Kissing Sin (8 page)

Jack grunted and glanced at me. “And were they collecting samples from you?”

I shrugged. “It’s all very hazy at the moment. All I can really remember is waking up in a small lane beside a dead man.”

“The lack of memory coming from the drugs or the accident?”

I shrugged again.

“Probably the accident,” Rhoan commented, looking at me critically. “The scar on her head looks as if the wound might have been bad enough to cause memory loss.”

“What scar?”

My confusion was evident in my voice. I hadn’t noticed a scar when I’d showered in the old house, but then, I’d been in a hurry to get to the kitchen and find some coffee. And I certainly wasn’t prone to spending hours in front of a mirror. A quick glance was all that was usually needed unless I was going somewhere special and had to apply makeup.

Kade ran a finger from my temple to the back of my head and said, “That scar, sweetheart.”

I frowned. “Is it nasty?” God, the last thing I needed was another scar to worry about. I had enough as it was, thanks to childhood mishaps.

“Your hair covers it, no probs.”

“So this place is in a nearby town?” Jack said, in a voice that suggested little tolerance for slight deviances from the topic at hand.

I grinned, more than a little used to his impatience. “This place
is
a town. And a testing ground. They have mock buildings as well as concrete ones.”

“Can you lead us back there?” he asked.

“I can,” Kade said, before I could. “Riley was unconscious for some of the journey.”

Which was so totally fudging the truth. Jack glanced at me, eyebrow raised imperceptibly. He knew the lie, but for whatever reason, wasn’t going to argue it. Maybe he figured he needed a horse-shifter in his new task force. He glanced at the com-screen, said, “Area map,” then looked at Kade. “You want to give us a rough location? We’ll get some of our people to do a flyover.”

Kade strode over and pointed at an area on the screen. “I don’t think we can afford to wait for reinforcements. They’d have to realize our escape will put their position in jeopardy. I wouldn’t mind betting they’re pulling out even as we speak.”

Jack glanced up at Kade, then at me. And I saw the question in his eyes, even though the words he said next were completely different.

“Do you think five of us is enough muscle to tackle that place?”

“No,” Kade said. “But if you want to catch any of these bastards, then we have to take the risk.”

And it
was
a risk. A huge risk, and everyone in the room knew that, including me. But it was one Jack was contemplating.
Had
to contemplate, if we were to have any hope of finally getting a proper lead on these maniacs.

I continued to meet his gaze, and mulled over the implications of his unasked question. Of giving him what he wanted—me on this raid, taking yet another step on the road to becoming a guardian—juxtaposed against the promise I’d made on the knoll outside Genoveve. A promise to see this through, to see it finished.

“Riley’s not a guardian,” Rhoan said. And though he didn’t add it, the word “yet” seemed to hang in the air as he continued. “You can’t expect to include her on a raid like this. It’s too dangerous.”

Jack glanced his way briefly. “She has senses and reflexes as sharp as yours. That alone gives her an advantage over most other races.”

“A good olfactory sense and sharp reflexes aren’t going to mean squat if she gets attacked again.”

“I’m not stupid enough to send her in alone.”

And still he continued to look at me, waiting for my answer. An answer he knew I had no choice but to give, because I wanted to see this finished as much as he did. After all, these bastards were continually coming after
me,
not him. That alone would have been reason enough to do this.

Even if it was one more step away from freedom, and the life I’d always dreamed of having.

“I’m in,” I said, even as my stomach squirmed at the thought of going back to that place. “And I agree with Kade—we had better hurry.”

A pleased smile touched the corners of Jack’s mouth, but all he said was, “Rhoan, get Riley kitted out, then take her into the other room to catch some rest. Kade, you can stay here and give me an idea of the layout.” He glanced at his watch. “We’ll move at five—”

“But that’s still two hours away,” Kade interrupted. “We need to move ASAP.”

“Unfortunately, we’re restricted by the fact I’m a vampire. Some daylight I can stand, but not a whole lot.”

Kade muttered something under his breath, then nodded. Rhoan cast a somewhat dark look Jack’s way, then motioned me to follow him.

My gaze went to Quinn. His face was still very expressionless, and yet I had some sense of what he was feeling. Whether that was due to the link we’d formed between us—a link that was closed, and yet not—or whether it was simply wishful thinking, I have no idea. But Quinn was no happier than Rhoan about my inclusion on this raid.

Well, tough. He’d lost any right to comment on the direction of my life when he’d turned his back on me that final time.

I followed Rhoan out the door and over to the black van. Overhead, the afternoon sky was clear and blue, and free of any soaring shapes. But the day was unnaturally still, free of the busy chatter of bird life usually found in the thick bush that surrounded the hotel. My gaze skimmed the trees circling the cabins, a prickle of unease running across my skin.

“Do you hear that?” I said, as Rhoan pulled open the van’s side door.

“Hear what?” he said, looking at me.

“Exactly what I mean. It’s unnaturally quiet.”

“We are in the mountains, not the city.” Even so, he had a look around and his gaze narrowed a little. “Maybe you’d better get inside while I look about.”

“Given the things that have been tracking Kade and me, I think we’re better off sticking together.”

“Riley—”

“Don’t ‘Riley’ me. You haven’t seen the orsini. I have. Trust me, you do not want to come upon those beasties by yourself.”

“What the hell are orsini?” He reached inside the van and handed me several small laser guns and a knife. My “kit,” presumably.

“Weird-looking bearlike creatures with nasty claws and big teeth.”

“Ah. Well, if you survived them, I think I might be able to.”

“They wanted me alive, Rhoan.” Or at least they had, before I’d actually managed to escape the main compound. “It’s probably the only reason the orsini didn’t actually kill me when I first escaped the cage.”

