“If you laugh, I’m going to throw you out the window,” Daire snapped. A ten-story fall would teach the young vampire a lesson.
Garrett’s mouth twitched, and he cleared his throat.
Logan shoved his way back inside the door. “The surveillance system was knocked out all night. No videos.”
“Smart woman,” Garrett coughed.
Logan glanced down at his buddy, who was still crouched beside Daire. “Woman?”
Garrett stood and took a step away from Daire. “Yes. A woman with a mighty syringe.”
Logan stood straighter, a frown drawing down his dark eyebrows. “Shifter or witch?”
“No.” Daire planted a hand on the wall and shoved himself to his feet. He would’ve recognized a witch, and he hadn’t gotten any hint of shifter from her. Vampires were male only, and demons gave out stronger vibes than any other species. Plus, ninety percent of the demon nation was male, and a female would never be out on her own like that. “Enhanced human.”
Logan’s mouth dropped open.
“Shut up,” Daire growled. “She was beautiful, and it has been a while.” Could he sound any more like a dumbass? “If you two tell anybody, and I mean anybody, I’ll cut off your heads myself.”
The kids shuffled their feet. Garrett was no doubt under orders to report anything and everything to his uncle Dage, the king of vampires. Logan was probably similarly under orders to report all progress to his brother, Zane Kyllwood, the leader of the demon nation.
Daire sighed. “The woman and the mine holdings don’t concern the vampire or demon nations, so I’m asking you, at least for now, keep this between us.” Considering they’d done nothing but create chaos in his perfectly ordered life while also eating him out of house and home, they could grant him a solid.
The soldiers nodded.
Good. Now he owed them, but he’d worry about that later. Right now, he had to figure out the Apollo drug and Cee Cee’s connection to it and the mines. Besides killing humans, the drug had been injected into darts and fired at witches, thus killing them. They’d learned that Seattle was just a test-drive for the drug, and soon it would be unleashed on his homeland. That simply couldn’t happen. “So no progress on Apollo tonight?”
“No.” Logan leaned back against the closed door. “It was a shitty night.”
A shitty night? Yeah, that about summed it up. But it was nothing compared to the night little Cee Cee was going to have when Daire caught up to her.
Chapter 3
Wind pierced Cee Cee’s thick clothing, digging with sharp blades right to her skin. She shivered, her gaze on the frozen landscape of Fryser Island in the Arctic Sea. The sun shone weakly down, glittering along the ice, failing to provide an ounce of warmth. The chill banished any hint of fog, leaving the arctic tundra in crisp focus.
She had taken three different private planes to arrive in the Arctic, and her eyes stung with the need to sleep. First she had a job to do, and at least the cold was keeping her awake.
“Begging your pardon, ma’am, but this is a very bad idea,” said her pilot, a local from the mainland and a barrel of a man with the thickest beard she’d ever seen. “Ms. Jones. Please come back to the plane with me, and I’ll return you to the mainland.” Concern, and an unwelcome note of duty, echoed in his tone.
She smiled. “I asked you to call me Cee Cee.” They’d spent hours together in the small plane to reach the island few people knew even existed in the Norwegian Sea. “Mr. Agard, I assure you, I have a guide meeting me any minute.”
They stood on an ice-covered wooden dock¸ facing away from the quiet sea and toward a series of abandoned buildings staring back at them. Barren and rugged, the fierce desolation of the area appealed to her on a primal level. Even the massive mountains piled so high and sharp held a beauty that stole her breath.
He cleared his throat. “We have another abandoned city called Pyramiden on Spitsbergen Island. It’s cold and desolate like this, but sometimes tourists go there, and graduate students study the environment. There are hotels not too far away, and more importantly, there are people. Please let me take you there.”
Pyramiden hadn’t been mined in years and was of little interest to her. This place? Yeah. It looked abandoned, but mines often went far into the mountains, and there were a hell of a lot of mountains behind the tiny entrance. More danger chased her than the man could imagine, but his instincts, like those of most humans, were spot-on. “I like abandoned,” she murmured.
