He kept his grip on my arm and I knew there would be a bruise there later. It was a show of dominance and I had no desire to be submissive.
“You can live a thousand lifetimes.”
“Pfft! No thanks; the one I have now isn’t all that rosy. I sure as hell don’t want a thousand of them!” I yanked my arm out of his grip and continued walking.
I heard him growl as I walked away and braced myself for the oncoming battle. Chaos was not a man who was used to being turned down and it didn’t sound like he was swallowing it very well. I heard the scrape of gravel and whirled.
Ian stood between Chaos and me. He had his back to me and while it was clear he and Chaos were having a mental conversation, I couldn’t tune into it.
When Ian turned toward me his face was completely impassive. Chaos stood next to him, a mirror image of calm.
“My apologies, Leah,” Chaos spoke, “I only wished to advise you of all of your options.”
The look in his eyes was all arrogance. I thought about taking a peek into his soul but refrained for the same reason I avoided others souls. I wasn’t sure I really wanted to know what was there. Sometimes, ignorance really is bliss. And while I didn’t think Chaos’s ego would be satisfied with a few words from Ian and a flat out refusal from me, I nodded acceptance of his apology.
“Shall we go in?” I was relieved that Ian had resolved the problem, even if only temporarily, but the vindictive part of me wanted to dig into Chaos just a little bit more. His ego could use a little bruising. Hell, it could use a good pounding.
Spiteful? Who me?
Never.
Chapter Forty-Two
It was still a couple of hours until dawn when Ian and I returned to my room.
He turned me around and melted me with a look that skimmed me from the top of my head to the toes of the stiletto heels I still wore. I started to kick the shoes off but he stopped me. “Leave those on.” His voice grew deeper, sultry.
I did a little spin that would make any runway model proud. Ian grabbed me and tossed me onto the bed while we laughed. “Yes, definitely keep the shoes on.”
“You owe me,” I reminded him.
He stripped off my jeans and flipped me onto my stomach. He began caressing my neck, my shoulders, then further south, alternating between gentle sweeps of his hands and a firmer kneading motion that generated goose bumps. I felt the bra strap come undone before his hands slid to the flimsy piece of elastic of my panties. His fingers trailed them down my legs until he removed them completely. Then those magic fingers began caressing their way up my legs, teasing the tender skin on the back of my knees and inner thighs. I heard the Velcro of my holster tear away and felt the weight of my pistol lift off my waist. “Nightstand,” he murmured, knowing I felt more secure if I knew where my weapons were. Then his mouth blazed like molten lava on my thighs and I forgot all about weapons. He stopped only long enough to remove his own clothes then grabbed my waist and hitched me up onto my knees. Before I could argue the undignified position, he thrust himself inside me. One long thrust before he stopped and held himself there. “You have no idea what you do to me, My Love. How you bring me to life and make me remember that I was once human. I love you.” He pulled himself out and thrust in again quickly, not giving me time to breathe much less respond to his declaration of love. I matched his movements, meeting each thrust, and when he reached around the front of me and added the pleasure of his fingers while he took me from behind I exploded, calling his name. He didn’t stop, just kept thrusting from behind and teasing in the front, prolonging my pleasure until I thought I’d die from sheer bliss and didn’t care if I did. I came again, this time with such a sudden rush of ecstasy it took my breath away and left me panting. Only then did Ian allow himself his own release with a deep moan. He pulled me to the side, staying inside me, knowing I liked the pulsing feeling as he emptied himself into me, then slowly, oh-so-slowly, separating the link between us.
He fell asleep like that, not waiting for the dawn to steal him away from me. I saw the blinds silently close, indicating the sun was rising. I turned my head and watched Ian’s face, so peaceful while he slept. I saw his chest rise and fall and knew the instant it stopped. If the rising sun brought pain along with Ian’s death, he showed no sign of it. I snuggled up next to him and found my own rest.
