Tempting Evil (20 page)

“And I take it the appetizer is supposed to make me hunger for more?”

“Yes.”

“Why? I mean, the appetizer was good, but I can get
that
sort of good from Kellen any day of the week.”

Which actually wasn’t true, but hey, it certainly never hurt to remind him that Kellen was on the scene and
was
a true rival. Because he was a wolf. Because he could give me what Quinn never could.

His gaze tightened imperceptibly and I resisted the temptation to smile.

“You will never achieve the sort of intimacy I’m talking about with Kellen.”

“How the hell do you know that? You have no idea what goes on between Kellen and me.”

“I know, because the sort of intimacy I’m talking about can only be achieved between telepaths.”

“And why would that be?”

“Because dropping your shields so that spirits dance means you are placing yourself
completely
open to the other person. There are no secrets, no hiding, no lies. Just you, your lover, and the emotion and truths that lay between you.” He hesitated, and I had a feeling he was about to add something else, then thought better of it. “It comes down to trust, complete trust.”

“Which means we can
never
go any further than we already have, because I
don’t
fully trust you.” And probably never
would
after his stupid mind-raid for information.

He didn’t say anything, just sort of glowered at me. I pulled away from Kade. He didn’t move, didn’t react. “Release him, Quinn.”

The words were barely out of my mouth when Kade blinked, and a pleased smile stretched his lips. He stepped up beside me and put a proprietary arm around my shoulders. Which annoyed me almost as much as Quinn’s continuing insistence I
would
play things his way. Eventually.

But before I could say anything, the main stable door cracked open and the cold night air filtered in again. Quinn disappeared in an instant, the night and darkness swallowing him whole. Kade stepped back, shifted shape once again, then pressed in beside me to peer over the stall door. I wrapped the shadows around myself and listened to the light puff of breathing that belonged to the person down the far end.

After a moment, footsteps echoed. Soft steps, neither hurried nor cautious, just a steady click of sound. I blinked. Those steps were from heels, high heels, not the work boots I’d seen the guards wearing. Whoever approached was female, not male. Not a guard. Someone else.

The night air stirred around me, bringing with it the teasing hints of jasmine and orange. And with those scents came the sense of something else—something not human, not even nonhuman, but something altogether different, altogether dangerous. A Fravardin. Tension slithered from my limbs. I flicked on the com-link so Jack could hear whatever was about to happen, then stepped up to the door and peered past Kade.

Dia walked toward us, her flowing white dress hugging her curvaceous figure and shining almost as brightly as her white hair in the shadowy darkness. Kade snorted softly, and it was an appreciative sound if ever I’d heard one.

Resisting the urge to smile, I let the shadows fall away from me and said, “You looking for me?”

She jumped, ever so slightly, then her powerful gaze centered on mine and again I was struck by the notion that this was not a woman you ever wanted to get on the wrong side of. And not just because of the unseen creature who gave her sight and kept her safe.

“Yes.” She paused. “Why are you hiding in the stalls?”

“I’m in the stables because there’s no one here at night, and in the stall in case a guard happens to walk by. And there’s no microphones around here, so it’s reasonably safe to report back to my boss. Why were you looking for me?”

“Because there have been changes since we last talked.” She stopped several feet away, took a breath, then let it out slowly. “The timetable has been stepped up. He no longer plans to wait until Gautier has taken over the guardian division to attempt his cartel takeover.”

We needed
that
like we needed a hole in the head. “What’s happened?”

“He has been hosting not only his generals, but generals from some of the rival cartels. He has convinced them of his desire to work in unison with them to form an Australian-wide alliance that will profit all. The leaders of those cartels are coming here in two days’ time for merger discussions.”

Her information confirmed two things—that I’d read Merle’s mind correctly, and that she was being as helpful as she could. “How many cartels are we talking about?”

“Three of the six.”

“Half of them,” Jack murmured. “It would be a damn good start to wiping out organized crime in Melbourne if we caught them all.”

But it still left another three—and those three would undoubtedly step into the breach left by the other cartels’ removal.

Still, taking half out was better than none.

“Two days doesn’t give us a lot of time, especially since they are watching the new arrivals closely.”

“I know, and I’m sorry, but there is nothing much I can do.”

“Except give us information.”

“Us?” She raised a pale eyebrow. “There is more than one of you here?”

I mentally cursed the slip of the tongue. I might believe Dia, might trust her desperation to get her child free, but that didn’t mean she was playing on our side. If things went foul and if we were discovered, she’d do what she could to save herself and her child. Just like the spirit lizard. So I shrugged. “That’s a metaphorical ‘we,’ not an actual one.”

