Mia waited for the quick advance Cole had shown her each time he’d attacked, but Russo just smiled at her. He moved forward slowly, walking with confidence. Russo tilted his head and licked his lips, stripping her with his gaze. Why wasn’t he attacking her? He was making her nervous.
“Oh baby, do you know what I’m going to do to you?”
You have got to be kidding me? Cole was right. With quickness, Mia drew her Taser and pointed it at his chest. “Stop. Place your hands on your head, and get on your knees.” Her tone was strong, but it hadn’t stopped his approach. Russo had crossed half the distance with an arrogant, slow stride.
“Oh, I’d like to see you on your knees.” His fingers rubbed his lips, and his fangs popped, giving his smile a deadly edge. “Maybe that’s what I’ll do when we get you to Club Red. Make you go to your knees.”
She almost rolled her eyes at the silliness of this. Did all vampires announce what they were going to do to their victims? Then she remembered the way Cole had announced to Cocaine exactly how he would harm him. The threat had made her skin crawl. “Last warning, stop and go to your knees.” Her request went ignored.
“In fact, while we’re there Blondie, maybe I can get you and Ashley together. She was smoking hot.”
Mother fucker. Mia felt a thousand bites of energy prick her skin, and the hair on the back of her neck stirred. She eased her finger to the trigger.
“I’d like to spank your ass and discipline that smart mouth of yours too.” His steps quickened. “You need to be spanked.”
“Spank this, asshole.” She pulled the trigger. Russo’s eyes widened, and he hit the mat as eight tiny, sliver probes stuck into his skin. He screamed, and his body jerked on the mat.
“Mia, drop the Taser!” Cole ran to Russo’s side. She dropped the Taser to the mat as if it burned her. “Jesus, Al, I thought you said the battery was out?”
“The battery is out.” Al picked up the Taser and held the battery chamber door open, moving it around so everyone could see.
Mia stood there, her gaze falling on each person.
“How’d you do that?” Al grabbed her arms and shook her with excitement.
“Ow, get the silver out of me!” Russo rolled on the mat, smoke flowing up from his skin.
“Al, come help!” Cole yelled, placing his fingers around a probe. He quickly released it. “Shit. They still feel charged, and they’re silver.” He shook his fingers and tried again. His face reflected pain each time he touched a probe.
“Don’t ask me to help your little freak out again.” Russo’s words sounded forced, and his teeth ground together.
Freak. How had she used the Taser without a battery? Mia watched them on the carpet. She should help them, but she couldn’t move. Her hand went to her neck, and she felt the holes from Cole’s bite, the pain renewing buried fears. She was a freak. “I-I have to go.” She turned and started to run toward the door.
“Stop!” Cole’s voice echoed through the gym, and the loud dominant command stilled her feet instantly. Her hand tightened around the gun on her thigh to help ease the tremble starting in her toes. Cole’s hand wrapped around her bicep, and then his breath blew against her ear. “You will not run from words, Mia, and you will not run from your past anymore. His palm cupped her other shoulder, and he turned her gently to face him. “Eyes on mine.”
She lifted her head, locking her gaze onto his. “He’s right.”
“He’s right if you allow him to be. Don’t let others dictate who you are.”
“But, how did I—”
Cole placed a finger under her chin and tilted her head back. “Miakoda, you have something special—embrace it.”
She nodded.
Cole grabbed her hand and shook it playfully between them. “I think you hurt Russo’s ego.”
“I didn’t think that was possible.” She laughed.
“Come.” He jerked his head toward the two men. “Let’s help Al, it seems a couple more probes are still stuck, and I’m sure this is Al’s first experience with silver.”
“Oh no, I didn’t think of that.” Mia released his hand and ran to the vampires on the mat. She knelt beside Al, and grabbed the remaining probe.
“Don’t touch me,” Russo growled.
“Shut up, wimp, I didn’t mean to hurt you. This bad.” With a cocked brow, she challenged his gaze. She yanked the silver, and the probe ripped his skin before she dropped it to the floor.
“Mia, that was amazing,” Al said, as he reloaded the Taser. “Do it again.” He handed her the armed weapon. She wrapped her hand around the grip. Uncertainty passed over her expression and she stared at the Taser.
“You need to learn how to control your power, to use it when you’re not angry,” Cole encouraged. Wrapping his hands under her elbows, he pulled her to stand next to him. “You can use me as a target if you need to.”
“No. I couldn’t.”
He smiled briefly at the sadness in her eyes at his suggestion, “Hm…” His eyes flicked to Al and Russo.
