Slayer's Kiss: Shadow Slayer, Book 1 (27 page)

Tray pushed the glossy paper toward Kara and flipped it over. Kara was careful not to show a visible reaction to what she saw. She liked to think of herself as a professional of sorts and wanted Tray to see her that way, too.

Abbey had no such aspirations. She whimpered and her head listed to the side. “Oooh. That’s not right.”

Tray frowned as if he was fighting with himself, then stood and walked over to Abbey’s stool. He took her red head in his hands and leaned her cheek against his broad chest. “Shhh. I’m sorry, babe. I know how you hate the gruesome stuff.” He ran a hand over her hair and tilted his chin down to rest on her head. “Try to block it out.”

Kara could see Abbey’s grimace slowly turn into a Cheshire cat smile. Abbey buried her head deeper in Tray’s shirt and linked her hands behind his back. “Just hold me for a while, please. I need to give my stomach a minute to calm down.”

Kara almost rolled her eyes but held off for her best friend’s sake. Abbey was in ecstasy. “The sun is the same carving as last time.” Kara pointed to the curved lines coming off the circle. “But it looks like he added a…
dagger
down the middle.”

“Yeah, a knife,” Tray said over Abbey’s head. “That’s what it looks like to me, too. Does it mean anything to you?”

Jaxon returned with Kara’s drink and set it in front of her. His face was a stiff mask, showing no expression as he glanced over at Abbey’s bowed head and Tray’s hand smoothing back her hair. “Is Abigail ill?”

“She doesn’t like blood, or even pictures of blood,” Kara explained. “She’s always been that way.”

Jaxon nodded approvingly. “She’s delicate.”

“Yeah, like a
flower
.” Tray pulled Abbey closer still, like he could keep the rest of the world from noticing how beautiful she was.

Jaxon glanced down at the photo of the dead woman’s lower half, and his brow wrinkled. “What do you have there?”

Tray jarred Abbey’s head when he quickly reached out for the picture, but Abbey squeaked and clung tight. “You don’t need to worry about it, Jaxon. That’s something between Kara and me.”

“Jaxon knows everything about me, Tray.” Even more about Kara’s species than Kara herself. “We don’t have to hide things from him.”

“Fine.” Tray smacked the picture back down on the table. “Does it mean anything to you? Can you like…I don’t know…
touch it
and tell me something about the guy who did it?”

Kara rolled her eyes, but she felt bad. “Where are you getting these ideas? Too much TV?”

Tray let out a deep sigh. “Well, what
can
you do? We’re neck deep in a shitstorm and sinking.”

Kara glanced over at Jaxon, surprised to see him studying the photo so closely. “What is it? Do you recognize something?” Even Abbey peeked up from her spot on Tray’s chest to see what was going on.

“No,” Jaxon said with finality—too much finality to put Kara at ease. “I’ve never seen this mark before.”

“Shit,” Tray ground out. “I can’t believe I’m asking this. Can you walk tonight, Kara? We could start in the area where the women have been attacked, at say…midnight? Abbey and I could follow you in my car. Maybe you’ll pick up on something that way.”

“No.”
Jaxon’s booming voice drew the attention of the surrounding tables even through the haze of loud music. When Kara turned to him with wide eyes, he softened. “Please. Not tonight. It isn’t safe.”

Kara laughed. Since when had hunting been safe? “It’s part of the job description, Jaxy. Abbey and I know what we’re doing.” Jaxon mumbled something under his breath, but Kara ignored him. It seemed her warrior could mother hen as well as she could. “Of course I’ll help you, Tray. I was going out there tonight anyway.”

Tray exhaled a breath he’d been holding and nodded. “Thank you. And don’t worry, we’ll keep an eye on you.”

Jaxon clenched his teeth and he shook his head. “As if you could. You don’t know what you are asking her to do.”

Tray squared his shoulders, but he didn’t look very fierce with a green-around-the-gills redhead glued to him. “I’ve known Kara a lot longer than you have. Who do you think you are?”

“I’m the man who will have to protect her when you fail.”

Kara scooted out of her stool, not liking the feeling of sitting on her ass when two burly men were starting to get pissy. “Hey, guys. Calm down.” She put a hand on Jaxon’s arm. “Two things you both should know. One, I’ve never needed anyone to protect me. I know how to handle myself.” Why was she constantly trying to prove that to the men in her life? “And two, Tray…Jaxon is like me. My kind. He knows what he’s talking about.”

