Moonlight Menage (23 page)

Kyle motioned her back around the corner and they slipped out of sight as the camera made its way back around.

After a few seconds, Kyle stuck his head around the corner again then strode up to the door, pulling something out of his pants pocket as he went.

Following behind him, she watched him pick the lock on the front door in under thirty seconds. As Kyle turned the knob and pushed open the door, Dan slipped through first as she and Kyle waited. When Dan returned, they followed him into what appeared to be the reception area for a business.

With Dan leading the way, they hurried through the building, winding through several office spaces connected by halls and doors. All looked deserted, cubicles with no chairs, no computers.

She tried to make as little noise as possible. Kyle and Dan made no sound at all. They were ghosts.

Hell, people outside probably heard her heavy breathing.

And each step they took brought them closer to that unnerving sense of wrongness.

After a few minutes, she could barely get her feet to move because her skin crawled and she shook from head to toe. Then Kyle held up his hand in a fist, which she assumed meant stop because he did as well.

Dan had gone ahead to the next door, an industrial steel contraption that looked different than anything they’d encountered already. She could barely make out his form as he sifted through the shadows.

She couldn’t believe no one had confronted them yet or that they hadn’t seen or heard anyone. She’d seen no cameras or security devices but that didn’t there weren’t any.

Kyle cocked his head to the side, as if listening to something. Something she couldn’t hear.

Closing her eyes, she used her
arus
to sense the world around her instead of her traditional five senses.

The vision hit out of nowhere, disjointed images assaulting her mind. She wasn’t sure how long the vision lasted. It could only have lasted seconds because Kyle remained in position in front of her.

The vision stole her breath, punching into her stomach. She opened her mouth to warn Kyle and Dan.

And the door flew open.

* * * * *

Nic heard the sounds of battle ahead and took off down the hall.

His only thought was Tira. If anything happened to her…

He poured on the speed, sensed Kaine pull up beside him. Duke and the
eteri
raced after them but he and Kaine soon left them behind.

Gunshots rang out, only a few. Then the sound of hand-to-hand fighting and the fierce snarls of a wolf.

Nic paid no attention to his surroundings. He didn’t sense anyone but his companions around him so he concentrated on reaching the fight.

There, the door just ahead…

His first instinct was to barrel into the room and find Tira. Protect Tira.

He didn’t care what happened to him.

He pulled up short, just before he hit the door.

No, wait, that wasn’t true. Gods damn it, he did care. He wanted to live through this. He wanted to spend his life with Tira and Duke. Wanted what he’d told himself he couldn’t have because he’d be dead.

Yeah, well, fuck that.

People changed their fate every day. They took a right when they could’ve taken a left. Maybe if they’d taken the left, they would’ve been hit by a bus. Who really knew?

And if he took the turn that led to the bus, well, then at least he would get Tira the hell out safely before it crushed the life out of him.

Beside him, he heard a soft huff. Kaine, staring at him with her head cocked to the side, questions in her eyes.

With his paw, he motioned for her to follow him through then he stuck his head into the room.

What he saw made him snarl in fear and anger and he leaped into the fray.

* * * * *

Taking cover beneath an industrial-sized metal desk, Tira ignored Dan and Kyle and the battle they fought against the six men in the room.

Gunshots rang out but neither Kyle nor Dan seemed to be hurt so she kept her eyes on the red-haired woman who watched the fight from behind her men with no outward sign of fear. Or concern. Or any emotion at all.

It was like she was watching a TV show she wasn’t particularly interested in.

Tira had no idea if the woman had seen her or if she didn’t even care that she was under attack.

However, she did keep looking behind her at a long, black box. It reminded Tira of a coffin, though she knew there were vents on the sides. And a girl in the box. The girl she’d seen in her vision.

Tira had to get the girl out of the box. Everything depended on her getting the girl out of the box.

She stuck her head around the side of the desk, plotting her course, forcing back the fear that wanted her to stay hidden and safe under the desk.

