THREE
“Who are you?” Evalle widened her stance, ready to fight and bash in his head, since he’d destroyed her Birrn and ruined her chances for an easy alibi.
But the two most important questions bubbling through her worries were: What was that weapon he’d used to take down the demon and was he going to use it on her?
She didn’t have time for more company. Daylight would break in less than an hour, and while she had a suit in her bike that would protect her in an emergency, it wasn’t comfortable to be in anything black that covered her from head to toe during Georgia’s dog days of summer, when the temperature usually hit ninety-four degrees by 8:00 a.m.
The man walked forward with an arrogant stride. The closer he came, the more she could see of his Mack truck body, wide and bulked up beneath a black outfit that resembled an ACU—Army Combat Uniform—with Kevlar plates. His sleeves were rolled up over bulging biceps. Obviously he wasn’t afraid of demonic acid spit.
He wore a night-vision monocular, which allowed him to see her just as easily as she saw him in this cavernous building with no light. All in all, he was a handsome man in a lunatic, over-the-top, I play way too much Call of Duty and Resident Evil kind of way.
“You okay?” His lips barely moved, then returned to a tense line. The short black hair fit his abrupt personality.
Didn’t sound like he was a threat, but he definitely looked like one.
And he hadn’t lowered his weapon.
“Fine. You are?”
“Isak.” He gestured with the tip of his weapon toward her sunglasses. “You blind?”
She got that a lot because of her tendency to keep them on even at night. Her sunglasses had been custom-made by a friend of Tzader’s, who’d used a lens that would allow her eyes to be seen in low light but shield their freakish color. Let’s hear it for special variable tinted lenses—if she could only get something like that for her skin with SPF 5000. “No. I see fine in low light, right down to your Batman belt buckle.”
His eyebrows moved slightly at the dig, as if questioning how sensitive anyone’s eyes could be in this pitch-black warehouse. But obviously she’d seen enough to out his strange taste in belts. “What’re you doing here?” he asked.
Like she was going to tell him that … “What are you doing here?”
“Hunting demons.”
Dang, that was brutally honest. Most people who hunted demons didn’t blurt that out to strangers for fear of an all-expenses-paid visit to the local psycho ward.
Was this guy an unfamiliar VIPER agent? Agents, she didn’t mind, unless they got in her way.
Or killed a Birrn she needed to capture.
But if he was an agent, she didn’t sense power coming off him.
No. Definitely human.
Weird and gorgeous, but human.
“Who do you work for?” she asked.
“Myself.”
Her stomach clenched. He could be a merc, anybody … especially with that superblaster. Just what her already-screwed-up night needed.
Isak kept visually sweeping the area around them, then paused to look her over again. He finally shifted his weapon to hold it across his chest. “What’d that demon want with you?”
Yeah, this was an odd conversation to have with an unknown civilian.
“Dinner and a movie. How’d you know he was here?”
“Smelled ’im a mile away.”
Too bad the twins hadn’t.
She searched again with her powers but still felt no unusual field of energy from this guy. Nothing to mark him as anything other than a human with a demon-killing fetish.
And where had he gotten that wicked weapon?
She glanced over at the pile of stinking demon dung. She couldn’t use her powers to clear that out of here with Isak present. Nor could she call VIPER for a cleanup team until she had a plan that would keep her head off their chopping block.
And there was no way in hell she was touching that with her hands. She’d managed to walk away fairly clean from the Cresyl, but this would be harder to clean off her skin than skunk odor. Not that she had any interest in getting frisky with a man, but stink like that would ensure her peace and solitude for months on end.
More important—VIPER would smell Birrn demon on her.
“Did you have to kill him?” she asked.
He arched a brow suspiciously. “What? You friends or something?”
She returned her gaze to his face, then looked up to eyes so impervious to emotion a shiver of warning ran up her spine. Isak didn’t seem surprised she knew about demons.
What was his story?
And what had the demons done to him? The average human didn’t track and kill demons.
