Kissing Sin (16 page)

Which begged the question, what happened four hundred years ago? But I didn’t bother asking, because I knew he wouldn’t tell me. “Then you’ve never turned a lover?”

“No. It rarely works out well, anyway.”

“Because of the territorial thing?”

He hesitated. “And because vampires cannot live on each other’s blood.”

They couldn’t? That was interesting. I’d thought blood was blood, no matter what the source. I glanced at my watch and saw it was eight-thirty. The doctor would still be in his office if I rang now. “What happens next is up to you to decide. Just be well aware that I will have other partners, and I will not stop attending the moon dances. I can’t afford to.” I hesitated, watching his eyes, watching my words sink in. He wasn’t liking them, wasn’t accepting them. Not yet. “In the meantime, you got a phone I can use?”

He fished the keys out of his pocket, and tossed them to me. “In the car.”

“Thanks. I’ll meet you in the restaurant, if you like.”

He nodded. I strode past him, and went to make the call that would end any hopes I had of having a child of my own.

I
n the end, we didn’t get to eat. Quinn drove me back to the medical center, and the doctor inserted the intrauterine device that would stop any threat of pregnancy—it was also the only device that wasn’t going to be detected by the blood tests I had no doubt Misha would insist on. He also inserted the monitor, as I suspected Misha would keep an eye on my file, and would be suspicious if it wasn’t inserted. For that reason, I asked the doctor not to put anything on my file about the IUD, and though he was far from happy about it, he agreed. He had no choice really, as he knew I was Directorate and could easily have gotten the request enforced.

I don’t really remember the elevator ride back down to the ground, though I do remember Quinn taking me in his arms and holding me for what seemed like forever. He never said a word, but then, he didn’t need to. Though the link between us was locked down tight, I knew he understood my pain. He was a vampire, after all, and knew all about never being able to have kids.

It was after midnight by the time we got back to the apartment. Jack was there, sitting at his com-screen, and a somewhat fierce scowl crossed his features as we walked in.

“Where the hell have you two been?”

“Thinking,” I said.

“And this thinking couldn’t have been interrupted for a quick phone call update on what the hell was going on?”

“No.” Actually, I hadn’t even thought of it.

I glanced toward the other bedrooms. I knew my brother was in one, but there were snores coming from the other room. Kade, undoubtedly. Why the hell was he was still here? What did Jack plan to do with him?

And was there any way I could uncover the mystery of the horse-shifter?

“Want a coffee, boss?”

“Thanks.”

I raised an eyebrow at Quinn, who nodded, then headed into the kitchen to get us all coffee. With that done, I sat down on the sofa opposite Jack and filled him in on everything that had happened. We talked for a good hour, after which I rang Misha. He was awake, as I knew he would be.

“We should talk,” I said, the minute he answered the phone.

“Yes, we should.”

I glanced at Jack, who was hooked up to my cell phone, listening in, as well as talking to the director on a second phone. He met my gaze and nodded, indicating everything had been arranged.

“Three o’clock. Macey Jane’s, in Lygon Street.”

My gaze slid passed Jack, and settled on Quinn. I was willing to meet him halfway, even though it wasn’t entirely wise to do so. Whether he was willing to do the same remained to be seen. But the mere fact that his disapproval stung the air suggested he hadn’t yet come to grips with the situation. Maybe he never would.

And as much as I wanted to be with him, I wasn’t willing to change my entire life for him. Nor would I back down from this investigation. I needed to be a part of its ending, needed to see it ended with my own eyes, to be totally sure I was safe. If Quinn couldn’t accept that, and accept me, then we were never meant to be. No matter how rich a piece of chocolate my hormones considered him to be.

“Sorry, that ain’t going to happen,” came Misha’s drawl. “For a start, I don’t trust the mob you work for
that
much. And secondly, I dare not step beyond known haunts at the moment. I’m being watched.”

“Yeah, by the Directorate.”

“And by those you hunt.”

“Meaning they don’t trust you?” My gaze went to Jack again. Did he know the Directorate wasn’t the only one watching Misha? The raised eyebrows suggested not. “Why am I not surprised?”

His chuckle whispered down the line, stirring memories that were best forgotten.

“We’ll meet at the Blue Moon.”

Jack shook his head. I ignored him. We needed to find out what Misha knew, and while the Blue Moon wasn’t a Directorate-patrolled safe place, it was somewhere
I
felt safe. I knew the people, knew the layout. And of all the werewolves’ clubs, the Blue Moon was the strictest when it came to patron safety.

“I’d hardly call
that
a regular haunt of yours.”

“Ah, but it has been since your disappearance.”

A cold lump formed in my stomach. “You couldn’t have known I’d escape that place.”

“No, but I knew he’d underestimate you. He always has—”

“He who?” I cut in.

This time his soft chuckle made my skin crawl. “We’ll have to discuss terms before we get to an exchange of…information.”

“You’d better be offering some good information, Misha, or it’s no deal. And it wouldn’t matter if you were the only fertile wolf on the damn planet.”

“I’m your only way out of a return to another of those pens,” he said softly. “Believe that, if you believe nothing else.”

The soft certainty in his voice sent another chill across my skin. I did believe him, though God only knew I was probably being stupid for doing so.

“When?”

Jack rolled his eyes, and looked decidedly unhappy as he began speaking into the second phone.

“Three’s fine by me. I’ll book one of the private rooms, just to ensure our conversation isn’t overheard, but we’ll meet on the dance floor. It’ll look more like a coincidence to my watchers.”

“If you know about them, why not get rid of them?”

“Because right now, they have their uses.” Amusement was evident in his voice. I’d always thought Misha to be the quieter, saner of the two mates I’d had over the last few years, but that assumption was proving to be very wrong.

