Kiss Of Twilight (3 page)

There was nothing out of the ordinary about the room. The king sized bed was made and an overnight bag sat on top of the dresser next to a silent television. Dupree rifled through the bag but it contained nothing but clothes. He checked the drawers and bathroom, then moved to the little alcove in the corner where the desk was. He couldn't see a laptop or briefcase, but he had to check everywhere. As he approached he could see nothing was hidden under the chairs or beneath the desk, but there was a pen and pad of paper.

He picked up the pad and felt the icy fingers of dread crawl up his spine. There were two phone numbers, no names attached, but he didn't need them. The first number was headquarters, which Dupree already knew from Contee's phone he'd called. The second was Kara's cell phone.

Kara Stone spotted the ghost as soon as she pulled her car into the parking lot. The woman was wearing jeans and a long sleeved T-shirt, with her hair pulled back in a pony tail. The spirit was wispy. The bottom part of her body, from her knees to her toes, was gone, and the rest was so transparent, Kara couldn't believe the spirit could hold the form. She flickered. Yep. Not long for this world. Eventually all the ghosts Kara had known had faded out of existence. It would begin as a gradual decline. At first after death most were strong enough to communicate and appeared whole, but months or sometimes years later that strength of will or soul or whatever it was that kept them bound to the living slipped away from them. Once the body began to fade, Kara knew it wouldn't be long.

She didn't wonder what the ghost was doing hanging around a law firm in downtown Camden, Georgia. She'd stopped trying to figure out where her mother's ghost would turn up next long ago. Did her damnedest to ignore her actually, and had hoped in the last couple of years she'd willed her ability to see spirits away. Apparently not. It was a shock to see her mother so suddenly again. Kara had wished she'd moved on to a better place if one existed.

Grimacing, Kara grabbed her bag and stepped out of the car. It was hours from noon and already sweltering. She could feel the heat from the blacktop under her low pumps, and was glad she'd picked the light linen skirt and top. After smoothing them down, she patted her braid but she could already feel tendrils of wild curls pulling loose. She'd look like a poodle having a bad hair day by the time she got back to the nightwalker mansion where she was currently living.

She locked up the car and headed to the building's front door, feeling like she was treading water. The humidity was so damned thick she could feel her makeup melting off. Heat rose off the pavement in shimmering waves.

The spirit followed her, but didn't communicate and Kara tried to ignore her. She'd seen her mother's spirit since the day after she died, when Kara was just four years old. She didn't remember that night and counted it a blessing. Their home had been attacked by demons. Order soldiers had been tracking the demons, but were too late to save Kara's parents. Since she had no one else Ben had taken her in and raised her, put her through college and given her a job. Thinking of Ben was a wrenching combination of bitterness, sorrow and fury and she tried not to. She couldn't handle that guilt today. The questions that would never be answered.

Why hadn't she seen it when he'd gone rogue? She was closer to him than everyone but Nancy. Not that that was saying much. Ben kept himself distant and controlled. Remote. She'd learned as a child to hoard every smile, his pleased praise when she accomplished something, his rare laughs. Still, she read him better than most. Why had she bought his story that Nancy had done something so out of character as to go out of town for a few days to visit friends when she knew Kara was going away too? Nancy would never have left him alone. She was open and affectionate. She might not have been in love with her husband, but she cared for him deeply. There was something else there, too, a kind of gratitude Kara had never understood. And she knew, though she and Nancy never spoke of it, that like Kara the older woman felt like an outsider, an interloper, with the full, demon-merged members of the Order.

All of that would change in a few weeks though, when Kara would truly join them by merging her soul with a demon's soul. She wondered if she'd lose her ability to see ghosts after she merged. She wouldn't mind being free of the curse.

She glanced at her mother as she reached for the door, wondering if the ghost would follow her inside. No one else would see the spirit, and she hadn't spoken to her daughter in about a decade, so Kara didn't have to worry about looking like the loony woman who talked to herself. It was unlikely another ghost would show up. She rarely saw two together, and only saw spirits who were connected to her in some way. Her relatives or family of the people she was close to. No random stranger ghosts for her. Thank God.

When she stepped inside, her mother faded away. She would have stopped to stand under the blast of air conditioning if so many people hadn't been moving in and out of the large lobby. Instead, she forced her feet to the bank of elevators and jumped inside one that was half full. She punched the button for the top floor and was the only occupant left when the doors dinged open.

The elevator opened into a large, richly appointed lobby of the lupines' public headquarters. Kara knew from previous visits the offices were just the same. It was the polar opposite of the Order's headquarters a few blocks over. They were drab and bare. Utilitarian. Typical of the Order. She shrugged. Whatever. They got the job done. This place, however, reflected the lupines' love of comfort and sensuality. She found it amusing the lawyers in the firm really were a bunch of wolves. It was even called Wolf and Associates.

The Order found it more cost effective to focus their financial assets on research and development of technology, and to retain the lupines' legal services. The Order even shared their findings with the other races. Especially now that the three were allies, and though the walkers and lupines remained wary of each other, Winter, who was mated to the nightwalker Lord, was trying to change things.

