Eternal Hunter (26 page)

“I don’t really like having a thumb up my ass,” Erin muttered and jumped down the steps. “Let’s go.” Jude was already hunting, so the info might not be any good to him, but at least she’d be doing
something
.

Other than having a thumb up her ass.

They ran toward Dee’s SUV.

“You sure this is the place?” Jude demanded.

Kyler gave a grudging nod. “Yeah, yeah, this is the address he gave me.”

A cabin at the edge of the swamp. A place that looked way too much like his own home.

Gotta get a new place for Erin.
Because a dump falling into the moss really wasn’t going to cut it for her.

He had the cash. Sure, he liked to run in the swamp, but Erin needed something different.

And after the way the asshole had christened her home, she’d probably like a fresh start someplace else.

They could get that start together. Maybe another antebellum, one they could restore together. One with a lot of land for running…

Later.

“All right then,” Jude said, testing the ropes that held his hands. Damn tight, cutting-off-his-circulation tight. Zane knew his knots, how to tie ’em and how to place ’em. Thanks to Zane, the knots were perfectly positioned next to his claws. A few slices, and he’d be free. “Time to get your payment.”

A grunt came from the sweating demon. His black eyes darted from the left to the right. “This is a real assed-up plan.”

Jude grunted. “Who asked you?”

Zane eyed him with raised brows. “Guess I get to be the one to drag your sorry butt inside, huh?”

“No…
he
gets the job.” Because he didn’t want Kyler’s hands free for a minute.

“Fuck,” Kyler snarled.

Good thing demons were strong.

“Let’s get this shit started.”

Dee’s foot shoved the gas pedal to the floor. She took the curves and hidden twists with ease, her gaze never darting from the road.

At this rate, they’d be at the hospital in no time. The road was deserted. Dark and quiet. Well, quiet except for Dee’s revving motor.

“Does Lee know he was attacked because of me?” Erin’s fingers tapped against the side of the passenger door.

“No.”

Ah, that would be a fun conversation.

“He doesn’t know that you saved his butt yet, either.”

Headlights flashed in the distance.
Maybe not so deserted.
“Saving him has to count for something, right?” Erin asked quietly. She sure hoped it did.

Zane kicked open the door of the cabin. “We’re here!” He called out, pretty unnecessarily to Jude’s way of thinking.

Kyler tossed him onto the floor. “Got the shifter bastard you wanted.”

Jude didn’t grunt at the impact. He didn’t move at all.

Old floorboards squeaked around him as Zane and Kyler edged out in the room.

Jude’s nostrils flared. He couldn’t scent the wolf, but Erin
had
told him the guy could disguise his smell. So just because he couldn’t smell him, well, that didn’t mean the stalker wasn’t there.

His ears twitched.

Silence
.

Thick and heavy. Too much silence.

He slashed through his ropes and bounded to his feet. “Where the hell is the bastard?”

Kyler was creeping toward the door. Jude grabbed him and slammed his head against the wall.
Payback for the headfirst toss onto the floor.
The demon went down and didn’t get back up.

Jude’s gaze raked the cabin.
Not here
.

But if the wolf wasn’t waiting to rip him apart, then where was the bastard?

“Yeah, saving the guy’s life has to count for something,” Dee said, her fingers tightening around the steering wheel. “It’s not like you could help the fact that this creep after you tried to kill him.”

The headlights were growing closer. The dark shadow of that other car—was it swerving a bit?

Erin licked her lips. “How many…other cabins are out this way?” She’d never seen another vehicle when she’d visited Jude before. The guy liked his solitude. Not real big into sharing property and—

Something big and black ran into the road.

“What the hell?”
Dee slammed on the brakes.

But whatever
the hell
that was out there wasn’t aiming for them.

“Is that a fucking dog?”
Dee’s breath jerked out with a hard rush.

Erin’s breath was gone.
Not a dog
. The beast was heading right for the other vehicle. Running fast and hard. The beast never halted, never faltered, just ran straight for the other driver.

Animal and car hit. Brakes squealed. Metal shrieked. Glass shattered. And the vehicle, a big, black SUV—pretty damned similar to Dee’s, just a different color—swerved off the road and plowed into a line of trees.

“Shit!”
Dee jerked off her belt and sprang from the vehicle.

The air from Dee’s open door wafted into the SUV, and Erin’s eyes widened as she caught a distinct scent.
No
. “Dee! Dee, stop!” She clawed through her own seat belt and jumped out, her heart racing. “Don’t get close, it’s—”

“Holy Christ!”

She hadn’t even known the woman was religious.

