Eternal Pleasure (9 page)

Dead wolves lay everywhere, some whole, some not so whole. None of them had changed back to human form. The pale moonlight gave the whole scene a macabre effect. Holding her hand over her mouth, she teetered on the
edge of a fit of screaming hysterics. The meadow stank of death and violence.

She turned toward the trees, trying to get control, trying to make sense of all the blood. It smeared her hands, her clothes, her
soul
. And unlike Ty’s soul, hers wasn’t handling it too well.

Ty moved to her side, but he didn’t touch her. Looking up at him, she studied his face for any sign that he shared her horror. He looked back at her from cold, emotionless eyes.

“What are you, Ty Endeka?”

“I’m what you saw tonight, Kelly. Never doubt it.” A bitter twist of his lips said he knew exactly how she viewed him—as a merciless killer and someone she needed to stay far, far away from.

Looking anywhere but at him, she stumbled over to Neva. The woman’s wound was completely closed. Dully, Kelly skimmed her fingers over the spot where the flesh had been torn. “When will she know?”

“I’m not sure. Someone will have to prepare her.” Ty exhaled deeply. “Let’s get out of here.”

Q joined them. “I opened my link to Fin. Nothing. He’s shut me out.” He sounded worried.

Ty frowned. “Did you try your cell phone?”

“Yeah. All I got was his voice mail.” Crouching, Q lifted Neva into his arms.

Numbly, Kelly followed Ty back to the trail. Q brought up the rear with Neva. Kelly wasn’t up to a conversation, but the quiet gave her memory too much time to replay every terrifying moment of the last hour.

“What’s your soul form, Q? It’s been a long time since I studied dinosaurs.”

“Hey, I’m not insulted. All of us can’t be stars like Ty. My soul’s a Quetzalcoatlus. Who the hell came up with
that name? Fin tried to call me Quetz. I won’t answer to something that weird. So I shortened it to Q. Anyway, a Quetzal-whatever was a giant pterosaur.”

A little bird indeed. “Neither of you have a scratch on you. How’d that happen?”

Ty glanced over his shoulder. “As long as we’re surrounded by our soul’s form, we’re pretty much invulnerable.”

“So you’re in a kind of bulletproof bubble?”

“I guess so. Don’t ask me how it works, because I don’t know. Fin might be able to explain it.” Ty shrugged. “You can kill me by taking my head while my soul’s napping and I’m in human form. Other than that, it’d be tough to do much permanent damage.”

Okay, this wasn’t a fun conversation. Kelly lapsed into silence for the rest of the walk out.

Once she caught sight of the SUV, she stopped dead in her tracks. A man was leaning against the hood. Wow, and wow again. Definitely a two-wow man. Taller than Ty, his long silver hair flowed down his back. Even in the pale moonlight, each strand sparkled. He wore jeans tucked into biker boots and a brown suede jacket that showcased his broad shoulders.

“Fin.” Q made a disgusted sound.

She walked with the men to where Fin waited. Up close, he towered over her. Kelly remembered once hearing someone describe an object as so beautiful it hurt to look at it. Well, that described Fin’s face. The angles of jaw and cheekbones played with light and shadow, forming a whole that took her breath away. And his
eyes
. Silver irises with a hint of purple in them were outlined in black. They were framed by dark, thick lashes that didn’t seem to care that his hair was silver.

Fin was spectacular and totally unforgettable. But she’d take Ty with his hard face and dangerous aura any day of the week. Because there was something off about Fin. He was like a diamond that had been brought to life. The complete awesomeness of the gem left her gasping, but she’d never mistake it for anything other than a cold, glittering stone.

Everything about Fin’s smile was calculated to say,
I’m
incredible, but don’t let that get in the way of liking me, trusting
me
. Then why did she feel that the gorgeous surface wasn’t Fin at all? She shook her head to clear her thoughts.

Ty watched the expressions chase each other across Kelly’s face. Shock, awe, then suspicion. The suspicion made him feel a lot better. Human jealousy wasn’t a worthy emotion for one of the Eleven, but he was finding that it clung to him with sharp little teeth and refused to let go.

“If you knew we were here, why didn’t you drop in to help?” Ty doubted he could put Fin on the defensive, but he’d take a shot at it.

