Blood Secrets-Valorian 1 (19 page)

Eve struggled and wriggled, trying to break his firm hold on her. She refused to be this guy’s snack. She would not be a victim like Lillian Crawford had been.

“I bet you’re going to taste better than the girl. I wish I could screw you first.”

“Not before I screw you,” Eve grunted as she brought her knee up right between the suspect’s legs.

He might be a vampire, but the guy still had the usual equipment. By the tortured look on his face, Eve had landed a direct hit.

Grunting, Mel released his hold on her head and brought his hand up to his crotch. While he was preoccupied thinking about the pain, Eve kneed him again and twisted her body to push him off. The move worked and she was able to roll away from him. However, as she pushed to her knees, he was on her again, grabbing her by the hair and pressing her into the cement face-first.

Her cheek scraped against the asphalt as he pushed on her head. She clamped her eyes shut when she felt hot air on the side of her neck. Holding her breath, she waited for the sharp pinch of his teeth on her flesh.

As random thoughts crossed her mind in the moment of panic, images of Caine dominated her vision. Where was he? Hadn’t he heard her scream? She didn’t want to die without telling him how she felt. How she wanted him. How she’d never met someone she respected and admired as much as she did him. That she saw past the vampire and glimpsed the real man inside. A man she wanted to know and possibly love.

The first pinch of pain seared through her as he sliced her skin with his fangs. A warm rivulet of blood ran down her neck to drip on the pavement beneath her. She sucked in a ragged breath expecting the next onslaught of agony.

But it didn’t come. Not for her anyway.

Before she could blink, Mel tumbled off her body. Shuddering from the rush of adrenaline, Eve managed to lift her head to see what was happening.

A few feet away, Caine and Mel wrestled on the ground. It proved to be a short battle with Caine on top. He sat on the other vampire’s chest and punched him in the face several times fast. So quick Eve barely saw his arm move. But glancing at Mel’s bloodied nose and lips, there was no doubt that Caine had landed several solid blows. The blood staining Caine’s shirt proved that Mel had inflicted his own injuries, too.

Caine raised his arm again, but Mahina was there restraining him.

“That’s enough, Caine. You made your point.”

Shrugging off Mahina’s hold, Caine stood and took a step away from Mel’s writhing form. He turned toward Eve and she gasped in shock. His face was contorted in rage.

Even in the dark, she could feel the menace of his gaze. It was like looking into the dark pit of something she didn’t want to name. She knew the menacing look wasn’t meant for her, that he had saved her life, but she couldn’t stop the shivers of dread from racking her body.

Taking in a ragged breath, she tried to push up. Detective Calder was next to her, grabbing her arm and helping Eve to her feet.

“Are you okay? Anything broken?” Ren asked as he searched Eve’s face and body for serious wounds.

Lifting her hand, Eve touched the side of her neck. Her fingers came away tacky with blood. But it didn’t feel like she was bleeding any longer.

Ren must have noticed the look of horror on her face. “He didn’t pierce your artery. Just nicked the skin. Don’t worry, you won’t be growing fangs anytime soon.”

Sirens pierced the early morning air. An ambulance and a police cruiser raced up the road toward the scene. Ren held Eve’s arm and directed her toward the approaching ambulance.

“Let’s get you looked at.”

“What about Lyra?” Eve asked, suddenly remembering Lyra’s knock to the head.

“She’s fine. Being looked after, too.”

As they shuffled across the pavement, Eve glanced over at Caine. He was watching her, his hands still clenched into tight fists. Jace was at his side, talking rapidly to him. But Caine never took his eyes away from her, as if Jace was not there. The dark look on his face was replaced with one of anguish and despair. Eve thought he looked so sad, tortured even, as if he had done something terrible, instead of saving her life.

Reaching to his side, she held her hand out to him as she passed. He lifted his arm toward her. Their fingers brushed against each other.

Eve felt the electricity sparking between them. The air suddenly filled with current and it all but sizzled over her flesh as the tips of their fingers touched. She wanted the sensation to last. Wanted to hold on to the way it tingled over her whole body.

But it soon passed as they were both ushered in separate directions to take care of their respective injuries.

“W hat you have on my client is tentative at best, Captain Garner,” the hawklike lawyer rattled off as he fidgeted in his seat next to Mel Howard in the interrogation room.

