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Nick
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SEEING MY LITTLE SISTER looking so shellshocked and traumatized again brought my rage to the surface. Liam could sense how I was feeling through our bond. He didn’t argue with me when I said I was heading out for a few days. He knew I needed to blow off some steam until I could calm down again.
I headed upstairs to my bedroom to grab my duffle bag, stuffing my Colt, harness and spare ammo inside it. Alex was putting on a brave face, but we could all see that she was suffering. Returning downstairs, I crossed the room to kiss her on the temple, then headed for the exit.
Cool night air washed over me when I stepped outside. It was the tail end of summer and fall was rapidly approaching. My little brown fieldmouse was hidden in a pocket of my jeans. His head came out and he looked up at me, waiting for orders. “Take me to a couple of random places, then take me to Denver,” I requested and Epsilon obediently made us sink into the ground. Irene Dawson could be watching me right now, so I was taking precautions to throw her off my trail. I wouldn’t put it past her to try to use one of us as bait to ensnare Alex again.
I closed my eyes and didn’t bother to open them until the third time I felt myself rise out of the earth. The first two spots the mouse had taken me to had been somewhere quiet and remote. The sounds of traffic, TVs and people crashed over me the final time we surfaced. I automatically dulled it down before it could drive me crazy.
I looked around to see my zombie had taken us to the nightclub district in Denver. We’d emerged in a backyard of a townhouse that backed up to one of the clubs. “Good work, Epsilon,” I said with a grin, then looked around for somewhere to leave my duffle bag.
Spying an ancient treehouse in a tree next door, I studied it to see it was falling apart. The ladder that had been nailed to the trunk was missing a few rungs. No one in their right mind would try to climb it. “Perfect,” I said, then vaulted over the fence. I tossed my duffle bag up into the treehouse, then scaled the fence to the parking lot behind the nightclub.
Music was thumping so loudly that it drowned out all other noise the closer I drew to the building. The club was for humans, but shifters sometimes came here. I’d lied to the squad when I’d told them I intended to meet up with an acquaintance. I wasn’t here to meet anyone, but I had to stay for a while so I didn’t blow my cover.
I rounded to the front of the club and saw a long line ahead of me. Dredging up my most winning grin, I swaggered over to the bouncers, hiding money in my hand. “I’m on the list,” I said to one of the guys and surreptitiously showed him my bribe.
“Name?” he asked, eyes glued to the notes tucked inside my fingers.
“Nick Garrett,” I replied, using the alias my twin and I both used when we were going undercover or didn’t want to be known.
“You can go in,” he replied after faking a glance at the list.
I handed him the money on my way past. He made it vanish just as deftly as Yas could pick pockets. My hand was on the door, poised to push it open when I felt eyes on my back. I turned to scan the street, ignoring the annoyed humans who were lined up, impatiently waiting to be let in. Someone stood in the shadows further down the block. He stepped into an alley before I could make out his face. I assumed it was a man because he was taller than most women, but he’d moved far more gracefully than normal. If I hadn’t been on a personal mission, I might have followed the guy to see who he was. Since I had other plans, I pushed the door open and stepped inside the club.
The music was unbearably loud once I was inside the building. I blocked out the barrage as I squeezed through the crowd. Women brushed up against me, attracted by the looks I’d inherited from my famous parents. I smiled flirtatiously, but didn’t stop to talk to any of them. Picking up a woman for the night wasn’t my goal. I was just here to kill time before embarking on my plan.
I bought a bottle of beer, then headed over to the nearest wall to lean against it. Taking my phone out, I scrolled through the files I’d loaded onto it, refreshing my memory of my target and avoiding catching anyone’s eye. My aloof attitude was enough to deter women from approaching me.
I slowly drank my beer as I read through the files. After a while, I felt the same pair of eyes on me again. The hairs on the back of my neck rose almost as if danger was near. I looked up and scanned the club, trying to pinpoint my stalker. When I didn’t see him lurking around, I went back to my research.
Only half of my attention was on my mission now. The rest of my mind was busy trying to figure out who was watching me. It was useless to try to pick up a scent. The smell of perfume, deodorant, sweat and alcohol was far too strong. I could barely smell my own scent right now beneath the cloying odors.
A tall man on the far side of the club caught my eye. He seemed to be using a couple of dudes for cover. I shifted so I was leaning one shoulder against the wall rather than both. Lifting my phone up higher to my face, I surreptitiously watched my potential stalker while pretending to read.
After a few minutes, the guy went on the move. I went on full alert, but didn’t let him know I knew he was approaching me. He got halfway across the room, then stopped at a table to talk to a couple of women. I blew out a breath when I realized he’d been watching them rather than me.
“Don’t move,” a voice said from directly behind me. Vampire charisma washed over me and I obediently froze. The voice was female and she had an accent that I couldn’t quite place. “Hold your phone up higher,” she commanded. I did as I’d been ordered and she read the file over my shoulder. “Killion,” she said in what sounded like loathing. “Do you know him?”
“He’s my enemy,” I replied woodenly.
“What a coincidence,” she said and her cold finger stroked the back of my neck. “He is my enemy, too.” I couldn’t see her reflection on my phone, proving she was a vampire. She leaned forward to press her cool cheek against mine and I realized we were almost the same height. “Go to the yard of the house where you hid your belongings,” she ordered me. “Don’t let anyone see you.” With that order, she sped away so quickly that none of the humans saw her move.
Epsilon’s head poked out of my pocket again and swiveled to look at my face. “I’m okay,” I said as my feet carried me towards a back exit. “Don’t take me home yet. I want to see where this goes,” I ordered. His whiskers twitched, which I took for assent. We both knew he could take me home as long as I was standing on the ground rather than on concrete.
I hadn’t come to Denver to pick up a one-night stand like the rest of the team believed. My real plan was to hunt Killion down before he could snatch my little sister from us again. Now that Heath Franko was dead, the master vampire was probably Irene Dawson’s second in charge again. He’d fallen out of favor with her after he’d failed to kidnap Alex in Albuquerque, but the witch might need him and his nest in order to take her from us again.
Our squad had failed to keep Alex safe from our enemies too many times. I was determined not to let Killion get another chance to steal her away. I figured working alone would give me a better chance of sneaking up on him and ending his miserable life.
Liam would be furious if he knew what I was planning. It was lucky our twin bond didn’t work like a mating bond. We had to deliberately reach out with our minds to talk to each other. It was hard to scan each other’s thoughts without permission. If he knew what I was planning, he would have forbidden me from hunting the vampire down and told Uncle Mark and our folks about my scheme. I only had a few days to track my quarry down before my twin would become suspicious about my absence. I hadn’t expected to be ensnared by a mysterious female vampire, but I was curious to see what she wanted from me.
