Enemy Mine (6 page)

“Maybe not, but one can never have too much money. . . . And we know of your coven’s history with her pack. That’s why we were surprised you intervened last night. You killed two of our pack members.” There was a touch of anger in those words, the first sign of any sort of emotion.

So the Mazzoni pack had gone after her. “I told you, she’s an amusement and I’m having fun pissing off her pack with our relationship. You should have contacted me before going after her in my presence.” The lie was bitter on his tongue, but this shifter was calling for a reason and Kiernan wanted to know what it was.

“So you are fucking her because of your coven’s hatred for her pack.” Not a question.

Walking outside and away from his brother, he leaned against the balcony, staring out at the flat ocean. Not everyone knew of the violent history between the Doyle coven and the Rodriguez pack. They’d battled each other long before technology took hold in the world, long before territories by supernatural beings had been carved out, and long before sweet Melina had even been born. That history had been buried not long after the death of his brother, Corey. “You have good sources.”

“We do.” Uberto gave away nothing else, much to Kiernan’s annoyance.

“How much will you pay for her?”Kiernan asked. Then the shifter named an obscene amount, and ice chilled Kiernan’s veins, but he kept his voice calm. “She is young, likely the weakest of her pack. Wouldn’t you prefer someone of more worth?”

“You either want the job or you don’t.” Again, he gave away nothing of why they wanted her.

“I’ll take it, but I want to know why you want her so badly and I want half the fee up front. I’ll be putting myself at great risk.”

“The fee is no problem, though we require her immediately. Tonight if possible, tomorrow at the latest. Why we want her is none of your concern.” There was no room for argument in his voice.

Kiernan kept his expression bland on the off-chance someone was watching him. “Once you wire me the money, she’s yours.” Taking money from the bastards who’d tried to hurt her made him smile inside. He was going to take great pleasure in screwing them over.

“Give me the bank details.” Cool, curt words.

After Kiernan gave him an account number his family held in an offshore account, he continued. “Try to double-cross me or skimp on the rest of the fee, and you’ll find yourselves at war with my coven.”

“Understood.”

As soon as he disconnected, he returned inside to find his brother staring at him, an odd expression on your face. “That was very . . . mercenary. I expect it from Bryson, but not you.”

Kiernan snorted. Saying their middle brother was mercenary was definitely an understatement. “Good to know I sounded convincing.”

“Are you really fucking a
shifter
?”

Without realizing he’d moved, Kiernan’s fingers wrapped around his brother’s neck. Considering Ronan was older and stronger, it said a lot for how much he’d surprised him. Instantly Kiernan let go, but he didn’t put any space between them. “It’s not like that between us.”

“So, Melina Rodriguez? Miguel Rodriguez’s little sister?” he asked, biting anger in his words.

“Yep.” He wouldn’t apologize for who she was or her familial ties.

Ronan’s dark eyes narrowed a fraction, a trace of bitterness in them. “So it’s like that?”

“Yep.” Melina was his. He might not have a grasp on what she meant to him or have a clue what their future held, but she was his.

Right now he needed to move quickly before the Mazzoni pack got impatient, but something else was bothering him. “Why are you really here?” Yes, Kiernan was the youngest, but it had been a long time since his brothers had actually checked up on him.

His brother was silent so long he wondered if he’d answer. Finally Ronan’s shoulders lifted casually. “I received a call from Tisha. She said she saw you out with Melina Rodriguez but I didn’t believe her. Wanted to see with my own eyes.”

Tisha.
The annoying redheaded vampire who’d tried to stop him at that restaurant with Melina. He hadn’t seen her in decades and something told him she’d been the reason for Melina’s questions about the death of his brother. She’d had a brief thing with Bryson years ago and had seemed to think Kiernan would be interested in her too. Not fucking likely. Coldhearted bitches weren’t his style. “I need your help tonight.” Now that he knew exactly who was after Melina he planned to take care of the problem.

Ronan sighed. “You really want to help a wolf?”

“I’m going to help my female.” Sometime in the past few months during his weekly visits to her clinic, she’d wormed her way under his skin. Hell, she’d done it a year ago and had never left. Right now, everything inside him demanded he take care of what was his.

