Circle of Desire (2 page)

But these wards weren’t designed to stop evil itself—and
that’s what was seeping into this room tonight. Kat’s stomach began to churn. Though she’d spent the last ten years hunting the rogue elements of the supernatural community that preyed on humans, she’d never come across anything that went after kids the way this thing did. She had never met anything that did to them what this thing did.

She closed her eyes, fighting tears, trying not to relive the moment two nights before when they’d stepped into that old factory and found the body of the second missing four-year-old. Daniel had been unmarked except for two small puncture wounds on his neck. Though he’d been drained of blood, this was not what had caused his death. Only those gifted with psychic sight would ever see
that
.

Something had stolen his soul—had ripped it from his body between the beats of his heart. He’d died quickly, but in pain. Terrible, terrible pain.

She didn’t want to face the thing that could do something like that. No one in their right mind would. But she had no choice, simply because the Damask Circle’s resources were stretched to the limits right now, and there was no one else free to make the trip to Oregon.

She gripped the stake tighter and watched the smoke draw together and find shape, becoming a scantily clad, extremely beautiful woman.

Evil came in all shapes and sizes, but for some reason Kat hadn’t expected it to take the form of such Oriental perfection. And maybe it was just her own maternal instincts coming to the fore, but she just couldn’t understand how
any
woman could harm a child—particularly one so young.

But this
was
the thing snatching the kids. It had the same sense of deeply entrenched corruption that she’d felt in the other bedrooms.

The woman stepped toward the child. Kat tensed but fought the urge to move, sensing the show wasn’t over yet. Her fingers ached with the force of her grip on the stake. She had no idea whether it would actually kill the soul-sucker or not, but at the very least it would do some serious damage and give her time to yell for reinforcements.

A cold smile touched the woman’s bloodless lips, then she turned and tried to open the window. It didn’t budge, held steady by the nails placed there earlier. The woman stepped back and energy surged, crawling like fire across Kat’s skin. The nails slithered from the wood and dropped softly to the floor. The woman lifted the window and leaned out.

A gaunt, dark-haired figure appeared, and the sensation of evil increased tenfold. The vampire’s dead gaze scanned the room, stopping when it reached the shadows in which Kat stood. Though she was certain he couldn’t see past her grandmother’s wards, he really didn’t need to. Not with the frantic beat of her heart.

He snarled softly, revealing stained canines. The soul-sucker spun, the malevolence in her dark eyes overwhelming any lingering impression of beauty. With an inhuman growl, she leaped for the sleeping child. Kat raised her hand, thrusting a lance of kinetic energy at the soul-sucker, flinging her away from the bed. The woman hit the wall with enough force to dent the plaster and shatter the nearby window. As glass fell to the floor, the child woke, her
shriek almost ear-piercing. Hurried footsteps began to echo down the hallway, but it was doubtful the cops would get here fast enough to even see this thing, let alone catch it.

As the child’s screams continued, the woman’s gaze met Kat’s. In the dark depths of the creature’s eyes, she saw the promise of retribution. A chill chased through her soul and she shivered.

Then the woman’s form disintegrated, becoming little more than mist that eddied out the open window. Kat cursed and ran across the room. The woman had regained shape near the back fence, and though the vampire was nowhere in sight, the scent of his evil stung the night.

The bedroom door burst open and police poured in. They called to her to stop, but their voices were almost lost beneath the child’s continuing screams. So Kat ignored them and climbed out the window, simply because she had no other choice. By the time she stopped to explain what had happened, the soul-sucker and the vamp would have disappeared. Besides, she doubted the cops would believe her anyway. The only person who
would
understand would probably be scrying right now, staring into her crystal ball in an effort to track the creatures and perhaps discover their daytime hideaway.

Smoke swirled up the wooden fence and disappeared over the top. Kat scrambled after it and sprinted down the alley, her footsteps a lone echo in the night. Ahead, streetlights shimmered and traffic rolled, but it all felt a world away. The creature she chased wanted seclusion and darkness—at least for the moment.

