Lucian and Dean exchanged a quick glance of victory. They’d found at least one person the vampires hadn’t gotten to yet.
Dean inched forward. “We thoroughly reviewed the reports. Because of the suspect’s similarity to the skinheads causing so much trouble these days, we wanted to make sure we talked to you in person.”
Charlie nodded. “Well, I hate to break it to you, but you’re wasting your time with me. I saw people running out so I wanted to help, but the guy was already dead when I got into the kitchen. I saw some big guy run out the back door, but the police were here by then so I decided not to chase after him.”
The rapid thumping of Charlie’s heartbeat filled Lucian’s ears and a predatory grin twisted his lips. Charlie was lying to them.
“So you ran straight into the restaurant, not having any idea what was going on, and then decided to let the police handle it at the last minute?”
Dean took over. “It’s not like you could see into the kitchen. You ran in there blind. Why not run into the alley to see the accomplice?”
Charlie’s features hardened. “Whoever killed the bastard was doing the world a favor. He wasn’t any type of accomplice.”
“You really have no way of knowing that since you never saw him,” pointed out Dean.
Charlie shifted on his feet. “That’s right.”
“I thought you saw him just as he ran out the door. You said he was a big guy.”
The human’s brows drew together. “I meant I never saw him well,” he bit out. He looked over his shoulder to the clock that read five fifty. “I thought you were just here to go over my report.”
“What does it sound like we’re doing?” asked Dean, pleasant smile still firmly in place.
“Well, you’ll have to come back. I have a private session in a few minutes and I’d rather she not see me being questioned by the... What agency are you two with again?”
“FBI,” they said in unison.
Charlie moved toward the door, but neither Dean nor Lucian moved out of his way.
The human squared his shoulders back and narrowed his eyes. “I said out.”
Lucian tilted his head in surrender and backed out. In a few hours, it would be dark and he could drag Dmitri’s whiney, lovelorn ass out here to get Charlie to spill all his deepest, darkest secrets.
The counter girl waited for them, one hip pressed against the wall. Her dark hair was down now. Dean gave her an appreciative once-over as they walked past. A dark sedan pulled into one of the first spots and Lucian glanced at the driver.
And stopped dead in his tracks.
She was here. Just feet from him. Real, live, and in perfect fucking color.
His Ella stepped out of the driver’s seat and shut the door before she turned to grab a gym bag from the backseat. She looked just the same and completely different at the same time. Her thick and gorgeous chestnut hair fell down to the curve of her back, looking wild and untamed.
She seemed stronger. The tight black pants she wore showed off her fit legs and the perfect round globes of her ass. She hit the button on her keys to lock the door and finally looked up.
She saw him immediately. Her jaw dropped and her bag fell to the concrete parking lot. And then she ran from him.
She yanked open her car door and had the engine started before the door was closed.
Why was she running from him? Her heart hadn’t stopped at the sight of him like his heart had?
He growled deep in his throat. She was his. There was no escaping him. He was just about to transport to her when Charlie’s fist slammed into his face.
Blood trickled from his nose as he lunged at Charlie. Dean caught Lucian around the shoulders, barely holding him back. A low rumbling came from Lucian’s chest. “Leave the mortal. Was that Ella, man?”
“Stay the fuck away from her,” warned the human.
Lucian snarled as his rage bubbled over, turning his eyes jet-black. He let them close as he tried to regain control and was outside the gym an instant later, with Dean right behind him.
Ella’s bag was abandoned at his feet. He looked left and right but didn’t see any sign of the car she’d driven off in.
She ran from him. Why the hell would she run from him?
“Garret’s gone. He took off out the back,” said Dean.
Lucian’s breaths came faster and his lips tightened. “He knew her.”
How well did the human know her? Had she moved on? Was she living a happy and normal life?
He knelt next to her abandoned bag. It didn’t smell like a man. It smelled like Ella. Maybe a different soap or detergent, but underneath the chemicals, it was her. He breathed her scent into his lungs. Every memory of touching her, holding her, her naked body pressed up to his rushed back to him.
Ella.
Dean sent a worried glance to the windows of the gym, where a crowd had gathered. Lucian didn’t give a fuck if they saw him teleport. He had more important things to worry about.
Dean said, “Let’s head to the police station. We can probably track her down before dark.”
Lucian shook his head. “I don’t need them.” Her scent was all over these streets. How had he not noticed before?
Something was different with her. Maybe it was a man. Did she spend so much time with him that her scent changed?
He would kill him.
Dean grabbed Lucian’s shoulder with a painful grip, pulling him back to reality. “Don’t do anything stupid.”
Lucian shrugged Dean off him. “Help me find her or not. Your choice.”
He stalked down the street. Whether she wanted to see him or not, she would be in his arms before sunset.
Shit, shit, shit, shit.
Ella swerved around a car and sped up, just narrowly avoiding an accident as she ran the stop sign.
No time to stop. For all she knew, he was at her house already. He could’ve taken Clara by now.
She slammed on the gas, going well over fifty in the residential streets.
If only she’d seen him sooner. She’d been so used to her routine, she didn’t even look at her surroundings before she got out of her car, lulled into a false sense of security by the sunlight, thinking the worst monsters around were vampires.
