Eternal Hunter (Night Watch 1)

A line of motorcycles blocked the entrance to Mort’s Bar. Pickups snaked and twisted, filling up the parking lot, and the blare of country music trembled in the air.

Erin slammed the door of Jude’s truck and stared at the bar. Night had fallen, bathing the city in darkness. The thick darkness hid the sagging sides and the dipping roof of Mort’s.

She’d been in this bar once before. A blind date that had gone to hell very fast.

Not her kind of place. Too loud. Too drunk. Too many men with free hands.

Gravel crunched beneath Jude’s shoes. She glanced at him when he rounded the front of the vehicle. “You think the vamp was telling the truth?” The guys in this place tended to run more toward the “good old boys” and not the paranormal predators.

Though she sure knew those good old boys could be predators, too.

“She was.” He sounded absolutely certain.

Erin raised a brow.

“She knows if she lied, I’ll just come back for her.” A barring of his fangs. Damn, he already had his fangs out. This wasn’t going to be a good night. “And if I do that, I won’t be so nice.”

Right. Because he’d been all goodness and light during that first showdown.

Her eyes darted back to the entrance. Smoke drifted lazily from the front door. Not a fire, just a shitload of folks with cigarettes, cigars, and who knew what else inside. Her hands balled into fists. “No sense standing around here all night. Let’s go.”

They started forward together. A loud wolf whistle split the air, and Jude froze. His gaze immediately tracked to the left, to the two men sitting on the back of a gray pickup truck. His growl vibrated in the air. “Don’t make me come over there and kick the shit out of you.”

The men jumped up and hurriedly ran into the shadows. Erin figured they weren’t in the mood to lose their shit.

Jude spared her a glance. “I don’t have time for ass**les.”

“Neither do I.” But she smiled. Because Jude made her feel…aw, hell, he just made her feel.

A burly bouncer blocked the bar’s door. “Twenty bucks.” He didn’t look up from his comic book.

Jude tossed him the cash and sauntered inside.

As soon as she crossed the threshold, the smoke got five times thicker. It flooded her nostrils, seeming to burn her nasal passages. What was that? Not cigarettes. This was stronger. Almost like incense but—

“Got us someone smart in here,” Jude whispered, reaching for her hand and pulling her close as he surveyed the crowd.

“Bastard’s blocking all the scents with the kymine.”

“What? Ky-kymine? What’s—”

“A scent that f**ks up a shifter’s nose, that’s what.” His eyes swept the crowd again. “Vamps in the west came up with it a few years back. They use it to even up the hunting field.”

Erin felt like she had to sneeze. She rubbed her nose, trying to stop the itch.

“Won’t do you any good.” He glanced up at the air vents. “Bet they’re pumping it in from there.”

Great. “So…they knew we were coming?” Not a good thought. Hell, she didn’t even know who “they” were. The good old boys? The not so good old boys?

She inched a bit closer to Jude and felt the sting of her claws as they began to stretch beneath her skin. If they were in for a fight, she wanted to be ready. “You think the vamp sold us out?”

“Could be.” He didn’t sound particularly concerned. “Or maybe this isn’t for us.”

The wolf.

“If the bastard has been hunting here, the kymine could be for him.” A man in an oversized cowboy hat and his giggling girlfriend staggered past them. “It’d explain how the vamp knew he was here.”

Yes, it would. Erin breathed slowly through her mouth. If she didn’t use her nose, didn’t move it at all, she’d be fine.

Maybe.

“So what do we do next?”

“Well…” He steered her away from the door. So much for not moving. Jude didn’t stop advancing until his back was against the wall and he had a good view of the crowd. “We can march up to the bar and announce that we’re here for the wolf.”

She eyed the bar. It was surrounded by men with thick stomachs and big arms, and the women with them—short skirts and give-em-hell grins.

How would that conversation go? Hi. We’re looking for a werewolf. Um, no. “What else can we do?”

He turned to her. Winked. “Got a little voyeur in you?”

“What?”

“I can’t hunt in here, and neither can he. But outside…that’s fair game.” He pointed to an exit in the back. A rounded ceiling led the way to darkness. A couple, kissing, groping, headed for the thick door.

Voyeur. “Watching’s not so much my thing.” But she had a feeling choice wasn’t going to be a big option right then. “I’m more for doing.”

His teeth were a brilliant white flash. “I’ll remember that.”

Then he stalked toward the back exit.

Dammit.

And she followed him.

No choice.

The kymine was driving him crazy. Jude shoved open the back door and sucked in a sharp breath of clean air.

Vampires. One day, he’d pay them back for the kymine. That crap was being sent all over the U.S., funneled by the undead freaks.

Sometimes, he really hated vamps.

“Jude? You okay?” Erin’s voice. He glanced back at her. She hadn’t been hit as hard. He’d noticed that right off. So he hadn’t told her that the kymine was blistering the inside of his nostrils. Hadn’t told her that if they hadn’t gotten the hell out of that stinking bar, blood would have started pouring from his nose in another two minutes.

But now that they were out, he’d start healing. Unfortunately, even for the strong shifters, it took some time to get kymine out of the system.

Admitting weakness with so many others around hadn’t been an option. Better to just suck up the pain and move on.

Story of his life.

Whispers floated to his ears.

“Jude?” A thread of worry thickened her voice. “Are you sure you’re—” “

“I’m fine,” he muttered.

But her brows were drawn low and she crept closer to him. “You don’t look so good.”

The door swung shut behind her.

Moans teased his ears. Pants. The couple he’d followed outside were already busy. Judging by the man’s groans, they sure seemed to be having one great time in the dark.