Eternal Hunter (Night Watch 1)

“Your Honor, I object! This is pure hearsay, the witness has no way to confirm that—” Erin broke off, stumbling. The judge’s face swam before her eyes.

“Ms. Jerome?” Judge Sally Chen called out. “Ms. Jerome, are you all right?”

Erin made a grab for the edge of the jury box. She barely managed to catch herself before she fell face-first onto the gleaming floor. “Ah, yes.” She blinked. The judge’s face sharpened before her, and Erin could see the firm chin and the dark green gaze again. She tried to straighten herself up.

And nearly hit the floor.

“Do you need a recess, ADA?”

She could only manage a faint nod.

“All right, folks. Look, it’s close to quitting time anyway. Let’s resume this case tomorrow morning, eight a.m.” The gavel slammed down.

Erin took a deep breath. Her hand rubbed over her forehead. Her stomach was churning, her knees shaking.

Not good.

“You okay?” Zane’s voice. The guy had followed her to court and plopped down in the front row.

Right then, she was so glad he was there. Erin shook her head. “No. No, something’s wrong—”

The courtroom disappeared.

“Zane?” This couldn’t be happening.

Black walls. Laughter. Snarls.

Erin jerked her head around, straining to see.

A tiger, with blood matting its white body. Men attacking the beast, slashing and stabbing with knives.

The tiger fell before her. Its head hit the floor. A puddle of blood spread around the fallen animal.

The fur dissolved. Tanned flesh appeared. A man with blond hair, bloody flesh. Not moving. Not breathing.

More laughter.

“Too f**king easy.”

“I thought he wanted the shifter bastard alive.”

“Doesn’t matter—we’ll still get paid.”

“We damn well better.”

The man’s eyes were open—blue and empty. Not like Jude’s at all.

Not like Jude, not anymore.

“Erin!” Her head snapped back. Zane shook her, hard. “Erin, what the hell? Can you hear me?”

She blinked, and the courtroom was back. She was on the floor. Zane’s fingers dug into her arms, and he crouched above her, lines bracketing his mouth. “Jude.”

“No—it’s Zane.” His head lifted and he called out, “Hey, I need some help over here!”

She grabbed his shirt front and jerked him toward her. “Where’s Jude?” Her teeth wanted to chatter, so she clenched them.

Death dreams. She hated them.

Jude.

How long had she been out? “Where is he?” Close to a scream in a courtroom. Like she cared about the rules then.

“Ah…” He glanced down at her white-knuckled grip. “Your claws are cutting me.”

“He’s in trouble.” Absolute certainty. Too late. Always too late. Lee was still in the hospital. Still in a coma because she’d been too late. And her father was in a grave because she’d been too late.

Damn dreams. Why, why did she have them if she couldn’t stop death?

Not Jude. Not him.

“What?” The demon shook his head. “Look, you’re confused. You fell hard.” A wince. “I didn’t catch you before you slammed your head on the floor. Give things a minute, you’ll be fine.”

No, she wouldn’t be. “If you don’t tell me where he is, Jude’s dead.”

Finally, that got his attention. She saw his Adam’s apple bob. “You—you can’t—”

“Psychic, remember?” No time to go into the twisted story of her particular talents.

“Jude’s out hunting.” He rose, jerked her to her feet, and ignored the scrape of her claws over his flesh.

“Hunting where?” Hold on, Jude. Please, hold on. She couldn’t lose him.

Wouldn’t.

Always too late.

Dammit.

Zane jerked out his cell phone and punched in a number. His jaw flexed as he waited. Waited.

Erin rocked forward on her heels. He could be dying.

“Dee! Dee—where’s Jude? What? No, I don’t have time— just tell me which damn den!” His eyes widened and Erin caught “Jamestown? You sure? Fuck.” He ended the call, his fingers whitening around the small phone.

“Zane?” There had been so much blood.

Won’t. Lose. Him.

“He’s in a demons’ den on Jamestown.” He shook his head. “We can’t go there. There’s no way you can—”

Jamestown. Erin spun away from him and ran for the double doors.

“Wait! You won’t find the den. You’ll never be able to—”

She jerked open the courtroom door. Hesitated. Demons’ den. Her neck craned as she glanced back at him. “You can find it.”

His face paled.

“If you don’t, he’s dead.”

“Dammit.” His hands clenched. “Then let’s go to hell.”

“A demons’ den is like a crack house.” Zane stared at the dark building before them. “Only much, much worse.”

Erin didn’t really care how much worse the place was. Yeah, the place looked like some kind of hole in the wall, but if Jude was inside, she was bringing him out. “You sure this is the place?”

“Yeah, yeah. Dee said he was following a lead on your stalker.”

Jude was going to die because of her. The thudding of her heartbeat filled her ears.

No. Not for me.

Erin jumped up the cracking steps.

“Wait. There’ll be a guard, armed. Always is at a place like this. He’ll—”

Erin kicked in the door. The wood exploded under her foot, shattering instantly. She barreled forward, ignoring the scrapes along her arms and face.

“Hey, bitch, what the fu—”

A big, lanky guy with pitch black eyes ran at her, spittle flying.

Erin caught him with her claws, right in the chest, and shoved the bastard back about ten feet. He hit the wall, sent plaster flying, and sank to the floor.

He didn’t get up.

A long whistle behind her. “Yeah, you’re scary,” Zane said. “And someone is stalking you? ”

Her gaze snapped to the left, then the right. Old furniture. Freaking rats running around. Enough dust to clog her nose and numb her sense of smell but no Jude. “Where is he? You said this was the right place! Where is he? ” So she sounded hysterical.

If there was ever a time for a freak-out, it was now.

Zane’s stare swept the room. Then the floor. “What’s that?”