Wicked Ride

  “Lieutenant,” Lex returned.

  Bear grinned. “Tell whoever is on the phone that I’ll call them back.” His gaze remained warm on her.

  Clarke hovered and then shrugged a massive shoulder before turning back for the office.

  Bear’s nostrils flared, and he studied her closer. “Oh my.”

  She blinked. “What?”

  He shook his head. “You and Kellach Dunne, huh?”

  So the gossip mill was turning about her dating Kell. If Bear only knew the full truth. “My personal life is not part of this investigation,” she said.

  Bear opened his mouth to say something, stilled, and then turned to view the long road, stepping partially in front of her.

  She turned, her instincts flaring to life. “What?”

  Dented and rusty, a delivery truck rumbled toward them, screeching to a stop.

  A guy from the garage called out, “I ordered supplies for the Bentley. That’s them.”

  Bear nodded and kept his gaze on the truck, all semblance of a smile gone. For the first time, Lex saw the club leader whispered about on the streets.

  “I don’t like a guy who doesn’t take care of his truck,” Bear murmured, tension vibrating along his arms.

  A man jumped out from the passenger side of the van, a clipboard in his hands.

  The breeze picked up.

  Bear lifted his head and inhaled sharply. “Detective? I’m gonna ask you to get in your car and go now. We can talk later.”

  She turned to face the delivery truck, her hand inching to her gun. “What’s going on?”

  Almost in slow motion, the delivery guy dropped his clipboard. Yellow and orange cascaded along his arms, and fiery balls curled in his palms.

  Lex smoothly dropped into a crouch, drawing her weapon. The second she hit her haunches, the guy threw. Bear grabbed her and pummeled her to the ground. The ball hit her car, denting metal, bouncing to the front.

  “Damn it.” Lifting her with one arm, Bear tucked her close and zigzagged toward the garage where several club members had run out, yanking off their shirts.

  Lex struggled against Bear’s implacable hold, firing toward the fire shooter.

  Bear plunked her on a bike and jumped in front of her, igniting the engine. “Fight back the second I get her out of range,” he bellowed, gunning the motor and zipping around the garage.

  Lex cried out and grabbed hold of Bear’s broad ribcage. “Go back. Get your ass back there, Bear.” She was a cop. She could fight. What the hell was he doing? Why were those men taking off their shirts? She leaned up, her mouth at his ear. “Get back there. We left Garrett and Logan. They’re two kids.”

  Bear ignored her and drove faster along an asphalt road the size of a golf path.

  She looked over his shoulder. Was it just for bikes?

  He maneuvered between trees and around overgrown bushes. Behind them, the sound of explosions echoed and fire crackled. Out of nowhere, a bike zoomed close, driven by a man already on fire. He grinned, even while flames danced along his arms and across his torso, somehow not burning his shirt.

  Damn fucking witches. She had no other explanation and had to face reality to shoot at it. She did both. Lex pointed her weapon and fired two shots. They hit the guy, but he merely flinched. What the hell?

  She looked around. So much fire and no other explanation. These guys could create and throw fire, just like Kellach. They had to be witches. She held tighter to Bear, wondering how the hell to explain it to him. The wind rushed by them as they neared the man on fire.

  A second muddy dirt bike roared out of the forest, out numbering them. Its front tire scraped Bear’s.

  He hit the brakes, and the world slowed to barely moving. Suddenly, everything launched back into fast motion.

  Lex cried out, her fingers digging into Bear’s waist. They swung to the side. Bear released the handlebars, half turned, grabbed her, and flew off the bike. Somewhere in the air, he tucked himself around her, his shoulders impacting a large pine tree. The shock ricocheted through him to Lex, and she held tighter as they plunged to the ground. She landed on Bear and scrambled to her knees, reaching for her ankle weapon to defend him.

  No way would he survive that without several broken bones. Hopefully he wasn’t dead. Pivoting, she watched the dirt bike roll end-over-end, tossing its rider into a huckleberry bush.

  The first guy stopped his bike and swung off.

  She pointed the gun and slowly stood, blocking Bear’s prone body. “Get down, asshole,” she yelled.

  He smiled and held out both hands, creating more flames.

