Midnight's Master (35 page)

“Take the mike.” Her cameraman’s whisper.

She blinked and realized that bright lights and cameras were all around her. She heard other reporters talking, running with the story they’d no doubt picked up on the police radio.

It was the story. One she knew more about than any other. But she didn’t want to tell it.

She wanted to go after Niol.

It can’t end this way.

It didn’t matter why they had come together in the beginning. She didn’t care about his past. She just wanted his future.

She wanted him.

“I’m begging you—take the microphone!” Mac. His knuckles whitened around the microphone. Had she really thought he might be the killer?

She’d sure never thought Zack was…

A red hole in his chest. Eyes wide with terror.

No. Don’t go there.

The fingers that were shaking fisted.

The ambulance was gone now. The sudden wind on her cheeks stung, bringing tears to her eyes.

Holly swallowed and slowly straightened her shoulders.

This wasn’t the way things would end for her. Saved, but alone. No damn way.

This wasn’t her ending. Wasn’t their ending.

Her eyes narrowed. “I know where to find you.”

“Maybe we should get a doctor to look at her,” Ben mumbled. “Could be she’s in shock.”

Probably was. Holly figured that would account for the trembling. But, as always, a breakdown really wasn’t an option for her.

There was a story to cover, and after that, there was a demon to catch. A demon who wouldn’t be getting away from her so easily.

No, not so easily.

Holly reached for the microphone. “How do I look?” She knew the answer, though, even before Mac helpfully supplied—

“Like shit, sweetheart, shit.” A whistle. “We’re gonna blow those other bastards right out of the water!”

As usual, his tact was absent.

Such was Mac.

“Zoom in on her neck—and her side—some blood’s there, too,” he ordered.

But Ben hesitated. “Hol—you sure you don’t want a doctor to look at you?”

The bleeding had stopped. Luckily, her wounds were shallow. She’d be fine. “Start rolling.” This was her story. Hers, Sam’s, Carl’s—she owed it to them. And to Kim and Julia.

The other reporters on the scene, they scented there was more to the story than met the eye. Once upon a time, she would have been like them. Desperate to reveal the real truth about the kil ings.

But there was something more important at stake tonight. Justice had been served.

Would be served to Michelle. Now there were others to think about. Others to protect.

All of the demons in the shadows.

The many monsters who feared humans would come hunting them, too. If their secrets were revealed.

Niol didn’t fear discovery, but the others did. So she’d keep their secrets safe.

She’d also get her story, and maybe a freaking Peabody Award to boot. Hel , she deserved one.

Ben turned on the camera and a light spilled onto her. Holly lifted the microphone, aware that the lens would pick up her trembling. Nothing she could do about that.

Or about the fact that she probably really did look like shit.

Holly took a deep breath and looked right into the lens. “Justice was served tonight, here on this quiet street where a vicious murderer” You never can trust some people “was killed, and his co-conspirator…” Probably should be using the word “alleged” but screw that “ was captured by police.”

Her left hand lifted and brushed over the cut on her throat. “The kil er was delusional, seeing demons everywhere, and in the end, his insanity pushed him over the edge” and sent him to hell, “ and his life ended with the shot of a gun.”

Holly heard Gyth swear behind her. She would’ve recognized that voice anywhere. She knew the guy wanted to yank her off the air and she also knew that he wouldn’t. She’d bled for this story. It was hers.

She’d give the cops a statement later.

“I’m Holly Storm for News Flash Five, and I’m live on the scene of what could have been my own murder…”

The lens rotated as Ben moved in for a close-up.

“Damn, but she’s something else.” Brooks shook his head as Holly delivered her story, voice cool and calm, face bruised and bloody. He sucked in a sharp breath. “Should we be worried about what she’s going to say?” One word about demon-hunters and they’d be screwed.

Holly Storm had them by the balls.

All she had to do was direct the cameraman’s attention to Michelle—that woman would spill everything about the demons. We need to get her loaded into the truck, fast.

Gyth shook his head. “Storm won’t talk about the Other.” The guy sounded completely confident.

