Return of the Assassin (All the King's Men) (30 page)

Ninety minutes after the quick and devilishly divine wake-up call in the bathroom, Lorena, Searcy, and Vaydon made their way out of the UG. They had a job to do. But first, they needed fresh blood. After their all-day sex marathon, where they had shared blood with each other but taken no new blood in, they needed to replenish themselves. A good feeding from a healthy human was like Red Bull. It gave you wings. Plus, it was always beneficial to feed before a hunt. They would be at their peak, with no risk of blood hunger to distract them from their target.

Finding adequate donors inside Four Alarm was easy enough. A quick scout of the terrain, and the three of them stole their prey into the back alley, where they took their fill of blood, wiped the humans' memories of the encounter, and slipped away.

Searcy and Vaydon marched along on either side of her as they exited the alley and crossed the street.

"Take us to Gina now," Searcy said, his voice gruff, his body tight.

"As long as she's still at Malek's house, you'll have her within the hour.
My king.
" She shot him a pointed, come-hither glance.

An air of entitlement and power flowed out of him, and he looked pleased by her fealty. "You'll make a fine queen, Lorena."

"And a fine consort," Vaydon added, not to be left out.

Searcy grinned at his son. "You have a keen eye, Vaydon."

Lorena was about to hail a cab when Searcy pulled to an abrupt halt. "Who's truck is this?" He paced toward the black truck parked at the curb.

Lorena hesitated, turned, and joined him. With a sniff, she picked up Malek's scent. It was stale and faded, but his aroma surrounded the driver's side door. And hidden just under the masculine undertones she had come to know during her brief interlude with him, a softer, fainter, more feminine scent lingered. Gina. No doubt, hers was what caught Searcy's attention.

"This is Malek's truck," she said, scooting closer.

Vaydon inspected the bed and peered inside the passenger window. "His scent is old. It's been at least twenty-four hours since he was here. Do you think he will come back for it?" He glanced down at the truck again.

"I don't see why not." She looked from Vaydon to Searcy and back again. "He could be on his way now."

Searcy snapped his head around to her. "Go. Now. Check his home. Vaydon and I will wait here. If he and that bitch are there, contact me. If not, come back and join us here, and we will await his arrival. If Gina isn't with him, we will follow him until he leads us to her."

Lorena nodded briskly. "Of course." She grabbed Searcy's wrist before he could turn and head off into the shadows. "Just one thing. Do what you want to that whore, Gina, but leave Malek to me."

The corner of Searcy's mouth crept upward, the sinister sneer one of pleasure. "Consider him yours, pretty thing. Now go." He spun away, and he and Vaydon disappeared into shadow, and then were gone, likely to high ground where they could keep watch on Malek's truck.

Lorena ducked into an alley, willed herself into vapor, and shot to Malek's home. After appearing in the backyard, she rushed to the back door, then around to each window so she could peer inside. The house was dark and quiet. Too quiet. Even if Malek were sleeping in his basement bedroom with his darling little matey-poo, she would have felt them, heard them, smelled them on the premises.

The house was empty.

Low thunder rumbled in the distance as the wind picked up. Ah, yes, it was a lovely night for a storm.

With one last glance inside another window, Lorena ducked into the cover of the trees in his expansive backyard and projected herself to the flat-topped roof of a building near Four Alarm. As soon as she spotted Searcy and Vaydon on a nearby roof, she vapor-tunneled and landed in a crouch between them.

"They weren't there."

"Had they been?" Searcy said.

"No. Not recently."

"Then perhaps they're on their way here." Vaydon stood and disappeared.

Lorena scowled at the empty air where Vaydon had just been. "Where did he go?"

"To scout the area. If they're coming, Vaydon will find them." Searcy crouched with one knee on the roof, the other bent and supporting his hand, as he leaned forward and pushed his fingers against the filthy surface of the building. He lifted his nose and sniffed the air, and his long, silvery-blond hair swirled like Medusa's tentacles on a gust of wind.

Lightning flashed just as Vaydon reappeared. The wind caught his hair, as well, and it whipped over his face. The two looked like gods. Powerful warlocks ready to slay dragons.

Lorena's blood raced, spiked with adrenaline and the lust to punish the one who had spurned her.

Vaydon slowly dropped into a crouch beside her. "They're coming from the north."

"How close?" Searcy regarded him as the first drops of rain began to fall.

"Not far. A mile, maybe two."

Two pairs of silver irises sparkled against another flash of lightning, and a violent gust of wind blasted them as the storm bore down.

"We move. Downwind." Searcy stood and punched his pointed finger toward the east. "I don't want to take a chance they'll smell us out."

Lorena and Vaydon stood, and the three of them leaped and projected themselves toward the east to another rooftop about a half mile away. There they would lay in wait.

By morning, Malek's mate would be dead, and soon thereafter, so would he. Lorena's time with him had made one thing perfectly clear. He was weak. Malek had the look of a male lost to suffering. Gaunt, too thin, and unable to heal as quickly as he should, he was a male burdened with pain that bled his body and soul. Lorena had seen more male vampires than she cared to remember suffer at the hands of the mating call after the death of a mate, and Malek had the look of such a male. But that didn't make sense, given that Gina was his mate. She didn't know what had caused the suffering to take Malek, but whatever had flipped that switch in his mind had taken its toll. Malek had grown weak. So weak that he would never survive Gina's death.

A smile crept over Lorena's face. Paybacks really were a bitch, weren't they, and she owed Malek in spades.

* * *

By the time the cab reached Malek's truck, the storm had hit in earnest. Brilliant lightning lit the night sky, and cracks of thunder split the air. It was the perfect night to hole up inside and go a whole lot of nowhere.

