Bittersweet Darkness

by Nina Croft

  “I love the city at night,” she said.

  “Do you come from London?”

  “No. I was born up north, but I’ve lived here since I was twelve.”

  “What happened when you were twelve?”

  For a few seconds he thought she wasn’t going to answer. Then she seemed to give a mental shrug. “My mother died, and I was put into foster care. I wasn’t doing so well and they thought a change of scenery might help me forget.”

  He could sense something dark behind her words. Was this the thing that had changed her, made her what she was? “I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t be. It was a long time ago.”

  “Some wounds never heal.”

  He could sense her stare in the dim light. “Do you really believe that?”

  Did he? If she’d asked him a year ago—before he’d found Tara—he would have said no. He hadn’t been able to even think about Lily without being engulfed in a black rage—not good for a demon. He still felt the stab of pain in his heart at the thought of her. He’d never loved before Lily. And he never would again.

  But recently, he’d started thinking about her—remembering the good times—without the taint of darkness. Maybe he was healing. Even being here with this woman now, proved that.

  Because he wanted her. His cock jerked at the thought and he pushed the urge down. He wanted her, but he had no illusions she would be a pushover.

  No doubt, he could possess her mind long enough to make her believe she wanted him in return. But he’d rather she came to him of her own free will. Much more satisfying. And it wasn’t as though he didn’t have the time.

  “Maybe not,” he said.

  “Anyway, aren’t you supposed to be telling me about Christian Roth?”

  He shrugged. “There’s not a lot to tell.” Actually, there was, but not a lot they were allowed to tell. It occurred to him to wonder why this organization was investigating Christian and not Piers who’d been head of the Order for the last twenty-odd years. Maybe it was because Christian had chosen to live among men. He’d probably been too successful. “Christian is a businessman. A good one.”

  “You make him sound almost boring. Does he carry a gun?”

  His lips twitched as he thought about the double shoulder holster, the sawed-off shotgun, and the knives. Christian had been a little jumpy about the whole angel thing. Not surprising; Tara was vulnerable, or had been before he had given her the talisman. She was half demon but had grown up believing herself human and had no clue how to use her demonic powers or any other weapons to protect herself.

  “Sometimes,” he replied. “He does business in some dangerous places.”

  “What sort of business?”

  “All sorts. Investment, property, security—that’s the section Ryan and I work for.”

  “Ryan said they were recruiting?”

  “Some. We have a major initiative going down. For the right sort of person it could be a great opportunity.”

  “And do you think I’m the right sort of person.”

  He pulled up at the side of the road. They’d arrived. He shifted in his seat to face her. In the light from the streetlamps, her skin glowed. She’d been chewing on her lower lip and it was red, her eyes silver. He wanted to close the distance between them and taste her, but he reckoned she’d run.

  “I don’t know,” he said slowly. “But I’d like to find out.”

  She licked her lips and a stab of lust shot through him.

  “You would?”

  …

  Why the hell had she said that? She was fucking flirting. Flirting with Mr. I-Carry-a-Huge-Gun-Gang-Leader type. She never flirted. And if she had, it wouldn’t have been with someone like him.

  She’d spotted the edges of a tattoo when he’d taken his coat off and had been trying to see if it was gang related while appearing not to stare.

  Ryan trusted Ash. If it weren’t for that, she wouldn’t have ridden in a vehicle with him. Now she regretted it. She’d made a point to keep her distance from guys she worked with, and while she didn’t work with Ash, he definitely came under the work-related heading.

  In the close confines of the car, he was so big. Huge. Not merely tall but broad, though there wasn’t an ounce of fat on that long lean frame. She’d seen that when he’d stripped off his coat and offered to let her pat him down. The leather pants and T-shirt had been skintight, so tight she’d seen the ripple of his abs under the thin cotton. And very nearly spontaneously combusted.

  Maybe this aneurysm thing was messing with her brain. Sending messages to the rest of her body that her rational mind wasn’t involved with. The doctor had said that one of the later symptoms might be hallucinations. But surely not yet.

  Ash hadn’t answered her and she risked a peek at his face. She’d been trying to avoid that because the mixture of amusement and masculine curiosity in his dark eyes was doing strange things to her insides.

  And his mouth, with that amused quirk and those full lips. His hair, which she’d though short at first was actually shoulder length and pulled into a tight ponytail. And dark as midnight. It looked silky soft and she clenched her fists tight to stop their instinctive move to touch him, see if he was as soft and hard as he appeared.

  Time to get the hell out of there.

  She shifted back in her seat, reached out, and pressed open the door, almost falling from the vehicle in her haste to get out. She grabbed her bag and hunted for her keys. Ash had followed her and she hated the little skip her heart gave, the way the muscles clenched tight in her belly.

  “You don’t have to see me to the door,” she snapped suddenly angry with herself. “This isn’t a date.”

  “No. But I’ll see you to your door all the same.”

  From his tone, she had an inkling he was far from impressed with her neighborhood and that ratcheted her anger another notch. “Hey, we can’t all afford swanky pads in the middle of town, you know.”

