Slade was tall, well over six feet, broad, and able to lift a small car. I’d seen him do it before. He was pure strength packed tightly underneath his taut olive skin. His icy blue eyes and shaggy light brown hair endeared him to the lady folks all the more. I met him about four years ago, and we were quick friends. I used him to keep men off my back and he used me to keep his crazy mother from trying to hook him up with a “sweet” female wolf shifter so he could “settle down already” and give her some grandpups. Apparently, I wasn’t the sweet or settle down type. She had said that while growling at me. Of course, her instincts were spot on. I’d never be nice or settle down, and sure as hell wouldn’t be popping out youngins. Ever.
And Slade was probably thinking the same thing. We were both big whores—which was why we never slept together. I would have without a second thought if we hadn’t started out as friends, but sleeping together would complicate that. We both knew that, so we never bothered to explore that avenue.
“Why so many?” he finally asked me. He lifted his hand and touched the pins that were on and around shifter territory, but staying off their private land. He was going to report the new gates to his big Alpha boss as soon as he could.
“Gates are on the fritz, popping up all over. Enough to get Cecil turning clients down so I’ll stay sane. I had three cases just yesterday.”
“So that’s why you look like you crawled out of bed and forgot to put on clothes.”
“Crawled? I’m more graceful than that. I rolled out.” I poked him right in the abs and nearly broke my finger, he was that hard. “Besides, I took a shower, so I should be offended you think I look like shit right now.”
He laughed and opened a bottle of water that he must have grabbed when I wasn’t paying attention. He downed it in moments.
“Thirsty?” I cocked an eyebrow.
“Stupid air conditioner broke in my car. It’s a hundred degrees outside.”
I flinched and went towards my bedroom, leaving him in the living room. “Looks like it’s a race to see who passes out first today,” I called out.
He groaned loud enough for me to hear as I threw on underthings, running shorts, a tank top, socks, and my running shoes. I met him at the front door. He looked me over to make sure I didn’t forget to put something on, and with his nod of approval, we headed out.
Slade wasn’t joking about the heat. It was crazy hot out today. I suddenly had the urge to turn around and hide indoors for the day, away from the heat, but ignored it. I was used to being hot. It didn’t bother me as much as it did humans, who were hiding inside their homes for the day. Still, days like these filled the news with stupid humans who had never heard of heat stroke and didn’t know their own weaknesses.
I quickly loosened up my muscles with some arm and leg movements and took off, knowing Slade was right behind me. Our runs went for about fifteen miles, two times a week. As a shifter, Slade had no problem with the distance, and I wasn’t exactly human so I could keep up with his long strides. Our path started off going downhill, then wrapped around a massive park, circling around for about eight miles, and going back up the hill to my house.
We kept up a fast pace, our feet pounding against the pavement until we reached the end of the path wrapping around the park. We used the cooldown to talk for a bit, catching up. He’d had to cancel on me the last week because of pack issues. Pack came first. Always. Another reason he couldn’t find someone to settle down with. No one came above his pack duties.
I glanced over at Slade as he watched a woman jog past us. His eyes glinted with appreciation.
Laughing, I nudged him to get his attention. We were both huge perverts. Our relationship was smooth sailing because Slade was one blunt bastard who was as much of a perv as me. It kept our relationship real. I didn’t have to dance around and try to be “tactful” around him. Cecil’s word for when I didn’t do what was considered normal. Cecil said I was too indiscreet; Slade said I was fine.
“What’s so funny?” he asked, glancing at me.
“Just enjoying the view,” I chuckled, and it was my turn to ogle a guy as he ran by. He wasn’t wearing a shirt, which left his well-sculpted chest and back uncovered for display. A very beautiful view of lines and muscles with a couple of hot tattoos. I licked my lips, wondering whether, if I asked, if he would let me lick the tattoos. I loved tattoos.
Shit, if I kept this up, I’d have to go out tonight for some sexual release.
“What are you doing after the run?” Slade asked, drawing me out of my thoughts. I could tell he wanted to keep hanging out. Probably sick and tired of whatever was going on with his pack, but he was Second, and that meant he signed his life over to them. He couldn’t do something simple, like being a sentry or tracker. Oh, no, he had to be an overachiever and be Second. Our rare times together were his leisure times, especially when he didn’t have female companions to hook up with.
“I have a gate to clear, want to tag along?”
Slade shrugged. “I’m always up for an adventure.” He gave me his trademark grin with double dimples that made women swoon with just a glance. A female jogger saw the grin while running by and actually ran backward to stare at him. She nearly fell over a fallen branch.
I narrowed my eyes at Slade with suspicion. I even crossed my arms to help intimidate him, not that that was going to work. “No pack business?”
He shook his head.
“Are you sure?”
“Positive.”
I lowered my arms and smiled, suddenly very excited with the thought of him coming along. “Good, because I don’t want you abandoning me again. You do it every single time. You’re feeding into my abandonment issues.”
He snorted. “What abandonment issues? You’re more the type to give them to people. Besides, if my Alpha calls, I listen.”
“And if he howls, you have to return it. I get it.”