He shook his head. “There’s nothin’ here but old buildings, cold, polar bears, rabbits, and arctic foxes.” Almost on cue, a white shaggy beast with horns loped across the landscape. “And Svalbard reindeer.”
“I’ll be fine,” she said, her eyes tearing from the chill, even from behind protective contacts. Since the mine in her sight was obviously dead, she only needed to check on two other mines, because she’d already discovered the secrets of the third, and they would end tomorrow. The wind slapped her face, and she made a mental note to slather on face cream at first chance.
“You don’t understand. The polar bears are vicious and many just had cubs. If they scent you, they’ll attack.” He cast wide eyes around the desolate area and shivered.
A grating noise pinged against the mountains, rising in pitch, coming closer. Soon a figure in a thick white coat zoomed around a far building on a powerful black snowmobile. The man wore a knit cap, light-refracting glasses, and snow pants. His gloved hands rested easily on the handlebars, and even at the impressive speed, his body remained relaxed.
“Idiot isn’t wearing a helmet,” the pilot muttered.
The idiot was a witch and didn’t need a helmet. The man slowed to a stop and cut the engine, remaining in place, gaze shielded behind the glasses.
“Good. He’s bigger than you, so the polar bears will eat him first. You could run for safety while he gets eaten,” the pilot said. “One last chance, Ms. Jones. Come with me and leave this lonely place.” He quickly crossed himself.
She turned and gave him a gentle nudge toward his seaplane. “I’m stronger than I look. Thank you for your help, and please don’t give me a second thought.”
His brown eyes warmed, even as he backed away. “I hate to tell you this, little lady, but you’d be a hard one to forget.” His frown reached his eyes as he glanced toward the rider, who still hadn’t moved. “You know anything about this guy?”
“I do. We’re old friends,” she lied. Truth be told, she’d heard about him from a friend of an acquaintance of a friend. A mercenary for hire—one with excellent connections.
“Okay.” The pilot finally gave up and ambled back toward his plane. “Good luck.”
Yeah. She needed luck. She kept in place, waiting until the pilot had steered the plane out to the calm sea and taken off. Keeping her expression relaxed, she slowly strode toward the silent rider, stopping a couple of feet away. The plane flew over her head. “Vegar Bergan?” she asked.
He nodded and tipped down the glasses to reveal cold blue eyes. “Ms. . . . Jones?”
“I am today,” she returned easily. They were business acquaintances, and he didn’t get to know her real name. “I take it you received the first half of the payment?” She’d wired the five million dollars the previous night.
“Yes.” He glanced from her hair to her fur-lined boots. “You’re not a witch.”
“No.” She steeled her shoulders and pointed to the entrance to the mountain, shielded by a frozen orange metal building. “I’d like to start with this mine.”
His gaze didn’t waver. “That one’s empty, one we can’t reach, and two are very heavily guarded and difficult to get to, even with a snowmobile. I told you that before you came all the way out to the middle of nowhere.”
She tilted her head. “Yet you took my money anyway, so I want to see the mines.”
His chin lifted. “You’re not a shifter, either.”
“No.”
“Something, though. Something light.
” He frowned. “Fairy?”
Had the low-browed witch just called her a fairy? Fire lit inside her, a testament to her heritage. Fairies stayed in their communes and didn’t venture out. Well, most of them. She’d only met a few in her life, and she was nowhere near that calm or gentle. “I’m not a fairy,” she muttered.
He leaned back, eyebrows drawing down. “You’re human? An enhanced female?” Without losing a beat, he threw back his head and laughed, long and hard. The sound slapped against the deserted buildings and pinged back. “You’re kidding me. Human.”
She gritted her teeth together and barely forced out words. “My heritage is irrelevant, and I hired you to do a job. So do it.”
He sobered and slowly drew out a snub-nosed pistol. “I thought this would be much more difficult, but I figured you for a witch. Considering you’re looking for planekite.”
She settled her boots in the snow and drew in a deep breath. The guy was a foot taller than she and about a hundred pounds heavier. At least. She’d have to be fast and brutal if they fought. “If I don’t see the mines and reach safety, then you don’t get the other five million.”
