On the Prowl (Bad Things #2)(34)

“Thought I heard something…interesting this morning. Some unusual noise coming from your side of the house.”

Oh, the wanker had better not say anything about Rose—

He tossed a glare back, his muscles tensing.

But there was no mockery on Rayce’s face. For once, Rayce appeared very, very serious. “It sounded like you were laughing.”

Julian’s lips pressed together.

“It sounded like you were happy.”

Again, he didn’t speak. He headed down the hallway.

But he clearly heard Rayce’s words as they followed him. “If someone made me happy like that, I’d f*cking fight with every breath to keep her with me.”

That was exactly what Julian planned to do.

***

A boat was coming toward the shore.

Rose stood on the beach. She’d taken off her shoes and the water tickled her toes. Her gaze was on the boat. It bobbed in the water, but kept coming closer and closer. She couldn’t help but wonder, who would be brave enough—or dumb enough—to visit the Lord of the Dark’s island?

It was not like she wanted to be there, and, soon enough, she’d be hauling ass back to the mainland.

But who was coming to visit the island right then? She lifted a hand, trying to shield her eyes from the sun. She’d been outside too long, she knew it. Her body felt leaden as exhaustion pulled at her. That was always the way it felt with too much sun exposure. It was her body’s way of protesting. A vamp protest.

The boat bumped along, drawing ever closer to the island. Fear snaked down her spine and she started to edge back. Would the Collector come out there?

There was no magical force field or anything like that in place to stop folks from getting to the island. And that boat—it was almost there. It was heading straight for the dock. She spun around.

And nearly slammed into Julian’s chest.

“Gah!” She gave a mini-scream. “Stop doing that! Stop sneaking up on me, shifter-style.”

He frowned at her. “You’re a vamp. You have enhanced hearing.”

“And you move too quietly for me to hear you!” She had grabbed hold of his arms to steady herself. It took an effort, but she made her hands let him go. “Someone’s coming.”

“I know. I heard them when I was up at the house.”

Her eyes narrowed. That had been a dig at her. “We don’t all have shifter ears,” she mumbled.

He caught her wrist with his gentle hold. “I want you to stay at the house while I take care of the visitor.”

“Is ‘take care’ just another way of saying ‘kill’?”

He didn’t answer. So, yes, that silence was an answer.

“Julian, I think this is a bad idea.” Death wasn’t always the answer. It wasn’t even always close to the answer. “Let’s just see—”

Smoke. Her nose twitched and she looked back at the boat to see black tendrils of smoke drifting from the rear of the vessel. “The motor’s on fire.”

Then she saw a figure—a woman in shorts with long, blonde hair. The woman was waving frantically from the boat and calling for—

“Help!” The woman’s shout reached Rose as a whisper and she took a step forward.

“No.” Julian pushed her back. “Absolutely not. I get that you’re out to rescue the world and all, but this scene has trap written all over it.”

“It has desperate woman written all over it!”

“Go back to the house. Stay inside. If she’s just some lost tourist, I’ll send her on her way. Marcos can tow her vessel back to Key West. If she’s not…then I’ll make sure she doesn’t cause any other trouble.”

“We’re supposed to stay together. You said—”

“For the moment, I want you to stay in the house. I’ll just take a quick trip out there with Marcos and see what’s happening. Generally, we try not to arouse suspicions with humans. If she is just human, we’ll make her understand this is private property.”

But he was still ditching her. “Promise you won’t go to Key West without me. If this is some kind of trick and you’re just lying to me so that you can sail away and leave me trapped here—”

His hold tightened on her wrist. “I’m not lying to you. Stay inside until I assess the threat, then we’ll go, together, back to Key West.”

Okay. Good. She could deal with that.

“Take her in, Rayce.”

She’d actually known the wolf was behind her. Rose had caught his scent just a moment before. Since she couldn’t hear the shifters approach, Rose was trying to focus on recognizing their scents to warn her of their presence.

She turned from Julian and made her way toward the wolf.

“I don’t like this,” she muttered to Rayce.

“You and me both,” he rasped right back.

***

“Ahoy!” Marcos Minos called as he drew the Devil’s Prize closer to the other boat.

“Oh, thank God!” The woman with the long hair gave Marcos and Julian a brilliant smile. “My motor overheated, and I thought I’d have to call a tow from Key West, and then, you know, it could be hours before they got out here.”

The Devil’s Prize was just a few feet away from her vessel.