Daring Fire: Paranormal Romance (Bad Boys Of The Underworld Book 2) (7 page)

So this helped explain why she seemed so innocent to his world. She truly knew nothing of it. She had lived as a human for her entire life and was now lost in his underworld.

No matter what she said, she was no longer human. She looked and smelled human, but Marcus knew more than most that what walks like a human and talks like a human does not make it so. He was better than anyone to show her the new world she was a part of. Someone would have to.

“What do you think Vlad can tell you about this?”

Her arms were still crossed in front of her as if she were cold, but he knew his jacket should be providing plenty of warmth. “I was hoping a psychic could help me discover what’s happening, but I’ve been told that the real deal is hard to come by.”

She had a point. He’d only ever met someone with true ability a few times in his life. He could find one easily enough with his connections to the vampire monarchy and High Council, but at the moment he was not supposed to have contact with any of them. He was still pretending to be in exile.

A lot of fun that had been so far. At least now he could amuse himself while he waited for a proposition from a mysterious rebellion that might never come.

“It’s not a bad idea,” he said. “Except Vlad is a dangerous man, and it was stupid for you and your friend to even approach him tonight, let alone assault Gareth.”

She just shrugged. “Desperate times call for desperate measures.”

“Who was your friend? Is she the one filling your head with tales of Vlad and psychics?”

“She has been really good to me. She’s a relative of a good friend, and I’ve never met her before today, but she hasn’t hesitated to help me.” They walked for a few moments in silence. He had a hundred more questions to ask her, but she didn’t appear as though she wanted to talk to him, and he didn’t want to push her any more.

Really, he shouldn’t even be messing with an innocent. He was too old and too damn mean to be of any use to her.

“Who are you?” she asked him in a soft voice.

Now that was a loaded question
, he thought. “My name is Marcus Grey.” He decided simple answers were best.

She was smarter than that. “And how do you know Vlad?”

He told her the truth. “I don’t really know him all that well. I have been doing business at the club for the past couple of weeks, so he and I have been spending a lot of time together.”

He looked at her face as she absorbed the new information about him. She had beautiful features. Piercing blue eyes were surrounded by pale skin, all framed by her now messy hair. Marcus felt a twinge of arousal tug at him, but he pushed the feeling away.

A piece of her dark hair had fallen in front of her face and he had to fight the urge to wipe it away.

Before he did anything too stupid with her, he said, “You haven’t told me your name yet.”

She stopped at that and gave a small laugh. “I haven’t, have I? I’m sorry. I’m Gena.”

He repeated the name in his mind. It fit her, he thought. Not that he knew a lot about her yet.

They were now approaching Fang. Gena automatically walked to the line, which was considerable in length by this point in the evening.

Marcus took her hand, and she seemed startled at the touch. If she was that sensitive to him touching her hand, he could only imagine how sensitive she’d be in other areas. “I don’t wait in line,” he whispered to her.

He kept his grip on her hand as he led her to the main entrance of Fang. The back way was easier, but he wanted to make sure everyone knew she was with him. He didn’t question his motives too much. He didn’t want to know why he was so entranced by her. He just knew he didn’t want it to stop.

The bouncer didn’t say anything to them. He just nodded in Marcus’s direction and let them on in. Once inside the club, the crush of bodies pushed against them. He let go of her hand and looped one long arm around her curvy waist. He used the pushing bodies as an excuse to pull her tightly to him as he led her to the back hallway she’d fled from earlier in the evening.

Once they reached the hallway, Gena gently tried to pull away, but he just pulled her toward him again and continued toward a pissed-off looking Gareth.

Gena tried once more to pull away from Marcus, but his grip was unrelenting. As they got closer to the angry guard, she decided it was probably best she was so close to his large body. The man Marcus called Gareth didn’t seem happy to see her again.

“Does Vlad know you’re bringing her here?” asked Gareth.

Marcus’s entrancing eyes narrowed at the man in front of them. “Since when did I need permission to do anything?”

Gareth clenched his jaw and shot another angry glare toward Gena. “She isn’t normal,” he said. “She could be dangerous.”

Gena took an instinctive step back, but Marcus gripped her tighter.
What did he mean she wasn’t normal? Who could she be dangerous to?

