His gaze fell on the dark building hulking above them, and he had to wonder if the doctor was responsible.
Argus and the Judge were the only two people who knew they were here.
Growls rose in the night air. Husky eyes, ice blue and devoid of emotion, approached from a nearby shadow.
“Check the passenger side,” he commanded, turning to face the immediate threat.
Cat hurried around the car. “They’re wired shut as well.”
“The back?”
She checked. “Yes.”
“Be careful, but break the window far from the wire and open it from inside.”
She did so, then came back to his side. He wanted to tell her to get into the safety of the car, but he didn’t know what the effects of the magic might be. Nor, by the stubborn expression on her face, would she listen.
From the gloom, shaggy shapes appeared. Three wolves, fur ranging from black to gray, approached stiff-legged.
Their eyes were strange, unfocused.
Behind them strode the Judge.
“What the...” Cat said, tensing.
The wolves spread out in a semi-circle, then stilled, waiting.
“What is this?” Eric demanded of the man facing them.
His brown eyes were wide with fright, but he straightened. “This must end here. I will not have the Council taking their fury out on my Pack. And she knows as well, now that the two of you showed up to my hotel.”
Before Eric could ask any questions, the Judge raised his hand and the wolves surged forward. The Judge shuddered as he shifted into a wolf of the darkest night.
Eric concentrated most of his attention on him. Take him down quick, the others would falter. The leader bared his fangs, a growl rumbling over the twenty feet between them.
“If you fight me, you will die,” Eric stated, his tone full of confidence he used to be able to fully feel. He slid a dirk from his boot, holding it in his free hand. Two weapons were always better than one in a close fight, and that’s what it would be against these dogs.
At his side, Cat raised her blade, standing straight and tall, her pose that of a warrior ready for battle.
A flush of warmth touched him, admiration for her courage.
The Judge padded toward them, eyes strangely dull and empty like the others, as if by changing into his animal form, he’d lost his humanity.
Strange.
Unnatural.
The scent of the vampires mingled with that of wet fur. Eric sensed them, could pinpoint about where they were. Friend or foe, he didn’t know. But they stayed back, as if not ready to join in the fight.
No, they’d wait. When an opening appeared to serve their purpose, then they’d strike, like a coiled snake waiting for a meal.
Tactics he himself had used many times.
He hated going into a fight with such blatant unknowns skulking about. And he despised himself being one of those unknowns. With a glance at Cat, he straightened taller.
He refused to falter. It wasn’t just duty anymore. Somehow, the woman beside him had touched a part of himself that had lain dormant since his torture.
She was waking him fully, bringing him out of the desperate, dark memories of the past, and into the present. Cutting the depression from his soul, as if it had not been all consuming.
As he stared at the approaching wolves, the world took on a shade of red. Power from his ancestors rushed through him, swelling his strength.
The stakes were too high to fail.
With a battle cry, he stepped toward the leader.
The black wolf howled, and as one, the pack surged forward.
Eric swung his axe, but the leader leapt out of the way. He slashed with his dirk. It bit into fur and flesh. A yelp and the scent of fresh blood rewarded him.
Another wolf jumped, slamming into Eric’s chest. Claws and teeth shredded clothes and skin. He raised an arm, shoving it against the wolf’s throat and flicked his thumb over a small button on the axe’s handle. A hidden metal spike slid out, nearly eight inches long.
He angled it into the wolf’s belly, driving it deep. The animal fell to the pavement, crumpling as blood pooled from the wound.
Behind him, Cat grunted. Another wolf yowled. The choking stench of burnt fur filled the air as it stumbled back into the shadows, whining pitifully.
Two down. Two to go.
They both concentrated on Eric as the biggest threat.
He didn’t waste time. Raising BrynTröll, he slammed the edge of one blade into a circling beast.
With a howl that set his teeth on edge, the Judge sank his fangs into Eric’s wrist.
