Part 5 (1/2)

His black, black eyes moved over her face. Brooding. Moody. ”That is exactly what you are doing, Blaze. You had better be able to trust her, because I can read your mind. I know who she is to you and if she betrays you, I will kill her.”

He delivered the statement matter-of-factly, and she knew it wasn't an empty threat. He meant every word. He didn't raise his voice. He spoke very softly, just as he usually did, but she felt his words in her belly. Deep. Branded into her bones. She tipped her head back, searching his remote, icy eyes, looking for an expression.

”Why are you helping me?”

”You belong to me. I take care of what is mine. I searched centuries for you. No one is going to take you away from me.”

Again it was a calm statement of fact. She found herself s.h.i.+vering. She believed him. She believed he'd been alive for centuries and that he hunted vampires. She believed him because she'd been having detailed nightmares since she was ten years old and Emeline saw a vampire. Emeline didn't lie and she didn't exaggerate. And Maksim had shown her what and who he was. There was something very old world and courtly about him. At the same time when he moved into a s.p.a.ce, the air around him electrified with danger, as if he was an extremely dangerous predator.

”Maksim, we barely know each other,” she pointed out, still pressed into him, too weak to move even when she knew she should. That predatory air was very much in evidence.

”You know me. You are in my mind. You know I speak the truth. You do not want to know, but you do. We are hunting something monstrous. You need to understand if I allow you to do this thing . . .”

That stiffened her spine and she jerked back, or tried to. His arms immediately locked around her like iron bars. ”Allow?” She felt tiny sparks snapping over her skin and in her mind. ”No one allows me to do anything, Maksim. If that's the kind of woman you believe me to be, you have the wrong woman. You need to keep searching.”

His arms remained tight even though she bent backward to try to put s.p.a.ce between them. His smile was anything but humorous. ”I am not a human, Blaze, and I have immense power. The undead hides from me, and there are few things on this earth more powerful than he is, yet he hides and trembles when I am close. Do you really believe that I would search centuries, hundreds of years for the other half of my soul, find her and then risk losing her because she is strong willed and stubborn? You need to look deeper into my mind and really see me.”

She didn't want to do that. She already had far too much to process. She realized there was logic to what he said. She knew little about vampires, other than what she saw in the movies and in her nightmares, and who knew how close to the truth that was. If she believed he hunted vampires through the centuries, and he lived that long, he had far more experience than she did. If there was one thing Sean had drilled into her over and over again, it was that her brain was her greatest weapon. Her greatest a.s.set. He had taught her that she always needed to know her own capabilities and limitations. So maybe she could fight the Hallahans and have absolute faith she would be on equal footing, but vampires . . . no way.

”You may have a point, Maksim, but please don't use words like 'allow.' I'm not going to kick you in the s.h.i.+ns when you try to dictate to me; I'll walk away.”

”We are past walking away. We talk things out. But first, kiss me. You have not kissed me and I think I woke up starving for your kiss.”

His mouth was close again. Tempting. He had nice lips. An invitation, and she knew exactly how he kissed.

”When I kiss you, I forget everything. I told you, I have a friend inside and I want to get in there and watch out for her.”

”Only Jimmy Hallahan is inside. His other brothers are working, doing what they do, being Reginald c.o.o.nan's muscle. At the moment I also have a friend in there. Picture this woman and I will send him a message to keep an eye on her until we get inside.”

She took a breath. ”It's one thing to trust you with my life. It's something else to trust you with hers.” She wasn't being defiant, but really, things were moving altogether too fast.

”Draga mea, you know I will defend you with my last breath, and that means your friends are under my protection as well. I see you love this woman. That she is a sister to you. Look into my mind. There is no need to be afraid.”

But she was. Not because she feared he would hurt her. Or betray her. She was already far enough into his mind to know that much. She knew he was being honest, but still, he was taking her down a path there was no returning from. She knew that instinctively. Already she craved him. Craved his taste. Craved his body moving in hers. She was becoming lost in him very fast and there was no real explanation for him. She didn't trust anything she couldn't explain.

She felt him move in her mind and she should have protested, but she'd already given him that, sharing herself with him. She was open to him. Vulnerable. He took the information on Emeline out of her head. He didn't pull away from her, allowing her to see him instructing his friend, sending him Emeline's information, including the pictures of her Blaze stored close.

Guard her well, but do not approach unless she is in trouble.

That isn't Asenguard, she protested.

She could tell he was Carpathian like Maksim and Tariq. She sensed his power, just as she felt Maksim's when he was near.

”His name is Tomas. Tomas and his brothers arrived a few days ago and have offered to help hunt Reginald c.o.o.nan. We have known each other a very long time, and a few times, when we were on the same continent, in the same vicinity, we have hunted together. He is very good at what he does, as are his brothers. They are triplets. Where one is, the others are close by. Your friend is in good hands.”

”Emeline.” She cleared her throat. ”She saw him. Or someone like him. Two someones.”

”She saw Tomas?” Maksim asked.

Blaze shook her head. ”c.o.o.nan. I suspect it was c.o.o.nan. Emeline witnessed a murder. Two men, pale faces, gums receding, sharp teeth biting into a man and his wife. They killed the couple, nearly draining all the blood from both of them. It was messy and horrible to witness. She must have made a sound because one turned his head and saw her, but suddenly others came, men who approached the murderers, and they fled.”

