Eternal Prey (21 page)

They stopped outside one of the guest rooms.

“Somewhere warm. Seven’s totally into the heat and life thing. She drove me crazy with it—the plants, the blood, the bullshit. She kept saying she was going to heat up the city. I’d believe her.”

Utah watched Seir open the door and step into the room. “Is Fin really keeping you here?”

Seir looked frustrated. “Believe it. I’ll always be his little brother. Just when I think I might catch up to his power, he has a growth spurt.”

Utah had one last question. “You said Lia and I weren’t supposed to be taken. What
was
supposed to happen?” Not that he’d believe what Seir said.

Seir shrugged and turned away. “Doesn’t matter. It didn’t happen.”

Then he shut the door, leaving Utah trying to work through the riddle that was Seir. Finally, Utah turned away from the room . . . and almost bumped into Fin.

Fin motioned him to follow and led Utah to his office. Utah sat across the desk from Fin and waited.

Fin swung his chair so he was facing the bank of windows behind his desk. Dawn was just beginning to lighten the sky. “All of the Eleven are scouring the city for Seven. I’ve assigned them different areas. You and Kione can search wherever you want. He has extraordinary skills, so give him his head.”

Utah laughed. “You think I could stop him?”

Fin’s smile didn’t have any real humor attached to it. “I’ll be staying here to keep an eye on my brother and to mentally mess with Zero. I have to keep him out of the equation while you search for Seven. I don’t have a human to put with you, so we’ll just have to hope Kione’s skills are up to the challenge.”

“When you and Zero play your mental games, do you ever talk to each other?” Utah was curious about Zero. He’d be lying if he said he wasn’t.

“Our ‘mental games’ consist of giving and receiving pain. No communication involved. The migraine is my best friend and most feared enemy. I try to cause him so much pain that he can’t concentrate on the rest of you guys. But the pain runs both ways.”

Utah nodded and started to rise.

“Oh, and Jude’s five vampires will be hunting tonight. They’re supposed to help find Seven and protect Jude from Adam’s bullying, but they know Kione is here. They’ll be looking for him.” Fin swung his chair around to face Utah. “He’s your partner and our ally until Seven is found. If the vampires show up, call me.”

“Do you have any idea why Kione destroyed their clan?”

Fin shook his head. “But I do know we don’t need this kind of distraction now.”

For once, Utah agreed with him. And as he headed out of the condo to meet Kione, he just hoped Lia could hold on until he found her, because he
was
going to find her. Not Seven or even the almighty Zero would stop him.

Utah was in the elevator when he remembered what Kione could do.

Lia dreamed in dying color, coated herself in it, sank into it, became something else in its hot embrace. And when she finally opened her eyes, her need for it bound her with bands of searing agony.
Blood.
She’d never imagined she’d wake to this craving, the kind that made her want to claw out her stomach. Right now, insanity would be a relief.

She woke to darkness, and a presence. The darkness was dense, filled with power, and hopefully some freaking blood. Her reasoning couldn’t reach beyond that point.

The presence drew near. “What a beautiful little vampire, all new and hungry.”

Someone stroked her hair, and she tried to bite his hand.

He—the voice definitely belonged to a he—laughed softly.

“I’m sure you would rather have risen to find Jude at your side, ready to introduce you to your new life. Unfortunately, he’s not available. But I should be able to supply what you need.”

The man’s voice was low, with a mesmerizing quality that managed to calm her a little. He’d get blood for her, lots of blood. Hopefully, not from an unwilling source. But right now, she didn’t care. She needed blood, blood, and more blood flowing down her throat and putting out the fire that raged through her body.

Beside her bed—yes, she was definitely on a bed—the man moved. And then the scent of blood washed all logical thought from her mind. She sat up, reaching, clawing for the source of that scent. She barely recognized the man’s wrist when he pressed it to her lips. All she knew was that blood welled from the cut in his flesh. Lia fastened her mouth tightly around the wound and sucked.

Random thoughts and emotions turned liquid and formed a whirlpool that circled around only one thought—she had to please this man.

She closed her eyes. His blood, oh my God, his
blood
. Like a living thing, it slid into her, searching, searching . . . And when it found the right spot, it felt as though it curled up, waiting. Warm and powerful, it seemed right, it
belonged
.

After what seemed a way too short time, he pulled his arm away from her. She opened her eyes. While she sat trying to decide whether it was worth pursuing him for more blood, he got up and turned on a light.

Oh wow. Lia flung her hands over her eyes. She hadn’t been prepared for the enhanced vision thing. Everything was so bright and sharp it actually hurt her eyes. Gradually, she took her hands away, and immediately squinted against the light.

“It will get better.”

The man’s voice was the same—deep and filled with a subtle compulsion. Now that she’d emerged from her first bloodlust, she recognized its pull on her. Lia turned her head to look at him.

Not human. He was too beautiful. Long red hair in a dark shade she’d never seen before. She couldn’t drag her eyes away from it. No human ever had hair that glittered and gleamed like that. It reminded her of . . . The thought floated away on the euphoria filling her. She’d think about his hair later. Wow, would you look at that face. Pale, smooth skin stretched over incredible bone structure. Large eyes that seemed to swirl for a second before they settled into a brilliant blue green. And sensual lips that most women wouldn’t be able to resist.

But she could resist, because . . . She tried to latch on to the reason. There was someone else who had more sensual lips, a someone else whom she
couldn’t
resist.

A question popped into her head. “Where am I?”

The man returned to his seat beside her bed. “You’re at my place. I rescued you from Christine. You’ll stay here until Fin claims you.”

Her mind searched its database and finally located Fin. Leader of the Eleven and major pain in the ass. He wasn’t the one with the irresistible lips.

