The Mammoth Book of Paranormal Romance 2 (77 page)

A quick movement caught Rinna’s attention. She looked over Cade’s shoulder, her gaze falling on a darkly handsome man in a rust-coloured shirt coming up from the Pit. Where most of the others staggered and clearly showed evidence of the brutal experience the Pit could be, this male looked as if he’d thoroughly enjoyed his time in the lawless underbelly of the club.

As if he felt her gaze, the man turned to look at her. Rinna didn’t need the yellow glint in his black eyes to tell her he was a hybrid. Tiny hairs stood up along her arms, and her own heart kicked into a faster rhythm.

He was a
banaranjan
, gorgeous and in his prime. She’d seen him around the club before, but she’d always kept her distance. She had no way of knowing his clan affiliation, which meant she had no way of knowing whether he was friend or enemy. Since she’d come to Atlanta specifically to escape confrontations like that, she’d decided avoiding the male
banaranjan
was prudent.

Apparently he had a different opinion. His gaze flicked to her left, to the human beside her. If the menacing frown was any indication, the male
banaranjan
didn’t like what he saw. He changed direction, making his way towards them.

By Hetache’s flame, no
, Rinna thought. She did not want to be intercepted by this guy, or the DMZ’s security wards. It was time to go.

Cade’s heart rate increased, distracting Rinna from the other
banaranjan
approaching. The blond man’s expression balanced somewhere between fear and aggression. “Friend of yours?”

Rinna blinked, turned her attention back to the irritated human. “Not even.”

“Good to know.” He caught her hand, his smile returning. “This is supposed to be the part where I ask for your phone number so I can call you later. But that would mean saying goodbye, and I’m not ready for that yet.”

Rinna hid a smile. She hadn’t put out a strong lure, but she hadn’t needed to. If she were into humans, this man would be high on her list of suitors. She hadn’t taken in nearly enough adrenaline to satisfy her craving, but she wasn’t a fool. She had no intention of going any farther than the parking lot with the handsome blond, but getting away from the other
banaranjan
was definitely a good idea. “Neither am I.”

“Awesome. What do you say I buy you breakfast or a cup of coffee at the Majestic?”

Rinna considered it for a hot second. There was only one place to go after a night of feeding off human energy at the DMZ: the Majestic. At three a.m., a good mix of humans and hybrids crowded the landmark twenty-four-hour diner in Virginia-Highland, most drunk on one thing or another. It was unofficial neutral ground after midnight, simply because most patrons were too tired, too hungry, or too high to be confrontational.

“Sure. A little Majestic sounds good.”

They made their way through the middle doors, joining the bulk of the crowd making its way out of the bar. The sky hung dark and glittering above the DMZ’s protective shields, tinged fluorescent orange by the city’s ambient light. It was one of those travelogue-worthy spring nights in Atlanta in which the pollen count was down but the temperature was up. It was close to three in the morning, the time when Normals relinquished the night to the things that liked to “go bump”.

Cade surveyed the mix of club-goers clogging the sidewalk – an eclectic mix of hybrids that passed as human and humans who looked liked hybrids.

They headed southeast from the club, leaving others behind. The club’s parking lots filled quickly most nights, and Rinna had learned to park a couple of blocks away to avoid the traffic dumping out on to North Avenue. The distance made it easy to determine if someone had followed her out of the club, and it enabled her a final chance to walk through throngs of club-goers to filter their hormones one last time.

Rinna kept her attention on Cade’s adrenaline levels. His excitement was a palpable thing, filling the air between them. She breathed deeply, drawing the heady pheromone into her throat.
So tasty. Much better than that stale, synthetic stuff.

“There’s something about you, Rinna,” Cade said softly, his face turned up to the sky. “Something that tells me you’re different from other women in the club.”

“Thank you.”

He scrubbed at his gelled hair. “I mean, when I saw you, I was like, ‘whoa’. I mean, you’re hot, smoking hot, but it’s more than that.”

