Chapter 2
Kat had moved over to stand beside the window. She wanted to be as far away from Quinn as possible. She nearly rolled her eyes realizing her move had only brought him into her direct line of vision. She wished that Envy were here. She really needed to talk to the other woman… or just another woman in general. It would have been nice to have a little back up with this testosterone-induced conversation.
Looking around the room, she realized that not all the main members of the cougar family were present.
“Where are Micah and Alicia?” Kat asked knowing they should be part of this… whatever it was.
Quinn looked at Warren with an expression that he hoped the jaguar would read between the lines of and back him up on what he was getting ready to say. “Alicia hasn’t been home from boarding school but a month and we are not bringing her into this fight. It’s too dangerous for girls.”
Kat’s expression darkened further and she looked ready to rip the head of the cougar family apart.
“And Micah?” Warren asked before Kat had time to start a war over that last remark.
“Unreachable,” The anger in Quinn’s tone had everyone looking at him curiously. “We’ve tried repeatedly but he refuses to answer his cell phone.”
Steven sighed at Quinn’s stubbornness and interrupted, “Micah has been missing for over two weeks.”
“What?” Warren asked suddenly angry. “Why didn’t you come to us for help?”
“Because of the stupid journal,” Kat mocked. “Obviously, he was afraid we couldn’t handle what it said because of our touchy sensibilities.”
Michael shook his head knowing that until the two families worked out their differences, he would likely have to play referee. “Okay, while we’re working on the vampire problem, we’ll also keep an eye out for clues of Micah's disappearance.”
“Logic indicates that Micah will eventually come back on his own, he always does,” Quinn shrugged.
Kat glared out the window still steaming. How dare Quinn hint that girls shouldn’t be involved? They could keep Alicia out of it if they wanted, and they probably should with her being younger than any of them. But if they dared to try and stop her, then they were in for a huge surprise. The problem was, now she was also worried about Micah.
Quinn should have just pushed everything to the wayside and called them. He knew they would’ve helped despite their differences. So what if their fathers had killed each other… the sins of the fathers should not fall to their children.
Though she didn’t know it, Warren silently agreed with Kat. Quinn should have contacted them the moment Micah came up missing. He was well aware of the explosive arguments the brothers could have with each other. The disagreements would usually end with Micah storming out and disappearing for days at a time… but not weeks.
Steven and Nick had stayed in touch over the years and Nick kept him up to date on the cougar family. When Micah and Quinn fought, Micah would always tell Steven where he was going if he was going to stay gone more then a day. This time Micah hadn’t left a message with anyone, meaning he wasn’t going to be gone that long.
“After the dangerous vampire nest Steven and I found at the church, no one needs to go out alone tonight. We need to pair up,” Quinn said changing the subject.
Steven felt odd when the image of the girl he’d found and lost that night flashed through his mind. “I think I’ll head back over there tonight and make sure the church is still clean. We could have missed something.”
“I’ll go with Steven,” Nick offered wanting to spend time with his old mischief-making partner.
Kat felt a moment of panic as she silently did the math. Michael would no doubt go with Kane, and she really didn’t want to team up with Kane anyway because he was far from stable. That left Warren and Quinn.
“I’ll go with Warren,” Kat offered.
“No,” Warren corrected her. “We need someone to watch the club.”
“Just because I’m a girl doesn’t mean I can’t hold my own,” Kat warned them, then calmly walked out of the room.
All the men in the room cringed when she softly closed the door behind her.
“Damn,” Nick whispered. “I almost wish she’d slammed the door.”
Steven and Quinn hadn’t seen Kat in a few years but they could remember her temper extremely well. A softly closing door behind an angry Kat was ten times worse than storming out. She was angry… no, she was well beyond the angry point. She was pissed.
“I’m going to call Devon and fill him in on what’s happening,” Warren stated and pulled the cell phone from his front pants pocket. He hated to do this to his brother but if he didn’t get his ass home he might not have much of one to come back to. Pressing a number on the speed dial, he walked toward a different door leading to the adjoining bedroom.
