Amaury's Hellion (3 page)

Samson grinned proudly. “I guess the cat is out of the bag.” He pulled Delilah into his arms. “Delilah is making me the luckiest guy on this earth. We’re going to have a baby.”

The man was a lucky bastard. Amaury shook his head. “Congratulations.”

As their friends threw in their best wishes and congratulated them on their happy event, Amaury watched Samson hold his wife tightly while whispering into her ear. He didn’t need to hear what he’d said, because the emotions emitted by the two hit him like a brick falling from a skyscraper.

The pressure in his temples increased. If he didn’t get out of their presence soon, his head would explode.

Love was the most devastating emotion screwing with Amaury’s head. He was by no means jealous of Samson, because he had no interest in his lovely mate, but he simply couldn’t stomach their company for too long. Whenever other people’s love bombarded his mind, the pain he felt was virtually unbearable. Being cursed never to feel love in his own heart again, his mind couldn’t handle this emotion and only reacted with pain and rejection.

Unfortunately, the meeting wasn’t over yet. He’d already arrived late. Leaving early would be out of the question. After all, he was an officer of the company and had an interest in it. This crisis had to be dealt with.

Amaury gripped the massive antique desk behind him for balance and tried to distract himself from the thunder pounding in his head. Letting his mouth curve into another fake half-smile to disguise his inner turmoil, he addressed Gabriel via the monitor, “Have any of the other branches reported problems?”

“I’m sending reinforcements to Houston, Seattle, Chicago, and Atlanta. We don’t know yet whether this is going to be confined to San Francisco or not. But we can’t be too careful. The faster we find out who or what’s behind this, the better for all involved. This mustn’t spread. We’ll be ruined if it does.”

Samson gave a grim smile, Delilah still tucked into his side. “You’re right. The company can’t survive this kind of publicity. And if the police or the press dig too deep, we’re in trouble. None of us can afford to be exposed for what we are. So, at the slightest breech of security by any human, wipe their memories. It’s crucial. No exceptions.”

“And we can’t have any more people dying,” Delilah added.

“Until this is over, we should all minimize our contacts with humans.”

Samson didn’t have to look his way, but Amaury knew the jab was aimed at him. Easy for his friend to say—he had his human wife by his side day and night.

He got the message, and it was loud and clear. Amaury was to stay away from human women. And what did this leave him with? Having sex with those female vampires who hadn’t kicked him out of their beds yet?

It wasn’t that he didn’t deliver when it came to sex, but many of the vamp ladies had started making emotional demands. Why they had all suddenly turned into needy, clingy creatures, he had no idea. For sure, mainstreaming was to blame. As if emulating humans was the goal.

He sure wasn’t going to turn into one of those blithering idiots, going all gooey eyed over some woman, not even
if
he was capable of loving, which, of course, he wasn’t.

Three

Nina pulled the hood of her dark sweatshirt closer around her head. For the hundredth time this night she tucked an errant dark-blonde curl back behind her ear. If she let her hair grow longer, she would be able to pull the unruly locks back into a ponytail. But long hair was impractical, especially in a fight.

In any case, she wasn’t girly. At five foot eight, she certainly wasn’t petite, a fact she was grateful for, particularly since she was up against some big bad guys.

The fog had dissipated hours earlier, making this a gorgeous, starry, yet moonless night. Almost peaceful in its stillness, it guarded the sleeping city.

Nina continued watching the beautiful Victorian house from her hiding place across the street. Over an hour ago, she’d seen several of
them
enter, and none had come out yet.

Them.
She knew what they were. A month earlier, she’d gone through her brother’s possessions and pieced together what at first she’d thought was impossible. She’d immediately dismissed her findings as ludicrous. But the more she went back, the more she dug, the clearer everything had become.

She’d found notes in Eddie’s datebook, drawings of weapons and weird symbols. And in the margins of a book about the paranormal he’d made more notes. Then under his mattress she’d found a list with names. Next to each name he’d put either
Human
or
Vampire.

