Darkness Clashes Read online

  “Good.” His shoulders relaxed. “Perhaps you have learned to manage him better.”

  Kerbasi, a guardian from Purgatory, had to stay near me at all times. I couldn’t travel more than half a mile away from him thanks to the arm cuffs we wore that bound us together. The archangel, Remiel, had charged me with the task of giving Kerbasi humanity. That was a tall order for a man who’d spent most of the last four and a half millennia torturing prisoners in Purgatory.

  Lucas hated him and didn’t appreciate his tendency to cause problems. Because of that, it had taken me over three months to convince the nephilim to let me help search for his missing brother. Not wanting to blow my first chance, I’d had to bribe Kerbasi with a steak dinner earlier in the evening to get him to stay in the car while I went inside the bar.

  “So how did things go in Chicago?” I asked.

  Lucas’ jaw tightened. “I’ve found nothing yet.”

  “But you’re not done?”

  “No. I’ve got the master of the city rounding up anyone who might have helped Zoe hide my brother, but it is a slow process.”

  I gave him an incredulous look. “And this master has no problem doing this for you?”

  “I’ll admit he hasn’t been entirely cooperative.” Lucas frowned. “I’ve been forced to take drastic measures twice now to convince him.”

  I didn’t want to know what his idea of drastic measures might be this time. They often involved heads rolling off bodies or hearts being ripped out. Lucas justified it by saying at least he gave them a quick death.

  “Plain old bribery didn’t work?”

  “No, this vampire is surprisingly resistant to large sums of money.”

  I mulled that one over. “Too bad it’s not time for my period. I’ve got this tampon trick that’ll get them to cooperate every time.”

  Lucas grimaced. “I’d hoped that was only a false rumor.”

  “Oh, no. That one’s true.”

  He placed a hand on my hip. “Was this dress really necessary?”

  It was all I could do not to lean into him. Our chances to meet didn’t come often and they were usually brief. I understood he had to find his brother, but as time wore on the separations got harder. We’d begun our relationship a year and a half ago and had yet to spend more than a few consecutive days together.

  “I wanted to catch the guy off-guard,” I said, answering his question. “Men always underestimate women in pretty dresses.”

  He dropped his hand. “I don’t.”

  “Don’t you?” I grazed my nails across my chest, drawing attention to my cleavage.

  His gaze shot down to watch the movement. Lust rose up and his eyes glowed.

  “Perhaps.”

  He pressed his hands to the brick wall, caging me with his arms. For a moment we just stared at each other, allowing the tendrils of our bond to strengthen. He needed the closeness as much as I did, though we both fought the force of our attraction.

  “Lucas…” I began.

  His face closed off. “Tell me where the alpha is.”

  There was a reason he’d let me go on this particular hunt. I’d been the one to get the lead for it. A new werewolf had moved to Fairbanks from a town not far from Spokane. A few weeks after she arrived, we got to talking and it turned out she’d seen Zoe in the area around the same time Lucas’ brother had disappeared. She hadn’t caught sight of Micah, but it had given me hope that maybe he’d been hidden somewhere in the city.

  I ran a hand down Lucas’ chest. “If I tell you, are you going to flash over there and leave me here?”

  “You don’t trust me?” He leaned in closer.

  I breathed in his musky scent and felt my body stir. Part of me wanted to forget the Micah business and take him back to the hotel instead.

  “Under the circumstances, no.” I wrapped my arms around his neck and rose up on my toes—two could play at this game. “If I tell you, you’ll go see the alpha without me and claim it’s for my own safety.”

  He grabbed my ass and yanked me up, wrapping my legs around him. My back hit the wall. Our lips were only inches apart, but when I tried to kiss him, he pulled his head back.

  “You’re testing my patience, Melena.”

  Someday we were going to have a conversation that didn’t involve a battle of wits or sexual coercion. Then again, probably not.

  “If you don’t let me go with you to see the alpha.” I ran my hand up his back. “I’ll put a blood circle around my house. Then you’ll have to come in through the front door like a normal person and there will be no more showing up naked in my bed in the middle of the night.”

