Taken by the Others (23 page)

“Because,” I answered, somewhat unnerved by his cheerfully stated desire for Max and Royce to destroy each other, “you want Max Carlyle dead almost as badly as you want Alec Royce dead. Despite your best efforts, you haven’t succeeded in getting rid of either one yet. This will give you a chance to feel out exactly what Royce is capable of when he fights Max. You’ll be able to see if you can find a way to destroy him later.”

“Sugar, I’ve been killing vampires since you were nothing but a gleam in your daddy’s eye.” Tiny grinned, a flash of white against dark skin. He lightly patted the gun he had tucked into the waistband of his jeans. The Smith and Wesson 500, one of a very few guns I recognized on sight, looked comparatively small in relation to his big hands and girth. “This is all we need to take down even a mofo as tough as Royce.”

Devon laughed. “Stop showing off, Tiny. You know Royce is an elder. You’d never take him down with a peashooter like that.”

Tiny fixed a glare on Devon that would’ve had a lesser man quaking in his boots. Devon pointedly ignored the look, turning back to Jack with a touch more irritation coming to the surface.

“Shia and I are going on the hunt tonight. We could use help, but if you’re going to be assholes about it, we’ll take our chances with the Others and do this without you.”

Hoo boy. Now that the gauntlet was thrown, Jack was getting pissed off, too. Nikki had placed her hand not-so-subtly on the hunting knife at her hip.

“Don’t forget you’re the new kid in town, Devon. We didn’t have to take you in. Maybe you worked with leeches in Los Angeles, but you’re in New York now. We don’t truck with that sort, no matter the cause. We work as a team without outside help, or we don’t go in on this thing at all.”

Enough was enough. I rose from my seat and stalked to the door. The bickering stopped as the others looked at me in confusion.

“Where are you going?” Tiny asked, getting to his feet.

“To take my chances with the monsters. I think I’m more likely to survive that way.” I was pretty sure I hadn’t made myself any new friends with that statement, but Jack’s and Nikki’s narrow-mindedness made it clear this would never work. I didn’t have the time or patience to deal with their mule-headed bigotry.

Someone grabbed my arm. Without thought, I twisted around, shoving my free hand up under his jaw and pinning him against the wall.

It was Devon. I immediately released him, mortified at my violent reaction. He rubbed at the forming red spots on his neck, looking at me with a mixture of fear and defiance.

“I’m going with you.”

Too embarrassed to speak, I nodded, turning around to continue out the door.

Jack came up beside us, staring down at Devon with an unreadable expression before addressing me.

“Shiarra, please wait. You must understand our position on this. We’re White Hats, not police. What we stand for is completely against anything supernatural. We want things to go back to normal, to take these beasts and monsters out of our lives and put them back into the fairy tales where they belong. Not working beside us. Not hunting with us. They’re just animals, vicious animals. Can’t you see that?”

I stopped at the door and returned his cold look. “I can see I made the wrong choice in deciding to work with you. That’s not what I stand for. Sure, I can see taking justice into our own hands in cases like Max. But there are plenty of Others out there who have never hurt anybody, who are innocent, decent people, just like us. You’re lumping all of them together and I won’t be a part of a group who can’t tell the difference.”

His eyes were blue fire, suppressing a deep rage as he fought not to say what was on his mind. I watched the muscle jumping in his cheek subside as he regained control of his temper. As much as I wanted to push his buttons, seeing his bigotry in all its glory, I didn’t think it would be a wise move on my part. Surprisingly, the belt agreed with me.

‘Don’t do anything more to stir him up. If you aren’t careful, he might start seeing you as one of the monsters, too.’

