Eternal Craving (19 page)

“I’m Luke, Fin’s driver. I don’t think he’d want you going out by yourself.” He didn’t even attempt to smile.

Rats. Busted. Jenna glanced at Lia. She shrugged.

“I’ll drive you wherever you want to go.” Luke didn’t make it sound as if they had a choice.

“Great.” At least they’d get out, and Al couldn’t complain when he got back. “We were going to stay right around here, but now that you’re driving we can spread our wings.” She turned to Lia. “You’re from Philly—where should we go?”

Jenna didn’t pay too much attention to what Lia told Luke or the walk to his car. Her thoughts had drifted back to Al and to their lovemaking. She knew she was smiling. Never ever had she imagined that physical pleasure, and whatever else was mixed into the total experience, could be so intense. As he’d buried himself deep inside her, every sense had gone supernova on her: his hot male scent, the texture of him—smooth warm flesh and that incredible hair trailing across her skin—and the taste of his arousal as she’d slid her tongue over his body.

And what had happened at the very end, at the moment she clenched around him and exploded into a thousand pleasure points? It was as though for just a heartbeat they’d almost been connected by something beyond the physical. What that something was remained a mystery. She shook her head. Or maybe it had all been a brain burp, a total nonhappening.

But she hadn’t imagined his emotions. He’d broadcast them loud and clear. His hunger for her body was a driving need that took her breath away.

It was Al’s other emotions, though, that still drew shadows in her mind. She’d felt his amazing strength wrapped in so much pain that she’d wanted to scream with the agony of it. Then there was his rage, crippling him with its darkness, shrieking its need to destroy, but with no real target except Fin. How did he live with it?

There was no way she should be able to feel so much for a man she’d known such a short time. The reality of it terrified her.

As she gazed idly out the car window, it occurred to her that not once had she thought of his beast. Maybe she was making progress after all.

She was yanked from her thoughts as the car suddenly accelerated, pushing her back against the seat. What the…

Lia laughed. “We’re getting on the Schuylkill Expressway, affectionately known as the Sure Kill Expressway. It’s merge-or-die here, girlfriend.”

Jenna never got to ask where they were going because suddenly all the locks clicked and with lightning speed Luke slapped what looked like a gas mask on his face. Lia didn’t bother asking questions. She yanked at the door handle. Locked.

Jenna pulled out her cell phone and frantically hit Kelly’s number. She couldn’t try to wrestle the steering wheel from Luke. They had to be doing seventy miles an hour. But she was way too slow. The gas was already filling up the car as Kelly answered. Jenna tried to form the words she needed to say, but she wasn’t sure if any of them reached her sister as they floated around in her head and slowly drifted away.

Her last thought as darkness closed in was that there was never a dinosaur around when you needed him.

Al shoved the others aside in his eagerness to get out of the elevator. He reached the condo door in a few strides and then pounded on it. To hell with politely pushing buttons. No matter how much his mind ticked off reasons why he should steer clear of Jenna, the rest of him panted to see her again, touch her again,
talk
to her again.

Amazing that talk even made the list, because what he wanted to do to her lush, sexy body didn’t need words. But he was finding that the human part of him craved everything about her.

“Damn, I was sure it was that guy who worked at the desk downstairs.” Utah sounded bitter enough to tear the man apart just on principle. “Now what?”

“We’ll find the bastard.” Tor was coldly determined.

Al figured when the raptors finally found the person responsible for Rap’s death, it would be raining body parts for days. “We’ve eliminated a lot of people. There aren’t that many left to check out. We’re close.” He did some more pounding.
Come on, answer the damn door
.

“Not close enough.” Utah’s complaint was all frustrated predator.

But Al forgot about the raptors as the door swung open and Fin himself stood in the doorway. Something in his gaze silenced all three men.

“We have a situation.” Fin sounded grim.

“Where’s Jenna?” Al peered past him.

