Angel Kin

by Tricia Skinner

  Satisfied and with her tummy growling encouragement, she slipped through the front door and out of the building. Under the cloudless sky, she drew the dewy air deep into her lungs. Cain was hunting his brother without any backup. As much as she’d like to believe she wasn’t worried for him, her mind constantly wandered to the dangerous half angel.

  The vibration of her cellphone made her jump.

  Raina. The band… What was she going to tell them?

  She lowered her gaze to the pavement as the crappy feeling of failure came over her. She still planned to pawn Ray’s stuff. The backpack was in her suitcase. If she hurried…

  “Hey, Raina,” Katie answered with a cheeriness she didn’t feel.

  “Damn it, Kat, I was worried to death about you!”

  Katie stopped in front of a closed store. “Why? What’s happened?”

  “Days ago you told us not to worry about the Black Fangs. You said you’d take care of it. Then you called and canceled movie night. After that you freakin’ disappeared,” Raina yelled. “I left voice mail and text messages, but you never replied. Frazzle told me to chill, so I did, but what the hell? Where have you been?”

  Katie grimaced and pinched her nose bridge. Two and a half days had passed since Ray’s death. “Has anyone contacted you? Is everyone all right?”

  “If you mean the Fangs, no. None of us are up for practicing so we’re keeping a low profile.” Her friend paused, then said, “Sprocket thinks we should bail on the gear. If we sell it, we might have enough to cover part of the payoff.”

  Katie made a fist of her free hand and stomped down the street. The coffee shop was in the distance. She crossed at the intersection. “And then what? That gear’s all you got. How’d you plan to play gigs without equipment?”

  Raina went quiet, which nudged her guilt.

  “Sorry. I’m being a bitch. Just do me a favor and tell the guys not to do anything. I’ll handle this.”

  “What are you going to do?”

  She glanced at the coffee shop and no longer felt hungry. In Jon’s apartment was the money they needed. She’d get her friends out of trouble whether a murderer was on her trail or not.

  “See if you and Sprocket can stay with Fraz for a few days. His wolf pack can keep an eye on things until I call.”

  “You’re scaring me,” Raina said. “Please don’t do anything stupid.”

  Oh, boy. Too late. Katie had turned around, ready to head back to Jon’s apartment. “I’ll be careful. Call you in a couple of days. Okay?”

  “Sure. You better.”

  “Thanks for checking on me. I’ll call. Promise.” She ended the call.

  She stood halfway between the coffee shop and the apartment. Still too early for a pawnshop to open. Katie glanced at a newspaper box and edged closer to read the top story.

  The picture above the main headline was of Ray Washington. She skimmed the story, which lacked details, about the police finding the councilman dead in his home. Buzzwords popped out. Suspicious circumstances. Foul play. Possible homicide. The article left her numb.

  The media hadn’t yet connected Ray to the other council deaths. Cain believed Abel wouldn’t come after her, but she knew that was also a matter of time; with power like Cain’s, eventually Abel would learn about her. Once that happened she became a very vulnerable loose end.

  Her throat constricted, and she backed away from the news box.

  Unless Cain got to him first.

  But Cain hunted his brother while the city’s police force hunted him. A sick feeling churned her stomach at the thought of Cain dying or being caught before he could get to Abel.

  Katie took a couple of steps then stopped. She was worried about him, a direct result of having the hots for her bodyguard. The revelation wasn’t much of a surprise. The kiss they’d shared was on instant replay since it happened. Now, knowing he risked arrest or worse, she couldn’t stop thinking about him. And it was Cain she thought of, not his twin. When Abel surfaced in her head, she recognized the difference.

  “Delicious,” came a male voice behind her.

  Startled, Katie spun and faced a dark elf grinning at her, his pearly smile blinding against his purple-black skin. She stared at the multiple piercings along his pointed ears, the spiky platinum hair, and the faded Sex Pistols T-shirt covering his lanky torso. Basically, Sid Vicious as an elf.

  The sight of him sprouted goose bumps across her arms and an overwhelming desire to run coursed through her brain. The traffic light near her changed, thank God, and she crossed the street. Her unwanted companion lagged a few steps behind. The hairs on her neck spiked along with her danger trigger, and she increased her pace. So did he.

