She studied his brawny body, his tanned skin shimmering a little with the sweat they’d just racked up. The vulnerability in his eyes behind the wall he’d pulled up. His touch, his care and concentration on her pleasure. His determination she was with him or ahead of him every step of the way.
“Adira?”
She exhaled and her shoulders drooped. “No…yes…I don’t know…dammit, Mal, you dropped this on me with no warning.” She sank onto the edge of the bed. “I never imagined a relationship where I can’t keep secrets. They are a big part of my life.”
He moved beside her. “I know that. I had an idea you could be my lifemate, but I wasn’t sure. Normally we discover our mate after sex and then ask the partner if they agree to the link. I don’t know why the connection came to life without either of us making a conscious decision.”
Adira snorted and rested her head against his broad shoulder. “Not very confidence-inspiring that you don’t know how your own Vampire mojo works.”
He put his arm around her and pulled her closer. “Tell me about it.”
They sat in silence, but it wasn’t tense or uncomfortable.
She relaxed more and more, sinking against him, enjoying his heat and strength surrounding her. As the tension drained out of her, her vision stopped jumping between Mal and herself. She was back in her own head.
Mal kissed her forehead. “How is it going?”
“Better. How come you’re not head-hopping?”
“I’m clinging to my control and keeping the door between us mostly closed.” He massaged her neck with his big hand. She groaned in delight and more of the stress slipped away.
She still had no idea how she felt about being bound to Mal or how it would change her future, but right now he was next to her and she only had so many more hours left before she had to leave.
Adira leaned back in his arms. “How do you feel ab—”
A scream rent the air.
They both jumped to their feet. Adira pulled on panties and trousers, Mal stepped up to the blacked-out window leading to the empty room beside theirs. With a few clicks he overrode the protection and cleared the glass on their side, ensuring they could look out but no one could look in. She threw him his shirt and struggled into hers. “What’s up?”
“Appears someone wants to take one of the waitresses against her will.”
Adira snapped on her weapon and captured the scene with one look. Two men held a young, pretty woman dressed in back pants and shirt. The black clothes clearly identified her as serving staff of the club. She struggled against their grip, but the man who’d grabbed her was twice her size.
The other man was Jim.
A growl escaped Adira. “Bastard. I’ll pound him into the ground.” She whirled around, but Mal grabbed her wrist before she could take more than two steps.
“Hang on, if they are who I think they are I’ve been waiting to get my hands on them for weeks.”
She twisted her wrist out of his grip and rested a hand on her weapon. “What are you talking about?”
He didn’t reply, but strode to her and unsnapped her InvisoHol. She just managed to save her weapon from falling to the floor he moved so fast.
“Adira, we don’t have time for long explanations. I need you to look like a woman who’d just had sex and is drunk enough not to see the reality of the situation in the other room.”
She slapped his hands away as he tried to undo her trousers. “Stop it.”
“Adira!” He grabbed her shoulders and forced her to meet his eyes. He was no longer the tender lover or the sexy friend, but all business. Suddenly images flared in her head.
Mal led a team investigating disappearances in the club. He wanted to use the waitress as bait and follow her via a tracker. Everything inside her protested the use of an innocent, but he flooded her with more information. Capturing Jim would only remove a cog in a much bigger wheel. Taking down everyone he worked with would make at least a small dent into their operation.
She still struggled with the means, but her own training asserted itself. With a quick nod she pulled off her trousers again and unfastened the shirt so only two buttons across her breasts held it closed. Mal grabbed a bottle of high-priced Baijiu. “Drink, your breath needs to stink of alcohol.”
“It won’t be enough.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll increase the power of the scent.”
The Baijiu burned her throat on its way down. She dropped the bottle and bent over, tangling her hair until it looked just-tumbled. When she looked back up he’d pulled a tiny pipe out of his bag. “You’ve gotta be kidding me!”
Mal didn’t even look up, just lit the pipe and waved it around her. The stink of JWH-19 surrounded her and sank into her clothes. “Jade, I can’t work if I’m doped out of my head.”
“You metaphorically kicked Jim in the balls not three hours ago. No way he’ll believe you not recognizing him without drugs. And this is a special formula that only seeps into fabric. It won’t affect your responses other than slightly dilating your pupils.”
They would have a long conversation after this was over on where he got his toys.
“Where’s the tracker?”
He pulled a small metal box out of his pocket, then dropped his trousers.
Adira’s eyes widened. The tracker looked like a piece of silver lint. Indeed, a very long conversation.
“It’ll change color as soon as you attach it.”
“Okay.” She was about to stride to the door when he pulled her back and kissed her.
The kiss didn’t last long but it took her at least three seconds before her mind cleared again. She shook her head. “Get into bed. Look convincing.”
She didn’t turn back but knew he’d draped himself in the tangled sheets. Just in case the kidnappers knew how to override the privacy screens as well. Adira exhaled. It was a good plan, but using a civilian as bait killed her.
She pushed the door open and leaned into the room. “Thank goodness, finally someone who can restock the bar.” She tottered down the two steps, purposely not looking at the fear-filled eyes of the waitress. Big Guy held her against his chest, a meaty paw over her mouth, while Jim had torn open her shirt and now mauled the girl’s breasts.