Tray frowned and leaned in, lowering his voice. “What do you mean your kind? Another
witch
?”

Kara gave him a weak, lopsided grin. “Yeah. Something like that.”

Tray groaned. “How could this shit get any crazier?”

Abbey picked her head up and leaned against the wooden backrest of her barstool. “Oh, trust me.” She glanced down at the photo. “If we don’t get this nutcase, I don’t think we’ve seen the tip of the crazy iceberg.”

Kara nodded. “She’s right. We’ll see you at midnight. You can pick Jaxon and me up at Abbey’s house. We’ll leave from there.”

“Do you need a ride over there now?” Tray asked. “I can fit all three of you in my car.”

Kara was still mulling something over in her mind. “Are you ready to leave, Abbs?”

Abbey nodded. “Yeah. I’m done here.”

“Good. Tray can give you a ride home—maybe even wait with you there for a couple of hours.”

“You’re not coming?” Abbey asked.

“No. Jaxon and I need some time alone together.”

Jaxon eyed her dubiously, but it was Tray who spoke up, his voice low in warning. “Kara, you aren’t trying to get me and Abbey alone, are you?”

“Of course not,” Kara protested, but Abbey’s secret smile suggested she thought Kara was doing just that—and she approved. “Jaxon and I have things to do.”

Tray slipped the photo back in the envelope and dragged his keys from his pocket. “All right. We’ll see you at midnight. Don’t be late.”

Abbey grabbed her sweater and rose from her barstool perch as though even the most heinous crime scene wouldn’t bother her now. She practically glowed. “I’m ready.”

Kara smiled as the two walked out of the bar. When Abbey tried to clutch Tray’s hand, he slipped his hands in his pockets. As soon as they were gone, Kara turned to Jaxon and her smile vanished. “What the hell was that?”

Jaxon rocked back and put a hand to his chest. “I don’t see that I did anything wrong, mistress. Abigail’s a beautiful woman, she’s not committed to a man and your attentions lie elsewhere. Indeed, a witch may be the perfect companion for me. You still have my vow. That will never change.”

Kara narrowed her eyes at him. “I’m not talking about your love life, Jaxon.”

“Then what’ve you taken issue with?”

“The picture. What are you not telling me?”

Jaxon sat heavy on the stool and took a long swallow of his bourbon and Coke. “I’ve never seen that exact design.”

“But…” Kara prodded, plopping down in the stool beside him. She knew he was holding back.

He put his drink down and looked Kara in the eye. “But it has the makings of the symbol of Brakken.”

She’d never heard of the symbol of Brakken, but her heart thudded at the serious look on Jaxon’s face. “Oh, wait. You mean like, ‘by Brakken’s bow’,” she mimicked in a low voice, remembering the island’s captain of patrol using the phrase.

Jaxon nodded and leaned close. Pulling her hair away from her ear, he whispered, “It’s best not to say the name, mistress. If
he
is near, we’ll need to travel as fast and far as my wings can carry us.”

Kara pulled away, still too turned on by Julian to tolerate a handsome man breathing in her ear. She wasn’t sure if the chills along her spine were from fear or need. “Why? Who is he?”

Jaxon laid his army jacket across his thighs. “He’s a powerful Aniliáre—almost a phantom. He rarely travels from the Shadowland, but when he does, it’s never a good thing.” He took another swallow of his drink.

“And if it is him, can you beat him?”

Jaxon choked on his bourbon and set the cup down. “No. I cannot. But perhaps we’re jumping ahead of ourselves. A dagger in the sun is only two of the three markings of Brak—of his symbol.”

“What’s the third?”

“A serpent winding around the blade of the dagger.”

Her jaw dropped.
“A snake?”

“Your sculptures…” he said. Then he shook his head. “We mustn’t jump to conclusions.”

“So you can’t be sure it’s him?”

“No. There’s no reason the Aniliáre king should terrorize your city. Though it’s been said…”

Kara squeezed her hands into fists. “What? Say it.”

Jaxon frowned. “It’s been said he does like to mark what belongs to him.”

“Oh shit.” Kara almost melted into her seat.

“Don’t waste your worry. What I saw tonight wasn’t his symbol, only something that resembled a piece of it.”

She glared at Jaxon with raised brows. “Yes, but this guy has drawn two symbols on two victims. What if the he completes the mark on a third?”

Shoulders tense, Jaxon exhaled a loud breath. “Allow me to look into it before we venture out tonight. If there are signs of Aniliáre in your city, we’ll be gone before sunrise.”

