Silverbow (26 page)

I parked my bike at the end of his driveway and scurried up to the front door. I knocked and called out to him. No answer. I tested the lock and the door opened. Worry made my palms sweat as I entered and quietly closed the door behind me.

“Hines,” I called. There was still no answer. I checked the kitchen and covered my mouth when I spotted the puddle of blood by the back door. “Shit! Hines,” I yelled this time. He was no where to be found in the kitchen or living room. My boots thundered quickly up the stairs and towards the second puddle of blood outside the closed bathroom door. I placed my ear to the door and hand on the knob. “Hines,” I nearly whispered.

“Go home,” a hardly audible groan came from the other side of the door. I could hear a high pitch screech of something sliding in the tub. The door was locked but in my panic my strength heightened and my shoulder sent the door sailing open. My eyes darted over the bathroom until I found a bloody mess in the tub. Hines lay on his side caked in dark red and black blood. I rushed to his side and turned on the shower. The cold rush of water made him scream. He was naked and when I managed to flip him to his back I noticed the gaping wounds in his side and head.

“What the fuck happened to you,” I gasped as I tried my best to rinse away the grime and caked blood from his ribs and face.

“Armed trucker,” he whispered and winced as the now warming water stung his wounds. “I’ll heal,” he said and began to cough. Blood spattered his lips as he tried to sit up and fight the barking cough.

“I need to get you to the hospital,” I demanded. His hands quickly grabbed mine and his weak eyes grabbed my worried gaze.

“NO,” he choked. “Promise me.” He let me go and wiped his face. “I was hunting. They will know. The guy got away.”

My mind raced. He was just as horrible as all the other monsters out there and I had sympathy for him. Something inside me told me I could help him. I could help him fight his urge and not feed on innocents. I would try. I knew so little but felt I owed him for helping me. Together we could get through all this. I couldn’t let Murphy kill him. I wouldn’t let Murphy kill him.

“Listen to me. You are in much bigger trouble than you think. I am about to place myself in harms way to help you out of it. I am only doing this because I need you. You are going to help me manage this new life of mine and I, in return, will help you escape death. Do you hear me,” I asked seriously. His coughing subsided and he nodded. It took me nearly an hour to clean him up and get him into his bed. After I dried off, I sat at the foot of his bed shook my head.

“So it is him, isn’t it,” he asked quietly. I was sure I knew he was talking about Murphy. Maybe Murphy’s reputation was a little more known that he wished. I nodded and thought Hines looked as if he could cry.

“You’ve done so much damage and its on the government’s radar. He has to deal with it or,” I trailed off and Hines shifted. “I’ll do what I can. I’ll fight him.”

“Don’t get yourself killed over me, Dakota. It’s not like we are best friends.”

“You are still important to me…and to the kids out here.” I stood from the bed and paced across the room towards a window. My mind raced down every possible avenue of thought. Somehow, I came up with an idea. What if I could get Murphy to pin it all on Darius and his minions? Hell, we had already killed his worthless posse. If I promised Murphy I would clean up Hines and could get him Darius, maybe he would go for it. I had to try.

I turned back to Hines and cleared my throat, “Promise me you won’t kill on the highways again.” His eyes closed and opened, focused on mine.

“I promise,” he swore.

“Break this promise and I will kill you myself, Hines,” I stated firmly as I turned and closed the door behind me. Downstairs, I locked down the fort and took at seat at the tiny kitchen table. The house was dead silent. I knew Murphy would be coming for him and I would be waiting for him when he arrived. For hours I didn’t hear anything except a car leaving the neighborhood and Hines coughing. I watched my silent cell phone on the table top and wondered if I would hear from Murphy or Greyden.

Nightfall was approaching and my phone buzzed to life. I didn’t recognize the number. I pushed the answer button and sat silent.

“Dakota? Hello? Its your mom…I mean Viv,” she verbally stumbled on the other end. Right away I hung up, grabbed my gun and silently moved to the stairway. The air shifted and I felt as though a wall were being forced around me to stop me from feeling others. I closed my eyes and listened with my new senses. There was added warmth to the house. Someone else was here and a soft struggle in the bedroom told me it was Murphy. Quickly I glided up the stairs and kicked in the bedroom door. Murphy stood over Hines with a knife to his throat. Those harsh steel eyes darted to mine and he snarled.

“You can’t keep using her to distract me. Put it down, Murphy, we need to talk,” I spoke as collected as I possibly could. Hines lay still beneath Murphy’s huge frame and clamped his eyes shut. “Put it down or I will shoot,” I warned him. The wall I felt earlier slowly dropped and his heat washed in around me. I could tell he was angry and worried. “I have an offer to make,” I included. I felt a flicker in his emotions and firmed up my grip on the trigger. He knew I was serious.

“D, you have to let me do my job.” His voice was void of emotion but he knew he couldn’t hide it from me. “I have to put him down,” he said as his blade bit into the flesh of Hines’s throat. Hines whimpered and I adjusted my aim and pulled the trigger. A bullet bit into Murphy’s thigh, he went weak in the knees and regained his stance quickly. The knife did not move and Murphy stood his ground against the pain.

