Chapter 17

 

Chris

 

If I’d known getting drunk on demon liquor was the way to get Beth back, I would have downed a gallon of murren weeks ago. The hangover was brutal, but it was more than a fair price to see her smile again.

I watched her laugh at something Sara said as they carried plates and a large bowl of salad outside and set them on the patio table. As if Beth sensed my gaze on her, she looked my way and quickly averted her eyes. But not before I saw the telltale pink in her cheeks.

It had been like that between us ever since our practice session in the gym this morning. Every time she did it, I wanted her a little more, but I’d promised her we’d go slow, and I meant to keep that promise, even if it killed me.

“You better turn those steaks unless you want them well-done,” Nikolas said as he walked past me.

I pulled my attention away from Beth and finished grilling the steaks for dinner. Piling them on a plate, I brought them to the table where Beth, Sara, and Nikolas were already seated. I took the open chair next to Beth, and she gave me a little smile when I sat closer than was necessary.

When we’d talked about grilling steaks for dinner, I’d figured there would be more of us, considering how many people we had staying at the house. I had a suspicion the rest of them had deliberately made themselves scarce to allow the four of us to have a quiet evening together.

The conversation was light as we talked about Westhorne, and Sara lamented over missing her pets and the imps. I’d long since stopped shaking my head whenever she talked about the three imps that lived in their apartment at home. Only Sara could convince Nikolas to share his home with those pesky little fiends.

Talk turned to motorcycles, and Beth’s face lit up when we started discussing what bikes would be right for Sara’s smaller frame. Beth knew her motorcycles, and she soon engaged in a lively debate with Nikolas on the pros and cons of the models he was considering. Few people, other than Sara, could hold their own against Nikolas in an argument, even a friendly one, but Beth didn’t back down.

Eventually, the conversation came around to the topic that was foremost in everyone’s minds these days. Where was the Lilin, and why had he been so quiet lately?

“Maybe he left Los Angeles because we were getting too close,” Beth suggested.

I almost wished she was right because it would mean he was far away from her, but I knew better.

“Based on how long he’s been active here, he’s close to the peak of his breeding cycle. It would take too long for him to set up in another city, and it’s too risky to move the girls he’s taken.”

The mood around the table grew more somber at the reminder that those girls were running out of time.

Sara tapped her water glass thoughtfully. “Could it be that he has all the girls he wants, and that’s why he’s being so quiet?”

Nikolas nodded grimly. He and I had discussed this exact possibility today. We hadn’t heard of any girls disappearing since the two we’d rescued in San Francisco, but the Lilin could have taken girls from outside the state and had them brought here if he was growing desperate.

Beth’s brow creased with worry. “I can’t bear to think of what those girls are going through. They must be so scared.”

“Lilin treat their female captives well,” I told her. “He will pamper them and keep them in luxury.”

“But they’re still prisoners.”

“Yes. But they probably don’t know that. He’ll keep them under the influence of his power to make sure they are calm and happy and in the best physical health.”

Beth paled. “God, it sounds like a breeding stable for horses.”

I had no response to that because she was right. A Lilin was methodical in his selection, and he collected what he considered to be the best breeding stock. His one goal was to ensure he got strong, healthy offspring.

Beth grew quiet, and I worried for the hundredth time that this job was too much for her. Most new warriors worked at strongholds for the first few years, and they were gradually exposed to the worst this world had to offer. No one fresh out of training should have to deal with something this serious.

Sara leaned back in her chair and took a deep breath of cool evening air.

“This California weather is spoiling me. I guess I’ll have to get used to the cold again when we go to New York.”

“We can stay here if that’s what you want,” Nikolas told her.

Her eyes gleamed with excitement. “Oh, no. California’s great, but I can’t wait to see New York.”

Beth leaned forward in interest. “When do you leave?”

“We’ll stay here until the current threat is over,” Nikolas said. “The Council purchased a property there, and it’s being renovated now.”

“There’s a huge demon community there, almost as big as the one here,” Sara added. “I’m going to get to know them while Nikolas does his thing.”

I met Nikolas’s gaze across the table and fought back a laugh. I already knew his thoughts on Sara’s plans to build relations with the demons. He wasn’t against it. He just wasn’t sure he and New York were ready for it.

Beth smiled. “That should be fun.”

“You guys have to come visit us,” Sara told her. “There’s so much to do there.”

I watched Beth’s reaction to Sara’s assumption the two of us would be together then, and I felt a surge of relief when she smiled.

Beth looked at me. “I thought you were going to New York with them.”

I realized then that I hadn’t told her I planned to assume leadership of this command center after Nikolas left. Although, I’d made that decision before she and I had bonded, and having a mate changed things. Did she even want to stay in Los Angeles?

