Red gave me a tight nod. “Works for me. I’ll just—” She winced, sucking in air through her teeth, and bent forward a little, her hand going reflexively to her belly.
I closed the gap in an instant and put my arm around her. “Tess, you okay?”
She nodded quickly, but her eyes were a little confused. “Yeah, I’m good.”
I gave her a disapproving look as she straightened. “When did this start?”
“Earlier today,” she told me, her voice just above a whisper. “It’s nothing, though. I’m sure everything’s fine.”
I glanced around us to make sure none of the other agents on the scene were listening too closely. “We have no idea what your pregnancy will be like,” I reminded her. “Considering Nate’s not really a Tale, there could be complications we can only guess at. The minute he gets back, Nate’s taking you to the hospital to get checked out. Understood?”
When she met my gaze I saw fear there—something I’d never seen in her eyes before. Even so, Tess Little wasn’t the kind of person to admit she needed help. She opened her mouth to protest, but I cut her off. “Just go! I got this.” I laughed a little. “I mean, seriously—the guy’s already dead. What could possibly go wrong?”
Chapter Two
I sipped at my coffee and cranked up the heater in the van as I watched the Investigators pack up their equipment. They’d finished photographing the entire crime scene and were loading the body into the van to send back to the lab for further examination. Nothing to do now but pack it in and call it a night.
“I’m surprised he hasn’t showed up,” Alex McCain mumbled, pulling his gloves back on as he prepared to leave the warmth of my van. Why he’d felt the need to keep me company was beyond me. He hadn’t really said a word the entire two hours we’d sat there together.
“Sorry?” I asked, not really needing further explanation. I knew who he was talking about.
“The Spider,” Alex said. “He’s been popping up all over the place lately, coming in, kicking some ass, and disappearing before the Ordinary cops arrive. The New Orleans office said he took out a couple of Tales down their way, though, so he appears to be an equal opportunity ass kicker. It’s like something out of a comic book.”
I grunted. “Comic book heroes don’t get themselves killed by butting in where they don’t belong,” I mumbled. “The guy’s a vigilante and he’s breaking the law just as much as the criminals he’s taking down. Don’t romanticize it.”
Alex shrugged, then hopped out of the van and made his way to the unmarked sedan he’d driven to the scene. He lifted a hand and offered me a cautious smile. I forced a smile in return, still feeling the sting of humiliation from my earlier tirade. As soon as he drove around the corner, I blew out a relieved breath and put the van into gear.
Thank God that was over.
I was just pulling away from the curb when I caught a sudden movement out of the corner of my eye. I slammed on the brakes and threw the van into park, then squinted into the darkness where the light of the street lamps didn’t quite reach. As I watched, the shadows shifted, darting to the left and slithering along the bricks before vanishing into the alleyway.
“What the hell?” I muttered. Without stopping to think, I hopped out of the van and hurried down the alley, my eyes searching for the false shadows. Only as my hair began to rise on the back of my neck and a heavy feeling of being watched descended upon me did I stop to consider what I might be walking into. “Oh, shit.”
I whirled around to race back to my van, but slid to a halt. Blocking my path was a woman with long blond hair who was clothed only in a cocktail dress and stiletto heels, the cold obviously not bothering her in the least. As I stared at the woman, her lips curled in a mirthless smile, revealing the tips of her fangs. I immediately recognized that bloodthirsty snarl from the dead man’s thoughts. Not waiting around to be a midnight snack, I spun and sprinted toward the other end of the alley. It was blocked by a chain-link fence, but I scaled it in a matter of seconds and dropped down on the other side. Only to find her companion waiting for me.
The brunette hissed at me like a cat, baring her fangs. She lunged, her hand outstretched to take hold of my throat. At the last instant, I sidestepped her attack and swung my fist, catching her hard on the side of the head and using her own momentum to take her down. Then I dropped, driving my knee into the back of her neck. I heard an ominous crack and she screeched with rage, flailing around, her limbs no longer under her control. I scrambled back to my feet, but a sudden impact knocked me to the ground, sending me sliding across the snow-slick pavement. Before I could scramble to my feet, someone grabbed my arm and twisted. I cried out as the bones snapped and white-hot pain shot through my wrist.
