by Cynthia Eden
“I really need to find her…” And the woman lifted her hands. She had a gun gripped in one. Without another word, she fired—first at Julian, and the blast hit him in the chest. Fucking hell. The pain slammed hard into him, burning and he stumbled back. He fell onto the deck of the Devil’s Prize even as he saw her swing the gun toward Marcos.
Marcos was human. A shot could kill him.
And Marcos…
He’s my friend.
Roaring, Julian leapt up.
“I’m really sorry about this,” the woman was saying. “But I don’t have a choice. I have to distract, you see. Death has to come.”
The bullet fired. But it didn’t hit Marcos because Julian was in front of him. The bullet thudded into Julian’s side and that was when he realized that it wasn’t just a regular round.
He could feel the drug spreading through his system. Thickening. Numbing him. He sagged to his knees.
She fired again. This time, she hit Marcos.
“I have to find the woman from the beach,” she said. “Where did she go?” She tucked the gun into her waistband and jumped into the water. Julian struggled to keep his eyes open. She’d smelled human. She’d seemed innocent.
He should have known fucking better. He was softening because of Rose. Becoming weak. That couldn’t be allowed.
The woman pulled herself onto the Devil’s Prize. Water dripped down her body as she came toward him. She grabbed his head, tipping it back and he was just fucking helpless. Couldn’t even move at all.
She shoved the gun under his chin. “It got wet, so it might not fire…”
He stared at her. That was all he could do.
“How many guards are on the island? Where’s the girl?”
Even if he could have talked, he wouldn’t have said a word.
“Fine then.” She sighed. And she shot him again. Despite being soaking wet, the gun worked and the tranq bullet flew up through his chin.
Chapter Ten
Rayce stiffened just as they reached the front door of the house. “Gunfire.”
Yes, she’d heard it, too. And Rose had already whirled and started running back down that path, but then Rayce grabbed her, jerking her to a stand-still.
“No! Dammit, this could be a trap!”
Everything could be a trap these days. “Julian…”
“Is a big fucking shifter who can take care of himself. He’s got killer claws and if I let you run into danger, he’ll use those claws on me.” Rayce’s face was grim. “Get inside the house. I’ll set the security and you’ll be safe in there.”
Why did people persist in treating her like a helpless human? She wasn’t. Far from it. “We are wasting time.” Then, using her vamp strength, she shoved him away from her. “If Julian needs me, I’m there.”
She didn’t wait for another argument. She turned and rushed down the path. She’d gone only a few frantic feet when she heard the cry.
“Help me!” A woman’s voice, drifting on the wind. “Help…”
She and Rayce didn’t say another word. They ran toward that call and then they saw her. A woman with long hair, soaking wet, stumbling up the path. Her hands were at her sides, her body weaving.
“Please…” The woman fell to her knees. “Help me.”
“Human,” Rayce said.
A human right in front of them and Julian nowhere to be seen.
Rose locked her legs and stared at the woman with fury growing in her. “What did you do?”
The woman’s head had fallen forward. Her body had curled in on itself, but at Rose’s words, her head tipped back. She smiled. “Found you.” Glee was in her voice. Satisfaction. And then she yanked her hand up. She’d grabbed a weapon from beneath her shirt, one she’d hidden. She pointed it at Rose and pulled the trigger.
But Rose leapt to the side. The bullet missed her even as Rayce gave a guttural cry and sprang forward. He bounded toward the woman and she fired at him. Shooting once, twice.
One bullet hit him in the shoulder. He didn’t stop. He grabbed her, his hands going right for the woman’s throat. The gun dropped from her hand and clattered to the ground.
His hands tightened around her neck.
He was going to kill her.
Rose grabbed him. “She could be under compulsion! Just like Francis! Don’t kill her, not yet, don’t—”
He hesitated. Then he blinked and his gaze seemed to turn hazy.
“It’s in you now,” the woman whispered.
Rayce staggered.