  “I told you before what would happen if you tried that again,” he growled.

  I batted my eyelashes. “That was before you fell in love with me. You won’t destroy my house now.”

  “Your confidence in yourself is becoming wearisome.”

  He readjusted his hands under my ass and traced a finger along my bare skin. With my skirt open to him, he was getting dangerously close to discovering how wet he was making me. I was acutely aware of this and trying hard not to think about it.

  “You like my confidence,” I replied, nipping at his neck.

  He growled and nipped me back.

  “Must you two carry on like this every time you see each other?” Kerbasi asked, walking up.

  It was about time he showed up. I’d sensed him leave the car and had counted on him being the proverbial cold splash of water I needed.

  Lucas’ eyes glowed gold as he turned his head in Kerbasi’s direction. “If you know what’s good for you, you’ll go away—now.”

  The guardian let his own eyes glow silver. “I think not. Your woman has forced me to sit in that horrible contraption humans call a car by myself for too long.”

  This was going to turn into a full-out brawl if I didn’t stop it soon. Kerbasi was too powerful and full of himself to back down. Lucas had been tortured daily by him in Purgatory and wanted revenge. Not that I could blame him, but the animosity between the two men reached epic levels every time they saw each other. It was always up to me to calm them down.

  “How about we go see that alpha now?” I dropped my legs to the ground and extricated myself from Lucas.

  Tension filled the air around us while I waited for either of the two men to respond. Neither of them did.

  “Fine, I’ll go by myself.” I headed toward the car.

  By the time I settled into the vehicle, got the directions to Crusaders from my cell phone, and cranked the ignition, both men had flashed inside—with Lucas up front.

  “Glad we got that settled,” I said, pulling the car out onto the road.

  Chapter Two

  Crusaders was located on the outskirts of Spokane. A little hole-in-the-wall joint with an empty field behind it and no other buildings nearby. We pulled into the parking lot alongside an assortment of motorcycles and beat-up trucks. My tiny blue rental car would have stood out among them, but no one lingered outside to notice. All the werewolves were inside—about twenty of them.

  There were no other supernaturals nearby. A spell on the place discouraging unwanted visitors ensured that, though as we walked toward the entrance I picked up on the emotions of a few humans in the building. If my past experiences were anything to go by, they’d be women who were friendly with the pack.

  My immunity to magic allowed me to go inside with no problem. Lucas and Kerbasi were too old and powerful for the ward to do more than give them a jolt when they crossed over the threshold. The door banged shut behind us and we stopped to take a look around.

  Heads turned in our direction and nostrils flared. I’d been told I smelled human, but I had no idea what the weres made of Lucas. Kerbasi had turned invisible before we came in and would be impossible for them to detect.

  Someone shut off the music. A burly werewolf in his late twenties kicked back his chair and lumbered toward us. His heavy footsteps thumped on the wooden floor, reminding me of the same sound m
ade by boots in western movies. He just needed the spurs. People at small tables along his path scooted their seats forward to make room for him and shouted words of encouragement.

  We’d entered their territory uninvited and they wanted us gone.

  This guy might not be their alpha, but by the looks everyone gave him they thought he could take care of things. Two other big guys got up and flanked him as he stopped five feet from us. Something told me this wasn’t going to be as easy as I’d hoped.

  “You two need to leave now,” he said, cracking bruised knuckles.

  Was a little diplomacy too much to ask for? We needed to find Micah, not play games with idiots who couldn’t see the danger standing right in front of them.

  I looked at Lucas. “He’s joking, right?”

  “It appears he’s no smarter than he looks.”

  That wasn’t saying much. The guy’s jeans and gray tank top looked like a charity wouldn’t even take them. Stains covered the shirt and there were holes in his pants, revealing hairy legs. He could have used a haircut, too. Some men could pull off a messy style, but not this one. His dark blond hair was too greasy and uneven.

  “What’d you say?” The werewolf took a step forward.