What could she possibly say that wouldn’t end up with her dead or exposing VIPER … which still might mean her dead? This guy walked, talked and shot like a vigilante. She knew the type. If you didn’t uphold their hatred, you needed killing, too.
She gave him an insincere smile. “I was kind of hoping to ask him a few questions. Thanks for killing that opportunity. Literally.” Interfering moron.
“A demon?” His one uncovered eye widened, then creased with a suggestion of humor that didn’t fit the serious GI Joe face. “You wanted to interrogate something with the IQ of lettuce, that sees humans as a major food source? Good call. Are you drunk or mental? Or are you one of those freaks who thinks nonhumans just need love and understanding while they munch our brain matter?”
Her internal defense alarms went into high gear at the way he said “nonhumans.” As if the word alone was repulsive. What would Isak do if he knew she wasn’t exactly an everyday citizen? “So you just arbitrarily kill any nonhuman even if they’re not harming someone?”
He curled his lip. “Kill ’em all and let their various gods sort them out. In case you haven’t noticed, hon, it’s open season on us. Either you kill the demon or the demon eats you. Way I see it, you should be thanking me. I just kept you from being digested.”
She let out a curt breath of aggravation. “I can take care of myself, Terminator, and as for thanks … yeah. You just screwed up something I needed to find out. So thanks a lot.”
His amusement vanished. “Ah, God. Don’t tell me you’re with that paranormal tree-hugging group that’s trying to convince everyone malevolent poltergeists and demons are just misunderstood friends who need hugs.”
Of all people, that wasn’t her. But he didn’t need to know her stance on demon slaying.
Her organization wasn’t any of Rambo’s business. “Want to tell me what group you’re with?”
He shook his head slowly from side to side.
“Then I’d say we’re done here. I’ve lost enough ability to smell for one night.” She debated calling Tzader, who must still be in his meeting, otherwise he’d have called her. She had to get this mess cleaned up.
When she made a move to step past Isak, he closed his fingers around her arm.
She froze in anger at that touch and glared at his huge paw of a hand as old memories surged. She wasn’t a terrified helpless teen, and no man would ever lay hands on her again without her explicit invitation. “You got three seconds to remove that or your new name’s going to be Lefty.”
He held his hand up in surrender. “You got a ride nearby?”
“Yes.”
“I’ll follow and—”
“No. I’ve had enough favors for one night, and now I have to clean this crap up before anyone finds it.”
“My people’ll deal with it.”
“Really?” She deserved one lucky break tonight. But honestly … did he really know a group who would come in here, clean up smelly demon goo and not report or arrest her? “Do you work with law enforcement?” Working for the morgue, she’d met a lot of the local LEOs—law enforcement officers—but never Rambo. He tended to stand out.
Isak smirked. “Not even.”
Believe it or not, that was good news in her world. VIPER employed a long list of different people that included a large number of Beladors, many of whom worked with local police, the FBI and other agencies. But if his people didn’t work with any of hers …
She might stand a chance after all.
Even though she had no idea who this guy was, she’d bet Tzader would know or could find out.
Continuing toward the smoldering hole the Birrn had left in the warehouse, she reached the loading dock, where the hot air was muggy but fresh. She jumped down to the parking lot and started walking.
Heavy boot steps followed right behind her. “Look, I don’t think you realize what you’re up against. Hotlanta is steaming tonight because someone has unleashed major mojo on the city. And they’re not here to play with us, little girl. They’re here to feast on entrails.”
Little girl? Mr. Macho had no idea who he was dealing with, and right now, he was lucky he wasn’t limping. “I’ll take my chances.”
“What’s your name?”
“It definitely isn’t Little Girl. Honey. Or Babe, Baby Cakes. Now run along, little boy. Us girls need to be alone.” Because she couldn’t clean up the demon crap with him standing watch over her.
Unless she used her hands.
Nah. I’d rather VIPER burns me. ’Cause that’s just g-r-o-s-s.