Was he here investigating the vampire or her?
It didn’t matter anymore. He’d seen her and she knew that look in his eyes. He was so not over her.
If she kept driving like this, someone would call the cops on her. Most of the folks in town would recognize her car. Would the cops make it to her place before Lucian? Would it even matter?
Ella’s head pounded and she bit back another curse as she made a sharp right into the driveway, tires squealing. She stopped just short of the garage and ran to her house, not even bothering to close the driver’s side door.
Her head and heart pounded in the same painful rhythm. Please let Clara be here.
Her nerves had her stumbling as she opened the door, only the handle keeping her from falling over the threshold. “Clara! Baby, are you home?”
Gloria poked her head out from the living room, young brow furrowed in confusion. “You’re home early, Elly.”
Why wasn’t Clara with her? “Where’s Clara?”
A tiny blonde head emerged from behind Gloria. “Mommy? It’s early.”
Ella let out a sigh of relief and threw her head back. She wasn’t too late.
That didn’t mean she had a lot of time. Lucian could track her down any minute. He looked unhinged enough at the sight of her. Who knew what he would do when he saw Clara.
None of this was her fault! It wasn’t as if he left her with a list of contacts to call in case she got knocked up! It was just sayonara, see you later.
No calls. No emails. No text messages. No letters. Only one seven-digit deposit into Dad’s bank account that she told herself was for the kidnapping and not the sex.
Not that she wanted to see him. Everything he’d put her through had knocked her world on its axis.
Every time the sun set, she would hesitate to go outside. Every time she saw an oversized male, she half expected him to turn around, bearing fangs.
So far, she’d been able to lead a relatively normal existence. Low-paying government job at the library, house, dog, and daughter. All completely normal.
Except nothing was. She was constantly trying to hide Clara’s rapid growth, but it was getting harder. The girl was too social! She would walk up to anyone and start a conversation. She was two! How much did she really have to talk about?
Between her mature speech patterns and beautiful blue eyes she got from her father, people tended to remember her. Ella was already hearing the comments. Who knew how many times the well-meaning neighbors had mentioned, “She’s growing up so fast!”?
Clara was her miracle. She needed to keep her safe. She needed to keep her from Lucian.
Ella looked to Gloria. “My dad called and wants to go out to his cottage for a few days. I have to rush if I want to meet him in time. You can take off now. Thanks!”
She ushered the teen to the door, unable to think whether her story made sense at all.
“No problem, Elly.” She stepped onto the porch. “I hope you two have fun!”
Ella forced what was probably the fakest smile ever to be faked on her face. “We will.” She waved while Gloria left, and the smile completely dropped as Charlie’s Jeep pulled into the driveway. She really didn’t have time for this.
He jumped out and jogged over to her. “What the fuck was that, Elly?”
She narrowed her eyes at his curse. Clara was probably listening. She loved to listen to “grownup conversations.” This wasn’t the time to yell at Charlie for his choice language, though.
“I have to leave. You have to go too. If they want to find me, they can use you.”
Charlie put a hand on her arm, probably trying to calm her, but it only amplified her unease. She wanted to shake him and scream. They needed to run!
“Take a breath. Relax. Pack up Clara and Reno. You guys can stay with me until we figure this out.”
“You don’t understand. These people aren’t people at all. They will find me. I need to—”
Too late.
There, at the foot of her driveway, was Lucian.
Her breath caught in her throat at the sight. He looked devastating. His strange, brown, iridescent hair caught in the wind. It seemed longer. Just past his shoulders. Even from so far away, he seemed so big. So much stronger than her.
How had she ever gotten away from him?
“Elly, what—?” Charlie looked over his shoulder, finally seeing Lucian.
Lucian’s eyes narrowed and he approached her. Dark energy emanated from him. Even Charlie somehow seemed to know that Lucian was no ordinary man.
Every step he took pounded within Ella’s head. Should she run? She felt as if she should run. Her feet never got the message. All she could manage was a slow backward retreat until her shoulders hit the column of her front porch.
Nowhere else to go.
Charlie stood between Lucian and her, body tense and ready for a fight. “I think it’s time for you to go,” he said in a firm voice.
Lucian stared right at her, not even acknowledging Charlie. Without breaking stride, he transported straight past Charlie, appearing just a breath away from Ella.
She gasped at the suddenness, closing her eyes and inhaling his scent. She could feel the warmth radiate from him. Memories flooded back to her. Her fear that first night in the woods. The first time she kissed him after he’d brought her Reno. The feel of his hands on her body as the warm shower water caressed her back. His hands gripping her hips as he stood up, opening her for his invasion.
When her eyes opened, she was back in the present. “You need to go,” she breathed, barely able to get the words out.
He lifted a hand and gently stroked her face. “You feel exactly the same.”
Warmth snaked through her at his touch and she clenched her fists to stop them from shaking. “Please, leave.”
“Get your hands off her!” shouted Charlie.
“Is he your new man?” asked Lucian.
She shook her head, unable to form words.
“What the— Get the fuck off me!”
