Relentless (12 page)

“He seemed friendly enough with your cousins,” I said as we reached my bike where I’d hidden it behind some bushes.

Remy made a snorting sound. “Little ones think he funny. When they grow older they not like him so much.”

“Yeah, everything looks different when you grow up.” I strapped on my helmet and grabbed the bike’s handlebars to stand it up. “By the way, I’ve been keeping an ear out and no one’s mentioned the bile. I think we’re safe. But we should probably lay low for a while.”

“Okay. We wait some time before we make more trade.”

“We’ll have to wait a few months, maybe longer” I reminded him. For someone wise in so many ways, Remy knew very little about technology or the resourcefulness of humans. He did not understand that someone determined enough could track trade patterns in this area. I’d used the bile twice as currency and I always tried to be as vigilant as possible, trading only with Malloy. But there was no telling who was paying attention out there.

“You feel strong to ride?”

I wheeled my bike up to the road. “I’m fine. It’s only a few miles.”

The road was little more than a gravel path with grass pushing up in the center. A long time ago there used to be an old silver mine down this way but that closed up back in the forties. Now the only vehicles that came down here were the occasional ATV or dirt bike. There were a lot better trails out past the Knolls and up near the old lighthouse.

It was a rough ride until I reached the main road. I thought for the hundredth time that I really needed to get my license. Nate had a Honda Element that fit his wheelchair and he’d probably let me borrow it sometimes if I could drive. Roland was always offering to teach me, maybe it was time to take him up on it.

Once I hit the main road I moved to the shoulder to avoid the evening traffic. Halfway home a sleek black Ducati roared past me and the wind almost knocked me sideways. “Watch it!” I yelled at him as if he could hear me. For a moment, he started to slow down and all I could think was
Oh crap!
But he apparently changed his mind and kept going. Hanging around Jed’s I’d seen a lot of bikers and most of them were decent guys, but there were always a few troublemakers. The way my luck was going lately, I didn’t want to push it.

Needless to say, I was taken off guard when I reached the waterfront and saw a black Ducati sitting in front of the coffee shop next door to our building. It could have been a coincidence – there are lots of black motorcycles – but something told me that wasn’t the case. I considered cutting between the buildings to Market Street and going the long way around to our building, but I dismissed that idea. Eli had made me suspicious of strangers but I wasn’t a coward and I would not start acting like one now.

I changed my mind when I spotted the tall figure leaning casually against the side of the coffee shop. Wearing jeans and a black leather jacket over a grey t-shirt, Nikolas appeared to be waiting for someone – and I didn’t need three guesses to figure out whom.

As I drew near to him, I felt the stirring in the back of my mind, the same faint tickle of recognition I’d experienced the moment we met. My stomach fluttered as I remembered our first encounter in the club and then how he had faced down two vampires to save me. But then I remembered his strange behavior. One minute he’d looked at me with something akin to hostility and the next he was swooping in to save my life. Then he was back to being cold and distant again. Which Nikolas was waiting for me now? More importantly, what did he want?

I was tempted to ride past him but curiosity got the better of me. “How did you find me?” I asked brusquely. After the way we’d parted the other night, I didn’t see any need for niceties.

The corners of his mouth turned upward and amusement flashed in his grey eyes. “What, no hello after everything we’ve been through together?”

He could turn that charm on someone else because it was wasted on me. “Hello. How did you find me?”

If he was bothered by my less than friendly greeting, he didn’t show it. “I tracked your friend’s license plate.”

I wasn’t sure whether to be impressed or disturbed; maybe a bit of both. “Why?” He hadn’t exactly left on a friendly note the other night and I could not think of any reason for him to come looking for me. He didn’t strike me as a guy who made house calls.

My question seemed to make him pause for a moment before he pushed away from the building. “We need to talk.”

His tone had lost some of its teasing and I instantly felt uneasy. I tightened my grip on the handlebars. “Talk about what?”

Nikolas raised an eyebrow. “You look ready to flee. I don’t bite, you know.”

“Yeah, that’s what I thought about the other fellow,” I replied dryly and he surprised me by chuckling. His face lost its hardness and his sensual smile made my stomach flutter before I gave myself a mental shake.

“You sound like you are well recovered at least.” His eyes met mine unwaveringly. “I’m not here to harm you and we really do need to talk.”

“What could we have to talk about? I don’t even know your last name.”

“It’s Danshov and your last name is Grey. Now that we are acquainted, can we talk?”

He sounded sincere and we were out in the open so I didn’t think I was in any real danger. Plus he
had
saved my life. I should hear what he had to say; I owed him that much at least. “Okay.”

“Is there somewhere we can talk privately?”

I thought for a moment. “We can go down to the wharves. They’re usually pretty empty this time of day.”

“That will work.”

I told him I’d be back in a minute then I wheeled my bike around the corner of our building and hid it behind Nate’s car. When I came back he was standing in front of his motorcycle waiting for me. Neither of us spoke as we started walking toward the wharves. I wondered if he felt as awkward as I did. No, guys like him probably never feel uncomfortable. His every movement emanated confidence and he had the added advantage of size. I’m five-five and I felt dwarfed by him as we walked side-by-side.

He was silent until we passed a stack of lobster traps and began strolling along one of the deserted wharves. “How long have you been friends with the werewolves?” he asked.

The question confused me until I remembered what Maxwell had said about the werewolves and the Mohiri disliking each other. If Nikolas had a problem with my friendship with Roland and Peter he would just have to get over it. “A long time.”

“And your parents don’t mind?”

“It’s just me and my uncle and he likes my friends but he doesn’t know what they are. He doesn’t know about any of this,” I said pointedly.

He nodded. “Do you mind if I ask about your parents? How did you come to live with your uncle?”

