Provoked

CHAPTER 11

A weak morning sun tried to filter through the swirling snow outside the small cabin. Amber had been awake for about ten minutes, listening to the crazy storm and wondering where Kane had gone. She gathered the blanket closer and stumbled toward the window. Multiple muscles flared to life in protest.

She had been well and truly fucked.

Kane Kayrs, vampire, now knew her body better than she did. He hadn’t missed a millimeter in his exploration.

Like the scientist he was, he’d discovered her every secret. And then some.

Jesus. She could barely walk.

Stifling a whimper, she glared out at the still raging storm. Just how long could Mother Nature keep up the violence? No way could Amber survive another night with Kane, and no way would she keep her hands off him if left alone into the darkness again. Her well-used body needed a doggone rest.

Closing her eyes, she repeated her grandmother’s chants. Never again would she forget that morning ritual.

The door opened with a bang. Kane stalked inside, raking her with that serious gaze. “Are you all right?”

She straightened and forced a smile. “I’m fine.”

“Good. Get dressed.” He turned and began gathering the weapons he’d left on a sofa table. “The storm is still raging, but we need to get out of here. The Kurjans will have been watching Talen’s house and are not smart enough to wait for the storm to pass.”

“I’m not going back in that boat.” She reached for the clothes Kane had laid out on the mantel to dry the night before. Holding them against the blanket, she shifted her feet. “Um, turn around.”

Sinful and quick, his smile flashed. “No.”

“Yes.” The urge to stomp her foot tightened her leg muscles.

“Amber, I know every inch of your body,” he drawled. “It’s a little late for shyness.”

Some scientist. The guy was actually a rake. Vulnerability lifted her chin. “The night is over. Now turn around.”

He prowled toward her and covered her hands with his. Dropping his head, his mouth pressed hard against her lips, his tongue sweeping inside. Taking. Warm, sure, and demanding, his mouth took hers like he owned it. Maybe after the previous night, he did.

She was gasping for breath when he lifted his head to survey her neck. A slow glide of his thumb along her jugular sent electricity zapping through her veins.

He smiled. “The puncture wounds haven’t quite healed. Interesting.” Raising his head, he pierced her with a dark gaze, intrigue filling his eyes.

“Why is that interesting?” she asked, her voice hoarse.

“Usually when we lick a wound, if we lick a wound, it disappears. You’re still wearing my mark, darlin’.”

She lifted her chin farther. “Why does that please you?”

He started. “I have no idea.” Both eyebrows slashed down. “Though I have to admit, the fact pleases me greatly.” His frown intensified.

She drew back. “Last night was a one-shot deal.” If she ever recovered, she was running fast in the other direction. One more night like that, and the vampire would own her. Without question, he’d claimed her in a way she’d never forget, probably never find again. But she couldn’t stay with him. “I believe, remember?”

He growled low. “Yes. Happily-ever-after and all of that. Love and emotion.” Then he sighed. “Okay, get dressed. There’s an old truck in the shed outside. We’ll head to town and find a land phone that actually works.” Releasing her, he moved to blanket out the fire.

She hurried to dress, scrambling to yank on slightly wet jeans. A warm shower would be heaven.

Kane finished and reached the door. “Do you want a gun?”

“Yes.” Well, actually she didn’t want a gun. But she took the one he offered and shoved it in her waistband. The metal chilled her flesh.

He held out a hand. “The storm is pretty bad, so hold on and we’ll get to the shed.”

She hesitated only a second before sliding her hand into his. Warmth enveloped her fingers.

Tugging her outside, he led her over the deck and around a small side yard. There he stopped cold and lifted his head into the wind.

Two tall figures rushed around the faded shed, guns drawn.

Amber gasped. They were the stuff of nightmares. Blood-red hair with black tips, swirling purple eyes, crimson lips, and skin bleached of any possible color. Beyond white.

Dressed in all black, they stopped and pointed weapons.

Kane shoved her behind him. “Damn Kurjans. Don’t move, Amber.”

She couldn’t move if she wanted to. Her feet grew heavy, fear weighing down her limbs. Monsters. True monsters existed.

Kane held his hands up, body relaxed. “You need to get out of here. The entire property is land mined, and only I know where the explosives are located.” He yelled to be heard.

The monster in the lead threw back his head and laughed, the grating sound echoing even through the storm. “We’ve had this entire lake under surveillance for years, and you can bet we conducted satellite imagery of the ground. Nice bluff.” He yelled louder than Kane.

Amber wasn’t going out like this—not with creepy, white-faced monsters. Sliding forward an inch, she pressed the side of her gun into Kane’s back, tucking the barrel in his waistband. Everything she’d ever been taught centered around the fact of not hurting another being. She couldn’t shoot them.

But she could hand the gun to Kane. Yeah, it was a moral gray line, one she’d worry about later.

Movement sounded behind her. She whirled around to find a tree spinning by in the storm. Holy Mother Earth. An entire tree.

