Alterant (26 page)

The purple liquid turned into dust. Her heart had stopped beating, so no blood oozed out.

Evalle withdrew the blade that came out clean. When she looked back at the body it was deteriorating before her eyes, until the entire cadaver turned into a handful of gray dust that scattered away on its own.

Much as she appreciated not having to deal with a body, that was not a positive sign. With no way to keep track of dead beasts this could mean the number of Alterant-type beasts shifting was far greater than thought.

She couldn’t be sure, but if that man on the bike really hadn’t seen the beast, then this fog was also cloaking the beasts.

She crossed the street and got on her motorcycle with a new destination in mind before she went to see Grady. First stop was Five Points, so named because five streets met in downtown Atlanta at Woodruff Park.

A block away from the beast she’d fought, she burst out of the fog into the clear night and circled Woodruff Park until she found the blond-haired teenage male witch playing chess. She parked on the sidewalk and pulled off her helmet on the way to talk to Kellman. He and his twin brother, Kardos, lived on the streets. She and Grady
kept an eye on the homeless pair of male witches, but Kellman had the unenviable task of keeping Kardos out of trouble most of the time.

She hoped Kellman could locate his sibling quickly.

“Have you not noticed the park is empty, Kell?” she asked when she got close to the concrete steps to the fountain, where Kellman sat across from an elderly African-American guy wearing a blue jogging outfit.

“Guess it has been quiet,” Kell mumbled, distracted by studying his next move. “What’s up, Evalle?”

“I need you to do something for me,” she said.

Kell lifted a knight, still not looking at her when he asked, “Can it wait until we finish this tiebreaker?” He made a move and slapped the plastic timer that reset and started counting down for his opponent.

Evalle stepped up close. “Actually, no it can’t wait. I need you to find Kardos, too.”

Kell looked up, his blue eyes registering that he’d caught her tone. “This is serious?”

“Yes. You and this gentleman need to get off the street and inside a building like right now.”

The old guy swung his sagging face up at her, eyes sharp as flint. “Why?”

She said, “There’s a deadly fog seeping into the city. It smells like sulfur and it’s causing people to go crazy. Insane to the point of being dangerous.”

If the fog had crossed highways, which it probably had, the highways would be battlegrounds by now. That explained the continued whining of sirens.

The strong smell alerted her, but not fast enough. She
looked up to see the blasted fog rolling over the fountain. “It’s here. You need to get moving, find Kardos for me and get him inside, too.”

Always the levelheaded and polite one of the twins, Kellman sighed and told the old guy, “She’s usually right about these things.”

“Then you forfeit.”

She would never understand men. “That’s not fair and, besides, this is about keeping you both safe.”

“No problem, Evalle. Joe’s right, and I understand.” But as Kell stood up, the fog rushed around them. His eyes went from serene to mean in a snap. He knocked the chessboard off the step, scattering pieces, and lunged at his opponent.

Evalle grabbed Kell before he could attack the old guy, who started growling something vicious. But she couldn’t let Joe attack her and Kell either. Using her kinetics to swirl dirt like a small tornado, she whipped it up until dust flew into his eyes.

While the old guy lashed out blindly, Evalle dragged Kell out of the fog zone. Once he had taken a few breaths, she shook him. “Are you with me now, Kell?”

“Yes. I don’t know what happened.”

“I do. Told you that fog is dangerous. Can you find Kardos?”

“He’s sleeping at the shelter.”

“Is he sick?” She couldn’t think of any other reason the born troublemaker would be inside when he normally roamed the streets at night.

“Sort of. Drank something nasty.” He straightened the
navy blue golf shirt he wore, a donated shirt too big for his slender frame.

“He deserves the hangover. Go to the shelter and make him stay there until you hear this fog has passed.” She lowered her voice and leaned in close to Kell. “It’s causing some people to shift into beasts.”

Kellman smiled with embarrassment. “Tell me about it. I’d never attack old Joe.”

