Checkmate (3 page)

Nikki grabbed the bag of snacks and out of newly formed habit, palmed her can of mace. She raced up the walk and the two steps of the porch, shivering again at the tingle that crawled up the back of her neck. Music was blaring from inside and she smiled. The shits had started without her. Not that she was any kind of party girl, more so the pooper, but being with her friends always made her feel better. At least for the time she was with them. Tonight marked her first time attending their regularly scheduled girls’ night out since the accident.

The front door was open.

Not wide open, just not latched as if whoever had closed it hadn’t shut it all the way. A hard knock and the door would swing inward. Nikki shrugged, gave it a nudge with the toe of her tennis shoe and poked her head in, a false smile plastered on her face. Better to make them think she was okay after all this time.

Nikki knew something was wrong before she could even announce her arrival. The stench of blood gagged her, sending her stomach into a tirade. Bile squeezed into her throat. She wobbled in the doorway, frozen in time, and had to squelch the scream that bubbled up. They were dead. All of them. On the couch. Blood covered nearly every inch of what she could see through the wide opening above the half wall. Kelly’s wide eyes stared unblinking at the ceiling. A gaping hole was the only thing left of what used to be her neck.

“Christ,” she whispered raggedly, hoping against all hope she was having a nightmare.

A movement in the mirror hanging on the wall inside the door caught her attention. A dark head of hair and a set of wide shoulders dressed in black reflected back at her. He’d killed them! Mutilated them, and he was humming. An obscene tune that she somehow heard over the music as he ended one song and segued into a new one.

Call the police, get help
. She shuffled back out the door, her heart in her throat, praying that the door wouldn’t creak as she pulled it closed and reveal her. If any one of her friends was still alive, she had to help them.

A sob tore from her lips, sounding like a shotgun blast in the silent, humid calm before the storm. She winced and turned away, running back to her car. The bag of snacks fell off her wrist and landed with a thud on the porch, giving her away for sure.

Nikki slammed into the back bumper of her car with her thigh, and was thrown off balance. Her body twisted, her foot slipped on the wet pavement, and she went down hard. Her face scraped against the concrete when she wasn’t able to catch herself, making her cheek burn.

“Son of a bitch!” The deep, angry voice rang out behind her.

There was a popping noise, once, twice. Nikki scrambled around the trunk of her car. A pinch pulled at the top of her shoulder. A heated whine filled the air next to her ear. He was shooting at her! Her heart hammered as she bent in half, using the car to shield her body.

With a yank, she opened the door and jumped in. The passenger side window exploded. Something plowed into the floorboard, burying itself in the carpet and out of sight.

She screamed and jammed the key into the ignition, stomping on the gas pedal at the same time. The tires squealed as they fought for purchase on the rain-slicked ground. Another bullet slapped against the dashboard. Sparks flew out of the area around the radio causing it to pop and hiss. Nikki screamed again and threw her arm up over her head, deflecting the sparks that leapt out at her.

The car shot forward, pounding her back into the seat. Glass shattered again as the rear window took a hit. Hunkered down, she sped off down the street, her screams echoing in the night.

* * *

“Fucking cunt.” He stomped through the house collecting his gear, hurried now that he’d been interrupted. No way would that whole scene not have attracted attention. The bitch had been screaming her head off. He’d used a silencer, but she’d made enough goddamn noise to wake the dead.

He’d hit her, he was sure. He wished it had been her head instead of her shoulder, he would have liked to see her skull explode. Too merciful for what she could potentially do to him, but extremely effective.

And where the fuck had she come from? For four months he’d been casing Lou, though he’d met her eight months ago. At first he’d set his sights only on her but had changed his mind after learning her pattern. Friday night parties for three. He’d envisioned taking all three of them as a challenge. In all the time he’d watched them he’d never fucking seen anyone else join them. He’d fucked up. Taken a drastic chance when he should have stuck to what he was comfortable with. But no. What had started out as a desire to have the woman he’d first seen eight months ago by her dying friend’s side, had blossomed into his cock’s demand for three women.