Caine watched through the two-way glass as Mahina smiled her I-got-you-by-the-balls smile and slid a piece of paper across the table toward the lawyer. It was the lab results on Mel’s DNA. It matched what they had found on Lillian Crawford. Mel had had sex with her and had bitten her on the neck.

While the lawyer looked over the results, Mel stared straight ahead toward the mirror. He had a little smirk on his beat-up face. As Caine eyed Mel’s injuries, his only regret was that he hadn’t finished the job. For the first time in a long time, he had felt the urge to destroy another being. Remembering what Mel had done to Eve made him shudder with fury all over again.

Caine risked a glance to the side at Eve. She stood on the other side of Lyra, her hands clasped tightly together, watching the interrogation. He wondered how she was feeling, if seeing the suspect made her afraid or angry. He had a desperate urge to soothe her. To walk over to her, wrap her in his arms and never let go. However, as the case was nearly closed, the thought was futile. She’d be going home by dinnertime.

He turned back to the room and watched as Mel’s lawyer fidgeted even more in his seat.

“This just proves that my client had sex with the victim and took blood. Neither is illegal.

It doesn’t prove he killed her.”

With a lift of her brow, Mahina slid a sealed evidence bag across the table. Inside was the knife Caine had found in the closet of the suspect’s bedroom when they did a thorough search of his residence after Mel had been handcuffed and taken away.

“This is the knife we found in your client’s bedroom, with the victim’s blood on it.” She pointed to another sealed evidence bag with a .38 Smith & Wesson inside. Jace had found the gun in the garage, in the suspect’s vehicle. “This is the gun that killed Jamie Duncan.

Ballistics matched the bullet pulled from Jamie Duncan’s head. Your client’s buddy and co-accomplice in the Lillian Crawford murder.” Pausing, she cocked her head. “Should I go on, counselor?”

The lawyer glanced sideways at his client. Mel hadn’t as much as flinched since being in the room. It was almost as if he was in some sort of trance.

Looking back down at his briefcase, the lawyer grabbed the handle and stood. “I guess there’s nothing left to talk about. We’ll see you in court.”

“Yes, you will,” Mahina said as she gathered the evidence together.

“You can’t stop it.”

Everyone in the observation room flinched away from the window when Mel spoke, the sound so deep, so menacing, that to Caine it didn’t seem like his voice at all.

Mahina instinctively raised her hand to her belt, very near to where her gun was holstered.

“What’s that, Mel?”

Mel smiled and sprang forward in his chair as if on a wire coil. “It’s already begun. He’s coming.”

Lyra glanced at Caine, a look of horror on the witch’s face. “He’s talking about Balam.”

Caine shook his head. “It’s just a ploy, Lyra. The guy’s trying to rattle some cages. He knows he’s going down for a long time.”

“Who’s coming?” Mahina asked.

Mel stood and leaned over the table, leering at the mirrored window. “He’s coming for you, sweet thing. He’s already had a taste of your blood, and he likes it.”

Gasping, Eve turned from the window with her hand on her bandaged neck. Caine sensed the room filling with fear. Eve’s fear.

Mahina motioned to the guard in the room. “Get him out of here.”

The guard made a grab for Mel, but he danced out of the way and ran at the window. He smashed into it, opening up fresh wounds on his face. Blood splattered across the glass and ran down in thin lines.

“I can smell you, sweet thing! I can feel your fear!”

Caine crossed the room in two strides, gathering Eve in his arms. She didn’t resist, but grabbed on to him in desperation.

“We got him, Eve. He can’t hurt you.”

While he stroked her hair and rocked her gently, two guards dragged Mel out of the room.

Mahina followed them out. Jace and Lyra huddled together in the corner and remained in respectful silence as Caine comforted Eve.

She didn’t cry, but he could feel her whole body vibrate with trepidation. He wished he could take it away from her. Take away the attack. But he couldn’t. It was his fault she’d been attacked. He shouldn’t have left her with Lyra. He should’ve stayed with her, or kept her with him. But he had been afraid of seeing her hurt. But in the end, she had been injured regardless.

He had failed to keep her safe.