Warren waited while the phone on the other end of the call continued to ring. Finally he heard someone pick it up and a muttered curse followed immediately after.
“What the hell do you want?” Devon asked sounding groggy but happy.
Warren quickly conveyed what had happened since Devon and Envy’s departure not more than twenty-four hours prior.
Devon sighed, “Damn, I leave town and everything goes to shit.”
“I’ll give you a few days then you need to be home.” Warren said. “I also need you to do something for me during those few days.”
“What’s that?” Devon asked sounding much more awake.
“I need you to ask Kriss if he will assist us. Tell him Dean has already signed on but we’re probably going to need him, too. If you have to, get Envy to convince Tabatha that we need Kriss here because from what I hear, if she comes back then the fallen will follow.”
“I’ll see what I can do,” Devon said. “Kriss is a strange one. He walks to his own beat, you know.”
Warren nodded, “Reminds me of someone else I know.”
Devon chuckled, “Okay big bro, I’m not making any promises though.”
“I’ll see you in a few days.” Warren said and hung up the phone.
*****
Quinn noticed Kat in one of the surveillance monitors on the wall. Since everyone was waiting on Warren to finish his phone call, he stepped closer to the monitors like he was bored. Boredom was not what he felt when looking at Kat.
He’d thought she was beautiful years ago, but he’d underestimated what she would become. Over the years, he had kept watch over Kat from a distance. He’d even hired spies to work here at Moon Dance and report back to him… though the last one he’d sent wound up as one of the latest murder victims.
He tensed when a guy walked straight up to where Kat was standing behind the bar and reached for her arm. With the camera angled perfectly, Quinn could tell the guy wasn’t in a friendly mood.
*****
Trevor strode into Moon Dance not knowing if he wanted to tear the place apart or drown his anger in a couple gallons of alcohol. He’d tried to contact Envy but she was obviously hiding from him. Tabatha and Kriss were probably screening their calls right along with her. When he’d asked the all-knowing brother where the hell Envy was, he’d wanted to rip Chad’s head off for being so vague about her location.
Trevor spotted Kat serving drinks behind the same bar where she always worked. He reached out and gripped her arm to get her attention but the look she swung toward him had him backing off and taking a seat.
“The special on tasers has ended. Can I get you something else? Like a life time membership to one of the other bars?” Kat batted her eyelashes at him innocently. Finally looking him in the eyes and seeing the misery swimming around there she shrugged, “Sorry, my true target is out of reach. What can I get you?”
Trevor rubbed his temples with his fingertips. He’d be damned if he ever figured out the opposite sex. It wasn’t like they made it easy. “Some answers would be nice.”
“Like?” Kat prompted.
“Like where my girlfriend is hiding.” There was a slight raise of an eyebrow as he waited.
“Your girlfriend? Did you replace Envy that fast?” Kat smirked when his gaze turned into a silent glare. “Oh, you’re referring to Envy.”
“You think?” Trevor retorted sarcastically.
“All I know is that your ex-girlfriend and my brother took off on a type of honeymoon.” Kat shrugged knowing it was closer to the truth than Envy would think.
“I thought she was with Tabatha and Kriss?” Trevor felt his blood pressure rise dangerously as he wondered if Chad had lied about that.
Kat quickly poured him a shot of Heat hoping it would tame the anger that was flaring within his eyes. “She is. Tabby and Kriss are with them.” She slid the drink in front of him adding, “It’s on the house.”
Watching him down the shot, her lips parted when she noticed the light above them reveal the unshed tears that were trying to gather in his eyes.
Damn, that sucks. She instantly regretted being such an ass to him. She wished Quinn had felt that way about her. It would be nice if he could show some emotion regarding her or what she’d felt for him. Hell, she’d even be able to live with Quinn blowing her off, if he only had the guts to tell her to her face.