Evalle had barely reached the middle of the parking lot when sirens rang out, coming closer.
Ah, crap … police were headed this way and would most likely enter the same way she had.
Please don’t let there be some stray kid with a cell phone. That’s all she’d need tonight. Her face on the local news, fighting a demon. Her luck, it’d be picked up by the AP and on YouTube and she’d be more famous in twenty-four hours than Paris Hilton on a bender.
Look on the bright side. It might make Sen choke on his fury so hard that he’d stroke and die before he could cage her.
C’mon, think, Evalle, think. She needed every minute she had left until daylight to figure out who’d sent the Birrn. Why it’d had Celtic branding and what the demon’s master wanted with an Alterant.
Her …
Oh, and come up with an explanation for the slashed body in the morgue that didn’t involve her being accused of eating the woman’s heart.
Some nights it didn’t pay to leave the house …
With the blue light specials flashing outside the gate, her most immediate problem was the lack of time to deal with the flaming pile of demon churras on the floor. Could she sell the cops on the idea that she was a disgruntled employee trying to plant prairie pastries on her old boss’s desk?
Not with my luck tonight.
What were the chances she could trust Isak’s people to clean up this mess?
She turned around as Isak jumped down from the loading dock and jogged in her direction. She gestured toward the cops. “Nice present. Thank you so much for the arrest record, Mr. Shoot-to-kill. Appreciate it. Know any good bail companies?” ’Cause with his hair trigger, he should be getting a volume discount from someone.
He stopped in front of her, his weapon slung across his back. “I don’t need no stinking bail company. I’ve got something better.”
This she couldn’t wait to hear. “A rocket launcher and a tank?”
“No. Exit strategy. You coming?”
She didn’t think so. “Thanks, but I’ll find my own way out.”
“By now the cops are crawling the building like ants on a cake and you are about to become the ice cream cherry.”
He was right and she hated him for it. “All right, First Blood. Lead me to freedom.”
Police racket clamored near the front gate.
Isak paused at the wall on the side of the building, where she could now see a thin aircraft cable running vertically from the top. Sneaky little booger … how clever. A metal clasp with a heavy D ring dangled at shoulder height. From inside his shirt he pulled a short length of thicker cable that was probably hooked to a harness and clipped the karabiner on the end to the clasp.
But if he thought she was going up the side of that wall, he was crazy.
Ten or fifteen feet off the ground, no problem.
Any higher …
Big problem.
Evalle didn’t do heights. Ever.
The sound of the huge electric gate at the street opening was followed by the sounds of the cops coming closer. Flashlight beams danced ahead of them.
Stealth was not the forte of Atlanta’s finest. Lucky for her.
She looked around, quickly assessing a potential alternative route. “Tell you what, Isak. I’m—”
An arm hooked around her waist and yanked her backward against a body so hard, it was like slamming into the brick wall. Panic at being touched got shoved aside by a greater fear when her feet came off the ground and they shot up the wire at a speed that left her sick.
No, no, no!
She hissed in outrage. “Put me down!”
“Hon, at this height, you definitely don’t want me to do that.”
Stupid her, she looked down before she could stop herself. The world below was shrinking at a rapid pace. Her stomach threatened to show her a replay of the slaw dog she’d eaten for dinner. Snapping her eyes closed, she clenched her teeth and fought down her panic.
He wasn’t going to drop her. He wasn’t.
Still, the fear was there, and it was debilitating as her past slammed into her with a reality she despised. Her shoulders trembled. She forced her muscles to lock tight.
Never, ever show a weakness. Not to anyone.
Too late for that.
She ground her teeth at the conflicting voice in her head that she hated. Stay calm, Evalle, you can do it. You’ve survived a lot worse than this.
Why, why wasn’t flight one of my powers?
But as they neared the top, she realized she wasn’t going to fall … and Isak wasn’t trying to grope her.
He wasn’t attacking her. This wasn’t her past and she wasn’t a defenseless child anymore.