The door to the small room opened and Mahina ambled in. She peered around at their faces. “Why so grim? We got the bastard on two counts of murder one. The Crimson boys are all facing charges of federal trespassing. We’ve done one hell of a job.”

Clearing her throat, Eve pushed out of Caine’s embrace. She took a deep breath and smoothed down the wrinkles on her blouse.

“You’re not worried over his outburst, I hope.” Mahina eyed Eve. “Girl, he’s so full of crap my eyes were watering from the stink.”

Jace burst out laughing first. Then Lyra. Caine glanced at Eve and he saw her lips twitch.

She looked up and caught his gaze. They both started laughing at the same time. When the five of them were finished laughing, Caine’s stomach hurt from the effort.

Sobering, he looked at each of his team members and nodded, thinking how great each and every one of them was. “Good work, everyone. This was definitely a team effort.”

His gaze lingered on Eve. “We did right by Lillian Crawford.”

She smiled and nodded. “Yes, we did.”

As everyone went around the room congratulating each other, Caine continued to watch Eve. She smiled when Lyra hugged her, and nodded politely when Mahina shook her hand. She was a strong woman, a lot stronger than she gave herself credit for. She thought she was weak for needing to be comforted, but she was so wrong. She was one of the strongest women he’d ever met.

She’d come to a foreign place without any knowledge of what she truly faced and dived in without complaint. She’d been attacked three times, faced danger and death, and still she charged forward. He admired that. Most people would tuck tail and run.

Jace came up to Caine and shook his hand. “Well, Chief, I’m out of here. I’m going to go sleep for a week.”

“I don’t know about a week, but I’ll give you two days.”

Smiling, Jace clapped him on the shoulder. “I’ll take it.” He then turned toward Eve.

“Have a safe trip back.”

She gave him a half smile. “Thank you, I will.”

After Jace left, Lyra approached Eve and hugged her again. “I’m not usually a touchy-feely person, but I felt like I needed to hug you again.”

Eve chuckled. “Well, I appreciate it.”

“Gran says to be safe.”

“I plan on it.”

After nodding to Caine, Lyra bounded out of the room. That left Mahina. With a hint of a smile on her face, she nodded to Caine, then Eve. With a salute, she was gone.

Now, they were alone, and the tension solidified.

Caine turned toward her and offered his hand. She took it.

They stood a foot apart, hands clasped, gazing into each other’s eyes. Caine searched her face for a sign of her true feelings. He could sense confusion, desire and apprehension wafting off her.

For the past five days he’d pulled her in and pushed her away. Afraid for her, and afraid of her. He was as confused as she: about what happened between them, what hadn’t and what they both wanted.

Eventually, she shied away and dropped her gaze, pulling her hand from his. “I’m packed already. My suitcase is in the staff room. I don’t have to go back to the hotel.”

“I talked to your captain, and told him what a great job you did, and that you should be commended. I also mentioned maybe a raise in your salary. You certainly earned it.”

“Thank you.” She pulled at the creases in her blouse again, then stepped toward the door.

Caine stopped her with a hand on her arm. “Have dinner with me,” he blurted out, not letting her back away from him. He could see the retreat in her eyes. He’d never have this moment again, and he didn’t want to walk away from it knowing he could experience something magical with this woman.

“Caine, it’s only two o’clock.”

“Lunch then,” he said with a smile.

“Why?”

Raising his hand, he captured one of her stray curls in his fingers and tucked it behind her ear. “I want to show you that not all vampires are like that. Bad, evil. That vampires can show affection and…love.”

A single tear trickled down her cheek. He wiped it away with his thumb. That was all the answer he needed.

“I know you’re a good man, Caine. You don’t need to prove it to me.” She grabbed his hand on her cheek and squeezed it. “Give me another reason.”

“Then because I want to.”

She pursed her lips together, and then nodded. “Good answer. Where are we going for lunch?”

“My place.”

T hrumming with nervous energy, Caine unlocked the door to his town house. Even his hand quivered a little. The ride over had been one of uncomfortable silence.

Standing aside, he let Eve enter first. Without looking at him, she stepped over the threshold and stood to the side of the door, as if she were frightened to go farther.

He could feel her nervousness like electricity over his skin. It brought the little hairs on his arms to attention. He liked that she was nervous, though, and not afraid. He didn’t think he could handle that.