“Special. He said no one could resist it. Too strong…”
Rose grabbed for Rayce when his body slumped forward.
“Found you, found you,” the woman sang.
She had grabbed her gun again. She aimed it at Rose. “He said you wouldn’t want to hurt a human. He said that would make things so much easier. Rules are in place, and you’re not supposed to cross the line. You’re not supposed to hurt any human.” Her smile stretched. “You’re not supposed to—”
Wind blew against them. Fierce, hot, battering. Only that wind wasn’t coming from the ocean. It was coming from above them. In a flash, a man landed right behind the human woman. He was tall, dark, with eyes that seemed to blaze with power. And he had fucking wings coming out of his back.
Giant, dark wings. Not soft, instead, they appeared razor sharp—scaled? Dragon wings. The wings just seemed to shoot right through the back of the t-shirt that he wore.
The human whirled toward him but he yanked the gun right from her and crushed it in his grip. “Don’t quote my own rules back to me,” he snarled. “That shit just makes me angry.”
Then he touched the woman. Just put his hand to her forehead. She gasped and then her body collapsed as she literally fell into an unconscious heap at his feet.
Rose still had her grip on Rayce. She lowered him slowly to the ground but never took her eyes off the man before her. A man that she recognized. After all, it was pretty hard to forget the Lord of the Dark. “Luke,” she whispered. She should have known that Luke Thorne would be showing up sooner or later. After all, this was his island.
And she was one of his creatures.
But the dark-haired man shook his head. “Wrong twin.” His wings vanished, gone in a blink as if they’d never been there. Then he gave her a hard smile. “I’m the other one. Leo.”
She scrambled back. Luke—she could deal with Luke. She might fear him, but he’d saved her life, or, given her a new one or something before. She knew he wouldn’t hurt her. He’d actually popped into her life to help her in his weird way a few times. But this guy…
He was an exact copy of Luke in looks. Every detail was the same. The same square jaw, the same thick, dark hair. The same gleaming, too-knowing eyes. But their physical appearance was where the similarities ended. This guy wasn’t tied to the dark paranormals. The stories said he had no love for shifters, vampires, or demons. The stories said he wanted them all gone.
He cared about the humans. He watched over them. He guarded the “good” paranormals—the angels, the Fates, the mermaids.
He wasn’t there to protect her.
He wasn’t there to help her.
So that meant…
She bared her fangs at him, ready to attack if he so much as took a step her way.
He raised one brow. “Easy vamp. I might be pissed as all hell that you even exist…”
Her whole body went tight. Bastard.
“But I’m not here to hurt you.” A muscle jerked along his jaw. “And isn’t there supposed to be a certain panther at your side? I specifically told that cat to keep you with him, all the damn time.”
Wait, wait…he’d told Julian to stay with her?
Leo crossed his arms over his chest. “If he isn’t going to keep up his end of things, then the deal is off.”
What deal?
But…
She looked down at Rayce. He was out cold, but when she touched his neck, she felt his pulse beating.
“A tranq gun,” Leo offered, as if she hadn’t already figured that out. “I’ve got to say, the Collector is certainly playing a smart game. He’s created a tranq more powerful than any I’ve seen before. It worked amazingly fast. I thought the werewolf would be able to take a couple of hits before he went down.” He made a humming sound. “Wonder if that’s the case with all shifters or if the werewolves just have a particular weakness to this new brew?”
Her head jerked back as she glared up at him. “Why? Are you thinking you might use it against them?”
He shrugged. Shrugged. And he was supposed to be the good one. “Get away from me,” she barked at him.
Leo’s eyes widened. “I’m the one who just saved the day.”
“You’re the one,” she gritted out, “who just admitted he watched while Rayce got shot. What were you doing, hovering out of sight with your dragon wings, just waiting to see how all of this was going to shake down?”
“I did want to see what the tranq would do to the wolf.” He made the confession as if it were perfectly acceptable to just hold back while someone else was hurt. But then, to him, a werewolf didn’t exactly have a great deal of value.