Her expression suggested she wasn’t believing me. I really was going to have to get some lying lessons. “What information do you wish?”

“For starters, where does the second elevator on Moss’s and Merle’s floor lead to?”

She frowned. “What elevator?”

“You know, the one opposite the elevator the guards take the lieutenants’ nightly toys down in.”

Understanding flickered in her unseeing eyes. “That’s no elevator, but doors that lead into Starr’s rooms.”

It was my turn to frown. “I saw Merle key it open. It looked like an elevator.”

“It might at a quick glance, but it is similar to an air lock. One door must close before the other opens, and only after the right codes and scans are entered.”

Confusion ran through me. I knew what I’d seen, and I’d seen an elevator,
not
a form of air lock. “So can you get in there?”

She shook her head, sending slivers of silver cascading across the night. Kade snorted softly again, his hooves barely missing my toes as he shifted. I elbowed him lightly to remind him that I was there, that he had to be careful no matter how attracted he suddenly was. He glanced at me, velvet eyes sparkling with amusement and interest.

“I have been there under escort, nothing more. Starr is not fool enough to trust me with such access,” Dia said, bringing my attention back to her. “As far as I know, only Merle, Moss, and the head of security have access to that lock.”

“Is the head of security a tall, balding man with severe acne scars?”

She nodded. “Henry Cartle is his name.”

“Any chance of you getting me a security roster?”

She hesitated. “I’ll try.”

“Try hard, because I can’t do this without help.”

She stared at me for a moment, as if understanding what I wasn’t saying more than what I was, then nodded. “Anything else?”

“What floor is the lab on?”

“The second floor.”

“Riley, you are not going in to rescue that child.”

I couldn’t answer Jack, so I just ignored him. There wasn’t anything he could do to stop me anyway, short of pulling me out, and we both knew he wasn’t about to do that.

“And it has the same security precautions as the third floor?”

“Under no circumstances are you to go near that lab in an attempt to rescue the child. That is a direct order.”

And I liked direct orders almost as much as I liked going to the dentist.

Dia nodded. “Entry is restricted to the scientists, Starr’s lieutenants, and the head of security.”

Meaning it might be easier to cozy up to one of the scientists to get in there than risk security, Moss, or Merle. “Where are the scientists quartered?”

Jack swore loudly. “Jesus, Riley, are you listening to me?”

For an intelligent man, he was mighty slow in realizing I
wasn’t
. I touched my ear, flicking off the com-link. Yelling would be next, and I didn’t need that on top of the headache I already had.

“The scientists are the next building down from security.”

“And does this Henry Cartle bunk with his men?”

“In the same building, but he has his own room.”

Better and better. “What can you tell me about escape tunnels?”

She frowned. “I do not know what you mean.”

“I was following Moss through the trees earlier today, and he simply disappeared. Unless he can shapeshift, there has to be an entrance to the lower levels in those woods.”

“If there is, I do not know of it.” She hesitated. “I will see what I can discover, though. Starr likes his future read when I am here.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Meaning you not only see the future when you touch someone, but can ferret out the past?”

She shrugged elegantly. “Sometimes.”

“And what did you see when you touched me? Past or future?”

“Future.” She stared at me for several seconds, her blue eyes seeming to see right through me, down to my very soul. “It will be troubled, with many unwanted detours. Some dreams will be yours to take or forsake. Some have already slipped through your fingers.”

Avoiding direct answers seemed to be catchy. “Psychic mumbo jumbo that could mean anything.”

She shrugged again. “Because I touched you without a specific question in mind, I saw only generalities. If you wish a more detailed reading, then I suggest you see me after this is over and we are all safe.”

“It’s a date.”

She smiled and glanced at her watch. “I must be going before suspicions are raised. I walk the grounds before lunch. Meet me tomorrow and I will tell you what I have discovered.”

I nodded. She turned around and walked out. As the closing doors snatched away the filtering moonlight, Quinn reappeared. “What was that thing with her?”

“A Fravardin. It gives her sight and provides protection.”

Energy rippled across my skin as Kade shifted shape. “Whatever it was, it had no emotion as we recognize it. It was little more than a vacuum of emptiness to my senses. She, however, was delicious.” His warm gaze met mine. “I demand an introduction after all this is over.”

“If we make it through this, you’ll get it.” I glanced at Quinn. “Given you keep reminding me how old you are, I’m surprised you didn’t know what that creature was.”

His lips twisted into a smile that was bitter. “There are many places on this earth I’ve yet to visit, many people I’ve yet to meet.”

“That thing couldn’t be classified as ‘people.’”

