Touch of Temptation

by Rhyannon Byrd

  “Yes. That’s it,” Raine told him. “That’s the journal that was taken from the archives.”

  Running a palm over his chin, Kellan stared down at Raine, thinking over everything that she’d just told them. “You said it holds information about species that don’t exist here. What exactly does that mean?”

  “Species that aren’t a part of our world, but exist in others.”

  Kierland slid him a significant look, as if to say, You thinking what I’m thinking?

  “Has she read anything about the Death-Walkers?” Kellan asked.

  For a moment, the pain in Raine’s gray-blue eyes was overshadowed by exasperation. “Don’t you think I would have told you if she had?”

  “Then there’s nothing about them in the journal?” he pressed, pushing his hand back in his pocket.

  Rubbing at her bandaged arm again, she said, “I don’t know. From what I can tell, Spark only picks the journal up every now and then, leafing through its pages. If something about the Death-Walkers is written inside, I don’t think she’s gotten to it yet.”

  “Can’t you just tap into whoever else has read the journal?” his brother asked.

  Raine shook her head. “As far as I know, Westmore’s the only other person who might have had access to it, and I can’t read him.”

  “What about someone in the Collective?” Kellan questioned, running a hand over the back of his neck. “It is possible that they read it?”

  “Maybe,” she replied, “but I wouldn’t even know where to start.”

  “What about the Casus or the Kraven? Can you see what they’re doing?”

  She shook her head again, her long hair tumbling over her shoulders. “I don’t think so.”

  “Can you try?” he asked, the rough words thick with impatience. “What about Gregory? Do you know where he is?”

  “That’s enough,” Seth cut in, his tone flinty. “Stop pushing her.”

  “You’re right.” Blowing out a rough breath, Kellan scrubbed his hands down his face. “I’m sorry, Raine. I didn’t come in here to act like an ass.”

  “And I don’t mean to be difficult.” She looked miserable, the shadows under her eyes becoming darker…deeper, as if her strength was draining right before their eyes. “It’s just that…my powers don’t seem to be working that well at the moment.”

  “What do you mean?”

  She looked away, her eyes glistening with tears of frustration. “I’m only getting glimpses of things, but nothing’s really clear. I’m sorry. I know you need information, but I don’t know how much I’ll be able to give you.”

  Feeling like a jackass, he muttered, “Christ, don’t be sorry. You haven’t done anything wrong.”

  A low laugh slipped from her lips, and she lowered her gaze to her lap, where her hands were twisted together into a knot. “You know that’s not true, Kell.”

  “Raine, we know you were only trying to protect your family,” Kierland told her, his tone one of easy reassurance. “No one here blames you for the things you told Westmore.”

  “They don’t need to.” Her voice was soft, tight. “I blame myself.”

  Moving around Kellan, Seth crouched down beside the pallet and reached out, looking as if he was going to push the heavy fall of Raine’s hair back from her face, but she flinched, and he quickly stood up again, heading back outside. Kellan and Kierland said that they’d give her some privacy so that she could get ready to leave with them, and then joined Seth, who was pacing outside the entrance to the tent, his face set in a hard scowl.

  “I think you should find someone else to look after her,” he muttered, as soon as Kierland had closed the tent flap behind them. “She’s scared to death of me.”

  Choosing his words with care, Kellan said, “I wouldn’t say she’s afraid of you, man. More like she’s just being cautious.”

  Seth cut him another dark look. “I know when a woman’s scared, Lycan. Don’t fucking patronize me.”

  Kellan rolled his shoulder. “All I’m saying is that she’s skittish around everyone right now. You remember what I told you yesterday, right? Those bastards beat and raped her I don’t know how many times before I reached the compound. Hell, Seth, after what she went through, I’m amazed she doesn’t scream her head off whenever any man goes near her.”

  “I’m trying not to think about what happened to her,” the soldier growled. “Whenever I do, I…Christ, that Westmore bastard needs to pay.”

  “We’ll deal with Westmore later. Right now,” Kellan told him, “it’s important that we get Raine back on her feet. Just stay mellow with her, because she needs someone like you to keep a close eye on her. I meant what I said about Westmore coming after her.”

