Dragon's Blood (Black Planet Book 1) (6 page)

She was as far back in the shadows as possible, the black of her suit merging into the darkness. He hopped lightly to the ledge, and looked deeply into her eyes. She was frightened, but had overcome the panic that had compelled her to run like a panicked rabbit.

“It was watching. There was a man, an Asian man, I think. It was hard to see his face. I’m not sure if he’s it but the monster was there. I felt its…hunger. We need to go. If we stick together, we might be able to spot it.”

His fingers grazed her cheek. “Okay, we’ll do that. But first off, how’re you doing?”

She stood very still under his touch, letting it calm her racing heart. “I’m okay. My ribs are bruised, but other than that, I’m good.”

“How are you otherwise?”

She started to tell him that she was fine, no fear, no panic, but she couldn’t. Annie opted for the truth. “I’m terrified. I ran, got just down the street a ways and realized I’d left you behind. So stupid.” She stepped away from his hand, shaking her head in self-disgust. “I owe you an apology. I saw the eyes and just bolted. I abandoned you.”

“Oh, Annie.” He reached out and took both her hands, inspecting bruised, battered knuckles. “You were amped on adrenaline. Of course you bolted when the fear registered. It might be good, might confuse him.” He pulled her forward and wrapped his arms around her, holding her tight. Bit by bit, she relaxed into his embrace.

Unable to resist, he moved closer, wrapping his arms around her, holding her tight. She pressed her cheek to his chest. She stood there listening to the steady beat of his heart, to the sound of his breathing. How long had it been since anyone had held her? Kept her safe? Annie rubbed her face against his chest, her tears soaked into the rough fabric of his jacket.

“God, Annie.” Aiden gathered her closer, cradling her head in the palm of his hand. He dropped a kiss to her forehead and then rested his chin on her hair, letting his eyes close.

“I’m sorry.” Her whisper was hoarse with tears. “I’m not usually like this.”

“No, you’re always the strong one, aren’t you? Just for now, let it go and let someone else be strong, even for a couple minutes.” She nodded against his chest. She smelled good. She always did, it was an odd mixture of herbs and incense and her own body. Even back when they’d been new detectives, he’d always loved her scent. Now, the exotic spices of his liniment blended into her usual fragrance. He inhaled, savoring the moment.

When she leaned away, trying to break free, he wouldn’t allow her, and the kiss that followed was the most natural thing in the world.

Their lips traced together like silk. Only the slightest pressure joined them. Aiden brought one hand up, supporting her head, controlling the kiss, controlling her breathing, her very heart rate. She allowed her lips to part just the slightest bit and he pressed his advantage, tasting, teasing, and finally taking her completely in a kiss that left them both shaking.

“I’ve wanted to do that for a very long time.” He said.

She looked steadily up into his face, her slightly battered face soft and vulnerable. He’d been her friend and her partner, her enemy for a time. She’d never looked at him

like this before. “How long?” She asked.

“Too long, Annie.” The softness faded, leaving him slightly bereft.

She stepped back, out of his embrace, but still touching. “Don’t say that, Aiden.”

“Before Lisa died. I don’t know when I knew, just one day I looked at you and I wanted to kiss you.”

She looked up at him, and he was shaken by the sadness on his face.

“I loved my wife, I really did, Annie. And one day I looked at you and loved you as well. Why do you think I turned away from you after she was killed?” Saying it should free his soul, even just a tiny bit. Instead, the expression on her face crushed him, and once again, he relived that old feeling of guilt.

Guilt. Not survivor’s guilt like hers, but the primal emotion that whispers dark thoughts.
Perhaps this happened because I was unfaithful. Perhaps this happened because I willed it
.

“She’s gone, Aiden. Neither of us was at fault.” He nodded, swallowed, and his eyes burned with tears, long unshed. “We can only deal with it. Deal with the killer. And then we go on.”

“Together?”

“I don’t know, Aiden. I really don’t know.” She took another step back, gathering her self-possession. “We need to go.”

He nodded, following her example, and pulled himself back under control. “Where do we start? Back at the ring?”

“Yeah, then we’ll work our way back to the outer wall.”

“It’ll go faster if we split up.”

She turned and looked up at him, staring until he felt more than a little humbled.

“Okay, okay, I’m food and it can smell me.” He laughed uneasily.

“If it’s trailing you, it’ll have to deal with us both. And this time, it won’t win.”

* * *

T
he trail had gone
cold fast. In fact, there wasn’t a trail. They canvassed the area using her instincts and his senses, to no avail. In frustration, they returned to Annie’s home, high above the alleys and waterways. She had a high tech lock installed on her door, and even to Aiden’s critical eye, the place looked secure. She slid the panel door aside, allowing him in. Apparently her family had lived here for years. The small apartment was spotlessly clean and spare.

Against the window-lined wall, several bonsai grew and flourished. Many were ancient, some very young. He went across the room to look. He’d never seen anything like them. Not in person.

“My grandfather Tanaka taught me about bonsai.”

He squatted, looking at one that must surely be ancient. It was an evergreen, perhaps a cedar. The trunk of the tree was twisted and gnarled, graceful and elegant in its antiquity.

She disappeared into a room and within moments Aiden heard the water running. He grinned. She probably got only cold water here unless she had a small solar heater, and given the foggy conditions of San Fran, that wouldn’t be particularly effective.