“I’ll stay here for now. I’m not sure about long-term. What about you? Do you want to see New York?”

Her smile grew. “Yes. It’s on my list of places to visit.”

“I want to travel, too,” Sara said eagerly. “Nikolas and I are going to Africa next year.” She grinned at him. “He promised to show me the best sunsets in the world.”

Nikolas gave her an indulgent smile. “And I always keep my promises.”

Sara turned to Beth again. “Maybe we can all go together.”

One of the French doors opened before Beth could reply, and Raoul strode out, his serious expression telling me he wasn’t coming to hang out.

“We got a call from someone at the mayor’s office. There’s a problem on a container ship down at the port.”

“What kind of problem?” I asked, pushing back my chair. City officials only contacted us when it was something big.

“The bazerat kind,” Raoul answered wryly. “Some genius tried to ship a whole container of them, and it broke open when they loaded it on the ship. The ship is overrun. Luckily, most of the crew weren’t on board yet. The ones who were are holed up on the bridge.”

Nikolas and I stood at the same time. Bazerats were rat-like demons about the size of a small dog that were normally found in the Amazon. A single bazerat was harmless, but a whole pack was deadly, especially once they picked up the scent of blood. We had to contain them before some of them managed to get off the ship, if they hadn’t already. The last thing we needed was those things breeding in the sewers.

“Call in everyone you can find,” Nikolas told Raoul.

“Will’s already on it.”

I looked at Beth. “Ever work with bazerats in training?”

“No.”

Sara laughed. “Then you’re in for a real treat.” She tossed her napkin on the table. “What are we waiting for? We have a pack of demon rodents to round up.”

 

*     *     *

I looked up from my tablet when I sensed Beth approaching, and I watched her enter the house through the French doors. She was dressed comfortably in leggings and a T-shirt with her hair piled on top of her head in a loose knot. In one hand, she carried a large mug. The other hand was wrapped in a bandage.

“How’s your hand?” I asked when she sank down on the other end of the couch.

“I should be able to take this off in an hour or so.”

I laid the tablet on the couch and slid over to her. “Let me check it.”

“It’s fine,” she protested, but she couldn’t hide the slight wince when I started unwrapping the bandage.

I gave her a stern look. “I’ll be the judge of that.”

I gently removed the wrapping and examined the two puncture wounds that went from the back of her hand to her palm. The holes were puckered, but there was no sign of infection. Bazerats, like many demons, had bacteria in their saliva that could cause infection if not treated carefully.

“I told you it was okay,” Beth grumbled.

I took my time wrapping her hand again. When I finished, I couldn’t resist lifting her hand and pressing a light kiss to her fingers.

“Do you do that for all your patients?” she joked a little breathlessly.

“Only the beautiful ones who jump into the hold of a ship to save me from a pack of hungry demons.”

She smiled and rolled her eyes. “A simple thank you will do.”

“Thank you,” I said with a smile that hid my true emotions. I couldn’t let her know I was still worked up from watching her go down under a pile of bazerats. She’d come out of it with one bite and some scratches, but that was something I never wanted to see again.

It had been utter pandemonium when we’d arrived at the container ship last night, and it had taken the better part of the night for us to capture or kill every last bazerat and to deal with the injured. Not to mention the frightened crew who now believed they’d been overrun by a shipment of exotic rats from New Guinea.

When I’d followed the screams of a terrified dock worker into the hold, I found him trying to climb the side of a container with several bazerats hanging off him. The blood from his injuries had soon attracted dozens of the creatures. I’d tossed the man up on top of the container and set about dealing with the immediate threat.

What I hadn’t expected was for Beth to come running to my rescue, or for the bazerats to turn on her instead. I was pretty sure I’d lost decades off my life when they attacked her, and hours later I was still trying to calm my agitated Mori.

“You want breakfast?” I asked her, needing something to keep me busy.

“Sure.”

Sara walked into the living room. “I’ll have some.”

I cooked up eggs and sausage for the three of us, and we ate it at the breakfast bar. Sara and Beth kept the conversation light, and I felt a lot calmer inside by the time we finished eating.

Nikolas came in as Sara and Beth were cleaning the kitchen, and his grave expression immediately put me on edge again. Sara must have sensed something was off, because she dropped the dish towel and hurried to Nikolas.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

“We just got word that five more girls went missing last night.”

Sara gasped. “The Lilin?”

“They were all in the right age range.” His eyes met mine briefly. “One of them was Mei Lin.”

Beth put a hand to her mouth. “No.”

Mei was the girl we’d saved the night of the rave. Her parents had taken her away right after it happened, and I’d had no idea they had come back to town. Otherwise, we would have had someone watching her.

“The bazerats were a decoy,” I said almost to myself.

We’d been wondering why the Lilin was so quiet and now we knew why. He’d been arranging a distraction to keep us busy while he moved in and snatched those girls.

