Kane’s blood filled the cab with a copper scent. She coughed, her mind spinning. “I’ll take you to the hospital.”
“No. Get on the interstate going north. There’s a place we can ride out the storm.” Kane wiped blood off his chest. Grabbing his cell phone, he glanced at the face and grunted. Dialing, he lifted it to his ear. “Hi. Amber has a grandmother who was taken from Pinecone Hospital a couple hours ago, probably by demons. Send scouts out and find her.”
He paused and waited. “I have a plan. No. We have a hell of a storm going on and you can’t land. Find the grandma. I’ll bring Amber in when the storm passes. She needs to be trained first, anyway.” He sighed and listened, hand tapping on the armrest. “No. No training whatsoever. I need some time, Dage.” After listening for another minute, Kane hung up.
Amber’s mind fuzzed at the thought of her grandma with the demons. “We have to find her, Kane.”
“We don’t know where to look.” He eyed the angry black sky. “But our scouts will find her. Dage will send them to the hospital, and then he’ll contact our sources in the demon nation. Chances are they didn’t take her far, and we’ll get her back soon. For now, we need to get to safety.”
The wind rocked the car, and Amber cried out, struggling to stay on the road.
“Pull over.” Kane reached two fingers in his chest and extracted the bullet. His flesh made a squishy sound as the lead sprang free. “Ouch.”
Amber swallowed down bile. “Now that’s just gross.” She rolled the truck to the side of the road, fighting to keep the vehicle stable.
“Switch places with me.” Kane threw the bloodied shirt on the floor.
“No way. You’re injured.” The guy was crazy.
Apparently he was done talking, too. With a sigh, he grabbed her arms and hauled her over his lap and into the passenger seat while sliding toward the driver’s seat. Smooth movements had the truck back on the road.
Blood still coated his chest, but the hole was slowly closing. His defined abs tightened as he settled into the seat.
Amber reached for the seat belt. The storm swirled around them, all white and gray. Her grandmother was probably alone with demons. Actual demons. And Amber sat in the middle of a storm with a vampire who tortured a man as easily as most people picked up bread. No emotion, no regret, just pure coldness in execution. As she eyed the still bleeding immortal, her heart sped up.
Who was Kane Kayrs?
CHAPTER 9
The gorgeous cabin fronted a stunning lake with views from every window. Right now the lake churned dark and angry, reflecting the tumultuous sky as the storm raged all around. Amber finally felt herself relax in the plush surroundings. She’d bet almost anything there was a deep jetted bathtub close—and she was heading to soak.
Kane stalked into the room, having found a dark shirt that fit him perfectly somewhere else in the house. A pink backpack hung over one broad shoulder.
“Nice backpack.”
He nodded. “It must’ve been Janie’s.”
Amber finished surveying the cozy room with its soft furniture and antique blankets. “Your brother lives here?”
“Talen did live here for a very short time.” Kane tapped his cell phone against his hand, his frown deep. “When we went to war with the Kurjans, we consolidated at headquarters, and he moved in with his family.”
“I thought you were at war with the demons.”
“We’re at war with both.” With a disgusted snarl at the cell phone, Kane shoved it in his pocket. “Did you get enough to eat?”
“Yes.” They’d hit a drive-through window of a fast-food joint an hour after leaving Hanson’s. “I’m still full.” She moved to sit on a comfortable cloth sofa, very pleased it wasn’t leather. She hadn’t met Talen, yet she already liked the guy. He was probably a sweet-hearted pacifist like her people. “So, demons fight with mind control. What about Kurjans? What are they like?”
Kane tugged her up. “We don’t have time to sit, darlin’.”
She frowned and stumbled behind him through a beautiful hallway lined with Western oil paintings. What about a quick bath? “About the Kurjans?”
Kane shoved open the door to a home office that had a huge bookshelf lining one wall. “Kurjans have fangs and take blood like vampires. But they’re white-faced, creepy, and the sun fries them.”
The image made her wrinkle her nose. “Like vampires of legends.”
“Yes.” He grabbed two books off the top shelf and revealed a keypad.
“Why are you at war with the Kurjans and the demons?” One would think immortals could freaking get along.
Kane punched in a code. “The Kurjans declared war on us because they want Janie, my niece. She’s been prophesied to change the world, and no, we don’t know how. So when Talen got to her first, war ensued. Plus, they can only mate with enhanced females, just like vampires. So we’re always competing, I guess.”
“And the demons?”
“That’s more personal. We made one of their enemies our friend, and well, the demons are basically assholes.” Kane stepped back as the entire shelf slid to the side.
Guns.
All different kinds, a myriad of guns, lined the two walls. Vests and shields hung from another wall. Knives and swords lined the fourth. Kane grabbed a black vest he tugged over her head, fitting the Velcro tight. Following suit, he began shoving weapons in vest pockets, his waistband, and finally in his boots.
She tried to step away. “What are you doing? We don’t need vests and guns.” She needed a bath, darn it.
“Yes, we do.” Grabbing a green gun, he pressed the cold metal into her hand.
“No,” she protested, trying to shove the weapon away, “I don’t shoot people.”
“You do now,” he said grimly. “Keep ahold of it.” Taking her hand, he yanked the cell phone from his pocket to glare at the screen. “Still no service—probably from the weather.”
As if on cue, the storm increased in force outside, smashing debris into the windows.
Amber jerked her arm free. “Is somebody here? I mean, do you sense demons—or Kurjans? Or whoever else wants you people dead?”
“No.” Kane took her hand and led her around the house, grabbing his coat from the chair to yank over her vest before heading to the back deck. They stepped outside to be bombarded by blowing snow and cold. The sun had disappeared to leave a dark storm in its place. “There’s usually a boat hidden down by the trees. We’ll have to go for it.”
Taking a boat in a storm like that? “You have got to be crazy.”
“No. Crazy would be staying here,” Kane shouted above the storm. “The demons may know about this place, and I guarantee the Kurjans do. I’d be very surprised if the Kurjans don’t have satellite surveillance on Talen’s old home.”
She tried to balk, but his stride didn’t slow. The icy snow ripped across her skin. Freezing air dried out her eyes. His coat dragged on the ground—way too long for her. They slugged through the ice-covered snow on the deck to at least a foot of powder on the small lawn leading down to the churning lake.
Glancing behind her, she took one last, longing look at the luxurious cabin. So much for the jetted tub.
The storm raged around them and smashed frozen pinecones into their legs. Kane kept his stride steady, his mind on the human. She stumbled again, and he turned to shield her from the storm.
Her pale skin was too delicate for the angry wind. Tucking her close, he placed a gentle kiss on her forehead. “We’ll be safe soon.”