The next time she opened her eyes it was to thin moonlight upon silver waves as she was being pulled ashore. Her body landed on a hard surface and she choked up water endlessly.
Gotta get out of here, a male voice with a British accent said near her head. I can hear sirens now. Im sure neither of us wants to talk to the police. Trust me, eh?
Dannis eyes closed as she felt her body lifted and tossed over the burly wolfs shoulder.
* * *
He walked the half mile home with the vampiress flung over one shoulder as if she were a sodden sack of laundry. He only encountered a few odd looks at the half-clad, soaking wet man as he went along the way. He growled at an elderly gentleman whod suggested he take his antics to the privacy of his own home. The French were such snobs.
Hart dropped the vampiress onto the ceramic-tiled floor inside his apartment, not wanting to lay her on the suede sofa. Without a glance behind him, he aimed for the bathroom, striping off his wet pants and the few remaining shreds of his shirt. Walking right into the glass-walled shower, he turned on the hot stream. Bloody yes, I needed that.
Ten minutes later, he grabbed a towel and wandered out to the living room to find the vampiress alert, crouched against the door and flexing to stand as he approached. She put up her fists, as if ready to go a couple rounds with him.
That gave Hart a mirthless chuckle. Feisty longtooth, arent you? Here. He tossed her the towel, and she pressed it to her gut, which didnt bleed anymore, but then, he hadnt expected it to. You healed?
She nodded.
Anger returning in a whirl of energy, he fisted the air as if hed just laid the punching bag flat. What the hell are you about? Going after my principal, then nearly drowning me? And this? He slapped the side of his neck where the bite wounds had finally healed, yet had marked him forever in ways no wolf could comprehend.
Just doing as I was ordered. She straightened, lifting her chin defiantly.
Despite her bedraggled, wet-rat appearance, her eyes were bright blue and her thick lips were jeweled with water that dripped from her candy red hair. The dark clothing clung to a long, narrow frame defined by lean muscle.
Harts first assessment of her stood: gorgeous. Yet deadly. And too cocky for a vampire standing before a wolf who could shear her head from her neck with one flick of his wrist.
Why did you do it?
Do what? Hart snapped, pacing before her, unsure yet if he should get out the stake he kept in a kitchen drawerhed lost the gun in the Seineor shove her out the door and wish her good riddance.
You saved my life.
He flung a hand outward, dismissing the heroic deed. Wasnt like you were going to die.
No, but I would have been stuck down there forever.
Yet still alive. So there. I didnt save your life.
She heaved out a sigh and nodded. Either way, I owe you one.
I dont need a favor from a longtooth, thank you very much.
I know. You hate me. Im supposed to hate you. She lifted the clump of her wet hair and squeezed the water out onto the floor. Whats your name?
He snarled, thinking she had some nerve. By rights he should bring her in to the compound to let the pack serve her the justice they saw fit.
Im supposed to hate you. Like she wasnt sure whether or not she should?
Hart, he offered briskly. He never used his first name; Christian was too sissy. You can take the towel with you. Just get the hell out before I decide to serve you as chum for the pack.
Wrapping the towel about her shoulders, she opened the door. A sigh preceded her darting glance at him. Sadness wafted through the air and permeated Harts chest. He felt the hit directly and sucked in a breath.
Names Danni Weber, she said. Tribe Zmaj. I know it doesnt change things, but...sorry about the bite. I was in survival mode.
With that, she closed the door, and Hart let out his breath.
Sorry? About changing my life forever? He grabbed the nearest thinga pillow on the couchand hurled it at the door so hard the seams split and out spilled thick white stuffing.
Hart slapped a palm to his neck. The wound was achy and hot. He would have preferred death over a bite, any day.
Two
Danni stood naked before the mirror mounted on the back of her bedroom door, inspecting her smooth stomach. Gliding her fingers up the skin, taut with underlying muscle, she frowned at the absence of a scar below her ribcage. That her body healed at an insanely fast rate did not cease to bewilder her. It was unnatural. Wicked. Perhaps even demonic.
Truth was, it was vampiric. And thinking the V-word ignited a wrenching twist in her gut. She hated what she had become. Or did she fear it?
A little of both, for sure.
Pressing a palm to the mirror she opened her mouth and watched as she willed her fangs lower. It didnt hurt, but accompanying their descent, she felt a strange tingling for fulfillment, to satiate her needs with blood and sex. Another wicked, demonic thing that had become a part of her life.
It was all Slaters fault.
Shed not called him this morning to check in. Revealing her incompetence wasnt so much a risk to her status in the tribe as it would be to her brothers neck. Literally. No, she had to avoid Slater for a few days until she could again put herself near the pack leader, Remington Caufield. And this time she wouldnt screw things up.
The sticky tracking device had slipped off her finger before shed gotten it on the principal. And the device being miniscule, she hadnt a chance to find it in a dark nightclub. Shed fled in a panic. The pack wolf who had pursued herHarthad been a surprise.
This lurking about and spying business wasnt her thing. Though tribe Zmaj seemed to think it was. As a former soldier, Danni could reconnoiter a site, sneak up on the enemy, and had even begun training to scout out landmines. Getting close to a werewolf to plant a tracking device? So out of her comfort zone.
But she had to do this. She must not fail a second attempt. Or David, her brother, would suffer for it.
She tapped her fang and sneered at her reflection. I wont let this happen to you, David. If its the last thing I do.
Hart plowed a right hook into the punching bag, held by fellow pack member Tony Santenolli. The wolf grunted and let go of the bag, stumbling backward.
Hart, I think youve got it. You got something anyway. Why so angry?
Angry? Light on his feet, Hart dodged side to side, fists wrapped in tape up by his face in defensive position, before he swung again, and sent the bag flying toward Tonys growling face. He wasnt angry. He was...