Nikolas’s face hardened. “Yes.”

Beth looked from Nikolas to me. “What do we do now?”

“We work harder to find the Lilin,” I told her, wishing I had a better answer. Without a solid lead or a stroke of good luck, it would be almost impossible to track him down. And in a city this big, there was no way we could know where he’d strike next or who his intended victims were.

“You and I have a call with Tristan in thirty minutes,” Nikolas told me. “He’s speaking with the governor now.”

I picked up the tablet I’d left on the couch. “Better him than me.”

“Is there anything we can do to help?” Sara asked Nikolas.

“We’ll work out a plan of action after we talk to Tristan,” he said. His expression told me he still had no idea what that would be.

The call with Tristan went pretty much as I’d expected.

“The latest kidnappings have everyone on edge from the mayor of Los Angeles to the governor,” Tristan said with the weariness of a man with far too much responsibility on his shoulders. “They’re thinking of warning the public that we have a possible serial killer targeting young women in California.”

“They must know that would only cause a panic,” I said.

Tristan sighed. “I pointed that out, along with the fact that it would make our job a lot more difficult. It took some convincing, but I think I managed to put them off that idea for now.”

Nikolas leaned back in his chair with his arms across his chest. “Do they know that the Lilin will soon have all the girls he needs, if he doesn’t already?”

“Yes, but that did little to appease them, especially when I told them none of the missing girls would be recovered if we don’t find the Lilin before it’s too late. A rash of unsolved missing persons cases doesn’t look good on a mayor’s record when re-election time comes around.”

I shook my head. I’d never understand how humans could put politics above lives. There was some politics around the Council, but in the end, our governing body always worked together to serve one purpose – protect our people and humanity.

Tristan’s chair creaked, and I knew he’d gotten up to walk around his office, something he did when he was agitated.

“I assured the governor that we have our best people on this, and we are sending every available warrior to California. Although, at this point, I’m not sure how much can be done.”

Nikolas and I shared a look because Tristan was right. The Lilin must be getting close to breeding, which meant we were running out of time and so were the girls he’d taken. Once he started breeding, he wouldn’t emerge from his lair until after his offspring were born. Our window to find him was growing smaller with each day that passed.

Someone rapped sharply on the office door before it flew open and Beth rushed in, her face flushed. I was on my feet in an instant.

“He didn’t get them all,” she cried, waving a piece of paper.

“Get what?” I asked.

Beth could barely contain her excitement. “The girls. Last night, he took five girls, but he went after six. One got away.”

Nikolas stood. “How do you know that?”

She held up the paper. “A student at UCLA was attacked walking to her sorority house last night. She tasered the guy and managed to get away.”

Beth’s smile grew. “She told campus police her attacker had a flame tattoo on his wrist.”

I looked at Nikolas. “If the Lilin wants her, he’ll come back for her like he did for Mei Lin.”

“Yes.”

Tristan cleared his throat. “I’ll let you get to it then.”

Beth’s startled eyes darted to the phone on the desk and then back to me. “I’m so sorry. I barged in here without thinking.”

“You had a good reason,” Tristan said. I could hear the smile in his voice.

“Beth, I don’t believe you’ve met Tristan.”

Her eyes widened, and she shook her head mutely. Then, as if realizing he couldn’t see her, she blurted, “No.”

She was adorably flustered. I didn’t think it was in my best interest to laugh, so I hid my smile.

“It’s nice to meet you, Beth,” Tristan said warmly. “Hopefully, next time we’ll meet in person.”

“I’d like that,” she managed to say.

Tristan said goodbye, and Beth relaxed when it was just the three of us. She didn’t say much as Nikolas and I discussed the best way to handle the UCLA attack.

“We’ll need to put someone on her in case he goes after her again,” I said.

Nikolas nodded. “I’ll set up twenty-four hour protection. And one of us should talk to her.”

“Beth and I will go see her.”

Beth’s head swiveled in my direction. “We will?”

“It’s your lead. I figured you’d want to be involved.”

Her smile lit up the room. “I do.”

I waved a hand at the door. “Alright. Let’s go.”

 

Beth

 

“I was at the library with my study group until nine, and I went straight home from there. I walk that route all the time, and nothing’s ever happened before. I still can’t believe it.”

I studied the slender brunette girl sitting next to me in the living room of her sorority house. Paige Collins was remarkably composed for someone who had been attacked less than a day ago. Except for the bruise on her cheek, you’d never know she’d just been through a horrible ordeal.

“Tell us about the attack,” Chris urged lightly, ignoring the group of girls whispering and ogling him from the kitchen. It had been like that since we’d arrived ten minutes ago, passing ourselves off as the police.

I brushed off my flash of annoyance at the girls and returned my attention to Paige.

