Bitten in Two (10 page)

“If?” He dropped his free hand to the expanse of tanned skin between her neck and shoulder. Watched his fingers push her sleeve down her arm, then move across the dangerously low neckline of her blouse.

She gasped. Reached up for his face and pul ed him to her. Their kiss was so fiery that I turned away. My stomach rol ed. Everything about this moment was wrong. But I couldn’t do anything to make it better. I stepped back.

Then I heard Kyphas say, “I can give you everything you want, Cole. You have only to ask. The Rocenz. The key to unlock it. You can save Jasmine. You can have me.”

“I want that. But I’m not as convinced as everybody else is that this tool is going to work.”

I recal ed the playback
I’d
seen of the Hart Ranch hand, Zel Culver, using the hammer and chisel to carve the name of the earthbane, Thraole-Lulid, into the gates of hel . The tool had performed as promised, diminishing the monster to a pile of gore.

Kyphas’s next words pul ed me back into the conversation. “I don’t make agreements I can’t keep, Cole.

Jasmine can defeat Brude with the Rocenz.”

“Al you want in return is my soul, right?” Yel ow lit her eyes. “I could take it without your permission. The Rocenz is more than just a primitive demon-kil er, after al . It was designed to do much more intricate carving.” She smiled as her eyes darkened. “But I’m not that kind of girl. I like my souls freely given. And when you think of it, it’s a smal price to pay for eternal ecstasy.”

Cole transferred his hand to the back of the couch. “I don’t think so.”

“Why not?” No, I wasn’t wrong. That was real pain in her voice.

His voice was hard as flint as he said, “Jaz would never forgive me if I sold my soul for her. And I couldn’t live with that. In fact, I couldn’t live with you. Yeah, you’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever kissed. But you’re not her.”

“I
could
be.” Was she… begging… a little now?

“No. Jaz may cross the line once in a while, but at least she knows where the line is.”

“Line?”

Cole rose, bringing Kyphas up with him. My cue to backpedal. “Exactly.”

“You should reconsider.” Harshness now, clear warning in that hel born tone.

“What’re you going to do to me, Kyphas? And before you answer, let me just remind you how many burn wards would’ve written you off the last time you came after a member of Vayl’s Trust.”

She snorted. “Vayl is no threat in his current state.”

“But Jaz is. I’m not saying I know a whole lot about Vampere politics. But as his
avhar
, she’s gotta be perfectly capable of stepping in and kicking your ass out the door.

Or, to be more specific, enforcing the contract you signed promising you wouldn’t hurt anybody under Vayl’s protection.”

I could only see her profile in the silence that fol owed, but it was enough to show the frustrated color that had risen in her cheeks. Even though Astral picked up minute sounds, I had to lean forward to hear her whisper, “You have to know I would never wil ingly hurt you.” His laugh was so sharp it should’ve drawn blood.

“You’re a demon. That’s who you are.”

She stepped toward him. Her eyes were wide, intense on his as she said, “It’s not who I want to be. Not when I’m with you.”

She reached forward. Pressed her hands against his chest. “You confuse me. You enrage me. But I’m tired of pretending that you’re nothing but meat to me. I’l do anything. I’l be anyone you like. If you only kiss me again.” Anticipation curled the corners of my mouth.
And now
for the final cut.

I nearly gasped out loud when he pul ed her into his arms. Their lips met in a kiss so fiery I was surprised their clothes didn’t melt off. When Cole grabbed her by the hips and her legs wrapped around his back I tore off the fake lashes, Astral’s cue to get the hel out.

She joined me on the steps, sitting beside me while I tried to think what to do next. Thump from the lounge as the couch rammed back into the wal . That did it. My buddy, one of the most cheerful, hilarious dudes I’d ever met, was screwing an unrepentant demon. No good could come of it, especial y for him. As soon as Kyphas became expendable I was going to kil her.