Both of his arms hugged her against his chest. An act of protection, not violation.
She smelled his human scent, warm and a little sweaty from his exertions. Raw, natural male. He pulled her closer, as if he’d keep her safe from anything.
No one had ever held her this way.
Like she was precious to them.
Didn’t matter. End of the day, she couldn’t stand the sensation of hands confining her. Of someone pressing her against his body.
Let me go, let me go, let me go …
He whispered against her ear, trying to calm her. “We’re almost there. I’ll release you in a sec.”
You’re not a helpless teenager. He’s not the bastard. Why couldn’t she banish those memories? Why did they sting most when she could least afford them?
You ruined my past, you worthless dog. You will not destroy my future …
She bit the inside of her mouth to keep from screaming and giving away their location to the police.
The vertical movement slowed.
She was trembling, couldn’t open her eyes and look. Coward.
What kind of demonslayer was scared of heights and human contact? She could face down Satan in hell, but let one geeky guy lay a casual hand on her shoulder and she was petrified.
Think about the cops, Sen … anything.
Excited shouts came from below where the police must have found the demon drop treats. She shook her head in frustration over having left them behind.
Maybe they’ll write off the fried remains as toasted rubber and ignore them. ’Cause God help her if they took a closer look and discovered the chips were actually scales.
Maybe they’d write that off as a visit from Puff the Magic Dragon …
Unfortunately, she wasn’t that lucky. And she cringed at the thought of what Sen would do once he found out about this and the body in the morgue.
Maybe she could join the French Foreign Legion …
Did they still have one? It might be worth investigating.
Focus, Evalle. ’Cause she had no intention of Sen or anyone else other than Tzader learning about this.
“Don’t panic,” Isak said quietly as they stopped moving upward. “I’m going to turn you around so you can climb into a window.” What was it about that gentle tone that could almost make her forget he was a loon?
When she felt her body spin, she opened her eyes to find an old-fashioned sash window with the bottom half opened enough for her to squeeze inside. Don’t look down at the parking lot. Just get into that room.
Isak slid one arm beneath her legs and lifted her so that she could stick her feet through the window opening and slide in to safety. The minute her toes touched the floor, she jumped away.
He entered right behind her, disconnected the rigging and looked out the window before turning back to her. “Typical. They didn’t see a thing. Good thing about cops and demons … they seldom look up.”
She gave him a nod, the best she could do until she caught her breath and stopped shaking so badly.
Oddly enough, his weapon no longer bothered her. His size and hands on her body did.
But Isak hadn’t made any threatening moves at all. He’d been nothing but kind and respectful to her … at least while they’d escaped.
In fact, she owed him for getting her away, even if he had been part of the problem. To prove to him, and to herself, that she could touch a human and not freak out, she offered her hand to him. “Thanks.”
He closed his fingers around hers in a friendly, gentle hold. She had large hands for a woman, but his swallowed hers. In that moment she saw him more as a protective grizzly than a demonslaying tank.
He stepped forward.
She held her position, refusing to let a man intimidate her. Especially a mere human. One male had gotten away with that in the past, but he’d paid for it.
I’m not sixteen and locked in a basement. I have powers. No human can harm me ever again.
Not without a serious maiming.
When she looked up—had to because Isak was another six inches taller than her five foot ten—she realized he no longer wore his monocular. She couldn’t tell his eye color, but based on the light shade, she’d bet on blue. A soft color for such a hard man.
“Is ‘thanks’ and a handshake all I get for risking life, limb and imprisonment?” His gaze burned into hers, daring her to back down from his challenge. His finger rubbed across the back of her hand.
She shook her head at him. He’d been sucking in too many demon fumes if he thought she was that easy. “Sorry, slick. Not that kind of girl. I require at least a couple of nice dinners and some flowers first.”
Isak smiled. “You’re going way off track mentally. Not that I wouldn’t be happy to go there with you, but all I want is your name.”
