I took up the space in front of the entrance to the living room, which inevitably led to the stairs…and to Serena. “And how is that going to play out?”
Richards shifted his weight as his gaze darted around the kitchen nervously, reminding me of a scared squirrel. “Officials have met with the senator, and even though the DOD does not agree with the senator’s actions, there has been an agreement reached.”
“Is that so?”
Zombro smiled tightly. The gray at the man’s temple had spread, it seemed, since I saw him last. “It’s an unfortunate situation with Miss Cross, and although she hasn’t been a true security risk yet, we cannot chance any knowledge leaking out into the public.”
“Huh,” I murmured, and that iciness was in every limb now, seeping into the room. “So you’ve decided to let the Luxen silence her? Seems like a waste of time to even hide her if the government was just going to bow to them anyway. You should have let me know that before I killed the Luxen they sent yesterday.”
Richards visibly swallowed. “I thought there weren’t any major problems?”
“It wasn’t major,” I replied evenly, sliding each man a cool, calculated look. “Luxen came. Luxen died.”
“We are not bowing to them,” Zombro said, cheeks darkening. “They had a good point. It was the method in which they sought to carry it out that was wrong.”
“Yeah, in other words, the DOD is losing control of the Luxen every day. Before you know it, Earth will be their bitch.”
Zombro’s eyes narrowed. “That is not the case.”
I smirked. “So, you guys are here to take care of her?”
“Yes,” answered Zombro.
“That’s kind of fucked up, don’t you think?”
“Kind of an odd comment coming from you.” Zombro’s chin went up a notch. “Since when did Arum think anything is fucked up?”
I slowly unfolded my arms and shrugged.
“Or do you want to finish her off?” Zombro sneered. “I know humans don’t do much for you, but you can get something off her. You’d probably even enjoy it, right?” His revolted gaze did nothing for me. “Have at her.”
“Thanks for the offer.”
Richards cleared his throat. “It’s not anything personal. And either way, she won’t feel a thing. It will be over before she knows it, and her family and friends will be advised of her untimely death.”
“And her death will ensure that the truth of alien races inhabiting Earth remains a secret and blah, blah bullshit?” I laughed. “You guys have no idea. Every time the Luxen flex their will and succeed, it’s one more nail in your coffin.”
“Enough of this.” Zombro’s hand went to his hip—to his service gun. Lead bullets wouldn’t kill me, but it would most definitely slow my happy ass down. “Where is she?”
I thought about Serena, upstairs sleeping in my bed, wearing my shirt, hair spread across my pillows, lips parted, and blissfully unaware that her fate had just been sealed. She had no protectors now.
Smiling, I glided to the side.
Casting a look at the other officer, Richards stepped forward, keeping his eyes trained on me. I didn’t hesitate. When I’d been in the study, I knew what I would do. Maybe I’d known before then. It didn’t really matter.
I moved—faster than Richards could react. Slipping up behind him, I grabbed the arm reaching for the gun and spun Richards around so he faced the other officer. I grabbed a fistful of Richards’ hair, pulling him back as I slammed my knee into the man’s spine. The resounding crack shuddered through the kitchen. Richards’ grunt of surprised pain was lost in the clanking of the gun knocking off the tile.
With a quick jerk of my arm, I snapped Richards’ neck. The officer’s body hit the floor. There was no twitching. I tolerated the man, so the death was quick.
My eyes met Zombro’s.
It wouldn’t be for him.
Zombro raised his arm, hand trembling around the service gun as he fired off a shot, but I darted to the side. He kept firing, one after another, as he backed up. I dipped and shot forward, knocking the gun out of his hand with a broad swipe of my arm. Without a gun, Zombro was defenseless. Hell, with the gun he hadn’t been a threat. Zombro hit the island, trapped.
His throat worked and the superior attitude gave way to stark fear. “Don’t. Please. Don’t—”
“I’m sorry. This isn’t personal. You won’t even feel a thing.” I paused. “And I’m sure your family will be notified of your untimely passing.”
