Of A Darker Nature (23 page)

“She'll be okay, Freckles. I’ll have someone keep an eye on her.”

Emily’s gaze slid over him. “Liz won’t agree to that. You heard her. She thinks you’re the antichrist.”

He hooked a finger beneath her chin and forced her to look at him. “I’ll tell my guy to keep out of sight.”

She started to say something, but pursed her lips instead.

He thumbed away a tear that leaked from the corner of her eye. She licked her lips, and he fought the urge to taste them. Instead, he tore his hungry gaze from her mouth and put the car into gear.

Emily sat huddled on the seat, hands in her lap. “Thanks for the ice cream.”

Working for someone’s affection was a new concept to him. It was also a lot harder than he’d imagined it would be. He felt uneasy all of a sudden. Just when had he decided he wanted her affections?

“Did you go through my purse?” Emily sounded a bit miffed. “Some of my things were in the wrong place.”

Marcus allowed his hair to swing forward to obscure most of his face. “I was fixing the air conditioner and knocked it off the counter.”

“You got the window unit up and running?”

“Yeah, I was bored and it’ll be hot soon.”

Her green eyes stared at him through thick lashes. “Does the heat affect you?”

“Nope, but it affects you.”

She seemed to consider his reasoning, but didn’t reward him with an argument. He experienced some disappointment at her slight smile.

He wanted to work into the questioning, but since she didn’t play along he just dived in instead. “Who took you shopping today?”

Emily looked out the window. “It was just someone I met through work.”

He held back a curse and shifted gears. She was lying. Even if her voice hadn’t given it away, he sensed it. It had finally dawned on him whose scent had been around the house. Chad and Watts had been there. Why did Isabella send them and what purpose did they serve?

And why hadn’t Emily mentioned it? He’d just given her an opportunity to explain, and she hadn’t taken the chance. What was she hiding?

He stole a glance at her and caught her staring at him. He felt cloistered and cramped inside the car with her. It was an unfamiliar feeling. He usually was the one who made people feel uneasy. She looked as though she had something heavy weighing on her. Perhaps he’d read her wrong, and she felt like confessing. “Something on your mind?”

She looked a bit nervous, and her hand went to the damned necklace. He looked away. It was so easy to imagine his teeth sinking into the soft, fragrant flesh of her throat. “I picked up some leather curtains today.” Emily’s voice trailed off. She moved to touch the necklace again. She dropped her hands to her lap and twisted her fingers together instead.

“Oh? That sounds kind of fun and kinky.”

She looked at him through hooded eyes. “Sounds like something Corey would say.”

Indeed, it did. He actually found it somewhat pleasing, even rewarding, to agitate this creature. A slow smile formed, and he allowed his gaze to slide in her direction. “You were saying?”

“It’s probably a dumb idea on my part. I was going to invite you to stay in the spare room. With a little foil or cardboard on the window, the curtains will have no problem keeping the sun out.” The look on her face was a mix of apprehension and hope. She shifted uncomfortably in the seat. “Never mind. It’s a silly idea.”

The fact that she was still fiddling with that damned necklace made him suspicious. The whole thing smacked of deception and for the life of him, he couldn’t figure it out. It was just last night he’d been mindless with hunger and had attacked her. Already she was eager to forgive him and allow him to stay inside? No, something wasn’t right with the picture she was painting.

“I just thought you might be tired of waking up covered in dirt. Sleeping on a soft mattress would beat a bed of soil any day.” Emily reached out and laid her hand atop his. She looked unsure of herself and uncomfortable with what she had just proposed. Her touch remained tentative.

A warning niggled at the back of his brain. Should he trust this redheaded minx? A bed did sound inviting, and if he were in the house, surely he’d be capable of finding out what he needed to. 

“The spare bedroom?” He met her gaze. She blushed and looked away before he could read anything in her eyes.

He pulled to a stop at the curb in front of the funeral home and glanced at her. “It would be more enticing if I could sleep in yours.”

