The Heat

by Heather Killough-Walden

  Jennings’ crotch ached.

  Her hair looked like spun-gold in the early morning light, despite the spatters of blood that marred its shining smoothness. Her peach-gold skin was flawless. But then, as far as he was concerned, it always had been.

  His blue-gray gaze fell on the scarf around her neck and with slow determination he unknotted the silken material and pulled it off of her, exposing the vampire-like bite marks beneath.

  His gaze darkened, his jaw setting. His expression turned hard. With that, he faced front once more, slipped a new clip into his Glock, and laid the gun across his lap. Then he turned the key in the ignition and pulled the stick shift out of the parking lot.

  Chapter Eighteen: Deep Cover

  “She must have been on foot, but her scent just disappears.” Jonathan Kane turned his face toward the wind, which was really beginning to pick up speed. Miniscule droplets of rain misted the side of his face. Beside him, James Valentine was scenting the air and listening at the same time. They were in front of Tabitha’s house and Lily was gone.

  “Can you sense her?” Tabitha asked softly.

  Valentine gazed steadily down at her. His expression was unreadable. He shook his head and left it at that.

  Just then a marked police car rode up, drawing flush with the curb. Tabitha recognized the driver as one of the men who had been stationed out in front of her brother’s house a few days ago. She remembered that his name was Mayfield. She nodded at him and he nodded back, getting out of the car. As he approached, his expression turned pained. “Don’t tell me she’s gone,” he said, his tone just about hopeless.

  Tabitha nodded. “I think she must have left before sunrise.”

  Mayfield held up his hand as if to tell her to stop and then pinched the bridge of his nose with his other hand. “I told you not to tell me she was gone,” he muttered. “The Chief is going to have me canned.”

  Tabitha ran a hand through her long blue-black hair and thought hard. People don’t just teleport, she told herself. If her scent disappears, then it’s because she stopped walking. She blinked and almost slapped her forehead. Duh! She got a ride. “I don’t think she would have gone very far on foot, so I’m guessing she got a ride, Officer Mayfield. Can you run a check with the taxi services around here?”

  Jonathan Kane turned and looked down at his granddaughter with stark pride. Tabitha found herself blushing a little. Beside her, James was watching and listening carefully as Mayfield pulled a radio off of his belt and began communicating with someone on the other end.

  A few minutes later, they had the name of the taxi company that Lily had used – and they had a destination. James immediately headed toward his black sedan, and Tabitha and her grandfather followed closely behind. Mayfield moved to his patrol car as well.

  Once everyone was seated, the two cars pulled out into traffic, Mayfield leading the way. Now Tabitha just had to call her brother back. He’d left her a message to call him and she had yet to even tell him that Lily was gone. Probably, it was nothing to be too concerned about, but James said that he couldn’t sense her. And she wasn’t sure what that meant. She couldn’t imagine a Guardian not being able to sense his charge. Was he lying to her? And if he was – then why?

  Then again, Tabitha had never known a Guardian before; it was a right not given out lightly, since the granting of it came with a good amount of extra power. It was possible that Lily was just out gallivanting about town in her new werewolf body, enjoying the freedom that came with her transformation and that she was simply too far out of range for James to feel.

  Yep. Tabitha was going with that. Because the alternative was just too terrible to think about.

  Either way, Daniel deserved to know. So, Tabitha pulled her cell phone out of her purse and prepared to apologize, once more, for ever turning it off. She pushed a speed dial number and waited.

  Daniel picked up on the first ring, and must have done so without looking at the caller ID, because all he said was, “Kane.”

  “Hey, big brother, it’s me.”

  “Tabitha?” He sounded at once starkly concerned. “Oh hell, don’t tell me –”

  “We’re headed toward Bluebonnet and the Mall of Louisiana area.” She tried to put as much nonchalance in her voice as possible. “Looks like Lily decided to do some shopping.”

  There was a brief but heavy pause. And then Daniel said, “I’ll meet you there.”

