Hunting Ground

The other four shoes were new and smelled of leather, dye, and, lightly, of A

Charles could care less about shoes-and he suspected he wasn’t alone among men in his feelings. Shoe, no shoe, he didn’t care. Naked was good, though over the past couple of weeks he was begi

Even smiling at the thought of A

A vampire, he’d thought, or possibly two. His nose now told him there had been more than that. He caught six individual scents. Six vampires who’d been after his A

And he wondered if she’d been as honest as he thought when she told him she was all right. The pink shoe broke in his hand, and he dropped it. He was growling again as he followed the vampires to a parking garage-space number forty-six.

Four minutes, and a little intimidation-not difficult, the way he was feeling-and he found that the space had been paid for six months but occupied only now and then.

No way to tell if the vampires were co

“Yeah,” the man-not much older than a boy, really-said. He wasn’t looking at Charles now, and not doing so had allowed him to calm down a little. “Someone came boiling out of here like they were fit to be tied. I remember it because it was a minivan, a blue Dodge-not the kind of vehicle you roar out of town in. I didn’t notice it coming in, but I did the vehicle check when I started work tonight. I don’t remember a minivan except Mrs. Sullivan’s parked in here when I did it.”

Charles wasn’t concerned about that. Mind tricks that work on humans were among the most common gifts of the vampires. If they’d told the attendant not to remember, he wouldn’t have.

“Tell me about the minivan.”

“Three men and a woman. They all looked like FBI, you know? Expensive and conservative.” The man looked up at Charles. “Are you a cop or something? Shouldn’t you show me some ID?”

“Or something,” murmured Charles, and the attendant paled and looked away again. Gently, Charles thanked the man for the information and left.

He could have gotten their faces from the cameras, but there was no need to traumatize the young man further-he had their scent, and he would not forget. If not today, then eventually he would run into them-the world was not that large to a man who lived forever. When he found them at last, he would remember this night to them.

When he reached the place where the attack had occurred, he stopped and put A

By the time he made it to the hotel, he’d gotten a semblance of control. It would have to do.

ANGUS was sitting on the floor in front of their room, reading a newspaper. He didn’t look like much of a guardian, but there were few other wolves Charles would rather have guarding his mate’s door. There wasn’t much that would be able to get past the old wolf who ruled Seattle.

“Something interesting in the paper?” Charles asked politely.

“Not really, no.” Angus folded the paper back into its original shape with economical precision, then got to his feet. He kept his face averted and down. Not slow on the uptake, was the Alpha of the Emerald City Pack. Charles might have his game face on-but any wolf worth his salt would smell the frustration of a failed hunt on him from twenty feet out.

“Your mate was worried about allowing anyone in before you got here. With Tom mostly down and out, and Moira-”

“-without enough magic to light a candle,” finished A

Charles gave her a sharp look-he’d smelled only vampires. Had there been a werewolf, too? He pulled the predator in him under better control once more.

He needed a few answers. And he had to make sure she didn’t guess how hard it was for him to appear calm and collected. It was a good thing she was still working on listening to her nose.

“As there was no urgent danger threatening, wisdom dictated that I wait here until someone she knew better came,” said Angus, sounding rather pleased with A

“A

Angus gave Charles a sharp look as A

But A

“I’m sorry if I offended you.” A

“No trouble,” Angus said. “Do I look offended? Let’s all get inside, and you can tell us what happened, so we’ll see what’s to be done. Vampires, eh?”

A

Not hers, Brother Wolf told him hungrily. But it could have been. He couldn’t tell who had thought that last, maybe both of them. It didn’t help his control: he was having an unusually tough time keeping it together.

He had to keep his distance, just until he could get himself calm and centered. He allowed Angus to pass between him and A

Her freckles stood out on her pale cheeks, but the scent of her fear wasn’t fresh. Angus hadn’t scared her, she’d just been being cautious. Brother Wolf settled down, but only a little.

“Here,” Charles told her, and handed her the bag of shoes.

She looked at the bag blankly before her face lit up in a grin. “You are supernatural, Charles. Absolutely supernatural.”

She opened the closet and dumped the shoes in with a pile of bags that hadn’t been there this morning. There were a couple of plastic-covered dresses hanging next to the hotel’s bathrobes, too. She’d been shopping and back once before they were attacked. The vampires could have been waiting, watching the hotel, and followed them out.

A low growl in the room brought his attention back to the task at hand. The little witch, still wearing her sunglasses, was curled up on the giant pillow at the head of the bed. If A