“I was only a few hundred yards from the house when he grabbed me from behind. He was so quiet for a big guy, and I didn’t even hear him coming. He wrapped an arm around my throat before I could scream.”

Paige shuddered and went on.

“My father made me promise to always carry my Taser when I walk alone. Thank God I had it in my hand. That guy was so strong I had to shock him three times before he let go of me. I think he must have been on drugs or steroids.

“As soon as I got away, I screamed and ran to the house. The guys in the house across the street came out to see what was going on, and the man ran away. They called the campus police for me, but the man was long gone.”

“Did you see his face?” I asked her.

“No. All I saw was his arm. As soon as I broke free, I ran.”

Chris leaned forward, resting his forearms on his knees. “You told the campus police you saw a tattoo on the man’s wrist. Can you describe it for us?”

“It looked like flames. I think there were words too, but everything happened so fast I didn’t read them. I’m sorry.”

I smiled to reassure her. “You got away, and that’s all that matters.”

“Have you noticed anyone hanging around campus lately who seemed out of place?” Chris asked.

Paige blanched. “You think he’s been following me around campus?”

“For all we know, this was a random attack, but we have to cover all our bases. It’s just procedure.”

“Oh.” She visibly relaxed and thought for a moment. “I did see a man in the dining hall yesterday who looked wrong, if that makes sense.”

Chris met my gaze before he asked, “Wrong, how?”

“He was sitting at a table alone, not eating or reading. Just sitting there. I was eating lunch with my friend Jenny, and she noticed him, too. It was just kind of odd, you know?”

Chris nodded. “Can you describe him?”

“He was good-looking with short, dark hair, and I could tell he was tall, even though he was sitting. He looked to be around twenty. If it wasn’t for the strange way he just sat there, I’d say he was like every other student.”

Paige looked from Chris to me. “Does that help?”

I smiled. “Yes.”

“Good.” She let out a breath. “I wish I could tell you more. It all happened so fast.”

“You’re doing great.”

Chris gave her an encouraging smile, and I heard a chorus of sighs from his new fan club. Good grief. He should come with a warning label.

Looking directly at the smile may cause swooning and temporary loss of intelligence.

“Thanks,” Paige replied, looking at ease for the first time since we’d started questioning her. “You’re a lot easier to talk to than the other officers who were here earlier.”

“We have a little more experience in this area,” I said.

Her eyes widened at my words.

“You must have joined the police force fresh out of school because you don’t look any older than me.”

And that was our cue to wrap this up.

“We get that a lot.” I shot Chris a meaningful look.

He stood, prompting a flurry of murmurs in the kitchen. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes, and followed him and Paige out of the living room.

“We’ll keep an eye on things here for the next few days,” Chris told Paige as she walked us to the door.

We didn’t tell her she’d have around-the-clock protection until the Lilin threat had passed. That would only raise more questions and stir up her fear. She’d been through enough, and aside from leaving Los Angeles, there was nothing she could do to stop the Lilin from coming after her again.

“Thank you,” she said. “I feel better knowing you guys are here.”

Chris opened the door, and one of the girls called, “Come back anytime.”

I must have made a face because his lips twitched as he held the door for me. His expression told me he was used to this reception from females, and he was enjoying my reaction to it.

We said our goodbyes to Paige and left. Chris followed me down the walkway to the SUV, waiting until we were inside before he chuckled softly.

I looked at him as I buckled my seat belt. “What?”

“I saw the looks you were shooting those girls,” he said with a smirk.

“What looks?”

“You glared at them every time they moved.”

“They were annoying. Don’t they have anything better to do than to stand around and gawk at people?”

Chris cocked his head smugly. “Jealous?”

I scoffed. “You are so full of yourself.”

“I have good reason to be. The most beautiful girl in the world doesn’t like other women looking at me.”

A laugh burst from me, and I looked out the passenger window so he couldn’t see the effect his words had on me.

“Admit it. You think I’m hot.”

I slanted a look at him. “Every woman thinks you’re hot. That’s nothing new.”

“I don’t care about every woman,” he said in a low voice that sent a delicious shiver through me. “I only care what you think.”

“I think you should drive.”

“Not until you admit you were a wee bit jealous in there.”

He was right, but no way was I telling him that. He was already too cocky for his own good.

“No.”

“Okay. I can wait,” he said, laying his head against the headrest.

Silence filled the SUV, and after several minutes passed, I knew he wasn’t going to move until I gave him what he wanted. Stubborn ass.

I crossed my arms and scowled at him. “Fine. I think you’re hot.”

“And you were jealous.”

“Don’t push it.”

Chris grinned and started the vehicle. “Was that so hard?”

“Yes,” I muttered.

He pulled away from the curb.

“Then we’ll have to work on that.”