Shiver (Night Roamers) (25 page)

He smiled.
“Wait a second, where and when did this happen? And I was with two girls, you say?”

“
You were at Club Nightshade,” I snapped. “Just a few hours ago.”

He chuckled.
“Listen, you may have been there, but I certainly wasn’t.”

“
That’s crap. Celeste picked me up at the cabin, brought me to the club, and there you were, getting it on with two dominatrix-type of skanks.”

He laughed
. “Are you serious? Did they whip me?”

I glared at him
. “Not funny.”

He sighed
and then grabbed my shoulders. “Listen to me, I swear to God,” he said, staring into my eyes. “I wasn’t there. I left you at the cabin and came straight here, like I said I would. Unfortunately, Faye was also here and like an idiot, I walked into some kind of trap. The next thing I knew, I was locked inside of that cell, unable to move because she’d somehow drained me of both my blood and energy.”

“Why would she do th
at? I thought you were her little ‘boy toy’?”

He frowned. “Who said that?”

“Celeste.”

He dropped his arms and ran a hand over his face
. “Okay, fine…we had something a long time ago but it was clearly a mistake. Once I found out how dangerous and twisted Faye was, it drove me away. The only reason I was at the diner with her yesterday was because I knew she was up to something and I wanted to find out exactly what. Then, when you stopped over to our table, I could actually feel her rage. That’s the only reason I blew you off. She’d have killed you if she knew my true feelings.”

“
Well, I felt her true feelings about me. In fact sometimes I can hear her in my head.”

“You can?” He frowned.
“She was probably toying with you. She can connect to anyone she wants and send them messages.”

I raised my eyebrows. “Why in the world would she do that?”

“Like I said before, she’s twisted and crazy. I guess you could say that she likes to play with her food before she eats it.”

My jaw dropped. “Are you saying I’m on her menu?”

“I’m saying that you definitely still need my protection, because she’s obviously after you.”

“
Oh really? Well, you didn’t do so well protecting yourself,” I said.

His face darkened. “
I wasn’t prepared before; this time I am.”

The image of him with the two girls flashed through my mind
, again. “I still don’t understand who was at the club earlier, if it wasn’t you.”

He shrugged.
“I’m sure it was Faye.”

I didn’t expect that answer.
“What?”

“As I’ve been trying to tell you, she’s a s
hape-shifter. She can transform into anyone she wants. Obviously, she had Celeste helping her out this time.”

“Celeste?”

“Celeste would do anything for Faye. She idolizes her.”

“This is all so confusing,” I mumbled
, feeling slightly dizzy.

He grabbed me and pulled me into his arms. “The only thing you have to remember is that I love you and there is nobody else,” he murmured into my hair.

“What about Miranda?” I whispered, catching a trace of his butterscotch scent.

He stiffened up.

“Ethan?”

Sighing, he pulled away and raised my chin. “
I love you, Nikki. I realize that you’re not Miranda, nor do I want you to be.”

“That’s a relief
,” I murmured.

“Now, although I’d love
nothing more than to take you up to my bedroom and have my way with you, it’s much too dangerous here.”

“
Which reminds me,” I said. “Where do you think Caleb took my mother?”

His eyebrows shot up.
“Your mother is missing?”

“Yes. I’m sure Caleb took her. He also murdered Sonny, Duncan’s dad.”

“What about Duncan? Did he get him?”

I pushed him. “This isn’t a joke. My mom is missing and Sonny’s dead! He was a nice man and Duncan doesn’t deserve any of this!”

He grabbed me and held me to him. “Calm down. I’ll help you find your mom.”

“Thank you,” I answered
, into his chest. “Now, let’s go.”

He followed
me upstairs to the kitchen.

“Huh, Nathan must be outside waiting,” I said as we moved through the house.

“Let me check the rest of the house first,” said Ethan, disappearing.

Two seconds later he returned wearing a dark pair of sunglasses
and new clothes. “He’s definitely not inside. Good news is, I found my other pair of sunglasses.”

“I’m thrilled for you,” I mumbled, opening the front door.
I walked outside and stared at the Mustang, which was empty. “What the hell?”

“Nathan!” yelled Ethan, his
booming voice louder than I could have possibly imagined.

“
Ethan,” I winced, covering my ears.

