Bound to Shadows (19 page)

Heaven only knows what he saw in my eyes.
He grabbed my arms and thrust them above my head, holding them secure in one large hand while he
lifted my butt with the other. Then he rammed himself into me, and it felt so good I slammed my
head back against the wall and howled.
This was no gentle mating. His movements were hard, rough, his body pummeling mine, hitting the
right spot again and again, until I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think, could only feel. And oh
God, it felt
good
. I came, hard, a scream of pleasure tearing itself
from my throat and sounding suspiciously like his name.
He came just as hard, his body jerking as his seed shot into me, his face twisting as if in
agony.
Then it was over, and the pleasure began to fade, until there was nothing left but sweat, the
battle for breath, and the horrid realization that no matter what excuses I’d given myself, I’d
come here for this.
I might blame the wolf, but the wolf, like the vampire, wasn’t the sum of me.
And if there were two parts of me at war, then it wasn’t the wolf and the vampire, but rather
heart and soul.
Right now, locked in this man’s embrace, I wasn’t sure which part of me would win.
Or which part I
wanted
to win.
And that was a scary thought.
“Well,” he said, amusement briefly touching the corners of his eyes as he tucked a stray strand
of sweaty hair back behind my right ear. “That certainly gave the neighbors something to talk
about.”
I glanced across the darkened street and saw that we did indeed have watchers. Normally I
wouldn’t mind, but for some weird reason, this time I did.
Maybe part of me was ashamed of my actions.
I pressed my hands between us and pushed him away. He resisted for a moment, then smiled and
stepped back.
“Why are you here?” He turned around as he spoke, stepped over our clothes, and walked naked down
the hall.
My gaze drifted to his butt, then I shook my head, grabbed my clothes, and followed. “Do you
still have your bugs in at Dante’s?”
All the doors were open, but aside from a bed in one of the rooms, the house was practically
empty. There wasn’t any form of security equipment that I could see.
“Yes, but it’s not set up here. Why?” He pushed open a door and walked in. I followed, my gaze
sweeping the small basic kitchen before coming back to Kye, drifting down the muscular V of his
back before coming to rest on his well-toned butt. I clenched my fists against the sudden need to
touch him.
“Because a suspect I was following went into Dante’s, and I’d prefer not to go in after
him.”
He paused in the middle of making coffee and looked over his shoulder. “Why are you reluctant to
go into Dante’s? You’re many things, Riley, but a coward isn’t one of them.”
I crossed my arms and leaned a hip against the counter. “I don’t like Starke.”
He raised an eyebrow. “I would have thought not liking someone was something of a career hazard
for guardians.”
“And I make it a habit of avoiding the ones I dislike if there are other options
available.”
He returned to his coffee making. “So that little dance out in the foyer was a way of softening
me up?”
“No, that was out-of-control need. I’ll do my best not to let it happen again.”
He laughed—a sound so cold and harsh that a chill ran down my spine. “We are destined to be one,
whether we like it or not.”
And he didn’t like it. Not one little bit. At least we had
that
in
common. “If you’re so intent on fighting this, why keep insisting that I come to you?”
He looked over his shoulder, his eyes locking on mine. There was something very chilling in those
warm amber depths. “Because to control it, I have to face it. So here I am—and here I will
stay—until I have a leash on this. On
us.”
Oh God, oh God … I didn’t have the strength to keep on fighting this. I couldn’t. Not when I
hungered so. “The bonds that bind us only grow stronger the more we are together. It would be
better if you simply left—”
His hand crashed down on the countertop, the force so great he cracked the stone. “I will
not
retreat from this. I
will
control
it.”
All I could do was stare at him. This man really
was
crazy.
After a moment, he turned around and offered me a coffee cup. The explosion of anger might have
gone, but the embers of it still burned in his eyes.
I clasped the cup and took a sip. The rich scent of hazelnut teased my nostrils, and that only
succeeded in increasing the turmoil.