“You know, if he were awake, the guy would be a hell of a lot more useful.” Zane eyed the demon on the floor, his face grim. “Maybe you should have waited to bash his head until
after
we got some more information.”

There was no more information to get. “The wolf isn’t here.” He’d been played.
Played.

And he’d left Erin alone.

He grabbed his cell phone. Punched in her number.

One ring.

Two.

Then…
damn
CALLER NOT AVAILABLE
message.

His fingers crushed the phone. Shit. “Try to get Dee on the line,” he growled, and his gaze raked the cabin. Minimal furnishings. A chair. A bed.
Too much like my place
.

Except for the framed picture of Erin.

Bastard
.

“Ringing,” Zane said, and Jude glanced back to see that the demon had his cell phone positioned at his ear.

“Tell her to get Erin inside my cabin and to lock the doors. We’re on our way.”

That picture…

He turned back around, slowly, and paced across the room.

Her hair was longer. She was smiling, walking in what looked like some kind of park.

“No answer.”

Jude reached for the frame. He traced the busted glass. It looked like someone had shoved a fist into the picture.

“We’ve got a big problem.” He looked up at Zane.
No answer
. Their eyes met. The broken glass bit into his hand, sending droplets of blood onto the picture.

Onto Erin.

Blood was in the air. Thick and strong and so sickeningly fresh.

“I think the bastard is dead!” Dee scrambled to a stop near the middle of the road, right before the prone body of the giant black wolf.

“Get back!” Erin screamed, running as fast as she could. An injured wolf was dangerous.
Any
wolf was dangerous, but an injured beast would rip and tear anything in its path.

With a burst of speed, she reached the human and jerked her back.

“Erin, stop! The wolf is barely breathing. It’s over, you’re—”

Erin shoved Dee away. A safe distance behind her. Then she fell to her knees beside the wolf.
So much blood
. A growl rumbled in the beast’s throat and the creature bared its teeth.

“Easy,” she whispered.

“Are you insane?” Dee blasted. “Get away from him! Let him die! Your life will be one hell of a lot better!”

Erin reached out a hand to the wolf. The too-sharp teeth snapped together, barely missing her fingertips.

“Erin!”

“It’s going to be all right,” she whispered, but the words were a lie. A tear trickled down her cheek. No, no, this wasn’t the way things should have ended.

She ignored the teeth and the claws that tried to swipe at her.
An injured beast would rip and tear anything in its path.
Even if she was the one in the creature’s path. Her fingers sank into the bloody fur. The wolf’s hind legs were broken, no, shattered.

Hold on.

“Call for help,” she ordered, never taking her eyes off the wolf.

“Yeah, I need to get help for whoever is in that SUV! But not for this mangy wolf and I—aw, hell, I left my cell in the car!”

A growl rose in Erin’s throat.

She heard the soft fall of Dee’s footsteps as the human stumbled back. “Erin, wh-what’s up with you? I thought you…hated this guy.” Suspicion now. Worry.

The wolf jerked its head against her and managed to let out a long, mournful howl. The beast’s eyes jerked to the left, and it whimpered.

Such bright yellow eyes.

“This isn’t the asshole who’s after me.” The shift began then. Fast, because the wolf was weak and so was the woman. “This is my mother.”

And she was dying.

“Where the hell are they?” Jude’s foot shoved down even harder on the gas pedal as the car lurched forward. The car was Zane’s, but he’d borrowed it while the demon secured Kyler.

The bastard likes to get up close and personal with his prey. That’s how he makes the kills.
And why he’d given the order that Jude would be brought to him alive. If he’d come to the den, if he’d learned what happened…

Fuck.

Jude yanked the steering wheel to the left. Every instinct he had screamed the guy had gone running, but not out of the city. Instead, he’d gone—

To Erin.

For a sports car, Zane’s “baby” sure wasn’t going fast enough. He shifted hard and the engine roared. Zane would have to trail as fast as he could on the motorcycle they’d found at the cabin.

Erin. Be safe, sweetheart.
His claws ripped through his fingertips.

“I got Antonio on the phone. He’s sending help.” Dee eased onto her knees beside Erin. “I-I found this in my SUV.” She handed her a loose jacket.

Her mother lay on the ground, pale and unmoving. So much blood. It was the only covering she had.

Erin put the jacket over her.

“Can’t she change? Like Jude did back at the den, can’t she—”

“She’s too weak.” If Antonio didn’t get there soon with the ambulance, she’d be dead. Erin brushed back a clump of her mother’s hair. They really looked so much alike.