She rose to her feet. “Screw off.”
His lips parted in surprise. “That is not a thank you.” He straightened his broad shoulders. “And it’s not like I lingered in the air for hours or anything. I arrived just as she was pulling the gun. The bullet missed you, so I paused. Just a pause.”
“Sometimes, a pause means death. If there had been silver in her gun and she’d hit Rayce in the heart, he would be dead.”
His expression didn’t change.
“You really are as bad as they say,” she muttered, disgusted.
“I’m the good one.”
“Keep telling yourself that.” She glanced at the woman. “What did you do to her?”
“She’s under my dominion. Not a bad soul, just one that was tainted by magic.”
A compulsion.
“I simply put her to sleep. I figured that would be less painful than what you had planned for her.”
“You know nothing about me.”
“Sure I do…I know you hate being a vampire with every cell of your body. You think vamps are horrible monsters, just as I do. You think—”
“I think I want you out of my damn way.” She glared at him. “No, scratch that…I’ll take you out of the way.” Something had just seemed to switch off inside of her at his words.
You think vamps are horrible monsters…
She ran at him, racing fast because he was standing between her and Julian. Julian was at the bottom of that snaking path, down at the dock. Julian hadn’t appeared yet and he should have. That meant the human had probably tranqed him—or done something worse to him. And while Julian was suffering, Rose was wasting time with the jerk who hated her and her kind.
Before she reached him, Leo seemed to just vanish. But she felt the hot swirl of air around her and she knew he hadn’t disappeared into thin air. He’d just taken flight. She didn’t slow down. She raced to the dock and saw the Devil’s Prize tied up. She jumped onto the boat.
Julian was sprawled out, his body next to Marcos. Only Julian…he seemed to have become trapped mid-shift. His bones were twisted, his limbs at odd angles. His claws were out, and faint fur lined his body.
She fell to her knees beside him.
“Julian?”
Hot air beat around her once more as her hands curled over Julian’s shoulders.
“That’s…certainly interesting,” Leo announced as he drew closer. “When shifters are drugged, their animals usually go out first. But with him…” He touched down onto the boat. He peered at Julian. “His panther is fighting to break free even as the man remains unconscious.”
More bones popped. Snapped. The fur on Julian’s body grew thicker.
“Get away from him,” Leo told her, his voice sharp. “This isn’t right.”
“You get away!” She held Julian tighter. “He needs my help.”
“No, that isn’t what he needs.” Then Leo grabbed her. She was surprised by just how strong he was—though she shouldn’t have been. After all, he was just like Luke.
Or not.
He held her easily, and his wings flapped as he began to lift her into the air.
And then Julian changed completely. The panther’s eyes opened and that golden gaze burned as he tilted back his head and roared. That feral stare—it locked right on her and Leo.
“Not right,” Leo said and he sounded worried.
The great cat leapt toward them. Leo took them higher and the panther snarled. The panther paced the boat, snarling, clawing, and roaring his displeasure.
“Let me go,” Rose fought in Leo’s hold. “I can help him!”
“No, you can’t. His beast is in control. He’s all beast, no man at all right now, and that is not the way this should have worked.”
Leo thought he knew everything. He thought he knew Julian. He thought he knew her. Maybe it was time for him to get a wake-up call. He wasn’t letting her out of his grip, just holding her with that effortless strength that was stronger than a vampire, stronger than a shifter, stronger than anything. He had one arm wrapped around her upper body, and, when she craned down her neck and chin, that arm of his was conveniently close to her mouth.
Since he wouldn’t let her go…
She’d make him suffer.
Rose bit him. His blood flowed into her mouth, hot and powerful and the rush blasted through her whole body even as he bellowed in shock.
Then she was falling. He’d let her go instantly and her body hurtled through the air as she dropped fast. She wasn’t like him—wings didn’t magically sprout from her body. She just fell straight down and crashed into the waves. Her body sank deep as bubbles swirled around her, so thick that she couldn’t see anything. Then the current was pulling at her, tossing her about, and Rose kicked up, knowing she had to get to the surface. She’d drowned before, and it was one of her least favorite ways to die.
