I kept my gun out and held up, even if holding it and my magic so close together was painful.
This stairwell was narrow and dark. I knew he could see in the dark, but I wasn’t feeling so great about it. However, knowing it was a straight shot, I knew I wouldn’t get lost. I was more worried about someone following, but so far so good.
We reached the basement and some moonlight came through the high windows. I scouted everything and then went to the door. It was a non-descript wood creation at the very back of the building, overlooked by most unless they were looking for it. I checked to make sure that Ben was still with me and then I opened the door, using my aching eyes to peer out.
I saw a muzzle flash in the darkness and just barely slammed the door before a bullet drove itself into the door frame. My heart tried to crawl out of my mouth but instead a stream of curses that would make a sailor brush came free.
Right as they started banging on the door there, I heard them back at the metal door that led from the stairwell.
“Get down!” I shouted and then dropped my gun, putting my hands out to either side—one toward the wooden door and one toward the metal. I rarely had reason to stretch my powers this much, but desperate times... Electricity shot like lightning from both hands, striking bolts into the cement of one side and the metal frame of the other.
The end result was a blocked wooden door, and a melted metal frame.
I passed out.
When I woke, it took me a moment to remember where I was...and then I sat up like a shot. It was so fast that my head immediately swam and I fell back, only to realize that my head had been on his legs. Blinking up at him, I sat up again—this time more slowly—and looked around. We were still in the basement, and the doors were still blocked.
“You weren’t out for long,” he answered the question I hadn’t asked. “If they’re still trying to get in, it’s been quietly. I haven’t heard anything for a while now.”
I rubbed my eyes, which still hurt, and then dug my phone out of my pocket. I realized it hadn’t broken when I fell. Unfortunately, there was no signal down here either. I knew I had gotten my call out, but where were they?
“I can’t tell if this means I’m good at my job or really bad,” I quipped with a half-smirk, rubbing my neck. I looked around at the small basement. There were two windows, less than twelve inches high, toward the very top. I wondered why they hadn’t tried breaking them in, but then I remembered how many plants were growing around the foundation. Maybe they couldn’t see them.
“I’m not dead,” he replied. “Or at least not in a more permanent state of death. That’s something.”
I chuckled. It was something.
I heard the sirens about fifteen minutes later, right about the time I began doubting I’d actually talked to anyone in the first place. I heard some shouting, then someone tried to open the door, and then someone banged on the windows. I grabbed my gun, just in case, but heard my boss’s voice shouting through a few minutes later and let out a breath of relief.
“How well can a vampire move a pile of fractured cement?” I asked him with a tired smirk.
Despite their best attempts, Ben Collins made it to court and gave his testimony. The defense attorney tried to trip him up, but they really do give you a Cool, Calm and Collected spell when you become a vampire. He tripped over nothing and just glided through, totally together. I still didn’t know him that well, but I couldn’t help but feel a little proud.
Ben would remain under guard until the trial ended, but we were betting that LOHAV wouldn’t try as hard now that he had testified. Revenge was an issue, but a little less of one. We moved him to a new safe house, and there was an investigation—separate to my protective detail—to find out how they’d learned the two addresses. We suspected a leak, but that was my boss’s problem...until they showed up at our door again.
While Ben sat at the corner of the couch reading a book, I sat at the small dining table with my boss.
“So, do I get that DPA wiped off my record for a job well done?” I asked with a half-smile as I nodded back at Ben. I glanced over and saw him lift his eyes, smiling over the edge of the open novel.
“Yes,” my boss replied, to my surprise. “Only to add two more.”
“Oh, come on!” I exclaimed. She gave me The Look. I sighed and then smiled weakly. “At least I didn’t shoot anyone?”
Psyched
by Abigail Owen
CHAPTER 1
How had she gotten herself in yet another rough situation? Maybe she was a jinx? Or an all-things-evil magnet? Try to be a good person, help out my fellow man, keep my nose clean, and all that. And what do I get for it? A bucket full of trouble everywhere I go.
Quinn’s mind spun on a continuous loop as she sat in the high-traffic coffee shop across the street from where she worked, waiting to meet her rescuers. Outside the large windows, New York City bustled by, all intent on getting where they were going for the workday. Many were sweating in the summer heat. Inside, she tuned out all the conversations, both spoken and mental, with practiced ease.
What had her on edge wasn’t the noise in her head, but the conversation she’d overheard at work yesterday. People—ones like her—needed help. Fast. And then she needed to disappear, or risk ending up like them. She checked the door again and glanced at her watch. Where were the people she was meeting? They should’ve been here by now.
She tried not to shift as she sat in the green pleather seat, although her back was killing her. After spending the night in the cheapest, most out-of-the-way hotel she could find, with a granite boulder masquerading as a mattress, she’d concluded sleeping in an alleyway would probably have been more comfortable and about as safe. She’d try that out tonight. Maybe an alley by a clothes store, because she was already sick of the black pencil skirt and red blouse she’d been wearing for two days now.
“Quinn Ridley.”
She glanced up at the deeply masculine voice and sucked in a sharp breath. She’d been sent his picture, of course, so she would be able to identify him today. While her phone had shown her a man not remotely her type—dark hair longer than she preferred, beard hiding what she suspected was a highly masculine face with hard planes and jaw, and a deadly serious demeanor—the image hadn’t quite captured how tall he was, or the breadth of his shoulders and leanness of his body. Or, for that matter, the air of utter confidence and danger radiating from him, or the piercing blue eyes which seemed to see into her soul.
Daniel Cain.
Even his name instilled a strange combination of trepidation and confidence.
Quinn crossed her legs as a kick of unexpected attraction ricocheted through her. Damned inconvenient timing.
“Excuse me?”
She blinked up at the frowning man. Had she spoken that last bit out loud? She cleared her throat. “Yes. I’m Quinn Ridley.”
“May we join you?” He indicated the other seats at her table.
Oh! He had brought friends. How had she missed them? Shock bounced around inside her, joining the slow burn of attraction. Usually she was more observant.
When she’d called Delilah—the woman who’d placed her in her current job—for help, Delilah had mentioned Cain would arrive with a team. His friends were equally large, muscled, and intimidating. And equally hot, except her body wasn’t interested in them. All three men were dressed in pants and button-down shirts rather than the tactical gear they’d sported in the picture provided. Delilah always had the most interesting contacts.