Never Cry Wolf (Night Watch #4)(63)
Author: Cynthia Eden

He stalked to the center of the bar. Sarah was at his side. Piers at his back. All the eyes were on him, the silence even thicker now.

He waited, letting his gaze sweep the place. Maya guided Josette up the stairs, glancing back at him only once. He caught the black flash of her eyes.

Brody stayed below, taking up a position right at the foot of the stairs. The blond crossed his arms over his chest and waited, watching Lucas.

“I’m looking for a wolf shifter.” Lucas let his voice ring out. Loud and clear.

No one moved.

“Rafael Santiago. The bastard came to town, started killing in my area, and I want him found.”

“Dead . . .” A woman’s voice called out. “Or alive?”

“Alive.” Because the kill would be his.

He saw a few gazes slide away from him. Two men sidled toward another door on the right-hand side of the room.

The woman who’d questioned him pushed through the crowd. Her hair was red as fire and her mouth was stained with blood. “How much?” Vampire.

He heard Sarah’s quick, indrawn breath. He brushed his fingers lightly over the inside of her wrist.

“Yeah, wolf . . . how much?” Now a big, burly bastard was next to the woman. A bear shifter. McKennis. Their paths had crossed more than a few times. “What will you pay if we bring him to you?”

Lucas smiled at him. “I don’t pay you a damn thing.”

Mutters in the crowd then. Growls. A snarl.

He saw Brody raise a brow.

“Then why the f**k should we tell you anything?” McKennis demanded.

“Because . . .” Lucas strode toward him and in a flash, he had his claws right over the bear’s heart. Dumb ass**le. For all his size, he was always too slow to defend. “If I find out someone in this shithole knows where Rafe is or has been helping him hide . . .” His claws sliced right through McKennis’s shirt. The bear didn’t even seem to breathe. “Guess who’ll be next on my hit list?”

That shut ’em up.

He let his gaze scan the room once more. He memorized every face. Because he would be seeing them all. Sooner or later.

No one spoke as he turned and followed Sarah and Piers back to the stairs. He stayed in the rear, deliberately, hoping someone would try to attack.

But they all stood frozen.

“Don’t have a lot of charm, do you?” Brody murmured when Lucas reached the stairs.

Lucas froze. Actually, he had all the charm he needed.

Sarah glanced back. “Lucas?”

“Keep going, Sarah. You and Piers wait outside.” Because he knew what was coming. There was only one reason Brody would have stayed behind.

“Lucas . . .” Now Piers sounded worried.

Lucas inclined his head. “Don’t worry. It won’t touch me.” His gaze was on Brody.

“It?” Sarah repeated. “What’s—”

“We need to go,” Piers growled and pulled her up the stairs. “Trust me. Shit, I’ve seen his work before.”

A faint smile curved Brody’s lips. “You really should just let me handle this. I can take Rafe out, nice and neat.”

Neat? Since when was fire and singed flesh neat?

“You do it your way.” His claws dug into the wooden banister. “I’ll do it mine.”

Brody nodded. “Fine. If that’s what you want.”

Then the guy was moving. Stalking back toward the death room that Josette had used. Figured. Maya would want that place destroyed.

And Brody had a thing about making Maya happy.

Lucas’s feet pounded up the stairs. He’d just reached the top when the scent of smoke teased his nostrils. Yeah, just what he’d thought.

Lucas shoved open the door. He spared a glance for the old demon. “Better get a head start on running. The stampede will be coming up soon.” Once they realized there was no stopping Brody’s fire.

Because Adam Brody wasn’t your run-of-the-mill shifter. In fact, Lucas had never met anyone quite like him.

Got to find Rafe first. Pack business. The kill wasn’t for an outsider.

The demon turned and scrambled, rushing for a side door.

Screams drifted up from below. Voices rose and fell.

Lucas kept walking. He could have barred the door behind him. Made the monsters who liked the dark suffer more, but then, that wasn’t the point, was it?

No, his job now was to wait and watch. To see just who crawled free and scrambled for safety.

And who went running to Rafe.

The heat from the sun hit him when he stalked outside, but it was nothing compared to the fire igniting in the bar. The dragon knew how to burn. Others ran out behind him. The female vamp. Figured she’d escape first. Vamps didn’t get along so well with fire.

Sarah waited for him with her hands on her slender hips. “What the hell was that? Did you want to piss off every paranormal in the place?”

“Yeah, I did.” A group of demons flew past him. McKennis rushed into the parking lot. Looked like the back of the bear’s shirt was smoking.

Sarah marched toward him. “You succeeded then. They’ll be gunning for you, they’ll be—”

He covered her body with his, pulling her close and kissing her just as he heard the explosion behind him. Glass shards rained onto his back, some breaking through the skin. He didn’t let her go. His lips opened over hers and his tongue thrust inside her mouth.

She breathed his name and the lust surged through him. Dangerous. No, those jerks running away weren’t the ones he needed to worry about. They wouldn’t hurt him.

But Sarah . . . yeah, she just might be able to.

He eased back and gazed down at her. “Lucas . . .” She looked over his shoulder and her eyes widened. The growing fire was reflected in her gaze. “What happened in there?”

“I think Maya and Brody wanted to make sure Josette didn’t try casting her circles there again.” He threw a fast glance back at the bar. Now the place was really burning. Those orange and red flames stretched straight to the sky.

Sarah’s br**sts brushed against him. “But how’d the fire start?”

He pressed another kiss to her lips. “Babe, you don’t want to know.” From the corner of his eye, he saw McKennis and the female vamp. The vamp jumped into a pickup while McKennis fled the scene on foot.

And he also saw the old demon. Not running, just staring at the fire, watching the place burn, and there was fury on his face.

“Who do we follow?” Piers asked, coming up beside him.