Embraced by Darkness (29 page)

“Hey, gorgeous,” a familiar voice said.

I turned around and saw Kellen approaching. He was dressed in jeans and a somewhat crinkled black shirt that fitted his lean body to perfection and showed off his arms and shoulders.

My hormones did a happy dance. I stepped forward and kissed him long and hard. It was a good kiss, a hungry kiss, a kiss filled with all the desire that had been pent up inside me.

When we finally parted, he said, “Are you
sure
you want to get a burger first?”

His green eyes were shining with amusement and caring, and something inside sighed with happiness. I slipped my arm through his and tugged him toward Eddie’s. Thankfully, it was only half-full, and there were plenty of tables. “I haven’t eaten in hours. I need the sustenance.”

“A wolf can survive days without food, you know.”

“Not this wolf. Besides, I need coffee.”

“Ah well, that’s different. I’ve seen your coffee-deprived state, and it isn’t pleasant.”

I lightly punched his arm. “You’re supposed to be charming until you get your wicked way with me.”

He guided me across to a table in the back corner, and held the chair out for me. “But I’m going to get my wicked way with you regardless of whether I’m charming, so why not be honest?”

“I might change my mind.”

“After the heat in that kiss?” He gave me a sexy grin and shook his head. “I doubt it.”

“Have you always been so arrogantly confident?”

“When it comes to my woman? Yes.”

My woman
. Just hearing those words made me feel warm and fuzzy inside.

Still, I couldn’t help saying, “I’m not your woman yet.”

“But you will be.”

“There’s that arrogance again.”

“It’s confidence, my dear, not arrogance.” He reached across the table and took my hand. His fingers were warm against mine, his skin slightly roughed. “We are good together.”

“I’ve never denied that.”

A waiter approached the table at that point, and we ordered. Kellen stuck with coffee, but I ordered a burger, fries, and the biggest mug of coffee they had.

Once the waiter had gone, I said, “I want this, Kellen. I just need a little more time to finish these cases.”

“And next week it’ll be another case, then another.”

“I made a promise, and I intend to keep it.” I squeezed his fingers lightly. “In the scheme of things, a week isn’t all that long.”

And I wasn’t entirely sure who I was trying to convince with that statement—myself or him.

He studied me for a moment, then said, “So, how is the kidnap case going?”

I shrugged. “Pretty damn slowly. I think the club is running a blackmail scheme, and I’m pretty sure Adrienne guessed her life was in danger.”

He untwined his fingers from mine, and leaned back. “So her disappearance has to do with the blackmailing scheme, not the disappearances of the women?”

“I really can’t say for sure, yet.” I just wished I could get hold of that letter. There had to be more in it than Patrin was saying, because he sure as hell wouldn’t have left the safety of pack lands otherwise.

“So where does that leave the investigation?”

“Right now? At goddamn nowhere.”

The waiter arrived with our coffees and my food. I took all the lettuce off the burger, then grabbed it two-handed and bit into it. Meat juices flooded my mouth and I couldn’t help the rumble of pleasure that rolled up my throat.

Kellen shook his head, a smile touching his lips. “I can see the chance of any sort of sensible talk has gone out the window.”

“Too right,” I said, around the mouthful of burger. “This is
good
.”

“They usually are.” He picked up his coffee and sipped it while I continued to chow down, alternating between the burger and fries, and splashing them both down with coffee.

“Feeling better?” he asked when I finally finished, his voice dry and his eyes twinkling merrily.

“Totally.” I wiped my mouth with the napkin, then tossed it back onto the table. “However, now there are deeper hungers that need to be fed. You feel like heading to the Blue Moon?”

“It’s closer than home or my car.”

It wasn’t closer than my car, but getting lusty in a government vehicle would probably attract more attention than either of us would want.

I stood up and dug out my credit card. “My turn,” I said. “You paid for the last coffee.”

“I do have a little more money than you.”

“Like I care. And fair is fair.”

He leaned forward and kissed my forehead. “I do love the fact that my money isn’t a factor to you.”

“Hey, don’t get me wrong, it’s nice that you have money.” I hesitated, then gave him a cheeky grin. “It means you can get me bigger and better presents come Christmas and birthdays.”

“Ah, so there is a mercenary soul deep down inside.”

“There’s lots of things deep down inside.” I paid the waiter, adding a generous tip, then slipped my arm through Kellen’s again. “And maybe one day I’ll allow you to plumb those depths and uncover all my little secrets.”

“Oh, a moment to anticipate, to be sure.”

We stepped out onto the street. It was nearly two-thirty, and the crowds had thinned out a little. But music still pulsed from the Blue Moon and the scent of lust and arousal ran on the air, as delicious as the aroma of food.

I breathed deep, then gave a contented smile. “I love this place.”

He raised an eyebrow, amusement still playing on his lips. “Lygon Street?”

I nodded as we walked toward the club. “I love the scents and the sounds. It always feels so alive, so vibrant, no matter what time of day or night.”

“I guess.” He looked around, as if taking it all in for the first time. “The only place we have in Sydney that compares to this is the Oxford Street area.”

“That’s mainly for gays, isn’t it?”

“Used to be, before the wolf clubs moved in. Now it’s a mix—and a huge tourist attraction, believe it or not.”

“Oh, I’d—” I stopped mid-sentence as the ghostly tingle of awareness ran across my skin.

A vampire was near.

A vampire whose stench I’d smelled before, just before he’d taken a potshot at me.

The sensation of danger hit so hard that it left me gasping for air. Something fast and deadly was tearing through the night toward us.

Another goddamn bullet.

I threw myself sideways, knocking Kellen out of the way in the process.

“What the hell—?” Instinctively, his arms went around me, cushioning my body with his own as we hit the pavement, hard.

