Tall, Dark & Apocalyptic (4 page)

Audie wondered about that rage.

He snorted. “Nice try, Yeira. I recognize this tactic. We’ve used it endless times against the dead ones. It’s not going to work with me.”

She blinked at his use of her name. “It’s not a tactic, Kord. It’s the truth. Grimm Forbes is a reborn.”

“Bullshit!”

“Truth. Have you seen him bleed?”

Audie hadn’t. But he’d never admit it to her. “Of course.”

“You’re lying. I see it in your eyes. If you had you’d have seen that he bleeds black, just like all pure reborns. The magic cannot help but stain the blood. It’s the one thing Edwige can’t change and I happen to know it drives her crazy.”

Doubt flared as Audie thought about Grimm’s seemingly endless knowledge of Edwige and her pets. But that knowledge had helped them capture and destroy hundreds of the creatures, and Grimm was the most fervent hunter among them. Unnaturally so.

Yeira must have seen the doubt in his eyes. Amazingly the woman’s enchanting mouth curved in a soft smile. Audie clamped down on a wave of pure lust at the sight, fighting the unwelcome feeling the best way he knew how. By going on the attack. “Of course you know that. You’re one of her putrid pets. You know all about Edwige, don’t you? You know firsthand what it’s like to have black, death magic running through your veins.”

Tears shimmered in the bright blue gaze and Audie felt them like a punch to his heart. His chest tightened so much he could barely draw breath.

But if he thought her tears would be his undoing, he was wrong. Her words ripped his bruised heart from his chest and flayed it into slivers.

“Yes.” She spoke softly, her lips only slightly parted as if she could barely manage to push the admission through them. “I know the rancid burn of that magic in my veins, Hunter. I live with its stench, fight its damning effects every moment of every day.” Her gaze lifted, locked onto his, and Audie suddenly forgot to breathe.

“But I didn’t ask for this burden. I didn’t want it. And I intend to remove my own personal stain from the world at the earliest opportunity.”

“The hell you will!” An icy fist clamped around Audie’s heart and squeezed. Before he knew what he was doing he’d surged to his feet.

She gasped, holding the blade between them but making no move to attack.

He reached for her, but the long knife kept him at a distance. Its tip rested against his breastbone, hovering over his pounding heart. “If you’re so intent on killing yourself, why wait? Why haven’t you done it already?” He realized too late how the words would sound to her…as if he were eager for her to do it.

She looked away, probably so he couldn’t see the effect of his question in her gaze. But he recognized the tightening of her delicate jaw. “I have work to do first. I have to stop my…” Her lips quivered. “The woman who made me is an evil bitch. She has to be stopped and all her creations destroyed.”

Audie couldn’t believe what he was hearing. It had to be a trick. “You expect me to believe that you’re working
against
your maker?”

She shrugged. “I don’t really care if you believe me. But I do need your help.”

Yeira almost smiled at the look of disbelief that flashed over his hard, masculine features.

“Help? You seriously expect me to help you?”

“I seriously do.” She stared into his eyes for a long moment, wondering if she dared trust him. But the Healer’s words hadn’t left her and Yeira knew the little gnome was right. She couldn’t destroy Edwige on her own. She needed the hunter’s help.

Despite the disturbing and confusing feelings she had for Audie Kord, she wouldn’t consider working with anyone else. He was a hunter of strength and honor.

And she knew better than most how tenacious he could be.

Taking a leap of faith, Yeira lowered the knife, holding it in two hands at her waist. If he lunged—

She took a deep breath. “I don’t expect you to understand my motivations…”

He snorted. “That’s good.”

Ignoring him, Yeira went on. “But if you believe nothing else I tell you, believe this, I only want Edwige dead.”

He shook his head. “I don’t believe that.”

“It’s absolute truth.”

His sexy gaze narrowed, sharpened. “Prove it.”