  * * * *

  Daniel hadn’t told his sister yet that her uncle was dead. But worse was that he hadn’t told his grandfather that his son was dead. Jonathan Kane had already lost one son: He’d lost Daniel’s father years ago.

  Brandon Kane and his wife, Daniel’s mother, Genevieve, had been camping to celebrate their wedding anniversary. They’d been murdered and, since they were both werewolves, Daniel had always assumed that it had been a very grisly murder. There were only a few, harsh methods by which to kill a werewolf. None of them were pretty.

  But Jonathan had kept those details from his grandchildren, perhaps wisely.

  Now William was dead as well.

  A parent should never have to witness their child’s death. Nature was not supposed to run that way. Natural death was hard enough. But it was not a Benjamin Button world and death in the wrong order brought with it an unnatural measure of pain. It was too much for any man to bear.

  Why did it seem to Daniel that so many people, werewolf and human, had to bear it anyway? He’d seen so much of it over the years. As a cop, he couldn’t escape it. The small coffins….

  As he climbed onto his bike and started it up, he wondered at his changed and jaded attitude toward his job. It had never bothered him before. He’d wanted to be a cop for as long as he could remember and now he was the Police Chief of Baton Rouge.

  Was he going to start going sour now?

  He pulled the bike out of the police station lot, forgetting about the helmet for once. The ride to the Mall of Louisiana was fast, despite the now pouring rain. A part of him was regretting his choice of vehicles today. Wet streets made for slick streets and coming out of a motorcycle accident without a single scratch was a difficult thing to explain away.

  But another part of him enjoyed the sting of the drenching wind and the way it cleansed the air. It felt as though it cleaned him, as well. He needed that.

  Daniel rode around the large lot until he spotted Mayfield’s squad car parked in one of the further, outlying spaces. Tabitha and Jonathan were standing in front of a black sedan parked beside the marked car. They both raised their arms and waved Daniel over from across the distance and Daniel angled into the proper aisle, heading in that direction.

  The scent of Lily’s blood slammed into him like a freight train. He skidded the bike to a halt, putting his left boot down on the tarmac. He was still a hundred yards from his sister and grandfather. He could scent Valentine with them as well and he wondered, distractedly, where the Guardian werewolf was.

  But the bulk of his attention was focused on his immediate surroundings. He knew Lily’s blood well enough to recognize it when he smelled it. The scent had been sharp and sudden, there one second and gone the next.

  Daniel straddled the bike and turned his face up slightly, his stark blue gaze scanning the parking lot. He now cursed the rain that he had been enjoying so much only moments before, as it served to wash away the scent he searched for so desperately.

  “She was here,” Valentine said from beside him.

  Daniel wasn’t exactly surprised to find the Guardian werewolf suddenly at his side, but he was at least impressed. He turned to face the older alpha. “She’s hurt. I can smell her blood.”

  Valentine nodded. “She’s gone now. And whoever took her knew what she was. There can be no other explanation.”

  Daniel’s own blood drained from his face. For a brief moment, he saw bright white spots. His hands clenched and unclenched around the handlebars of his motorcycle. He thought of the Mayor and of his uncle and his uncle’s mate.
He felt suddenly, overwhelmingly sick.

  He swallowed, fighting to keep the bile down.

  The thing that he had feared the most in this unthinkable world was actually happening. It was real. In the space of a few short hours, his life had become a waking nightmare.

  Valentine gently placed a hand on his shoulder and squeezed, his shining, silver gaze capturing Daniel’s and holding it fast. “I couldn’t tell Tabitha this, but I can feel her. She’s alive, Kane - but we need to act very fast.”

  And, just like that, fifteen years of law enforcement training kicked in, clicking into place with a nearly audible finality. Daniel found himself straightening, his expression going stony. He pulled his bike into an empty space and shut it down.

  As his sister and grandfather made their way toward him, trailed hesitantly by Officer Louis Mayfield, Daniel pulled the phone out of his pocket and flipped it open.

  Within a few seconds, he’d put out an APB on both Lily and her black Dodge Neon.

