Crave the Night (40 page)

"He doesn't. One of the vampire clan lords
requested that we eliminate her for him. My understanding is that
her violence is bringing too much heat to his people, but I didn't
ask for details."

"Why doesn't he have his enforcers take her
out?"

"Vampire politics." Dak sounded disgusted.
"And politics are why our king agreed. It further cements the
alliance between the vampire clans and the demons."

Our king?
She
wasn't sure how she felt about acquiring a monarch, but she did
like the way Dak included her. That felt good. She had more
questions, but she'd save them for later. Right now, she could
simply be—at least for a while.

Nicole settled back in her seat, but she
didn't have a chance to relax. Something strummed at her senses.
She went rigid. "Dak." It would take too long to explain her
disquiet with words, so she sent the whole thing to him.
Immediately, he became more alert and he was plenty on edge before
this.

She tried to pinpoint the sensation, tried
to figure out what was causing it, but a heartbeat later, the
engine went silent.

Dak maneuvered the car to the curb. Before
he got there, his headlights picked up a figure standing in the
street.

The vampire had found them.

Nicole struggled to unhook her seatbelt. Dak
was already out of the car and she— There! She scrambled after
him.

He and the vampire stood like two old-west
gunslingers facing off. Mary Beth wore dark brown jeans, boots, and
a brown-leather bomber jacket. With her blond hair pulled back in a
ponytail, she looked so freaking normal it was criminal.

Nicole stopped beside Dak. The jacket he
wore tonight was brown leather as well, but it was softer than the
one he'd had on last night. She didn't know if it would hold up to
the talons.

The vampire pulled out a disk suspended on a
chain from beneath her shirt. There were rune characters engraved
into the silver, and in the center, a small reddish-brown cabochon
stone. Shaking her head with mock sadness, she said, "You are
pathetically stupid."

And then Mary Beth let loose with the
amulet's power.

A ripple went through Dak, Nicole could
sense it, but that was the sum total of the medallion's impact on
him. Satisfaction filled her. She'd done it, she'd protected her
mate.

"Perhaps not so stupid after all," Dak
drawled, and with a casual flick of his wrist, sent a lightning
bolt at the vampire.

For an instant, Nicole simply gawked. Did he
really expect her to be able to wield lightning? The shield around
Mary Beth lit up, but it didn't fall and that seemed every bit as
incredible as the weapon itself.

The vampire dropped the chain, letting the
amulet fall to her chest, and her claws descended. "I loathe
wizards," she said without heat.

As she started toward them, Dak released a
torrent of lightning, one blast after another. Talk about feeling
inadequate. Nicole was in over her head even after an afternoon of
training. She pulled her wooden dagger and waited.

Mary Beth regrouped and started forward
again. Nicole tried to draw power like she'd been taught, but the
amount she was able to hang on to was minuscule compared to what
Dak tossed out.

His barrage drove the vampire a few steps
away, but instead of looking like someone who'd suffered a setback,
she appeared angry. "This is tiresome."

"No shit," Nicole muttered. If the monster
would cooperate and die, they could call it a night.

Dak shot her a look.
Just because Mary Beth couldn't use the amulet against me
doesn't mean we're going to win. No.
He cut her off
before she could argue.
Vampires killed
demons in the wars—stop underestimating her.

Nicole didn't think she was selling
their enemy short, but how could anyone defeat Dak? He was
throwing
lightning
for crying
out loud.

Mary Beth, though, didn't look worried. Or
impressed. Not even a little bit.

Nicole was the one gaping in awe.

And being completely useless. If she handled
her job this way, she'd have died on her first assignment. She
tried again to call up enough power to fire it.

It slipped away.

Grimly, Nicole pulled her other dagger.
Maybe she couldn't fight like a demon, but she could fight like a
vampire hunter.

Her charge forward was stopped with a sharp
thought from Dak. Okay, so maybe she'd wait until he tired out the
vampire, then drive the wooden dagger into the bitch's heart.