Safe wouldn’t get her what she wanted.

On her hands and knees, she crawled to the next desk, then the next. She was fairly certain no one had seen her or, if they had, they paid no attention to her.

They must have sensed or known she was no danger to them.

And she wasn’t.

At least, not on her own.

By the time she’d crept close enough to the woman to do what she had to do, Kyle and Dan had managed to knock out one of the men.

And the woman’s face had taken on a faintly worried expression.

You really don’t want to do this. Don’t do this. There has to be another way.

Tira took a deep breath.

No, this was it. She
had
to do this.

Forcing her shaking knees to take her weight, she stood, drawing the woman’s focus to her.

The woman nodded as if they were acquaintances who’d happened to bump into each other on the street.

“Hello again, Tira.”

Thinking “What the fuck” and hoping she wasn’t about to make the worst mistake of her life, Tira took another step closer.

“You have me at a disadvantage. I don’t know your name.”

The redhead rolled her eyes, as if bored with the whole conversation. But her hand lifted to rest on the box protectively. “You don’t need to. I’ll be gone in a few minutes. Your man and his pet are no match for my men. Haven’t you figured that out yet?”

“They’re not mine and you’re going to be in for a shock at just how well matched those two men are against your six.” Besides, if her vision was correct, reinforcements would be arriving in minutes and then it would get deadly. “You’re not going to leave. We’re not going to let you kidnap anyone else.”

The woman laughed, cool derision so clear in the sound. “Poor Tira. So pretty but so worthless. You don’t have enough power to be useful to me. Your friend, Nica, she would’ve been useful. Oh, not like my men. They’re much more powerful. Now. But Nica had some measurable skill. And I would have gladly compensated her for her help. But she chose not to join me.”

Tira blinked, her brain trying to wrap itself around what the woman was saying. Saying Nica had measurable skill was like saying the sun threw off a little light and heat.

What did this woman know about the Etruscans and their magic? Did she even know anything at all? What the hell was going on? And what questions should she be asking that wouldn’t give this crazy woman any more information?

She just needed to get close enough to touch her…

“I don’t believe Nica thought you were giving her a choice.”

Tira took a step closer, then another. Almost within touching distance. And since the woman seemed to think Tira was harmless—which she basically was—she didn’t attempt to move away. Her brown gaze watched the fight behind her then came back to connect with Tira’s.

“She would have been well-compensated for her aid.” Something moved through the redhead’s eyes, something that almost looked like grief to Tira. “Which doesn’t matter anymore. I have what I need.”

“What exactly did you need Nica for? If you need help—”

“I don’t need anyone’s help.” The woman looked down her nose at Tira. “Especially not yours.”

Tira’s eyebrows lifted. “Are you so sure about that?”

There. That got her full attention. The woman’s eyes narrowed as she considered Tira’s question then her lips turned up in a mocking grin. “Are you trying to tell me I underestimated you?”

Tira shook her head, taking a small step closer. “No. I’m not trying to tell you anything.”

The other woman shook her head, her gaze returning to the fight, as if she had nothing at all to fear. “What use could you be to me? You’re not strong enough to fight. You have no practical magic.” The redhead tilted her chin up at Tira’s involuntary start. “Yes, I know about magic. I know that you don’t have enough for what I need.”

“Really? Then you shouldn’t mind this.”

* * * * *

From what seemed like too far away, Duke saw Nic and Kaine pause at a doorway up the hall.

Duke heard the sounds of fighting and knew he wasn’t going to be fast enough to catch Nic before he headed into the fight.

And sure enough, with a snarl, Nic disappeared into the room, Kaine hot on his heels.

Dread hit him in the pit of his stomach. He didn’t have Tira’s Gift for foresight but he didn’t need it to know something was going to go wrong.

Intuition had served Duke well for years. But Nic had long ago forsaken cool rationality for impetuous action.

And Duke was damned if he was going to let it continue. Not now, when it wasn’t just Nic’s life on the line.