* * * *
I didn’t sleep long before I felt Ian’s body curl into mine. “Remember our little distraction before bed,” Ian spoke against my ear, waking me gently and sending tingles throughout my body.
“Mm-hmm,” I replied without opening my eyes, not willing to fully come awake.
“There really is something I need to discuss with you,” Ian said somberly.
I turned and opened my eyes, the blissful oblivion of sleep shot to hell. Ian was propped on one elbow, his dark hair matted by a morning of sex and sleep. “What?”
“Do you remember when I mentioned taking you to a friend of mine who might be able to help with the…” he paused, searching for the right word, “visions you were having.”
“Yes?” I asked suspiciously.
“You’ve already met her.” He raised one eyebrow, waiting for my reaction.
“When?” I racked my brain and couldn’t come up anything.
“Her name is Sonya.”
I shot out of bed and glared at him. “You mean Sonya the witch? The same witch who drugged me and helped Joaquín hold me hostage?” I started pacing, ignoring the fact I didn’t have a stitch of clothing on. “She’s your friend?”
“You look lovely when you are angry. All flushed and pink.” Ian reached for me.
I ducked away from him and turned, hands planted firmly on my hips. “Is that the Sonya you’re referring to?”
Ian tilted his head, as calm as always. “How do you think we found you?”
“I—I…” I didn’t really know. I’d been so glad to be free I never really asked. “I guess I just thought you tracked me through our mental connection,” I stammered.
Ian shook his head. “The drugs ensured that would not happen. It was Sonya.”
I opened my mouth, closed it again.
“She felt me contact you, knew I was trying to find you and that Joaquín had lied to her. A lie by omission, him not telling her you were mine.”
I glared at him.
Ian rolled his eyes. “Allow me to rephrase that. Joaquín didn’t tell her we were together.”
I flashed a sarcastic smile at him.
He ignored it and continued. “He told her you were in danger, that your mind was being compromised by a group of vampires and he needed her help to save you.” He raised his eyes skyward and bounced his head from side to side slightly. “Although not quite in those words,” he added.
I tilted my head and narrowed my eyes.
Ian held his hands up. “Fine. Joaquín told Sonya you were his fiancée and a bunch of bloodsuckers mind-fucked you. I believe that was his precise wording. Is that better?”
“So she thought…” I couldn’t even finish. Did Joaquín really think I was being manipulated? That Ian was messing with my head?
“That is exactly what he thought, although, in a more animalistic way.”
“I didn’t say that out loud,” I reminded him, but he only lifted a shoulder with nonchalance.
“Are you still willing to meet with her? I can assure your absolute safety, My Love.” He stood and closed the distance between us. “I won’t lose you again,” he whispered against my ear, nibbling the tender skin.
I knew I’d be safe with Ian and it was damned hard to concentrate while his tongue was suckling my earlobe, but I finished my thought. “No, I don’t trust her.”
“She may be able to help you,” he insisted against my ear.
“Find someone else.”
Ian sighed, his warm breath on my ear sent electricity down my spine. “As you wish, My Love.”
Ian’s nibbling extended well beyond my ear so it was another couple
of hours before I finally got back to sleep. It was mid-morning and I’d showered dressed and made my way downstairs.
Ian was dead to the world. Literally.
The shrill of my cell phone interrupted my first cup of coffee of the day.
“Playtime’s over, Leah, we’ve got a rogue shifter.” Sam’s voice was raspy from lack of sleep.
“Where?” Shia looked up at me and I knew she could hear every word we spoke.
“At the station. Wilson’s here too. He’s tearing the hell out of a cell as we speak.”
“I’m on my way.”
Shia stood. “You are not going anywhere.”
Her body was tense, feet apart and arms held stiffly. She was ready for a fight. While I may have wanted to kick Ian’s ass for hiring me a bodyguard in the first place, I considered Shia a friend and had no desire to square off with her.
