Eternal Pleasure (23 page)

“Is that all?” Ty’s voice was softly dangerous.

“No.” Shen opened his eyes. “After the wolf was gone, Kelly picked me up and carried me outside.”

Shock widened Ty’s eyes. “You picked up a
snake?
”

“He saved my life.” What else was there to say?

“Took guts for her to do that.” Lio sounded approving for a change.

“Yeah.” Ty didn’t elaborate.

The one word didn’t give Kelly a clue what he was thinking. Silence settled into the car for the rest of the drive to Fin’s condo. Lio and Shen fell asleep. She could feel Ty’s gaze on her. He probably had his anger to keep him alert and glowering. Kelly wanted to ask him what had happened, but maybe now wasn’t the time.

They were just pulling into the condo’s driveway when Ty finally spoke. “Fin wants us to come up with Lio and Shen.”

She nodded. What would it be like to have your boss able to pump orders directly into your head? Couldn’t check caller ID for those calls. Bummer.

Kelly dropped Lio and Shen at the front entrance and then drove the SUV into the parking garage. Considering his mood, she wished Ty had gotten out with the others. He hadn’t. He was determined to be her personal storm cloud, a dark looming presence wherever she went.

“You could’ve died tonight.” Ty forced the words out in a quiet, calm voice. He watched her collect her flute and purse before turning to face him.

“Yeah. And so could you.” She tipped her chin up in a defiant gesture.

He felt his fury building, at the werewolf he wished were still alive so he could kill it all over again, at the situation
that prevented him from guarding her, at himself for feeling so clueless when it came to this woman.

Ty reached out to touch her shoulder. “You. Could have. Freaking.
Died
. Tonight.” He shook under the force of his emotion.

Her face grew pale as she drew in a breath and stepped away from him. Damn. He forced his fury back into its cage where it howled and rattled the bars. He rubbed his hand across his face and exhaled sharply. “Sorry.”

She stared at him, her eyes wide and filled with an emotion he didn’t recognize. “You big, dumb doofus. You don’t have a clue, do you?”

While he tried to figure out her secret code, she calmly put down her flute and purse, then reached up to tangle her fingers in his hair. She yanked his head down and kissed him. No doubt about who was the initiator here. But no one could accuse him of being a slow learner.

He wrapped his arms around her and deepened the kiss. Her lips moved over his, soft and tempting.

His tongue explored all the warmth and wanting she offered. The small sounds of pleasure she made excited him almost beyond his control. He wanted to drag her down between the SUV and the Lexus beside it, rip her clothes from that lush body, and bury himself deep inside her.

Only the thought of how he’d feel afterwards, knowing he’d made love with her in the parking garage, gave him the strength to break the kiss. She deserved a soft bed, tons of comfort after the way he’d lost control on the balcony last time. His breaths came in hard gasps. “No. Not here, not like this. We’ll finish this later when you’re warm and relaxed.” There. He’d done the civilized thing. But, damn it, being civilized was going to kill him.

Her laughter was shaky. “You think warm and relaxed
will make it better? There’s a lot to be said for spontaneity.” She looked like she was remembering the balcony too. But she picked up her things and started toward the elevator.

A few minutes later, Fin was leading them up the stairs to the suite they’d shared before. This time without Neva. “Stay here for the rest of the night. You’re exhausted. And I need a report about tonight, Ty.” He glanced at Kelly. “I won’t keep him long. You can take a hot shower and unwind.”

The look she sent Ty’s way said she had the perfect plan for unwinding. “No problem.”

Ty waited until the door closed before turning to Fin. “This couldn’t wait until tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow will bring other crises.” He led Ty to his office. “So we deal with this one tonight.”

Once settled in a chair on the other side of Fin’s massive desk, Ty reported everything—the fight and what he’d learned from Neva about Nine.

“Good. Very good.” Fin braced his elbows on the desk and steepled his fingers as he thought. “So Nine has taken on the persona of a middle-aged businessman. And he’s sponsoring fights between nonhumans. The violence and opportunity to make bets are drawing in exactly the kind of soldiers he’s looking for. He rewards those who join him with hunting territories and kills anyone he thinks might be a spy. Ruthless and effective.”

Ty thought those words could describe Fin too.

“We won’t catch him by surprise. He’s too smart for that. So when we find out where he is, we go in knowing it’s a trap. We’ll just make sure we have our own trap in place to counter his.”