Chapter 6

As he parked, Kiernan surveyed the empty lot outside the warehouse Uberto had wanted to meet at. It was close to a rundown marina in a part of town that hadn’t seen any new business in years. No police presence and no one to call the cops if things got bloody. The perfect place for a meet.

Some humans were nearby. There were a handful of heartbeats in the vicinity—probably a few homeless people, and definitely members of the Mazzoni pack. He scented wolf, but couldn’t tell how many were waiting.

Kiernan shut off the engine and got out. He’d tried contacting Melina’s Alpha—who hadn’t taken any of his calls. He had tried her at the clinic, but the woman answering the phone had refused to put him through to talk to her. He wasn’t sure if it was because of Melina’s instructions or her pack’s. Either way, he was doing this tonight.

To protect her was a driving need inside him, pushing and shoving him onward. There was a full moon tonight, illuminating the water about thirty yards from where he stood. Overgrown weeds and grass covered the empty lot next to the warehouse.

He sensed someone before he heard the footsteps crunching across the gravel of the dilapidated parking lot. Leaning against the trunk, he crossed his arms over his chest as a tall shifter male approached him.

With a whipcord lean build, dark curly hair, and olive complexion, he looked just like the picture of Uberto Mazzoni that Kiernan had looked up. It had been hard to find one—even with technology, shifters and vamps liked staying out of the limelight—but not impossible.

The shifter’s dark eyes narrowed as he stopped about ten feet in front of him. “I smell blood.”

Kiernan shrugged. “She didn’t come easy.”

A muscle twitched in the shifter’s jaw. “If she’s injured, the deal is off.”

Well that was interesting. They didn’t want her hurt. “Where’s your Alpha? Or does he send you to do all his dirty work?” Kiernan wanted to get his fangs and claws on the Alpha who’d ordered Melina’s kidnapping. Considering the amount of money they’d wired him, there was no way Uberto was working alone.

“He’s not here, not for something so trivial.” The shifter’s words were dismissive but considering how much they were willing to pay for Melina, Kiernan knew this wasn’t a trivial matter.

She was important for some reason and considering they didn’t want her hurt, he had a good idea why they wanted her. Originally he’d assumed it had been to use her as a form of leverage against her father, but now . . . “Did you know she’s a healer?”

Kiernan felt the air almost jump to life around him with the pulsing sensation of others getting closer. His senses told him four shifters surrounded him. In his peripheral vision he saw two on either side so he guessed two more were at the front of the car, directly behind him.

Not a flicker of surprise in Uberto’s eyes at his question.

Kiernan had his answer. They knew exactly what she was, how revered her kind was, and had decided to go after her anyway. He tapped on the trunk once. “She’s in here.”

There was a muffled grunt then a slam against the inside of the trunk, as if someone had kicked it.

Uberto growled low in his throat. “What the hell did you do to her?”

“Knocked her out, but apparently she’s awake now.” His words were so devoid of emotion, he knew what a heartless bastard he sounded like. “I want the rest of my money.”

“You’ll get it as soon as I see she’s okay.”

“Your pack members rammed an SUV into the cab she was in.” Not exactly concerned behavior.

“That was a mistake.” Uberto stepped forward so Kiernan moved back.

Kiernan had bought a slightly older model four-door sedan in cash from a used car lot earlier in the day for this very purpose. He didn’t want anything traced back to him once he filled the trunk with bodies.

Pressing the key fob, he stepped to the side and turned to get a better view of the rest of the Mazzoni pack members. Yep, four in all. The most primal part of him smiled in anticipation. This would be no problem.

As the trunk eased open, Uberto cursed. “What the fu—”

Kiernan’s brother Ronan flew out, fangs and claws extended. They’d left Melina’s bloody dress in the trunk so the shifters would scent her.

His brother slashed at Uberto’s throat, taking him off guard. Knowing Ronan could handle himself, Kiernan turned toward the two closest shifters.

One growled and immediately shifted to his animal form. Clothes and shoes shredded as the beast replaced the human. The other man didn’t change form. Instead he withdrew a sharp blade from a sheath at his waist. It gleamed under the moonlight as the shifter launched himself in Kiernan’s direction.