“No, I mean real beasts with fangs and claws . . . and some power.”

That blanched his face. “Really?”

“Yes. Now where does Joe live so I can get him home?”

Kell told her he stayed in a vacant building close by, then gave his chessboard a pained look.

“You can’t go back in that fog to get it,” Evalle told him. “I’ll find you another one.”

“Don’t worry about it. Take care of yourself, and thanks for getting Joe home.” He took off for the shelter, running around the outside of the fog.

Evalle went back into the yellow haze and tugged old Joe backwards while he jerked and swung at everything, yelling that he was going to stomp some butt.

Take a number. She’d like to stomp some herself.

Once she had him in fresh air, he calmed down. She hated having thrown dirt in his eyes earlier. “Kell told me where you live. If you’ll let me lead you, I’ll find some water to clean out your eyes, okay?”

He agreed. Leaving her bike at the park, it took fifteen minutes to walk him two blocks and locate a newsstand that had water. She bought him a sandwich and
another bottle of water for his dinner. When she had him settled with clear vision again and convinced to stay away from the fog, she rushed back the way she’d come.

Sweat soaked her short-sleeved shirt and jeans. Between the heat and this fog, the attacks were only going to escalate.

She swung around a corner and skidded to a stop in front of two men carrying heavy weapons.

Demon-killing weapons just like the one Isak Nyght had toted around when she’d first met him. He’d used his blaster to kill a demon she’d been trying to interrogate.

“Hello, Evalle,” Isak said from behind her.

She turned around. “What’s going on, Isak?”

Some men had a presence. Isak consumed space, owned the territory surrounding whatever piece of real estate he stood upon, whether he was in full battle gear or slacks and a dress shirt. Tonight he wore black cargo pants and a matching T-shirt with a weapon-packed vest over his supersized body. Those huge hands had held a delicate wineglass and cupped her face when he’d kissed her speechless.

His gaze took in everything around them and still managed to hold her in place when he said, “Word’s out humans are shifting into beasts everywhere. We’re here to keep the streets safe.”

Take a breath. Isak doesn’t know that I’m an Alterant.
“Have you seen any?”

“Not yet. Saw the victims though.” Isak looked over at his team. “Go ahead and I’ll catch up to you.”

That’s all it took for her to end up alone in the dark with a man who had once kidnapped her in order to have dinner with her because she’d kept standing him up.

He’d mentioned not seeing any beasts. She asked, “What do you think these things look like if you haven’t seen any?”

“Saw one overseas right before it killed my best friend. An Alterant. They look human, then turn into a monster that murders anything in sight.”

She didn’t want him killing any Alterant, but she didn’t believe the thing she’d fought in the fog had been an Alterant. Not like her and Tristan. Isak and his men could help protect humans if they knew how to see the beasts in the fog.

“I’ve heard some reports on the attacks,” she started, hoping he would heed what she was about to tell him even if she had to fabricate a little to be able to share intel. “Sounds to me like the fog hides the beasts. Maybe makes them invisible.”

He let the weapon hang from the cord hooked to his vest and used a hand to scratch his chin, which was covered in short whiskers. Some men wore a five o’clock shadow for a sexy look. In Isak’s case, he just hadn’t taken the time to shave today.

That didn’t change the fact that it still gave him an edgy attractiveness.

His eyes sliced down at her. “Invisible would explain why we haven’t seen any in the fog even with our night-vision gear.”

“But you have thermal imaging equipment, right?”

“Sure. But I won’t risk killing a human by shooting without a clear visual of the beasts.”

This was where she had to be careful. “Have you gotten a description of the beasts?”

“One of my teams out west took one down. The thing turned back into a human when it died, then it just vaporized.”

“Did they say how tall the beast stood?”

“Yeah, the things are at least ten feet.” Understanding dawned in his eyes. “We can pick up the heat signature and tell the difference between something that big and human.”

She let out a breath of relief, but she had to go. “That’s great. I’ve got to run, but it’s good to see you.”