Ty was about to ask if he could go back to Kelly when a completely different question occurred to him. He asked
before he could think about it. “I know you’ve said we were nothing before we were dinosaurs, but that doesn’t make sense. Are you telling us the truth?”

Fin stared at him, his eyes showing no emotion beyond their shining surface. “No.”

For a second, Ty didn’t think he’d heard Fin correctly. He almost shook his head, expecting the familiar fog to roll in and blur his thoughts. Nothing happened.

“No? Just like that?
No?
” Ty fought back his instinctive anger. Now was not the time to lose his temper. “Explain.”

Fin shrugged. He didn’t look concerned that he’d just shaken Ty’s life to its core. “No, I haven’t been telling you the truth. And, no, I’m not going to explain.”

“Why?” Waves of fury alternated with the suffocating knowledge that Fin had lied to them. He wrapped mental arms around his animal soul, holding it down.

“I’ve blocked your memories of the time before, and I’ve done some minor fiddling to keep you from asking questions. It was my choice. Some things are best not remembered.”

“You don’t have that right.”

“I have more right than you’ll ever know.” For a moment anger flared in Fin’s eyes and then was gone. “You couldn’t change what happened or what came after. You wouldn’t have been able to function with your primitive soul if you’d had those memories. And now? Those memories would get in the way of what we have to do. Saving humanity is all that matters.”

“You’re a cold son of a bitch.”

Fin’s smile would’ve frozen fire. “Oh, yes. Only a cold son of a bitch could have guarded our secrets for two hundred million years.”

Two hundred million years?
“Why admit this now? Why
not just keep messing with my mind?” His head would explode if he didn’t take a shot at Fin.

“Because you’re in love with Kelly, and you have to understand how your past will affect her.”

Ty stilled. “What do you mean?”

Fin laughed, not a kind laugh. “No, I didn’t get that revelation from your mind. I didn’t have to. It’s written all over your face.”

Love Kelly?
The truth hit Ty so hard, he almost forgot his fury at Fin. “You already told us what a woman would have to do if she made the mistake of falling in love with us.” He didn’t bother hiding his bitterness.

“I told you she’d have to walk into the heart of your beast and claim a piece of your soul. And you’d have to let her.” He met Ty’s gaze. “I didn’t tell you the rest. I think I have to tell you now.”

This was going to be bad. Ty could sense it coming.

“Before she claims that piece of your soul, she’ll
see
all that you were in your previous life…and all that you were before. And the before is almost more than a human mind can bear. I won’t have the power to spare her that.” Fin spun his chair to face the bank of windows that showed Houston still cloaked in darkness. “Even if she keeps her sanity, I can’t guarantee she’ll come out the other side of the experience still loving you. And beyond that, there’d be the problem of her immortality.”

“Immortality?”

“After surviving that peek into your soul, she’d be immortal like us. Think about how that would change her life. Think about what you’d be asking of her love.”

Ty wasn’t able to wrap his understanding around everything Fin had said. “So what you’re saying is that no woman can ever survive loving us.”

Fin’s voice held a touch of humor this time. “Well, it wouldn’t be a good start to the relationship. And, no, I’m not saying
she
couldn’t survive. I’m saying she’d have to love you a hell of a lot for her feelings to survive. Call me cynical, but I’m not a big believer in unconditional love.”

“In other words, we’ll never be anything other than what we are now.” Men, beasts, alone.

“Maybe that’s all we deserve to be.” Fin sounded as if he was thinking about that time before.

“Aren’t you afraid I’ll tell everyone?” How did Kelly feel about him? Did it matter? Even if she loved him, he wouldn’t put her through what Fin had described.

“Hey, tell away. I don’t care. It won’t change a thing. We still have to work together so humanity can survive, and I still won’t tell you what you want to know.”

“A lot of the guys would hate you for this.”

Fin’s laugh was harsh. “I’ve been hated by experts. I don’t react to the emotion of others. It can’t touch me, Ty. Nothing can touch me.”

“Then I feel sorry for you.” Ty rose and left Fin still staring out across a darkened Houston.

When he walked into the suite, the lights were on, but Kelly was in bed. She was asleep. Exhaustion had taken its toll. He turned off the lights, then stood staring at her. Moonlight bathed the room in pale light. He’d always remember her this way.

Finally tearing his gaze away from her, he went into the bathroom, peeled off his bloody clothes, and stepped into the shower. Hot water washed away the gore and eased some of the tension from his muscles.