“Fuck no. Don’t even look at me, Barnett.” Russo scurried to his feet and took an unsteady stance on the mat.
“She could shoot the padded wall,” Al suggested.
“It won’t give her the realism of an attack, but I think it’s a good idea.” Cole turned to Mia. “If we can get you used to discharging the weapon first, your response time will quicken.”
“I think this is a much better idea. I don’t like hurting people.”
“So you didn’t mean to hurt me?” Russo asked.
“I said people.” Mia smiled at his snarl. “No, Russo, I didn’t mean to hurt you. I wanted to hurt you, but I was doing it in my head. I never thought it would happen.”
“This is good, Mia.” Al took her arm and led her toward the padded wall. “Focus on what you did before, and do it again.”
Mia took aim. Cole watched the intense concentration line her face, and they waited. Minutes passed. She pulled the trigger several times but nothing happened. She spun suddenly and locked her gaze with his, “This is never going to work. I’m more of a danger than anything. How am I supposed to help the team if I can’t even control what I have? Dammit! I don’t even know what I have.”
“Well, it’s not patience, Blondie.” Russo marked his comment with a wink.
“Shut up,” Mia and Cole snapped at Russo simultaneously.
“Mia, remember how you threw the stapler at Cole?” Al asked her, rubbing his fingers across his chin. “You have to remember that everything around you is energy, matter. You can manipulate it. You are powerful. Bend the energy, Mia. Move it! If it’s anger you need, then think of something that will set you off and tap into it each time.”
Cole slid his arm around her waist and pulled her back against his chest. He leaned down and pressed his lips to her ear, whispering with hopes that only she could hear his words. “Think about the first man who scared you, what he did to you—think of Butch or Velvet and then fire.”
She stiffened. With his arm still tightly around her, she aimed her weapon.
He felt the energy spark inside her and it flowed out of her, nipping at his skin and charging the surrounding air. Jesus. He was getting hard just feeling her power. It strolled through his blood and tingled lightly from head to toe.
Mia pulled the trigger. A tiny arch, with the appearance of a lightening blot, moved from her hand to the gun.
He felt his hair rise as the probes flew from the gun, and eight thuds echoed through the gym as they hit the pad. Electricity zapped and popped as it rolled down the wires into the probes.
“Christ. I’ve never seen a Taser perform like this. How many amps do you think Mia’s producing, Al?” Cole asked.
“I’m not sure but we can test her.”
She wasn’t producing anything near what she had when her memory came back. If she were, he wouldn’t be able to touch her. He had been lucky that night, his skin had started to heat, and he’d felt his blood burning inside him, but all he could do was hold on to her. He wasn’t an expert, but she may have killed him if they’d had to endure her power longer than they had. He smiled at the irony, his bride killing him—that would be a switch. He placed his palm on her shoulder. “Okay, release.”
She dropped the weapon and shook her hands. “The gun was getting hot.”
“Al, check the gun, see what damage Mia caused. This is another concern we need to think about when giving her weapons. We don’t want her hurt when a device fails.” He scooped the gun from the floor and offered it to Al.
Cole’s gaze snapped to the door when it opened abruptly.
John entered, and Nancy filed in behind him. “Ashley’s dead.”
“What? When? I thought she was under surveillance?” Cole asked.
Mia gripped his wrist, and her gaze snapped to his. “What is it?”
“Something’s coming.”
“Velvet?”
“No. Stronger.”
Cheveyo appeared in the middle of the room, concern etched across his face. “We have a problem,” he announced, leveling his gaze at Cole.
Cole sighed. “Great. What now?”
“They’re coming for Miakoda,” Cheveyo blurted, his usual calm demeanor gone.
“Who?” Cole growled, clenching his fist at his sides. “Now, Indian, and I want the truth—all of it—including why you can feel Mia.”
“Meow.”
Cole followed Mia’s gaze to Bela. With his tail held high, he walked toward her from under the desk. When Eagle Eye said he followed Mia everywhere, Cole hadn’t imagined how committed the boy was. Mia’s brows dipped, and she titled her head, staring at the cat as if she’d never seen him before. She gasped, and her fingers went to her mouth. When her stare slid back to Cole’s, her eyes narrowed.
Shit.
“Yes. The truth would be nice. From all of you! This does concern me, and I’m sick of this later bullshit and not in front of Mia, like I’m a child.” She opened her palm, and he watched an electric bolt arc in her hand. “No more secrets my ass, Detective Barnett.”
