Circle of Desire (11 page)

“Not until you tell me how you killed it.”

She hit him with kinetic power instead, wrenching his fingers from her arm and thrusting him across the road. He hit a pine with enough force to shake some cones loose and slithered down its trunk to the ground.

“That’s how,” she said loudly, then spun and walked away.

It was a few minutes before she heard him move, longer until he began following her. His anger was a cloud that practically reached out and suffocated her. She had no idea why she was sensing his emotions
so clearly, but she really wished it would stop. Right now, she’d rather not deal with any of it. Maybe if she put some distance between them, it would give them both time to cool down.

She swung onto a side street and shifted shape, taking to the skies on night-dark wings. The air was crisp and cool, and the sheer freedom of it felt so good. It had been too long since she’d flown for the pleasure of it. For several minutes she simply drifted, enjoying the caress of moonlight and the play of air through her feathers. She soared a little higher, circling as she watched Ethan’s progress. He reached the side street and came to a halt, and even from above she could feel his surprise. A laugh bubbled through her, but it came out the harsh and raucous cry of a raven.

He glanced up. She flicked her wings and swept away, flying across the small town until she was on the opposite side. This section was in the foothills, and streetlights and houses were few and far between. Not an ideal place to be alone in the dark of night—unless you were trawling for the dead. In a town the size of Rogue River, the lonely outskirts were the only place they could hide with any degree of safety. The hearts of such towns were usually too full of gossips who didn’t miss a trick. Even dead ones.

She spiraled downward, shifting shape as she neared the ground. The minute her feet hit dirt, she felt it.

Death, headed her way.

E
THAN STARED AT THE EMPTY STREET AND WONDERED IF HIS
eyes were playing games. No one could move that fast. Not even him in wolf form.

High above a bird squawked, the sound oddly reminiscent of a laugh. He glanced up, catching sight of a black form before it flew off. Odd to find a raven this close to the coast—not that he was any sort of expert when it came to birdlife around these parts.

He let his gaze sweep the street again. She definitely wasn’t here. Her scent stopped at this spot and became something else, something far more ethereal. He walked on, but the night air gave no clue as to where she’d gone. He cursed under his breath, then got his cell phone out and dialed Mark.

“Hey,” his partner said. “I thought you were supposed to be screwing yourself silly right about now.”

“I was.” And had it not been for this case and one infuriating woman, he probably still would have been.

He glanced skyward again. This afternoon’s lovemaking had eased the pressure, but as the moon rose, so, too, did the fever. It worried him. He had no wish to find another partner right now, but if Kat wasn’t accommodating, he just might have to. When the moon ran to fullness, desire gave way to base-level need. He had no wish to test the breaking point of his control.

“I want you to do me a favor,” he said.

“Sure. What?”

“Go check out that body they found in the back of the truck.”

“They wouldn’t have had time to do an autopsy yet.”

“I know. Call in some favors if you have to, but get down there tonight and check it out for me.”

“Why the urgency?”

“Because there may not be much of a body left in the morning to check out.”

Mark hesitated. “Have you been drinking?”

“No.” Though he wouldn’t have minded a beer or two right now, if only to ease the stiffness in his bruised back muscles. “Just trust me on this and do as I ask.”

Mark grunted. “Anything else?”

“Yeah. Do another background check on Katherine Tanner. I want to know all there is to know about her.”

The phone line was silent for several seconds, then Mark said, “Don’t tell me she’s the pretty girl you’re bedding, partner, because the captain will hit the roof.”

“My sex life has nothing to do with Benton.”

“It does when the woman you’re involved with is a major player in a case you’ve been warned off.”

“I started this case, and I have every intention of finishing it. And neither the department nor the captain is going to stop me.”

“This could get you into very deep trouble, my friend.”

“If we catch this killer, I don’t really care.”

Mark grunted. “So where the hell are the three of you now? The captain went off his tree when he discovered they’d left the hotel with no word.”

“We’re in Rogue River. The killer’s apparently on the move, so I can’t say how long we’ll stay.”

“You want me to inform the local sheriff you’re there?”