Rage thrummed through Adira. She made herself stumble and slammed into Jim hard enough to push him away from the girl. “Sweetie, you really should wait until after your shift before you play.” Her slurred words took some of the tension out of the two men.
Adira patted the girl’s shoulder, attaching the tracker. It immediately turned black. “Be a good one and tell me where I can get more Baijiu.” She waved her arms and accidentally on purpose rammed her elbow into Jim’s side. “Then you can have all the fun you want.”
Jim grabbed her upper arm, his nails digging into her skin even through the shirt. She allowed it, just giving him a slurry smile and a vacant look. “Do I know you?” His gaze narrowed and his grip tightened.
She blinked a couple of times, then pinched his cheeks and pulled them up. “No, you just remind me of my uncle.” Adira twisted out of his grip and stumbled to the well-stocked bar in the corner. She giggled when her legs gave out and she nearly fell to her knees.
“We’ll take her too,” Jim said to Big Guy. “I have a score to settle with the bitch.”
Adira pulled two bottles of Baijiu out of the fridge. “Gotcha.” Before she could slam one bottle into Jim’s face Mal appeared in the doorway.
Stark naked.
And holding his tiny pipe. A cloud of JWH-19 surrounded him. “You got more booze, darling?”
She waved the two bottles around and tottered back to him. Jim grasped her arm as she came by him.
Mal stomped down the two steps and waved his pipe at Jim. “I don’t share, mate. You’ve got your girl and I have mine. I’m keeping the windows blacked out and you can do the same. No peeking in on me and my darling.”
He took one bottle from Adira, grabbed her hand and jerked her out of Ji
m’s grip. His Vampire strength was no match for the human, even with Jim’s enhancements. Adira just wished she wasn’t dragged between the two men like a chew toy.
Mal ignored the human and pulled her behind him. Adira followed, but kept her focus on Jim and Big Guy, ready to respond should they make a grab for her.
They didn’t.
At the bottom of the steps Mal threw his arm around her and grabbed her bottom. Giggle.
His voice in her head made her shiver. She managed a convincing giggle. They stumbled up the steps and slammed the door behind them. Mal had blacked the windows, pretending they hadn’t seen anything. A chime sounded, alerting them that Jim had attempted to look into their room.
“I said no,” Mal bellowed.
Silence.
Then the sound of a door slamming shut.
Adira slammed the remaining bottle onto the table and whirled to Mal. “Who are you? You only told me—showed me—that girls are disappearing and Jackson hired you to find out who’s using his club as an all-you-can-eat buffet. Why you?”
Mal dressed, his eyes glued to a small comp. She followed his example and pulled on her pants. “My team and I help when Sentinels can’t or won’t help.”
She hesitated. “Why would they not help when girls go missing in an exclusive club?”
He looked at her with steady eyes.
She bit her lip and dropped her gaze. It had been a stupid question. Corruption was rife in her station. There weren’t enough Sentinels for the main stations in the central core to pay that much attention to them. As long as their case closure rate was above the minimum target they were left to their own devices.
“But what about their families? If they have the money to be a member of Indulgence, they have to have enough power to make things difficult for the Sentinels.”
Mal shook his head. “They’re taking guests of the lower-level members or leaving a believable trail showing the victim went on an extended trip.” He picked up his weapons and strode to the door.
Adira slipped into her shoes and scrambled after him. Where the fuck is he off to now?
We need armor and to stock up on weapons if we’re to get the waitress and whomever else they have before it’s too late.
Her nipples hardened and her pussy grew moist. His deep voice in her mind echoed through her whole body.
Your voice does the same to me.
She exhaled and strode after him. “I am working on a similar case.”
He turned to her but didn’t slow down. “Show me.”
Adira wasn’t sure where they were as Mal took her through a maze of back corridors and supply rooms. She focused on her surroundings so she didn’t have to think about sharing her mind with another person.
“Sweet, show me. I promise I won’t see anything other than what you share with me.”
She exhaled. He needed to know and this weird link between them had to be good for something. She opened her mind and broke every confidentiality rule in the book by sharing an ongoing investigation with a non-Sentinel.
Mal nearly groaned when she voluntarily used the link between them. His cock jumped to attention as her energy threaded through his. Images and thoughts filled with files of names and occupations, families worried about boys and girls vanishing on their way to and from school or work. All ages and ethnicities, all shapes and sizes, no particular patterns other than they were from the poorest parts of the city.
Unlike the girls going missing in the club, Adira’s victims weren’t all attractive. But each and every one of them human.
And healthy.
Mal had a suspicion. “When did these disappearances start?”
Pain.
Mal froze.
Failure.
Adira thought she was responsible for not catching the abductors. For not finding the victims. For not giving the families hope that they would ever see their loved ones again.
This is why they transferred you to Hadamard.
Adira sighed. I’ve been asking too many questions no one wants answered. There are at least three Sentinels in powerful positions with links to Parvati’s gangs. Until they stop protecting those responsible I don’t have enough leverage. I can’t move forward without more evidence and they block me at every turn.