  “You could if you came to work with us,” he replied.

  “And what would I have to do for it? No, thank you.”

  He fell into step beside her. And she didn’t say anything else. Her apartment was on the ground floor and opened into the street. She halted by the front door.

  “Thanks for the lift,” she said.

  He stared down at her, and took a step closer so he was almost touching. A shiver ran through her, but pride stopped her from stepping back. She wouldn’t let him see she was intimidated.

  Though she was kidding herself. She didn’t feel any fear of him, which was strange in itself, because he was one of the scariest-looking people she had ever come across.

  She stood motionless as he leaned down and kissed her lightly on the cheek.

  “To answer your earlier question,” he murmured against her skin. “Yes, I would like to find out more about you. A lot more.”

  Then he was gone.

  Chapter Five

  Faith woke the following morning to a sense of anticipation.

  She lay in bed and stretched. Physically, she felt good. Since the blackout, the first few moments after waking, she always lay still, waiting for the headache. She had to force her lids open, in case the world was blurred. But today she seemed to be functioning perfectly. Perhaps the doctors were wrong and there was no blood vessel slowly swelling in her brain, waiting to burst and this time, finish her off.

  As she sat on the train, heading into to work, she tried to tell herself the anticipation was all down to feeling well and nothing to do with the image of Mr. Tall, Dark, and Dangerous that kept popping into her mind.

  There were so many excellent reasons why she should never see Ash again. For one thing, he wasn’t her type. Not that she had a type. She hadn’t dated since she’d been promoted to detective and that was…Jesus, she hadn’t dated in over two years. No wonder she was feeling horny. But if she did have a type, he wouldn’t be it. She liked nice men who wore smart suits and worked in offices. She was a sucker for a man in a tie an
d she was betting Ash had never worn one in his life.

  No, black leather was more his thing. Tight black leather that molded his thighs and clung to his lean hips.

  Crap, he’d been hot. She wouldn’t have been a woman if she hadn’t noticed that. Add with a voice like velvet and barbed wire, he was bound to have an effect on her hormones.

  He’d said he wanted to get to know her better.

  But that wasn’t going to happen. Because no way was she taking a job with CR International. And Ryan had sort of made it clear that if she didn’t take the job, he would effectively cut her out of his life. He’d actually already done that. If she hadn’t arrived on his doorstep and pretty much demanded to see him, she doubted he would have come in search of her.

  He had a new partner now.

  But while the perks of the job appeared great—she’d kill for an apartment like that—she didn’t want to work for some big corporation. In fact, she’d never wanted to work for anyone but the police force. Since her mother’s murder case had gone unsolved, it was all Faith had ever wanted to do. Maybe deep down she thought that she might succeed where they’d failed twenty years ago, but in fact, she’d never gone over the evidence. She’d thought about it once or twice but something had always held her back.

  She was determined that Julie’s murder would not go unsolved.

  And while she believed Ryan would never take a job working for the bad guys, maybe he didn’t know. She could do some background research, find out exactly who they were and try and find a stronger link.

  Right now, she’d take any lead she could get, because otherwise the investigation had ground to a halt. Apart from the weirdo brigade, she had no one left to talk to. At least now, she had something proactive she could do. Consequently, she was feeling much more optimistic by the time she sat down at her desk, set her usual breakfast of coffee and a doughnut in front of her, and flicked on her computer.

  As she typed Christian Roth’s name into the search box with one hand while she ate the doughnut with her other, she sensed someone come up behind her. She peered over her shoulder.

  “Hey, boss, you want something?”

  “Yes, you in my office now.”

  He didn’t sound happy, but also didn’t give her a chance to ask what this was about as he whirled around and stalked away.

  Pete, her boss was pretty much her ideal man. Tall, elegant in a dark business suit and a navy-blue tie, he was the opposite of the stereotypical policeman. He never appeared less than immaculate, and he never ate doughnuts. One of the reasons he was so successful in his career was that he gave the department such a confident image for the public. He was a political animal, and it was generally believed he would go far.

  She’d always fancied him rotten, but now she recognized that was because he was safe. She was a normal woman, well vaguely normal, and her hormones needed some outlet. So she could fantasize about him and not worry that it would inconveniently disrupt the smooth running of her solitary life because he would never consider an affair with someone on his team. Even if she wanted to make her crush a reality, he’d probably run a mile if she came on to him.

  After a last longing glance at her half-eaten doughnut, she picked up her coffee and followed him back to his office.

  “Close the door would you?” Pete said.

  It must have been something serious. She hoped they weren’t going to take her off active duty. That would really piss her off. Though there was no reason for them to. They didn’t know about her little problem.

  He took off his jacket and hung it on the hanger beside his desk. Wouldn’t do to get it crumpled. But he didn’t sit down. Instead, he moved toward the window and stared out for a moment. Running his hand through his short dark hair, which—unlike Ryan’s—fell back perfectly into place.

  Shit, he was going to take her off active duty. The bastard.

  She clamped her lips together in case she said something she’d regret. Then plonked herself down on the wooden chair in front of his desk and waited for him to speak.

