Eternal Prey (6 page)

Because . . . Lia tried to look like she wasn’t staring at Utah. God, if she wasn’t determined to become vampire, and he didn’t hate vampires, she’d think he was the hottest thing with a heartbeat, all smoldering threats and dangerous promises.

No, those weren’t her thoughts. Kione had generated them. She pushed them away.

Yeah, she knew exactly what Kione could do, because she’d stood next to him in Philly while Eight played deadly games with all their lives. She’d felt this before, although not quite so strongly. She didn’t take time to wonder about that.

Kione could
not
be their partner. But whom could she tell? Not Adam. He’d love it if she complained that she couldn’t be around the unseelie prince without wanting to have sex. He’d think she was weak, afraid of a little temptation. But it wasn’t fear, it was common sense. How could she help anyone while sexual need pounded at her every moment that Kione was around?

She’d have to confront the fae prince once they left here. For now, she tried to concentrate on Adam’s answer.

“When I want a threat eliminated, I don’t do it half-ass. I don’t want even the memory of an enemy left when I’m finished.” He took a second to stare at Utah.

Utah nodded. Message received.

Adam didn’t do things half-ass even for a
perceived
threat. She thought of Jude. If he treated his other vampires the way he’d treated Jude, then he must have some powerful enemies.

“Ben here”—Adam nodded toward the leader of the Northwest vampires—“tells me that a competitor is luring a lot of our people away. No one knows who he is, but someone has to stop him. Permanently.”

“A vampire?” Utah’s interest looked sincere.

But then it would, since killing them was his favorite pastime. Bitter? You bet. Lia pushed the thought aside. What Utah thought of her people didn’t matter.

“Definitely.” Adam smiled. And all kinds of cruel enjoyment lived in that smile. “We found one of our lost sheep and convinced him that dying quickly was a lot easier than drawing the whole tiresome process out. He confirmed that he’d switched his allegiance to another vampire. Unfortunately, I lost my temper and tore him apart before he could give a description.” He shrugged. “I still have anger issues.”

No kidding. She was surprised he’d held it together while he was with Fin. But then he was wary of Fin’s power. Wouldn’t want to lose it with someone who might be able to kick your ass.

Utah appeared surprised. Lia figured he’d thought the poacher was Seven.

“That still doesn’t explain why you need both Utah and Kione. Seems like overkill to me.” Lia shifted restlessly. She wanted out of here and away from Adam. And even with her back to Kione, she could feel his thrum of power vibrating low in her stomach, tempting her to clench around the pleasure. Her need to slip her hand under Utah’s shirt and smooth her fingers across all that warm male flesh was too strong, too disturbing.

Adam glanced away. “I lost my temper with our lost sheep because he
couldn’t
answer some of my questions.”

She was puzzled. “You mean he didn’t know the answers?”

“No. He knew the answers, but every time he opened his mouth to tell me, nothing came out. I have a bad feeling about this new bastard. He’s strong enough to bend the minds of ordinary vampires, so I’m sending him something he might not be ready for.” He nodded at Utah. “I know you’re right for the job because I saw the results of your work here in Portland. I decided to throw in Kione for insurance.”

Utah looked thoughtful. “Just wondering, but if you’re the leader of the whole damn vampire nation, you must have a shitload of power. Why don’t you eliminate this problem yourself?”

Uh-oh. Lia tensed. Utah looked relaxed as he asked his question, but he was tracking a little too close to major criticism. He was either very brave or very stupid. Adam had a short fuse coupled with his tons of power. And he’d use it on Utah in a second if he lost his temper.

But Adam was evidently in a good mood tonight. “Great question. I delegate. I have other things to do besides put myself on the front line for every little skirmish. It’s how I’ve survived so long. I’m the vampires’ last line of defense.”

“Do you have any idea where this enemy might be?” Kione spoke for the first time.

Lia wanted to stick her fingers in her ears. His voice was a soft glide of sexual sensation across already raw nerves. She took a step away from Utah. It didn’t seem to lessen the compulsion of Kione’s voice.

