The dream began the same way that it always did. She stood in the cemetery with Cori in her arms and when the mourners disappeared and darkness fell, she hurried towards the entrance. The gate closed just before she could reach it, as it always did, and then she heard the footsteps behind her.
This time, though, she heard something else as well. It was a deep rumbling that sounded like thunder from a faraway storm. Risa reached inside her pocket for her father’s badge, but instead she pulled out her mp3 player. Useless. She threw it on the ground angrily.
Cori babbled something and Risa clapped her hand over her little sister’s mouth. She turned around slowly and saw the wolf crouching low to the ground only a few feet away from her. From its body language, she knew that it was about to pounce.
Risa ran along the stone wall surrounding the cemetery, but with Cori in her arms, she couldn’t move fast enough. The wolf was behind them, letting her run because it found it amusing to hunt for its prey.
She would have to fight it, she realized. It was the only way to save herself and her sister.
Setting Cori down behind a thick hedge, Risa met the wolf face to face in the open. It snarled and circled her while she got into her fighting stance.
“Come on, you son of a bitch,” she whispered to it. “Let’s see what you’ve got.”
She thought she heard something like laughter from the animal. Then it leapt at her and Risa braced herself for the attack. But it never came. The wolf had jumped over her completely and bounded over to the hedge where Cori was hiding.
“No!” Risa screamed as she ran toward the animal. “I’m right here! No!”
But the wolf didn’t spare her any attention as it sniffed around for the child, who had begun to cry. Just before it reached Cori, Risa threw herself over her sister. The wolf sank its teeth into her arm as it tried to pull her away and she screamed. It bit her again, but she wouldn’t move.
Finally it seemed like the animal had had enough of toying with Risa. It thrust a heavy paw at her face and another at her stomach, as if trying to hold her still. She struggled, but the wolf ripped through her clothes and tore apart the flesh of her chest with its sharp fangs.
She couldn’t scream this time. The wolf had punctured her lungs and she couldn’t breathe. It tore at her with its claws and teeth and Risa couldn’t understand why she wasn’t dead yet. It hurt so much, why wouldn’t she just die.
Please, let me die. Just let me die.
But then the wolf pushed her paralyzed body over and started to go after Cori again. She heard her sister crying and she tried to reach out. The dead weight of her arm fell over Cori’s shoulder, but she could feel the animal slashing through the little girl anyway.
She heard her sister screaming in agony, dying right next to her. But Risa couldn’t make her body move. There was nothing that she could do and she wouldn’t die. She just lay there, trapped in her own body, listening to Cori scream…
Risa bolted upright and immediately hit her head on something hard. She heard a voice cry out, but it didn’t register at first. It was a moment before she realized that she was still on her kitchen floor, trembling in a cold sweat from the dream about the wolf. It had killed her, killed Cori.
Just a dream.
No. Not for the girls that the wolf had left rotting in that house.
“Are you okay?” a voice asked her.
Still a little dazed, Risa didn’t look up, but her breath had stopped. There was someone in her apartment, in her kitchen, asking her if she was okay. She had to be dreaming still. This couldn’t be real; it was simply impossible. She didn’t know anybody, certainly not anyone who would care about her wellbeing. And the most disturbing detail of all was that the voice—the deep, warm voice—sounded like her soulmate.
As she remained looking down at her own lap, a hand came into her field of vision. It touched her under her chin, lifting her head up, and she knew in that moment that this wasn’t a dream. As much as she’d dreamed of him, her subconscious had never been able to simulate the intensity of the electric shocks that seared down her spine and overwhelmed her senses.
She looked at him, kneeling on the floor next to her, and she was thrown backwards in time, to the moment she first saw him with her vampire eyes. She couldn’t take him in all at once. It was just too much.
Her gaze started at his black hair. He’d recently shaved his head and his hair was just starting to grow back. Then Risa looked into his deep, brown eyes. But lingering there was too dangerous. Her eyes fell to his sensual mouth that was usually twisted into an arrogant smirk. Broad shoulders, muscular chest, rigid abs covered by a navy blue shirt. Hips, powerful legs, jeans.
But then all of the pieces snapped together and she was seeing him completely, sitting next to her. Strong and charismatic, as always. Breathing too fast. Desire darkening his eyes.
“Risa, are you okay?” Carden asked again softly.
And the burning rage that had been silently smoldering inside of her for the past eight years erupted. She clenched her fist and drove it into his jaw. It took him by surprise and jerked his head to the side. Pressing her advantage, Risa threw herself at him, knocking him down to the floor.
