Fighting instinct, p.14
Fighting Instinct, page 14
“Perhaps not,” he said, biting his bottom lip.
I pulled him tight against me, curving his back.
“I feel like—” He exhaled. “—when I’m close to you, I can breathe. When we’re together, even across a room, I’m me.”
Best compliment I ever got. “Well, of course you can,” I growled. “I’m your mate.”
He shook his head like I was ridiculous and then lifted for a kiss that I quickly bestowed. What was interesting was that the second I kissed him, I could read him. I knew he was exhausted, even with the happy, alert face he was putting on. And it couldn’t be the mating bond, because we were different species. The whole knowing what the other felt—as far as I knew, it only worked for the same kind of shifters. So this, between us, was something else.
Maybe after more than seven years, I just knew him inside and out.
“Huh,” I grunted.
“What?”
“I think I know you better than I thought.”
He nodded. “Yes. Me too. I’m the same. I can read you so easily.”
I stared at him and he held my gaze, the two of us simply standing together, quietly communing until I reminded him that he needed to get in the shower.
“Remember your promise.”
“Of course.”
When he disappeared into the bathroom, clothes and overnight bag from his suitcase in hand, I immediately checked my phone for any updates from Schulz or Blaymore.
I had an address of the home of Tessa Bromm, Davec’s sister. Apparently she was letting the remaining male members of her pack stay in her RV presently parked in a field very close by. It was like ringing the dinner bell.
Did they know nothing? Hide in populated places. In apartment complexes with neighbors who could hear a scream right through the wall.
This was insane, unless it was a trap. And while I had not found a terrible amount of intelligence among the wolves I had already killed, there was always the possibility of a planner in the bunch, or maybe that the alpha had figured out I was coming and was waiting to spring a surprise on me. It wasn’t likely, but anything could happen.
Taking the Walther out of the case, I loaded it, put the extra mags in my jacket, and decided to leave the suppressor. I got the holster out next, threaded it onto my belt, and settled the gun against my right hip. Once I zipped up my jacket, neither was visible. I grabbed the IAFIS handheld out of my bag and took that with me before turning for the bathroom. Linus was standing in the shower, eyes closed, head back, letting the hot water sluice over him.
“Hey.”
He turned his head to look at me. “You promised to wait.”
“But that’s dumb,” I informed him, crossing to the glass door, wiping away the steam so I could see him better. “I should go now, and you can come out and watch TV or crawl under the covers or sit on the couch by the fire.”
“Don’t you want to shower?”
“I should wait until I get back, since I’ll probably need one at that point.”
The muscles in his jaw clenched at the same time he took a quick breath.
“I’ll be fine,” I promised, ready to leave. “You rest and I’ll––”
“Wait,” he said, opening the door.
I took a step back, not wanting any of the water to get on my suit, but when he reached for me, it didn’t matter. I took his hand for a moment, squeezing gently, before cupping his cheek.
“I’m so scared.”
I ignored the thin streams dampening my suit. “No,” I soothed, stroking his face. “There’s no reason to be. I’ll be back shortly, and tomorrow, if you still want to, we’ll go to your town.” His face lit up, and why he was so happy was beyond me. “Tell me why, though. Why does it matter? None of those people cared about you at all. I don’t get it.”
“They need to see that it didn’t break me. I told you, it’s important.”
I sighed deeply. “Whatever you want.”
His eyes glimmered as he looked at me. “Thank you. I can’t wait to show you the path where I used to walk. I made so many plans there.”
It meant something to him to have me see it, and I would not take that away from him. “Okay. We’ll go.”
“Thank you.”
I leaned in and kissed him, softly, gently, but when I started to pull back, he grabbed hold of my face and slanted his mouth over mine. His tongue was dangerous.
“Stop,” I ordered, my voice a ragged growl as I grabbed his shoulders, pushed him back and shut the shower door.
“No,” he pleaded, hands splayed on the frosted glass, big beseeching eyes gazing at me. “I want to go with you.”
“Never happen.”
“Yes, but—”
“No.” I was adamant. “Stay here. I saw a pamphlet on the counter about how to set the alarm. I’m going to lock the door on the way out; you set the alarm.”
“What if someone comes for me while you’re gone?”
It wouldn’t work. “I haven’t tipped my hand yet,” I replied. “So it would be a neat trick if anyone knew I was here.”
His brows pinched together, and it was really cute.
“No more stalling,” I said, knocking on the glass. “I’ll see you later.”
“When?”
“Couple hours.”
He took a breath. “You have the gun, of course?”
I nodded. “Just relax.”
“When you come back, I will.”
Smiling quickly, I turned and left the room without looking back.
Chapter 9
WOLVES. THEY never ceased to amaze me. In the movies, on television, they were always the hottest guys, and a lot of times, the smartest. Real life was such a buzzkill. Not that I was presently looking at shifted animals. I was looking at five passed-out drunk guys. Well, four. Technically one was dead already because when I’d crept around the outside of the RV, he was the one in the car wrestling with the girl.
