Darkness Divides (Sensor #3) (28 page)

“Yes, alpha.” Beck bowed his head. “I promise I won’t let you down.”

He spoke the truth now, but we’d have to see if he could keep up his end of the deal—and not get caught. Derrick had promised if we got hold of a werewolf he could bring him to heel and keep him on our side. I had to hope he was right.

Chapter Thirty-one

I met Cori at a gas station outside of town. She hopped into my Jeep as soon as I pulled up and quickly shut the door beside her, locking it for good measure—because that always kept the bad guys out. Her gaze did a quick sweep around the parking lot as if she honestly believed someone was lurking out there watching her. I sat patiently waiting and would have been amused if she hadn’t had good reason for her paranoia, though she couldn’t know it.

“Mel, I’m so glad you called,” she said after settling down. “Something is going on and I don’t know what to do.”

I hadn’t told her much over the phone. First I had to make sure she wasn’t under the influence of Zoe’s minions. All Cori knew at this point was that I wanted to meet her.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Okay.” She held a hand up. “You’re going to think I’m crazy, but I swear I’m telling the truth. This strange guy caught me as I was walking up to my house a few nights ago after work and he started asking all these crazy questions. He wanted to know if I was friends with any vampires, werewolves, or something he called a sensor. I told him I had no idea what he was talking about. Then his eyes turned really black and he told me to forget I ever saw him. Well, I was happy to do that, but something was seriously wrong with that guy.”

She took another nervous glance around before continuing. “There are other things, too. People asking me to stay open until midnight so they can get tattoos after dark and then telling me not to worry about anything strange. Like the fact they heal so fast! I’ve just been playing along because I’ve seen enough movies to know what happens to people who don’t.”

She made the sign of her throat getting slit.

Cori was a survivor. I should have known she’d not only make it through the compulsion, but think ahead enough not to show it. If their commands had worked on her, she wouldn’t have said these things and showed so much worry over them.

“You’re not crazy,” I reassured her.

“Then what’s going on?” She sounded desperate.

I opened my senses fully to make sure no sups were nearby. The coast was clear and I didn’t see any humans close to the Jeep.

“You’re going to think I’m the crazy one now, but you need to hear me out, okay?” I lifted my brows.

She gave me a jerky nod. “I’ve seen enough that I need to hear an explanation—no matter what it is.”

Well, she’d asked for it. I’d have to give it to her straight and hope for the best. This would be the first time I’d broken the news to a human. I had no idea how they usually took it.

“Those things the guy was asking about—they’re real. In fact, he was a vampire and he was trying to compel you when he told you to forget him.”

Her eyes got round. “You’re joking.”

“I wish I was, but they’re real. There’s an entire population of supernaturals who’ve been living in Fairbanks for a long time. They’re mostly harmless to humans, but now a new group is here and they’re trying to take over. That’s who you met. Those guys are not as friendly as the ones who’ve been living here and we’re working to get rid of them.”

She laughed. All the while she kept looking at me as if she expected me to tell her it was a joke. I kept my face impassive and waited for her to calm down.

Eventually she stopped and took a deep breath. “You’re serious.”

“I wouldn’t joke about something like this.”

Cori narrowed her eyes. “Prove it.”

If I’d still been mortal, that would have meant taking her back to Charlie’s house to let him or one of the others prove it. None of my sensor abilities would have been effective enough, but now I had the physical enhancements to do it myself. I pulled a foldout knife from my pocket and cut a thin slice through my palm. It hurt, but it was worth the temporary pain. While Cori and I watched, the wound knitted itself closed in less than a minute. It was still weird for me to see that happen. It had to be even more so for her.

Her jaw dropped. “What are you?”

That was a loaded question I didn’t have time to answer.

“It’s complicated. Let’s just say I don’t die easily, but I’m not a vamp or anything else you’ve ever heard of.”