The moment Nina had read the word she’d thought he’d gone crazy. And for a short while she’d believed that he was guilty of what he’d been accused of. Mental illness would explain it. But there had never been a sign of instability in him. Eddie wasn’t crazy—no way would she believe that.

 So she’d dug deeper and followed those he’d classified as vampires
on his list. Most worked for Scanguards.

Nina sniffed and wiped her nose on the sleeve of her sweatshirt. Her dark clothes made her frame melt into the doorway behind her. Nobody would be able to notice her even if they looked into her direction.

Several weeks of following those she suspected of being vampires had turned into a crash course in stealth. Until now, she’d stayed far enough away from them to be out of danger. Tonight, she would have to get close.

The sound of a door opening pulled Nina out of her thoughts. A quick glance at the person exiting the large Victorian home confirmed it was one of the vampires, the biggest of them, Amaury.

She’d followed him several times, figured out where he lived and tried to find his weak point. She wasn’t particularly keen on him being the first she would have to take down, but maybe this was how it should be. Get rid of the biggest,
baddest
vampire first; the rest would be easy pickings by comparison.

Nina watched him stagger down the front steps, almost as if he was drunk. On the sidewalk he stopped and braced himself against the gate to his right. The light from the streetlamp illuminated his face. Instead of the broad smile he so often sported in the company of others, his face was distorted, deep grooves around his mouth and eyes creating a mask of pain.

Pain?  She frowned. From everything she knew about vampires, she was almost certain they didn’t feel much pain, if any at all. Yet Amaury looked as if he was in the throws of a migraine, the heels of his hands pressed tightly against his temples.

With bated breath she watched his chest rise and fall as he inhaled and exhaled deeply. There was something so human, so vulnerable about him, it made her own chest tighten in sympathy. She instantly shook the thought from her mind. A few seconds passed before he finally straightened up, his face normal again.

Nina remained at a safe distance behind him as she followed, the damp pavement absorbing the sound of her soft-soled shoes. From the direction he took, she realized he was heading home. Why he lived in the Tenderloin, one of the shabbiest neighborhoods of San Francisco, when he could surely afford a much better place, was a mystery to her. His clothes, while casual, looked expensive. And once she’d seen him in his car, a Porsche.

As she trailed him down the hill, slowly entering the less savory parts of the city where so many of the homeless and drug addicts congregated, she had already decided on a place to take him down. Patiently, she bided her time, each step bringing her closer to the spot which would give her a definite advantage.

Nina stepped around yet another homeless man passed out on the sidewalk. The scent of alcohol and urine assaulted her senses. Suddenly, the drunk twitched and grunted, startling her. Adrenaline pumped through her veins. She glanced down at the man, ready to defend herself if necessary, but he was out cold. When she looked back up, Amaury had just turned a corner. She only caught sight of a flap of his long coattail.

Immediately, she quickened her stride. She couldn’t afford to lose him when she was so close to her goal. Two blocks further was the location she’d scouted out days ago.

The old obsolete stairway she’d discovered led over the roof of an abandoned one-story building. At the diagonal corner of it, it provided a clear viewpoint above a narrow alley—an alley Amaury liked to take. He would pass by it, and she would be able to jump onto him from above, stabbing him at the same time.

Nina slipped her hand into her pocket and touched the stake. The wood felt smooth in her hand as she caressed it like a lover, fitting it to her palm.

Amaury LeSang, you’ll be one dead vampire in a minute.

Such a big man, yet such a small object would bring about his death. It was almost poetic. For all their strength and power, vampires were surprisingly vulnerable to something as simple as a piece of wood. There was justice in this world after all. She would call on this justice tonight.

She rounded the corner he’d turned only seconds earlier. The narrow street was dark and—empty. Nina skidded to a halt. Had he noticed her after all and started running once he’d been out of her direct line of sight?

She scanned the sidewalk and doorways. Nothing, except for a couple of homeless men arguing and a teenager lurking in the shadows, probably waiting for his drug dealer, if he wasn’t one himself. No sound or sight of anybody else in the vicinity. A cold shiver travelled down her spine, spreading unease in her body.

