Twilight Hunter (The Execution Underground) (19 page)

I can’t see myself with you forever
. Her words echoed in his head.

He punched the metal Dumpster, sending a loud bang rattling through the alley. She wasn’t even there, and still his brain had melted to mush because of her.

His hand was throbbing from the blow, and he cradled it against his chest.

* * *

R
OBERT
LINGERED
ACROSS
the street from K9’s, waiting for the opportune moment. All he needed was for someone, anyone, to come out of the club. Someone he could use to lure Frankie to him. He’d stood there, waiting in the cold, for at least half an hour. They would all have to leave eventually, he told himself. Then, as if the gods had granted him a stroke of luck, a small, curly-haired bitch emerged from the alleyway behind the club and ran down the road without looking back.

For a brief moment Robert wondered what she was running from, but then a grin spread across his face. It didn’t matter. Now she was running from him.

He followed her without hesitation, easily keeping up with her. After several blocks she slowed to a walk and then stopped to catch her breath.

She bent over and braced her hands on her knees. After a long moment she straightened and sighed. The smoky outline of her breath swirled in the air before it quickly dissipated.

A sudden gust of the northern Canadian wind hit, and she gave a visible shiver. She rubbed at her bare arms and cursed. The streetlights cast dim shadows over the empty streets. She would look so sweet on his torture rack.

She quickly reached into the rear pocket of her jeans, probably in search of her phone. Now was the time. Slowly, he approached her from behind. In seconds her phone crashed to the pavement, a spiderweb of cracks fracturing the screen as he grabbed her from behind.

She screamed and elbowed him in the gut. He grunted but ignored the temporary discomfort. Then she jammed her heel down onto his instep, grabbed his hands and swept her leg behind his. She gave a quick twist, and suddenly he was toppling to the ground as she stumbled out of his grasp. Dirty whore. He was going to enjoy ripping her to shreds. He grabbed her ankle and wrenched her down to the ground beside him.

“Hold still, you little bitch.” The heel of her shoe collided with his neck, and she twisted to see him. He saw his golden wolf eyes reflected back in hers.

He smiled. “I enjoy a woman with some fight in her.” He allowed her to move beneath him, testing her strength and resilience.

She rolled onto her back, their noses nearly touching, before she spat in his face. He recoiled slightly. She used the opportunity to pull her knees to her chest, lodge a foot against him and push. He slammed his hands into her shoulders, knocking her head into the pavement.

His silver dagger glittered in the orange light of the streetlamps as he held the blade against her windpipe. “Don’t worry. I’ll wake you before the fun starts.” He laughed and swung at her face with his free hand. The light in her eyes faded as blood gushed down her forehead.

CHAPTER TEN

J
ACE
STORMED
OUT
of K9’s and into the street. His heart was pounding like a construction worker’s jackhammer, each blow heavy and fast.

Not just a boyfriend. A fiancé. And no one got engaged unless they were in love.

Love.
The word slammed around in his head. What the hell was wrong with him? He should have known. He paced, cursing under his breath. She was a female werewolf, and not just any werewolf: the Rochester packmaster. Sure, she’d claimed him in public, but that had only been to hang on to her position, because bottom line? She was
engaged
. Not only had he messed up the first night, he’d fucked her again and been shut down completely afterward. How many times was the universe going to stick it to him?

“You gotta be fucking kidding me!” Jace yelled.

A woman passing by on the other side of the street clutched her purse tighter and sped up her pace.

Jace growled. “I don’t need this.” He pulled a cigarette from his pocket and lit up. The smoke filled his lungs but didn’t calm him down. How could he calm down with all the lying bullshit being flung at him? She was perfectly willing to screw him, even though she couldn’t even admit she wanted him, not to mention she was promised to someone else.

Adrenaline pumped through him, and he flexed his free hand into a fist at his side. He’d made a total idiot of himself, thinking for even two seconds that sexing up a werewolf was acceptable. Dumbest idea he’d ever had. What an idiot he’d been to think she had real emotions when she wasn’t even human.

He sighed and blew out a puff of smoke. “Of course neither am I.”

“You’re not what?” a male voice said from behind him.

He turned to find David leaning up against the building.

Jace ran his fingers through his hair. “Nothing.”

“Well, something’s up with you.”

Jace raised a brow. “You’re one to talk. You look like shit.”

“Thanks for the compliment, sugarplum.”

Jace shrugged. “Any time, baby. So what happened to you?”

David shook his head. “You saw. Allsún was here. What about you?”

Jace took another drag on his cigarette. “You go first.”

Jace watched as David stuffed his hands in his pockets and stared up into the dark sky. You could never see the stars in Rochester. Every night the lights from the city obscured them. That was one thing Jace missed about Honeoye Falls.

He threw his butt to the ground and stomped it out with the heel of his boot.

“David, how come you never told me Allsún’s a werewolf?”

David shook his head. “Because she’s not. She was just looking for the company of other supernaturals.”