Fin didn’t answer. He turned and led them into the living room, where Jude waited with five other vampires and a woman. Al focused all his attention on the strangers. In his world of eat-or-be-eaten, you survived to old age by being suspicious of everyone. He waited impatiently for Fin to introduce them so he could leave and find Jenna.

But it was Jude who did the honors. He nodded at the five men. “Meet the deadliest vampires in existence.” He didn’t offer any names. “They belonged to an ancient clan that the Fae destroyed centuries ago. I don’t know what they did to piss off the Unseelie Court, and I don’t care. As long as no dark fairies try interfering with my business, I’m willing to forget about it.”

Al studied the five men. Power, thick and suffocating, flowed from them. It wound around him, poking and prod-ding, searching for weaknesses. Impressive.

“These men were so dangerous that the rest of the vampire world agreed they had to be destroyed. But that would’ve meant massive losses on our side and a waste of raw talent on theirs. So I agreed to put them under my protection as long as they did the occasional job for me and didn’t eat their handler.” He glanced around at the unsmiling faces. “That was a joke, folks. Anyway, I’ve never regretted it.”

Al seemed to remember someone mentioning that these guys had helped Ty and Kelly free the werewolf Neva back in Houston. He studied them more closely. They were all at least six feet five with muscular bodies meant for fighting. But where Jude was dangerous in an understated way, these men reeked of death. They were dressed all in black, their faces carved from jagged granite and forged in the fires of some ancient underworld. They almost crackled with suppressed violence and the need to kill. Al sensed no souls, no flicker of humanity in their cold stares. Even his Allosaurus soul would tread lightly around these predators.

Al glanced at Fin. “Are they here to help with Eight?” If so, Al felt insulted. The Eleven didn’t need outside help for this.

Fin continued to ignore his questions, which was starting to make Al mad.

“This is Sara.” Fin turned toward the woman. “She’s the pack leader of Philadelphia’s werewolves. Macario and Neva asked her to help us.”

Utah grunted his disbelief. “A woman can’t be pack leader.”

Sara smiled at him. Not a nice smile. “She can if she kills every dumbass wolf stupid enough to challenge her.”

No one would ever ignore Sara in a crowd. She was tall and lithe, with green eyes and a mass of dark hair that tumbled down her back. She stared at Al, the predatory gleam in her eyes promising that if she chose him as her mate, life would never be boring. It wouldn’t be safe either. She’d probably eat her mate when she got tired of him. He wasn’t interested.

“Why are they here now?” Al got right to the point. And where was Jenna?

Fin didn’t ask anyone to sit down. He paced restlessly in front of the bank of windows. “Jenna and Lia went out this afternoon. They didn’t tell anyone they were going, and they didn’t leave a note. I assume Jenna was taking Lia shopping or something.”

Jenna. Something had happened to his
mate
. The word rose on an ancient and violent need to protect what was his. Al’s instinct didn’t listen to reason, to the logical list of why Jenna could never be his. His instinct
knew
. And from the depths of what he’d once been, something savage and terrible rose. It beckoned his soul from its cave with promises that together they’d tear apart this city and kill, kill, kill.

“Where. Is. Jenna?” He put all his fury and dread into each word, and everyone stepped away from him except for Fin.

“I don’t know.” Fin turned to face him, his eyes flat and emotionless. “She got Kelly on her cell phone, but she was only able to say Luke’s name before someone ended the call.”

The mole
. Luke was among the ones they hadn’t investigated yet. They’d assumed he was loyal. They’d assumed wrong. And now Jenna and Lia would pay.

His rage, the part of him that simmered just below the surface but wanted, no,
needed
, a target, found it in Fin. “You were supposed to make sure she didn’t leave without protection. I go out for a few hours, and you just let her walk away alone.”

Fin’s eyes changed from silver to solid purple in an instant. That was the only warning they got before the bank of tall windows behind him blew out in an explosion of glass.

“What the fuck…” One of Jude’s vampires said it for all of them.