“Just because it hasn’t human form as we currently recognize it doesn’t mean it can’t be classed as an offshoot of humanity.” There was a touch of censure in his voice, which was damn annoying considering he was the one who’d just called it a “thing.” But given he seemed to be in an argumentative mood, there wasn’t much point in saying anything. He continued, “Just as werewolves, shapeshifters, mermen, and the like cannot escape the reality that they are merely another branch of the well-spring from which humanity sprung.”

“Werewolves, shapeshifters, and the like are not the ones you should be giving that lecture to,” I reminded him tartly, “but rather those humans who hold themselves up as the pinnacle of development, and everyone else an oddity that should not exist.”

He shrugged. “This is not the time for such a debate.”

I snorted softly. “Yeah, that’s why you’re standing there throwing attitude my way—because you don’t want to argue.” I reached over the door and unlatched it. “I need to go find my brother before I’m tempted to get nasty.”

“I shall accompany you.” There was anger in Quinn’s rich tones, but then, there often seemed to be when he was “talking” to me. “He needs to know I am here.”

As did Jack, but given he was likely still ranting over my ignoring his orders, I had every intention of leaving Rhoan the task of informing our boss we had a fourth person on the ground.

I gave Kade a quick kiss good-bye, more to piss off a certain vampire than anything else, then headed out the stable doors. Quinn was little more than a shadow at my back, a presence I could feel but not see through normal vision. Hopefully, this meant no one else would see him, either.

“Unless they have infrared, they won’t.” His voice was little more than a murmur that barely carried to my ears, but nevertheless brushed my senses as sensually as any summer breeze.

“They have infrared around the zoo and on the lower levels, so avoid those areas. And quit reading my mind.”

“If you do not fully shield, I will continue to take it as an open invitation.” Though I could not see his eyes, I could feel his gaze on me. “And in this place, it is
extremely
unwise—”

The rest of his words were cut off as an explosion ripped through the quiet night.

Chapter 10

T
he force of the blast sent hot air scurrying past my skin and rattled the nearby windows. A plume of flame reached skyward, fat fingers of yellow and orange that briefly illuminated the western edge of the house and the trees that grew nearby. These fiery fingers were accompanied by chunks of wood and concrete—weighty missiles that thudded to the ground with bone-jarring force. The spurt of flame died, becoming little more than a sullen orange glow that lit the night, but the acrid smell of smoke filled the air, mingling with screams that spoke of fear or pain or both.

I didn’t even stop to think about what I was going to do or how safe it might be, just ran like hell around the side of the house. I wasn’t the only one. Guards filled the night, pouring out of the buildings like a well-trained military force, some of them running for the end of the building, others forming a line to cordon off the area. Starr’s men were efficient, you had to give them that. I kept the cloak of night wrapped around me as I slipped through the cordon and followed those heading for the explosion area. The closer I got to it, the more the air sizzled. Not just with heat, but with steam. The building’s sprinklers, inside and out, were working, and the remaining flames were swiftly dying under the assault.

And the flames weren’t the only things. The explosion had happened in the wing that housed the kitchen and dining areas and had basically blasted them apart. In normal circumstances it wouldn’t have mattered, because most places who had live-in staff didn’t often house them in the main building, let alone in the same area. But the staff here were. With the force of the explosion tearing apart the ground-floor level, the upper ones had no place to go but down.

I couldn’t see any of the dead or dying in the black and burning rubble, but I could feel them. Their agony rode the night, surrounding me with the scent and despair of death, until every breath, every pore, was filled with it and it felt like I was drowning under the weight of it.

My stomach rolled, then rose. I spun away and bent over, losing what little dinner I’d eaten. A hand touched my back, and warmth spread like fire across the chill that was encasing me, holding it back if not totally erasing it.

“You are not an empath.” Though I couldn’t see him, his voice was next to my ear, indicating he was leaning close. “You should not be feeling what you are feeling.”

His shadow-held fingers caught my hair, holding it away from my face. I sucked in a breath, battling the roiling in my stomach. “I’m a werewolf. Death is something we can smell.”

“But you are not smelling this. You are feeling it, and that is completely different.”

“I’m aware of that.” Aware of the fact that he shouldn’t be feeling what
I
was feeling. He might be an empath, but I had my emotions locked down as tightly as him. Or so I’d thought, up until then. I took another breath and carefully straightened. My stomach made threatening movements but didn’t immediately rise. I closed my eyes and tried breathing through my mouth. It didn’t seem to help. Death still rode the air, and its taste was foul. I swallowed heavily. “Can you read any of the guards? Do they know what has happened?”

He was silent for several minutes, but energy stirred across my skin, powerful enough to stand on end the hairs along my arms and neck.

