Full Moon Rising (Riley Jenson Guardian 1)

Quinn didn't try to stop me, which was good, because right then I probably would have tried to flatten him. I say tried, because I very much suspected he was one vampire I wasn't equal to. There was something about him, something under that calm, sexy exterior, that suggested greater depths than any of the vampires I worked with. Even Jack

And if Jack was wary of this vampire, then I sure as hell should be

All Quinn said was, "We have to prepare first."

"I can shadow. They won't see me."

"They have infrared. You said that yourself."

I stopped at the door and took a deep breath. He was right. But it did little to ease the anxiety suddenly knotting my insides

I glanced over my shoulder. "What do you suggest?"

He retrieved the chip from the desk, then rose and walked toward me, all grace and beauty in a lean and powerful package. "A little game of dress-up."

I could think of a lot of games I could play with this vampire, and dressing up was certainly up there on the list. But I very much doubted he meant the type of dressing up I was imagining - more's the pity. "Meaning?"

"Meaning, if Moneisha is looking for prostitutes, why don't we give them an easy one to snatch?"

"Wouldn't they be a little suspicious of a pro suddenly appearing on a quiet suburban street?"

He gave me the chip, then pressed a hand into my back again, guiding me toward the elevators. "Not necessarily. There's a working brothel one street down from Moneisha. Hopefully they'll think you're just walking to work."

I slanted him a sideways glance. "And how would you know there's a working brothel one street away?"

"A good investigator discovers what he can about a target area."

"Yet you said only moments before that you preferred to avoid prostitutes."

"I do." He gave me another of those grins. "I'm a billionaire. Women throw themselves at me all the time. I have no need to pay for it."

Which didn't exactly answer my question. "And do you not-pay-for-it often?"

"Quite often. I have needs, like any other man."

I was hoping he'd assuage some of those needs with me. And as soon as I got my brother out

The doors closed behind us and the lift dropped. My stomach flirted with the idea of puking, then decided to settle again. "So where are we going?"

"To buy camouflage." His gaze slid down my body. "The skirt is nice, but it doesn't quite stretch into pro territory."

Well, no, but all I had to do was take off the coat and sweater, reveal the torn shirt, and you had come-get-me material right there. "It's nearly midnight. There are not going to be any shops open."

"When you have the money, the shops are always open."

The glass front doors slid open as we approached and the cool evening air swirled in. It was thick with the aromas of smog and humans, but underneath it lay something else. Musk and mint and man. The same combination that had been on the wolf who'd shot me

I stopped and heard something else. A scream of air, as if something fast and deadly was tearing through the night toward us

I threw myself sideways and knocked Quinn out of the way. He cursed, his arms going around me, instinctively cushioning my body with his as we fell to the ground. He grunted as we hit, and his eyes widened. Air hissed, and I twisted around to look. Something cut through the night just above us, something that was wood rather than metal, with a deadly pointed end

An arrow

The fact that it was all wood suggested it had been aimed at Quinn, but the reality was, an arrow in the heart wasn't going to do either of us any good

It hit the glass behind us and ricocheted harmlessly away. Footsteps whispered across the sounds of the night. Our attacker, on the run. I broke away from Quinn's embrace, flung off my bag, coat, and sweater, then shifted shape. In wolf form, I bounded after the bastard

"Riley, wait!"