Marcus sent the other man a sardonic grin and raised an eyebrow. “If you don’t move out of our way in the next two seconds, I will show you what the fucking meaning of dangerous is,” he said in an eerily calm voice.

Gena’s gaze darted between the two men, afraid to see what would happen next. Gareth must have taken the threat seriously because he moved and let them both pass into the red room.

When they got into the room, the man on the throne lit up with a smile. “Marcus! You brought the night’s entertainment back!”

Gena shot Marcus a skeptical look. “Entertainment?”

Marcus started to reply, but throne man spoke again before he could say anything. “We were so excited when you burst past Gareth earlier. It really was a disappointment when you ran off just as fast as you came.” He held out a hand, motioning to the three other men in the room to stay where they were. “We were on the edge of our seats with anticipation.”

He slowly looked Gena over from head to toe, and she was suddenly very happy she was covered up by Marcus’s jacket. His eyes seemed as if they were trying to strip her right down to her soul.

“I’m sorry for my interruption,” she meekly said. She couldn’t seem to find her voice with so many eyes on her.

The man still seemed amused. “Marcus, give the poor thing some breathing room. She’s obviously terrified. From the smell of things, you’ve already caused enough damage. Truth be told, I’m a bit jealous.”

“What smell?” Gena looked up at Marcus. As uneasy as he made her, she didn’t want him to leave her alone with these strange men.

“Ignore Vlad,” he reassured her. “He’s just trying to keep you on your toes.”

So this was Vlad. She’d assumed, but hadn’t been sure until now. The man in question shot a curious look at Marcus. “I’m impressed. You two were together less than an hour and you already have him wrapped around your finger.” Gena opened her mouth to disagree, but Vlad cut her off. “Your blood. That’s what everyone in this room is smelling right now. You reek of it. Why don’t you take off my friend’s jacket and show us exactly what is going on in there.”

Gena wrapped her arms defensively around herself and moved closer to Marcus. Vlad saw this and stepped up so fast it was almost a blur. Her fear must be causing her mind to play tricks on her...

Vlad gave Marcus a disapproving glare. “This is my place. Marcus won’t keep you safe. You came here because you want something from
me
. I suggest you come over here and ask nicely.”

She looked questioningly up at Marcus, but he kept his stony gaze on Vlad. He didn’t seem intimidated, but, even though Marcus seemed to have more muscle than any other man in the room, he was outnumbered. Vlad had three men and Gareth outside the door. She walked away from Marcus and this time he didn’t stop her.

Luckily Vlad was only ten feet away, so she didn’t go too far away from Marcus, though she immediately felt the loss of his comforting body heat.

Since Vlad was standing now, he towered about six inches above her, and her heels were considerable. He lifted his hands and brought them to rest on her shoulders. She saw his eyes glance over her shoulder. “Back off, Marcus,” he said.

Gena saw the other three men tense up and tried to look behind her, but one of Vlad’s cold hands caught her chin and forced her to meet his eyes. “Who made you bleed?” He stared deeply into her eyes.

His eyes were a beautiful golden brown. The more she looked at him, the more sparkling golden colors she found in his eyes. Realizing she was getting distracted, she shook her head. “Um, that doesn’t matter. I’m having trouble of the supernatural sort and I’m looking for a psychic to help me sort out what is happening. I was told you could help.”

Vlad gave her a puzzled look and glanced at Marcus. “You don’t want to tell me who hurt you?” he asked.

Gena shook her head. “I’d rather not talk about it.”

Vlad laughed out loud, but Gena could not figure out what he thought was so funny. She glanced back at Marcus and saw that his stony expression hadn’t changed. When Vlad quieted down a bit, she asked, “Can you help me?”

Vlad released her and sat back down on his throne. “I would like to, but I need to discuss a few business matters with Marcus first. We’re going to need some privacy, but I can assure you I won’t forget about you.”

Marcus’s voice came from behind her. “Wait by the bar, Gena. I will be out in a few minutes and we can talk about where you can find a psychic.”

Gena was curious about what the men wanted to discuss but was grateful for any excuse to get out of the red room. She couldn’t take any more of their scrutinizing stares.

She nodded to Marcus in acknowledgment and walked out of the room. Gareth still looked pissed, but she suspected he didn’t have any emotions besides pissed off.

