by J. K. Coi
“Justice?”
Max hesitated and Baron glanced at the vampire, who gave him a mocking half bow.
“That’s a bit like calling your Dalmatian ‘Spot’, isn’t it?” Baron said with a sneer. He turned a hard glare on the Enforcer, who lifted one shoulder in a negligent shrug, seemingly unconcerned with the prospect of being compared to a dog.
Baron looked back at Max. “I guess I must have missed the introductions.”
“Yeah, well I could have done without that kind of introduction myself,” she replied. Justice’s probing of her mind had brought back uncomfortable memories of the brain rape she experienced at Devon’s whim not too long ago, and a cold sweat broke out on the back of her neck. “If I never have anyone inside of my head like that again, it’s still going to be too soon.”
Baron snarled, looking like he was going to lunge after the other vampire once more, but Max grabbed his arm and sighed heavily. “Stop. Just…enough. I hate to break it to you two, since you seem to be bonding with each other or something, but the sun’s going to be coming up very shortly now, and I’d like to deal with this and get back indoors before I turn into a pile of ash. Anybody got a problem with that?”
She looked from one testosterone-laden male to the other as they silently waged their ridiculous ocular war. If glares could kill, they’d both be lying in the dust.
Moments later, the two men were still staring at each other.
Most of Max’s fear having rubbed off along with her patience, she decided she’d had enough and shook her head, flipped open the chamber of her gun to double-check her rounds, then turned and started off through the trees after Devon.
Baron and Justice finally stepped back and Baron called out to her. He followed, but she refused to stop.
Justice stepped ahead of them and came across Devon first. The vampire was hissing and snarling like a wolf with its leg caught in a trap, unable to escape the powerful mind that held him immobile.
Justice slowly walked forward until he stood just inches from the vampire. The silence and stillness of the Enforcer was deceptive, because one look in his eyes and Max could tell there was more going on than she could see. Whatever Justice was doing to Devon had frightened the creature stupid until he couldn’t do anything but drool and shiver. Even his snarl had turned into a pathetic whimper. Did they have mental hospitals for lobotomized vampires?
“What is he doing?” she whispered to Baron. Max couldn’t keep her body from trembling and inched closer to him.
“I think it’s a Star Trek mind meld sort of thing,” he answered, wrapping an arm tightly around her waist. “He reaches into the vampire’s mind to locate proof of the taint before he can dish out the penalty.” Baron’s voice was low, and he kept his gaze focused on the situation playing out with Justice and Devon.
Max could feel the coiled strength in Baron’s embrace, the barely leashed readiness of his posture, and knew that he was evaluating the scene before them to determine whether he should step in and take care of the matter himself.
Max held her breath as she watched. Finally, Justice stepped away, back, and Devon’s head drooped, his chin touching his chest.
“What did you do to him?” she asked.
“The vampire has been judged,” the Enforcer answered.
She thought it was over, and let out a small sigh of relief. But that quickly turned to a gasp of horror as Devon started screaming. Smoke began to rise from his skin, skin that was charring, blackening as the fire burned through him from the inside out.
“Oh God,” she whispered, unable to keep from imagining her own death in the same violent, painful, horrifying way.
When there was nothing but ashes blowing away on the wind and more dust settling onto the ground, Justice turned to them, nothing showing in his black eyes. “It is done.”
Baron reached for Max as Devon burned, wishing that he could do something to vanquish the look from her eyes. Justice’s expression remained unchanged. Hell, was he even breathing? The guy was cold.
The vampire turned and leveled a last, long look on Max. “I will give you this warning,” he said, his voice hard. “This is not the human world, and I do not give second chances.”
“Leave her alone,” Baron warned. “She’s been innocent in all of this, and I won’t have you trying to intimidate her.”
“Innocence is sometimes more a state of mind, and in her mind, she is no innocent. Already she fears succumbing to the beast.” Justice kept his eyes on Max. “You’ve crossed lines you said you would never cross, already come close to hurting the people you profess to love.”
“You asshole!” Baron bit out, fury churning in his gut. “You know very well she hasn’t broken any of your fucking laws, and you have no right to terrorize her.”
Max tore her gaze from the cold, calculating condemnation in Justice’s eyes. “He’s right, though, Baron. Look at what I’ve already done—to you, and Diana and Alric. God, I almost bit Jackson—”
“Stop it, Max,” he said. “You didn’t hurt me or Jackson, and you had nothing to do with what happened to Diana.”
Baron turned to the Enforcer. “This woman is the strongest and bravest person I’ve ever known. And if you come near her again, I’m going to stake you to the wall and enjoy watching you squirm until your shriveled heart turns to ash in the sun.”
Justice nodded in acknowledgement of Baron’s challenge. “I guess that means I shouldn’t expect a card at Christmas?” he said with a turn of his lips, the smile was tight and fleeting, as if the vampire hadn’t had a lot of practice with the movement.
“Fuck you,” Baron returned, realizing Justice hadn’t had any intention of hurting Max. He probably just liked to push people’s buttons, to provoke a reaction—something Baron could relate to, he seemed to have the same propensity for courting danger. “We ain’t buds, that’s for sure.”