“I will shoot again,” I promised and unleashed my own emotional heat into the air. Murphy’s nose twitched and I watched him bite into his lower lip. Slowly, he pulled the blade away from Hines and stood straight. His eyes were filled with rage and impatience. “Let me fetch Darius for you. Let me keep Hines. He has promised me he will stop. I need him to teach me. I need him to help me. You can’t stay with me; leave him to be my aide. With Darius and his crew dead we can pin the ET murders on them and they fall for all those they have killed here already. Please, Murphy, please,” I begged.

Murphy shifted and winced when he placed pressure on the leg I had shot. Hines remained still in the bed though his eyes were bouncing off Murphy and I. Clearing his throat, Murphy put away his knife and began to slowly cross the room towards me. I noticed an open window behind him and quickly returned my gaze to him. He must have triggered my mother to call me in order to distract me. I wasn’t going to let him play me like a fiddle. My anger jumped and he paused midstride.

“Stop using my mother to orchestrate my moves, Murphy,” I growled. His eyes stayed on mine and he reached out slowly to lower my gun and take my hand. I knew that from here he could snap my neck and take Hines too but my gut told me I would be okay.

“I told you, I do what I must to get the job done,” he replied and gently tugged me into the hall. I pulled the door closed behind me; keeping Hines safe in the room to my back. Murphy turned to face me and with animal speed had me pressed to the door by my neck with my feet barely touching the floor. “This is your only warning. Never fuck with my work again. Do you fucking hear me,” he asked through clinched teeth. I shoved the barrel of my gun into his ribs and he slowly released his grip on me.

Before I could speak his mouth was hungrily on mine and claws bit into the flesh at the backside of my hips. Our static was ablaze and my gun hit the floor. My legs wrapped around him as he pulled me up and kissed me harder. Rolling against him as he pulled my hair back and bit my neck, chills rippled over my flesh. I wrapped one arm around his neck and the other around his side, digging my nails deep into the flesh beneath his gray shirt. Growling against my throat, he shoved me hard against the wall and pressed hard against me. His excitement was obvious. As his hands moved to pull open my shirt and unbutton my jeans, he suddenly froze.

With his own blade to his throat he gulped hard and focused his eyes on mine. I had unsheathed his large knife and pressed its tip beneath his chin.

“Do we have a deal,” I growled softly. I wasn’t going to let him distract me completely.

“If we didn’t Hines would already be dead,” he confirmed and quickly spun me to the opposing wall, slamming my back hard against it with him still between my legs. The blade bit into his chin and I dropped it. The tiny cut dotted with crimson beads and he wiped them away with the back of his hand. With a beastly smirk, he returned to devouring me. My jeans were pulled down and my panties torn as he spun me around with my face to the wall and slid his fingers between my thighs. My need for him was hardly bearable. Arching my back I rocked my hips against his intrusive fingers.

When his ache was too much, he was inside of me. With one hand in my hair and the other at my hip, he pulled me back against him as he buried himself deeper and deeper inside of me. My sex tightened around him as I came. With my hands on the wall, I turned my cheek and bit into my arm to keep from screaming out in ecstasy. A deep growl vibrated at my back as he sunk deep inside of me and pulled me against him. His teeth sunk into my shoulder as he went over the edge and rapture nearly suffocated us.

Both weak in the knees, we collected ourselves and redressed. The air was thick with our passion and we were sure Hines had enjoyed listening to the show. Once I had smoothed myself over I opened the bedroom door to find Hines fast asleep. After closing and locking his window, I left him to rest and joined Murphy downstairs in the kitchen.

“How do you suggest we get Darius,” Murphy asked still seeming a bit dazed. I slid into a chair next to him and slid my legs across his lap.

“I’ll go to Reno,” I replied without hesitation. “If I try to surrender to him he will be suspicious. If I show up trying to free my mother then I can distract him.”

“Bring her here. He will come to collect her. It shouldn’t be hard for you to lure her here,” Murphy suggested. “Don’t play her too easy though. She will know if you are lying. Just telling her you are willing to hear her out will be enough. Don’t forget, she is Bound. She will want to protect him too. It’s just the nature of it, D.”

I nodded and grabbed my phone off the table. “Come home with me,” I ordered more than asked. He nodded and I lowered my legs from his lap. We checked on Hines one last time and locked the house up behind us. He had arrived on foot so I let him drive my bike. Holding onto him for the ride home felt good. I found myself wishing this were an everyday thing. Sadly, I had to remind myself that he and I would never have an “everyday” kind of lifestyle together. I’d have to hold onto feelings like these because they would be few and far between.

Chapter 22

My palm was clammy as I flipped the phone over and looked at the glowing dial pad.
I sucked in a deep breath and hit the call back key. The last number that called appeared on my screen and it rang once before I heard her charming voice.

“Hello,” she answered in a hushed tone.

“Viv, it’s Dakota,” I replied. The line was quiet for a moment and then it was almost as if I heard her smile.

“Oh, Dakota, thank you for calling me back. I was worried. Sorry, if I had called at a bad time. Murphy contacted me and let me know you wished to speak with me,” she spilled. Standing in my shop, I turned on heel to face Murphy who was digging through a parts cabinet and threw the closest thing I could get my hand on at him. His hands went up when a small wrench slammed into the cabinet door next to his head. He smirked and went back to searching.

“Yes, I don’t feel like I gave you a fair chance to speak in the diner. Would you be willing to meet me here at my shop?”

“Your father’s shop,” she asked sadly.

“Yes, if that’s okay.”