But then there was a hand reaching out for her. Strong, hard, and it closed around her wrist, pulling her upward with an unyielding force. She kept kicking and she swam forward, following that pull. Her head broke the surface and she sucked in a deep, gasping breath.
“I’ve got you.” Julian. Back in human form. Treading water right next to her and holding her securely in his arms. “Fucking bastard,” Julian growled as he began to guide them toward the shore. “Can’t believe he dropped you.”
Julian was okay. Happiness exploded through her and she didn’t even stop to think. She kissed him. Wild and frantically. She crushed her body tightly against his. She felt shock stiffen his muscles, but then he kissed her back. Julian drove his tongue past her lips, he locked his other hand around her waist, and he kissed her with the same desperation that she felt.
Some of the fear that had been inside of her lessened. That cold, clinging fear that had tightened around her heart dissipated.
The waves rocked against them.
Julian tasted like the sea.
He tasted…
His mouth pulled from hers. “Fucking scared me when I saw you fall.” His words were a rumble.
“I…bit him.”
His eyes widened. Then they narrowed. “What?”
There was anger in his voice. Jealousy? Too hard to say for sure. But he was holding her even tighter now and going double-time as they headed back to the shore. They didn’t speak again until their feet were on the sand. He kept his hold on her wrist as they trudged up the beach.
“Where’s the human?” Julian demanded. “The trigger happy one.” A deep rumble vibrated his chest. His naked chest. Shifter side-effect. She was sure his clothes were in a ripped pile some place. “The human got aboard the Devil’s Prize. That bitch pumped me with tranq.”
Once she’d knocked Julian and Marcos out, she must have also steered the Devil’s Prize back to shore and secured it to the dock before she’d gone hu
nting. But the human wasn’t a threat they needed to worry about right then. “Leo put her to sleep.” Rose’s clothes clung to her body and water trickled over her skin. “Julian, when I first found you, it looked as if you were…caught, mid-shift. Frozen. And I was so scared…” Her words trailed away as his expression softened.
“Worried about me?” He finally freed her wrist and his hand rose so that the back of his fingers traced over her cheek. “Better tread with a fine step or you’ll make me think you care.”
Her chin lifted. “I don’t want you dead. I’ve never wanted that.”
“Then you understand, finally, how I felt the night your human life ended.” His gaze glittered. “There was no fucking way I was going to let you go.”
“Julian—”
“She bit me.” Leo’s voice thundered out suddenly and she could have sworn the ground actually shook beneath her. She glanced to the left, almost expecting to see a dragon standing there, but no, Leo was still in human form. Looking incredibly pissed, but human.
“I’ve never been bitten by a vampire, not in all of my centuries on this earth.” Fury twisted his face. “That’s a killing offense. For someone like her to bite me.” He waved toward Julian. “That’s your job, right? Assassin? To take out the paranormals who cross the line. She crossed it. She drank from me. So take care of her.”
Had he just ordered Julian to kill her?
But…
Julian didn’t come at her with his claws. Instead, he moved his body, positioning himself between her and Leo. “Bugger off,” he snapped at the Lord of the Light. “I don’t take orders from you. You aren’t the twin I work for, remember? And when Luke finds out that Rose took a bite out of you, he’s not going to order her death. He’ll probably decide to throw her a fucking party to celebrate.”
She rose onto her tip toes so that she could see over Julian’s shoulders. Leo’s face had mottled with fury. But she could tell…he knew Julian was right. Even she could imagine Luke’s perverse joy when he found out that she’d gotten to his brother. The first vamp to get close enough to damage Mr. Holier Than Thou? Luke might even give her a medal. “It’s your own fault,” she told him and his eyes turned to absolute slits of fury at her words. “I wanted to get to Julian. I kept telling you to let me go.”
