Amaury's Hellion (32 page)

It had been over two hours since he’d had sex with Nina, and his gift—or whatever one wanted to call it—still hadn’t returned. Sex had never blocked out his ability for this long before. At most he would be free of emotions for half an hour, but never this long. If it didn’t come back in the next couple of minutes, he and his friends would be at a severe disadvantage.

“Everybody in place?” Gabriel’s voice resonated loud and clear in Amaury’s ear.

“Zane and I are at the back,” was Yvette’s reply.

“Thomas and I, ready,” Samson said.

“Amaury and I are at the side. Ready whenever you are.” Ricky looked at him.

“Any activity from the inside, Amaury?” Gabriel asked over the earpiece.

Should he lie or tell him the truth? “Nothing from the inside.”

“What do you mean? Specifics please.”

“I mean I can’t sense anything.” Amaury recognized that he was getting irritable.

“Nobody inside?” Samson asked for clarification.

Amaury huffed. “I don’t fucking know, okay?”

Ricky cut him a surprised glare. Several voices came through the earpiece at the same time, before Samson’s voice burst through.

“Explain yourself, Amaury.”

The earpiece fell silent. “I haven’t been able to sense anybody’s emotions since I bonded with Nina. Even before that things were getting sketchy—almost like blackouts. I think I’ve lost my gift.” He was certain the moment he spoke. It had started slowly with the first time he’d met Nina. And while at the beginning his inability to sense any emotions had been confined to her alone, it had spread—slowly, but with ever increasing range.

Each additional moment he’d spent with Nina had wiped out more of his so-called gift. The temporary release that he’d only ever felt right after sex, had extended further and further the more contact he’d had with Nina.

He realized now that by bonding with her he’d hammered the last nail into the coffin with which to bury his hated gift.

It was over. His curse wasn’t coming back. His psychic ability was lost.

And all he could think of was how free and happy he suddenly felt.

“Fucking perfect timing,” Ricky hissed.

“Stop it!” Samson ordered. “We’ll have to do without it then. We’ll manage. Gabriel, at your command.”

“Test your access points,” Gabriel instructed.

The side door was locked. Ricky worked on the lock.

“Back?”

“Open,” Zane confirmed.

“Front?”

“Thirty seconds,” Thomas paused. Then, “Okay, front is open.”

“Side?”

“Almost there,” Amaury answered, watching Ricky. A nod from Ricky, and Amaury corrected, “Done.”

“Ready on the roof. Give us fifteen seconds. Fourteen …” Gabriel’s voice trailed off.

Amaury counted silently. Ricky’s lips moved:
ten, nine …,
as Amaury gripped his semi-automatic with both hands. Tense seconds passed.

Now
, his friend mouthed and swung the door open silently. Amaury eased inside and pressed himself against the wall next to the door, his eyes scanning the darkness inside. Ricky slid next to him a second later.

There was a musty smell in the warehouse which was stacked with crates. Amaury couldn’t hear his friends’ footsteps. Good. If he couldn’t hear them, neither could Luther or his men. He motioned Ricky to stay on one side, while he crossed the path between the crates and moved along on the other side.

Despite the darkness, he saw clearly where he was walking. At the end of the aisle of goods he stopped and peered around it. Nothing. He gave Ricky a hand movement, then eased around the corner.

Aisle after aisle he worked his way toward the center of the building, with Ricky doing the same on the other side until the rows of the boxes and crates ended, and he reached an empty space in the middle. A movement to his left made him swivel on his heels, his index finger on the trigger of his semiautomatic.

“They’re gone.” Samson stepped in front of him. “The place is empty.”

His other colleagues came into view, frustration and disappointment edged onto their faces.

“Nothing,” Gabriel confirmed.

“Maybe Paul’s memories weren’t that good,” Zane insinuated.

Gabriel pinned him with a furious glare. “This is the place. They were here.”

“And now they’re gone.” Quinn’s voice was even as he cut in. “They must have known we were coming.”

Suddenly several sets of eyes landed on Amaury. If they were thinking what he suspected, they were in for a fight. Nina didn’t do this. He took a step toward Quinn. “What are you suggesting?”