With what sounded suspiciously like a snort, the vampire turned back to Maxine. “Be very aware of the line you walk, of the choices you make.” His eyes looked like they were boring into her soul, and he saw Max shiver. “Do not make me come after you the next time.”
Before Baron could step up and clock the bastard for talking to her like that, Max raised her chin and met Justice’s stony expression with stormy eyes. “If you’re done here, then I think you should leave,” she said. “And I don’t think we’re going to see each other again.”
“That’s what I thought,” he answered.
Baron could have sworn there was respect and maybe even a sliver of real emotion reflected in Justice’s voice. He turned and inclined his head to Baron. “Keep your sword in your own business, Immortal.”
Baron cursed as he watched the powerful vampire do his freaky smoke and shadows trick once more. Then he was gone.
“Damn, I gotta learn how to do that,” he said with a shake of his head. He glanced into the sky and took Max’s hand, desperate now to get her out of here. “Come on, we have to hurry.”
For once, she didn’t fight him, and he was grateful for small favors. That would have really put the icing on his bitch of a day.
They practically ran back through the woods to the road. Max raised a brow at him when she noticed the motorcycle had been strapped into the back of his truck. He expected a sarcastic remark or two, but she circled round to the passenger side door without saying a word. He knew then that she was already feeling the effects of the early morning hue lightening the sky.
Baron had just turned the ignition over when he heard the unmistakable sound of Roland’s super-charged Ferrari approaching from behind them.
“A little late for the cavalry,” he muttered under his breath. He rolled down the window as the car pulled up beside them. “What the hell are you guys doing here?”
Kane leaned out the passenger side window. “We thought you might need the backup. Tracked you through the truck’s GPS.”
Baron glanced into the sky. Was it lightening already? “Look, I’ve got to get
Max back. Are you two sticking around?”
Kane shook his head. “No. The threat here has been taken care of, so we’ll head out and hold down the fort until Rhys and Amy return.” Baron didn’t bother asking how Kane knew Devon was gone. That twin rarely missed a trick.
“What about Alric?” Baron asked.
Kane shook his head and glanced over at Roland sitting in the driver’s seat. “He left with Diana, but he never came back.”
“And you didn’t think to go look for him? What if—”
“They’re fine. He called in, said they needed some time away for a while, and he was taking her to a safe place.”
Baron sighed. It was probably a good idea that they’d gone. He was worried about them. There had been something big going on with the two of them even before Diana was hurt, and he hoped they were going to be able to get through it.
He sensed Max wanted to say something, but she was hesitating. “What is it?” he asked.
Without looking him in the eye, she said, “Alric wanted me to turn Diana into a vampire.”
“What? No, he wouldn’t—did he ask you?”
She shook her head. “I could see it in his mind. He was torturing himself because they argued about it just before the attack.” She lowered her voice, as if she were afraid the Enforcer would hear her next words and return. “Couldn’t I though? I mean, as long as it was something Diana was prepared to accept? Wouldn’t that solve their problem? And…”
“And what?”
“And maybe Jacky too?”
Baron was floored that she would even offer to try something like that. Part of him wished for the same thing, but—
He sighed and shook his head. “It doesn’t work like that. The truth is, you’re too new. You probably won’t be able to turn a human for at least a hundred years, maybe more. It takes a long time for a vampire to develop that kind of power, for your blood to be strong and pure enough. If you tried now, you and whoever you tried it on would both die. You’d be giving up blood you can’t yet afford to lose, and your vampire blood wouldn’t be strong enough to fully transform their systems to those of a full-fledged vampire.”
“How do you know that?”
“I read everything I could find about vampires the night Devon dumped your body.”
She nodded but her face fell. “How can I just do nothing?” She wrapped her arms around herself, looking very small in the seat beside him.
He didn’t know what to tell her. There was no way for Alric and Diana. Even if they got through this obstacle, the matter of Alric’s immortality and Diana’s humanity would always be between them.
And Jacky…he didn’t want to get anyone’s hopes up but he had an idea. It needed more research, though. And it probably wasn’t going to work…
Max gave him directions to her apartment, but morning was coming fast. He pushed her down onto the floor of the truck to keep her away from the windows. The sun was balanced right below the horizon, its rays not yet bathing the sky with light, but definitely threatening to do so any minute now.
Even though Max was trying to hide it, he could tell she was worried. He didn’t dare slow the truck until he’d pulled into the underground parking lot of her building and the garage doors were safely shut behind them.
Max sat up and took a deep breath, her smile more than a little shaky. “Remind me to invest in some celebrity style dark glasses and a couple of big floppy hats, okay?”
That had been way too close, and he was rattled more than he wanted to admit.
With a curse he reached for her, pulling her over the seat. She was sitting in his lap, but it still wasn’t close enough. Her mouth parted and he crushed her mouth to his in a furious kiss, tasting his own blood as one of her sharp teeth slit his bottom lip open. He didn’t care. All that mattered was the feel of her solid, warm body, her wet tongue sliding against his, the proof that she was alive and she was safe. Maybe that would finally banish the god-awful desperate fear that still clawed at his insides.
