Tempting Evil (12 page)

I took a shaky breath, then rose and replaced my belt. The lights came back on, and the door at the other end of the room clicked open. I remained near the wall until the last moment, just in case it was a trick, but no one jumped out at me.

I was barely out of the room when the stink of a vampire curled around me, so thick, so putrid, I gagged.

Only it wasn’t just
any
vampire.

It was Gautier.

Chapter 6

I
froze. What the hell was Gautier doing here?
How
had he gotten here? He might be a vampire by design rather than choice, but he was still restricted by the same rules all vampires faced. He wasn’t old enough to be walking around in late-afternoon daylight—and though he could certainly move around in a blacked-out van like Jack did, there was no way on earth he could have gotten into one without being seen or tracked by those watching him.

And Jack would have warned me. He might have faith in Liander’s skills, but he still would have told me Gautier was on the loose in the estate, simply because he knew Gautier was the one person who could blow the whole mission wide open.

My gaze rose to that of my nemesis, but those muddy brown depths held none of the hatred, none of the sick evil that was usually so evident in Gautier’s gaze. This
wasn’t
him, but yet another clone, one who shared his image
and
his smell. Relief swept through my system, leaving me momentarily shaking. Some guardian I was.

Not that I
was
one. Not a kill-on-order one, not yet.

“That almost has to be a record for going through the course,” he said. “How did you sense the vampire?”

I sniffed, feigning a confidence I didn’t feel. “His scent gave his position away.”

“And the spirit lizard?”

“What the hell is a spirit lizard?” I knew, but Poppy wouldn’t have, so the question had to be asked.

“The black creature who first attacked you. How’d you sense him?”

“The hiss of air as he whirled the nunchakus.” I studied him for a moment. “You the guide to the next stage?”

His smile had a decidedly nasty edge. “And the bearer of the final set of rules.”

“More rules? Haven’t we enough already?”

“Babe, the boss is paying you extremely well for your services, so you’d better get used to doing what he wants.”

I guess he had a point. I shrugged.

“You have two choices of clothing during your time here. The overalls that you will find in your wardrobe, or your skin.”

I raised my eyebrows, though I was neither surprised nor particularly worried. “You mean run around naked?”

His glaze slid down my body, then came back up to rest on my tits. He grinned. “And those would look pretty damn special without the hindrance of a bra.”

Yeah, and he wasn’t getting his mitts anywhere near my D-cups. I might be a wolf, but I
did
have some taste—and vamps who smelled worse than offal were definitely off my “to-do” list.

But I kept my mouth shut on that particular topic. Until I had more of a feel for who was who, it was better not to comment on anything, whether or not Poppy was a renowned mouth. He motioned me to follow him as he turned and headed for the door.

“Why the choice? Seeing we’re getting paid big money to fight and have sex with your boss’s lieutenants, I would have thought nakedness would have been a prerequisite. You know, a bit of viewing pleasure for those who can’t touch.”

He opened the door and ushered me into a long white hall. A polite stinker—not what I expected to find here. “Those who parade around in their skin are given the choice of saying no. Those who wear overalls aren’t.”

“That’s not what military man said in the bus.” Nor was it what Dia had suggested. But then, maybe she didn’t socialize with the fighters, and therefore didn’t know the entire truth. Which might also mean she didn’t know the entire truth in other areas.

And wasn’t that a fantastic thought?

He flashed me another nasty grin. “Didn’t want you all leaving now, did we?”

“And the arena fighting is all naked?”

“And in mud.” He hitched his pants in that way all men did when in the presence of a woman they were attracted to. “Very exciting.”

“I bet,” I said dryly.

We moved into another corridor, and from down the far end came raised voices. One of them was Berna’s. “Your quarters,” he said. “You can pick who you wish to share with. We don’t care.”

“Cool.”

“Dinner is at seven in the main dining room and is not optional. Other meals are.” He stopped near the first door. “You are free to explore or use any of the facilities before and after the dinner show. Myself or one of the other guards will be here to escort you to the dining room at six forty-five. Don’t be late.”

“Or what?”

He gave me another nasty grin again, and I seriously had to resist the urge to smack it from his thin lips. “We’ll dock your pay or punish you in other ways.”