She approached the reception desk, taking in the broad back of the man leaning over and whispering in the attendant's ear. Even from behind she recognized Mitchell, the lupine alpha. A woman didn't forget a man like him. He was tall and built, with a beautifully chiseled face and short dark hair. He was dressed in a very expensive looking tailored suit, and she wondered what business had brought him to town. Straightening, he turned to look her over when she stopped. It wasn't an unfriendly look exactly, but if she hadn't grown up with demon hybrids, some of the deadliest predators in the world, the lupine alpha would have made her very nervous.

"How's our boy?" Mitchell asked.

A shiver went up her spine. Dupree Jackson was hardly a boy and definitely not hers.

"Better than he should be."

He should still be unconscious from the poisoning, but though he was weak and wouldn't be fighting anytime soon, he was up and moving around. Or more to the point, avoiding her.

"Are congratulations in order?" Mitchell asked, with a teasing gleam in his eyes.

She clenched her jaw hard and shook her head. In her dreams. He'd kissed the hell out of her while he'd been lying in bed injured. Her lips tingled at the memory. Hot damn, the man could kiss. She'd felt it through her whole body. Hell, she still did. But there hadn't been any repeats. She'd thought he was going to finally stop fighting the pull between them and instead he kept his distance. It was frustrating as hell.

Mitchell scowled. "The man's an idiot."

She cracked a smile. "I'll tell him you said so."

Mitchell shrugged one elegantly clad shoulder with the simple arrogance of a man totally confident in his fighting abilities. "Go ahead. He can't touch me."

Kara wasn't so sure of that, but she kept the thought to herself. She'd seen Mitchell fight. He was quick and deadly, but then, so was Dupree.

"Are we ready?" she asked the receptionist.

She'd stopped trying to remember their names years ago. They rotated through this office like it was a revolving door. Since Wolf and Associates did a lot of business with humans they tried to keep a human out front. But human women quickly went into testosterone overdose with this crowd. They never lasted long.

"They're waiting in the conference room, Ms. Stone."

She nodded her thanks and, stepping around Mitchell, prepared to be bored out of her mind. Normally, Gia Roberts would be handling this but she'd disappeared and Winter had simply passed Gia's work on to Kara. Since she was Gia's assistant, Kara was the logical choice to take over her duties managing the region's businesses and real estate. Today she was buying several large pieces of property around the city and outskirts.

With Ben rogue, all their compounds and safe houses were compromised. The only way for the hybrids to be safe was to start all over. She'd be meeting construction companies in the next couple of days. At least Gia had set it all up before she disappeared.

Kara's heart sank when she walked into the conference room. The table stretched the length of the room, ten chairs on each side, and at the head of the table was a tall stack of papers. This was going to take more than a couple of hours. No wonder they'd told her to be there at nine. Her hand already ached and she hadn't even started. Sighing, she set her purse on the floor, sat and started signing.

Several hours later, the heat and humidity engulfed her when she stepped outside. She glanced at her phone and groaned when she realized it was right in the middle of rush hour. There was no telling how bad traffic would be getting out of town. It was after six and all the building's side entrances were locked up so she had to exit from the front lobby and walk around back to the lot. Outside of the big revolving doors the street was bumper to bumper and horns blared. If only she'd finished thirty minutes earlier. Damn it. She shoved the phone in the side pocket of her bag, and stepped onto the sidewalk, almost walking through her mother whose shadowy apparition literally appeared out of nowhere. She was shaking her head, trying to tell Kara something but she no longer had the strength for verbal communication. She gestured for Kara to turn around.

Tilting her head, Kara looked the ghost over. It had been so long since she'd attempted to talk to her that Kara wondered if she was even aware of doing it now. Something felt off though, so she didn't immediately discount the ghost's unexpected behavior. She turned to greet Mitchell and one of his pack members when they exited behind her.

"Are you waiting for a ride?" Mitchell asked, clearly confused as to why she was just standing there.

"No. Something just...feels wrong."

She tried to shrug it off, put her hand in her purse to wrap around the comforting grip of her compact pistol and headed to her car. Dupree's paranoia was starting to get to her no doubt. Mitchell and the lawyer whose name she didn't know fell into step on either side of her and looked around warily as they escorted her to the corner of the building and down the alley to the back. She didn't see anything out of the ordinary but a frisson of unease went up her back and she was certain someone, or something, was watching them.

But as much as she searched, nothing was lurking in the shadows. She was still relieved when they stepped out into fading sunshine and the four rows of parking spots were laid out in front of her. The lot was half full, with her car in a cluster in the middle. She pulled her gun out and shifted it to her left hand, feeling stupid for keeping it out but unable to ditch that nagging feeling of being watched, and dug out her keys.

"Guess I'm imaging things," she muttered, as she put the key in the lock and twisted.

