Twilight War (12 page)

“You’re not
safe out here alone, especially in this condition. The Satellite is
still after you and he has to be the one causing these delusions.
Come and stay with me for a while, at least until you get through
the trauma.”

“No. I’m
staying with the house until it’s legally sold. Raef would want me
to.”

“You need to
let go.”

“Of course
you’d say that. I’ll never let him go. He is still alive in my
heart…in my head. I feel him, hear him.” She laid a hand over her
heart. “He called me his wife before he died.”

Hatch stumbled
back as if he’d been jolted. Fury flashed through his eyes for an
instant, then he quickly recovered. “You’re delusional. You better
come with me.”

“I. Said. No!”
She gave him a hard shove and sent him tumbling backward down the
steps. The force of her action stunned her but she attributed it to
rage. She heard him mutter a few profane words before she raced
inside and bolted the door.

After running
upstairs, she peeked out a window and watched until Hatch drove
away in a sporty car. Then she threw herself on Raef’s bed and
sobbed.
Clearly, Hatch has been brainwashed by Cooper to believe
Raef overdosed. Raef was way too stable to do something that
foolish.
She fumed over the lies yet found some solace in the
fact that she’d dumped Hatch when his true character began to show.
At least she hadn’t hesitated this time to dump the baggage.

Exhausted from
crying and dealing with ghosts, immortals, and men, she nestled
into the sheets and pillows of Raef’s bed, breathing in his
lingering scent—a scent she knew would soon be gone. She clung to
his pillow, burning with the most unbearable heartache she’d ever
known.

The room was
dark when Flame woke. As lonely as his house felt, she didn’t want
to leave for fear of breaking whatever paranormal connection might
still exist. Yet deep inside, she knew that she couldn’t hide in
here forever. Reality waited and she needed to face it sooner or
later. A death needed avenged. A family of evil minions waited due
punishment. And a war had to be won.
Can I pull Von over?
She stared at her hand. No blood. He had not broken her
confidence.

She pondered
Hatch’s speculations on the possibility of the Satellite posing as
Coop to get rid of Raef. She didn’t doubt the logic. It made
perfect sense for Von to want Raef out of the way. Still, Von knew
things, things that he couldn’t possibly know unless—she drew a
sharp breath—
unless he can read my mind!
No, that’s
insane. I wasn’t even thinking about Paloma or my mother in his
presence. Could he really be that sinister, that obsessed, to use
my weakest moment just to continue this quest for seduction? Did I
really see what I saw?
She wondered if there was any truth to
Hatch’s words. Had she fallen over the edge or had someone pushed
her? Maddening questions in an ever-changing war, the Supreme
Lioness had not exaggerated.

Her high
ruler’s words came to mind.
Trust no one. Lean on your
intuition. Be prepared for the unexpected. The Satellite must not
prevail,
words of wisdom not to be forgotten. She began to
grasp the complex nature of this mission.

Her gaze went
to her palm again. Von didn’t know the other detail she omitted.
Not only would the wounds bleed if he broke her trust, but if he
lied,
his
cut would open and fester with searing pain until
the truth was told. “I need to find Von and ask him straight out,”
she muttered to herself.

Weary from
sorrow and tired of keeping herself locked inside, she rooted
through her bag and found her leathers. Unsure of when the lawyers
would change the locks on Raef’s house, she decided to pack her
gear and head out on the road. She hated leaving the place she’d
last felt Raef, but she couldn’t justify hiding when the enemy was
at large.

After pulling
on her skintight leather pants, she slipped into the matching gold
leather jacket—a one of a kind warrior outfit tailored specifically
for her. She slid her Sai daggers into the holsters at her thighs,
stuffed the rest of her belongings into her backpack, then trotted
down the steps. If Cooper had been framed then Flame was determined
to uncover the guilty soul with Raef’s blood on his hands.
God
help them when I do.

She paused at
the bottom of the spiral staircase and looked up one last time.
Memories of Raef carrying her up those steps to his bedroom then
making passionate love to her floated through her mind. She basked
in the moment for a short time then wiped tears from her
cheeks.