Instinctively, he called upon his power of fire. It danced around him in a circle but when he directed it toward the shifter with the blade, it was deflected.

“They’ve been spelled!” he shouted to his brother, not surprised.

Since they’d discovered his gift of fire in their last attack, they’d obviously had a witch or fae bless them. If he was a betting man, his money would be on a witch.

It wouldn’t matter. Nothing would save them from his wrath. Not when they’d gone after Melina. Kiernan ducked as the blade arched toward his head, and , claws out, slashed through the shifter’s thigh.

Blood spurted everywhere. The man howled in pain as Kiernan rolled onto his back, avoiding the giant beast flying toward him.

He could hear the other howls of pain and, without looking, knew his brother was tearing them up.

A deep, animalistic growl sounded behind him. Leaping to his feet, he dodged to the side, avoiding another rush from the animal. As he did, he withdrew one of the blades he’d strapped to his back earlier.

Slicing out, he barely nicked the shoulder of the shifter still in human form. At least he’d made contact. These shifters were younger, a century old at the most, and slower. They might be strong, but he and his brother would be able to bring them down.

Uberto was the only one with any sort of power Kiernan had sensed earlier, and he currently lay on the cement, his neck open, his head almost all the way off. Ronan hadn’t completely decapitated him because they didn’t want him dead. Not yet.

Kiernan tried to dodge out of the way of another attack, but sharp teeth sliced into his arm as the wolf latched on to him. Agony ripped through him, flaying his senses like scorching liquid silver.

Pushing through the pain, he twisted slightly, using his free arm to bring the blade down across the animal’s neck. Sharp and deadly, it sliced through it with lethal accuracy.

Blood poured down his arm, but Kiernan ignored the pain, compartmentalizing so he could do what had to be done. Behind him he heard a growl, the crunch of bones breaking and shifting as the other shifter turned to his animal form.

Turning, blade raised, Kiernan sliced through the air, shoving right into the animal’s heart. A howl of pain escaped the shifter, but Kiernan didn’t allow himself to feel anything. The shifters were no doubt acting on their Alpha’s orders, but they were a threat that had to be eliminated.

Withdrawing the blade, he quickly arched up and sliced the animal’s head off. When he looked up he found his brother kneeling by Uberto’s fallen body. A pained gurgle erupted from the shifter as his throat slowly knitted itself back together.

Since his head hadn’t been completely removed, he’d heal, but Kiernan knew the shifter’s days—or more likely hours—were numbered.

Grabbing the silver chains from the trunk, he and his brother started trussing Uberto up before tossing him inside.

Kiernan looked over at the other two shifters. One was in animal form, the other human. Both dead.

Flexing his fingers, Kiernan called on his fire once again. Now that they were dead, the spell no longer applied. Ordering his fire to burn, he lit them all, but left their heads untouched. Bright orange flames licked into the quiet night air as their bodies crumbled to ash under the intense heat. Without having to tell his brother what to do next, they both gathered the heads of the dead and dumped them in the trunk.

Uberto groaned loudly, but they ignored him.

Everything around them had gone preternaturally quiet. He couldn’t even hear the other heartbeats from earlier. Likely the homeless or whoever had been in the vicinity had seen or sensed the danger and run.

Very smart.

Covered in blood and dirt, he looked at his brother. “Ready?”

“You sure about this?” Ronan asked quietly.

He nodded. Walking into a den of wolves wasn’t an idea he relished, but there was no way around it. Hand-delivering this piece of shit to the Rodriguez pack was the only way he knew how to show them his intentions toward Melina.

If they still didn’t accept or trust him, so be it. He wasn’t walking away from her.

* * *

“The evidence is all right here, Melina,” Carlos said, sympathy in his voice.

She looked at the paperwork her other two brothers had slapped down on her parents’ dining room table with relish. She might love her brothers, but right now she couldn’t fight the hurt threading through her. They were convinced Kiernan had betrayed her and were practically giddy in their desire to prove it to her. Well, except Carlos. He just looked like he felt sorry for her.

