He stroked her hair as he had a hundred times over the past hours. But the real truth was, holding her like this, with her fragile head tucked against him, eased his battered soul the way nothing else had.
The tiger purred with satisfaction, a fact he might have found a tad disturbing if he werent too tired to think about it. The tiger rarely paid any attention to the women he was with.
He glanced into the rearview mirror, lifting his sunglasses to look at his eyes. Yesterday, for the first time, hed noticed a black streak across one of his irises, slicing through the green like the shadow from a lightning bolt. Today, there were several across each. He didnt know what it meantHawke hadnt eitherbut he had a sick feeling it wasnt good.
An hour later, when the rumbling of his stomach became so loud he was afraid he was going to wake half of D.C., he turned the car toward Capitol Hill and the safe house.
Minutes later, Delaney jerked in her sleep, then moaned with pain. Not again.
Tighe pressed a hand to her forehead as she lay on his lap. A vision roared into his head, knocking the breath from him as it punched him in the gut.
This bastard needed to die.
CHAPTER 9
The scene flashed into Tighes inner vision.
As before, it didnt steal his sight as the visions did when they were his alone. Instead, he continued to see the street before him clearly. He watched the two scenes as though through two separate pairs of eyes.
A young woman lay on the floor, her eyes filled with terror as she struggled to remove the gag from her mouth. Hands that werent Tighes held her down.
Do you know who I am? the clone hissed in the womans ear.
The woman shook her head frantically.
Im the D.C. Vampire.
Tighes stomach clenched. The bastard knew exactly what was going on. He must be holed up somewhere watching the news between attacks, a hugely disturbing thought because the clone was definitely past the stage of being merely a feeding machine. He was thinking. Plotting. Learning. And that was not good news.
The womans eyes went impossibly wide with terror. Precisely what his clone intended, Tighe realized. Why else had he told her what the news media was calling him? He wanted her afraid. He was feeding off her fear.
Definitely evolving. An unthinking animal would feed the simplest way possible. In this case, by stealing raw life force, draining his victim. Feeding from fear took more finesse. More cunning. Something his clone was clearly developing.
Not good. Not good at all.
Delaneys hand moved to cover his, holding it tight against her forehead. Dont let go, she pleaded.
Ive got you.
How does your touch help, Tighe? How do you ease the pain?
Im not sure, but I suspect its all part of your getting in the way of my connection with my twin. When I touch you, Im able to access the vision your brain is trying to shut out, completing that connection. The pressure in your head eases.
That makes sense, she murmured. And yet no sense at all. People are not electrical circuits. None of this should be happening.
If she only knew. Shed only glimpsed the tip of what would appear to her human eyes to be a very large and terrifying iceberg. He prayed to the goddess she never saw the rest. The terror in her eyes would be more than he could stand. In his current state, hed be flung into the chaos for good.
In that other place, the demon grabbed his captives arms, breaking one, then the other as she screamed.
Can you see this? he asked Delaney.
No.
He stilled as the clones sights turned to a playpen filled with three wide-eyed toddlers. Rage tore through him as the monster closed the distance between them.
Behind the clone, Tighe could hear the injured womans whimpers turn to outrage as the clone reached down and picked up one of the little ones, lifting her chubby neck to his mouth.
Tighe groaned. Sweet goddess.
Whats he doing? Delaney asked, her voice tight with pain.
He broke her arms. Now hes killing her babies. As she watches.
Delaney moaned, curling in on herself as if shed taken a punch to the stomach. We have to get him.
The devil who wore his face tossed the tiny, lifeless body aside with a thud and turned to pick up another as the womans muffled and horrified cries rang in Tighes ears.
We dont know where he is. Wait. As the clone fed on the second child, his gaze turned toward the window. Capitol Springs Apartments are across the street.
Capitol Springs. I know that area. A thread of excitement laced her voice. Its on East Capitol. Around 6th or 7th.
He released Delaney long enough to pull out his cell phone and give the address to Hawke. Second by second, he felt her body tensing as her pain burned across his tongue. He snapped the phone closed, tossed it onto the dash, and covered her forehead again with his palm.
