Full Moon Rising (43 page)

He raised an eyebrow. "I don't suppose you'd be kind enough to tell me where your vampire lover is?"

"What makes you think I'd know or care?"

"The fact you helped him escape."

"If I helped him escape, he'd be with me, wouldn't he?"

His smile made my skin crawl. "He will never find his friend, you know. This place is a maze, and the corridors bright. No shadows for a vampire to hide in, I'm afraid."

Quinn didn't need shadows and he didn't need to hide. All he had to do was touch the minds of all those he passed and make them see nothing. Far better than shadows.

"So all this racket is because a wolf and a vampire escaped your net? A bit over the top, don't you think?"

He shrugged. "The alarm is automatic when a door is breached."

My heart began to race a little faster. Neither Quinn nor I had breached a door. Did that mean Rhoan and Jack were on the way?

Though surely Talon wouldn't just presume it was us. Surely he would check with security first.

His next words answered my question. "Mark, grab her, will you? Security is paging me."

Footsteps echoed behind me. I swung and dropped, sweeping the laser's light across the legs of three men who approached, cutting through flesh and bone as sweetly as a knife through butter. The smell of burned flesh stung the air, and the three of them hit the floor, screaming and grabbing at legs that were no longer a part of their bodies.

Nausea rose. I swallowed heavily, allowing myself no time to dwell on what I'd done.

Though what I'd done was, in many ways, worse than killing them.

Talon's curse was lost to the sound of more footsteps. I swung back round, cutting down three more clones before the laser petered out. I grabbed the second knife out of my pocket, then lunged forward, the paper-thin weapons glinting like diamonds under the harsh lighting. Two more clones went down, the blades lodged deep in their chests.

Then the last one was on me. I ducked the first few blows, then dropped and swept with my leg, knocking him over. He grabbed at me as he went down, but I broke his hold and punched as hard as I could. My fist mashed flesh, and the ripe warmth of blood spilled into the air. I swung around, grabbed his leg, and twisted it. Bone cracked, and the clone screamed.

My chest heaved as I battled to catch my breath, and sweat trickled down my back. I stepped back from the clone, ignored the bile that rose in my throat, and met Talon's gaze.

My actions might have angered him, but they'd also aroused him.

"Now it's just you and me," I said softly.

"Not really. I have a hundred such creations at my beck and call."

"Then I guess you're not such a perfect specimen of wolfhood after all, are you?"

He raised an eyebrow, a confident smile touching his lips. "You want a fight, little wolf?"

I flexed my fingers. "You think I'm afraid to?"

"I think you're very afraid."

And he'd be right. But it wasn't so much his physical strength but rather his aura. Even from where I stood I could feel it. It was a blanket that was almost smothering, a heat that crawled across my skin like some insidious, insistent demon. Close up, it might be too strong to ignore for any length of time.

He uncrossed his arms, then pressed the band on his wrist. "Security, I have a problem here that needs to be attended to. Use whatever force you deem necessary to deal with the breach."

Security obviously weren't happy about this, because I heard their squawk from where I stood. Talon cut them off with a curt "Do it," then looked back at me.

"And that," he said, shaking his arms and flexing his fingers, "should be the end of your lover."

"Don't underestimate him." I balanced lightly on my toes, ready to jump out of the way the minute he sprang.

"Oh, I'm not, but even the greatest fighter in the world can be blown to smithereens by the force of a laser--as you've so aptly shown."

"Damn shame the thing ran out of power when it did. I would have enjoyed blasting that smug smile off your face." Taunting him probably wasn't the brightest move, but I just couldn't help it.

His gaze slid down me, a warmth that made me cold inside. "Darkness has fallen outside, little wolf. The moon is only minutes from rising. I shall enjoy beating you into submission, and then I shall enjoy fucking you in wolf form."

Bile rose in my throat. Forcing yourself on someone while both were in wolf form was not only the act of a bastard, it was the ultimate form of degradation and humiliation for a werewolf. It had nothing to do with the power of the moon or the needs of a wolf, because the moon heat ended when the change swept over us. It was an act of rape, of domination, of power. It said you cared nothing for the person you were with, that in your eyes, he or she was no better than the animal whose shape you both wore.

I knew of no wolves who made love on this night. Most took to the hills, enjoying the freedom of the forests, rejoicing in the rise of the moon.

"You can try," was all I said.

But I knew, like he knew, that I would have to beat him before the change came on. Because in wolf form, he would be stronger. That was the way of nature and something even my vampire genes couldn't get around.

His smile stretched his lips even farther, then he came at me. I waited until he was close, then pivoted, smacking him in the face with a fist before ducking out of his way. His fingers glided down the coat, catching the end and jerking me to an abrupt halt. I cursed him and jerked out of it, spinning away.

He chuckled. "I can smell your arousal, little wolf. And I can see it."

This close his aura
was
smothering. Yet I was resisting and for the moment, that was all that mattered.

And maybe, just maybe, I could use his desire against him.

I slid my hands up my body and cupped my breasts, brushing my thumbs across my nipples. "But do you see anything you like?"

