On the Prowl (Bad Things #2)(12)

That was so not good. “For his collection.” Because Julian had mentioned that before, back at the crash scene. Before he could speak, she gave a hard shake of her head. “I can’t do that again. I-I can’t be starved and locked away.” Tortured. Tears stung her eyes so she blinked them away. “It won’t happen.”

“No, it f*cking won’t. Because I won’t let it happen.”

She wanted to believe him, but that just led right back to that pesky trust situation between them. Or rather, the whole lack of trust situation.

“I figure the best way to keep you safe is to find the Collector and cut off his head.” He smiled and she saw that his canines looked extra…deadly. His teeth changed when his beast was close. Got a whole lot sharper. Sharper than even her vamp fangs because a panther had a seriously strong bite. “Since the guy is just waiting down at the dock on the Pandora,” Julian added grimly, “that was where I was heading. You know, before you decided to play a little game of Turn-On-The-Beast.”

She hadn’t been playing a game. And she hadn’t been trying to turn him on. “This Collector…he has others trapped.” She remembered that part. When she’d first woken after the crash, things had been a bit blurry, but she swore she could remember someone talking about…

A muse?

A witch?

Maybe even an angel?

If demons are real, then I guess angels have to be real, too. As a human, she had been completely blind to the real world around her. The paranormals were out there, all right. Most of them hid in plain sight. The weaker ones, anyway. The stronger ones…

They stayed away from humans. Mostly because when a powerful paranormal came into contact with a human, well, the human didn’t get a happy ending.

Case in point, look at my life.

“I’ve been told that, yes, he has others…and that dumbass who tried to take you just confirmed that to me, tonight.”

She climbed back onto the motorcycle. “Then what are we waiting for?” Her hands curled around him.

He stiffened. All of that wonderful muscle went rock hard beneath her touch. “Rose?”

“You said the Collector is at the dock. Let’s get our asses there, have some big showdown, and stop him.” She tried to sound a whole lot more confident than she actually felt. At most moments of peril, she was utterly terrified, but Rose knew you weren’t supposed to show fear in the paranormal world. Fear was a weakness.

The others preyed on the weak.

Evil—that was a strength. Don’t-Give-A-Damn attitude…that was something to be admired. She was trying to fake her way through the new world she lived in.

“If he has others trapped, we have to help them.” On this part, she was adamant. She’d been a prisoner, and she couldn’t stand the thought that others were trapped like she’d been. Collected. “Come on, let’s go.”

His head was turned so that their eyes met. He hadn’t started the bike yet. “You were trying to run from me a moment ago.”

“Yes, well,” she cleared her throat…You’re the biggest bad-ass I see right now. And the devil you know…he’s supposed to be a whole lot better than the other monsters hiding in the dark. At least, she hoped so. Rose pasted a bright smile on her face. “I figure the enemy of my enemy can be my temporary partner. So let’s haul ass and get this done. Then you won’t need to protect me any longer. I can go my own way. You can go yours.”

His face hardened. “And you never have to see me again.”

Her heart stuttered. “Right. Never. Never ever in the infinity that is left of my life.”

His teeth snapped together. “Hold the f*ck on, got it? Because I’ll be going fast.”

She was a vamp. She was used to super speed now. And—

He revved that engine and they raced off into the night. She held onto him tightly, her body pressed to his, and her thighs around his. The motorcycle vibrated beneath her. Rose tried not to notice just how good Julian felt, how strong. She tried not to think about how good he’d tasted.

She failed.

Soon I’ll be away from him again. And soon my heart will stop hurting.

Soon…

“Drive faster,” she whispered. “I can handle it.” She could handle anything he threw at her.

He went even faster. She hugged him harder.

And she hated that they seemed to fit together so perfectly.

***

The sports yacht waited at the end of the pier. The waves were growing stronger in the distance, but the Pandora was tied securely and barely seemed to move in the water.

The Pandora was a forty-footer, one that appeared to have all of the latest bells and whistles. A faint light glowed from the yacht’s interior, and Julian sure as hell hoped that his prey waited inside.

His motorcycle was hidden a few yards away. Luke Thorne actually kept a building on the dock just to store their vehicles and bikes, so Julian had stashed his ride there. Julian and Rose stalked silently toward the boat, and he made sure she stayed behind him. He didn’t like the idea of her hunting with him, but he sure wasn’t going to leave her alone some place. Until the Collector was dead, he planned to keep Rose at his side. That had been the deal, after all. The deal he’d made with the source who’d tipped him off about Rose being the Collector’s next target.