Deadly Is the Kiss (3 page)

Without uttering a single word, he reached down and snagged her wrist with one of his big, callused hands, dragging her deeper into the shadows of the narrow lane. Darkened shop fronts lined both sides of the cobblestone path, a few flickering neon signs that had been left glowing in their windows sending strange splashes of color across the thickening evening shadows. They quickly reached another narrow pedestrian cross street, and he turned right, dragging her deeper into the mazelike network of historic buildings, the sounds of traffic and chattering voices growing fainter. Juliana would have objected, if it weren’t for the fact that she knew the conversation they were about to have would be best done away from listening ears. After all, she was now an escaped convict who would be on the run for her life as soon as her absence was discovered in the Wasteland. Since he was sure to say as much, the more privacy they had the better.

Moving so quickly she barely had time to gasp, he turned and snagged the pack from her shoulder, tossing it to the ground. Within the blink of an eye, he had her trapped against a brick section of wall, both hands locking around her wrists, pressing them flat on either side of her head, the submissive position sending a surge of panic through her veins. To make it worse, he pressed the long, tense length of his much larger body into hers, his muscles rippling and vibrating with power, and she could feel the heavy weight of an impressive erection pressing against her stomach as she tilted her head back to hold his stare. But he wasn’t looking in her eyes. He was staring at her mouth with a kind of primal, savage intensity that made her heart pound so fiercely she thought it might burst from her chest.

When he finally spoke, his voice was low and guttural. “What the hell are you doing in London?”

Juliana swallowed, then licked her lips, ignoring his question so that she could ask one of her own. “How did you find me?”

It seemed difficult for him, but he managed to rip his gaze away from her mouth, locking it with hers. “You first.”

“I’m here because of you. I…I came here to find you.”

His dark brows drew together as he glared down at her, so close she could see the brighter flecks of silver within the darkening gray. “Why in God’s name would you do that?”

She flinched under the raw force of his gaze, struggling to control the tremor in her voice. “Because I need your help.”

His laugh was ugly and mean, as was the snide grin that lifted the corner of his mouth. “I’m a Förmyndare soldier and you’re an escaped convict, lady. What makes you think I won’t just haul your little ass back to the Wasteland, where it belongs?”

CHAPTER TWO

J
ULIANA
LIFTED
HER
CHIN
,
refusing to let the angry vampire see how much his words terrified her. “I thought you were working as part of S.T.U.D. now.”

“We call it Specs,” he muttered, the scowl on his face making it clear that he didn’t care for the nickname she’d used. He and his friends had recently formed a new cross-species hunting unit known as the Specialized Teams for a Unified Defense, or S.T.U.D. for short. She’d heard that Kellan Scott, an irrepressible Lycan with a warped sense of humor, was determined to spread the nickname, but Ashe obviously had different ideas.

“I might spend the majority of my time with Specs, but I’m still bound by my oath to the Förmyndares,” he went on, forcing the words through his clenched teeth. “So you’d better start talking. Fast.”

Though she knew it was ridiculous to push him, considering her situation, she couldn’t control the burst of frustration that had her shouting, “You can be such an ass, Granger! I’m sick of you treating me like a criminal!”

His grip on her wrists tightened, nostrils flaring as he drew in a sharp breath. “Have you given me any reason to think otherwise?”

“I’ve given you many! Did I or did I not help you and your friends in the Wasteland?”

His voice was so tight it snapped. “You did. But you’ve always refused to explain why you were there. That hardly inspires confidence or the desire to believe what you say, Juliana.”

“Maybe I refuse to explain because it’s none of your bloody business! Did you ever think of that?”

She could feel his own frustration being shaped into something ugly and raw, his voice little more than a growl as he said, “I have a right to know, damn it.”

She blinked with shock, an angry retort dying on her lips. Breathlessly, she said, “What? Why? What could possibly give you such a right? Have you lost your mind?”

