Full Moon Rising

I frowned at him. “I can’t.”

“Because he’s blocked?”

“Because I’ve known him for two years. I can’t force my will on him like that.”

“As I said, why not? Sounds to me he’s trying to force his will on you.”

Well, yeah, but that was Talon. His wants had always come above everyone else’s. But using words and strength was far different than using psychic talents. Besides, if I did do that, I’d be no better than he was. “Telepathy is a defense. I refuse to use it for anything more.”

“Yet you used it at Moneisha just fine.”

“That’s different.”

“It’s not, you know.”

“Rescuing my brother is defense of pack, nothing more.”

“If you say so.” He glanced in the rearview mirror, then said, “That wolf doesn’t seem the type to accept his wishes being denied.”

“He’ll get over it.” Yet I remembered the look in his eyes, remembered his vow that he always got what he wanted, and wondered

I shifted in the seat and studied Qui

He didn’t return my look. “What about me?”

“How long did it take for you to get over Eryn?”

His smile was both wry and bitter. “I think current evidence suggests I’m not.”

It certainly did. “So how long were you with her?”

“Nine months.”

“When did you discover what she was doing?”

His expression was grim. “Not nearly fast enough.” He hesitated, then added, “Four months ago.”

Only four months. No wonder he was still hurting. No wonder he was still so angry. “And how long has Eryn been assigned to the whorehouse?”

“Two months.” He shrugged. “It took time to buy her company.”

“And are you intending to leave her there?”

“Yes.”

“The punishment doesn’t fit the crime, you know.”

His sudden grin was savage. “She created her bed. Let her lie in it for eternity. I don’t care.”

The harshness of his words was a sharp reminder that this was a vampire I sat beside. A rare vampire, granted, in that he apparently still had the capability to feel, but a vampire all the same. And he could obviously be as cold and as cruel as any of his race

“If you didn’t care, you wouldn’t have reacted so harshly,” I noted

He didn’t say anything, but we both knew I was right. He looked in the rearview mirror again, and a prickle of unease ran down my spine

“What’s wrong?” I twisted around, saw the distant flash of red-and-blue lights. “Cops or emergency services?”

“Cops, I think.”

I gri

“True. But unlike you, I’m not above using my psychic skills to get me out of trouble.”

I raised an eyebrow. “You obviously haven’t read the papers lately.” Not that I actually had, either. Jack had told me the news over lunch one day

He glanced at me as he slowed. “What do you mean?”

“All police and emergency services have been issued with psychic deadeners as part of their everyday kits.”

He swore softly. I just kept on gri

We both lowered our windows, and Qui

His words were cut off by an odd popping sound. He jerked wildly, then became still, and though my concern surged, I had no chance to see what was going on

Not with the barrel of a gun appearing two centimeters from the end of my nose

Chapter 10

“Don’t move,” the cop behind the gun warned. “Or you’ll taste lead.”

What happened to the right to remain silent and all that crap? That they didn’t even bother to say the words meant they were after us specifically

Obviously, it had been Gautier in the shadows. But why would he send state coppers after us rather than Directorate perso

Though we had stopped, maybe the reason was that simple. We would have been more suspicious of an unmarked car swooping down on us so quickly

My fingers tightened around the door handle, but otherwise, I obeyed the cop’s orders. The fact that Qui

“We were only speeding,” I said, forcing fear into my voice. “Surely pointing guns at us is a bit of an overreaction?”

The cop ignored me, looking over the top of the car again. It suggested they considered me no threat. They’d learn soon enough just how wrong they were

“The vamp out of action?” the cop with the gun asked

“Yeah. The new tasers certainly do the work.”

Tasers. Great. That was all we’d needed. Though the weapons had been around for a while, it had only been recently they’d developed one with the right electrical current to affect vampires every bit as efficiently as humans. Qui

A hand reached into the car and, out of the corner of my eye, I saw the wig being tugged off. “It’s definitely not Brown.”

So Gautier had been suspicious of Qui

“You want to call the retrieval in to headquarters,” the gunman continued, “and ask what they want us to do with them?”

The other cop made a grunt of agreement and walked away. I waited a few more seconds then grabbed the gun, wresting it from the cop’s hand as I thrust open the door

He staggered backward with a yelp of surprise. I threw the gun into the back and flowed out of the car, knocking the cop out before he knew what had hit him

A booming retort bit through the silence. I dove for the shadows along the side of the road, heard the scream of air, and the sharp sting of pain as the bullet scraped my rump, then I hit the ground and rolled to my feet. Wrapping the shadows around myself, I ran toward the other car. The second cop was still standing near the car door, his gun aimed at the spot where I’d disappeared from sight

I shook my head. When were the authorities going to learn and stop pairing two humans together? It made no sense, not with the introduction of recent incentives that included a fresh, free blood supply to vamps who joined the force. Of course, the Directorate skimmed the cream, while the psych and physical tests prevented a good percentage of the remainder from joining the cop ranks. But there was such an influx of applicants it could take years for the cops to work down the remaining list

I picked up a small stone and padded quietly to the back of the car. The cop was starting to look around. I tossed the stone, waited until it clicked against the road up ahead, then let the shadows unravel and ran at him. He never stood a chance. I had the speed and power of both wolf and vampire, and he was only human. I tucked his unconscious body into the car, turned off the camcorder, then collected the second cop and shoved him into the car as well. Then I ran back to Qui

I didn’t bother feeling for a pulse, mainly because the slow metabolic rate of vamps would make it extremely difficult to find one at the best of times. I unclipped his seat belt and dragged him around to the passenger side. Once he was safely belted back in, I ran around to the driver’s side and started the car. Cop central would have called in reinforcements once they’d seen what was happening. We had to get off the freeway, and get rid of the Porsche, as quickly as possible

But I didn’t take the first off-ramp, continuing on instead to the Mickleham Road exit. The mob Qui