  She crouched and squeezed off three shots, aiming for center mass. The guy jerked back three times but remained upright. What the hell? Shit.

  She probably needed one of those green laser throwing guns.

  With a low growl, Bear lurched to his feet, shaking his head.

  She eyed him. A deep gash bled above his right eye and his right arm angled oddly to the side—broken in at least two places. “Run, Bear. I’ll hold them off.”

  The dirt-bike rider shoved free of the bush, aqua-colored flames shooting from his fingers.

  Interesting that they all had different colored flames.

  She shook her head, her voice low and intense. “It’s hard to explain, Bear, but these guys throw fire. They’re strong and tough and apparently bullets don’t hurt them. Run. Now.” She’d aim for the legs and hope Bear got to safety.

  A ball of aqua fire slammed into the tree behind them.

  Bear jumped in front of Lex, and she tried to shove the back of his waist to propel him away from danger.

  He growled. Low and menacing, the sound forced her back a step. He lifted his head and let loose with a series of rumbling growls. His arms spread out, even the broken one, and his shirt ripped down the seams.

  Lex’s breath caught in her throat. What in holy hell? She tried to move back against the tree, but flaming bark burned her, and she cried out.

  Bear turned toward her, his clothes hitting the ground. Fur sprang up along his skin, his nose elongated, and he dropped to all fours as a bear—a huge-ass, larger than possible, grizzly bear.

  She blinked, her brain shutting down.

  Sharp teeth emerged from his mouth, and he snarled.

  A ball of fire hit him, and he yelped. The stench of burning fur clogged the air.

  Roaring, Bear pivoted and launched himself across the yards to the dirt-bike rider, enclosing the witch’s throat with powerful jaws. A twist of Bear’s shoulder, and the guy’s head was ripped off his body. Blood squirted up as the headless corpse dropped to the already red asphalt.

  Bile rose in Lex’s throat, but she swallowed it down. Fear sharpened the day, even through smoke and blood. She pointed her gun toward Bear, who was stalking on all fours toward the other bike rider.

  She didn’t even know bears got that big, much less human turned grizzly. God. Bear had turned into a fucking bear.

  The guy smiled and twisted his torso, pummeling Bear with fireball after fireball.

  Bear howled in pain, bunched, and lunged at the witch, landing on him and knocking him down.

  “Bear, stop!” Lex yelled, her gun out, running toward the duo. They might be immortal, freaky creatures, but murder was murder. “Don’t—”

  Bear sank his canines into the witch’s neck, his incisors scratching like nails on a chalkboard as they reached asphalt. His powerful jaws snapped shut, and he straightened to toss the head into the crackling tree.

  Lex backed away, her hands shaking. So much fear lumped in her stomach, she needed to puke.

  Bear turned and ambled toward her. Her ankle hit the downed bike, and she began to fall, pulling the trigger. The bullet hit Bear in the shoulder, and blood sprayed. He jerked back and opened his jaw to howl, the sound angry and wild.

  The last sight she had before her head impacted with the asphalt was a pissed off grizzly, teeth bared, lumbering toward her.

  Chapter 20

/>   “I’m fuckin’ going to kill you, Bear,” a low voice echoed as Lex forced herself from dreamland.

  She opened her eyes to see Kellach peering down, his black eyes blazing, his hand gentle and wrapped around hers. “What?” she asked, tasting soot.

  “I have you, Alexandra,” he said, smoothing her hair from her forehead, his soft tone a direct contrast to the fury all but cascading off him.

  She shook her head and winced. “Ouch.” Slowly, she glanced around a typical office. Desk piled high with papers, computer, copier, guest chairs, and a sofa. The smell of motor oil and smoke was strong.

  Smoke.

  She shoved herself up to sit. Dizziness attacked her, and she shut her eyes, her free hand pressing against her forehead. Memories flashed behind her eyelids. Holy shit.

  She opened her eyes and slowly turned to see Bear leaning against the far wall, his arm in a sling, bruises across his jaw.

  “You shot me,” he said mildly.

  She blinked. “I was falling.”

  “I know. How’s your head?” He fingered a bandage above his right eyebrow.

  She gulped and shook her head. “You’re a bear.”

  “Yep.” He smiled. “Though it was nice of you to try and protect me.”