In his crimson haze of rage, he barely felt it. He slashed his dirk at the wolf’s muzzle. It didn’t let go. Blankness shone from its inhuman blue eyes as if it didn’t feel the pain.
The wolf bit down harder until Eric’s bones ground together, close to breaking. He punched a dirk-laden fist into the beast’s belly. It didn’t make a sound as he ripped the blade up its chest.
Blood pattered over the ground, but the Judge still seemed to feel nothing. It jerked back, pulling Eric off balance.
They tumbled to the ground.
Eric rolled away, jumped to a crouch, axe between them.
Cat cried out, “Behind you.”
A second later the other wolf jumped onto his back.
Teeth sank into his shoulder. He roared, slamming the dagger at the wolf’s head.
The Judge took the opportunity to join the fray.
Before Eric could raise his axe, they were both on him.
The world turned redder, drenched with the haze of blood. Power flowed faster. His lagging strength replenished. With a roar, he rose, the wolves hanging from him like some sort of wildly twisting, growling fur coat. He flung them to the ground.
Letting his battle cry fill him, he roared, swinging his axe and decapitating one beast.
The Judge still showed no emotion.
It was uncanny. Creepy.
He stepped toward the black wolf. It shuddered as if it wanted to flee... but couldn’t. As if it were a puppet on a string, it jerked forward, snarling.
Then the Judge burst into flames.
Before Eric could react, Cat screamed.
He spun.
She was pinned to the ground. Four hooded figures, vamps by the smell, held her down. Two others stood above her, watching him.
Eric raised his axe and grinned with bloody intent. Vampires were trickier than wolves, but he was well versed in their devious ways.
He took a step forward, but one of the standing vamps raised an arm. The black cloth slid back, revealing a woman’s jeweled hand. “We are not here to fight.” Yet was implied, if unstated. “We simply wish to ask a few questions.”
Eric watched them, not stupid enough to relax. “Let her go,” he stated.
The woman shook her head, her hand disappearing once more beneath the black folds of her cloak. “Not yet, I don’t think. One such as her should be contained at all costs.” Her voice held a hint of admiration.
Eric didn’t understand what the woman meant, didn’t care at the moment.
He could see bleeding cuts and bites over Cat’s skin from her fight with the wolves. Her hair and clothes were spotted with crimson. He needed to ensure she was all right.
“Then we fight,” he told the woman.
“Warriors.” She sighed. “So impatient. Do you truly wish to have us as enemies, when there is... perhaps... a chance of being allies?”
“Allies? Yet you threaten my charge?”
“Is she? Yours to protect, and yet, something more perhaps?”
He stiffened, the woman reading way too much into him. “Release her or fight. I prefer not to stand around here gabbing while the wolves regroup and come back.”
The woman laughed, the sound raising the hair on his nape. “They won’t return for quite a while. The one behind these evil happenings does not have quite that much power. Yet.”
“Who?” he demanded.
“If I knew that, I would not be here.” The woman waved her hand. “But that is not what I wish to discuss.”
Impatient, he took a menacing step forward.
The woman waved at him and he froze. Magic! Containing him. “Let me free.”
“Ah. A chink in the armor. Methinks that anger is for far more than me. But I will not pry. Answer me this, warrior. What do you know of the happenings here?”
He remained silent, refusing to admit his ignorance.
“So I thought. I suggest you take your... charge, and leave the city. Dark magics are stirring. If you are not prepared, you will both die. She is being hunted. If she is captured, the balance will tip further to the other side. I can’t allow such to happen. I will not hesitate to destroy her first.”
His rage flooded back at the threat to Cat. With a roar, he inched forward.
The magical vampire gasped, trembled as he shoved against her power.
“Impressive.” She laughed, though it was strained. “Heed my warning, Viking. Get her gone from here before I come back and do it myself.”
Eric blinked.
The vampires disappeared.
