Primal Instincts

by Susan Sizemore

And it was intel. He made himself remember that he needed intel when he wanted to run off right then. He was interested in only Saffie’s safety. He wasn’t going to do her any good if he didn’t do this the right way. He had the Crew. He had an ace inside that airplane. Saffie—

  “She’s going to be fine.” Joe broke into Tobias’s thoughts.

  Tobias nodded. He squared his exhausted shoulders and gathered in his Crew with a decisive glance. “Listen up, people!” he announced.

  Francesca took a few steps back to get out of the way as Tobias did what he did.

  While Tobias gave crisp, precise orders to his attentive soldiers, Sidonie moved to stand next to her. Sid kept her gaze on the Dark Angel leader, but she spared part of her attention to ask, You and Tobias? Bonded?

  It was a whirlwind courtship.

  Do you want this?

  Did you want to be bonded to a werewolf?

  It’s not a matter of what I wanted or what Joe wanted. Oh, okay. Sorry, she added after a bit of mental silence. Does Tobias know about . . .

  Patrick? Sid was the only one who’d known about her marriage. He knows.

  Does your Matri know about Tobias?

  I’m staying with Tobias, was Francesca’s answer. She smiled as sudden intense belief hit her. He needs me.

  Tobias is the Dark Angels, and the Dark Angels are a combat unit. Do you think the Matri Council will allow both of us in a com—

  The Matri Council will have to learn to live with not always getting everything their way. My mother set me up with Tobias. She’s going to support me in Council whether she wants to or not.

  Sid gave a low whistle and looked at Francesca admiringly. I’ve always been good at scheming, but you’re the political genius of our generation. This is going to mess up your writing career, though.

  Tobias turned to her before she could protest that she wasn’t a writer. He took her arm and led her back to the guest bedroom. Her spirits sank with dread along the way.

  She went on the offensive even before the door closed behind them. “Don’t you dare tell me I’m not allowed to come along on this op.”

  “I wouldn’t dream of it.”

  She was in his arms an instant later. He held her so close, so desperately tight, she thought she was going to break. But she loved it.

  “You’re too strong to break,” he told her. “You’re a Clan girl. Clan girls and Family girls don’t break.” He kissed her so hungrily that her head began to swim, his hands on her hot and hard.

  She moaned against his lips but pulled her mouth from his before it could easily lead to something else. She ached with wanting him, but they were both aware that this was not the time, bonding urge or not. She put her hands on either side of his face. His cheeks were rough with beard stubble. “Saffie is strong too,” she said. “She’s your child—no one else’s. She’s a Family Prime’s strong, tough daughter. As well as the daughter of the regiment,” she added with a smile. “Think of what she’s already come through with you. She’ll survive all those horrible, hideous revelations, and so will you.”

  He closed his eyes for a moment. He looked incredibly sad and weary. But he hid those emotions away when he opened his eyes. “Saffie and I will survive,” he said. “But working through that is in the future. Right now we have to get her back. And in the past . . .”

  He pulled her closer. His hands rested on her waist, big and competent and full of latent violence that warmed a vampire girl’s heart.

  “In the past I tried to defend the way Tribes think about females to you. Then I listened to that monster talking about Saffie’s mother, about Saffie, and I realized the bullshit I’d fed you earlier was a nostalgic kid’s view. I’m sorry.” He rocked back and forth with her in his arms. “I am so sorry.”

  He was apologizing to the dead woman and the child he loved as much as he was to Francesca. She pulled his head down to her shoulder and held him and let him work through it without thoughts or words. Sometimes just being there was more important than all their psychic talents.

  He lifted his head when a knock came on the door. He gave her a gentle kiss on the forehead and a brief smile that melted her heart.

  “I’m ready,” he called. “Let’s go,” he said to her.

  Chapter Forty-nine

  Francesca glared at the wide bracelet circling her right wrist. It contained a tiny electrical device called a mini-zap. Everyone in the van was wearing one, as it blocked telepathic signatures from other telepaths. It was the Dark Angels version of stealth technology. The silent humming was driving her mad.

