Enemy Mine (6 page)

of vehicles in the underground garage.

“Nice.” She slid into the passenger side

of an older model Mustang. At least they’d

be riding in style, though if she was

honest, she really liked his motorcycle.

Her phone buzzed in her pocket, and a

look at her phone made her wince. It was

her mother and way past the time she was

supposed to check in.

She might be an adult, but since she was

going on a date with a vampire that night,

she’d made sure her mother knew. That

conversation had been one big argument.

Of course she’d left out Kiernan’s name.

Her pack and his coven had a certain level

of animosity toward one another, due to

some feud from almost a century ago. It

was way before her time and she really

didn’t care what it was about. She might

not be completely sure about Kiernan’s

motives, but she knew he wouldn’t hurt

her. Not physically, at least. Instead of

answering, she rejected the call then typed

in a quick text telling her mother she was

fine but staying out the entire night. She

also entered their code word so her mom

knew it was her and not someone

pretending to use her phone.

The curt response she received told her

to call immediately. Melina slid her phone

into her pocket instead. After she helped

the kid at the shelter, she’d call. Until then

she didn’t want to deal with any other

distractions. Especially not when she had

a giant, very sexy one sitting right next to

her.

Chapter 4

Kiernan parked behind Helping Hands, the

shelter Melina directed him to. The

expansive two story building took up an

entire city block. This was the last place

he wanted to be. Out in the open, exposed.

He hated bringing her here, but he knew

when to pick his battles. The moment they

stepped out of the vehicle, he knew they

weren’t alone. Two distinctive heartbeats

were very close by. He heard others in the

vicinity but these two were very close.

Two teens, one black and one white,

stepped out from behind a Dumpster. Each

had a gun held loosely in his hand, and

from the bulge under one of the teens’ T-

shirts, Kiernan knew he was packing

more. Immediately he stepped in front of

Melina, blocking her body with his. As a

shifter she should be able to heal almost

as fast as him, but something about her had

been different after that car accident.

She’d been too weak, almost disoriented.

He bared his fangs at the two youths

before they even had time to raise their

weapons.

With wide eyes they stared at them. One

cleared his throat. “You’re Melina, right?

You’re here to help Raul?”

Melina peeked around Kiernan. “Yes.

Hand those weapons to my friend here and

you can come inside while I help Raul.”

For a moment it looked as if they might

argue, but after another look in Kiernan’s

direction, they did as she said. There were

certain laws in any jungle, even a concrete

one, and Kiernan could kill these two in

seconds whether they had weapons or not.

And they knew it.

Kiernan cleared his throat when they

only handed him the two visible guns.

“All of them.”

The white boy cursed but handed over

his other gun as the door flew open. A tall,

attractive blond woman Kiernan assumed

was Irene rushed out. She gave the boys a

quick glance before zeroing in on Melina

and Kiernan. She stopped short as she

looked at him. “Melina, who is this?”

“He’s okay.” Brushing past him, Melina

let her friend guide her inside into an

industrial-sized kitchen that smelled of

cleaning supplies and the faint aroma of

lasagna.

Kiernan stayed close, conscious of the

two boys following them, but not worried

about the young humans.

“What happened?” Melina asked as she

stopped in front of a young teen maybe

eighteen years old stretched out flat on his

back on a large metal table likely used to

prepare food. Blood spilled profusely

from a wound in his shoulder, dripping

onto the shiny surface and trailing to the

floor below.

Kiernan’s fangs faintly ached at the

coppery scent. He’d learned to control his

bloodlust over a century ago but some

things were biological.

“Shadow shot him,” the black kid said.

“Shadow?” Irene asked as Melina

pulled away the cloth that had been

pressed against the wound.

“Yeah. His real name’s Clyde. That’s

just his street name,” the same kid spoke

again, obviously the spokesperson of the

two.

“Why’d he shoot him?” Kiernan asked

this time.

The same kid eyed him for a long

moment then shrugged. “Raul went after

him because Shadow was messing with

Raul’s little sister. She’s fifteen, man.”

Another shrug.

Kiernan looked back at Melina as he

spoke to the kid again. “When you say

messing with her . . .”

A snort. “What the hell you think I

mean? He tried to rape her.”

Now his fangs ached to unleash for a

completely different reason. “What’s

Clyde’s last name?”

“Bricker,” the kid said after a short

pause.

Kiernan filed that information away as

he watched Melina work. It was obvious

this wasn’t the first time she’d helped her

friend considering the display of medical

supplies already laid out. She cleaned and

disinfected the wound with an impressive

quickness.

“You’re lucky this went all the way

through,” she murmured to her patient. To

give him credit, he hadn’t uttered more

than a few cursory groans.

As she finished cleansing him, Irene

turned to the other two boys. “You two

need to wait outside now.”

They left without argument. When Irene

turned to him, as if she planned to tell him

to leave too, Kiernan shook his head. All

his territorial instincts roared to the

surface at the thought of leaving Melina,

even for only a moment. “I go where she

goes.”

Melina shot him an exasperated look

over her shoulder. “You need to wait

outside . . . please.” She tacked on the

please as if it pained her.

