Deadly Lover (6 page)

She reached for the hunting knife she kept on the high ledge to her right then peeked carefully around the edge of the shower screen. She couldn’t see anything, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t there.

She left the shower running and stepped clear of the frosted screen, adjusting her grip on the blade. A chill rippled across her wet skin as she surveyed the room. A set of strategically placed partitions hid the lav. Another obscured her view of the door. With lights on, she’d have a clear view of everything else.

The lav was only two meters away. She didn’t think he’d gotten that close, but she didn’t think he’d be hiding by the door either. How had he been able to bypass her security in the short time she’d been home…and without her hearing anything? He had to have been in the apartment when she’d arrived.

She stood still, watching for movement in the darker corners of the room.

Nothing.

He was there. She was sure of it. To hell with the damn shadows.

“Lights full.”

The immediate response of the environmental controls banished the darkness, leaving nowhere to hide.

Jolaj, the Ormney Law Keeper, stood just beyond the far window, narrowing his eyes against the sudden brightness of the lights. “Forgive my intrusion, Agent Rowan.”

Her heart pounded loudly in her ears as she adjusted her stance. Sean had vouched for this guy, but she couldn’t come up with any good reason he’d be in her apartment, let alone out of The Zone at midnight.

“I meant no harm,” he said, “but I must speak with you. Privately.” He stood motionless, hands relaxed at his sides. “I’m unarmed. There is no need for your weapon.”

“I’ll decide what I need.” She could handle most men, but he was easily over two meters tall and muscled. If he meant her harm she’d be in trouble. He could probably snap her in two.

Lily worked at keeping her grip on the blade light and ready. “You’d better explain why you’re in my apartment. I could shove this blade through your heart just because you’re outside The Zone past curfew.”

He angled his broad-featured face like a curious hound. “You could try.”

He spoke as if it were a sop to her ego. They both knew he could
slip
toward
out-of-sync
and the blade would never connect. Against her will, Lily’s hand tightened around the knife’s hilt.

“I truly wish you no harm, Agent Rowan. I’m here to ask you for your help.”

Help? She couldn’t imagine any scenario where she could help him. He met her gaze levelly. Cool, calm, determined.

“How long have you been in here?”

“Only a moment,” he said.

He hadn’t been in the apartment when she’d gotten home. He’d
slipped
from the hallway into an unfamiliar room? No, he stood near the window, not the door. If an Ormney was going to
slip
blind into a room, they would
slip
back on the other side of the door where they weren’t likely to end up mangled by a piece of furniture or a wall. At least that’s what Kiq had taught her.

From the street, then? From street level to a second-story apartment? She considered the precision required. Even more than his
slip
in the alley. His skills must be crazy good, but so far he hadn’t pressed his advantage. He’d been upset by the loss of the Ormney male that afternoon, but he’d only insisted on getting her medical attention. Lily took a deep breath and released it slowly through her nose then lightened her grip on the blade.

She suppressed a shiver as the effects of the adrenalin dumped into her system began to fade and the cool air of the apartment made it impossible to ignore that she stood naked and dripping. Her modesty had died an awkward death within a month of being assigned to a roving remote access search and rescue team. No one did anything alone when they were deep in bandit controlled hill country. But being naked in front of him suddenly made her feel vulnerable.

 “Sit,” she said. “You are too damn big standing.”

She waved him toward a chair. He might not be a threat, but she’d feel a lot better knowing that seated he’d be at a disadvantage.

His expression unruffled, he sat.

She reached for the robe she’d left out that morning and shrugged into it awkwardly. His eyes followed her movements as she fought the material clinging to her damp skin, twisting and shimmying her way into the garment.

She wondered if he enjoyed the show. Most people would have politely looked away or ogled, but he wasn’t most people. He simply watched, closed-faced, hard to read. If the scars that formed a tangled web across her abdomen and arms disturbed him, he wasn’t letting it show.