He
walked towards the Mustang and bent down. “There’s been a scuffle,” he said, pointing towards the dirt.

I looked down towards the ground; sure enough, someone
had either been dancing or struggling with someone else.

“Crap,” I said. “Where do you think he is?

He shrugged. “The club?”

I raised my eyebrows.
“The club? Why in the world would he be there?” I asked.

“
Something tells me that Faye has him. She owns Club Nightshade.”

“You’re not coming,” argued Ethan. “It’s too dangerous.”

“Well, you’re definitely not going alone. You didn’t
fare too well last time all by yourself,” I said. “Besides, aren’t you still pretty weak?”

“I’m fine.”

“Ethan, if you need blood…”

“Are you offering?”

I swallowed. “Only, if it’s going to help save Nathan.”

He smiled seductively and touched my stomach
. “Right now, blood isn’t what I’m craving.”

I ignored him
. “As I was saying….I’m going with you, like it or not.”

He blew out an exasperated breath
. “Don’t you see? It’s what she wants. She’s using your brother as bait.”

I scowled. “I don’t ca
re. You have to let me go with you. How do we know that she isn’t trying to separate us? I’d be even more vulnerable if you left me alone. Maybe that’s her plan.”

Ethan sighed. “Good point.”

“Damn right it is.”

“Fine,”
he grumbled, finally relenting. “You can come, but that means you do exactly what I say.”

Okay,” I said.

His eyes narrowed. “Exactly, Nikki.”

“
I said I will.”

He nodded.
“Okay, start by removing your clothes.”

My eyes widened.
“What?”

There was a twinkle in his eyes.
“See, you’re already questioning my orders.”

“
Ethan,” I warned, biting back a smile.

He
smirked. “I had to try.”

“
We’re wasting time.”

“Okay then, let’
s go,” he said, moving towards me.

“Whoa…how about we drive this time?” I said, taking a step back.

“That takes much too long,” he said, pulling me into his arms. “Like you said, we’re already wasting time.”

I held my breath as he launched into the air
. Seconds later, we were behind the club and I was fighting another wave of nausea. 

“
You okay?” he asked, looking down at me.

“Just a little dizzy,” I mumbled
, pulling away. The last thing I wanted to do was puke in his arms.

“
Don’t worry, Nikki. You’ll get used to it.”

“Right
,” I said.

“Well,” he said,
trying to open one of the delivery doors.

“I thought you were really powerful. Can’t you just rip the door off?”

“There’s probably and alarm on these doors. It would give us away.”

“Oh, yeah.”

“Obviously it’s closed, and we can’t just enter through the front, either. She’s probably monitoring the entrance.”

“What do you recommend?”

He looked up. “We should try the roof. Ready?”

I backed away
from him as he advanced towards me.

“Why don’t you come back down and let me i
n through one of these doors?”

He shook his head. “I’m not leaving you a
lone. This was your idea, remember?”

“
Fine, let’s go.”

As it turned out, there was a pen
thouse on the roof.

“This is where Faye stays when she’s in town,” he said. “I haven’t been up here yet, but she told me a little about it.”

“Right,” I mumbled.

He grinned.
“I haven’t. Seriously.”

“How can you enter her place if you haven’t been invited in?”

“But I have been invited, Nikki. I never said I hadn’t.”

“Oh.”

I followed Ethan through a sliding glass door that led to a wide, open living room which was more luxurious than anything I’d ever encountered.

“This
place is amazing,” I said.

The
walls were covered with different types of artwork that probably cost more than my mother’s annual salary, and the contemporary leather furniture sitting next to white fireplace reminded me of something I’d recently seen in some magazine.   

“She lives pretty lavishly
,” said Ethan, motioning towards the white piano sitting in the corner of the room.

“I gu
ess,” I murmured.

“
At least she isn’t here,” he said. “I can’t smell her.”

I raised my eyebrows. “You could
smell her?”

“Our senses are superior to those of humans. It’s what makes us good hunters
.”

“Oh,
” I shuddered.

He bit back a smile
. “Let’s go.”

We left the penthouse and made our way down the emergency stairwell. When we reached the bottom,
he looked at me. “Stay behind and don’t say anything. I’m going to try and reason with Faye.”