  He was following her. There was no chance she’d lead him back to the apartment. To Jon. She flicked her gaze around her, seeking an opened store or a group of pedestrians, but the street was empty except for Legolas and her.

  “Yo’ butt jiggles like puddin’,” the dark elf said. “Do it taste like tapioca?”

  Katie broke into a run, her sneakers chewing pavement as she hauled ass. A whoop sounded behind her, followed by the pounding of boots. Her vision sharpened, and she cut around a corner in a blur. Goddamn it!

  One section of sidewalk had a long scaffold hovering above it. She drew up, glanced at the building under construction, and swore, knowing she’d have to run through the narrow walkway.

  The elf stopped, not even heaving a breath. “This gonna to be fun.”

  Sweat popped along her brow. She didn’t know what the guy wanted, but she wasn’t sticking around. He raised his arm at the covered sidewalk, an invitation to give it a shot, and she took off.

  Wooden planks and steel girders faded as she blurred past. Katie hooked the next corner, overturning a trash receptacle that caught her knee. A burst of pain shot up her thigh, but she gritted her teeth and kept moving. Up ahead, cars drove on the main road. She tucked her head and made a dash for it.

  Something slammed into her back, shoving her hard to the pavement. Oxygen evaporated from her lungs. She coughed and then wheezed in a gulp of air. Her palms burned from where she’d hit the ground.

  “Tailin’ you was gettin’ boring.” The elf loomed over her. “I gots several ideas to do to you befo’ I slice that pretty throat.”

  Fear avalanched over her body. Tailing her? Kill her? Who the hell was he? She kicked out and landed a satisfying blow to squishy elf nuts. Her attacker grabbed his sack and crashed to his knees.

  She scrambled to her feet and ran as if the Grim Reaper chased her. Maybe he did. She didn’t look back. Katie reached the busy intersection and almost bowled over a couple of werewolves in her path.

  One glared at her, his canines sharp and wet. “What the fuck, lady?”

  She pointed at the now upright elf. “Tr-tried to mug me.”

  Dual snarls erupted from the shifters. Katie saw them head after the startled elf like hairy linebackers. Whoever the guy was, she hoped they kicked his ass, but she wasn’t staying to watch. She ran until she reached a video game store and slowed her pace so she wouldn’t crash through the door. The sales clerk jerked his head up when she entered.

  “Sorry.” She pulled out her cell phone and reached in her other pocket. Cain’s business card in hand, she dialed.

  …

  The special ringtone reserved for informants jingled in Cain’s pocket. He adjusted his grip on the steering wheel, read the caller ID, and accepted the call. “Katie? What’s wrong?”

  “Oh God,” she said with a rush. “H-he said…ran so fast…don’t know why—”

  Her fear clamped his heart in chains. “Tell me where you are.”

  He heard a door open in the background. “Uh, I’m at a game store called Frags. It’s on Euclid Street.”

  Cain jammed his foot on the break, yanked the steering wheel, and floored the gas. The tires screeched at the abrupt direction change. “What happened?”

  “A d-dark elf a-attacked me.”

  “A
re you all right?” He could barely breathe. “Are you hurt?”

  “Yes, I mean no. I’m not hurt.”

  Thank the God of All. “Where’s your brother?”

  “Sleeping in his apartment.”

  Cain swallowed a throat full of curses. “Stay there. I’m coming, and we’ll go there to—”

  “No! I’m not going back. The elf said he was tailing me. I won’t take him to Jon.”

  Cain blasted through a red light. When he got his hands on Dravyn he planned to exact a very painful apology for this. Until then, Katie’s safety was paramount. The fireman’s place was compromised. The Stronghold, off-limits.

  “Cain? Are you still there?”

  The worry in her voice did little to unravel his rage, which he directed inward. Tanis had ordered him to keep her close, but no, he thought he knew better. He’d chosen to leave her to go after Abel. He’d chosen a personal goal over his oath to protect an innocent.

  Never again.