Fin moved into Al’s space. Al concentrated on not backing away from his leader.

“You think I was sitting in my freaking chair staring at the sky all day? Zero’s in town. Who do you think is keeping him distracted and off your backs? I don’t walk on water, and I don’t have eyes in the back of my head! She wanted to leave, so she left. Shen should’ve picked her up on the security camera, but he didn’t. It happened. Deal with it.” He punctuated the last sentence with a crack of thunder that probably had the guys down at the weather bureau scratching their heads.

The cold air swirling in through the gaping windows didn’t make Al shiver half as much as Fin’s show of temper. Al never doubted that Fin could scramble his atoms and scatter them across the universe if he chose. But he couldn’t control his own temper. “Why’d you let her get mixed up in this, anyway? Anyone could ring the damn bells. She should’ve been safe at home in Houston.” The fact that he blamed himself as much as he blamed Fin fanned the flames of his anger. His soul peered eagerly through those flames, waiting for a moment of weakness, a moment when his emotions would overwhelm him, and his soul could break free. He clamped down on those emotions. Losing it wouldn’t help Jenna.

Fin nodded as if nothing had happened, his silver eyes calm again and untouched by emotion. “You’re learning.” He gestured at the others. “I called Jude as soon as I heard, and he brought his men here from Houston.”

Utah voiced the obvious. “Must’ve been a mighty fast plane.”

One of Jude’s five men spoke for the first time. “We can move through time and space. Why would we need a plane?” He didn’t try to hide his contempt for those who did need them.

“Did I mention
how
old they are?” Jude smiled. “They were around when the pyramids were built. Not old by your standards, but old enough to accumulate lots of useful skills. If anyone can find Jenna and Lia, they can. I wouldn’t trust the search to the Philly vampires.”

“If they’re so powerful, why are they working for you?” Tor’s expression dismissed Jude’s power.

Suddenly the room thrummed with something that raised the hairs on Al’s arms. Fin didn’t seem concerned, but Tor sure was. He now hung suspended about five feet off the floor.

Jude’s smile never changed. “Show respect, raptor. Just because I choose not to show you my power doesn’t mean I don’t have it.” Then without warning, he dropped Tor to the floor. “I’ll let you know if we find anything.” He nodded to his men, and then in a blur of motion they disappeared through the broken windows.

“Jerks. They couldn’t use the elevator like the rest of us?” Utah’s complaint sounded halfhearted.

Tor looked one part furious and two parts embarrassed, but he didn’t say anything.

Sara laughed. “I think I like your vampire. He has a sense of humor.” Her laughter died. “My pack is already on the job. If Jenna and Lia are in the city, we’ll find them.” She sent one last hard stare at Fin. “You have scary power. I feel sorry for the guy you’re hunting.”

Al watched her leave before turning to Fin. “Any ideas?”

Fin shook his head. “I can’t sense Eight. Nine had success kidnapping Kelly and using her to draw Ty into the Astrodome. Eight might be playing the same game.” He speared Al with a hard gaze. “Wherever Jenna and Lia are, I don’t want you or any of the Eleven going in after them in human form. Eight could control you too easily. Ty and Gig found that out in Houston.”

“I don’t care what form I have to take, I want to be there.” This wasn’t negotiable.

“I agree.” Fin finally stopped pacing. “Once we locate them, I’m sending in a team.”

“All of us?” Tor had found his voice.

“I never put everyone’s life on the line at the same time and place.”

That made Al mad all over again. “Jenna and Lia are worth it.”

“If all of you get killed at once, who’ll be left to fight Zero and the rest of his immortals?” He shrugged. “If I send in a team of four and Eight eliminates you, I’ll still have options.”

“Ever the optimist.” Al didn’t care that his comment was a verbal sneer.

“A realist.” Fin dropped onto one of the recliners. “The women might already be dead. I’m not ready to sacrifice you to a lost cause.”