“My parents are gone. My mother left when I was two so I don’t remember her. My dad died when I was eight.” I swallowed the familiar lump and stared straight ahead. “Uncle Nate is his brother.”

“Do you know your mother’s maiden name?”

I stopped walking and looked at him. “Why do you want to know about my parents? What do they have to do with anything?”

His face gave nothing away. “Answer my question and I will answer yours.”

I turned away in a huff and resumed walking. “Her name was Madeline. I think her maiden name was Cross or something like that. She abandoned us. I don’t really care who she was.”

It took me a few seconds to realize Nikolas was not beside me. I turned to look back at him and saw an odd expression on his face. “What’s wrong?”

“Madeline Croix? That was her name?”

“It could be. I’m not sure. Why are you looking at me like that?”

He stared out at the water. “I just haven’t heard that name in a while. If she is the Madeline I knew, it explains a lot to me.”

“Well it doesn’t tell me anything so why don’t you fill me in? You said you would answer my question if I answered yours.”

He gave me a small smile as he walked toward me. “I will.” We were almost at the end of the wharf where two large lobster boats were moored. Nikolas pointed at some overturned crates. “Let’s sit. This is a good place to talk.”

I sat on one of the crates. Nikolas took the other and turned it so he was facing me. This close, his eyes were like liquid mercury and I tried to ignore the funny twisting in my gut.

“You didn’t know who the Mohiri were before the other night. How much do you know about us now?”

I lifted a shoulder. “I know you guys are vampire hunters and you and the werewolves don’t like each other. That’s pretty much it.”

“I imagine your friends don’t talk about us any more that we do about them. Would you like to know more about the Mohiri?”

“Yes.” I had no idea why he was telling me this but I was curious about him and his whole race.

My response seemed to please him because he smiled. “You seem very familiar with our world but how much do you know about demons?”

“Nothing, except to stay as far away from them as possible.”

“What if I told you there are thousands of types of demons and that vampires are one of them?”

I narrowed my eyes at him. “I’d ask you if you are deliberately trying to scare the hell out of me.”

He leaned forward with his elbows resting on his thighs. His eyes held mine with the same intensity I’d felt when we first met. “I am not here to frighten you.”

I tore my gaze from his and looked down at my hands.
Too late.

“Do you still want to hear about the Mohiri?”

I looked at him again, glad that whatever I’d seen in his eyes a minute ago was gone. “Go ahead.”

“You sure?”

I gave him an encouraging smile. “Yes. I want to hear this.”

He looked out at the bay. “It all started two millennia ago when demons learned how to leave their dimension and walk the earth in corporeal form. Most of them were lesser demons and they were dangerous but not a major threat to humanity. But then a middle demon called a Vamhir appeared. It took a human host and gave the human immortality… and the thirst for human blood.”

“The first vampire,” I whispered, feeling a mixture of revulsion and fascination.

Nikolas nodded. “The demon soon learned how to make more like him and before long there were thousands of vampires. The earth’s population was small back then and ancient civilizations were virtually defenseless against the vampires’ strength and blood lust. If left unchecked, the vampires would eventually overrun the earth and wipe out humanity. So the archangel Michael came to earth to create a race of warriors to destroy the vampires. He took a middle demon called a Mori and put it inside a human male and had the male impregnate fifty human women. Their offspring were half human/half demon and they had the speed, strength and agility to hunt and kill vampires. They were the first Mohiri.”

He stopped and looked at me waiting for my reaction. But I was still trying to absorb the part about a demon impregnating women without squirming off my seat. It finally hit me what he was saying and I couldn’t help the incredulous look I gave him.

“The Mohiri are demons?”

“Half demon,” he corrected me. “Each of us is born with a Mori demon in us.”

I felt the color drain from my face. “You mean you live with a demon inside you like… like a parasite?”

“Exactly like that,” he said as if it was no big deal. “We give the Mori life and in return it gives us the ability to do what we were created to do. It is a symbiotic relationship that benefits us both.”

It was too much. I got up and walked to the edge of the wharf, struggling to grasp what he was telling me. Demon parasites? I peered down at the water and I could just make out a few tomcods and a sculpin below the surface. The water looked deceptively shallow here but I knew it was over fifteen feet deep at this end of the wharf. Nothing in this world was what it appeared to be.

“You’re not planning on jumping are you?” There was amusement in his voice but also something that sounded like concern.

I sucked in a fortifying breath and faced him. He was still sitting on the crate watching me expectantly. What was I was supposed to say to him? Everything I’d ever heard or read had taught me to fear demons and keep my distance from them. Now Nikolas was telling me that he was a half demon warrior who went around protecting humans by killing other demons. I didn’t know how much more weirdness I could handle.

“Why are you telling me all this?” Somehow I didn’t think he had tracked me down just to educate me on demons.

He stood and walked toward me, stopping a few feet away. “Because you need to hear it.”

“Why? What does this have to do with me? Or my parents?”

Nikolas’s face grew more serious. “I’ll get to them in a minute. First, tell me, haven’t you wondered why you’re different from everyone else you know?”

“D-different?” How could he possibly know about that? “I don’t know what you mean.”

“I think you do.”

“Listen I –”

His gaze captured mine again, his eyes turning a deep charcoal grey. Before I could contemplate how a person’s eyes could have so many different hues, I felt the softest brush against my mind. Some unseen force pushed gently against my walls, testing them, and in the recesses of my mind the beast stirred in response. Panic flared in me and I reached for my power, suddenly feeling like I was locked in a battle of wills. The comforting strength of my power coursed through me and slammed against the foreign presence, flinging it away from me. Gasping, I whirled away from him.
What was that?
I’d never felt so exposed and vulnerable in my life and it terrified me.