Ormney and Earth natives were similar in many ways, but she had no idea if the Ormney found Earthers attractive or even interesting in an animal-in-the-zoo kind of way. The similarities had made it easier to accept them when they turned up on Earth, but the broad, not quite normal shape of their faces made them too different to blend in completely. Lily had never considered the question before, but she had to admit, at least to herself, that she found his wide cheekbones, broad nose, and square jaw line oddly attractive.

Wrapped in her robe, she moved over to the chair opposite where he sat and leaned a hip against the arm. She waited for him to speak, but he said nothing, his gaze lingering on her bare feet.

“You had something to say,” she prompted.

His attention shifted and his jaw tightened. In the bright light of the apartment, the elliptical pupils of his eyes had closed to mere slits. The irises were the color of a Mediterranean sea and just as deep. “I’ve come to ask you to help me protect my people.”

Lily was too tired to laugh at that. “Protect them from what? The backlash over the attack?”

He seemed to weigh his answer. “That’s a part of it. If we can find the one responsible for the deaths, maybe we can alleviate some of the…backlash. But that’s not the most pressing part. I fear more of my people will be targeted.”

“Drugged, you mean?”

“Drugged, yes.” His gaze slid to the noise of the shower.

Lily went over and turned it off then returned to her spot, propped against the chair. “You don’t think this was an isolated incident.”

“I know it wasn’t. This is the second such offense against one of my men. Two humans have been lost, two of our men lost, and their descendants with them.” Anger and sadness laced together in his deep voice.

Confused, Lily frowned. “You mean someone is killing their children?”

He shook his head. “I mean only that with them dead, there will be no descendants.”

She knew the Ormney religion centered on the descendants they hoped to have. Kiq had explained how knowing their planet was dying had forced his people to focus on securing a future for their race. It had shaped their culture. He’d carried two figurines in a small pouch to represent the children he’d one day have. He’d hand carved them and painted them with an intricate pattern of blue and gold to represent his family line. She didn’t know what had happened to those carvings after his death.

“The first man was drugged?”

“He was a dock worker. Two of his coworkers found him locked in a cargo container with a woman. They were both dead.”

“A woman?”

“An Earth woman.”

Lily could picture the scene too damned easily. Flashes of memory filled her head with bright red blood and lethally sharp claws. She swallowed the lump of fear and pulled her lip between her teeth, biting hard enough to focus her thoughts. “Two Ormney men, two human women. That’s a pattern, then.” A pattern might mean serial killer.

“The one who did this won’t stop at two,” he said.

“No,” Lily agreed, but she was no murder investigator. “You didn’t report this.”

It wasn’t a question. Bradley had said a woman was murdered, but he hadn’t said anything about a dead Ormney being found.

“The men who found the bodies panicked.” Jolaj fisted his hands against his thighs. “They took them from the container and brought the male home for our death rite.”

“And tossed the woman in the river.”

Surprise flickered across his features, but he didn’t try to deny it or ask how she knew. “It was a terrible thing, but by the time I learned of it, there was nothing I could do.”

“You have to tell Metro about this.”

“During the death rite the body is incinerated. I can’t produce Fresna’s body and I have no evidence he was drugged. I will tell you all I know. Assist you in any way I can.” His stoicism dimmed as he leaned forward and braced his forearms on his thighs. “But you must understand, I’m not here in an official capacity. I will only provide this information to you. You must agree to help me, Agent Rowan.”

If he hadn’t looked so earnest and the situation wasn’t so serious, she would’ve laughed. That made two men in one night, asking her to investigate the same crime. “Why me? If we’re talking about a serial killer, I’m totally unqualified to handle this.”

“There are many reasons why it must be you. You have contacts in Metro, Ormney Affairs, and Deepwater.” He slid further forward in the chair and Lily knew whatever he was about to say, it would be the real reason he’d come to her. “And I believe I can trust you with information I would not share with other investigators.”

“Why?” She huffed out her confusion and tugged her robe tighter around her. “Why do you trust me? You don’t know me. Why would you trust me with your secrets?”

He got to his feet and stepped toward her. “I believe you know something about secrets, Agent Rowan. When they can be told and when they must be kept. That sometimes discretion is essential to accomplishing a mission.”

