DX

by Carolyn Jewel

  “You look good.” Tuan spoke with that Southeast Asian slur around certain sounds that she really, really liked. Then he smiled and reminded her of all the reasons she’d fallen for him in the first place. He was handsome, of course. He had a twisted sense of humor, and she’d believed for a long time he wasn’t hung up on his power.

  “Thanks.”

  “I’ve missed you.”

  She crossed her arms over her chest. Jaden, she discovered, had a much different take on the world than she did, and it was bleeding into hers. She’d never assessed Tuan as a rival, but Jaden did. “What you are you doing here?”

  “The same one-track mind as always, I see.” He grinned. “Fabienne told me you were in trouble.”

  “Nah,” she said.

  Tuan looked at the blasted-out street and tumbled down buildings. He pushed off the wall. “What I heard is some goon had you.”

  “He’s not a goon, Tuan.” They’d been an un-item for well over a year. Except for one brief but disastrous backslide, she hadn’t seen him for months and she still felt an absurd descent into emotional baggage that ought to be long empty of impact.

  “Your goon killed Stephano. And left you alone in the Lower. The Cazadores could get top dollar for you, Hell, don’t you know that? Where is he?”

  Oops. There hadn’t been time for a cover story. “He left to get help. How about you, Tuan? Are you here to help or gloat?”

  The vampire sighed. “The car’s there.” He jerked a thumb toward the street.

  With the lights back on, the block looked worse than before. The Cazadores were gone. So were the werewolf bodies. The buildings across the street were more or less rubble and the ones on this side weren’t much better. Other than Fabienne leaning on a Mercedes convertible with a Street Sweeper balanced on her shoulder, there weren’t any people. Fabienne bared her fangs at Hell and hissed.

  “Lose the attitude, Fabienne,” Hell said on the way to the car. She could see the seating arrangements already. Fabienne driving, her and Tuan in the back seat. Arguing. Or worse. She turned around. “Hey, Tuan?”

  “What, darling?” he said, opening the rear passenger door for her.

  “Let me drive.” She stood on the sidewalk, hands on her hips. Jaden seemed to enjoy the sensation. “Come on, Tuan, why not?”

  “For you, anything.” He nodded at Fabienne who stood aside from the driver’s side door.

  In the car, Hell waited for Jaden to realize he had to move the seat forward before she fastened her seat belt. She gave the belt an extra tug and then Jaden took over. And that was a freaky experience. She felt a black energy buzzing in the back of her head, and then she was, gently, shoved aside. Her world turned into a spectator sport, surround-sound and a 3-D movie on steroids. She was an observer in her own body. And Jaden relished the control. No, he delighted in it, adored it, embraced it. Wanted more.

  “Golden Wing?” she asked. She expected Jaden’s voice to come out of her throat, but it was her voice because he’d used her body to speak, rather than use his power to vocalize on his own.

  “Yes,” Tuan said. He opened the passenger side door and slid in. Fabienne got the back and pouted about it, too.

  Jaden was aware of Fabienne, of her energy and strength and if not her thoughts, then her mental state, which was angry and sulky. Jaden did not see Fabienne as a threat. He also thought Tuan’s enforcer was hot. Both vampires were a near match for his physical strength but little, if any, for his power. He believed he could kill either of them. More disturbing than Jaden’s sexual attraction to Fabienne— Hell wasn’t used to feeling aroused by another woman —was that Jaden had access to her memories of Tuan.

  He was not a good lover, Jaden remarked in her head. “I would be much better for you. I’d like to do that.”

  Shut up and drive.

  Fabienne gave directions, but it wasn’t clear to Hell that Jaden needed them. He seemed to have an internal GPS of his own. The minute they left the Lower, the enforcer crossed her arms under her chest, slunk down on the back seat and didn’t say another word. Jaden pulled into traffic on the last second of the yellow. Fabienne shouted. Air flowed over the car.

  Jaden blocked Hell’s reflexive close of her eyes when he cut off an SUV and merged behind a moving van. He changed lanes again and punched the gas to make another yellow light. Horns blared all around them. Three car lengths from the left turn lane, he went left, jamming on the gas when he saw the light for the cross-traffic turn yellow. He steered the Mercedes into the turn to counter the shimmy at the back. Wheels screeched, and he whipped into the right lane without looking.

