Eternal Pleasure

by Nina Bangs

  No one spoke, but rage and the need to kill was a living, breathing presence in the room.

  “We weren’t strong enough to fight them last time. But now?” Fin smiled. Not a nice smile. “Now is different.”

  “How soon?” Utah’s blue eyes blazed with his desire to hunt.

  Fin’s gaze grew distant. “The present time period ends on December twenty-first, 2012, at exactly eleven eleven. Winter solstice. Then the cosmic clock resets to zero, and time begins again. What we do between now and that moment will decide whether humanity still walks the earth when the new period begins.” His expression turned savage. “And I don’t know about you, but I have a vested interest in the human race. There won’t be another Great Dying.”

  Ty didn’t question how Fin knew stuff like this; he just did. “Why will this time be different?”

  “We’re the Eleven. Numbers have power, and eleven is a master number. It defines who we are. When the clock hits eleven eleven on that December twenty-first, we’ll be at our strongest. Humans with all their high-tech toys won’t have a clue how to fight this war. It’ll take primal violence to win, and we’re the only force on Earth with a shot at kicking cosmic asses.”

  “What about the humans? Don’t any of them understand the danger?” The guy with the long braid sounded disgusted with humanity. “Why aren’t they doing anything about it?”

  Fin shrugged. “Probably a few sense what’s coming. They ask questions like why the ancient Mayans ended their long count calendar on that date, and why more and more people are seeing the number eleven wherever they look. But for the most part, they’re clueless. The universe tries to send messages, but most humans don’t listen.”

  Ty glanced at his watch. 11:11. Damn.

  Fin turned to face the men behind him. “We’ll hunt the enemy down one city at a time.” His smile was a thing of nightmares. “And when we find them, we’ll make sure they aren’t around to party in 2012.”

  Ty glanced out the window and froze. A roiling black cloud outlined in glowing red was racing toward the window. “Shit!”

  All the others except Fin followed his gaze. Fin didn’t even turn around to look.

  As the cloud blanketed the windows, the glass shook. Ty felt the waves of energy bouncing off the building. “What the hell is that?”

  They all backed away from the windows. Fin stayed. “That’s death and despair and all kinds of fun stuff. It’s a welcome-to-Houston message from our enemies.”

  “Don’t they have names?” Ty watched the glass vibrate, waited for it to crash inward.

  “The windows won’t break.” Fin reached behind him and placed his palm flat against the glass. The shuddering stopped. “And they would be many things. They’ve been called the Galactic Masters, Lords of Time, Gods of Death, and probably names I’ve never heard.”

  He paused. “Personally, the names all sound a little too Dr. Who for me.” He turned to look at the cloud, and it slid away into the night. “They’re just numbers to me. That was Nine tapping on our windows.”

  “What would’ve happened if you weren’t here and we weren’t connected to you?” The questioner wore black pants and a black shirt. But he wouldn’t blend into the night with that long blond hair.

  “The wall of glass would’ve exploded. Then all of you would’ve taken headers out the windows. Compulsions are a bitch. You’d survive, but you’d scare the shit out of anyone walking their dogs down below.” Fin speared them with a hard gaze. “You’ve all learned something tonight. Keep the mental airwaves open between us. Always. As long as we’re connected, I can protect you from the psychic stuff. You can handle physical attacks on your own.”

  Ty watched Fin walk back to the table. He didn’t sit down. “Looks like we’ll have to skip dessert. Greer will be disappointed. But hey, I’m tough. I’ll force myself to eat your share.”

  Some of the men remained frozen, that dangerous stillness of a predator just before it attacked. The others paced restlessly. Ty chose stillness.

  “I’ve rented apartments in five different parts of town. Four apartments in each building. Your drivers will use two of them. The other two are for you. I’m pairing you up, but you’d kill each other if I made you share an apartment.”

  Drivers. Ty had a question about that. “Are all the drivers human? Why can’t we just learn to drive ourselves? And what excuse did you give for us running around at night?”