But it would take more than a hot shower to do the same for his mind. Would he tell the others? Probably not. Maybe
after they got rid of Nine. He didn’t know, wasn’t sure. Did he want to be the one who tore the Eleven apart?

Once out of the shower, he dried off and walked back into the bedroom. He slipped under the covers beside Kelly. Ty smiled. She wore another nightshirt. He wore nothing. Habits were hard to break.

He loved her
. Fin was right. Ty closed his eyes and thought about Kelly. Did she love him? Didn’t matter. The whole love thing was a lose-lose proposition. Even if she did love him, he’d never let her take the chance of trying to claim his soul. And if she didn’t love him? Well, either way he ended up miserable.

As Ty drifted off to sleep, he hoped Fin did lots of dreaming about the past he’d denied the rest of the Eleven.

Kelly lay with eyes closed, savoring that drowsy moment right after waking when her mind was completely empty, her body relaxed, and everything was right with her world.

Too bad it only lasted for a few seconds. Then reality started trickling back into her consciousness. The good stuff? If she opened her eyes and turned her head, she’d find Ty sleeping next to her. The other stuff? Nine was still out there, and she was sick of werewolves. A good night would be one when she didn’t see a werewolf, didn’t talk to a werewolf, and wasn’t an entree on some werewolf’s menu.

She opened her eyes and turned her head. Kelly smiled at the gorgeous guy watching her with serious intensity. “What’s wrong? You don’t look happy. I’m sure happy waking up next to you.”

His sensual lips tipped up in a smile. “Just thinking.”

“Care to share?” She rolled to her side to face him.

He’d only pulled the covers up to his hips, leaving everything else bare. The wide expanse of golden skin over hard muscle was enough to make her light-headed. She had an almost uncontrollable urge to kiss every inch of his spectacular chest and ridged stomach before slipping the covers down a few more inches.

Ty folded his hands behind his head. “How powerful is human love, Kelly?”

She blinked. That wasn’t what she’d expected him to say. “Be a little more specific.”

“Say a man loves a woman. How far does he have a right to ask her to go for him before it becomes selfishness on his part? We’re talking hypothetically, of course.”

“Of course.” Kelly glanced away. His question came uncomfortably close to emotions of her own she hadn’t sorted through yet. “I’ve never been in love.”
Getting really close,
though
. “But I don’t think there’s any do-not-proceed-beyond-this-line sign posted when two people love each other.” She gave the question more thought. “If I loved a man, I’d lay everything out and let
him
decide. It wouldn’t be my call to make.”

“Maybe.” He didn’t sound convinced.

She met his gaze. “Is there a point to this?”

“Just trying to get a handle on human emotions. They’re all new to me.” His smile looked a little strained. “I was thinking about Neva and Macario. She’s giving up the life she knew to live in his world. It won’t be easy for her.”

“Love usually isn’t.” Kelly smiled. “But the perks are great.”

Speaking of perks, the perks of sharing a bed with Ty should include the right to touch. Sounded fair to her. Before her brain could marshal a string of reasons why she should keep her hands to herself, Kelly reached out and slid her fingers over his chest. Smooth, warm, male. Tactile heaven.

Drawing in a deep breath, he rolled to his side and then kissed her. It was long and deep, and the force of it pushed her onto her back. She wrapped her arms around him and pulled him down with her. The sensation of his body—hot, naked, and definitely ready to play—promised that her day would start on a high note.

And then it was over. He broke the kiss, and as he rolled onto his back again, she glimpsed regret and something else in his eyes.

He turned his head to smile at her, but his gaze was shuttered. “I’d explore possibilities right now, but Fin is expecting us downstairs in—” he glanced at the bedside clock—“about fifteen minutes.”

Reluctantly, she moved away from him and swung her feet to the floor. She tried to push aside the thought that if he really felt motivated, fifteen minutes would’ve been more than enough time. Sighing, she shuffled into the bathroom.

And exactly fifteen minutes later she was seated at the dining room table with Ty and Fin, eating breakfast at 2:30 in the afternoon. Someone had collected their clothes while they slept, washed and dried them, then returned them to their room. Wearing clean clothes and drinking her first cup of coffee made Kelly feel almost normal. No, make that
dissatisfied
and almost normal. Sexual frustration was a terrible thing.

Fin tapped his fingers on the table as he thought. “It’s interesting that Nine is keeping a sorcerer with him. I’d bet black magic is a big part of this guy’s repertoire. Nine needs as much dark energy as he can get.”

“If Nine is so powerful, why would he need a sorcerer?” Kelly slid her glance to Ty. He was being strangely quiet around Fin.