The word “dead” was a kick in the gut. It almost doubled him over. His soul crept a little closer to the cave entrance, and Al knew if Eight had killed Jenna, nothing, not Fin or ten of his evil twins, could keep his soul from rampaging through Philly. From the expression on Fin’s face, he knew it too.

“Who’ll be on the team?” Al spoke softly, but he knew from Fin’s wince that he must be broadcasting his fury at sonic-boom level. He took a deep breath. This uncontrollable rage was outside anything he’d ever felt before—personal and too intense to describe.

“Us.” Utah glanced at his brother. “Wherever Eight is, we want to be there too.” His hunger for revenge lived in his eyes.

Fin nodded. “I’ll send all three of you along with Ty and Lio. Ty wants to go because Jenna is family, and Lio can take care of anyone who tries to escape by water. Kelly will drive us. She accepts that she’ll have to stay with the SUV.”

“What happens if the entrance to the building is too small for our beasts?” Tor’s expression said he’d get inside even if he had to go in as a human.

“Don’t even think about it.” Fin didn’t raise his voice, but he didn’t have to. The words were a bright neon warning that even the craziest of the Eleven would hesitate to ignore. “If the problem arises, I’ll give you the strength to get your beasts inside.”

Tor nodded, satisfied for the moment.

“And you’ll be where?” They’d supply the muscle, but Al knew Fin would take care of any finessing necessary.

“I’ll be making sure no mortals notice anything strange.” Fin’s gaze grew pensive. “And I’ll keep Zero from interfering.” He smiled. “Or not. Who knows? Zero is an unpredictable bastard.”

If Al didn’t know any better, he’d almost believe there was a note of affection in Fin’s voice. Then he forgot about Fin and Zero. “I have to get back out and start looking.”

“No.”

Al started to snarl his defiance at Fin and then paused. Maybe for once he needed to listen first. Jenna’s life was on the line. “Why not?”

“We have an army of vampires and werewolves as well as the rest of the Eleven looking for them. A few more searchers aren’t going to make a difference. I want the team together so as soon as we get word where they are, we can move as one. I don’t want you scattered all over the city.”

Al hated to admit that Fin’s plan made sense. But as much as he needed a clear head and a sense of “team” right now, all he could think of was ditching everyone and laying waste to Philly in his search for Jenna. Reluctantly, he backed away from the edge.

Fin glanced his way, a hint that he was monitoring Al’s reactions. “I’ve called Ty and Lio. They should be here in a little while. I don’t care what you do now, but don’t leave the condo. And don’t try to kill each other.” He spared a brief smile for all of them. “It would piss me off.” He rose and headed for the doorway. “I’ll be in my office. I have to fill Shen in so he can find someone who’ll come out this late to fix these windows. If I get any updates, I’ll give a shout.”

Al didn’t stay to talk to the guys. With everything going on in his head, he was close to liftoff. If any of the others said the wrong thing, he might tear Fin’s expensive condo apart.

He left on Fin’s heels. Al had a vague idea of holing up in his room but then changed his mind. Instead, he turned toward the only room in this place of steel and glass where he could feel close to Jenna.

The door to her room didn’t present a problem. A healthy shove fueled by his bad attitude popped the lock. Once inside, he left the room in darkness and stretched out on her bed. He closed his eyes.

Her scent filled the black void behind his closed lids with images of her. All of her emotions spilled over into his mind, flooding him with memories too new to have hardened. They were still fluid, changing with each of his thoughts. Jenna with eyes huge and frightened as she’d seen the shadow of his beast that first night in the park. Jenna in tears over the death of Rap, a man she’d hardly known. Jenna with her head thrown back and eyes dark with passion.

And while he lay there, a new emotion clamped steel jaws around his heart. This one was all his, and for a moment he didn’t recognize it because it was outside his experience.
Fear.
It was jagged glass cutting him apart, taking his breath away with a promise that he might never breathe again. It was terror—for her, for him. It was selfish. What if he never saw her again?