Her pained sigh tore at him. Somehow he had to free her from these things. For her, now, more than himself.
Are your friends going to meet us there?
Yes, but you wont see them. Hawke would probably shift and go by air. Theyd both beat him there. Hed wandered far afield in his driving.
Hopefully, he wouldnt need to get in touch with Hawke. Once the Feral shifted, neither he nor Kougar would be able to communicate with him until they got closer. And out of the car. The magic shielding that kept the draden from penetrating the car windows kept the Ferals from communicating telepathically when one of them was in his animal form. Which was the only time they could communicate that way.
The womans cries increased exponentially as the clone picked up the last child, a small boy. Tighe knew instinctively, the boy was the only one who was hers. Even through the gag, he recognized the unique sound of a parents pain.
As he was forced to stop behind a line of traffic caught at the light, the clone tossed the third small body onto the floor and turned to the grief-stricken mother. This is why he had to get his soul back! Not only to stop this creature from killing, but to help find that Daemon blade so this scene didnt play out a thousand times a day. Every day. All over the world, as it would if the Daemons were ever freed again.
Thunder. He slammed his hand against the steering wheel. The Ferals didnt have the power to defeat the Daemons a second time. Theyd sacrificed too much to imprison them the first time.
Delaney turned her head to look up at him, and he met her pained gaze, feeling his soul sink into her dark eyes and, for a moment, heal. Is he still killing children?
No. Theyre dead. Hes turning on the mother now.
Abruptly, the clone stopped.
How far are we? Delaney asked, still watching him.
Ten minutes. Maybe less.
The clone turned away from the woman and moved to kneel beside the lifeless body of the last child. Tighes stomach rolled as he realized what the clone was doing. With a lighter, he set fire to the boys dinosaur tee shirt. Then with an even, purposeful stride, he walked to the apartment door and opened it.
Three thirty-one. He was in apartment 331, but hes leaving. Dammit. Ive got to tell Kougar.
Tighe reached for his phone, where hed tossed it onto the dash, but couldnt get it without crushing Delaney against the steering wheel. Brown eyes, I need my phone. Can you reach it for me?
As she rose slowly, he kept his palm against her forehead. Where? Oh, I see it. She pulled it off the dash.
Delaney held the phone in front of him, but to take it he had to release her.
Speed dial five for me. When a man answers, tell him apartment three three one.
Tighe says apartment three three one. A moment later she snapped, Go to hell, and closed the phone.
Damn Kougar. What did he say?
He said he told you to kill me.
Tighe sighed. He figured it was the easiest way to free you from the visions.
The sound that came from her throat was half laugh, half moan. If this keeps up much longer, I may ask for that cure.
Hang on, brown eyes. No ones ending your life.
That assurance would have made me happier before the little guys with the jackhammers set up the construction zone in my brain.
The vision faded.
Delaney sighed, the tension easing from her tightly strung body. Is it over?
Apparently. At least for now. I have a feeling he set that fire for a reason.
He set a fire?
Yes. He didnt see any need to burden her with where.
Weve got to call the fire department.
She pushed herself up and he released her, sorry to have to let her go. Are you okay?
Yes. Thanks to you. She picked up his phone and pressed 911. Is there a return policy on these visions I accidentally stole from you because I would happily give them back?
I may be able to free you of them. Thats what I was trying to do when I inadvertently started to control you.
She threw him a wary look that said she didnt understand what he was talking about and wasnt sure she wanted to know.
But her sigh was one of exhaustion. As soon as we get back to your place, you have my permission to muck around in my head all you want. Just get me free of these things.
You got it.
As she called in the fire, he found the building and pulled up in front. Sure enough, smoke was already beginning to curl from one of the open windows.
Tighe tossed Delaney the car keys. Wait for me.
Yeah, right.
As he opened his door, she jumped out, pulling the gun hed seen her take from the cop, as she ran for the building. Hell. Tighe raced after her. There was no way he was going to be able to talk her into staying outside. Any more than shed talk him into it.
