Circle of Desire

by Keri Arthur

  Ethan’s expression shut down. “I said stop, not kill. This thing has to be brought to justice and face trial.”

  “You don’t really believe that,” Gwen said. “And besides, no court or jailhouse currently built could ever hope to hold this thing.”

  “You know, I think white ash works against it,” Kat said, remembering the soul-sucker’s reaction in the warehouse. “I think I wounded it when I slashed it with the stake.”

  Ethan’s expression was incredulous. Gwen patted his hand. “Don’t worry, dear, it’s going to get a lot worse.” She leaned back in her chair. “I think I might try a little scrying.”

  Kat rose and retrieved Gwen’s crystal, then nudged Ethan and nodded in the direction of the sofa. He rose and walked over. She sat down opposite him. Anything else just wasn’t safe.

  “So,” she said, “who were you talking to on the phone?”

  His gaze was doing a slow tour of her body, lingering appreciably on her bare legs. She hugged a pillow close to her chest and wondered at her sanity in choosing a skirt over jeans. This man had her hotter than hell.

  “Nosy type, aren’t you?” His amusement glimmered briefly at her actions.

  “It’s a gene all women are born with. You going to answer the question?”

  “I was getting an update from my partner. Preliminary analysis confirms a large dog gnawed the bones. They believe it was only one, not a pack.”

  “Which is what I saw.” She looked at her grandmother and saw her unfocused expression. The scrying appeared to be working again. “I don’t suppose they have any indication of the time of death?”

  He studied her for a moment. “Why is that important, beyond the obvious?”

  She hesitated, wondering how much she should say. But it was probably better to be cautious than to give him a sliver of hope—and then have it dashed. After all, the fact that his niece might have three days was little more than guesswork on their part. “Because it would give us an idea how long this thing is keeping the kids before it kills them.”

  “They won’t know until later today. Mark will call me as soon as he can.”

  She nodded. “Did you tell him you’ve joined us?”

  “No. The less he knows in that regard, the better. If the hammer falls, I don’t want to take him out as well.”

  “So what reason did you give for suddenly disappearing?”

  His smile made her breath catch. “I said I’d met a pretty lady and intended to do nothing more than have incredible sex for the next few days.”

  Her pulse leaped into overdrive. “And do you?”

  His smile was a wicked promise of things to come. She shifted slightly and resisted the temptation to fan her face.

  “Whenever I can.”

  His voice was rich and husky and conjured images of those sheets again. Though even the floor would have done right now.

  “And your partner didn’t think this a strange deviation from a man who has no one in his life?”

  “No one permanent. I’m a werewolf, not a monk.”

  “So when the moon rises, you’re not overly fussy?”

  He raised an eyebrow. “I’ve never sunk to prostitutes, if that’s what you’re asking.”

  She wasn’t, and in many regards, it didn’t really matter. He was here, she was horny, and if they could find the time and space, it could be damn well perfect between them. Did it matter how many different partners he’d had? She’d certainly had more than her fair share over the last ten years, despite her grandmother’s recent insinuations that she was in danger of becoming a reborn virgin.

  “What about yourself?” he said. “Why aren’t you married and home safe with a kid or two? Why are you running around risking your life chasing madmen? Or madwomen?”

  She gave him a deadpan look. “The barefoot-and-pregnant ideal went out a long time ago, Detective.”

  “That doesn’t answer my question.”

  She sighed. “It comes down to the chocolate thing.”

  “So you’re saying chocolate is better than sex?”

  It was interesting he said sex rather than love. Was it some sort of werewolf thing that he kept mentioning sex without ever mentioning any form of emotion? She didn’t know, but she suspected her grandmother might.

  “In some cases, very definitely.” She grinned and added, “Of course, I haven’t had time yet to judge the offer on the table.”

  “So you still intend to … sample the offering?”

  “The sooner the better.”

  “With that I agree wholeheartedly.”