He didn’t know if they’d vanished, or clouded his mind with sorcery long enough to escape. Either way, fear coursed through him at the power the woman wielded.
How could he beat such a thing?
A tiny voice whispered in his mind to flee. Not to even try battling one like her. To remember his past, and all that had happened when he’d tried to fight before.
Shaking it off, though it didn’t go far, he approached Cat.
She sat up, rubbing her wrists. “Where’d they go?”
“Magic,” he said simply.
“Lovely.”
“My sentiments match.”
She glanced at the black wolf, lying dead on the ground, his fur singed off in patches. “The Judge?”
“Aye.”
“Are we going to be in trouble for dispatching a member of the Council?”
“I’ll speak with Connor. He’ll understand.” Still chewing over the sorceress’s words, he finally asked, “What did the woman mean about you?”
Chapter Thirteen
Before Cat could respond, a muffled bang rang out in the alley where the wolves had come from.
She jumped to her feet, reaching Eric’s side. This close, she could see just how bloody he was from the wolves. The man had to be in so much pain, it was disconcerting he didn’t show it in any way.
She wrenched her gaze from his tightened jaw and wary eyes, back to the shadows. Something was still wrong. Then she felt it. A darkness was growing in the air, as if the night had come to life and was closing in on them.
“We need to get out of here,” she said quietly.
“Not yet.”
A low moan came from the deep inky blackness stretching between buildings. Eric glanced that way, but stayed where he was, protecting her back.
She searched the gloom, finally picking up a telltale flash of reflected light. “Who’s there?”
Metal clattered to the ground, then shuffled steps came toward them. The reflection was a flash of eyes. They drew closer until she could make out the silhouette of a man. Of average height and with a slim build, he didn’t seem exactly threatening.
The cold breeze slowed and she picked up his scent. Mortal human. But there was something else. Something was... off.
With a quick glance at Eric, who looked as confused as she felt, she headed towards the man. He stepped into the light, then stood there, swaying as if controlled by the wind.
“Can I help you?” she asked.
The man stared at the SUV as if he didn’t hear her.
To Eric, she said, “Help me take him inside. Something’s wrong.”
As she reached for the guy’s arm, he slashed his hand at her, nearly faster than she could see, even with her beyond-mortal senses. Pain singed over her palm and she jumped back as the man tried to cut her again.
He held a wickedly curved blade, about eight inches long, shaped like a crescent moon. On the outer arc, the blade was serrated to the sharp tip.
Eric rushed to the man’s side and grabbed his wrist, jerking it up and squeezing.
His bones broke with an audible snap. The man didn’t make a sound, nor did he drop the knife though it must have been nearly impossible to keep hold of it with a broken wrist.
The man spun and with his free hand, clawed at Eric’s face.
Cat clutched his arm, glancing at Eric as they held the stranger pinned between them. The man struggled, but was no match for their strength. Through it all, he was nearly silent, only uttering an occasional low moan. Not of pain, she didn’t think, though she couldn’t really describe the emotion conveyed in those low, guttural sounds.
As he continued to jerk like a fish trapped on a line, a piece of glowing wire tumbled from his pocket.
She exchanged a doubly confused glance with Eric. “How could this man be responsible?”
“I don’t know,” he replied, staring at the stranger. “But I’m going to find out. Help me get him to the SUV.”
They shuffled the man to the back of the vehicle. Eric set his axe down, then from a long black bag, pulled out a thick, lengthy cable of rope.
“Are you always this prepared to tie someone up?” she asked.
“Always.” After tying some knots around the stranger’s broken wrist, Eric tightened both hands behind the man’s back.
“Now what?” She had a feeling she already knew.
“Argus might be able to do something with this guy, but I don’t trust the good doctor. We’re taking him with us.” Attaching a secure lead rope to the man’s shackled wrists, Eric handed the end to her to hold.