“Too close, Max,” he mumbled against her mouth. “Too fucking close. Don’t do that again. Don’t ever make me go through another night like this one.”
She pulled from him, her eyes flashing with anger. “I really ought to kick your ass, you know that?” She braced a hand flat on his chest and squirmed out of his lap, maneuvering back into the passenger seat. She got out of the truck and slammed the door closed.
He sighed and followed her through the parking garage to the door of her building. They rode up the elevator in silence, the weight of words that needed to be said hanging in the air between them.
The elevator stopped at the sixth floor, and Baron found himself curious to see what Max’s personal space looked like. He realized he’d never really seen her in her own place before. When her mother had been alive, she hadn’t allowed anyone to come to her home. And the one other time Baron had come back to Rockford, they had gone to his place.
Three doors down from the elevator, Max stopped and shook her head. “Oh no. How stupid am I?” she muttered.
She touched the doorknob as if to test that it was really locked against them, before turning to him with a rueful smile tugging at her mouth. He chuckled. “You don’t have a key, do you?”
She shook her head. “No. I don’t. An important fact I should have remembered before I effectively locked myself in this building for the day with nowhere to go but back to the parking garage.”
He swept past her and approached the door of her apartment. “Don’t tell me…” she started.
He pulled out a slim case from an inside pocket of his leather trench. “An Immortal is always prepared,” he said with a grin.
She laughed, and Baron went to work. It didn’t take long. In less than a minute, her door was unlocked. She raised her brows, and he shrugged. “Don’t tell me you don’t know the same trick. Isn’t that lesson number one at private investigators’ school?”
Her chuckle was low and husky, sexy. His cock hardened instantly.
She moved to walk past him, but he grabbed her arm and stopped her before she could open the door. “Do you keep the shades drawn when you’re gone?” he asked.
“Oh!” She took a step back and looked at him with wide eyes, as if she were afraid the sun could reach her through the door. “I wasn’t thinking. I have a wall of windows in the living area, and the curtains were probably all open when I left.”
He squeezed her arm and motioned for her to stand to the side of the door. “It’s okay Max. This is just going to take some getting used to.”
She grimaced and leaned against the wall, knocking her head back on the plaster with a sigh. “I’m going to end up killing myself before I get used to this.”
Seeing the ragged, shaken look on her face, Baron let go of the door handle and cupped her face in his hands. “You’ll do just fine, baby,” he assured her. “You’re not alone in this.” He stepped in close, crowding her. Her breathing caught nicely as she met his gaze and he lowered his mouth. This time their kiss was softer, deeper, but no less urgent. When she raised her arms to clutch him closer, Baron groaned and angled his hips into the V of her thighs, pushing her body hard against the wall.
Things were quickly getting out of hand, especially considering where they were and that anyone could wander by. With a sigh, he pressed one last kiss to Max’s mouth before stepping away. With satisfaction, he noted the passion clouding her eyes. Good, he thought. Maybe she hadn’t yet written him off completely. “Stay here while I go in and draw the drapes, okay?”
She nodded. “Where would I go?”
Baron went inside, closing the door behind him. Sure enough, bright morning sunshine was streaming into the apartment through a long bank of windows that spanned the entire back wall. He took a quick look around, noting the neat, clean lines of her modern-styled furniture. She’d used soft pastel colors to give the room depth, splashed here and there by way of those pillows women always had to have. There were several nice watercolor
s hanging on the plain painters’ white walls, and not a dirty dish or dust bunny in sight.
Aware that he’d left her standing in the hall, Baron made quick work of the curtains in the living room and kitchen and then went to the bedroom. He avoided looking at the bed, but couldn’t help noticing the slinky black negligee Max had left draped across a chair. He closed his eyes and forced himself to leave the room without touching it, returning to the front door to let her know it was safe to come inside.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
“Thanks,” Max said when he opened the door and let her in. She’d just had a fairly awkward encounter with her neighbor, old Mr. Dawson. He’d come out of the elevator and asked why she was just standing out in the hall. Max told him she thought she’d seen a rat in the kitchen and refused to go back in there until her friend told her it had been taken care of. She hated giving anyone the impression she was that much of a wuss, but it was better than saying she couldn’t go into her own place because the sun would reduce her to ash all over the nice white carpets her landlord had installed last spring.
Looking around and feeling as if she’d returned from a long vacation, Max took a few moments just to breathe.
“It feels different…almost as if this stuff isn’t mine anymore.” She glanced over at Baron.
“I know.” He wrapped her up in his arms, and only then did she feel like she’d really come home.
She let herself soak in his warmth for a few minutes, burrowing as close to him as she could get. With a sigh, she laid her head on the broad width of his chest. She breathed in his spicy vanilla scent, overlaid with a sweaty musk from their exertions in the woods. He was running his hands soothingly up and down her back, but his attempt at comfort was belied by the erection that prodded her belly.
More than anything Max wanted to lose herself in him, in the pleasure he would give her, but she couldn’t let go of her fear. Even knowing that Devon was gone for good, Max worried that Justice might have been right about her—what if she couldn’t control herself? Even now, the sound of Baron’s heart pounding with those strong, measured beats was enough to make her teeth ache.
