Born of Night (The League #1)(11)
Author: Sherrilyn Kenyon

He shook his head. “Random is safer than habit. Since they don’t know this transport, they couldn’t have it marked or traced.”

Marked . . . a military euphemism for armed with a bomb. God, how she hated being in this situation.

The transport stopped outside her building. Nykyrian exited first and scanned the street before he stepped out enough to let her leave.

He shielded her with his body as they crossed the sidewalk and she inserted her key card into the door’s lock. When the door opened, he grabbed her arm to keep her from entering the building before he scanned the hallway, then the street.

“You’re making me nervous,” she snapped as her shaking hands almost caused her to drop her key.

“You should be nervous.”

Kiara let out a frustrated breath. So much for having a guard reassure her . . . She stepped into the corridor and headed for the lift. “My flat is on the top floor.”

“I know.”

He infuriated her. If he knew so much, why didn’t he lead the way? Oh, what she wouldn’t give to knock some of his cockiness out of him. “It must thrill you to always be right.” She pushed the number for her floor.

As the doors closed, he faced her. “You can attack me all you wish. I don’t give a minsid damn whether or not you like me. But you will respect me, listen to me, and obey me. Do you understand?”

Anger stung her cheeks at his rapid, even-toned dictation for her behavior. “I’m not yours, you have no ownership papers. My God, I haven’t even hired you.”

“You haven’t. Your father has.”

Kiara stiffened in confusion. “What’s that supposed to mean? I was there when Syn turned my father’s proposal down.”

“We reconsidered.”

The knot in her stomach loosened. “Why?”

He stepped back from her. “Pitala and Aksel Bredeh.”

Kiara frowned. Pitala she knew only too well, especially since she could still feel his slimy hands on her. “What is Aksel Bredeh?”

“He’s another rancid mercenary assassin, mu Tara.”

She clenched her teeth. “Why do you keep calling me Tara? Is it an insult?”

Nykyrian tensed for a moment. “It’s Andarion for lady.”

“Oh.” His explanation caught her off guard. Why would he choose to call her that after his rough treatment of her? It didn’t make sense and it went a long way in softening her anger at him.

“Who’s Aksel Bredeh?” she asked in a softer tone, wondering what there was to the new mercenary that would motivate Nykyrian to help her after they’d turned her father down. Could Bredeh be any worse than Pitala? She shivered at the thought.

Silence answered her question.

She glared at Nykyrian, waiting for a response. Before she could ask again, the doors opened on her floor.

With one hand braced on the door of the lift to keep it from closing, he stepped out and scanned the corridor.

Tempted to shove him and say boo, Kiara bet herself he’d jump twelve feet.

Or shoot her. As an ex-League assassin, he would be very dangerous if startled.

He tapped the comlink in his right ear to activate it. “We’re in the hall. Any alerts?” He paused before allowing her to lead the way to her flat.

She reached her door and stopped. There was some kind of strange device hooked into her card slot. “This has been tampered with.”

Someone was inside her flat. She could hear them.

Cold fear washed over her.

Not again . . .

CHAPTER 7

Nykyrian pulled Kiara behind him, then knocked twice on the door to her flat. It was all she could do not to hold on to him for support. She was so scared, she was amazed that her legs were still holding her upright.

“Who is it?” a deep voice growled from inside.

Nykyrian answered in what had to be the most sarcastic tone she’d ever heard. “Definitely not your mother, but I am willing to beat your ass if you don’t stop playing games. Open the damn door before I get shot in the hallway.”

“Geez, what a temper,” the man said, even though Nykyrian’s tone had been anything but angry. The door slid open to reveal a large Andarion male.

And she meant l-a-r-g-e . . .

Kiara’s heart slid into her stomach at the massive form. She’d thought Nykyrian to be tall. This man stood a full head taller and was twice as wide. His long teeth flashed at her as he offered her an evil grin.

Was he considering her for dinner?

Nykyrian grabbed her arm and pulled her past the man.

Her eyes widened as she accidentally brushed up against the Andarion’s hard chest. The crimson ringed white eyes sent a chill down her spine. No wonder Nykyrian wore dark glasses. Eyes like those were terrifying.

The Andarion grimaced as he came back into her flat and shut the door.

“Where’s Syn?”

Nykyrian released her. “On his way.”

Kiara stared at the human male who’d asked about Syn. He reclined on her couch with his feet propped up on her table. His red hair, almost as long as Nykyrian’s, was worn loose and concealed the side of his face. He seemed completely comfortable in her home.

The sight angered her.

How dare they invade her privacy in such a manner and disrespect her things . . . Her agitation increased when the Andarion returned to her favorite armchair, picked up her bag of friggles from the low table, and began munching them.

Seizing the bag, she narrowed her eyes. “This is my home, not some free-house.”

The Andarion looked at Nykyrian, his eyes wide. “She’s got spunk,” he rasped with a dark laugh. “I bet her meat is equally as spicy.”

His gaze returned to her as if he was sizing her up for a kettle. Kiara took a step back, clutching the bag to her chest.

“You might want to return the food to him,” Nykyrian said from behind her. “It’s unwise to starve an Andarion. If Hauk decided to nibble on you, there’s not much we could do to stop him.”

Hauk raked her with a calculating grin.

Her anger vanished. Handing the bag back to Hauk, she quickly put distance between them. What had her father gotten her into? How could he have turned her over to these people?

The redheaded man flashed her a dazzling smile. He really was gorgeous. “They’re only teasing you.” He stood and extended his hand to her. “I’m Darling Cruel and yes, my parents really were nasty enough to name me that.”

