Paige leaned back in her booth seat as shescanned the crowded bar. Unknowingly her body swayed with the beatof the dance music playing over the speakers. Maybe, if she’d beena normal twenty-two year old this place would have been a lot offun to hang out with her friends. Maybe she would have gone tocollege, not the one near this bar, but some other college on theEast coast. That had actually been her plan before God had decidedto laugh and squash it.
Nabel shifted in the booth. His glimmeringbrown eyes were intense as he leaned toward her. “Do you see him?”he inquired.
Frustration filled her as she shook her headno. Due to a couple of tips from some of Nabel’s sources, they’dspent the past three days in this area, but the man she’d spent thepast four years of her life searching for was nowhere amongst thiscrowd. There were three other bars in the area, but they’d decidedto hit this one first tonight.
Across the way, she saw the tall, massiveblond man she’d seen every night here rise to his feet. She foundher eyes irresistibly locked upon him as he stretched his back. Hisshoulders could fill a doorway, his biceps were larger than herthighs; the muscles in his arms flexed when he rolled his shouldersback and said something to the two men sitting with him. The menlaughed and the bartender handed him another beer. She didn’t knowwhat it was about the man, but every time she saw him she foundherself intrigued by him.
He was so incredibly fascinating and itwasn’t just his striking good looks. Something about him…
And every other woman in the place felt thesame way, she realized. She’d seen him leave here with a differentgirl every night she’d been here. Not like it mattered. She didn’tplan to introduce herself to him, learn his name, or have any kindof conversation with him, but she still found herself watching himas he pulled out his wallet and threw some money on the bar. Shecould see why women kept leaving with him, if she’d been a normalcollege girl she probably would have at least talked to himtoo.
Hell, she already was drawn to him. Shedidn’t experience desire often, but every time she looked at him,she could feel it curling within her belly. There were far moreimportant things right now than a man, she reminded herself as shetook a sip of her water. No matter how sexy that man was, or howcurious she was to touch one of his many muscles. Was it possiblefor muscles to have muscles, she marveled as his forearms andbiceps flexed.
The black tank top he wore hugged his broadchest and emphasized his chiseled body. Dark blond stubble linedhis jaw; he rubbed at it as he looked over the occupants of thebar. The predatory gleam in his sky colored eyes only made herheart beat faster. Before his gaze could drift over where she sat,she leaned back in the booth. She didn’t know why but she wouldprefer it if he didn’t see her.
Determined to ignore him, she turned herattention to the rest of the bar. Amongst the occupants, shespotted the woman the tall blond man had left with last night. Shestood with a group of her friends, their heads were bent closetogether as they talked and laughed with each other. Paige couldn’tsee him anymore, but she could feel his overwhelming presencefilling the bar.
“Is there a chance your info could have beenwrong?” Under normal circumstances she would never question him,she’d learned he would never reveal his secrets to her. That was okwith her, as long as he taught her how to fight better and helpedher in her mission. She wasn’t a born hunter, not like Nabel andhis kind, and because of that she would always be on the outside.She’d worked so tirelessly to finally be here though and didn’twant to risk her tenuous position amongst a group she barely knewbut had come to count on. However, over the years, she’d come torealize she had few virtues; patience sat near the bottom of thelist.
Nabel sat back in his seat and folded hisarms over his chest as he stared at her. “Our info is never wrong.”He placed his hands on the table and rose to his feet. “We shouldbe going.”
Questions formed rapidly in her mind; howdid he know, who had told him that vampires were here, how had theyknown it was the one she was searching for? She thought her tonguemight start to bleed from the force with which she bit into it.She’d spent over two years trying to infiltrate the hunters, tryingto find them and get them to agree to help her; she refused to blowit now. Not when she could be so close to finally ending it, tofinally fulfilling the mission she’d started four years ago.Excitement pulsed through her veins as she practically bounced onher toes in anticipation.
Rising to her feet beside Nabel, she droppeda couple of dollars on the table. Following him toward the door,she glanced back at the gorgeous man still standing with hisfriends. A set of sky blue eyes met hers; his head tilted to theside as he studied her. Paige held his gaze for a few steps beforeNabel nudged her elbow and she hastily looked away. The mountain ofa man at the door pushed it open for them. Paige didn’t glance backas she stepped into the brisk April night.
Ian stepped away from Milo and Oscar when hemet the small brunette’s gaze across the way again. He’d alreadyhad enough of the game and was more than eager to leave. Peopleinstinctively moved out of the way of his large frame as he cutthrough the outer edge of the crowd. His lengthy strides slowedwhen he spotted another brunette woman making her way through thethrong.
The woman’s head turned toward him; herstriking turquoise colored eyes met his. Her black eyebrowsfurrowed as she stared at him over the top of her slender, pointednose. The freckles speckling the bridge of her nose, and theroundness of her cheeks, gave her a youthful appearance, but heguessed she was at least twenty-one. Tall and lean, she had thelithe body of a ballerina and moved with the grace of one as shecut through the crowd. Her step hesitated when her eyes met histhen the man at her side nudged her elbow, prompting her to keepmoving toward the exit.
