Eternal Hunter (Night Watch #1)(11)
Author: Cynthia Eden

She shook her head, sending silky locks tossing back and forth. After a moment, her hand dropped. “He thinks he’s giving me a present, don’t you see? A gift. But I’m—I’m not like him.” You. Her eyes said it, even if her mouth didn’t. “The blood sickens me.”

A human reaction.

But he could have sworn she was a shifter.

No, no, dammit, he knew she was a shifter. The beast inside recognized her.

But shifters loved blood.

“I can’t stand the smell,” she whispered and stormed back into the parlor. “I hate it.”

Pretty unusual shifter reaction.

He followed her, closing the doors with a quiet squeak. He needed to get a blood analyst in there, right away. Because he was getting a really dark, sick suspicion.

Human blood.

Who’d bled out so nicely less than twelve hours before?

Burrows.

Antonio had taken Jude back to the crime scene at the station, after Erin had hightailed it to the DA’s office.

He’d seen Burrows. Seen the pooled blood on the floor.

But maybe, just maybe, some of that dark blood had left the holding area.

Judging by the way the letters had dripped on the wall, the killer would have needed to come straight to Erin’s house after the murder. The blood must have been used when it was fresh.

The Slasher’s blood?

Possible.

Not likely, of course. Could be from some other poor bastard. Then they’d have two sick shifters on the loose.

But he couldn’t discount the connection. This whole mess was too screwed up. And it set his teeth on edge.

The stalker bastard had frightened Erin, had been frightening her. Not an acceptable situation.

The guy had broken into her house. He could have so easily gotten to her— hurt her.

Jude’s teeth began to burn and lengthen. The claws were already out, time for the fangs.

And time to rip a shifter ass**le apart.

Chapter 4

At least the police had come quietly. No screaming sirens. No flashing lights. Just two silent black vans. One patrol car. And Antonio, in a red sports car.

Flashy.

Figured.

Erin paced the length of her porch as she watched the crime scene team file into her house. The night was hot, humid as all hell, but goosebumps covered her arms.

Missed you.

Dammit. She’d flushed her old life down the toilet for some freedom, but he’d found her.

Now he was back to playing his sickass games with her.

“What the hell were you thinking?” A hard bark of fury.

She raised a brow and turned to find Antonio glaring at her, the lights of the porch shining behind him. His hands were crossed over his chest, his eyes narrowed. He shook his head. “You called in a civilian before you called the cops—”

“He’s the same civilian you called earlier, too,” she reminded him. There hadn’t been a lot of options for her. With the creep on her tail, there never were. Back when she’d lived in Lillian, there sure as hell hadn’t been a choice. As far as she’d known, the police hadn’t known about the Other.

So they certainly wouldn’t have been able to handle a supernatural who’d slipped over the line and gone straight psychotic.

“This is different! This is—”

“My life,” she fired back at him. “I know this isn’t protocol, okay, but this isn’t your average situation.” Her voice lowered to a hard whisper, “Not average at all.”

A grunt. “Trust me, blood on the walls is never average.”

True. Erin sucked in a breath and tried to push her fear and anger aside. Antonio was catching the brunt of her fury, but the guy had already done her a favor by pulling in his team so softly.

The porch boards groaned as he stepped forward. “How long has this guy been after you?”

She swallowed. “A year.” Maybe longer. Hard to say. She’d gotten her first “gift” almost twelve months before. But she’d read up on stalkers and their behavior. She knew they often watched their prey for months or even years before making a real move.

“Did you think running was going to stop him?”

Jude had briefed him on her situation. Well, Jude had told the cop as much as she’d told the shifter. Erin hadn’t revealed everything. Not yet.

She couldn’t.

“I’d hoped it would,” she said.

He took another step toward her. The scent of his cologne filled her nostrils. The guy always wore his cologne. Not too heavy but—

Another scent. Richer. Filling the air, surrounding her.

Shifter’s scent.

Erin looked to the right, just over Antonio’s shoulder, and she found Jude watching her, his big frame filling her doorway.

There was something in his eyes. A heat. Anger?

Desire.

“Your crew’s working hard,” Jude said as he stalked toward them.

Antonio stiffened just a bit, then eased away from her. “They’re the best I’ve got, and they all know when we need…delicacy.”

So they knew about the Other? Or were they Other?

Jude came to stand beside her, his arm brushing hers and sending some of the chill dissipating from her body. Handy talent, that.

“It’s human blood.” Flat.

The cop nodded. “You’d know.”

Yeah, he would.

“This guy has a real hard-on for our ADA.”

Antonio wasn’t exactly high on the tact scale. Erin lifted a brow and managed not to grind her back teeth.

“He’s chased you across the state,” Antonio continued. “The guy isn’t backing off.”

“We’re gonna make him back off.” The words were little more than a growl from Jude.

Antonio’s dark eyes locked on the shifter. “This gettin’ personal for you, man?”

Jude didn’t bother answering. “Send patrols out, have them keep an extra watch on the neighborhood.”

Erin gave a laugh at that, and she knew the sound held a desperate edge. “A patrol car isn’t going to stop this guy. He’s Other, and he’s damn strong.” Sometimes she worried that nothing could stop him.

She hadn’t been able to. Not that night, that cold night when he’d caught her in her bedroom and dug his claws into her arms as he pinned her to the bed—

No.

Not going back there. Never again.

“Tell us everything you know about him,” Jude said. The crime scene unit was still inside. Gathering their evidence. Walking through her life. They couldn’t hear this. Only Jude and the cop he seemed to trust.