Oh. Idiot. But then she’d always been socially awkward around people, especially men—it was the whole raised-by-herself-in-a-basement thing that tended to put a crimp on her people skills. She’d rather battle a demon any day than banter with a man. And don’t get her started on trying to navigate catty women. “Name’s Evalle.”
His eyes twinkled in the dim light, teasing her in a way only Quinn had ever done and never with such effect on her stomach. He actually made it flutter for a second … or was that the gag reflex still working from her height fright?
“Evil? Interesting name. You sound like my kind of woman.”
She rolled her eyes. “E-vahl. Not evil … unless the situation calls for it.”
He laughed a warm, rich sound that resonated from deep inside his body. “Nice meeting you, E-valle.” His tone deepened, as if he savored the cadence of her name on his tongue. “Guess you can take care of yourself.” He lifted her fingers before she could stop him and kissed her scraped knuckles. “I always say beauty is best when it comes mixed with danger.”
This time there was no mistaking her attraction to him. Oh, yeah, I’m definitely high on demon fumes. She pulled her hand away. “On that note, General Bison, I really need to go before I turn into a pumpkin.”
He inclined his head to her. “Head out. I’m right behind you.”
She wanted desperately to argue with him about following her down through the building. He had a team out there, and for all she knew, one of them might tail her back. And that she couldn’t have. She needed to find Tzader or Grady before daylight, someone who could help her figure out what was going on.
She glanced over her shoulder to find Isak had his monocular back in place. He’d have no problem following her down this dark hole.
On the ground floor, she paused at the door and cautiously cracked it open to make sure no one was there. The reception area was on her right, two long strides away. Bright blue lights flashed through windows that faced the street, letting her know that even more police had been called.
What? Had they found drugs in the building? Surely her little demon pile hadn’t caused all that.
Evalle turned to Isak, who was touching his ear where a wire curled from his earbud and down the back of his shirt.
He lifted his hand and pressed the tiny throat mic. “Everyone clear?”
So he hadn’t been kidding about his team. Just what had she walked into? And how much of her interaction with Isak had they been privy to?
She didn’t like being spied upon.
Isak held up a finger, silently asking her to sit tight as he rattled off his location to whoever was on the other side of that system. “Report on all perimeters.” He paused again, nodding. “Affirmative. Need a diversion on the west side. Target located and neutralized, but doesn’t matter. We know the source. DHQ located. Mission accomplished.”
Evalle scowled. DHQ? What the devil was that? Demon headquarters?
Was it possible that Isak might actually know where the Birrn had come from and what it was doing in Atlanta?
More to the point, did he know anything about Alterants and why the Birrn had been seeking her?
He turned to her. “You set?”
She gestured to his mic. “Can they hear us?”
“No. The mic sensor only picks up my vocal cord vibrations.” A slow smile curved his lips. “What you got in mind?”
She didn’t trust him one bit, but he was the closest thing to a lead she had since he’d turned her demon into roadkill. “You have a card or a number?”
Interest glowed in his gaze. “Not one I can share, sugar. You got a phone number?”
Yeah, right … “Don’t normally give my digits out to demon-blasting strangers who call me ‘sugar.’”
He laughed. “Tell you what. I’ve got to pick up something, then I’m free for a bit. Want to meet somewhere in a half hour?”
She had maybe an hour before daylight, and then her activity would be severely limited. She could ride in daylight, but it had to be fast and furious in full gear that would boil her in this heat. Which meant meeting close to her home. “You familiar with downtown?”
He gave her a droll stare. “No, the demons only hunt in the burbs.”
She ignored his sarcasm. “Meet me at the Varsity. I’ll be in the drive-in on my bike.” Yeah, it would be open to daylight, but she didn’t plan to stay long enough to get caught. The Varsity was two minutes from her apartment, and she’d stay on her bike. And it was a public place.
If he tried anything, she could be outta there in an instant.
“See you there …” He gave her an evil grin. “Sugar.”