Tira was in that room. He could smell her. Whatever she was about to do scared her but she was determined to do it.

Duke poured on speed, not giving a shit if the
eteri
kept up or not.

Nic and Tira needed him.

Just before he hit the door, Duke stopped and pulled the knife from the concealed sheath in his boot. Then he stuck his head around the corner.

Kyle and Dan had four men pinned down in a corner near the door. They seemed to be holding their own.

Nic and Kaine—

Shit, they were in trouble. A behemoth with a length of chain in his hands stood between the wolves and a woman with red hair and Tira, who had one hand on the other woman’s arm.

Without stopping to think, Duke ran for his partners, knowing he was going to be too late as the man swung the chain.

The heavy weight caught Kaine across the chest, flinging her to the side like she was a rag doll. She hit a metal desk so hard the metal actually dented then she fell to the ground with a whimper and lay there unmoving.

Before Duke could move, the
eteri
ran for her, putting himself between her and the behemoth. John managed to get an arm up to cover his face before the other man swung the chain again.

The chain caught John on the biceps, making him flinch in pain but he held his position above Kaine.

At the same time, Nic attacked, teeth bared to bite the guy’s leg. Duke knew Nic intended to hamstring the guy but just before his teeth would’ve sunk in, the guy kicked out with his leg and sent Nic sprawling.

Leaving room for Duke to attack.

His fear for Tira lent strength to a roundhouse that should have, at the very least, made the guy take a couple of steps back.

But when Duke’s fist connected with jaw, he felt like he’d hit a block of concrete.

And when the guy hit him back, Duke swore he’d been hit with a sledgehammer.

The guy had power and he wasn’t just talking about strength.

Duke smelled it on him, but it was weird. Perverted.

Duke had a second to think
What the fuck?
before the guy pulled back and hit him so hard he fell back a couple of steps.

He rotated his jaw, tasted blood and tried to shake his brain back into place.

Shit, this was bad.

And getting worse, because the guy’s second punch knocked Duke into the wall six feet away.

And the world went dark.

* * * * *

Tira never took her eyes off the woman even though she knew Duke, Nic and Kaine were taking a beating behind her.

She had to maintain the connection with this woman, no matter what.

Her vision had made it clear that her life, and Duke’s and Nic’s, depended on this.

She already knew she wasn’t going to like what she saw. Death clung to this woman like a stench. But not one Tira could smell. More like a sensation, an almost tangible force around the woman. Something ate at her internally, something dark.

But Tira was no empath, not like Nica. She didn’t sense any illness in the woman.

What she sensed was…

Run. You need to run. Now.

Blessed Goddess, the absolute certainty that she should get as far away as possible from this woman was almost overwhelming. The muscles in her legs jerked and twitched with the impulse.

No. She planted her feet. No more running.

This woman held answers her people needed. And she’d get them.

She had to.

Keeping their gazes locked, she grasped the woman’s arm more tightly and stared into cold eyes.

The vision hit her almost immediately.

They both sucked in a breath, the woman’s eyes widening in shock as Tira’s Gift flowed into her.

Images burst like flares in Tira’s head while dark emotions slithered through her veins.

Impotent rage. Overwhelming fear. And a deep grief that colored everything in shades of crimson and black.

Tira couldn’t process the information fast enough. She wasn’t sure what she was seeing, couldn’t make her brain focus on any one picture.

But even as the vision entangled her brain, her gaze remained locked with the other woman’s.

Tira saw the woman’s realization of what was happening, saw her disbelief and her anger at the violation of her most private thoughts.

It
was
a violation, one she didn’t make lightly. But this woman had declared war on Tira’s family and friends.

And even though Tira couldn’t make sense of the pictures in her head now, she knew she’d be able to later. She’d be able to sort through them when she went into a meditative state.

The woman’s secrets would be revealed.

Somehow, the redhead knew this. Or suspected.

Either way, she fought to break Tira’s hold on her. She screamed, the high-pitched squeal loud enough to hurt Tira’s ears.