Kiara shook his gloved hand as she realized this was the man Syn had wanted to kill when they rescued her. Something in Darling’s manner reminded her of an aristocrat. He seemed easy enough to get along with, unlike the two Andarions.

He indicated the Andarion eating her food as he retook his seat. “The glutton is Dancer Hauk.”

“Dancer?” Kiara was amused by the revelation.

Hauk stiffened. “It means ‘killer’ in Andarion.”

Darling laughed, a deep throaty sound as he draped his arms over the back of the couch in a decidedly masculine pose. “You wish. Nykyrian told me it meant ‘of beautiful cheeks.’ ”

Hauk gave Nykyrian a glare that bordered on murder.

Nykyrian shrugged, apparently unconcerned by the unspoken threat. “Don’t waste that look on me, chiran. I didn’t name you and I can’t help it if your adoring mother was as sick as Darling’s.”

Kiara was relieved by their play, which took some of the coldness out of them and the awkward nervousness out of her. Surely they couldn’t be all bad if they shared this kind of friendship. It made them seem almost normal.

Then again, normal wasn’t exactly a term someone could ever apply to this group.

Darling smiled again. “I’m sorry if we overstepped our bounds. Being the only one here with Hauk, I encouraged him to scrounge for another source of food.”

At least Darling had manners. “It’s all right,” she assured him. “I’m just upset over everything that’s happened and I’m taking some of it out on you guys.”

“I completely understand. Having someone try to kill you can ruin even your best day. It seriously sucks on a bad one.”

Turning around, she faced Nykyrian. He leaned against her bar with his arms folded over his chest. His head was angled toward Darling, but she was sure he was watching her. She could feel his eyes on her. If only he wasn’t wearing those blasted shades.

Did he ever remove them?

“I need to change. I suppose I don’t need to tell the three of you to make yourselves comfortable, as you’ve already done so.”

Nykyrian didn’t so much as twitch.

She really hated those shades. She would love to be able to read his emotions and moods.

Kiara paused at the entrance to her hall and glanced back at the three men. She was extremely uncomfortable about removing her clothes with strangers in her house.

It just seemed . . . dangerous.

She looked at Nykyrian’s stoic face.

“You don’t have to worry about us,” he said as if he knew her thoughts. “Hauk isn’t attracted to humans. Darling isn’t attracted to women, and I’m . . .”

Nykyrian paused. What could he say? All too well, he remembered the sight of her in that torn, skimpy nightgown she’d been wearing when he carried her off Chenz’s ship. Her body was lithe and honed from her years of dancing. And even as disheveled as she was right now, she was still the sexiest thing he’d ever seen and all he could think about was stripping her clothes off and nibbling every part of her. He wanted her more than anything.

But that would probably scare her senseless.

“I’m not interested,” he finished.

Kiara felt the sting of those words much more deeply than she should have. In fact, she couldn’t believe how much they hurt.

Why do you even care what he thinks?

Yet she did. Narrowing her eyes, she seethed in her embarrassed humiliation. How dare he set her down like that in front of his friends when she’d done nothing to cause it! Talk about rude. Did he possess no manners whatsoever?

Without a word, she lifted her chin so that he couldn’t see how much that stung and went to her room.

What had she been thinking when she considered him handsome? He wasn’t even human!

Kiara paused. That must be his problem.

No, he’d said Hauk didn’t like humans and he wasn’t interested.

Jerking her costume off, she tossed it on the bed. Never had she been so embarrassed by a put-down. And it wasn’t that she was vain. Far from it . . .

It was just rude and it hurt.

Remember, Kiara, he doesn’t like women. He sleeps with Nemesis.

But that wasn’t what he’d said.

Trying to let it go, she belted her robe around her waist and entered the hallway. She stopped and looked back to where Nykyrian still leaned against her bar. Her body trembled in rage as she wished she were large enough to make him feel the bite of her mood.

Nykyrian’s skin tingled. He knew he was being watched. Turning his head, he saw Kiara’s blazing amber eyes. Good, she hated him. Hatred was one thing he could easily deal with. But then, why did he ache with the knowledge that she despised him? He should be happy.

Refusing to think about that, he returned his attention to Hauk. He heard Kiara enter the bathroom. When the water came on a few seconds later, an image of her nak*d body caressed by the water’s spray haunted him.

Damn, if Syn wasn’t right. She probably did shower nak*d.

Against his will, his body responded to that thought with a hammering need.

What he wouldn’t give to strip his clothes off and join her . . .

Darling scowled at him. “You all right, bud?”

“Tired.” Nykyrian returned to their briefing on the beefed-up security they’d installed in her flat. “You were saying you placed scanners outside in the corridor.”

Darling nodded. “Right. We have the scanners in place with your DNA, hers, and ours already programed in along with Syn’s and Jayne’s. Hauk reworked the communications system to prevent anyone from accessing it. The channels will be clear should you need to contact us.”

Nykyrian shifted his weight to keep his muscles from stiffening. “I still intend to use the link.”

“Probably for the best,” Hauk said. “Once Bredeh learns you’re guarding her, he’s going to come after you full arsenal.”

“I’m ready.”

Hauk snorted. “I wouldn’t be so arrogant. He won’t stick by League rules and attack you openly. He wants your life more than he wants Kiara’s.”

Nykyrian shrugged nonchalantly. Aksel was the least of his present concerns. Besides, dealing with that punk had once been a daily occurrence for him.

At least this time, he wouldn’t have someone pulling him off the bastard.

He heard Kiara leaving the bathroom. Squelching the desire to look at her, he focused his thoughts on their discussion. “So what? Bredeh’s been trying to kill me since I was ten.”

Hauk scratched his chin. “True, but—”