“Thank you. That helped.”
“So?” Sandor asked impatiently.
“You’re right about her lineage,” Ranulf said. “There’s Kyth somewhere in her distant past, but it’s so faint that it should have had little effect on her daily life. Is that how you read her, Kerry?”
“Yes, exactly. She feels different than normal humans, like there’s something extra in her makeup. She seems to have connected with the injured woman and experienced the attack almost as vividly as if Lena had been the one who was assaulted. She actually saw it through the other woman’s eyes.”
Sandor had been afraid of that, and wondered at its implications. If she’d sensed that woman’s experience so clearly, what had she felt when she’d touched him right afterward? How much control did she have over this gift of hers? He’d have to be on his guard all the time now. With her ties to the law enforcement community, they couldn’t afford for her to read his memories regarding her friend’s death.
Kerry yawned loudly. “I need to go home. You’re going to stay, aren’t you?”
Sandor nodded. “Just long enough to make sure Lena continues to sleep peacefully.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Kerry said. “Report in when you can, but get some rest first. You’re looking pretty ragged.”
“Will do.” Although it would take more than a good night’s sleep to cure what ailed him. He was tired to his soul. After he let his friends out, he locked the door behind them, shutting out the rest of the world.
After pulling up the covers to keep Lena warm, Sandor moved the chair back across the room and settled into his vigil. With luck, she’d rest quietly, so he could doze for an hour or so. He’d be long gone when she woke up—which was a damn shame.
Chapter 6
As she lay hovering in the pleasant zone between slumber and waking, Lena’s awareness slowly came into focus. The air conditioner hummed. The ice machine down the hall clanked as someone filled a container. The muted sound of traffic came in from outside the window. And she could swear that from somewhere close by, somebody was…snoring? In her room?
Lena’s eyes flew open. She was alone in the bed, so where…In the chair in the corner.
Why had Sandor decided to sleep over?
Now that she thought about it, a lot about last night was a complete fog. She seemed to remember talking to Sandor in an alley. And wasn’t there something about an injured woman and the police? Yeah, that felt right, though the details were fuzzy. Then he’d followed her back to the hotel to make sure she made it back to her room safely.
Obviously she had. So why was he here?
She sat up, wincing as her head hurt. “Sandor.”
He stirred briefly but didn’t respond.
She tried again, louder. “Sandor! Wake up!”
When that didn’t work, she got out of bed. If she hadn’t been so mad at him for being there, she would have thought he looked sort of cute with his hair falling over his face and his clothes all rumpled. The man was definitely too sexy for his own good—or hers.
She shook his shoulder and jumped back out of range. She’d seen his reflexes in action last night, and the last thing she wanted to do was startle him.
“Sandor, come on. Wake up.”
Nothing.
When she shoved him harder, he mumbled, “Five more minutes.” Definitely a move in the right direction.
She gave it one more try before he finally opened his eyes and stared up at her. “Oh, hell.”
“Exactly.” She put her hands on her hips and glared. “About time you woke up.”
He stretched his arms out and groaned. “What time is it?”
“It’s after nine, and definitely time for you to start explaining yourself.” Who knew a grown man could look so grumpy yet attractive?
“Can it wait until after some coffee? I won’t be coherent until then.”
Despite the fierce image she was going for, Lena caved. Coffee sounded wonderful. “Fine. I’ll call down for breakfast, but you’re paying for it.”
“It’s a deal, and you’re a saint.” Sandor pushed himself out of the chair and lumbered into the bathroom.
She stared at the closed door as she phoned their order to room service, hungry for a lot more than just scrambled eggs and toast. While she had a lot of questions she wanted answers to, there was one that worried her the most. What was she going to do about Sandor Kearn?
Splashing about a gallon of cold water on his face did little to chase away the cobwebs, and he had a crick in his neck from sleeping in that stupid chair all night. He’d screwed up big-time. Lena hadn’t been awake long enough to add up all of his sins. But once she got started, he was going to have to do some fast talking.
He used his finger and her toothpaste on his teeth, then ran his fingers through his hair, straightened his collar, and tucked his shirt in. The results were only marginally successful.
Time to face the music. He left the sanctuary of the bathroom. Sure enough, his judge and jury was perched on the edge of the bed, watching him with eagle eyes.
“Afraid I’ll make a run for it?” He gave her a cocky grin. “That would reek of cowardice, don’t you think? Especially since I promised you breakfast.”
A knock at the door prevented further discussion.
“I’ll get it.”
He opened the door and let the waiter enter with a heavily laden cart. Thank God, Lena had ordered two pots of coffee and lots of food. While he paid the bill, Lena set the cart up next to the bed and pulled the chair up to the other side. Then she perched on the edge of the mattress and waited for him to sit down.
He wrapped his hands around the mug of coffee she’d poured for him. The heat felt good on his hands, and the promise of caffeine soon to be zinging through his veins definitely improved his mood. After a few sips, he lifted the cover off his plate and dug in. The combination of scrambled eggs and hash browns definitely hit the spot.