  The look in his eyes smoked her insides. Gwen chose that moment to take a shuddering breath and wake from the scrying, and Kat wasn’t sure whether to curse her grandmother’s timing or bless it as she rose and walked over. She pried the crystal from her grandmother’s fingers, then grabbed a drink and some painkillers, offering her both.

  “Thanks,” Gwen said, when she could.

  “Get anything?”

  Kat sat at the table, with Ethan next to her. She was intensely aware not only of his closeness but of his knee brushing hers. It was a promise of heaven she didn’t dare react to.

  Gwen nodded. “It’s moving, all right. Down to Rogue River. It seems to have specific time restrictions, but I couldn’t see what, exactly, it was.”

  Ethan frowned. “That’s a tiny resort town. Why would it be going there in winter? Wouldn’t summer be a better time if it wanted to prey on kids?”

  “I think it’s safe to say this thing has an agenda of its own, and until we uncover that agenda, we can’t afford to second-guess its motives.”

  “So we’re heading for Rogue River?” Kat said.

  Gwen nodded. “But in two cars. What I saw confirms the fact that it doesn’t know about me. We have to keep it that way a while yet.”

  “Gran, you can’t drive that far in my car.”

  “I have no intentions of doing so. I’m going to hire myself a car and a driver, and travel in luxury.”

  Kat nodded. It wouldn’t be the first time she had done that. The noise of the Mustang sometimes got a bit much for Gran, even if she didn’t like to admit it. She glanced at Ethan. “You want to carpool?”

  He nodded. “We’ll take my Cadillac. You can leave your Mustang garaged at my place. It’ll be safe enough.”

  That made sense. If, for some reason, the three of them had to travel in the one car later on, it would be more comfortable to do so in a Caddie. She looked at her grandmother again. “And after we get to Rogue River?”

  “It’ll be dark, but I suggest you two do a walking tour of the town and see if you can sense anything unusual.”

  “Then?”

  “Then we fortify our defenses, sit back, and wait for their first attack.”

  THEY’D BEEN DRIVING FOR A GOOD FOUR HOURS AND HAD barely exchanged a word. But the silence between them was comfortable—something Ethan found strange, considering how sexually tense they both were.

  Not that he was any sort of expert when it came to knowing what it was like to spend time with a woman beyond the immediacies of sex. He satisfied his needs, made sure both parties had a good time, then he walked away. His work, his past, and what he was allowed for nothing else. And yet here he was, enjoying silence. Amazing.

  “You hungry?” she asked.

  “Is that a question, or are you actually saying you’re hungry?”

  “The latter.” Her cheeks dimpled. “I need to eat.”

  So did he. But he also needed her. And with night encroaching, that need was becoming fiercer, harder to deny. He pointed to the Mercedes up ahead. “You want to phone your grandmother and see if she wants to stop?”

  She nodded and reached for her cell phone. The conversation with Gran was short, and when she’d finished, there was heat in her cheeks.

  He raised an eyebrow. “What did your grandmother say?”

  “She said she’s booked two adjoining cabins at the Rogue River Lodge. She said we should meet her t
here by ten.”

  That was over four hours away. Plenty of time to satisfy everyone’s needs. “What else did she say?” There had to be something else to account for that flash of color in Kat’s cheeks.

  She met his gaze boldly. If she was embarrassed, she’d gotten over it quickly enough. “She said that werewolves are extremely fertile during the moon phase.”

  He didn’t know what to say. Or think. The old girl certainly didn’t miss a trick.

  “She also said I should remember to use condoms.”

  Was that tacit approval? Or merely acceptance of the inevitable? “That goes without saying.”

  “I haven’t got any.”

  He smiled. “I have. They’re extra strong, to catch those over-fertile little rockets.”

  “Well … good.” A warm smile touched her lips. “You know, of course, that the trigger to release those rockets involves food?”

  “Including chocolate?”

  “Chocolate will definitely earn you bonus points.”