“What do you mean ‘the company of other supernaturals’?”

David sighed. “She’s half faerie—pixie, specifically.”

Jace cleared his throat. “Excuse me?”

“You heard me.”

“Pixies? You’re in love with a damn pixie?” He lit another cigarette and took a hard drag. “What is the world coming to?”

“Most of them still live on the Isle of Apples. You know, Avalon. It’s hidden off the coast of Scotland. So when her mother passed away a few years back—her mom was full-blooded—Allsún didn’t have any other faeries around. Your girl let her sort of join the pack, so she would have other supernaturals to be with, even if they’re werewolves.”

Jace raised his eyebrows. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “That’s wild.”

David rolled his eyes. “Tell me about it.”

A moment of silence passed before Jace cleared his throat. “She’s not my girl, David.”

David scoffed. “Oh, shove it, Jace. Just because she’s a werewolf, that doesn’t mean—”

“She’s engaged.”

David’s eyes widened. “What?”

Jace nodded. “You know that guy Alejandro? The one who gave her a hard time earlier? She was set to be mated to him. It’s like their equivalent of marriage. Bastard flat out said she was going to be his wife.”

David fiddled with the collar of his shirt, like he couldn’t find enough room for his neck. “I’m sorry, J. That’s rough.”

“Nothing to be sorry for. But I don’t know how I’m gonna work with her now.” Jace watched his smoke climb toward the sky.

David scanned him up and down as if he’d grown ten extra heads. “What do you mean, you can’t work with her?”

Jace paused. He glanced at David but didn’t respond. He didn’t want to get into this discussion.

“No. No.” David shook his head. “You still have the hots for her after all that?”

Silence stretched between them.

“That’s rough. But you can handle it, J. You didn’t know she had a fiancé or a mate or whatever, but now you do. Just deal with her on a business level only. Hands off. Doesn’t matter if you’re attracted to her. You can think she’s the greatest piece of ass to walk this earth, just keep it in your pants and you’ll be fine.”

Jace rolled his eyes. “You always did have a way with words.”

He was about to go on when the door to K9’s burst open and Frankie raced out into the street. She glanced around frantically. Great, just as he was starting to calm down.

She spotted him and ran over. “Jace, you have to let me explain.”

“You don’t need to explain anything to me, Frankie. Believe me. I get it.”

“No, you don’t understand. Alejandro and I—”

“Just give it a rest already. You heard me in there. I don’t want a relationship with you anyway, so you’re all his.”

“Jace,” David hissed.

Frankie opened her mouth again, but Jace raised a hand. “I’m done with this drama. Unless you have something to tell me that will lead to catching Robert and then me getting the hell out of here, I don’t want to hear it.”

Even in the dark, he could see her swallow hard. Then she nodded. “The pack was impressed by your...well, your crazy anger in there, so they agreed to let me teach you to shift.”

A smile spread across David’s face. “That’s more like it.”

She forced a grin. “Uh, yeah, so we can start training tomorrow. But there’s one complication—David can’t come with you.”

Jace frowned.

“It will be just you and me.”

Looking completely unperturbed, David said, “Well, have fun, you two.” He clapped Jace on the shoulder. “Call me when you need a drink, J, or when you learn how to shift, whichever comes first.” Then he limped down the road to the garage where he’d parked his car, since he wasn’t going to be riding his motorcycle for a while with the condition his leg was in.

“Um...so I guess we’ll start tomorrow. Sleep would be good first. It won’t work if you’re tired,” she said. “At least ’til you get good at it.”

Jace stubbed out his last cigarette. “Yeah, I’ll see you tomorrow.” He turned away from her, ready to follow David to the car.

“Jace, there’s another problem.”

He faced her again. “What now?”

“My apartment was ransacked. I was staying at the hotel with you. Remember?”

Apparently the universe wasn’t done sticking it to him just yet.

* * *

F
RANKIE
CHOKED
ON
the stale air in the hotel elevator. Standing next to Jace inside the cramped space made her claustrophobic. The lingering smell of his smoke and whiskey mixed with his own distinctive scent and made breathing even more difficult. Finally the bell dinged and the doors opened. She scrambled out and ran for the penthouse door.

Jace brushed past her, unlocked the door and charged into the room without a word. She slipped in behind him as he strode straight to the bedroom, quickly stripping off his boots and his leather coat. She wandered toward her bag on the far side of the room. Something had to give. She couldn’t handle this sort of tension, not the entire time she was trying to train him.

It was her own fault, of course. In less than twenty-four hours he’d found out that she’d both lied to him about her position
and
neglected to tell him she was engaged. Now he needed to know the rest of the truth.

“Look, Jace. Can I just explain?”

He set down his boots on the white carpeting and placed his hands on his hips. “There’s nothing to say. Don’t waste your breath.”

A heavy weight pushed down on her shoulders. She couldn’t let him think she was a cheater or that Alejandro mattered to her the way Jace no doubt thought he did. She’d never cheated at anything in her life, and aside from lying about her name, she’d never even lied before. Brutal honesty: that was what she prided herself on. With him so angry, though, how could she get him to listen, much less believe her?