Kiernan just raised an eyebrow and

tapped his wrist, as if he had a watch on.

“Time’s wasting. You can argue with me

or . . .” He shrugged, knowing it would

drive her crazy, but he wasn’t leaving her

side.

She opened her mouth once as if to

argue then growled at him. For the first

time since they’d met he could tell she

was truly annoyed with him. “Damn it,

Kiernan—”

“I am
not
leaving.” There must have

been something in his voice that

convinced her he was serious because

after a few seconds ticked by she sighed

and turned back to the young boy who’d

finally passed out.

Kiernan blinked as a soft blue glow

seemed to completely encompass the

teenager. It spread out from his hands

where Melina grasped him, moving to his

arms, across his torso, spreading

everywhere. It seemed to come from

inside him, pushing out warmth like a dim

nightlight.

Melina’s eyes were closed, her

expression serene, her body

preternaturally still. If he couldn’t hear her

heartbeat and see the soft rise and fall of

her chest he’d be worried about her.

Kiernan was silent as he stared at the

two of them, finally understanding why

Melina had been so drained earlier. She

was a healer, a being so rare they were

revered among all supernatural species. It

wasn’t in his coven’s file on her family—

though that hadn’t been updated in over a

decade—so he surmised this was a

guarded secret. Healers were treated with

respect across all species. It was an

unwritten rule. They were never targeted

or harmed even if factions were battling

each other.

After ten long minutes she drew her

hands back, looking pale and drawn and

ready to collapse. “He should be fine

now. It wasn’t a bad wound to begin

with.”

The wound was now almost completely

healed. A red puckered mark about an

inch in diameter remained on his shoulder.

She carefully placed a couple steri-strips

across the raw skin, but he doubted they

were even necessary.

Kiernan left the weapons on one of the

counters, deciding to let Irene do what she

wanted with them. The second Melina

finished he sidled up next to her, wrapping

his arm around her shoulders. He liked

touching her, being able to support her

even in a small way. To his surprise she

didn’t fight him. Instead she turned into

him and slid her arm around his waist

using him for support.

“Thank you so much, Melina,” Irene

said. “I’ll clean up everything and make

sure the boys don’t mention your presence

here to anyone.”

Kiernan bit back an angry retort. This

was the last place Melina should be,

especially without her pack’s protection

or knowledge. If there was one thing he

respected about shifters, it was that they

took care of their own.

But if she did this kind of thing without

her pack’s approval, he knew he was the

last person she’d listen to. He was just

glad he’d been able to go with her. She

was in no condition to drive right now and

if she’d been alone . . . He shoved that

thought away and they left.

Gently, he helped her into the passenger

seat, ready to get as far away from the

shelter as possible. He wanted her under

lockdown.

“How would you have gotten home if I

hadn’t been here to drive you?” he

snapped, the words coming out harsher

than he’d intended. He wanted to tell her

how amazing she was, how much he

respected what she was doing, but it

scared him knowing she could have been

out on her own in such a weakened state.

Sighing, she turned in her seat to face

him, her eyes heavy-lidded. “Irene would

have taken me or one of my female

cousins would have picked me up.”

Another tired sigh. “They’re the only ones

willing to go behind my father’s back.” A

soft, sweet chuckle.

“So you’re a healer.” Not a question.

Keeping one hand on the wheel, he

reached out with his other and stroked his

knuckles down her cheek.

“And you’re very sexy,” she murmured.

Surprised, he shot her a quick glance

before averting his gaze back to the road.

She was definitely tired and out of it to

blurt out something like that. Even though

it was underhanded he decided to get

some answers while she was in this state.

Something told him she’d be more open

when she was so languid. “So you didn’t

realize who I was at that club we met in?”

Her sleepy eyes blinked slowly as she

shook her head. “Nope. Not until you took

your shirt off. Saw your family crest

tattooed on your chest. Realized exactly

who you were then. Morgan and Oriana

Doyle’s son. My parent’s freaking

enemies,” she muttered, the words barely

audible.

There was nothing but pure truth in her

voice. He noticed the way she said her

parents, not her pack and not herself. A

strange feeling of relief slid through him.

“You don’t view my family as your

enemy?”

She shifted in her seat, laying her head

back against the headrest and closing her

eyes. “Why would I? You’ve never done

anything to me.”

Melina kept surprising him. It was

obvious she didn’t know the full extent of

the violent history between their families.

Which made sense. She was only twenty-

five. Most of his young cousins weren’t

aware of the violence that had passed

between his coven and their pack because

it had all been buried and settled well

over a century ago. They didn’t even live

in the same vicinity. Well, until now. His

father had decided to start scooping up

real estate in Miami after the recent

plunges in the market. While it was smart

from a business standpoint, it was also

playing with fire considering the

Rodriguez pack made their home here.

Still, it bothered him. “You didn’t think

about walking away when you saw my

crest?”

She let out a soft laugh that went

straight to his aching cock. “You were

practically inside me when I saw it and I

definitely wasn’t backing out then. No

more questions,” she said on a tired sigh.

He was done with talking too. As he

steered into parking garage he made a

decision he knew was going to change his

life. Though he’d already done it once in

an emergency, doing it a second time