Catastrophe

True to his word, Corbin waited, half sitting on my car with his legs stretched out in front of him and crossed at the ankles. As soon as I was close, he stood up. “You know where he is.”

  I nodded. “As of a few minutes ago.”

  “Take me to him and I will tell Paolo you caught him for us. That should be enough to appease him.”

  I held up a hand for him to wait as I opened my car door and got inside, leaning across the seat and unlocking the passenger side. “I will give you Thomas, but I have conditions.”

  “What?” he asked.

  “You hold him for twelve hours. I need to solve the case I am working on, and he might be the key to that process. Once the time has passed…” The words were hard to force out. “Do what you have to do.”

  “You will never make it through the night. Paolo will find and kill you. Just give him Thomas now and be done with it. I will personally vouch for you with the vampires.”

  I shook my head. “I’ll talk to Paolo. I’ll go to the garage to see him; he has to respect that. I’ll tell him that I need Thomas for the next twelve hours, but will accept you as his vampire guard. After that time, I will relinquish all hold on him. That’s the best deal I can offer. I have to do what I was sent here to do.”

  “He’ll want to know who sent you,” Corbin said.

  I smiled, more to myself than at him. “Then he can call Sy himself, because that will have nothing to do with me.”

  Corbin rolled his eyes. “What? Did he get your drink wrong? Why are you mad? I thought the two of you were…” He shrugged.

  “This isn’t my game and these aren’t my rules. I am simply playing by them.” His head turned quickly toward me. I met his eyes. “Take it or leave it.”

  “We’ll take it,” he said. “I’ll go with you to see Paolo. You’ll have a better chance of making it out alive. Any chance the Angel of Death could make an appearance? I think it would go a long way to strengthening your case.”

  I shook my head. “Not unless things look dire.”

  “At least there’s a plan B,” he mumbled.

  I drove directly to the garage door as Corbin instructed and waited for it to open. The hundreds of vampires from before were gone now, probably scouring the city for me. Slowly the door lifted, groaning in response.

  “Nervous?” he asked.

  “No,” I lied.

  He smiled. “I can hear your heart beating.”

  I took a few deep breaths, slowing it down. If Corbin could hear, they’d all be able to. I couldn’t show any fear or weakness. They’d eat me alive. My jaw tightened at the fifteen to twenty vampires who waited inside with Paolo in the center of all of them.

  Corbin didn’t take his eyes off Paolo, but he spoke under his breath. “The nicer he seems, the worse it is.”

  Both car doors were opened as we were taken by the arms and pulled out. The vampire who’d sacrificed an eye to my boot now sported an eye patch as he shoved up to the front of the group. I winked at him as I walked around the car to meet Corbin in the center. Together we approached Paolo.

  “I asked for the rogue, but you bring me the bounty hunter. I would have caught her anyway,” he said with a sigh. “What am I going to do with you, Corbin? Chance after chance you’ve had, but you keep letting me down.”

  “I’ve brought cooperation,” Corbin said smoothly. “You would have never gotten it your way.”

  Paolo didn’t look impressed. “Everyone breaks.”

  Corbin shrugged a shoulder. “I didn’t. And neither would she. Plus she has protection—we both know that.”

  “I can handle the bartender,” Paolo said coldly, and my hackles rose.

  I bit down on the inside corners of my lips hard to keep from saying anything.

  “That’s not her only protection,” he said.

  “You’re soft, flabby,” Paolo said, coming up and poking Corbin’s hard chest. “There was a time you would have enthralled her, taken what she knew for yourself, and disposed of her remains. Is wanting to see that again too much to ask? I don’t believe it is. That is the Corbin we need back. That’s the one I want to see standing before me. Not this weak, lazy vampire talking of compromises.”

  Corbin’s eyes blackened, and in a flash he had Paolo by the back of the neck, pulling him toward us. “Do not tempt me, old man, or the body I will dispose of will be yours. Never forget who you speak to or what I am capable of.” He released him just as suddenly, eyes still burning.

  Paolo smiled a little, obviously pleased with the display, but the smile disappeared as he turned to me. “I knew from the moment Sy brought you to my house, you would be a thorn in my side,” he said. “I am never wrong.” His nostrils flared and he leaned in close, drawing in a deep breath. “The stench of curiosity clings to your scent. Why are you here? Corbin has not touched you. You have not been influenced in any way. Why walk into my domain unprotected?”

  I met his eyes. “I’m not frightened of you. I’m here to make a deal. I have knowledge of something you want and am willing to give it to you,” I said. “For a price.”

  “What are you offering this time? Another lead that will get us nowhere?” He ran his fingers down my cheek and blatantly pulled from my life force enough to make my eyes flutter, but I didn’t pull back. “Perhaps we should just keep you and see if it tempts Thomas to come to us.”