  Then he was damn well going to find some chocolate. “The next town we hit is Bandon. Keep your eyes open for something to eat.”

  “And somewhere to have sex?”

  Her voice was little more than a throaty purr and damn near shot his control to hell. He shifted slightly, but it did little to ease the sudden ache. “There’s a blanket in the back, and we are near the ocean. That generally means beaches.”

  She raised an eyebrow, expression amused. “What is it with you and behavior that’s likely to get us arrested?”

  “Maybe underneath the cop there’s a rebel trying to get out.”

  “There’s certainly something trying to get out.”

  And with any sort of luck, it soon would. He pointed to the road ahead. “Concentrate. Or I won’t be able to.”

  She grinned, and her gaze retreated to the front. But over the next ten minutes, the atmosphere became tense. He glanced at her. She still stared ahead, but her expression had become a little glazed. When he touched her arm, she jumped.

  “There’s trouble ahead.” She picked up her phone and quickly dialed. “Gran? Did you see an attack other than the one tonight?”

  She listened for a moment, her expression growing tenser. “Well, that may be the case, but I can feel something waiting ahead of us, and it’s not alive.”

  Ethan frowned. Not alive? What the hell was she talking about?

  “Yeah, I know it can’t be a vampire. This is something else.” She waited a few moments, then added, “No. I think you’re right. I think this is aimed at us. We’ll meet you at the lodge. Just make sure you set yourself a warding circle until we get there.”

  She hung up and looked at him. “I can feel trouble up ahead.”

  “What kind of trouble?” And what the hell was a warding circle?

  “I don’t know. But the mere fact that I’m sensing it suggests it’s dead—whatever it is.”

  “How can something dead be a danger to us?”

  “Vampires are dead. That thing we’re chasing is dead.” She shrugged. “Do you really think werewolves are the only supernatural beings that walk this earth?”

  “I never thought about it.” Which wasn’t really the truth. He couldn’t be what he was and not think about it. But it wasn’t something he wasted a whole lot of brainpower over. Mostly, he just spent his time trying to either control or forget that part of himself. And generally, he succeeded.

  “Well, then, you’d better start thinking and believing. Because those things are out there, and right now they’re massing against us.”

  He bit back disbelief and glanced at his rearview mirror. There was no one behind them and no one in front of them other than the rapidly disappearing Mercedes. If they hit trouble, they’d have to face it alone, right here in the middle of nowhere.

  “Any idea what we’re facing?”

  “No.”

  What good were talents that told you everything and yet nothing? “I have a gun in the back.”

  “Guns don’t always hurt the dead.”

  He glanced at her, not sure whether or not she was joking. Her grim expression told him she wasn’t. “So what does hurt them?”

  “That depends on what we’re facing.”

  He drummed his fingers against the steering wheel. “How far ahead is it?”

  “Close.” She hesitated. “And coming closer.”

  The road was long and straight. He couldn’t see anything approaching. Not a truck, not a car, not an ant. Maybe her psychic senses were going a little haywire …

  “Look out!”

  From the corner of his eye he caught the flash of red. An engine growled, then a truck surged out of the trees and across the road. He planted his foot on the gas pedal, but it was already too late. The truck hit the back of the Cadillac and slewed them around. He fought the wheel for control, but the trees loomed fast. They hit with a sickening crunch that jarred every bone in his body. Through the creaking of metal and slight hiss of air came the sound of an engine—and not his. Whoever it was wasn’t finished with them yet.

  He undid his seat belt, then reached across and undid Kat’s. “You all right?”

  She nodded. There was blood on the side of her face, and her hands were trembling as she pushed back her hair. Her gaze met his, then went past him and widened. “It’s coming again.”

  “Get out.” He reached past her and thrust open the door. Then he did the same on his side and dove out, tasting dirt as he rolled and rose. And not a second too soon. The truck crashed into his Caddie, buckling the door and pushing in the entire side of the car.