From the same long black bag, he grabbed a metal box and what looked like a heavy-duty oven mitt, though this one was covered with small squares of metal, like some sort of chain mail. Slipping it on, he headed for the passenger doors and used it to remove the glowing wires, which he put in the box.
He went to the driver’s side and removed those as well. After replacing the box and oven mitt in the back of the car, he glanced at her. “I’ll sit in the back seat with this guy. You drive.”
* * *
Cat pulled in front of her house, teeth on edge from the mortal’s constant grunts and low whines. He’d continued to jerk around the back seat the entire drive, making those primal sounds. She’d finally realized they were from frustrated anger—not pain or any fear, just pure fury. The urge to kill her and Eric.
It was as if he’d lost his mind, and, unable to think, had become driven by instinct and need.
Eric jumped out of the SUV, dragging the man behind him.
She led the way into the house. Blake lay on the living room couch, fast asleep. She left the guard as Eric headed for the basement door. They put the man in the last cell, as far from the still unconscious Irish as possible.
Near an iron wrought bed frame against the far wall hung a set of chains, with a matching set near the floor. Eric maneuvered their deranged captive in place, shackling his wrists and ankles.
The man, sensing more mobility, lunged, snapping his teeth.
“Hey!” Eric jumped back, shaking his head in disbelief. “First time a human ever tried to bite me.”
Cat’s humor popped up and she replied, “Never? Interesting.”
When he glanced at her, she winked. His cheeks flushed with a hint of red before he scowled and sent her a stern glance.
After cleaning up and grabbing a quick drink of nourishing blood, they spent over an hour questioning the man.
“Who sent you?...”
“Why attack us?...”
They got nothing from him other than grunts and wheezy whines.
Blake woke up and came to help, but eventually left, saying he could be more use guarding the city.
Finally, frustrated beyond belief, Cat laid a hand on Eric’s arm. He didn’t draw away from her touch. “Come. We need
to eat. Replenish our strength. We can decide what to do with him after.”
The man continued to struggle to get free.
With a sigh, Eric nodded and followed her upstairs and into the kitchen.
He assessed the chef-quality appliances and features while she grabbed a pitcher of spiced blood from the warmer and poured them both a glass.
“You cook much?” he asked, as she pulled out an array of food from the refrigerator and began making omelets.
“It’s enjoyable.” Keeping in mind his appetite, she whipped up a couple omelets for him to start with. With all the injuries that his body had began healing, he needed the fuel.
She gasped when he brushed against her back. Glancing over her shoulder, she met his gaze. He was close, but didn’t quite touch her. He leaned over, looking into the skillet.
“Y-yes?” she asked shakily, then bit her lower lip at how she sounded.
He grinned, a full-blown smile of amusement and she lost her breath completely. It transformed him from the serious, cranky relic she’d come to know. The laugh lines around his wide lips and crystal clear blue eyes lit up.
He wasn’t just handsome. The man was devastatingly sexy.
“Just wondering if I could get some bacon with my eggs.” He stepped back and moved around the island to the fridge.
Taking a deep breath at how much he’d managed to stir her, she said breezily, “Sure. Top drawer.”
She didn’t know if he’d tried to throw her off guard on purpose or not. But she definitely wanted to find out.
He chopped up some bacon, set it on a plate and brought it to her, this time keeping his distance. When his omelets were finished, she cooked four more for him, then made her own.
He finished eating when she was barely half done.
“Did you taste it or just inhale?” she asked, taking another bite.
He crooked an eyebrow. “They were very good, thank you.”
Like some schoolgirl, she couldn’t stop heat rushing to her cheeks. Hastily, she wolfed down another bite.
He waited until she was done, then stood and began cleaning up. Shocked, she watched him move around her kitchen, doing dishes and wiping the counters like a natural.
And she hid a smile. His gruffness was a complete ruse. The man was no throwback to a caveman, he just liked pretending to be.
Firestorm: Heart of a Vampire #5 Page 9