He had backhanded her and the movement caught my eye. When I rushed over to the Monte Carlo and threw open the door, I saw blood.
“Help!” she screamed, her voice clogged—he’d broken her nose.
He opened his mouth to yell, but I reached in and grabbed him, hauled him off her and out of the car, and hurled him into the snow. I put the first bullet in his groin so he’d be sure to feel that and the next in his head.
The girl, she couldn’t have been any more than sixteen, stared at me with huge eyes. She was dressed in a skin-tight black velvet dress with a white fluffy angora neckline. It had been cute, a sexy little party dress, before blood splotched the white. She was going to have one hell of a black eye to go with her broken nose, I could tell that even with the mascara running down her cheeks.
“Can you drive this?”
She nodded fast, and I could tell she was going into shock.
“How far do you live from here?”
“I live in Kinney,” she replied woodenly.
We had passed that on the way. “That’s like an hour away?”
Again she nodded.
“Okay. You drive this to the hospital in Kinney and get your nose fixed, you understand? Tell them it’s broken. Have your right eye checked as well.”
“Yes, sir.” Tears began to well.
“When the police come, you tell them everything, all right?”
“I can tell them you saved me? That’s okay?”
“Absolutely.”
She let out a shaky breath. “And that you shot him?”
“Yes.”
“He was gonna rape me.”
“I agree.”
Her eyes were all over me, memorizing every detail. “Everyone at home’s asleep already.”
“It’s where you should have been.”
“I have a really good fake ID.”
Right at that moment, more important than me going inside and exacting more revenge, was me listening to her.
“My friends ditched me at the bar, and I had no way to get home.”
“Friends do that sometimes.”
“That guy said he’d take me.”
“Next time,” I said gently. “You call your dad, day or night. He’ll come.”
“Yeah, I know.”
“Your life will be over, because you’ll be grounded until you leave for college.”
She nodded quickly, tears spilling down her cheeks.
“But your father will be there.”
“Okay.”
“Call him when you get to the hospital, but not until then. I need some time here first.”
“What if he calls me? Like if he woke up and saw that I’m gone?”
“Then answer and tell him to meet you at the hospital, but nothing about being here for at least an hour.”
“I promise,” she said vehemently. “I’ll give you time. You did the same for me.”
“Okay,” I said, letting my hand shift so she could see the claws, adding to a story that no one would ever believe, watching as her eyes got huge. “Go.”
She slammed the door, scrambled over into the driver’s side, and then, amazingly, rolled down the window. “Are you a wolf like me?”
Amazing. Wolf shifters even preyed on their own.
“No,” I said, putting my claws into the man I’d just killed so I could move him more easily. “I’m a hyena.”
She was quiet a moment. “You know, when my father and the others in our pack are in danger, they shift.”
“I’m sure they do,” I agreed, trying not to sound patronizing and failing a bit. Shifting was a ridiculous waste of time.
“Don’t you?”
I never relied on my animal when I was in danger. Changing into a hyena created a situation I was not 100 percent in control of, whereas my gun had never failed me. The only reason I’d shifted at my apartment was because I’d been separated from my weapon. I always preferred speed to tangling with anyone.
“No,” I answered simply. “I just shoot people.”
She smiled suddenly. “I’ll be sure not to tell that part.”
“Good.”
“My name is Denise.”
“Arman,” I told her.
“I won’t tell anyone that, either, I swear.”
“Did you know this man?” I asked, tipping my head at the body at my feet.
“No, he’s not from my touta, but I figured I could trust him because we’re the same.”
I wasn’t sure what a touta was, but it didn’t matter. “You’re nothing like him,” I insisted. “Keep that in mind.”
“I’ll keep this all in mind,” she promised. “Thank you for being my guardian angel.”
Villain of one story, hero of another.
Linus was right.
“You’re welcome.”
And with that, the window rose and Denise drove out of the field, made a right out onto the road. I heard the squeal of tires, and the car fishtailed for a second, but it straightened and she was gone.
Checking my watch, I saw it was a little after one, so I was safely done with the holidays and could keep my word to Linus. No death-dealing on the first day of the New Year.
I carried the would-be rapist around the side of the RV, checked the door, discovered it unlocked, opened it, and climbed in. I dropped the dead man on the floor and looked around. Two men crumpled at a small table, passed out, another asleep on a couch, and the fourth sawing logs on an air mattress on the floor. When I checked, there was no one else in the back, though it looked like the beds had been slept in. The room reeked of cheap perfume and sex, so I could guess what had gone on.
So there I was, alone in a tricked-out RV out in the middle of nowhere. It was all surprisingly less climactic than I expected.
