Replica (The Blood Borne Series Book 2) (5 page)

LEA

“Hold my hand, Cazador.” Ivan reached for me. I plopped my hand in his and bore down, my nerves getting the better of me. He grunted. “Okay, maybe that was a bad idea.”

My eyes were glued on the front door of the hotel. Four lanes of traffic and the sun shining onto the entrance like a veritable hammer. If I thought we could have waited a half hour, I would have done it. “Hurry.”

I’ll give him credit—he didn’t hesitate. With a jerk, he all but dragged me into the road as I struggled along in the high heels. The sun cut into my bare arms and legs, slicing into me like a dull, rusted razor blade.

The blare of a horn, screech of tires and the screams of someone royally pissed off could barely be heard above the thumping of my heart. A hiss slipped out of me.

And it hurt like a motherfucker. “Hurry,” I repeated.

Ivan scooped me into his arms and I curled into his neck to protect my face. “Talk to me, it’ll help block the pain. What’s your name?”

“Lea.” I drew a breath, my body shuddering as I fought to keep my focus. “Are they looking?”

“Yes.”

“Fuck.”

I tightened my grip on him. It was a piss-poor plan, why had I gone along with it? I knew better than to go out without weapons, without being covered. Yet Ivan had thrown this ridiculous outfit at me and I’d jumped into it like he was the one in charge.

We burst through the doors and the shadows and overhead lighting of the hotel lobby were a soothing balm on my exposed skin. I let out a sigh and Ivan lowered me to the ground. He kept an arm around my back. “They were watching, but not like they knew you.”

I took a swift look, peering over the top of his shoulder. The closest black sedan could be seen through the glass doors. Ivan was right; the men weren’t even looking at the hotel anymore.

“How are we going to find her? They probably have her room flagged, too.” Ivan steered me toward the front desk.

I glanced up at him. “What makes you an expert?”

“I was an enforcer. It’s what I would do.”

I stepped up to the desk. The matronly concierge smiled brightly at me. Her eyes all but twinkled when they landed on Ivan. “Welcome to the Hilton. How can I help you?”

Her eyes were blue, so pale they were almost gray. Staring into them, I reached out and touched her nametag. “Mary,” I said in a soft, lulling voice, “I need to know what room a friend is in. And I want you to forget I asked as soon as you tell me.”

Her smile slipped at the edges, and her eyes lost focus. “Of course.”

I leaned forward, keeping eye contact with her. “Rachel Sambrook. I need a key card to her room.”

Her fingers flew over the keyboard. “Seventh floor, room 710.” She slipped a key card into the card reader. When it buzzed and clicked, she pulled it out and handed it to me. I took it and tucked it into my cleavage.

“Damn, that’s smooth.” Ivan squeezed my side and I flinched. Not because it hurt, but because it already felt far too natural to have him by my side.

I was not in the market for a pet. Certainly not one his size.

I backed up, my stilettos clicking on the tile. “Forget me, Mary.”

“Who are you?” She frowned and put a hand to her forehead.

I said nothing as we backed away.

“Seriously,” Ivan said as we turned our backs to the desk and Mary, “that was damn slick. Does it work on werewolves?”

When we reached the elevator bank, I paused and stared at the doors. The last time I’d been in an elevator, things hadn’t gone so well. “Stairs.”

I led the way to the discreet door in the corner of the lobby.

Ivan took several big strides to make it there before me, then held the door open. I glared at him, but he didn’t seem to notice. “You didn’t answer my question.”

“I’ve never tried. Werewolves are stubborn.”

“Ah, so you’ve noticed.” He grinned at me from a few steps above. I didn’t grin back.

At the seventh floor, Ivan peered out the door and took a long slow breath. “Just humans, nothing nasty waiting.”

I grunted softly. “For the moment.” I pushed past him and caught a glimpse of myself in a mirror at the far end of the hall. Bright red dress, raven black hair, stilettos that gave me an additional three inches but still didn’t make me as tall as Ivan. My reddened skin was already repairing itself.

“Stop staring at yourself; you look good.”

My eyes popped wide, but I refused to give him the satisfaction of seeing me shocked. I kept my back to him and strode down the hall. But the damn heels weren’t working with me. They sunk into the soft carpet and seriously impeded my movement. I stopped and pulled them off, then walked the rest of the way to Rachel’s room barefoot.

I knocked, not expecting an answer. Her scent was faint, suggesting she hadn’t been here for hours. I paused, thinking the scenario through. If the men below were going to take Rachel, they’d want to do it quietly. They’d wait until she’d been back in her room for a while, wait for her to relax. Which meant this was where I would wait on her.

The key card blinked a steady green when I put it in the slot. I opened the door a few inches with one toe, then put my face to the opening and breathed in. Nothing but Rachel.

A sigh of relief slid out of me as I stepped into the room.

Ivan of course followed. He stretched as he paced through the room, then flopped down onto the bed. “Nice. Maybe we could come back here sometime.”

Time to set him straight. “Ivan, let me be crystal-fucking-clear. You and I are not an item. I’m tolerating you only because you did help me get in here.”

“And I helped you get into the TV station,” he pointed out with a far-too-innocent look in his eyes.

I glared at him. “Rachel is going to show up in a very short time and you will leave when she does. Understand?”

He shrugged. “I do what I want. And I know stuff.”

I rolled my eyes. “Please, you think that is going to work on me?”

“Hoping.”