“See you on the
trail, my love.” Her voice trembled. She choked back the urge to
break down and walked out the front door, closing it quietly behind
her. The thought of bringing him back, even as a Satellite called
to her, she hadn’t completely dismissed the idea.
If I can’t win
the war, I’m at least going to be with the one I love.

She knew
exactly what her next step would be in exposing some truth.

While cruising
down the boulevard, Flame spotted a familiar-looking sports car
parked in the dangerous side of town.
Why would Hatch be
loitering in this area? Surely, he’s not that desperate that he’d
seek out a hooker.
She made a wide circle, taking care to be
discreet. During her third time around, she caught sight of Hatch
leaving a massage parlor but not with a woman.
Cooper
O’Toole!
She parked in the shadows and watched, wishing she
could get close enough to hear them.

They chatted
and laughed, then Coop handed Hatch a small brown package. From her
position, the parcel looked odd shaped, almost rectangular and
roughly wrapped. Hatch cast a guarded glance around before placing
the package in his car. The two men shook hands and nodded, then
laughed a few more times before they parted company.

Strange, she
thought.
Very strange.
She waited until they were out of
sight before riding away.
Is Hatch buying drugs from Coop? Why
else would he be slumming down here?
She chocked it up to
another sleazy trait of her ex-fiancé.
I have more important
things to think about than his shady deals.

He turned
abruptly, seemingly taken off guard by her approach. “How’d you do
that?” Von asked with an intense stare. His blue-green eyes
shimmered in the moonlight.

“Magic.” She
let out a little laugh, but was not about to tell him that their
blood-bond had increased her powers. By sealing her blood to his,
she now had begun to absorb some of
his
mystical abilities.
“You’re alone.” Flame glanced around the remote area on the beach,
the same location where he’d tried to seduce her. “Where’s your
pack of mangy minions?”

“Around.” He
stoked a small campfire. “So you finally decided to leave the
house?”

“I got sick of
all the company.”

A slight grin
beset his face. “I heard that Hatch is back in town.”

She stepped up
to him and looked into his eyes. “I’m going hunting…wanna
come?”

He arched one
brow. “You’re letting me help you?”

“Like you said,
I’ll never find his camp without you.”

“We should take
one bike. I can slip in unnoticed but they’ll pick up your scent.
If you ride with me, I’ll cover you.”

His soft,
casual tone of voice, the way he looked at her, and his latter
comment stirred a part of her to life. She stared back at him for a
few minutes in deep contemplation.

“You’re just
loving this, aren’t you?”

He shrugged
with a nonchalant hand gesture. “What can I say? You straddling
anything of mine lights my fire.”

She half
frowned to withhold a smile. “Fine. Let’s get on with it.”

“His creepers
will die if you dagger them. Coop will need your fiery touch to
meet his demise.” He walked to his impressive masterpiece of steel
and chrome, then motioned for her to get on.

She swung her
leg over the seat and settled on the smooth leather. “I know the
rules. You don’t have to coach me.”

“You’re edgy
tonight.”

“I’ve had a
really bad day. Can we just go?”

“Yep.” He fired
the engine and kicked the bike into gear.

They rumbled
from the beach onto the street then picked up the interstate
heading north. Von opened his Harley to full throttle, sucking the
wind out of her. She leaned against the backrest to enjoy the ride.
This was the first time since Raef’s death that she felt like she
could breathe. Riding had always been the one thing that cleared
her head and opened her senses. Everything around her came to life
once the growl of the engine ignited. Feeling so much power between
her legs was invigorating—almost better than sex. She allowed
herself to smile.

Riding with Von
had become more exciting than she cared to admit. The man rode
without fear. Hatch was a complete wuss when it came to motorcycles
and Raef had been her match. Something about this darkly alluring
rebel challenged her, took her to a higher level of adventure. What
should be scaring the hell out of her right now had the opposite
effect—it thrilled her in ways she couldn’t explain.

Six hours after
leaving LA, he pulled off an exit toward San Francisco then drove
to the nearest all-night eatery and parked the bike. “I thought you
might want to stretch your legs and do whatever you need to do
before we ride on.”