Reaching over, she placed a gentle hand on Trevor’s shoulder then thought of a way to distract him and get her a hunting partner at the same time.
Kat smiled as an idea started to form in her head. He’d all but flat out called her a jaguar the other night, so he obviously hadn’t been lying about being a paranormal investigator. If it was an army the boys wanted, then the least she could do was help recruit… right?
“Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m gonna go make myself a good target for the vampires that have been leaving bodies on our doorstep.” She went to walk around the bar but Trevor grabbed her wrist so fast she hadn’t even seen him move. She simply cocked an eyebrow at the restraining hand. “Unless you’re going to help me, you might want to let go.”
“You’re serious?” Trevor asked.
He’d also been leaning toward thinking it was vampires for the mere fact that there seemed to be a baby boom of them right now… oh, and the little fact of half-destroyed fang marks. The downside to this was he hadn’t dealt with vampires before… only during training. He needed a reason to stick around until Envy resurfaced, so why not hang around with the competition's sister?
When Kat nodded and slowly pulled her hand away, Trevor shook his head knowing he would regret this, “Are your brothers going with you?”
“Oh, they’re going all right, but in different directions.” She made a pouty face. “It seems no one wanted to team up with the girl.”
As if to prove her point, Steven and Nick chose that moment to come downstairs and head for the door together. Nick gave Kat a hard stare, hoping she would get the message and do what Warren had asked her to do… stay here where it’s safe. He felt a little easier when she gave him a small smile as if all was forgiven.
Glancing back toward the door leading upstairs Kat nodded, “See, its tag teams tonight except for the odd number… aka me.” She flashed Trevor a big smile as if she didn’t mind. “But that’s okay, I don’t mind hunting on my own.”
Trevor smirked and crossed his arms on the bar top. He leaned forward a little signaling Kat to do the same and whispered two words.
“Not alone,” he shook his head.
Quinn and Warren stopped as they came down into the nightclub. Warren knew they were overstaffed tonight so the bar would be covered but that didn’t stop him from issuing a couple of last minute orders.
While he was doing that, Quinn nearly glared a hole in Trevor. He hadn’t missed the monitor, seeing the way Trevor reached out and grabbed Kat’s wrist… or the emotional dance that had followed. How close was Kat to this man? The way they were acting, it was like they shared some secret that the rest of them weren’t allowed to hear and it grated on his nerves.
“Who is that man with Kat?” Quinn asked when Warren was finished with his com-link.
Warren turned to look seeing Envy’s ex-boyfriend. He figured Kat was telling Trevor that Envy was no longer available, which was a good idea because without Trevor's eye-candy hanging out at the bar, maybe the paranormal investigator would go investigate somewhere else.
“That’s just the local masochist that likes to be tasered by attractive women,” Warren smirked at his own joke. When Quinn didn’t smile, it made him suddenly miss teaming up with Michael. He wondered if it was too late to change partners then deleted the thought. Quinn and Kane teamed up together would be a disaster waiting to happen.
Trevor felt someone staring at him and glanced over toward the door. He was barely able to keep the surprise out of his expression when he saw Quinn Wilder with Warren Santos. If he hadn’t suspected what he did, Trevor would believe the two were involved in the murders and were plotting their next move. But that line of thought was reserved for the dumb asses on the local police force.
“What is the owner of Night Light doing here?” Trevor asked turning back to Kat.
“We are all trying to fix the problem with the vampires,” Kat said as her eyes locked defiantly with Quinn’s. Oh my, he looked a bit rattled. Just to test the theory, she leaned closer to Trevor like she was whispering sweet nothings in his ear, “Do you have any weapons we can use to even the odds?” she winked knowing she’d just gained a partner for the night.
Trevor thought about it for a moment, making a mental checklist of what he did have in his trunk.
“Yeah, I’ve got a few things in the car,” Trevor admitted. “We may have to go back to my place to get some extras I’ve stashed in my gun safe.”
‘Perfect,’ Kat thought to herself.