I paced the room while we waited, and Ivan was smart enough to keep his mouth shut. Rachel should already be here.

I was about to go looking for her when the doorknob rattled. I raised a palm to Ivan, keeping him where he was. Just in case.

The door whooshed open and Rachel stepped in. Her eyes were on me in a flash and her hand went to the small of her back. I grinned. “Like the new clothes?”

“Holy fuck, Lea. You scared the shit out of me.” Her eyes flicked to Ivan. “Who’s that?”

“Ivan, meet Rachel,” I said.

He stood and held a hand out to her. I batted it down. “No, you are not making friends. Time to go home like a good doggy.”

“You’re going to need me again.” He swatted my ass as he went past, then slid out the door without another word.

“What the fuck was that?” Rachel shook her head. “I feel like I just walked into one of those weird dreams after eating too much spicy food at the market.”

“Long story.”

Rachel moved further into the room and slumped into a chair. “Okay, I know this goes without saying, but obviously you aren’t on a plane.”

“Obviously.”

“Why not? And what’s with the dress?”

I sat on the edge of the bed, letting the crinoline skirt bunch up. Feeling exposed in more ways than one. “I couldn’t leave you here to face the fallout on your own. Not when I was the one who pushed you to do it. And the dress is courtesy of the suits downstairs.”

“You didn’t make me do anything, Lea. And I saw the suits. Waved a finger at them.” Rachel grabbed her ponytail and absently tugged on it. “I will admit this is probably one of the worse days I’ve had in a long time.”

“Worse than last week?” I raised an eyebrow.

She laughed, but it was forced. “Okay, the worst
normal
bad day I’ve had in a long time.”

We sat in silence for a minute before I sucked it up. “I knew the fallout was going to be bad.”

“Yeah, so did I.”

I rubbed a hand over my face, wincing at a couple of burned patches on my skin. “No, I knew it was going to go south... I...”

“Spit it out, vamp,” Rachel snapped.

I stood up. “Fuck, Rachel. I used you as bait. How many people saw the report? Someone who knows about Stravinsky’s work will reach out to you. I was banking on it.”

Her blue eyes flicked downward. Just a heartbeat, but there it was.

“Someone already has, haven’t they?”

She stood, putting us nose to nose. “You threw me under the bus?”

“Yes.”

“You bitch.”

I grinned. “Isn’t that why we work so well together?” Ivan really was a bad influence on me.

Her mouth dropped open and she burst out laughing. “Shit. I want to hate you, I really do. But I would have done the report even if you’d told me I was being baited.”

I couldn’t help but heave a sigh of relief. A soft knock turned us toward the door. I took a sniff and frowned. “Ivan, go away!”

“I have your clothes and I think you’re going to need them.”

Rachel went to the door and grinned over her shoulder at me. “He’s cute. I like him.”

“He’s a werewolf,” I said as she opened the door. Ivan strolled in like he owned the place and handed me my clothes all rolled up. I grabbed the edge of my dress and yanked it over my head as soon as Rachel shut the door.

Ivan spun his back to me. “Give a guy some warning, would you?”

“Don’t expect me to be shy—” I whipped on my top and pants and bent at the waist to pull on my boots. The position put me eye level with the window.

Three sets of eyes stared back in at me. I moved with care. “Rachel, you remember those things that attacked us outside of the bakery?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Don’t move, but we’ve got the same monsters.” I finished dressing, put my weapons in their places, and pulled the cowl over my head.

Ivan let out a low growl. “What the hell are those things?”

“Personally,” Rachel said, “I like the name demon dogs. They climb walls, have no fur, and are generally a pain in the ass.”

Her calm delivery was a cover for the stress that spiked in the room. “The door, Ivan.” I stepped back as the dogs started to claw at the glass, shattering it within seconds.

Ivan yanked the door open, and I grabbed Rachel and leapt into the hallway. Ivan tried to wrestle the door shut, but the demon dogs’ pale legs jutted out around the edges, digging into the wood. “They’ve got their claws between the door and frame. I can’t shut it.”

I yanked a silver stake from my boot. Lunging forward, I slashed down and cut three of the legs off. Howls rent the air and Ivan was able to slam the door shut.

“That won’t hold them long,” Rachel said as we strode toward the elevator. The light above it binged and the metal doors slid open.

Eight men in dark suits, guns out, spilled onto the floor.

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” Rachel breathed out.

I had to agree. “This way.” I pulled her toward the stairs just as another four men poured out of the stairwell doorway.

“You see, Ivan? Bad idea following me around.” I moved toward the smaller group of men. The stairwell would be easier to defend if it came to that.

“Oh, I knew what I was getting into.” He flexed his back and a low growl trickled out of him that curled down my spine. I shivered and focused on the task at hand.

“Lea, we can’t kill them. It’ll only convince them we’re dangerous and they’ll send more men next time,” Rachel said. I wanted to let out a sigh of frustration, but the first bullet zipped by.

“They don’t seem to have the same concern.”

I grabbed her and zigzagged down the hall. Ivan was ahead of us. He grabbed the first man just as his gun went off. The werewolf’s only reaction to the direct hit was to jerk and let out a snarl. The bullet popped back out of his bulky bicep and dropped to the floor as Ivan hefted his attacker into the air. Unless he was wounded with something silver or by another supernatural, he’d heal faster than me.

“Holy shit, we should keep the puppy,” Rachel said.