Mary Beth held both arms out at her
sides.

What is she doing?
Nicole asked Dak.

I don't know.

But he was paying rapt attention, trying to
come up with an answer.

The vampire threw back her head and opened
her mouth. A tone came out. It was high pitched and it nearly
caused Nicole to drop her weapons. She tightened her grip on the
hilts at the last instant, but what she wanted to do was cover her
ears with both hands.

Dak's silent cursing jerked Nicole's
attention to him. His lightning bolts were coming out like flashes
from a strobe light at a nightclub.

What the—?
She quickly sent her mind to the place she considered the
pool of power. Instead of placidly waiting for them to draw from
it, the water moved in angry waves. She couldn't gather anything
and Dak only managed a fraction of what he'd been using.

The vampire lowered her arms and smiled.
"There. That makes things more even."

This time as she started toward them,
Dak extended his talons.
It's going to
be hand-to-hand, Nic. I need you to cooperate with me.

You got it. How long
until the power settles?

I'm not sure. A while
from the feel of it. I want you to stay behind me and—

Not a chance in hell,
demon mine. We're stronger as a team, you know it as well as I do
when your testosterone isn't overruling your brain.

Dak cut off mid-growl as the vampire
charged. Nicole could actually feel how hard it was for him to put
even a few feet between them to meet the enemy. She took a step
forward and stopped.

The flurry of motion was nothing but a blur
and she couldn't see anything.

Blinking hard, she tried to bring it into
focus, but the two broke apart before she managed. Dak's brown
leather jacket had a long scratch along the sleeve and blood ran
from his scalp.

Mary Beth's ponytail wasn't as neat as it
had been, but that was about it for damage.

Damn, they were in trouble. Nicole couldn't
see the fight to join in and Dak wasn't accustomed to wielding his
talons as weapons.

That was a glaring hole in the demon
arsenal. How easy was it to become so dependent on lightning that
other methods of fighting weren't honed?

As Dak and Mary Beth clashed again, Nicole
struggled to slow it down. Then she tried speeding up her brain.
She was used to attacking with knives. If she could only see what
the hell was happening, she'd be able to help.

She cursed as a figure was thrown and Nicole
identified Dak. He was on his feet the instant after he landed.

Nicole had to think. Why was she only
getting a blur? Why?

Demon energy. She needed demon energy!

The pool kept roiling and she had a hard
time siphoning off enough to fill her body, but a small amount was
all she needed. She could see the fight now.

Dak had more gashes and some of the strikes
had cut through the leather. Nicole growled, pissed as hell at what
Mary Beth had done to her mate.

She launched herself into the fray, planning
to attack the vampire from behind. Mary Beth sent her soaring
backward with one blow. Nicole hit the ground hard enough to daze
her.

A red haze coated her mind with fury. Dak's
emotions. Damn, her getting knocked to the ground had pushed him
out of control.

Leaping to her feet, Nicole sent him
reassurances that she was fine. He had enough problems without his
demon male instincts kicking into high gear.

Too late. He was furious, his self-command
gone. Another blurred burst. Talons slicing, striking. The vampire
sent him to the pavement and he didn't get up.

Dak wasn't dead. Nicole
knew
he wasn't because she could
feel his essence inside her yet. But he was out cold and a sitting
duck for the vampire. Nicole's own emotions threatened to swamp
her.

As the vampire made a move toward Dak,
Nicole clutched her knives harder. She'd be damned if anyone was
going to hurt
her mate
while
she had breath in her body. Nicole ran at Mary Beth.

She kicked the vampire's legs out from under
her, sending her sprawling. Nicole launched herself at the other
woman.

Still clutching the hilts of her daggers,
she punched Mary Beth.

Blood spurted from her enemy's nose.

Before she could land a second blow, the
vampire pushed her off with so much power, Nicole went flying. She
landed on her feet, but staggered to catch her balance.