“I only have several minor jobs at the moment, so it gives me time to concentrate on this.” His
gaze came to mine again and the sensible part of me trembled. Not in fear of the man, but in fear
of what I saw there. This wolf might want to control both the situation and me, but he had no
intention of actually letting go. “And while I am here, I will have what is mine.”
“I will never be yours, Kye.”
“If I reach for you now, you would be mine for the taking. We both know it, Riley.”
He was right. As much as I might want to deny it, as much as I might fight it, he had my body and
he had my soul. But he did not have my heart.
That
I would protect
against his assault with my life itself.
I sipped my coffee and said nothing. After several minutes, he smiled. It was a twisted, bitter
thing. “What time did your suspect enter Dante’s?”
I glanced at my watch. “Twenty-three minutes ago.”
His gaze narrowed a little. “Was he a dark-haired man with a hunched demeanor who walked like a
predator?”
“Yes.” I hesitated. “I thought you said your surveillance equipment wasn’t here.”
“It isn’t. That doesn’t mean I can’t access it from here. Phones can do amazing things these
days.”
I guess they could. “What made you notice him?”
“The mere fact he didn’t look like the usual type of customer Dante pulled in.”
“So you can supply me with a photo of him from your system?”
“I can do more than that. I’ll pull up his information.” He paused, considering me. “But if you
want it, there is a cost.”
I snorted softly. “Like I was expecting you to give me something out of the goodness of your
heart.”
His grin was fierce. “I have no heart. You’d do well to remember that.”
“Oh, trust me, I do.” I shoved the coffee cup onto the countertop and crossed my arms. “What’s
your price? Another fuck?”
God, the mere thought had me trembling in anticipation.
Fate needed to be shot.
“Yes and no.” His voice was flat, and yet there was an odd hint of amusement teasing his mouth.
It made me want to kiss him again, and I hated that. Hated myself for wanting it. “I want you to
stay with me.”
“What?”
I stared at him for a moment. “Why?”
He shrugged. “Maybe because it’s the last thing you actually want. Or maybe because I want your
vampire to understand just what it’s like to know that his mate is in the arms and the bed of
another.”
He was a bastard. A
bastard
.
Although that wasn’t exactly a new revelation.
“I’m not spending the night with you.”
“Then you don’t get your information and you risk more people dying.”
“Maybe I’ll just call the Directorate and confiscate your entire system.”
“And maybe I’ll just call the man following your brother’s mate and give him the go-ahead for a
little target practice.”
Anger and fear surged in equal amounts and I lashed out. Though I moved with vampire speed, he
moved almost as fast, and the blow barely even brushed his chin. Even so, there was enough
strength behind it to send him sprawling backward.
I stepped forward, wanting to finish it, wanting to punish him for everything he was putting me
through, but somehow I got the urge under control and stopped several inches away, my fists
clenched and body shaking with fury.
“You ever threaten him like that again—”
He rose and the force of his anger hit me like a ton of bricks. It was all I could do not to step
back, to remember this man
was just
a wolf and didn’t hold half the
threat of some of the other foes I’d faced.
But as I met him glare for glare, he seemed far, far worse.
“I am your
soul
mate,” he said flatly. Coldly. “I will do whatever it
takes to possess and control what is mine. And if it means destroying everything you hold dear,
then that is precisely what I will do.”
“But you don’t
want
me. You don’t want this.” My voice rose, until I
was almost shouting at him. “So what is the fucking point?”
He smiled again. Once again, it was a cold and harsh thing to behold. “The point, as I have
already said, is the fight. It’s winning out over base emotion. It’s being in control.”
I stared at him for several seconds, thinking nothing, feeling nothing, my mind seemingly frozen
and his words echoing around in the emptiness of my thoughts.
I was never going to win this fight, because the mere act of fighting was what he wanted, what he
enjoyed. No matter what I did, I was going to lose.
If he wanted control, then I’d give it to him.