He smiled then, revealing oversized teeth and sharp canines. “You’re apparently worth twenty million.”
Heat flushed down her torso to slam into her stomach. “You know who I am.”
“No clue, lady.” His gaze raked from her freezing head down to her chilling toes. “Care to tell me?”
Somehow she didn’t think that would help her cause. The wind picked up again, lifting her hair and biting her ears. She glanced around at the barren area, not sensing anybody else near. “Who hired you?”
He shrugged. “Don’t know and don’t care. Received directions via the Internet, and payment via the Caymans.”
That was all right. She knew who’d hired him but truly hadn’t expected retaliation quite yet. “What’s your plan?”
He kicked back on the seat. “We’re going to take a nice ride around the coastline, go north, and meet transport on the other side of the island. I’ll radio from there.” He gestured her forward with a gun.
She stepped toward him, forcing her muscles to go lax. “If somebody wants me that badly, you won’t shoot me.”
He lifted both eyebrows. “I was specifically told I could shoot you in the leg if necessary.” His grin widened. “We both know that ain’t gonna be necessary, don’t we?”
She nodded. “We both do know that fact.” Leaping up, she kicked out with both feet, nailing both the gun and his chin. His head snapped back, and he flew off the snowmobile. The force knocked her onto her back, and she flipped up, hampered by the heavy coat and boots. Her sunglasses went flying.
He shot to his feet, blood dripping down his chin. “Bitch.”
“Well now, that’s just not nice.” Her breath panted out, and adrenaline burst through her veins. Bunching her knees, she leaped across the vehicle and slammed into him, one fist plowing into his trachea. He bellowed, twisted, and threw her hard.
She landed on unforgiving ice and rolled, snow gathering in her hair. Pain rippled up her elbow and to her shoulder, but she shoved the sensation away, rose to her feet, and ran full bore for him.
He braced his feet, ready to catch her, when she suddenly jumped up and clamped her knees on either side of his face. With a sharp twist, she cracked his jaw and slid around his back to tuck her arm beneath his chin and pull up.
His scream echoed against the buildings, zinged around, and seemed to come from every direction. He reached up and grabbed her hair, yanking hard.
Agony lanced along her scalp, and she loosened her hold, suddenly flying over his head and smashing into the snowmobile. Her vision fuzzed and her ears rang. She fell down, her butt on the ground. It had been too long since she’d been in a real fight. Bile rose in her throat, followed by panic.
He cupped his jaw, fire shooting from his eyes. Real fire, red and angry, danced down his neck.
Shit.
She tried to scramble up, but plasma balls formed on his hands. Damn it.
He spit out blood. “You’re no human.” The plasma morphed and danced, waiting to burn. “Let’s see what you can take.”
She swallowed and tasted blood. “I’ll triple your price.”
“No way. I want you to burn.”
A shadow fell across the sun for the briefest of moments. She squinted and looked over his shoulder, gasping. What the hell? A figure in all black, straight and true, hang glided from the east in perfect formation. Her mouth gaped. The guy had to have jumped from the high peaks of the jagged mountain. Crazy.
Vegar half turned to see the figure.
Cee Cee launched herself off the snowmobile, hitting the witch mid-center and throwing him on his back. He clamped her arm, burning through the material. Pain cut into her, and she cried out, shoving against his chest to stand. Crying, swearing, she stomped onto his hands, throwing snow.
He clasped her ankle and shoved her back toward the snowmobile. She no sooner hit than she jumped up and aimed for him, punching and kicking strategic points. The traitor defended himself, hitting back, but not getting enough time to form more fire. If he created more, he might incapacitate her. His fist connected with her jaw, and she dropped, her head spinning in sharp pain.
Then he grabbed her hair and pulled her back up.
She helped him, punching both fists into his groin. The sound he made defied description. Using her hair, he swung her around and flung her again.
She landed on her front, the air knocked out of her lungs. Her gloved hands scrambled to stop her as she turned around and around on the ice, spinning away from the threat. She had to shut him down before he created more fire.