  Before Seth could respond, the three of them caught sight of the Granger brothers heading into the camp, talking to Aiden and Quinn, who had been running the early-morning patrol. “It’s about time you got here!” Kierland called out, heading toward them, while Kellan and Seth followed. Kellan had never actually met the two Deschanel Förmyndares before, but he recognized Ashe Granger from Morgan’s photographs, and assumed the tall, dark-haired vamp walking beside him was his brother—Gideon’s hair was a bit longer than Ashe’s, but their features and builds remarkably similar. Kierland made the introductions, then asked, “Where the hell have you two been? Seth told us some kind of family business came up, but he didn’t know anything more.”

  “We got a call from one of our cousins and had to meet up with him before we could head here,” Ashe replied, slipping his heavy pack off his shoulder. “I’m sorry we weren’t able to help at the compound. Quinn was just filling us in on what happened.”

  “This thing with your cousin,” Kierland said, crossing his muscular arms over his chest as he held the vampire’s pale gray gaze. “Would it have anything to do with that family trouble you refused to tell me about last week?”

  “Don’t worry,” the vamp evaded with a sharp smile. “It’s nothing we can’t handle.”

  Kierland looked frustrated, but he let the subject go. “Did you hit any trouble on your way here?” he asked Gideon, who was pushing his dark hair back from his face, the uplifted position of his arm revealing the gleaming Sig he had holstered under his jacket.

  “Didn’t hit any trouble,” the vamp drawled, his deep voice holding a hint of a Scandinavian accent. “But there are a few things we need to tell you. And let me just preface by saying the news isn’t good.”

  “What’s happened?” Kellan asked.

  “Just before we came into the Wasteland, we heard from an uncle who’s been living in the States. A story has just broken on the news over there. From what he told us, it sounds like the American media have caught wind of some kind of supposed paranormal activity taking place in a rural town somewhere in Texas. We don’t have confirmation yet, but we think the Death-Walkers might be taking another shot at building up that little army of theirs.”

  “Son of a bitch,” Kierland cursed, his green eyes burning with a hot, angry glow. “I don’t effing believe it.”

  “The Consortium’s trying to do damage control,” Ashe added, “but they’ve sat around for too long. This thing is gaining momentum. Even if they get a lid on things in Texas, who knows what will happen next time?”

  “What about the Collective?” Quinn asked, sliding his gaze toward Seth.

  The Collective Army had always done their best to hide any proof of the ancient clans that fell into their hands, even going so far as to devise a chemical compound that would destroy any evidence of their kills. From what Kellan understood, the Army didn’t want other human vigilante groups to interfere with its hunting, but he also suspected that the Collective enjoyed working outside the laws of any government.

  “From what I hear from my sources,” Seth replied, “the Army’s basically in chaos right now, and the threats of revolt are growing stronger. I don’t think they’re in any position to help contain anything, much less put a stop to it.”

  Kie
rland cursed again, and Aiden rolled his shoulder, saying, “With the way things have been moving, it was only a matter of time before something like this happened.”

  “Doesn’t mean I have to like it,” Kierland grunted. “If the humans find out about us, how understanding do you think they’re gonna be, Ade? You think Jamie will be safe? Your fiancée might be human, but what about your daughter?”

  The tiger-shifter scowled, his amber eyes bleeding to gold. “You think I don’t know how dangerous this is?” he growled. “But what the hell are we supposed to do? Christ, we still don’t even know how to kill the bastards!”

  “But we might have a lead,” Kellan cut in, quickly explaining what Raine had told them about the death journal.

  “I’m afraid that isn’t the only bad news we’ve got,” Gideon went on to say. “We’ve also heard that the Shaevan have attacked the Deschanel in retaliation for the village in France. Looks like the Death-Walkers’ plans to create chaos are working, and now all hell’s breaking loose.”

  Quinn scrubbed his hands down his face. “God,” he muttered, “this is turning into a friggin’ bloodbath.”