  Lucas glanced down at me. “Would you like me to remove his arms or legs first?”

  I tapped my chin. “We should at least try the peaceful approach first and tell him why we’re here.”

  “Very well.” Lucas gave me a look that said we were wasting our time, but that he’d humor me. “Try.”

  I met the werewolf’s direct gaze. “We’re here to speak to your alpha about something important.”

  He snorted and looked at his buddies. No one was flipping out their phone and dialing the man up like I’d hoped. I might have asked Lucas to compel the werewolves into cooperating, but he preferred to do things the old-fashioned way when it came to fellow supernaturals. He had a weird code of honor I’d yet to figure out.

  “Tell you what, little lady.” The werewolf eyed me up and down. “Step outside now and I promise no harm will come to you. Ain’t none of us wanna hurt a woman if we can help it.”

  Chivalry at its finest. I clenched my fists.

  “Finally,” Kerbasi said, taking a seat at a table behind us. “Something entertaining to watch other than your ridiculous movies.”

  I should have made him stay visible, but he probably would have caused more problems.

  “Go for the arms,” I said to Lucas, keeping an eye on the werewolf. “He’s got a nice ring on his middle finger I wouldn’t mind keeping for myself.”

  It was big and gold with rows of tiny rubies and diamonds inlaid at the top.

  Lucas glanced down at me. “I could buy you something better.”

  “Yeah.” I gave him a crafty smile. “But I was sort of thinking about starting a collection.”

  The werewolf looked at us in disbelief. There was an edge of wariness coming from him now and his buddies were giving him nervous glances. If only we could scare them enough to make them back down.

  “Who are you people?” he asked.

  The fact we’d gotten past his wards should have been his first clue. We ignored him.

  “A collection?” Lucas lifted a brow.

  I shrugged. “Trophies from enemies we kill.”

  “Hmm.” He rubbed his chin. “I like the way you think.”

  “For once, I must agree,” Kerbasi said from his seat behind us. “I’d like his boots, too, if you don’t mind.”

  I pretended not to hear the guardian. He’d had a weird thing about shoes ever since we visited the fae city a few months ago and couldn’t get enough of them.

  “That’s it.” The werewolf took a step forward. “You two are done!”

  Guess we hadn’t scared him enough.

  He lunged toward us. Lucas met him halfway and went for his arm—the same one that had the ring. With a hard twist and a pull he tore it from the werewolf’s body. An ear-splitting scream came from him as his limb went flying across the room. Blood splattered everywhere and the werewolf fell to the floor, clutching at the open socket. My stomach lurched. Maybe I shouldn’t have said anything about the ring. I’d forgotten how literal Lucas took me sometimes.

  Chairs knocked over and the whole place roared into action as men converged on him from every direction. Their eyes blazed with fury and they bared their teeth to let out inhuman growls. At least they didn’t try to change into wolves—not that they had the five to ten minutes it would take to shift.

  I couldn’t let Lucas take all the heat even though he could have handled it. I reached for my gun only to realize it wasn’t there. The trip had come up at the last minute and I hadn’t had time to make arrangements to transport it. I reached down to the purse strapped across my chest and pulled out a fixed-blade knife instead. It would have to do.

  Grabbing the nearest guy to me, I spun him around. He threw out a wild punch, but I ducked and rose back up to stab him in the gut. He bowed over. Quickly pulling it back out, I aimed for his neck next. He deflected the blade and shoved me hard enough to send me flying. With arms swinging I landed on top of a table and slid across it, falling to the floor. The air whooshed out of my lungs as my back hit with bone-jarring force.

  Damn, I’d forgotten how strong werewolves could be.

  Kerbasi was still sitting at his table a few feet away. He gave me a dispassionate look. “Is that the best you can do? Is your lover going to have to do all the work?”

  I tossed my high heels at him and grabbed a chair. “You’re always looking for a fight. Why not now?”

  He snorted. “Because that would be useful to you.”