  “I expect you to learn how to drive. But we need human drivers right now. Nine and the others can sense us.” Fin nodded toward the windows. “You saw what just happened. We have a raw, primitive energy they can track. So I searched out drivers with the strongest possible human life force. They help mask our presence as long as we stay close to them. Besides, the enemy can’t kill humans directly. They don’t have that problem with nonhumans. Make the most of your time with your drivers. You need practice interacting one on one with humans.”

  Fin grinned. “And I told them you’re missionaries trying to save the poor lost souls that wander the mean streets after dark.”

  Someone snorted his opinion.

  Ty scowled. Every answer Fin gave just led to more questions. He’d have to do some damage control with Kelly. After his little run through the woods, she might not believe he was hunting for lost souls.

  “You staying here, Fin?” The guy with the braid was a pacer.

  “Absolutely. This is my building. I bought it. Everyone who lives here is with us. I’ve built protections around it from top to bottom. Don’t worry, your apartments are safe too.” Fin looked at his watch. “It’s time for you to go. A few of you are having a tough time holding it together. If it’s any comfort, the longer you’re human, the easier it’ll be to control your aggression. Try to sleep during the day. You’ll hunt at night.”

  “Hunt what?” Ty could feel his temper slipping away even as he grasped frantically for it. “I need more freaking info. What do the Lords of Time look like? Where do we find these guys, and how do we kill them?”

  He heard mumbled agreement all around him.

  “I’ll fill you in while you’re sleeping. Hope none of you are screamers.” Fin’s smile said the dreams would be that bad. “There’s a pile of CDs on the table. You’ll each find a laptop in your apartment. Watch the CD. All of you are on it. Memorize names and faces, and then destroy the disc.”

  “Speaking of names, the ones you gave us suck.” This from the black-haired guy again.

  Fin looked insulted. “I thought the names were sort of clever. I looked all of you up and gave each of you a shortened version of your scientific name.” He shrugged. “Some turned out better than others.”

  “One more thing. What about women?” The black-haired guy got everyone’s attention with the word women. “Humans fall in love and get married. Sometimes forever.” His expression said the whole forever thing puzzled him. “What if that happens to one of us? How will that affect the Eleven?”

  Fin exhaled deeply, his expression one of long-suffering patience. “I wouldn’t worry about it. Women won’t be falling over each other to marry you.”

  “Why not?” Black-haired Guy didn’t sound as if he believed that.

  “You’d have to find the one woman on Earth who was strong enough, who loved you enough to walk into the heart of your beast and claim a piece of your soul. That has always been our way. What’re the chances?”

  That had always been their way? What way? Ty didn’t remember anything like that. He’d always gone for the “see her, mate with her, and leave her” way. But as inevitably happened when he tried to think deep thoughts about some of the things Fin said, they drifted away and were gone.

  Before anyone could ask another question, Fin picked up his cell phone from the table. “Shen gave all the drivers a choice of going home until he called them back or staying here. Kelly was the only one who stayed. I’ll have Shen call the rest of them now.” He glanced at Ty. “You can leave. She’s down in the lounge on the ground
floor.”

  Ty scowled. That was a dismissal if he’d ever heard one. He headed toward the door.

  “Oh, and, Ty, you scared Kelly. Make it up to her. We need her. She has a special skill that’d be tough to replace.” Fin was in cryptic mode. “You might want to ease up on the sex-every-second thoughts, too. You can wait a little longer.”

  “You try waiting sixty-five million years,” Ty muttered, not caring if Fin heard him.

  “I have.” Fin sounded hungry.

  Kelly had tried getting into the serial-killer book. She really had. No luck. All she could think about was Ty. Did she believe he was a man of God trying to save souls? Uh, no. She’d seen his expression back in those woods. He’d mentioned hunting, but she didn’t think souls were involved.

  She refused to obsess over the fear and lust she felt whenever he was near. Kelly had her feet firmly planted on the ground; there was no way she could blame those feelings on him unless her feet achieved liftoff. And she wasn’t ready yet to label herself a wacko.

  “I’m ready to leave.” His voice sounded right behind her.