She picked up her backpack and walked into the bathroom. Closing the door behind her, she stripped down and changed into a pair of yoga pants and a fresh white tank top. When she finished changing, she stared in the mirror for a long moment before she twisted on the faucet and splashed cold water over her face.

Enough.

She turned off the sink, threw open the bathroom door and marched back into the bedroom.

“I’m not his wife
or
his fiancée.”

Jace glanced in her direction, then away. “Frankie, give it a rest.”

“No. You’re going to listen to me. I have something to say. I don’t care whether or not you want to hear it, or whether or not you care. I need to say it, damn it.” She crossed her arms over her chest.

He didn’t look at her.

“I’ve been slated to be Alejandro’s mate since the time I hit puberty, but I’ve never had any feelings for him beyond friendship. I love him, Jace, but I’m not
in
love with him. Our...engagement, if you want to call it that, doesn’t—didn’t—mean what you think. I know you don’t want any sort of relationship with me. I get it. You’ve made that abundantly clear. But I want you to know that I never intended to cheat on anyone, and if I hurt you, I never meant to, because I never chose to be with Alejandro. I don’t regret being with you, not one bit, because for once in my life I got to choose who I wanted to be with. I just wanted you to know that.”

Jace stared at the floor before he stripped off his shirt and lay down on the bed.

A wave of heat rushed through her as she scanned the lines of his body. The muscles in his chest flexed as he breathed, and his biceps tightened as he rest his hands behind his head. She forced herself to look away. He didn’t want her.

“Tomorrow you can start teaching me how to shift,” he said.

* * *

R
OBERT
SAT
AGAINST
the wall of the warehouse and watched his victim’s eyes flicker open, only for her to shy away from the light. A dim lone bulb hung over her head, casting shadows across the room, figures lurking like demons in the dark. He sat quietly and observed her reactions. She tried to roll her shoulders, to stretch, but she couldn’t move. She glanced up. Her wrists were shackled together above her head. Wrenching her arms, she tried to fight against the restraints. Her whole body swayed. She looked at her feet. The toes of her flats barely scuffed the surface of the concrete beneath her. Her lip quivered as if she were about to burst into tears.

Pathetic really. Just heartbreaking enough to be vomit-inducing.

She struggled against the shackles. After several minutes her muscles slackened and she hung from the ceiling, rocking like a pig waiting for slaughter.

Slowly he sauntered to her side, his footsteps echoing through the warehouse. The gleaming silver of his blade flashed in the dim lighting as he pushed the weapon against her windpipe.

“Finally awake.”

Blood trickled down her collarbone. The delicious red of a ripe fall apple. He drew the blade away from her throat and stepped in front of her. “I’m glad you decided to grace me with your consciousness. I’ve been waiting.”

“Please, let me go.” She closed her eyes and muttered a small prayer. But God wouldn’t help her. Not here.

He laughed. “Why would I go through the trouble of keeping you alive if I was just going to let you go?” He stepped into her, his body flush against hers. “You’re not getting off so easy. I need you to bring Frankie to me. One of her fellow pack members in danger. She won’t be able to resist.”

Her eyes widened. “You don’t understand. She won’t come for me. She—”

“Shut up.” He clutched a single hand around her throat.

She obliged and closed her mouth. When he was certain he felt her fear pulsing beneath his hand, he released her throat and stepped away from her.

“What do you want with her?” she said.

Robert laughed. “Do you even need to ask?” He picked up a nearby wrench.

“Honestly, I really do. I—”

He threw the tool at her full force. She screamed, though the metal hit the ground a foot away and barely skidded into her foot. He frowned. He’d always been shitty at throwing anything other than daggers, and it was starting to piss him off. He cracked his knuckles.

“Don’t play dumb with me, bitch.” He let out a feral growl. “I know your packmaster has been fucking around with Jace.”

She inhaled a sharp breath. “The hunter,” she said.

Robert sneered. “Yes, the hunter.” He paused, and ran his eyes up and down her body, then moved toward her again. Pressing himself against her, he buried his nose in the crook of her neck. The sweet smell disgusted him, but there was another scent, as well. “I smell a human....” He nearly touched his nose to hers as he leaned in and said, “I can tell.”

She let out a sob.

“Would you stop making that awful, ugly face?” He stepped away from her and walked across the room to sit on an empty wooden crate. “I’ve always hated you women and your overly dramatic feelings.”

“You’re just another disgusting misogynist.”

Robert grinned and examined her as if she’d become suddenly interesting. “You’re right. I
do
hate women.”

She huffed. “What? Mommy never loved you when you were a baby?”

The twisted smile on his face faded into a scowl. “My mother was a werewolf whore, just like you. My mother used to take men into her room every night. She told me to ignore the noises, that they were just playing games.” He pushed around a small pile of dirt with the toe of his shoe. “I believed her—for a while.”