This is not your fault.
Logically I know that, but emotionally I only see the eyes of those left behind.
And now he’d added to that pressure by making her use the serving girl as bait.
Mal stopped and pulled Adira into his arms. He cupped the back of her head and kissed her. His tongue gently rubbed against hers, her taste filling every sense he had. She responded in kind and their kiss turned into a promise, a pledge that he would be with her every step of the way until she found the ones responsible for the pain she witnessed and experienced.
Once we’ve taken care of this group of scecxis, my team and I will be with you to find whoever is behind the other disappearances.
She leaned back and stroked her fingers across his cheek. One step at a time. Adira gave him a quick kiss and stepped away. “Who is she?”
Mal wanted to draw her back, to find out what she’d just hidden behind a massive gray stonewall.
But now wasn’t the time. Instead he pulled his comp out and ran a search for the young woman. “Marissa Adevo, twenty-six, new to Parvati, moved here from Babote eight months ago, started working at Indulgence six months ago.”
Adira nodded but didn’t meet his gaze.
He took her hand and strode along the narrow corridor to the small room Jackson had given him at the start of this assignment. It started life as a broom closet, but Mal had changed a few things.
He released Adira’s hand and set his on the scanner. DNA and fingerprints were checked in seconds. Then he raised his eyes to the retinal scanner and unlocked that too. Finally he pulled an old-fashioned metal key out of his pocket and unlocked the door.
“What the Jade are you keeping in here?” Adira’s incredulous voice filled the narrow corridor.
“Everything we may need and some things we better not.” He stepped inside and pulled two vests down, handing one to Adira.
“I have my own, this is too big.”
“It’ll shrink to fit once you’ve closed the snaps.”
Silence.
Mal smiled. Adira’s silence spoke volumes.
“I haven’t heard of something like this coming on the market.”
“Sam, a team member, is our resident geek. There is nothing he can’t do with a computer or a weapon and he likes to tinker.”
She quickly buttoned her shirt and tucked everything in neatly before she pulled on the vest. As promised it shrank to fit her slender frame, protecting all her vital spots.
He handed her an assault phaser and pulled his own vest on. Then he settled the weapons he carried from their room back into their places. He added two more knives in wrist sheaths.
Adira walked along the shelves and added three more phasers to her InvisioHol, bringing her to a total of four handguns. She added two smaller knives to her ankles and stood. “Any idea where we’re headed? We’re dressed to party and I don’t want us to miss the gathering.”
Mal pulled on a long leather duster. “The tracker shows Marissa has been taken to an abandoned warehouse near the waterfront.”
Adira snorted. “We’ll be mugged as soon as we enter the district.”
He smiled, knowing it would look feral. “Let them try.”
She slung on her short leather jacket and twisted, ensuring everything stayed in place. “Let’s go.”
Mal studied his lifemate. She looked badass. Tall, lean, sexy, covered in weapons and ready to take on whomever they had to in order to save a young woman. Part of him was terrified of taking her into danger, but he knew she would not stay back. And he loved her as she was, the kick-ass Sentinel. He wouldn’t change her just to make himself feel better.
“The rest of my team will meet us there.”
She shook her head and strode out of the broom closet. “Of course they will. They’ll arrive wearing tights and spandex with a cape floating behind them, prepared to fight all evil.”
He grinned at his lifemate’s mumblings as he locked the room again. She wasn’t too far off.
Chapter Six
Adira couldn’t believe she was about to walk into a potentially dangerous situation involving hostages without informing the Sentinels what was going on, with only a mercenary and his team as backup.
She’d lost her mind completely.
But she felt safer with Mal at her side than any other officer she’d ever partnered with. She trusted him deep down, even if they had a weird connection she still didn’t quite understand.
They’d taken hovercycles to the abandoned warehouse, as a bike engine was easier to quiet than a transport engine. Parking a block over, Adira activated every anti-theft program she had. She didn’t want her baby stolen and the shadows hovering around them made that a real possibility.
The Warehouse Area had started as the local delivery hub, but with upgrades and new developments closer to Parvati’s center the formerly affluent area had fallen into disrepair. Adira stood surrounded by three- or four-story brick buildings with windows either missing completely, boarded up or blacked out by grime and dirt. The outsides were decorated with gang markings and other signs of vandalism.
It was not an area you entered without being armed to your teeth.
Mal strode up to a group of shadows and pulled a massive figure out into the dim streetlight. He flashed his extended fangs and lifted the thug with one hand around his neck. “Touch the bikes and I will find and kill you.” He aimed the words into the shadows before turning to the man struggling against his grip. “Protect the bikes and I will pay you when we come back. Understood?”
The big guy’s face was turning purple but he managed a nod. Mal dropped him and strode toward the warehouse with no look back.
She smirked. Or without a scary Vampire at your side.
Mal pulled his comp out of his pocket. “According to the tracker Marissa is on the second floor.”
She nodded and changed the setting on her cycle glasses. The walls melted away, leaving her with a heat outline of the people inside. “The warehouse is teeming with life forms. The majority are stationary.” She took a moment and counted. “About sixteen are moving.”
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