“Thirty-two.”
My stomach dropped as I watched a guard pull out a stake. I dove toward him, hands extended, and ordered Mutt to duck. Luck, fate, or the Easter Bunny was on our side. The tips of my fingers reached him first with enough momentum to knock him so that the stake buried in his shoulder instead of his heart.
He grunted with the dual impact but remained standing. His training finally kicked in and he swept both guards off their feet. Yanking the stake from his shoulder, he made quick work at ending their existence.
“I’ll get Cesio. You get everyone else.” I wasn’t stupid. Killing the overlord would take all my skill and then some. I wouldn’t risk someone as young as Mutt. He could gain his experience practicing on the guards.
I rolled with my stake in hand. If I was going down, I’d go down with teeth bared, blood on my lips, and the pride of my pack in my heart.
Chapter Seventeen
A growl rose behind me as I faced Cesio.
His eyes went wide as he stared at the thing that cast a shadow over his face. “He’s a shifter? I was told the slayer’s team was all human.”
No matter how tempting, I didn’t take my eyes off my quarry to glance over my shoulder. Tingles made the hairs on my arm stand on end. It should be against the law for me to enjoy Cesio’s fear as much as I did.
Colby had shifted to his beast form.
When it came to hand-to-hand combat, shifters had the upper hand on vampires. Our speed, reach, and strength outmatched theirs. Even though I couldn’t shift, I’d spent a lifetime training with the deadliest warriors on Earth. It made up for my lack in genes.
I tilted my head to the side and tossed at my mate, “Stay back. He’s mine.” Waiting for his denial, I was given a small jolt of shock when Colby stepped to the side and gestured with gentlemanly grace.
I snarled at Cesio as I leaped, stake aimed at his heart.
His backhanded slap across my face split my lip, and the salty taste of blood met my tongue. I had to give him credit. He stood his ground, even when obviously outmatched.
With the momentum of Cesio’s slap, I spun in the other direction. I twisted my wrist so the stake would arc around.
My arm jerked as the impact of the stake hit hard flesh. My hand went numb, but training kept my grasp tight as I leaned my weight into the strike through his back.
Cesio grunted. A small, bloody cough escaped him before he slid to his knees. His gaze traveled to Mutt.
My student tore his way through Cesio’s guards, using nothing but his hands. He maimed, not killed. We’d have to have a talk about that. Nosferatu couldn’t afford to leave enemies alive; otherwise they’d eventually be destroyed.
Colby drew closer to me and watched. “He has good form.”
“Of course he does.”
Another cough caught our attention. Cesio now glared at me. “He’ll never survive.” Then he melted into a pile of ash.
I scooted closer to Colby, not wanting any on my boots.
Silence encased the room. We’d won the battle, but there was a whole nest of vampires outside those doors. How would they react to Cesio’s death? I grasped Colby’s clawed hand tight. “What now, fearless leader?”
He shook his mane and sighed. Stooping, he picked up the stake from inside the ash and handed it to a stunned Mutt. “Keep it in your hand as you lead us out. It’ll serve to remind them who their master truly is and might get us out in one piece.” Colby returned to Red and picked him up in his arms.
Mutt led a parade of human and shifter slayers through the building. No one questioned us. The vampires parted as we moved toward the exit, and whispers followed our wake.
Things like, they really exist? and look at the stake, did he kill Cesio? reached my sensitive ears.
Our driver waited at the door like instructed, and we piled inside. Colby shifted to his human form before entering, and I handed him some spare clothes left in the van. This time, Mutt sat shotgun while I curled against Colby in the back of the van.
His solid presence anchored my building anxiety. We’d left a vacuum in the vampire power structure, and nothing good could come from that. There were the new vampires hidden within the city to find as well. Who knew how they’d feed now? Would the populace take them in and teach them?
Colby stroked my hair and closed his eyes as he rested his head back. “Your heart is racing.”
“So is yours.” I smiled against his chest as he chuckled.