He’d studied them and had quickly learned the three were closer than close and he hadn’t been able to resist.

“So again, where the
fuck
did you come from?”

The meddling bitch was one of the reasons he liked doing this. Fucking women couldn’t keep their goddamn noses out of everyone else’s business. He forced himself to stop and breathe. He had a few minutes. It would take a little while for people to come out of their houses and decide if what they’d heard had been real or not. There wasn’t anything out there to see right now anyway. No one would equate the noises to this house.

He calmed himself enough to tune out the wailing of the radio, and listened to the final silence of death surrounding him. Tonight he’d done himself proud, taking out three cunts at once.

He’d been methodically cleaning up when he’d heard
her
. At a dead sprint, he’d hurdled the couch, coming inches from kicking one of the dead girls in the head. The only option left to him when he’d thrown open the front door was to shoot. She’d already gotten to her car, but had fallen, giving him an opportunity. He still couldn’t believe he’d fucking missed.

No one would ruin this night for him. The adrenaline that had been fading just before his little witness had shown up was back with a vengeance. His dick hardened and his fingers itched to stroke himself. Even after all the fucking he’d done tonight, the damn thing wanted more.

He packed all of his things away, leaving absolutely no trace of himself behind. Twenty-three times he’d done this without getting caught. Tonight would be no different. He stripped out of his black sweatshirt and pants, groaning when his cock jumped against the waistband as he dragged it over his hips.

A good whore would fix his raging hard-on.

After changing into clothes that weren’t spattered with blood, he took off into the night, via the back door. The police would be there soon and he had other things to do. Namely, finding the bitch who’d seen him.

Chapter Three

Eli Graham wrestled his suitcase from underneath two others as it tried to slither away from him on the carousel. Eight long, fucking months. More than eight months actually. Eight days more to be precise, not that he was counting or anything.
You would think a man would have more than a couple of suitcases after having been away that long. But he was home now, and he wouldn’t be leaving again.

Eight months was a lot of time to think about what he really wanted in life. And what he really wanted, what had been eating at him for nearly a year, was Nikki-Raine Taylor, his best friend’s kid sister. A human.

His mate. He’d tried to deny what his body had been telling him for too long. Tried to protect her from who he really was instead of scaring her off with the truth. He couldn’t do it anymore. Now that he was back, he was going to have her.

“Eli, you old dog. S’bout time you got back.”

Eli grinned at the sound of his best friend Derek’s voice and turned with a playful left hook at the ready. Derek dodged the blow and countered with one of his own, landing a punch on Eli’s upper shoulder.

“Hey, man, how’s it hanging?” Eli slapped one hand into his friend’s and pounded him on the back with the other. Derek reciprocated. “It’s been what, not more than twenty-four hours since we talked?”

They had talked on the phone every few weeks since Eli had left on a pack security assignment that had taken him out of the country for all of the eight months. It had been hard on him, when he was used to seeing his family and Derek’s nearly every day. Then there was his nephew to think about, who could make an appearance any day even though Tieran still had something like two weeks left. To hear his sister-in-law tell it, she was ready to rip the poor kid out of her belly herself. Knowing her klutzy ways, if she tried, she’d end up on the floor on her ass. He smiled at the image.

“You ready?”

Eli didn’t miss the gruff tone of Derek’s question. He looked closely at the man who’d been more like a brother to him than a friend. There were dark circles under his bloodshot eyes and more than a day’s worth of stubble on his face. Something was wrong.

“What is it?” Eli stood rigidly, his heart pounding. Please God, don’t let it be Nikki-Raine. If something had happened to her while he was gone…

Derek swallowed, his jaw ticking, confirming Eli’s suspicion that something bad had occurred.

“I’ll tell you in the car.” Derek’s voice cracked. He bent over to pick up one of Eli’s suitcases before turning his back on Eli and striding toward the exit.

Not good. This was not good.

Ten minutes later, they were sitting in Derek’s SUV driving west on Highway 70, headed toward St. Charles county, where Derek’s family and Eli’s pack both lived.