The blonde launched herself up, dragging me with her as if I weighed nothing, and hurled me toward the side of the building. I grunted as I crashed into the bricks and dropped, a pile of cardboard boxes breaking my fall.
I cradled my broken wrist against my chest as I rolled up to my knees, but the blonde was already on me, grabbing me by the hair and jerking my head up. She crouched down next to me and hissed in my ear, baring her fangs, preparing to plunge them into my neck and drain me dry. I whimpered and cringed away, forcing her to lean with me. Feeling her balance shift, I brought my good arm up behind her neck and flipped her over my shoulder. The second she hit the ground, I drove the heel of my palm into her nose. She howled in pain, but I didn’t wait around to go at her again—there was no way I could take down a vampire on my own. The best I could hope for was a little time to escape to someplace with lots of people around, where it was less likely she’d attack.
I glanced over my shoulder as I ran, discouraged to see she was already on her feet and prowling toward me. There was no need for her to sprint after me—if she wanted to catch up to me, all she had to do was pour on her vampire speed and I was a goner. Worse yet, the brunette had recovered from her partial paralysis and was joining in. They stalked forward slowly, their heads lowered between their shoulders, their eyes blazing red with feral light, obviously done screwing around.
“Shit,” I spat, hugging my arm closer and running faster. My snow boots slipped on the ice and snow, but I kept my footing and made a break for the opening of the alley. Then suddenly the brunette was in front of me, looking righteously pissed off.
I spun around to dart back in the other direction, but the blonde was right behind me. She grinned, knowing our little game of cat and mouse was officially over.
Son of a bitch.
I glanced around, searching frantically for some escape, but it was useless. Unless I suddenly discovered some latent ability to leap tall buildings in a single bound, I was well and truly hosed. I pressed my lips together and squared off. If I was going down, I wasn’t going to make it easy. They’d have to earn my blood.
“Come on, you bitch!” I growled at the blonde. “You want a piece of me? Bring it on!”
She leaped forward like she was on a spring. My eyes went wide, my courageous last stand suddenly not such a brilliant idea. But a split second later, she jerked back with a screech, her hand clawing at a small black arrow lodged in her shoulder. I heard an answering screech from the brunette and swung around in time to see her head snap back as an arrow pierced her eye.
What the hell?
There was a scuffling noise behind me that brought my head around in time to see the blonde struggling with a figure dressed in black fatigues and wearing a black ski mask. As I watched, he swung his fist, catching her jaw with a right hook, then slamming her chin with a left uppercut that knocked her on her ass. In the next instant, he had a knee on her chest and snatched from his ammo belt something that looked like a railroad stake. The blonde didn’t even have time to react as he drove it down into the center of her chest.
I hadn’t realized I was holding my breath until it burst from me with a gasp. But my relief was short-lived. An arm came around my throat, cutting off my air. I drove my elbow into my attacker’s ribs, but it barely fazed her. I grabbed her arm and tucked my chin down to take some of the pressure from my esophagus, then drove the edge of my snow boot down along her exposed shin, making her howl in pain.
“Get down!”
My eyes darted toward the sound of the man’s voice. He stood over the body of the blonde, a small crossbow aimed at the brunette. I bit down on the vampire’s arm as hard as I could, drawing her tainted blood. When she roared with rage, her grip loosening for a fraction of a second, I dropped, rolling out of the way as the man in black fired the crossbow. The arrow struck the center of the woman’s chest. Her eyes went wide for a fraction of a second before she crumpled into a permanently dead heap.
So this was the infamous Spider . . .