So much for cake. I gripped Vayl’s cane tight and sped up to my room, Astral a rocketing shadow at my heels. The run did me good. By the time I col apsed on my gigantic bed with the cat curled up beside me I could think again. As I stroked her smooth head I decided to have a real face-to-face with Raoul. Fighting demons was his gig after al . If anybody could help me take Kyphas down, it would be him.

And in the meantime?

I had to think of some stel ar babe to fix Cole up with.

But I didn’t real y know any nice girls besides Evie. Hey!

That was it! She had a lot of friends who spent their whole lives in Normalvil e. She could easily find Cole a fabulous woman. Somebody who wouldn’t flip out if he traveled some. A woman who liked guys with sun-bleached hair and…

I didn’t realize I’d nodded off until I heard a tapping at my window. I sat up in bed, pul ing Grief from its holster before my feet hit the floor. Again the taps, four or five, hitting almost, but not quite, at the same time. The window was the one that faced the street.

“What is it, Astral?” I whispered.

The cat didn’t reply, just hopped off the bed and went to the curtains, where she waited patiently for me to pul them open. I stood by the wal . Peering between the material and the glass, I could see down to the street, where a man wearing a gray button-down shirt and white pants stood, his hand ful of pebbles, his upturned face clear in the streetlights.

“Oh, for chrissake!” I flipped the curtains aside and lifted the window. “Aren’t you the guy I kicked the crap out of before?”

He smiled and slapped himself on the chest. “Yousef!” he announced happily.

“How did you find me?”

He glanced over his shoulder and his young translator slunk guiltily out of the shadows. After a brief conference the teenager said, “Yousef says it is not difficult to place you, as you may be the only red-haired woman in Marrakech.”

Dammit! Why didn’t I dye my hair before we came
here?
“What do you want?” I demanded. I checked the watch Bergman had made me, wishing it shot lightning bolts or laser beams. Holy crap! “And why are you here at four thirty in the morning?”

“We are on our way to work, lady,” said the boy.

“Where do you work?” I asked.

“In the tannery.”

That explained the stench on the men and in the part of the medina where we’d been fol owing Vayl the night before. Transforming animal skins into supple leathers was a laborious and revolting job, but I wouldn’t look down my nose at these guys for the work they’d chosen. At least they were trying to make an honest buck.

I said, “Isn’t this out of your way?”

Another discussion between Yousef and the boy. What was his name? Oh yeah, Kamal. He wiped his hand across his lips, clearly wishing he didn’t have to say, “Yousef would like you to know that he is fal ing”—he made a diving motion with his hands—“into the love with you. And you would do wel to marry him before you leave the country.” I felt my jaw drop. “Are you insane?” I slashed my hand at Kamal before he could translate, stomped back to my weapons bag, grabbed my silencer, and screwed it onto Grief’s barrel. Just as I got back to the window a handful of pebbles flew through.

Shit!

I dodged aside, waited a beat to make sure Yousef wasn’t launching a second handful, then whipped my Walther PPK into position.

Kamal squealed as soon as he saw the gun clear the windowsil . He dove into the bushes that belonged to the two-story house across the street. Yousef, on the other hand, spread his arms like we were about to do big reunion hugs. He started speaking rapid Arabic, shaking his head back and forth to emphasize his words and closing his eyes blissful y as he talked.

“Kamal! Tel your buddy to go away!”

Kamal translated. When it was time for him to relay Yousef’s message to me he was nearly weeping. “Yousef says he must stay until al the birds of Morocco have sung your name. Please do not shoot him, lady. He is not a bad man. He is just a little crazy.”

I took aim. Squeezed the trigger.
Ping!
The cobblestones in front of Yousef’s feet flew apart as the bul et impacted them.

Kamal screamed and jumped out from behind the bushes. Yousef laughed and did a little soft-shoe.

What the hell?

Kamal grabbed his friend’s arm and tried to pul him away. They argued vehemently for about thirty seconds.

Final y the boy’s head dropped and he yel ed up to me,

“Yousef says he wil only leave if you give him your name. I apologize, but it was the only way I could secure his agreement.”

I shrugged. “It’s Madame Berggia.”