Adam looked impatient. “No. I’ve had my people scouring the city, but nothing so far.”

“Guess we’d better start looking then.” Utah’s expression said he couldn’t get out of here fast enough.

Adam nodded his permission for them to leave. “Take Jude’s car.”

He motioned at Jude, and the vampire handed Lia his keys. She didn’t miss the frustrated anger in Jude’s eyes. Adam was stripping away his pride, figuratively grounding him. Not a good thing to do if you wanted to keep one of your most powerful leaders loyal.

But then she shifted her gaze to Adam in time to catch a fleeting expression of satisfaction. Maybe he didn’t want Jude’s loyalty. If Jude rebelled, it would give Adam a legitimate reason to destroy him.

Lia turned to leave, but Utah held up his hand.

“I’m a little surprised you didn’t take more time to think about hiring me.” Utah sounded only mildly interested.

“I have a useful skill. I can see the short-term future. I saw just far enough ahead to realize you’d be helpful.” Adam looked smug.

“Interesting talent.” Utah seemed impressed. “So I suppose I’m forgiven for all those vampires I made permanently dead?” His eyes had a wicked gleam.

“Of course not. Why would you think that? What would my people think if I didn’t avenge those deaths? My reputation would suffer if I didn’t kill you.” Adam smiled a bad-boy smile that said,
Hey, what’s a little death between friends?

Lia had a fleeting thought. Adam was really a spectacular-looking man, but she’d never really noticed because he was such a jerk. Strange that Kione’s nearness didn’t make her want to put her hands on
him
.

Utah leaned against the tunnel wall and smiled back. A real smile. “See, that’s what I like about you, vampire. You don’t mess around with fake friendliness.”

Adam nodded. “Don’t worry, though. I won’t do it until you’re no longer an employee. Oh, and I never got a chance to explain company benefits: full health and paid funeral expenses. No retirement plan. You won’t need it.”

“I wouldn’t count on that. I have a few years on you. I think I can make a couple of more decades.”

Utah straightened and began to retrace his steps through the tunnel. Kione followed close behind. But Adam put his hand on her shoulder before she could leave.

“I have every reason to believe Utah will satisfactorily complete his job. And when he’s finished, I’ll have a special assignment for you.”

She thought she knew what was coming.

“You’ll kill him.”

She didn’t ask why he didn’t do it himself. He’d lay some lie on her like it would be easier if she did it because Utah wouldn’t be expecting it. A bunch of crap. Adam was all about protecting himself. Given a choice, he’d always have someone else do the dirty work.

Sighing, Lia turned away and hurried to catch up with the others. When she reached Utah, she leaned close. “Be careful or you won’t last long under Adam’s rule. Tick him off and you’ll end up like his wizards. He’s into disposable parts as long as those parts don’t belong to him.”

“Thanks for the warning.” His voice was a husky murmur that slid over her body and coiled low in her stomach. She dropped back a few feet, but the sensation didn’t go away.

Once outside again, she drew in a deep breath of night air. Free. Sort of. Now to deal with the dark fairy. She turned to Kione. “We need to talk.”

“Not here.” Utah nodded to where Reed still lurked in the shadows beside the back door.

Without a word, they all climbed into the car. She drove for a block before stopping beside a small park. Even spending those few minutes closed in with Kione felt unbearable. She had an almost uncontrollable desire to reach over and slide her fingers between Utah’s thighs to cup his obvious arousal. For the first time, she wondered how Kione’s dark power was affecting Utah. She had visible proof it was doing something.

Lia couldn’t get her door open fast enough. She climbed out and waited in the misty rain as the others joined her. Then she went on the attack. “Look, no offense, Kione, but I can’t work with you.” She didn’t think she had to elaborate.

Utah spoke at the same time. “What the hell are you doing here? And don’t give me any crap about Adam summoning you. I think this is where you want to be.”