As Warren and Quinn walked past the bar, Warren was again distracted by the com-link going off in his ear. Quinn didn’t mind the delay. It gave him a moment to find out what was going on with the happy couple at the bar.
Kat saw Quinn coming and quickly moved down the bar so Trevor couldn’t overhear and Quinn couldn’t blow her cover. Reaching for a bottle, she turned around to find Quinn standing between her and the bar.
“Can I help you sir?” Kat asked with a sarcastically raised eyebrow. “You do know there are no patrons allowed behind the bar.”
Quinn took a step toward her even though it was already a tight fit. Placing a hand on the shelf beside her arm, he efficiently trapped her where she was. Seeing her eyes stray over his shoulder to the man she had been talking to… Quinn growled, “Don’t get distracted tonight Kat. I’m warning you. Just because you’re not coming with us to hunt doesn’t mean a vampire can’t just walk in the door of this bar.”
Kat sighed knowing that was the oldest trick in the book. Make someone think they were important by giving them a safe little side job. “I’ll be fine,” she informed him as she ducked under his arm and headed back toward Trevor. “And if I need anything, I already have someone willing to give it to me.” The last was said with a seductive hint in her voice. It was a lie, but Quinn had pissed her off.
She smirked inwardly knowing Quinn thought she meant sexually and Trevor thought she meant on the vampire hunt tonight. Warren chose that moment to finish up and motion for Quinn that he was ready to leave.
Quinn’s lips thinned as he stepped behind Kat and leaned down, almost brushing his lips against her ear, “Have a safe night.” He watched the goose bumps spread down her neck and across her shoulder with satisfaction.
Kat gripped the edge of the bar when her knees went weak. Steadying herself she jumped when Michael’s voice came from right behind her.
“Be careful how hard you pull that cat’s tail, love,” Michael reminded her then nodded at Trevor before going to meet Kane on the roof.
Trevor frowned at the startled look on Kat’s face. “Wasn’t that a vampire?”
“No, that was a gentleman and he’s helping us track the real monsters,” Kat said confidently as she silently added, and he’s the only one that didn’t put up a fuss about me going out tonight. “However, it looks like we’re falling behind. Are you ready to leave?”
*****
Kane was pacing back and forth on the roof, smoking a cigarette and occasionally waving his arms around. He was starting to get antsy waiting for Michael to show up.
“Jaguars and cougars,” he grumbled. “They’re worse than domestic house cats. Everyone has to have domination over the others. I’d rather team up with the Coyotes than deal with this.”
Michael came up over the edge of the roof right behind Kane, catching him in his agitated rant. He frowned when Kane immediately fell silent and glanced to the side acknowledging his presence.
“Damn it Kane, are we going to talk about what’s bothering you or not?” Michael asked as he crossed the distance between them.
“Or not,” Kane responded.
“Fine,” Michael waited knowing Kane hated the silent treatment worse than arguing. He loved it when he was right.
Kane walked toward the edge of the building, putting the distance back between them. He’d forgotten how Michael could sneak up on him… it hadn’t happened in so long. “Raven seemed a little disappointed that his army was lacking at the warehouse… some of his crazies were missing. My guess is the vampires that missed our little death party probably needed a place to spend the day, so I’m going to check it out.”
Michael didn’t say a word when Kane once again dropped off the side of the roof and landed on the pavement below. Just as he stepped to the edge ready to fall as Kane did, something on the roof across the road caught his attention.
Jerking his gaze toward it, Michael caught a glimpse of the shadow as it disappeared. Something about that shadow had seemed familiar but he couldn’t put his finger on it.
Did Kane have a stalker or was he the target? Trying to suppress the feeling for now, he glanced down and smiled as he fell. Although he could no longer see Kane, and he knew the way to the warehouse, instead of following a route he followed the pull of his own blood within Kane’s veins. By the time he made it to the warehouse, he could hear the screams of the vampires Kane had caught off guard.