Carden had sparred with her many times in the past, but she’d still been human then. Risa realized that he hadn’t expected her to be so strong, but he adapted quickly. She straddled him, drawing back to punch him again, and he jerked his body up. It threw her off balance and before she knew what was happening, he had rolled both of them over and was lying on top of her. He grabbed her wrists in one hand and pinned them over her head.
“Am I okay?” she screamed as she struggled in his grip. “Am I okay? How the hell can you ask me that? Get off me, you bastard! What the fuck are you doing here? Let go!”
“Not until you calm down,” he shouted back. His weight was pressed along the length of her and it was hard for her to breathe under him. Still, it felt so good, every bit as delicious as she remembered. He was so close, but Risa refused to let herself look at him, refused to stop fighting him. She was too afraid of what would happen if she did.
The rest of her body useless, she used the only weapon that she had left. Risa thrust her head up and slammed her forehead into his nose. He cried out and she felt triumphant even though she was still trapped under him.
“Fine,” she snarled. “Don’t let go. Just lie there and let me hit you. I could do this all day long.”
He gave her a flirtatious smile. “Sweetheart,” he said, his voice deep and rough. “I could think of better things that you could do to me all night long.”
Infuriated beyond words, she tried to headbutt him again, but his free hand clamped down on her forehead and pressed it back into the floor.
“Is this some big joke to you, Carden?” she demanded. “Like hey, wouldn’t it be funny to see the expression on Risa’s face when I just appear out of nowhere after eight years?”
“I don’t want to be here any more than you want me here.”
“Then what the hell are you doing here?”
“If you would stop fighting me, I would tell you.”
“Stop, huh?” she spat. “From what I remember, you don’t know the meaning of the word.”
He was looking at her now as if she’d slapped him and the startled pain in his eyes shamed her.
No, she would not feel guilty. He had no right to make her feel like that. Not after what he’d done to her. “Aw, did I hurt you?” Risa sneered. “Is the truth too much for you to take?”
She could see him trying to regain his control and it was astounding. He’d never backed down from an argument with her in the past. But now he was gritting his teeth and he took a deep breath. “We don’t have time for this,” he said heatedly. “You can yell at me all you want later, but you have to come with me now.”
Risa glared and pursed her lips. “Gee, let me think. No!”
“It wasn’t a request, sweetheart.”
“You can’t come back here after all this time and order me around.”
“You know what? I’m still stronger than you are. So, actually, I can. You’re coming with me now and you can either walk or I can throw you over my shoulder and carry you. It’s your choice.”
Carden was stronger than she was, and it humiliated her to admit that he could easily drag her out of here against her will. If she walked, it would at least spare some of her dignity. If she made him carry her, she’d have the satisfaction of making it difficult for him. But neither option was appealing.
This wasn’t right. All of the times she’d imagined him coming back to her, he’d been repentant, begging her for forgiveness. He wasn’t supposed to be lying on top of her, not the least bit regretful as he demanded that she follow his orders. It was maddening, being with him. Why didn’t she ever have the upper hand?
He looked down at her, surprised and confused, and his expression made her stomach fall. “But you do,” he murmured softly in response to her thoughts. His free hand caressed her cheek. He kissed the corner of her mouth. “You always did.”
His lips were so close to hers, but he didn’t move to kiss her. It seemed like he was waiting for something—her consent, maybe. Risa ached for it so badly that it scared her. She was supposed to be over this. Their breath intermingled for a long moment before she turned her head away. Her eyes stinging, she whispered, “No.”
Carden pulled back and she felt him sigh against her. Then he released her wrists and pushed himself off of her. “Sorry,” he said as he stood up. The emotion was gone from his voice.
Risa laughed shortly at that, but she didn’t know why. With his weight gone from her, she felt cold. She sat up and drew her knees into her chest.
“Come on,” Carden said, offering her his hand. “I meant what I said. We don’t have a lot of time.
She wanted to slap his hand away, but she didn’t. Whatever was going on was serious enough to make him come back here. As much as she despised him, she should probably hear him out. Reluctantly, Risa took his hand and tried to ignore the sizzle of the soulmate link as he pulled her to her feet. But he’d either underestimated his strength or overestimated her weight, because he pulled too hard and Risa had to brace her hands on his chest to keep from falling into him.
