Dangerous Lovers (155 page)

“If he does, he isn’t saying. I’m going to bed,” Jurek growled as he rubbed his eyes. “When I awaken, I’m going back to Center City. I know damn well that’s where we’ll find the answer. I’ll be down there in the warehouse if you need me. Keep your eyes and ears open. Meet me at ten tomorrow night.” Jurek turned and headed to his quarters.

***

Liasare awoke with a start. Her ears were tuned in to the noises around her. Not sure of what may have interrupted her sleep, she did a quick search of her surroundings until she was satisfied she wasn’t in any danger. She reached for her pack just as her stomach let out a rumble and she realized how hungry she really was. Biting into a bar, her thoughts went back to the strange man she had seen at the club last night.

Who was he
,
she wondered? She had been disappointed when she felt him leave. And why did he have that effect on her? How could his presence make her body respond like that? She pushed those uncomfortable thoughts to the back of her mind.

Liasare began to devise some kind of plan in her mind. If only she could find the blonde girl again, she thought. Liasare was sure this girl had known Tommy, or in the very least had some information about him. Why else would she have scurried off so fast?

Liasare’s first order of business would be to locate all of Tommy’s hangouts. Since Shandro said he had been so popular with the ladies, he had to have left some kind of trail. Liasare had an old address he had given her that she planned to investigate today during daylight hours. Looking at her watch, she was surprised to find it was already five in the afternoon. She’d best get a move on for it would be getting dark soon and she didn’t need to be caught leaving Dillsworth at night.

When she arrived at the address, her heart plummeted. It looked like some kind of warehouse and she wondered why Tommy had chosen to live in a place like this. Liasare pulled the annihilator out of her coat and set it to stun. Wiping her sweaty palm on her pants, she inched the door open, cringing as it made a loud creak. When the opening was large enough, she slipped inside and silently moved forward.

The warehouse was dingy with a few small windows that allowed only a meager bit of light to eke its way through. Boxes and crates were scattered everywhere and pallets were tossed here and there, making it obvious that people still slept here. Liasare wondered who these individuals were that Tommy had associated with and whether she could be so bold as to approach them with questions.

Her instincts told her it wasn’t a good idea to be here. When she moved to leave, she heard the sound of a door creaking, followed by several voices. She darted behind the closest stack of crates and prayed she wouldn’t be discovered. Several men walked in the warehouse. They were talking in low tones, making it difficult for her to pick up anything they said. She could hear words such as “Leader,” “Recruits,” and “Orders,” but nothing more than that. As she watched, she noticed something odd about the behavior of two of the men. Their eyes looked glazed, as if they had been drugged, and they were only speaking in monosyllabic responses.

Minutes later, the two odd men lay down on the pallets and the other men left. Liasare waited a few minutes and decided to leave too. She tiptoed out to make her escape and was rounding the corner of the building when she felt that familiar heated electric response surge within her body.

“Going somewhere?” that husky voice asked.

Crapitty crap!

She sucked in her breath and dropped her annihilator, as his voice startled her. Before her brain could comprehend what was happening, she felt her body swirling through a vortex. She finally came to rest in another place.

Disoriented and dizzy, she tried to focus on her surroundings, but everything seemed to tilt sideways. She reached out her hand to stop herself from falling, but only succeeded in grabbing a fistful of air. Not knowing which way was up or down, she tried, unsuccessfully, to break her fall. Instead, she felt her breath leave her body in a whoosh as she slammed into the ground.

Fighting for oxygen, her diaphragm wouldn’t cooperate with her brain’s commands. Worse yet, she felt a pair of hands latch onto her waist, drag her to her feet and ram her back into a wall. Her head hung down as she fought to draw in precious oxygen, yet found she was still unable to do so. Then the asshole had the nerve to jam his arm straight into her diaphragm and start demanding things of her.

“Tell me who you work for!”

Her mouth opened and closed repeatedly, like a poor fish that had been hauled out of the water, desperate to be thrown back in.

“I’ll ask you this time. Who do you work for?” he bit out each word with precision.

Things began to turn grey and hazy as the lack of air finally took its toll on her brain. She knew she was going to pass out.

Double crapitty crap!

Her head lolled to the side and ... Blink, lights out.

Jurek looked at her and cursed, “What the fuck?”

He hadn’t realized she was so close to losing it. He laid her out on the floor and looked at her for a moment. She wasn’t beautiful in that traditional, cookie-cutter sense, but there was something about her that enticed him. Her chestnut mane for one, and Jurek had always been a sucker for women with beautiful hair, but those hazel eyes of hers were something else. Her full lips were kissably soft, he thought, as he ran his thumb along her mouth. He finally placed his hand on her forehead and in seconds, she came to, moaning.

Her eyes fluttered open and when the recognition in them flickered, those hazel eyes shot sparks of gold. Hovering before her was the dark haired man from the bar. She wouldn’t have had to open her eyes to know it was him since every cell in her body was on fire with his power.

Soft black hair hung close to his shoulders and he wore it brushed back off his face. Liasare briefly wondered if it would feel as soft as it looked. He had a bit of scruff on his face; he obviously hadn’t bothered to shave in the last couple of days. His lips were full and sensuous and definitely made for kissing. In fact, Liasare could imagine running her tongue along that lower lip of his, tugging on it and gently sucking it. What made her nearly lose it were his eyes. They were extraordinary. Lavender, rimmed in indigo with flecks of silver swirling within their depths, Liasare had never seen anything so stunning in her life.

