrons. Some tables had dragged dancers over for a private show.

  In the corner, she saw them. The twins stood to either side, identical leers on their faces as they watched the frightened young man whose cage they had trapped. He danced, but his eyes rolled wildly between the vampires that surrounded him. From experience, Kayla knew how the twins enjoyed fear. Adrenaline tasted good when it saturated the blood.

  Angry, she started forward, but Noah’s hand on her shoulder stopped her. One strong arm pulled her back against him, and he started to move, as the vampire had, spooned to her back. At another moment, it would have turned her on, but she had to force herself to sway with him tonight.

  “Not while they’re together,” he said in her ear. “Easier when they’re alone.”

  He was right. But she hated to watch as Miles reached through the bars to stroke the dancer’s bare calves. It reminded her of cattlemen who sized up their steers to decide if the time for slaughter had come. The dancer stumbled and pressed backward, straight into Mason’s grasp. Trapped, the poor man reeled forward once more, where Miles waited to stroke his neck, a bird trapped between two hungry cats.

  Mason grabbed the dancer’s ankle. The unfortunate human slipped and fell as the vampire pulled his leg through the bars, and the dancer tried to lean back for leverage to free himself, but Miles grabbed his arm. While Mason flicked his tongue over the man’s calf in search of a vein, Miles flicked his tongue over the dancer’s wrist. They each found what they were looking for.

  Mason closed his lips on the man’s calf. The dancer shuddered. Miles bit into the wrist he held. Their prey stiffened, and then relaxed despite his obvious fear. After a moment, his eyes rolled back into his head, and he went slack in the cage.

  A bouncer detached himself from the wall, key ring in hand. As the pair of vampires moved away, the bouncer hauled the unconscious dancer out of the cage to take into the back. Another human took his place, a woman this time, hesitant after what she had seen. Uncaring, the guard returned and locked her in.

  Kayla’s jaw clenched.

  Together, the twins wound through the crowd. Front and back, they pressed to a drunken brunette, who opened her mouth in a gasp as she felt two men surround her. Each lifted one of her wrists to his mouth, taking a taste of her blood before they moved on to the next free meal.

  “It’s like some kind of fucking people buffet,” Noah murmured from behind her.

  At last, the pair split. A man with deep green hair caught Mason’s fancy, while Miles spotted a redhead at the edge of the floor. Kayla put her hands over Noah’s and laced her fingers into his, and they stepped into the throng.

  Over the uneven waves of dancers, she could just see the top of Miles’ head. If they did it right, they could move in, stake him, and move the body out with none the wiser. Mason was sure to know when his brother died; twin vampires had a bond forged at birth and strengthened by undeath. One did nothing without the other.

  Mason would follow, and they could dispatch him, too. Then they could get out of this dive before the flashing lights and noxious smells made her sick.

  Closer, closer, they pushed their way through the writhe of bodies. He had started to lead the unsteady redhead away to the darker reaches of the club. Even better.

  The skin on the back of her neck crawled. Startled, she snapped her head toward the door and saw that Miles and Noah had done the same. Regina stepped into the club, out of place in her neat clothes. But behind her walked a face that Kayla knew well.

  He had tied a cloth over his missing eye. The cut extended out from under the material, still an angry red. His skin was an unhealthy pale despite the poor light, and from where she stood, she could see a fine sheen of sweat on his face. He held his midsection as he glared around the dance floor.

  Another shadow wolf pushed out from behind him, this one familiar, too. She had led the vampires to burn the apartment. Then a third shadow wolf, a brunette who had all but licked Kiplinger’s designer shoes by the end, came to stand next to Regina. And another. The black-haired beauty.

  All four shadow wolves who remained loyal to the vampires blocked the way out.

  Just as Kayla could feel them, they could feel her. She ducked into the crowd as four pairs of hidden purple eyes scanned over where she stood. Noah had turned his back to them as soon as he’d spotted them, and now, he shifted himself to stand behind her, blocking their view.

  “This is not good,” he said into her ear. “Go over there. Next to the bank of lights.”

  The brilliant spotlights and hyperactive strobes hurt her eyes even through her sunglasses. But the other wolves would have the same problem. Over here, they had as much chance to remain unseen as they did anywhere. “He must have gone straight to Regina,” she said loudly.

  “That makes this a little harder.” He flashed a grimace. “We have a Plan B?”

  “I kind of hoped you did.”

  “I left it in the truck.”

  “That’s no way to be prepared.”

  Quickly, he darted his gaze around. “Two choices. We head out the back and run like hell, or we punt. I vote punting.”

  An idea had formed behind his eyes. “What are you thinking?”

  “Trust me. And get ready for all hell to break loose.”