The driver parked the van in front of Mutt’s home. I didn’t bother asking how they knew. Like a rookie, I had worn Colby’s tracer here the last night.
I followed Mutt out, but Colby captured my wrist in his hand. “Stay.”
“I can’t leave him alone after this.” I watched Mutt enter his home with a bowed head. “Come with me. He could use an extra pair of ears tonight.” I ran my fingers over his hand. “And I could use the company.”
He glanced at Red, worry tracing his features.
His friend waved him off. “Go on. I have a whole team to dote on me. I don’t need to look at your ugly puss all night.”
Colby stepped out and slid the van door closed. He watched them depart with a forlorn expression. “We need to talk.”
I sighed, my body heavy with exhaustion. “Let’s go inside and sit.” I wanted to curl up next to him again, take a hot shower, and find some food. In any order I could get them.
“Not yet.” He turned me to face him. “Gwen, I need to be with you. I know that now.” The lines on his face deepened. “But our…alliances conflict.”
I glanced at the open warehouse door. “You want me to leave him.”
“I want you to leave all of them.”
My stomach twisted in a knot and I wanted to throw up. “That’s not fair.”
He gazed at the ground. “I know.”
I’d spent all my life serving the Nosferatu clan. I even liked a few of them. What he was asking would betray who I was. “You’re a jerk.” Shoving him away, I stormed inside the warehouse, ignoring Mutt’s raised eyebrow as he spoke on his cell phone. Who the hell could he be talking to? I dove onto the couch and buried my head under a pillow.
Months. I’d wasted months on Colby. Left my pack, my job, my family. He wanted me all to himself. Selfish son of a bitch. He was a slayer. He kept the vampire population in check, just like my boss did. Why couldn’t they work together?
A large hand ran over my spine.
“Leave me alone, Mutt.”
“He’d touch you like this?” The outrage in Colby’s voice echoed in the warehouse.
I peeked from under the pillow as my mate shot a daggered glare at Mutt’s back. “Stop it.” I shrugged off his hand.
He groaned and lay next to me, squishing me against the back of the couch. “Fine. I asked too much. Can you blame me?”
I stared at his sharp profile. His body conformed to mine and made the tight confines of the couch comfy. “What did he do to you?” I whispered the question and almost regretted speaking it out loud. Secrets and fears between us would only tear us further apart.
Colby and I had already started on rocky shores. We didn’t need a rogue wave to crash over the tentative relationship we were nurturing.
He swallowed. “Who?”
“Tane. Maybe I’ll understand better if I knew.”
Turning his face away, he cleared his throat. The only sound was Mutt’s muted voice far on the other side of the warehouse.
I leaned my face on Colby’s shoulder and waited.
“He used my curiosity against me and set a trap. They took me on his yacht on the Danube River, where no one would hear me scream.”
I closed my eyes against my tears. Shedding them would drive him further away. He’d see it as pity, not compassion. I knew my master could be cruel; I didn’t have any delusions.
“He chained me to the wall and cut off my clothing. I couldn’t fight him. I didn’t know how to shift, but God, I tried.” His breathing grew ragged.<
br />
I clung to him and forced his face toward me, pressing small kisses to his forehead, his cheeks, his eyes. “You don’t have to…you don’t…”
“I do.” He took a deep, shaky breath. “He never touched me. Not physically. He tore into my mind, took my memories, and learned everything about me. Every fear and pleasure. My fantasies. Nothing was sacred.” He ran his finger under my chin. “Gwen, he knows me better than I know myself. I’m vulnerable around him. Don’t…” He closed his eyes, resting his forehead against mine. “Don’t make me go to him. Please.”
I wrapped him in my arms and legs, pulling him against me as if I were trying to make us one being. “We won’t go back.” An ache burned in my throat from the effort not to cry. “I promise.”
He hugged me tighter, almost cracking my ribs. “Thank you. We’ll figure things out. One day at a time.”
I ran more kisses along his neck. “We need a shower. Especially you.” Crawling over him, I took his hand and pulled him on his feet, leading him to the bathroom.