Though their attempts at recapture, if that’s what they’d been, had felt bloody deadly.

“And you think those things are the reason for the sudden silence?”

“No. But it just doesn’t feel right.”

He strapped on his weapons, and slung a laser rifle over his shoulder. “Then let’s go a-hunting.”

I hesitated, ever so briefly. Rhoan smiled grimly. “Are you sure you’re ready to do this?”

He didn’t mean hunting orsini or whatever the hell else was out there. I looked down and began strapping on the weapons. “I have no choice.”

“There’s always a choice, no matter what the situation.”

I snorted softly. “Like I had the choice of getting the unapproved fertility treatment? Like I have the choice of how it’s going to affect me? Like I have a choice of becoming a guardian if it does affect me?”

“That’s different.”

“No, it’s not.” I finished strapping on the knife and one of the lasers. The second laser was a small palm model, and that I held. I had to admit, the press of cold metal against my skin felt oddly comforting. I straightened and met my brother’s gaze. “I have to go back to that place and uncover what they were doing. For my own piece of mind, if nothing else.”

His gaze searched mine, then he sighed softly. “You are such a stubborn bitch.”

“Learned from the best,” I said, with a smile.

He shook his head, then closed the van door and padded quietly over to the trees at the end of the cabin. I followed at his back, listening to the wind, to the sounds underneath it—or rather, the lack thereof—as I scanned the trees and the dappled shadows for any sound or sight of the orsini.

Nothing.

No sound, no movement, no misshapen bear things or any other creature, nasty or not. The bush was a strange and silent place, and the sensation that something was wrong continued to scratch at my nerves.

We circled right around the property and all its building, and came to a stop near our starting point. “You’d better go get some rest.”

“Rhoan—”

“Riley, you look dead on your feet. Just let me do what I’m paid to do, without arguing for a change.”

I blew out a breath, then nodded. Truth was, I
did
need to sleep, though I very much doubted I’d be able to when in two hours’ time I’d be heading back to a place that had snatched eight days of my life away. But that wasn’t the reason I couldn’t force my feet toward the cabin. It was the silence. The creeping sensation that something was near.

“Why do you think Kade is being allowed on this mission?” I asked instead, my gaze on the nearby trees.

“Because Jack knows his history and has every confidence he can handle it.” Rhoan shrugged. “And we need the extra manpower.”

“So you haven’t seen his file?”

“No. And no, I’m not going to steal it for you. If you want to uncover his history, ask the man.”

“I did. He said he was a builder.”

“The horse-shifter is as much a builder as I am straight.” Amusement twinkled in his gray eyes. “Now, stop delaying. Get inside and rest.”

I scanned the trees a final time, finding no hint of danger or anything out of place. There was nothing around, nothing to explain the apprehension crawling across my skin.

It was probably just the fear of returning to the testing grounds—or whatever the hell that place was—that was making me so jumpy. After another hesitation, I turned and headed for the room.

I opened the door of the second cabin and stepped inside. The afternoon light swept in behind me, breaking some of the shadows holding the cabin’s interior captive and highlighting the big old bed. From the other room came the sound of voices—Quinn’s lilting tones and Kade’s deeper resonance. Nice sounds to go to sleep by.

I closed the door and walked over to the bed, stripping off weapons and clothes as I did so.

It wasn’t until I tugged back the bed covers and began to climb inside that I realized I wasn’t alone in the room.

Chapter 4

T
he moment I paused, the shadows attacked.

Only it wasn’t shadows but a creature—as black as night, as invisible as a vampire, and just as fast.

Luckily, so was I.

I rolled off the bed and twisted around, lashing out with a bare foot. The blow connected with solid darkness and the creature grunted, but didn’t waver. It flowed over the bed and leapt at me, a flash of deeper black that slashed with wicked-looking barbed claws.

I ducked the blow then dove sideways, over the bed, grabbing at the weapons lying casually on the bedside table. My fingers scraped across metal, sending the lasers flying even as I grasped the knife.

“Rhoan!”

My shout rang across the silence. The creature hissed, a hushed sound that nevertheless irritated my ears. It came at me, a blur of arms and legs and claws. I backed away fast, ducking and weaving and slashing as hard as I could with the knife. One blow hit flesh, slicing deep and hard, until the shock of slicing through bone reverberated up my arm. There was a plop, followed by a gush of stinking blood, then the door was flung open and the room flooded by sunlight, revealing the creature to be humanoid in shape but not proportion.

“Drop,” Rhoan said.

I did, hitting the carpet hard. My breath whooshed out as darkness ran past me, chased by a thin beam of red. Glass shattered and footsteps retreated. Rhoan ran past.

I scrambled to my feet and ran after my brother. He shifted shape mid-stride and leapt through the broken window in wolf form. I remained in human form and followed, hitting the glass-covered ground beyond and cutting my back as I rolled to my feet and ran on.

The shadowy creature flicked through the trees, fast and elusive. The still air carried no scent—if it had one at all, it was being smothered by the sharp aroma of eucalyptus and earth.

But it was bleeding, and it was the blood trail that we followed.

We ran on through the trees, dodging and leaping rocks and brush and ferns and logs. Then the air grew suddenly sharper, colder, and I looked ahead. The trees ended abruptly, leaving nothing but sky. I dove forward, grabbing Rhoan by the haunches, dragging him to a halt.

He snarled and snapped at me, his teeth grazing my skin but not actually hurting. I slapped his nose. “There’s a cliff ahead, idiot.”

He twisted around, looking ahead, then gave a doggy sniff and rolled out of my grip, shifting shape before walking forward. I stood but didn’t follow. Cliff edges and I were not compatible items.