Master of Darkness (10 page)

Then the vampire in the fountain focused his attention on a young woman in the crowd. He snarled and jumped to the ground, and Joe had no choice but to act.

The woman turned and ran, headed toward the beach. Joe sped into the men's room of the coffee shop to get naked and change into a one-hundred-and-sixty-pound black wolf. He propped the door open with a shoe before he took animal form, then nosed it the rest of the way open.

In this form it was even easier for him to follow the scent of sick vampires.

“Report!” Eden shouted to the cops as she finally made it through the crowd heading in the opposite direction. She joined the officers in running toward the water. Besides being on the police force, the pair were also her cousins Charlie and Andre, and vampire hunters.

“Both subjects took off. One of them away from the scene. The other—”

“You're not tracking him?”

“The other one is chasing a woman.”

“Okay.”

Saving a civilian was definitely more important than tracking a lone vampire right now.

“Pick up his trail after this is over,” she directed.

They were within sight of the water now. The brine scent filled her lungs. People on the crowded walkway saw the cops and got out of the way. What she didn't expect was to have someone come up behind her and push her aside.

What was even more surprising was that it wasn't a person that passed her, but an enormous black dog. She and her partners ended up following the animal out onto the sand. It led the way toward the vampire.

It said a lot about the vampire's weakened physical state that he hadn't caught up to the fleeing woman yet. The dog made a great leap, and landed square and hard on the vampire's back. Normally this wouldn't have done any good, despite the animal's great size and the force of the hit. A normal Prime would have simply shaken the dog off.

This Prime went down face-first on the beach, and didn't move as the animal's powerful jaws wrapped around the back of his neck.

This had to be a trained police dog, Eden decided. It lifted its head as they reached the prone vampire and gave her a look out of blue eyes that said,
Well, what are you waiting for?
It moved back without any direction when one of the uniformed hunters knelt to slip silver handcuffs on the Prime's wrists.

The dog looked familiar, but she couldn't quite place where she'd seen it before. Something about the glinting gold nametag around the dog's neck was also familiar. Its name was Joe.

“Hi, Joe.”

He cocked his head at the sound of her voice, but backed away when she would have touched him. Then Joe turned and flashed away, and she left the mystery of the dog to deal with the Prime.

“I think we have proof now that Dawn does send these creatures into psychosis after prolonged use,” one of the cops said.

“Yeah,” she answered. And wondered what Sid Wolf, who wasn't yet sure Dawn was harmless, would make of this.

She looked around the beach, where a crowd was gathering. “Let's get this one out of here.”

Chapter Eleven

B
y the time Eden returned to the safe house, she was almost at the point of collapse. She'd had a rough night, and a tense morning that had now turned into afternoon. Her butt was dragging, her brain was fried, and she guessed she wasn't cut out for working by night and sleeping by day.

It didn't help that she'd had a fight with the other hunters, which ended with her having to pull rank and point out that she had been put in charge of this operation. That had been after her cousin Charlie pulled out his cell phone to call her father for advice.

That had been after she'd refused to let them kill the captured Tribe Prime when they were done taking samples for testing.

“Are you beginning to believe they're people, after running with one for a couple of nights?” Charlie had taunted.

“It would have killed that woman,” Andre had pointed out.

“Think of it as an injured animal that has to be put down,” Charlie said. “If you have to have any sympathy for it at all.”

“I want the Prime kept locked up and under constant observation,” she'd ordered. “He's a drug addict. It might be useful if we study the effects of the drug and withdrawal. Think of the Prime as a lab rat,” she sneered at Charlie. “If you have to have any reasons to follow my orders.”

They'd left it at that, with the boys grudgingly obeying. Eden came back to the apartment weary in soul and body and with a blazing headache.

She looked at the tiny tape recorder she'd left sitting on the computer desk, and considered adding to her observations. Not now, she decided. She was in no mood for doing any sort of documentation right now.

But that was a bad and wrong attitude, since she'd made a commitment to this blogging project. So she dutifully picked up the voice-activated recorder. “I'm going to blame Wolf for my grumpiness—because if I have to work
twenty-four/seven, I think he should, too.” She sighed. “That said, last night had its ups and downs. While we didn't acquire the laptop Wolf thinks the tribe vampires want, we now know that …”

She lost her train of thought, and swiped a hand tiredly across her face.

“I'm not sure what we learned. Wolf interrogated a captured member of the Hydra tribe, but I'm not sure he told me everything he learned when he read the other vampire's mind. What I did learn is that there's a hit out on me and I find the Tribes taking it so personally disconcerting even though I know that this sort of behavior is historically accurate. It's one of the earmarks of Tribe behavior. But I find it more scary than I do interesting when I'm the target. I told Wolf I wouldn't use the zapper anymore, but I'm going to have to break that promise, for which I will apologize later. Besides, I hear the shower running, so it's not like I'll be disturbing his sleep. He's had hours to rest, but I haven't had any. If there's Tribe Primes on Dawn hunting for me, I want all the protection I can get while I'm resting. If I turn the zapper on at the lowest setting the worst damage it can do to Wolf is a small headache. I'd warn him, if that didn't mean running the risk of walking in on a
naked man—vampire—in the bathroom. I'm not saying I wouldn't mind seeing someone that gorgeous naked, but he might get the idea that my reasons were for prurient more than esthetic appreciation. And he'd be right—but I'd be wrong. Meanwhile, I'm going to get some sleep, knowing I'll be shielded from the vampires hunting me. That said, I'm going to bed.”

Tribe boys? They have the same instincts as a greyhound—they see a rabbit, and they run after it
.

Laurent remembered telling Eden that the night before, but he didn't know why the words haunted him now, hours after the latest confrontation with his pursuers. He turned off the shower, twisted water out of his long hair, and reached for a towel. He should have felt rested, but he didn't. His bruises were healed. He was fed, he was safe from the sun, and no one had yet traced him.