The muscles were hard underneath her fingers and she could feel his pulse racing. She had the sudden urge to rest her head against his chest and listen to his heart pound. God, she had to get out of here before something happened with him. He’d only been here for a few minutes and already she’d nearly let him kiss her. She just didn’t trust herself any more.
“You’ve got to change first. You’re covered in blood, Risa.” It was his old lecturing tone, the one that made her feel like a disappointing child.
She noticed for the first time that she was still wearing the clothes that she’d worn last night. Pulling off her blood-stained sweatshirt, she walked back to the bedroom to change.
“Is that your blood or someone else’s?” her soulmate asked from the living room.
“Which would you rather hear?”
Carden didn’t answer her. She quickly dressed in a sweater and fresh pair of jeans. Hurrying into the bathroom, Risa washed the blood from her hands and then washed her face.
When she emerged from her room, she found Carden standing on one of her kitchen chairs, examining a stain on the ceiling of her living room. It was a shock to see him again. When she’d let him out of her sight a moment ago, she’d almost expected him to disappear and walk out of her life, as he’d before.
But god, he was still there, strong and gorgeous, even more so when he wasn’t trying to be. If it weren’t for the soulmate connection, he would have been completely out of Risa’s league.
He picked at the ceiling and a black speck fell into his hand. He squinted while he examined it in his palm. “Camera,” he said, throwing it to the ground and crushing it under his boot.
Risa was startled. Someone had broken into her apartment and planted a camera? Who would want to watch her? Nobody even knew her.
Carden threw his coat at her and started for the door. Out on the curb, he hailed a cab, checking around them carefully before he got inside. She slid next to him and slammed the door shut. She hadn’t put his coat on, but it was warm over her lap in the taxi.
By unspoken agreement, they were silent during the ride. She hadn’t ridden in a cab in a long time. The subway was always easier, even if it was nauseating. But Carden seemed anxious about being followed and he kept looking out the back windshield to be sure. She supposed it was easier to stay anonymous in a cab because there were so many of them. It could be hard to keep track of a particular one, especially when the driver was a maniac, as theirs was.
They got out in downtown Manhattan and Carden started walking in the quick and determined way that New Yorkers do. Risa had trouble keeping up with him as he weaved back and forth across the sidewalk, dodging people seamlessly. She wasn’t used to pushing her way through the rush hour foot traffic.
Finally he led her inside the lobby of the Hudson Hotel.
“Mr. Jones,” a female voice called out as they passed by the main desk.
Carden stopped and Risa realized that “Jones” was one of his pseudonyms. An attractive blond girl in a hotel uniform hurried over to him.
“I just wanted to let you know that I have two tickets to ‘Rent’ tonight, if you’re interested,” the blond purred as she reached out to stroke his arm. “You can’t visit New York without seeing a Broadway show.”
He glanced back at Risa, looking almost guilty. She merely raised her eyebrows at him expectantly.
“Oh,” the blond girl said, eyes darting from Risa to Carden. She crossed her arms in front of her, emphasizing her ample chest. “I didn’t realize you were with someone.”
“Yeah…” Carden started awkwardly. “It’s just…”
Risa rolled her eyes. “Oh please,” she groaned to the blond. “You can have him. But don’t expect too much. He’s not very well endowed, if you know what I mean.”
“Uh, I’m sorry to hear that,” the girl said uncomfortably. “I should get back to work.” But she couldn’t quite stifle a giggle as she walked back to the desk.
Carden grabbed Risa’s elbow and pulled her over to the elevators. “That was really unnecessary,” he snapped at her.
“Maybe. But it was the only fun I’ve had all day.” Hell, it was probably the only fun she’d had in years.
They stepped inside the elevator and once the door shut, Carden said, “I don’t recall you ever complaining about my endowments before, sweetheart.”
Risa bit her lip. Arrogant jerk. She really didn’t want to be reminded about things like that. “Men and their hopeless size complexes,” she mumbled.
She followed Carden inside a spacious hotel suite. The room looked very posh and cozy. Risa was careful to stay on the opposite side of the room from her soulmate.
“You still working for Circle Daybreak?” she asked off-handedly, running her fingers over the smooth lacquer finish on the dresser.
“Got fired a few days ago, actually,” he replied. He walked over to the desk and sat down in front of his laptop.
Now that was a surprise. Risa knew that, regardless of her own issues with Daybreak, Carden was one of the best members of the organization. She couldn’t imagine what he could’ve done that was bad enough to get him fired. “Why was that?” she asked, trying to sound casual.
