As Ursula passed a large concrete potted plant, Demi closed her eyes and drew on her inner strength, reaching out to the ivy vines swimming in the inch of water filling the planter. The vines twitched, then responded as if awakening from a long slumber. They grew exponentially, snaking out of the planter. One wrapped around Ursula's ankle and held fast.
The demon's momentum carried her forward, slamming her into the concrete sidewalk. She went down hard and lay still, rain pelting her, the wind whipping her jacket around her.
Demi could almost feel sorry for the woman, but she'd been nothing but a pain in the ass since they'd left Chicago, flirting with Cal, looking down her pretty little nose at Demi as if she were gum stuck to the bottom of her high heel.
Take that, bitch
.
When she didn't get up, Demi moved forward guiltily.
“What happened?” Cal joined her as she reached Ursula.
“She ran. I stopped her.”
“Is she dead?” he asked, crouching to check for a pulse.
“No, I'm not dead.” Ursula pushed to her knees, her hair hanging in limp strands around her face, her white skirt plastered to her hips and legs, hiding nothing beneath. She rolled to her backside and sat in a puddle, staring up at Demi, her eyes narrowed to slits.
I'll get you back for that.
Demi heard the words, but the demon's mouth never moved. She'd pushed the thought into her head. “You may try to get me back, but it isn't going to happen.” Demi jerked her head to the side. “Now get up. We're going into the station.”
Cal extended a hand to Ursula, further angering Demi. “I may get back at you for what?”
“I wasn't talking to you. I was talking to the demon on her ass in the rain.”
Ursula took Cal's hand and let him pull her to her feet. She leaned into his body, giving him the most pathetic look she could scrounge. “I don't know what she's talking about or why she had to trip me.”
“You were running.”
“You must have been mistaken. I was just going to look at the pansies in the planter.”
“In the pouring rain?” Demi snorted. “That's a load of crap and you know it. Come on, let's get this over with.”
Inside the precinct station, they were directed to the offices of the Paranormal Investigative Team where they were met by an older man, a tall, dark and dangerously handsome man and a petite blonde with large breasts and don't-mess-with-me attitude written all over her face.
The older of the two men held out his hand to Demi. “You must be Demi Chattox. I'm Detective Thomas and this is Detective Katya Danske and Blaise Michaels, members of the Paranormal Investigative Team. They'll be assisting you in protecting and delivering Ms. Rusu to the council meeting.”
Demi introduced Cal and then turned to Ursula. “This is Ursula Rusu, the demon telepath we're supposed to deliver to the Paranormal Council in the morning.”
“We know.” The female, Detective Danske, stepped forward. “We've already handled one attempt to destroy the council. Things are getting pretty hot out there. We'll need to keep a tight leash on this one until the morning.”
“Do you have a padded room or holding cell we can keep her in until then?”
Ursula threw back her shoulders and pushed her dripping hair out of her face. “I'm not the criminal here. I refuse to be treated like one. I require a bath and a bed to sleep in. And I don't intend it to be in a police station. Otherwise, I'm leaving and you can find someone else willing to rat on Alexei Zhurov.”
“Not to worry.” Blaise Michaels stepped forward with a smile. “We have a hotel room arranged, and the four of us will be your security guards.”
“If you need additional support, let me know. I'll be on call all night.” Detective Thomas escorted them to the motor pool where Danske took the wheel of a nondescript four-door sedan.
Blaise rode shotgun while Ursula sat between Cal and Demi in the backseat.
Katya wound through a mass of stalled traffic and angry people anxious to fill their pantries and refrigerators before the storm immobilized all transportation in and out of the city.
“What a mess,” Demi muttered.
“After the last blackout, no one wants to be stuck without power and water,” Katya commented from the front seat. “Except the miscreant looters and the paranorms who thrive on devastation.”
Demi wouldn't mind being without water and electricity if she could spend the time with Cal. Alone, in a bed. All she wanted was a day. Maybe two of uninterrupted time with the man she loved.