“Look,” I took a deep breath, “I know Ian will be pissed…”
“Mad as hell is more like it!” Justice cut in.
I nodded. “Okay, fair enough, he’s going to be mad as hell. But I have a job to do. I can’t very well let Sam handle the guy, who is at this very moment tearing up a cellblock, on his own. He doesn’t have any experience with new shifters.”
She stood back and crossed her arms over her chest. The look she pinned me with challenged “yeah right, and you do?”
I held up my hands. She was right. I’d turned tail and ran when they brought Joaquín in here. I didn’t want to deal with him becoming a shifter. I think I’d tried to make it work with him because he was the last strand of complete humanity I had left in my life.
Now that was gone too.
I took a shuddering breath. It was time to put on the big girl panties. I had to suck it up and move on. I was more than human. I don’t know how or why, but there you have it. Maybe if I told myself that enough times I’d actually believe it. “This will be on me, Shia. I won’t let Ian fry your ass because of a decision I made.”
She shook her head but I could tell she was losing her resolve so I kept at it. “All the vamps are dead right now. We’ll take back-up.”
She let out a gush of air that puffed her cheeks and dropped her head. “Fine,” she relented. “But,” she added more fiercely, “you follow my lead, do what I say. Agreed?”
I put on my best innocent face. “I promise to be a good little girl. Now can we go?”
Shia wasn’t about to let me go alone and wanted more backup. I think her confidence was still shaken after Joaquín kidnapped me, not that there was anything more she could have done to prevent it. I didn’t blame her but I suspected she blamed herself.
She opted to take Bear along. Mouse would stay behind and keep watch over the sleeping vamps.
Chapter Forty-Three
I heard the steel of the bars groan as the man behind them hit them again and again. Four cops stood with guns trained on the cage, fearful the bars would finally give way to the constant assault on them.
The man behind the bars had already smashed the chair in the cell, leaving nothing behind but small splinters of wood. Remnants of the bed frame and mattress had been hurled through the bars and the putrid smell of human waste filled the air from the toilet stool, which had been shattered into hundreds of tiny pieces, leaving water shooting from the supply valve extending from the concrete wall.
The man thrashing the bars was young, maybe twenty-five at best. His shoulder-length hair was matted to his head by blood, sweat and perhaps other fluids I didn’t care to think about. His eyes were wild and darting from side to side as he reared back to fling himself against the bars yet again.
“Should I tranq him again?” Sam asked, loading a fresh dart into the tranquilizer gun.
I shook my head. “I don’t know how much is too much,” I answered, wishing the sun was down and Ian was awake.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Bear put in. Of those of us in the room, only Bear had been with Ian when Joaquín regained consciousness. None of us knew exactly how much we could give this guy to knock him out without killing him. Sam stated it had taken four darts to put him down the first time. There was already another four in him since he’d awakened and started demolishing the cell. He’d managed to hit one of the officers with a piece of bed frame, leaving a gash across his face and causing Wilson to order the remaining cops to draw their weapons. If this guy did manage to literally break his way out of the cell, I had no doubt no one would hesitate to pull the trigger.
That wasn’t going to get me the answers I needed.
“Josh!” I yelled once again. “Josh Brigman, you need to calm down.”
He curled his lip, revealing his teeth, and then once again threw himself again the bars. I heard the metal creak against the pressure and knew I was quickly running out of time.
Shia offered to shift forms and go in after him but I was pretty damn sure the cops would not only shoot her but also shit their pants if she transformed into a mountain lion in front of them. It smelled bad enough in here already and I really didn’t want Shia to get shot.
“I can’t help you if you don’t calm down,” I shouted.
“Have you tried a Taser?” I asked of no one in particular.
Both Wilson and Sam looked at me.
“Well shit!” I walked to the nearest officer and grabbed the stun gun off his belt. I opened the back compartment, stripped the plastic shield that regulated the charge and aimed it at the cell.