Zombro’s mouth opened, but my hand snaked out. I grabbed the man’s throat, ending his scream in a gurgle as I crushed his windpipe. Letting go, I watched Zombro slide down the island, grasping at his throat as his eyes bulged.
I stepped over the legs sprawled at an odd angle and knelt so we were eye level. “I might have lied just a little. Your death isn’t going to be quick. And it most likely will be painful.”
…
Jerking up in bed, my heart thumped heavily as the gunshot echoed in my head. At first I thought I was having a nightmare, but Hunter wasn’t in bed beside me. I swung my legs off the bed and yanked on my jeans. Hurrying to the door, I stopped to listen.
There was nothing—and then a fleshy crunchy noise that caused my stomach to roil, followed by a low gurgle, and then the sound of a body thudding to the floor.
Common sense dictated that I stay upstairs, but fear—fear for Hunter—seized my chest. Had more Luxen come for me? Icy terror clawed at my insides as I slipped out into the hallway.
Heart pounding, I crept down the two flights of stairs, wanting to call out for him, but I knew on an inherent level that something bad, something terrible had happened in the middle of the night. It was the same feeling I’d had when I spotted the man in the hallway outside my apartment.
My mouth opened, my tongue forming Hunter’s name, but no sound escaped my suddenly dry lips. I moved forward on numb legs.
As my bare feet hit the cool wood floors, I smelled the acrid afterburn of a fired gun. The air was thick with it down here. Grabbing the vase I had held the night Hunter had been gone, I clenched it tightly as I approached the kitchen.
I saw a leg first.
A black trouser-clad leg cut across the entrance to the doorway. The shoes were black and recently polished. Shiny. In a numb daze, I crept closer, my gaze following the length of the leg to the odd angle of the waist. The man’s jacket was laid open, revealing a tan gun holster. The gun was on the floor near the open hand.
I didn’t want to look, but I couldn’t stop.
It was Officer Richards on the kitchen floor, and his neck was twisted to the side, nearly turned halfway around. He was dead, very dead.
Oh God…
Beside him, propped against the island, was Zombro. Something…something had happened to his throat. It was pushed in, the fragile bones collapsed. Both of them were dead and Hunter…there was no sign of Hunter.
The vase slipped from my fingers, shattering upon the floor into large ceramic chunks. My throat worked on a scream, but there was no sound. I stumbled back, pressing my hand to my open mouth. This couldn’t be happening. My brain absolutely refused to process all the death. Maybe I was dreaming? No. Everything was too real—the sights, the stench of smoke and death, my pounding heart.
A hand clamped down on my shoulder, and the scream that had been building in my throat ripped through the silence. Twisting away, I tried to evade the grasp, but an arm snaked around my waist, pulling me back against a hard, bare chest.
“Serena, it’s me. It’s okay.”
Relief shot through me in dizzying speeds. I spun around, pressing my face against his chest. “Oh my God, Hunter, what happened to them?”
There was a moment of hesitation, and then Hunter’s arms swept around me. The embrace was awkward and stiff, but right now, I didn’t care. I held on to him like he was an anchor built only for me.
I inhaled his scent, hoping that it would wash away everything else. “They foun
d us, didn’t they?”
“No.”
The word took a few moments to settle and make sense. When it did, I pulled back a little, lifting my head. I searched Hunter’s striking features. They were frighteningly empty. Nothing about them reminded me of the man a few short hours ago who had smiled and asked me to stay with him.
A niggle of unease stirred. “What do you mean?”
“This wasn’t the Luxen,” he said, his pale eyes meeting mine.
I took a breath, but it got stuck in my throat. That’s when I noticed the duffel bag on the coffee table and that unease grew like a weed, choking me. “Then who…who did that to them?”
“I did.”
My breath caught again. The room tilted a little, the floor suddenly uneven under my feet.
