Rage Against the Devil (Wild Beasts Series Book 2)

by T. Birmingham

  “Damn it…fine… Goddamned Man Bear,” Alexia mumbled as she held out her hand to Eire, looking between them like she was preparing her body for the coming pain.

  Eire returned the handshake warily. Being a half-human Other had its perks. Clan went through a total change at puberty, and if they were Dormants, their body became fully Clan during the change. Others also experienced a change at puberty, but Others could also be half human. With the Clan, you were all in or all out, and although most Clan thought the pain they experienced when they touched an Other was the result of evil, most Others agreed that it was an evolutionary hitch. Clan might not give a shit about the Others, might in fact have their own closed-off views on who the Others were, but there were Others who studied genetics, and from what they’d discovered so far, the reaction was related to genetics and not to a soul or lack thereof.

  Alexia’s look of shock when they touched was absolutely priceless. “Welcome to Montville’s School for Special Peeps. You are not a peep—”

  Eire saw Alexia’s fated mate, Devon, give the redhead’s hair a yank and pinch her butt.

  “Man Bear, it’s not really an appropriate time to get kinky—”

  “Red…” Devon drew out her name in exasperation.

  Eire knew her slight smirk hadn’t been missed when Alexia rolled her eyes as though she had no use for antics. She also saw the mirrored smile in the wolf from earlier, the one who’d tried to protect her. He held her gaze and his smile dipped just a bit, like he was just as confused by their mutual attraction. She liked his eyes. They were kind. A deep brown with flecks of lighter brown that drew a breath involuntarily from her lungs.

  The man’s eyes alone were breathtaking, but his tall, strong body, and his face weren’t anything to scoff at. He had the most beautiful face of any man she’d ever seen. Strong jaw and high cheekbones. A small scar on his chin that complemented his animalistic looks. Dark eyebrows that only emphasized the harshness and angles of his Native American features. His dark hair was shiny and medium length, and she had this urge to run her hands through it, feel the warmth of his large frame, and test her theory that she could take a Vuković. They were all Earth to her ice and she loved that smell. Pine, and for this beautiful man, a little bit of caramel. She wanted to bathe in his scent—

  What. The. Everloving. Fuck? She shook her head, and in the process, she saw the slow smile from the man named Nicky. She also did not miss the look from her older brother. It was the haughty, half-smiling, omnipotent look Damon got when he thought he knew something no one else knew.

  “I just meant that she’s not a peep yet,” Alexia was saying when Eire turned her head back to the couple. Eire watched as the redhead smiled at Devon and the bear’s face softened. Fucking whipped is what that bear is, Eire thought. The scary ass Skröm turned to Eire, an expression on her face like false friendliness. A politician’s look. Eire didn’t trust her for a second. “You’ll be a peep as soon as you tell us all your secrets, put a hold on treating us like idiots, and stop acting like a serious bitch to Damon.” Alexia added these conditions – because that’s definitely what they were – succinctly, like there was no other law but hers.

  “Bitch, you know nothing,” was Eire’s only reply before she dropped the bag she’d been holding next to her, and raced toward the future Clan Councilor.

  Eire saw the Skröm’s eyes turn bright red right before she was spun around by Damon and he moved in front of Eire, protecting her. Like Eire needed protection.

  “What the fuck, Damon—”

  Damon cut her off with a harsh look.

  “Slow, down, Lex,” he said looking at the woman over his shoulder and holding Eire in place. Fuck, but her brother was strong. He needed to let her go now, though. She gave him the iciest look she could, lifting her head haughtily as she pulled her strength around her, and he gave her an apologetic look before letting her go. She wouldn’t be caged. She was her own person. “Eire works cases for the Others, but she may not know about your particular brand of special.”

  “I didn’t even know you knew about my particular brand of special, Damon.” The Skröm’s voice was strong, controlled, but unlike Eire’s, it held a passion that was like fire.

  “I know a lot, Lex,” Damon said quietly, and he was probably right. Goddamned bastard was over three hundred years old, even though he didn’t let that be known, and he’d always felt even older than that. As his sister, she could vouch for how truly wrinkly the asshat was underneath it all.