  Just then, Juliana Sabin walked over, her delicate features etched with strain as she joined the group between Kierland and Ade. “I’m sorry to interrupt,” she said, “but we…” Her words trailed off as she caught sight of the Grangers, but she quickly tore her gaze away from them and cleared her throat, focusing on Kierland as she said, “We have a problem. The scouts I sent out this morning to make sure our way would be clear to my family’s compound have just returned. None of them were killed, but they were attacked by a group of Death-Walkers. Apparently, the Walkers wanted them to deliver a message.”

  Kellan sensed that things were about to get a helluva lot worse. “What’s the message?”

  “They wanted you to know that the Infettato enjoyed the Watchmen…and now they’re ready for more.”

  “Shit,” Quinn snarled, his dark eyes burning with fury. “The humans who’d been infected in the village must have killed the unit I called in to watch over them.”

  “But how?” Seth asked, his deep voice edged with disbelief. “They were so weak they could barely stand.”

  “They must have gotten stronger.” Quinn forced the words out through his clenched teeth. “Just like that bastard we talked to said they would.”

  “So what are we gonna do?” Aiden asked, a deep scowl seated between his tawny brows.

  “Actually, it’s not the Death-Walkers that we need to worry about.” The husky words were Raine’s, and everyone looked toward Seth’s tent, where the frail psychic stood just outside the entrance, her pale face pinched with an expression that was equal parts discomfort and determination. “They’ve already left the Wasteland, but they brought the Infettato here. The infected humans are to the southwest of us.”

  “Then they’re blocking our way to the Sabin compound,” Juliana murmured.

  Catching Raine’s gaze, Kellan asked, “Are you sure?”

  “My sight is hardly working well at the moment, but I saw this clearly just now. The Infettato are coming for us, tracking us by scent.”

  Chloe joined the growing group with Morgan, and while the female Watchman threw her arms around Ashe Granger’s neck in a friendly hug and demanded to know where he’d been, Chloe made her way to Kellan’s side. “What’s going on?” she asked him, her expression showing her concern.

  Though he knew she was waiting for an explanation, Kellan could only stare at her, momentarily lost in how beautiful she looked in the dusky morning light, the pale shades of sunshine playing softly over the dark strands of her hair. She’d been through hell the past few months, and yet, she hadn’t once complained. Instead, she’d kept herself busy that morning helping with whatever tasks she could find, fitting into the group as if she’d been a part of it forever, and taking the time to personally thank everyone for coming to the Wasteland to make sure Kellan made it safely out of the compound. He could tell they were all charmed by her, and although he read the slight wariness in her gaze, as if she was still worried about how the Mallory curse would affect the group, Kellan hadn’t seen any signs to make him think that the curse was influencing anyone. She’d explained to him, during one of their quiet conversations in the middle of the night, how the curse could affect large groups of people, telling him about a time that her sister Monica had won tickets to a Colts game and taken Chloe for her birthday. They’d been having a wonderful time, until they realized the people around them were becoming increasingly aggressive as the Colts fell a bit behind on the scoreboard. By the third quarter, when the Colts were only down by a touchdown, a violent fight had broken out, and the sisters had been forced to crawl through the aisles in order to escape.

  “Kellan?”

  He jerked back to awareness as she said his name, stunned that he’d actually zoned out there for a few seconds, considering they were in the middle of a crisis. Ignoring Aiden’s muffled laughter, he cleared his throat and said, “The Infettato are on their way here.”

  “Ohmygod,” she whispered, and he grabbed her hand, aware of his brother’s curious gaze. “What do we do?”

  Giving her hand a reassuring squeeze, he said, “We’re going to have to fight.”

  “Maybe not,” Juliana murmured, drawing everyone’s attention.

  “You got an idea?” Seth asked.

  “There’s a small mountain range that begins on the eastern side of this forest,” Juliana explained. “A waterfall runs down the face of the mountain, completely covering the entrance to a series of caverns.”

  Kierland nodded as he grabbed hold of Morgan, who had finally stopped hugging Ashe, and pulled her close. “I’ve seen the waterfall when I was running patrol.”

  “Yeah, me, too,” Aiden added. “It looks like it feeds into some kind of hot spring.”

