He’d put out the word to watch for the blond woman and see if anyone else had noticed her hanging around Carl.
But his money wasn’t on the woman for the kills. Maybe she’d been a lookout. Maybe she’d been some kind of lure-
The killer Niol wanted was the man. He knew it. The way Carl and Sam had been taken down-and even poor Julia-that much strength came from a man. The wounds had been too deep. Too hard.
Yes, it was the man he wanted and the man he’d find.
Only a matter of time.
Especially since it looked like he was next on the bastard’s list. Looked as if he’d be the bait.
“Niol.” Holly’s whisper. A sexy sound, really. Breathy. One that stroked over his skin and made his cock twitch. He remembered the feel of silk sheets against his flesh and warm, soft woman around his body.
He really didn’t have time for this shit with the demon duo. Hell, what was he? The freaking guardian of the demons? He was looking for the asshole who was slicing and dicing them but-
Her hand pressed against his shoulder.
He clenched his teeth and gritted, “I’ll put guards on you. They’ll get you out of town and to someplace safe.” But that was all that he was doing for them. Big green eyes or not.
Thank you. Her lips moved quickly.
Niol grunted.
The duo blinked at him.
“Are you-are you shitting us?” Sean asked suspiciously.
If only. Niol shook his head.
“I-I thought y-you were g-gonna k-kill us…” Ted’s stark voice.
Holly sighed. “Oh, come on, what gave you that idea?”
Sean glanced at the ropes near his feet.
“Hmm…let’s just call that even, shall we?” She said brightly. “No need to dwell on a bit of, ah, miscommunication.”
“Miscommunication, my ass.” Sean’s eyes were on Niol.
He could almost like the little prick. Kinda reminded him of Carl. Niol stared back at the demon, mouth shut. There’d been no miscommunication, but he didn’t worry for a minute that these guys were going to go running to the cops. As a rule, demons didn’t handle things that way.
“G-give us the g-guards…” Ted was still shaking. Despite his size, obviously he was the weaker of the two. “And I-I’ll fuckin’ f-forget everything!”
“Good plan,” Niol murmured.
Holly’s fingers tightened around him. “Niol…”
He caught her hand and pressed a quick kiss into the center of her soft flesh.
He heard the sharp inhalation of her breath, saw the flare of her pupils. He’d played the good guy for her. Hard, that. They’d just see how much she appreciated his efforts when they were alone and-
A heavy fist banged on the door upstairs.
“Niol! Problem!” Thomas’s voice.
And Thomas didn’t consider many things to be in the “problem” category.
He pointed to the male demons. “Stay here.”
Their nods were instant.
His gaze slanted back to Holly. “And you-”
“No way.” Her chin was up. “Whatever’s happening up there, well, I’m gonna be by your side.”
By your side.
When was the last time a woman had said that to him?
Fucking never.
He kissed her. Hard and deep. Lips taking. Tongue thrusting.
This woman was more dangerous than he’d thought.
“Niol! ” Another punch with a fist, this time, it was strong enough that the door groaned as if in agony.
He broke away from Holly and took the stairs three at a time, and he wondered just what hell was waiting for him in Paradise.
The man moved too fast. Holly hopped up the stairs as quickly as she could, but she was still six steps away from the top when Niol shoved open the door.
She caught a glimpse of Thomas’s tense face.
Uh, oh. The guy looked nervous and when a demon as big as he was got nervous, that couldn’t be a good thing.
She scampered up the steps.
“What the hell is going on?” Niol’s hands were on his hips. His gaze scanned the crowd and so did hers. Other than the two vampires who were enjoying a quick drink-Christ, but that skeeved her out-things looked, um, normal. Normal for Paradise, anyway.
“Picked up a call on the police monitor.” Thomas’s voice had her glancing back at him, her eyes narrowed.
The guy was sweating a bit.
He glanced at her. “There’s trouble at Flash Five.”
Her heart lurched in her chest. “What kind of trouble?” It was the middle of the night. The place should have been all but deserted. Security guards, sure. A skeletal staff to monitor the phone lines but-
He pointed one beefy finger at her. “According to what I just heard, you were attacked.”
“What?”
“Obviously, someone’s wrong about the victim.” His voice was a rumble. “But the body was found in your office. A female body and-”
The body was found… “Someone was killed at the station?” That wasn’t possible. They’d stepped up security and-
In her office. Her face went numb as understanding dawned.
You were attacked.
No, no, she wasn’t the one who’d been hurt, but it sure was a safe bet she’d been the intended target.
Only someone else had gotten caught in the killer’s sights.
Holly took off for the door at a run.
All-too-familiar blue lights swirled in front of News Flash Five. Reporters were out en masse. Cameras rolling as the competition cashed in on another Flash Five tragedy.
Dammit. This was not-
“Easy, Holly.” Niol’s voice in her ear. He’d caught her just outside Paradise. Driven her here. Probably a good thing, that. Her hands had been shaking a bit too much for control of the steering wheel.
I have to find out who’s been attacked.
In my office.
“There’s Gyth,” he continued quietly. “We’ll figure out-”
Gyth looked up right then and zeroed in on her. Then he started stalking toward them, fast, and the cop sure didn’t look happy.
Good. She wasn’t feeling particularly happy, either.
Scared. Furious.
Not happy.
Gyth pushed past the line of cops and reporters. In seconds, he stood in front of them, arms crossed over his chest, a muscle jerking along his jaw. “When I got the call about a woman’s body being found in Office B-12, I fucking thought you’d bought it, Storm.”
A ripple of movement beside her as Niol slid forward. “Watch the tone, asshole, and just tell us what’s happening here.”
The cop’s brows rose. “Don’t know this time? And here I thought you were always one step ahead.”
“ What happened? ” The fury in her voice surprised even her.
Gyth glanced at her again, and a line appeared on his forehead as he squinted, saying, “You look different-”
“What she looks is mighty fine for an attack victim.” Brooks. She hadn’t even seen the guy sidling up to them. He motioned with his hand, indicating they needed to step back and, “Away from the vultures.”
She was one of those “vultures” and if she hadn’t already had so much crap on her mind, she would have torn into him.
Later.
They stepped away from the crowd.
“Kim Went was found by one of the station’s security guards. She was on the floor of your office-”
“Dead?” Niol’s emotionless voice.
A shake of Gyth’s head. “Alive.”
Holly finally took a deep breath. Thank God. “I don’t understand. What was she-”
“Someone hit her, hard, looks like with the lamp on your desk. Bashed the hell out of her head, but the EMTs say she should pull through. She’s concussed, but after a few days in the hospital, they expect her to recover.”
“We don’t think the attacker was after Ms. Went.” Brooks stared straight at Holly. “When the guards found her, the lights in your office were off.” One shoulder lifted. “Kim is your rough height and size, and in the darkness-”
“She looked like me.” Another blood mark on her soul. Another innocent hurt because of her. She was so tired of this. “Why? Why was Kim even in my office? She should’ve gone home hours ago.”
“Looks like she was searching your files.” Gyth tilted his head to the left. “Any idea just why she’d be doing that, Storm?”