Eternal Hunter (Night Watch #1)(27)
Author: Cynthia Eden

guys, not any day of the week.

Her arms crossed over her chest. “Doesn’t seem like your push worked to me.”

Maybe. Maybe not. “Why didn’t he catch your scent?”

A furrow appeared between her brows. “What?”

Jude glared at Zane, but the guy just crept closer.

Finally, Erin glanced over at the other hunter.

“Some arm you got there, lady.” Zane offered her a smile. The same flirtatious grin he tossed at every female he saw, and one that usually gave him good results. Smiles back, phone numbers, even a couple pairs of panties.

“You.” She exhaled on a hard breath. “I recognize your voice.” She would. Shifters were great at recognizing tones and cadences in voice patterns. Came from their acute hearing. “You’re the one who called and told me to come down here.”

Yeah, Jude had figured as much. Glaring, he said, “I thought the plan was for you to stop at the courthouse.” And not bring Erin into his hunt.

The demon shrugged. “She wasn’t scheduled for court today. Had to improvise.”

Improvise. Right. Zane had sent her right after his ass, and Erin had seen him at the worst moment.

Well, technically, it could have been worse. Mickey had still been breathing, after all.

“You said Jude needed me,” Erin’s voice heated. “That it was urgent, that I had to get down to this Delaney’s place—”

“We’re the best bar in town.” A murmur from Catalina.

Erin blinked.

“He did need you,” Zane defended. “Why, you stopped the guy from crossing the line, from letting that wild beast out to attack and kill.”

Jude didn’t speak at that. He’d had control of his beast. He’d had control for years.

‘Cause the tiger had gotten loose once. He could still hear the screams sometimes. His prey hadn’t gone down easy.

He crept closer to Erin.

Zane’s head titled to the right, and he stared hard at Erin’s face. “You don’t seem too worried, lady.” A pause. “You’ve already seen the beast, haven’t you, Ms. Jerome?”

Her gaze darted to Jude.

“And you weren’t even a little afraid of him, were you?” Zane pressed.

No, she hadn’t been. Not when she’d seen him in tiger form. Erin hadn’t so much as backed up a step. No, no, she hadn’t looked afraid, she’d looked—

Thrilled.

Excited.

Not like a woman who was terrified of shifters.

And when he’d come back to her after the hunt, she’d done her one-eighty and seduced him.

Hands off to—

Hands most definitely on.

Not afraid.

Considering the shifter ass**le after her, her attitude was a bit…surprising, to say the least.

“I’m not afraid of a little cat,” Erin said, voice soft and husky.

Little?

Zane’s loud laughter shook the room.

Jude was pretty sure he heard Catalina snort.

More laughter came from the demon. Then, after a couple of deep breaths, he managed to say, “Yeah, I guess if I were strong enough to throw him across the room, I wouldn’t be scared, either.”

The guy could throw him across the room. And had. At least three times sprang to mind. Two of those instances had happened right there in Delaney’s. Some nights, the place could get good and wild.

Erin cast a glance toward Mickey’s body. The hyena was still out cold. “I need to call the precinct and get a squad car out here for him—” She broke off, shaking her head. “I-I need…” Her voice thickened a bit and she lifted her hand, pushing her fingers against her right temple. “Th-that h-hurts…”

Jude stiffened and his stare jerked to Zane. The demon’s laughter was completely gone now and he was focused totally on Erin.

Bastard. He’d been waiting, biding his time to catch her off guard.

With a demon, one big-ass portion of his strength was psychic in nature. Demons could slip right into the minds of humans.

Erin could be half-human so would Zane be able to—

“Get out.” A grated demand, shaking with fury. Erin’s head jerked toward Zane and she bared her own teeth. Wickedly sharp teeth.

A low, pain-filled cry broke from Zane’s suddenly white lips, and his knees gave way beneath him. Before he could fall face-first into the floor, the witch was there, catching him, wrapping her arms around him.

Then Catalina stared at Erin with fear in her eyes.

Well, damn.

Chapter 8

What did he see? What did he see?

The drumming of her heartbeat filled Erin’s ears as she fought for control. The demon—the tall, dark, good-looking ass**le had to be a demon—had slipped into her mind. She hadn’t expected an attack. She’d been too focused on Jude and the demon had slipped right past her defenses.

Broken.

Twisted.

What if he knew? If he’d seen into her, he’d know her secrets. If he told Jude—

“I want you out of my bar.” A woman, her long hair so blond it almost looked white, cradled the demon. Her green eyes glinted with a swirling combination of fear and fury. A combination Erin could respect. “I want you out, and I don’t want to see you again— whatever you are.”

Jude stepped in front of her. “Easy, Catalina. I think old Zane was the one to draw first blood. And he’d better explain himself, now.”

The fire in Erin’s temples had eased, but the ache that remained sent a wave of nausea through her. A demon’s touch. Her dad had warned her about demons and their tricks. Some demons could slip so easily into the minds of humans. Some were strong enough to see thoughts, to walk in dreams, and even to control their prey.

I’m not prey.

Zane wasn’t looking quite as tan as he’d been when he first sauntered into the bar. He was braced against the woman, Catalina, and she didn’t so much as buckle beneath his six-foot-plus frame.

Zane licked his lips. “Just…checking out the waters for you…hunter.”

Erin swallowed. “Don’t ever do that again.”

Slowly, very, very slowly, he lifted his arm from Catalina’s shoulders. “Don’t…worry. Won’t.”

“No, you won’t.” Jude’s fierce voice.

“Just wanted to see…what you were.”

Her cheeks flushed. Not with fury—that would have been good. Humiliation. What I am. No one knows, not even me.

One person thought he knew, and that guy was a sadistic freak.