  The wind whipped at the long strands of the Deschanel’s hair as she said, “If we poured some of the holy water you brought with you into the spring, it might be enough to keep the Death-Walkers from following us, should they change their minds and head back in our direction. I’m thinking that if we can make our way through the falls and into the caverns, then we could travel beneath the mountains, and actually come out not far from my family’s compound.”

  Gideon, who had been silently observing the interchange, asked, “And what about the Infettato?”

  “If they’re tracking us by scent,” Juliana replied, “then the water should cover our trail. They’ll have no idea where we’ve gone.”

  “Considering we don’t know how to kill them,” Quinn grumbled, “this might be our best option.”

  “Maybe,” Ashe muttered. “But I hate running from a fight.”

  “We’re not running,” his brother pointed out with a crooked smile. “We’re strategically postponing.”

  “Right,” the vamp snorted, curling his lip. “Now why didn’t I think to look at it that way?”

  “Can’t help it if you’re slow,” Gideon drawled, his gray eyes glittering with laughter, and Kellan could tell that the guy got a kick out of riling his brother.

  “Considering all the shit we have coming after us,” Kellan said, keeping a tight hold on Chloe’s hand, “we need to put survival before our desire to kick ass.”

  “The only downside I can think of,” Juliana added, “is that it’s going to make our trip a little longer.”

  “So long as it’s safer,” Kierland said, sliding a warm look toward Morgan, “I don’t give a damn how long it takes.”

  “Does anyone else know about these caverns?” Aiden asked, his black sweatshirt printed with white letters that read: “Come over to the dark side… We have cookies.”

  “I can’t say for certain,” Juliana said in response to the shape-shifter’s question, “but I assume that the Sabins aren’t the only ones who’ve discovered them.”

  “Then we’ll need to stay sharp,” Quinn muttered.

  Aiden gave a husky bark of laught
er and lifted his brows. “Aren’t we always?”

  “He said sharp, not sarcastic,” Chloe drawled, and Kellan grinned, thinking again about how perfectly she fit in with his friends.

  Crossing his muscular arms over his broad chest, Ashe Granger suddenly turned his piercing gaze on Juliana, his voice a little rougher as he said, “You really think you know what you’re doing?”

  Taking a deep breath, she lifted her chin and answered his question. “I think I know this land better than you do.”

  Ashe arched his brows and snorted. “That’s because between the two of us, honey, you’re the outlaw.”

  “Go to hell,” she growled, spinning on her heel and storming away, while everyone in the group turned to stare at Granger, including his brother. Not that he noticed. Instead of acknowledging their curious looks, the vampire kept his dark gaze locked on Juliana Sabin…and Kellan could have sworn the guy was staring at her ass as she walked away.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  Thursday afternoon

  THOUGH KELLAN HAD BEEN more than a little skeptical, Juliana’s plan to throw off the Infettato had actually worked, and it had been a surreal experience as they’d made their way through the waterfall that hid the entrance to the caverns. While the waterfall itself had been freezing, the pool had been wonderfully warm, heated by natural hot springs that Juliana said spread beneath the mountain, warming the route they were using to reach the Sabin compound. And thanks to the waterproof bags that Quinn had brought in case of a heavy snowfall, they’d been able to keep their belongings dry; the kerosene lanterns that Juliana’s scouts had provided lighting the way as they traveled deeper into the mountain.

  While the situation was hardly ideal, Kellan couldn’t help but feel that they were off to a good start, a bit of luck finally going their way. Still, they remained on high alert, knowing it paid to be cautious. After everyone in the group had made it into the first cave—aside from Garrick and two of Juliana’s scouts, who were taking a treacherous shortcut out of the Wasteland so that the soldier could reach Raine’s family—Raine had sensed that the Infettato had lost their scent. But the infected humans hadn’t given up, driven by their insatiable hunger, and according to the psychic, were still searching for a new trail to follow. And despite the fact that the Death-Walkers had already left the Wasteland, Kellan and the others had still emptied a gallon of salted holy water into the pool, just to be safe, which had nearly wiped out their travel supply.