  The werewolf came lurching toward me and I swung the chair at him. He arched back, but not far enough. One of the wooden legs skimmed across his forehead and left a deep gash. Blood welled up and started running down to his eyes.

  While he rubbed at the wound, I made a desperate search for my knife. It had fallen from my grip when I’d become intimate friends with the table. I found it a few feet away and snatched it up. The werewolf snarled at me as I leapt to my bare feet. He threw out a badly-aimed punch and I leaned to the left, going underneath his reach to plunge the blade into his heart. His face froze with a look of shock and horror.

  I pulled the knife back out and watched him crumble to the floor. If I’d left it in for more than a few minutes he probably would have died, but I wasn’t going to kill him for being overprotective of his territory. Plus, I needed the weapon to stab more of his buddies.

  Lucas had pushed the fight to the middle of the room with moves so fast they were nothing more than a blur, but he couldn’t keep the battle fully contained. Even as bodies and furniture flew in a tsunami of motion, a couple of guys worked their way past his line of defense.

  I crouched low when the first one made it through. As soon as he got close enough, I swept my leg out and knocked his feet out from underneath him. He fell with a loud thump. The next guy came at me from the side. I pivoted on my feet and shoved my blade into his chest. It missed his heart by an inch, puncturing a lung instead. The guy gasped for breath and took a step back.

  I ignored the flash of fear in his eyes and grabbed his head, twisting it with a snap. He fell limply to the floor with the blade still in him. There was no time to play nice and give him a fighting chance. If he’d wanted that he should have tried a one-on-one approach.

  The other attacker rose up to take his place. I ducked his first punch, but didn’t see the second until too late. His fist slammed into my face with enough force to knock me off my feet. I fell to the floor and banged my head into a chair. Through the stars clouding my vision, I saw the werewolf hovering over me. He had his hand held out.

  “Take it,” he said. “I ain’t gonna hit ya again while you’re down.”

  He spoke the truth. At least someone around here had some standards.

  I stared at his hand for a moment and waited for my vision to clear before taking it. He lifte
d me up and had me on my feet in one hard pull. I took a deep breath and raised my fists.

  “Ready?” he asked.

  I nodded. It was really too bad we had to fight. He might have been likable under different circumstances—but not today.

  He threw out the first punch. I ducked as it went by and leaned farther back, guessing the second one would be coming up quick. It did and missed me by a full inch. He swung a leg out at me next. I dodged it and dove for the knife still in his buddy’s chest. Pulling it out fast, I spun around just as he came up from behind and plunged it into his kidney. He let out a grunt.

  I rose up and saw his face was lined in pain. The kidneys were one of the most painful places to get stabbed. A vampire could brush the wound off since they didn’t need theirs, but a werewolf would suffer almost as badly as a human.

  “Smart girl,” he mumbled out.

  “Are you patronizing me?” I asked, pulling the knife from him.

  He winced. “Wouldn’t dream of it.”

  There was no sense in making him suffer any longer. I dropped the knife and grabbed his head.

  “Ready?”

  His gaze shot past me. “You’d better make it quick.”

  I snapped it and let him go.

  Arms wrapped around me in a rib-crushing hug. I jerked my head back and slammed my attacker’s nose. He grunted, but didn’t let go. I grabbed the fingers on his left hand next and yanked them back. The werewolf howled with pain and released me. I spun around and kicked him in the chest, sending him flying back into Lucas who caught him like a rag doll and promptly snapped his neck. Now, that was teamwork.

  My gaze swept around the room, but I found no one else left standing. Most of the men were unconscious and the few who weren’t didn’t look like they’d be getting back up just yet. Their groans and the intense pain pushing at my senses confirmed that much.

  Several human females huddled in one corner of the room near the dartboards, holding each other. They wouldn’t even look at us. Kerbasi still sat in his seat near the front door. He was sniffing at a beer on the table and looking at it in disgust.

  I grabbed my knife from the floor and cleaned it off on an unconscious werewolf’s shirt. Not the nicer guy, but one of the others.