“What other ways?”

“You’ll see an example tonight, over dinner.” Anticipation gleamed in his eyes, giving me the bad feeling that it was something normal, sane people
wouldn’t
like.

I nodded. After another look at my breasts, he spun around and left. I followed the sound of Berna’s voice, passing several rooms that were already full, and stopped in the last doorway.

The bear-shifter stood in the middle of the room, her large paws on her larger hips, and her short dark hair fairly bristling with anger.

Nerida, the fox lady, stood in front of her, defiance written all over her red features. She was game, I had to give her that. Berna was twice her height and four times her girth.

“I got here first,” she said. “The window is mine.”

“I need fresh air or I snore. Believe me, if you cherish sleep, you would not want me snoring.”

All this angst and noise over a damn window? “Really, ladies, this is easily settled.”

Berna gave me a dark glance as I walked in. “We don’t want thieves in this room.”

“The thief doesn’t steal from friends, and there are no other beds left anyway, so tough.” I walked across to the bed in question and stripped off my coat. “To settle the argument, I’ll take it.”

Nerida glanced up at Berna, then the two of them stepped forward as one. Something about that itched at my senses. There was just a little too much precision in the way they did that—like it was a move they’d practiced more than once. Maybe Nerida was also a wrestler.

And maybe something else was going on.

Dia had mentioned that someone in this group wasn’t who they pretended to be. Maybe there
was
more than just one pretender.

And why would they fake a fight? To make it seem they weren’t friendly to watching eyes, perhaps? Now, why would they want something like that?

“I’m at least three times your girth, wolf, and probably twice as strong. I could thump you into the floor without even thinking.”

“You could try,” I said mildly. “I doubt you’d succeed.”

She bristled. “That a challenge?”

I shrugged, and kicked off my shoes. Feigning disinterest when every sense I had was tuned on the both of them, waiting for a move. Any move. “Take it any damn way you please.”

I half-turned, and that’s when the fox sprung. I dropped, moving under her leap, then grabbed her and whirled her quickly around before letting go. I had no time to see if she’d hit the bed I’d been aiming for, because the air screamed with the warning of an approaching blow. I surged upright and caught Berna’s fist in a two-handed grip. Held it and stopped it, even if the force of her blow sent shock waves up my arms and rattled my teeth.

“Looks don’t always indicate strength,” I said softly, as surprise flitted through her brown eyes. “Do not try and attack me like that again.” I looked at Nerida, who’d landed beside the bed rather than on it and was currently rubbing her hip. “Either of you.”

I pushed Berna backward and released her, then got back to the business of stripping off. “Do you know what’s happened to our bags?”

“Coming once we’ve sorted sleeping positions out.”

I glanced at her. “Which we have.”

She sniffed. Whether that meant acceptance, or whether it meant I was going to have to turf her out of the bed when I got back was anyone’s guess.

“Why are you stripping?” she asked.

“I’m going to explore.”

“Trust a wolf to do the naked thing,” Nerida said, contempt heavy in her voice.

“Better naked than having no choice.”

“They’re paying me to fight and fuck. They are not paying me enough to flaunt myself to all and sundry.”

I couldn’t see the difference and said as much.

She snorted. “That’s because you’re a wolf, and everyone knows wolves have no morals.”

I raised my eyebrows. “So what’s so moral about fighting and fucking for money?”

“Perhaps not a lot, but there are lines
some
of us won’t cross. Werewolves don’t seem to have
any
lines.”

“And you’ve had how many years’ experience with werewolves?”

She looked away and mumbled, “None.”

I snorted. “One good thing about wolves is that they prefer to judge a person by their actions.” I stripped off my knickers and dumped them with the rest of my clothes. “I’m off to explore.”

Neither woman commented or offered to come along, for which I was extremely grateful. Not only did I plan to scout the house and grounds, but I also wanted to find me a stallion. And maybe even catch a little riding action.

The main house seemed a whole lot bigger in life than it had on the plans and, as Dia had warned, there were cameras everywhere. If the halls weren’t darkened at night, then moving through them without being seen was going to be next to impossible.