“You don’t have to decide right this minute. Just think about it.”

Marcus touched the tip of his tongue to a fang and smiled. “I’ve given it a whole lot of thought, Freckles.”

Emily’s face burned scarlet. She quickly unclipped the seatbelt and looked out at the shop’s front window. “I have two bodies tonight. It shouldn’t take any longer than a couple hours. Do you want me to call you when I finish?”

Marcus scribbled his cell number on a scrap of paper and handed it to her, making sure to touch her fingers. “Put it on speed dial – just in case.”

Emily stuffed it into her purse and got out. He said her name and reached for her.

She leaned into the car. The top of her shirt gaped a little to allow a pleasing view of the top of her breasts.

He caressed her cheek. “See you soon.”

A hesitant smile formed on her shimmering pink lips. “Yeah, I’ll see you.”

Red Door was bustling tonight. Marcus spotted Corey moving in his direction through the smoke filled room. People swayed and gyrated to the raucous rock music streaming through the loudspeakers. Those with a dark nature surveyed the establishment for the evening’s meal or entertainment.

A couple of shifters—one was a werewolf, the other a swine—had propped themselves on stools at the bar. While the wolf was tall and slender, the other was short and sturdy with an upturned nose that even looked like a snout. The werewolf tapped his scuffed cowboy boot to the beat. When he spotted them weaving through the mass of moving bodies, he leaned over to speak to his friend.

“Where’s Jai Li?” Marcus shouted over the blaring music. He wished the two sleaze ball shifters had agreed to meet somewhere else, someplace quieter.

Flashing strobe lights lit Corey’s face in a whitish-blue haze. “I don’t know. She went to check on Evan. He was a little nervous about waiting in the car.”

Marcus frowned. “What the hell is he doing here?”

“Well duh, he came to see you. He misses you.” Corey gave him a sidelong glance. A smile curved his lips. “And he was worried after what happened with the tainted blood.”

“We’ll discuss this later.” Marcus frowned, not liking the idea of Evan being anywhere near such a rough establishment.

The werewolf slid off his seat, and his piggy friend followed.

Marcus accepted their outstretched hands, shaking each in turn. “You didn’t run into any trouble, did you?”

The werewolf shook his head. “Nah, Starr’s people didn’t suspect a thing. They walked around downtown for a while, being extra careful I guess. It looks like they’ve set up shop in one of the abandoned buildings on the east side. They’ve been in and out over the last few days.”

“Which building? Did you get an address?”

“There’s no street numbers, but there’s an old beer sign hanging on the side of the building. Coors Light, I think. An old rusty fence is on one side, and old broken down pallets are on the other. You can’t miss it. I don’t think anyone’s living there, but they’re meeting every couple of days.”

Corey glanced out at the dance floor, drawing Marcus’s gaze as well. Jai Li was moving in their direction. Both the shifter and the werewolf stood a little straighter and took notice of her. The shifter made an attempt to adjust the torn sleeves of his plaid shirt. Marcus didn’t bother telling him that no amount of nitpicking would right such a fashion blunder.

“What do you boys have in the trunk of your car? It’s making an awful racket and beginning to draw attention.” Jai Li's dark eyes studied the two men.

The guy in the plaid shirt smiled and shifted his weight from foot to foot. The wolf-man answered instead. “That would be our bargaining chip.”

The fact that Evan had just walked through the door hadn’t registered with the others yet. Marcus kept his eye on his friend and an attentive ear on the werewolf.

“I figure you’ll want to talk to this fellow and be willing to pay us more money to do it.”

“And why would we want to talk to him?” Marcus asked, with a raise of his left brow. These two weasels were working his last nerve. The last few jobs he threw their way, they’d given him the same runaround. The mistress paid them well if she needed their services. They were just greedy.

“He’s one of the witches you had us spying on,” said the one in the plaid shirt. Eagerness oozed from him, and he inched closer. His enthusiasm reminded Marcus of a dog waiting for a ball to be thrown. “He probably knows where Starr is hiding out. I bet he could lead you right to her.”