“Mia,” He pleaded. He hadn’t had a chance to tell her everything.
“Now!”
“Shit.” He shoved his hands in his hair and turned toward Bela. “Shift.” Cole heard Mia’s gasp as he emptied the large sack he had carried the equipment in. The naked Indian would need something to cover himself with.
“Oh. My. God.” Mia stared at the young Indian. “The whole time?” Her eyes glossed, and she walked toward him, ignoring his indecent appearance. “Answer me!”
“Yes,” Eagle Eye answered in a shallow voice.
“Oh my God.” Mia swayed, and her palm pushed at her belly. “The whole time.” Her knees buckled.
Cole steadied her, easing her down, preventing a hard fall to the floor. “I was naked in front of you! I did…” Her eyes were frantic as if recalling everything she’d done in front of her cat. “Oh God, I’m going to be sick.”
“I didn’t watch that,” he said, as if he knew what she was thinking.
When her cheeks stained red, Cole knew exactly what kind of memory was making her sick, and it pissed him off that Eagle Eye may have watched his bride pleasure herself. He glared at him along with Mia and threw him the sack. “Cover yourself.”
Mia suddenly stood, jerking out of his hold. “You knew?” She turned on him.
“Yes. I just found out when you were… not well.”
“What else are you not telling me?” Her gaze searched his, and he waited a beat before he responded.
“As my bride, I could kill you. And no amount of love will stop me.” There he’d said it, and now she knew. He waited for her to turn and run, but she continued to stare at him. He reached into her mind and found it locked down tight. Not being able to read her made him nervous—he should be able to feel her through his blood—somehow she shielded that as well.
She blinked a couple times as if she was trying to reboot her brain. “What did you say?” Her eyes trailed to Al and he nodded. He’d said it once to her, and she seemed to recall his words but needed confirmation. “Why? I mean why would you want to kill me?”
“Bloodlust, mainly—you’re the only thing that will subdue an out-of-control thirst. Your blood is like a drug to me. I crave it, constantly, above anything else. If I’m losing myself, I’ll want it all. I’ll fight to have it all. And I won’t stop until you’re dead.” His fingers brushed through his hair. Should he follow her if she runs? He loved her, but being with him was a double-edged sword for Mia. He could keep her safe from everyone, except himself.
“So, it’s my blood that you want?”
“No. It’s your blood I need—I want you—mind, body, and soul.”
“Has this happened before, vampires killing their brides?” Her voice sounded small, and her thumb strummed against the leather on her belt.
“For the record, I’ll have a mate—when I find him,” Nancy said, and picked the lint off her shirt as if bored.
“Yes, Mia, it has happened—many times.” John looked around the room, rubbing the back of his neck. “I killed my bride.”
Mia sucked in a breath, her hand flying to her mouth in horror. “No…”
“Yes. I loved her deeply. She was taken and used against me.”
“John, you don’t have to go there.” Cole stared at his friend, the pain evident in his expression.
He nodded, but continued. “I gave myself up to save her. They chained me in silver for days, maybe weeks, I don’t remember. Finally, they said they were going to feed me. They unlocked my chains, and threw my bride at my feet.” He twirled the band around his finger. “I begged her to run, but being the good woman she was, she wanted to feed me. I fought the urge for a couple minutes, and then the bastards cut her. One whiff of her blood—well, you can fill in the rest.”
“I’m sorry, John.”
John smiled at Mia weakly, but Cole knew him well enough to see his discomfort and renewed pain.
Cole cleared his throat, “And you?” He turned to the Indian.
“Maybe the others should leave,” Cheveyo stated.
“No. Bullshit. If I’m fighting next to Mia, I deserve to know what we’re dealing with and what the fuck she is, besides Barnett’s dinner.” Nancy slanted her head toward Mia, “no offense.”
“None taken,” Mia said and walked to stand beside Cole. He stiffened, still unsure of her emotions. “It looks like Cole’s dinner may expire one day.” She reached down and laced her fingers through his. He sucked in a breath. His heart skipped a couple beats, a painful sign it would cease its rhythm soon. And he’d thirst for it to beat within seconds of its death. Gazing at her, he squeezed Mia’s hand, and tried to convey he’d do everything he could to prevent a Cole-induced death. She wiggled their entwined hands and inhaled deeply. He smiled inwardly when her spine straightened, her shoulders pulled back, and her gaze reflected a determined focus. Did his little rebel just snap into cop mode? Mia turned to the Indian. “Okay, Cheveyo, what’s the bad news? Who’s coming for me?”