He pushed past the frightened residents rushing out the front door, following Delaney, who was threading her way through the crowd. He forced his way in and was heading for the stairs when he heard Hawke call, Stripes! The lean, dark-haired warrior crossed the foyer to his side.
You catch him? Tighe asked.
No. No sign of him anywhere. Neither of us can sense him. Either hes fled the scene, or hes lost his draden smell.
The latter. The son of a bitch set that fire just to create fear so he can feed off it. No way would he leave now. Hes here somewhere, feasting on the terror.
Hawke nodded. That explains it, then. Kougar found the apartment and said it was the source of the fire.
What about the woman?
There was no one alive in there.
Crap. Find Kougar and cover the exits. Im going to try to flush him out. Delaneys with me.
Hawke lifted a brow but said nothing.
Tighe started up the open stairs, pushing past frantic residents. Children cried. People shouted, calling for one another. As he breached the throng on the landing and started up the second flight, he saw the woman from the vision and felt a quick, sharp empathy for her and relief that she, at least, had survived. Another woman had her arms around her hunched shoulders as she cradled both arms against her body.
Fury stirred at her unnecessary suffering.
The woman looked up, her eyes dazed until they landed on him. Stark terror flared in her eyes as a strangled scream wobbled from her throat.
The sight of terror directed at him from a womans eyes slammed him with memory, igniting his fury. Gretchen, you should have known.
Deep inside him, the chaos leaped, wrenching him back to the present.
No. I cant go feral. Not here. Not now.
Tighe tore his gaze away from the womans terrified face as he pushed as far to the right as he could. Keeping others between them, he ran past her and up the stairs. But he was losing the battle, that inner rage riding him, clamoring to be set free.
His fingers began to tingle. His teeth ached.
No! He wouldnt lose it. Not when he was so close to finding his clone. Not with Delaney here.
He pushed through the crowd in a growing panic as his claws slowly unsheathed. He couldnt lose it here. He couldnt lose it here.
At the top of the stairs, he saw an open doorway and dove through. With his last ounce of free will, he no longer fought the imminent change, but rode it through the feral, straight to the tiger as he shifted into his animal.
Only in his animal form could he call for help, unless one of his friends had already shifted.
With a surge of relief and joy, the change swept over him, and he raised his beasts head to the ceiling and let out one long, rumbling growl.
To his surprise, the storm inside him began to abate. He apparently had better control in his tiger form than his human. Until a womans scream had him swinging toward the open door. A woman stared at him in horror, as a man grabbed her shoulders and pushed her past.
Wildness clawed at his control all over again. Fury leaping to be set free.
Theyre running from a tiger, his logical mind roared. Any sane human would be terrified.
In his animal form, he managed what he hadnt been able to in his human form and slowly beat back the chaos. Before he shifted back to human, he took advantage of his tigers ability to scent draden. But he smelled nothing but humans. And smoke.
He called to his friends. Any sign of him?
None. Hawkes voice. Weve got the exits covered as best we can with only two of us.
Good. Delaneys in here somewhere. Im going to try to send her out. Keep an eye on her. Do not let Kougar near her.
Ill do my best.
Tighe shifted back into his human form, then ran into the hall to search for Delaney. If she had to face that clone again, she was doing it with him at her side.
CHAPTER 10
Delaney stumbled down the hallway from apartment 331, her lungs sore and burning from coughing. Her nostrils fried from the stench of burning flesh. Her heart aching. Dear God, hed burned the children.
In the hallway, the air was quickly filling with smoke. Even if Tighes twin were here, she wasnt sure shed see him.
A figure appeared at the top of the stairs. Her heart lurched at the familiar sight. Tighe or the killer? But the angel wings in her head fluttered with pleasure, and she knew it was Tighe. But at the sight of him, at the thought of what shed just done, her stomach spasmed with guilt. Shed just gotten off the phone with Phil. FBI SWAT was on its way.
Did youfind him? she asked, coughing.
No. He quickly closed the distance between them, his hands going to her shoulders. Get outside, brown eyes. You need some fresh air.