Or at least, give him the illusion of it.
I stepped back, turned around, and picked up my coffee. “Fine,” I said. “You win. I’ll spend the
night with you.”
Surprise flickered through his eyes. “Really? You’re giving up, just like that? Somehow, I’m not
quite believing that, Riley.”
“I don’t care what you believe.” I rubbed my eyes and suddenly felt a hundred years older. “You
want me, you can have me. It’s as simple as that.”
He raised an eyebrow, the disbelief still very evident, then he held out a hand. “Fine. Come with
me now.”
I hesitated, then placed my fingers in his. His grip was warm, fierce, and—God help me—a tremor
of anticipation ran down my spine. He smiled, obviously sensing the hunger I just couldn’t
control, then led me from the kitchen, back down the hall, and into his bedroom.
Where we made love, again and again, until our bodies were spent and our wolves sated and all I
wanted to do was cry.
But I managed to place the tracker at the base of his neck, just near the hairline as I’d been
told, so at least the night was not a total waste.
When we finally slept, it wasn’t wrapped in each other’s arms, but apart—a physical sign of a
distance that would never be bridged, no matter how much fate and our souls might wish
it.

W
hen I woke, I was alone.
I lay in the bed with the sheets twisted around my body, listening to the silence, drawing in the
air.
Kye wasn’t here.
Hadn’t been here for several hours, if the fading aroma of him was anything to go by.
Part of me wanted to hope that by giving in, I’d won the war, but I knew that would be a false
hope. Kye hadn’t believed I’d meant what I’d said, so he’d be back. And probably when I least
expected it.
I untangled the sheets from my legs and sat up. Despite the long hours of intense and often rough
sex, I felt refreshed. Maybe because when I finally
had
slept, I
hadn’t dreamed.
I glanced around the room, noting for the first time it had little in the way of comfort. Besides
the bed and a small, somewhat moth-eaten armoire, there was little else in the room. No personal
knickknacks, no paintings or mirrors, no clothes lying about. I frowned and walked across to the
armoire. It was empty.
A walk through the rest of the house gave the same result. Kye hadn’t just left the bed, he’d
left the premises—lock, stock, and decent coffee.
I cursed myself for being an idiot and trusting that he’d actually keep his half of the bargain,
and stalked into the bathroom to catch a shower. There was no way I was leaving this house
reeking of him.
And there, resting on top of a clean towel that was sitting next to the basin, were several
sheets of paper. A quick glance revealed not only a printout of my suspect, but what information
Kye had found on him.
I wasn’t sure whether to be annoyed or amused.
I had my shower and got dressed, then grabbed the papers and headed for the front door.
Only to run straight into my brother’s chest.

O
w,” I said, rubbing my nose as I stepped back. “What the
hell are you doing here, Rhoan?”
“I was about to ask you the same fucking question.” He’d shoved his hands on his hips and was
glaring at me fiercely.
I frowned and wondered what the hell was going on. “I’m getting information about the case.
Why?”
“Because you car was found abandoned over near Vinny’s, your com-link is turned off, and you
weren’t answering your phone.” He thrust his fingers through his hair, and for the first time I
noticed the tension in him. “We thought the worst.”
I raised my eyebrows. “Why would you think that? You’ve always known when I’m in serious trouble
in the past.”
“Serious trouble, yes, but there’ve been times when you’ve been hurt and in trouble, and I
haven’t felt a thing.” He hesitated and looked sheepish. “I guess I just panicked.”
“Whatever game Kye is playing, it doesn’t involve hurting me physically.” Not yet, at least. “And
my com-link isn’t turned off. Not completely, anyway. I could hear Jack. He just can’t hear
me.”
Given what I’d been doing last night, that had been a very sensible decision.
“Well, the Directorate is getting nothing from your com-link, just an odd sort of deadness. Hence
the panic.” His gaze swept me, as if reassuring himself that I really was okay, then rose again.
