Tempting the Enemy (5 page)

“You’re lying through your pretty little fangs.”

So?
“I’m here to help you, Detective. Why are you so sure that I’m hiding some ulterior motive?”

“Because I’ve dealt with you people before.”

She didn’t like the way he practically spat “you people.”

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Tempting the Enemy

“There isn’t one of you who wouldn’t sell your soul for a shiny rock or a piece of gold, so just tell me what you’re really doing here. Are you bait?”

She forced herself to remain still, fighting the urge to tighten the straps on her pack where all kinds of shiny rocks clanked together in a sock. But if the entire enclave hadn’t made her squirm in twenty years of trying, this man certainly wouldn’t do it. “What would I possibly have to gain by that? Why would the Order waste their time?”

He shrugged one heavy-looking shoulder. “It wouldn’t be the first time they’ve done the government’s dirty work. Killing shifters isn’t a hardship for them.”

“If the Order wanted you dead, you wouldn’t have to wonder,” she said, despite knowing it wouldn’t do much good. “You’d just be dead.”

“I would have said the same thing about a half-breed, but you expect me to believe you about those too, don’t you? What’s next? Wood sprites and fairies?” Even with the beard to obscure his features, she could tell his lips had gone hard. “If you were truly a Wolf, even half, you’d have been culled like worthless chaff. Give me one reason why the Order would spare your life and I might do the same.”

“Might.” Not even a promise from those cold eyes.

“If you impress me.” The jerk managed to sound magnanimous.

“Would you be impressed if I killed you right this second?”

“Deeply,” he growled, a sound that did unwise things to her belly. “Of course, you’d die of a violent disemboweling and be left to rot on the gates of your Dee Tenorio

35

enclave for the crime, but if you crave martyrdom, by all means, give it a shot.”

The imagery did wonders to remind her that this man was not a lover she should welcome. Years of training, however, didn’t disappear in a heartbeat. He could kill her, of that she had no doubt, but she would not weaken her position further by showing a response to fear. She was practically immune to the emotion.

“Had I wanted you exposed, I could have done that upstairs,” she reminded him instead. “Were the Order inclined to reveal any of the shifters in Moonridge, they would have sent someone better suited to detecting you.

I’m simply here to help, as
requested
.”

The reminder didn’t faze him. “If you’re here to help, tell me what your gifts are.”

“That’s not information you need, Detective.”

“I decide what information I need, not you. So why don’t you save me the secret-society bullshit and just spit it out?”

“So that you can
decide
I’m not useful and gut me where I stand? I don’t think so.”

His eyes narrowed before he shook his head, running his hand through the lengths of his hair. He swallowed as if he were desperate for a drink and she couldn’t help it, she watched his Adam’s apple bob, hunger sparking to life again.

“If you don’t want to be mounted, stop looking at me that way.” His voice rippled along her nerve endings, tickling until she had to fight herself not to rub the hairs on her arms. “You should never have come here pretending to be in season.”

She chuckled, despite the tension still straining between them. “I’m not in season.” She’d never had a 36

Tempting the Enemy

season in her life. The medics had seriously questioned if she were sterile.

“Like hell. You’re so ready even the humans are picking up on it.”

“Oh, now that’s not even possible.” She didn’t think.

Rysen kept rubbing his face, like someone trying to clear his senses and finding the view as foggy as before.

He raised an eyebrow at her. “Let’s pretend I believe you about your heritage. How much do you know about Wolves?”

Not answering that one any time soon
. “I think the safer question is how do you know so much about the Sibile?”

“Safer for whom?”

Smart man. “We’re pretending,” she reminded him in a purposefully soft voice. “If you’re going to pretend you believe me, I’ll pretend you haven’t already revealed the fact that you know far too much about my people to be considered safe.”

She felt his frustration rise, but he gave nothing else away. Heartbeats later—booming thumps he probably heard like a drum, even across the room—he nodded.

“You’re right. I do know too much about you. I can’t tell you how much I wish I didn’t.”

The look on his face did nothing to smooth her worries.