Katya turned a corner and was brought to a complete halt by a limousine blocking her path, its hood up and a man in a black raincoat bent over the engine. She twisted in her seat, glancing over her shoulder. “Anyone behind me?” She sniffed the air. “I smell trouble.”
Cal glanced back and before he could say anything, a second long, dark car pulled up behind them and slammed into their bumper.
“Get down!” Cal shouted. He pulled out his gun and threw himself out of the car onto the pavement, rolling to his feet and assuming a position beside the metal hulk of the car.
Men in dark jackets sprang at them from all directions. None of them carried guns. They didn't need to. They attacked in a flurry of flashing fangs.
Vampires
. Demi's heart lodged into her throat as she sat inside the car with their charge.
Ursula clutched Demi's arm, her eyes wide, her body trembling.
Holy hell.
What had they gotten themselves into?
Cal hunched his neck down into his jacket, dropped to a kneeling position and fired at the first vampire point-blank in the chest at no more than three feet from him. The man flew backward, hitting the wall. Seconds later, he was on his feet and charging toward Cal and the car, the hole in his chest closing, leaving only a rip in his jacket.
Another vampire leaped at Cal.
He pulled the trigger with the same results.
Blaise hopped out of the car and joined Cal. “Bullets only slow these guys down.”
“Even silver bullets?” Cal asked.
Blaise snorted and shot back, “Not on these vampires, they've developed an immunity to silver.”
The next vampire to attack was stopped by Blaise. He stepped in front of Cal, grabbed the vampire by the hair and, in a lightning-fast move, ripped the creature's head clean off his body.
Before the vampire hit the ground, he disappeared in a puff of dust, quickly washed away in the rain.
More vampires appeared, attacking from all sides.
Katya and Demi leaped out of the other side of the vehicle.
Cal yelled at Demi. “Stay with the witness!”
Demi ducked back into the vehicle and slammed the door as another vampire leaped, crashing into the window, smashing it.
Katya flung her hands out and the vampire soared into the air and landed against the wall of a building. Two vampires rushed her at once. While she flung one into a light pole, another ran at her from alongside the car.
Demi slammed the car door open, and the vampire hit it full on, bending it on its frame. She kicked out with both feet and the vampire hit the pavement.
Before Demi could close the door again, the vampire was on his feet.
“Black, look left!” Blaise called out.
Too worried about Demi, Cal missed the next attack. A vampire grabbed him by the throat and tossed him like a child's toy against the car.
He hit hard, sliding over the top and to the other side where the vampire had Demi by her mane of red hair, dragging her out of the vehicle.
His ribs aching, his vision slightly blurry, Cal managed to land on his feet with his gun still in his grip. He charged the man dragging Demi kicking and screaming and blew a hole the size of his fist through his side. The force of the blast jerked him sideways still holding onto Demi's hair.
She screamed and landed on her back and sat up immediately, blocking Cal's aim.
He didn't have time to think; another man in a black coat dropped down in front of him and knocked the gun from his hand. He could tell by the hole in his jacket he was one he'd hit before.
The vampire grabbed him by the throat and lifted him off the ground. “Die, human!” Suddenly, a vine lashed out and snatched the vampire's hand from Cal's throat.
Cal dropped to the ground, coughing and gasping.
Demi stood beside the fence of a tiny city park. One vampire was pinned to the wrought iron with thick vines wrapped around his body, arms and legs. He struggled but could barely move against the greenery tightening around him.
The paranorm who'd attacked Cal lay wrapped like a mummy, completely immobile on the concrete. Blaise ripped the head off yet another vampire and the one Katya was slamming against a brick wall picked himself up and ran.
Cal spun toward the car, ripped open the damaged back door and peered inside. Ursula wasn't there.
“Damn.”
“Looking for this?” Katya held the witness, who stood a foot taller than her, facedown on the ground, with her arm yanked up behind her, pinned between her shoulder blades, a knee pressed into the small of her back. “Yeah, you're pissed and I can hear every curse word you're shouting in my head. Get over it.”