Jai Li laughed, the sound barely audible over the new song playing. This track had an obnoxious bass line and screeching guitar. Marcus felt confident the singer was trying to match the intensity of the stringed instrument with his voice.

Taking a hint from Jai Li’s behavior, Marcus said, “I think you’re full of shit, boys. He doesn’t know anything, or you would’ve already told me.”

“Do you really want to chance it?” A slight twitch at the corner of the wolf’s right eye gave him away.

“Nice try. If you pull this shit again, we’ll not only drop you from the payroll, but neuter you. Get the hell out of here.”

Jai Li laid a manicured hand on the guy’s arm. “You might want to clean the mess out of your trunk. It’ll probably stain.”

“It’s a rental,” the piggy quipped. Together he and the wolf pushed past a throng of people on their way toward the door. “Those two never give up, do they?” Corey ran a hand through stiff spikes of hair.

Jai Li smiled and flicked him on the nose. “Nope, they sure don’t. The guy in their trunk didn’t have the first clue. They must have grabbed him off the street on their way here. I erased his memory and sent him on his way.”

“You think they were telling the truth about the building?” Corey moved aside, allowing Evan to squeeze past now that he’d joined them.

Marcus shook his head. “Jim may be a weasel in wolf’s clothing, but he knows better than to fuck up a job.”

Everyone including Evan made their way to a table in the back. Marcus wanted to get a feel for the crowd tonight, see if there was anyone of interest amongst the mass of gyrating bodies. Besides, he had time to kill.

“Is everything okay?” Evan wanted to know.

Marcus scanned the crowd. “Uh huh, why wouldn’t it be?”

Evan shrugged and indicated the bottle Marcus was holding with a tilt of the head. “You’ve got a dopey smile on your face and you're about to take a drink of my beer.”

Huh, he hadn’t noticed. He sat the bottle aside. Drinking something other than blood wouldn't hurt him, but it would give him a stomach ache from hell.

The crowd parted, and a familiar face lingered near the lighted bar.

Marcus looked again, and she was no longer there. Interesting.

The group talked about many things, most of which had nothing to do with the witch or Isabella.

Evan grew quiet when they headed toward the gravel parking lot. He snagged Marcus’s sleeve. “Aside from last night, has there been any trouble?”

He spared a glance at Corey, who was practically salivating at the idea of juicy gossip regarding Emily. He looked a little let down at Marcus’s answer. “None. It’s been kind of boring on the home front.”

Marcus’s cell vibrated against his hip and played the first few tones of some asinine tune Evan had programmed. He grimaced, decided the song needed updated in the worst way, then answered.

Finished speaking with Emily, he tucked it back into his pocket. The others followed him to his car, reluctant to see him go.

“Hey, why don’t you guys make yourselves useful and find out what Chad and Watts were doing at Emily’s today.” Though there was a teasing quality to his voice, he could rest assured they would do what he asked.

Corey's face colored. “Isabella sent for her, but I assumed it was just to make sure you really hadn't hurt her.”

“I see. What about Scott? Learn anything there?”

Corey shook his head. “Do you really think he’s the one disposing of our kind? I mean, we watched him for the better part of a week and didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. He kind of seems like he has a stick up his ass.”

Jai Li grimaced and brushed the hair out of her eyes. “He’s squeaky clean. He comes and goes a lot. I’ve followed, but all he does is meet with the shifters. I have never seen the witch or her people with him.”

Marcus nodded. He might not like Scott, but he never believed he was the one disposing of vampires. “I also want someone watching Emily’s sister. You can send human security if you want.” 

“Why?” Jai Li demanded. Her petite features screwed into a scowl. She ducked her head and tried again. “I mean, why is she of interest? Has something happened?” 

“Starr's people roughed her up and threatened Emily. If something happens to her, Emily might become reckless.”

Jai Li gave him a look that radiated disapproval. “Okay, you can count on us.”