“I
have
been proving it. You just haven’t been paying attention.” When he continued to stare at her, apparently waiting for her proof, Yeira frowned. “Have you never wondered why you and I have run into each other so often in the reborn nests?”

“Not at all. I’m well aware that you’ve been one step ahead of us. Somehow you always know where we’re going next and when. It’s been a source of great concern among the hunters. We’ve been working to find out where our information leak is.”

“There is no leak.”

The hunter shook his head and a black ribbon of hair stuck to the bristle on his square jawline. “There has to be. Unless you expect me to consider our parallel paths as a monumental coincidence.”

Yeira longed to reach out and skim the hair away from his face. Her fingers tingled with the need. “That would be highly unlikely.”

His gaze widened in surprise. “I’m glad you agree. So, since we’re on the subject, why don’t you tell me who the Sorceri traitor is?”

She was tempted to do just that. But she was trying to gain his trust and lying to him was not a good way to do that. “I assure you, my information doesn’t come from within your organization.”

“From where then?”

“Higher up.”

He frowned. “How much higher?”

“Much higher.” She slowly lowered the knife, letting it hang at her side. Watching him carefully for any signs of aggression, Yeira hoped he’d take her action in the spirit it was intended. As a sign that she wanted to work with him rather than against him.

“It isn’t important anyway. If you work with me you’ll have access to the same information I do.”

That seemed to catch his attention at least. “You’re telling me you can help me find all the nests?”

“No. I mean, yes, I could do that. But that’s not what I’m interested in doing.”

The hunter’s expression went from one of disbelief to one of anger in the blink of an eye. She noted the fisting of his big hands and her own hand tightened on the hilt of the knife. “Stop playing games with me, dead one, or I swear I’ll lop your head off and call it a day.”

Yeira assumed a nonchalance she didn’t feel. “Take a deep breath, Hunter. Once I’ve achieved my goal you can kill all the
evil
reborns you want.”

“And what exactly is your goal? You asked me to believe that you and I are on the same path, but now you tell me you have no interest in killing zombies.”

“I don’t care about killing
reborn
s.” She lifted an eyebrow on the emphasis. She was sick to death of the derogatory term. What Edwige was creating with her black magics was far from a moldy, decaying zombie. By calling them that the hunters were badly underestimating them. The reborns were a deadly, evil work of art. “I’ve been trying to get information from them. That’s all.”

“What kind of information?”

“Edwige’s location, her activities.” Yeira let her words sink in for a moment before she went on. “My goal isn’t to kill Edwige’s reborns. It’s to kill Edwige herself.”

Kord’s expression didn’t change, except for a slight tightening of his jaw that she recognized as him being outside his comfort zone. It hadn’t taken Yeira long to understand what made the big hunter tick. He had a fairly simplistic view of the world as a black or white enterprise and he considered himself white while anything with death magic in its veins was the oiliest black. By necessity, Yeira had a different viewpoint. Though she supposed they’d both end up in the same place. Finally expelling a frustrated breath, Yeira said, “Look, I get that you’ve nocked your arrow with an expectation of letting it fly toward reborns. You don’t think about what you’re doing, you don’t consider what happens before, during, or after that preordained activity. You just do it. Killing Edwige’s victims makes your pointy little world go round. I get it. But there comes a time when you have to take a leap of faith. I’m giving you that opportunity. I’ll help you kill my maker and then, if you still want to, you can do what you want with the reborns. I know I can’t stop you anyway.”

She’d watched the play of several emotions, predominantly anger, over his broad face as she spoke. She was certain he’d never considered himself simplistic or intractable. Simplistic, intractable people never did. But in the end he seemed to be considering her words.

He stared at her for a long moment. Finally, he stepped closer. She tightened her grip on the knife but he made no move to grab her or his sword. He held her gaze as his wide, full lips opened. Yeira stiffened in anticipation of a scalding rebuke.

Instead he asked her the question she dreaded most. Because she knew her answer would end in her death.

