"Hey!" Emily put her arms around herself and shivered. "That"s private!"
"Yet it was one of the first things I found out about you when I started my surveillance." The big Kindred crossed his arms over his broad, muscular chest and frowned at her. "I could have come into your domicile any night and killed you as you slept."
"Ugh!" Emily shuddered involuntarily. "What a horrible thing to say! And you wonder why I don"t want to go anywhere with you?"
"I"m simply stating the facts. I"m a very good a.s.sa.s.sin-I haven"t missed a target yet. But it wouldn"t take a member of the Verrak to take you out. Any fool with a sonic rifle and a scope could do it." He motioned to her front lawn. "Look how your sight lines are blocked by vegetation-foolish! The locks on your doors are easily pickable and even if they were not, the doors themselves are made of such flimsy material they could be forced with very little effort."
"Oh my G.o.d." Emily leaned away from him. "You really have been studying me. Watching me...waiting for the right opportunity to...to..." But she couldn"t finish the thought.
"As I told you-I was hired to kill you."
He shrugged, his ma.s.sive shoulders rolling with the gesture. He was wearing a black leather vest which left his arms free. On the right one was an intricate tattoo of black cross hatched lines that ran from shoulder to wrist. For a moment it almost seemed to pulse-the lines wriggling along his tan skin.
"Even now the narsh calls to me, reminding me that I have given my word to kill you," he said, nodding at the tattoo she was studying. "But I will not answer its call. Though I have turned my back on everything else I ever believed, I cannot violate my most basic instincts-you are a Khalla in danger here and you must be protected."
"I don"t know you-I never met you until fifteen minutes ago!" Emily was up on her feet now, backing away. "How do I know you"re not just making up some kind of story to get me to come with you? I mean, maybe you"re some kind of...of Kindred serial killer and you just want to take me back to your ship and go all Silence of the Lambs on me. Maybe you want to wear my skin and eat my liver with some fava beans and a nice Chianti!"
He frowned and looked down at his large black boots. He appeared to consider for a while before answering. At last he looked up.
"I can see why my words would seem suspect to you. If you truly believe yourself to be human and you have no knowledge of your true birthright, everything I have told you would sound like an elaborate lie to lure you away to your death."
"d.a.m.n right, that"s exactly how it sounds!" Emily said in a shaking voice. "So just stay away from me!"
"Emily...Khalla..." He took a step towards her and she backed up some more.
"I said stay away! I"m not who you think I am-you have me confused with someone else."
Still he kept advancing, as silent and as menacing as a panther that had somehow escaped its cage to go wandering around a residential area.
Emily looked around wildly, trying to find a way out of this situation. Maybe she could get around to the back door where she kept a key under a fake rock...
"That"s him, officer! That"s the man I saw coming up here!" The high, quavering voice of Mrs. Harmon, Emily"s nosy next door neighbor, suddenly split the tense silence between them.
Oh, thank G.o.d!
Emily looked up with relief to see two police officers, guns drawn, advancing up her driveway. Behind them, wearing a pink flowered muumuu was Mrs. Harmon. Her gray hair was already up in curlers for the night even though it wasn"t yet five o"clock.
Emily thought she had never been so glad to see her nosy neighbor in her life. When she"d first moved in, Mrs. Harmon had made her life semi-miserable coming over constantly with pies and ca.s.seroles and invitations to join this book club and that bridge club and every other intrusive thing under the sun. Now Emily swore to herself that she"d join anything her neighbor asked her to, no matter how irritating it seemed.
Of course Mrs. Harmon was a little late-it would have been nice to have help while Grayson was menacing her. But his blond American good looks and expensive suit probably hadn"t pinged her elderly neighbor"s radar nearly as hard as the big Kindred"s long hair, tattoos, and leather vest. Not to mention his sheer size and his brilliant golden eyes.
That"s him-that"s him," Mrs. Harmon exclaimed again, pointing at the Kindred who"d said his name was Tragar. "Get him, officers!"
"Just stand back, Ma"am," one of the policemen said to Mrs. Harmon. "We can handle it from here."
"You"d better handle it! I told you what I saw him do to that other man"s hand! And poor Emily is all alone here since she still doesn"t have a husband."
Emily felt a little of her goodwill and grat.i.tude slipping. She tried to remind herself that her neighbor came from a generation that believed getting married and having kids was every woman"s sole purpose in life but it was still irritating to hear the tone of pity in Mrs. Harmon"s voice-as though being single was some kind of disease Emily was afflicted with.
"Ma"am," the officer said, this time speaking to Emily. "Are you all right? Is this individual harming or threatening you in any way?"
"I-" Emily began but she didn"t know what to say. Both the policemen and the big Kindred were staring at her, waiting. "He...said he was sent here to kill me," she said at last. "But then he said he wouldn"t," she continued quickly as Mrs. Harmon sucked in a gasp of dismay. "Because I"m, uh, special somehow. Some kind of something that needs to be protected."
"Sir, I think you"d better come with us," the second officer said to Tragar.