  How in the hell was any of this even possible? She turned toward Kell, who remained protectively close. “Bear turned into a bear,” she said slowly.

  Kell slid an arm around her shoulder and tucked her into his side. “He’s a bear shifter.”

  “Shifter? Shifters exist.” She shook her head. “Witches and shifters.”

  “Oh my,” Bear said, straight faced.

  Kell threw him a look. “We have feline shifters, wolf shifters, and multi-shifters.”

  She shook her head. Pain clamored between her temples. “But he’s a bear shifter.”

  “Aye.” Kell ran gentle fingers over her scalp, touching a bump at the top of her head that might get him shot. “Sorry. Multi-shifters used to be able to shift into anything, mainly bear, but now most bears can’t turn into anything but bears. I haven’t seen a multi in centuries.” He turned toward Bear and lifted an eyebrow.

  Bear shook his head and winced, touching his bandage. “I don’t know any bear shifter who can shift into anything but bear. If you ask me, multies are extinct, and we’ve all evolved into bears.” He sighed and leaned his head back, shutting his eyes. “We’re the next generation, baby.”

  Kell rolled his eyes. “Why are witches attacking you?”

  Bear focused again. “We were approached a week ago, via a burner phone, to distribute Apollo, and we said no. I think this was a second request.”

  “I knew a witch was behind this,” Kell muttered. “Any idea who they work for or who approached you?”

  “No clue.” Bear slid to the side as the door opened.

  Garrett and then Logan, both wearing clean clothes, gingerly strode inside.

  “We wanted to check on Alexandra,” Garrett said.

  She eyed the boys and their innocent expressions. “Did you two fight the witches in the delivery truck?”

  “Hells ya,” Logan said, high-fiving Garrett.

  She gave them her strongest cop expression, and they sobered instantly. “Are you two witches as well?”

  “No, ma’am,” Garrett said softly.

  “Bear shifters?”

  “Nope.” Logan eyed Kellach.

  Kell sighed. “Might as well tell her the truth. She knows almost all of it.”

  Garrett smiled, and sharp fangs slid from his mouth. “I’m a vampire.”

  Holy freakin’ crap. That sweet boy was a creature of the night? “I’ve seen you outside and in the sun.”

  He chuckled. “We can go in the sun and are just a different species from humans.”

  It was too much. The world as she knew it . . . didn’t exist. She swallowed. “I read a blog by a Sarah Pringle.”

  Garrett nodded, his light-refracting glasses moving on his nose. “Aunt Sarah. She mated my Uncle Max.”

  Mated. There was that damn word again. Lex’s abdomen heated. She was mated to Kell. “Sarah wrote that the vampires were white-faced and afraid of the sun.” Lex tried to grasp onto any tendril of reality.

  “Those were the Kurjans, our enemies. You don’t have to worry about them.” Garrett’s fangs slid back in.

  She had enough to worry about and would figure out Kurjans later. “Do you, ah, drink blood?” she whispered.

  “No.” Garrett chuckled. “I mean, we do, but only in fights or during sex.” Red climbed into his face. “Begging your pardon, ma’am.”

  What a polite freakin’ vampire with deadly fangs.

  Lex shook her head and focused on Logan. “Vampire?”

  “Half vampire.” Logan allowed his fangs to drop and then retract.

  Lex stiffened her shoulders, trying so hard not to relax into the safety that was Kell. “The other half?”

  “Demon. Half demon.” Logan shuffled his feet. “We’re the good guys. I promise.”

  Demons were the good guys, and Kurjans the bad guys. The immortal world seemed rather complex. She shook her head and tried her best to adapt without shooting anybody in the room. Not that her bullets did much good, apparently. “Um, so Dage Kayrs, is the, ah, king of the vampires?”

  Garrett nodded. “Uncle Dage is King of the Realm, which is a coalition of vampires, shifters, and witches, but you could say he’s also the king of the vampires, since he is a vampire.”

  “Okay,” she whispered.

  Kell jerked his head toward Garrett. “Did you know she was enhanced?”

  Garrett smiled and then slowly lost his grin. “Wait a minute. Didn’t you?”

  “No.” Kell glanced back at Lex. “Not at all.”

  Lex glanced from one to the other. “Excuse me?”