  “Chief?” Mayfield greeted, questioningly, as the three of them approached.

  “Mayfield, I want everyone who is off duty to come back on duty,” Daniel ordered. “That includes your partner.” He thought of Jennings and how inherently intelligent the man was. He was good at finding people; he’d brought in his fair share of thugs over the years. And though Jennings and Mayfield had let Lily slip past them earlier in the week, the truth was, Jennings had handled the situation well. He’d followed proper procedure and he’d done it quickly. Besides, Lily hadn’t exactly played fair.

  Daniel wanted Jennings on this case. There was a reason he had trusted the two of them to watch over his mate in the first place. “Go to his house and drag him out of bed if you have to, Louis. We have a serial killer loose in the city and he or she has taken Lily. I need the two of you on this ASAP.”

  “Yes sir.” Mayfield nodded and spun on his heel, heading back toward his car as he pulled his cell phone out of his uniform shirt pocket.

  If he’d thought there was a ghost of a chance that Lily’s cell phone was anywhere near her, he would contact the FBI personally and ask them to turn the phone’s speaker on and locate it via GPS. However, he’d already tried her phone and he’d also already accepted that she’d lost it long ago.

  Everything was now riding on the location of her car.

  Daniel turned to his grandfather. It was time to face the music. He needed to tell his grandfather the truth about William.

  Lightning split the sky above them and thunder rolled heavy and low across the black top. To the outside world, a cop in black stood beside a motorcycle and spoke to another man in a voice that was drowned out by the storm.

  To Jonathan Kane, his grandson’s voice was the only sound he could hear.

  * * * *

  Lily moaned low and rolled over, her wrists catching and pulling in the handcuffs that chained her to a thick, metal pole behind the bed. She coughed violently on the leftover blood that had pooled in her esophagus. As she did this, Jennings stood from where he’d been seated beside the bed and retrieved a wet cloth.

  When she was done coughing, he brushed the cloth across her mouth and chin, wiping the blood away.

  Lily closed her eyes, not wanting to see him. There was once more no pain in her body, but she felt incredibly weak and drained. She’d lost a lot of blood.

  The first time she’d awoken after Allan Jennings had shot her, she was still in her car, but this time in the passenger seat and bound with handcuffs that should not have worked on her. She could instantly feel her superhuman strength, and yet the cuffs did not break. They didn’t even bend.

  Jennings had told her to settle down and that her struggles were useless. He’d glanced at her and then turned his attention back to the road.

  In a sudden fit of rage and panic, Lily had attempted to raise both of her legs and kick him. She’d hoped that she could kick him right out of the car, not caring if the car drove off of the highway as a result. She knew she could live through that. If that didn’t work, she would jump out of the car herself.

  But just as she’d begun to attempt the act, Jennings had moved with amazing swiftness, grabbing the gun from his lap and training it on her with merciless speed. The gun went off again and again, and once more, Lily had slipped into unconsciousness.

  How many times was that? How many bullets had he emptied into her body? Each one, a capsule of searing pain. Offhand, she wondered how many of them had gone straight through her, and how much lead was actually sealed up right now inside of her healed wounds.

  Dizziness washed over her and the world tilted. She closed her eyes and suppressed another moan. She’d lost way too much blood.

  She was hungry. So hungry…

  When she opened her eyes again and focused them on Jennings, he backed up a step.

  “What do you want with me?” she asked him. Through her words, she could feel that her teeth had changed. She ran her tongue over the backs of them and felt the fangs. They were smaller than Daniel’s, certainly, but just as sharp.

  She could hear Allan’s heart beating. His lungs breathing. She could smell his blood. It smelled so… good. He smelled like food to her in a way that Beignets or cinnamon rolls used to.

  Jennings gazed down at her for a long, silent moment. And then he ran a hand through his dark hair and dropped the wet cloth in a water bowl on a shelf against one wall.

  “I honestly don’t know, Lily,” he said softly. He sighed and sat down in a large, plush chair a few feet away. “I’m sorry that I had to hurt you. There was no other way to get you here.” His gaze skirted over her face to the marks on her neck. “But it’s your own fault. You shouldn’t have let him touch you. You shouldn’t have let him turn you.”

