Off Limits

by Jana Leigh

  The other man stood, and was only an inch shorter than the other was, but he was a little sleeker. He was wearing a gray suit and tie, short, blonde hair and gray eyes. His features were a little smother than the other man’s, and his face a lot more serious. She could tell between the two, the one holding her shirt was the funny one.

  “We are with the FBI,” s uit man said, and she dropped her head and sighed.

  It had been going too well, she thought, and shook her head. “Not going to work guys. I made my statement and that was it. Hell, I handed over all the information you need. Why are you coming now?” s he said frustrated.

  “Let me think?” funny man said. “You made a statement about Digrossi killing your father in front of you, you turned over records of his operations that your mother took, and you gave a fake name and address. Why would we be looking for you?”

  “Fuckers, can’t you just leave me alone? I gave you what you needed, are you too stupid to use it?” Jazz growled, then pulled her shirt out of the man’s grasp and went to the cupboard she had put in the storage room.

  The men watched as she organized and took things out of the drawers and cubbies, packing them all into a large duffel bag that she had taken from the corner. She refused to talk to them anymore ; as far as she was concerned , she did what s he had to do. Now she was leaving, and there was nothing they could do to stop her. She had done nothing wrong.

  After she finished packing, she turned to the corner, again pulled out her necklace with keys on it, and opened the small safe that was in the corner. She pulled out her money, stuffed half in the side pocket of the bag and half into her purse. Reaching inside, she pulled out pictures of her family before the fat asshole destroyed it all. Sniffing, she looked at her father’s face briefly before putting them into the bag. The last item in the safe was her parent’s wedding rings and the necklace they had given her that last Christmas. Putting the rings on the necklace, she fastened them around her neck and the stood up and turned.

  Both men had turned their chairs, placed them against the door, and watched her. Funny man grinned when she looked at him , w hile the suit folded his arms, leaned back against his chair, pointing out she was going to have to get through them in order to get out of the small room.

  “What?” she said sarcastically.

  Funny man held up his hands and stood. “Darlin’, you just called us stupid and you expect to leave here without a discussion. Really?” h e said , grinning.

  “Listen, I’m sorry, I was frustrated, today has been a long day. I need to get out of here though, and since I have done nothing wrong, you can’t arrest me. I realize that I am in danger, and I am going to leave town for a while , until it all blows over. I was going to call the bureau and let them know where I was, but I gave you everything I had, along with a statement. You must know that I can’t testify, it has been years and they have no clue what I look like now. Two of Digrossi’s goons walked right by me a few hours ago, and that ‘s the way I want to keep it , ” sh e said wearily.

  The suit frowned and stood up. “Digrossi’s men already found you?”

  “Yeah, when I was coming out of an audition,” s he said.

  “We didn’t even know where to find you. How were they able to get ahead of us?” t he suit said and looked at his partner.

  “Shit,” f unny man said, then ran his hands through his longer hair. It left it looking rumpled and sexy.

  “We need to get out of here,” t he s uit said and Jazz frowned at them.

  “No, we don’t need to go anywhere. I have a plan,” s he said smartly.

  “Well, you had better include two more people in your plan because we are sticking to you like glue , ” f unny man said grimly and looked at his friend. “We need to lose the phones.”

  Jazz watched as the men both took out their expensive looking phones, took out the battery, and shoved them in her safe. They pulled their wallets out and moved things around, including what looked like new identities. What the hell was going on?

  “Uh, guys, wanna clue me in here?” Jazz said nervously.

  “There is a leak, it’s the only explanation. Someone in the FBI is giving Digrossi information. We called in right before we arrived here, they can track our phones. Now they can’t. We have other identification ; also , we need to stay hidden with you until we figure all of this shit out , ” t he suit said.

  “I am not going with you. I have a plan of my own, and I will be heading in the opposite direction as you. Trust me ; you would hate having to look after me. I snore , ” s he said desperately. She knew she wouldn ‘t be able to be in a small , confined space with these two handsome men without going crazy. Hell, she hadn’t had anyone look at her like this ever, and right now, her panties were so wet they could probably smell her. Since she walked in the door, there had been something about these men that pulled her to them. That sucked since there were two of them. Why couldn’t she be normal and just find one man?

  Funny man laughed and said, “So do we, we are perfect together.” Jazz looked at his eyes and knew he was talking about something else. Shit, what was she going to do? Okay, deep breath, she would go with them and then when they were out in the open, she would take off on her own. There was no way she was going to convince them she could take care of herself. She just needed to make it to her car and she was home free. There was a small hunting cabin about a hundred miles away she could hide out in. Her father used to take her up there all the time. She knew the family that owned it. They were in a small town upstate. It would just take a phone call to arrange it.

  Watch for the new series THE CHOSEN’S WAR

  This is a continuation of the Denver Pack, with a twist. New creatures will arise and new allies made with the New Council as they take their place at the head of the magical world.

