The Darkest Kiss (Riley Jenson Guardian 6)

"Let's find out, shall we?" Quinn said, pressing the accelerator firmly. The car took off with a throaty roar.

"This isn't a sports car," Rhoan said dryly, "so just watch the shudder when you climb over one twenty. It'll do your arms in."

"One twenty won't get us into Beechworth before dawn, will it?" I asked.

"No."

"Then don't worry about the shudder and just get this rust trap moving."

Quinn glanced at me, amusement touching his lips and glinting in his dark eyes. My hormones did a happy little dance, but I shoved them back down and told them to behave. Now was not the time.

"Your wish is my command."

Rhoan snorted. "The day either of us believe that is the day we fall over dead."

"Who asked the peanut gallery for an opinion?"

"No one," Rhoan snapped. "So shut up and drive, my friend."

For a change, Quinn did exactly as he was told.

Maybe there was hope for him yet.

Red fingers of light were beginning to scrape across the sky by the time Quinn stopped the car beside the old stone walls that surrounded Beechworth's powder magazine building.

I climbed out of the car and sniffed the air, my nostrils flaring as I sampled the aromas within. The predawn air held a chill that felt like ice, but underneath it ran scents of eucalyptus, earth, and the freshness of water.

And underneath all that was the hint of fear.

Fear that was thick and strong, and coming from more than one source.

People were alive out there. Hopefully, Liander was still one of them. I grabbed my phone and dialed the Directorate, asking the cow to call in ambulances and any medical help she could find close by.

"I can hear heartbeats," Quinn said softly, as he came around the front of the car. "They're a ways off, so it makes it hard to define just how many."

"But there's definitely more than one," Rhoan said, closing the car door softly. "And that's good news for those of us needing some right now."

I squeezed his arm lightly. "How are we going to attack this?" I glanced at Quinn. "And how are we going to kill something that's not only invisible, but all but invincible in the daylight?"

Quinn glanced at the red-flagged sky. "We have a good half-hour before the sun actually rises. We need to attack him before then, or we'll be forced to wait until the following night."

"Waiting is not in my plans at this particular moment in time," Rhoan said, voice flat. "So do we attack as one, or as individuals?"

"Together," I said. "I've seen him fight. He's fast and he's strong, regardless of the fact he's been locked away for years."

"Insanity often gives people an edge." Quinn glanced at Rhoan. "I'll find and protect Liander and the other hostages. I'll leave the killing to you two. You're here officially. I'm not."

And Jack could sometimes get cranky about involving civilians in cases - unless, of course, he did it himself. I looked at my brother. "Don't suppose you've got an arsenal in the trunk?"

He grimaced. "No. I removed the guns and locked them up before I took the car to the car wash."

Obeying the rules, as usual. Whereas I would never have even washed the car, let alone obeyed Jack's safety rules about where to store weapons when not on duty. Which would undoubtedly get me in trouble one day, but on this day, it would have been a boon.

"So you've no weapons at all?"

"I've some stakes."

I glanced at Quinn. "Will they work?"