Bold Mercy Read online

And I forgot about the angel.

  Chapter Ten

  Jared was pissed. I seemed to have that effect on him.

  “Where are my wolves?” He pulled me into the little kitchen as his people went to retrieve the three humans, and though he kept his voice low, there was no mistaking his tone.

  “They’re only half a block away,” I said, pulling my arm from his grip. “In my office. I slipped out to deal with this emergency.” Then I realized I was explaining myself to him, and that just made me mad. “I don’t need a boss, Jared.”

  “I’m not trying to boss you. I’m trying to protect you.” He shoved his hand through his hair and blew out an exasperated breath. “Damn you, Kait. Why do you have to be so fucking stubborn?”

  “I’m not stubborn. I’m a powerful adult woman.” I narrowed my eyes, understanding a little better why the detective had been so angry with me. I was treating him the way Jared was treating me—and neither one of us liked it. “I’m fully capable of taking care of myself and those around me.”

  “It’s dark,” he said.

  I stiffened immediately. “Lucy?”

  “She will be fine if she stays with the pack.”

  I turned around to head for the door. “Time to hunt.” But I came up hard against Rick’s chest, and caught between the alpha and the detective, I could only stand there as tension thickened and a wave of testosterone flooded the room.

  “Who are you hunting?” Rick asked, his voice deceptively mild. He never took his stare off Jared.

  He’d dealt with the surprisingly uninjured humans the demons had possessed—the magic of my demon blade, maybe combined with my own magic, was getting stronger. It extracted the demons without killing the human hosts. It barely even injured them. They “woke up” and remembered nothing, and though they felt their aches and pains and were dazed and a bit braindead, they were alive. They would be okay.

  “A very bad woman,” I said tersely, fed up with everyone. The kitchen was so tiny I couldn’t squeeze by him, and I really, really didn’t want to shove him out of my way. “Let me by, Rick.”

  He nodded, then shocked me by moving. “Be careful. If you need me, send me your location and I’ll get there as fast as I can.”

  For a second I didn’t move. As I stared at him, he gave me a wink. “I know you’re a badass motherfucker, Kait Silver.”

  I grinned, then shot a look at the alpha, who watched us both with a darkness that made me shiver.

  “Go,” he growled. “I’ll be right behind you.” Then he gave a smile of triumph as the detective frowned.

  I could only shake my head and sigh.

  Before leaving, I slid my blade from its sheath. I handed it to Rick. “Take care of it for me?”

  He hesitated before accepting the knife, and I couldn’t blame him. It had been forged in an evil fire and had tasted the blood of many. Its power would be felt by anyone who touched it, and not even the detective was immune to its influence. But he did take it, and I was secure in the belief that he would protect it. I trusted him.

  And then there was only the hunt. I left the humans to Jared’s wolves and practically flew down the stairwell and from the building, and the alpha was at my back until we were outside—and then he was at my side.

  The three wolves I’d left at my office were waiting, as was Zach, and every person in my little hunting party—including the alpha—waited for me to catch the scent I needed so they could follow where I led.

  Zach had been born into a family of hunters, and I had no doubt he’d been a great one, but he was not a wolf. There was no way in hell he could keep up with us, but there was also no way in hell I was going to leave him behind. Tonight, we’d track like humans.

  So as much as I wanted to free my wolf and run through the shadows to find and devour Avis Vine, I forced myself calm. “Who has the biggest car?”

  “That’d be me,” Wyatt said, then, “We’re riding?”

  I glanced at Zach. “Yes.”

  He caught my stare and held it. “I’m not slowing you down,” he said, his shoulders square and his spine straight. “Run, Kait. I’ll drive. If I find her first, I’ll take her out and bring you her head.”

  “I’m not leaving you right now,” I said. “And I’m not arguing about that. Come on, everybody. Let’s go find that bitch.”

  But before I could get into Wyatt’s SUV and let down my window so I could catch any scent I wanted to catch, my cell rang. “Rick,” I answered. “I’ve been gone for ten minutes.”