When she’d been a girl, her mother had combed her hair every night before bed, laughing as she stroked her—

Her mother’s lashes lifted, so slowly. Yellow eyes, hazy with pain, tried to focus on Erin.
“R-run.”
Blood trickled from the corner of her mouth.

Goosebumps rose on her arms. “Mother?”

“Run…”

Her breath whispered out and her eyes closed.

“Oh, God!” From Dee. “Is she—”

Erin grabbed her arm. “Did you check on the other driver?”

“Yeah, yeah, it’s a guy. He’s fine, just has a little cut on his forehead.”

Her fingers tightened. “Do you have your gun?” She’d seen it earlier. Dee always carried her gun.
Always
.

Dee brushed back her shirt, revealing the butt of her weapon.

A twig snapped.
Close
. Too close.

Her mother had almost killed herself? Why?

Run
.

The wolf—her mother—had headed straight for that other SUV. Attacked it.

To protect me
.

The night was too quiet then. No crickets. No croaking frogs. Just silence, smothering her.

The fingers of Dee’s right hand hesitated over the gun butt. Erin held her stare and mouthed,
Get. It. Out.

A growl—from the left.

They spun around. Dee brought up her gun.

Erin expected to see a wolf lunge at them.

Instead, she saw a man.

One she knew.
What the hell?

Judge Lance Harper—
the freaking judge!
—walked from the brush, as calm as you please. Blood trickled down the side of his face. He smiled at her, revealing his fangs, and said, “Erin, beautiful Erin, I’m going to have to punish you.”

And he lifted his claws toward her.

“Shoot him!” she screamed at Dee.

His smile vanished, and he lunged for her.

Dee fired. Once. Twice.

The deafening shots echoed in Erin’s ears.

The judge froze. He looked down at his chest, at the blood soaking his shirt, and he shook his head. “Takes more than that to stop me.”

She knew that, oh, dammit, but she knew—

He attacked.

D
ee ran forward, her gun up, but the bastard moved too fast. His claws raked down her arm, then across her chest. The gun flew from her fingers and she screamed as his teeth caught her shoulder.

“
No!
” Dee didn’t understand. Harper wasn’t like other shifters.
He’s like me
. In human form, he was nearly as strong as a fully transformed shifter.

And when he transformed—

Hello, hell.

“Let her go, asshole!” Erin sank her own claws into his side, and twisted.

He howled in fury and pain, and he tossed Dee into the air. When she came down, Dee hit the ground with a thud, and she didn’t get up.

Dee!

His head turned, just a few inches, and Harper met Erin’s stare. His brown eyes were muddy, so dark, and the grin on his face chilled her. “Always knew you liked the blood. Just like me.”

“I’m nothing like you!” She jumped back, putting some frantic space between them.

She could really have used Jude right then! When Dee had called for backup, she’d called Night Watch and Antonio. Not Jude and Zane. Dee had thought they were in the middle of their trap. Thought they were catching the stalker.

But he’d come for her, instead.

Harper raised a hand to his side. His fingers touched the blood that pulsed and flowed so hotly. “Wanted to do this…in human form.”

Her claws were up, ready. “Do what?”
Hot Harper? Lance Harper?
His name blasted through her head over and over again. She’d been in his courtroom so many times, been so close to him, and never suspected.

He’d tried to rape her. He’d killed. Tortured.

The judge?

She shook her head. No, no, this didn’t make a bit of sense.

He watched her with those dark eyes, and his blood splattered on to the ground. He didn’t seem to notice or even to care. “You disappointed me, mate.”

Mate.
“I’m
not
your mate.”

The judge blinked at that, looking vaguely surprised. “Well, of course, you are. I recognized you the first moment you stepped into my courtroom.” His smile had faded completely. “I divorced my third wife for you.”

Divorced my third wife.
Erin guessed she was lucky he hadn’t killed the woman. “There’s no way you could have known from one look that I was your mate.”
Keep him talking.
Backup would arrive soon. Had to. Just how many bullets would the guy be able to take and keep standing? Because when Antonio arrived, she knew he’d unload on the asshole.

“I knew the second I caught your scent that you were mine.”

Bullshit. She hoped. Her eyes narrowed. “So what? You decided to make my life
hell
because you liked the way I smelled?”

He jumped toward her. Harper closed the distance in less than a second.
Stronger than me. Faster than me.

Dammit!

His fingers wrapped around her arms, and she felt the sting of his claws. His breath—
freaking minted breath
—blew in her face. “I gave you
everything
you wanted. I punished the fools who hurt you or got in your way. I made sure your life was perfect.”

Insane.
There was a reason for the whispers about wolves being psychotic. Some of them really were. “You
killed.
You murdered Donald Trent!”