“You need to go upstairs and pack whatever you can. Now,” Hunter continued, his hands sliding off my back. “We need to leave.”
Taking a step back, I felt my heart drop. Based on what he’d told me about himself, I would’ve run a million miles away from the Hunter of four years ago, but not this Hunter. This one could be prickly and downright menacing sometimes, but there was good underneath.
So why were there dead bodies on the kitchen floor?
I took a deep breath. “You killed them?”
Impatience flickered across his icy expression. “I think that’s already been established.”
Knots formed in my belly. For one horrifying instance, the bodies of Richards and Zombro flashed before me. “Why?”
The look on his face said he really didn’t think he had the time to explain the why behind murdering two members of law enforcement.
Anger swirled with fear, a heady and dangerous combination. “I obviously didn’t get the memo, Hunter! The last time I checked,” I gestured behind me with one shaking hand, “they were on our side.”
“They were never on my side,” he said, thrusting a hand through his hair—a hand that had ended two lives tonight.
God, I was going to vomit.
I started to turn. I needed to get away from him—I needed fresh air. Pressure was back, building on my chest like a gorilla was sitting on it. A buzzing filled my ears.
Hunter caught me, wrapping one hand around my arm and another clamped down on the back of my neck. My pulse pounded at the firm hold. “You’re not getting it, Serena.” His intense eyes searched my face. “They came here to kill you, to make sure you never told anyone about what happened—about the Luxen.”
Confused and scared half witless, I pressed a hand to the center of my chest. My heart thudded erratically.
“They decided they’d rather keep the senator and the Luxen happy, and to do so, they were going to kill you. They aren’t on your side. And we need to get the hell out of here.” When I didn’t move, he lowered his head toward mine. “I know it’s a lot to take in, Serena. You’ve been through some crazy shit and it’s about to get crazier.”
“Crazier?”
He slid his hands to my cheeks and the coolness of his skin jolted me. “I need you to stay with me, okay? I’m going to get you out of this, but I need you to keep it together.”
“Stay with you?”
He nodded.
Then it hit me. More startling than aliens running amuck, dead officers in the kitchen, or the government wanting to give me a cement swim was that Hunter was helping me.
Hunter frowned. “You can breathe, right? You look like you’re breathing, right—”
“Why?” I grasped his wrists. “Why would you do this? You went against the DOD—the government—to help me? Why would you put yourself out there like that? Now you’re in as much shit as I am.”
Hunter blinked slowly and then pulled his hands away. He took a step back. “We need to leave, Serena. We don’t—”
“No!” My hands balled into fists as my skin tingled. The thing was, what if I had this whole situation wrong? “I need to know why you’d do this. Because what do I really know? Let me know it’s okay to trust you.”
He put his hands on his hips and drew in a deep breath. I prepared myself—for what, I wasn’t sure. “I don’t know,” he said.
My mouth worked, but there were no words.
“I don’t know,” he said again, angry. “I don’t know why I did this. All I knew was that I needed to.”
Yeah, that wasn’t telling me much. And it wasn’t a huge declaration of why I should trust him, but that was the thing. Hunter hadn’t asked me trust him. I don’t think he ever had.
I looked up, meeting Hunter’s pale eyes. The look wasn’t so apathetic now. If anything, he appeared like he was as confused as I felt.
My hands were shaking as I rubbed them together. Trusting Hunter was huge. I could be making a big mistake. What if it was Hunter who wanted to kill me? And he just liked to play with his food first? My heart twisted at that, but a tiny voice inside me told me that wasn’t the case. If Hunter had wanted me dead, he could’ve done it by now. And I had trusted him earlier.
I had to trust him again.
“Okay,” I said, and it felt like I was stepping off a cliff.
Hunter’s lips twitched as if he wished to smile, and the knots in my stomach grew.
Chapter 18
I packed what Hunter had bought me in a daze. He had dug up a small suitcase and everything fit. It only took a few minutes, but it felt like hours. By now I should be used to the unexpected—the bizarre—but I was shell-shocked by the turn of events.