  “That was just long enough for someone to rush a restaurant full of diners and kill eighteen of them,” he said, his voice jerking as he ran. “They got them on camera, Kait, and they’re saying it was vampires. Vampires are showing themselves to the city. To the humans.”

  I could barely breathe. “Which restaurant?” I whispered. Avis didn’t intend to hurt only me. She was slaughtering humans. She was imploding, and she was determined to cause as much damage as possible. She was bringing the vampires out of the shadows, and the world was not ready.

  “The Golden Spice on Fifth. I’ll see you there.”

  I lowered my phone slowly, staring at nothing.

  “Kait,” Jared said gently. “What happened?”

  I told him. No one spoke for several long seconds. We stared at each other, all of us shocked, horrified beyond words. Finally, “Eighteen people,” I whispered. “They killed eighteen humans.”

  “On camera,” one of the others said. “The vampires won’t survive this.”

  “We won’t survive this,” Wyatt said.

  I could feel the world changing in that moment.

  We sped to the restaurant, because now more than ever, I had to find Avis Vine. I couldn’t undo the massacre, but I could stop her from butchering more humans. The police wouldn’t let me near the restaurant, and I didn’t wait for Rick to get me in. I didn’t need to see the bodies.

  I caught her scent there, and that was all I needed. I shoved away the grief and horror and fear, sank into my wolf brain, and I began to hunt. I even forgot Zach in my quest, because nothing mattered but catching Avis Vine.

  She was now my purpose, and I would not rest until I ripped her heart from her chest and sliced her head from her body.

  Chapter Eleven

  The city was in shock, but soon, there would be only chaos. Terror and disbelief were on every face I saw, and already people gathered in small groups on the streets to listen while grim speakers shouted about the end of the world, government interference, and conspiracy theories.

  I wanted to shift, but I needed to stay in contact with the detective. He’d keep me informed as I tracked the killer vampires. But Avis was fast—vampire fast—and she had yet to leave the city. That terrified me, because there were only two reasons why she’d stay.

  One, to kill more humans, and two, because she wasn’t afraid of being caught.

  And as I followed her scent through well-lit streets crowded with cars as people attempted to flee, Rick called again. “People are dying in the streets,” he told me. “The vampires have started picking people off as they gather in groups and pile into their cars.”

  “While the humans are disorganized and confused,” I told him, “the vampires will strike the hardest. They need a voice, Detective. Talk to them. Tell them that most of what they’ve heard about vampires is true. Tell them to go inside and lock their doors—vampires cannot get into their houses without an invitation.” Then I hesitated, because Avis was not exactly a vampire, and she could go wherever she pleased. Still, it might cut down on some of the deaths.

  “Vampire headed this way,” Wyatt said.

  And not just any vampire. I ended the call with the detective and looked up to see Bastien, the county master, walking toward me. He didn’t look like a vampire. He’d cut his long, shiny hair and donned an expensive suit, attempting to blend in with the humans. But his eyes were terrible, and I knew that he would blame himself for Avis Vine’s murder spree. As county mast
er, that was on his shoulders.

  Farrow, the girl who’d approached me when I’d first visited Frederick Axton, was at his side, and though they didn’t make themselves obvious, I saw other vampires near him, also attempting to blend in. Their lives were about to change forever, and I couldn’t imagine what they were thinking.

  “Do you have her scent?” Bastien asked me.

  “I do.”

  “My people are all over the city. We’ll find her.” He stared at me with a stillness only vampires were capable of. “If you find her before I do—”

  “I know what to do,” I interrupted, patting the stakes I’d hidden beneath my long jacket. “She won’t be the first vampire I’ve staked.”

  He flinched, just a little. He got control of his emotions quickly, but I saw what he tried to hide. His eyes were brimming with desolation. “I would like to get her alive,” he said. “I would use her as an example to others who might betray their own. I can punish her in ways you cannot imagine, Kait. Bring her to me.”

  He wasn’t wrong. Even though there would have been nothing as satisfying to me as staking Avis and taking her head, he could keep her alive for years with his creative torture. And he could use her to keep others in line. “I’ll think about it,” was all I’d promise.