“Okay.” A shiver ran through her as she looked at my hand again. “So you’re saying a new group of supernaturals has taken over Fairbanks and they need to be kicked out by the previous ones?”

As much as I didn’t like to admit I was a part of the supernatural world now, I could no longer deny it. The cut on my hand proved I’d changed and become something different. Supernatural. I wanted to roll over in my future grave just thinking about it.

I nodded. “In a nutshell, but to take Fairbanks back we’ll need your help.”

“What could I possibly do that you people can’t?”

“Be human,” I answered honestly. “And find out who works the front desk at the Holiday Inn. We need the guest list, but none of us can go anywhere near it, which is where you come in.”

That was the first thing, anyway. We’d work our way up to the even bigger stuff.

Cori looked thoughtful. “I have a client who works there. He might be able to get it for me.”

“That would work,” I said. “Tell him we’ll pay him to get it for us.”

When all else failed, bribery usually worked.

“I will, but first you’ve got to give me the full story on this whole supernatural thing.”

I started the Jeep and shifted it into gear. A vamp who didn’t belong to Nik was headed this way. No need to risk his seeing Cori and me together.

“We’ll talk on the road.” This was going to be a long drive.

***

I breathed a sigh of relief when Cori pulled up in her black Honda Civic. She’d made the drive into Fairbanks and returned without any sups following her. She hopped out of her vehicle and walked toward Derrick and me, casting furtive glances over her shoulder.

“Am I clear?” she asked.

We’d had her meet us at the same abandoned cabin we’d used for the werewolf. It was important to make sure no one followed her and it was best she didn’t know the location of Charlie’s house yet in case she got caught.

Not that I wanted to consider that idea, but I had to be practical. The sups might notice if she didn’t open her shop or go home at night. Since she still needed to be able to move around Fairbanks, that would put her in even more danger. Brief visits to coordinate with each other kept the risk at a minimum.

“Yep, you’re good.”

The tension in her shoulders eased and she grinned, waving a sheaf of papers in the air. “I got it.”

It was my turn to relax. Cori had thought she could do it, but she hadn’t been sure.

“Let’s go inside and take a look.” I grabbed the hotel registry list from her, scanning as I walked.

It would be darker inside, but my paranoia wouldn’t let me stand around in the open. If we thought of using a human to spy, so would Zoe. Derrick would stay outside watching just in case someone I couldn’t sense had been following her.

I walked into the cabin and moved over to the rickety table in the kitchen area. It couldn’t take much weight, but it served well enough for my purposes. I set the papers down and started circling anyone who might be a female sensor.

Only the ones on the fourth floor mattered and there weren’t many. I shook my head when I saw one particular name—Zoe Chadwick. That wasn’t her real surname, but I supposed she had to pick something that wouldn’t stand out.

I continued my scan and came to a halt when I saw one woman’s name—Grace Douglas. My so-called father’s name was Jerome Douglas and he’d told me I had two brothers. There was a strong chance at least one of them could have married a female sensor from their group. With my father being the leader, it gave them higher odds of winning a wife—he’d said the women got to choose their spouse.

It was a common enough surname that maybe it was coincidence, but since this woman was staying on the fourth floor I doubted it. I circled it twice, along with the woman’s name under it. They were sharing a room. This was almost too easy, but Zoe had no reason to think we’d acquire the guest list. Much less infiltrate the hotel. That’s what came of being over-confident.

I held up the papers. “The two names circled twice are the targets, but there should only be one in the room tomorrow evening. Have your guy verify her eye color just to be sure. All sensors have blue eyes like mine. If that checks out then he needs to drug whoever is in there.”

“I’ll let him know.” She took the papers.

“Are you sure your guy can do this? We’re paying him a lot, but this is dangerous and he could be killed.”

This was part two of the plan involving Cori. She had a friend who lived outside Fairbanks who wasn’t afraid to get his hands dirty—according to her. I hadn’t guessed she knew those types of people, but when she heard the basics of what we needed to get done, she’d mentioned the guy and said he could help.

