Dillon felt stupid for throwing his body at the warrior. The only thing Rainerio did was fuck him to prove he could, and then left him drowning in his own cesspool of self-pity. “I think I’m going to go back to the human realm. I’ll just move so no one can find me. I’ll be out of danger, and everyone will be happy, everyone except me.”
“I don’t like that idea. What’s there waiting for you?” Peter asked as he patted Dillon’s hand.
“Nothing,” Dillon begrudgingly admitted. He had no family or friends. Snooke had been his only friend. Without Rainerio, Dillon would be alone anyway, no matter where he went. It was better to leave this realm and all of its memories behind.
Memories his mind was trying to forget. It would do him no good to dwell on that one magnificent night they had together, a night where no one else mattered but him and Rainerio. The warrior had treated him like a precious gift, and now he was being tossed away like a used toy. Dillon stood, marching right over to Jake. “I’m heading home, Jake.”
His boss nodded his head in understanding. Dillon had told him what happened and why he was so
blah
lately. “Come back when you feel better.”
“I don’t think you understood me. I’m going home to the human realm. I can’t be here anymore.” Dillon knew he could use the Black River to go home. Chris had explained to him how to use it. All he had to do was think of where he wanted to be as he entered it, and he would end up there.
“I really think you should weigh your options. There are a lot of people who have grown very fond of you.”
Dillon waved Jake off, unable to cope with anything right now.
“Fondness got me screwed and left with a wet ass. I’m through with fondness.” Dillon walked out of the coffee shop. All he had to do now was go get Tulip, and then he could be on his way.
Dillon circled around the apartment building twice as he tried to figure a way in. He knew there was no door visible from the outside, but he was reluctant to call any of the warriors for help. They would only try and talk him out of his plans to vamoose.
Dillon swung around when he heard a noise behind him. The man standing on the side of the warriors’ apartment building looked familiar. Wait, wasn’t he the guy that grabbed him in the grocery store and called him human? What was he doing here?
“You’re human.” The man repeated what he had said last week.
“No, I’m a fucking green leprechaun looking for me pot o’ gold. Have you seen the idiot who stole it?” This was too easy. He was pissed as hell already at the way Rainerio had used him and then went on to his next conquest, so why not take it out on this repetitive fool?
“You’re human,” the man said again as he pulled Dillon by his arm, hauling him to the back of the building.
“
Oh hell.
You really are a fucking idiot. I know the demon warriors, and they’re gonna kick your ass when they find out you took me.”
The man’s eyes narrowed on Dillon as a slow and lecherous smile pulled his lips back. “I’m counting on that, human.”
* * * *
Rainerio chased the chameleon-shifter down. They had finally gotten wind of who was posing as other people of Serenity City.
Rainerio and Takeo had been after him for a full week. He almost got away twice, but they’d managed to get back on his trail.
Rainerio put on a burst of speed as he leapt through the air and tackled the son of a bitch. He was tired, hungry, and missed Dillon like crazy. It had shocked him when he bonded with the quirky human. He quickly got over his shock and tried to fuck his mate into next year.
Rainerio had decided in that moment to stop fighting the inevitable. Dillon was his, and Rainerio was proud of the fact. The only thing that sucked about that night was the fact that he had to leave Dillon’s bed when he felt the tugging. Someone was losing his soul, and it was up to the warriors to stop it.
What clued them in on the person running around pretending to be someone he wasn’t was when he came face to face with himself. The bastard looked just like Rainerio. Once he got over the initial shock, the chase was on.
He’d left a note on Dillon’s dresser explaining that work called him away and that he would return to his arms as soon as he could.
The thought of being with his mate again had him yanking his neutralizing cuffs out and slapping them on the chameleon-shifter’s wrists. “There is someone eagerly awaiting your arrival.”
The shifter struggled against Rainerio and Takeo’s hold. “Please don’t take me to Panahasi.”
“You should have thought about that before you screwed with people’s identities,” Rainerio snapped as he and Takeo stood on either side of the shifter, walking him back through the shadows and emerging into the demon realm. They walked right into the leader’s living room, depositing the shifter at Panahasi’s feet.