Weve got to find him.
We do. My men are watching the back of the apartment. I need you to cover the front while I flush him out.
She wasnt ready to leave, yet. SWAT or no SWAT, this was her investigation, dammit, but she was coughing badly. And Tighe was barely coughing at all. The smoke hardly seemed to be getting to him. Maybe she should leave him to root out his twin while she sought out fresh air. Shed heard and felt his reactions during this latest attack. There was no doubt in her mind hed been as horrified by his twins savageness as she was. God knew, he should be, but the certainty that he had been only confirmed those instincts of hers that kept insisting he was a good man. A good man who would almost certainly get caught and hauled in for questioning once SWAT arrived. Unless she warned him.
She coughed harder, her eyes and throat burning from the smoke. But warning him went against everything she believed in as an FBI agent.
Tighe gave her a gentle push toward the stairs. Go watch the front, Delaney. Get out of here before I have to carry you out.
Coughing too hard even to answer him, she nodded and turned away. He needed to be taken in for questioning. Whatever else Tighe was, he was dangerous. And involved up to his well-muscled shoulders in this case, her case. At the very least, hed kidnapped and drugged a federal agent. Honest, everyday citizens didnt do things like that. They didnt have access to weapons like mind-control drugs.
He had to be apprehended. She knew that. Yet there was a part of her that felt like shed betrayed him.
Thank God she wasnt weak enough to listen.
Tighe systematically broke down one door after another on the floor where the fire started, searching for the clone and finding nothing. Not even any people. At least the humans were smart enough to flee. He was all too afraid his clone was way too smart now to wait for Tighe. Why fight when he could slip away unnoticed?
Frustration ate at Tighes nerves, and he pushed it back. He couldnt afford to shift again. Not when the firefighters would be here any moment and he still hadnt found his quarry.
When hed gone through every apartment on the third floor, he started down the stairs to search the second. A heavyset woman with a cane was struggling to climb up. Under her breath, she was crying, My baby, my baby.
The smoke was already thick on the third floor. She had no business going up there. He told himself it wasnt his business. He told himself he didnt care.
Maam, you need to go downstairs. The fires spreading and the firefighters are going to need to get through.
She turned a tear-streaked face to him, desperation in her eyes. My babys up there. I left her alone for just a few minutes. She cant get out the door. Shes only three.
Three. He remembered Amalie at that age. So demanding and bossy for such a tiny thing, yet hed gladly been her slave and lackey. Hed have done anything for the daughter hed loved more than his own life. Anything.
The woman pushed herself onto the next highest step. Shes crying for her mama. I know shes crying. Ive got to get her.
He told himself they were humans. He didnt care.
Which apartment?
Four thirty-one.
Hell. She was directly above the fire. It might already be too late. Go down. Hurry. Ill get her.
Wait! The key.
She handed him her apartment key and Tighe palmed it, then turned and ran. Three years old.
Amalie. Her face swam in his minds eye as hed last seen her. Crying, her face streaked with tears as her small arms reached for him, clawing the arms that bound her in her desperation to get back to him.
And hed turned away.
Ah, goddess. Amalie.
They were so tiny at that age. So fragile. How long could small, mortal lungs breathe such smoke? How long before the fire burned through the floor and sent this child tumbling into the flames?
She needed him.
How many times had Amalie needed him? How many times had she cried out for him, and he wasnt there to hear her?
How many times?
Delaney watched the chaos in helpless frustration. What if Tighe doesnt give himself up when the FBI arrives? What if they shoot him?
A bloodcurdling scream went up to her left, and she feared her worries were coming all too true as she quickly sought its source. Her gaze found the one screaming, a woman holding badly misshapen arms against her body. Delaney followed the womans line of sight and froze.
The woman was staring at Tighe. Excepthe wasnt Tighe. He was dressed in the same navy blue shirt and too-short khakis shed seen him in when he attacked her in the laundry room. And he wasnt wearing shades. Even from this distance she could feel the coldness in him that brought back nightmarish memories of the attack. A cold that was not Tighes.