He frowned. “When did you start wearing an earring?”
“I’m not.”
He reached out and plucked something off my left ear. It was small and round, with a blue stone
at its heart.
“Now
I can feel you.”
I barely even heard what he was saying, thanks to the fact that the minute he removed the
earring, Jack’s voice began to rebound loudly inside my head.
“Jack, slow down, I can’t understand a damn word you’re saying,” I said, then added quickly,
before he had a chance to blast me. “It appears I picked up some sort of electronic device that
was blocking the com-link and maybe even telepathy.”
“There’s no device out there capable of that.” His voice was gruff and it wasn’t all anger.
Concern was there as well, and that warmed me.
“Then maybe we’d better check out the device Rhoan just took off my ear, because I only began
hearing you once it was removed.”
Had Kye planted it on me? I couldn’t remember him actually doing it, but then, he’d played my
body like a maestro last night and would have had any number of chances to stick something on my
skin without me being aware. After all, I had done exactly that to him. But why would he bother?
He surely had to know that me being incommunicado would bring the cavalry running and that we’d
find the bug or whatever it actually was sooner rather than later. Especially given how obvious
it was.
Maybe he simply didn’t realize the com-link was also a tracker. Or maybe he simply enjoyed the
thought of creating a little chaos.
“There’re several bits of good news to make up for the bad,” I added. “I managed to place the
tracker on Kye—”
“Excellent,” Jack cut in. “Once research homes in on the signal, we’ll be able to monitor the
bastard’s movements. And we’ll know whether he’s anywhere near if we have another
murder.”
True. And I really
did
hope he wasn’t, because that would only create
a bigger mess than there already was.
“I have a name for you to run, too.” I glanced down at the papers Kye had left me. “Carlos
Martez, born in Spain twenty-nine years ago, immigrated to Australia when he was nine. I have
several photos of him I can send through, but no license details.”
Although why Kye hadn’t retrieved that when he’d gotten the name is anyone’s guess. Maybe he
didn’t want to make things easy for me.
As if things would ever be easy when it came to him and me.
“And why are we chasing this man?”
“Because I saw him coming out of Vinny’s last night, and he’s some sort of emo vamp.” I
hesitated, then decided not to mention the fact that I’d probably gotten several nocturnal visits
from him. Jack would only get mad that I hadn’t mentioned it before now—although given that,
until last night, I hadn’t actually suspected my sexy dreams were more than just dreams, I
couldn’t really be blamed for not saying anything. Besides, until I knew for sure who was doing
it and why, it was better not to jump the gun. All I really knew for sure was that it wasn’t
Vinny; it didn’t have her feel. “I actually think he’s the one behind the murders of the two
women. Interestingly, when I was tracking him last night, he disappeared into Dante’s.”
“That doesn’t mean the two cases are definitely connected.”
It didn’t mean they weren’t, either. “I know. And I have no evidence connecting him to the
murders. But I think we need to talk to both him and Vinny.”
“I’ll get Benson straight onto the trace.”
“Have you gotten anywhere with the council? Are any of them willing to talk to us?”
“Given that your attempt to talk to Leon Gordon resulted in him losing his head, the answer to
that is a definite no.”
“Even Dante?”
“Dante is many things, but a fool isn’t one of them. He won’t risk talking to you if the others
have refused. It would reflect on him badly.”
I’d bet a hundred bucks that he
would
talk to me if I asked—but the
cost would be sex, and I really didn’t want to go down that path. “We need to know what the hell
they did to get someone so pissed off at them.”
“I realize that, Riley, and it is being dealt with.”
Meaning his sister—who happened to be the head of the Directorate—was dealing with it. “Good. Let
me know if you get anything.”
“No, Riley, I’m going to keep the information all to myself.”
I snorted softly. Sarcastic was better than angry. “Thanks, boss.”
He grunted and signed off. I blew out a breath and glanced at my brother. “You feel like
breakfast? My treat, seeing I caused you so much stress.”