“One of the guards reported the smell of gas several minutes before the explosion. They believe one or more of the stove jets may have been left on.”

“So it was an accident?”

“It would appear that way.”

I glanced in his direction. “Appear?”

“They are unsure where the spark that set off the explosion came from.”

“It’s a kitchen. They’re full of pilot lights.”

“True. Let’s hope someone thinks to turn the gas off at the meter, or there will be more unpleasantness.” He paused. “Is that one of Starr’s lieutenants?”

I glanced down at the rubble. Moss was picking his way through the ruins, his hair and clothes disheveled and torn, his face scratched and bloody.

“Yeah, it’s Moss. Damn shame he wasn’t killed.” I rubbed my arms. Though death still rode the night, the smell and taste of it was dying. Whether it actually was, or whether I was merely growing used to it was something I couldn’t tell.

Quinn rubbed my back, sending warmth spinning across my skin. “He doesn’t look all that happy.”

With the last of the chills being chased away by his touch, I felt a little better. As long as I didn’t see anything resembling mashed humanity in the ruins below, I’d be okay. I hoped. “I imagine barely escaping a gas explosion would do that to a person.”

Amusement spun around me, as bright and as enticing as the first dance of sunshine that broke the hold of night. “This is more than that. Can you hear him?”

“Not from this distance.” I frowned. “Why don’t you just read his mind?”

“Some form of psi-deadener is blocking me. I could break through it easily enough, but it would warn him of my presence.”

“Then let’s get closer.”

“Are you up to going closer?” His touch moved from my back to my arm, his fingers sliding down my arm and under my elbow. I wasn’t wobbly enough to need support, but I wasn’t going to fight it, either. Not when the warmth that flared out from his fingertips seemed to keep the horror at bay.

“As long as I keep upwind of the building, I should be fine.” Though if I saw bodies, or bits of bodies, it would be a totally different story.

I’d seen death, in various incarnations, a few times over the years and it had never bothered me like this. I’d seen one wolf ripped apart by another, and hadn’t felt sick, much less puked. I’d witnessed Misha being eaten from the inside out, and though I’d been both horrified and sickened, I hadn’t come close to losing my stomach. But in all those times, I’d never
tasted
the death. Had never felt as if the souls of those who were dying or dead were invading me, filling me with their shock and anger and pain.

I wish I hadn’t felt it tonight.

I swallowed heavily and forced my feet to move, keeping my gaze on Moss more than what he was walking through. Or by. He stopped to talk to several guards who were hovering near the far edge of the remains. Moisture from the nearby sprinklers danced around him, covering him in a fine haze of silver. He either didn’t care or didn’t notice, but there was something in his very stillness that was chilling. Deadly.

Merle might have felt foul, but he didn’t scare me like Moss suddenly scared me. Just looking at him had trepidation running up and down my spine.

And I had to hope that the guard was right, that Moss and Merle
didn’t
share, because there was no way on this earth I could cope with getting sexually close to that man.

So how did my brother deal with it? He regularly used sex to get information about targets—used it and enjoyed it, no matter what or who he was doing. Was it merely the fact I was psychic and he wasn’t that gave him the advantage? If he’d been able to taste the foulness of the people involved, would he still be able to get intimate with them?

Somehow, I suspected the answer might be yes. Rhoan had never cared who or how many, as long as
he
was enjoying himself.

I’d always been a little more fussy—despite what Quinn might think. Though I guess there were huge differences in what a werewolf termed fussy and what a vampire with human sensibilities might.

We circled the ruined sections of building, and began to edge closer to Moss and the guards, all the while keeping the shadows close and the breeze to our front so that it blew our scents away from, not toward, the men below.

“No, sir,” the shorter of the two guards said, his tone all military preciseness. “I saw no movement in the kitchen.”

“And yet you were the one who reported hearing steps?”

“Yes, sir.”

“How long before the explosion was this?”

“Ten, maybe fifteen minutes, sir.”

Moss swore and snapped his gaze to the second man. “And you?”

“I saw a heat signature in the kitchen, but by the time I got there, the person had left through the window.”

“And you didn’t give chase?”

“I saw no person, sir. Only a fox sniffing out the rubbish.”

Something in me stilled. A fox? Nerida was a werefox, and even a vamp couldn’t tell the difference between the heat signature of a real fox and that of a shapeshifter or werefox. He
should
have been able to sense the difference, but if he’d been more interested in getting back to bed, maybe he’d simply taken what he’d seen at face value.