“I was raised in an orphanage, not far from an enclave in South Dakota. Fairly common occurrence for my kind and it was a good place. The woman who ran it took in any abandoned child—human, shifter, it didn’t matter to her. Children were children and she loved us all as her own.”

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37

A slice of jealousy cut through Jade, brief but strong.

“Sounds idyllic.”

“It

was
.” His emphasis left no room for misinterpretation. “She ran it like a farm. We grew our food, sold our crops at the farmer’s market for the things we couldn’t make or grow, and there were plenty of us to do the work. We’d see the scarlets trudging back and forth from town all the time. We stayed out of their way, they stayed out of ours. I have no doubt they knew what we were, but they didn’t much care about us, so it didn’t matter. Except for one.

“She was young, got lost making her way back home in a snowstorm. We took her in. We were kind to her and she was kind to us. After that, she visited whenever she came past. For years we considered her a
friend
.” His expression darkened, the last word a mockery of its meaning. “I was a teenager when the Submission Act was passed. Remember that one?”

Jade thought back. Human law wasn’t a huge part of the Order’s education. “Something about shifters making themselves available for census?”

“That was the party line for it. It was the brainchild of a senator named Thompson. Made his career off it, too, the bastard. He’ll probably be president one day because of it.” His upper lip lifted with disgust. “They told everyone it was just about finding out how many of us there were left, how we could be helped. By submitting to a census, our businesses could be eligible for federal subsidies. We’d be setting the public at rest that we weren’t dangerous animals, especially if we allowed ourselves to be studied. If we
proved
that we were human, we would be opening the doors to peace and understanding. Bringing an end to social unrest. I always 38

Tempting the Enemy

liked that media-friendly little term, social unrest. Sounds so much more palatable than genocide.”

“You have to be human for it to be considered genocide.” That qualification had given her nightmares after she’d started reading books on her heritage.

Rysen’s growl somehow conveyed his sarcasm.

“Maybe we should have appealed for protection under the Animal Rights Act?”

Jade pursed her lips. “You were saying…”

He raised his eyebrow, appearing somewhat amused for a second. “The poor bastards who signed up disappeared almost immediately. The ones who didn’t get killed right away were tagged for study. They stick a little tracer under the skin in the back of the neck, like they do for dogs. I hear you never even feel it go in. Lets them figure out how the shifters live, where they go, before the death squads come and take them in the night.”

Jade flinched. She knew what that felt like.

“If they were lucky, they were killed right away, but most of them ended up in labs. Dissected. Then the killing got really easy, since they didn’t have to worry about all those stupid superstitions bringing us back from the dead.

But they still had trouble finding us all. Knowing where to shoot us didn’t matter if they couldn’t tell we were shifters. They needed help. So, the government applied to the Order. I can’t imagine what they paid, but I know this.

More shifters died that year than in any other since the Cataclysm.”

That hadn’t been in any of the histories she’d read.

As far as she knew, the Cataclysm—the discovery of shifters back in the 1890s which began the eradication of shifters the world over—was the bloodiest time in shifter Dee Tenorio

39

history. The unrestrained executions had led to the unveiling of the Sibile Society, transforming them in human eyes from quiet religious communities to creatures too dangerous to be challenged. For shifters, the Cataclysm was a horror. For the Sibile…it was a rebirth.

“The last time our
friend
visited,” he continued, perhaps sensing her thoughts had drifted from his point,

“she came in the night. By the time we realized why, she was already whispering.”

Whispering. His meaning wasn’t lost on her. His friend must have been a sanusaddo, a scarlet gifted with power over sound, particularly her voice. A strong enough one could turn a whisper into a blade…or a wrecking ball.

Jade closed her eyes, guilt swamping her even though his past had nothing to do with her.

“My mother and seven cubs died that night when the house exploded.” His gaze had no trace of heat now. Only icy cold hatred. “So you can understand why I don’t want your particular brand of help.”