“Here?”
“Mutt set this place up like an apartment. You’re not going to get squeamish, are you?” I pulled out some fresh towels from a closet. “He even has a washer and dryer.” I winked at him. After his confession, I needed a little levity to ease the abrasions on my soul.
Colby turned on the water until steam filled the room and undressed in a quick fashion.
I followed his lead and stepped in the shower behind him.
He jumped. “What are you doing? Mutt’s outside.”
I rose to my tiptoes to meet his glare, secretly pleased that he was tall enough to make me feel small. “Are you shy?” Sliding my hand along his abdomen, I cradled his hardening cock in my hand. “Doesn’t seem like it.”
A crooked smile graced his lips. Finally. I was glad he’d shared his pain with me, but it was time to wash them away. They’d never be gone, but I’d do my best to fight their re-emergence.
With each caress and stroke, the tension in his shoulders seemed to ease until he began to thrust to my slow rhythm. The shower stall was narrow and didn’t leave any room to maneuver. Hot water beat upon us as he cornered me. Brushing his fingers over my pussy, Colby sent a tremor through my legs. We needed to find a connection outside of hunting and sex. Something we both believed in.
He pressed his fingers inside, exploring at a relaxed pace we hadn’t had the night before. “You’re so soft here, just for me.” Deeper and deeper, he pushed until I was panting and clinging to his shoulders.
Heat blazed over my skin while he traced my pebbled nipple. Only a man like Colby could make me feel so feminine.
He dipped his head, took part of my breast in his mouth, and sucked.
My knees buckled. “Yes…”
Holding me up, he stepped in between my thighs and released my sensitive flesh.
I jerked as he lifted me, guiding my legs around his hips, the tip of his cock pressing at my entrance. His eyes were focused, sharp, his kisses demanding.
Arms enveloping his neck, I leaned my head back so he could devour my mouth.
He pulled away, sucking on my bottom lip before letting it slip away. A huge smile spread across his face, something he let only me witness.
“What?” I whispered.
“I never thought I’d fall in love.”
A small gasp left my lips. “You love me?” Silly of me to ask. I’d suspected it, but hearing the words spoken of his own free will made it real.
“Since the day I pinned you to the floor in that hotel room in Rio.”
I tangled my fingers in his wet hair and grinned. “I pinned you first.”
He dropped his mouth closer to mine, his cock teasing my tender flesh. “I don’t recall that.” With a sudden thrust, he pushed past my secret muscles.
Digging my nails into his back, I tried to find purchase on his slippery skin while he moved inside of me. Fast and hard. Relentless.
Breathing became difficult as wave after wave of ecstasy flowed through my body. Water pounded on my face, trickling into my open mouth. I moaned from his onslaught.
His heavy panting filled my hearing and he gripped my ass tighter. The muscles in his neck corded as he pounded harder. “Gwen…”
I brushed my lips over his forehead then arched my back while the blinding pleasure took over. My mate kept repeating my name in my ear until his climax spilled his seed. Heat swelled inside my abdomen.
He leaned against the wall, crushing us together, and caught his breath while I ran my hands over the defined lines of his sleek muscles.
A booming knock on the bathroom door shattered the silence. “If you’re both finished screwing around in my shower, we have some things to discuss.” Mutt sounded tense.
Chapter Eighteen
We washed and dressed before joining Mutt in his sitting area.
The vampire had changed back into his usual torn jeans and T-shirt. He sat in the chair across from the sofa, resting his chin on his hand, a pensive expression on his face. He stared at nothing in particular.
My smile faded from my face. I’d never seen Mutt this concerned. I sat on the sofa, Colby joining me. “What is it?”
“I called Tane.” He mumbled around the fingers covering his lips. “He’s happy.”
“Okay.” I glanced at Colby, but he appeared as confused as I was. “And?”
“I should have let you call him instead.”
“Why didn’t you?” This plan had been mine. I was willing to take any fallback from it.
“When they sent you to me, what were your instructions?” His dark eyes darted toward me.