Kione’s smile was an Arctic cold front. “You’re right, I want to be here. I went to a lot of trouble to intercept the inbound demon and send him back to hell.” He fixed his gaze on Lia. “You’ll have to adjust because I’m not going away.”

“Adjust to what?” Utah sounded a little too casual.

He was a lousy liar. Lia thought Utah knew exactly what Kione was talking about.

Real humor touched the fae prince’s smile. “Everything about my power is amplified. Unfortunately for both of you, a large part of that power is sexual compulsion.” He shrugged and for a moment looked almost human. “I can’t make it go away, so you’ll both have to cope.”

“I didn’t feel a thing.”

Kione’s smile widened. “There is no shame in telling the truth. You lusted after me, but you hungered for Lia even more.”

Utah opened his mouth to refute Kione’s claim and then closed it. He didn’t look at Lia. And Kione conveniently forgot to explain why he was there.

Kione raised one dark brow. “Does anyone else have a complaint?”

“I do.” Jude stepped out of the shadows.

Utah tensed. A dangerous predator. Jude hadn’t bothered to rinse the blood from his hair or change his shirt. He breathed fury, his eyes narrowed, his stride a deliberate stalk. The beast in Utah responded to the threat. His soul stirred, licking its lips in anticipation.

Utah had focused his attention on Adam back in the tunnels—assessing his power, looking for weaknesses. Well, one of Adam’s weaknesses was staring at him now. He’d seen Jude in action. Utah wondered if Adam understood the mistake he’d made tonight.

Jude stopped about ten feet away, his gaze fixed on Kione.

Utah’s beast would love a fight, but not here. “Looks like you don’t need your car to get around.” He edged closer to Lia. If she thought he was being overprotective, tough shit. Jude’s eyes had turned completely black, his fingers curved into claws. He wasn’t here for a friendly chat.

The vampire shifted his gaze to Utah. “I don’t
need
the freaking car, but it’s
mine
, so no one else should be driving it.”

Utah saw a flash of something unexpected in Jude’s eyes. He had a sudden insight. Wow, didn’t have many of those. Jude wasn’t just pissed off about the car because of ownership issues. The car allowed him to fit into the human world. Maybe it made him
feel
more human. Hey, they were all trying to fit in, some harder than others. Utah could empathize.

Jude turned his attention back to Kione. “I didn’t say anything in front of that shithead who calls himself our leader because this is personal. I want you gone from here.”

Kione’s expression didn’t change. “No.”

“They’ll be here in a few hours.”

“Good.”

Jude curled his lip, exposing impressive fangs. “I won’t try to stop them.”

“I wouldn’t expect it.” Kione didn’t seem even mildly concerned.

“Am I missing something?” Lia moved a little closer to Jude.

Utah hissed his disapproval, but she ignored him.

Jude glanced at her, and some of his coiled fury seemed to fade. “No. This is between Kione and me.” He glanced at his car. “Put any scratches on it, and you’ll pay in blood.” Then he was gone.

“Do you want to explain what just happened?” Lia turned to stare at Kione.

“No.” Kione walked back to the car and climbed in.

“Gee, thanks for keeping me in the loop. I feel like a valued member of Team Kione now.” Lia followed him.

Utah stood alone for a few moments. It seemed like everyone had an agenda—Fin, Adam, Jude, Kione—that they didn’t want to share. Lia? He didn’t think so. She didn’t want to be with him. She was pretty upfront about it. He could respect that. Finally, he joined the others in Jude’s car.

“We need a plan to find this vampire-who-would-be-king.” Utah didn’t give a damn who ruled the bloodsuckers, but he was committed to the hunt.

Lia pulled away from the curb. She didn’t say anything, but her body practically thrummed with anger. She took each corner as though if she whipped around it fast enough, she could toss both Kione and him into the gutter where they belonged. She was sexy when she was ticked. He didn’t think he’d tell her that.

Kione stared out the window. “We search until we find a vampire. We ask some questions. If we don’t get the right answers, we find another one. Does that sound like a plan to you?”