I totally took back everything I’d said about the guy being no better than the criminals he brought down. He was my new BFF. I was tempted to see if he was a bit parched after the ass kicking he’d just doled out and maybe wanted to join me for a super stiff drink at Ever Afters, but then the mind-numbing pain in my wrist reminded me I probably had other business to tend to first.
Out of breath, I scooted myself back with my good arm until I could lean against one of the dumpsters. My adrenaline left me in a rush, and I was suddenly completely exhausted. I closed my eyes and let my head fall back.
“Are you hurt?”
My eyes snapped open, my stomach clenching painfully. There was something so familiar about that voice. . . . “What?”
My rescuer squatted down in front of me. “Are you all right?”
I blinked at him, suddenly experiencing a serious case of déjà vu. The man’s tone was rough, clipped, and there was no hint of mischief or roguish charm. Still . . .
“My wrist is broken,” I said a little breathlessly. “But it’s already healing. I’ll be fine by tomorrow.”
He gave me a tight nod and started to rise, but then seemed to reconsider and resumed his crouch before me. He studied me for a long moment, giving me a good glimpse of his eyes, but they were in shadow, obscuring the color, and he was completely on his guard. There was no way I was getting in.
“You did good, doll,” he said finally. “Made my job one helluva lot easier.”
I felt my cheeks going warm at the praise. “Thanks.”
His eyes narrowed, crinkling a little behind his ski mask and giving me the impression that he was grinning. “But you know, you shouldn’t be out here alone at night, even if you can kick ass,” he admonished. Then he reached up and twisted one of my ringlets around his gloved index finger and pulled gently before letting it spring back into place. “I’d hate to see harm come to a girl as pretty as you.”
My eyes went wide. Holy shit. “Nicky Blue?” I gasped. “You’re the Spider?” He jumped to his feet and took a few quick steps before I found my voice to cry out, “Wait! Nicky! It’s okay—I know you!”
He halted midstride and shook his head. “No, you don’t,” he said over his shoulder. “No one does. Not anymore.”
I scrambled awkwardly to my feet, my knees still shaky from my encounter with the vampires, but when I looked up again he was gone. I turned a full circle, searching for him in the shadows, but he had slipped away as silently and mysteriously as he’d come. I let out a disappointed sigh.
“You’re wrong, Nicky Blue,” I announced to the darkness. “Nobody knows you better than I do.”
Chapter Three
“How’s Red?” I asked Nate from my seat in the back of the ambulance as the FMA medic wrapped my wrist to help it finish healing properly.
“False alarm,” Nate told me, his relief easy to read in his voice in spite of his usual calm tone. “But they’re keeping her overnight for observation, just to be sure.”
I wiggled my fingers a little for the medic to show him I could still move them. “Sorry to drag you out again tonight, Nate. I know you’d rather be at her side.”
“Gran’s with her,” he said, neither confirming nor denying my supposition. “I’ll head back as soon as we’re finished here.”
I nodded, watching the FMA cleanup crew doing their thing for the second time tonight. Alex was running the show in Red’s absence, and doing a damned good job of it from what I could tell. He was just directing the photographers to pack it in and let the team bag the bodies when the sound of an approaching vehicle brought all of our heads around.
“What the hell is he doing here?” Nate mumbled.
I groaned, then offered my medic a tight smile and nod. “Thanks, Barry. That should do it.” Then, steeling myself, I hopped down from the back of the ambulance to go greet our visitor.
“There’s nothing for you here, Spalding,” I spat, my lack of enthusiasm at seeing the Ordinary punctuated by the throbbing in my wrist.
Ian Spalding offered me a patronizing grin as he slammed the door of his black Lincoln. “Well, if it isn’t Trish Muffet,” he drawled. “It’s been a long time.”
“Not long enough,” I snapped. “I thought we had an agreement.”
He gave me another smile, this one the style of smirk unique to those so completely confident of victory, it costs them nothing to be cordial. “The Agency stands by that agreement,” he assured me, inclining his head a little. “However, I’m afraid you’re the one overstepping bounds this time.”