Stealing Fire (Bad Boys Of The Underworld Book 5) (2 page)

Ray shook his head. “Even if you go out there, how do you expect to find him all on your own?”

“I can’t do nothing. No one else is even looking for him!” Ella took a deep breath as she tried to calm down. Ray didn’t mean anything; she was just on edge. She’d barely gotten any sleep since Dad went missing, and she was tired of people telling her to sit back and let the police do their job.

Ray took off his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “I know this is important to you.” Ella breathed a sigh of relief, but Ray wasn’t done. “However, you don’t have the best attendance record. My niece is in town and she can cover your shifts, but she’s been asking for a full-time job for months. If you aren’t back by next Tuesday, I’m going to have to offer her your position. I’m sure we can still work something out on a part-time basis.”

The pounding in her head suddenly intensified. “You know I’m not taking a vacation to the beach.”

“That’s the problem. You always have an excuse. Reasonable excuses. Always for your father. You’re a good daughter, but you’re not the only one with family. I’m here fifty hours a week when I’m not working your shifts for you. I can’t keep this up. I’m getting older. There are more and more grandchildren popping up and I need to make sure I’m there to see them grow.”

“So you’re firing me?” She didn’t want to sound surly, but it was hard not to.

“Not firing. Warning you. I’ve cut you a lot of slack because of our friendship. I know you might not trust Gus, but he is good at what he does. Take the night off and drink a glass of wine. Read a good book. Let the police do their job.”

Ella shook her head.
One more of Gus’s worshipers.
“You just agreed they need to take this seriously.”

“That doesn’t mean you should go out on your own looking for your father. You need to consider your own safety.”

“I’ll try to be back by next Tuesday.” Ella strode back into the late summer heat.

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T
hree hours later, Ella pulled the Malibu over next to Dad’s 1997 Ford Ranger. Her first instinct was to run to the truck and look in all the windows, but she held herself back. She circled the vehicle, looking at the ground and surrounding brush for anything Gus and his guys might’ve missed.

Patches of grass were scattered along the side of the road, but the majority of the ground was covered in old and dead pine needles. She could see multiple disturbances that were probably footprints, but she was no tracker.

It could have been the cops checking out the abandoned car or it could’ve been a bear for all she knew. Sighing at her poor detective skills, she trenched her way over to the Ranger and looked in.

On the seat were some printed directions. Ella squinted and struggled to read the upside-down writing. The directions seemed to lead to exactly where he was parked.
Why would Dad be going here as his destination?

Ella looked around her, but all she saw was the curving highway and pine trees as tall as skyscrapers.

She took a few steps back, looking for tire tracks, but came to the same problem she had with the footprints. She couldn’t make anything out too clearly, and anything she saw could’ve been tracks from the cop cars that had originally located the Ranger.

The sudden electrical sound from the trees made her jump around. Craning her head up, she was barely able to make out a small amount of movement.

Without thinking, Ella ran to the base of the tree, never taking her eyes off the black object that scanned the ground and highway.

Was that a camera?

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L
ucian looked through the computer screen at the beauty staring back at him. Well, not at him. She stared at one of the hundred or so cameras placed on the perimeter of his Maine compound. His predecessor made sure the land was spelled to keep all humans away, but there were much worse creatures out there than humans.

Lucian would know. He was one of the worst.

He pushed away from the collection of monitors, showing twelve different views of the surrounding woods, and reached for the phone. He hit the speed dial for his head of security, Cade. Ever efficient, Cade picked up before the phone finished its first ring. “Hey, boss. I heard the alarm go off. Did the cops come back?”

Lucian shook his head, even though the other man couldn’t see him. “Why don’t you come look at this?”

In less than a second, Cade materialized behind Lucian. “Who is it?”

The large male was roughly the same size as Lucian, standing at six four, but Cade looked military with a blond buzz cut, standard khakis, and black T-shirt.

Lucian preferred his hair longer, just long enough to pull back if he needed it out of his face, and tended toward black slacks and buttoned-down shirts. After all, he was coven master. He at least needed to look polished.

Cade was a soldier. All he needed to do was be ready to kill.

Lucian pointed to the screen. “See for yourself.”

Cade bent over to look at the monitor in question. “Holy fuck. Can we keep her?”

Lucian laughed, but it wasn’t as if the same thought hadn’t crossed his mind. The woman, probably closer to a girl, was drop-dead gorgeous. She was dressed modestly enough in a V-neck that showed no cleavage and denim shorts, but even through the black-and-white screen, he could see how generous her breasts and ass were. She was on the shorter side, and her dark hair against her pale skin surrounded a pert nose and eyes that were large, dark pools of curiosity.

“She found the camera, but I don’t think she’ll be a problem. I thought you might want to take a look,” said Lucian.