“And what of you? What do you hope to get out of this partnership?”

Yeira shook her head. “Nothing.”

He clearly didn’t believe her.

“I only want to clean up Edwige’s mess, along with my part in it, willing or not.”

He seemed to be carefully reading her expression to discern the truth of her words. “And then what?”

Her heart beat loudly. Her gut tightened with dread. But she clenched her fists and forced herself to respond. “Then I’ll lay down my weapons and you can kill me yourself.”

The woman was mad. Audie forced himself to hold her gaze, though his gut churned and his fists were clenched so hard his knuckles hurt. “You’ll just stand there and let me kill you?” His voice was like gravel on glass and he had to force the words past a clenched jaw.

She didn’t look happy about it but she nodded.

“Why would you do that?” Even to Audie his tone sounded choked, unhappy.

Her delicate chin lifted and anger flashed through her exquisite gaze. “I’d have thought you of all people would understand. You said yourself I’m a monster. If I’m to be true to my goal of clearing away Edwige’s spawn, that would include me, wouldn’t it?”

Her rationale was perfect, her calm in discussing her own death chilling. Audie couldn’t deny his earlier, hateful words. But in that moment he’d have cut off a hand to be able to. He looked down, no longer able to hold her gaze.

“Will you help me?” The words were spoken so softly Audie barely heard them. But their meaning made them thrum against his ears. If he agreed to help her he’d be concurring with all of it.

He wasn’t sure he could deliver on the second part of her deal. But he nodded, knowing that if he didn’t do it she’d find another hunter who would be all too willing to oblige. Audie had a sudden thought that lightened the load on his heart. “I’ll help you destroy Edwige but only if you’ll aid me in exterminating the last of her pets.”

It would only delay the inevitable but if he tarried—

Surprise flashed through her expression, followed quickly by suspicion. Lifting a feathery, red eyebrow she asked, “You don’t think you can kill them on your own?”

“It will go more quickly if you help.” He hoped the lie didn’t sound as weak to her as it did to him.

Silence throbbed between them and, for a moment, Audie thought she was going to call him on his dishonesty. But then she flipped his long knife in the air and handed it to him, hilt first. “Agreed.”

More relieved than he should have been, Audie took the knife and slipped it into the sheath on his left hip. “Okay, first I need to know why you’ve accused Grimm of being a zom…”

“Reborn. If we’re to work together you need to understand the difference. It’s extremely important. And it’s the reason you’ve had so much trouble finding and killing them. They aren’t just gooey, decaying reanimated corpses, Kord. The reborn are cunning and deadly in their own way. They’re faster than you are, stronger and better organized. And with Edwige feeding them information they’re better equipped for this battle. Don’t ever forget that.”

“We’ve done all right. The hunters have killed hundreds of them.”

“And there are thousands more.”

His eyes widened in surprise before he could stop himself. True, they’d been working blindly, without any idea how many of the things Edwige had created, but he’d assumed they were making good progress exterminating them.

“It’s the reason you didn’t recognize Grimm Forbes for what he really is.”

Kord didn’t want to believe her. But something deep inside told him she was right. “Okay, say Forbes is a zom…reborn. Why is he helping us kill them?”

She shrugged. “He’s most likely been planted by Edwige so she always knows what you’re up to.”

Audie frowned at that. “If I find out he’s been reporting back to the witch I’ll kill him myself.” But just as he knew instinctively that Yeira’s suspicion of Grimm was probably right, he also knew Grimm wasn’t a traitor. “But I don’t believe it for a minute.”

She shook her head, “Kord…”

“No, I’ve listened to you, now you listen to me for a minute.” When she closed her mouth and fixed him with a scowl, he went on. “I’ve known Grimm for two years. In that time I’ve never seen anything that would indicate he was less than enthusiastic about his job. I consider the man a friend and I’m not going after him on your word alone.”