Sin City Collectors Boxed Set: Aces Wild, Ante Up, All in

by Amanda Carlson

  They were under for four and a half minutes before Sofia’s body went limp. The entire time he’d been under the water with her, he’d felt calm. He wasn’t even close to passing out. His capacity to keep air in his lungs, especially when he called on his animal side, was huge.

  He’d realized quickly that this was no ordinary body of water either. There was a huge drop-off right in front of him, one that was too deep for a lake this size. His hackles were up, and he’d been on alert, but nothing came to investigate them.

  Wolves didn’t love the water.

  Once he emerged, he laid Sofia on shore. He hoped like hell this had been enough to eject them from her mind. “Should I pump the water out of her lungs?” He glanced up at Jake. “Or should I let her work it out on her own?” He didn’t want to hurt her any more than necessary.

  “I think trying to clear her lungs is a good idea,” Jake answered. “She’s going to be mighty uncomfortable when she comes to.”

  Neve stood next to him. “Do what you can while she’s out. It can only help her.”

  Diesel arched an eyebrow at the dhampir while he placed a flat palm against Sofia’s sternum, pressing down gently. He could easily break all her ribs with very little effort, so he had to be careful. “Feeling a little attached to the witch now, Neve? She finally get under your skin? She’s crafty like that, not to mention likable.”

  “No, she got into my bank account.” Neve’s voice stayed even, but Diesel knew the dhampir was worried about Sofia. “She’s loaded, and I’m feeling happily employed.”

  “Yeah, right, dhampir, keep telling yourself that. Did she pay you for all the research you did when you got home?” Diesel focused on giving Sofia small compressions to help clear her lungs. It looked to be working, because water was pouring out.

  “No, but she will.”

  He stopped pumping for a moment, leaning down to examine Sofia to see if she was close to waking. “Is it really so hard for you to give her some grudging respect? She’s earned—” Sofia’s sweet lips met his mid-sentence.

  His eyebrows hit his hairline, but he kissed her back with pleasure.

  Neve chuckled before she muttered, “Respect is hard-earned, but I’ll give her props for that move.”

  Sofia broke the kiss, smiling. “They’re gone,” she said happily. “The voices in my head are totally gone.” She snaked a hand up behind his neck and pulled him down for another long kiss. “Thank you for helping me,” she whispered as she broke away. Without missing a beat, or looking at Neve, she added, “And you, too, dhampir. I was able to separate my thoughts from theirs in the end, and I heard this was your idea. This lake was genius. I suppose you had no idea that we witches call lakes like these ‘fault lakes.’”

  “Nope,” Neve said, trying to sound unaffected, but Diesel heard otherwise. She was relieved, as they all were, that Sofia was okay. “But do tell.”

  Sofia smiled another brilliant smile. She looked no worse for the wear, which was incredible after what she’d just been through. Sofia sat up, pulling her soaked robe together as best she could. “This lake—”

  “Pond,” Neve interjected.

  “Pond,” Sofia corrected smoothly, “lies on a natural fault line, and all fault lines carry and distribute raw energy and magic. A witch’s power comes straight from the Earth, so our magic is a manifestation of raw energy. Going into that pond, which is really a very deep reservoir, was like giving me a power boost equivalent to jump-starting a car with an airplane battery.” She stood, grabbing on to Diesel’s hand, and muttered something under her breath. Suddenly, she was dry.

  Witches were amazing.

  “I know where they are,” Sofia announced, trying to knot the ridiculous robe tighter around her body. It was one of those short, flowy robes that went with the nightgown for looks. It wasn’t meant to be a serious article of clothing. “Well, I should say, I have a picture of their location in my mind, but since I’m not from around here, I’m going to need a little help figuring out where to direct us.”

  Ginger hugged her. “How did you manage to see them?”

  “I did like you taught me,” Sofia said with pride. “I concentrated all my efforts on the space the demons inhabited in my brain, but this time I couldn’t eject them, so I added a spell of my own. I put a visual monitor on that part of my brain. It took awhile, but once I had it up, I could see them, as well as hear them. I’d almost succeeded in separating my thoughts from them when Diesel took me into the water.”