His colleague held his ground. “You know what I’m suggesting.”

“You leave her out of this,” Amaury hissed and glared into the round. “That goes for all of you. She didn’t do this. She did not betray me.” God help him if she had.

Both Quinn and Zane stepped toward him, meeting his stare. They weren’t backing down. Amaury widened his stance, readying himself for a fight. He would defend Nina even though he didn’t know what she had or hadn’t done.

“There’s always the other reason, you know.” At Yvette’s casual words, everybody turned toward her. She stood there, her leather-clad foot propped on a crate, pretending to check her fingernails for any damage. Several seconds passed.

“And you were going to share this reason with us any time soon?” Amaury finally asked.

She stopped admiring her nails and looked up. “Ah, I see, I have everybody’s attention.”

“Yvette.” Gabriel’s voice sounded like a warning.

“Have you guys ever wondered why it was so easy to capture Paul Holland?”

“Go on,” Samson encouraged, clearly intrigued.

“I believe Luther wanted us to catch him so he could lead us into a trap. He used Paul to feed us information he wanted us to have and made sure Paul only saw what he wanted him to see. I think it was all a setup.”

Gabriel scoffed. “I don’t see anybody who’s trying to kill us here, do you?”

“Maybe we are not the ones he wants. Paul claimed Luther’s plan was to destroy Scanguards, but what if that’s not his real goal? What if it was merely a diversion? Maybe he just wanted us out of the way.”

“To do what?” Samson asked.

“If he hates you two as much as you say, getting revenge by destroying your company frankly doesn’t sound like it’s personal enough. I could think of something much more personal than the company, something much more valuable, or shall I say … some
body
?”

Amaury suddenly felt a stab in his temple, the kind of stab he would feel when emotions invaded him—only now it was different. There was only one thought, coming from only one person. Nina. He could sense her. But before he could put the thought in his head into words, he heard Samson shout.

“No! Delilah!” Samson pressed his hand against his temple. He shot a panicked look at the group. “Luther’s got Delilah.”

Thirty-two

Nina bent over the sink and splashed water on her face.

The first wave of anger over Amaury and his high-handed approach to their relationship had passed. She was much calmer now than during her earlier conversation with Delilah. Maybe she had overreacted a little.

Well, it didn’t happen every day that a girl found out she was blood-bonded to a vampire for eternity.

To a very hot and sexy vampire.

But it didn’t change anything about the fact that Amaury had obviously spent too many years in the dark ages where slinging a woman over his shoulder and dragging her into his cave was a perfectly acceptable form of courtship. Even though what had happened in the cave had pleased her very much.

Still, he’d tricked her. No matter how secretly excited she was that this powerful vampire had bound himself to her, she couldn’t let his action pass without making him aware that he couldn’t treat her like this. If she’d let him get away with it now, then what else would he think he could do? She wanted a partner in her life, not a tyrant.

Hell, they hadn’t been out on a single date. He’d never even bought her dinner. All she’d had were leftovers of food he’d cooked for somebody else.

Surely Samson hadn’t treated Delilah with such disrespect. She seemed to be all gooey-eyed over her man. And what had Amaury done? He’d treated her like property, nothing more. She was no man’s property, no matter how hot he was or how amazing he made her feel every time he touched her. Why couldn’t he have asked her like any normal man? Of course, Amaury was anything but normal. Hell, she didn’t want a normal man! She wanted him, a vampire. But before she would admit that, she’d teach him first that he had to treat her like an independent woman, not some chattel.

And now she’d talk to Delilah about it. The woman seemed to have her head well screwed on, and maybe Delilah would help her figure out how she could teach Amaury the lesson he needed to learn before they could start their lives together.

With a determined move she took the towel and wiped her face dry then looked in the mirror. A loud thump startled her. She listened, but a second later everything was quiet again. She let her hand run through her locks before she turned back to the door and unlocked it.

The moment she opened the bathroom door and stepped out, she heard a commotion in the front of the house. A shriek from Delilah and some muffled grunts mixed with the sound of heavy items hitting the floor made her rush down the corridor.