I’d hoped that if I didn’t make direct contact with him, I at least might be able to send enough of a jolt through the bars to knock him on his ass.
The thin wires of the Taser attached themselves to various parts of his torso, sending the tingle of electricity and stench of burning hair through the room. His body jolted and he hit the floor, bouncing the side of his head off the largest remaining piece of the commode. His eyes grew wide then rolled back into his head.
“Hmm,” Sam walked closer and peered into the cell, “why didn’t I think of that?”
The officers kept their guns trained on Josh until Sam confirmed he was out by poking the end of a broomstick into the cell and pushing him to his back. His body flopped limply to the side and I heard a collective sigh from the room, then the slide of guns being pushed back into their holsters.
Bear directed Sam and me on how to properly restrain Josh with the industrial-sized chain one of the officers brought up from the motor pool. That was all the cops were willing to do. Apparently even hazard pay wasn’t worth climbing into a small place with this guy. It didn’t take a genius to figure out he had supernatural strength, especially after examining the bowed-out bars of the cell. We laid him on a mattress and chained him in an intricate pattern that would have made any sailor proud.
Josh would be out for a least a couple of hours. It would be enough time to move him to a new cell, one without furniture.
I decided to take advantage of the time and use the SINS computer network to do a little digging into Ivelisse Folia. I didn’t think a general Google search was going to give me the information I wanted on her, like how old she really was.
The theory was that a bloodslave could survive as long as her master did. Unless said master got bored and killed her first. Bear stayed with Sam and Josh, while Shia walked back to my office with me. I motioned to a small refrigerator and coffeepot and told her to help herself. She grabbed a bottle of water, sat down in Donovan’s chair, and propped her feet on his desk. “What do you need in here?”
I booted up my computer. “Just catching up on e-mails,” I lied as I tapped into the national database, looking for anything I could find on Ivelisse.
It turned out Ivelisse had led a bit of a badgirl life. She’d been the girlfriend of a notorious gangster. Not a modern-day mafioso but an honest to goodness nineteen twenties gangster. Her photo matched a newspaper report from Chicago, but the dates put her at about eighty plus years old now. Wow, she looked great. I guess the fountain of youth pointed directly to be
coming a bloodslave to a vampire. The newspaper article went on to say Ivelisse had turned evidence in to the federal authorities that led to the convictions of not only her boyfriend, but several other mob bosses. She disappeared soon after and was presumed dead. Gangs didn’t take it well when they were ratted out. That must have been when she bound herself to Chaos. Who better to hide and protect you? After a few decades, everyone after her would be dead and she would still be twenty-something. Supernatural Witness Protection Program. What a concept.
* * * *
I sat at a small table outside Josh’s cell, nursing a cup of coffee. His restraints prevented him from hurling anything other than expletives and dirty looks at us.
It was another half hour before he figured out he wasn’t going to get out of this and he decided to bargain food and water for information.
The problem was that he didn’t really know much.
He’d had dinner at home with his family and was supposed to meet a couple of friends at a nightclub near the college district. He parked his car, got out … and then, nothing. No memory at all. I wanted to say he was lying but the wild look in his eyes conveyed his confusion. Okay, okay, I looked into his aura too. I don’t usually look too deeply into people because I’m not really sure I want to know what’s going on in anyone’s private thoughts. Just because I have the ability, doesn’t mean I like to use it. I mean, honestly, do you really want to know what everyone around you is feeling? He really didn’t know what happened. Fear, confusion and frustration emanated so thickly from him I could practically smell it.
I held up my end of the bargain and took a bottle of water, a straw and some first aid supplies into the cell. I stepped cautiously forward, keeping a sense of his aura in case he decided not to play nice.
His eyes were wide, pupils dilated, and when I wiped the first bit of blood from his face he hissed in pain. None of the cuts were deep enough for stitches but purple and black bruises spread across his features like an ugly tattoo.
The Order of Chaos Page 22