  “You were always brilliant like that,” Ginger said softly. “That’s why you’re a master, and as far as I’m concerned, there is no witch who is your equal anywhere on the planet.”

  “A what?” Neve piped in. “A master of what? Ceremonies?”

  Sofia glanced around, noting the surprise lining their faces. She wouldn’t be able to hide it any longer, since Ginger had shared her secret, so why not tell? “I’m a master spellcrafter.” She cleared her throat.

  Diesel whistled low, as his head bobbed down, a thatch of his blond hair falling perfectly over one eye as he smiled at her. “I don’t know much about witches, but what does it mean to be a master?”

  “Being at master level means you’re great at everything witchy,” Sofia began, “but being a master usually means there is a concentrated specialty. In my world, there’s a master of potions, elements, animals, fauna, and more. My specialty, however, is the body. I can manipulate the human body to do what I want. So whether it’s breaking a bone, healing something quickly, or making another person go to sleep”—she winked at Diesel—“I can do it. Technically, there’s no witch on the planet better at manipulating the body than I am.”

  Jake asked, “Is that why you were able to spell me at the casino? Hellhounds are resistant to witches’ spells. The nymph’s serum didn’t work, but your spell did—at least in the short term.”

  Sofia nodded. “Likely, but you’re a very unique supe, Jake. Hellhounds have a rare ability—one I’ve never seen in another supe. Once you have my spell signature in your body, you instantly build up a resistance to me and I can no longer spell you. Your body rejects it like a disease. It’s quite amazing, actually.”

  “Well, at least one of us is safe from your fingers,” Neve said with a grin.

  “It’s not such a great thing.” Sofia arched an eye at the dhampir. “Now I can’t help him, either. I just finished telling you I could heal you. I can even heal a fatal injury, if I get there soon enough. I’m an asset, dhampir. Don’t forget it. But I can’t help your hellhound.”

  Before Neve could form a retort, negative or positive, Diesel grabbed Sofia’s hand and tugged her away from the group, growling over his shoulder, “The sun is rising, and Sofia knows where The Sumerians are. We meet back at the bar and come up with a plan.”

  Before Sofia could argue, Diesel led her to the truck and lifted her into the passenger seat, slamming the door behind her. As they drove away, Sofia could hear Neve call, “You’re still on the clock, witch! Master or not.”

  Sofia smiled, turning to Diesel. His profile was arresting in the early-morning light, strong and chiseled. She couldn’t help remembering where they’d been just a short time ago. “She’s relentless, isn’t she?”

  “She actually likes you.”

  “I know.”

  “You do?” Diesel glanced over at her. “She’s rough on the outside, but Neve is one of the most loyal people I’ve ever met. Once she accepts you, you’re in for life.”

  “I figured that out pretty quickly, but it’s going to be my mission in life to find a way to soften her up, even if I have to pour sugar directly over her head.”

  Diesel growled. “I can think of several other missions I’d like to see first.”

  Goose bumps erupted on Sofia’s skin at his words. They drove in silence for a few moments before Sofia said, “So, are you going to tell me now why you kidnapped me?”

  Diesel waited a few seconds to gather his thoughts before he answered Sofia
. He glanced over at her. She was smiling at him, waiting patiently. She was so beautiful and gracious and intelligent. She deserved to know what was on the line.

  All of it.

  He cleared his throat. “I needed to talk to you privately. I’ve decided to share the details of the job I was hired to do by the agency, because the game has changed completely for me. It’s become personal—and this not only involves you, but it involves my entire family—so I’m going to make an exception. If Louie fires me, or Collects me, or doesn’t make me a Collector, I don’t care anymore. The objective has changed.”

  “Okay,” Sofia said, straightening in her seat. “I’m ready to hear it.”

  “I was tasked to pick up Damien Stamos and bring him in for questioning, but the Collection agency wants him only to get to someone close to him—his sister.” He glanced over to see if Sofia understood. “The address I was given to track him down was yours. I had no idea Damien was after you.”