  He ran around and wrenched open the truck’s door. The stink that hit him was almost overwhelming, and he gagged. God, hadn’t this madman showered in the last twenty years? He reached in, grabbed the idiot by the arm, and pulled him out of the cab.

  The driver hit the dirt and didn’t move—though if the wild gyrations of his arms and legs were anything to go by, he was certainly trying. It looked for all the world like there was an invisible weight sitting on his chest, holding him down.

  “It’s a zombie.” Kat stopped beside him, a bead of perspiration running down her cheek and an odd look of concentration on her face.

  “As in Night of the Living Dead?”

  “Yep.”

  He kicked the idiot’s foot. “He doesn’t feel dead. And he’s certainly not acting dead.”

  The look she gave him suggested frustration. Or annoyance. “Well, no, and that’s because he’s the living dead and not the dead dead.”

  He swallowed the urge to argue the point. “We’ll tie this moron up, then I’ll call Mark and ask him to take care of the problem.”

  “The zombie won’t be here by the time your partner gets the cops here.”

  “I tie a pretty mean knot, lady, and I have no intention of leaving the keys here.”

  “That doesn’t matter. He’s a zombie. He has more strength than you or I, and being tied with rope won’t slow him down.”

  He took a deep breath and tried to remain calm. “So what do you suggest I do?”

  “Kill it.”

  He stared at her. “You and your grandmother really do have this thing about killing, don’t you?”

  She indicated the squirming, stinking mass at their feet. “When you’re dealing with the likes of this, you have no choice.”

  “I’m a cop and, despite common belief, we do not go around shooting people just for the fun of it.”

  “I’m not for a moment suggesting you shoot anything for fun. However, unless you want this thing coming after us, you need to either shoot its brains out or break its neck.”

  “I may be a werewolf, but I’m not a monster.” He was beginning to wonder, however, if she was. But that certainly didn’t kill his desire for her. Not in the least. “Go fetch the rope from the trunk.”

  She glared at him, then spun on her heel and did as he asked. Several seconds later she tossed the rope at him. “You’ll regret this, you kn
ow.”

  “I’d regret killing him even more.” He quickly tied the stinking mass, then tossed it in the back of the truck. The aroma of death seemed to cling to him as he stepped away. “I’ll drive this thing off the road, then we’ll continue on.”

  “Will the Caddie be drivable?”

  “I think so.” However, it certainly looked as if he’d be climbing in and out from the passenger side for the next few days. He leaped into the pickup and reversed it off the road, out of everyone’s way. Then he checked to make sure the idiot was still trussed tight and tossed the keys deep into the trees.

  When he turned around, Kat had her hands thrust onto her hips, one foot tapping and eyes narrowed. She looked as if she was up to something, but he wasn’t sure what. He crossed the road, and her expression suddenly cleared.

  “All done now?” Annoyance and amusement combined in her voice and made him just a little uneasy.

  “Not yet.” He walked past her and inspected the damage to his car. As he suspected, the driver’s door had been punched in too far to open. Both driver’s-side door panels had sustained severe damage, but nothing that would affect the car’s overall drivability. He hoped. It would be a cow to handle, though.

  “Let’s go.” He dug a handkerchief out of his pocket and offered it to her, then climbed into the car and started the engine.

  She got in after him, then flipped down the sun visor and began cleaning her wound with the aid of the vanity mirror. “Not deep.”

  “No.”

  He took off slowly. The Caddie shuddered and groaned, the rear end making a variety of noises he just didn’t like. He gradually built up speed, but he had to ease up on the accelerator as they neared forty. The vibrations were too drastic to tempt fate by going any faster.

  Silence fell between him and Kat, but it was nowhere near as easy as it originally had been.

  “You have to trust me,” she said eventually. “I really do know what I’m talking about.”

  “I have no real reason to believe that.” Sure, her background checked out okay, but that didn’t mean she and her grandmother weren’t pulling some stunt.

  And while his instincts said he could trust her, his instincts had been proven wrong before. Not often, but sometimes when it really counted.