  “I can see that,” Alexia added, considering the situation.

  Eire saw the wheels turning, knew Alexia was putting all the coincidences together that Eire was sure had piled up over the years if she knew her brother, and she waited for the light to show in the other woman’s eyes.

  Alexia looked at Eire consideringly and nodded at Damon. “She gets a pass—”

  “I don’t need a fucking pass,” Eire interrupted fiercely, cutting Alexia off. A fucking pass? Bitch, please. She’d never come across anyone who could best her. Even her strong as shit brother, whose golden brown eyes met her own.

  “You do in this case, Eire,” her brother said quietly. He gave her a look that said not to push it, not to let the cold, hard, precise weapon out that she had hidden inside of her.

  Shit, she thought, letting the calm of her ancestry sink in. The other three, the Taryn twins and the human, had left, but Alexia, Devon, and the wolf were still there. Fuck, Damon was right.

  Even she could see it. The Skröm was fire, and Eire was ice. They’d kill each other, and worse yet, she’d reveal her true self. She couldn’t afford to do that in front of a Councilor, full-fledged or not. Stupid, she thought, taking a few deep breaths and cooling herself back down.

  “Lex,” Damon said, turning toward the fire at his back even as the ice stared her down, “I hate to ask, but have you got an extra room?”

  “For her?” Alexia asked incredulously.

  “Yes,” Damon said, a tick in his jaw. “I don’t have a place for her, and she really is here to help.”

  Alexia looked like she was about to say something cutting, but Devon’s hand took hers and she looked up at her mate. Again, they seemed to be communicating silently.

  “Damn it, Damon. You know I can’t say no to you. Not after all you’ve done for me.” Alexia blew out a breath.

  Eire saw the wolf, Nicky, give Alexia a small smile that the Skröm rolled her eyes at.

  What was that all about, and why did the shared camaraderie between the two make Eire feel sick to her stomach, like she needed to attack the redhead again? She looked away for a moment, shrugging off the uncomfortable feelings and reasserting her cold exterior. She had a case to solve. She didn’t have the time, nor the inclination to get involved in the mysterious relationships going on around her.

  “But the only place to sleep is in a tent. We’re booked until we get The Lodge finished. Ice Princess over there will probably thrive in the cold,” Alexia added, a glint in her eye.

  Eire just held the Skröm’s gaze, coldness sweeping through her, and an evil glee taking over as she imagined herself ripping the Skröm’s head off and playing with her innards.

  “What about Cam’s double-wide?” Damon asked, and Eire’s ears perked up, drawing her mind away from her dark thoughts to look at her brother. She had a trailer back home in the city and she loved it. There was a freedom to living in something that had four wheels, but that was as sturdy and solid as any home. She could do with a place that was all her own.

  “Taken,” Devon said harshly, and her mood deflated. He hadn’t seemed unkind when she’d looked him over earlier. Why the change of heart? Eire didn’t linger too long on the question. He would side with his mate. That was to be expected. She tended to have that effect on people. She wasn’t warm and fuzzy, and she’d chosen her ice for a reason.

  “You two haven’t moved into your own home yet.” Damon made it a statement, rather than a question, and his sincere concern
rang through in his words. So, Devon’s rudeness hadn’t been directed at her. There was something she was missing. Damon’s tone and the overall tension from everyone in the group spoke volumes.

  “She can stay with me,” Nicky suggested, from beside her, and she nearly jumped at the proximity. The guy was stealth, and she could respect that. With him so close, though, she could smell the earthy scents coming off him, and they were melting her ice, something she couldn’t afford.

  She shut down her thoughts. Ice. You are ice, Eire Donovan, she thought as she backed away from the man who was slowly breaching shields that rarely faltered. Then, Nicky’s statement registered in her brain. It was Damon who beat her to the question, though.

  “Why the fuck would you volunteer to have her stay with you?” Damon asked, his eyes narrowing. Jesus. When was he going to realize she didn’t need his protection? She didn’t need anyone but herself.

  From the look everyone else threw Nicky, they were wondering the same thing.