“Don’t keep me in suspense here, Der. What the hell is going on?” Eli settled his arm along the doorframe and turned in his seat to face Derek. The muscle was jumping once again along his jawline.

“It’s Nikki. She’s in big trouble, and we need your help.” He glanced Eli’s way, his eyes pleading. “You couldn’t have gotten here at a better time.”

Eli’s heart stopped and he closed his eyes to ward off the pain swamping his chest.

“Is she sick?” He had to force the words out of his mouth, scared to death that Derek would say yes. That he wouldn’t have the chance to claim her as his mate before she was gone.

Derek shook his head. “No. Worse.” Derek maneuvered the car onto the Rock Road exit lane, then parked in a lot not far from the highway. “She witnessed a murder last night. The killer got away.”

Eli exploded. “Why the fuck didn’t you call me?” His wolf rippled through him, fighting its way to the surface, ready to rip apart the man who’d dared draw his mate into a violent situation.

“And what the fuck were you going to do?” Derek shouted. “You were halfway around the goddamn world, probably already packing to get on a plane. You couldn’t have gotten here any sooner.” He drew in a sharp breath and gripped the steering wheel until his knuckles turned white.

“Where is she?” Eli rasped, aware that yelling at each other was not going to get anything accomplished. He clenched his hand into a fist and fought the urge to punch something.

“The hospital.” Derek’s answer was just as grim as his face had been earlier.

Eli whipped his head up. “What for?”

“She was shot trying to get away from the sick fuck. Not bad, more like a scrape, but they kept her overnight.”

Eli wrenched the door open and stumbled out, puking on the ground before he could get two steps. He’d been out pulling babysitting duty half a world away to a goddamn werewolf dignitary, and Nikki was here getting shot. Just the thought of what a bullet would do to her tender flesh had him heaving again. A monumental battle ensued inside him between his wolf’s need to protect his mate and his human’s need for revenge.

Derek’s shadow fell over him.

“That was not the reaction I was expecting. You want me to break your nose now, or wait ‘til you’re out of your misery?”

Eli straightened. “What the hell are you talking about?”

“Oh, come on. She’s my baby sister, my only sister, but I didn’t puke my guts out when I heard what happened.”

“Back off, Der. You don’t know what you’re talking about,” he growled.

“You been with her?”

Derek was obviously itching for a fight. Eli wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction. “No, but if I had been, it wouldn’t be any of your business.”

The fist caught him just below the eye. Eli took it, the momentum dragging him to one side, but otherwise, he stood his ground. Derek hopped around, shaking his hand out. When he stopped, he propped his hands on his hips and cocked his head to one side, leaving Eli feeling like a bug under a microscope.

Long seconds passed until both men caught their breath. Eli’s cheek throbbed, letting him know that within minutes he’d have a shiner.

“You love her? Did you”—he waved his hand in a circle—“mate her or whatever it is you do?” Derek asked.

Eli contemplated what to say. How could he tell his best friend he loved his sister and wanted to do all kinds of things to her delicious little body? He couldn’t.

Eli nodded. “She is my mate, but no, I haven’t claimed her. I was planning on doing that when I got back here.” He turned and climbed into the SUV.

Derek followed suit, sliding into the driver’s seat and taking off toward 70 again.

“How long have you known, E?” Derek demanded softly.

Eli sensed a good amount of pain coming from his best friend. “About a year.”

“Why the hell didn’t you tell me?”

“What did you want me to say? Excuse me, my wolf has just announced that it’s found its mate, and guess who it is?”

“You fucking hurt her…”

“I won’t.”

“What about Caelan? Does he know? Is he good with little brother taking a mate?”

What the hell was going on here? He’d never seen Derek act like this before. Granted, Eli had never told his best friend he wanted Nikki for a mate, but he also never thought Derek would be anything but happy for them both.

“Are you trying to justify me being with your sister or something?”

“No. Yes.” He pounded the steering wheel with his fist. “I don’t know. Son of a bitch. It’s just that…she’s not gonna take this well right now. Caelan knows it. I wondered if he’d tried to talk you out of it or something.”