But maybe, just maybe, Carl had brought some information here. If he’d really been worried, as Niol had said, maybe he would have come someplace where he felt safe and-
Niol walked away and began pushing through some papers on the kitchen table. “Wait!” She reached into her back pocket and tossed him a pair of latex gloves.
He caught the gloves and gave her a what-the-hell look.
“The cops will find this place eventually. We don’t want to leave prints behind.”
He gave a faint “hmmmm,” then said, “Love, this isn’t your first break-in, is it?”
Holly wasn’t going to answer that one. Pulling on her own set of gloves, she glanced around the den and spotted an old desk nestled in the corner.
“Just what are we looking for?” Niol called.
“Anything that doesn’t belong.”
She thought she heard him swear.
Holly jerked open the top drawer. Pushed aside some bills. Opened the second-
And found a brown envelope with Carl’s name scrawled across the front.
Her fingers were rock steady when she reached for the envelope. She pulled out a photo, one that had her heart thumping into her chest, then she saw the note.
“Niol.”
He was at her side in an instant.
Not steady anymore, her fingers shook when she lifted the photo. A shot of her and Carl, sitting on a park bench, heads bent close as they talked. “The note-the note was with the picture.”
He reached for the note. “Fuck.”
The impure will die.
Niol balled the note up in his fist. “Now do you believe me? One of your precious humans is out there, slaughtering demons.”
Holly couldn’t deny that it sure looked that way. The impure. But how had the killer known? Christ, had she given away Carl’s secret?
Sam’s?
Beside her, Niol stiffened. “We’ve got to go.” He grabbed the envelope and stuffed the note and photo back inside. Then he shoved the envelope into his coat pocket.
“What are you doing? You can’t-”
“Oh, right, cause the lady who wanted to break and enter is suddenly getting morals on me.”
Her lips parted.
“I’ve got friends at the department, okay? I’ll get a finger-print check on it-any damn thing we need, I’ll get. Now, come on .” His fingers locked around her arm and he hauled her toward the door.
Then they were outside, the air biting into her skin. Their feet thudded over the steps and-
“What the hell are you people doin’ here?” A gruff voice demanded, and an old man, shoulders hunched, stepped from the shadows near the side of the house, armed with a shotgun.
Oh, shit.
Niol pushed her behind him. “Lower the weapon.” His voice shook with fury.
The man’s mouth fell open and the barrel of the gun immediately dropped toward the ground.
Glancing over his shoulder, Niol said, “Stay behind me, for every step, got it?”
If the guy wanted to get between her and a bullet, she wasn’t gonna argue right then. Holly nodded.
He turned back to the guy. “Don’t move.” Power vibrated in his voice.
The guy didn’t so much as blink. Distaste had Holly’s mouth drying up. Compulsion. Control. She knew exactly what Niol was doing to the man who stared blankly forward, eyes wide and frightened, but body still.
She’d been like him, once. Trapped by a demon’s power. Helpless. A puppet.
“Niol…”
“He can’t remember us.” Softer. “When the cops find this place, we can’t risk him telling them about us.”
She knew that, dammit, but it still didn’t make what he was doing right. “Don’t hurt him.”
A faint nod. “You don’t see us. You never saw us.” Dark, insidious, his voice flowed in the night.
The man didn’t move.
They started walking, moving slowly down the remaining steps and toward the car.
The old man watched them, gun still lowered.
Holly jumped in the passenger side. Niol slammed the door behind her, then turned back to face the guy once more. “Go home,” he ordered. “Sleep, and forget you even came outside tonight.”
The guy turned on his heel, marched back into the thicket of bushes, and vanished.
She exhaled.
Niol climbed in beside her. Didn’t speak.
Neither did she.
He gunned the motor and they got the hell out of there.
Fuck.
Niol braked in front of the television station. Holly sat next to him, stiff as a statue. She hadn’t looked at him, not once, since they’d left the house on Sycamore.
“I didn’t hurt him.” Not physically. Sure, he’d slammed his power straight into the old man’s mind and stolen his will-okay, that probably counted as mental hurt, but there hadn’t been a choice.
He’d been fucking furious when he realized the shotgun was aimed at Holly. Instinct had taken over and he hadn’t hesitated to use his power.
Hell, before her, he’d never hesitated. “We couldn’t let him just leave, not after he’d seen us-” He’d heard the guy’s footfalls. A neighbor, coming to check on the house. Probably nervous because he’d caught sight of Niol’s SUV. He’d tried to get out of there before the guy saw ’em, but…
Too late.
“I know.” Hollow. Her fingers wrapped around the door handle.
Dammit. He could practically feel the ice in the air. “There wasn’t a choice.”
“I know.”
Again with the voice that could have belonged to a ghost. Not to Holly. Not to in-your-face, tough-as-nails Holly. His knuckles whitened around the steering wheel. “I’m not like that bastard.”
The bastard who’d shoved into her mind and turned her body against her. The sick fuck who’d tried to kill her while Niol watched.
“You don’t know what it’s like.” Finally, finally, she looked at him. “When someone else takes control…”
No, because no one else was strong enough to get inside his head.
She has.
The whisper came from deep within-and Niol ignored it. He wanted to grab her and force her to-
Trust him.
Not gonna happen. “You want out?” And he wasn’t talking about the vehicle. If the lady was going to turn tail and run when things started to get a bit rough, she didn’t need to be partnering with him.
His life was generally always rough.
Maybe she wasn’t as tough as he’d thought.
Her eyes narrowed. The fear began to fade as the anger sparked.
Nice.
“You know what I want.”
Justice, for the two demons she’d known and lost.
“And you know how I have to play the game,” he said. If she wanted to play by human rules, she could go hook up with the cop, Brooks.
Her teeth snapped together. “This isn’t a game, Niol! We’re talking about lives, here, okay? Sorry that I’m not cold and unfeeling like-” She broke off, choking back her words.
But he knew what she’d been going to say.
You.
Holly shook her head. “People matter to me.” Spoken fiercely. “I’m gonna get emotional. I’m gonna get pissed. And, yeah, I’m even gonna get scared.” She unhooked her seat belt and leaned toward him. “But be clear on this. What I’m not gonna do is give up. Got me?”
Not yet. But, hopefully, very, very soon.
She was fucking beautiful with her eyes blazing, her cheeks stained crimson, and her breath heaving.
A woman of strength. Because he’d learned as a child that the ones in this world who were really strong, they knew how to fear-and how to keep going even when that fear rose like a howling beast inside.
Slowly, he unfurled his fingers from the steering wheel. She was close to him, the confines of his SUV and the darkness around them shielding the two of them in intimacy.
The back of his hand brushed over her cheek. Felt the heat beneath her skin.
She didn’t flinch, but her pupils flared, just a bit.
Not fear.
Time for the woman to know just what waited for her. “Before this is done, I will have you, love.” Wild and naked in his bed. Flesh touching. Pleasure ripping them apart.