Kane blocked her completely from the Kurjans. “Maybe so, but there’s no way you have reinforcements coming in this storm. You’re all alone out here—and will be until morning.”

“And everyone says you’re the smart one,” one of the monsters yelled.

Kane partially turned his head. “In two seconds, you hit the ground. Understand?”

“Yes,” she stuttered, her mouth almost too cold to make sound.

“Now!”

She dropped, covering her neck with her arms and making herself as small as possible. Snow slid down her shirt, freezing her skin. Cold pierced her eyes, but she kept her gaze on Kane.

Quicker than she could track, he grabbed the gun and fired. The odd ping of those green bullets echoed. They slammed into the closest Kurjan, throwing the wide-eyed monster three feet back.

Fangs flashing in his nightmarish face, the other guy charged.

Kane crouched for the blow, waiting until the Kurjan reached him before throwing his weight to the right and away from Amber. The guy hit like a truck. They landed hard, sending snow spraying. Kane grunted as his ribs protested.

All emotion shut into a box, he jabbed his knuckles under the soldier’s throat, impacting the larynx. Leaping up and back, he calculated the Kurjan’s weight and arm span—about an inch shorter than Kane’s. Interesting. Most Kurjans reached almost seven feet tall. Not this guy.

The guy rolled backward through the snow to his feet, purple eyes swirling with fury and pain.

He charged again.

Kane waited until the last second and kicked out, breaking the guy’s jaw. Even through the furious storm, a painful crack echoed.

The soldier staggered back.

Tuning in his senses, Kane counted the Kurjan’s breaths. Yeah, he was panting. One more blow to the face should do it.

Darting forward, he punched for the nose and karate-chopped the throat of his opponent. The Kurjan dropped to the ground.

Yanking his knife from his boot, Kane dropped to his haunches and jammed the blade in the Kurjan’s sternohy-oid muscle to the side of the jaw. Shoving in harder, he yanked to the right, slicing through bone.

Blood sprayed along his chest.

With a grunt, he forced the knife the other way, effectively decapitating the soldier.

Pushing the body away, he hustled to the man he’d shot, plunging the blade in the unconscious body. His aim was off this time, and he had to fight the hyoid bone. He was the one panting when the Kurjan’s head slid free.

Wiping the Kurjan’s blood on the snow-covered body, Kane stood to face Amber.

Her skin was whiter than the snow.

Standing, she swayed in place, the storm battering her. Those black eyes were wide, the pupils huge as she stared at the dead Kurjans.

She was going into shock.

“Amber!” He lowered his voice to command and slid the knife back in his boot.

Her head jerked up, and she stumbled back.

Wind blistered his face, but he leapt forward and grabbed her arms. He shook her. “Snap out of it. Now.”

He was such an asshole. But they didn’t have time for her to fall apart right now. Pulling her to him, he gave her a quick kiss to the top of the head. “Hold it together.”

Amber looked up at the fierce warrior. Had he just kissed her on the head?

Two more Kurjans ran up the embankment from the lake, and Kane pivoted to shield her.

Movement echoed behind her and she spun around. Fear rammed into her gut. More monsters.

Scooting so her back settled against Kane’s, she dropped into what seemed like a fighting stance. Maybe.

“How many?” Kane ground out.

“Three.” So, five more scary monster freaks against two good guys, one of whom was a pacifist. Life sucked sometimes. Odd that her mind had blanked and was thinking rational thoughts instead of her heart stopping in a huge attack. Maybe it was the adrenaline ripping through her veins yelling at her to flee. But there was nowhere to go.

The Kurjan closest to her sniffed the snow-filled air and then frowned. He sniffed again. “Destroyer?”

Kane stiffened against her.

Instantly the other Kurjans focused on her, all sniffing the air.

Okay, that was just weird. What in the world did she smell like to these guys?

“Amber,” Kane hissed in a hoarse whisper, “as soon as you feel me move, hit the ground.”

“You can’t take out all five of them,” she muttered back, panic threatening to send her to the ground anyway.

“Not much of a choice.” Hopefully the wind camouflaged his voice from the Kurjans. “Drop, I’ll take these two guys out and then flip over you for those three.”

Maybe she should’ve kept a gun. She could’ve at least threatened them with a weapon. Evened the odds at least.

“This is crazy.” How many times had she said those words since meeting Kane? “What if I charge these guys—try to throw them off balance?”

Kane paused before answering. “No.”

Too bad the guy hadn’t realized she wasn’t very good at taking orders. She bunched her muscles to leap—

And a helicopter spiraled out of nowhere to drop next to the shed. Snow scattered in all four directions, completely obscuring the area. Two huge men jumped out, bullets already spraying. The Kurjans dropped to their bellies, returning fire from the safety of the snow.

Kane whirled and tossed her over his shoulder, running full bore for the open door of the ’copter. Leaping inside, he shoved her behind him, gun out and already firing.

