I’ve got you.
Tears slid from Kim’s eyes.
The cab rolled away. She heard the squeak of the tires.
No, no, she wasn’t going to be lucky again.
Darkness.
Chapter 13
“ We’ve got a problem,” Colin announced as he stormed into McNeal’s office. “Our vic-uh, captain?”
Danny McNeal was standing close, too close, to Smith. And his hands were on her shoulders. And-
Sonofabitch. Had those two been making out? In the station?
Smith straightened her shoulders and pulled away from McNeal. “Right. That should be all you need to know about the Jamison case.”
The who?
McNeal nodded, the light gleaming on his completely bald head. “We’ll finish the briefing later.”
Aw, shit.
Did they think he was buying this crap?
Smith marched past him, held his gaze, and then gave him a quick wink.
His own eyes widened. Smith? Winking at him? For a very tense while there, the woman had all but ran whenever she saw him.
Maybe her visits with Emily were paying off .
Maybe she wasn’t so afraid of monsters anymore. Not that he blamed her, after the hell she’d lived through.
“Detective.”
Colin realized he was staring after Smith and that McNeal sounded pissed.
What else was new?
“Shut the door and tell me what the hell is goin’ on.”
Colin kicked the door closed with his heel. “Kim Went disappeared from her hospital room about twenty minutes ago.”
“Fuck.” McNeal dropped into his chair. “Willingly or-”
“Don’t know.” For her sake, he sure hoped the escape had been her idea.
The captain’s dark brows rose. “The press know?”
“Holly Storm was there when the cop on duty…ah…discovered Kim’s absence.”
“Of course she was.” A hard sigh. “Storm’s every-damn-where these days. If there’s a murder, her pretty face is right on the scene and she’s shoving a microphone at my cops.”
Yes, that was the general status quo for her.
“Get a team out. Start canvassing the area and get your ass over to Went’s house.”
A nod. Colin turned to go-
“Gyth, do me a favor.” McNeal’s voice. Quieter than he’d ever heard before.
Colin glanced back at him.
“Forget what you think you saw in this office, got me? Smith’s a lady, and I won’t have her being gossiped about by the cops in my division.”
The bastard cared about her. Colin wouldn’t have been more surprised if McNeal had shifted in front of him right then. “Ah, right captain.”
“I mean it, Gyth. Not one fuckin’ word. Or you-and your pretty-boy partner-will find your asses sitting desk duty for the next month.”
Colin rolled his shoulders. He really wasn’t the threat-taking type. “Smith’s not the kind of woman you can play around with.” No, Smith wasn’t about play. He knew because the lady reminded him a lot of his Doc. Same quick intelligence, same core of steel that had let both women survive nightmares.
“I’m not playin’.” Dead quiet. Deadly quiet. “Forget what you saw.”
“Don’t worry, captain. I’ve never been much for station gossip.” Not exactly big into fraternizing with the others. Brooks was close to him, but that was all. He couldn’t risk the other cops finding out his secret.
He reached for the doorknob.
“We both know Went won’t be at her house.”
Damn right, but checking was protocol.
“When you’re done, head over to Paradise. She’s one of Niol’s. He might have a lead on where you can find her.”
One of Niol’s? Now just how did the captain know that?
Colin wrenched the door open.
A low chuckle sounded behind him. “Storm’s not the only one with sources in this town.”
Niol met with three demons at Paradise. A woman with brown hair and gorgeous blond highlights, a man with tattoos over most of his body, and another guy in a perfectly pressed three-piece suit. Holly listened to Niol give them orders about Kim and she hoped they’d find the woman.
Alive.
When the demons cleared out, after sparing her more than a few curious glances, the silence in Paradise seemed deafening.
Alone with Niol.
If you knew the things I’d done, you wouldn’t let me touch you.
Holly figured they should probably talk. Try to clear the air more between them. There were too many secrets, on both sides. But as she stood there, her hands at her sides, her eyes on him, talking, well, that really wasn’t her priority.
“They’ll check back within the hour and let me know what they find.” He walked behind the bar. Poured a shot of whiskey.
He downed the liquid in one gulp. “Patience has an in with most of the demons in Atlanta. They all owe her or they want to fuck her. So if any of them know anything about your missing girl, they’ll tell her.”
They all owe her or they want to fuck her.
“Do you?” She asked quietly as her heels clicked across the floor. Being in Paradise now, it seemed surreal. No vampires. No witches.
Just them.
“Do I what?” His fingers were clenched tight around the glass.
“Want to fuck her?” That bitter taste in the back of her mouth was jealousy. Patience James was a looker. Could have passed for a succubus. Tall. Ballerina thin. Model pretty.
And a demon. A strong one, just like Niol.
“I already did.”
Her eyes narrowed. The glass in his hand shattered.
Niol blinked and looked down. “Damn, love, didn’t know you had that in you.”
Neither did she. Hell, had she really done that?
And how had she done it?
He shook his hand and shards of glass littered the bar top. “Guess this is the part where I say she meant nothing to me or some shit like that, huh?”
“Did she?”
A shrug. “I like Patience, always have. The woman’s cutthroat, but loyal.”
Not exactly a description of a one-night stand. “Then why aren’t you with her now?” Why are you with me?
He pressed his hands into the marble top, ignoring the broken glass. “Why aren’t you with that prick PhD?”
“Because the prick screwed around on me with some blonde looking for an easy A.” Her own hands fisted on her hips. “And while I’m not cutthroat, I am real big into loyalty.”
A grunt. “So you don’t want the asshole back?”
“No. No. I want-” Her lips pressed together. Maybe she’d better bite back that answer for the time being.
“What? What do you want?” He jumped over the counter. Jumped over it in one wild leap.
Okay. That was impressive.
Niol grabbed her arms and jerked her close. “What do you want?”
Too close. She could feel his breath brush over her face. Feel the hard edge of his flesh against her. The straining ridge of his arousal jutting against her hip.
And his eyes…she could see herself in those eyes. A desperate reflection.
But she wasn’t the only desperate one. She could see that in his eyes, too.
“Who do you want?”
“You.” Asshole. Demon. Niol.
The devil with the heart he fought to keep hidden. But she was learning the truth about him. One slow moment at a time.
“And I fucking want you.” He kissed her. With lips and tongue. With hands stroking and taking. With body pressing and yearning.
The same way she kissed him.
“Not Patience.” The words were growled against her mouth. “She isn’t you.”
Holly raised her lashes. She caught his jaw. “She better not be in your bed again, either, demon. I’m not into sharing.” Zack could tell him that. The jerk had actually looked afraid when she’d torn into him that morning so long ago. He’d stumbled away from her, eyes wide, sputtering an apology.
“Good. Because if you look at another man, if you touch him, you’ll find out just how dangerous I can be.”
“Idiot.” The word tumbled out. “Who would compare to you?”
He smiled at her. Smiled and nearly broke her heart because that curve of his lips-it was real.