Goose bumps lifted on her flesh. There were two of them. Just as Tighe had said. And she was staring at the murderer. Hatred curled in her gut as she pulled her weapon and started running. The killer looked up as she came toward him. He was near the corner of the apartment building, standing among more than a dozen agitated residents waiting for the fire trucks.
FBI! she choked out, coughing. Freeze!
He ducked behind the other residents, and she lost sight of him. Blast it.
The guy was not getting away this time. If she had to empty the chamber in his head to stop him, shed do it.
But when she reached the group, he wasnt there. And there was no way a man his and Tighes size could easily hide. She took off around the corner, but could see no sign of him, so she kept running. By the time she was three-quarters of the way around the apartment complex, her lungs felt like theyd been rubbed raw with gravel.
She doubled over, coughing, desperately trying to catch her breath. Shed lost him. How in the world had she lost a man who had to be over six-six? Did he go back inside? Or was he long gone by now?
Pushing herself to keep going, she rounded the corner to find the street clogging with fire trucks, police cars, and two SWAT vans.
The gangs all here.
Except Tighes twin had almost certainly escaped. Tighe was the only one theyd get. But he had to be apprehended. They had to figure out who he was, who he worked for, and what he knew.
She knew that, accepted it. She was an FBI agent, first and foremost. Her loyalty was to the Bureau alone.
But she couldnt help feeling the sick guilt of betrayal.
Tighe raced down the smoky hallway, alive with the screech of smoke alarms, to apartment 431. Inserting the key, he pushed open the door to the sound of a childs coughing and crying.
Come, little one, he called softly in a voice hed once reserved for Amalie alone. Ill take you to your mother.
A small shape flew across the floor to him and he swept her into his arms. Not Amalie. Black hair, not blond. Dark skin, not pale. Not Amalie.
But as her small arms wrapped around his neck he was swamped by memories of sweetness and loss. Not in six hundred years had he held a child in his arms.
Cradling the small, coughing body against him, he ran for the stairs as pain that hed thought long buried swept over him in a blinding torrent.
He barely noticed the stairwell flying past until he heard a womans glad cry echoing from below.
Jensie! Baby!
The little girl stirred in his arms and began to cry. Momma. Her cry dissolved into a fit of coughing.
Oh, baby, Im so sorry. So sorry. The woman had stopped halfway down the final flight of stairs.
Get outside! Tighe called to her. Were right behind you.
Through the front windows of the apartment building, Tighe could see the flashing lights of fire trucks, yet the firefighters had yet to race into the building. What was taking them so damn long? What if there were others trapped like this child had been?
Thunder. Since when did he care what happened to humans?
The hobbling woman finally reached the lobby and made her way to the front door, Tighe and the child close behind her. The moment they were outside, the woman held out her arms. Tighe had to force himself to release the little girl, but he did, allowing her to dive into her mothers arms.
Thank you. The womans eyes shone with tears. Youre an angel.
Tighe nodded, uncomfortable with the praise and still reeling from the barrage of raw, painful memories.
Tighe. Look out!
Hawkes voice sounded in his head at the same instant his warriors instincts caught the quick, furtive movements and the glint of metal.
Freeze! FBI!
The child had distracted him. Hed walked right into a trap. A trap set, no doubt, by a woman with dark fathomless eyes.
Six armed SWAT members ran at him from both sides.
Hands in the air!
Behind the men, he saw her. Delaney stood, watching him, her jaw set, a plea in her eyes. To what? Forgive her? Give up? Like hell.
The last thing he could afford to do was get trapped by human law enforcement. He turned and ran back into the smoky building as two shots rang out behind him. One hit him in the thigh. The other went straight through his heart.
Jesus. Hed survive it. If he could get to a healerin time.
He stumbled down the hall and fell through the first open doorway, shifting into his tiger. No. He couldnt remain a tiger.
Hawke. Im heart-shot.
Where are you?
First-floor apartment. Second or third on the right. Not sure. Fading fast, buddy.
Well get you. Hang on.