Evalle let it go as she prepared to head out.
She was sure she’d catch grief from Tzader for not calling him in to meet this guy, but she didn’t know how Isak would react to someone showing up unannounced. And there was no way she could miss this chance. Besides, she hadn’t heard a word from Tzader. Which probably meant he was having trouble with his informant, and bugging him in the middle of that was not the smartest thing to do.
While he loved her like a sister, she didn’t want to test the limits of his adoration by making him strangle her.
Not to mention she wouldn’t mind seeing Isak again. It was, after all, only natural for her to be curious about a new player in town. She had a duty as a VIPER agent to find out who Isak and his people were.
Nothing more.
She cast a look back at his massive form that filled out the black ops garb nicely. Better than nicely. Her heart quickened.
Seeing him again was only work-related …
Evalle drew a long, easy breath and worked to accept that along with the inevitable. Isak considered nonhumans the enemy, and she didn’t encourage male attention.
Ever.
Don’t start now.
True to his alpha DNA, Isak took charge. “Here’s the plan. In sixty secs, my people will draw the police’s attention. I wave you out, you go right. Once you’re clear, I go.”
She normally bristled under any authority, but she’d let him have his way since she had to make the most of every minute between now and daylight. “Works for me.”
He started past her, then paused and swung around. His fingers wrapped around her upper arm in a firm, but nonthreatening, way.
Her muscles clenched with the need to lash out, but hitting someone who was trying to help her wasn’t a normal response. She might even hurt him if she didn’t keep her power in check.
His fingers slid off her arm, erasing her irrational sense of threat. “Thirty minutes. The Varsity … or else.”
Or else what?
She would’ve asked, but time was ticking and she needed to get out of here.
Turning away, he went to the door and held an electronic device up to the security panel. He waited for the lights to turn off before he opened the door an inch and peered out.
She stared at his back, glued to the spot. Her skin still felt embossed where he’d touched her. No man had ever left her breathless before. Not even the ripped warrior gods at VIPER who were as daunting as a fully loaded tank …
And Isak was only human.
Then again … She swept a look down his shapely backside.
Most women would call that a god.
And in all honesty, he did make her wish she could break through the scars of her past and feel normal—like any other woman around an attractive man.
But that had been cruelly ripped from her, and she didn’t know if she’d ever be able to overcome it.
Sometimes dead wasn’t dead enough …
Isak gave her the high sign. It was time. She took a deep breath and moved forward.
Racing past him, she gave a quick glance at the cops on her left who’d gathered around the electric gate with their backs to her. She took off fast in the opposite direction.
She didn’t stop until she was out of sight. Stepping into a dark alcove, she peered over her shoulder in time to see Isak walk across the street with a deceptively nonchalant pace and dissolve into the shadows like he owned them.
Who was that guy?
She shook her head. Now was not the time to contemplate him, his hotness or his bizarre quirks.
She took a convoluted trek back to her bike since Atlanta’s finest stood between her and the most direct route. The detour cost her ten of her thirty minutes.
That was all right though.
The Varsity was an easy eleven-minute ride. She could have made it in eight, provided a state trooper wasn’t running radar.
But why take the chance for only three minutes?
Just as she reached for her helmet, her cell phone vibrated with a text message. She fished her phone out of her jacket pocket and read the message:
Red-V-2.
That was code for “your butt needs to be at VIPER HQ in two hours, not one minute late.”
The only excuse Sen would accept for running late was death. And even then he’d want blood.
He’d probably write her up for it, too. After all, death was no excuse for dereliction of duty.
But there was one slight problem with his order. VIPER’s HQ was two hours north of Atlanta. If she left immediately, she’d barely make it in time.
Of course … she’d also be riding in full daylight.
Isak would be at the Varsity to talk about his Birrn hunting, and he didn’t strike her as the kind of guy who’d handle being stood up real well.
So that left only one question. Which one of them could she least afford to severely piss off?