Deceptions: A Collection (43 page)

He wanted to play a hunting game? The son-of-a-bitch had no idea who…or
what
…he was messing with. Bow ready, I started for the kids.

First thing to do? Get rid of the possible hostages.

I bypassed four of the hunters in silence.

I think one of them sensed me, turning his head my way. I was tempted to bury the length of my blade in him—via his throat. Instead, I ghosted past him, pausing long enough to learn his face. I was aneira—watered down version or not, I was still a fucking assassin and I’d find my target.

Thirty feet from the kids, close enough that I could intervene when the men came running, I picked my place. There weren’t any others between me and them.

And fate smiled on me. One of the park rangers came driving up the rutted path. Smiling, I took aim.

My aim is true
—

It landed two feet from the girl nearest to me.

She screamed and started to run.

I shot another. The boy had just thrown a football and I watched as my arrow went through it.

All five kids were screaming and running now and I heard the park ranger bellowing for them to get to his jeep even as he whipped out his radio. They didn’t waste time.

Behind me, I heard cussing, swearing.

Spinning, I took aim. I faded into view—smiled at the man who’d heard me. “Gotcha,” I whispered as he fumbled with his bow. I loosed the arrow, faded before he’d even hit the ground.

Night was coming.

The park was now crawling with cops, too.

It didn’t matter.

I felt the ominous thud of something slam against my brain and I still hadn’t managed to get to my fucking car.

It was close, but every time I almost made it, one of the hunters got in the way. I needed to avoid killing any more of them—really. Despite what they thought, I
wasn’t
human and unless they attacked, if I killed them without proof, I was fucked.

And Jude wasn’t going to leave a trail, I knew that.

Earlier, at least, I had them attacking me. It would go before a Banner court and one of the Banner-retained witches would question me, so I would be okay, I thought.

But if I killed one just because he got in my way, I was fucked.

So I had to dance around. Dodge.

And then I just ran out of time.

The sun wasn’t kissing the horizon, but it didn’t matter. I felt the chill dance through the air and I knew what it meant.

He was there. Jude was in the fucking park, looking for me.

How in the fuck had it come to this?

Six years ago, he’d saved my ass and now he was hunting it. I’d killed some of the men he’d set on my tail and I didn’t even know
why
.

Somebody screamed.

I didn’t know where it came from it—the sound bounced and danced through the air, echoing from all around me and ending far too soon. My gut went tight as I wondered just what had happened.

Jude wasn’t a fool. He wouldn’t leave a body where it could be found.

But then again, there was no shortage of hiding places here. None. At all.

All he had to do was find a fucking gator. Or a snake.

My gut clenched as I continued to run. It was futile at that point, but it wouldn’t stop me. I’d keep going until—

He stepped out from behind a tree.

Elegance and beauty, a face just barely saved from being too pretty. The snapping intelligence of his eyes helped, the carved line of his jaw. Jude was a handsome bastard, I’d give him that. His hair was a darker blond than mine, pulled back from the strong, clean lines of his face and his eyes were pale green.

Other than those few minutes at my office, I hadn’t seen him in the flesh for months and I really hadn’t wanted to see him again until I had a rocket launcher. Or at least something other than just my sword. The silver in her would hurt him, but he was too fast for me and if I got close enough to cut him, he’d also be close enough to hurt me.

Can you call another weapon
…?

My hand itched. The sword was in my hand, though.

In the back of my mind, I heard a song. Her tribal rhythm. Whispering in my mind, the beat of her drums, thudding in time with my heart. “Hello, Jude.”

“Darling Kit,” he murmured, the raw silk of his voice wrapping around me.

“Stop.”

Cocking his head, he smiled. “Stop what?”

“Don’t
darling Kit
me, don’t look at me like we’re some sort of friendly types. Just stay the fuck away.” The itching got worse.

Call me…I’m here, I’m here
—

The bow.

Shit
.

I couldn’t call her.

But the image of her lurked in my mind as I stared at him.

Could I?

I’d been struggling with the guard the first time my mother’s sword had come to me. I hadn’t even known I
could
call her, hadn’t even known she existed—

Flexing my hand, I rotated the blade, watched as his eyes dropped to it. A smile curved his lips. “Why the sword, pretty little Kit? I’m just here to offer aid, as promised.”

“Yeah. You should have tried that line before you set a bunch of bloodthirsty humans on my ass.”

“I don’t know what you mean.” But there was a smile in his eyes.

“I’ve been dodging arrows all afternoon and a woman I liked is dead because of you, Jude. Stop the bullshit.”

He sighed and shook his head. “Kit, all you had to do was come to me and all of this could have been avoided.”

“You can’t expect me to believe you set all of this up just to get to me?”

He laughed. “Of course not. This…” He shrugged and glanced around. “It’s a game. A pastime. Those fools weren’t supposed to take the Alpha’s boy, but they did. I would have handled it myself, made sure he was returned, had I known. Then you barreled in and…” He shrugged once more. “Why didn’t you just leave, Kit? You had what you needed. Nothing more to worry about.”

“The Assembly will take you out for this.”

“No.” He smiled. “The games will end and nothing can be traced back to me.” His fangs flashed as he murmured, “And for that matter, for all you know, I’m fucking with your head—you bitch so often about how I like to do it. Maybe this is just another headfuck, Kit. You don’t know, do you?”

“Yes, I do.”