A plasma ball landed next to her, and she yelped, rolling out of the way and crouching up on her knees.
He stood, blood flowing down his face and turning his teeth red. “You’re gonna pay.” As if remembering just then, he half turned, but it was too late. The man on the hang glider kicked two large boots into Vegar’s face, throwing back his head. The snap of bones breaking ripped through the chilled air. Vegar crashed onto the ice, arms outstretched, out cold. Probably with a broken neck.
Cee Cee pushed herself up, her legs wobbling. She squinted as the sun reflected across the ice. Spotting her sunglasses, she reached down and planted them back on her face, protecting her eyes.
The hang glider dropped and sent the glider across the frozen tundra to slide into the orange building. He was big and broad and easily controlled his body in a graceful jog to stop within a yard of her. A black headgear mask covered his face, and a knit hat covered his hair. A dark Klim Latitude jacket covered his wide torso, and Klim pants led down to thick boots. Even mirrored eyeglasses hid his eyes.
But she knew. Damn it, she knew.
He ripped off the face mask. “Cee Cee.”
Ah, crap. “Daire. How in the world did you find me?” Spirals unfolded in her abdomen, sparks of unwelcome pleasure. Her body was happy to see him. Her brain was not. “Seriously. How?”
He tucked the mask into his back pocket and shoved his glasses atop his head.
Furious. Green eyes, ringed with darker green, shot sparks at her. His body was relaxed, and yet, a tension now lifted the breeze, sparking along her skin. “You might have taken my surveillance cameras, but cameras are all over town, baby.”
Baby. When was the last time anybody had called her baby? Had anybody ever called her baby? She didn’t think so. “I see. You caught up surprisingly quickly.” Trying to be casual, she moved slightly toward the snowmobile.
He smiled, and she halted in place. The smile wasn’t kind or remotely amused. It was a warning.
She was smart enough to heed it.
“Considering the files you stole, I tracked you here.”
“I have to admit, you made it so easy to find the exact right maps with your freaky organizational skills. Do you have OCD?” she blurted.
He drew back, irritation all but wafting from h
im. “No. I just like things orderly.”
Must be nice. Her world was usually full of chaos these days. “I could’ve gone to the mines in Russia instead of here,” she murmured, and she still fully intended to do so. Where was the key to the snowmobile? She had to move to see the ignition.
Daire lifted a dark eyebrow in a dangerously rugged face. “The key isn’t in the ignition. I assume he has it.” Daire jerked his head toward the unconscious witch, whose neck should be repairing itself. “Who is he, anyway?”
She sighed. “Vegar Bergan.”
Daire coughed. “The mercenary?” He kicked the downed man, who didn’t even moan. “You trusted Bergan?”
Heat climbed into her freezing face. “I paid him well.”
“Not well enough,” Daire drawled.
“Obviously.” Her chin lifted.
“Everyone knows Vegar is available to the highest bidder. If you have an enemy, then you’re vulnerable when working with a guy like this.”
Yeah, she’d learned that the hard way, but enough chitchat. It was time for some action, even if it hurt. She’d lost any patience for waiting around. “If you and I are going to fight, I’d like to start now. It’s getting cold.”
He rubbed his chin with what looked like thick glove insoles. Witches probably didn’t need full gloves. “Well, I have to admit, I caught some of your earlier fight. You can hit, darlin’.”
She breathed out evenly. That didn’t sound like a compliment, but even more, it didn’t feel like one. She was damaged and had needed to learn to fight physically, but she didn’t need to share that fact with him. “I took karate.”
“Nice try, but you’re not human. It took me a while, and I don’t really understand what’s going on, but now at least I know what you are.” He took two steps toward her, casting an intimidating shadow across the icy beach. “Take off the sunglasses, Cee Cee.”
She swallowed. There was no reason to keep them on—one hit from him and they’d fly off. She slid them up her forehead to hold back her hair. “Why?”
He glanced down, no expression providing insight to his thoughts. “And the contacts.”