Lust shone brighter in his eyes. He threw the coat to one side, then charged. I sidestepped. The tingling in my body was fiercer. I had to get this over with soon.

He slid to a stop, cursing as he swung around. "You can't have what you can't catch," I taunted.

He charged again. Not thinking, just reacting. His aura snatched my breath and made me dizzy, but somehow, lust remained fenced. Though barely.

I caught his wrist and swung him around, thrusting him back against the wall. Wrapping a hand around his neck, I pinned him in place, then slid my free hand down his body and caressed his thick erection. He thrust into my touch, his body quivering, skin sheened with sweat.

"You want something from me, you ask. Taking is never appreciated."

"You've appreciated it in the past." His words were a pant of air, his quivering growing.

"That was then, this is now."

I kept caressing him, watching the desire grow in his eyes, fighting that part of me that wanted to take him inside and ride him to the end. As he drew closer and closer to the edge, I slid my hand away from his neck and retrieved the last knife from my boot. His orgasm hit, his body jerking and thrusting as his seed spilled out across my hand. I raised the silver-threaded knife and punched it hard into his shoulder.

His eyes flew open, shock registering. Then the blood hit the knife and smoke began to rise from the wound. He screamed and punched me. The force of the blow flung me across the corridor. I hit the wall with a grunt and slid down to the floor, seeing stars and tasting blood for the second time that day.

Then there was no time to do anything more than try to protect myself, because Talon was on me, a whirlwind of fists and anger from which there was no escape.

But it barely lasted more than a few minutes, because the tingling in my body became a power that would not be denied. It swept around me, through me, blurring my vision, blurring my pain. Screaming filling my ears, screaming unlike anything I'd ever heard before. Then, suddenly, there was a blur of red fur, and Talon's weight was gone.

"Rhoan, no!"

Jack's voice, sharp with command.

I scrambled upright, my claws scrabbling against the steel floor. Rhoan, in wolf form, stood above Talon, his deep-throated growl making his whole body quiver, his bared teeth a hairsbreadth away from Talon's neck.

Talon was beyond caring. His eyes were wide and glassy, and he still screamed. His body was aflame with the flicker of golden energy, which usually signaled the change from one shape to the other, but the sliver of silver I'd forced into his shoulder had him trapped in human form.

I'd always wondered just how bad that would be.

Now I knew.

Jack strode forward and grabbed Rhoan by the scruff of the neck, hauling him off. "He's no use to us dead," he snapped, then glanced at me. "You all right?"

I nodded. There was little else I could do. Rhoan walked over and nuzzled me. I licked his nose and wished I was in human form so he could just hug me.

"Then I suggest," Jack continued tartly, "you two go find our missing vampire."

We went.

But Quinn had disappeared.

And so, too, had the body of his friend.

Chapter 16

I
plopped down on the dewy grass and drew together the edges of my borrowed coat. The sun had risen just over an hour ago, but the flags of dawn still colored the sky with clouds of orange and gold.

At the foot of the hill on which I sat there was a hive of activity. Trucks lined the rough dirt track that led to the entrance of the underground lab, and people were bustling back and forth, some carrying equipment, others leading prisoners.

To my right, thick black smoke trailed skyward, and the smell of burning flesh rent the air. The clones had been killed and the cleanup had begun.

I rubbed my forehead wearily. I just wanted to go home, take a long bath, and forget this whole episode. Everything except Quinn, that was.

But Jack had ordered me to remain until he had a chance to talk to me, so I remained, watching and waiting and wondering how I was going to sidestep the rest of the mess.

Because it wasn't over yet.

I closed my eyes and lay back, enjoying the caress of the breeze and partially drifting off to sleep. After a while, footsteps approached, and I cracked open an eye.

Jack, not Rhoan.

He sat down on the grass a few feet away, staring up at the sun, his face drawn and tired-looking.

"So why were you late?" I said, when he didn't immediately say anything.

He snorted softly. "Would you believe traffic?"

"No."

"Ah. Well. I guess I'll have to admit we lost the signal."

"Bugger."

"Could have been." He glanced at me. "It was Rhoan who found you. He just started walking, and before we knew it, there you were."

Thank God for the connection of twins. "I'll have to tell him to walk a little faster next time."

A smile touched his lips, but his eyes were all seriousness. "You know what I'm here to say, don't you?"

I took a deep breath and released it slowly. "The job is only half-done."

We'd found the source of the clones, but while Talon had been flirting with crossbreeding, his labs were not the main source of the crossbreeds. And definitely not the source of that weird-looking blue thing that had attacked me in the parking garage.

Jack nodded. "Everything I've found in that lab suggests Talon was not working alone."

"He said he'd worked with Misha in the past." Talon had been so sure of his success that he'd blabbed far more than he should have. "He also said that he wasn't responsible for those two men kidnapping me and that the person behind it all was someone I apparently know quite well."

"Yes. He's been quite talkative in the past hour or so, as well."

Not willingly, I'd bet. "So what has he said?"

He hesitated. "His idea to get you pregnant was all his own."

"No surprise there."

Jack nodded. "No, but apparently, it's been happening for well over a year. ARC1-23 was not the first fertility drug he'd tried, though all the others were legal."