Fin’s smile widened. “You didn’t invite me to your little party, and I don’t go where I’m not wanted.” His gaze skimmed Kelly’s bloodied clothes and Neva’s limp body. “Fill me in.”

Bullshit. Fin might be smiling, but Ty figured their fearless leader was furious that they’d kept tonight’s mission from him. That was why he’d shut down their mental link and his cell phone. Ty didn’t bother asking how Fin had known something was going down. Fin didn’t give out trade secrets.

Q opened the door of the SUV and carefully settled Neva on the backseat. “We got a message that Neva was on the Ho Chi Minh Trail. When Kelly told us where it was,
we came to get her. There were a bunch of werewolves waiting for us. We killed them. But Neva’s in trouble. One of the bastards made her a wolf.”

Fin nodded. “We’ll take care of her.”

Kelly looked surprised. She probably thought Fin would fire Neva’s unconscious behind once she’d outlived her usefulness. Ty smiled at the thought. No one ever outlived their usefulness to Fin. He was really creative that way.

Fin turned his attention to Kelly. “I bet this whole thing was pretty traumatic for you.”

His sympathetic expression would’ve fooled Ty if he didn’t know Fin better. Ty bit his lower lip as he tried to concentrate.
How
did he know Fin better? Fin had been nothing more than a disembodied voice sixty-five million years ago. These strange random thoughts about Fin were starting to bother him.

“Ty?”

Fin’s voice was sharp, pulling him back to the present. “What?”

“Where’re the bodies?” Fin’s voice had once again returned to the calm, slightly amused tone Ty was used to.

“About fifteen minutes down that trail.” Ty nodded in the direction of the path. Why had Fin asked? If Fin was here, he knew exactly where the bodies were. He’d never just show up in the parking lot and hang around waiting for them to return. He would’ve sniffed out the action and decided whether he needed to interfere.

Nodding, Fin pulled out his cell phone and made a few calls. “I have a cleanup crew on the way.”

“Cleanup crew?” Kelly asked.

Fin’s smile returned. “I don’t think any of us want to open our
Houston Chronicle
tomorrow and see headlines about twenty-four dead wolves found in Memorial Park.
My crew will get rid of the bodies and clean up all the blood.” He glanced over at Q’s car. “That has to be moved too.”

Hah. Ty had known it. Fin had not only been there, but he’d stuck around long enough to get a body count.

“That’s cold.” Kelly met Fin’s gaze.

Ty winced even as he shifted his position so he could leap in front of Kelly if Fin decided to take offense.

“I understand why you have to do it, but it still seems wrong. I mean, they were werewolves, enemies, but they were living creatures, not garbage.” She looked troubled.

Fin’s expression gave nothing away. Then he nodded. “I like you, Kelly. You humanize things.” His gaze turned calculating. “We can use you. You can teach us the emotional responses we lack.”

Now Kelly looked confused. “I don’t understand. I can’t
teach
you how to feel emotions. You didn’t just pop in from another planet. You’ve lived with emotions all your life. Oh, and I told Ty I’m quitting. I’ll stick around until I find a pack for Neva, but then I’m gone. The last two nights have been way too bizarre.”

Ty held his breath, waiting for Fin’s reaction. And deep down in his heretofore one-dimensional soul, he hoped Fin would convince her to stay. Since Ty was a big part of her “bizarre” nights, he didn’t think she’d let anything he said sway her.

Fin shook his head and looked sad. Ty figured Fin didn’t have any more emotional depth than he did. But Ty gave him points for putting on a good show.

“I can’t let you quit, Kelly.”

“You can’t stop me.”

“I think we both know that’s not true.” It was when Fin sounded the most gentle that he was at his most dangerous.
“Let’s look at the facts. Nine knows you work for us, and he also knows you were here tonight.”

“How? All the wolves are dead.”

“Balan was here.”

Ty spoke up. “Who the hell is Balan?”

“Balan is the messenger for Nine and all the others. He watched the battle and then went back to report every detail.” Fin shot Kelly a meaningful glance. “That’s
every
detail. You’ll be in his report.”

“So?” Kelly’s question came out more cautious than defiant.