  She choked back a startled squeak. “Jeez, don’t sneak up on me like that.”

  Ty walked around to stand in front of her. For just a moment, his grin looked almost boyish. He’d gotten a kick out of catching her by surprise. Then the smile changed, becoming more personal. “Where’s the car?”

  The words didn’t match the smile. But she wouldn’t let the smile make her uneasy. She was too relieved his return hadn’t triggered another massive dose of terror and sexual craziness. The tension and awareness she felt now were normal. He was chest-thumping alpha male, and she was female. No biggie. “In the underground garage. I’ll bring it around to the door.”

  But when she stood and started toward the elevator, he walked beside her. “It’s late. You shouldn’t go anywhere by yourself at this time of night. Lots of dangerous people are out there.”

  You’re so much safer? She didn’t think so. But still…It was nice that he thought about her safety. Fine, so nice was too bland a word for Ty Endeka. And she could pretty much take care of herself.

  Once in the elevator, he looked nervous during the short drop. She remembered noticing the same look on the car ride back from the airport. Huh, maybe he was claustrophobic. When in doubt, ask. “The elevator bothers you?”

  “Yeah. I don’t deal well with small, enclosed spaces.” His frown said he didn’t like admitting any weakness.

  But the admission relaxed her. He was just a normal guy. Uh-huh, and she really believed that. The elevator door slid open, and they walked to the car in silence. As she drove from the parking garage, she searched for a casual way to get the answers to some questions she had. He beat her to it.

  “Fin said you have some kind of special skill. What’s he talking about?” Ty didn’t even try to sound casual. Her answer was important to him for some reason.

  Special skill? “Haven’t a clue. I don’t do anything special.”

  “Wrong.”

  She didn’t have to see his face to interpret that one word. It was a sensual male purr that said she was a woman so she had a very special skill. For a moment the remembered need flared and then just as suddenly died. Huh?

  Kelly took a deep breath before shutting off all interpretations of the word wrong. “No, really. I was born and raised in Houston. And when I’m not driving missionaries around in the dark, I’m getting my masters in music from Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music.”

  When she chanced a glance at him, he was staring unblinkingly at her from those gray eyes. “So what’re you learning at your school of music?” He looked like he actually cared.

  She shrugged. “Performance—I play a few instruments—composition, and music theory. Stuff like that.” The traffic was light this time of night, and she drove a little faster than she should. Did he make her nervous? You bet.

  He nodded as he turned his attention to the passenger side window. “Where’s this apartment?”

  “Westheimer. We’re almost there. Then you can…” Then you can what? “Umm, you don’t have any luggage. Where’re your clothes?”

  “Stop.”

  She didn’t think as she stomped on the brake. He braced himself against the dashboard. What? Where? A quick scan revealed no red lights, no other car barreling toward her, no late-night drunk staggering into her path. Then why…?

  “Something’s wrong. Stay here.” He flung open the door, leaped out, and sprinted across an empty parking lot, disappearing behind the back of a furniture store.

  Déjà vu. Kelly was left sitting in her car in the middle of the street with her mouth hanging open. Stay here? Beg, lie down, roll over? Uh-uh. Angry, she whipped the steering wheel around and pulled into the parking lot. Once again, she loaded herself down with pepper spray, flashlight, and cell phone.

  Mumbling complaints about strange and unusual on-the-job idiocies, she climbed from the car, locked it, clicked her flashlight on, and headed toward the back of the building.

  This time she didn’t hear screams or animal sounds. She didn’t hear anything. In a way, that was even scarier. Since she hadn’t taken her stupid pills this morning, she moved slowly, skirting the shadows thrown by the building. Silence.

  “Ty? Finished hunting souls in there?” Okay, that was dumb. God, it was so quiet she could hear her courage tiptoeing away. She swallowed hard. Fine, so she was scared. If he didn’t answer right now, she’d—

  “Too late. Soul’s gone.” His voice was hard with a sharp edge of threat in it.

  Without thinking, she aimed the beam of her flashlight at the narrow alley behind the store.