I hadn’t thought of that. Rather than speak out loud, I concentrated mentally to let it know I agreed with it. Holding Jack’s gaze as I was, I didn’t think it would be a smart idea to start talking to myself. Explaining the mechanics of the belt around my waist to a White Hat didn’t appeal to me either. It might be just the excuse he needed to put me in the “Other” category, enough excuse to kill me, now that the belt had so thoughtfully pointed this out. I was sure the only thing holding him back was that whatever plans he had for me would be ruined if I was dead. Or undead, for that matter. I was lucky they didn’t think of me as a willing donor now that I carried bite marks from Peter and Max. If they changed their minds, I’d be only a marginal step up from an Other and have to duck for cover as much as Chaz or Royce would when faced with them in the future.

Jack’s cool demeanor resurfaced. He slowly turned away from me, breaking the stare-down and gesturing for Tiny and Nikki to go back to their seats.

“Don’t bother coming back, Devon. You’re not welcome here anymore.”

Devon stiffened beside me, his anger a palpable thing, tasted on the air. He reached up to his collar and ripped off the tiny white cowboy hat pinned there, placing it with deliberate finality on an end table. “When push comes to shove, Jack, you’re going to regret not taking this opportunity when it came.”

I arched a brow at that, turning to look at Devon. His eyes were focused on Jack, and he was obviously pissed off. There was something more to what he was saying than what was on the surface. He’d mentioned not following Jack’s orders before. Perhaps that had something to do with why Jack was being so recalcitrant about helping us.

Rather than worry about it further, I snagged Devon’s arm and pulled him out the door with me. He resisted at first, muscles tensing under the jacket before he turned to follow me, slamming the door behind him.

We walked down the street without speaking. I had my hands shoved deep in my pockets, shivering slightly in the bitter winds coming in off the bay. Devon was staring straight ahead, not saying anything. After a couple blocks, I couldn’t take it anymore and broke the silence.

“That went over better than I expected.”

He looked at me askance, too surprised to stay mad. “Did it?”

“Yeah, it did. I had him pegged to go on a rampage rather than just yell at us and kick us out.” I grinned at him, reaching up to brush some stray curls out of my face. He gave a shaky laugh, kicking a few early autumn leaves out of his way.

“He’s such an ass sometimes. I don’t know why I came to work here. Things were going okay with the hunters I was with before. I guess I just thought it was time to move on. Jack never liked my methods. Thought I was too progressive, too willing to work with the monsters instead of against them.”

I shrugged, the leather jacket rustling with the movement. “That makes two of us.”

The silence between us wasn’t so strained anymore. Maybe it was the nearby sound of surf or the wind whistling through the trees that made it easier to bear. Maybe it was the newfound shared understanding between two misunderstood hunters. Whatever it was, I was glad for it.

However, when a voice boomed out behind us, I was startled into giving a little “eep” of surprise.

“Make that three.”

Devon and I turned back, shocked to see that Tiny had joined us. He clapped those huge hands on either of our shoulders, falling into step between us. “I’m not about to miss the fight of the century, no matter what Jack says.”

I somehow managed to get my heart started again and smiled up at him. “Thanks, Tiny. You’re the best.”

He winked down at me. “You know it, girl.”

Great. Two more human hunters might just make the difference in the fight against Max Carlyle. I had to hope Chaz was having better luck getting his wolves to agree to participate in tonight’s showdown.

Chapter 24

Like most of the other houses on this tiny island, Royce’s friend’s address led us to a sprawling Victorian. It was painted the warm shade of summer skies, with darker blue trim. There was a wraparound porch lined with wicker furniture and a hanging seat for two, its thin chains creaking in the stiff ocean breeze. The landscaping was exquisite; a lovely mix of bluebells and white daffodils outlining the path to the front door, with sprigs of jasmine and ivies lining the edges of the porch.

Considering it was getting on into late September, daffodils were definitely out of season. I didn’t know about the rest, but somehow the landscaping on this house seemed more alive than any of its neighbors. What sort of “neutral third party” owned this place?