A chill rippled through her at his words. She focused on her breathing, her pulse. Calm. He was guessing. He didn’t know anything about her work for Deepwater. There were lots of contractors with countless roles. He couldn’t know she’d been STU. Or that she’d been assigned to help develop their pilot program for Ormney agents.

It had almost been inevitable that Deepwater would recruit Ormney into the agency. Their abilities were too useful tactically for the suits to allow such a valuable resource to go untapped. It had taken years to get federal approval for the program and more years until a new generation of Ormney had shown a willingness to serve.

Kiq had been the first. Lily had no idea if they’d started working with another Ormney.

Jolaj got to his feet. “I trust you because you owe us, Agent Rowan. You owe Lanyak.”

He reached into a pouch on a cord slung low on his hips then moved closer.

Lily stepped back, cursing her weakness. His movement, the sight of his claws as his hand reached out to her, triggered the panic. Her chest tightened like an invisible rope had been cinched across her breasts.

He hesitated, then, slowly, reached for her as if he had no fear of the blade still clutched tightly in one hand.

Lily held herself still, despite her pulse accelerating and the flight-or-fight response dumping adrenalin into her system, and stood her ground as he wrapped one claw tipped hand around her wrist. He lifted her empty hand to chest height and with his free hand pressed something into her palm.

Two carved figures rested there. She recognized the shapes and intricately painted blue-and-gold design. Her hand trembled. It couldn’t be. She lifted her eyes to his.

He held her gaze. “You owe Kiq.”

Lily couldn’t breathe. There didn’t seem to be a single molecule of oxygen left. In the vacuum, her pulse thrummed loudly in her ears. The room seemed to spin around her. Her chest ached and her limbs shook. She used the last bit of air in her lungs to speak. “You knew Kiq?”

Jolaj nodded, face solemn. “I know his family and I brought his body back to his parents.”

Lily watched his next words form on his lips. Her vision flashed in and out, giving the moment a time-lapse effect.

“After. You. Killed him.”

Lily reached out blindly. Using the soft brush of the chair under her fingertips, she eased into it. It seemed no amount of meditation and training could banish the memories and the guilt. She couldn’t fight them. The sharp ache of regret rolled over her.

She cradled the knife in her lap and fisted her free hand in the fabric at the edge of her robe. She tugged it tighter across her waist as she tried to pull her control back together.

When the wave receded Jolaj had stepped closer. Something, compassion or pity, filled his eyes.

“I can buy that you know about Kiq.” Her voice came out threadier than she liked. She swallowed, trying to wet her dry throat before she continued. “But, h-how much do you know?”

“Everything.”

He somehow managed to bring that bass voice of his to soft murmur. “The Continuation Council received a full briefing. I learned of it from one of the councilors.”

He crouched in front of her chair, so she no longer had to look up to meet his eyes. His big, clawed hands pressed against his thighs as he found his balance and settled there like an immovable boulder. “I didn’t know you were the one involved until tonight. When Detective O’Leary told me you’d alerted him to the toxin in the claw wounds as well as the possibility that Lanyak had been drugged, I knew of only one way you could have such knowledge.” His eyes searched her face. The pupils had gone a wider, making his eyes look more human. “You still carry the scars.”

He hovered on the razor-thin line between threatening and soothing. His stance wasn’t overtly aggressive. His expression seemed almost tender and protective. In a lesser man his position might even be vulnerable, balanced on the balls of his feet. Thighs slightly apart, leaving his body open. She still had the blade in one hand.

But he was anything but defenseless. He was solid, agile, confident, and very male. His stance conveyed that maleness in a potent way and reminded her she was female. That his masculine strength was there, available, calling her to move closer and be sheltered.

God, she was losing it. Imagining things that weren’t possible.

Lily had to remind herself he was, by nature, a predator. Their genetic engineering at work. She didn’t believe he meant her harm, but everything inside her screamed danger. And she’d let him get close enough that she could see the tiny striations in his blue-green eyes, smell the clean masculine scent of him. Too close.