  “It’s giving me a headache,” she complained. “And I think I’m getting sunburned.”

  The early morning sunlight coming through the windshield didn’t fall directly on where she sat near the rear of the vehicle, but she could feel it even though she knew it couldn’t hurt her. It was her imagination fed by the physical reaction to the mind shield.

  Seated across from her, Sid held up her own arm. “You’ll get used to it.”

  Counting the driver, there were four other Angels crowded into the van heading south toward their destination. The plan was to secure the bad guys’ hideout for themselves before the private plane landed.

  “Oh, like you’ve worn one before,” she snapped at Sid. The irritating mini-zap was not helping her mood. She was also a little queasy from having ingested at least a quart of cow blood. This was another part of the Dark Angel battle prep for vampires. Being sated was supposed to help keep them from going into a blood frenzy when fighting other vampires. It cut down on the fun, but also on reckless mistakes, she’d been told. There was a lot to learn about being a Dark Angel. She and Sidonie were learning on the job instead of going through basic training.

  “You’re as new to this gig as I am,” she reminded Sid.

  “Yeah, but I was around when the original zapper got field tested by the vampire hunters who are supposedly our allies. That prototype hurt like hell.”

  This reminder that Sid had gotten to have adventures for years as a private detective upped Francesca’s irritation.

  Sid recognized it and put a calming hand on Francesca’s shoulder. “It’s not the low-level pain that’s bothering you the most. This is really the first time you’ve been completely alone in your own head. For someone just beginning to bond—”

  “Please be quiet now,” Francesca told her. “Or I will kill you.”

  Sid only snickered. But she concentrated her attention on inspecting the silver knife she’d chosen to add to her natural weapons, fangs, claws, strength, and speed. Seemed a bit like overkill to Francesca, but she’d accepted one of the knives just to make Tobias happy. She did like the piratical look of the sheath strapped to her thigh.

  The headache was only an inconvenience. It was worth anything if it helped save that child. She rubbed her aching temples.

  “Where the hell is Tobias? Why didn’t he let me go with him instead of assigning Sid to baby-sit me?

  Because he has to, the reasonable part of her pointed out.

  “Not being able to feel him is . . . terrible. How can you bear to be separated from Joe?”

  “I’ve had practice,” was the bitter answer. “Relax. It’s only for a little while. You can stop sulking now,” Sid said as the van came to a halt. “We’ve arrived.”

  When she got out Francesca saw that the van, along with several other vehicles, was parked on a dusty roadside on a ridge. In a valley several miles away was the small airport, and another mountain ridge rose beyond it. The place boasted a hangar with an arched metal roof, a couple of small buildings, and one runway. A pickup truck, a sports car, and several motorcycles were parked by the buildings, and the property was surrounded by a razor-wire-topped chain-link fence.

  Standing next to her, Sid asked, “See them?”

  Francesca shielded her eyes with her hand and studied the bramble-and-brush-covered ground between the ridge and the fence. “Eleanor,” she said when she spotted a werecoyote slinki
ng behind a clump of scraggly trees. “Joe,” she guessed when she saw a huge black werewolf deep in some bushes. He crouched beside a reddish brown werewolf with a graying muzzle. “Shaggy?”

  “Correct. Now that the werefolk are in place, we vampires will join them.” Sid moved to where the others were unloading equipment from the back of the van. “Are you going to help?” she called back to Francesca. “Or are you afraid of breaking a nail?”

  Francesca laughed and extended her claws a little. She wiggled her fingers as she joined Sid. “Jungle Red.”

  They laughed. It was an old joke between them. Despite the discomfort from the mini-zap, Francesca was suddenly very happy that she and her best friend were finally living the lives they’d always wanted.

  Thank you, Tobias, she thought, sure he felt her even without telepathy.

  Tobias waited until he got word on his headset that everyone was in position, concealing any sign of his impatience. He stayed perfectly still, and word came that the fence was breached, followed by the report that the ferals guarding the perimeter were out of the picture.

  He nodded.