A set of talons came at her face and she
ducked, kicking out as she spun out of the way.

Damn, she'd missed Mary Beth's knee, but she
did catch her in the thigh. Not good enough. Coming around, Nicole
stabbed out with the metal dagger.

The strike caught air, throwing her off
balance and causing her to stagger.

That was all the vampire needed. Nicole
cringed as she heard the talons rake over her already-battered
leather jacket. They didn't reach her skin and she jumped away.
Nicole fell over Dak, landing on her butt beside him. She didn't
have time to make sure he was okay.

The vampire was coming.

Using the momentum of the fall, Nicole
rolled to her feet. She wasn't letting Mary Beth near Dak and
Nicole raced forward. Talons came at her. She ducked, slashing out
with her blade.

It sank into the other woman's side, but
before Nicole could swing the wooden dagger into her heart, she was
flung off.

The language the vampire let loose with was
archaic, but Nicole recognized swearing when she heard it. "Once a
guttersnipe, always a guttersnipe, huh, Mabilia?"

Mary Beth made a hissing noise.

This time, the vampire's approach was more
cautious. They circled each other, both looking for an opening. A
weakness.

Fear rose up. Nicole scowled and shored up
her protective shield. Damn vampires. "Mind control doesn't work on
demons," she said.

"It almost did," Mary Beth countered.
"You're more human than demon anyway. You know nothing of your
father's people, nothing of their talents."

Two balls of fire streaked past her,
slamming into the vampire hard enough to send her through the air.
Dak reached her side and he looked okay. Not great, but better than
she'd expected.

He paused just long enough to check her out
and then he was past her, headed for Mary Beth. As he ran, he slung
more fireballs at the enemy.

Before he reached her, the vampire let loose
with that sound again, the one that had wrecked the pool of energy,
and then she launched herself skyward.

Nicole waited for Dak to take to the
air, too, but he didn't.
Get under the
power lines,
he ordered.

She ran for the side of the street and stood
near a power pole. Dak moved her direction, raking his talons
upward as he went.

The vampire darted in and out, avoiding his
strikes. She sliced Dak a few times.

"Can't you at least hover?" Nicole asked
when he reached her side. She fought the urge to dab away the blood
on his face. Now wasn't the time to tend injuries.

"My branch doesn't possess flight. She won't
be able to stay up there—it requires too much energy."

He never looked away from Mary Beth. The
power lines took away her ability to come at them from directly
overhead, and the position of the fence behind them eliminated any
strikes from the rear, but she could still attack from the
front.

And she did. Flying in, slicing away at
them, retreating over and over. To Nicole's surprise, her mate
retracted his talons. Dak reached over, took the metal blade from
her right hand, and hurled it. Forcefully.

Mary Beth came down with a thud, the knife
buried in her left shoulder. "I told you she wouldn't be in the air
for long."

As he headed for the vampire, he
asked,
I'm taking the right flank, do
you want the left?

"Hell, yes!" Nicole couldn't manage to thank
him, but she didn't need to. Dak knew how much she appreciated
being included without her needing to say more.

The vampire pulled the dagger from her body.
Blood gushed, but it wouldn't last. Her kind healed as fast as
demons did.

With a snarl, Mary Beth threw the blade at
Dak. He sidestepped it easily.

"You aren't going to shield your mate?" Mary
Beth asked. She breathed heavily. "I thought demon males protected
them with all their resources. Or maybe you don't care about yours?
Perhaps you'd be happier without her?"

Nicole sensed his hesitation.
No! I know that's not the truth. I know you
don't want anything to happen to me. I know it, Dak!

He leaped back to evade those claws and then
she felt him skim along her mind. Nicole opened for him, let him
feel the truth of her words. Dak had tamped down his instincts for
her, she wasn't going to let that vampire use it against him.

She'd never realized that someone
could feel a smile, but while Dak's face remained expressionless,
Nicole sensed his grin.
Let's take her
down,
he sent.