Which was just as annoying. “So, he received a call from Uberto Mazzoni and the Mazzonis gave his coven some money?”

“A
lot
of money,” Carlos said.

“And word on the street is the Mazzonis have been seen around town, asking about you. No doubt they’re behind the attempted kidnapping,” Miguel said.

“Then why did he save me the other night?”

Miguel shrugged and opened his mouth, but before he could answer there was a shout of alarm from the front of the house.

“Stay here,” Carlos ordered as her three brothers strode from the room.

Biting back a growl of frustration she followed after them, hurrying through the palatial home—but stopped when she reached the hallway that led to the foyer by the front door.

Kiernan’s voice washed over her, deep and angry, as he and her father exchanged heated words. After a few minutes of shouting, she realized Kiernan had brought Uberto Mazzoni and the heads of four shifters to her pack as an offering. She knew she should probably be grossed out, but she smiled to herself. He’d done it for her. She’d known her brothers were wrong, and she hadn’t cared what they’d believed anyway. All she cared about was that Kiernan hadn’t betrayed her.

Staying silent, she continued listening as he spoke with her family.

“Uberto didn’t want her hurt,” Kiernan said.

“Is that supposed to mean something to me?” her father asked.

“I know about her healing abilities. My guess is the Mazzoni Alpha is sick or injured and needs her.”

Melina knew that if that was true, the Mazzoni Alpha would have to be close to death. Otherwise they might have tried asking her to use her healing abilities. But if the Alpha was near dying, she wouldn’t be able to help him without draining all her own energy and possibly killing herself in the process. And her father never would have allowed her to chance helping him if it put her in any possible danger.

“Thank you for dropping off this bastard. I’ll make sure he tells me everything he knows.”

“I want to see Melina.” Kiernan’s words were quiet, intense, but thanks to her extrasensory abilities, she heard him.

Her father said no and as they continued arguing she hurried back through the house. She knew where her father’s soldiers were positioned and though they were very good at what they did, they were meant to keep people out, not in. And no one would expect her to attempt to leave.

Especially not now.

If her family wasn’t going to let Kiernan in after what he’d just done, she’d go to him.

Using her small size and knowledge of her pack’s home, she sneaked out a side door and made her way along the side of the house until she reached the wall corner. Peeking around, she spotted a four-door sedan near the stone walkway directly leading to the front door, and an SUV farther down the driveway. The trunk of the sedan was open, and one of her brothers was pulling a shifter head out of it.

Okay, it was really gross now that she actually saw it. Bile rose in her throat and she had to take a deep breath to steady herself. Next she spotted her father and brother escorting Kiernan away. They weren’t trying to manhandle him, but they weren’t being gentle either.

A need to protect him jumped inside her, an angry vicious thing she couldn’t control. He’d just helped her pack, risked his life to protect her, and they were treating him like this?

Sticking to the shadows, she sprinted down the driveway and out onto the road. Careful to stay hidden, she hurried down her street, only stopping to hide in the bushes in her neighbor’s front yard.

When she saw the lights from the SUV swing out of her parents’ driveway, she ran into the street, blocking it. Immediately the vehicle jerked to a halt.

Kiernan was out and pulling her to him before she could tell him she’d heard what he’d done for her. Scooping her up, he hurried back to the SUV and slid into the backseat, keeping her on his lap.

He was covered in blood, and his dark hair was a mess. Reaching up, she gently cupped his cheek. “Are you okay?”

“This isn’t my blood,” he said in a rough voice, his eyes unreadable.

The vampire from the driver’s seat snorted. Dark hair, dark eyes, similar muscular build to Kiernan. She’d tried looking up pictures of the Doyle coven online and it had been damn near impossible to find any, but she had no doubt this was one of his brothers.

The other vampire gave her a cursory look, one filled with mistrust and dislike. Kiernan growled at him. “Drive and don’t look at her like that.”

Despite the situation, she nuzzled her face against his neck. “Is he your older brother?” she whispered even though the other vampire could hear her.

“Yes.” Kiernan’s grip around her waist tightened. “Ronan, this is Melina,” he said to his brother.

A grunt was all the response she got. Well, that and another dark glare from him in the rearview mirror.