Yes, yes she could. He’d never be able to turn his back on her. Never for one second believe that she wouldn’t return someday and betray his secret, whenever it might benefit her. Which explained his “might.” He had zero intention of letting her live. Still, even recognizing that particular truth, she couldn’t stop the question on her lips from escaping. “If she did all of that, how did you stop her from killing
you?
”

“Simple.” A smile spread across his lips, arctic and vicious enough to finally make her truly afraid. “I ripped out her goddamned throat.”

He didn’t often think of that night, even if the shadows of it directed the path he’d taken ever since. He could still 40

Tempting the Enemy

see her, Vayere-Scarlet, on the ground beneath the peach tree, her red cape spread wide, her blood drying on his claws. A scarlet in all her glory, every finger, her arms, even her face, adorned with gold and jewels. He’d felt like a grave robber, removing each piece before burying her where she’d fallen, but to protect the rest of the children, he’d done it.

To keep them all alive, he’d do worse.

His gaze fell on the woman still leaning against the door. Her golden gaze met his, not as much challenge in her now, but no less spirit. She knew what he meant to do, but she didn’t waste the energy running away. She wrapped her pride around herself like armor and met him head-on. If she were really a Wolf, she’d be everything he’d hoped never to find. The kind a Wolf would bond to, not just imprint. Killing a woman like her would be no easy feat. Unlike with Vayere, he wouldn’t be in the desperate throes of self-defense. He’d have to coldbloodedly snuff out her life.

The worst part was knowing he’d do it.

“You still need me for your case, Detective.” For someone who was scared to the bone, a fear he could taste like a film of rust on his tongue, she kept her poise perfectly. No betraying quiver to those full lips. No submissive tilt to the rounded point of her chin. So beautiful to look at. If only she weren’t lying to him with every breath he took.

“I can find him without you.” And there would be one less witness to his vengeance when he did.

“If you could, the Order would never have been contacted.”

The lady scores a point
.

Dee Tenorio

41

Pale eased off the table, wincing at the sting in his ribs. The cuts were no longer bleeding, already scabbed closed. By morning they’d be gone without a trace, a benefit to his nature he valued more often than he liked to count. Rolling his shoulders, he grabbed a chair and dragged it over to her. With a look, he indicated she could sit.

With a twist of her lips, she told him what he could do with his courtesy.

Pale fought an unwelcome urge to chuckle. Damn shame she was an enemy, because he could see himself liking her in other circumstances.

Of course, he’d liked Vayere too.

His humor died.

Kicking up the other chair, he positioned it so he could sit with its back between his open knees. Only when he’d settled did she deign to follow suit.

“The way I see it, you’re stuck with me, whether you like it or not.” The intimate pitch of her voice made his ears twitch. He liked her notes. They would sound even better next to his ear, wrapped in a sated sigh.

“Once a contract has been made with the Order, there’s no option to cancel. The city won’t get their money back. And they won’t reassign anyone else in my place. The Praemonere has decreed that I’m required here.

If you were to kill me, particularly without resolving your situation, you’d leave yourself open to investigation and exposure, to say nothing of Sibile revenge once I’m reported missing. There’s no way out for either of us.”

Her words snapped him back to the unfortunate fact that she was trying to tell him what to do. “Unless you’re willing to leave the case, in which case we can both agree to simply pretend we never met.”

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Tempting the Enemy

And doing a pretty good job of it, now that his ears were translating her words instead of just melting in the pretty sound. He frowned. “I’m not leaving the case.”

“Then I see no other options.” She lifted an eyebrow and smiled. She had him cornered and she knew it. “If it’s any consolation, it shouldn’t take long. I can track anyone in hours, even trails so cold
you
couldn’t find them.”

“That’s the gift you wouldn’t tell me? You’re a
tracker?
” Irritated, he stood up and began to pace.

Everything—protecting his people, finding this killer and avenging the lost—hinged on a tiny woman who planned to do something he could damn well do himself?

“All the growling you do, I’m surprised no one knows your secret already.” While he walked back and forth, she sat perfectly still in the seat, poised, prissy and patient, driving his senses completely out of his control, and she had the nerve to bitch about it?