A block further was the turn-off to the alley. Maybe he’d already reached it and taken it. A few steps ahead to her right she ducked under the small arch which led to the old stairway. Taking two steps at a time, she climbed it. If she hurried, she could still be in place in time to strike.

Nina picked up speed and ran up the last few stairs before it made an abrupt turn. A short sprint across the roof and she reached the vantage point which exposed the narrow alley beneath. She knew he liked taking this shortcut to his home. She’d seen him do so several times.

Only this time, he wasn’t in the alley. She’d missed him. All her work for the night was for nothing. A complete waste.

Damn!

Nina stomped her foot in frustration and pushed the air out of her lungs. A faint sound behind her made her spin on her heels. Only her quick reaction saved her from being grabbed from behind, but the large hand still caught her arm. Her breath hitched, and fear clamped around her throat at the unexpected contact. Without even looking up at his face, she knew who she was dealing with.

Amaury was built like a tank: hard, unyielding, and unstoppable. She felt his raw power send electrical charges along her skin. Genuine worry hummed through her. Without the element of surprise on her side, she had no chance of winning a fight against him. He could easily steamroll her, and she’d be giving him as much resistance as a blade of grass in the wind.

Escape was her only option at this point. She wasn’t proud or stupid enough to stick around.

With a swift move she twisted her arm out and jerked it away, making him lose his grip on her. A firm kick into his shin, and she darted past him, muffled curses chasing her. When she felt his hand grab her sweatshirt, she kicked back with her leg, then spun on the other foot and used both her arms to twist his to force him to release her clothing. But she had underestimated his strength—or the strength of any vampire for that matter.

“Who the hell are you?” Amaury spat out. The deep rumble of his voice sent a tremor through her body and made her skin prickle. “And why were you following me?”

His imposing frame towered more than half a foot over her, crowding her senses. One hand still on her sweatshirt, he wrenched her hood off with the other, ignoring her flailing arms. Her curls tumbled out. Nina tried unsuccessfully to shake his hand off when he used it to tip her chin up, forcing her to look at him.

“You’re a woman!”

His eyes widened as he looked at her. She used his moment’s hesitation to twist out of his grip and ran for it. She didn’t even make two steps before his arms snatched her again and held onto her. Tighter this time, hauling her into his hard frame. He turned her around. Pressing her lips together in a thin line, she glared up at him—and looked into the bluest eyes she’d ever seen.

Nina had always observed Amaury from afar, always from a safe distance. This was the first time she was within inches of his face and his massive body. He was tall and muscled, big-boned, and broad-shouldered. But there wasn’t an ounce of fat on him. His hair was as black as a raven, not quite shoulder length, and curling slightly at its ends.

But it wasn’t his hair or his strong body which captured her, not even the hands that kept her imprisoned against her will. It was his eyes. As blue and as deep as an ocean they stared at her—hypnotized her.

Maybe she could have shaken off his hands somehow, but not his eyes. Nor the sensual curve of his mouth, the fullness of his lips, or the strong outline of his jaw. Even his nose was in perfect proportion to his size, long and straight, almost Greek.

Never in her life had she come face to face with a man so ruggedly handsome and sensual at the same time. Despite the precarious situation she found herself in—captured by a vampire—she didn’t struggle to get out of his arms and away from his body. Rather, she found herself inching forward, moving ever closer to him to savor the heat that radiated from him. Amaury smelled of earth and leather, purely male. Her belly clenched in response. The wanton reaction of her body sent an alarm bell ringing in her head.

What in the devil was she doing? She should be kicking his sorry ass from here to Alcatraz, not ogling him like a star-struck groupie. He was the enemy, one of the men responsible for the destruction of her little family. Why was her body not moving when she should have at least tried some of her karate kicks to escape his hold?

His narrowed eyes were sharp and assessing, watching her with suspicion, yet he said nothing. She didn’t think he could still be shocked by the fact a woman had followed him, but something was restraining his tongue.