The music pounded just as loud as it had before, but it was still less oppressive than the intimidating red lights and the five intense men she’d left.

When Gena reached the entrance to the main section of the club, she surveyed the mass of people moving in time with the music.

Marcus had told her to wait at the bar, but there didn’t seem to be a spare inch of space left for her to squeeze in, and the last thing she wanted was a drink. She thought about going outside to breathe in some fresh air but nixed the idea after considering that she should stay where Marcus could easily find her. And the memory that Ryan could be anywhere right now. Even watching the outside of the bar.

She stuck to the edges of the room where there were fewer people and tried not to think too hard about what she was getting herself into. These people weren’t normal. Vlad sat on a throne surrounded by guards and owned a club where one of the requirements for entry was lack of clothing.

What did he even need guards for anyway? Who did he need protection from? And how did Marcus fit into this? Marcus didn’t act as though Vlad was his boss, so what did that say about their relationship? They could be friends, but Vlad had said they needed to discuss business. Maybe Marcus worked in the same industry as Vlad.

Once again, the fact that Vlad needed guards bothered her. There had to be illegal dealings going on in the club. How deeply involved could she allow herself to get with this crowd?

She hated to feel like a baby, but she couldn’t help but think of how much she’d love to call her mother at this moment. To hear her voice and reassure her that her daughter wasn’t brutally murdered. Well, she
was
murdered, but she didn’t stay dead. She rolled her eyes at how that conversation would play out.

A hand went around her wrist. For a split second, Gena thought Marcus had come for her, but the grip immediately tightened and pulled her to a dark corner.

Gena’s free hand tightened into a fist and she used all of her momentum to swing at whoever pulled at her. Before her fist made contact, another hand captured her swinging wrist. Two arms wrapped around her from behind. One rendered her own arms immobile while the other covered her mouth so she couldn’t scream.

The person behind her started to pull her backward and she dug her feet in and tried to make some sort of noise, but no one seemed to pay attention to her muffled cries for help. Her struggles didn’t bother any of the dancing and drinking clubbers, so no one even glanced in her direction. The one holding Gena lifted her so her feet couldn’t touch the ground. She tried to do some damage to his shins, but whenever she did get a good blow in, he was unfazed.

A cool breeze hit her and she knew she was being pulled out of the club through a back entrance. She tried to give even more power to her kicks, but to no avail.

The one who had his arms around her let go, and she found herself on a deserted street surrounded by three huge men. There were few lights in the dark alley, and she tried to focus on the men so she could give a good description if she needed to.

The men could have been triplets, they looked so similar. They all had dark and shaggy hair that fell messily around their faces and tattoos on most of their bare skin. Gena tried to make out the designs but couldn’t see clearly enough through the dark. She wouldn’t have been able to tell they had tattoos at all if their skin wasn’t so pale that the dark markings distinctly stood out.

She tried to keep the fear out of her face, but if they looked close enough, she was sure they would see her shaking. She turned in a circle, but a man blocked off each possible exit. The one in front of her took a strong inhale through his nose, and a sickening smile lit his face. A gravelly voice said, “Smells like Marcus has already had a taste.”

She didn’t smell any food, but a sinking realization filled her. Vlad said she reeked of blood. These men must be able to smell it as well. A new wave of terror snaked through her at the thought. She really didn’t want to die again. Twice in one week was two too many times.

She took her chances at running. She faked a lunge to her left and took off in the opposite direction. She got about three footfalls in but wasn’t fast enough. A painful grip locked on her arm and yanked her backward.

The hand on her arm let her go and momentum carried her straight into the chest of one of the thugs. He laughed as he caught her with a hand on each shoulder and pushed her again. Her body crashed painfully into another man. She didn’t understand how they could push her with so much force that it felt as though she were running into brick walls, but she could barely stop to think before she was tossed aside again.

She tried to control her rapidly increasing fear and think of a logical way to fight, but just when she took a gulp of air, a hand that felt like a baseball bat on her chest sent her flying five feet back into another swinging arm. The blow knocked the air out of her lungs, and she coughed while she tried to protect herself from more blows.