  At the Golden Wing Jaden pulled into Tuan’s spot and shut off the engine. For several seconds, the only sound was the cooling engine and the garage HVAC. The quiet was worth every minute spent praying they weren’t going to die in a flaming ball of gasoline and engine parts. Jaden opened his door. “Here we are,” Hell said brightly because she knew how much that would piss off Fabienne.

  Tuan got out and came around the front of the car to put a hand on Hell’s elbow. “Where’d you learn to drive like that?”

  Jaden mined her thoughts and said, “Traffic school.”

  Tuan laughed. “I’d love to see what you’d do with a real car, Hell.”

  “Do you have one?” Jaden asked the question.

  Tuan smiled. “There’s the Lamborghini I bought for your birthday last year.”

  “Oh, yeah. Nice wheels.”

  “It’s still yours.” He stroked the back of her arm. “I know a private road,” he said. “You can get as fast and wild as you want. Come upstairs with me, and I’ll get you the keys.”

  “You!” said Fabienne from the back seat. She put a hand on the top of the door and vaulted onto the pavement next to Hell, the Street Sweeper clutched in her other hand. “You are a fucking maniac!” Fabienne put a hand on Hell’s shoulder and pushed. Hell didn’t budge. “You shouldn’t be allowed anywhere near a car!”

  “Tuan likes the way I drive.” That sounded way too much like Hell was baiting her. She was surprised Jaden could feel Fabienne’s jealousy. It was easy enough to guess, but Jaden felt it. He still thought Fabienne was hot.

  “Then he’s crazy, too.” She whirled on Tuan. “Let her near the Murciélago, boss, and the car is toast, guaranteed.”

  “We got here didn’t we?” Tuan let go of Hell’s elbow and slid his arm around her waist. Tuan knew Fabienne was jealous, too, but he liked it. “Let’s go inside, shall we?” When she hesitated, Tuan said, “We need to talk, Hell.”

  Upstairs, Tuan kicked off his sandals and walked straight into the living room. The furniture was still forest-green leather, two couches, some chairs and an ottoman, glitter gold walls and a bamboo floor. There was a koi pond and a waterfall in a corner. Hell sat on one of the couches and felt like she’d never left. Jaden receded enough to let her take the lead. “Keys?” she said.

  Tuan snapped his fingers at Fabienne. The enforcer rolled her eyes, but she left the room long enough to return with two sets of keys. She threw them at Hell, hard enough to hurt if she hadn’t had Jaden’s reflexes to snatch them out of the air. She stuffed the keys in her pocket. “Thanks.”

  Fabienne flopped down on the other sofa, splaying out her long, elegant legs. The Street Sweeper lay across her lap. Jaden thought that was especially hot. She had a great rack, and with that observation came an image of Fabienne stretched out on the sofa, naked with her— no Jaden, caressing her breasts. Was that all men thought about? Hell’s stare got a puzzled look from Fabienne.

  “Fabienne,” said Tuan. “A bottle of tequila and some limes.” On their third date, when Hell wasn’t even sure they were dating, they’d come here and between them consumed an entire bottle of tequila and then she’d had the best sex of her life. He didn’t bite her. He didn’t so much as flash a fang, but the sex was fantastic. The pressure for biting and more didn’t come until later.

  He still wants to convert you, Jaden said.
<
br />   I can handle him.

  We should go. Now.

  What and leave Fabienne all alone?

  “Sure, boss.” Tuan’s enforcer headed for the kitchen.

  Tuan sat next to Hell, close, but not too close. Being around him in her bra and pants was uncomfortable to say the least. She leaned back, and then scooted away under pretext of rearranging her legs. Tuan noticed, and he frowned. “I hear your meeting with Elijah Douglas went badly.”

  “How do you know?” Hell replied. She knew better than to look at any vampire, especially Tuan, in the eye, and Tuan knew her well enough to understand her distrust. A chill sped down her spine. The rat-fink was trying to establish the mental connection needed to lull her into compliance. Then she’d tell-all and do-all. Her fear roused Jaden. It’s all right. “Stop it, Tuan.”

  “Hell, darling.” He didn’t try to make direct eye contact again, but he did touch the nape of her neck. “I am well informed. You know that.”

  “Then you don’t need to ask me anything, do you?”