The government wanted me dead.
As I flung my last pair of jeans into the suitcase, my heart skipped a beat. How in the world could I survive this if the government was also in it? There’d be nowhere I could go. I’d never have control over my life again.
The enormity of the situation pressed down upon me. I felt the telling catch of my breath again and swore.
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I did trust Hunter. And right now he was all that I had to count on.
Zipping up my suitcase, I quickly scanned the room for anything else I needed. There was nothing and there was no time to delay.
Hunter was waiting for me downstairs. His duffel bag was splitting at the seams by the door, but when I got a good look at him, I drew up short.
Wow.
He’d changed. And not just his clothes it seemed.
Under the thin black shirt, the sinew strength of his muscles strained. His thighs were like tree trunks in black leather pants. The boots he now wore were true ass-kickers. He looked nothing like the man who sat on the deck in the mornings, dressed in worn jeans. What stood before me was a full display of power that went beyond masculinity and was far too menacing. Even the wild tumble of dark hair seemed unpredictable.
Hunter oozed danger, but that wasn’t the only thing he was throwing into the air. Excitement. The kind of danger of a man who could take care of things when they got out of hand and could, and would, fuck you senseless when it was all done.
My cheeks reddened.
Good to know my ovaries were still functioning like sex was going out of style. Jesus. I shook my head. “You look like your brother.”
Hunter arched a single brow.
“I mean, you are his twin and all, but you really look like him.” I paused. “You are Hunter, right?”
A small smile appeared. “I like what you did with your teeth when you were on your knees before me.”
“Yeah, you’re Hunter.” Flushing a deep red, I gestured at his bag. “Where are we going?”
“We need a car. Dex is taking care of that for us.”
“We can trust him?” I asked.
“Absolutely.” He nodded toward the kitchen. “If you want anything to drink, the kitchen is clear. I took care of them.”
I shuddered. I didn’t want to know how he took care of the bodies. Frankly, as wussy as this made me, I didn’t want to think about them at all.
“I’m fine,” I said. “I’m going to take this outside.”
He gave a sharp nod.
/>
Tugging the suitcase along, I went out on the deck, sort of surprised that he hadn’t made some sort of remark about me not roaming off.
The night was dark and full of deep shadows, but the clean mountain air was soothing. As I propped the luggage against a chair, I felt my tense and tight muscles loosen.
Down below, a black Expedition was parked in the driveway, most likely belonging to the dead officers. Another shiver rippled through me.
Unable to really understand why he’d stopped the agents from doing what they came to do, I grabbed the handle on the suitcase and hauled it down the steps. The whole situation spun my head in circles. Maybe later, if there was a later, I could figure this out.
I turned to head back up the steps, when something blurred past the Expedition. It was like a shadow cast from a very tall man. But no one was on the deck. No one was anywhere.
A warning snaked down my spine a second before my breath puffed out in a small, misty cloud and froze, like it had the other night when Hunter had been seconds from losing control. Under my hand, the railing turned ice-cold. I jerked away from it.
Oh shit.
Adrenaline kicked in and I twisted, but the icy coating on the step caused me to lose my balance. I slipped, my knees cracking off the porch step. Hot pain shot down my legs.
A cold hand circled my bare ankle and yanked me back. I desperately tried to grasp the railing, but I lost my grip. I twisted onto my side and my cheek smacked against the board. Another burst of pain exploded across my face and lip. I sucked in a harsh breath, tasting blood.
Dark, thick tendrils of smoke wafted out, reaching me, slipping over my skin and chilling me to the bone.
I screamed.
…
What the fuck could be happening now?
I had felt the presence of others seconds before I heard Serena’s shrill, panicked scream cut straight through me, triggering the part that was more monster than human. The part had been activated when I’d taken out the officers in the kitchen and it worked off the basest of instinct for my kind—the need to dominate, to kill, to feed, and to protect what was mine.
Obsession Page 17