He reached over and caught her hand, lifting it and inspecting the scrapes on her elbows. “Why is it every time I see you, you’re banged up?”

“Just clumsy, I guess.”

He pulled her hand up to kiss her knuckles, then let go and used a finger to lift her chin.

Her heart strummed with new energy. Isak wouldn’t raise a hand against her—not as long as he didn’t know she was an Alterant. She hadn’t known him long, but in that short time he’d killed a demon that had considered her a meal, then helped her escape a sticky situation with law enforcement and offered to “take care of” someone if they were bothering her.

She had no one she wanted to have “taken care of” . . . except maybe Sen, but she doubted even Isak could go up against Sen and survive.

Isak’s concern for her safety stirred up strange feelings and tugged at her emotions. Especially the night she’d shared a private meal with him and seen the charming side of this black-ops soldier.

He leaned down and surprised her with a tender kiss. His lips were firm and hot for the two seconds their mouths touched. When he lifted up, his eyes gleamed with keen interest.

Heat shivered over her skin.

She liked Isak, but spending time with him added one more problem to her unending list, and she had enough sense to keep her distance from a man so intensely sexual.

Or not, if she considered that she spent so much time with Storm, who had ruined her chance at a quick nap after
his
kiss.

She’d never had a man in her life who’d been more than a friend and had never wanted a relationship with any man, but now she had two showing decidedly male interest and . . . to be honest, she was starting to like the attention.

Storm and Isak were as different as two men could be except for when it came to their protectiveness around her.

Isak smiled with sly humor. “One of these days, I’m going to find out what’s going on behind those dark sunglasses.”

Let’s hope not.
She returned his smile. “We’ll have to get back to that over the dinner I owe you.” She hoped he wouldn’t take that as an invitation to kidnap her again. “But I’ve got to run.”

And she would run all the way to her bike, just as soon as she determined which direction he took. That way she
could take a detour even if she had to circle back around. She didn’t want him to see that she’d spray painted her beautiful gold bike black, or he’d ask more questions.

His radio crackled. He lifted it from his vest and keyed the button. After a quick exchange with one of his men, who had located a wide patch of fog, Isak put his radio back. “I’ve got to go, too. Where’s your bike?”

“Just another block over that way.” She pointed because it was in the opposite direction of his men. “I’ll watch out for the fog.”

“One more thing?”

“Yes?”

“Why is a man by the name of Tzader Burke looking for you?”

Uh-oh. She had zero acting ability but gave a casual shrug and tried to keep the worry from her voice. “I don’t know. How do you know him?”

“I know
of
him.”

Just how much did Isak know “of” Tzader? “How do you know he’s looking for me?”

“He contacted me wanting to know if I’d seen you on any of our surveillance equipment.”

If Tzader had reached out to Isak for help, then he was really worried. This would turn into the night of living hell if the Tribunal caught her communicating with Tzader or Quinn. “Why did he want to find me?”

“Didn’t say. Do you want to be found?”

More than anything she’d have loved to have Tzader and Quinn at her side, but not at the cost of the Tribunal’s wrath. “No.”

“Okay.”

Her heart stuttered at how quickly Isak agreed to shield her even when he didn’t know why.

He asked in an overly curious tone, “How do
you
know Tzader?”

She had no idea what Tzader had said and couldn’t deny knowing him.

Taking a step back to indicate she was leaving, she said, “I ran into him at the morgue a couple times. Not my type.”

That relaxed the stern lines between Isak’s eyes. “I don’t like him stalking you. Next time we meet, I’ll know everything there is to know about Tzader Burke, so you won’t have to worry about him again.”

She could not let Isak turn his formidable resources on Tzader. “That’s not necessary. He’s a friend, that’s all.”

Isak nodded and allowed her to leave without more questions. She wished that meant he accepted her explanation and wouldn’t go snooping around about Tzader, but she knew better.

If she got out of this mess with the Tribunal, Isak would get that dinner she owed him.

TWENTY-ONE