  “I understand,” Sofia said. “I’m not surprised they still want Ginger.”

  “That’s not all of it.”

  Sofia turned her full attention to him. He gripped the wheel hard, careful not to break it. “Ginger told us the name of the leader of The Sumerians while you were out cold and his name is Mason.”

  “And that’s significant?” Sofia’s voice was calm.

  “He’s the incubus who killed my father.”

  Sofia gasped, and quickly cleared her throat. “So what you’re telling me is, this task isn’t about Louie or the agency any longer?”

  “Pretty much,” he said. “I will kill Mason. That’s my only end game. Ginger has told us that her brother is only a pawn, and I don’t know whether to believe that or not, but the agency never wanted him—they want her. Damien is no longer a priority to me. Mason is. I’ve spent too many years waiting for a chance like this, and honestly, I never thought I’d get it.”

  “How old were you when your father died?”

  “Eight.”

  “I’m in.” She sat back and crossed her arms.

  Diesel smiled. He loved a woman with no fuss, and Sofia was certainly that woman. “There’s one more thing you should know. Back at The Pond before you woke up, Ginger told us Mason is a spellcrafter.”

  “What?” Sofia blanched, swiveling in her seat to face him. “Tell me everything she said.”

  Diesel relayed all the info Ginger had given them while Sofia had been out of commission. He ended with, “A half-incubus, half-witch has to be powerful.”

  Sofia nibbled her lip, lost in thought. After a moment she said, “He would be strong—incredibly strong. I think I have a hunch. When you fought Mason, did you engage him directly when you were eight?”

  “Yep,” Diesel answered. “I was tough even back then, but turns out, not tough enough.”

  “Did your moon issues start right after your encounter with Mason?” Sofia asked. “Was it immediate? Or did they heighten once you hit puberty?”

  Diesel raised his eyebrows. “It did heighten. Before the age of sixteen, wolves aren’t fully able to shift, but yes, I had issues right after. Every time the moon was full, I was in pain. But once I came into my own, the issues became much more apparent. Once I was eighteen, the moon cycle was brutal, and I couldn’t control myself.”

  Sofia kept biting her lip. Diesel wanted to bite it right along with her. He let a low growl escape.

  Her eyes snapped to his, lust pooling immediately in their amber depths.

  “The moment this is over, you’re mine,” Diesel all but groaned, keeping his eyes on the road so he wouldn’t pull over and take her right there.

  “No, wolf, you’re mine.”

  The look on his face went immediately from lust to yearning.

  “That’s right,” she said with a sigh. “We’re going to finish what we started. And then do it all over again.”

  Sofia grinned like crazy as Diesel almost drove the truck off the road. His barely contained need was overflowing, and she was overjoyed, because she felt the same way. They’d been interrupted in the worst way. She’d woken from The Pond wanting him all over again.

  But, first, she had to deal with Diesel’s crushingly sad childhood story. His father had been killed in front of him by a spellcaster incubus—which, up until that moment, she’d never heard of before—who, in turn, had done something detrimental to his sweet body at such a young age.

  The fact that Diesel had to relive his trauma every month during the moon cycle was almost too much for her to think about. She fisted her hands while she put her mind to figuring out what happened and fixing him. Oh, they were going to get Mason. There was no doubt. But she was also going to find a way to help Diesel, too.

  She was still deep in thought when Diesel finally turned into the parking lot of Hellhounds. It was deserted at this hour. The sun had just risen over the horizon. As Diesel put the truck in park, she turned to him. “Okay, so I’ve been thinking. Mason is unique. If he hit you with a spell, it would’ve had to have been something specific, and because your body was still growing and you were partially shifted into some kind of immature wolf, I believe something got messed up on a molecular level. Once you changed back to human after the attack, the spell also changed, possibly mutating something within your shifting cycle.”

  Diesel spread an arm along the top of the bench seat between them, a goofy smile on his face. Her heart raced. “So, do you think you can fix me, doc?”