“Getting there,” he muttered under his breath, his face suddenly closer. He stared so deep into her eyes, she could feel his warmth surging inside her, roiling like a molten sea of fire, sweeping through the cold hollows of her soul. “You have so many secrets,” he said softly. “What are you so bloody afraid of? Why do I scent fear on you every time I get near you?”

“I’m not afraid of you,” she argued, but the trembling of her voice said otherwise.

“You are,” he countered, watching her with dark, hooded eyes. “And I want to know why. I want to know every goddamn secret you’re keeping from me.”

She recoiled, that sumptuous burn of heat dissipating as quickly as it came, leaving her even colder than before. She could never let him know the humiliating truth of her mistakes, or the full price that she’d paid for them. It was so much easier to accept his anger and frustration than to face his pity.

Closing her eyes, Juliana forced the argument back on topic. “I came here because I need your help, Ashe. My family’s compound was attacked last week. There were serious casualties. I lost five cousins and one of my uncles.” She lifted her lashes, imploring him to believe her. “And before you say it, no, it wasn’t rogue vampires encroaching on our land. This was a professional hit, and more are coming. I need to put a stop to it.”

His eyes darkened with disbelief. “How did you get out?”

“Within a few days of the attack, I received a package.”

“From who?”

She shook her head. “That’s just it. I don’t know. It was left outside the gates of our compound, addressed to me. Inside I found detailed directions to a secret passage that isn’t bound by the banishment spells that control the Wasteland’s borders. That’s how I was able to escape.”

“If the Sabins are in danger, why didn’t you bring anyone with you?” he asked, his tone heavy with skepticism.

“I wanted to, but I was warned that if I tried to bring anyone else, an alarm would be raised.” She took a deep breath, choking back a groan at the way it pushed her breasts tighter against his chest. He didn’t say anything, but his jaw looked harder, as if he was gritting his teeth, and he pulled back a few inches, putting more space between them while still keeping his grip on her wrists.

Feeling her face warm with a ridiculous blush, Juliana continued with her explanation. “When I made it past the boundaries of the Wasteland, I found the pack you just tossed on the ground waiting for me. It had money and clothes inside, as well as several travel documents with my picture and false names on them. It also contained a note telling me that our lives were in danger, and that you could help me. It said to look for you in London.”

“Why would someone go to all that trouble to help you?”

Without his incredible heat pressed against her, she shivered even more from the cold, her teeth chattering as she answered his question. “Maybe because whoever it is knows that my family and I were imprisoned without just cause?”

“Were you?”

She lifted her chin again. “Yes. My family is innocent.”

Very softly, he said, “Of what?”

She wet her lips, not wanting to lie to him. “Our supposed crime isn’t important. What’s important is the fact that my family’s in danger.”

Finally releasing his hold on her wrists, he took a step back, his hands shoved in his front pockets. It wasn’t a casual stance, his muscles bulging, shoulders looking broader than ever. She’d never really understood how big he was until now, standing alone with him in this deserted lane, with no one else around.

“You want my help, you talk, Juliana. Otherwise I’ll use my phone to place a call, and you’ll have an escort back to prison before you can blink.”

“Fine,” she breathed out, knowing she would have to choose her words with care. He was too bloody smart for his own good, and she’d never been talented at deception. The best plan would be to stick as close to the truth as she could, without giving too much away.

His voice got harder. “Your seconds are ticking down, Juliana.”

“All right.” She closed her eyes, took another deep breath, then opened them as she said, “My parents were convicted of conspiring to bring down the Deschanel Council. Only it was a lie. But the one who made the claim convinced the Council otherwise, saying that our entire family was in on the plot.”

“They had evidence?”

“No, nothing substantial,” she told him, crossing her arms over her chest in an attempt to cover her breasts, sharply aware of the way his gaze kept sweeping over them. “Just this person’s word against ours. The Council was divided about how to act, so they banished us instead of a formal execution.”