The massive bird lifted into the air. The two men from the ’copter sprayed bullets and kept their opponents on the ground as they ran and jumped for the seat facing her. The door shut, and the helicopter rose into the storm.

Gasping, she plastered herself to Kane’s side.

One of the men leaned a gun out an open weapon and continued firing until they were roaring away. Then he leaned back with a grim smile. “Nice morning.”

The wind beat against the machine, sending it rocking.

Kane shook snow from his hair. “Good timing. How?”

“Satellite. Saw the Kurjans send a force this way, figured the soldiers were coming for you.” The guy’s golden eyes swirled with emotion—maybe anger, maybe fear. Perhaps both.

Kane nodded. “Amber, this is my brother Talen.” He pointed at an equally large guy with deep green eyes. “And my brother Conn.”

“Ma’am,” they said in unison.

They were as big as Kane and had metallic eyes. And she had been dead wrong about Talen being a pacifist. He was all massive soldier, intense and deadly. She coughed out air. “More vampires.”

Conn nodded. Talen let fangs flash, his eyes glowing. Oh, for goodness’ sake. For some reason, Amber had figured it was just Kane having odd eyes. “Thanks for the rescue.”

Talen cocked his head to the side, and he studied her like a wolf considering dinner. “I’m getting very faint vibrations from her, but nothing that would lead a pack of shifters to her door. Are you sure she’s a destroyer?”

“Yes.” Kane settled back in the seat, somehow keeping her close. “There’s some sort of shielding spell—very powerful. Once the shielding wears off, she’s like a beacon.”

The pilot, his hands working the stick, turned around. Silver eyes took her measure. “I’m Dage.”

“The king?” she asked before she could stop herself.

“Yes. Thank you for agreeing to help us.” His gaze returned to the snow outside.

So the king went on dangerous missions. Interesting. Or maybe he’d come since his brother was in trouble. Well, Amber understood family. “Ah, I heard you found my grandmother?”

“Yes.” Conn’s gaze raked over her. “The storm is still over Utah and Hilde’s being treated by Realm doctors at wolf headquarters. The doctors are watching the head injury closely, but she’s strong. And stubborn.”

“That’s an understatement,” Talen muttered. He flushed and then leaned back with an apologetic smile. “I, ah, video-conferenced with her about safety and protocol. She, ah, didn’t care to listen.”

Dage flashed a quick smile Amber barely caught.

Great. Her grandmother was causing havoc already. “Does she, ah, know . . .”

“Yes.” Conn leaned forward. “Your granny is well aware of demons, vampires, and Kurjans.”

“Then she has some explaining to do,” Amber murmured. How could her grandmother keep such information from her for so many years? If the demons were eventually coming calling, Amber should’ve been told. Head injury or not, Hilde was going to come clean.

Wind gushed against the helicopter, sending the machine spiraling to the side.

“Sorry,” Dage muttered.

Kane exhaled loudly. “All three of you out in this storm isn’t wise. You know that.”

“We’re family,” Conn said simply.

Kane shook out his wet hair. “I thought you were heading to Ireland.”

Conn nodded. “I leave in the morning to help my mate out with a small problem the witches are having.” He shrugged. “Nothing big—someone misusing magic. I’ll bring her home after that.”

Amber fought a yawn. “How does somebody misuse magic?”

Conn gave her a gentle smile that somehow made him almost seem approachable. “Witches use quantum physics to alter matter and make spells. If somebody misuses quantum physics . . .”

“They might blow up the world.” Even at the dangerous thought, Amber’s eyelids grew heavy.

“Exactly,” Conn said softly. “My mate is an enforcer for her people, so she deals with such threats. With me by her side, of course.”

With the large vampire in front of her, most likely. Amber nodded.

Kane smiled at his brothers. “Thanks for coming.”

“Sure.” Talen kept his gaze on Amber, making her heart beat faster.

A strong arm banded around her shoulder. Kane’s scent surrounded her. He leaned to whisper in her ear. “Take a rest, sunshine. We’ll continue training once we get safely home.”

Amber nodded, her brain all but shutting down, but not before catching an odd look that passed between Talen and Conn. What was that about?

Warmth from Kane’s body seeped into her skin, into her bones. After the fear of the day, after having her mind messed with several times, and after a night of amazing sex and no sleep, she went under just enough to relax.

Kane kept his voice soft. “She’s had no training and we need to step it up. While she’s promised to help, I don’t want her anywhere near danger. We’ll take turns training her, but nothing too intrusive. I mean it.”

“We’ll do what we have to do,” the king countered from the front of the craft.

“No. We’ll train her the right way,” Kane said calmly.

Amber giggled, half-asleep. “I thought he was the king.”

Kane started. “He is.”

“Then why are you the one barking orders?” she mumbled sleepily.

She wasn’t sure whether it was Conn or Talen who burst into laughter. Either way, it was a nice laugh to fall asleep to.