  The drive to Frags tested Cain’s sanity. At the fourth red light, he punched the dashboard, leaving a fist-shaped indentation. On green, the tires screeched like a dragster. Then he spotted Katie’s red hair through the store’s double window. She saw him, too.

  Barely out of the SUV, her small body filled his arms. He crushed her to his chest, nestled his nose in her hair, and breathed in deep. She shivered against him.

  Eventually, Katie leaned back, her gaze roaming his clothing. “Is that blood?”

  Cain checked his shirt and dismissed the evidence of his vamp encounter. “Killed a mosquito.”

  Her forehead wrinkled. “That’s a lot of mosquito blood.”

  “It was a fat bug.” He ushered her to the passenger seat and strapped her in. “Tell me everything.”

  “The dark elf chased me, then attacked me on the street,” she said. “I was only a few blocks from the apartment, but he scared me. He said he’d slit my throat after…doing other stuff to me.”

  The cool mist of his Grace climbed behind his eyes. Cain wanted to drive until he found the asshole and test the bullet absorption rate of elven flesh. “It seems my brother has made a few friends.”

  Katie groaned, wrapped her arms around her waist, and sank into the seat. “I think that means he’s found out about me. Oh, God. I need to warn my brother.”

  Yet another reason to beat Dravyn bloody, and possibly Abel.

  As she fumbled with her phone, he put his hand on her thigh and squeezed. “You’re staying with me.”

  “W-what?” She shot up in the seat. “What about Jon? He’s alone at his apartment. He probably doesn’t know I’m even gone.”

  “They don’t want him.” Cain glanced over her shoulder and let his words sink in before adding, “Call him, warn him. Beyond that, you’ll have to get used to my face for a while.”

  She stared at the phone in her lap and nibbled her lower lip.

  “What is it?” He’d watched her carefully and recognized when she was hiding something.

  “My friends…” Katie raised her chin. “I spoke to Raina earlier. The stuff I need to pawn is in the apartment.”

  “No.”

  “I can’t go back, I know that, but they’re still in trouble,” she said. “The Black Fangs will go after them if I don’t make that payoff. I’m stuck.”

  The admission washed away the last of his anger. Despite the danger to herself, she still placed the safety of others before her own. “The vampires won’t be a problem. Tell your friends their debt’s paid.”

  “Really? How? Are you sure?” Katie’s face lit up. Her eyes transmitted her confusion, but she bestowed a smile on him that stole his breath.

  He glanced away before he did something reckless. Like kiss her. He’d never forget how her lips had parted for him. How her body had molded to his. His attraction to her had warred with his need to stay away, and now a dark elf had almost taken her. Cain used that last thought to control his conflicting emotions.

  “Call your brother and your friends.” He stood and stepped back. “We’ve been here too long.”

  She worried her lip again but complied. Cain gave her some space, but didn’t take his eyes off her. He pulled out his phone and dialed Kas.

  “Yo.”

  “I need a search,” he said. “Dravyn. Dark elf. Find out his connection to a gang of bloodsuckers called the Black Fangs.”

  “I know those vamps. They moved into Darius’s old territory a couple months ago. Mostly small-time thugs who run protection scams. What’s the deal with the elf?”

  Cain saw Katie gesturing excitedly in the SUV. He lowered his voice anyway. “He’s connected to this, to him. Another elf went after my assignment. She’s with me now, but I want to know who else I’m up against.”

  His brother swore. “No prob. And I almost forgot. Tanis got a call from the police chief. The DPD has questions about you.”

  The police were another problem he’d have to deal with soon. The partnership between the cops and The Bound had always been respectful, but never tension free.

  “I don’t envy the chief,” Kas added. “T isn’t big on threats, especially those aimed at one of us.”

  Katie glanced up at him and gave a thumbs-up signal. He nodded.

  “How’s the other search?”

  Kas let out a heavy sigh that said it all. “He doesn’t exist, at least not in the age of the Internet. No records of birth, death, or impossible resurrection. No sightings before Detroit. No addresses, identification, or data of any kind. I envy his skill at staying off the grid.”