“Nine will have someone watching for a chance to kill you. Remember the man you and Ty found? That’ll be you.” Fin glanced at the SUV where Neva lay. “Or worse.”

Kelly turned pale.

Fin pounded his point home. “What about your family? Nine doesn’t care about collateral damage. Are you ready to put them in danger?” Mission accomplished, he smoothly shifted into his Mr. Sympathetic role. “Stay with Ty. You’ll be safe as long as you’re with him. Once we get rid of Nine, you’ll be free to go. I’ll even add a bonus to make up for mental anguish.”

“You don’t have enough money to do that.” Her glance said she really hated him. “If I stay, can you guarantee my family will be safe?”

“Yes.”

Kelly nodded, turned her back on Fin, and climbed into the SUV. Slamming her door shut, she stared straight ahead, waiting for Ty and Q to join her.

Q narrowed his gaze on Fin. “How’d you know about this Balan and what he was doing tonight?”

Fin’s smile was his first sincere one of the night. “While I waited for Ty and you to finish your fun for the night, I
amused myself by surfing a few wolfy minds. I was getting lots of interesting info until the cable cut out.”

“What should we do with Neva?” Ty wanted to get out of here. “And I think we’re finished for the night. Kelly has had enough.” He lowered his voice so she wouldn’t hear.

“Don’t get too attached, Ty. You can’t afford the distraction.”

“Is that a threat?”

Fin narrowed his eyes and bared his teeth. Pointed canines. “
This
is a threat. What I gave you was a friendly suggestion.”

Tension hummed between them for a few seconds before Ty backed off. This wasn’t important enough to defy Fin over. Sure, Ty wanted Kelly in his bed, but when the time came to leave her, he’d walk away without a backward glance. Besides, obeying Fin was a habit, one he wasn’t ready to break yet. “When did you get the vampire teeth?”

“After you told me about Jude. He’s coming over in about an hour. I like to meet possible allies on an equal footing.” Fin’s soft laughter said he didn’t need pointy teeth to do that. “Besides, they look cool. I’m feeding my inner child.”

Fin’s sudden mood shifts always surprised him. Ty shook his head as he started around the SUV to the passenger side. Q had already climbed into the backseat beside Neva.

“Oh, and I want you and Q there when he arrives. Along with Kelly.”

“Why Kelly?”

Fin exhaled impatiently. “Do you have to question everything?”

Seeing Fin’s annoyance brightened Ty’s mood a lot. “When it comes to Kelly, yes. She’s not one of the Eleven.”

Suddenly, Fin was in his head. “
Why do you think I spent
so much energy scaring Kelly into staying with you when I
could’ve just hired a new driver? She has something I need,
something that’ll help us toss Nine’s ass back out into the cosmos.
I don’t have it all worked out yet, but I’m getting there.
So until I do, she stays. And the best way to bind her to us is if
she knows what will happen to her world if Nine and the others
are in control in 2012. That’s why I want her there when
I explain things to Jude
.”

Ty didn’t like the way his stomach clenched as he thought about Fin manipulating Kelly. Only the fact that Fin was right kept him from ordering her to drive back to the apartment. If Fin needed her to win the war, then she had to know everything.

Fin smiled, reminding Ty that he wasn’t always a hard-ass. “
Hey, I get it. You like her. You want to have sex with her.
But she won’t blame you for anything. I’m the bad guy. And I
don’t care if she likes me
.” His gaze hardened again. “
I’ve
never cared if anyone liked me
.”

Ty simply nodded and climbed in beside Kelly.

As they left the parking lot, Kelly cast a glance in the rearview mirror. “He’s just standing there. How’ll he get back to his condo? He can’t drive Q’s car.”

Ty didn’t have a clue whether Fin could drive or not. Picturing Fin walking back to his condo gave Ty lots of satisfaction, but he knew that wasn’t likely. “Fin gets where he’s going in his own way. And he wants you to drive us to the condo in an hour. He’s got a meeting set up with Jude.”

She didn’t bother looking at him. “The fun just keeps on coming.”