“Let’s just say I’ve used him before and know for a fact he can get the job done.” Her eyes didn’t quite meet mine, but she did speak the truth.

Something horrible had happened to Cori at some point in her life. Something so tragic that it had destroyed something inside her. I’d been around her long enough to believe she was a good person now, but maybe not always in the past. Occasionally I caught a hard edge glinting in her eyes and other times there was so much pain in them it hurt me just to see it.

There was far more to her than what she let the world see. Some might think she couldn’t be trusted, but I saw a kindred soul in her. Like me, she’d had to overcome some difficult obstacles and make the best of a hard life. That didn’t make her bad.

I gave her a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry. I won’t ask. Just set things up with the guy and we’ll get him half the money in the morning and the other half after it’s done.”

Cori nodded. “If anyone can pull this off, it’s this guy. I’ll give you a call as soon as I verify he’s up for the job and willing to meet.”

“Be careful and watch your back,” I warned.

“Oh, I will.” She waved and headed out the door.

Chapter Thirty-two

The sun was getting low on the horizon, but it’d be another two hours before it set. Tall spruce trees towered over me on the dirt trail where I waited and the mosquitoes were starting to get annoying. I’d made it through the outskirts of Fairbanks to get as close to my target as possible, but it was difficult to tell by looking at my surroundings. It was surprisingly secluded for being a mile from the hotel.

I sat on a motorcycle staring at my newest burner phone, waiting for the message that would let me make my move. The bike I was riding belonged to Charlie’s grandson, but he’d said he’d paid for it so I could to use it. If I wanted to get in and out of town quickly and without getting caught, I needed a ride with some maneuverability.

My phone buzzed. The message came from the human guy Cori hired. Professional that he was, he kept it simple.

She’s down.

Twenty seconds later it buzzed again. This time it was Derrick.

We’re going in.

And the clock started. I had to wait ten minutes in the hopes that he and his team would draw at least some of the sups out of Fairbanks, giving me more room to breathe. Before dawn this morning I’d met Cori’s guy. Any fear I’d had of him not being able to handle the job went away in the first five minutes of talking to him.

Not that he looked like a badass or anything. No, this man could pull off unassuming so well that you wouldn’t bother to look at him twice. He had that kind of “nothing to see here folks” aura about him, but it was the hard set of his eyes that told me he knew what he was doing. He’d been around the block and done his fair share of dirty work. Nik and I tossed a few questions at him just to be sure, but he’d checked out.

I envisioned the way it must have gone down at the hotel. The sensor woman had probably answered the door believing he really was there to check the ventilation. After working around supernaturals so much it was easy to forget humans could be just as dangerous.

I checked the time. It’d been nine minutes, which was close enough. I shot off a quick text message, letting everyone know I was on the move and started the bike. It roared to life and pumped up my motivation. It’d been a few years since I’d ridden one, but the mechanics of it came back easy enough.

The bike kicked up dust as it moved down the trail. By the time I made it back to pavement I was close to the hotel. I paid close attention to my internal radar, but didn’t pick up any other sensors except the one at the hotel. There must have been at least a dozen sups in there as well, but over half were vampires who wouldn’t be moving around much yet. It was the werewolves I’d have to watch out for on my way into the place.

I parked the bike at the front of the hotel and quickly changed out my helmet for a baseball cap, tucking my long hair inside of it. Sunglasses went on next. The weather was warm enough at this time of year people who lived in Alaska wouldn’t be wearing jackets, but a lot of tourists would. I used that to my advantage since it helped conceal the weapons hidden underneath. The large pack I carried had a separate purpose.

No one questioned it as I strolled through the hotel lobby, including the two werewolves stationed there. There barely glanced my way. Not wanting to get trapped inside the elevator, I took the stairs to the top floor. I didn’t sense anyone in the hallway when I pulled the door open, but one werewolf close by stepped out, filling the doorway of his room.