“I’ll have to lock you in when I’m not here, Lia. Can’t have you out draining random Portland citizens. But I’m sure you won’t be here long.”

Lia felt she should argue with the locking-up part, but she couldn’t work up the will. She did have to know one more thing, though. “What’s your name?”

“Frost.” He sounded distracted.

Lia rolled the name around in her mind. “Unusual.”

“Fitting.” He sounded amused.

She began to feel the pull of sleep. “Is it close to dawn?” There were no windows to give her a clue.

“Yes.” He leaned close to her.

His scent went with his name—ice and wind-driven snow. “Good. Maybe when I wake things won’t be so jumbled in my mind.” She blinked and tried to focus.
His hand
. There was something about his hand . . .

“Sleep deeply and remember . . .”

Lia flipped off her awake switch before he finished his sentence. But somewhere during her dreamless day sleep, he came to her. She didn’t see him, but she heard everything he said.

“Your thirst will be unbearable when you’re alone with Utah. You won’t be able to control it. And you won’t stop feeding until he’s dead. You will also refuse to hunt Seven.”

His compulsion slipped through the cracks in her consciousness and took root.

“This is important, Lia. You won’t remember who told you these things, but you’ll know them to be true. Believe me. Trust me.”

She believed. She trusted. All faded into deeper sleep.

U
tah and Kione stood in the empty parking lot of the fast-food restaurant. Heartburn hell. Utah had gone from a diet of fresh meat to eating rubbery, overcooked beef patties and soggy fries. They’d been the last customers. Someone flipped off the outside lights.

“Tell me again why you can’t find her.” Utah pulled his coat tighter against the Portland chill.

“I’ve already explained. Maybe you should’ve listened the first ten times I told you.” Kione was not a patient person.

“I didn’t understand the first ten. Maybe I’ll get it this time.”

Kione stared at him.

Utah looked away. He didn’t need a raging case of lust on top of all the other emotions boiling over inside him.

“One more time, raptor. I can find someone once I’ve made a connection with them. I made a connection with Lia. But the Lia we knew no longer exists. She’s vampire now. Therefore. I. Can’t. Find. Her.”

“She’ll still be the same person inside the same body.” And if he kept repeating this, he might eventually believe it.

“There’re certain events in our lives that change us forever.” Kione’s voice softened. “And we’re never the same.”

Utah barely noticed. “We’ve searched every damn corner of this city.” Frustration beat at him. Three days and nights with no sign of Lia or Seven. “Maybe they’ve moved out of the city.”

Kione looked doubtful. “Christine needs lots of new recruits and a plentiful food supply for them. She won’t get either out in the country.”

“Yeah.” Utah scanned the area. Darkened buildings. A few streetlights. No foot traffic and almost no cars passing. “The big jump in homicides and disappearances has been all over the local news. She’s not reining in her newbies.”

“Why should she? That’s what she’s selling—a free-for-all killing spree.”

Utah noticed that Kione was constantly watching the shadows. He didn’t blame the guy. With Jude’s heavy hitters in town and hunting for him, Kione had to stay alert. Utah almost wished the five bloodsuckers would find them. He’d put his money on Kione. Besides, it would give Utah’s beast an excuse to vent its pent-up rage.

Suddenly, Kione froze.

At the same time, Utah caught a scent. Whatever was here crouched just beyond a nearby streetlight’s circle of light. He couldn’t see it, but the smell was familiar. Feline. Not a house cat, and not anything he recognized.

Kione relaxed a little. “I sense no aggression.”

Utah wasn’t so sure. A large predator might kill just for the hell of it. Besides, a big cat prowling the city streets was way outside of normal. He decided to take the initiative. “If you’re a shifter, come out and talk.”
And if you’re not? Better run because the animal control people will be on your tail.

The shadows rippled and moved. Darkness coalesced into a huge black cat. It stalked them, golden eyes glowing. Jaguar. All the human stuff Fin had downloaded into his brain when he first rose was coming in handy.

“Who are you?” Kione didn’t move.

Utah took a step forward. His philosophy was that prey stood still or turned and ran. A predator always advanced, because a timid hunter never lived a long life. He wouldn’t show weakness in the presence of this animal.

The male voice in his head was unfamiliar.

“I am Balan, the messenger for those you call by numbers. I am honored to meet another God of the Night and a mighty fae prince.”

God of the Night? Utah almost snorted, but decided it might not be wise to piss off someone with a connection to Seven. “I’d say it was an honor to meet you too, but since Seven has taken one of ours and is busy trying to kill us, I guess I have to put you in the enemy camp.”

Balan circled them, moving with a powerful grace, his unblinking golden stare shining in the darkness.
“I am not the enemy. I am simply a messenger. I observe and report, nothing more.”

Utah wasn’t so sure of the simply-a-messenger part. He felt a power in the cat he couldn’t identify.

Kione finally spoke up. “I assume you have a message for us.” The edge of his cloak lifted as the wind suddenly kicked up.

“Your power stirs the heavens, prince. An impressive display, but I have a cat’s aversion to getting wet. Please control it until I have gone.”
Balan turned his attention to Utah.
“Seven is only responding to your aggression. If the Eleven would leave us in peace, no one else need suffer.”

“Leave you to destroy humanity? Not likely.” Utah watched the jaguar pause in the shadows.

“It will happen whether you wish it or not.”
Balan seemed to sink farther into the darkness until only his golden eyes were visible.

Utah rushed into speech, afraid the cat would leave. “Where has Seven taken Lia? Is she okay?” Not that he expected Balan to answer his questions, but he had to try.

“Lia is well, but Seven no longer has her. She now resides with my master.”