Kelly had gone to the zoo with her parents a lot when she was a kid. She’d had these great fantasies about swinging through a jungle as Super-Tarzana and dropping onto the back of a tiger. Riding a tiger sounded like the coolest thing a kid could do. Getting on the tiger was easy. Too bad no one had mentioned that it was the getting-off part that could kill you.

She was having that same getting-off-the-tiger feeling now. So hanging on a little longer, until she could think things through, made sense. “What’s on our to-do list for the rest of the night? Bust a coven of witches? Herd a bunch of ghosts into the light? Kick a few demons back into hell? One thing, if there’re any animals on that list, cross them off.”

Q chuckled. “Yeah, I hear you.”

“And I need a shower. Bad.” She couldn’t do much about the blood on her clothes, but she wanted to scrub it from her skin along with the memory of how it got there. Unfortunately, the memory wouldn’t go away. It was like a bad tattoo. All you could do was cover it up and hope no one ever saw you naked.

Ty leaned toward her. “Pull over, Kelly.”

Groaning, she stopped the car and rested her forehead against the steering wheel. “Been here, done this.” This time she absolutely would
not
follow him. She’d sit in the SUV with the gun Q had returned to her in one hand and her pepper spray in the other.

He laughed. “No, I’m not running off this time. I just have something I need to tell you.” Leaning his head back against the headrest, he closed his eyes. “Fin wants you there when he meets and greets the local vampire lord.”

“Why? Will all the other drivers be there?” She had a bad feeling about this. “I can’t be there. Someone has to stay with Neva. Remember Neva? Q’s driver? Kidnapped by werewolves? Has a good chance of waking up furry? While Fin’s having his meeting, I could—”

“No.”

Kelly didn’t like the sound of that no.

“No, the other drivers won’t be there. And, no, you can’t stay with Neva. Someone else will watch her.”

Ty raked his fingers through his hair. She had a fleeting thought that running her own fingers through his hair would be…would be inappropriate right now, and why the hell was she thinking of his hair when she’d fallen into some weird alternate universe where werewolves and dinosaurs battled each other in Memorial Park?

“I wanted to give you a heads-up on what Fin will say.”

“And we had to stop while you told me?”

“Yeah.”

That wasn’t good. Kelly straightened. “Shoot.”

Q spoke from the backseat. “I don’t know about this, Ty.”

Ty ignored him. “I’ll let Fin fill in the details, but the bottom line is our souls are dinosaurs because that’s what we were. Before.”

Before? Before what? She blinked at him. “Umm, the T. rex has been extinct for sixty-five million years.”

“I know.”

“Okay, just to clarify. You were the real deal sixty-five million years ago, and now you’re here?”

“Right.”

“What happened when ye old mortal shell went extinct?” She heard her own voice. It sounded flip, detached. Maybe her psyche had realized that to survive it would have to jettison her emotions like extra weight from a doomed jet.

“Fin put our souls in safe places until it was time for us to walk the earth again.”

“You’re saying that Fin is sort of a god?”

Ty shrugged. “Never thought of him that way. He’s just…Fin.”

A few nights ago, Kelly would’ve offered to point Ty toward the nearest mental-health facility. Now? She just felt numb.

When she didn’t fling open her door and gallop off into the night, Ty explained his need to drop this bombshell right here and right now. “You’re mine, so I had to be the one to tell you.”

She should’ve argued the “you’re mine” part of his statement, but she couldn’t seem to work up the energy. Without a word, she pulled back into traffic.

“He’s telling the truth, Kelly.” Q sounded as serious as she’d ever heard him sound.

What were the chances that in one vehicle there’d be two crazy people, an unconscious werewolf, and one sane ordinary human? Right now, she wasn’t even sure she could stick the tags of
sane
and
ordinary
next to her name. So she just drove. And if her fingers gripped the steering wheel a little too hard, it was the price she paid for forgetting that if a job seemed too good to be true, it probably was.

She took a few minutes to wash off as much blood as possible in the condo’s lounge bathroom before they took the elevator up to Fin’s suite. Kelly held on to her silence all the way to his door.

She recognized the man who answered Ty’s knock.
Al-with-the-braid, rescuer of women about to be eaten by vampires and all-around good guy. This time she was calm enough to also notice his gorgeous hazel eyes. Were there any ugly men in this group?