Kamal sighed as Yousef talked some more. Then he said, “Yousef wishes me to say these words: ‘Al right, I leave, my wondrous one. But while we are apart my heart wil beat with the sound of your name. Until we meet in our dreams!’” The tanners walked away, leaving me free to go back into my room, dropping the window and the curtain.

“Ow!” I picked up the pebble I’d stepped on. “You know what, Astral?” The cat looked up inquiringly. “No matter how I look at it lately, love hurts.”

“Love is a battlefield,” she sang softly, making me wonder how many of Pat Benatar’s hits Bergman had downloaded into her memory.

I flopped back down into bed, so tired that I didn’t have a single conscious thought before the dreams began. And they made no sense. It was like one of my inner girls had commandeered the remote and decided to channel flip her way through the night. I relived the poker game I’d played with Dave’s unit, after which Cam, his right-hand man, had given me my precious chips. Stel a screamed at me again as the dogs dragged her back into hel . And just as I turned away, the blizzard-swept cairn dissolved into a Hawaiian pier, and Matt stood before me, his hands outstretched.

“Dance with me, Jazzy.”

Every fear lifted. Al my worries dissolved as I felt his arms close around me. I laid my head against his shoulder and took a deep breath. The scent of cedar and freshly mown grass that was uniquely Matt fil ed my lungs, and for one moment I felt whole again. I smiled against the rough cloth of his jacket. And then realized.

“You should be wearing a cotton shirt. One of those ridiculous Hawaiian numbers with huge pink flowers.”

“Jasmine. It’s me.”

I shoved him away. My blue-eyed Navy Seal had been replaced by a uniformed Ranger with a soft Spanish accent. “Raoul? What the—I mean, real y? Here? Now?”
When I was finally feeling good? I’d shove you again, but
that’s probably a major sin and I am so stocked on those.

that’s probably a major sin and I am so stocked on those.

He ran his hand through his dark brown crew cut. “I am sorry, but jumping into your dreams is like parachuting into an active volcano. Do you realize how unpredictable they are? I’m lucky not to hit when you’re under a barrage of gunfire!”

“Are they that real?”

Raoul led me to the table at the end of the pier. It was stil set for two. Hel , even the candles were stil burning. He said, “Not until I arrive. And then they become something more… that makes me want to avoid blades and bul ets.”

“Wel , couldn’t you time your drops a little better? What if I’d been having a real y hot dream about Vayl? That would’ve ended our relationship right then and there!”

“I would
never
—”

“Good!”

We sat down and I grabbed a breadstick from the woven basket. “Do you want some?” I held the basket out so he could reach it easier.

“No, thank you.”

I put it down. Started breaking little pieces off my breadstick and tossing them into the water. We sat there until Raoul decided I’d calmed down enough for us to talk like reasonable human—uh—Eldhayr. I jacked my arm back and threw the rest of the breadstick into the ocean.

“Are you al right?” he asked.

What kind of question is that for somebody whose
broken neck you once repaired as easily as if it was
pieced together with buttercream icing? I mean, Raoul,
every time you and I meet I have to face the fact that we
have our own classification. You could at least avoid
reminding me that I was the only one who agreed to come
back to fight. That Matt preferred paradise—or whatever—

to me.

I said, “I’l be okay.” I badly wanted to shuffle through my poker chips. When I found them in my dream pocket I nearly cheered, but since Raoul knew what that was al about I satisfied myself with grabbing one and holding it tight between my fingers while I faked a relaxed expression. “It’s so great that you showed. I wanted to ask you about—”

“I need a favor.”

“Oh?” I looked at him a little closer. He seemed as control ed as ever. But I realized his knee was bobbing up and down under the table like he was trying to run one of those treadle sewing machines you occasional y see in antique stores. And every once in a while he would tap the base of his water glass with his forefinger, until he caught himself and made himself stop.

He said, “I wonder if I could borrow Astral.” I felt my eyebrows shoot up. If I let the cat go I wouldn’t just temporarily lose access to al the information she stored. I’d be loaning out my scout and backup arsenal.