Читать книгу Shadow's Caress - Patti O'Shea - Страница 5

Cass drove through the darkened streets of L.A., her hands clenched around the steering wheel. One of the police officers who’d responded to the shooting had gotten her car started, but that was the only good thing that had happened since she left the store tonight.

What did she do now?

The vampire hunters wanted her dead and she knew how they worked. They’d be watching her apartment. If she were stupid enough to go there, they’d pick her off. Cass had no clue what she’d done to anger them, but she’d recognized Quentin as the shooter.

The name made her shudder. She’d had one run-in with him when she’d been part of that group, but that encounter was enough for Cass to realize the guy was psycho. And he was after her. On orders. It had to be on orders because he was a follower, not a leader. It wasn’t comforting news. The organization wouldn’t stop until the mission was completed.

Turning to her friends was out. None of them were aware she’d been a hunter and she couldn’t tell them. Besides, it would put them in danger. Her former coworkers didn’t care about collateral damage and the biggest risk any of her friends had faced was driving on the freeways.

The police weren’t an option, either. What could she say? Hey, you’re wrong about it being a random drive-by shooting. That guy with the gun? Yeah, he and I were both vampire hunters. Sure. They’d think she was a whack job.

Maybe if she were a better liar, she could tell the cops some story and they’d believe it. Problem was she sucked at lying. She always had.

Cass eased the car to stop at a traffic light and tried to beat back the panic. She had nowhere to go, no one she could ask for help, and to make things extra difficult, she didn’t have much money. Her emergency credit card wasn’t an option. It could be traced and the hunters had the resources to do that.

Another car pulled beside her and her anxiety level skyrocketed. When the light went green, Cass hit the accelerator so fast, her sedan lurched into motion. She had to get a hold on herself. If she let her fear get the upper hand, she’d make it easier for the hunters. They’d have—

“Where are we going?” a voice asked from beside her.

Cass cut herself off midscreech and jerked her gaze to the passenger seat. Her ghost was back. Relief flooded her.

“Watch the road!” he ordered.

His urgency registered. She yanked the steering wheel, bringing the car back into its lane and narrowly missing the oncoming vehicle. Cass got a long honk for her efforts. “You scared the hell out of me!”

“Sorry.”

He didn’t sound sorry, but she took a deep breath and let it go. She had bigger problems to worry about. “Go away. I don’t have time for you.”

“You don’t really want me to leave.”

“Yes, I do. Really.”

“If I do as you ask, who helps keep you alive, Cassandra?”

“Cass. I don’t like being called Cassandra. And right, like I’m supposed to believe you want to help me. I killed you, remember?” A sudden realization dawned on her. “You’re here for revenge, aren’t you?”

“No. In your case, retribution would be wasted energy. You were young and I’ve seen no hatred in you. My assumption was that you obeyed orders, nothing more.” He didn’t wait for her to respond before continuing, “Besides, I’m not dead.”

Relief flooded her. Maybe she was being stupid, but Cass believed him about not wanting to hurt her. And he had saved her life earlier. Then the last thing he said registered. She shook her head, but kept her gaze on the road. “You are dead. I read about ghosts and you guys hang around because you believe you’re still alive, but you’re not. Trust me. I drove that stake into your heart.”

He was quiet for a long moment and Cass was torn between hope that he’d believe her and go away and fear that he’d do exactly that. At least when he was around, she wasn’t on her own, and right now, the last thing she wanted was to be alone.

“What were you taught about killing vampires?”

Cass didn’t get why he was asking, but she didn’t see any reason not to answer. “That there are four things I had to do—stake you, put garlic in your mouth, behead you and bury your body separately from your head.”

“And did you follow all those steps?”

She swallowed hard. The only time she’d chopped off a vampire’s head had been while her trainer had been watching. It had taken her forever and she’d had to stop to puke. More than once. Even now, the memory made bile rise in her throat.

“No,” Cass admitted quietly. She sounded normal and that was good. “But what difference does it make? Beheading vampires is an old wives’ tale and it’s not easy to cut off heads, you know.”

“As slight as you are, I imagine not.”

He shifted in the seat and Cass glanced over briefly. The translucence of his body threw her when he sounded so … normal, but he was more solid than he’d been in the parking lot after the shooting.