Brooks didn’t exactly share that confidence. “Maybe we should pull her off the air.

We’ve got a dead body on the scene, man, and—”

“I shot my attacker…” Still cool and calm.

Brooks closed his eyes. Fuck.

“She didn’t kil him.” Brooks cracked open his eyes and saw that Gyth was still watching Holly Storm, his head cocked to the left as he said, “But she’d take the fall in a heartbeat for that kil .”

For him.

Brooks felt his temples throb. “Niol got to him first?”

Gyth didn’t answer, but then, he didn’t really have to. Brooks knew just what Niol was capable of doing with his mind. “Should’ve given us a statement first,” he muttered, rubbing the bridge of his nose.

“I don’t think Storm makes a habit out of doing the things she should do.”

He was getting that.

“Niol’s not gonna make it to the hospital, is he?”

“No, but we know where to find him.”

True. The guy had never been one to hide. Brooks figured they’d get his statement soon enough. One thing he’d learned, the Other cases didn’t always go by the book.

Five minutes later, the camera finally lowered.

They headed for Storm.

She dressed with care. Sexy two-inch heels. Short black skirt. Low neck, cleavage-showing, bloodred shirt.

Her side ached and her arm still stung, but, all things considered, Holly figured she was doing pretty damn well.

For a woman who’d almost been sliced open.

She took a deep breath.

Over. Zack wouldn’t hurt anyone else, not ever again.

Holly stared into her mirror and watched her eyes fade to black. She could control the change now. It felt…natural.

At this point, she rather liked those eyes.

Not impure. Not a mistake.

Me.

The cops had kept her for hours. So many questions. So many eyes on her.

Then there had been more cameras. Other reporters wanting her to talk.

When she’d finally managed to escape, her first instinct had been to run straight to Paradise.

But she hadn’t wanted to see Niol stil covered in blood.

Besides, she’d known that the police were going for him—his turn to answer questions.

So she’d waited and let the darkness fal .

Holly glanced at the clock. Close to ten p.m. now. Things should just be getting started at Paradise. Time for her to hunt a demon…

And to lay her soul bare before him.

D emons and vampires packed the floors of Paradise. Holly walked right past them, her chin up, her shoulders back, her heels clicking on the floor.

Music blared in her ears. A loud, drumming beat that heated her blood.

So many bodies. So much power.

But she wanted only one man.

There. At the bar. Head back, strong fingers wrapped around his glass of amber liquid.

A whisper went through the crowd and she knew she’d been spotted.

News traveled even faster in the demon world than it did in the human one.

Niol’s head lowered and his eyes locked on her. No surprise showed on his face.

He knew I was here the minute I stepped inside Paradise.

He watched her, his face still, expressionless. The mask was back. The demon who felt nothing.

Holly didn’t stop walking.

She could see right through the mask. She could see the emotion in his eyes. Burning black fire.

More whispers as she drew closer to him.

They’d have an audience for this. Not her style, but his.

Holly stopped two feet away from him. The guy looked good. No, gorgeous. Not even a hint of pale skin. Apparently two gunshot wounds didn’t slow the man down long at al .

Though they’d sure scared some years off her life.

His gaze swept over her, lingering not on the exposed skin of her breasts, but on the faint cut on her throat, the bandage on her arm, and the wound on her side that was covered by her silk shirt.

“You shouldn’t be here.” A rumble of sound.

Her brows rose. “I thought I was welcome here.” If he wanted to tel her to fuck off, he could do it. But this wasn’t going to be some quiet ending. She was coming clean with Niol.

Time to tell the demon just how she felt.

“You’re an asshole, Niol. You saved my life, but then you left me and didn’t look back.”

His eyelids flickered at that.

Had he looked back?

The glass in his hand cracked. Slowly, carefully, Niol sat the drink down on the bar top.

“Why are you here, Holly? The case is over.”

And so are we.

No, not yet.

“There are only two reasons humans come here…” This came from the bartender.

I’m not human. Those rules didn’t apply to her. They never had.