Her soulmate met her gaze and looked deeply into her eyes. Risa felt her pulse quicken in spite of herself. “Because of you,” he said.
For some reason, his answer stripped her of all her patience. “What the hell does that mean?” she shouted. “I’ve had enough of this cloak and dagger crap, Carden. You’d better start explaining what the hell you’re doing here, why there was a camera stuck on my ceiling, and why you forced me out of my apartment to shack up with you in some over-priced hotel suite. And your answer had better not be lewd or I will personally remove your testicles!”
She’d been expecting some sort of sarcastic retort, but he just looked at her gravely and said, “Circle Daybreak has a contract out on your life, Risa.”
Her mouth fell open. “Oh.”
Even though he’d been so horrible and rude to her before, there had been an ease to it. She’d known what to expect and what to say. But now, after working with Ian for a week and a half, she found that she didn’t know him at all. She didn’t know if any of the nasty things he’d said to her were true. Did she really talk too much? Did she breathe too loudly? Did the way she tapped her pen really make him want to jab it in her eye? How much work could she actually expect from him without being too patronizing or too pushy?
They were deeply involved in the mission and still didn’t know how to work together without clashing with each other. Hollis wondered if it would’ve been better if she’d asked for a replacement after all.
But he’d asked her to stay. He’d said that he didn’t want her to go. The memory still made her flush and it turned her entire face red. It had happened a few times already and there was no way that he could’ve missed it. But he hadn’t asked why she was blushing and she wasn’t sure that she could even answer that question.
They had submitted their daily report to their supervisor, stating that Hollis had observed the subject murder a man who had been beating up a young teenager on the sidewalk.
It was the first direct evidence that they’d found against Risa Sinclair. But not long after the report had been submitted, the subject had returned to her apartment covered in blood. She’d devoured four blood bags and then she’d collapsed on the kitchen floor. That had bungled everything.
“When I got you last night, you’re sure that there was no blood on her clothing?” Ian asked her. He’d taken up Hollis’s old position, watching the camera footage of Risa Sinclair’s apartment. The subject was still sleeping or unconscious.
“No, there wasn’t,” Hollis replied. He wasn’t entirely confident in her observations because she lacked field training, but was too cautious to admit it now.
The blood was an important detail because it opened the door for extenuating circumstances. Maybe Hollis had missed the man attacking and badly wounding Sinclair during the fight. That would change the situation from murder to self-defense. Or Hollis could have missed the subject being hurt and losing blood before the fight. In that case, Sinclair might have been so dazed from blood loss that she hadn’t realized what she was doing when she killed the man. Hollis understood why Ian had doubts about what she’d seen and she knew that he wanted to press her further, but he drew back every time.
They weren’t going to get anywhere like this.
“Ian,” she said impatiently, “would you just do it already?”
He looked at her sharply. “Do what?”
She pulled up a chair and faced him directly. Her knee touched his and she quickly pushed back a little. But the front leg of the chair slid on top of the sleeve of Ian’s jacket, which he’d thrown haphazardly onto the floor.
“Oh, sorry,” she said, reaching down to pull the sleeve out from under her chair. It was hard to do with her weight on it, but she didn’t have room to stand up off the chair to retrieve it either.
“Let me get it,” Ian said.
He bent down too and helped her lift the leg enough to pull the sleeve out from underneath it. His fingers brushed hers and Hollis lifted her gaze up to him. By leaning down towards the floor, they had also unwittingly leaned into each other. Ian’s face was mere inches from hers and she realized that he was staring at her mouth. Her heart raced wildly as he started to close the distance between them.
The computer made some high-pitched ping and Hollis shot back up in her chair, feeling as embarrassed and as guilty as a kid who’d been caught sleeping in class. Ian sat up slowly, his dark eyes thoughtfully locked on hers. But then he broke the contact as he turned to the computer, clicking a few times.
Hollis willed her heartbeat to slow down.
“Spam mail,” Ian sighed, running his fingers through his hair.
“Oh,” she replied insipidly.
“Ah, so what did you want me to do?” he asked.
It took entirely too long for Hollis to realize that he was talking about their work. She felt like she’d fried a few too many brain cells in that one intense moment with him. “Oh,” she said again. “It’s just that…I know you have doubts about what I saw last night. It’s only logical. So please feel free to ask me whatever you want.”
“Okay,” he said gamely. “Why did you pull back just now?”
