Eternal Hunter (Night Watch #1)(28)
Author: Cynthia Eden

No, I’m not like him. I won’t ever be.

She hoped, anyway. Because with her mother’s genes, there really weren’t any guarantees that she wouldn’t go bad one day.

“Not demon.” Zane’s eyes were on hers now, his head up. She held that stare, refusing to look away. Erin wasn’t really sure what had happened to the guy. Okay, what she’d done to him. She’d acted on instinct when she felt the probe in her mind.

There’d been a push at her, shoving at her thoughts—

So she’d shoved right back.

Instinct.

Her lip curled. Demon? Had he really thought she was like him? “No, I’m not.” And just what the hell had Jude done?

Gone running back to his hunter friends and told them about her secrets?

Can’t trust anyone. She knew that.

So why did it feel like she’d just been punched?

Erin straightened her shoulders. “If this little game or test or whatever the hell it was has finished, I’ll call the cops and get out of here.” The sooner, the better.

“Erin.” A rumble from Jude. Dark and intense.

Damn him. Her eyes narrowed. “I told you what I am. You didn’t need to have your friend attack me.”

Then, because her claws were almost out and her teeth were burning and the rage had her heart racing, Erin marched for the door. She’d call for backup once she was outside. That’s what cell phones were for—screw making a call from the bar.

The demon and the witch very wisely sidled out of her way.

But Jude grabbed her arm, spinning her around, and she tumbled against his chest.

Too close. Her nostrils widened and she caught his heady scent. No, no, no.

“This wasn’t my plan.”

“Wasn’t it?” Because she didn’t believe him, not for a minute. He’d wanted to know. He’d said it himself. He’d wanted that demon to see her. Thought the plan was to go to the courthouse. Asshole. He hadn’t trusted her.

Granted, she hadn’t trusted him, either. But Erin decided to ignore that point, for now.

“You just told me about your mother,” Jude said, his hold tight. “You never said what your father was.”

She jerked away from him. Too easy, that. “He was a man, Jude. Just a man.” With psychic powers, sure. But her father had been all too human. After tossing one last glare at her hunter, she shoved open the glass door and strode into the harsh sunlight.

Silence. One minute. Two.

Catalina cleared her throat and pointed to the destruction that was her bar. “Night Watch is going to be paying for that. Tell Pak I don’t want a check this time. Cash only.”

He nodded.

Her fingers trailed down Zane’s cheek. “Never gonna learn, are you?” Then she eased away from him, shaking her head.

Jude glared at the bastard.

Zane winced and lifted a hand to his head. “Uh, some sympathy would be good here, man. I mean, your girlfriend just tried to fry my brain.”

Jude’s back teeth clenched. Control. Probably a good idea. He should stay in—

“And talk about being ungrateful. Where’s my thanks? At least you know she’s not a demon hybrid now. I got in her head enough to know she’s human, part anyway. But she’s—”

Jude grabbed the demon and lifted him a foot in the air. “You hurt her.”

Zane’s eyes widened even as they flashed black. “I’m the one with the sledgehammer banging in his head.”

“Don’t ever hurt her again, got me?” He didn’t care how many cases they’d worked together. “A look—you told me you just wanted a look to see if she was using glamour.” Demons could see right past the glamour that disguised others of their kind, unless you were dealing with a level ten. Nothing and no one could penetrate a level ten powerhouse’s veil.

The faint lines around Zane’s eyes tightened. “I was takin’ a look. A real long, deep look into your girl.”

Yeah, and judging from the way she’d looked at Jude before she’d stormed out of the bar, Erin was pissed. Because she thought he’d set her up.

And didn’t I?

Aw, hell.

He dropped the demon. The agile ass**le landed easily. “Why’d your look hurt her?” He’d seen Zane work humans before. They usually had no clue what was happening to them. Zane’s psychic skills, his ability to ferret out secrets, were part of the reason why their cases broke so quickly.

When the two of them worked together, they were usually a pretty good team. Usually.

“Why’d it hurt her?” Jude demanded again.

Zane’s shoulders lifted, then fell. “Don’t know.” His lips thinned. “Never happened quite like…that before.” He exhaled.

“That lady packs one hell of a psychic punch.”

Physically stronger, psychically stronger. No way was she a weak hybrid.

Shifting abilities or not.

“There is something…something you should know—”

A groan from the floor—one that came from a slow-waking Mickey—broke across Zane’s words.

Jude glanced down at the shifter, frowning.

“I didn’t get deep in her mind,” Zane said. “She blocked me before I could, but, hell, it was dark in there, man.”

Jude’s eyes rose to the demon once more.

“Dark.”

Now what the hell did that mean?

“There’s power there. A lot of power. You’d better watch your step with her.”

What? “She’s the victim, Zane, not the perp. The job’s to keep her safe.” His goal wasn’t to bring her ass down. Erin hadn’t done anything wrong, no matter what Zane was rambling about with his “dark” crap.

“I don’t know exactly what she is…yet.”

Jude jabbed his finger into the guy’s chest. “I do. She’s the client, and our job is to keep her safe.”

A rush of air as Zane sighed. “Gotta wonder…what would scare her?”

Sirens shrieked in the distance. Erin had obviously done as she’d promised and called for her backup. Being the ADA, she’d gotten that backup, fast.

Jude reached down and grabbed Mickey, jerking the other shifter to his feet. The hyena’s head snapped back and his bleary eyes opened.

“What did the woman smell like to you?” he grated. Not much time. He had to know.

The bastard’s lips peeled back from his pointed, yellow teeth. “Prey.”