She slid off
the back. “Just how far away is Coop’s camp?”

“Six more
hours. Are you up for it?”

“Phft…don’t
insult me. I’ve taken longer rides than this.”

“Yeah, I guess
so,” he said with a grin. “Don’t go taking off with any strangers
you meet outside the ladies’ room while I fuel up.”

“Very funny.”
She scowled at his dig, remembering how he’d snuck her away from an
entire pack of bikers. “I learned my lesson from you.”

“Hey…” He gave
a casual shrug. “At least you learned from the best.”

“Ugh.” She
sighed and walked away.
Still as cocky as ever
, she thought
and noticed that everything they’d experienced in Raef’s house had
fallen aside for the time. She and Von were back in battle-mode, so
it seemed. She began to wonder how much of what transpired over the
past day had been real. A quick glance at the scar on her hand
reminded her that at least one memory was not a delusion.

You better
pray you’ve told me the truth, Von Calder, or your existence will
soon come to an end. I will show no mercy on Raef’s killer.
She
returned from the restroom to find Von straddling his bike, waiting
patiently and openly enjoying a smoke.

“Don’t you know
those things will kill you?” She smirked.

“Touché.” He
let out a short laugh. “One sharp dig deserves another.” His eyes
met hers for a brief yet wildly intense moment.

“Where are we
headed?” She did her best to shake off his heady allure.

“Crescent
City.”

Her heart
skipped a beat.
Crescent City?
Surely, this is not
coincidence, she thought. Flashbacks of daggering Cassie while
she’d mated Ian, an eerie crescent mark glowing on her forehead,
whipped through Flame’s mind. She cringed while sitting behind Von.
Even more disturbing, Ian’s first account about the man sitting to
her front right now, had revealed him as the one who’d left that
unearthly mark on Cassie’s skin with a kiss.

Suddenly Flame
realized that she was truly alone. While Von wanted her to believe
they were on the same team, she couldn’t deny the truth that she
already knew for certain.
Von was and still is the
Satellite.
She cautioned herself to be careful and not fall
into the same snare as her mother had. It was quite possible that
Von could be leading her into that very same trap tonight. She slid
a hand into her pocket, checking to make sure her tin of lighter
fluid and Zippo were still securely in place. Someone is going to
burn, this she knew. Who—was the question.

Chapter
Eight

They rolled
into Crescent City shortly before dawn. Von seemed to know exactly
where he was going. He zigzagged through traffic then onto side
roads, taking her deep into the remote woodlands of the redwood
forest. Flame gazed up at the mammoth trees that blocked out light
from an eerie crescent moon. An uneasy chill settled over her.
Instinct told her that she was about to come face-to-face with
bone-chilling evil by walking straight into a nest of Twilight
fiends.

Von parked his
bike in a secluded grove then dismounted. “We’ll walk from here.”
He gave her a slow once over. His gaze lingered at her feet.
“You’re wearing those boots again.”

“Sorry to
disappoint you but I can’t kick ass in high heels.”

His eyes
shimmered mischievously. “Do I look disappointed? Your warrior
outfit is hot and the chick-biker-boots are you. Very real. I’d
expect nothing less.”

She practically
writhed beneath his dissecting stare. “Let’s get this show on the
road. Lead the way.”

A hint of a
grin played at his ruggedly handsome face. He did not pale in
comparison to Raef, no not one bit. Both men were undeniably
gorgeous. Her beloved Raef had been called
pretty
yet he’d
had his pick of women. Flame wondered what Von was like before he
died.
How many girlfriends did he have? Did women throw
themselves at him?
She thought back to their encounter in a
diner where the waitresses had been flirting with him. No doubt,
this imposing male could also have his pick of females.
Would
Naami pant after Von as she did Raef? Or am I the only one under
this man’s spell?
She shook her head to dismiss the wayward
thoughts.

They hiked
through deep woods into the predawn hours. The night sky began to
give way to the first signs of daylight. Von stopped without
warning and turned toward her.