He studied her through piercing eyes, his expression impossible to read. “It would take a powerful enemy to convince the Council to act without solid proof.”

“Yes, it would.”

When it became apparent she wasn’t going to say anything more, he jerked his chin. “We’ll get back to that. For now, I want to know what the hell you think I can do to help you.”

“In addition to the information about you, the pack that was left for me also contained another letter. It said that if I brought proof of the assassination orders that have been taken out against my family before the Council, they’ll be forced to overrule our sentence and free us, since the orders would be evidence of the original conspiracy against us.”

His laugh was ragged. “That’s a long shot if I ever heard one. And assassination orders are going to be damn hard to prove.” Ashe knew, because he’d had experience with them before. The Assassin’s League hadn’t remained a powerful underground entity for centuries because they were careless or stupid. And their system was nearly flawless.

If you wanted someone taken out, an anonymous payment was deposited into one of the highly secure accounts administered by the League. The size of the sum deposited determined how many League assassins would vie for the job, and payment was based on a first-kill basis.

If enough money had been paid in on the Sabins’ blood, they would soon have all the forces of hell coming after them. And the League was the perfect venue, making it nearly impossible to trace where the order had come from.

In order to prove her claim, Juliana would have to take something substantial to the Council. A solid piece of evidence, some kind of proof of monetary exchange with the Assassin’s League, and it wouldn’t be easy to get.

“Considering how flimsy the claims against us were,” she said, “the Council would be grossly negligent not to take action.”

Ashe responded with a masculine snort. “It wouldn’t be the first time those ol’ bastards were negligent, and it probably won’t be the last.”

“I realize that. But this is the only choice I’ve got, and I’m taking it.”

“The only choice you’ve got,” he murmured under his breath, as if he were merely voicing his thoughts out loud. She could practically see the wheels turning in his head as he crunched the details together, the raw intensity of his dark stare making her feel as if he could read her mind. “You know, I’ve always found it strange—the way you’re so determined to take responsibility for your family.”

Going on the defensive, she arched one of her brows. “Are you a sexist, Ashe? Do you find it odd that a woman can take a position of authority?”

“I have no trouble with the concept of a powerful woman,” he replied, failing to rise to her taunting. “But that kind of responsibility usually comes with age.” A slight frown settled between his brows. “Exactly how old are you, anyway?”

Feeling oddly as if she were walking into some kind of trap, but unable to find it, Juliana answered him truthfully. “I’ll be twenty-eight this year.”

It was impossible to miss his surprise, those beautiful eyes going wide with shock. “Twenty-eight? Jesus, for a Deschanel, you’re practically a babe!”

Juliana resisted the impulse to roll her eyes. “I’m hardly a child, Ashe.”

His low grunt said he didn’t particularly agree. Then he surprised her with another odd question. “How is it that your family is so well-off at the compound?”

“What are you talking about?”

His gaze became sharper, his focus so intense she felt like a criminal undergoing interrogation. “I’m not blind, Juliana. You have guards in the Wasteland…a small contingent of servants. Yes, it’s like living in medieval times, but you have a certain degree of protection, when you should have nothing at all. Who’s responsible for that?”

“I… We don’t know,” she said with all honesty.

Sarcasm edged his words. “Just gifts from a benevolent benefactor?”

“I don’t know,” she said more forcefully, her own misgivings about their situation bleeding into her words. “I’ve always assumed it was arranged by someone on my mother’s side of the family who felt sorry for us. But they aren’t the ones helping me now. They’re very reclusive. They would never be able to orchestrate something like my escape. I doubt they even know what assassination orders are!”

Flicking a look toward the pack that was lying by her feet, he asked, “Can I see these letters?”

Her shoulders fell. “I’m afraid not. There were instructions to destroy them, so I did.”

He gave a dry laugh as those pure gray eyes reconnected with hers. “Tell me, Jules. If your secret champion told you to find me in London, why didn’t he or she tell you where I was staying?”