The ghost licked his lips and the memory of his mouth on her throat made Cass heat up. Damn, she was glad the car was dark and even happier that she had to watch the road otherwise he might figure out how easily he aroused her.

“The thing is,” he said, and she heard reluctance in his voice, “beheading isn’t a myth. A stake alone doesn’t kill a vampire.”

Right. “I don’t know how to break this to you, but you’re a ghost and you have to die to be one those.”

“Wrong. I’m a shade—a shadow, if you prefer—not a ghost.”

Cass frowned. “What does that mean?”

“It means I’m in limbo. I’ve been in limbo for two years, and in that time, you’re the only person who’s been able to see me or hear me.”

A hint of an accent crept into his voice. English, she thought, and Cass realized she knew nothing about him. All her boss had told her that day was where to find the vampire. “What’s your name?” she blurted out.

The weight of his gaze felt heavy, but his tone was neutral when he answered. “Malachi James.”

She bit her lip and tightened her hands on the wheel. “You’re thinking I should have known who I was killing.”

“No, I’m not.” Their gazes locked briefly when she glanced over and he must have read her confusion. “It’s easier to commit murder when the target is impersonal. A name makes me real. And you did not kill me, no matter how much you insist otherwise.”

Murder. The word made her cringe. “I’m sorry. Really, truly, totally sorry, okay? I wish I could have a do-over, but we don’t get those.”

“In this case you do—in a fashion.”

The only way to change things was to go back to that day, but that was impossible. Wasn’t it? “Vampires can time travel?”

His chuckle sent a shiver of awareness down her spine. Why did he have to be so sexy? She wanted to write off her desire as vampire charisma, but she couldn’t. It was him. “Didn’t you ever learn it’s not nice to laugh at someone?”

“Sorry.”

“Yeah, I heard that before and you weren’t sincere then, either.”

Malachi put his hand on her leg and squeezed gently. That sent more tingles through her, but it also felt like an apology. A real one, not that offhand sorry he’d tossed out. His hand stayed above her knee and she reached down, covering it with her own. Cass half expected her fingers to pass through his, but they didn’t and his heat made her palm burn.

She couldn’t let the way she responded to him sway her into doing something stupid. “Look, I’d like to help you, but I can’t. I have my own problem to deal with.” Problem—that was an understatement.

“I know.” He gave her another squeeze. “But if we work together, we can solve both our difficulties.”

Cass put her hand back on the steering wheel and steeled herself against Malachi’s touch. “That sounds good in theory, but aside from pushing me to the ground, how can you help me?”

“For a start, I know why they want you dead.”

That stunned her enough that Cass nearly missed the light going yellow. She slammed on the brakes and gaped at him. His expression was serious, his blue eyes urged her to trust him, and she wanted to. Wearing faded jeans and a black T-shirt, he looked like some guy her own age, but appearances were deceiving. Malachi wasn’t twentysomething, he was a vampire, and for all she knew, he might be thousands of years old.

“How can you have that information?”

“I walked into their headquarters and searched for everything I could find about you.” When she didn’t reply he added, “You’re the only one who can see me, remember?”

His fingers moved higher on her thigh, and if Cass didn’t need to keep her foot on the brake, she would have let her legs fall open to give him more room. She was such a sap. Malachi was trying to divert her…and was succeeding. Reaching down, she grabbed his hand and put it back at her knee.

“If you want me to believe you, don’t use my attraction to you against me.”

It wasn’t as if she could deny what he did to her. Every time he’d touched her over the last four days, she responded. He’d have to be a complete moron not to register that.

“That wasn’t my intent. And the need goes both ways, don’t doubt that.”

“Because you haven’t had sex in two years.”

The light turned green and Cass was grateful for the distraction. His gaze had made her feel vulnerable.

Malachi took his hand off her leg and crossed his arms over his chest. “I could have stopped you that day, you know. Vampires are much faster than any human. Much stronger, too. If I’d reacted as soon as I awoke, you wouldn’t have stood a chance. But when my eyes opened, they met yours and the surge of desire was powerful enough to blind me to your intent. By the time I saw the stake, it was too late to grab it.”

Unsure what to say to that, Cass kept quiet. She wanted to believe him—maybe a little too much—and that made her wary. “Why did you want information about me?” she asked softly.