“Shift,” Panahasi commanded.
Rainerio watched his mirror image slowly turn to his true form.
Everyone gasped at the man lying at the leader’s feet.
* * * *
Peter bit his nails as he walked briskly to the warriors’ apartment building. He had followed Dillon as soon as he left the coffeehouse.
Unfortunately, he had lost him as well. There was only one place he could go before he left, to get Tulip.
He knew right away that the human was an excellent pet parent and wouldn’t leave the one-headed dog behind. Peter only hoped he got there in time before Dillon disappeared forever. There had to be a way to talk him into staying.
Dillon wasn’t thinking clearly, and Peter refused to believe that Rainerio had used him. The warrior’s eyes held too much fascination and love when he looked at the human to just bang him once and then walk away. There was something wrong, and Peter was determined to figure it out before he lost his friend.
Now all he had to do was find a way into the building. Peter paced back and forth, finally walking around the side to have a look-see. It wasn’t like he had ever had any contact with the warriors, except Rainerio at the park and then at the restaurant. He thought he was going to pass out when the demon warrior had stormed over to their table. Thankfully he stormed away just as quickly. He might be a vampire, but he wasn’t stupid enough to think he could beat a warrior.
Peter stiffened when he saw someone carrying an unconscious Dillon over his shoulder. He hid beside a Dumpster as he watched the guy walk around the corner. Slipping from the side of the blue container, he hurried down the side of the building and peeked around the corner.
He wasn’t good at tailing anyone. Losing Dillon in the first place proved that. Peter sucked at being a vampire and was tired of being ridiculed by his own kind, so he stayed to himself. Until Mitzy and Mickey wanted to play with Tulip.
That had changed everything.
He hunched down behind some bushes as he watched Dillon being taken into the back of Malcor’s. If he hurried, he could warn Rainerio and hopefully save the crazy human. Peter stood, spinning around and running back in the direction he had come.
Time was of the essence, and he needed to find a way into that building.
* * * *
Dillon woke up with a throbbing headache. He wasn’t sure what had happened or where he was, but it wasn’t his human apartment or Kane’s. Dillon looked around, finding himself in a dark and drab room.
He curled his legs to his chest, wondering why he was here.
The
man from the grocery store.
The memory came flooding back to the front of his mind. Why did the man keep saying he was human? What was so special about that?
Dillon looked around at the clutter. It had to be a storage room.
There were crates and boxes stacked all around him. There were even some cleaning supplies stored off to one corner. His head snapped up when he heard voices coming from the other side of the door.
Scooting off of the blanket he was sitting on, Dillon crossed the room and pressed his ear to the door, trying to hear what was being said.
The voices were muffled like he was underwater. Dillon pressed his ear closer, holding his breath, hoping that would help.
He became frustrated when it didn’t help and he still couldn’t hear what was being said.
The sad part about this whole screwed up situation was that everyone probably thought he had returned to the human realm. He had been in a snit about it at the coffee shop.
No one was going to look for him.
Dillon sat back on the ratty blanket that had been spread out beneath him. He hugged his legs to his chest as he looked around. It was a windowless room that held no hope of him escaping. There was a naked lightbulb hanging from the ceiling to illuminate the room and a door. How was he going to get out of this mess? He would figure that out as soon as he figured out what mess he was in.
Dillon jumped when he heard the door handle rattle. He’d be scared if he was kidnapped in the human realm, but in the demon realm…he was terrified. His throat started to close up with abject fear as his heart started beating out of control. He prayed someone would take care of his Tulip once his body was found.
He caught the yelp before it escaped his throat as the door swung open. He cupped his hand above his eyes, trying to let them adjust to such blinding light. Although there was a naked bulb overhead, it was dimly lit. Dillon blinked a few times before his vision adjusted, and he saw the man from the grocery store standing there with a sadistic smile on his face. “You’re human.”
Dillon felt his temper shoot through roof. It was bad enough he was stuck in this realm with a man who had used him and tossed him aside, but now he was fucking kidnapped by the repeating parrot?