She gave a brief bow of her head beforeslipping out the front door. Ian watched as Bear shut the doorbehind them. Turning away, he searched for the other brunette whohad caught his attention. He spotted her in the booth. Leaning out,she looked toward him before giggling and ducking back again. Hetook a step toward her with the resolve of sealing the deal andgetting this over with, but he found his attention drawn to thedoor and the mystery woman who’d just left.
The man she was with was probably herboyfriend, he told himself. He still stood there, torn between hissure thing and the woman who had just walked out of the bar. Therehad been something about her, but then there was something aboutall women. They were all so tempting and attractive; he’d yet tomeet one he could refuse. He’d also never met one with eyes quitethat color before, or one who had him turning on his heel andwalking toward the front door. Bear opened it up for him as heapproached.
A cool breeze drifted through the open door,cooling his overheated skin as he stepped free of the crowd. Theymay be tough about who they let into the bar, but they weren’tgreat at adhering to the occupancy limit. He was almost to the doorwhen he heard a small squeak. He froze, his ears adjusted to hearover the music, and the heavy breathing and low moans of a couplehaving sex in the back storage room. A room he had used a few timesbefore when the opportunity presented itself. Stretching his sensesfurther into the night, he picked up on what sounded like a scufflebehind the building. Worry filled him, what if the woman who hadjust left was the one in trouble?
“Leaving alone?” Bear’s tone was one ofdisbelief when he stepped out the door.
“Maybe,” Ian muttered.
He didn’t look back, but he heard the clickof the door closing behind him. He hurried down the side of thebuilding toward the alley running between the bar and the back of abank. An empty beer bottle rolled across the pavement; it clinkedas it knocked up against the brick wall of the bank. A small squeaksounded; no other noises followed. If he didn’t know better, he’dthink the woman and man were back there having sex, but thealluring scent of sex wasn’t what he smelled right now. No, thecloying, sickly sweet scent like that of an overripe peach hungheavily in the air. He recognized it as the aroma of fear. Therapid beat of an accelerated heart drummed against his ears as heslid around the corner.
There, between the dumpsters and thebuildings, a hulking figure hunched over someone. Instinct alonetold him the figure wasn’t human before the foul reek of rottinggarbage emanating from the vampire filled his nostrils. His gazeslid to the woman in the vampire’s arms. Anger speared through himwhen he saw the spill of chocolate curls flowing over the vamp’sforearm. Pouring on the speed, Ian lowered his shoulder and smashedinto the side of the vampire who had been too focused on his preyto notice Ian’s approach.
The man let out a low grunt as he flewtwenty feet in the air before crashing into the corner of theopposite wall. Ian glanced at the woman lying on the ground. Herhead was turned to the side; blood trickled down her neck from theragged gashes torn across her ivory flesh by the vampire’s fangs.Her heart beat sluggishly, but she’d survive if he could get herout of here soon.
The vampire he’d thrown across the waystaggered back to his feet, shook his head, and released a lowsnarl that may have made other vampires run. Ian only laughedinstead, “Bring it.”
In the dim glow of the streetlights spillinginto the alleyway, the vampire’s eyes glistened like rubies. Thevamp’s fangs flashed when his lips skimmed back and he released ahiss. Bracing his feet apart, Ian waved his hands at the vamp in acome on gesture. The vampire raced across the short distance andleapt at him with his arms and legs outstretched in the Supermanposition.
Idiot,Ian thought. He darted to theside at the last second, clasped his hands together, and smashedthem into the back of the vampire who had mistakenly believed hewas some sort of comic book creation. A burst of air exploded fromthe vampire; a vertebrae in his spine cracked from the force ofIan’s blow. The vampire’s facedown impact onto the pavement brokehis chin and jaw. The coppery scent of his attacker’s blood filledthe air. Ian inhaled it eagerly, his fangs pricked, but he foughtback his yearning to feed. Grinding his teeth together, he stalkedtoward the man rolling over on the ground. Blood streamed from hisbroken nose but was slowly starting to ease as his healingabilities kicked in.
Before the man could regain his feet, Ianslammed his foot into his chest and shoved him down again. Bloodsprayed from the vampire’s mouth as a round of coughing wracked hisbody. Those red eyes burned up at him hatefully. Ian grinned athim, revealing his own fangs. He grabbed the stake tucked into hiswaistband and pulled it free.Never leave home without it,he thought.
The man’s eyes widened when he saw thestake. Ian’s smile grew as he flipped it in his hand. “Normally Iwouldn’t do this. I’d let you go about your way, but you smell likea landfill, which leads me to the conclusion she’s not your firstvictim, and unless I end you she won’t be your last.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,what smell?” the man snarled.
“No, you wouldn’t,” Ian replied. “Pity too,because if you could smell yourself, youwouldhave stoppedkilling. Oh, well.”