“He doesn’t howl.”
“He’s not a wolf like you?”
He neither confirmed nor denied it.
“Feline? Does he purr?”
Again, he made a noncommittal shrug, telling me absolutely nothing.
I narrowed my eyes once again. “Do you even know?”
“All I need to remember is that if I challenge him, he will kill me. He’s a Prime.”
“What’s a Prime?”
He chuckled, a deep throaty one, and rubbed my head, messing up my hair. Curse him for treating me like his baby sister. If anything, I should be the big sister. “Nothing you need to worry about, Nyssa.”
Meaning it was a shifter secret, so he wouldn’t tell me.
“Now let’s go check out your gate. I hope it’s a good one,” he said to change the topic.
“Me too, Darling. I’m tired of appearing in bathrooms.” I smirked when he gave me a questioning look. I wondered if he knew the shifter I’d met yesterday. He probably did. I mean, that shifter was very powerful, and powerful shifters tended to know each other. “Oh, by the way. The clients are vamps.”
He cursed up a storm and glared at me as we went back to my house. I just laughed because Slade didn’t curse often. Vampires had that kind of power over him. He would go because he already said he would, and nothing short of his Alpha calling would stop him from breaking his word.
“You need to stay away from the fucking ’pires.”
“Funny, they said the same thing about you fucking varmints.” Their words, not mine I added silently.
Eyes flashing with pure anger, he said, “They’re diseased little fuckers that should just stay dead.”
“They aren’t zombies. And you guys need to have a little powwow and just end this stupid feud between your groups. It’s raining all over my parade.”
He grumbled all the way back to my apartment so we could clean up and fetch my car. Normally, we took his car because there was more room, but thanks to his broken air conditioner, he had to suffer in mine.
Chapter Three
I remember a darkness t
hat never left me alone. No matter how much I ran. I remember how it reached out and touched my skin, sending shivers down my body. I would run and it was always still there. Just a few steps behind me. Stalking me.
—Nyssa’s Journal
Some vampires lived in mansions, others in apartment buildings, or even in trailers. I’d seen a trailer park of vampires once. This client lived in an abandoned monastery—a huge one that took up an entire block or two at the edge of the city, away from the bustle of Teragona. They didn’t try to hide or to blend in. They wanted everyone to know exactly where they were and to see who had enough balls to try to sneak in. People only grew balls during October when Samhain approached, but that was still a couple months away.
Still. Vampires and monasteries. Some kind of sacred law had to have been broken.
We pulled up to the gate, and I handed over my credentials to the kind sir with the hard glare and fitted security uniform. When he eyed Slade, I passed over his too. I had made him get his fancy laminated certificate and the right gate-hopping credentials two years ago so he could do jobs with me if I needed backup. He was probably the only person I trusted in the city to have my back when I got into tight spots—which happened more often than Slade liked.
Slade grumbled in annoyance, still mad at me for tricking him into doing this gig. He had kept trying to talk me out of doing it on our way over, and I kept ignoring him. At least up until I glared at him long enough to plan his death, execute it, and then hide the evidence. Then he finally shut his mouth.
The guard’s suspicion went up a few notches as he tried to stare down Slade. Not that his puppy dog version of the angry look would ever work on my companion.
People knew not to mess with Slade and they also knew not to mess with me. Some of Slade’s shifter buddies had a pool running on who would win when we finally decided to beat each other up “for realsies.” They knew nothing. The challenge wasn’t in fighting one another, but in outfighting each other when we got ourselves into the middle of shit. We had an unhealthy dose of one-upmanship. Even something as simple as going for a run usually turned into a huge competitive marathon. It made gate-hopping with him exciting because if he was coming along, then there were a few less asses that needed kicking.
Eventually, after the security guard examined our credentials, did a background check, took our fingerprints, and did a body cavity search, they allowed us through. Okay, it wasn’t that bad but still, they were strict. I knew it was because a few hundred feet below us slept their precious vamp queen. If they could get away with it, they probably would do a cavity search on us. But if they tried to do that shit on me, I would break some balls, ensuring the end of their family line.
As they opened the gate, I sent the youngest one a flirty grin, and he blushed right up to the tip of his ears. Cute.
The older man who opened the cast-iron gate directed us to a dirt path that went around to the back of the monstrosity they called home. Their lovely home was... creepy. And probably belonged in a horror film. The outside was all white brick with moss vines growing along the wall. Tall glass-paned windows reached up to the many pointed red rooftops. The grounds overflowed with unkempt shrubberies, and bulky trees cast dark shadows against the white brick.
We drove around the large monastery, putting distance between the building and my car as we headed into the surrounding forested area behind it.
I followed the path and continued on for about a quarter mile from the residence before my favorite silver fox flagged me down to pull over. The familiar man looked to be in his forties, with some scruff around his jaw and sharp silvery eyes. He was nice to look at for being old. A fit body, good manners, and a drool-worthy older, mature look. I’d been known to explore an older man or two. A definite bonus was that they were generally extremely experienced with a woman’s body. Then again, I couldn’t really complain about age. I was an old lady after all, even if I only looked twenty-five in human speak. From what information I managed to gather through history books, events, and my own foggy memories, I had to be at least two centuries old.