  Nicky ducked his head then met her gaze, his own steady but uneasy as he avoided the looks of the others. He didn’t answer Damon. He looked to her, and she almost felt bad for the guy. “I have an extra room.” He looked around at the group, but everyone remained silent. “In my yurt.” Fuck, poor guy looked as confused as everyone else. “Never mind.”

  “No. Wait,” Damon said, and Eire didn’t like the tone of curiosity. Eire also didn’t like the slight smirk on her brother’s smug face. In fact, she wanted to punch the knowing look off his face. “No, that’s perfect. A little closer to town, but still far enough away from anyone that she can be herself.” He turned to her, while she stood quietly to the side. “That good?”

  “Don’t want to put me up, huh, big brother?” she asked coldly, but she knew she hadn’t hid the hurt below her words when she saw everyone, including the redhead, throw looks of pity her way. She lifted her head higher. No one was going to fucking pity her. Shit, she needed to watch her tone. What the fuck was wrong with her this morning?

  “Don’t say shit like that, Eire—”

  “It’s fine, Damon,” she said, quickly, her voice clipped. “Where’s Gimp going to sleep?”

  Alexia answered, “We’ve got an extra room in one of the trailers—”

  “That you weren’t going to let me sleep in,” Eire interrupted, resigned. She was used to being left out in the cold.

  “The room is with a rather…” Alexia paused. “Well, the one trailer room we have is with a sort of special character. Ben, the big, quiet dude from earlier who left right after his sister, Carrie – his twin… Let’s just say he’s a little rough around the edges. He’s also not himself around Others.” Alexia of course left it at that. No further details were needed. Eire understood all too well.

  How special was this person that Eire couldn’t handle it, but Gimp could? Fuck it. She was done with questions for the day. It was only fucking 8:00 am and she already needed a drink.

  “And I can’t stay with you?” she asked Damon, one last time.

  “I turned Loch’s room into storage, and Zeke’s in and out of town all the time. We shouldn’t disturb his beauty sleep.”

  “Fucking prima donna,” Eire spat. Damon just smiled. “Fine.” She breathed out the word on a sigh before slowly lifting her gaze up, up, up to a pair of warm brown eyes. She remembered to breathe again when their eyes met.

  “Thanks,” she said through gritted teeth, and she hoped no one noticed her harsh breathing in reaction to the man in front her. Goddamned brown eyes. Goddamned Vuković with his goddamned slow smile.

  The wolf nodded his head, saying nothing, and he grabbed the bag she’d left behind her when she’d gone to attack Alexia. When he looked back at her, though, she felt the pull of his gaze like she did a temporal break, and she shuddered. Nothing good ever came from that pull. Hell no, she wouldn’t go all soft at this man’s smiles again. She was putting her barriers firmly in place, and she’d be prepared for any ice-melting looks that wolf decided to throw her way.

  She matched his stride once again and tried to take the bag back, but he firmly stated that she was a guest. Then there was the fact that her hand had brushed his, and she didn’t want that to happen again. Earlier, their hands had brushed. The touch hadn’t been unpleasant, and that was what worried her. The touch had been like the beautiful feeling of frosted-over grass when a summer had stayed for too long, and you needed the refreshing hints of cold, crisp air to bring you back to yourself.

  Eire shook off the fantastical thinking. She did not need to be brought back to herself. She knew her power. She knew her strengths. And she knew her weaknesses. And a wolfman was not touching any of those things, no matter how brown his eyes were or how touchably soft his hair appeared.

  Too late, she realized she might need to take one of the wolves back to the scene tomorrow because she didn’t know how much of the scent the wolf had caught while investigating, even though he’d hinted at it. The scent was key. But her sense of smell wasn’t as good as a Vuković’s. Shit. She hated to admit that weakness, and she really disliked that she’d let Damon’s presence distract her from seeing what Nicky had observed.

  They’d reached the end of the path, and Eire couldn’t help her gasp, or the look of awe that touched her normally harsh features.

  “I take it back,” Eire said, looking up at the half-finished, log-sided lodge and across the acreage around her. “I can’t kill a woman who lives in a place like this even if you are a Skröm bitch.” She didn’t see the face Alexia threw at her, but she’d bet anything the woman’s mate had had to hold her back. Eire smiled ironically, only partly because of the image she had in her head of the big bear holding back the feisty redhead. Mostly, she was smiling because of the scene before her.