He grinned and turned around, offering me his arm. “You know I’ll never refuse an offer like
that.”
“Good, because we need to talk.”
“That sounds serious.”
“It is.” He led me down the steps. His car was on the street and double-parked, blocking the
traffic from either direction. There were a couple of cars waiting to get past, and it was
probably only the Directorate plates that were keeping them from expressing their
displeasure.
Rhoan opened the passenger door for me, then scooted around to the driver’s side and climbed
in.
“So,” he said, starting the car and then driving off. “What’s the problem?”
I took a deep breath and blew it out slowly. “Kye.”
Rhoan glanced at me, gray eyes considering. “That was his place, wasn’t it?”
“Yes.”
“And you spent the night with him?”
“Yes.”
“For fuck’s sake, Riley, I thought you had more sense.”
I smiled bitterly. “Tell me, Rhoan, how much success have you had keeping your paws off your soul
mate?”
“That’s different—”
“No, it’s not. Whether I like it or not, that man is a part of me, just like Liander is a part of
you. I can’t ignore him and I can’t get away from him. I have to deal with him—and this whole
situation—the best I can.”
“And that best is sleeping with him?” He snorted softly. “That’s not exactly dealing with the
problem. That’s giving in to it.”
“Yeah, it is. And it was done for a damn good reason, so don’t you be looking down your nose at
me, brother, or I’ll damn well flatten it.”
He grinned. “Them’s fighting words, babe. Shame to waste them on me rather than him.”
“Oh, trust me, I wasted a few of them on him, too.” For all the good it did. “What’s Liander
involved with at the moment?”
He didn’t answer immediately, but the tension in the car suddenly ramped up several degrees. “He
threatened Liander?”
“Yes.”
“And you believe he’d do it?”
“He’s the one who shot you—just to prove the point.”
He didn’t actually look surprised. But by the same token, the chill in his eyes suggested Kye
wouldn’t want to meet him on the street anytime soon. Which was the exact reason I hadn’t told
him earlier. “Bastard.”
“Yup.”
He blew out a breath and flexed his fingers against the steering wheel. “So we have to get him
out of Melbourne. Immediately.”
I knew he meant Liander rather than Kye, although I would have loved for him to get Kye out of
Melbourne, too.
“You
have to get him out. I have to stay here and not
only catch two killers, but deal with said bastard.”
He swung into a McDonald’s drive-through and ordered breakfast for us both. Once I’d paid and
we’d collected our food, we headed for Vinny’s. “Liander’s not going to be happy.”
“Tell him he can’t be a daddy if he’s dead.”
He glanced at me sharply, hope flaring in his eyes. “Does that mean you’ll agree to the
surrogacy?”
“I can’t agree to anything until we make sure everyone survives the current threat. Let’s
concentrate on that first.” I took a bite of my egg and bacon McMuffin.
“According to Kye, he has a tail twenty-four seven, so you’ll have to make sure you’re not
followed.”
“They wouldn’t want to try.” His voice was flat, deadly, and a shiver ran down my spine. He might
be my brother, and we might both be little more than leashed killers, but sometimes he scared me.
He had a switch that I didn’t. He could so easily become everything I was fighting—a
cold-blooded, unfeeling killer.
Kye, in another form.
I gulped down some coffee but didn’t feel any warmer. Maybe because I knew that, one day, that
switch would be mine. It was inevitable if I remained a guardian—and it wasn’t as if I had any
other option.
“It might be worth warning Quinn, too,” Rhoan added. “Although that could be chancy. He tends to
get a little annoyed with people who threaten him. And in this case, that wouldn’t be
good.”
Not when he’d already threatened to beat Kye to a pulp. I finished my McMuffin, then started in
on the hash browns. “If you don’t eat faster, I’m going to finish the lot.”
He grabbed one from the container and shoved the whole thing into his mouth. I shook my head in
disgust then jumped as my phone rang. I dragged it out of my pocket and saw it was Jack. And he
didn’t look happy.