  He gave me a quick nod. “Thank you.” Then he and his people hurried on, as determined as I was to stop the carnage and capture Avis Vine.

  I wondered if her insanity would affect other vampires in other cities, other countries. Avis was far from the only crazy in the world, and other vampires might only have been waiting for someone to lead them into the fray—and out of the shadows.

  By dawn, she still had not been found, many humans were dead—most of them killed by other humans, terrified humans with guns—and Bastien told me that some of his vampires had joined Avis, rising up with their dark desires and, perhaps, a belief that once they were out they would become…equals, somehow. Mainstream.

  Accepted.

  Only that would never happen, because they had too much power, there were too few of them, and the majority of humans would only ever fear and hate them. Wolves would be next, of course. I was doubtful we could stay hidden now. That any of the nonhumans could.

  Maybe my nerves screwed with my hunting, but for whatever reason, I lost Avis’s scent around four in the morning. I was exhausted, as were the wolves with me, because we’d barely taken a moment to rest. We hadn’t eaten, and now we were running on pure hatred and desperation alone.

  We weren’t the only ones. Groups of humans and the occasional loner carried shotguns and blades through the city streets, searching for vampires. Maybe they thought there was safety in numbers or that if they spotted a vampire they’d simply shoot him or her and someone would burn or bury the monster, and all would be well.

  It wouldn’t take them long to realize the futility and danger of their plan.

  “Lucy and Ash are at Shadowfield,” Jared said. “Come home with me to sleep. We will begin the search again as soon as it’s dark.”

  I surprised him by agreeing. The last thing I wanted was to be alone. I called Zach and asked him to return to Shadowfield as well, and then called my mother.

  “I’m already at Shadowfield, Kaity. You’re coming?”

  “Yeah. Go back to sleep, Mom.” In one’s pack was safety, comfort, and strength, and I was in no condition to deny myself.

  I forgot all about the serial killer. What was one crazy fucking human in the midst of such a massive nightmare?

  When we got to Shadowfield and I stumbled walking toward Jared’s house, he gave a soft growl and took my arm to steady me. “You’ll get cleaned up,” he told me. “Food will be waiting. After you eat, Nell will show you to a bed.”

  His fingers were warm on my arm, even through the thin fabric of my jacket. Warm, and possessive. And yet…

  “Jared.”

  He didn’t stop walking but his body immediately tensed. “Yes?”

  I knew he wanted me. Wolves had strong senses—his desire was not going to be a secret. At least not his physical desire. Mentally, though, I only knew that he didn’t want to want me. And I would have given much to know why. Maybe it was because of his arranged match with Jeanette Lister, but I didn’t think so. He’d said it was because of me. That I was not ready.

  What the hell did that even mean? And who put that shit into his head? I wanted to ask him, but honestly, I was so sick of throwing myself at a man who recoiled like I was some sort of innocent…human that I kept my mouth shut and my hands to myself, and I went to take a much-needed shower.

  Jared’s family home wasn’t over the top. It was too clean, if you asked me, and everything was just too…white, and it definitely didn’t scream “The alpha lives here!” which is exactly how a wolf wanted to live. Simply and under the radar, just like the vampires.

  “Shit,” I whispered, and dropped my fork back into my plate. Nell had prepared rare steaks with potatoes and an apple pie for dessert. The food was good and I was starving, but after only half the huge steak, my worried brain got in the way of my appetite.

  Jared ate with me, but the only one who talked was Nell. She talked a lot as she bustled back and forth, but I didn’t mind. It helped fill the uncomfortable silence. She went silent when I stopped eating. “Is something wrong with the meat?” she asked, frowning. “Would you prefer something else?”

  I rubbed my eyes. “It’s delicious, Nell. My worry is getting in the way of my appetite, I’m afraid.”

  “Oh, dear,” she said. “Try not to worry so much. Jared will worry enough for all of us, and he will always protect this pack. Certainly he’ll protect you. Honestly, he shouldn’t be allowing you to—”

  “Nell,” Jared interrupted.