  “My way would be faster. I promise you, he won’t bother with trying to save me.” And it was completely true. He wouldn’t. “That’s why I’m offering you him. I know where he is right now. This is a one-time offer. I will take Corbin and only Corbin to him as soon as we leave this place if you meet my terms.”

  “Why Corbin?” Paolo crossed his arms, a ghost of a smile on his lips. “Are you in love with this one as well? Have you developed a taste for our kind?”

  “Not at all. But he does have the distinction of being the only vampire I would trust slightly further than I could throw him.”

  Paolo gave Corbin an appraising look, tongue running over his teeth. “Is that so,” he said softly. It was impossible to tell if any of this was good or bad. Corbin didn’t react, so neither did I. “And what is your price?”

  “Twelve hours and no vampire harasses me again. Ever,” I said, watching him. “Corbin can come with me now and I will give him Thomas, but I need access to him for the next twelve hours. I have a case to solve and Thomas, so far, is my best lead. That’s my one-time offer. If you try to take him before that time is up, I will bring a hell down upon you like you have never known. If the vampires do not leave me alone, then I start fighting back.”

  He held my gaze for several moments before he finally stepped away, glancing at Corbin, who nodded slightly.

  “She doesn’t exaggerate. Besides the half-elf, she knows the Angel of Death personally, and Holden, the jinni. The Erlking and Queen also owe her debts. If you desire a war, this Sekhmet can give it to you.”

  Paolo tapped his index finger against his leg three times. With the slightest gesture of his finger, the vampires behind us left, blending into the crowd. “Very well,” he said. “I will accept your terms, but know this, Sekhmet. Double-cross me and you will not have time to call your important friends before I drain all of your lives from you.”

  It was my turn to give him a smug look. “May the best man win.”

  “Indeed,” he said, turning away and walking quickly out of the room. “Don’t disappoint me again, Corbin,” he said before he left completely. “This is your last chance.”

  Corbin and I left the same way we’d come in, only this time I was even more nervous than before. We drove for a couple blocks in silence before I spoke.

  “You hit my head against the wall and gave me to the vampires,” I said, watching the traffic in front of me.

  “I needed Kristina to lose you. So long as Paolo doesn’t have any good choices, he’s forced to recognize he still needs me.”

  My hands tightened over the steering wheel. “You used me.”

 
Corbin didn’t respond. “What you said in there about trusting me,” he said, then cleared his throat. “It’s not a good idea.”

  Trusting him more than other vampires wasn’t exactly the same as trusting him, but now didn’t feel like the time to split hairs. “Just the fact that you’re telling me it isn’t a good idea supports what I said.”

  “Sentimental,” he muttered to himself. “I’ve worked with Paolo for hundreds of years. I’d kill him in a moment and take over if it meant I could have what I want. That’s the sort of man I am.”

  I stopped the car a couple blocks away from the house. “I just can’t picture you leading the vampires. You don’t seem to want to,” I said.

  “I don’t.” He stared out of the window.

  “Why is Thomas so important?” I asked.

  “I don’t like to lose,” he growled as he got out of the car, slamming the door behind him. “Which house?”

  “None.” I climbed out and locked my door. “Let me go in first and distract him, then you come in—that’s the safest way. He won’t have time to prepare or to run.”

  Corbin snorted. “I’m not worried about whether or not I can defeat him.”

  “He’s been infected with the loup-garou curse,” I said. “If he feels threatened, he will turn into a werewolf-like creature. Let’s do this smart, not hard.” I opened the trunk of my car and retrieved the cuffs I usually reserved for the really old vampires.

  Corbin lightly touched the vampire cuffs. “If what you say is true, what makes you think he’ll let you use these?”

  I slammed the trunk. “Stay out of sight.”

  I trotted up the sidewalk to the blue house. I drummed my fingers against the door before I went inside. The house was even darker now than before. There were no sounds inside. I walked further into the room. “Thomas?” I said softly.

  “That was quick,” he said in my ear, though it was tight and strained.

  I swung around, only seeing his red glowing eyes in the dark. “Think we could turn on a light or two?”

  A moment later the lights were on and he was standing in front of me again, eyes still red and starved. “Couldn’t stay away?”

  I touched my tongue to my lip. “Have you figured out how to make my life easier?”

  His eyes turned the color of blood, searing my skin as they trailed down my body. A growl formed deep in his throat as he buried his face in my neck.

  “Ah, ah.” I stepped back, dangling the cuffs in front of him. “No touching,” I said. “We wouldn’t want any accidents, would we?”

  He eyed the handcuffs. “I rather like touching you.” He took a swipe at me, but I nimbly avoided his hand.

  “But you don’t want to hurt anyone. Isn’t that what you told me?” I jingled them at him. “You asked me to stop you.”

  “And these will do that?”

  “They’re the strongest cuffs I have ever found. I don’t know how that will hold up against a loup-garou, but it should at least give us a fighting chance if you change.”

  He nodded, taking them from me and inspecting them. “Maybe.”