Using what strength he could gather, he managed to change his form once more, to that of a house cat. He lay there, his feline eyes glazed, his chest on fire from the gunshot, yet aching in an entirely different way.
Amalies tear-streaked face faded to be replaced by the face of another female, a woman with hard warriors eyes. Shed slept in his lap and said she was beginning to trust him, yet clearly she never really had. Hed known it. Hed been a fool to turn his back on her.
Shed won this battle, but the war between them was far from over.
If he lived long enough to fight another day.
Delaney clutched her chest as she watched the blood bloom on Tighes retreating back, right at the level of his heart.
Blast it. Blast it.
He shouldnt have run!
Blast it, Tighe.
Was he the one? Phil asked, coming to stand beside her.
He wasnt the killer, but the brother. The killer may still be inside, though hes probably long gone.
Weve got the building surrounded. The fire will flush him soon enough if hes still in there. As soon as we haul the brother out, were letting the fire department in, or theyll never get the blaze contained.
A tall dark-haired man with sharply arched brows pushed his way through the front doors, a dead cat in his arms. An orange-striped tabby that looked a lot like the one shed been talking to in her apartment. Right before she realized Tighe was there.
Her teeth clenched beneath the force of her anger. Damn Tighe. Hed chosen death over interrogation. And just what did that say about his lack of innocence? Plenty.
Tears burned her eyes, and she blinked them back harshly. Hed kidnapped her. Hed drugged her. He was one of the bad guys. She was being ridiculous to care what happened to him.
But she did care. He was a complex man. Without a doubt, he went beyond the law, but she didnt believe he was evil. Not evil.
Hed shown her more tenderness, more care, than anyone since her mom died. And the passion
She turned, pretending to scrutinize the area as she swiped away a traitorous tear before her boss saw it.
Tighe shouldnt have died like this. But, dammit, it was his own fault. If hed allowed himself to be taken in, this wouldnt have happened.
She fought back the emotions, struggling to pull her FBI persona around her like a sturdy, comfortable cloak. When she turned back to Phil, no tears glistened in her eyes. Despite her less than professional attire, she was Agent Randall through and through.
I need a blood sample taken, Phil, ASAP.
Phils brows drew together with worry. What happened, Delaney? Youre not here by accident.
Its a long story.
Phils expression turned grave. Are you okay?
I think so. She ran not-quite-steady fingers through her tangled, smoky-smelling hair. Theres more going on here than a madman with a penchant for killing. I was kidnapped and drugged. It sounded so sinister, yet hed never hurt her. Instead, hed given her such pleasure. Delaney sighed. The sooner we get a blood sample, the better the chance the lab can figure out what he used on me.
Ill take you to the lab myself. His gaze went back to the building. What in the hell is taking them so long? I saw the bullet pierce his chest. Theres no way hes still walking.
As Phil ushered her toward his car, her stomach cramped, and she feared she was going to be sick. She shouldnt feel this awful, wrenching regret. It went against everything she believed in. Tighe had not been one of the good guys.
Yet the thing that had distracted him was the child in his arms. A child hed clearly saved.
Her eyes burned. Remorse grew and thickened inside her until she could barely breathe around the pulsing grief. He shouldnt have died.
She blinked hard, clenching her teeth as she struggled to keep the unacceptable tears from falling. Her hand went to the gun still tucked into the back of her pants, the solid weight against her palm grounding her, easing her inner turmoil.
Long ago shed sworn an oath to uphold the law. She would not feel guilty over doing just that. Tighe had given her no choice.
What shed done was necessary. It was right. And if she had it to do over again, shed do exactly the same.
Even if she feared Tighes face would haunt her for the rest of her life.
CHAPTER 11
In the nearby Virginia suburbs, Paenther snapped his cell phone closed and shoved it into the inside pocket of his leather duster as he and Foxx strode through the doors of the Tysons Corner Grand Peerage Hotel. Late-afternoon sunshine ribboned across the plush oriental-style carpeting. Crystal chandeliers hung at regular intervals, illuminating the business-suited guests mingling in small, professional gatherings.