Addict (17 page)

“No, we have staff.” I frowned and knew I was probably pouting. “I also have to answer to the freaking king for everything. I’m basically his prisoner.”

Jamie glanced down at my feet. “You seem to have forgotten your ankle monitor.”

“I snuck out, okay.”

His eyes were dark and judgmental as he stared down at me. “Like I said, you have a hard life. You haven’t talked to Mom, either.”

I wanted to talk to my mom even less than I wanted to talk to Nate. “She lied to me, Jamie. All of my life, she’s lied to me. She lied to all of us.”

“And she raised you,” Jamie replied, his mouth firming with indignation. “She sacrificed for you. She took it every time Dad used her as a punching bag. Do you know how easy it would have been for her to have ‘taken care’ of the situation?” Jamie sighed and rubbed between his eyes. “I’ll drop it, Kels, but I wish you would think about it for a while. I know what Nate did was wrong, but he loves you. He did it because he loves you. Mom loves you.”

I thought about all the times Nate and my mother protected me. I pulled Gray’s coat around my torso, trying to shove aside the fact that I really did miss them. Forgiving Liv earlier had settled something inside me. “It’s not like she doesn’t know I’m safe and stuff. I talked to you. I assumed you talked to her.”

Jamie leaned against the light pole. “Marcus kept her updated.”

“She’s talked to Marcus?” He hadn’t mentioned that small fact to me.

“Yeah, Kels. She called because she was freaked out and you wouldn’t talk to her. You’re her daughter. You can’t go missing and not have her get scared. Marcus calmed her down. They’ve been talking once a week. He tells her you’re okay and gives her the occasional story about the stuff you’ve been doing. I hope I’m not getting the guy in hot water, but he talks to Nate, too.”

I had to think about that for a moment. Marcus hadn’t tried to push my family at me. He mentioned them. He told me he thought I should reconcile and when I threw a temper tantrum at the mention of Nate’s name, he let the subject drop. I hadn’t asked him to ignore my family. “I’m okay with it.”

Jamie nodded, relief on his face. “I’m glad because Marcus is a good guy.”

I slid my brother a sly grin. “I’m surprised to hear you say that. I would have thought a vampire would be the last guy you would want me dating, much less living with.”

He let loose a long sigh. “My standards have come way down. Marcus can’t get you pregnant in an attempt to please his father. He can’t marry you, thereby obliging you to go to the Hell plane with him. He’s practically the fucking boy next door in my book.”

I chuckled at the thought, lacing my arm through my brother’s and leaning against him. “But you and Gray seem fine.”

Jamie sobered quickly. “He’s my best friend. I’ve started to think of him as having a terminal illness. I kind of wish he could find a woman who would make these last years happy. I just don’t want it to be my sister.” Jamie straightened up. “Now, the way I figure it, I can do one of two things. I can haul your butt home or I could tell you that I’ve been casing this place every night for two weeks and I happen to know that Scott takes the trash out and has a smoke at three-thirty every night. I heard Gray mention you were looking to talk to him. This way you don’t have to go into the bar.”

I grinned up at my brother. “You’re kind of awesome, James. Has anyone ever told you that?”

“All the time, sister,” he replied. “And we won’t mention this to Gray. Now tell me all about Italy.”

Fifteen minutes later, I watched as the back door to the warehouse opened and Scott came out right on time. He’d been athletic in high school, and the vestiges still clung to him. Had he been a normal human, he would have gone to fat a long time before given his love of beer and lack of any kind of exercise. He and Liv had started dating in college, and he’d never left her couch until a couple of weeks ago. I thought he was a complete loser, but then it took one to know one. I wasn’t sure how he would take me coming to save him.

He stared up at the air for a minute. He didn’t seem as surprised by the snow as I’d been. He shrugged it off as though it was a nuisance. He pulled a pack of cigarettes out of his front pocket and was lighting it as he slung the big garbage bag over his shoulder. He started to make his way to the dumpster.

I stepped out from behind Jamie’s truck. I was surprised he hadn’t smelled me. It took him a moment to even register that I was standing in front of him.

“Kelsey?” he asked hesitantly.

“Hey, Scott, what’s up?” Jamie was waiting inside the cab of his truck. I didn’t want Scott to feel like I was ganging up on him.

Scott’s brown eyes went all kinds of suspicious. “I thought you were gone.”

