Dangerous Games (Riley Jenson Guardian 4)

"Meaning, they may well be merging, but our boy is doing more with his power than releasing a couple of demons to harass a vampire." Jack eyed me for a minute. "You don't seem overly perturbed about Quinn locking you up."

"You haven't seen his house." I glanced at my watch. If I didn't get going soon, fin was going to start wondering what the hell was going on. "Look, if you don't need me, I've got a suspect to meet."

"Go. But be sure you hit the com-link if things get rough and you need out."

I raised my eyebrows. "Why tell me that when I know for a fact you don't say it to other guardians?"

"Because the other guardians are dealing with regular old psychos. I've got a feeling your particular psycho is off the scale even by our standards."

"Well, gee, that's a comforting thought." I eyed him for a minute, then added, "And besides, you don't want me dead yet because you want to see where the drugs take my talents."

"Precisely." He smiled and threw me a set of keys. "Seeing Cole drove you here, take my car. But I want it back in one piece."

"You give me your keys, you take your chances." I grinned, tossed them lightly in the air, then headed out.

Night's curtain had well and truly fallen, and though the air was cold, the night was clear. The moon hung fat and yellow in the sky, not quite full but not far off it. The heat of it sung through my veins, a surging desire that was only going to get worse over the coming nights. It was, I thought grimly, probably the best time to get landed with the job of fucking a bad man.

And when I finished doing him tonight, I was going to ring Kellen. I had a bad feeling I'd need some tender care and gentle loving to wipe the foulness of Jin's touch from my mind.

I found Jack's car and headed into the city. It was a Monday night, so the streets were quiet and parking easy to find. I grabbed my bag and headed back up the street toward the club, discovering the number he'd given me was actually that of a multistory building and the club was on the nineteenth floor.

Which was pushing my phobia to the limit.

I took a deep breath and forced a smile on my face as I approached the guard. "Hi," I said, acting all cheery even though my stomach was doing a rebel dance. "I'm here for the Hunter's Club."

"You got a membership pass?"

"No."

"Can't get in without a membership pass."

Obviously, this security guard wasn't paid to be helpful. Either that, or he was just bored and having himself a little fun. "My name is Riley Jenson. I'm here as a guest of Jin Lu."

He glanced down at a sheet sitting on his desk, then picked up a book and placed it on the desk. "Need you to sign in there," he said, pointing to a space. "And write you name after it."

I did. He took the book, got a pass out of his drawer, writing a number beside my name before handing it to me. "This will work the lift and get you past the foyer doors. You'll need to return this pass and sign out when you finish."

I nodded, grabbed the pass, and headed toward the lift. The swift journey upward had a tremor running through my limbs, but thankfully, my stomach decided to stay where it was. The entrance to the club was all gold and white luxury, the carpet plush enough that I had to resist the temptation to rip off my shoes and run barefoot through it. But I couldn't help a wry smile when I spotted the sign emblazoned over the front doors. Not only did it say "Hunter's Club" in great big fancy letters, but it had "humans only" underneath it.

Charming.

Humans were still trying to legislate a rule that would outlaw the "no-human" rule in the werewolf clubs, but it was just fine and dandy for them to outlaw us willy-nilly. The sooner we got some nonhuman representation in the government ranks, the better.

The doors swished open as I approached, and in that instant, I saw the sensors lining the doorframe. They really were serious about the club being humans only.

And it meant if I went through, I would be outed as something other than human.

I swore under my breath and glanced at the blonde manning the reception desk. She was one of those sexy, athletic types guaranteed to set on edge the teeth of any normally built woman, but more importantly, she hadn't appeared to notice that I'd stopped short of the doorway and was just standing there. She wasn't wearing a nanowire - unless they were now making them in designer earrings - and there didn't look to be any other psychic deadeners in the room. Not that they could actually stop me anymore.

I blew out a breath, then opened several shields and let my mind sweep into hers, taking control in an instant.

I might not be able to "sense" humans, but I sure as hell could control them. I made her turn off the alarm, figuring the club would be safe for the few hours I was here. And just in case someone higher up noticed, I had her pull the plug out of the wall. That was the trouble with sensor units installed after the building had been completed - a careless movement could every easily break their connection. Which is why many of them were now being directly wired into power mains.

I released my hold on her, then went through the door and approached the desk. I still had a telepathic finger on the pulse, so to speak, just to hear her thoughts and ensure there were no lingering doubts about what had just happened.

She blinked, like a dreamer waking from a dream, then gave me a bright smile.

"Well, hello there," she said, her welcoming tone as fake as her tan. "New to the club, are we?"