It turned left into another small alley. She followed,
leaping over the rubbish and battered trash cans strewn across her path. She was tempted to shift shape and hit the night sky in her raven form, but she didn’t dare risk it with the stakes she carried. And she wasn’t about to leave them behind—not when the vampire still lurked. Her quarry ran past one of the gates leading into an old factory. Metal creaked, as if stirred by a wind that didn’t exist, and another chill ran down her spine. The vampire was out there, pacing her. Watching her.

If he was the soul-sucker’s partner, why didn’t he attack?

The smudge of vapor continued on, moving toward a squat-looking building at the end of the alley. Kat slowed and half wished she’d brought a flashlight. The moon above was almost full, yet its light struggled to touch the shadows lining the small alley. Though her night sight was generally better than a human’s, even she would struggle to see through the pitch blackness inside that warehouse.

The soul-sucker wrapped itself around a window and disappeared. Kat stopped and scanned the outside of the building. It was a two-story brick structure, though the color of the bricks had long since been lost to thick layers of dirt and graffiti. Most of the windows on the lower floor had been boarded up, and the upper ones were all smashed. There was a small door to her right. The thick chains that had locked it were shattered.

An invitation, if ever she saw one. But an invitation to what? Was she walking into a trap, or had she merely found the most recent hiding place of these creatures?

The pounding of boots against concrete echoed against the night—probably the cops coming after her. She couldn’t let them find her. The vampire could take out a dozen men in the blink of an eye. Even her powers gave her no certainty against him, despite her experience and psychic senses. Especially with that other thing wandering around.

She flipped the stake in her hand, then walked across to the entrance. Raising her fingers, she sent a sliver of kinetic energy at the door and pushed it open. It didn’t creak. It didn’t make any sound at all, not even from the chains that swung gently back and forth.

Her unease stirred anew. She stepped to one side and studied the darkness. Though the moon caressed the outer wall with light, no brightness shone through the doorway. It was as if a blanket of night hung over the entrance, sucking in all light.

She stepped inside. Nothing stirred the blackness except the wild beat of her heart. Yet she wasn’t alone. The vampire and the soul-sucker were both here—along with someone new. Another shapeshifter.

Taking on two was tempting fate; three was inviting a trip to the nearest morgue. But she couldn’t retreat. Not when the image of little Daniel Baker rose in her mind.

She edged forward. The farther she moved into the warehouse, the heavier the air became. The scents of age and rotting rubbish mingled with the ripe aroma of evil, turning her stomach and making it difficult to breathe. Breathing through her mouth didn’t help, either. The air tasted as bad as it smelled.

Her foot hit something solid, and metal rattled
across the concrete floor, the noise deafening in the silence. She cursed under her breath, but the night seemed to amplify her words and echo them across emptiness. Laughter answered, deep but feminine.

She hesitated, her gaze sweeping the night. The soul-sucker wasn’t running anymore. It was out there, watching Kat struggle through the dark. Waiting for her slightest mistake …

Despite the chill in the air, sweat trickled down her back. A white ash stake suddenly seemed woefully inadequate against the creatures that waited ahead.

Her fingertips touched a wall. It was wet and slimy, even though there didn’t appear to be any water running down its surface. She skated her hand across it, using it as a guide as she moved deeper into the darkness. Concrete eventually gave way to metal—a staircase, leading down into a deeper gloom.

Down to where they waited.

God, she
so
didn’t want to go down there. She didn’t want to confront these things. In ten years of fighting evil, she’d never been this scared, and she’d faced some pretty foul beings during that time. But none of them had the power to suck the essence from her body and destroy all that she was, all that she could be—both now and in future reincarnations.

Once again the image of Daniel rose, and she took a shuddering breath. He would have been just as scared. And he’d certainly deserved more than four years of life. While she and Gran had been placed on the trail too late to save him and the other two kids, they were here in Springfield, Oregon, now. They had a chance stop this.

All she had to do was go down into that darkness.

She took another deep breath, then felt for the edge of the step with her toes. She kept hold of the banister for guidance and repeated the process, moving slowly down.

The chill in the air grew until it felt like she was breathing ice. Her fingers were so cold they ached, and despite the fact that she’d put on extra-thick socks, her toes felt numb.