He was grimy as well and now regretted the decision to stop by her place. His big tub would be a welcome indulgence. The water shut off, and she emerged wearing a thigh length silk kimono and a towel wrapped around her hair.

“That was fast.”

She grinned and tossed him a dry towel. “See how long you can stand it!”

He caught the towel and she laughed, walking into the kitchen. He heard the clatter of pans and smelled the heat of a propane fueled flame. When she didn’t return, he walked into the small bathroom and looked around, smiling at the row of orchids along the broad sill of the open window. Plants flourished at her touch.

The shower stall was small, and rather than being lined with brittle plastic or salvaged tile, it was tiled with rock—round river rocks on the walls, flat, shimmering granite on the floor. There was no retaining divider from the rest of the room, the water ran from the shower to a drain on the floor. It probably led to a recycling tank. Or even straight out to the bay.

Once under the frigid water, Aiden saw the point in showering as quickly as possible. He was still hot and sweaty from their journey through the underbelly and upper reaches of Wharf. The cold water nearly sizzled on his overheated skin.

He thought back to that rooftop kiss, the press of her body against his, and for a brief moment his cock made a valiant effort to stand forth against the chill of the water, only to retreat. He laughed quietly.

The need in his heart lingered.

He quickly toweled off and wrapped himself in a robe she’d left hanging on the door. It was navy blue silk, delicately painted with white cranes. He slipped on a pair of scuff sandals she’d left outside the door. Annie was such an interesting blend of cultures with her Japanese slippers and bonsai, her Chinese robes and rooftop shrine to General Kwan. Kwan was the protector of martial artists and soldiers. The General stood guard over his home as well.

Aiden toweled his hair and then finger-combed his thick curls. They’d be unruly regardless of how he dried them so he just let them coil in on themselves. Lisa had kept him in neat trim. He’d grown sloppy over the years. It had been a while since he cared what he looked like. Suddenly, it seemed important again.

Annie had disappeared. He heard noise in what he assumed was the kitchen and pushed through the door.

“Is pasta okay?”

A pot of water boiled violently on the stove. There was a deli container of Parsottie’s Best Marinara on the counter. He grinned. It was three a.m. and she was cooking.

His stomach rumbled.

* * *

O
nce the pasta was ready
, they took their plates to a table by a window. They ate while looking out over the rooftops to the bay. He could see Oakland gleaming across the water. Alcatraz Island was a dark smudge in the night. The view was as elegant as that of a top rated restaurant.

“So, what do we do next, Chen?” She soaked up a bit of red sauce on a crust of bread and looked at him expectantly.

“Fighting or the investigation?” He decided to forget his refusal to help. Now he was invested in the hunt. And he was intrigued.

“Both. I think it came out to look at me. Maybe it remembers me from before. The last body was a week ago. We’ve got about three days.” Greene’s people had complied a rough profile. The thing was killing about every ten days.

That wasn’t much time. Annie was in rough shape from that last fight. She needed time to recover. But how else were they to track and lure the killer?

“There’re matches almost every night in the City. I could talk to some people.” He looked down at his plate, unhappy to bring up the topic of another fight.

“Okay, but aren’t the City fight a little high stakes for me?”

“Not you. Me.” He looked at her. “It’s after me, isn’t it?”

Annie looked stricken. So, she did care, and more than a little. Or maybe she was still locked in her terror of the beast. She set down her fork and folded her hands on the edge of the table. In all their hours of training and preparation, they’d both ignored the fact that he wasn’t just a coach, he was a fighter. An elite fighter. Many didn’t survive the City matches.

“It’ll be good, Annie. Out there, I won’t be the only target. And I’ll have you free to watch my back.” It made sense. And it kept her safe a little longer.

She bit her lip, and he fixated on her sweet, bee-stung mouth. She wasn’t wearing make-up, but her lips were rose-red, her teeth straight and white. She looked up, saw him staring and even in the dim light, he saw color rise to her cheeks. He looked away, out the window. Cool breeze swept in, ruffling his hair.

Lisa would never have allowed him to let it grow so long. Annie liked it. He’d caught her looking more than once. She was looking now.

She cleared her throat and picked up her fork. Her vulnerable moment had passed. “I’m just not that familiar with the City. I’d have a better chance hunting it here in Wharf.”

“Then I can look for a match here. Tell folks I’m getting back to the alleys, looking for raw talent. Would that work for you?”

“Yes, that would be better.”

She still looked troubled. Her black hair was damp. It tumbled down her white silk robe in an inky spill. She looked at him fully. “Why’d you come back to Wharf? You and Lisa had such a nice place in the City. You really didn’t grow up here.”

“Yeah, I did. Not full time -- I spent more time with my mom outside the walls. But the time with my dad’s family was good. I learned boxing outside, kung-fu in Wharf.”

She didn’t release him from that steady gaze. Aiden felt his heart begin to beat faster. The light from the tiny lantern cast an intimate halo around the two of them. Truth beckoned like the song of a siren.

“Why did you come back, Aiden?” Her tone would allow no lies. And he no longer had the heart to be less than honest.

“I came back to be close to you.” His throat tightened around the words, but she heard him.

She sat perfectly upright, her face hidden by shadow.

“I told myself I hated you, Annie, that I’d watch you and someday make you pay. And I did watch you. I’d come in from a fight and sit on a ledge somewhere, watching you on the roof as the sun came up. You were beautiful and perfect and made me see how meaningless my life had become. And I thought I hated you.”