We weren’t big on conversation, Scott and I. “I came back.”

Scott stilled. “Are you here to kill me?”

I sighed. I should get used to it. In the past, the
Nex Apparatus
had pretty much been an executioner. If I wanted people to not start crying every time I showed up, I better start rehabbing my image. “Scott, if I was going to kill you, you’d already be dead.”

I probably wouldn’t try very hard.

“You should get out of here.” Scott nervously took a drag off his cigarette.

As much as I wanted to get home to my cozy bed and cuddle up with my vampire, I had a job to do. “Come with me. Liv wants you to come home.”

“So she sent you after me?” Scott frowned, his face hardening. “Tell her to move on, okay? I’m done with her.”

I didn’t buy that for a moment. Scott wasn’t energetic enough to find another girlfriend. He was completely dedicated to making Liv’s life miserable ’til death parted them. “Tell her yourself. I’m under strict orders to bring you home. Do you know how much Liv will bitch at me if I come back empty-handed?”

Scott’s eyes closed, and I could have sworn he was in pain for a moment. When he spoke, the words were ground out of his mouth. “I can’t leave. Tell her I don’t love her anymore, damn it. Tell her I have another girl.”

He was lying, and that pissed me off. I decided to throw him off his game. I knew he only gave a shit about two people in the world. Liv wasn’t doing it for him at the moment, so I tried door number two. “Alan Kent tried to kill me tonight.”

The garbage bag dropped and the cigarette hung precariously off his slack lips. “He did what?”

I shot him a fairly sympathetic look. “Alan’s in trouble. He’s on something called Brimstone. It caused him to attack me tonight. Lucky for me, my boyfriend is better than a first aid kit. Alan’s in the vampire version of a hospital. I don’t think it’s a pleasant place to be. Why don’t you come with me so you can visit him?”

Scott stood in the concrete lot as the snow drifted down. After a long while he shook his head. “I can’t leave, Kelsey. You have to go. There’s nothing you can do. Just watch out for Liv.”

I was going to argue when the door from the back came open again. The man Gray had called Kall stalked out, his face set in stark lines. Anger seemed to radiate from him. At least he wasn’t dragging his girl by the collar anymore. He was alone and dressed to leave from the looks of it. His thick body and large arms were encased in a well-tailored suit that had likely been chosen to fit into the high society he was moving through. He had some issues with the whole blend-in portion of his costume since he was rapidly losing control of his form. I couldn’t tell if he was a halfling, like Gray, or simply a young demon. I rather thought the latter. I also bet he wasn’t high up on the royalty scale. Gray never lost control of his form. His fangs came out when he was mad or horny, but that happened with all demons. This guy’s horns were peeking through his dark hair.

“You.” He pointed a clawed finger at Scott. “Explain why the incredibly expensive bottle of Scotch I left with your staff is now half empty.” He had the bottle in his hand.

I read the label, but it didn’t matter. I wouldn’t know the difference between it and a bottle of rotgut. I drank what the bartender put in front of me. I wasn’t a connoisseur.

Scott sighed. “Sir, I run the bar in the club downstairs. You want Martin, who runs the VIP floor.”

I got the feeling Scott didn’t like dealing with the VIP guests. Knowing him the way I did, he would definitely be more comfortable with the shifters and weres in the regular bar. It made me seriously wonder what they promised him to get him to take this gig. He always wanted to run his own bar, but it would have nothing in common with the elegant club at the top of this building.

“Don’t you fucking tell me what I want, you piece of shit slave,” Kall said, throwing the bottle at Scott. It hit him squarely across the jaw and made his head swing back.

I’d been hoping I could get through this whole evening without a fight. Okay, another fight. When Kall walked up to Scott and slapped him, I knew that wasn’t happening. Asshole needed to learn a lesson about how to treat staff. I might not love Scott, but I wasn’t going to let him get his ass kicked over something like this.

“Don’t touch him again,” I said quietly.

“Stay out of this.” Scott was looking down at the ground, his head held in a submissive position. His voice was low, almost pleading.

Kall was anything but submissive. He leered at me and smiled, his fangs on display. “Now why would we want the lovely lady to stay out of this? She’s the only thing that’s gone right all evening long.” Kall lost interest in beating up the help and walked up to me. “What happened, honey? Sloane can’t get it up, can he?”