Or maybe it was just fear, paralyzing her from the extremities up.

She reached the bottom and stopped. Nothing moved. Her breathing rattled across the silence, and the wild beat of her heart echoed in time with it. The vampire and the soul-sucker stood to her left. The shapeshifter was more distant and to her right. There was no sense of evil coming from his direction, just wave after wave of anger and hostility. It didn’t seem to be aimed at her, or even at the duo she chased. It seemed to be aimed at the world in general.

And it was odd that she was getting such a strong impression of a man she hadn’t even met.

Evil stirred, splitting up as it moved forward. She backed away until she hit a wall, her grip on the stake so fierce her knuckles ached.

Air rushed at her from the left. She slashed the stake across the night and felt the slight resistance as the sharp point tore into flesh. The vampire howled but didn’t stop. She dove out of his way, hit the concrete with a grunt, and rolled back to her feet. Tendrils of softly glowing smoke reached for her. She hit it with kinetic energy, momentarily fragmenting it.

The darkness stirred, then lashed out, connecting hard with her chin. The force of the blow sent her
sprawling backward. Her back hit the floor, and her breath left in a whoosh of air. For a moment, stars danced in her vision.

Then, the weight of another hit her, pinning her in place. Though gasping for breath and fighting the blackness invading her mind, she still heard the vampire’s snarl. She looked up in time to see the shadows unravel around him. His dead brown eyes were inches from hers and his teeth were extending, dripping blood in expectation of a feed. Tendrils of smoke gathered above him, pulsing red.
Excitement
, she thought.
Need
.

With as much force as she could muster, she smacked the heel of her palm into the vamp’s nose. At the same time, she sent a surge of kinetic energy at the vapor, again tearing it apart.

“Bitch!” The vampire’s voice was hoarse, his breath full of dead things.

“Bite me,” she said—and yelped when the bastard did. She stabbed the stake into his side, using kinetic energy to force it deep.

Blue fire flickered, and the smell of burning flesh rent the night. The vampire howled and slashed at her, not with his teeth but with fingernails as sharp as claws. They tore across her face, and she cursed him fluently. Kinetic energy surged, but before she could release her weapon, the vampire was torn from her.

“You all right?”

The voice was rich, husky, and called forth fantasies of long nights and silk sheets. She blinked, wondering where the hell her mind was. “Yeah.”

A hand appeared in front of her eyes. “Then get the hell up, because that thing is coming back.”

The shifter’s fingers were a furnace compared to hers, and he pulled her up with an ease that spoke of strength. He was a warm, solid presence she could feel but not see. A man whose emotions she could taste as easily as she tasted the evil of the other two.

And she had no idea why. Empathy with the living was not one of her talents.

“Thanks.” She pulled her hand from his, and the emotive swirl died a little. But his hostility lingered, mixed with some deeper emotion she couldn’t quite define. Yet it stirred her senses. Made her pulse race.

“Get out of here,” he said. “This place is too dangerous for a woman. I’ll keep the creature occupied.”

“It’s not alone,” she retorted. “And this place is just as dangerous for a man who has no idea he has two opponents rather than one.”

“Listen, lady—”

“No.”

Tendrils of smoke formed behind the shifter’s solid presence, ready to caress and kill. Kat hit the soul-sucker kinetically, dissipating it yet again, then was flung sideways by the shifter.

She flailed her arms, battling to keep her balance, then heard a grunt as the shifter was hit by the vampire. Blue fire flickered across the darkness—evidence that the stake was still buried deep in the vampire’s flesh. So why didn’t he damn well die, like all bad little vampires should?

She dragged the second stake free and clenched it tightly. The two men were slugging it out, the shifter apparently giving as good as he got. But he obviously knew he was up against a vampire, so why didn’t he just grab the stake and thrust it into the bastard’s heart?
Surely he
had
to know it was the best way to stop a bloodsucker? Going toe-to-toe with one generally never ended well—for the attacker, not the vampire. Hell, the only reason he could even
hit
the vampire was the stake holding it in human form.