The claws dug deeper. “Because you wanted him stopped.” His teeth snapped together and a frown pulled his brows low, as if he truly didn’t understand. “If I’d found him guilty in court, he would have been out in what? Two, three years?” He grunted. “Not good enough for you. You wanted more—so I gave you more! I stopped him, permanently.”

“You buried him in the woods behind his kids’ house!”

The right side of his mouth lifted. “Thought it was fitting.”

No, it was insane.

“I just had to go and watch the cops dig him up. So fucking perfect.”

Erin could only stare at him. Why hadn’t she seen the madness before? Why hadn’t the cops? All the other lawyers?

The insanity had hid so well behind his black robes.

His gaze swept over her face. “When you walked in that first day, I thought you were the most perfect thing I’d ever seen. Just like
her,
that same fire burning inside.” He jerked Erin closer. “I knew when I saw you then, I
knew
why fate had put that bastard in Theresa’s path so many years before.”

What?
Her heart iced. “H-how do you know my mother’s name?” The mother who lay dying just a few feet away. She’d risked her life to save Erin from this bastard.

He blinked and, for an instant, almost seemed confused. “I thought she was mine.” The words came, slow and stilted. “For years, I thought she was the one for me.”

A choked moan rumbled from behind Erin. Her mother’s pain-filled cry.

Erin stared into Harper’s eyes and knew.

Theresa’s voice drifted through her mind.
“Such dark, dark eyes that saw into me so well…”

Hell.

Her mother’s lover.

Erin jerked against him, hard, horror giving her strength as she stumbled back from his hold.

His lip curled with disgust as he grated, “When she went with that human, I couldn’t pretend about her any more. She wasn’t mine.”

Erin sucked in oxygen as hard and as fast as she could. Not. Happening.

“I left the pack.” His teeth snapped together. “I went on my own, and then you came to me.”

No, no, she hadn’t come to him. She’d just been in court, doing her job!

“The instant I saw you, I finally understood what fate had planned for me. I
knew
you were my reward, the mate I’d always wanted.” A laugh then, rough and wild. “You look so much like her,” he said, “but you’re better, stronger,
mine.
”

“No, I’m not
yours.
” Never would be.

“You know what it’s like to be different from the others. Not human. Not wolf. More powerful than both.” He lifted his hand toward her, long and deadly claws out. “We were made for each other. Perfect halves.”

She stared at that hand and remembered the sight of Bobby Burrows’s bloody body. “We are nothing alike.” She held her body perfectly still. Now wasn’t the time for an attack. Not yet.

He closed the space between them. His right hand lifted and his fingers trailed down her cheek. “I had to bide my time and make sure there were no obstacles between us.”

Yeah, he’d tried to
kill
all the obstacles. Erin barely breathed as she stood before him.

One sharp claw pressed against the side of her face. “Purebloods always thought they were so fucking superior. I had to show the animals how wrong they were. Every day, I had to fight and claw my way through the pack.”

Alpha.
Her mother had said her lover was the alpha of the pack. Alphas were the most bloodthirsty of the wolves. The most dangerous.

Shit.

“They never understood what we are!” he snarled. “Fucking idiots!”

She swallowed. “And what are we?”

The claw dug into her skin, broke the flesh. “The next evolution. We can be strong in our human flesh. We don’t have to wait for the wolf. We can kill and we can conquer as we are. Hell, we can rule the world. We don’t have to wait for the shift. We have the power every minute of every day.”

Her chin lifted and she knew the liquid sliding down her face wasn’t tears, it was blood. “I can’t shift.”

His gaze burned her. “I know—that’s why you’re so
perfect.
”

Great, of all the people in the world,
he
thought she was perfect.

Harper licked his thin lips. “Our children won’t need to shift. They’ll be born with power. Always have it.”

Their children?
“Got news for you,” she managed. There’d been no sound from Dee—or from her mother—for several moments.
Be alive.
“I’m not planning on having any kids with you.” That would be the last thing she’d ever do.

Whack job for a father? Hell, no. She and her mother had very different taste in men.

His breath rushed out. More mint. “It’s that fucking tiger. I’ve been watching you. Always watching.”

She knew that. She’d felt his eyes too many times.

“I’m good at hiding. I was close enough to touch you so many times and you never knew.”

Goosebumps rose on her flesh.

“I changed my hair, used contacts, held the shift so that my face was different—” He broke off, giving a muffled laugh. “You never even knew!”

He’d held the shift? How was that even possible?
The next evolution.