“Tomorrow is a werewolf-only day,” he continued, “so neither the vampire or that horse-shifter you escaped with will get in. Rhoan can, but if I spot him, I’m out the door and the deal is off.”

How had he known that Kade was still with us? Or was it simply a guess on his part?

“I don’t think any of us trust you enough to agree to a deal like that.”

“Tough. It’s my way or the highway. They can put a tracker under your skin if they think I’m going to do a runner with you.”

They could, and they would. I’d be damned if I’d risk getting snatched again. “Why just me?”

“Because I’m walking the edge of a sword right now, and have no intention of slipping over that edge until I’m sure of what lies below.”

Which was a poetic way of saying he wanted to test the waters first. “You’d better not be bullshitting us, Misha.”

“I’m not, believe me.” He paused, and shifted. Silk sighed, and I had sudden visions of black sheets sliding over pale skin. “To prove this, may I suggest you get out of that Brighton penthouse within the next five minutes?”

Blood drained from my face, and my gaze jerked from Quinn to Jack. “How do you know we’re in a Brighton penthouse?”

Even before I’d said the words, Jack was ordering Quinn to wake Rhoan and Kade.

“Same way I know you’re about to be attacked by air. I suggest you move your pretty butt, Riley, if you want to make the meeting tomorrow.”

By air? We were ten stories up, for fuck’s sake…

I hung up, and swung around.

Just in time to see several blue things blast through the plate-glass windows.

Chapter 6

I
barely had time to scream a warning before they were flowing through the cut glass and racing toward me. I backpedaled fast, blocking blows with my forearms. My skin crawled every time I touched the slick, cold flesh of the creatures. They smelled of rotting flesh even though none of them looked to be in decay, and my stomach rolled, threatening to rebel. I swallowed, and tried to breathe through my mouth as I punched one of the blue things in the face and sent him flying back across the room.

My neck prickled a warning. I spun. A fine line of silver arced toward me. This time, it wasn’t an arrowhead laced with enough elephant juice to knock me out, but a goddamn laser. I dove out of the way, hitting the floor with a grunt that sent air whooshing from my lungs. The smell of burnt leather touched the air as the beam punched through the back of the sofa.

“Here,” Rhoan said sharply.

Something silver spun through the semidarkness. Not another laser beam, but a laser. I caught it left-handed and twisted around as something grabbed my ankles. A stinking blue thing had my toes in his clammy little grip and was attempting to hold me still as he raised the laser. Stupid, that’s what he was. Even
I
knew you didn’t give an opponent an even chance to fire.

I pressed the laser’s trigger and fired without bothering to sight. Right now, any hit was a good hit. Light that was red and somehow angry leapt across the distance between us, slicing into flesh and bone. The creature’s arm plopped to the floor beside me, the stump black and smoldering rather than bloody. The smell of burnt flesh rent the air, and I almost lost my coffee right there and then.

Fighting the tide, trying not to breathe too deeply, I kicked with my free foot, sending him flying backward. Another beam of red bit across the darkness, finishing what I’d started.

I scrambled to my feet. Another of the creatures came at me, all arms and ugly flesh. I ducked several blows, then threw one of my own. My punch landed mid-gut, but it was like hitting Jell-O. Wet, slimy Jell-O that just wobbled under the impact, absorbing without consequence.

Well, shit…The thought got no further as his fist hit my chin and the force of the blow sent me flying backward. I hit a wall with a grunt, and slid down the paintwork, briefly seeing a double of everything.

Including a flying blue thing, its teeth bared and gleaming wickedly in the darkness.

I closed my eyes, tasting the air, judging his whereabouts and closeness by scent alone, then raised the laser and fired.

There was a thud, and the smell of burned flesh rent the air, making my stomach curl. I opened my eyes. Two headless blue things wavered in and out of focus near my feet.

“Riley,” Rhoan said, suddenly coming into vision. A second later his hand grabbed mine. “You all right?”

He helped me rise, and I gave a shaky nod. “Just a little dazed by a punch to the chin.”

He touched the right side of my face gently. “You’re going to have a bit of a bruise there.”

“So kissing is out for a day or so?”

“I’d say so.”

“Bugger.”

He grinned. “You don’t need to kiss to have a good time.”

“That’s so true.”

“You want some ice?”

“Please.” It actually hurt to talk, but I’d be damned if I’d give
that
up.

He squeezed my arm, then turned around and headed for the kitchen area. “The question we need answered right now,” he said, over his shoulder, “is how the hell did they find us?”

It didn’t seem to be aimed at anyone in particular, so I shrugged and said, “Misha?”

“I wouldn’t think so. He’s playing a game that’s wholly his own. Which is not saying that he wouldn’t betray us if it did suit him.”

“And right now, it doesn’t.” Because of me, because of the plans he had for me.

Jack came out of a bedroom, a cut above his eye and his shirt torn. His normally merry features were cold and hard, and a good percentage of the anger gleaming in his eyes was aimed my way. “That was a fool thing to do, Riley.”

I stared at him, confused. “What?”

“Arranging that meeting with Misha in the Blue Moon.”

Oh,
that
.

“Hey, you wanted me to meet him. Don’t blame me if he didn’t want to play by your rules.”

“We can’t get people into the Blue Moon tomorrow. The man said it’s a werewolf-only day.”

“Yeah, but it doesn’t matter, because nothing will happen to me there. Besides, there’s only two exits to watch.” My gaze went past Jack as Quinn came into the room. He didn’t look hurt, even though he wasn’t armed, and relief swam through me.

His gaze met mine, and some of the tension in his shoulders seemed to ease. “You okay?”