Hungry. For something he couldnt quite name. Not food, that was sure. The hunger had been gnawing at him for days, since hed woken the morning after his swim in the Seine. And yet, that deep, dark twist in his gut and curdling at the back of his throat did have a name. It coiled in his nostrils, drawing in Tonys musky, metallic scent from beneath his skin.
Blood.
Im cool, Hart huffed. He delivered another iron blow to the bag and felt the sting in his forearms. The best way to avoid the truth? Beat on something.
Yeah? Well, Im wrecked, man. Youre beating me bloody. Leaner, and not as dedicated to the gym but still a powerful force, Tony shoved off from the bag and swiped a hand over his sweating brow.
Blood.
Im cool, Hart huffed. He delivered another iron blow to the bag and felt the sting in his forearms. The best way to avoid the truth? Beat on something.
Yeah? Well, Im wrecked, man. Youre beating me bloody. Leaner, and not as dedicated to the gym but still a powerful force, Tony shoved off from the bag and swiped a hand over his sweating brow.
I dont see any blood on you. Come on, bloke! Hart delivered a high kick to the bag with his bare foot. Mixing in Muay Thai with standard boxing moves was his thing. He loved the martial arts workout and never missed a day. Give me a challenge!
Tony waved him off and grabbed a water bottle from the weightlifting bench.
It had been three days since Harts plunge into the Seine. Hed thought to walk it off, get on with his life. Hed detailed his chase after the vampire assassin to his principal, but had left out the part about her being a femaleand biting him. Pack Levallois would banish him if they knew hed been bitten. Which is why he had a workout towel draped about his neck right now. The bite mark had scarred and had not gone away as most wounds did within hours.
And every day he felt it more. The gnawing hunger. The deep, gut-clenching desire to sustain himself on a substance no sane wolf would consider. Werewolves didnt need blood. His breed lived alongside mortals, and to each his own. But consume their blood for survival? Hell no.
The day Hart started drinking blood was the day he gave it all up. He had a good life. He worked hard to protect the pack and in turn was surrounded by the family his soul required. Someday he hoped to take a mate and begin his own family. It was all he needed.
Damn it! Everything he needed was now thoroughly shagged thanks toher.
Stupid vampire, he growled, as another punch pummeled the sand-filled bag.
What was that? Tony set aside the water bottle.
Nothing. Get out of here, man. Im almost finished. Thanks for sparring with me.
No problem. You going to the games tonight?
The blood games pitted two half-crazed vampires against one another to the death. Right now? Hart would love to see a vampire get its throat ripped out as a small means of recompense against the travesty committed against him. But if he smelled blood, let alone, saw it fly through the air and stain flesh, floor and walls? Hed lose it.
Nah. Have a...date, he summoned.
Cool. Talk to you later.
Date? He punched again, this time feeling the bones crunch in his knuckles and wincing through that small pain. Who the hell was he trying to fool? He had a date with the weights at his home gym because if he didnt find a focus, his mind and body would stray toward the hunger.
Wicked, unnatural, wrongso wronghunger.
As it stood, he wasnt sure he could make it home, walking the streets filled with innocent mortals, smelling the hot blood gushing beneath their skin, calling to him, beating, pulsing, thumping...
Aggh! Hart kicked the bag and the chain snapped, sending it flying. It hit the wall, and knocked a hole in the plaster.
Exactly how I feel. Like a hole had been kicked in his gut. And the only way to fill it required a dark deed. I have to resist.
* * *
Her best bet was to return to the Lizard Lounge tonight. From the intel tribe Zmaj had obtained about pack Levallois, Remington Caufield frequented the place. Danni had to use caution inside the nightclub. Supposedly faery dust was dangerous to a vampire. Getting some on her skin would give her a contact high, and the place had glittered with the stuff. Shed suit up in head-to-toe Gore-Tex again and cross her fingers the second time proved the charm.
Masculine clothing was sort of her thing. Wearing form-fitting workout shorts, which reminded her of mens boxer briefsshe loved them on a manand a military-issue tank top, Danni leaned over the kitchen counter. The tiny tracking device was stuck to an adhesive tape she could wear inside the wrist of her glove. Slater had provided her with three. Because hed suspected she would need the extra chances? The man was a self-possessed asshole whose crooked snarl always sent a chill up her spine. Yet his bite was frustratingly erotic.
Setting the glove aside, she turned to go gather her work clothes, when someone pounded on her apartment door.
Grabbing the nearest weapon, a bowie knife shed been sharpening on a whetstone earlier, Danni stepped lightly and cautiously to the door. Could be someone from the tribe, in which case, shed keep the weapon in hand. No love lost with any of her tribe mates.
Tightening her jaw, she leaned forward and turned the knob, stepping back and raising the blade to attack.
She lowered the blade, her jaw dropping as well.
In the doorway, palms to the white-painted wood frame, leaning forward and huffing as if hed run a marathon, stood the werewolf who had rescued her. Hart. Shed never forget that name. It was ironic on this beefy hunk of wolf. And yet, she suspected she was more wrong about the irony than she could ever guess.
What the hell? She stepped aside as he plunged forward and landed on the sofa, hands to the back of it to support his weak stance. Had he run here? How did you find me?
Followed your scent. Its strong. And the big surprise is it runs through my system now. I can suss you anywhere. Weird. He turned, leaning against the sofa. His muscle-strapped chest heaved and he seemed to relax as he took in the room, the bare white walls and furniture, and bright red pillows and rugs that popped like bloody stains. Danni, right?
Ill give you two minutes, wolf. She thrust the blade up under his chin. The man didnt flinch, yet his gray-blue eyes grew serious and his breaths calmed to silence as if a ninja preparing for the kill. What do you want?