And while I had no doubt that real foxes did scavenge around the bins here nightly, it just seemed a little too much of a coincidence that
this
fox was sighted so soon after the guard had sprung someone in the kitchen. Fact was, most real foxes would have scampered at the first hint of movement. They certainly wouldn’t have stayed there scavenging as a vampire approached. Most wild ones feared the undead almost as much as most humans did.

But what would Nerida be doing in the kitchen? Had she been involved in the explosion or was it merely a coincidence? Why would
anyone
want to blow this section of the house up, anyway? There was little here but the kitchen and dining areas, and the staff who ran them.

So what was Moss doing here? How’d he get caught in the explosion when he was supposedly talking to the new intake of guards?

“I want you to do a walk around the area. See if you can spot that heat signature again.”

The words were barely out of Moss’s mouth when I was dragged back then forced up the slight knoll and into a knot of trees.

“Why the hell did you do that?” I asked, shaking free of both Quinn’s grip and the shadows concealing my form as we stopped.

Quinn also stepped free of night’s cloak, and a lot more elegantly than me. “He was about to switch to infrared. He would have spotted us in an instant.”

“Given he wasn’t even facing us, there was plenty of time to move.”

“Maybe. Maybe not. Either way, it wasn’t worth the risk of discovery.” He paused, his gaze moving to the mess below us. “I think I’ll follow Moss for a while. If you find Rhoan, let him know I am here, and that I will contact him later.”

“If you kill Moss, they’re going to know this place has been infiltrated.”

His gaze flicked to mine, obsidian depths once again devoid of emotion. “I am not the amateur here.”

He had a point, but it was an annoying one. “No, you’re just the man hell-bent on revenge, regardless of the cost.”

“I will not do anything to jeopardize you or Rhoan.”

“That a promise?”

His hesitation was brief but nevertheless there. “Yes.”

I studied him for a moment, weighing his words, hearing truth and yet not trusting it. “I don’t know how much stock you vampires put in promises, but let me give one to you—if Rhoan gets hurt because your need for revenge overrides your vow, I’ll make you pay for it.”

He didn’t say anything, just turned and walked down the hill, the shadows again taking him from sight as he neared the end of the trees.

I rubbed my head wearily, and let my gaze roam across the smoking mass of rubble and partial walls below. Moss was across the far side now, talking to other guards. The first two were walking around, heading my way as they scanned the area. Time to get moving, before I was spotted.

I padded through the trees, keeping to the deep shadows and away from the occasional flickers of moonlight. I didn’t have the cloak of night wrapped around me because my head was beginning to pound, and it would take more energy to hold the shadows close than I really had right now. So hitting moonlight when my skin was basically lily white wouldn’t be a good thing. As I drew away from the wreckage and closer to the whole sections of the house, I noticed a small gathering of people standing or kneeling in a group near the front of one of the main doors. A heartbeat later, a tingle of awareness ran across my skin, and my heart leapt with joy. My brother was amongst those below.

I stopped, my gaze searching the small crowd. I couldn’t see anyone with red hair, and it took me a while to realize why. Rhoan didn’t
have
red hair. Thanks to Liander’s magic, he was now boring brown.

With that in mind, he wasn’t hard to find. He was on the outskirts of the group, sitting on the ground, his clothes dusty and torn and a bloody cloth held to his head.

For the second time that night I reacted without thinking, and it took Rhoan looking up and minutely shaking his head to remember where I was and who we were supposed to be.

I slowed to walking speed and skirted the main group, pretending concern and offering words of encouragement to those being tended to before making my way toward him. His gaze met mine. His brown eyes might be alien, but his smile was all too familiar. So warm and welcoming. God, I was so happy to see him again, it was hard to restrain the urge to dance.

“Hey,” he said, so softly it was little more than a stirring of air. “Glad to see you got here safely.”

“And I’m glad to see you got out of that mess safely.” I wanted to touch him, hug him, but that was impossible, so I simply kneeled beside him, my knees touching his thighs as I raised his hand to see the wound. It was nothing too bad, just a nasty jagged cut he could have easily healed by shifting shape. “Why haven’t you fixed that?”

“Because my wolf is red, which is at odds with my new identity.”

Of course. Stupid me. “So why were you even in the kitchen?”

“It’s been a pretty rugged day, and none of us had much of a chance to eat.” He shrugged. “Moss had arranged a meal in the kitchen, but luckily, he got a call about a possible intruder and split us up into groups to check out the different areas. I was in the outside group.”

“Lucky you.”

“Yeah.” He touched my knee and squeezed it lightly. That one action suggested he’d been a lot closer to the blast than he was leading me to believe. “What’s been happening with you? Besides pissing off Jack, that is.”

I grinned slightly. “He should know me well enough to realize there’s no way known I’d throw the baby out with the bathwater.”