Kiss Of Twilight (8 page)

Kara was bone tired and frustrated beyond belief. She'd be damned glad when Gia came back. She refused to accept Gia wouldn't, or worse, couldn't. She had a whole new respect for the woman's organizational skills not to mention energy level. Even with Nadia taking over a couple of projects, Kara was barely keeping up. She'd been assisting Gia for years, but she'd never realized how much Gia was doing on her own. Had she ever slept?

"Not likely," Kara muttered, swiveling the chair around to look out the bank of windows that stretched the length of the office. One of the few perks of Gia's job was her office. It was decorated in the same drab utilitarian way as all Order buildings. There was a big metal desk, a well-worn leather sofa with wooden arms, a couple chairs opposite the desk and one behind it that she was sitting in. The carpet had seen much better days and the room could stand a fresh coat of nice cheery paint. Boring and a little depressing, but it had its perks too. It was on the corner of the top floor, the fifteenth, and looked out over Camden with a pretty little city park across the street. She'd love to explore it, but no doubt Dupree would have a fit, bodyguards or not.

Sighing, she turned back to the desk and started shuffling loose pages into the appropriate folders. The contracts were all done. Signed and witnessed. They'd paid through the nose to have the new compounds started right away and hired extra workers to expedite completion. Good thing they had pockets deep enough to match Winter's urgency. Kara didn't blame her being freaked out, not that you could tell she was by looking at her. Kara had watched the other senior members of the Order, the quadrant leaders, and they were worried too. Though the panic seemed to have receded. It was easy to understand why.

Kara hadn't heard the official count of the dead after Ben's attacks, but she was pretty sure it was over one hundred. Friends, family. For the gazillionth time she cursed Ben and thanked God for sparing Dupree. Not that it mattered since nothing had really changed between them.

Perfect. From maudlin to annoyed in two seconds flat. Time to go home, eat, chew out the invisible man in her life and get some freaking sleep. Maybe play a little music first. She swept the files into a pile, put them in a desk drawer and locked it. After gathering her bag and switching off the lights, she headed out of the office, pausing long enough to turn the key to lock the door behind her. Then she walked across the lobby to punch the elevator button. The few people who used these offices must have already left for the day. The floor was dark in each direction, and she shivered. It suddenly felt deserted and creepy. The door dinged as it opened and she jumped in, relieved when it didn't stop on any of the lower floors. While the building was owned by the Order, most of the office space was rented out to civilians. She wasn't in the mood to make small talk with anyone and knew her escorts downstairs would give her space.

"Damn Dupree."

It had only been last night since he'd told her--more like ordered--she'd have an escort between the office downtown and the house in the outskirts where she was currently living. She hadn't protested because what was the point? He'd just steamroll over her objections. Besides, she'd assumed she'd see him during that time. But had she? Hell, no. Oh, he'd called to make sure she arrived safely, but he'd been colder, more withdrawn than ever before. She'd responded in kind out of pure irritation.

She sighed as she exited the elevator and looked around the lobby. No soldiers waiting to take her home. What the hell? She glanced at her watch. She was late, but no matter how behind she was running they wouldn't have left without her. Shrugging, she stepped outside and lifted her hand to shield her eyes from the late afternoon glare as she scoped out the parking lot.

There wasn't a soul around. The lot was half empty, her car in its spot right where they'd left it. So where were Jonas and Vic? She heaved an exasperated sigh and pulled out her cell phone. She just wanted to get home, take a hot shower and crash. Was that too much to ask? Scrolling through the address book, she found Jonas's name and hit the call button. It was answered on the third ring.

"Sorry, babe. We're on the way." He paused, then chided, "You should have waited inside."

She turned and saw them coming around the corner of the building each carrying a large coffee emblazoned with the logo of the shop around the corner. She flipped her phone closed without responding, but frowned when they reached her. "We have free coffee in the office."

Vic shuddered and gave her his patented flirtatious grin. "Have you tried that stuff? It's black sludge."

"I don't drink coffee," she reminded him.