  This was the preliminary round, the first step. He liked his ops carefully orchestrated, but this one had to go perfectly.

  He scanned the slightly overcast sky, willing the plane to appear. They’d calculated their attack to almost coincide with the airplane’s projected arrival. The less time the new arrivals had to sense any danger, the better for the Crew. The time projection had to be correct. He refused to worry about it now. Right now, there was a vampire in the main building, and Tobias was looking forward to killing him.

  “Let’s go,” he said to the fae whose job it would be to magically construct a shell around him in the form of the soon-to-be-late Dr. Stone.

  Chapter Fifty

  Gregor wasn’t sure what was going to happen next, but he was anything but complacent as the private jet approached the landing strip. Those who directly opposed the Dark Angels had a tendency to die. Survival was high on Gregor’s list of priorities. Being only one more grunt for Dragomir to throw into the fray was not on his list at all, but he bet he knew who the mercenary leader was going to order to be first out of the plane—the first casualty in case something went wrong.

  He might not have liked that spot, but if he could get the girl to go with him on the exit, he could fulfill his own orders. Her going voluntarily wouldn’t be in the cards, of course. He carefully gave her an occasional glance, and what he saw didn’t look good. Where the kid had been feisty before, she looked completely broken now. She’d been crying quietly but steadily since Dragomir casually revealed her personal history. She was so drawn in on herself she was practically catatonic.

  Oh, well, it won’t be difficult to pick her up and carry her.

  The airplane had been descending swiftly and now Gregor heard the landing gear operate. Outside the nearest window he saw a forlorn, dusty landscape. Welcome back to California, he thought. Had it been only a few days since he’d left? It seemed like a century.

  There was the slightest of bumps as the plane wheels touched the ground. As the jet bounced down the rough runway to finally come to a stop, Gregor concentrated his senses on what waited outside. He detected one vampire and several werewolves inside the perimeter fence he’d spotted from the sky. Things seemed to be just the way he’d been told they’d be.

  Despite being anxious for action, he waited until after Dragomir had gotten to his feet before he unbuckled his seat belt. One of the bodyguards came forward to grab Saffron.

  “I’ll take the female myself,” Dragomir announced. He took Saffron by the arm. She flinched and whimpered but didn’t try to pull away. The guard carefully remained on the other side of her.

  “You go first, Gregor,” Dragomir ordered.

  At least this was no surprise. “Certainly, Master.”

  “There is supposed to be a limo waiting in the airplane hangar. Bring it round for me.”

  It was good to be on the ground. It was even better to have the door open and Gregor gone. Saffie welcomed the fresh air and having at least one scum-sucking parasite out of her face. She breathed in lungfuls of air, trying not to throw up. Dragomir’s touch was obscene, hard to bear. And she kept crying! She couldn’t stop and worried the weakness would screw up her vision when she needed it.

  A vampire was waiting on the ground by the shallow stairs Dragomir led her down. She noticed more Primes exiting from a doorway up by the cockpit. Dragomir threw her to the ground before she could get a count. She knocked into the guard on the way down and got a push from him too. Pain shot through her knees as she landed on concrete at Dragomir’s feet.

  “My son!” Dragomir kicked her aside as he stepped forward to give the Prime a big hug.

  “Welcome, sire.” Stone stepped back and gave a deep bow.

  Saffie couldn’t figure out which one of the pair was less sincere. She was no psychic, but she didn’t need to be to sense the tension beneath their false affection. Tribe Primes were competitive 24/7. She knew that whatever the vampires did, it was all dangerous for her.

  Stone pointed at her. “What’s that?”

  Dragomir gave one of his cheesy fake laughs. He nudged her with his foot. She held very still, to keep from giving in to the impulse to bite his leg.

  “That is, and always has been, Tobias Strahan’s death. It’s his weakness and the bait that will lure him into our trap.”

  Stone came closer to repeat Dragomir’s foot nudging, hard enough to push her a few inches away from Dragomir. “Really?” he asked. Then his voice changed. “She looks like a scared kid to me.”