  “I might be able to. That’s my hope, of course, but the damage was done so long ago, and even being the type of witch I am, I might not be able to reverse it.” She smiled at the handsome man sitting beside her. “But there’s no doubt I can help you. If anything, I can spell you with a Band-Aid every time the moon is out, fooling your body, at least for a while.”

  Diesel grinned at her as his hand snaked behind her neck. “You can fool with my body anytime.” He pulled her into a possessive embrace. They shared a long kiss, which melted her insides. “But that means”—he nuzzled her neck—“you’ll have to share all the moon cycles with me from now on. Maybe Jake can give you a waitress job at the bar.” Before she could protest, he slid her onto his lap and nestled her firmly against his chest, kissing her again soundly.

  She broke, gasping, her body hot and fluid, her hands fisted in his hair. She wanted him so badly. “I would love nothing more than to spend every moon cycle with you”—she gave him a string of small kisses—“but waitressing is not on the list.”

  “Professional bar hag then?”

  “Very funny—”

  The tangling of their tongues was so deliciously hot, neither of them noticed when Nevada’s car swung into the lot. That was, until she lay on the horn.

  “Hell, that dhampir has bad timing,” Diesel groused as Sofia slid off his lap and demurely tried to adjust her robe where it had fallen open.

  “She has great timing, because my first time with you will not be in the front seat of a truck,” Sofia said. “Plus, we need to track the incubi right away. They won’t stay put for long.”

  Diesel ignored the last part of her statement. “This is a vintage truck, lovingly restored. What’s not to like? The front seat is plenty cozy.” He patted the space between them and winked.

  “Well,” Sofia said, trying not to laugh, because she was fairly certain he was serious, “for one, the front seat is limiting for what I want to do to you. And for another, I’d like to not feel like a teenager the first time we’re intimate. I’ve spent way too much time thinking like a teenager around you as it is. I want to feel like an adult.”

  His eyes shot to her mouth. “Run that first part by me again.”

  Sofia laughed. “The first part would take much too long to explain.”

  “Try me—”

  “Enough playtime, kiddies,” Neve announced as she popped the passenger door open with little fanfare. “Witch, I have clothes inside. Since you’re bigger than me, the most you can hope for is tight, but they’re better
than tromping after a bunch of sex demons in a silk teddy.”

  “This is not a teddy…” Sofia managed lamely, but the dhampir was already across the parking lot, heading into the bar with the rest of the group.

  She turned to meet Diesel’s hot gaze before she got out, tucking the ridiculous robe around her once again. He grinned. “I thought it was a little short for a nightie.”

  “Don’t even start.”

  Diesel was trying to focus on what Jake was saying, but he couldn’t take his eyes off of Sofia. She’d just come out of Jake’s office wearing the dhampir’s leathers, and the sight was nothing short of completely mind-blowing.

  The outfit was tight—in all the right places.

  Her hips looked amazing, curvy and full, but he couldn’t stop staring at her cleavage. She had the dhampir there by a long shot. The vest was buttoned, but the vee in between beckoned him like a bee to nectar. He couldn’t turn his gaze away.

  “Yo.” Neve snapped her fingers in front of his face. “Stay with us, wolf. The hangar is twenty-eight miles out of town. Did you hear what Jake just said? No, you didn’t, because we all know your mind was in Ta-Ta Land. But we need you to focus if we’re going to catch these guys, and I want them caught.”

  “I’m not catching anyone,” Diesel muttered firmly as he sat back and crossed his arms, trying to avert his eyes away from Sofia. “Mason isn’t leaving the hangar.”

  Sofia had described a deserted airport storage facility, and after a few key landmarks, they’d pieced together where The Sumerians were holed up. They were about thirty miles south.

  There weren’t a lot of undetectable places in Nevada around Vegas, short of digging new tunnels or caves in the mountains. It was all barren and open. The Sumerians had just landed in town, so it seemed they’d taken the easiest route possible to stay out of sight. The old hangar was only a few miles from a tiny airport outside of an even smaller town. The incubi had probably flown in under the radar and likely thought they’d already have Sofia and be back on their way before anyone knew they had arrived.