I hopped out of the car and smiled at Jamal. He was my usual contact when I dealt with the vampires.
“Pops, fancy seeing you here.”
“Nyssa.” Jamal’s eyes stayed on Slade as he crawled out of my small car. When Slade straightened up, stretching to his full six foot three height, Jamal scowled. “Why is a shifter with you?”
“He’s my sometimes partner. After the day I had yesterday, I wanted someone with me.”
Jamal’s jaw tightened with barely controlled hatred for the shifter. The two factions were always fighting with each other over one thing or another. Most of the time it was because someone accidentally bumped into someone else.
“Very well, please follow me.”
I smiled again and followed Jamal with a little extra hop in my step while ignoring Slade’s expression. He was trying to let me know he was not happy to be here at all. I tossed a wink in his direction to let him know I didn’t care. How could I care about his feelings when I was in the presence of a shifter and a vampire servant in close proximity to each other? I loved fireworks.
We walked through the brush for only a couple of minutes before the hairs on my arms began prickling. Even Slade stiffened up, his body on alert, his eyes scanning the area, looking for danger. Eventually, a small group of people came into sight, and I recognized one of them. Mr. Sharo, AKA Pumpkin. A panty-melting fantasy. He talked animatedly with someone else, not paying attention to the new company arriving.
“So what’s the story?” I asked Jamal.
“A guard stumbled across the gate the other night. One of ours went in after the vampires went to sleep and has not come back yet. We are greatly concerned and would like for you to go through and retrieve him.”
“You don’t want to send in any of your own?” I eyed the few other people standing around. There was a group of three huddled off to the side as they eyed us warily. Vamps tended to keep business to themselves.
“If our man is not able to get out, we cannot help him. He is our strongest. We also cannot send in any vampires because we do not know if it is day or night there.”
I nodded in understanding. My first case with them was when a vampire went through a gate and didn’t come back. I went in and found a crispy body on the other side. Their queen was not happy. Now she wouldn’t send vampires through gates unless they knew what time of day it was on the other side. She didn’t want any more barbecued babies.
Frankly, they should have known better to send a vampire through without more information first, especially with such a strong weakness. But according to the vampire queen, I knew nothing and needed to stay quiet.
“The gate is this way.” Jamal turned to the left and we followed.
He didn’t really have to point out where the gate was. I could feel the damn thing nipping at my skin. It felt like a bunch of bugs crawling on me. A very angry gate for sure.
I smiled at the prospect of facing a challenge. Slade raised an eyebrow at what was probably a goofy expression, but he didn’t say anything. He didn’t need to. We both knew what we were about to face.
When the small gate came into view, my body shook with the overwhelming excitement of doing something fun and dangerous once again. People got high off of drugs and jumping out of airplanes. I got high off of fighting for my life. Off of the adrenaline and the knowledge that I could be killed.
“This gate looks like it eats people.” Slade nearly growled, his wolf wild in his eyes.
He was just as scared and excited as I was. The only difference between us was that I shook with the excitement while he tensed up, ready for a battle. Our instincts were excellent, and they were kindly yelling at us that this was going to be a fun adventure indeed. Whoever made this gate probably belonged locked away in the seventh level of hell. Even then, that wouldn’t be far enough away. Not with the dark swirls within the opening, the whip-like tendrils waiting for us
to get close enough before lashing out. Gates took after their creators and their intentions, like how shy Marsi wanted attention from the hunk in the bathroom. In this case, the creator was one angry mother trucker with a whole lot of mojo to put that anger to good use.
“So what’s the game plan?” Slade asked, giving me lead like the smart man that he was.
“Gate-hopping isn’t exactly subtle. If anyone dangerous is on the other side, they’ll know the moment we step through. So charge in, ready to kill.”
Slade nodded, letting the silence fall around us. Suddenly there was a weird sound breaking through the quiet. It was a quick tune of doom, a warning of urgency.
“What is that?” I glanced around, looking for the source.
Slade winced and dug in his pocket.
“Oh, hell no,” I nearly growled, recognizing the apology in his stupidly handsome face. “You are not—”
He lifted his hand, cutting me off.
“Yes,” he answered and then listened for a moment.
Slowly his expression blanked out and he nodded and agreed like the good doggy that he was.
When he hung up, I glared hard. “No fucking way. You are not leaving me to do this by myself. You said you didn’t have business.”
“Something came up.”
“But, look at it,” I pointed to the gate as if it had all the answers to keep him here. “That is a badass gate. Tell me you are not giving up the chance to go through it.”
“You know the rules.”
“But... the gate! It practically screams death.” I put both my hands on his cheeks and pressed them in until his face squished up. “We like death.” I kept my brown eyes wide and innocent as I forced his head to nod with my drawn out words.
He yanked out of my grip and glared at me. “Pack first.”
“You’re abandoning me again.”
“I promise to make it up to you.”
“I think you said that the last time you did this. And the time before that. And the time before that. Oh, did I mention the other time before that one time?”
Emergence Page 3
