Full Moon Rising (Riley Jenson Guardian 1)

Power swept through me, tingling through vein and muscle and bone, blurring my vision, blurring the pain. Limbs shortened, shifted, rearranged, until what was standing in the club was wolf not human. I remained in my alternate form for several seconds, panting softly and listening to the silence for any hint of movement, then began to shift back into human form

The cells in a werewolf's body retained data on body makeup, which was why wolves were so long-lived. In changing, damaged cells were repaired. Wounds were healed. And while it generally took more than one shift to heal wounds as deep as the ones on my arm, one would at least stem the bleeding and begin the healing process

Of course, changing shape while fully clothed is never a good thing for the clothes - especially when they were as fragile as the lace top I was wearing. At least my jeans were made of stretchy material, and usually managed to survive the change in reasonable shape

Once back in human form, I knotted the remains of the shirt together, then swung around, my gaze searching the darkness for the humans who were here, somewhere. That's when the clapping began. It was a solitary tattoo that somehow managed to sound sarcastic

I knew it was Gautier without even smelling him

"You bastard," I said, as I turned back around to face him. "You just stood there and watched?"

There was nothing pleasant about his sudden grin. "You're right. You can handle yourself."

"Why didn't you help?"

He shoved his hands into his pockets and strolled into the club. "Only arrived back in time to see you shoving your shoe into the kid's chest. Interesting innovation, by the way."

I felt like raging at him, or, better yet, grabbing the other shoe and spiking it into his chest. But what would be the point? Gautier was twisted enough actually to enjoy the caress of fire across his flesh

"I called the Directorate. Is that the reason you're here?"

He nodded and squatted beside the vamp I'd spiked. "It isn't every day the Directorate gets an emergency call from a liaison. Jack put out an all-points to any guardians close to the area." He looked up. "Imagine the luck, me being so close."

Imagine, I thought sourly, and spun on my bare heel, walking to the corner where Vinnie, and a woman I presumed was one of the waitresses, lay. The big man had slashes across his arms, chest, and one cheek, but they weren't all that deep. His leg was twisted at an odd angle, and even in the dim light, I could see the white of shinbone. He'd somehow managed to wrap a tourniquet around his thigh, but even so, he'd lost a lot of blood. I wondered why the baby vamps hadn't sucked it up

The woman hadn't escaped so lightly. Her shirt had been ripped open and her breasts deeply lanced. The vamps had suckled her like children would their mothers, and from the look of it, they'd bled her dry

I squatted beside Vinnie. His gaze, when it met mine, was distant, shocked. "They followed me in when I opened. I didn't even see them."

I placed my hand over his. His skin was cold. Clammy. "I called an ambulance. They won't be long."

"Doreen? Is she okay? God, what they did to her - "

I glanced at the dead Doreen. Saw the echoes of terror in her lifeless blue eyes. What a goddamn awful way to spend your last moments

My stomach stirred and rose. I swallowed back bile and squeezed Vinnie's hand. "I'm sure she'll be okay."

"What about the others?"

I hesitated. "If I go check, will you be okay?"

He nodded. "Me and Doreen, we'll just wait here."

"I won't be long." As I rose, there was an audible snap of bone. Gautier, finishing what I'd started

Not that snapping vampires' necks actually killed them, but it certainly incapacitated them for a while. Long enough to drive a stake through their black hearts, anyway. Though Gautier didn't actually need to disable any vampire while he used the stake - he just enjoyed it. Enjoyed seeing the fear gather in their eyes as he raised the stake and drove it into their hearts. Which probably meant he was extremely pissed off at me just then, because I'd knocked both of the baby vamps unconscious, thereby robbing him of his pleasure. Why he was breaking their necks was anyone's guess. Maybe it was habit

Maybe he just liked the sound

I walked on past him like there was absolutely nothing wrong, like it was an everyday occurrence that rogue vampires were executed in my presence. Any other reaction could be deadly, because he was watching me like a cat does a mouse

And I had no intention of ever being Gautier's mouse

The distant wail of sirens bit through the silence as I squatted beside the three other women. All three of them were badly cut, and at least two of them raped. And as the soft squelch of wood being pressed into flesh, past bone and into heart whispered across the silence, part of me was fiercely glad. Those bastards didn't deserve a fair trial or justice. They didn't even deserve the quick staking they were being given

The emergency crews finally arrived. As Vinnie and the women were tended to, I made a statement to the cops. Gautier flashed his credentials and walked out. But the look he gave me as he wrapped the shadows around his body suggested he and I were going to be at odds for a while yet. No real surprise there

As soon as I was able, I picked up my handbag and got the hell out of there