Ella looked over Lucian’s shoulder and saw Dean holding Charlie back. The ex-SEAL struggled in Dean’s grasp, but no amount of lifting weights would make him stronger than a myotis.
She was all alone.
“Lucian—”
She never finished. His mouth covered hers and everything seemed to melt away. She brought her hands up to push him away, but they fisted in his coat and pulled him closer.
How had she pushed this out of her mind? His kiss was just as fierce as the man. Soul-searing and earth-shattering. Thorough. Devouring.
His hands rested on her hips as his tongue teased the seam of her lips. She should stop him. This was wrong.
She opened for him, all logic and reasoning floating away under his touch. He backed her fully against the post; his hands ran up and down her sides as his erection pressed against her stomach.
The feel of him suddenly brought her back to earth and she ripped her mouth away. She kept her gaze firmly locked on the ground. “Lucian, I’m not joking. Get. Off. My. Property.”
He huffed out a breath. “How can you kiss me like that and tell me to leave?”
“I was telling you to leave before you kissed me like that.”
He opened his mouth, but the deafening sound of the doorknob twisting interrupted him.
Ella twisted out of his grip and turned to the door.
There stood Clara, messy blonde hair framing her face, large blue eyes looking back and forth between Lucian and Ella.
“Mommy, who’s he?”
Ella’s heart stopped in her chest as her gaze slid over to Lucian.
Lucian stared at the small child as he tried to put the pieces together. She called Ella her mother.
She looked like Ella. They had the same pert nose and almond-shaped eyes. A little mini-Ella with different color hair and eyes.
His eye color, to be exact. Was he imagining it? She looked older. Probably at least four. But Ella hadn’t had any children when she’d been with him. She would’ve told him if she had a baby waiting for her, right?
But when he looked back at Ella, he knew all he needed to. “You were going to keep her from me.”
She stiffened at the accusation. “I was keeping her from all of you.” She shifted her gaze to the child. “Clara, this is Lucian. He’s my...friend.”
He raised a brow at that. Of the many words to describe their relationship, friend definitely wasn’t one of them.
He opened his mouth to speak, but the words caught in his throat. This was his daughter. A son hadn’t been born to a myotis in centuries. A daughter was unheard of. What was he supposed to say?
Had Ella told her about him? Did she tell the child about the brute who stole her from her home and family or about when he brought her the dog and kept her warm in that cave?
“Hello.” Great first impression, jackass.
“Hi,” she said with a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes. “Mommy, is Charlie in trouble?”
Lucian turned to where the human was still struggling to break Dean’s grip. He’d forgotten he was even there. With a subtle twitch of his hand, he signaled to Dean to let the human go.
Garret stumbled away from Dean at the abrupt freedom. He looked as though he wanted to say something, but never opened his mouth. Lucian wasn’t sure whether it was the threatening look coming from him or the deer-in-the-headlights look from Ella.
“Charlie’s fine, honey. Why don’t you come here?”
The girl shuffled over to Ella, where she was lifted into her mother’s arms, perched on Ella’s hip.
“What’s your name...” He trailed off as he tried to think of a term of endearment for a small girl. Ella called her “honey,” but that didn’t sound right. Sweetie? Little girl?
He must’ve taken too much time in his thoughts.
“This is my daughter, Clara.”
“It’s really nice to meet you.” Lucian frowned. That didn’t sound right. Too formal. Was he supposed to speak in a higher voice or something? He thought it was called baby talk. But she wasn’t a baby.
Fuck.
Clara just stared at him. He was messing this up so badly.
“It’s getting late.” Ella eyed him warily. “I think we should talk about this later.”
He glanced at the horizon, where the sun was slowly disappearing. In less than an hour, he would need to change. Hardly the best first impression. “There was an incident last night. A...someone allergic to the sun made an appearance. Know anything about it?”
Clara’s eyes lit up. “Are you talking about monsters?”
“Umm...yes?” He looked to Ella, not sure whether he was saying the right thing.
A corner of her mouth twitched up. He almost missed it, but she was definitely amused.
Clara smiled. “Mommy killed the monster!”
“I didn’t—I mean, I did, but—” Ella winced. “Okay, yeah, I killed the monster.”
“You? Really?”
She straightened. “Yes, really. I didn’t just sit back and twiddle my thumbs after you left. I can take care of myself.”
“And your daughter.”
“And my daughter,” she agreed.
The silence stretched, thousands of questions going unasked.
“Other, um, monsters were here. Garret was in the news. The police think he killed the monster. The monsters are going to come for him.”
“Who’s Garret?” asked Clara.
Ella narrowed her eyes at Lucian. “Garret is Charlie’s last name.”
Clara’s mouth dropped open. “Mommy, I don’t want the monsters to get Charlie!”
“The monsters aren’t going to touch him, baby. That’s why Lucian and Dean are here. They’re going to protect him.”
Garret swished his arms in front of him in an X motion. “Hell no!”
“This is important to you?” asked Lucian, ignoring Garret’s protests.
“If it weren’t for Charlie, I probably wouldn’t have survived last night.”
Beauty and the Shapeshifter (Evil Rising Book 5) Page 13