I had my answer soon enough. A breathtakingly beautiful woman answered my tentative knock. She was tall, thin, statuesque. Bright green eyes set in a triangular face studied us. Her features were obscured in shadow as she was lit from behind, but she soon stepped back to give us room to come inside. Auburn highlights shone on richly dark hair and revealed the sharp planes of finely sculpted features. It didn’t take long for me to dredge up her name. Hartley. Dawn Hartley, the runway model, sometime actress, and environmental activist. I’d seen something in the tabloids that said Royce had dated her sometime last year.

“Hi,” she greeted us, a warm, welcoming smile on her lips. Not the sort of smile you give three strangers standing on your porch in the middle of the night. “You’re here with Alec, right? Come on in.”

I shook her offered hand as we filed inside. “Thank you. I’m Shiarra Waynest, and this is Devon and Tiny.”

The two men lost their ability to speak when they laid eyes on her. I suppose I couldn’t blame them. I had to elbow Devon to remind him to shut his mouth and stop staring, which he did with no small effort. Tiny couldn’t tear his eyes off her.

Jeez, she was pretty, but their reaction was a little much.

She led us to a sitting room that had couches and chairs arranged to look out across the water through wide bay windows. Fog was rolling in with the surf, blanketing the deep water in pale grayish-white mist. It was beautiful, but something about that fog gave me the shivers.

Chaz and Royce were both on their cell phones. Chaz was standing by one of the windows, staring out at the water. He gave me a smile before shifting his attention back to his phone and the waves outside. Royce was seated on the chair farthest from Chaz, a hand lifted to cover his eyes as he slumped deeper into the cushions. Neither one of them looked very happy.

“Can I get you anything? Coffee, tea, maybe some water?”

Tiny shook his head, tearing his eyes off Dawn and staring intently at Royce. It must have taken some effort for him to resist using his gun. I saw his hand hesitating over the weapon. Figuring it would be better to stop it indirectly rather than stir the hunter up further, I stepped in his line of sight to Royce and gestured toward what I thought was the kitchen. That seemed impetus enough for Tiny to resume staring at Dawn. “Coffee would be great. Do you need any help in the kitchen?”

“Oh, no,” she said, the dazzling smile I’d seen on the cover of magazines as genuine as the cheerful exuberance she exuded. Though I hadn’t given much thought to meeting celebrities before, I never imagined they’d be as nice and accommodating as she was turning out to be. I imagined she must have had plenty of practice playing the attentive hostess in her line of work. “Just have a seat, hon, I’ll take care of everything. How about you?”

Devon blushed when she turned the full force of that killer smile on him. He was too stunned to speak, settling on a jerky nod in reply. I rolled my eyes as I wandered to Chaz’s side and hugged his waist. He put his arm around me but was wrapped up in listening to the voice yapping away on the other end of his cell phone.

“I’ll take coffee, too. Thank you very much,” Tiny stuttered out. He and Devon watched her go, eyes plastered to the gentle swaying of that slender frame until she moved out of sight. It was amazing to me that she was so comfortable with it, completely ignoring the attention.

Shrugging it off, I lay my head against Chaz’s chest and listened to the steady sound of his heartbeat, offset by the dim echo of the surf pounding on rock and sand beyond the glass. After a moment, he started talking, and I pulled back to watch his face. “No, that’s not why I called. You know I wouldn’t ask for your help like this unless it was important.”

He went back to listening. He closed his eyes and grimaced at whatever the response was. “No. If you don’t want to do it, I won’t make you. I’m asking as your friend, not your leader.”

He shook his head and hung up the phone without saying good-bye, scowling down at the hunk of plastic before shoving it in his pocket. “Hey, love.”

“Hey. What was all that about?”

“There aren’t too many willing to work with us tonight.” He rested his chin on top of my head, tightening his grip around my waist at my bitter sigh. “I can’t make them do it either. This isn’t technically pack business.”

I frowned, considering as I watched the silent fog outside creep closer.

“How about Rohrik Donovan? I could call in the favor the Moonwalkers owe me.”

“No, don’t involve them in this. I don’t think he’d appreciate the gesture if he had to put his wolves’ lives on the line when mine are nowhere in sight.”