She could tell. His heart was beating at a rapid pace, his chest rising and falling with his quickened breath. “Uhm, is there a compliment in there or something?”

“Yeah, yeah.” He darted a look at her. “Back in the club, you touched me, and I felt like I’d just nailed a front double cork.”

“I figured you were a sports fanatic. So what’s a snowboarder doing in Atlanta when there’s still plenty of snow on the ground up north?”

“I like all kinds of action,” he told her. “Not just on snow.”

“Only extreme sports, or an adrenaline junkie too?”

“Both.” He spread his hands. “Among other things. What about you?”

“I’m not into sports beyond watching them, and I’m not an adrenaline junkie.”

“So what are you then?”

She slowed her steps. “Excuse me?”

He stopped, turned to face her. “Come on, Rinna. You go to the DMZ, a place that’s a little dicey most of the time. You say you’ve been in the Pit, a place that nobody but daredevils or drunks taking a dare would go into.”

He brushed his cheek along hers, sniffed. “And that perfume works better than anything else I’ve ever inhaled. I’m betting you’re not human.”

By Hetache’s flaming nostrils.
Rinna knew the human male was unusual, but most of them, after discovering they weren’t at the top of the food chain, either tried to run or tried to kill. Or, in an effort to show how open and progressive they were, they asked way too many personal questions.

Cade just stood there, the carefree frat boy demeanour gone. “I know humans aren’t it,” he said, his voice even. “I’ve travelled a lot, seen a lot more. It’s cool with me if you’re not human. I just wanted to know what you are exactly.”

“You’re an unusual human,” she finally said. “As for me, I’m a
banaranjan.”

“A
banaranjan.”
He nodded. “What sort of demon is that?”

“I’m not a demon, I’m a being born of this earth just as you are,” she insisted, barely refraining from rolling her eyes. Human prejudices lasted long past their short lifespan.
“Banaranjans
are a race of beings who need to sample a little adrenaline now and then.”

She didn’t really feel like sharing too much with the strange human. One just couldn’t predict what he’d do with the knowledge. She only knew the stories her crèche mother had told her, mainly horror stories to ensure her obedience. None of the tales involving humans and hybrids ended well, which was why most of the supernatural community preferred living in secret. Humans couldn’t even get along with other humans. Every hybrid knew what would happen if the general population discovered the truth. Humans craved knowledge, but given the chance to create or destroy, most of the time they’d destroy.

Eagerness lit Cade’s expression. “So you’re adrenaline feeders. Do you take it like vampires drink blood?”

The night was going south like a runaway freight train. Her need to feed dissipated on the warm night air. She stopped beneath the dark bare branches of a large oak, a couple of blocks from the club, in an area that quickly gave way to empty buildings and overgrown lots. She was unwilling to go any farther with the human. All she wanted now was to go home. Alone. “I don’t attack people, and I definitely don’t bite. I only take what’s freely given.”

He snorted. “Yeah. I bet the people you’re chomping on don’t see it that way. Doesn’t matter to me, though. I still think we can do this, don’t you?”

“What are you talking about?”

“You and me. Hooking up.”

Rinna’s stomach knotted. “No. By the Dark Abyss, no.” She’d be better off with the male
banaranjan.

“Why not?” He stepped closer to her. Even in the late night darkness, she could see that his features had tarnished into something bare and ugly. Even his adrenaline didn’t taste the same. “I like to feel adrenaline hitting my blood. You can make me feel that, you can feed off it. It’s the perfect symbiotic relationship.”

She backed up a step. If she had to defend herself, she’d need room. “Sorry, Cade. I’m not into fetish fulfilment. If you just wanted to get with a hybrid for bragging rights, you should have picked someone else.”

He looked crestfallen, sticking his hands deep into his pockets. “That’s a shame. Guess I’ll have to get my rush some other way.”

“I guess so.” Rinna backed away, wondering how she’d made such a screwed-up choice. Too focused on the hormone and not the human. “Good night.”