  Fabienne returned with the tequila and two shot glasses. “You can go now,” he told her.

  “I wouldn’t recommend it, boss.”

  Tuan shook his head. “I have personal business with Hell.”

  Her mouth tightened, but she turned on a heel and left.

  “What I don’t know,” Tuan said softly as Fabienne retreated, “is what happened to Agent Lightfeather. Is he dead?”

  “I don’t know. I told you, he went to get help.” She lifted a hand, palm out when Tuan handed her a glass. “I’m working tonight, Tuan.”

  “It’s your favorite.”

  “No, it isn’t.”

  “That’s not the way I remember it,” he said in that soft voice that always got her into trouble. She did like bad boys. “What are you afraid of?”

  “Fine.” She took it and put it on the teak coffee table in front of her. The guy always had to be right about what was best. He had to be right about what she thought, right about what she remembered and right about how she remembered it. Her shoulders tensed up. The waterfall in the koi pond burbled gently. She was better off now, way better off without him.

  “We were good together, Hell, you know we were.”

  She shook her head. “No, we weren’t.”

  Tuan slid close enough to her to touch her bare shoulder. “Yes, we were.” She pushed away his arm. Inside her, Jaden rumbled his displeasure. Tuan sighed and left his hand on the top of the sofa. “About Agent Lightfeather.”

  “What about him?”

  “I’m interested in talking to him.”

  She pretended to be astonished. “No shit?”

  “I know what he is, Hell.”

  She damn near looked at his face. As it was she managed to veer off at the last minute and stare at his ear. “You mean a covert agent?” She laughed, but it was a close call. “Trust me, Fabienne is the only assassin you need.”

  “You can’t lie to me, Hell.” He was being polite for now and staying out of her head. Thank God. “I’ll know. I’ll always know.”

  Her back was sticking to the couch, and she leaned away from the contact. Jaden ran hot, and she was uncomfortably warm. She shrugged. “Okay, he’s not covert.”

  “He’s the demon who attacked me and killed six of my people.”

  Her pulse jumped but she kept her body still. “Are you sucking crack-addict blood these days, Tuan?”

  “Who do you think gave Milos the video you saw?” He leaned forward. “Damn it, Hell, I watched him do it.”

  “I saw.”

  “As soon as Fabienne told me what happened to Stephano I knew who he must be.” The room was too close and far too warm. And Tuan was about to leave off being polite.

  “Don’t,” she said, lifting a hand. “Just don’t, okay?”

  “Did you send him?” Tuan gripped the back of her neck. The instant he touched her, Jaden put himself in control. Tuan set a hand to her chin and forced her to look at him, but she closed her eyes, willing Jaden to stand down. He didn’t. Jaden opened her eyes, and she saw, as a spectator, Tuan’s deep black eyes and felt the mental pulse of his connection, and what Tuan met was Jaden, not her. Tuan hissed, exposing his fangs and leapt halfway across the room. Fabienne came into the room at a run, a Ruger automatic ready to fire. “No!” Tuan shouted.

  Fabienne slid to a stop, eyes on Tuan. “Boss?”

  Hell stood up, but under Jaden’s power not hers. Her body felt clumsy because Jaden stood like someone who was much taller than she was and whose center of balance was different. He adjusted, and she stopped feeling like she was going to fall over. “I’m fine, Tuan. It’s fine, everything’s fine. Goddamn it, Jaden!”

  “Is that you, Lightfeather?” Tuan said.

  “Yes.” God, that felt strange, his answer coming out of her mouth in her voice.

  “Is she the one controlling you?”

  “No.”

  “I want a deal,” Tuan said.

  Hell gasped when she felt Jaden leave her. She’d have fallen if he hadn’t kept an arm around her. It was a sickening, disorienting stripping of herself from the inside. Fabienne shouted when Jaden appeared in his demon form. God help her, she wanted him back. Fabienne would have fired the Ruger, but Tuan lifted a hand, staring at Jaden.

  “It really is you,” he said.

  Jaden tightened his arm around Hell, keeping her steady. “Go on, Tuan Ng.”

  Tuan’s eyes went flat. All his considerable attention was on Jaden. “I want protection for my people against dogs and humans.” He stayed close to Fabienne. “Your services,” he said. “At my command.”

  “Why should I enslave myself to you, vampire?”