Mitchell pulled the door open and she tossed her bag onto the passenger seat, waiting a minute for the oppressive heat to rush out of the car before she leaned in and cranked it, then turned the A/C up to full blast. She'd like to give it a couple minutes to cool down but that feeling of malevolent eyes on her was even worse. Suddenly alert, Mitchell lifted his face to the air and took a deep breath. His companion stood a few feet away and made the same gesture. Mitchell nudged her to the open car door.

"Time to send you home, Kara. We'll handle this."

He didn't say, but she knew he'd caught the scent of demons nearby. The smell of sulfur was faint in the air, the breeze blowing against them, but when she looked past Mitchell's shoulder she saw three demons rushing toward them.

"Behind you," she said, amazed at her calm as she lifted the pistol and fired. She hit one in the middle of his forehead and he dropped. Mitchell's companion was already rushing forward and he pushed her into the car.

"Go!"

Part of her really wanted to stay to help, but she knew she'd be pretty useless until she went through the merging ceremony. That was just a lucky shot she'd got off. She nodded, got in her car and pulled out of the parking spot. She saw them easily dispatch the two remaining demons as she pulled into the street. It took the entire drive to calm the tremors in her body, but she had control of the adrenaline before she entered the house.

Ben's arm plunged into the chest of the soldier demon reporting to him. The force and strength of the blow were enough that he ripped bare handed through skin and bone to the creature's heart before it even knew what was happening. He felt the organ pump in his hand, reveled in his power a moment before gripping it and ripping it out. He dropped the heart to the uneven rock floor of his throne room and looked at the others now cowering around him.

"Bring me that girl. Alive!"

They scattered and he threw his head back, bellowing his rage. It was such a simple task to take Dupree's woman. He'd thought taking Gia would bring Winter and Dupree to him. He'd left them a clear enough trail to follow. So they were willing to abandon her? But no fucking way Dupree would abandon
his
woman. Once Ben had her, he'd have Dupree, and left without his protection he'd have Winter, too.

And it needed to be quick. The simpletons around him didn't understand why he hadn't already killed Gia, but he wasn't about to explain things to them. They were full demons, but mostly young and far from attaining their full adult strength. Therefore Ben needed an advantage to rule them, and he'd found it. The Order's most closely guarded secret. If a hybrid consumed the heart and brain of an enemy, he would assume their powers. Already he'd taken the ability to blend in so well he could be all but invisible and the ability to cage another's mind. With Gia's, Dupree's and Winter's powers he would be unstoppable.

But the energy needed to cage Gia was beginning to take its toll. His demon horde hadn't noticed. He'd been able to hide it, but it wouldn't be long. It would be easy to kill her now, but he wanted Winter to suffer. She'd stolen his kill when she'd killed the demon warlord, and she'd pay for it by watching him destroy the two people that put her in power: Gia and Dupree.

He left the throne room and walked softly down the corridor toward the exit, pausing outside the heavy door that concealed Gia. She had no idea how close she was to freedom. If she did, her despair would make her blood a spicy balm on his tongue. It was a temptation beating through his ears in a loud tattoo.
Take the woman. Take her telekinetic powers. Become a god.

He stopped himself with his hand on the lock. No. Not yet. Not until he had all three of them. If he killed her now, her friends would know. Their connection was so deep even caging her mind couldn't sever it. He studied the door. Maybe that was the problem. He'd underestimated the power of the new ability. He was positive they would know if she died. He could feel their connection beating at him as he controlled the shield, and he'd assumed they would use it to track him, to come to him. But it was possible his blocks were preventing that.

He could let it weaken a little, but he was pretty sure if he didn't keep the shield iron tight she would be able to break free. He wanted the others to come after him, but he wanted to see them coming. If they were warned, say by his prisoner, they would find a way to come in stealth. He would not underestimate Winter. No, better to go with the plan already in motion. Take Dupree's woman. He and Winter would come, and Ben would be ready. The problem was getting the woman.

He kept going down the corridor to his private quarters, flung the door shut behind him and used his telekinesis, another stolen ability and much weaker than Gia's, to throw the locks. He expected to be alone and snarled when he realized he wasn't. Lowering his head, he huffed, blood lust and hate roaring through his veins. This one he would gladly kill. The hybrid held his hands up. Unarmed. So much easier to kill that way.

"Wait, Commander. We want the same thing and I can help you get it."

Enemy. Even before the demon in Ben had taken over this man was his enemy. He could not be trusted. Ben prepared to rush him and suddenly the man had a gun in his hand.

"You want Winter and Dupree dead. So do I."

He hesitated. He wanted the powers of those two, more than anything. "How?" he snarled.

"I heard you. You want the girl. I can let you know the next time she's unprotected."

Even in his current half-mad state the enemy hybrid's willingness to help made him suspicious. Ben was certain the hybrid was lying, but about what? "Why?"

"What do you care? They're nothing to you."

That was true. If the hybrid delivered on his promise, Ben might even let him live.

"Deliver her. Or die."

The hybrid smiled, nodded and disappeared. His demon side smelled betrayal but he would wait to retaliate until the hybrid gave him the girl.