Something burned past us, then a woman screamed. It was a high-pitched, wailing sound of horror and utter disbelief.

Gut churning, I broke free of Kellen’s grip and twisted around. The bullet intended for me had found the head of the man behind me. And by found, I meant smashed into, and basically obliterated. Blood and bone and bits of God knows what else covered the woman who’d been walking beside him. She didn’t even seem to notice, just stood there screaming and staring at the shattered remains of the man at her feet.

“Oh fuck,” Kellen said.

Oh fuck, indeed. I pulled free of his arms and scrambled to my feet. After freeing my gun, I shoved my bag at him. “Grab my phone and call the Directorate. Tell them someone’s had another potshot at me and taken out a civilian. Tell them I’m hunting the shooter.”

“
Another
potshot?” He made a grab for my arm, his fingers slipping down the leather of my jacket before he gripped my wrist. “What the hell is going on?”

“I don’t have time to explain.” I stepped back and pulled free of his grip. Saw the surprise flicker in his eyes. Despite knowing what I was, he hadn’t really realized the strength that it gave me. “Just ring the Directorate and look after that woman. I’ll be back.”

“But—”

I didn’t hear the rest of his sentence. I simply turned and ran, following the faint scent of death and decay. The shot had come from behind and above, and that was where his scent was still coming from. I scanned the rooftops as I ran, and saw a shadow flicker on one. This time the bastard
wasn’t
going to get away from me.

I ran into the restaurant. Waiters and patrons were already lining the windows, ogling the carnage. Only a few of them turned to look at me.

“Rooftop stairs?” I said to the nearest waiter.

He pointed to the corner. “But it’s locked.”

“Not for long.” I ripped my badge from the pocket of my jeans and showed him. “Directorate. You have a shooter on your roof. Keep everyone here and calm.”

He nodded. I ran between the tables and up the back stairs. Luckily, this building was only three stories high, so I wasn’t even puffing by the time I crashed through the fire door up top. There was no time for finesse because that would only give the bastard more time to escape.

Bits of wood went flying and the thick scent of unwashed vampire stung the night. I swung around, following the scent. Had a brief glimpse of metal gleaming softly in moonlight before there was an explosion of air and something the size of a Mack truck smashed into my leg, sending me spinning.

I hit the ground with a grunt. Pain bloomed, flooding my body until it felt like every inch of me was burning.

Silver. The bastard was
still
using silver. And this time the bullet was lodged in my leg.

Meaning I couldn’t shift shape, couldn’t run. With nothing else to do—besides crawl, and that was
never
a fast means of escape—I lay still and played dead. Given the shooter was a vamp, he’d know I wasn’t, of course, but he couldn’t be entirely sure I wasn’t unconscious. And given the stairwell walls were giving me cover, he’d actually have to come within sighting distance if he wanted to finish me off.

His undead aroma stained the night, neither retreating nor moving closer. My fingers twitched against the laser’s trigger and the scent of blood—my blood—filled the night. It had to be calling to him, and there were few vamps in this world who could resist such a tempting little treat.

For several heartbeats, nothing happened. Neither of us moved. I tried to keep my breathing steady, tried to ignore the burning in my leg, tried not to acknowledge the fact that the bullet would soon begin to numb and deaden my flesh. Sweat broke out across my forehead, running down my cheeks and stinging my eyes. Sweat caused by the heat of silver in my body, by fear of the consequences if I didn’t remove it.

Then the vampire moved. I blinked, switching to infrared, and the dark heat of his body leapt into focus. He was walking oh so carefully toward the stairwell, his gun up and ready to fire. The minute I twitched, he’d shoot. Of that I had no doubt. And I really didn’t want another piece of silver in my body.

Better by far not to give him the chance.

I carefully cranked the laser up to full strength. Rhoan had once told me that these lasers had the power to blast a hole through several brick walls and still kill someone on the far side. I hoped to God he hadn’t been bullshitting. My life might very well depend on what happened next.

I sighted the laser on the vampire’s dark form and pressed the trigger. The bright beam shot across the night, powering through the walls with as little effort as it powered through flesh. Only he moved, so instead of slicing off his head, I cut off a leg and a part of one arm.

His limbs plopped to the ground and he screamed—a high, inhuman sound. He fell, and flopped around like a fish out of water. I couldn’t feel sorry for him. Not when his silver bullet was burning inside me.

And not when he was dragging himself toward me, the thick scent of burned flesh mingling with the reek of his anger, filling the night with his need for revenge.

I took a deep breath, then rolled sideways. Pain unlike anything I’ve ever felt ripped through my body, followed by a white-hot burning sensation. Dizziness swept through me, leaving me weak and ready to throw up.

I hissed, sucking in air, furiously blinking away the sweat dripping into my eyes as I tried to sight my would-be assassin. He was heading to the right of the stairwell, so I now had a better angle at his neck.

I pulled the trigger without hesitation. The bright beam flashed out, once more slicing through concrete and flesh and bone with equal ease.

The vampire’s head rolled to one side, and his body stopped moving.

I was safe but not out of danger. I blew out a breath and pushed into a sitting position. The entire length of my left leg was a mess. Thankfully, the bullet had smashed through the fleshy section, not bone. Blood still pulsed from the wound, and with my jeans already saturated, there was nowhere else for the blood to go but on the ground. And the pool was spreading fast.

I had to get the bullet out. Had to get help. Fast.

I pressed the com-link button and said, “I hope to God someone is listening, because I need help.”

“We got Kellen’s call,” Jack said, in a voice that hinted at annoyance. Probably because I had the com-link off once again. “Rhoan’s already on his way, as well as a med team. What’s the situation?”