  Prologue

  Lightning crashed and thunder boomed as the wind pelted large spears of rain against her already sensitive and broken skin , but she couldn’t stop running if she wanted to stay alive. Day was quickly turning to night and she knew he would be after her soon.

  Her tears were washed away by the harsh rain and her sobs could barely be heard over the loud thunder. She thought this would at least be one blessing because the storm would make it harder for him to hear her and to catch her scent. Perhaps there was a god after all.

  But she quickly pushed that thought away when images of her parents and her little sister flashed before her eyes. Their horrific screams as he tortured them and broke their bones. Then the ill silence as they lay lifeless in a pool of their own blood, while he stood over them with their blood dripping from his mouth. His eyes had a bright red glow to them and, oh god, those teeth, no they weren’t teeth, they were fangs. The man was a vampire.

  No, she could not let the images stall her, she could not break down and give up; she had to keep running. There, a cave that she could possibly hide in until the next day ; she knew he wouldn’t be able to chase her in the day so it would be her only saving grace.

  She ducked in to the cave and ran as far in to its darkness as she could. Something large and hard caught her feet and she tumbled over it ; face first, on to the dirt floor. Just as she started to push herself up, she heard it; at first soft then ever growing rumbling of a growl. She turned her head and saw the large yellow eyes looking back at her. Oh no, that wasn’t a rock she stumbled over but a large animal, possibly a bear.

  It came closer to her as she lay still watching it as best she could in the darkness. She felt its muzzle on her, sniffing her. Then she didn’t feel anything at all, she couldn’t even see its eyes. Did it leave? Then suddenly a man’s face was in front of hers. Thankfully, not the face of her captor, but his eyes glowed yellow and he looked just as evil.

  “Chi la sono?” Who are you? Is all she heard of his snarly voice before her world went black.

  Caterina sat up in her bed abruptly. Sweat poured from her brow and her lungs burned as she gasped for air. She looked around at h
er surroundings, not remembering where she was at the moment. Her eyes adjusted quickly to the darkness, and when they did, she saw that she was in her room, safe and sound.

  A thud against the window made her jump, but when she looked over, she saw it was just a tree branch hitting the glass because of the strong wind brought on by the storm. Her body shivered as the word storm entered her consciousness. Caterina hated storms; they always brought the memories back. She hated to remember , she always tried to push the thoughts away. It was better for her that way. But when it stormed, especially at night, her dreams would force her to relive everything all over again.

  Caterina pushed the blankets off her and swung her legs over the edge of the bed to stand. She walked in to her small en-suite bathroom and went to the sink to splash her face. As the cool water hit her skin, the images in her head began to fade. Finally, after the shaking stopped and she felt she had washed away all the sweat and tears on her face, she stood straight and took a look at herself in the mirror. She did this to remind herself that she was not that same girl five years ago. She was not a scared child running for her life from some horrific monster. She was safe and she was strong, thanks to the help of her best and dearest friend. She knew if she hadn ‘t met him that night she would be dead by now, or worse, a slave to that horrible man. No, not a man, but a vampire. If she had not run in to his cave, she would have never been saved from the vampires clutches. Adolfo was the very best thing that had happened to her.

  Without Adolfo, Caterina would not have lived, she would not have escaped. He kept her hidden, deeper in that ca v e, until the following day. Then he ran with her to the nearest train station and acted as her body guard as they got as far from Italy as they could. They had taken a plane to America, thanks to Adolfo having money to do so. He had explained to her that he didn’t live in that cave but in a house not too far away from it. That cave was on his property and he sometimes liked to go there just to rest as his wolf. He said he had been running the woods when the storm started and it was closer than his house , so he went in to the cave to wait it out. Apparently, Adolfo was well enough off, because when they got to America , he supported them as they moved from state to state.

  Caterina hated the moving, but they had to, because where ever they stopped just for a while, it seemed a vampire would turn up wanting Caterina. One time she had actually gotten an explanation from one of them before they tried to drain her and ultimately died when Adolfo ripped them to shreds. It was something to do with her blood; there was something special about it that called to them. Caterina often wished she could remove that ‘special’ part of her blood so the vampires would leave her alone and she could live in peace. But that wasn’t possible.

  Caterina left the bathroom and crawled back in to her bed. She sat there staring at the window, wondering when it would be that she and Adolfo would have to move again. She wondered why Adolfo would put up with her and go through this mess with her for so long. The vampires weren’t after him; he could just walk away and never have to deal with them again. She knew it wasn’t because he was in love with her. They had tried being a couple once when things were a bit more peaceful for a time. But they soon found that they weren ‘t meant to be more than friends.

  She would ask Adolfo many times why he stayed with her for so long when it would have been better for him to let her go. He would always answer, “Because you are special Caterina. I look at you and I see something that I have never seen before. I feel that because of you that one day life will be better for all of shifters, humans, and us alike. I look at you and I see hope.”

  Caterina snorted, hope, there was nothing hopeful about Caterina’s situation. There was only doubt and uncertainty , but no hope.