  Lily closed her eyes and rolled onto her back again. She could feel that she had been stripped of her clothing. Only a thin white sheet had been draped over her and separated her body from the world and Allan Jennings.

  “God, Lily, you just had to fall for the one man I hate most in this world, didn’t you.” He stood, his tone becoming agitated. “Daniel Kane. Daniel Kane!” He turned in place, once more shoving his hand through his hair. “When I heard you were back in town, I thought… I thought there might be a chance.” He closed his eyes and shook his head. “But Kane got to you first.” Suddenly, he whirled on her and she actually flinched. He stormed to the bed, towering over her. She instinctively pulled against the cuffs.

  “Daniel Kane, track star extraordinaire who broke every record to set all of his own! Daniel Kane, prized Bulldog quarterback, Daniel Kane, prom king – Daniel Kane, Chief of the fucking Police of Baton Rouge!” He leaned in to brace himself on the bed, one arm on either side of her. He moved to within inches of her and Lily was forced to turn her face away. “Why should I be surprised?” he asked. “He’s always had a thing for you, Lily. Did you know that he actually told me to stay away from you in high school?”

  He reached up and roughly grabbed her chin, forcing her to look at him once more. Suddenly, as if the feel of her skin beneath his touch had infused him with tranquility, his grip eased up and his expression softened. “You….” He blinked and very gently caressed her jaw line. “You look hungry, Lily. Your eyes are glowing. Just like his do. But on you… it’s beautiful.”

  If Lily had been a human, she would have been sick with fear. As it was, she was so weakened and so shocked that all she could do was stare up at him. He’s crazy.

  Allan’s thumb moved down her cheek and then brushed tenderly across her lips. She shuddered violently, once more turning her head away. And once again, he jerked it back, growing irritated. His thumb was on her bottom lip again. This time, she froze as he pried her lips apart and gazed down at her small white fangs.

  “I’ve hated his kind for nearly twenty years,” he said, his tone distant, as if he were stuck in some kind of daydream. “My father knew of their existence. He taught me about them early on.” Jennings released her and stepped back. “He w
as a Hunter. And a good one.”

  Lily watched as he turned away from her and paced across the room to turn and lean back against the wall, his arms crossed over his chest. It was the first time he’d put as much space between them and she took the opportunity to look around.

  They were in a basement somewhere. It was a finished basement, but she could smell the inherent damp that was barely kept at bay. The bed she was on was nothing more than two mattresses on a frame.

  There were no windows in the large, square room, and the only other furniture consisted of shelves along one wall, a plush leather chair, a metal stool, and a black traveler’s trunk, its lock open and dangling in its latches.

  “Until, one day, he took care of a couple of the demons in Kisatchie.” Jennings paused, his blue-gray gaze hardening as he stared at her. “But he didn’t leave the scene right away like he usually did. This time, he’d taken me along with him. After he’d killed the demons, he wanted to show me how it was done.” He smiled, and it was a mirthless smile. “As he was teaching me, another demon appeared out of nowhere, true to the malevolence of their kind. I will never forget his massive form and his glowing green eyes…. as he ripped my father apart.”

  Lily’s heart hammered hard in her chest. Green eyes? Malcolm! she thought. It was Cole! He must have been zapped there by his curse!

  And then the second realization hit her.

  Kisatchie… a couple… Oh my god. It was Daniel’s parents.

  Jesus, she thought. All this time, Daniel has hated Malcolm Cole and all this time, it was Cole who avenged his parents’ death. Then she frowned. But, if Malcolm had shown up and killed Jennings’ father, then there would have been another body there. Tabitha had never mentioned that another man was killed along with her parents. Did she not know? Did they not find the body?

  Maybe they had, she thought, but they disposed of it. Maybe the cops who dealt with the crime were werewolves too. That made sense. Daniel was a werewolf and he was the law. There was no reason to believe it hadn’t been that way for a while.