My stomach curled. There’d obviously been another murder. I pressed the RECEIVE button and said,
“Who’s dead this time?”
“I’m hoping no one.” His voice was grim. “Sal just hit the EMERGENCY button. You and Rhoan get
over to her house ASAP.”
“You’ve tried contacting her via the com-link?”
“Yep. She’s not answering.” His voice was grim. “Drive fast.”
We did.
S
al lived in a little two-story brown brick terrace near the
heart of Brunswick Street’s human hot spot. Meaning there were more nightclubs here than there
were in any other part of the city. Most supernaturals tended to avoid the area, simply because
of the intense human population, but vamps seemed to love it. I guess being close to your food
source did have its advantages. Interestingly enough, there weren’t any clubs catering to blood
whores here. Maybe it was too trendy and not out of the way enough for them.
Rhoan parked several houses down from Sal’s, then opened the trunk and tossed me a laser. He
pocketed one himself then gripped a rifle. In my brother’s estimation, you could never have
enough firepower.
“Front and back?”
I shook my head. “These are terrace houses. You’d have to run around the block to get into the
back lane.” If they had a back lane, that was. Some of these areas didn’t. “Let’s just hit the
front together.”
He nodded and walked forward, the rifle held at the ready by his side. A hunter ready to hunt. I
turned on the laser and followed. The soft whine of the weapon powering up was a whole lot louder
than either of our steps.
The pale yellow picket fence that divided Sal’s little front garden from the street came into
view. Bright red poppies peaked over the pickets and contrasted sharply to the heavy blue flowers
of the hyacinths. Names I knew simply because our mom had loved the cottage garden look when we
were kids.
The door—a heavy wooden thing with metal straps running around its length—seemed untouched, as
did the front windows. My gaze rose. One of the first-floor windows was open. A lace curtain hung
out, fluttering softly in the breeze.
Rhoan opened the front gate and ran lightly to the door. He tested the handle, then shook his
head and sidestepped to the window, quickly and carefully peering around the frame.
Again he shook his head, then pointed to the upstairs window. I pressed on the laser’s safety,
shoved it into my pocket, then shifted shape. In seagull form, I flew up to the window and into
the house.
The minute I landed, I shifted to human form but remained kneeling, the thick brown carpet soft
on my knees. The house was quiet and smelled ever so faintly of dog and vampire. There was no
hint of blood riding the air, no hint of death. And in this room at least, no sign of
violence.
I rose, grabbed a blanket from the bed, and dangled one end out the window. Rhoan grabbed the end
and swiftly climbed up.
We moved to the door. After a three-two-one count on his fingers, we moved out—him high, me low.
There was no one in the hall. And no one in the two remaining bedrooms or the bathroom.
Which left the lower part of the house. I flicked to infrared and scanned the area immediately
below the stairs. There was no sign of blood heat, no sign of life. Relief slithered through me.
While it didn’t mean there wasn’t
unlife
, it
did
mean that Kye wasn’t here.
Although Jack would surely have mentioned if he was. But I guessed that depended on whether
they’d caught the tracking signal yet.
I glanced at Rhoan. “Anything?” I murmured.
He shook his head. “The house is empty as far as I can tell.”
Which supported my own findings. I took a step down. The stair creaked softly and I paused,
listening. The stillness remained, nothing moved, and yet … suddenly I wasn’t so sure we were
alone.
I padded down more stairs, my laser held at the ready and my muscles jumping with tension. The
house remained still and free of any unusual scent or sound.
We reached the bottom step. I pressed my back against the wall, noting the glass littering the
hallway. Someone had thrown a mirror—it lay in broken pieces near the front door.
Goose bumps fled up my arms as I stared at the broken shards. Two women had been killed by
something that had probably come through their mirrors, I’d been visited in my sleep, and now we
had a broken mirror here. Coincidence? More than likely not.