  He didn’t say anything else but she immediately wiped her hands and left the dining room after a quick, somewhat apologetic glance at him.

  Jared left his chair and walked around the table toward me, and my body stiffened immediately. Just a little, but enough to make me realize I didn’t trust the alpha the way a wolf should trust her alpha. I didn’t submit to him, I didn’t obey him, and I didn’t believe his word was law, the way a normal wolf would. And just like that, I realized by saying I wasn’t ready, he simply meant I wasn’t ready to let him be the boss of me. Apparently, he believed that in order to have sex, we needed to know our places—and accept them.

  My wolf loved the hell out of that. But me? No. Not so much.

  “Stop thinking,” he said, sitting down beside me, “and eat your dinner. You can’t hunt if you don’t eat.”

  “I can’t be a submissive wolf, Jared.”

  He studied me, then cut off a piece of meat, speared it with the fork, and handed it to me. “You don’t need to be submissive,” he said. “Not the way you think. But you have to trust me. You have to believe I won’t hurt you, that I will take care of you, that no matter what, I will always do what is best for my pack. And you.”

  I wasn’t like other wolves, simply because I’d been “warped” by being forced out of my pack at such a young age. Then my wolf had been hobbled, so really, I was closer to human than shifter. Even growing up, my parents had kept me more isolated than a normal pup would have been. My father had seen to my training, my mother to my education. I’d had few friends. Then I’d been sent away.

  I understood that a wolf would look to her alpha for protection. I understood that the weight of the pack rested on his shoulders and that regular wolves accepted and were grateful for that. His word was law.

  But I didn’t know why it was so important to him that I be that person.

  I was completely torn, of course, because a big part of me—the wolf part—wanted everything to be the way it was supposed to be. Wanted to lie down and give him my belly and relax, secure in the knowledge that as alpha, he was responsible for us all. He would take care of everything, including me.

  The woman part though, she wanted to shove him up against the wall and h
ave her way with him, then go out hunting and protecting and defending and taking care of her own damn self.

  I sighed, then lifted the fork to my lips. As he watched, I ate the damn steak, and then I ate another one—not because he’d said I should, but because I knew that if I wanted to catch Avis and protect not only my people but the humans, I had to make sure I was physically strong enough to do so.

  But afterward, as I got up to head to bed, I blurted it out, because…oh, who the fuck knew why. I just did. “Why the hell,” I asked, standing so close to him that I could have taken a deep breath and brushed my body against his, “can we not just have casual sex without all the complications?” I reacted almost violently to the thought and to the nearness of him. My body woke up. My skin erupted in gooseflesh, chills raced down my spine, my mouth dried up, my hands shook. Worse, my heart pounded so hard I was sure he’d hear it, and a wave of extreme heat gathered between my legs and wiped all sane thought from my mind.

  There was only lust. Deep, unexpected, and extreme. There was something huge and special connecting us. I couldn’t believe I’d feel this way otherwise. Fate? I wouldn’t rule it out. I was that shaken.

  But anger lit his stare, and my immediate instinct was to step back and get away from that anger. “There is no casual sex, Kait,” he bit out. “Not with us.”

  I had to restrain myself from touching him. “What do you want from me, Jared?”

  “I want nothing you cannot freely give,” he growled, at last, and then he turned and strode away from me. I had to admit—if he felt the way about me that I felt about him—physically—then he was stronger than me.

  I wished I could talk to Lennon, who might, if pushed, shed some light on Jared’s thinking. I honestly didn’t know what he wanted. Not a casual one-night stand, obviously, but did that mean he wanted something serious? With me?

  I snorted. Right.

  Whatever he wanted, it wasn’t me for a mate. He would just come to claim me, if he wanted me. And if I’d resisted, he’d have done what any hotblooded alpha would have done. He’d have pursued the fuck out of me. Female alphas did the same. If they wanted a wolf, they knew it, and they went after him. And if the alpha didn’t get his or her mate? I didn’t know. I’d never heard of such a thing happening. Alphas always got what they wanted.