“Kelly. Great to see you again.” He took in her bloodied clothes. “Run into more killer vampires?” He pulled her into a friendly hug, ignoring Q, who’d already strode past him with Neva in his arms, and Ty, who stood right behind her.

She wasn’t fooled for a moment. Al fixed his gaze on Ty as his lips turned up in a sly smile, daring Ty to do something about the embrace. From the angry vibes Ty was emitting, he was about to pick up that dare.

Stepping out of Al’s hug, she smiled up at him. “Hey, I know the code now. Ty is for Tyrannosaurus, Q is for Quetzal-something, and Al is for…” She held up her hand. “No, don’t tell me.” Kelly ran through her meager knowledge of dinosaur names. She doubted there were any plant-eaters in this bunch. So Al was probably for…“Allosaurus? I know the name, but I can’t get a mental picture.”

“Right the first time.” He was now involved in a stare down with Ty. “Allosaurus was as big as T. rex.”

“You wish.” Ty’s murmur sounded murderous.

Al’s smile disappeared, replaced by a savage baring of his teeth. “And just as mean.”

Kelly closed her eyes wearily for a moment. What was with these guys? Al wouldn’t turn his back on Ty to lead them into the condo, and Ty wouldn’t walk past Al because then he’d have to show the other man his back.

She wasn’t in the mood for this crap tonight. Scowling at both men, Kelly strode past Al into the condo, then paused to take in everything. “This is spectacular.” Across
a huge room sparkling with crystal and light was a split marble staircase. “How big is this place?”

Fin seemed to materialize from nowhere. “Three floors with a private pool and sundeck on the roof.”

The godlike Fin was dressed for the part tonight. His black leather pants and black shirt were stark contrasts to his sparkly silver hair. Kelly wondered how he’d managed not only to arrive before them, but to change clothes as well.

“Looking good for your company, Fin.”
How’d you put
the souls of the Eleven into human bodies? And where’d you
get the bodies? Did you just hold people up by their heels and
shake them until their souls fell out? How’d you keep Ty safe
for sixty-
five million years? What are you, really?

“This is my first meeting with a child of the night. I want to make an impression.” His smile was friendly enough, but his attention was for the two men still at the door.

She turned to follow his gaze. “They look like they want to tear each other apart.”

Ty scowled. “
They
can hear you. And yeah, a little tearing and rending right now would put me in a great mood.” He took the steps necessary to pass Al and joined her.

Al threw Ty an angry glare before walking away.

Fin exhaled deeply and for the first time looked a little human. “Don’t blame Ty. Being around me ramps up his aggression.”

“Being around jerks who want to play games ramps up my aggression.” Ty stared at Al’s back as the other man left the room.

When Fin turned to lead them to the meeting room, Ty moved close to Kelly. His warm breath skimmed her neck and for a moment she forgot the blood, the violence, and
all the weirdness. She stiffened her body against the desire to lean back against all that heat and hard muscle, to sink into his sensual promise, and forget, forget, forget.

“It’s been sixty-five million years, Kelly. Ask me how much I want you.” Ty’s soft laughter suggested all the things he’d like to do to make up for eons of missed pleasure. “I stopped last time. I don’t think I could do that again.” She understood that if the circumstances were repeated, he’d be a little less noble.

Kelly didn’t get a chance to answer Ty because Fin picked up his pace. Probably a good thing; she needed some space right now—to think, to accept.

Fin led them to a media room with elegant furniture and a solid glass wall with sliding doors that opened to a marble-tiled balcony. But the room itself paled in comparison to the men seated around it. All of them were big and beautiful with hard faces and eyes.

“Are these members of the Endeka family? I sort of see a resemblance.” She allowed Ty to guide her to a group of three men who sat watching them with eager, hungry gazes. They had to be brothers, because they all had short spiky blond hair and bright blue eyes.

“None of us are related, except for these three.” He nodded toward the men as he eased onto the couch beside her. “And
endeka
means ‘eleven’ in Greek. Fin’s idea of a joke.”

“Going to introduce us to the pretty lady, Ty?” The spokesman grinned at her while the two others fixed their unblinking attention on her clothes. “Looks like she fought something big and mean. And won. My kind of woman.”