He took a step, liquid and gliding. Raising my sword, I said, “Stop.”

His laugh was warm and sweet, wrapping around me and if I hadn’t already experienced his poison, I might have been tempted.

“You know that thing won’t stop me,” he murmured. His eyes started to glow. “Although it’s possible you could just tease the hunger if you cut me. Then again, it might anger me. It’s a risk either way.”

I stared at him.

Cracking my left wrist, I listened to the song in my head. Louder, louder—

Call me
—

I banished the sword and hoped.

Only a heartbeat later, the bow was in my right hand, an arrow in my left. I took aim and watched it fly.

Jude was still laughing.

He saw it coming, though, and moved—I’d been counting on that and shot off center. “Stupid, Kit,” he whispered, flinging the arrow down. “And bad aim—”

The next one was in his chest.

“I don’t miss, Jude.”

I said it on the fly, speeding down the path and praying hard.

The arrows weren’t silver tipped.

But they
were
wooden. It had gone through his heart. He was old enough that it wouldn’t kill him, but I had a few minutes. He’d have to be careful pulling it out or he’d damage himself and that would take him longer to heal. It had bought me a few minutes, far more than a fiberglass weapon could

It wasn’t much. But a few minutes was still a few minutes and the car was close.

The second I saw the car, I sent the bow to her place in the trunk and pulled my keys out. There was no time to fight with my pack so I just shrugged it off as I ran and let it fall.

I dove behind the wheel just as I heard a furious wail and felt the blanket of cold as it struck the air.

He’d gotten it out.

I punched the car into reverse and sped out.

There were cop cars everywhere, but I was just going to have to hope and pray I could get away from them and get to the witches’ house. My cell phone sat in the cup holder and I fumbled for it.

I saw something in the rearview mirror. A pale form. Cutting through the sky.

Older vampires were a bitch. They could fly.

Scrambling for the phone, I saw I’d had calls. A lot of them. I hit the recent ones I’d made, calling Es. An unfamiliar witch answered, but at the sound of my voice, she immediately came on the phone.

“Kit, thank goodness. We have problems—”

“Listen to me. It’s Jude and there are cops
everywhere
. If you have any contacts, please tell them not to pull me over—we’ll both be dead if they try.”

She barked out an order. “I’ll send word, but I can’t promise. Kit, Damon is on his way.”

“He won’t make it in time.” I glanced at the mirror, saw the form swooping closer. I’d survived pain before. I could do it again. “I can get through this as long as Jude doesn’t kill me. Maybe I shouldn’t have shot—”

My car went airborne.

I swore and opened the door. It went flying in one direction even as I lunged out, but I never hit the ground.

Steel arms came around me.

“That was very, very foolish, Kit. I never wanted to hurt you until now,” Jude rasped as we hurtled toward the ground.

“Funny, you trying to drown me in my dreams wasn’t a good sign of that.” I spat in his face.

He squeezed so hard I felt my ribs crack. He sat me down and I stumbled away from him, popping my wrist. Nope, I decided as my hand heated. I didn’t regret shooting him. I was going to do it again, the second I had a chance. Enough wood in his heart might destroy him.

He swung out a hand and I ducked. Not in time, though. I was fast, but the broken ribs slowed me and vampires were faster than I was on my best day. This definitely wasn’t it.

As I went rolling through the dirt, I called my blade. When he came at me, I shoved it into his gut. He howled and I bit back a shriek as the bones in my arm snapped.
Not again
—

He flung the sword away and hauled me upright. “I’ll melt that thing down and make you a collar from it, you stupid bitch.”

“Try it.”

He let go and I swayed on my feet, gasping around the pain in my ribs, the pain in my arm.
Survive, damn it
. That’s what I had to do. But my stupid mouth was going to be a problem.

“You need to be silent,” Jude said quietly. “I never intended to harm you but when you attack, it enrages me.”

“Gee, I never noticed. You have control issues—too bad you’re a vamp. Docs have drugs for humans, but you’re just out of luck.”

He caught my face in one hand, cruel fingers digging into my flesh. “Little Kit…don’t you understand? You’re caught. Well and truly. It’s time for you to shut up and accept it.”

I closed my hand around his wrist and tried to shove him away.

The pale green of his eyes started to glow. Bleeding away until just a red fire gleamed.
Red hellfire
, I thought…

He grasped my wrist, jerking it up and staring.

Damon’s bite
—

“What the fuck is this—?”

I smiled at him. “It’s pretty much exactly what it looks like, Jude.”

Any answer he might have made was lost as a growl split the air. Jude shoved me backward as a giant beast, caught between man and cat, came leaping out of the night. I tried not to scream, but I couldn’t stop it. Black and red dots danced in front of me and then I was gone.

“…hold her steady—have to make this fast—”

I came to with a cry as something snapped in my arm.

“There, there…”

Es. Her voice. I knew that sound.

Other sounds, I struggled to place.

Voices. Snarling. Growling. Cursing.

Through a wash of pain, I stared up at her.

“What…?”

She touched my brow. “Just wait, get your breath. They’ll likely be done soon. They’re too evenly matched, considering they’re both wounded.”

“Who…?”

“I should have gutted you the first time I saw you. I’ll skin you, cat, when I’m done. Your pelt will grace the floors of my home.” That voice…Jude.

“You’re losing blood, leech. How much more can you lose?” Damon.