  She lay down on her pillow and stared at her ceiling for a while. She wondered if Diavolo still hunted her. She remembered when she met him. She was working at a small cafe in her village and she was just cleaning up and closing for the night when he entered it. He didn’t seem so evil when she first met him. Actually, he was quite charming and handsome. He took her on a few dates and they always seemed to have great fun together. She couldn’t for the life of her figure out why his parents would stick him with such an awful name as devil. Until things changed . He asked her to come away with him; to live with him in his home in Umbria. Caterina had told him he was moving too quickly and she was still in school. She didn’t want to leave her parents because they were both disabled and unable to fend for themselves. She thought he would understand, but he became angry. Then one night he showed up at her house and attacked her family. That ‘s when she saw the reason he was named devil. He slaughtered her family, drinking their blood as he did it. Then when he was done he said, “There, now you do not need to care for them anymore and have no reason not to come with me.”

  He really gave her no choice after that; he just took her to his castle right outside Umbria where he imprisoned her in one of the rooms during the day. It wasn’t a dungeon where he had her, it was actually quite a beautiful room and comfortable. His donors, as he called them, would be her servants during the day, bringing her food, clothing, anything she needed really. But during the night, Diavolo would come to her and rape her, taking her blood. She didn’t understand why he was doing this to her, but he would often say she was the key. The key to what? Even now, she didn’t know what exactly she was the key to.

  She knew when he would come to her, he would say it didn’t work and that maybe he needed just a little more blood. Then he would take her blood again while he forced himself on her. He wouldn’t really have to physically restrain her to do it, just use some sort of compulsion and she would do whatever he wished. However, after a while, Caterina had given up and would allow him to do as he wished without even using the compulsion.

  Then one night he came to her in a rage. He said he didn’t understand why it wasn’t working and he was tired of waiting. He beat her and drained her within an inch of her life before he left her to die on her bed. The servants had come in the morning and seen she still lived. They tried nursing her back to health as much as they could then helped her escape the castle before nightfall.

  Caterina often wondered what happened to the servants; no doubt, he probably killed them all for helping her escape.

  A large crash down stairs had Caterina jumping from her bed and rushing out the door to see what it was. When she got halfway down the stairs, she stopped, frozen where she stood. There in front of her was a grueling seen. Adolfo was fighting with a vampire holding him down as much as he could. But, unlike the other vampires Adolfo had destroyed for her safety, this one was strong enough to push Adolfo off of him.

  Adolfo flew off the vampire and hit the wall on the other side of the living room. Then it stood and faced Caterina. That is when Caterina felt all the blood rush out of her head and terror claw at her insides. There, standing before her, was none other than Diavolo.

  He rushed toward the stairs and got to the first one before Adolfo tackled him back down. She watched the fighting because she couldn’t get her body to do anything else. She was struggling to comprehend how he had found her. She and Adolfo had always been so careful not to leave a trail, but here he was, fighting with her friend, trying to get to her again.

  What was she going to do now?

  Adolfo’s howl brought Caterina out of her terror filled thoughts. She saw that he was now under Diavolo, while Diavolo was twisting his arm back trying to break it.

  “You will not keep me from her wolf,” Diavolo snarled as he twisted Adolfo’s arm back further. “She is mine and always will be mine.”

  Suddenly Adolfo turned on Diavolo and somehow got the vampire under him again.

  “She is not yours, vampire.” Adolfo growled in to his ear, “I will kill you before I allow you to take her.”

  Adolfo started to change in to his wolf. His face elongated and his claws came out. He pushed the vampire further in to the carpeted floor.

  Then his eyes met h
ers, “Caterina, run. Go to the New Council as we have talked about doing. Go there and they will keep you safe. Run now, Caterina, and never look back.”

  At first her legs could not move, but then she found herself flying down the stairs. She picked up her purse, car keys, and the plane tickets that were sitting on the table next to the front door ; then she opened the door to run out.

  She looked back at her long-time friend and guardian to see that he had now fully changed and was holding the vampire down by his teeth around Diavolo’s throat. Adolfo looked up at her and their eyes met. She saw then something she had never seen in his eyes before. She looked at his side and saw the blood that was matted in his fur and dripping from his side. She knew in that moment that Adolfo knew he would not survive this fight; that he would not be able to go with her and protect her anymore.

  Tears fell from her eyes as she looked in to his again. “I love you, Adolfo.”

  He just growled his response, but she knew it was him telling her he loved her too.

  With that, she raced out the door and jumped in her car. She was still in her pajamas and had no luggage with her to take, but she didn’t care, she just needed to get as far away from there as possible. She peeled out of the drive way and sped down the road. As she turned the corner on to the road that would take her to the airport, she heard the howl of pain breaking through the night, and knew her dearest and closest friend was dying; dying to save her from a fate worse than death. She sobbed as she sped down the road. She was alone now, all those she loved were now gone.