This time the punishing hand didn’t strike her, but wrapped in her hair and pulled her head back. Her hands reached up to try to relieve some of the pressure he inflicted on her scalp, and her eyes connected with the brute’s unmerciful glare. “Your neck is clean,” he said with that gravelly voice.

What the hell...
Aren’t most people’s necks relatively clean? She tried to think of something smart to say, but her jumbled brain couldn’t form any words.

“Are you Marcus’s human? How often does he feed on you?” asked the one who stood across from her.

Gena tried to make sense of the question. The only thing that came to mind was, “I haven’t eaten with Marcus.”

The grip on her hair tightened and she exclaimed in pain. Gravelly voice looked to the man who’d asked the question. “Do you want me to make her tell us if she is under his control or do you want to play with her first?”

Terror ran through Gena. “I’m not hiding anything. I’ll tell you whatever I can,” she tried to reason.

The interrogator walked up to her. She tried to shrink away, but the hand on her hair ensured she couldn’t move even an inch. He took a big sniff of the air by her neck and said, “You smell too good.”

He flashed her a quick smile, grabbed her arm and pushed her hard into the silent man. Gravelly voice loosened his grip on her hair as she was flung away, but some of her hair was still ripped out. She reached her arms out to catch herself as she collided with the man with a force that made her feel as though she’d been hit by a car.

Before her momentum had ended, the third man pushed her away and she flew backward. She had nothing to break her collision with a warm chest. She mentally braced herself to be pushed away again but this time, two arms wrapped around her to hold her close.

She immediately tensed and tried to move away, but the arms tightened. A hand touched her chin and moved her face to look at the man who held her.

Marcus’s angelic blue eyes stared down at her. She tried to catch her breath as she sorted out whether she should be relieved or terrified to see him.

“Look at me.” His eyes met hers. It wasn’t a hard request to follow. She’d rather look at his beautiful face than any of the ugly things that surrounded her on the street.

His voice wrapped around her head in calm and soothing tones. “You are okay. These men are friends of mine having a smoke. They did nothing to you. You have no fear of them or me.”

Her eyes narrowed in confusion. They
did
do something to her, and she was filled with panic that they might touch her again. Marcus seemed to realize her mind was working overtime and his grip on her chin tightened. Not enough to hurt, but enough to get her attention. He continued, “You trust that you’re safe with me and that you are in no danger.”

Gena still had no idea what he was talking about, but she was willing to take a chance on Marcus if it meant she’d avoid being killed for the third time in two days. She nodded her head. “I’m safe,” she said.

Her breathing calmed a bit under the spell of Marcus’s voice, but her heart still beat a frantic rhythm against her ribs.

Marcus turned his attention to the three men across from them. “Vlad said you were looking for me.”

Gena cautiously looked at the thugs. They didn’t seem too disappointed that Marcus had stopped them, and Marcus didn’t appear very outraged that she was being battered in a dark alleyway. It was a wonder Marcus didn’t have his own set of guards if these were the men he associated with.

She needed to get the hell out of there.

Gravelly voice took a step forward. “We were looking for you. He said you were out for a moment. We got bored.” He shot a glance at Gena.

Gena felt a rumble against her back and realized Marcus was
growling
.
Who growls?

“You got bored so you stole her?” he asked with an angry tone.

How could they steal her if she didn’t belong to anyone?
But she couldn’t deny she was thankful he sounded angry on her behalf.

Gravelly voice didn’t seem intimidated by Marcus. “We checked her neck first. She was unmarked.”

Gena lifted a hand to her neck.
She didn’t have any marks on her neck, be it tattoos or birthmarks, but what did that have to do with anything?

She shifted nervously in Marcus’s arms and he loosened his grip. She didn’t want him to let her go. These men stopped when he came, and she wanted him to stay with her as long as there was a threat. Instead of removing his hands, he raised them to the top of his jacket she still wore.

His fingers reached for the zipper and her hands covered his. Before she could protest, his warm breath whispered in her ear, “Relax.”

Fat chance
. She did keep her mouth shut as Marcus started to unzip the black leather. The sound of the metal on metal seemed much too loud in the crowded alley. The farther the zipper moved down, the more of her blood-covered chest was bared to the three brutes who stared at her.

Her top still covered all the important bits, but her attackers seemed fascinated by the large amounts of red that covered her front. One of them even licked his lips at the sight.