“It was nice dancing with you. See you around.” He turned, heading back towards the club.

Rinna watched him head off, then turned and resumed her walk to her car, angry with herself. She should have just sifted for epinephrine in the club, but no, she had to have a direct source. From now on, she’d attend a couple of sporting events when she needed to feed, and learn to like the taste of the synthesized stuff.

The blond’s adrenaline was strong though. So potent. It would have been nice to have a steady source like that. Then again, the guy was an admitted adrenaline junkie. No telling what extremes he’d go to just to—

She had just a split-second to react. She spun down in a crouch, hissing a warning, wings bursting from her shoulder blades.

He crashed into her before her wings could completely unfurl, sending them both rolling along the cracked sidewalk. Pain skittered along her nerves as something snapped in her left wing. Shock raced through her. It wasn’t the male
banaranjan
attacking her, but the human, Cade.
What in the Abyss . . . ?

Sharper pain exploded in her left shoulder. She ignored it, concentrating all her energy on landing blows on her attacker, wishing she had super-hybrid or even super-human strength. They rolled into a deserted darkened lot, Cade wrapping his hands around her neck.

She got her legs between their bodies then pushed, jettisoning him. He landed with a hard, satisfying crunch.

Stumbling to her feet, she clawed at her shoulder, pulling a syringe free. He’d stabbed her! “What the hell is this, you bastard?”

He spat out a wad of blood and a tooth, then rolled to his feet. “Call it an equalizer.”

“For what?”

“Told you I was into extreme sports. Hunting demons is about as extreme a sport as you can get.”

She’d fallen into a trap. She’d been warned that something like this could happen, but she’d chalked it up to another wild story about dangerous humans. Now she knew better. “You’re a monster!”

He laughed. “And you’re a demon. Told you we were compatible.”

“Why you—!” Her vision swam, then shimmered yellow as her body fluctuated between her human and natural form. Shaking with rage and the drug he’d injected her with, she threw the syringe at Cade, hitting him square in the stomach.

He pulled the needle free with a pained grunt. “You’re gonna pay for that!”

He reached for something. She didn’t take the time to determine what. Instead, she launched herself at him, struggling with her disabled wing, every instinct screaming that she wrap her hand around his throat and mine his fight or flight response for very ounce of adrenaline his heart could pump out before it stopped.

A thick arm caught her about the waist in mid-strike. She howled in outrage, only to clam up swiftly as she caught the clove scent of male
banaranjan.

“You play a most dangerous game,
banring,”
the male said, arms locked about her.

“Let me go!” she snarled. “I am not new from the crèche!”

“Could have fooled me,” another voice said. A female.

Rinna stared. The female was human, but the most unusual human she’d ever seen. Black braids hung past her shoulders. In the darkness Rinna couldn’t tell what shade the woman’s skin was, only that it was lighter than the dark vest she wore without benefit of a shirt beneath. Sinewy arms, lightly muscled, and grey cargo pants. The woman looked breakable, as if she was a dancer. But she held the human male on his knees with just one hand clamped to his forehead. A pale blue glow emanated from the woman, brightest at her hands, brighter still on the blade in her right hand. Even with her vision swimming in and out of focus, Rinna had no doubt as to the woman’s identity.

Shadozuchaser.

Cade groaned, then slumped over face-first. The Shadowchaser released him, shaking her hand as if to flick away grime, then turned to Rinna. “How badly are you hurt?”

“Since when is a Shadowchaser concerned with the health of her enemies?” Rinna blurted out. The male
banaranjan
squeezed her ribs in warning.

“I’m not,” the Chaser noted. The light surrounding her dagger slowly faded. She shoved it back into its sheath. “Trust me, if you were my enemy, you would know it.”

The male holding her spoke. “Is that him?”

“Yeah.” The Chaser shook like a dog dislodging water from its coat. “You don’t want to know what sort of sport he had in mind for this little one.”