Every instinct screamed inside Mara to fight, not flee. She’d never be rid of Jones until he was dead, and Jones was here, in Miami. She had to stay here.
But as she heard voices next door and the sound of furniture being overturned, a chill slid down her spine.
“Stay back,” Lucien warned.
Splaying out his fingers, he directed a blast of light through the walls to his suite. Two loud, angry howls followed.
“They’re trapped, but only for a few minutes. I can dematerialize, but can’t take you with me during the day. My powers are too diminished by the sun.” Lucien herded her out into the hallway toward the fire exit as Petra stepped onto the balcony.
“Seventeen flights?” Mara whispered.
“Channel your inner work-out demon.”
When they’d reached the bottom and burst outside into the street, her muscles screamed in protest. Mara’s knees buckled. She sagged against the wall, her lungs bellowing out sharp breaths.
“Where’s Petra?” she asked.
Worry lined Lucien’s brow. He seemed to reach out with his powers. “Damn it. Petra went back to the room to stall them. She wants to buy us time.”
Mara looked up and recoiled in shock. An aura of white light pulsed around Lucien’s tensed body. Her angelic half reacted, reaching eagerly for it, twining with the white energy, until tendrils of their mingled light swirled around them both.
It was worry for Petra, she realized. Lucien cared deeply about the little gremlin.
“I can’t leave you here alone. It’s too dangerous and I will not see you hurt.”
The white light pulsed stronger around him. Mara felt awed and awash with new feelings for this powerful vampire. Lucien was determined to save her. People usually threw her under the bus. Even her sisters had grown distant. But this vampire was slowly getting under her skin with his fierce protectiveness.
Mara thought of crazy, brave Petra confronting the werewolf hunters. “Why are they after her?”
“She violated the rules. Petra’s forbidden from taking human blood.”
“But gremlins eat meat.”
“Petra’s not truly a gremlin.” He swore. “I will not let them get to her.”
“And I can’t climb those stairs. Go, Lucien. I’ll be here.”
“I will be back straight away. Stay here in the shadows and don’t move.”
The quick brush of his lips sent blood singing through her veins. He dematerialized.
No one had ever made her feel this crazy way before. He was lethal and yet tender. She longed to fall into his arms, stay there and feel safe. But she knew no place was safe.
Mara fisted her hands. “Why?” she whispered. “Why did you wreck my life, Jones? I never hurt you, never did anything bad to anyone.”
Strength returned, pouring into her jellied limbs. Rage loaned it to her as she pushed away from the wall and stood. The dim darkness inside her suddenly blasted into full power, like a jet powering up.
Struggling to leash her emotions, Mara thought quickly. They’d need a cab to the airport. She walked out to the main street to coax a cab in her direction.
One pulled up to the curb. The driver wore a ragged knit cap with the colors of the Jamaican flag. Mara caught a familiar scent on the back door handle. Jones. He had used this cab, had been here. She must find him.
A red haze of fury fogged her mind, clogging all rational thought.
The fire exit door banged open. Someone yelled her name.
She fumbled with the taxi’s back door handle and flung it open.
Even as she slid inside and closed the door, she knew. The overwhelming scent of evil clouded her mind. Panicking, she searched the door. No handles.
The driver turned, tipping up his cap and flashing a familiar-gap toothed smile. Jones.
“Welcome, demon. No need to state the destination. You’re going straight back to hell.”
Lucien swore as the cab sped away. He’d knocked together the skulls of the hunters, sending them unconscious, but now Mara was trapped.
“Go straight to the airport,” he yelled at Petra. “I’ll meet you there.”
Heart hammering in his chest, he ran on the sidewalk, tracking the cab. Mara’s terrified look stamped into his brain as her fingers scraped at the window like a trapped animal.
If Jones laid a single finger on her…Fangs exploded in Lucien’s mouth.
Legs pumping fast, he passed startled pedestrians, who looked confused at the microburst of air. Though the sun diminished his powers, he maintained his legendary speed. Lucien raced into the street, weaving around the vehicles until he spotted a pink taxicab stopped at a red light.
The driver was reeling back, screaming as a whirling gray mass attacked him. Fear kicked up Lucien’s heartbeat.
He materialized beside the taxi.
The door yanked open with a protest of screeching metal. He grabbed Mara around the waist while maintaining a glamour.
Jones touched his wet, reddened cheek. “Hello, Lucien, nice to see you again. She’s dead now. The hunters will claw into her and hurt her badly now that she’s attacked me.”
“If you’ve hurt her, I’ll rip your throat out myself,” Lucien said tightly.
Jones laughed, thumped his chest. “Can’t touch this,” he sang mockingly. “You know the rules.”
“Get out of here.” Lucien used his powers to depress the gas pedal. Startled, Jones screamed and wrestled for the steering wheel as the cab sped away.
He hauled Mara to the sidewalk. Wrinkling his nose at the sulfuric smell of demon, he held on tight. She shrieked. On the curb, Lucien pulled her hard against him. Her gray skin was icy, her amber eyes swirled with blood red. Her strength astonished him. He wrapped his arms around her.
He began to rock her, using touch to soothe and calm.
“Shh, Mara. It’s all right. It’s all right. You have nothing to fear. I’ll make damn sure he’ll never get his hands on you again. I’ll rip him to shreds if he dares to touch you.”
Crooning, he used his hypnotic voice to draw out her cold fury. Gradually she stopped fighting. The blue returned to her eyes and her skin became pale, her nails returning to the blunt, pared ends. The cold, dark aura swirling around her faded.
Mara sagged against him, her eyes closing. His heart cracked. Lucien stared at the woman in his arms, her angelic self chasing away the snarling demon.
He could save her, he realized.
Maybe in saving her, he could even save himself.
Cradling her in his arms, he traced her moist, red lips with an index finger. Mara’s eyes fluttered open again. Light caught the flecks of blue, chasing away the demon red completely.
“Lucien? I lost it again. Is Petra okay? Please tell me she’s not hurt.”
“She’s fine. I reached them just before they laid paws on her.” And cracked their skulls open, he thought grimly. The hunters would awaken with headaches and fresh determination.
“Good. You care about what happens to her, I can tell. It’s nice.” Her voice drifted away. “I wish someone felt the same about me. No one has, since my parents died.”
The simple declaration shook him to the core. He held her tighter. I could care.
He did not want to.
She looked shaken, worry creasing her brow. “I didn’t hurt you, did I? I don’t want to hurt you.”
“You didn’t hurt me,” he assured her.
“Good. I don’t want you to get hurt, Lucien.” Mara touched his face.
The caress was a warm, velvet stroke. Emotions coursed through him. No one had cared about him in years. Even Petra, his closest companion, took his well-being for granted. The warmth in Mara’s eyes undid him, as did her rosy mouth. It was a promise of the sweetest taste of heaven, a chance to redeem his damned soul. She smelled like fresh peaches.
Hungering for a taste, he framed her face with his hands and settled a soft kiss on her rosy, parted lips.
Lucien kept kissing her, needing and craving this connection. He siphoned away her anger, her fears, replacing them with his calm, icy control. All the while his own control slipped.
When they finally broke apart, Mara looked languid and pliable. “Now where?” she asked, looking like a woman ready for love.
Lucien gritted his fangs. She wasn’t going to like this, but he had little choice. “And now, you sleep.”
He passed a hand over her face, catching her as she slumped into unconsciousness.