He had spent several hours pacing, telling himself he wasn't worried about Eden herself, he was worried about the safety of his personal hacker.

He knew she was back now, and wondered why she'd been gone so long. His initial urge was to go to her, but he stopped himself a step
away from the bathroom door—because the urge was too powerful.

He wanted to see her face, to hear her voice, to catch her scent and her mental energy. He wanted
her
—and this was exactly the sort of Prime behavior he'd armored himself against all his life.

Tribe members did not let themselves become attached to any female, vampire or mortal. Females were for using. Eden was a female—therefore she was to be used.

“Logic,” he murmured.

He closed his eyes and made himself think about the survival logic of being a Tribe Prime. Survival was the whole point.

So, no running naked out into the living room to check up on the woman, who was very good at taking care of herself. Of course, she'd probably find it sexy if he sauntered out with a towel draped around his hips to wish her good day, then yawn fetchingly and flash her a smile. That behavior would be charming, seductive. Obvious, yes, but not threatening. Seducing her was a tool in using her.

“Too late now,” he murmured, aware that she was exhausted. He felt her drag off to bed, and once again had to stop himself from heading toward her.

Because his impulse was to comfort, rather than to use.

Bad, Laurent. Never forget that you're a selfish bastard, and proud of it
.

With that in mind, he finally stepped out of the bathroom. With a few hours to wait while Eden got her rest and a faint headache growing behind his eyes, Laurent decided to lie down for a while himself.

“Run, little one.”

“I'm not little!”

“But you will run.”

Laurent backed away into the shadows, away from Justinian's glittering smile, away from the bright eyes. He knew the shadows wouldn't help. But they were all he had
.

It took him a moment to realize that he had the darkness, too. He was a vampire as much as they were
.

“Run.”

This time the voice belonged to Belisarius. His
brother.
The one who wanted him dead
.

“It's only a game, little one,” Justinian said. “A training exercise.”

But for whom?

He wasn't yet a Prime, but the others were. If he ran, and they caught him—

Belisarius lunged, and Laurent had no more time to think
.

He ran. His heart pounded. He was full of screaming terror, but cunning swiftly took the place of thought. The instinct for survival was strong in him
.

And he
would not
let Belisarius win. Never. Never
.

“Never!”

The scream drove Eden up out of the bed even before she was awake. Her eyes opened as she stumbled out of her room and down the hall. She was standing outside the vampire's room when the shout came again.

“Never!”

This time it sent a shudder of sympathy through her that brought her fully awake.

“What the—” She scrubbed her hands across her face.

She heard Wolf thrashing around and shouting, clearly having a horrible nightmare.

She opened the door and rushed inside.

He was sitting up in bed, and his eyes were open. His head swiveled toward her when she came in, but she could tell he wasn't seeing her. The pain she saw in those staring eyes—pain that came from deep in his heart—drove her forward.

It wasn't until she was holding him in her arms that she remembered that he was a vampire, and even then, it didn't matter.

His back and shoulders were rigid, hard as stone. For a moment she imagined she was embracing the pale marble of a Renaissance statue. But his skin was warm, almost hot to the touch. Not a statue, but a male breathing in ragged gasps.

She murmured into his ear. Stupid things like, “It's all right. I'm here. It's a dream. Just a bad dream.” Though she had no idea what was wrong with him at all. The urge was to comfort in any way she could. Something about his being in pain broke her heart.

“Let me make it better,” she crooned. “Let me help.”

She didn't think he heard her. At least not the words.

When he finally turned his gaze to hers, his gray eyes seemed almost black, and the pain in them was beyond her understanding.

“I ran away,” he said. “It was a game to make me scared, but I ran away instead. I won.”

The laugh that came out of him then was so bitter, it hurt her ears.

“He always finds me and drags me back. But I did run away.”

She wondered if he was talking to her, or still caught in his nightmare.

“It's not real.” She brushed her hands through his long silvery hair, damp with sweat. “You're dreaming.”

He took a deep breath. She thought he was going to laugh that horrible laugh again, and couldn't stand it.

So she kissed him.

It felt so right to cover his mouth with hers and try to take his pain away.

Aching pleasure swept through her with hard, insistent heat the moment their lips met. His mouth was hot and hungry, and she wanted him instantly. The connection was far more intense than the two times he'd claimed her lips as a reward. Breathless excitement had stirred in her each time, but this took more than her breath away.

Hurricane-force excitement roared through her as her tongue delved inside his mouth. Thought vanished, leaving simple, urgent need.

He moaned against her mouth and was suddenly holding her tightly. His hand cupped the back of her head as he took control of the kiss.

Of her.

A prick of pain pierced her lower lip and shot heat into her nipples and her belly. A faint taste
of hot copper on her tongue sharpened desire even more.

The tenseness in him changed, going from fear to commanding desire with a fluid grace that devastated her senses. One moment he was as still as a statue of a naked god. The next he was a god come to life, his skin satin over hard muscle.

She couldn't keep her hands off him. She stroked his hard belly and wide shoulders, explored the long, lean back and narrow hips. She'd been dying to do this since the moment they met. Now restraint melted like mist.

All she wanted was to touch him, to know him. He lay back on the bed and let her. When she pulled off the T-shirt and underwear she'd worn to bed, he laughed softly, as though the sound came from a great distance. There was no mocking in it, just joy. It was as if he'd been in a dark place, but she'd brought him out of it.

The joy of being alive suddenly permeated the room, and it reached deep inside Eden.

There was something else she wanted inside her as well.

She straddled him and slowly kissed her way down his chest; breathed in the rich masculine scent and absorbed the texture of his skin. She felt his erection press against her rump.