Lena seemed content to eat in silence, but he knew she was only biding her time to launch an attack. That was okay; he was ready for it.
Finally, she set her fork down and settled back. As he topped off his cup of coffee, he met her gaze. “Ask away, Lena.”
“The hard part is figuring out where to start.” She leaned forward. “Why did you find it necessary to spend the night in my room?”
“Because you passed out on the floor from exhaustion. After I lifted you onto the bed, I stayed to make sure you were all right.”
“Get real, Sandor. I’ve never passed out in my life, especially around a man I barely know and don’t trust.”
“There’s always a first time. And remember, you’re the stalker in this crowd, not me.”
She didn’t like that remark, not one little bit. “Listen here, buster, you’re the one who’s been prowling the streets of Seattle looking like an Angel wannabe.”
He was pretty sure he’d just been insulted, but he didn’t get the reference. “Like who?”
“Angel? As in Buffy?”
He shook his head.
“How can you not know who Angel is? A tall, dark vampire who wore a black coat and walked the streets of Los Angeles to keep the world safe from the bad guys who wanted to suck the life out of us poor humans.”
Whoa, that struck a little close to home—especially the sucking-the-life-out part.
“What do you remember from last night?” he asked.
His abrupt change in topics had her frowning and looking a bit puzzled. “Bits and pieces. Some of it’s clear; the rest is a little hazy. Did I fall and bump my head or something?”
“Not exactly,” he hedged.
“How about if I tell you what I remember, and you fill in the blanks?”
Glad for the brief reprieve, he nodded and sat back to enjoy the rest of his coffee. Maybe he could string together enough facts to satisfy her without having to reveal too much.
“I was at Seattle Center near the fountain when you spotted me,” she began.
He nodded. “Up until then, you’d done a heck of a job hiding in the crowd.”
She ignored the compliment. “Then you led me on a wild-goose chase until you came leaping out of that bar and dragged me into the alley. We argued, but then we heard—what? Something distracted us.”
She’d skipped one of the most important parts. Or did she not remember their kiss? That would really piss him off, because every time he thought about it, he got hard all over again. He was about to call her on it, when he noticed how flushed her cheeks were. She remembered all right; she just didn’t want to talk about it.
He said, “We heard a moan coming from farther down the alley. That’s when we found an injured woman. Remember? She’d been buried under a pile of cardboard.”
He waited to see how well his attempt to block her memories had held up. She was frowning as if her head hurt, but then her eyes opened wide.
“Oh, God, that poor woman. Someone mugged her and then left her for dead. She was bleeding from a scalp wound. Her name was…”
There was no harm in filling in that blank. “Mary Dubois. And the EMTs seemed to think she’d be fine.”
Lena rubbed her forehead as if to ease an ache, then closed her eyes. “She’d been hurrying to a bus, worrying about getting home late to her family. Then someone jerked her backwards and dragged her into that alley. Whoever attacked her had her in a choke hold that kept her from screaming for help.” Lena’s breath became choppy. “He yanked her purse out of her hands and then threw her to the ground. Mary was terrified she was about to be raped and killed.”
Suddenly her description shifted to first person, as if she wasn’t sure whose memories she was recalling. “There were hands on me, more than two, but all they did was hold me. The struggle exhausted me, and when he—no, they—dumped me on the ground, I lost consciousness. By then I…no, she wasn’t scared anymore. Just tired…so very tired.” Lena’s voice drifted off in a soft whisper.
So she had relived the experience with horrifying clarity, and was still doing so. She hadn’t realized how much of her odd ability she’d revealed to him, and though he wanted to hold her close and chase the bad memories away, he needed to keep her talking before she did notice. “Could you see her attackers? Any details that would help identify them?”
“The bigger one was definitely a guy. Mary thought they both were. I didn’t sense their faces, so maybe it was something about their clothes or voices.” She frowned. “No, not his voice, because he didn’t speak to her at all. That’s odd, isn’t it?”
“Not necessarily. If he intended to let her live, he wouldn’t want to give her anything that would help identify him later on.”
“Yeah, that makes sense.” Lena fell silent, looking pale and fragile. “You must think I’m crazy, babbling about all of this.”
“Not at all. I saw the powerful connection between you and Mary Dubois. I’m positive that she benefited from the comfort you gave her—a gentle touch after such a violent one.”
She looked up at him with haunted eyes. “You really believe me, don’t you? That I saw and felt what happened to her.”
He owed her that much of the truth. “Yes, I do. I think that’s one reason you collapsed last night.”
She was silent for a moment. “So what’s your part in all of this? Who have you been hunting for the past few nights?”
“What happened to Mary Dubois was one in a series of similar attacks over the past several weeks, all in this general area. I’m investigating the incidents to see if I can catch the bastard who’s doing it, or get enough evidence to help the police find him.”
That was a lie. Once Sandor had made a positive identification, Kerry would issue the execution order.
“Are you connected to a law enforcement agency?”
“No, I’m not.”
She clearly didn’t like that. “So then, why you?”