  Abel was a confirmed ghost, but Cain had expected as much. Until Tanis called him in, he and Katie would stay in the wind.

  “Tanis won’t agree to any demands to bring you in without the chief’s sworn word you wouldn’t be arrested,” Kas said.

  Right. His safety while in police custody was as unlikely as his father’s wings repairing themselves.

  Chapter Twelve

  Katie gawked at the Open sign flashing above the motel office. A light drizzle pelted her skin, but she was too dumbstruck to care.

  The parking lot was half-empty, which was probably why Cain had chosen this hole-in-the-wall instead of a respectable place. The Quick Stop Inn on Harper Avenue exuded a grimy, smelly, no-tell vibe. The type of establishment frequented by down-on-their-luck gamblers and now, a Nephilim assassin and an ex-burglar on the run.

  “Seriously?” She turned pleading eyes on her protector. This was not the rescue she’d imagined. Her idea had them pulling a James Bond à la Casino Royale—or staying in three-star accommodations at worst. The Quick Stop would only earn a star if it stole one. “I wouldn’t let a stray cat stay here.”

  “It’s only temporary,” Cain said without a hint of humor. One eyebrow rose and he stared at her. That’s all. Just stared.

  Damn his half-angel and half-human genes.

  Cain had good looks to spare, which thousands, or maybe millions, of TV viewers had probably seen by now. After one last glare at her budget-conscious bodyguard, she slammed the car door and stomped away from the side street where he’d parked.

  A bulletproof glass as thick as her thumb separated her from the plump clerk on the other side. She cleared her throat to draw his attention from his magazine, but the guy didn’t look up.

  “By state law, I gotta tell ya no alcohol or drugs allowed on the property.”

  A security camera in the corner caught her attention. She bowed her head and flipped the collar of her jacket.

  “Forty for two hours,” the bored clerk told her.

  Embarrassment lit a trail of heat from her chest to her hairline; the jackass probably thought she was a hooker, or having an affair. Why else would any woman be in a place like this? The money Cain had given her bulged her pocket. She withdrew enough for several hours in Motel Hell and shoved it into the drawer. A few seconds later, a single key clanked on the bottom of the drawer before he pushed it toward her.

  “Phone calls are extra and g
otta be paid when ya return the key.” The guy flipped a page, conversation over.

  She marched away in search of Room 13. Tucked at the far end of the lot, Katie didn’t turn to check if Cain had followed. He would. She fumbled with the lock until the door opened.

  “This is so uncool.”

  Posters of forest landscapes were thumbtacked to the walls of the motel room. The lone bed had a folded, fuzzy, green blanket, but the white sheet spread across the mattress had a bright bleached look. The bed appeared better than expected, thank God.

  Katie closed the door but kept it unlocked. The stench of mold tickled her nose. Crossing the threadbare brown carpet, she followed the smell to the bathroom where she flipped on the light. The lime-green interior would be right at home in a slasher flick. Chipped tiles along the shower and sink, rust stains around the drains, and a plunger next to the toilet.

  “Charming.”

  “Here,” Cain said from behind her.

  She spun and caught the bundle he’d tossed. “What? HAZMAT suits too expensive?”

  “The sheets look clean. My blanket’s enough.”

  Katie warily eyed the bundle. “I should have updated my shots, just in case.”

  Cain laughed, a sexy burr of amusement that tingled her toes and completely caught her off guard. She took in his masculine profile and reality sank in—they were supposed to share the room. Her previously calm breathing hitched in her throat.

  “What’s wrong?” Cain crossed the short distance and grasped her shoulder.

  “So, how long are we, uh, staying here?”

  Gleaming eyes fastened on her. “Eager to be rid of me?”

  Her mouth plopped open. And damn her blood for choosing that moment to rush to her face in a hot flash. Cain moved closer, just enough that his scent wafted tendrils around her. It would be easy to toss the blanket and launch into his arms.

  “Get some rest.” He tugged the bundle from her and walked to the bed. “You look like you need it.”

  The moment they’d shared poofed. She rubbed the shoulder he’d touched. If he could act like this was another day on the job, then she could drop a filter over her hormones.