  Saffie took a quick look at Stone’s face. She saw the killing fury in his big brown eyes—her dad’s eyes—and ducked her head to hide the smile. The glamour was wearing off, but Dragomir hadn’t seen it yet.

  By now all the mercenaries were off the plane. They were gathered by the cockpit, waiting for orders. She heard the purr of the limo engine coming from the hangar. She kept her arms crossed tightly over the bulge in her hoodie and thought about the position of the guard behind her. The buzz and burn of anticipation raced through her. It was all Saffron could do not to hold her breath.

  “Scared kid? What do you mean by that? Are you going soft?” Dragomir demanded.

  “Yeah. She’s always had that effect on me,” her dad answered.

  She heard his snarl as he leapt at Dragomir. She caught a glimpse of claws. Dragomir swore. There was the heavy thud of bodies grappling.

  Saffie spun toward the guard. He was rushing to help Dragomir and didn’t even notice her. He certainly hadn’t noticed her pluck the small silver-shooter he wore in his waistband. The small gun held six bullets. She fired two into the vampire’s head and two more into his chest.

  Silver bullets don’t do as much damage to a mortal body as regular ammunition, but vampires weren’t compatible with human DNA, were they?

  Want my blood? Taste me if you can.

  Tobias drilled the thought into Dragomir’s mind as they grappled with snapping fangs, sharp claws, and hard muscle.

  Come on. I’m delicious.

  I bet you are, Dragomir sneered back.

  Tobias continued to taunt. He even let the other Prime rip a chunk of flesh from his shoulder just to get the blood scent into Dragomir’s nostrils.

  “I’m going to drain you!” Dragomir shouted.

  He snapped at Tobias’s throat.

  Tobias danced away.

  They circled each other, evenly matched, equally dangerous, equally determined to kill each other. For a few seconds Dragomir didn’t recognize him. The fae had used his powers to throw a glamour bearing a strong resemblance to Stone over Tobias, and people see what they expect to see.

  My son! Where’s my son? Dragomir screamed the thought when he finally realized he wasn’t fighting Dr. Stone.

  The thought sent a shot of pain searing through Tobias’s shields.

  He ignored the mental blow. Dead, he answered. He
sent an image of Stone’s twisted, lifeless body toward Dragomir. He didn’t put up much of a fight.

  Dragomir snarled. He howled with fury. He made a lunge toward Saffie.

  But she wasn’t where he’d left her. There was a body lying nearby, fresh blood oozing across the ground. Tobias had known what it meant when he heard the shots.

  “My girl’s smart and tough. I don’t think she got that from you.”

  All the other vampires in the Crew were now battling the mercenaries. They’d ripped off the mini-zaps and mental energy zipped dangerously back and forth. Francesca was over there, but he didn’t look for her. He had to trust her to take care of herself. Both sides wielded silver weapons along with natural ones. Tobias was confident in his people and concentrated on his own fight with Dragomir.

  He’d finally goaded the other Prime enough to send him into blood rage. Dragomir spun around Tobias and brought a double-handed strike down on his back. Tobias dropped to his knees from the heavy blow. He spun around and upward as Dragomir sprang onto him, not giving the other Prime the chance to sink fangs into the back of his neck to sever the spine.

  Tobias sank his fangs into Dragomir’s throat, ripping and tearing at the Prime’s windpipe while Dragomir clawed and punched and kicked. He fought like a damned tiger. Tobias held on tight and ignored his own pain while snapping at Dragomir’s neck over and over. He smelled and tasted blood as it spurted over his face and chest, but he didn’t give a damn about it. This was about killing.

  When Dragomir’s struggling finally slowed, when there was no breath in him and his spirit only held on out of stubbornness, Tobias rose off his body to grab his head. One hard twist completely severed Dragomir’s spine. No vampire could survive this. But just to make sure, Tobias used his K-bar to completely sever Dragomir’s head from his body.

  “Nobody touches my little girl,” he said, and tossed the head to the ground.

  As he did a bullet whizzed past his shoulder.

  “In front of you, Dad!” Saffie yelled.