Regaining her senses, Liasare flew to her feet and threw a right uppercut that connected beneath Jurek’s jaw. Had he been a lesser man, it would have laid him out. Then she spun on her heel and began the motion for an intended groin kick, but his quick reflexes caught her leg before it connected and he flicked it off with his hand.

“You flaming asshole. Who do you think you are? You fucking knock the wind out of me and then you do it again for shits and giggles? Who the hell do you think you are?”

“Watch your language and I’m the one asking the questions here.”

“Not anymore,” Liasare hissed as she turned to head out of the building.

Before she could take another step, an arm snaked out and grabbed her around the waist. He pulled her tightly against his chest and whispered huskily into her ear, “I asked you a question. I want to know who you’re working for and I don’t intend to let you go until I get an answer.”

His voice washed over her with that electrifying intense heat. She felt her skin erupt in a million goose bumps as every hair on her body stood at attention.

Damn him,
she thought
. How can he have this kind of power over me? Fuck!

“You have no idea Brownie.”

“Brownie?

“Mmm. Brownie. For that glorious mane of hair you have.” His hand spanned across her stomach and she felt a million butterflies suddenly erupt as he hugged her tightly against him.

“I’ll bet you taste better than one too.” If she could have turned around she would have seen the corners of his mouth turn up as he baited her.

Seriously? Brownie?

“Well you certainly have a way with words,” Liasare said sourly. “Okay, that’s it. Get your hands off of me, Romeo.”

“Not until you tell me who you work for,” he purred as he rubbed his cheek against her ear right before he released her.

“Myself.”

“Liar.”

“Fuck you,” she growled, her eyes blazing.

“Gladly. Just tell me when and where.”

“Oh! You are such an asshat!”

“I’ve been called worse.”

“Who do you work for?”

“Myself!”

“Have you ever been tortured?”

“No. Why?”

“Because if you don’t start telling me the truth, you’ll be answering that differently.”

“I don’t work for anyone, dammit!”

“What were you doing in that warehouse?”

“I was checking it out!”

“Oh really? I find that very interesting because it’s a well known Xanthian base.”

Liasare’s jaw dropped to the floor and the blood drained from her face.

“Wh-what did you just say?”

“I think you heard me the first time.”

“Could you please repeat it?”

Jurek told her that it was a known Xanthian base. If that were true, why would Tommy have used it as his address, she wondered? Or what would he have been doing there?

She dropped to her knees and clenched her hands into fists. Jurek didn’t know what he said that had upset her so much. Liasare didn’t know what she should do at this point. She still needed to find her brother, but at what cost? Now she wondered if Tommy had defected to the other side.

“So what’s the deal Brownie?”

“Stop calling me that!” She raised her head to look at him and he could see the doubt clouding in her eyes. “My name is S...er...Liasare Davidson.”

“Fair enough Liasare Davidson, but you still haven’t answered me.”

“I was looking for someone.”

“Who?”

“My brother.”

She pulled his picture out of her jacket and handed it to him. “Have you seen him?” The picture shook slightly as she handed it to him.

Jurek looked at the picture, but he had never seen the human before that he could recall. As he handed the photo back to her, he saw such hope in her eyes, he literally hated to tell her the truth.

“I’m sorry but I’ve not seen him before. What does he have to do with the Xanthian base?”

Liasare rose to her feet saying, “I’m not sure, but I intend to find out. The warehouse was an address he had given me. Three months ago he disappeared, but no one seems to be able to tell me anything. Last night I showed his picture to this blonde girl at a club called Raunch and she freaked out and left the club. I tried to follow her but lost her somewhere in the crowd. Then I ended up on a deserted street when...well never mind. Anyway, I have to find my brother. Something weird is going on here and I intend to find out what it is.”

“Listen Davidson, you need to pack it up and go home. This is a dangerous place and you don’t need to be snooping around in places you don’t know anything about.”

She whipped her head around, her eyes, once again, blazing gold fire, and said, “And you don’t have any right to tell me what I can and can’t do,” as she angrily stomped off.

Liasare made it as far as the door when she realized she was stonewalled. The bloody ass had her at a loss because she had no idea where he had taken her. She stomped back to where he was standing and came to a stop a few inches from him. She could feel his surge of power all around her.

Before she could stop herself, she blurted out, “What are you?”

Jurek cocked his head at an odd angle, cluing her into the fact that he wasn’t human.

“Well, you just answered one question. Since we know you’re not human, then what the hell are you?”

“What I am is none of your business. My name, however, is Jurek Herdekian. If you desire to leave, I can return you to the city. I suggest, however, you return home, wherever that may be. Go back to your mother and father where you are safe.”

Liasare looked at him and started laughing. “Oh that’s rich. Safe with my parents. Uh huh, right!”

This human had Jurek confused. He couldn’t understand why she was laughing.

“Long story. Listen, I just want to be on my way, so can you point me in the right direction?”

“I’m heading to town too, so I’ll go with you.”

She followed him to the door. They were only a few blocks from the city but it was already dark now. Liasare was actually glad he was with her.

“You really shouldn’t be out alone at night. This is a danger zone.”

She rolled her eyes at him. “What do you take me for? A moron? I’d rather not be here at all but I have to find my brother.”

“Have you notified the authorities?”

“Of course!” She gave him another eye roll.

“What about the Guardians?”

“What about them?” she bristled.

“Have they been notified?”

“Yes.”

“And?”

“And nothing. Nobody can tell me anything. Look, I have exhausted all avenues. I spent three months trying to dig up something, anything to give me some kind of sign. But nothing. The Guardians aren’t saying a thing.”