Her cheeks burned again and she hated that her response was so obvious. Ian’s gaze was relentless as he waited for an answer. She started to say something unintelligible, but stopped. Finally she settled for the truth. “I don’t know.”
Ian nodded once. “Fair enough,” he said. “Would you mind going over what you saw last night one more time?”
Hollis was grateful for the change of subject, so she launched into her story, letting him interrupt to ask questions or press her for more details.
“I lost sight of the subject when she went inside an apartment building,” she said after a while.
“When was this?”
“Maybe about ten minutes before she killed the man. She squeezed through a basement window that I couldn’t fit through.” Risa Sinclair was very slender while Hollis had a curvy, hourglass figure. “I waited down the block a little and she came out only a few minutes later.”
“Did you see any blood on her? Or maybe a change in her skin color?
“No, but it was dark. I don’t have your eyesight,” she said. “But she looked...high. I guess that’s the right word. Her eyes were more luminescent and she looked as if a huge weight had been lifted off her.”
Ian considered that for a moment. “Those aren’t strong indications that she fed.”
“No. But our data shows that she doesn’t kill by feeding, unless she covers it up really well. She usually just breaks necks. Honestly, I think that she did kill someone in there and she was really happy about it.”
“Okay. What next?”
“She walked down the street a little ways. I’m not sure where we were, but the neighborhood was really poverty-stricken. You saw it. Anyways, she was walking and then she sort of froze, like she was listening to something. I thought she’d heard me, but then she turned down the next block. There was a guy in a leather jacket, holding a kid up against a wall, punching him hard in the stomach. I didn’t hear what the man was saying, but I watched Risa grab him by the collar of his jacket and pull him off the kid. The boy ran away while she fought with the leather jacket guy. Eventually she had him on the ground and I watched her break his neck. Then she stood up, looking just as high as she had when she came out of the apartment building, and she kept walking. You came up behind me right after that.”
“So you think that’s enough for us to convict her?”
“From what I saw, she murdered him; it wasn’t self-defense. The people she kills aren’t saints, not by a long shot, but she still plays judge, jury, and executioner. That’s what we’re here to evaluate, right?”
“Yes. It’s just...”
“I know,” Hollis said softly. She looked at him sympathetically. “The cops will never get some of these guys. After reading up on them, you start to wonder if maybe she’s doing the right thing.”
“Yeah,” Ian admitted, bowing his head.
“Humans have their own justice system. It’s not perfect, but it’s the best one we could come up with. Vigilantism only weakens it. And we know that what she’s doing is starting to cause a lot of unrest between the Night World and Circle Daybreak.”
Ian glanced at the computer and frowned. “You know, I don’t even think that she realizes it. We’ve been watching her for a while now...there’s no sign that she has any contact with the Night World. From what we’ve seen on the screen, what you saw last night, she doesn’t work with anyone or even talk to anyone. She doesn’t even have a phone or a TV. She might not even be aware of the copycats.”
Hollis thought about it and nodded. “You might be right. So are you thinking that assassination may not be the right way to go?”
“I don’t know. The sooner this is resolved, the better. With any luck, the string of copycat crimes will end and maybe we can find the ones who have killed already. But…I just don’t know.”
“You don’t have to decide right now,” she said. “Take a little more time.”
Ian exhaled. “I think I need to talk to her.”
Hollis shook her head. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. You should rely on objective evidence. Everything she says to you could be a lie.”
“Yeah, I know, but…” He trailed off, staring at the computer. “What the hell…”
“What?” Hollis asked. She leaned over to see the screen and her eyes widened. There was a man in Risa Sinclair’s kitchen, lying on top of her, pinning her to the floor. Hollis could tell that the subject was angry, but the planted cameras didn’t record sound, so she didn’t know what they were saying.
Then the subject got up and walked to the bedroom. She stripped off the bloodied sweatshirt and changed clothes while the man stood on a chair in the living room, looking directly into one of their cameras.
“Son of a bitch,” Ian breathed.
“You know him?”
“Not really. I know of him. That’s Jonas Carden, another Daybreak assassin. I got a memo that he was fired a few days ago. What the hell is he doing there?”
The image of the living room flickered and turned sideways. Then the picture went black. “Breaking our camera, from the looks of it,” Hollis said.
The kitchen camera still worked and it caught the subject and the ex-Daybreaker leaving the apartment together.
“What is going on?” Ian whispered.
Hollis just shook her head.
Part 5
Part 7
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