  He turned back to face her. “You’ve been reassigned.”

  About to take a sip of coffee, now she placed the cup carefully on the desk. “What? Where?” She didn’t want to be reassigned and she had a nasty feeling about this.

  “MI13. A group attached to military intelligence. Other than that, I can’t say. They’re based in offices in Westminster, and they want you over there now.”

  “And if I don’t want to go.”

  “I’m sorry, Faith. I tried to refuse. We don’t want to lose you right now. We’re already one detective down until we replace Ryan.”

  Aw, wasn’t that sweet. Not. She’d thought he was going to get personal and say he’d miss her or something. She should have known better. “So what did they say?”

  “Actually, nothing. They hung up on me. I thought that was the end of it, but five minutes later I got a call from the big boss. And I mean as high as you can go. As of immediately you are reassigned. So get your things packed up and head over there.”

  “For how long?”

  “Permanently.”

  “What?” She got up and paced a couple of times. “They can’t do this to me. I don’t want to be transferred. They’re total nutcases. I can’t work for them.”

  His eyes narrowed. “So you’ve met them before?”

  “Yeah, they approached me yesterday. I pretty much told them to piss off.”

  He sighed and shoved his hands in his pockets. “Diplomatic as ever,” he murmured. “They obviously tried you first and when that didn’t work they went over your head. They must want you badly. Have you any idea why?”

  “Yeah, I know why. Damn.”

  “And are you going to share?”

  “They want me to spy on Ryan.”

  His brows drew together. “Why would they want that?”

  “Because they’re investigating Christian Roth, who Ryan works for now.”

  “Christian Roth? But these guys are not just any ordinary spooks—they go after spooky things. Why would they be interested in Roth?”

  Faith eyed him suspiciously. “I thought you didn’t know anything about them?”

  “I talked to a few people. I had to call in a couple of favors, and it took some deep digging, but I found out that much. I also got a second call from that big boss who told me—in no uncertain terms—to stop digging.”

  “Well, thanks for trying.”

  “I told you. I don’t want to lose you—you’re a good detective. But you really have no choice. And it could be interesting.”

  “What? Investigating a load of make-believe bullshit. I mean Christian Roth, a vampire? Come on.”

  He grinned. “It does seem a little far-fetched. Okay, you’d better get off. Here’s the address you’re to report to.” He handed her a piece of paper. Then in a totally unexpected move, he took her hand. “You know there is one positive thing to come out of this.”

  “There is?” She couldn’t think of one, but she was too busy trying to unscramble her brain from the fact that her captain—actually ex-captain now she supposed—was holding her hand. She waited for some reaction. Last night when Ash had taken her hand, it was as though she’d been shot with a jolt of electricity. She’d have expected something equally impressive from the man who she’d fantasized about for the last two years. But nothing.

  “You no longer work for me,” he said.

  “And that’s good?”

  He smiled. “You know I’ve always been attracted to you?”

  No, she didn’t. If he had, he’d done a fantastic job of hiding it. “Actually, no.”

  “I thought we might see each other.”

  “See each other?”

  An expression of exasperation flashed across his face. “A date, Detective Connolly.”

  “Oh.” She tried to think about it logically and failed. Hadn’t she wanted this for so long? And she might be dying. Didn’t she deserve some fun first? Why did Mr. Tall,
Dark, and Dangerous flash across her mind when she thought of fun. Fun and the captain with his immaculate suits didn’t seem to go together. “Why not?” was all she came up with.

  He shook his head but released her hand and stepped back. “I’ll give you a call.”

  “Great. Now, I suppose, I’d better go.”

  “Good luck.”

  “You think I’m going to need it?”

  “Probably.”

  …

  Pete’s far from encouraging words flashed across her mind as she followed Father O’Brien through the fourth set of security. What the hell did they have in here?

  She thought about asking him but guessed he was probably so far up his own arse that all she would get in response was—it’s classified. Though she had to admit, that all this security was making her curious. She might think they were a bunch of whackos but they obviously believed they had something important to protect.

  Finally, when they were deep inside the building and she was guessing, deep underground, they halted in front of a steel door. Father O’Brien tapped lightly and pushed it open without waiting for an answer. The office they entered was big and took minimalism to a new level, as if the occupant had no time for frivolous, unnecessary decoration. With the exception of a large metal desk and four chairs, the room was empty. Well, except for the colonel, who sat behind the desk, hands clasped in front of him. A small smile curved his thin lips but didn’t reach as far as his eyes.

  “Welcome, Detective Connolly, or may I call you Faith.”

  “Why not,” she muttered. “And what do I call you two?”

  “Colonel and Father will do adequately. Now, why don’t you take a seat?”

  Faith sat rather gingerly on the edge of the metal chair. The colonel took a small bundle out of the drawer and slid it across the desk to her. She picked up the wallet first. It was identification complete with a photo. She was pleased to see that she was still had the title detective—she’d worked hard for that.

  “You’ll have to go to security, get the fingerprint and retinal scans done before you leave the building,” the colonel said. “Otherwise you’re cleared for all but the level-one security areas.”