Hell no, wasn’t happening. He knew he couldn’t beat the large man, but he sure as hell was going to give him a piece of his mind. “I get it, I’m human. Can we move on to the next topic, or are you going to stay stuck on stupid?” He rose from the floor, glaring at the man as he put his hands on his hips. It wasn’t much of a tongue lashing, but Dillon was beyond pissed right now.
“Next topic?” The man looked a little too pleased with the situation. Dillon felt a chill run down his spine as the man stepped into the room. “The next topic is draining you for your human blood.”
* * * *
“Sexton.” Panahasi growled the reporter’s name. “At least now we know how you’ve been getting your stories out so quickly.”
“I thought you were a vampire,” Hondo said with disdain. “How the hell can you be a chameleon-shifter?”
Sexton knelt at the leader’s feet, looking like a deer caught in headlights but not saying a word. Rainerio felt half sorry for him. The shifter looked as though he was going to shake his skin from his bones he was trembling so badly.
Sexton’s emerald-green eyes looked at every demon in the room.
They were filled with fear as he turned back around to face Panahasi.
“I didn’t do anything wrong, Panahasi. I swear.” His voice was as shaky as his limbs. When the neutralizing cuffs began to rattle from Sexton’s frightened state, Panahasi nodded for Rainerio to take them off.
His leader didn’t have to say the words. Working around him for thousands of years, he knew what Panahasi wanted without a word uttered. Rainerio shoved the cuffs into the holder on the side of his jeans, anxious to go see his mate. He knew he had to wait until business was conducted here, but the wait was killing him.
“Then tell me why you pretended to be Deandre and tried to steal that man from the side of Diablo’s.” Hondo took a step closer to the shifter. “I remember you faking the funk about being one of us warriors and taking that soulless body away.”
Sexton scooted up an inch on his knees as he moved closer to the leader. “I wasn’t trying to do anything bad. I wanted to get him help. I just lost my way.”
“Liar!” Hondo shouted. “You also pretended to be the owner of the Pancake house and Rainerio, twice.” Hondo pointed his finger at Rainerio. “Why?”
“Marino,” Sexton said so softly that they barely heard the name.
“What does he have to do with this, Sexton?” Panahasi squatted down, getting eye level with the shifter. “Talk to me.”
Sexton shook his blond head. Tears were streaming down his face as he wiped them away with the hem of his shirt. “He’ll kill me if I tell you.”
“News flash. He kills anyone he hires instead of paying them,” Hondo bit out. “So don’t keep quiet thinking you’re gonna hit the mother lode.”
“No.” Sexton shook his head vehemently. “I didn’t do it for money.”
“Then why?” Panahasi asked in a tender tone. Rainerio backed away slowly. He knew that tone. It went one of two ways. Either the leader was genuinely helping the shifter out, or he was getting all the information he could before killing him on the spot.
Normally they took bad guys down to the underworld to the keeper. The keeper was judge and jury, deciding who was guilty or innocent. If found guilty, the accused spent the rest of his lives reliving his crimes, over and over again.
But on the rare occasion, Panahasi was the judge and jury, executing the guilty where he stood. Rainerio glanced at the other warriors, noticing them slowly backing away as well.
“He said he would kill my brother if I didn’t do as he said.”
Sexton wiped his face once again as he knelt before Panahasi. “I’m not lying to you, I swear.”
The leader reached his hand out, helping Sexton to his feet.
Rainerio held his breath, waiting to see what Panahasi was going to do.
“I want you to go with Phoenyx. He’ll keep you hidden while we work this out.”
Sexton nodded as Rainerio let his breath out. The reporter stopped in front of him, bowing his head. “I’m really sorry for impersonating you.”
He didn’t know what to say. The apology was sincere. Rainerio could tell by the tone of Sexton’s voice. “Just don’t let it happen again,” he chastised lightly. Okay, so he was turning into a softy.
Rainerio’s head snapped to the side when he heard his name being called. It was like a distant echo. He pinpointed the caller, using the shadowed hallway to walk through. To his surprise, Peter was pacing back and forth in front of the building. He’d stop every few seconds to shout his name at the top of his lungs.