“Power of any kind can run down if you overuse it. Nine wants to keep his battery strong, so he’s hired a sorcerer to do the small stuff.” Fin stopped tapping his fingers and met her gaze. “And Ty is quiet because he’s angry at me. I told him some things last night he didn’t want to hear.”

“Fin.” Ty’s voice held a warning.

Fin ignored him. “Since a lot of what I said involves you, I’d get him to fill you in sometime soon if I were you.”

Uh-oh. Ty was starting to broadcast. Fin just grinned at him.

Ty pushed his plate away. “What should we do tonight?”

“I spoke with Jude, and he was able to give me a good description of the sorcerer. Vampires seem less impulsive than werewolves. They think before they kill. One of Jude’s crew took the time to get some information out of one of the nonhumans before he tore his head off. The sorcerer’s name is Thadeus, and I’ll have Shen e-mail you a full description.”

Shen
. Kelly felt guilty for not asking about him sooner. “Is Shen okay?”

Fin looked distracted. “Shen is resilient. It would take a lot to kill him.”

Kelly subsided. She’d be willing to pay good money to be in the audience if Fin ever displayed any real emotion about anyone or anything.

Fin turned his attention back to Ty. “Take Q with you and see if you can find any places in the city with connections to the occult or magic. Check out stores or clubs where someone might know our Thadeus.”

Ty nodded, then rose from the table.

“Why don’t you play your music before you go, Kelly?” Fin remained seated.

She took that as a royal command. Luckily, she’d brought her flute down with her just in case they had to leave right after they ate. She quickly assembled it, then played her brain music for Fin. It really was an amazing little tune, and the acoustics of the huge room gave the melody’s Celtic flavor an ethereal feel. Or maybe she just thought it was amazing because it was a part of her.

“If we’re lucky, that’ll be the last thing Nine hears before
you banish him from Earth for another sixty-five million years.” There was almost a fanatical gleam in Fin’s eyes.

Kelly looked away, pretending to concentrate on taking her flute apart and putting it back in its case.

Ty locked gazes with her. “We’ll find another way.” He ignored Fin.

Turning away, Ty strode toward the door. She ran to catch up. No way would she try to question him while he was in this mood, but sometime soon she’d find out what Fin had said. If it concerned her, she had a right to know.

He didn’t speak all the way down to the parking garage, but she didn’t mind. It just gave her more time to think. Absently, she noticed it was overcast outside. Maybe they’d get some rain.

Silence reigned during the drive to their apartment building. Finally, on the way upstairs, Mr. Somber and Silent spoke. “Kelly, how would you feel about being a driver for one of the other guys?”

“What?” She felt as though he’d gut-punched her.

“You’ve seen a lot more violence than any of the other drivers. Maybe you need a break.”

He was lying. She sensed it in a part of her that was intimately connected to him. And wasn’t that scary. Violence had nothing to do with this. Maybe
he
was the one who needed a break. Add depressing to scary.

What to do? If her feelings weren’t all tangled up with him, she’d simply say okay. Let him do what he wanted to do. But walking away from Ty now would be like slashing an emotional artery. She’d bleed out fast. So she took the let-me-think-about-it path. “I need time. Let’s talk again later about this.”

He nodded before disappearing into his apartment. She
stared at his door for a long time. Ty still wanted her. Kelly was woman enough to recognize the signs. But he’d been pushing her away since last night,
since he’d talked to Fin.
The next time she got Ty alone, she’d worm what Fin had said out of him.

As Kelly let herself into her apartment, she lined up the things she wanted to get done before they left for the night. She definitely had to call Mom and Jenna. Then…

Closing the door behind her, Kelly looked around. Something was different. A scan of the room showed nothing out of place. But suddenly it hit her. The drapes were closed. They’d been open when she’d left.

Before she had a chance to react to the discovery, a cowled figure emerged from her bedroom. Its hood was pulled so far over its face that she couldn’t see any features clearly in the darkened room.

“Who the hell are you?” She fumbled, trying to unzip her purse so she could reach her gun.

“Don’t panic. It’s just me. Jude sent me over to pass on some info he found that could help you.” The figure glided forward. “I have to dress this way so I can go out during the daylight.”

Kelly relaxed. She’d gotten a good look at the person’s face. “God, you scared me. Why didn’t Jude call instead of making you play messenger?”

The figure leaned close. “Because it’s very important information.”

