Never Cry Wolf (Night Watch #4)(65)
Author: Cynthia Eden

Lucas rose slowly and Sarah could see the leashed tension in his body. “Who is she, Sarah?”

Sarah licked her lips. “Karen and I worked together, back when I was in the FBI.”

“I figured that much.”

The demon was on the floor, glaring at them both. Karen sat up, her shoulder brushing against his. The agent wasn’t glaring. In fact, she didn’t look the least bit pissed.

Odd.

Karen wasn’t known for keeping her cool. Sarah’s internal alarm went on high alert.

“Is she a charmer, too?” Lucas asked.

“No, I’m human,” Karen told him, a little heat finally slipping into her voice. “We do exist too, you know.”

The driver shoved down the gas pedal and the van lurched forward.

“Fuck, I need out of here!” the demon yelled.

Lucas shot a piercing gaze at him. “Want me to shut you up?”

The demon’s mouth closed.

“You don’t smell human.” Lucas turned his gaze back to the agent.

“That’s because I’ve been living with the coyotes for the last five months.” She pushed her hair out of her face. “Hang around animals enough, and their scent sticks to you.”

Half-true. So Sarah called her on the lie. “And it helps if you visit a certain mambo in the area and get a special oil that gives off shifter scent, right, K?” Because Karen wasn’t the only agent who’d used that trick. Only Sarah hadn’t visited Marie. On another mission, she’d used the warlock, Skye, to get the oil.

Karen’s head inclined toward her.

“Is that why you smell like wolf, too?” Lucas wanted to know.

“No.” Karen’s breath eased out. “That would be because one of your precious pack kidnapped me. What you’re scenting . . . that’s your boy Dane.” One red brow quirked. “But I’m guessing you already know that, right? You recognized his scent, and I’m sure he would have briefed the big old alpha right away.

Lucas smiled. “Yes, he would have.” He leaned in toward her. “He also would have told me that a human woman named Karen helped to get him captured, that she was working with the coyotes.”

The van hit a pothole and Sarah grabbed the side of the vehicle to steady herself.

“Not with them,” Karen said, a faint line appearing between her brows. “Working undercover. You know what that is, right, wolf? When you have to do shit that makes you sick . . . all so you can keep the innocents in the world safe.”

“There are no innocents,” Sarah whispered. “Not anymore.”

Karen’s gaze cut to her. “She knows. Sarah’s worked undercover more times than you can count. She blends. It’s what we do. We get in, make ’em—” She shut up, fast, when she caught Sarah’s narrowing eyes.

But Lucas would have been an idiot not to realize what Karen had been saying. “You make ’em trust you,” he finished. “Then you take the bastards down?” His eyes were on Sarah.

“That’s usually the plan,” she managed, the gun feeling way too heavy in her hands.

“The bullets are silver,” Karen told her. “You didn’t check. Bad move there, S. You’re losing your touch.”

The demon’s eyes were bulging, but he wasn’t saying a word. Sarah lifted the gun a bit. “I felt the weight difference.” Slight, but noticeable. The FBI was so predictable. “I knew what I had.”

Lucas’s stare dropped to the gun, then slowly rose back up to her face. Oh, hell, no, he’d better not be doubting her. Hadn’t they already cleared this up?

“The gun will come in handy,” Karen told her. “Because I’m guessing you don’t have that knife of yours anymore.”

Not anymore. Thanks to Rafe.

“It’s about to come in real handy,” Sarah said, and adjusted her aim, just enough so that the barrel of the gun pointed at the demon. “Where is he.” Not a question.

Damn, but that demon was sweating. And, as she watched, his glamour faded away. His hair darkened, lengthened, his chin firmed up, his eyes flashed from weary gray to dark black.

“Did you ever have the chance to meet Agent Greg Dulane?” Karen pursed her lips. “He’s pretty good at undercover work, too. Even better than you.”

She could see where he would be.

Karen and Greg gazed up at her. “Help us,” Karen said quietly. “And we’ll help you.”

She’d been offered this deal before. Pretty much verbatim from her FBI supervisor.

Lucas’s claws gouged into the side of the van. Damn.

“Cut through this shit and tell me where the hell Rafe is,” Lucas snarled. “Or in a few minutes, you’ll both be needing more help than anyone can give you.”

The demon flinched.

“Rafe isn’t working this alone. You know that.” Karen’s face had paled, but she was still fighting. Still Karen. “I spent so long working on getting in with the coyotes, but then Rafe came in—and he took out the whole damn group.”

“What a f**king shame.” Lucas looked bored.

Karen swallowed. “Rafe didn’t kill ’em. He sent more dogs in.” Her hands pressed against her jeans. “You know he has Hayden on a tight leash. When Rafe says bite, Hayden rips the throat out of anyone near him.”

Like John’s throat had been ripped out.

“We’ve been working on the coyotes for so long, but now John’s dead.” Karen’s hands fisted. “My five months are shot down the drain and Hayden knows who I am. Who I really am. He’s got me marked.”

Sarah knew how that felt.

“The coyotes have been killing with Rafe. They used to stay to the shadows but now—they think it’s a whole new game.”

“Isn’t it?” Lucas growled. “Isn’t that what it’s f**king become? The Bureau tries to shove the paranormals back, tries to scare us with the threat of extermination.” He laughed at that. “But we’re not the ones who’ll be exterminated.”

Karen blanched. “That’s wh-what Rafe said, too. You all think that—”

“Right.” Disgust had Lucas’s mouth tightening. “In the dark, all paranormals are the f**king same, aren’t we? We’re all big, bad monsters who’ll kill humans in a blink.”

Some would. But not all. Didn’t Karen realize yet? The supernaturals were just like humans. Some good, some very bad.