This time he wore a mock scowl. "That's just un-American, Kara."

She grinned. It was an old argument between them, one neither would ever concede. He was only a few months older than her and had been living with the Order almost as long as she had. Another orphan adopted and raised by the Order after losing his parents to demons. They'd had a very short lived fling in college, but decided they made better friends than lovers. If Dupree knew about it he didn't care. He'd assigned Vic to guard duty. He obviously didn't consider him a threat. She thought she might feel a little insulted about that, but she was determined not to let it get to her.

She looped her arm through Vic's and they set off into the parking lot. Jonas fell in on her other side and Vic continued his harangue about her anti-coffee stance. They were a few spaces away from the car, when both men slowed and carefully looked around. Picking up on their apprehension, Kara felt a shiver go up her spine not unlike the way she'd felt leaving Wolf and Associates a few days ago. Suddenly her mother was there shaking her head and trying to block her path. Kara reached into her purse and cursed silently when she remembered taking her pistol out and locking it in one the desk drawers. She'd forgotten it when she left the office.

"What's wrong?"

"Demons," Jonas answered softly.

"Where?"

He shook his head. "I sense them and smell them, but I don't know where they are."

Vic picked up the pace. "Let's get her out of here."

She wanted to protest. Running from demons rankled as much as her forced protection. But no matter how well trained she was she knew until she merged she wasn't strong enough. She was a liability. Talk about frustrating. The first thing she was doing when she got home was calling Father Mike. She'd been putting off making their third and final pre-merging counseling appointment, waiting for Dupree to accept it, but no more. She
hated
feeling helpless and dependent. It took her back to being a little girl. Orphaned, alone, at the mercy of the kindness of strangers, and always afraid she'd do something to screw it up, despite being taken under Ben's wing. She'd lived in fear of disappointing him, so she'd made herself independent, strong, stubborn and most importantly, useful. She was a teenager before she started to feel secure, and in college before she was certain she had a place among them. She wasn't about to be forced out or left behind now.

Two parking spaces from the car, she smelled them. One second the air was crisp and clear and the next it was thick with their stink. She gagged. The rotten stench of sulfur in the air tripped her as memories long ago suppressed assaulted her. How had she forgotten that smell? Her mother's screams? With each step the reek got stronger. She was forced to breathe through her mouth, relief growing the closer they got to her car. The keys were clenched in her fist, escape so close, when suddenly they were surrounded.

Something was very wrong here. She hadn't seen a demon in twenty years and now twice in one week? Worse, she was facing three of them and she didn't even have a weapon. The guys moved, putting fighting space between them but keeping her in the middle, and pulled weapons from their belts. Vic handed her a blade while he took aim with a pistol. His shot missed, the demon jerking to one side in a move so fast Kara didn't even see it.

Then she didn't have time to think about it as the smaller demon rushed at her. She acted on instinct, ducking under the clawed hand that reached out for her while sweeping her knife arm up and under his chin. But
damn
the thing was fast. It jumped back from the blade with only a long thin scratch on its neck. That just pissed her off, and she crouched, mind racing, as the monster prepared to rush at her again. She heard the others fighting around her but didn't dare take the time to look.

The demon's long arm swiped out at her again, but its claws raked her wrist instead of her chest and she got the oddest feeling it wasn't trying to kill her. Its hesitation worked in her favor. In a move that would have made Dupree cuss a blue streak, she lunged forward. Her knife struck its abdomen and ripped up. With a scream of rage it grabbed her by the neck and squeezed, wide jaws opening and swooping toward her. Her knees went weak and her dead weight carried her to the ground forcing the demon to release its grip. Then she kicked up and felt a vicious thrill when she heard the crunch of bone. She crab crawled backward to get away from it.

Even with its guts spilling out the damned thing kept coming. It kicked her before she could get to her feet, which left her gasping for breath. Then it reached out as if to scoop her up and she rolled away, looking around for escape. There wasn't any. Vic and Jonas were both fighting and her flight had put too much distance between them to expect help. She ground her molars together and staggered to her feet. She'd lasted longer than most humans would, and damn it, she wasn't giving up now.