Gina waited for him to pay the fare, and then she bolted out into the downpour behind him. The rain fell in such torrents that by the time they reached the truck, they were soaked through. The truck beeped as the alarm disengaged, and she practically leaped inside as Malek catapulted into the driver's seat.

What a surprise to hear her own laughter, and an even bigger one to hear Malek's. Until now, she had never heard him laugh, and the sound was rich and honest, full-bodied and spirited.

He leaned toward her, beaming, his face bright with happiness, and pulled her into a spontaneous kiss. God, she loved this side of him. So open and giving, and surprisingly young at heart.

"You have a beautiful laugh," she said, breathless and love struck. Had it really only been a few days since she had sworn she had no interest in being his mate? Now, she couldn't imagine her life without him. Trevor had been right, and he would gloat next time she saw him.

"So do you." He caught his breath and gazed in wonder at her.

The way he stared at her in complete adoration made her feel like he was seeing her for the first time all over again. His gaze danced from her eyes to her mouth then up to her hair as if he couldn't believe she was actually there.

"Pinch me," she said, feeling weightless.

He laughed. "What? Why?"

"Because I must be dreaming."

They both broke into laughter again as he started the truck. "You can't be dreaming, because if you are, then so am I. And I refuse to accept that this is a dream,
piccolina.
"

"Then take me home and get these wet clothes off me and show me how awake I am." She leaned back as rain dripped from her soaked hair into her eyes and down her cheeks, and she skimmed her fingertips from her neck down to between her breasts.

His gaze followed her hand and turned smoky. The button-down sweater she had borrowed from Sam's closet hugged her chest, and she already knew her nipples protruded against the soaked fabric.

"I see your point," he said.

An instant later, he had the truck in drive and the wipers on at full blast. Even then it was hard to see out the windshield.

After a couple of minutes, it was clear the storm had intensified and they weren't going to get anywhere fast. Sheets of monsoon-like rain pelted the truck, along with pea-sized hail.

With a coy giggle, she glanced across the seat and lifted her hand to the top button of the light sweater. "Oh, Malek," she sang.

His gaze flicked sideways at her, and arousal fired to life as his eyes landed on the button as it popped free and revealed a hint of cleavage.

"We're not going to make it home, are we?" he said at a stoplight. He leaned toward the windshield and glanced around as if looking for a place to park.

"I don't mind a quickie in an empty parking lot." She reached across the console and squeezed his thigh. He practically jumped the red light as his foot hit the gas. Luckily the light turned green an instant later, and he proceeding through the intersection.

"Damn, female." He took a heavy breath.

"This rain
is
coming down awfully hard." She released another button. "Oops."

His breath hitched when he glanced to find even more of her breasts exposed. "Fuck this. You're killing me here." His gaze shot back around, and he strained to see out the windows.

A couple of minutes later, he parked the truck in a shadowed, mostly empty lot under the 'L.' They weren't the only ones looking for a little public privacy, though. About twenty yards away, an SUV with fogged windows was parked, and shadowy figures moved and rocked against each other in the front seat.

"Come here often?" she said as she slipped another button free.

"Never." He reached for her. "But many do." He winked and pulled her onto his lap and slid his warm hands under her sweater. "I never thought I'd be one of them, though."

"First time for everything." She pressed her groin against the hard length inside the sweatpants he had borrowed from Micah's closet.

"We patrol here every night. Lots of action." His hands eased around to her back and pulled her down.

"Oh?"

He nodded.

"Do you think one of your buddies might happen by and see us?" She brushed her lips against his, not worried in the least.

"Let them."

She grinned against his mouth. "Exhibitionist much?"

He chuckled and kissed her. "No. I just don't care."

"Why not?" She burrowed her hands under his shirt.

"Because I've never been so goddamn happy."

The storm had intensified, and rain and hail pounded the roof of the cab. Lightning flashed every couple of seconds, and thunder boomed like explosions in a war zone, but it was all peripheral noise compared to what was happening inside the cab. The only storm that mattered was the one that roiled under her, whose hands now gripped her breasts and squeezed, whose hips rocked against her with an urgency she felt all the way to her bones.

Was this really happening? Had she finally found love? Had luck really smiled down on her for once? Never before had she known such joy. And to think she had fought this. How foolish.

"God, pinch me," she whispered against his ear, winding his wet hair loosely around her fingers.

"I already told you," he whispered back, "you're not dreaming."

"I don't believe you." She rotated her hips around in a slow circle, making him moan.

She wanted to believe him. She really did. But bad luck had followed her through her entire life. Everything good that happened to her seemed to come with an out clause, where good fortune bailed out and left her hanging with the short end of the stick. Armand, Gabe, what she had done to Sev and Lakota, her defunct womb. So many aspects of her life had been tainted with bad luck and ill fate. Could she really count on good fortune to smile on her for once?

"
Piccolina,
you're not dreaming." He spoke softly against the side of her neck. "We're together now. It's over. The past is over. It's just us, and we have our whole lives to look forward to." He kissed her skin. "Nothing bad is going to happen anymore. Trust me. I'll take care of you."

She smiled, closed her eyes, and let herself fall into his reassurances. Maybe he was right. It was time to look forward to a better, happier time with him. "Make love to me,
amante.
"

"God, yes." His mouth pressed against her skin, and his hands lowered to the waist of her pants. "Forever."

He had just begun to push against the elastic waistband when something landed with a deafening crash in the bed of the truck and shook them so violently she knocked her head against the roof. Malek's hands shot out and grabbed onto the dash on either side of her.