by Keri Arthur
Chapter Two
Panic surged. Ten guardians had disappeared under suspicious circumstances in the last few months, and only two of them had been found. Or rather, only bits of two of them had been found. I swallowed heavily. My twin couldn't be the eleventh. He was the only family I had left since our pack had thrown us out. He was the only person who meant anything to me, the one person I couldn't live without. Losing him would kill me as surely as a silver bullet
I took a deep breath and tried to calm my fears. Rhoan wasn't hurt, and he wasn't dying, because I'd have felt either of those
He was just in some form of trouble, and, my fault or not, he'd been in trouble most of his life. He could handle it, whatever it was
The last thing I needed to do was panic. But I could check. I retrieved my cell phone, pressed the vid button, then quickly dialed my boss, Jack Parnell. He was the current head of the guardian division, and one of the few vampires I actually liked. The other, Kelly, was a guardian and one of my few friends. Not only were they both nice, but they actually bathed like regular people
Jack's bald features came online. He gave me a toothy grin, but there was an intentness in his green eyes that belied his jovial expression
"Nice to see you're unhurt after your evening jaunt," he said, his tone cheerful and gravelly. "I'll expect your report in the morning. "
"I'll write it up at home and e-mail it in. Tell me, have you heard from Rhoan?"
"About two hours ago. Why?"
I hesitated. I had to be careful what I said, because no one at the Directorate knew Rhoan and I were related, let alone twins. The fact that we shared the same last name was no clue, simply because every individual in a wolf pack shared the same surname. So everyone in our pack, related or not, had Jenson as a last name. And whenever someone new came into the pack, they legally changed their names to the pack name. It was the one way to differentiate origins between packs that shared the same coat color
Most of those at the Directorate actually presumed we were lovers simply because we lived together - a theory neither of us corrected because it was far easier on us if they believed that. Of course, if they actually knew anything about Rhoan, they would have realized how unlikely our being lovers was
I wasn't sure what Jack believed - he'd never said anything about the two of us, never asked anything about our situation. He gave the appearance of not caring either way, but after working for him for six years, I knew that was never the case
"You're aware that werewolves often know when pack mates are in trouble?"
He simply nodded
"Well, I've got that feeling now, with Rhoan. "
"Life-or-death-type trouble?"
"No. "
"Is he injured in any way?"
"No. Not yet. "
He frowned. "So you simply feel he is in trouble?"
"Yes. " Felt it through every fiber, and as strongly as I could feel the heat of the moon
"I don't disbelieve you, Riley, but as he's not overdue, I prefer to wait. The mission he's on is a delicate one, and sending rescuers in could make the whole thing fall apart. "
Like I cared about anything but my brother. . .
I took another deep breath and blew it out slowly. "But given the other disappearances, isn't it worth checking?"
"The others disappeared from a specific area. Rhoan's mission shouldn't take him anywhere near it. "
"So you know where he is?"
"Yes. " He hesitated. "Though you and I are both aware he doesn't always report changes of direction. "
Wasn't that the truth. And if he wasn't where he was supposed to be, then finding him was going to be a whole lot of fun. "When will he become overdue?"
"He's due to report at nine tomorrow morning. "
"And if he doesn't?"
"I shall decide then what to do. "
"I want in. "
"Riley, you're not a guardian. "
Yet. I could almost hear the unspoken modifier. I could certainly see the amusement crinkling the corners of his eyes. Though I'd failed the tests, Jack, for some reason, held the firm belief that I had the makings of a great guardian. He'd told me so, lots of times. But because I'd already taken the test, he couldn't force me to take another. I was safe - at least until he found a way to make me do the damn thing again. Or until I played into his hands, as I suspected I might be doing
"He's my pack mate. I don't intend to sit back and twiddle my thumbs if he's in trouble. "
"Then report to work in the morning, and we'll see what happens. "
Which was neither a yes nor a no, but about as much as I was going to get that night. "Thanks, Jack. "
"Try not to scent anything else on the wind tonight," he said, voice dry. "It looks like an ant could knock you over right now. "
"But only a very toned ant. "
He laughed and hung up. I stared at the phone's blank screen for several seconds. If Jack wasn't going to be forthcoming with information, maybe I should try someone else. Like Kelly
Guardians often discussed missions, so maybe she knew where Rhoan had been headed. I had no idea if she was actually home, but I knew for a fact she wasn't working. It was worth a try
I dialed her number, but after three rings it clicked over to the answering machine. "Kel, it's Riley. Give me a call when you get home, no matter what the time. " I hesitated, then added, so as not to panic her, "Nothing urgent. I just have a question. "
I hung up, shoved the phone back in my bag, and walked home
Only to find the night's weirdness had not finished with me yet. A vampire stood at my door
A naked vampire, in fact
I stopped and stared. I couldn't help it. He was naked, after all. And damn, he was built
He had hair that might have been black, but just then looked brown with all the mud caked onto it, dark eyes that were anything but soulless, and a face angels would kill for
His body was just as caked with mud as his hair, but underneath the dirt, it was lean and powerful - in an athletic sort of way. And to complete the perfect packaging, he was well endowed. Not the largest I'd ever seen, but mighty fine all the same
The stairwell door slammed shut against my back, knocking me out of my admiring stupor
"Hello," I said
"Hello," he repeated
A polite vampire. Amazing. "Is there any particular reason you're standing naked at my door?"
I was hoping there was. Hoping that maybe he was some kind of present. Granted, my birthday was quite a few months off, but a girl can always dream
Though my dreams didn't usually contain naked vampires, especially mud-covered ones
He answered my question with one of his own. "Is there any particular reason you're covered in blood?"
"I got into a fight. What's your excuse?"
He looked down, as if his state of undress was something he hadn't noticed until that moment. "I really have no idea how I ended up like this. "
His voice was a low vibration that shivered through my soul and made my toes want to curl. Damn if it wasn't the sexiest voice I'd ever heard on a man - dead or alive
"But you do know why you're standing at my door?"
He nodded. "If you live here, then I am here to see you. "
"Well, I can tell you, I don't get many bare-assed guys turning up on my doorstep. " Which was partly what I'd been bitching about to my brother before he'd disappeared on his mission, and the main reason I'd half hoped this vamp might be a present. Rhoan tended to do things like that. Though admittedly, few vampires had a sense of humor, and most would not have gone along with such a stunt. "So, unless you can explain what's going on, you can march your pretty body down the stairs and out of our building. "
"I need help. "
Which more than likely meant he wanted Directorate help more than my personal help. Which was a damn shame. My gaze did another tour down his naked torso, and I couldn't
help an almost wistful sigh. Okay, so I saw a lot of nice naked bodies at the werewolf nightclubs, but this vampire was definitely the best-put-together specimen of manhood I'd seen recently
"Why do you need help? Did you flash your bits at the wrong man's wife?"
Annoyance flickered through his dark eyes. "I'm being serious. Someone is trying to kill me. "
He might be serious, but it was hard to take him that way when he was standing there so calmly. Wouldn't the obvious action have been to report problems to the police, or even the Directorate? "There's always someone trying to kill vamps, and generally, you guys deserve it. "
"Not all of us kill to survive. "
Well, no, but the ones who did certainly gave the rest a bad rep.