No, he didn’t, but if things went pear-shaped, it
was better to have their butts covered. “You’d better. I guess you’d better tell the captain, too.”

“I will. And keep me posted. If you find anything—and I mean
anything
—you report in. I don’t want to be going through the hassle of breaking in a new partner. I just got you trained properly.”

“Yeah, right,” Ethan said dryly. “Just do the checks for me, will you?”

“I’ll see what I can do and call you back.”

“Thanks.”

He hung up and stopped at the end of the street. There was no sign of movement to the left or the right. It was as if Kat had disappeared into thin air. But then, someone who could throw him across the road with sheer energy probably had another trick or two up her sleeve.

He sniffed the air, sorting through the odors of the night, and detected the faintest hint of sunshine to his right. He turned that way, but he had barely gone three steps when pain hit him so hard he stumbled.

Kat. In trouble.

He didn’t question his certainty, just ran like hell in her direction.

K
AT DUCKED THE ZOMBIE
’
S CLENCHED FIST AND LASHED
out with a booted foot. Her blow hit the creature’s knee with a satisfying crack, but if she’d done any damage it certainly didn’t show. The creature swung around, fists a blur. She leaned back and felt the rush of stinking air past her chin. She hit the zombie kinetically, thrusting it backward. It tumbled over a roadside barrier and disappeared from sight.

Two more emerged from the night. She swore softly. Three against one was decidedly unfair. Time for a strategic retreat, perhaps. She reached for her alternate shape, but in that instant, she felt the breeze of a fourth approach. She dove away, but something hit her arm, sliding through her jacket and sweater and deep into her flesh.

White fire burned through her veins and pain engulfed her.
White ash. They had white ash
. Holy hell, she was in trouble now! She gulped down air, fighting the blackness. Ignoring the sweat beading her face, she pivoted, smacking the zombie hard in the nose. Bone crushed and bits of flesh and God knows what else flew, but he didn’t seem to care. He grabbed her foot, twisting hard, and she screamed. Energy bubbled through her and she flung it his way, twisting it around his neck and snapping it taut. He was dead before he knew what hit him. She thrust his limp body into the other two. They went down like bowling pins but just as quickly righted themselves.

She turned and ran. She had no other choice. The white ash pinned her to the one form, and if she didn’t get it out quickly it could very well kill her.

Their footsteps thudded behind her, drawing ever closer. Zombies might be dead, but they weren’t slow. Even without turning, she could feel their fingers reaching for her.

She flung kinetic energy at the nearest tree, ripping free a heavy tree limb and tossing it behind her. Bodies thumped, and the stink of their presence disappeared. She stopped, spun, and hit another one kinetically, breaking its neck. Two down. But her whole body was
shaking, and it wasn’t just a reaction to the white ash in her arm. She was pushing her abilities to the limit. If she wasn’t very careful, she’d have no energy left with which to defend herself.

But she couldn’t run much farther, either. The movements were driving the white ash deeper into her flesh.

The zombies tossed the tree limb aside like so much rubbish. She took a deep breath, raised kinetic energy from God knows where, and hit them both, drawing a tight leash of energy around their necks. She stood her ground as they ran at her, waiting until they were close enough to smell before she snapped the leash tight. They dropped as one at her feet and didn’t move.

She took another shuddering breath, then looked at the warm glow of lights below her. She couldn’t make it that far by herself. Not with the white ash in her arm. But she couldn’t stay here, either. It would be just her luck that the local sheriff would decide to drive by, and she wasn’t up to explaining the bodies of the zombies right now. If the man who’d shared a moment of bliss with her didn’t believe her story, why in hell would a complete stranger?

She continued on down the hill. The white ash burned deep, until it felt as if her whole body was being consumed. She wished she could wrench it free from her flesh, but she didn’t dare even touch it in her weakened condition—not even kinetically. Blood dripped from her fingers, splashing in big, fat drops near her feet. The shaking grew worse, until she was staggering like a drunkard all over the road. She couldn’t go on. She had to sit.

She found a signpost and leaned back against it,
closed her eyes, and took a deep breath in the hope it would stop the spinning. It didn’t seem to help.