“Are you here to play?” Niol asked.

Holly shook her head. “Game time’s over, demon.”

His lips tightened and Niol stood, the barstool scraping on the floor behind him. “Why are you here?”

For you. She knew her eyes said the answer for her.

He shook his head.

She closed the distance between them, rose up, and kissed him. Kissed him with her hunger, with the lust that was always so close, and with the love that had stirred slowly within her.

A gust of wind tossed her hair and teased her flesh.

Niol lifted his head.

The blaring music quieted.

“Come with me.”

To hell and back if she had to. Oh, wait, been there.

Niol caught her wrist and led her toward his office. The door slammed behind them and he wrapped his arms around her, caging her body tightly against his.

“I’m trying to do what’s right,” he gritted, and his fingers dug into her arms. “Don’t you see, love? For once, I want to do what’s right.”

The demon wasn’t nearly as dark inside as most people thought.

Not dark at all, really.

She finally saw him clearly. Her demon. Her Niol. Just…hers.

He stared into her eyes and his jaw clenched. “Fuck, no Holly—I warned you! It’s too dangerous! You can’t make me love—”

“I love you, Niol.” Good, bad. Everything.

He swallowed. “You shouldn’t. I-I’m not…what you need.”

“You’re the only man I need and the only one I want.” There was really just one thing he could say to make her leave. Just one. “You saved me. And I’m not just talking about tonight.” Though she’d never forget her first sight of him in that horrible room. One look, and she’d known that he would keep her safe.

Maybe she’d always known that.

“You showed me who I really am. You got me to stop hiding from myself.”

He didn’t speak.

Final shot. Holly licked her lips. “Do you want me to stay with you?”

“What I want doesn’t matter.” His fingers were steel strong around her. “What you need—”

“Do you love me?”

Don’t make me love you.

The only answer that would matter for her. If he said no, she’d walk away, and drag her pride with her.

She’d walk away, but dammit, she’d miss him.

“Do you?” She pressed and the mask on his face cracked.

Niol’s lips took hers. Wild and hard and hot and oh, just what she wanted.

“Hel , yes,” he growled against her mouth. “Yes.” The words seemed torn from him.

Probably because they were.

But he shook his head and shoved back from her. “I can’t let you stay, this isn’t the world you want—”

A world of demons and shifters and dark shadows that would always hide some of the light. “Yes, it is.”

“I’m trying to do the right thing here, Holly!”

“Screw right,” she said, and felt the happiness swell inside her. “I just want you.” She knew life with him wouldn’t be easy. The guy wasn’t an easy man.

Demon.

But with Niol by her side and in her bed, she’d be a happy woman.

He caught her face in his hands. “You love me?” Niol seemed a bit stunned.

“More than any damn thing.” He didn’t think he deserved love, she knew that. Tough.

The man was going to get all the love she had to give.

“I’ll want forever—if you make me think—I’ll want forever.”

Ah, now that sounded like the demanding demon she knew and loved. “I wouldn’t expect anything else.” And forever for him, if the stories were true, would be a very long time.

Maybe she wouldn’t have as many years as he would, but she’d enjoy the time they had.

Every. Single. Day.

And night.

The nights—she’d enjoy them the most.

The lock clicked behind them. Niol’s warm hands slid under her shirt and crept up to her breasts. What I want. Holly arched toward her demon lover.

Forever.

In darkness and in light.

Detective Colin Gyth headed toward the holding cell. There were a few questions he stil had for Michelle Ridgeway, questions that he wanted answered before he went home and crawled in bed with Emily.

No guards were around when he approached. Colin tensed. Not right.

He ran forward—

And found Michelle in her cel . Her body lay sprawled on the floor, a bedsheet tied around her neck.

Fuck.

His gaze scanned the area, noting the placement of the sheet. One end wrapped around the woman’s throat. The other knotted high in the bars.

Looked like a suicide.

Looked like one…

His teeth snapped together.

But it sure as hell isn’t. I’d stake my badge on it. Too many demons around. Too many with powers that would let them slip right into a human’s mind.