Kelly’s sudden realization came too late. She felt the prick of a needle even as she blurted, “Wait, how’d you get past Fin’s security?”

While weakness made Kelly stagger and darkness pushed at her consciousness, the vampire laughed. “No security keeps Mr. Wyatt out.”

The vampire’s laughter followed her into the blackness. Kelly felt her flute case slip from her grasp as she fell.

Ty propped his feet up on his coffee table as he let Q run

out of rant.

“Fin sent a freaking fish along with you instead of me.”

“Lio isn’t a fish. He’s a swimming reptile. You saw the stuff Fin put on that CD.”

“Same thing. I can’t believe it. I could’ve done the job. Who helped you take out the red wolves? This whole thing sucks.” Q continued pacing, flinging his arms around to emphasize his outrage. “Fin screwed me, that’s what.”

“Hey, we’re partners. Fin just thought it’d be a little easier for Lio to handle anyone who went into the water. It was dark, and you might’ve had trouble spotting them from overhead. You should’ve relaxed and enjoyed the night off.”

Q didn’t look appeased. “So it wouldn’t have pissed you if Fin decided to leave
you
home last night?”

“Okay, point made. Look, it’s over and we’ll be hunting together tonight.” He’d bring Q up to date, and then they’d go over to pick up Kelly.

No matter how much he tried to deny it, the thought of being with her again excited him. At least a dozen times this afternoon he’d almost given in and walked across the hall to her. It was tough trying to do the right thing.

Ten minutes later he’d told Q everything and shown him the description of Thadeus. On their way out, Ty knocked at Kelly’s door and waited. He knocked again. Nothing. Frowning, he tried the door. Unease touched him when he found it was unlocked.

After calling her name and getting no response, Ty walked into her apartment. Q followed him inside. Without speaking, the two men searched the place.

“No signs of a struggle.” Q swung in a circle, taking in every inch of the living room.

“She wouldn’t go out and leave her purse on the counter, her flute on the floor, and her door unlocked.” Unease slid quickly into fear. Along with guilt. If only he’d come over earlier. And where the hell had his famous sense for wrongness been? When it counted the most, his talent had failed him.

“Better let Fin know.” Q raked his fingers through his hair. “Crap. First Neva and now Kelly.”

“We don’t know that for sure.” But he did. Ty tried to control his rising fury. If anyone hurt Kelly, neither heaven nor hell could save the bastard.

Q’s expression softened. “Contact Fin, man.”

Ty nodded. Forgetting his earlier anger at Fin, he opened their mental link. He didn’t wait for Fin to acknowledge him. “
Someone took Kelly out of her apartment this afternoon
.”

Fin’s response was immediate. “
Get the disks from the security
cameras. I’ll send someone to pick you up. I’m calling in
the rest of the Eleven
.”

That was it. Fin never wasted time soothing fears or pandering to emotions. This time, Ty was glad of Fin’s ability to coldly and unemotionally focus on a problem.

An hour later, the Eleven sat around the long dining room table in the condo. Fin scanned the group with hard eyes. “We’ve looked at the security tapes. A figure wearing a cowl carried Kelly out the door. I’m assuming he or she had a car pulled up right outside. We couldn’t see a face, but the cowl might serve as more than just a disguise. The figure wore gloves. I’m thinking we’re probably dealing with a vampire. A vampire would have had the strength to carry her out of the building, and a vampire would have to
protect all exposed skin from daylight. I’ve already spoken to Jude. Only a few of his people are old enough to rise before sunset. He’ll see what he can find out.”

Ty listened to Fin with barely controlled anger. “How do we find Kelly?”

Fin hesitated. “I don’t know yet.”

“That’s not what I want to hear.” Ty’s words were forced through clenched teeth.

Fin met his gaze. “I think Nine ordered Kelly taken. He’s the only supernatural entity in Houston strong enough to bypass my security. I think she’s still alive, and my best guess is that Nine intends to use her as bait.”

“If he’s smart, he’ll know we won’t fall for that.” Lio’s expensive suit gave no hint of the soul that had torn apart werewolves and vampires alike last night.

“I don’t care why he took her. I just want to know where she is so I can go get her.” Ty could feel his T. rex shaking the bars of its cage.

Fin looked away from Ty. “Emotion sometimes makes people choose an unwise path.” He pushed his chair away from the table. “I want all of you to begin searching for Kelly. Let me know immediately if you turn up anything.” His attention returned to Ty. “If you think you’ve found her, call
me
before attempting a rescue. Got that, Ty?”