He’d been suspicious of that smug bastard for too long. The guy had been so determined to cage the dangerous paranormals, ignoring all of Pate’s arguments.
Quick had been the one to first push the FBI to set up a Para Unit. The senator had seemed so good, on paper.
But when Eric had met the fellow in person…
I didn’t trust him.
Connor turned away, but before he could leave, Eric grabbed his shoulder. “You and Duncan…you going to be okay working so closely with him?”
Connor’s laugh held a bitter edge. “Are you trying to see if I still want to kill my brother?”
Yes, he was. The two men were brothers—brothers with one very vicious past.
“Relax,” Connor told him. “Right now, the only guy scheduled for payback from me…that’s Shane. The vamp is gonna get an ass-kicking when this mess is clear.”
But Connor hadn’t looked at Eric when he gave that little speech. Eric knew Connor was still tangled up on the inside.
Once upon a time, a time not so long ago, Eric and his agents had hunted Connor. They’d sent him to Purgatory.
And Eric had realized how very easy it was to mistake the good guys for the bad. Especially when there really wasn’t a difference between them.
“Make sure you don’t go after your brother again because Holly would be angry.” And Holly was his family. Eric’s only family. A step-sister who meant more to him than anything else. “Then I’d have to kill you.”
Connor shook his head, as if he were trying to decide if Eric were serious or not. He was dead serious. When it came to Holly, he always was.
When he was sure his message had been received, Eric let go of the werewolf.
Then he stalked after Holly. He needed that blood work, ASAP.
He also had to figure out a permanent solution for the Olivia Maddox problem. Because there was no way he could let a djinn run loose on his watch. No damn way.
“Certain individuals are…” Shane’s laugh was rough. Hell, explaining this wasn’t going to be easy. Especially since he pretty much just wanted to growl out You’re mine. Only that wouldn’t be civilized.
He’d lived through plenty of uncivilized times.
He’d also already scared Olivia enough.
He could keep himself in check. Mostly.
“Certain individuals,” he tried again, “make better…mates for vampires.”
Her lips were red from his mouth. Moist. He wanted to take those lips again. Wanted to sample the blood that rushed through her veins.
“Did you just say ‘mate’?”
He nodded. “I’m sure Holly could explain it with her biology. Science can explain away nearly all the magic these days.” Nearly. Thanks to science, vampirism was some sort of virus that humans caught. Werewolves could be harnessed and controlled with silver collars. Once, though, things had been different. Villagers had run from the monsters that stalked their nights. They’d run from him.
He ran his tongue over the edge of his fangs. Whenever Olivia was near, his fangs sharpened, as if preparing for a bite. And he sure could use a bite now.
Would she come for him again? Shudder and moan with pleasure when his fangs pierced her?
“I told you…” Shane murmured. “I was born this way. That means any children I have…they’d be like me.”
Her eyes were so wide. And deep.
“I aged normally until my thirtieth year, until my body was in peak condition, then time seemed to stop for me.”
“Shane—”
“Only certain women can mate with me. Women like you. Women of power who are very, very rare.”
She shook her head.
“My kind has fought for mates. We’ve slaughtered, battled, because we know how valuable you are.”
“I’m not your mate.”
She could be.
“I don’t want another.” A fucking telling sign for him. “The thought of drinking from another woman repels me. Your blood is in me, and it makes me need you. Makes me need more.” His fingers were still at her throat. “It makes me want to take everything you have to give.”
Her pulse raced beneath his touch.
“You like the bite, Olivia. You love it. You were meant to be with a vampire. A perfect mate.” As he’d thought before…a vampire’s wet dream. “That’s why you always had the fascination with monsters. Because you were drawn in, something inside of you recognized what you wanted—”
“Stop.” Her voice was low, shaking. “I’m some kind of genie, you’re a Viking vampire, and now I’m supposed to mate with you?”
Actually, he’d been around since before the Vikings. And she was the first female that he’d felt the bond with.
He’d been warned before…
You’ll drink from her and want no other.
His father’s words. Of course, he’d had to kill that ruthless bastard on a battlefield one thunderous night. The bloodlust had been too strong within his father. He’d gone on another rampage.
So many bodies. Men. Women. Children.
Shane had stopped his father, once and for all. He’d taken his head, right after his father begged for mercy.
You never showed your prey any mercy. Those had been Shane’s final words to the man who was far more devil than vampire.
Shane tried to shove that memory away. The past didn’t matter. Olivia mattered. She was his present. His future. Everything that he needed.
“You’re wrong.” Her voice was soft, but he heard her perfectly. “You’re so wrong about me. The reason I studied the monsters wasn’t because I was drawn to them. It was because—”
When she stopped, he just waited.
“Because there’s darkness in me.” Whispered. Such a quiet confession. “I can feel it sometimes, pushing to get out. The darkness is there, in half forgotten dreams that haunt me. In nightmares that seem too real. In—”
A werewolf’s howl split the night. Shane surged to his feet because he knew that howl belonged to Connor—and the guy was sending up a warning signal.
He headed for the door.
“Wait!”
Shane glanced back. Olivia had jumped from the bed. She had the sheet wrapped around her because after the wreck, they’d needed to cut her clothes away.
“What’s happening?”
There was only one reason Connor would send up an alarm like that. “Company.”
“And you’re leaving me here? No, you can’t do that.” She motioned to the floor. “Get rid of the marks. Let me out! Let me come with you!”
But she’d tried to run from him before.
The howl came again, and…he could hear growls drifting on the wind. More than one beast was hunting in the darkness.
“I’m not leaving you,” Shane told her. As if he would. They were past that now. She had far too much value to him. “I’m making damn sure no one gets to you.”
Then he yanked open that door and rushed out to face the beasts who mistakenly thought they’d take her from him.
Olivia’s jaw dropped. One minute, Shane had been telling her that he was her mate or some other fated nonsense, and in the next instant, he’d left.
While she was basically stuck there, naked.
Hell, no.
Olivia started searching the cabin, or as much of it as she could. Howls and snarls were sounding in the distance, and goosebumps pretty much covered her skin.
Clothing was her priority. She couldn’t face whatever threat was out there while she was bare-assed naked.
There!
A bag was on the floor. She opened it, and found a t-shirt and jeans inside. Her size. Yes! Maybe the clothes had come from Pate. He struck her as the resourceful type. Right then, she didn’t care who’d brought them. Olivia was just glad they were there. She jerked on the tennis shoes that were in the bottom of the bag and stood up.