He paused in the doorway using his enhanced vision to see into the darkness of the huge room. Kane already had two vampires on him and several more thought the tag team tactic was a great idea. Stepping inside, he pulled the door shut behind him and started forward when Kane’s voice echoed.
“Let me handle this. Just don’t let any of them past you,” Kane said a little breathlessly as he twisted the neck of the vampire that was trying to rip his throat out. He jerked when fangs sank into his shoulder, causing him to lose his hold on the first one.
Both of Michael's eyebrows disappeared under his windblown hair but he backed up against the door. “Fine, if you’re sure.” He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back against the metal.
“Well… I’m bored,” he said after a moment and looked toward the soulless vampires that weren’t yet in the fight. “I don’t suppose one of you would do me the honor of running for it?”
When Kane managed to decapitate the first vampire, one on the sidelines turned to do just what Michael had suggested, but Kane's arm reached out and grabbed him by the leather jacket he was wearing. “I don’t think so,” he growled as he pulled it into the fight.
“Didn’t your mommy teach you to share?” Michael smiled as he watched Kane get the hell knocked out of him. He had a feeling Kane needed the pain to help him feel alive right now. He had no doubt Kane would be the last vampire standing and this release of anger and violence might even help to open his friend back up… Therapy at its best.
“My mother was a thief,” Kane answered, leaping up and pushing both of his feet into the chest of a vampire who was running hell bent toward him. The vampire went flying and Kane landed on his back. Kicking his legs up, he was back on his feet in an instant. “She didn’t believe in sharing.”
“We both know your mother was no thief,” Michael chided. “She was a well bred lady.”
Kane was punched in the face and flew backwards. Michael followed the movement as Kane sailed past him and into the very same pile of rubbish Kriss had knocked him into. He sighed when he fully noticed Kane was becoming a bloody mess. Kane rushed into the fight again, tearing the bastards apart as he went.
“Need some help yet?” Michael asked above the sound of bones snapping and feet splashing in puddles that were growing bigger by the minute. He actually laughed when Kane started mumbling one of Syn’s spells but was punched in the mouth before he could finish it.
“No,” Kane growled as he spit blood in the face of the one who had punched him so hard he’d seen stars. Grabbing a piece of wood from a chair they had broken during the fight, he shoved it into the vampire’s mouth so hard that it came out the back of his neck.
Michael made a face but didn’t interfere. He watched closely, counting three vampires down and four to go. Kane was a fearless fighter, more so now than before he was buried alive. Which reminded Michael of the one question he hadn’t asked yet: how did Kane break the binding spell without the blood of his soul mate?
Less than twenty minutes later, Kane collapsed to his knees. He looked through the red haze of his vision toward the sound of clapping that was coming closer. He wiped the blood from his mouth and tried to push himself up from the floor. He laughed when it didn’t work because the floor was so slick with blood.
“And the winner gets a hundred Band-Aids and a good night's rest at Michael’s house.” He bent down and wrapped his arm around Kane’s waist to help him up. They both swayed before he got them balanced.
“You have a house?” Kane asked hoping if he kept talking he wouldn’t pass out before they got there. He knew where Michael was living, but he didn’t want to admit it because that would just remind Michael to be mad at him for staying away. He wasn’t exactly happy with himself over that but he’d felt the need to keep his distance.
“Yeah, I’m all grown up now. Besides, caskets are so yesterday.” He cringed inwardly realizing Kane might not think that joke was very funny. “The place is huge. It used to be some kind of Victorian style art museum until they built an upgraded one in Beverly Hills. Maybe if you moved in with me, the place would feel more like a home.”
“I want a puppy,” Kane stated out of the blue while concentrating on the putting one foot in front of the other routine that usually keeps you from falling.
“You want a what?” Michael asked.
“If we are moving in together, then I get to pick out a puppy.”
Michael had to smile at his old friend. It seemed Kane’s love for canines hadn’t diminished over the decades.