“She might be lost.” Cade cracked a smile. “I should really make sure she doesn’t need help.”

“You have better things to do,” muttered Lucian, not taking his eyes off the girl, who was now looking around at the other trees.
Probably searching for more cameras.
“How is the good doctor doing?”

“I wouldn’t know. He hasn’t said a word to me in days. We stopped feeding him Saturday and he isn’t showing any signs of breaking.”

Lucian frowned. “Three days without food. How long before humans die? Is it a week?”

“Google said Gandhi survived for twenty-one days. Should we cut off his water too?”

Lucian shook his head. Torture was never a good way to get someone to help you, but he was getting desperate. When he took over the coven ten years ago, he’d promised his men he’d help them replenish their numbers but had gotten nowhere. The only one who’d seemed to come close was Dr. Scott Murray, and he didn’t exactly have a good history with the myotis.

The woman walked back to her car; Lucian made sure the camera followed, enjoying the sway of her hips. His lips curved as he imagined what those hips would look like without the shorts. What they would look like bent over her rundown car.

His smile dissipated when she strode back to the camera, cell phone in hand.

“Is she taking a picture?” asked Cade in a shocked voice.

“Fuck,” muttered Lucian.

Cade squinted at the screen. “It’s too sunny for a vampire.”

Lucian had been sure she was human, but that was impossible. Any human who approached his land was overcome with the urge to get the hell out of the area. The girl put the phone back in her purse and took a long swig from a plastic water bottle before she walked farther into the woods and out of view from the camera.

“Fuck,” he repeated.

Cade grabbed a handgun and silver blade from the weapons cabinet. “I’ll take care of her.”

Lucian stood, accidentally tipping his chair back far enough to send it clattering against the floor. “Stay here. Watch the doctor. I’ll see what’s going on.”

Cade looked Lucian over. “You just want to see her because she’s hot.”

“I want to see her because she’s a curiosity.”
And because she’s hot
. Cade didn’t have to know that, though.

He closed his eyes and focused on a spot in the woods about two hundred yards from where he’d last seen the woman. The last thing he needed was her seeing him teleport.

When he opened his lids, all he saw was trees and the barest hint of highway. No sign of the girl. He sniffed the air and caught her scent mixed in with the sap and pine.

She smelled like shampoo and aloe soap. Nothing overpowering, but subtly feminine. A predatory grin covered his face and he followed the scent.

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D
ry needles crunched under Ella’s tennis shoes as she walked farther into the trees. She kept her eyes to the forest floor, searching the dried pine needles and dirt for signs of where Dad could’ve gone, but didn’t see anything resembling a footprint.

She looked up again, keeping an eye out for more cameras.
How had Gus missed that?
Whoever owned the equipment might have footage of Dad. She could check whether he’d ventured into the woods or gotten into a different car.

A stick snapped behind her. Ella twisted around at the sound, only to be confronted by nothing but forest. “Hello?” she called out. No answer.

Was someone there?
The trees were so scattered and the foliage was so sparse, there weren’t many places for anyone, or anything, to hide. On the other hand, she was also exposed.

It wasn’t as if the woods were empty. There were probably wolves and bears. If there were cameras, that meant there were people too. She wasn’t sure which she’d rather see.

She stepped backward, carefully scanning the trees again for any sign of movement.

Satisfied she was alone, she turned around and slammed right into a massive male chest.

Ella liked to think she was brave, but the scream that bubbled up from her throat was unavoidable. She stumbled away, tripping over her own feet, and started to fall. But she never hit the ground.

Big hands closed over her upper arms, pulling her back up and against him. Fear and adrenaline had her gasping for air as she finally got a good look at the stranger.

And forgot how to breathe.

He was amazing. His deep, dark, blue eyes looked her over. His hair was brown, but not
just
brown. A rich chestnut that made his eyes stand out even more. His chest was much bigger than the entire width of her shoulders, and his arms were massive, though the black dress shirt he wore fit perfectly and didn’t stretch the slightest over his large, muscled body.

Dress shirt?
Ella looked down at his nice shoes and black pants.
Not exactly hiking clothes.

“Are you okay?” he asked in a deep, husky voice.

She blinked as she tried to remember how to talk. “Umm, yeah. Sorry. You scared me.”

“It happens.”
Not exactly an apology.

She realized he still had his hands on her arms and she was still leaning against him. She pushed herself back. Blood rushed to her face at her own clumsiness. Not exactly the finest example of grace under pressure. He released her; his hands lingered on her a second too long before he moved away. “So, um, what brings you out to the middle of nowhere?”
Hopefully not kidnapping and murdering.

“I live here. You?”

Ella looked around at the endless woods. “You live
here
?”