They said they smelled the blood. Gena took a deep swallow as she came to the realization that her blood made these men hungry. They had asked whether Marcus had ever fed ON her.

She looked behind her to study Marcus’s face. “As you can see, she’s mine. If we are done here, I am going back to the party.”

He moved away from the alley, pulling her along with him, and broke her view of his face. She let out a silent sigh of relief, but a gravelly voice chimed in. “We know why you’re here.”

Marcus stopped moving, and Gena wanted to shake him and order him to get her out of this situation as quickly as possible. “My circumstances aren’t exactly a secret,” he pointed out.

Gena couldn’t help but wonder what those circumstances were. She still wanted out, but her ears perked up.

“Aleksander betrayed you. You’ve been a loyal follower of his for years, and on a whim he banishes you. I know you had nothing to do with the attack on the queen.”

Gena felt Marcus take in a deep breath. She wished she could get a good view of him to decipher what he was thinking.

“Aleksander’s a dick. I have known it for years.”

The interrogator of the group nodded. “You aren’t the only one who knows it. There are plenty of like-minded individuals who want to see Aleksander gone.”

“Like Fredrick?” asked Marcus. “Last I saw him, he was missing his head. Even if I wanted Aleksander gone, there’s nothing I could do about that now.”

The interrogator shrugged. “Aleksander will welcome you back soon enough. There’s no evidence you had any involvement with Fredrick.”

“What makes you so sure?”

The speaker smiled. “I’m sure because Fredrick was working with us.”

There was a tense pause when no one spoke. Gena could practically feel Marcus consider his options. Whoever this Aleksander was, Marcus had motive to make him “gone,” and these men wanted him to do it. What would they do if he said no?

“I can take care of Aleksander on my own, and I don’t need some fucking dinner-snatching strangers to help me do it,” replied Marcus.

Marcus finally walked away and pulled her with him. His arms had fallen from their previous positioning wrapped around her, and she immediately felt the loss of body heat. However, one of his now free hands grabbed her wrist and pulled her along with him. He took long strides and she almost had to jog to keep up with him, but she’d happily run to get away from that alley.

“Wait!” called a voice from behind them.

Marcus stopped, but Gena tugged at his arm, urging him to walk away. Marcus nodded to her in acknowledgment but still looked back to the men with an impatient glare.

The speaker threw something toward her and Marcus. She flinched and held up a defensive arm over her face, but Marcus just reached out and grabbed the flying object out of the air. His arm moved so fast it appeared as a blur in front of her eyes.

As he lowered his hand at a perfectly normal speed, Gena saw that the object was a cheap cell phone. The interrogator said, “We will be in touch.”

Marcus didn’t respond, but just turned away from the three and finally led Gena from her attackers.

The farther they moved from the threat, the calmer Gena’s breathing became. Marcus periodically glanced over his shoulder and she did the same. She didn’t see any sign of the three men behind her.

Instead of going back to the club like he’d said, Marcus led her along the dark streets of the city. After a few blocks, the shock of the evening faded and Gena slowly collected her wits. She tried to free her wrist from Marcus’s grasp, but he just held on tighter.

“Let me go,” she said quietly but firmly. She wasn’t going to be manhandled again tonight.

Marcus stopped and turned his gaze to her small wrist wrapped in his large hand. It almost looked as though he forgot he was still holding her. His fingers released her, but his voice reached her through the quiet night. “Stay with me,” he ordered and moved again.

Gena followed. “Where are you taking me? I need to go back to Hope. I promised her I’d be back to her apartment before dawn.”

Marcus shot her a surprised glance. “You want to go back to your friend? Don’t you have any questions about what just happened back there?”

She shook her head, but he was looking at the street and not her. “I don’t need to know. I just need to go home. I could use a shower.” She immediately regretted the words that reminded them both about her blood-covered chest and the two bullet holes that had disappeared.

He glanced over at her chest briefly, but it was again covered with his jacket. “There’s a shower at my place you can use.”

“What the hell? Why would I go to your place?”

“It’s safer there. I can protect you.”

Gena rolled her eyes. “I haven’t been safe one moment since I met you,” she pointed out.

“That man who shot you had nothing to do with me.”