Nina reached the living room a few seconds later. The picture greeting her made her heart stop in shock. Delilah struggled to get out of the grip of a man who Nina instantly recognized as Johan, the vampire who had attacked her a few nights earlier. Carl, obviously in an attempt to help her, was fighting against two others whose backs were turned to Nina.

She gasped. One of the men snapped his head around and spotted her. He released Carl, leaving his companion to deal with him. In shock, she stared at the man who approached her now and who she’d first met at the nightclub: Luther.

There was a curious expression on his face, almost as if he was surprised to see her here.

“Now look at that. Amaury’s little tart.”

At first it appeared he had little interest in her. But then she took a step back, and he was suddenly on her. Nina didn’t dare move. When Luther inhaled a deep breath, she instinctively knew it wasn’t a good sign. A flicker in his eyes confirmed that her luck had just changed. She cursed Amaury. Had he not brought her to Samson’s house for her safety, she wouldn’t be in danger now.

“Who would have thought?” He took in another breath. “Yes, two birds with one stone. Lady Luck is on my side tonight. At first you were just an annoyance to get rid of, snooping around in my business, but now … your value has just gone up.”

Luther took a curl of her hair and twisted it around his finger. Nina turned her head so it slipped out of this grip.

“You’re gonna pay for this,” she warned him, feeling she had to be brave.

He let out a bitter laugh. “I’ve already paid a long time ago. Now finally, I’ll get something in exchange. I think Amaury will regret having made you his mate, and so will you. He’s turned you into a target.”

Nina’s chest tightened.

By making her his mate, Amaury had handed Luther another bargaining chip. If he wanted revenge on Amaury, what better way to take it out on his newly bonded mate? She glanced past him where Delilah had given up her struggle against Johan who held her arms behind her back. She realized instantly what Luther was planning to do to both of them, her and Delilah. Her fear tightened her throat, making her unable to speak.

Luther looked back over his shoulder. “Tie her up. This one too. We’re taking both.”

Johan grunted and tied Delilah’s wrists with duct tape. Nina kicked Luther into his shin when his attention was diverted by Carl who still struggled with the other intruder.

“Don’t, Nina; it’s not worth it,” Delilah warned.

“
Bastard
!” Nina screamed the moment Luther pinned her against the door frame, glaring at her.

“Try that again.” The challenge in his voice carried a menacing warning, a clear indication that he wanted to inflict pain.

Behind him another figure moved.

“Nina?”

Her ears were playing tricks on her. The voice Nina heard belonged to a dead man. She shook her head trying to clear her mind, but then the man came into view behind Luther. No, it couldn’t be true. He was dead. She’d buried him a month ago, buried his charred body.

“Eddie?”

Luther released his grip as Eddie pushed in. “Nina! What are you doing here?”

“Eddie!”

She was dreaming. Eddie was alive. How?

“But, you died.” She touched his arm, looked at his face. It was Eddie, but he was different. He looked stronger than before, and there was a strange glint in his eyes. His skin was clearer than before. No pimples, no sign of blemishes, when just before his death he’d been fighting a bout of acne.

Was her mind playing tricks on her?

All of a sudden, a movement she caught from the corner of her eye distracted her from perusing the man in front of her. Nina whipped her head to the right. Carl had scrambled to his feet and held a stake in his hand, as he jumped toward Eddie, intent on killing him.

Without thinking, she pushed Eddie out of the way and took Carl’s impact. The wooden stake, while blunt, drove into her arm. It didn’t penetrate deeply, but nevertheless managed to break through a layer of muscle. Blood dripped from her. She clamped her good hand over her injured arm, trying to press hard against the stabbing pain. To no avail. A dull ache coiled through her body.

When she looked up, she saw her brother’s face before her, his eyes red and sharp fangs protruding from his lips. Reality hit her harder than the stake had seconds earlier: her baby brother was a vampire. And not only that, he was working for the bad guy. For Luther who now restrained Carl.

“Oh, no, Eddie.”

His fangs came closer and closer. Nina felt her knees buckle as nausea overwhelmed her.

“Please, no.”

Would her own brother kill her? It was too much for her mind to handle. Black blotches appeared in front of her eyes. She wouldn’t faint, no, she couldn’t. She wasn’t some weak girl who’d fall …