Demi knelt beside Ursula. “Did you think you were going somewhere without us?”
“You're a bunch of amateurs. With the amount of power Alexei has at his disposal, I'll be dead before morning.” She groaned as Katya pushed her arm up higher. “I'd rather protect myself.”
“Sorry, you're stuck with us amateurs.” Katya removed her knee and straightened, letting go of the woman's arm. “Get in the car. We're going to the hotel.”
“And who's to say we won't be attacked there as well?” Ursula demanded, staggering to her feet, rubbing her arm.
“We'll take our chances,” Demi said.
“It's my life you're gambling,” Ursula reminded them.
“In case you hadn't noticed,” Cal said, rubbing his sore neck, “our lives are on the line as well.”
Ursula's eyes narrowed. “I didn't ask for you to bring me here.”
“Too bad.” Demi glanced at the vampire tied neatly in her vines. “You're here now, and our jobs aren't over until you meet with the council and deal with Alexei once and for all.”
“That'll be a cold day in hell.”
Cal lifted his hands to the pouring rain. “I'd say that the current conditions make it just about right then.” He tucked her head and guided her into the car, sliding in beside her, again wishing he was sitting beside Demi. For a moment there, he'd thought he might lose her. He wanted nothing more than to pull her into his arms and hold her until all the rain and bad guys went away.
But they had a duty to complete before he could give in to his desires. Which meant spending the rest of the night in a hotel room with four other people. Definitely not what he had in mind when he'd been volunteered for this mission.
He glanced around Ursula as Demi got in beside her and slammed the damaged door to get it to shut. She looked cold and tired.
Cal swore he'd make it up to her. Somehow.
Chapter Four
Demi let Blaise and Katya lead the way into the hotel while she and Cal, carrying the suitcases, flanked the witness. They'd draped Ursula's head in a scarf, covering her face as they entered. Not that it would help. Word had probably spread like a contagious disease through the streets of Manhattan that the witness was in town and all lookouts would be on alert for them. Hell, they probably already knew what floor they'd be staying on and in which room.
The brief nap Demi had caught on the plane ride hadn't been enough to stave off the weariness of the past few weeks of work, and being drenched to the skin in cold rain only added to her exhaustion.
Something about Danske and Michaels reminded her of herself and Cal. Were these special agents more than partners on the force? Were they in the same situation? If so, how were they handling the increasing responsibility of protecting a city while maintaining a life and personal time away from work?
Her curiosity piqued, Demi decided to ask when she found a moment alone with one of them.
Cal switched the television on to a local news station that was covering the storm. The satellite view showed a swath of clouds extending from Georgia all the way up to Maine, stalled out and dumping rain, the heaviest of which was over the New York and New Jersey area.
The weatherman switched to a reporter on the street, outside a bar with a blue neon light in the shape of a martini glass. “We're outside the Blue Martini where more than forty city residents are settled in to ride out the storm at one of the many blackout parties taking place in Manhattan.”
Ursula stopped to stare at the television, clasping her hands in front of her, her gaze intent on the reporter.
“The mayor stated that those choosing to stay behind will be on their own. He will not send rescue personnel into dangerous situations because people decided to party instead of remaining inside.” The reporter cringed at a brilliant flash of lightning, followed immediately by a rumble of thunder. “As you can see, the weather is worsening. If you haven't gotten home, you might consider staying where you are for shelter.”
“I'm taking a shower. I'd appreciate some food as well.” Ursula grabbed the small case she'd had Cal bring up and dropped her coat in the middle of the floor on her way through the suite to the largest of the two bedrooms.
Cal grabbed her arm. “Wait.” He went ahead of her and checked out the room and bathroom. When he'd cleared it, he waved her in. “It's all yours. And there aren't any windows you can escape through, so knock yourself out.”
She gave him an annoyed look and closed the bedroom door behind herself.
“We could all use a bite to eat,” Katya said.
“Want me to call for room service?” Demi asked.