No Mercy (Dark-Hunter 18)

Chapter 2

After texting the other Dark-Hunters in New Orleans about what was going on, Sam spent the next eight hours on patrol while keeping in touch intermittently with Chi. Neither of them found anything unusual. Not a single Daimon seemed to be out tonight. The only predators on the street were human and while Sam had chased the ones away she found, they weren't the biggest threat in the world.

They just thought they were.

How she'd like to feed them to some of the things she'd killed over the centuries. Let them see what a badass really looked like up close and personal. They had no idea how insignificant and weak they really were. A dose of reality might serve them well.

Her phone buzzed. Looking down, she saw it was Chi. She flipped it open and answered.

Chi let out a long sigh. "Still bust. I'm heading back to my house to rest my feet and grab a bite. I'll catch you later."

"All right," Sam said into her phone while she glanced back at the evil moon. A shiver ran down her spine. "See you tomorrow night. Sleep tight and don't let the Daimons bite." She hung up the phone and checked the time.

Three A.M. Almost three hours until dawn. On the one hand, Chi was right and they were wasting their time out on the street. On the other...

She just couldn't let it go.

Something was here and she wanted to beat it into the ground. The only clue to what it might be had come from Dev.

Deciding to question the bear again, Sam headed back to Sanctuary.

It didn't take long to reach the red brick building where the Sanctuary sign--a dark hill silhouetted by a full moon with a motorcycle parked on it--hung over the doors. A couple of drunken human men staggered out and got into a cab while laughing and joking with each other.

She paused in the shadows to watch Dev leaning against the wall, ignoring them. He had a jacket on with his arms crossed over his chest. A casual observer might think he was catnapping on the job. But Sam recognized that his eyes were at half mast. Still open. Still alert. He was aware of everything around him and while he seemed to be in repose, he was tight and ready to spring into action in a single heartbeat.

Impressive. The warrior in her could appreciate how hard it was to look that relaxed while keeping all senses sharp. But that wasn't the only thing that impressed her. There was an undeniable aura of power that clung to him. One that told everyone who came into contact with him that he was lethal when crossed. All of his humor aside, Dev was a predator to the core of his soul.

And a nasty one at that. He was the kind who could kill and feel no remorse.

Like her.

A muscle flexed in his sculpted jaw making her wonder if he was hiding a yawn. More than that, the sight of that working muscle sent a shiver of heat through her. She didn't know why he was so irresistible, yet something in her wanted to walk up to him and rub against that long hard body and feel every inch of it on her naked skin.

If only she could.

There had been times in the past when the loneliness had gotten to her. Times when it outweighed her common sense and she'd given in to that need for companionship...Oh, who was she fooling? Companionship she could do without. It was the raw, animal sex she'd craved.

That was what she really missed.

But each time had been a brutal mistake. Being that close to another person overwhelmed her with their emotions, insecurities, and memories. She saw things from them that she didn't want to see. Old girlfriends and wives, low self-esteem, narcissistic egos, sick fantasies...

Sex never worked out when you could see straight into someone's thoughts and hear them.

Even worse, she didn't like lying to get laid or having to hide her fangs and other nocturnal habits. That was the real reason she'd slept with Ethon. He'd known who and what she was both past and present, and honestly, it'd been nice to be completely open and honest with a lover again.

If only his ego hadn't taken up half the room....

Not to mention the other things she'd seen. Things about him she'd never suspected that haunted her to this day. Poor Spartan. No one deserved his past. She'd had no idea how bad his human life ate at him too. No wonder even as a Dark-Hunter, he was hell-bent on suicide. As a human he'd loved in a way few people could and in a way no one who knew him now would ever suspect.

How she ached for him.

But the bear wasn't Ethon. And she wasn't here to find a bedmate. She was here for information....

Dev felt the hair at the back of his neck lift. Someone was watching him. He could feel it with every animal instinct he possessed. Even though he wanted to go find them, he forced himself to remain perfectly still. Let them think he was completely unaware. If they decided to attack, they'd get the business end of his claws.

At least that was his thought until he caught a scent in the air that made him instantly rock hard.

Samia Savage.

Gah, what was wrong with him that the mere scent of her skin could raise his blood pressure? Probably the fact that she was off-limits to him. The lure of the forbidden fruit. It'd ruined many a man and even more bears.

"I see you, Dark-Hunter." It was a lie. He had no clue where she was, but to say that he smelled her might offend her. Women could be weird that way.

"I see you too, Bear. Hard to miss since you're standing under a light."

She was to his left. Straightening, he pushed himself away from the wall as she walked slowly toward him. Damn if she wasn't the sexiest thing he'd seen in a long time. The way she moved...

It was criminal.

She had her jacket back on as well as a pair of opaque sunglasses. Even so, he remembered how pretty her eyes had been and it made him wonder what their real color was. All Dark-Hunters had dark brown eyes. No matter what eye color they'd been born with, the moment they were brought back to life, in addition to being extremely light sensitive, their eyes were so dark as to be almost black. If they were ever lucky enough to get their souls back from Artemis, their eye color would revert to their human color and they'd become mortal again.

For some reason, he had an image of Sam with bright green eyes.

You're being so stupid.

Yeah, he was. He'd never been the romantic kind of guy. It went with that whole half animal thing. Romance was for men who had to beg for women. Something that had never been his problem. Part of the blessing, or curse depending on your viewpoint, of being a shapeshifter was a deep magnetism that caused humans to seek them out and want to pet them. That allure definitely came in handy.