”How long ago was this?” Maksim asked gently.

”You believe what she saw?”

He nodded.

”It was about eight months ago, right around the time the cops claimed there was a serial killer loose going after the homeless. They called him 'Strike Twice,' because he always struck twice in one night. He always took two victims. Because there are two of them,” Blaze said. ”Emeline saw them, but the police wouldn't believe her.”

”I was there. Tariq and I were there that night. We just missed them. We have been trying to find their lair ever since. It is a big city. When we realized that the Hallahans were doing c.o.o.nan's bidding, we began to concentrate our efforts on protecting the remaining businesses.”

She took a deep breath, still leaning into him. Still circling his neck with her arms. She fit there against him. One of his hands slid up to her neck, fingers gently ma.s.saging as if he could ease the tension out of her.

”Do you know why they target certain properties?” Her eyes searched his. He knew. ”You don't want to tell me, but you know,” she whispered. Disappointed. She slid her arms to his shoulders to push away from him.

Before she could, he tightened his grip on her nape, fingers curling deep. ”I do not want to frighten you with too much information at once about what it is we are. We acquire fortunes and properties and leave them to ourselves every so often so as not to raise suspicion. All Carpathians do this. I am Carpathian, a species that is older than you can imagine. We have certain gifts and one is longevity. Some say we are immortal, but truthfully, we can be killed. The male loses his ability to feel emotion or to see in color until he finds his lifemate, that one woman who holds the other half of his soul.”

He'd said as much before and she figured perhaps it was an ancient belief that still persisted. She nodded her head for him to continue.

”Vampires are Carpathian males who have chosen to give up their souls so they can feel the rush a kill provides them when they feed. Having been Carpathian, they have also acquired property and wealth. Most are too vain and too addicted to the adrenaline in their victim's blood to think or plan, and that makes them easier to track. But some are extremely intelligent and they have learned through experiences, just like the hunter, how to recruit newly turned vampires and use them as p.a.w.ns. Still others have gone further and created an army of humans by infiltrating their ranks. They are the most difficult because they have patience and the cunning to plot for centuries to get what they want.”

She frowned. ”So you're saying that these vampires could already own some of the properties in the neighborhood and are looking for the ones they don't own?”

”It stands to reason. They would leave the businesses intact because it doesn't matter to them one way or the other about the business itself, just the building.”

”Why?”

”I do not yet have an answer to that. But we are getting closer. Reginald c.o.o.nan is the name the Carpathian used to leave his property to, perhaps before he turned vampire. Tariq is right now researching to see who owns the other buildings, the ones they have not yet touched. If any of the families still own the buildings such as you do, we will also know who they will target next. Still, with all that, your friend should not be anywhere near a property owned by the vampires she witnessed killing that night. If they were able to catch her scent, they can hunt her. They cannot do so during the day, but they can send their human puppets after her, the way they sent them after your father.”

”Emeline isn't going to give up any more than I am, not until they're stopped,” Blaze said. ”She loved my father. She won't let this go. Even if I did, which I won't”-she narrowed her eyes at him to make certain he knew she was giving him the truth-”she wouldn't stop. She's already got a job dancing.”

”Blaze. You do not know me very well,” Maksim said. ”But know this. When a man finds a woman after hunting for so long, he has a jealous streak. A possessive streak. Dancing is out for you, unless you wish to dance for me.”

In spite of everything, she found herself laughing softly. Relaxing into him. ”You don't have to worry. I couldn't dance even if I wanted to.”

He leaned closer, his teeth nipping at her chin, and then he kissed his way up to the corner of her mouth. She felt the soft brush of his lips like a brand, a trail of flames dancing over her skin. His mouth settled on hers. Gentle. Unlike any of the kisses the night before. Gentle scared her. Gentle terrified her. Gentle was about emotion, not chemistry. She couldn't give this man more of herself than she already had, because he could destroy her.

He deepened the kiss as if he knew exactly what she was thinking and wanted to short-circuit her brain. He did so easily. She tasted hunger. Wild. Possession. She tasted need. His kiss went from gentle to hard. Wet. Demanding. She gave herself up without a fight, moving into him, tightening her hands at the nape of his neck, curling her fingers into his hair, her mouth as aggressive as his. Her need as wild and possessive, every bit as hungry as his.

He kissed her over and over until she was on fire. The world dropped away, the danger, the fear, the sorrow, everything, until there was nothing left but pleasure, pa.s.sion and heat rus.h.i.+ng through her veins. She forgot she was on a rooftop. She forgot what she was doing and what her name was, there was only Maksim and his fantastic mouth, his strong arms and hard body pressed so tightly against hers.

SEVEN.

MAKSIM'S MOUTH TRAVELED from Blaze's lips to her throat. To the side of her neck. Her heart began to pound in antic.i.p.ation. Her sheath clenched and deep inside she felt a spasm of pure pleasure. She felt as if she'd waited a lifetime just to see him again, to feel his touch. To feel his teeth sc.r.a.pe gently over her pounding pulse.

Who knew that such a small gesture could feel so intimate? So erotic? Her fingers tunneled deep into his hair. Anch.o.r.ed there. She turned her head to give him better access. The wig was short, the dark hair brus.h.i.+ng her chin as his tongue swirled over her skin, sending tiny streaks of fire rus.h.i.+ng through her blood.