“I’m not leaving my home, Jaxon. I have a life here.”

“Stubborn woman,” he muttered at his empty glass before glancing at Kara. “Have you sensed anything different on your walks?”

“Different? I don’t even know what an Aniliáre looks like.”

“They look like nothing at all if they choose not to be seen. But in their true form, we call them black-wings. They might look like Demiáre to you, but they are infinity more powerful. Fallen angels. Spirits given flesh.”

“Black-wings?” Kara thought she was going to be sick. Visions of erotic dreams and a black feather under her bed had her head spinning. “Can they come into your dreams?”

“There isn’t much they can’t do.”

“No.” Kara put her head in her hands, her elbows sticking to the surface of the table. How was it possible?

“Tell me, mistress.”

“I think I have your proof.” She sat up and her cheeks heated. “I’ve been having strange dreams—okay,
erotic
dreams. I can’t see his face, but he has dark wings. And I found a black feather under my bed.”

Jaxon’s eyes widened. “It’s you, then. He’s come for you.”

“Me? No. This isn’t about me.” She shook her head vehemently as though her denial made it less true. “These attacks can’t be linked to me.”

“What other reason would an Aniliáre king have for leaving the Shadowland but for a prize like you?”

Kara inwardly groaned. “Well, if that’s his way of getting my attention, he has it. How do we kill him?”

“The Aniliáre are less powerful on Earth than in their own realm, but still, you can’t kill spirit clothed in flesh.”

“That can’t be true. Gavin told me my father was dead so it must be possible for Bra—him.”

Jaxon shrugged. “Death might be easier for you to understand, but technically, the best we could hope for would be to send him into the Abyss.”

“Okay. How?”

“Neither you nor I have the ability. If Brakken has you in his sights, we need to flee. Tonight.”

“I’m not hiding.”

“For a time. Not forever. Just until he loses interest in the game he’s playing. Think, mistress. If he’s here for you, your leaving will distance him from those you love.”

“What about Gavin and Julian? I know they would help us. They said my father sent them to look out for me. Would the four of us be enough against him?”

“The Mercury Lords are strong. Their strength is one of the reasons they maintain order on an island of Demiáre
.
But when all is said and done, we are the lesser species.”

Disturbing images flashed through Kara’s mind. Visions of the men she cared for being carved and torn apart by a phantom, a faceless black-wing. Regardless of how angry she’d been with Julian and Gavin, she would never put them in danger. “Oh crap, Jaxy. You’re the only thing making sense in this screwed-up thing called my life.”

He reached into her lap and squeezed her hand. “You’re a prudent woman. We can go now. I’ll flash you somewhere where no one will ever think to look—except perhaps Lace.”

Kara made a face. “A used love nest, huh?”

“Sadly, not used in a very long time. The important thing is that you will be safe.”

Leave San Diego? Leave Abbey with Mr. Pibb? What kind of kinky sex would he be witness to? And what about the fact Kara’s heart still ached for her sexy neighbors, regardless of how they’d played her?

“I have an appointment with Julian. I can’t even consider going without seeing him first.” Kara glanced at her watch. An hour had come and gone.

Jaxon tensed. “Have your
appointment
, then. I nursed you through the fever once and I can do it again. But promise me this…don’t mention the name of the symbol. If the lords haven’t suspected him yet, we don’t want to give them a reason to go looking.”

“I don’t know if I can do this. How can I not tell them what we’re planning? How can I not say goodbye?”

“I’m your servant and I have your best interest first in my heart, but I made vows long before we met. Vows to protect my lords.”

“But…”

He put a hand to her cheek and turned her to face him. “Have I ever lied to you? Who told you of truths the others hid from you? Who pledged his loyalty to you above all else?”

Kara sighed. “You.”

Jaxon smiled and kissed her cheek. “Then give me your trust. You are my angel. Have your fun, and I’ll meet you at Abigail’s at midnight. We’ll tell her you’re taking a trip. We’ll warn her and her officer friend to stay off the streets.”

“And don’t forget to take Mr. Pibb with you. We have to drop off Pibby and his stuff.” The thought made her eyes go misty.

“Yes. Just for a time.” Jaxon unfastened the cord around his neck. Its silver moon charm sparkled even in the dim lighting of the bar. “Take this. Wear it. I can find you if I need to, even if I’ve never before traveled to the place. Do you agree to bear my symbol?”

“Sure,” Kara said without much thought, putting the thick necklace on and clasping it. “Will Abbey be okay?”