But it didn’t matter. Help was on the way. She reached into her pocket and dragged out the chocolate bar. Tearing it open with her teeth, she began to munch on it as she waited for Ethan to arrive.

E
THAN SLOWED AS HE NEARED THE CREST OF THE ROAD, HIS
breath ragged gasps that tore at his lungs. The smell of death and blood tainted the night air, and for the briefest of moments, he was afraid to go on. Afraid of what he might find.

An odd reaction, given all he’d seen over his years as a cop.

He flexed his fingers and walked on slowly. The metallic tang of blood got sharper and mingled with the warm scent of summer he’d come to associate with Kat. He glanced to his right. There in the shadows, leaning against a signpost and surrounded by discarded pieces of chocolate wrapper, sat Kat.

Relief surged through him, but it just as quickly disappeared. Blood soaked her left hand and dripped steadily into a small puddle near her fingers. He knelt next to her, noting there was a stake of some sort sticking out of her arm. If it hadn’t been for the smell of death, it was possible to think she’d had an accident, maybe fallen and stabbed herself with a tree branch. But that smell was an echo of the driver who’d rammed them, and he didn’t think it was a coincidence.

“Kat?” He touched her face. She was trembling and, though her skin was cold, sweating profusely.

She looked at him. The pain in her green eyes seemed to echo right through him.

“You need to take out the stake.”

“You need to get to a hospital.” He reached for his phone, but she stopped him. The strength of her hold was surprising, given that she looked like hell.

“Just take the stake out, then wrap the arm and take me back to Gran. It’s really not as bad as it looks.”

“I’ve been a cop long enough to know a bad wound when I see one, and this—”

“Is not what you think. Just take the goddamn stake out and stop arguing.”

“If that stake has hit an artery—”

“Look, will you just pretend I know what I’m talking about for five minutes and take the stake out?”

Her voice rose and cracked, and the desperation and pain in her eyes grew. He swore under his breath but turned his attention to her wound. The stake appeared to have pierced the fleshy part of her upper arm and had gone right through. The section visible near her breast was barbed.

“I’m going to have to thrust it right through,” he said. “Otherwise the barbs are going to take half your arm as they come out.”

She nodded and closed her eyes. “Just do it.”

“It’s going to hurt.”

“Imagine that,” she muttered.

If she could manage to be sarcastic, she obviously wasn’t as bad as she looked. He took off his coat and ripped off a shirtsleeve to use as a tourniquet. Then he lifted her arm and carefully gripped the end of the stake. “Ready?”

She bit her lip and nodded. Sweat dribbled down her cheeks and fear touched her eyes.

“One. Two. Three.” He ripped the wood from her skin, and she screamed—a sound of pain that tore right through his soul. Blood poured from the wound, but it didn’t pulse, indicating that at least he hadn’t ruptured an artery. He grabbed the sleeve and wrapped it tightly around her arm. Somehow, she stayed conscious through the whole thing, though her breath was shallow gasps and her skin was pasty.

“Back to Gran,” she said between clenched teeth.

“This needs stitching at least, and—”

“Trust me. Just this once,” she muttered and fell sideways.

He caught her before she could whack her head on the ground, gently lowering her the last few inches. He took a deep breath, then got out his phone and, against his better judgment, dialed Gwen.

“What’s happened?” she asked immediately.

“Kat’s been injured. She’s had some sort of stake thrust through her arm and—”

The old bird’s swearing cut him off. He raised his eyebrows and wondered if she’d been in the navy. She was using words that would make old sea dogs proud.

“Where are you?” she asked eventually.

He glanced at the signpost and gave her directions. “But you’ll have to catch a cab, because the keys to the rental car are in my pocket.”

“I have a rental, remember, though in this particular case, the driver can stay in his bed,” she said. “Be there in five.”

She hung up. He checked the tourniquet on Kat’s
arm, and then her pulse. It was a little thready but reasonably strong. He rose and walked a little farther up the road. The source of the smell was easy enough to find. There were three bodies that he could see, and at least one other farther up the road he could smell. Somehow, she’d beaten four of them.