  At first all she saw was him standing there. She couldn’t read the expression on his face. Then she glanced past him and saw the body on the ground. She sucked in her breath. Oh, no. No, no, no.

  Ty answered the question she couldn’t force past frozen lips. “Yeah, he’s dead.” He turned back to the body. “Come take a look and tell me what you think did this.”

  He was kidding, right? She’d never seen a dead body. When she was a kid, she’d refused to go to any and all funerals. Her parents hadn’t forced her.

  She must’ve made some kind of strangled sound because he glanced back at her. Narrowing his eyes, he studied her for a moment, then nodded. “Two holes in the throat. Blood drained. Must be a neat freak. No blood splatters anywhere.” His voice was cold, dispassionate. “What kills this way?”

  Holes in throat? Blood drained? Hysterical laughter bubbled just below the surface. This could not be happening. But she’d better find her voice soon or he might decide to bring the body to her so she could give him her expert opinion on cause of death.

  “Vampires.” Good. She’d managed one word; maybe she could force out a few more. “Mythical monsters.” Why was she explaining vampires to him? Everyone knew the legends.

  “Mythical. So they don’t really exist?”

  “No.” Everyone knew that except Ty Endeka. None of this made sense. She shouldn’t be standing here in the dark explaining vampires to someone while a man’s body…Kelly willed herself to stop shaking.

  “Got it.” He didn’t look horrified at the murder, just thoughtful.

  Well, he could be as detached and analytical as he wanted. She’d fall apart for both of them. “Omigod…the poor man.”

  “Police.” She pulled her cell phone from her pocket with shaking fingers. “We have to report this.” Kelly faced away from the body as she punched in 911. If she didn’t see the man’s face, he wouldn’t be a person to her.

  She was just about to press send when Ty reached over her shoulder and lifted the phone out of her hand. “No police.”

  “What?” Outrage fueled false courage and got her coherent again. “Look, I play by the rules. You find a body, you report it to the police. That’s the law.” She narrowed her eyes to angry slits. “You don’t want to obey the law, then I don’t want to work for you.”

&n
bsp; He raked his fingers through his hair. “So what do we tell them? That I told you to stop the car and then ran back here only to find a dead body drained of all its blood? Yeah, that won’t make them suspicious. If we walk away now, someone will discover the body in the morning when the store opens. They can call the police.”

  Kelly could feel a line forming between her eyes as she thought it out. He was right. They had no logical reason for rooting around behind this building after midnight. And Ty had just entered the country. The police might try to make something of that.

  “I don’t like your idea. Someone has to report the murder now, not in the morning. The sooner the cops get here, the better chance they have of catching the killer.” She wasn’t sure she really believed that, but she didn’t want to leave the man lying there in the dark for the rest of the night. Not that it’d matter to the corpse, but it mattered to her.

  Ty put his arm across her shoulders and guided her back to the car. “I’ll call Fin. He’ll take care of reporting it. No one will associate the murder with us.”

  Even with a dead man lying a few feet away, she couldn’t ignore the pressure of Ty’s arm. It was…disturbing. Actually, it felt dangerous and strangely intimate at the same time. She forced her thoughts away from his arm. “What if someone drove by and noticed our car parked here? Maybe they could give the police a description or plate number.” She pressed two fingers against her forehead to hold the burgeoning headache at bay. “Tell me I’m not thinking of agreeing to this.”

  “You’re making a rational decision. We didn’t kill him. And we’re doing the right thing. We’re seeing that his murder is reported.” He opened the car door so she could slip in. “And exactly one taxi has passed here since we stopped. He had a fare, and neither one glanced at the parking lot. Even if they had, your car is registered to Fin. Let Fin deal with it.”

  When did you have time to notice all that? She wanted to say it, but she didn’t have the guts. He was freaky. Everything he’d done since she’d picked him up from the airport had been freaky. But he was also fascinating, exciting, and sexy. And even though the freaky part might make her want to quit, the fascinating, exciting, and sexy tags would keep her at the wheel. He definitely wasn’t boring. She hated boring.