“There’s a lot you can do with the blood of Others,” Piers said. “If you have the right magic.”
Lucas grunted. Piers was the only shifter he’d brought with him. He hadn’t wanted to attract too much attention.
But with Rafe out there, he also hadn’t wanted to risk being separated from Sarah—so he’d made certain she stayed at his side.
I’ll keep her safe. From now on, where he went, so did she. He’d claimed her, right in front of the pack. Been ready to fight for her. Hell, had the woman really thought he’d let any of his wolves hurt her? No matter how pissed . . . hell, no, he’d never let anyone so much as scratch her.
He’d wanted his intent to be clear. So he’d challenged the others, and claimed her.
Mine.
And she hadn’t refused the claim. Hadn’t told him to shut the hell up. She’d . . . accepted him.
“So what’s the plan here?” Sarah wanted to know. “We go in, you guys with claws up and blazing . . .”
Blazing? Lucas shook his head. “Let’s try charm first.” She smiled at him then. A real smile. One that lit her face and had his c**k rising.
Later.
He might want to shield her and cover her twenty-four /seven, but the woman was ex-FBI.
That meant cosseting her wasn’t gonna fly. Besides, he’d already noticed that Sarah seemed to like the action.
Good, so did he.
“Let’s take it easy,” he said, rolling his shoulders to push the tension away. “’Til we find our prey.” Then the claws could come out.
Angel’s Dust. If Josette really had made the drug and given it to Caleb . . .
Even being Marie’s granddaughter wouldn’t save her ass.
“I’m guessing the guys at the front will let you in,” he said to Piers and wondered just how close to the edge his friend truly was. Close enough to trade in the Dark.
Hell. That was too close. Because no trade was ever as simple as it looked on the surface. Magic always took so much more.
And you didn’t realize it, not until the trade was made, and your soul was gone.
“They’ll let me in.” Grim words.
So they went straight for the door. The guards glanced at Piers and eased back. Their stares tensed a bit on Sarah, but they didn’t try to stop her or Lucas from entering the bar.
Silence greeted them inside, but then, it would. In a place like this, the first thing you saw would always be a lie. Usually a scene set to fool humans.
Piers went straight for the staircase on the left side. A staircase that led down, not up. A gnarled old man sat there. The guy motioned with a roll of his hand for Piers to go forward, but when Lucas approached, the guy’s hand rose and pushed against his chest.
“Don’t have what you need,” the old man said.
Sarah’s arm brushed Lucas’s.
“Not for either of you.”
Piers glanced back at the guy. “They’re with me.”
The man studied them with sharp, pitch-black eyes. Demon eyes. Lucas’s nostrils flared. That scent . . .
“No,” the demon said definitely. “They’re not with you. Don’t make that mistake, wolf.”
Lucas brought his claws up and let the tips hover just over the bastard’s carotid. “I don’t really care what shit you try to sell to the other fools who come in, but don’t jerk around my pack.” And that’s exactly what the ass**le was doing. Trying to make Piers doubt their alliance.
The old demon grinned, showing off a gold front tooth.
“Now get your hand off me, or my claws will go deeper.”
The hand dropped.
Lucas grabbed Sarah’s wrist and followed Piers.
“I know your weakness, alpha!” The bastard called after him. “Damn foolish to show us all.”
Lucas froze. Then he turned his head, very slowly, and met that black stare. “Demon, if you think you can take me, come on and try.”
Sarah’s fingers curled around his arm. “Lucas . . . remember why we’re here.”
The demon’s gaze dropped to that touch. Studied it. “Does your charmer know how many you’ve killed, Alpha?”
He wouldn’t look at Sarah. “You seem to know,” he said instead. “And yet you’re still stupid enough to keep talking right now?”
And that shut up the little bastard. The demon turned and scurried away.
Lucas growled and when he glanced back at Piers, he found the other guy watching him, too closely. “Don’t believe any shit they tell you here,” he ordered Piers, but really, the guy should have enough sense to know that. “They try to break you so they can use you.”
A f**king Magic Hole. That’s what this place was. He could feel the edge of the dark magic pulling at him. Some places were thought of as hotspots for the supernaturals. Places where power could peak. Yeah, this wasn’t a place like that. It was a place that would suck you dry and here, only those who bled the others—only those would get stronger.
Get out.
As soon as he could, they’d be leaving and not coming back. Because a place like this, where the power was so close, so close and all you had to do was—
Reach out and kill for it.
—it was tempting him.
So he knew the magic was calling to Piers.
Sarah’s hold tightened. “Let’s find this Josette and get out of here.”
Right.
They climbed down the stairs. Eyes watched them. Whispers followed. Almost every kind of paranormal out there liked to set up a safe house of sorts. Vamps created feeding rooms, bars that lured in unsuspecting human prey. Demons who were addicted to drugs flocked to their damn dens.
And then places like this . . . holes for the darkest of the Other . . . lurked in the big cities.
Lucas kept his claws out. He figured he’d be fighting his way out soon enough.
But no one approached them, not yet. A makeshift bar was set up near the foot of the stairs. Piers headed to it and slapped his hands on the surface. “Josette.”
The bartender stared back at him.
“I know she’s here.” Piers glared back. “Do you really want me to claw the truth out of you again?”
And Lucas saw the healing scratches on the bartender’s muscled arms.
The guy grunted and pointed to the left. Another door.
A trap?
Probably.
But they went toward that door anyway. And with every step they took, the scent of death deepened around them.
He risked a quick glance at Sarah. She hadn’t caught the scent. Wouldn’t for a while yet. But . . .