  When Kayla had told him about Regina’s betrayal, Noah had believed her. Over the past year, he’d seen enough evidence to prove it. But the sight of her in the doorway, surrounded by dark werewolves who would kill him and his mate if they got the chance, chilled him to the soul.

  Regina, who’d comforted him when Kayla had gone missing. Who had told him how she understood what he must be going through, how betraye
d she felt that her own mate wouldn’t chase revenge in her name. Who had told him only war could answer what Kiplinger had done to them. Who had played him for a fool while she plotted his demise.

  And the shadow wolves would kill him. He had no illusions otherwise. Regina certainly wouldn’t stop them; she’d brought them for just that purpose, he expected. It wouldn’t matter what she told Peter. She’d expect forgiveness and not bother to ask permission. Knowing Peter, he’d give it to her without a demand for an explanation. It had become his modus operandi since the attack a year before.

  Noah took in his surroundings as they dodged dancers to stand beside the lights. It made him wince to think of how the brightness had to hurt her eyes, but they had to hide while they decided what to do.

  He’d underestimated how long it would take that one-eyed bastard to get back on his feet. It would have taken another werewolf days to crawl out of whatever hole he’d dug into. Now Noah’s miscalculation could cost them both their lives. How to fix this? Or better, how to turn it to their advantage?

  “He must have gone straight to Regina,” Kayla said over the thud of the bass line.

  “That makes this a little harder.” He grinned, although it felt more like a grimace, in the hope it would bolster her confidence. I won’t let you down, baby. “We have a Plan B?”

  “I kind of hoped you did.”

  Not yet, but I’m working on it. “I left it in the truck.”

  “That’s no way to be prepared.”

  Another glance around him confirmed his thought. They had no good way out. Regina was a bitch, but she wasn’t a stupid bitch. There would be guards at the back door, Kiplinger’s vampires maybe. They could try it, but he thought he saw a better way. “Two choices. We head out the back and run like hell, or we punt. I vote punting.”

  “What are you thinking?”

  “Trust me. And get ready for all hell to break loose.” He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and hit a number on the speed dial.

  Cameron Roswell, second in command and enforcer of the pack, answered the phone in a sleepy voice. “Noah?”

  “Sorry to wake you up, Cam, but there’s a problem you’re going to want to hear about.”

  Kayla gave him a confused look.

  “Hm? Noah, where are you?”

  Two of the shadow wolves moved out into the horde of people. He didn’t have much time. “Night Moves. It’s a vampire hangout.”

  “I know what it is.” Pause. “Oh, shit. You’re not doing this again, are you?”

  “Oh yeah, I’m doing it again, all right. Twice. There’s two of them.”

  “You know what Peter said. Are you drunk? High?”

  He’d lost track of Miles, but he could see Mason at the edge of the room. The vampire had lured the green haired target with him. “No, just fed up. I know what position this puts you in. But I’m not going to stop this time.”

  The shadow wolves had started to circle in on their position. He had very little time left.

  “Why are you doing this? You know what I have to do.”

  “Time to take a stand. Bring all your people, Cameron. Tonight’s the beginning of the end.”

  Noah killed the connection.

  “Want to fill me in?” Kayla sounded baffled, worried.

  “That’s our ride out, if he moves his ass. Which twin is that?”

  “Mason. The pack heavies are our ride out? How does that work?”

  Careful not to stab himself, he took one of the stakes from under his vest. “It’ll take too long to explain. Take this.”

  Without further questions, she took the sharpened length of wood. Together, they worked their way to where Mason Bristol leaned on the wall, the man against him. The vampire had his lips against his prey’s neck but hadn’t yet punctured the vein.

  Noah grabbed the green-haired man by the shoulder and threw him to the side. “Wot the—” was all the vampire got out before Kayla drove the stake up into his chest and through his heart.

  There was a scream from across the floor, high pitched with pain and fury. As Mason slumped to the floor, his brother all but flew toward them, shoving the crowd out of his way with preternatural strength. His eyes glowed a terrible red, and his fangs extended over his bottom lip. The death of his brother had sent him into a killing rage.

  Regina and her shadow wolves turned their heads to follow the berserk vampire’s charge. Her eyes met Noah’s then widened with recognition. Time had run out.

  From the nearest table, Noah grabbed a glass of clear alcohol.

  Miles cleared the last of the crowd just in time for the drink to explode across his chest and soak his clothes.

  Noah didn’t pull the stake. He pulled his lighter.

  Another scream cut through the music as flames burst over the vampire’s clothes, his skin, and burned with an almost white heat. Panicked, he ran through the crowd, whose shrieks rose over the agonized shrill of the burning undead. Chaos erupted as the herd began to stampede. At first, they ran in all directions. Then the flow turned toward the door, toward Regina and her wolves.