  There were a few refurbished double-wides, a cabin, and a large lodge building that looked near complete, except for the stickers still on the windows and the lack of doors. The place looked like a cross between a fancy yoga retreat, a camping getaway, and a farm.

  She wanted to stay there forever. There was a reason she lived on the outskirts of Syracuse. She could do her work in the city, but still enjoy the woods on occasion.

  And she was okay with admitting that, especially if there were soft beds. A good bed would have to wait, she thought, as she looked up at the large wolf once again crowding her space. He didn’t say much, but Jesus did he make his presence known.

  “Yeah, she’s all ice, stone, and sword,” her brother said from behind her with a hint of humor. If only they knew.

  “Well, Red’s all fire, teeth, and blood,” Devon said. “I’m Taryn. I’ve always liked the idea that opposites attract.” Damn Taryns, Eire thought. Always thought yin and yang were this powerful force.

  Opposites would not attract in this case. She’d finish the case and move on, no attachments. Fuck building any relationships. She’d met her fair share of Clan, and she had no desire to start anything with the pompous bastards except beyond solving this case.

  Eire looked at Alexia, and she’d give the woman credit. Her thoughts were written all over her face, and her features were communicating exactly what Eire had just thought. No fucking way they would ever be friends.

  Eire started walking again, but she had to force the movement. She’d had a friend once. A best friend. And she’d lost her. Lost her because she’d had to protected her from the one person Eire was supposed to be able to trust more than anyone: her father.

  Lochlan Trappe had stolen Ina’s life – even if indirectly – and her mother’s life, too. Both had meant the world to Eire, but her father was beyond forgiveness. There was Darkness, the darkness the Clans were so afraid of, and then there was Evil. Lochlan Trappe was evil, and if she ever had the chance, she wouldn’t hesitate in using her knives and Stone against the man who had taken everything from her.

  But now wasn’t the time to think of ways to take out her father.

  Now was time to digest the facts. And then it w
as time to go back to that crime scene and make sure no one else died at the hands of the Fae. They had different problems to deal with now. Problems that were scarier than her father’s breed of evil. The Fae were in a fucking class all their own, and she knew it would take everything in their arsenal to end these murders.

  Restless.

  That was the perfect word for what Nicky was. Constantly hiding. Constantly moving. Always needing a new assignment, a new adventure, a new foe to fight. But the itch under his skin had been ten times worse recently. And it had Nicky’s soul restless as well.

  He felt a wolf-like growl in his throat as he made his way to The Lodge. He’d moved ahead of everyone else. Normally, he hung back, let people like Lex and Devon take over. Their leadership allowed him to observe, to understand the moves and countermoves of those in front of him. Letting Devon and Lex take the lead also allowed Nicky the opportunity to protect his own back. Always on guard. Always alert. Always having to make sure he could trust his own shadow.

  But Eire…she did something to him. Made him feel weak and strong at the same time, and he wasn’t 100% sure he liked that feeling. She didn’t need protecting, so his natural strength did nothing for her. He could sense her power, like the good Vuković he was, underneath her human skin. A little humanity was there. He could feel it. Clan didn’t experience that. It was Dormant or all in for the Clan. Eire’s humanity was only slight, though. She was all power, and her power was so complex, it drew Nicky in like a moth to the flame.

  He wasn’t a fan of being a moth.

  And Eire wasn’t fire. She was all ice.

  Nicky didn’t miss a step with anything, and he’d seen the way Lex and Eire had clashed like two pieces of the same puzzle. One was the fire that cleansed the earth, while the other was the rush of cold and the fall of snow that cleared out the disease. Both destroyed the old and brought about new life, and yet, they were opposites to the highest degree.

  He felt the cold as she moved into his side, not close enough to touch. No, she wouldn’t make that mistake again. He’d seen the fear in her eyes after their strong reaction to each other. Knew that she’d liked the feeling even as much as she hated it. That he totally fucking got.