After touring the rooms that were accessible, I glanced at my watch and was relieved to see I still had nearly two hours before I had to be back. I found a door that led outside and followed the white pebbled driveway around to the paddocks that housed the barns and the horses. There were several women out riding—some of them naked, some not—and men in dark uniforms hanging over the fence, wolf-whistling and throwing lewd suggestions at the women. Like that was attractive or something. I guess some men simply never grew up.

A crinkled, weather-worn man who had to be at least eighty came out of the barn as I approached. “You here to ride?”

I nodded and looked past him, searching the shadows for Kade. I couldn’t see him immediately, but the barn was huge and he could be anywhere.

“You know the rules?”

Again I nodded. “We’re allowed to ride anywhere, aren’t we?”

“As long as you do your half hour in the front paddock for the boys, you can go where you like on the estate. Within the boundaries already outlined, of course.”

Which meant we weren’t likely to raise suspicions when we nicked off into the forest. Excellent. “And are we at least allowed a saddle blanket? Horse hair and nether regions are never a pleasant combination.” And I knew
that
from experience.

He gave a short, sharp laugh. “You got that right, girlie.” He reached behind the door, then handed me a blanket, girth, and halter. “Any one of them bad boys is yours.”

I raised my eyebrows. “They’re all stallions?”

“Mostly. The boss does sometimes bring in a mare in heat, just to watch the boys fight.”

“Nasty.”

He shrugged. “It’s nature at its finest.”

Or madness at its finest. “Thanks.”

He nodded. “Just remember—you get hurt, we aren’t responsible.”

“Has anyone ever got hurt?” I asked, curious.

“Yes.”

“So what happened to them?”

He shrugged. “Isn’t my problem.”

I very much suspected they weren’t Starr’s problem, either. Not after he’d tended to them in a less than conventional way. Like burying them. Dead people don’t talk—unless, of course, they were vamps, and Starr was the type to stake first, ask questions later.

I flung the girth and blanket over my shoulder and walked into the shadowed barn. A careful study of the upper spaces of the barn didn’t reveal any cameras or microphones. Maybe they figured nothing of interest would happen in the barn and hadn’t bothered—and for that I was extremely grateful. It at least meant I could sneak in here after hours and not worry about anyone spotting me.

The air was rich with the scents of horse, hay, and shit, and as I moved down the aisle, heads swung my way, dark eyes gleaming intently in the muted light. They were all tall and strong looking, most of them chestnut or bay. And all of them reacted to my presence, either snorting in fear or backing away. Horses and wolves were never a good combination. Kade, a magnificent mahogany bay, was down the far end.

“Hey, big boy,” I said, for the benefit of the stable hand cleaning the stall opposite. “Want to go for a ride?”

He stomped a foot and snorted, his velvet brown eyes seeming to gleam with anticipation. I grinned and opened the stall door, not bothering to lock it again because Kade wasn’t going anywhere. I looped the halter over his nose and ears, threw the reins over his head, then tossed the blanket across his back. And noticed, when I was bending down to cinch up the girth, his erection.

“Someone’s pleased to see me,” I murmured, and had my rump nipped for my trouble. I chuckled, and hauled myself onto his back.

Kade was moving before I was fully settled, trotting back down the aisle and breaking into a canter once we’d reached the paddock. I moved in rhythm with his stride, enjoying the whip of wind across my skin and through my hair as much as the sensation of being a part of so much contained power. The bouncing boobs weren’t so enjoyable—actually, they were downright painful—but I doubted the wolf whistlers hanging off the fences would care either way.

We did our allotted half hour, then cantered around the lake’s shoreline before going into the trees, not stopping until we’d reached a small stream deep within the shadowed, green darkness.

I slid off his back and stepped back as the golden shimmer of shapeshifting appeared on his nose and quickly spread across the rest of his body. He was just as magnificent in human form as he was in horse, his mahogany skin, black hair, and velvet brown eyes a truly striking combination. And it wasn’t only his coloring that was magnificent. He was built like a thoroughbred—broad shoulders, powerful chest, slim hips, and long, strong legs. I knew the power of those legs. Knew how hard and strong they could hold a person as he drove himself deep.

I wanted to feel that again.