  I gave him a helpless gesture. “How about this? I am not convinced you killed those people. The crime scenes don’t match with what you described. If I can be reasonably sure you haven’t left this house, when a new murder occurs, we’ll know for sure.”

  He came close, pressing the cuffs into my hand, careful not to touch flesh to flesh. His mouth was less than an inch away from mine. “By all means, then, have your way with me.”

  “Looking forward to it,” I said, clasping the cuff around his right wrist. “Too tight?”

  His nostrils flared, but he shook his head.

  I brushed against him as I moved around him. Heat radiated from his body. Usually vampires were ice cold to the touch, but he was hot. Too hot. My fingers trailed down his left arm before I took his hand and pulled it back, clasping the other end of the cuff around his wrist, just as tight as the other one. I snaked one hand around him and ran my fingernails down his chest. “Karma’s a bitch,” I said.

  “What do you plan to do to me?” His skin began to cool beneath my hands.

  “I think she meant me, mate,” Corbin said, yanking Thomas away from me before he could react. Corbin’s hand was around his throat as he slammed him against the wall, plaster crumbling around him. “I should kill you now for Camila…for Clara, but it would be too kind.”

  Corbin’s fingers dug into his neck as Thomas coughed and sputtered, eyes bright red as his body started to contort.

  “Corbin, stop. You’re killing him.” Corbin’s eyes were completely black and his face was filled with nothing but hatred. I moved around them. “If you kill him, the curse will pass to you. You don’t want this. Look at him. It isn’t worth it.”

  “I’ve lived with worse,” he growled.

  “It will kill everything you love. That’s what it does. That’s how it always ends. Selene. Is it worth risking her?”

  His fingers loosened slightly and Thomas sucked in a breath, but the transformation didn’t stop. He screamed as the curse buckled and twisted his body.

  “Does he get paws?” Corbin asked.

  “How would I know that? I’m not the one who threatened him,” I said, pulling my knives as I watched new razor-sharp teeth tear through his gums.

  “He’ll slip the cuffs if he does.”

  I ran for the front door. “Keep him in here,” I shouted, sprinting to my car. I pulled the chains and padlocks out of my trunk then hurried them inside.

  Corbin grabbed Thomas’s shoulders and held him against a column between the kitchen and living room. Thomas writhed as his bones popped and snapped beneath his skin and hair spread over his body. It was no wonder he looked sick. How did anyone survive something like this?

  “Gawk later,” Corbin said, struggling to keep a hold on him.

  I snapped back to attention, wrapping the chain around Thomas’s chest and shoulders as tight as I could then padlocked it. Corbin grabbed the other chain and wrapped it around his legs.

  The transformation took a total of about ten minutes. I didn’t know what I had expected, but it wasn’t what I got. A werewolf didn’t stand before us. Instead Thomas was some strange humanoid wolf creature who stood on two legs and had hands though his fingernails had been pushed out by thick black claws. Coarse gray and black hair covered his face and body, but a muzzle never fully formed. His red eyes burned with thousands of years of hatred.

  “What the fuck is he supposed to be?” Corbin asked, eyes wide.

  “A loup-garou. It’s a curse that passes from person to person. It stays just long enough to ruin your life.”

  “And if I kill him…”

  I nodded. “You will take the curse.” I lightly touched Thomas’s cheek. “Are you still in there?” A momentary flash of sadness warred with the rage, but quickly lost out. He was in there, though. Somewhere trapped inside of all that anger was Thomas, unable to fight against it. “This is for your own good. I know it’s hard to remember why, but you don’t want to hurt anyone else.”

  Corbin snorted. “I wouldn’t count on that, kitten.”

  “Don’t call me kitten,” I said as I backed away from Thomas, watching him thrash and fight against the restraints.

  Corbin stood with his head tilted to the side, taking in every thrash. “Is there a way he could keep the curse? For it to stay with him?”

  “If you want to kill him, then you better hope not.”

  Corbin smiled slightly to himself. “I wonder if he isn’t here, not in this world, would it still end. Is time a factor? And how is it calculated?” The sort of calm that came just before a storm suddenly surrounded Corbin. “Death may be too gentle for him.”

  I had seen this look with Holden before, but only once. So consumed with his own hate he couldn’t even see what was in front of him. What in the hell had Thomas done?

  “It’s worth a try, though,” he said. “He looks like he’s in pain.” br />
  Thomas’s muscles beneath the fur still clenched and strained. His bones had stopped cracking, but blood still dripped from his nails and mouth. The pain had to be unbearable. “What are you talking about?” I asked.

  Corbin pulled out his own knife and nicked Thomas’s face as soon as he stopped struggling. Thomas growled and snarled like the beast he currently was. Corbin leaned in close. “Just know this: it’s still better than you deserve.” Thomas fought harder, neck straining and muscles bulging, teeth gnashing. The column creaked. Corbin’s fist connected to his face, knocking his head back. Thomas’s eyes fluttered closed.

  Chapter 14