  “Partnership in the Golden Wing.” Tuan smiled. “Forty-nine percent.”

  Jaden shrugged. “And?”

  “Show me where the portal is being built,” Tuan continued, “and I’ll see you get through whenever you want. As long as another one like you takes your place, ready and willing to do exactly as I say.”

  Hell’s stomach felt like a rock. She didn’t like the look on Tuan’s face. The fang was too certain of himself. “No,” she said. “Jaden, no.”

  Jaden let out a breath. “For that,” he told Tuan, “you must protect Hell with your life.” He stared at the vampire. “If she dies or is harmed, I promise I will kill you.”

  “Jaden, no.” She swung around in front of him. “No. Don’t do this.”

  He touched her cheek with the side of his thumb. “This way there is a chance.”

  “No.” Frantic, she put her hands on his chest. If he obligated himself to Tuan, he’d never be free. Ever. Tuan would use him the same way Milos had. “I’ll do it,” she whispered to Jaden. “Everything.”

  “Hell,” Tuan said. “Please do not interfere.”

  She didn’t look at Tuan. God, was she crying? She couldn’t stand the thought of Jaden enslaved to anyone. She swiped a hand over her cheeks and damned if they weren’t damp “Forget the Golden Wing, Jaden. I’ll do what you said, plus make you a full partner with me. Marshall and Lightfeather Investigations. Fifty-fifty.”

  Tuan laughed.

  “Everything? Are you certain?” Jaden asked.

  “Yes.”

  He bowed, one fisted hand over the other. “Helen Marshall, it is done.” He kissed her , and she melted against him. His arm snaked around her waist.

  “Hell?” Tuan said.His eyes glittered, but Fabienne rested a warning hand on his arm. “It isn’t over between us,” he said.

  “Yeah,” she said, slipping her hand in Jaden’s. “It is.” For the first time in her life, Hell walked away from Tuan Ng without a shred of regret, and it felt good. Really good.

  In the garage, Jaden touched the hood of her silver Lamborghini Murciélago like he’d found paradise. He opened the driver’s side door and slid in. He adjusted the seat all the way back. A grin on his face, he leaned over and popped up the passenger side door.

  When she ha
d her seatbelt secured, she looked at him and took a deep breath. “My place or yours?”

  CHAPTER 6

  “You said you were a slob.” Hell stood in a living room without a stick of furniture. The walls were bare. No pictures. No artwork. No curtains. The floor was hardwood with no rugs. No nothing. There was a ceiling light, but the bulb was out because nothing happened when she flipped the switch.

  “I am.” Jaden walked across the room. Hell stared at his back, unsettled by the shiver of pleasure she got from looking at him. Midnight hair spilled down his naked torso, thick and glossy. He wasn’t taller or more muscular, but he felt menacingly bigger than in his human form. Part of her liked the danger. A lot. He disappeared through an open door. A light went on in another room.

  “No, see, in order to qualify as a slob, you have to have stuff you fail to put away.” She stared at the empty room. “I don’t think you have any stuff.” He lived in a high rise with a spectacular view of the city. Not quite the same as looking down from the vampire level of Strata +1, but impressive all the same.

  “Come, Hell,” he called from the other room.

  The clack of her square heeled boots echoed across the floor. A light was on in an open area that formed a nexus between the kitchen, a small bedroom or office and the master bedroom. Jaden had just tossed the car keys on the floor. The kitchen was immaculate.

  “Don’t you have any furniture?” An entire herd of butterflies took flight in her stomach. Was she really going to do this? Bind herself to a Bak-Faru demon? He seemed so matter-of-fact. Like it was no big deal, what she was going to let him do. Maybe for him it wasn’t. For her, it would change her life.

  He held out a hand, pale amber eyes fixed on her. “I have a bed.”

  Yes, she was going to do for Jaden what she’d refused Tuan. She put her hand in his, and he led her to his bedroom. Her throat went dry as Death Valley in mid-summer. He turned on the light. For a heartbeat, she thought the room looked onto a desert under a crimson moon, but it was a landscape painted on the entire far wall. Pillows by the dozen, all in brilliant jeweled tones, lay on the floor next to the mural. A cobalt blue bowl was nearby on the floor. The other walls were stark white. She said, “You don’t have a bed.”