Remembering that she still wore her bloodied jacket, she stripped it off. Her top had a few blood spatters, but they weren’t as spectacular. Then Kelly moved a little closer to Ty. He wrapped his arm around her waist and
pulled her against his side. Under other circumstances, she would have resented the possessive gesture, but just this once she appreciated it.

All three men practically crackled with suppressed violence. No way would she ever want to see them in action. Together. Because instinct told her they weren’t solitary hunters.

Ty offered them a warning snarl.

Nope, he wasn’t going to introduce her. Kelly jumped into the breach before tempers could explode. “I’m Kelly, Ty’s driver. Fin wanted me here at your meeting. I’m having a great time figuring out who you guys are.” She didn’t do perky well, especially when her nerves were in screaming overload. “So what’re your names? You have to be triplets.”

The speaker shifted his gaze to Ty for a moment. Must be trying to figure out which he wanted to do most—attack Ty or dazzle her with his predator’s charm.

The latter won, because he looked back at her and turned up a kill-on-contact smile. Women would strew his path with lacy panties and indecent proposals in honor of that smile.

“I’m Utah. That’s Tor, and that’s Rap.” He nodded toward the other two men, who sent their own versions of “the smile” her way. “And yeah, we’re triplets. We do everything together.
Everything
.” His emphasis on the last word suggested that making love with all three at once would be a life-altering experience.

She believed him.

Ty might not believe the “life-altering” part, but he definitely believed the “making love” part. “Even think about it and you’ll be
dying
together.”

Oops. Kelly rushed into speech. “Fin wasn’t too subtle about your names. You’re Utahraptors.”
Raptors
. The word
made her shudder.
Jurassic Park
had painted a chilling picture of the swift and deadly hunters.

“We frighten you.” One of the others spoke for the first time.

She didn’t have a clue whether it was Rap or Tor. “Well, yeah. You have terrifying soul forms.” Was she being too honest? Did she care? No. Worrying about the hurt feelings of prehistoric hotties wasn’t high on her priority list right now.

His smile shifted from sensual to just friendly. “Thank you. Oh, and I’m Tor. I know you can’t tell us apart. I’m the kind and gentle one.”

Rap snorted. “He’s the lying one.”

Their banter eased the tension a little. Too bad another hot spot popped up right away.

“What’s
she
doing here?” The question was a low angry growl.

Kelly looked up and up and up. Holy colossus. The man looming over her while he glared at Ty had to be close to Fin’s height. With wide shoulders and muscular arms exposed by his sleeveless black T-shirt, he made her want to slide between the cracks in the cushions and not come out until he was gone.

Which was exactly what she would
not
do. If she was going to be around these men for even a short time, she couldn’t always be in cowering mode. They’d enjoy it too much. “
She’s
sitting right here, so
she’ll
answer your question. I’m Ty’s driver, and Fin asked me to be here.”

The man turned his gaze on her. She took a deep breath and ramped up her courage. All the men in the room had a hard edge, but this guy was different. There was a wildness about him that said he just didn’t give a damn about anything. She’d seen animals like that. They didn’t do well in captivity.

“Why
you
? Why aren’t all the drivers here?” He studied her, his eerily pale eyes a startling contrast with his tanned skin and wild mane of dark hair.

She didn’t hear Ty move, but suddenly he was standing, crowding the stranger’s space. “Get away from her, Gig.”

Gig smiled, a predatory lifting of surprisingly sensual lips. “Why? Jealous? Looks like you’re a little possessive, the way you had her squeezed up tight against you.” He shifted his suddenly hungry gaze back to her. “I wouldn’t mind having a driver like her. How’d you get so lucky?”

“Back. Off.” Ty’s words were a guttural warning.

The room fell silent. Kelly dropped her gaze from Gig’s face to slide the long scary length of him past his jeans and scuffed biker boots. His jeans were torn in several places, but she didn’t think he was trying to make a fashion statement. God, she couldn’t let this come to violence.

Taking a deep breath, she stood. “Look, if my presence here is a problem, I’ll leave.”

“No.” Fin’s voice was soft, but it had a cutting edge.