  “Let’s go!” Noah shouted and grabbed Kayla’s hand.

  Miles threw himself at the bar. Fire danced up from where he touched, fed by the bottles of alcohol. A pathetic dribble came out of the sprinkler system, not nearly enough to douse the inferno.

  The shadow wolves drew closer. Noah wedged himself and Kayla deeper into the press. He caught Regina’s eyes as the crowd shoved him by. She would follow, he knew, but by then, he hoped it wouldn’t matter.

  Hysterical shouting came from everywhere. Patrons of the club shoved him from all sides in desperate attempts to funnel through the narrow doors. His grip on Kayla’s hand broke, and he tried to turn, but the forward momentum of the frightened club-goers stopped him.

  Then the night air, fresh and cool compared to the suffocation of the inside. He shouldered out to the side of the exodus. Kayla saw him and shoved through the human stream to get to him. Regina wasn’t far behind her, almost within arm’s reach. And so were the four shadow wolves.

  They stared at each other, tension thick as Regina’s wolves fanned out to either side of them. Outnumbered, outmatched, Noah hoped he could stall long enough for the cavalry to arrive. Not that the cavalry isn’t a gamble. Fuck, I hope I’ve read Cameron right.

  “Fancy meeting you here, Regina. Friends of yours?” Noah asked.

  “Cut the shit, Noah,” she snarled. “That was a stupid, stupid move.”

  “Was it? I thought it was a great show. You did want a war, didn’t you?” He kept his tone light and amiable. It would piss her off.

  Her eyes narrowed. “Don’t try to be cute. You’ve screwed up this time. It was inevitable. You’ve been trying to self-destruct since your bitch came to play.”

  It took discipline not to growl. “Peter know what you’re into? I think he’d be very interested.”

  “Fuck Peter.” She didn’t see the blue SUV pull up, but he did. Three more cars pulled in behind it. “He’ll say that he hated to lose a good pack mate, but that you just couldn’t abide by the rules. Danger to us all, he’ll say, and no one else will say a fucking word.”

  Eight werewolves disgorged from the cars. Only when the doors slammed did she notice, but by then, her dark wolves couldn’t disappear.

  “I wonder what Cameron will think,” Noah said with a smile.

  “What the hell are you doing here?” she demanded as the square-jawed wall of wolf strode up to the group.

  “I might ask you the same question,” Cameron answered, face hostile and voice hard.

  Good. This was exactly what Noah had hoped for. “Cameron, you remember Kayla?”

  Kayla gave a small smile. “Hi, Cam. It’s good to see you again.”

  “Kayla? Holy shit, you’re alive.” A happy look crossed his face, but clouded quickly. “You’re in on this, too, I suppose.”

  “I staked one of the two,” she offered. “Noah lit the other one on fire.”<
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  He ran a hand through his black hair. “You’re both going to have to come with me, then.”

  Regina fumed. “They aren’t going anywhere. We have to take care of this tonight. Do you hear me?”

  “I’m going to have to ask you to keep out of it,” Cameron told her in a tone that brooked no dissent. “This is my job to do. You can have your say tomorrow night, when Peter passes judgement.”

  “I am Peter’s partner. You do what I tell you,” she hissed. The shadow wolves shifted. Cameron’s heavies moved in tight behind their leader, a warning clear in the way they stood. Their loyalty was not in question. What the enforcer said was their law.

  Her words hung between them. Cameron looked from Regina to Kayla, then to Noah. Their eyes met for an instant.

  Then Cameron looked back to Regina. “I do what’s best for the pack, and you’d do well to remember your place in the pack.”

  A snarl ripped from her, and her eyes flashed gold. “How dare you talk to me like that? I’ll have Peter flay you alive.”

  “You do that.” He turned back to Noah. “Will you and your mate come with us quietly? I don’t want a scene.”

  “We’ll do whatever you say.” Obediently, he held out his arms, wrists crossed. “Cuffs?”

  No one took their gazes from Regina and her wolves. “I don’t think we need them just now. Let’s move out.”

  Six of the silent wolves stood, watchful, as Noah and Kayla walked toward Cameron’s vehicle. The other two stayed with the prisoners as they settled into the seats.

  “You’ve just made a mistake,” Noah heard Regina growl.

  “One of us has, that’s for sure,” Cameron answered.

  Then the door slammed closed. “I hope we didn’t,” Kayla murmured.

  Noah sighed. “Me, too.”

  Eleven

  “Cameron, can I have a word with you?”

  Kayla still slept in the spare bedroom, dead to the world as usual. Cameron had given them a blanket to put over the window so she could rest easy in the dark. But Noah had opened his eyes long before she would, which he thought was just as well. He had some business to attend.