“I love to watch you,” he whispered. “Love to see your face.” His jaw clenched as his eyes turned arctic. “And I’ve seen your face when you look at that bastard!” Spittle flew at her. “
You’ve been screwing him
. Fucking around on me just like your whore of a mother!”

Her claws were out. Ready. His wounds were close.
Keep talking. Hold his attention. Stir his fury.

Fury could make him weak.

Erin smiled. A slow, wide grin. “Yeah, I have.”

“You, bit—”

She shoved her hands up between them.
Don’t forget how strong I can be, asshole.

His mistake—he’d stayed in human form. She could take the jerk in human form. Because she was as strong as he was that way, maybe even stronger.
Maybe.

Time to find out.

She drove her claws into his bloody wounds and wrenched up as hard as she could.

His head slammed into hers and black spots danced before her eyes.

She stumbled back. He raised his claws above her—

Erin caught his right wrist, then the left, and she held him as tight as she could. Bones snapped beneath her grip.

“Perfect,” he whispered and he crushed his mouth against hers.

She bit him, savaging his lips with her teeth and his blood flowed.

But the bastard just laughed.

Furious, scared as hell, she threw him back.

Harper didn’t stumble or stagger. He landed on his feet. The bastard balanced perfectly and then swiped the back of his hand over his bleeding mouth. “I like the way you taste.” His stare dropped to her body. “When you’re with him…do you think of me?”

What? “
No!
”

More laughter. “I bet I’m in your head. Late at night, when you close your eyes, you think of me, don’t you?”

She had, for so long. But not because she wanted him. Because…“You attacked me! Almost murdered Ben! You’ve terrorized me, so, hell, yes, I’ve thought about you!” Her teeth ached as they extended even more. Longer, sharper than they’d ever been. “I thought about how I’d like to
kill
you.”

“You’ve got the blood thirst, just like me.”

A broken groan broke the air.

Erin’s gaze flew to the left. Not her mother this time,
Dee.
The hunter was trying to push herself up.

“Why do you care about them?” His stare followed hers. “They aren’t even worth your notice.”

No,
he
wasn’t worth her notice.

He held out his hand to her once more, claws stained red. “Come with me, Erin, and I’ll let your human live, for now.”

For now.
Code for later, he’d be back to slice her to ribbons.

“Why do you do it?” she whispered. “Why all the killings? Bobby Burrows—”

His hand waited in the air, but he answered her. Harper had always loved to hear himself talk. That was one of the many reasons why his court had always been torture for her. “Burrows made you look like a fool. He escaped on
your
watch.”

Well, the cops’ watch.

“And he was worthless trash, eating away at the world. He needed to be put down.”

“That’s not your call to make! You can’t decide who lives or dies! You can’t—”

His hand fell. “I’ve spent fifteen years of my life deciding who lives and dies. I damn well know what I’m doing.”

Executing his own brand of justice and claiming to kill for her. “You’re crazy,” she whispered. Probably not the smartest thing to say to a killer, but what the hell?

“Wolves in packs don’t become psychotic.” His voice had chilled.

He hadn’t been in a pack for almost thirty years.

“Mated wolves out of the pack retain their sanity.”

He wasn’t mated. Did the guy even see where this was headed?

“You’re my mate. Since finding you, everything in my life has become crystal clear.” His lips firmed and he took a step forward—

And he stumbled.

The blood loss. It was finally hitting him
.

She’d hoped if she kept him talking, kept him focused—yes!

Harper slipped in his own blood and went down, hard.

“Erin…”

She shook her head. “I’m not your mate, asshole, and even if I was, I wouldn’t spend a day of my life with you.”

“The tiger…” His head fell down. His body shuddered. “Should have…killed him…beginning…”

No.
“Jude isn’t exactly easy to kill.” One of his best traits.

His claws scraped over the pavement. “Saw the way…you…l-looked at him…Has to…die…”

“No, he doesn’t. You’re not going to hurt Jude.”

He threw his head back then, and she saw his face. A wild combination of man and beast.
“You’re mine!”
A barely human howl of fury.

The transformation ripped through his body and he jerked, almost convulsing on the ground.

Not a shift.
No.
He should have been too weak to transform. Should have been…

Bones snapped. Fur burst from his skin.

“
No!
” Erin flew at him, attacking, hoping to stop the shift before it was too late.
Before he was too strong
. Because if he shifted, he could heal—and he could kill her.

But his shift was fast. Faster than Jude’s. Faster than any shifter she’d ever seen in her life. When her body fell against his, she sank her claws as deeply as she could into his side—not the side of a man, but the body of a wolf. She thrust her claws past the thick fur and right into the muscle.