A flutter of concern grew in my stomach. “To teach you anything I thought you needed. Keep you out of trouble.”
He nodded. “I was given different instructions.”
Colby took my hand and squeezed. “This is where the Nosferatu shit starts, right?”
“Yeah.” Mutt leaned back in the chair, his hands resting on the arms. “They’d told me I had to kill Cesio months ago. No reason why. Just orders.”
“Months? They knew what he was doing?”
Mutt shrugged. “I guess.”
The flutters got worse. “Then why didn’t you do it? You’re strong enough. You proved that tonight.”
“When I was a regular vampire, I was just a foot soldier in Cesio’s nest. After changing me to this, the Nosferatu told me I couldn’t afford to be a soldier anymore. I had to learn to think for myself. Every time they came, it was about making me use my head.” He tapped his temple. “I’m not their soldier either. If Cesio broke the laws, then I needed proof. Not some random order from the top.”
“So you asked for proof?”
“No, I think if they had it they would have killed him already.”
“This was a test.”
“Everything is a test. I guess Tane thought I might need help and he sent you.” He sighed and closed his eyes. “I never asked for any of this, you know. I just woke up after a day’s sleep and it was already done. Poof. Nosferatu. They never asked.”
“I don’t think it occurred to them that you would have refused.” I hated to see the pain in Mutt’s face. He had eons to live, but they didn’t need to be unhappy ones.
“Anyway, I passed their stupid test. Cesio is dead. I have verbal proof of his plans with witnesses.” He gestured to us. “You are now looking at the new overlord of Manhattan.”
Shit.
I glanced at Colby and met his confused stare. What did I do?
“This sucks.” Mutt punched the arm of the chair, and it snapped off. “Fuck.” He grabbed the broken piece and threw it across the warehouse. “I don’t know what I’m supposed to do.”
My heart warred with itself. Torn in two between what I wanted and what was the right thing to do. Colby didn’t care for Nosferatu in his life, but they were a part of mine. Mutt was so young. What would happen if I left him to the jackals of this city?
A black hole swallowed the joy from my
heart as I stared at the distraught vampire. “You’re not alone in this. I’ll help.”
Mutt twisted to face us, the lines of anxiety melting away. “You too, Colby?” He didn’t mask the eagerness in his voice.
My mate blinked, his bottom jaw dropping open. “You want my help? But I’m a slayer.”
“Technically, so am I. Who better to teach me?” A grin spread across his face. “I have a city with a small army of new vampires hidden away. I can’t imagine a better job for either of us.”
I hugged Colby around the waist. Mutt was right. My mate only had to see past his prejudice. Not all Nosferatu were monsters, and we could help raise this one into power the right way.
“You want me to work for you?” I heard an edge in Colby’s voice, something Mutt might not catch. “I don’t have a good track record with your kind.”
Mutt frowned. “I’m not like them. Not yet, anyway.” He shrugged. “I’d like to try to keep it that way.”
I cupped Colby’s face in my hands. “He needs us. He needs you.” I hoped what was in my heart translated into the plea in my eyes. We could be together.
Colby nodded. “I’m in.”
Release
The Angler book three
Coming Summer 2013
Nosferatu rule from the shadow and keep order over their blood thirsty people. Bald with pointed ears, they give even vampires something to fear. If a law is broken, they have only one punishment. Death. They are the most powerful clan in the Vampire Nation and the most monstrous. Only a male vampire can be transformed into a Nosferatu but not all survive.
Connie Bence is on the run with her two lovers, Rurik and Tane. As leader of the Nosferatu, Tane’s only threat is his own clansmen and they want all three of them dead. When Rurik began to lose his hair rumors spread and the Nosferatu accused Tane of trying to transform Rurik into one of them illegally.
Never one to surrender, Connie leads them across Europe using her old slayer contacts. Nosferatu on their heels, they need to find out what’s changing Rurik and cure him before the blood lust takes permanent hold.
Hunting Colby Page 11