Walking back out to the kitchen area, I checked under the sink and found lighter fluid. Going back outside, I found the generator I was hoping for and the gasoline that powered it, along with propane tanks. For a long moment, I debated waking everyone up, scaring the crap out of them, making them shit themselves as I’d made others do in the past, but what was the point of that? When had I become the person who needed the people I was killing to know why? I knew those I was sitting in judgment of. They were all, every single one, rapists. I’d already double-checked on the handheld IAFIS just to be sure, and it had been confirmed. These were five of the original nine who had first assaulted Linus while the prince watched. The only one I was missing now was the alpha.
Back inside, I snapped a picture of each dead man with my phone, coated everyone with a thin layer of kerosene, arranged the four propane tanks around the RV, put a small one in the microwave, and then went from room to room with the gasoline. It was overkill, but I wanted nothing at all left.
Setting the timer on the microwave for five minutes—which is really so much longer than most people think it is—I left, locking the door on my way out.
I drove just a bit away, making sure I was clear of the blast zone before turning around and waiting.
The initial detonation was huge; the fireball that encased the recreational vehicle was brilliant and threw up a ton of debris. The toilet flew straight up and came down like an anvil, and between the gasoline I had spilled and what was in the mobile home itself, several more explosions wiped out the rest of the RV. If it had been summer, the field might have burned, no matter how green the grass was, but there was snow on the ground and light flurries in the air.
It was impressive, everything gone in a flash of obliterating heat and flame. Turning in my seat, I called Schulz as I drove slowly toward the road.
“Sarge?”
“I need to know where I can find the alpha, Davec Bromm.”
“I figured that was the reason for the call,” he said solemnly. “And I’m fairly certain that he’s in Linus’s hometown, in Stonesgrove.”
This was news. “Why do you think he’s there?”
“The trace on his credit cards came up with a charge yesterday for gas at a service station in Severance, which, as you know, is on the way toward Stonesgrove, and then there’s another charge for a meal yesterday at a restaurant in the town itself.”
“Any room charges?”
“There’s a credit hold for a place called The Forge.”
“I’ll check there for him later today after I get some sleep.”
“Good plan. And will Linus be with you?”
“Yes, he wants to see the town.”
“Is that wise?”
“I’ll keep him safe.”
“Oh, I don’t doubt that, merely how the return will affect him.”
“Yeah, me too, but apparently I don’t get a vote. He wants me to see his town.”
Schulz grunted.
“I don’t presume to understand.”
“Do you need me to drive out there? With weapons?”
“Negative. Stick to the plan. Protect the estate.”
“I’d prefer to protect you. So would the others.”
“I appreciate that, but you being there allows me to be here.”
“I get it.”
“Thank you.”
“It’s not necessary for you to—”
“I know, but you should tell your friends, every now and then, that they’re appreciated.”
“But if they’re your friends, they know already.”
I was quiet after that, and so was he.
“So I guess I’ll let you—”
“The last five?” he asked, stopping me from hanging up, wanting to know.
“Fire,” I answered simply.
“Fire,” he said approvingly, the lift in his voice letting me know he was impressed. “Excellent. How’d you manage that?”
“It was all there. You would have done the same.”
After a second he responded with “Pardon?”
“What?”
“It was all there? What’re you talking about?”
I chuckled.
“Wait. What did you use?”
“Gasoline, propane, kerosene,” I answered, in that moment happy that I could talk to him so freely since we had military-grade scramblers on our phones. “It was easy.”
“I don’t understand. Were they hiding or not?”
“They were in a secluded spot, but really, this whole area is. Linus’s hometown has two thousand people in it, and as far as I know, three hundred of those are members of his fain.”
“So they weren’t waiting for you, hiding out in a bunker ready for a siege?”
“No, not at all.”
He exhaled sharply, clearly confused. “Were they armed?”
“Not that I saw.”
“Holy shit,” he gasped, and I heard a muffled noise before a very anxious voice asked me if I was all right.
“I’m fine,” I assured Blaymore. “Schulz is just amazed over our opponents’ complete lack of preparation for my visit.”
“I’m sorry, what?”
“I don’t think the wolves we killed yesterday were in contact with the ones I just disposed of. It was way too easy.”
“How so?”
I gave him the play-by-play.
“You’re fucking with me.”
“Not at all.”
“Jesus, you know what happened, then?”
“I think so, yes.”
“They figured that sending eight wolves after you would do it.”
“Yes. And they would have been right, if I didn’t have you and the others with me, and Linus.”
Blaymore made a noise of agreement.
“I mean, you and I both know they never counted on Linus being strong enough to kill one of them.”
“That’s amazing to me.”
“What’s that? Linus?”
“No, him I get. We all know in a life and death situation, it’s just like the World Cup—you never know what’s gonna happen.”
“A soccer reference? Really?”
He snorted out a laugh.
“What’re you talking about, then?”
“I’m talking about the wolves that came at us, the ones that came to L’Ange. I’ve never seen such a total lack of preparation. They didn’t do any advance surveillance, they still have no idea who or what you really are, and they completely missed that you have a Marine Recon team backing you up. I mean no offense, but shifters or not, they were outmanned and outgunned from the start.”
“Yes, they were.”