  Kell rocked back on his heels. “Only enhanced humans such as psychics can mate an immortal, and we usually get a sense of an enhanced female if they’re in our vicinity.”

  Oh. “We mated because I’m enhanced, but you didn’t get a sense of the enhancement?” She already knew Kell hadn’t intended to mate her.

  “Yes.” Kell glanced over his shoulder at Garrett. “Why can you sense it but I can’t?”

  The vampire shrugged. “It’s really light, almost indiscernible, but my senses are my extra ability.”

  “Teleporting is a better one,” Logan drawled.

  Garrett cut him a hard glare. “You can’t teleport, demon.”

  “Yet. I’m still young.” Logan frowned. “Someday I’ll be able to teleport, and you’ll still just get little tingles from humans who might be enhanced.”

  Teleport? Lex shook her head. That was an issue for another day. “What do you feel, Garrett?”

  He smiled, and his eyes lit up behind the glasses. “You’re empathic, most likely at an intuition level, meaning you go with your gut as a cop but really have empathic abilities. For now, anyway. The longer you stay mated to Kell, the stronger your abilities should get.”

  Kell nodded. “So that’s why I couldn’t sense her.”

  “No.” Garrett shook his head. “You couldn’t sense her because she has the ability tamped down. Strongly.”

  Kell turned toward her. “Excuse me?”

  Garrett nodded. “She muffles her abilities, or at least the broadcasting of her abilities, much like a demon destroyer shields against a demon mind attack.”

  Lex coughed. “Demon mind attack?” She turned toward Logan.

  He lifted a large shoulder. “Demons can attack minds with horrible images and pain, but we only do so in times of battle or war. Other than that, we’re harmless as puppies.”

  Garrett snorted. “I know a feline shifter who has the same ability to tamper as Alexandra does, and the cat does it because she’s ultra-sensitive and had to protect herself as a young cub. My guess is that Alexandra had to protect herself from pain from those around her and learned to tamp down on not only her ability but the natural broa
dcasting of it.”

  Kell swallowed. “Her mother has a degenerative disease, and her father was a drug dealer who killed people.”

  “Yep. That would do it.” Garrett grinned. “Mystery solved.”

  “I am not an empath,” Lex ground out.

  Garrett leaned against the door. “You really are. Sorry.”

  Sure, she’d always been sensitive and able to pick up on when her mom was in pain, or when something was wrong with a friend, but didn’t everybody do that? Lex smoothed a hand down her legs.

  Kell stood and helped Lex to her feet. He nodded at the boys. “Get back to Simone’s. I’ll let Dage know about the fight today and how well you two handled yourselves.”

  The boys loped out the door.

  Kell called after them, “She’s mad you ate all her food, so you’d better hit the grocery store on the way there. She’s pretty, but she’ll burn you both to a crisp if you don’t replenish her Chunky Monkey.” He helped Lex toward the exit.

  Bear opened the door wider. “Your woman is a brave one, Kellach Dunne.” He reached out and touched what felt like a bruise on Lex’s jaw. “You’re always welcome here, Alexandra Monzelle, and the Grizzlies are at your disposal for this investigation. You name it, and we’re there.” His bourbon colored eyes softened. “You’re a very lucky man, Kell.”

  Kell reached out and shook Bear’s hand. “I’m in your debt. Thank you for protecting her.”

  Bear grinned. “She tried to protect me.”

  Lex forced a smile, although her world was pretty much blowing up into fantasy land. “I’m sorry I shot you, Bear. It was an accident.”

  “I know.” Bear stepped out behind them and pointed to a crumpled, still smoldering mass of metal. “Sorry about your car.”

  She halted, her lungs compressing. “Holy crap.” No way could she afford a new car right now. Not even close. She nodded. “No worries. It was on its last legs, anyway.”

  Kell hustled her toward his Harley. “You okay to ride?”

  She nodded and accepted the helmet he handed over. “I’m fine. Just a little headache.” And dizziness, and perhaps insanity. But all the proof had been in front of her eyes. She’d seen witches, bear shifters, a vampire, and a demon. In fact, demons looked like vampires who looked like humans. But they weren’t. She held her breath to keep from crying out as she placed the helmet on her aching head. She might have a bit of a concussion, actually.