“I don’t want trouble,” I said calmly. “Why don’t you go find this Martin person and yell at him about your pilfered hooch?”

Kall shrugged. “Screw the booze, honey. I’d rather spend a little time with you.”

“I don’t think Master Sloane would like that,” I said, remembering proper Dom/sub formality.

Kall laughed. “Nice. I wouldn’t worry about Sloane, though. He won’t be back for seconds. He’s on a mission to play with every athletic brunette in the Metroplex. Just between you and me, he’s pathetic.” He put his hands on the coat Sloane had wrapped around me. “I can take care of you, honey. I promise I won’t treat you like Sloane. I won’t tie you up and leave you unsatisfied. I’ll make sure you remember who your Master is.”

“Take your hands off her.” Jamie walked up from behind us, his feet sounding on the concrete. I knew he would have his semiautomatic in his hand, and it would likely be aimed at the demon’s head.

Kall frowned as he regarded my brother. “Who the hell is that? Do you have a pimp? Winter said we wouldn’t have to deal with pimps. We’re supposed to be able to buy the girls outright.”

Charming. I could add human…whatever trafficking to Julius Winter’s many sins.

My brother moved beside me. “She’s not for sale.”

“You can’t shoot him, James,” I pointed out with a sigh.

I wished that jerk Matt hadn’t taken my gun and knives. I wouldn’t be able to use the gun any more than Jamie could, but the knives might have come in handy. The gun would be too loud. Someone would come to see what was going on and then the fight would really be on. The knives, on the other hand, would have been nice and quiet. I hoped Marcus didn’t make me write a thousand-word essay on why a Hunter should never allow someone to take her weapons.

Kall was staring at my brother like he wouldn’t mind getting to know him, too. “Yes, James, let’s not be hasty. Why don’t the three of us go inside and have a chat. I think we can come to an agreement that suits all three of us.” He smacked Scott. “Get in there, slave. We’ll need a privacy room.”

Scott actually started to walk toward the door.

“Scott, you stay where you are,” I said in my best alpha voice.

Scott stopped on a dime.

Kall didn’t look pleased. “You have a problem with my orders, slave?”

“No, sir,” Scott said, avoiding his eyes.

“Then why are you standing here?”

“Because she scares me more than you do,” Scott admitted.

Kall threw back his head and laughed. He smacked Scott’s face. “Watch this, son. This is how you handle a whore.”

He reached out to grab me by the wrist.

“Do you have this, sis?” Jamie asked.

“I got it,” I said surely as the demon pulled me toward him. I heard Jamie click the safety back on the gun. Kall pulled me into the circle of his arms.

“This is more like it,” he said. I could smell the liquor on his breath. One hand held me by the wrist while the other started to make its way toward my ass. “You be sweet to me, honey, and I won’t hurt you. Well, too much.”

I made him no such promise as I brought my four-inch stiletto down as hard as I could on the bridge of his foot. It sank in about a quarter of an inch or so. I had to forcibly pull it out of his flesh. He started to howl, but that went counter to my game plan, which included a quiet and dignified exit. Also, I didn’t want security on my ass. I punched up and caught him in the jaw, effectively silencing that first shout.

“Heads-up. I found a two-by-four.” Jamie tossed it my way.

“Nice.” I caught the board. It was good to have backup. Jamie was kind of the perfect guy for the job because he simply let me work. I smacked dumbass Kall across the face with my handy two-by-four, and he hit the deck. Several body blows followed. Kall managed to get exactly one punch in. He managed to hit my shoulder with all the force of a thirteen-year-old girl slapping at someone who took her boyfriend. I kicked him in the balls. Demons totally have balls and they like them dangling and not shoved up into their body cavities just as much as the rest of the male population.

The whole time Jamie yawned and stretched and generally let me know that when I was done playing, he was ready to go. I took the hint and pulled Kall’s head into my hands. Marcus had taught me a neat way to internally decapitate an enemy. The loud crunch Kall’s neck made as it twisted and broke proved I was a quick study.

I took a nice deep breath of cold air and tried to find Scott again. I’d lost track of him during the fight.

“He ran.” My brother pointed toward the club.

Scott stood in the doorway. He stared out as though trying to make the decision to stay or risk running with me. His face was taut and his eyes downcast as he slowly shut the door.