This time instead of trying to grab her, the demon swung his fist. She wasn't fast enough to get out of the way. Even though it was barely a brush against her shoulder, the force of it nearly knocked her off her feet again. She couldn't outrun it and couldn't hope to compete with its strength and power. Her best bet would be to get close enough to get a lucky strike with the blade. It was a crazy, desperate plan and her only real hope. And totally dependent on her hunch the thing didn't want to kill her. Right away at least.

It swung its massive fist again and instead of trying to jump back, she moved forward, ducking under the sweeping arm and using all the force she could muster to plunge the blade at its heart. It realized just in time the peril it was in and moved enough so her knife missed its mark. Instead of hitting its heart, the blade embedded in its side. It screamed in rage and she turned and ran. Right into Dupree's arms.

He wrapped one arm tight around her shoulders while the other lifted to plug a magazine full of bullets into the demon. More gunfire cracked and she turned in time to see Vic plunge a knife into the heart of the third and final demon. Sirens shrieked in the distance.

"Get these bodies out of here," Dupree ordered, his voice so cold she felt it in her bones. He pried the keys from her hand and tossed them to Jonas. "Then come back for Kara's car."

He didn't even wait for their acknowledgment before teleporting away. He'd teleported with her many times over the years, but she couldn't say she was used to it. So when they arrived in the nightwalker's foyer and he released her she swayed, disoriented from moving through space so quickly. He grabbed her shoulders to steady her but kept her at arm's length, that frigid gaze sweeping her from head to toe and back up to meet her eyes.

Oh, but he was far from calm. His eyes burned with anger, his jaw was so tight she was amazed it didn't snap, and when she opened her mouth to speak he barked, "Don't. Not one word."

"What's going on?" Winter's voice floated into the foyer. Kara turned to see her coming out of Marcus's office, relieved at the distraction. Maybe she'd be able to calm Dupree down.

"Kara was attacked. Again." One hand remained on her shoulder in a vice grip. Winter focused on her as if she knew how little it would take to push him over the edge.

"You okay?"

"I'm fine." She tried to smile.

"You were almost killed." His fingers convulsed on her shoulder and his voice was hard and brittle.

Okay, enough already. She hadn't merged yet partly because she was still a few weeks shy of her twenty-fifth birthday and the edict hadn't been lifted, but Winter probably would have let her do it early if Dupree hadn't been such a pain in the ass about it. So if she got herself killed it was at least partly his fault. She pulled free of his arm.

"But I wasn't. I held my own till you got there," she said firmly and attempted a smile to soften her next words. "I was well trained, remember? Of course, I'll be safer after I go through the merging ceremony."

"Which is over my dead body," he ground out between clenched teeth. Seriously, like a CD with a scratch in it, replaying the same tired line over and over again.

She rolled her eyes. He wasn't a caveman with anyone else. What made her so special? She got that he worried about her, but he didn't act like this with Winter or Gia. Well, best not bring up Gia in his current mood.

"I'm an adult, honey." She used the tone that usually mellowed his mood and made him see reason but this time just made him withdraw. "I get to make that decision."

She was as angry as him now over a whole host of issues. That he refused to acknowledge she had some skill. Or that she was an adult entitled to make her own decisions about how to live her life. That he refused to accept those decisions. To accept
her.
And she was ready to give him a piece of her mind, but Winter very subtly shook her head then tilted her chin toward the stairs. Dismissed. Again. It was getting freaking old. At least with Winter she knew it wasn't because she doubted Kara's abilities or determination, but because she didn't want Dupree to do something utterly stupid. She wasn't being sent off so quickly though.

"What are the odds of two groups of demons, in two different places on different days being where I was? Until this week I hadn't seen one in twenty years."

"It's not a coincidence," Winter said.

"I agree, but why?" she asked.

"Because if Ben gets you, he gets me," Dupree said grimly. "He may be rogue, but he isn't so far gone he doesn't remember that."