“Because the attacks are in several different jurisdictions, and so far the different police forces haven’t connected the dots. As crimes go, these aren’t all that serious.”
Lena snorted. “Tell that to Mary Dubois.”
“It was traumatic for her and for the others involved, but no one has been killed or even permanently harmed. After a few days’ rest, all of the victims have recovered completely.”
“Except for the fact that they’re still victims. Some people never get over that kind of violation. A few will get past it, but others will carry that fear with them everywhere they go for the rest of their lives.”
There was nothing he could say to that.
“So now that you know what I’m doing has nothing to do with your friend’s death, will you quit following me around?”
She stared into her empty coffee cup. “I haven’t thought that far ahead. I still have lots of questions and no answers.”
Maybe it would be better to have her close by, so he could keep an eye on her and safely away from Kerry.
“Okay, let’s try this a different way. Maybe we could partner up and see where it takes us.”
Like maybe to that bed she was sitting on…He fought to keep his focus on work.
“Sure. What time?”
“I’ll pick you up about six. We can have din ner first, to make plans.” He knew the perfect restaurant, with intimate lighting, good wine, and great food. The kind of place a man took a woman to tempt her with soft touches and whispers.
“All right, but only if you’ll wear that long leather coat.” Her smile was a bit wicked.
“It’s a deal.” Anything to keep that hint of heat in her pretty eyes.
“Okay, that’s settled. I’ll meet you there, so write down the name and the address for me and then scoot. I’ve got stuff to do.”
He should have been grateful to escape before she remembered whatever she’d sensed about him in the alley that had horrified her. Did it have something to do with the darkness left from Bradan’s death? He hoped not; no one else should have to share that burden.
He followed her into the small alcove that led to the door. If he was going to gain her trust, he should walk straight out the door. It was the right thing to do. The smart thing. And it was the last thing he was going to do.
He stepped close enough to feel the sweet heat of her body and to hear her heart kick-start into overdrive. Oh, yeah, she felt the energy shimmering between them.
“One more thing happened in the alley last night that you forgot to mention.” He leaned in closer, gazing at her delectable mouth.
“What…what was that?” She licked her lips.
“This.”
Then he claimed her, with his lips, with his arms, and a full-body press. Oh, God, she was so sweetly soft, and that made him hard. Painfully hard. Lena’s smoothly muscled body fit perfectly against his, making it even more difficult to maintain control. If he unleashed this powerful desire completely he’d lose her for good, because it was too soon. But it was such a temptation, with her breasts crushed against his chest, her scent filling his head, and the taste of her passion on his tongue.
Finally, he managed to pull back, to walk away. But it was damned hard.
Lena threw the dead bolt, then fastened the chain, Sandor’s taste still lingering on her lips and her body humming from his touch.
Drat the man—he could have at least finished what he’d started! Instead, he’d left after reminding her that he’d see her at six. How was she supposed to get anything done when all she could think about was seeing him again? She walked away from the door. She wasn’t sure how she felt about him spending the night, watching over her after one of her episodes. No one had ever done that before. But he had simply accepted her truth, maybe because he had secrets of his own.
Only time would tell.
“Was that lady all right? The one we fed off of last night?” Kenny asked between bites of cereal. “She didn’t look so good when I left, and she was bleeding from where she hit her head.”
Sean’s head was pounding. Guilt and fear
had kept him up most of the night. “Why don’t you shut the fuck up, Kenny, and let me eat my breakfast in peace?”
Tara gasped. “Sean! Watch your language!”
More guilt made him grumble an apology. “Sorry, Tara. It was a rough night.”
He’d come close to killing someone. He’d made that mistake once before and still had nightmares from it. He set his spoon on the table, unable to eat with his stomach so tied up in knots.
“Look, kid, that woman was alive and doing fine when I left. I hung around to make sure the medics found her.” Not that he’d been the one to call them. He picked up the early morning paper he’d snuck out to buy at first light and tossed it across to Kenny. “Didn’t even make the front page.”
Tara waited until Kenny finished scanning the brief article inside, then held out her hand. “Do you think she was able to give the police a description of either of you?”
“It wasn’t mentioned. Besides, the alley was dark, and I’m pretty sure she never got a clear look at our faces. We didn’t talk either, at least not while she was conscious.”
He reached out to pat Tara’s hand, wishing he was better at offering comfort. Stability had been a rare commodity for Tara, and anything that threatened to upset the life they’d built together scared her. It was worse now that she also had Kenny to worry about.
He tried to reassure her. “Look, we fed enough last night to hold us a couple of days, so we’ll stay in tonight. If we need to hunt tomorrow, we’ll try a different part of town.”
She smiled, although he knew she wished they could stop hunting altogether. That wasn’t possible, and she knew it. Even if he could find a job to support the three of them, they’d still need the energy he stole from his victims. Tara could go longer without it, but Sean and Kenny burned energy at a much faster rate. Maybe women needed less, or maybe Tara’s calmer personality accounted for the difference. There were always more questions than answers when it came to their special needs.
Dark Warrior Unbroken Page 8