The big Kindred shook his head, not even looking at the police. His eyes were locked on Emily"s, giving her the uncomfortable sensation that he could somehow see through her.
"Khalla," he said softly in that deep, rumbling voice of his. "You are making a mistake. You"re not safe here."
"I-" But before Emily could say anything else he simply melted into the bushes at the edge of her lawn and disappeared.
"What the h.e.l.l! Stop-that"s an order!" the first policeman yelled, running for the Breadfruit bushes.
"Did you see where he went?" The second officer went running into the bushes too, gun ready.
But though the two of them searched the bushes with increasing urgency and anger, they couldn"t find even a trace of the huge, golden-eyed Kindred.
He was simply gone.
Tragar moved his vehicle a few blocks down and parked on the other side of the street. Then he enabled the light refracting tech and sat there, invisible for all intents and purposes, to watch the peace keeping officers search for him.
Emily was still outside too-he caught a glimpse of her through the large gaps the officers had made in the vegetation while searching for him. She was standing there-as much a target as ever-talking to her elderly neighbor. The same female who apparently hadn"t been a bit worried when that b.a.s.t.a.r.d of a rapist had come upon Emily by herself and unarmed but had decided the law must be called when a male like himself came on the scene. They seemed to be talking and Tragar could imagine what they were saying-Emily was probably confiding the whole, frightening story to the older female who was no doubt consoling her.
He cursed himself for a fool as he watched. Why had he told her he was there to kill her-that she was a target for termination? And why had he revealed that he knew all the particulars of her flimsy security system? At the time, he"d been simply trying to convince her she wasn"t safe and needed to come with him. In retrospect, he could see how his words would come across as menacing and ominous.
I actually told her I could have come into her domicile and killed her at any time I wanted. G.o.ds, what"s wrong with me? She"s probably frightened to death of me and rightfully so.
It had to be her scent affecting his mind to make him act so stupid. G.o.ds, he"d never smelled a Khalla in heat before but his old instructor, Xen"dex, had told him he would never be able to mistake it if he did. And he had been completely right-Emily smelled like a warm, ripe fruit, ready to be plucked.
Tragar wondered how long she"d been in Tenrah. Such a state was very dangerous but he was more concerned with the fact that someone else might be targeting her now. His ten solar days were officially up and the narsh on his arm was burning. There might not be a formal time limit set in his contract but Emily"s time was clearly running out.
Another thing bothered him too. He"d told her they would try to get the contract on her life revoked but he knew such things were not done-not in the Verrak. Once a contract was taken, it must be finished-either with the death of the target or the death of the a.s.sa.s.sin who had failed to kill said target. For years Tragar had courted death-hoping in his secret heart that each new target would be the one who was able to kill him. But now he felt differently-he had a purpose again, other than seeking death. A Khalla must be protected, no matter what the cost.
That cost is apt to be very high, you know, whispered a little voice in his brain. Up to and including your life.
Tragar shook his head, pushing the thought away. He would deal with the contract and his violation of it when the time came. For right now, he simply wanted to keep her safe. Unfortunately she had hidden herself away in her flimsy dwelling, preferring the illusion of security to the harsh reality that she was in danger.
He wondered if there was any way to get to her before it was too late.
Chapter Six.
Emily settled down for the night and pulled the covers all the way up to her chin. For the hundredth time she wished she"s taken her big sister Anna"s offer to stay at her place tonight. Actually, it hadn"t been so much an offer as an order.
"You"re coming here tonight and that"s settled!" Anna had insisted when Emily had spilled out the whole messy story on the phone-after she"d finally gotten rid of Mrs. Harmon, that was, which had taken forever.
"I don"t know," Emily had hedged.
"What do you mean you don"t know? You just told me that not one but two men tried to attack you today! And one of them is Richard Grayson, that son of a b.i.t.c.h! You need to come over here now!"
Emily had shifted uncomfortably, glad her older sister couldn"t see her. She hadn"t been completely honest about what had happened, especially when it came to Grayson. After all, how could she explain that she"d gone feral and nearly ripped his throat out? She"d never told Anna about the other inside her-had never told anyone. In her version of events, the Kindred warrior had come just in time and broken up the encounter. Which he had, but not before she"d bitten a chunk out of Grayson"s neck.
Speaking of Grayson, where was he now? Since she had yet to get a call from the police or a lawyer saying they were filing charges, she had reason to hope that he would leave the matter well enough alone. But you never could tell...
"You need to come stay with me," Anna had said again. "You know you can always have the guest room."
Right-the one right beside the nursery? I don"t think so, Emily thought. If she really was in danger, she didn"t want to bring that danger into her beloved sister"s house, especially if it might affect her new little niece and nephew. That was the main reason she"d decided to stay put in her own place. The place where that huge Kindred knows your alarm code, a snarky little voice in the back of her brain reminded her. But Emily had pushed it to the side.
"I"ll be fine," she"d told her sister. "The police have left a squad car right outside in my driveway and there"s going to be an officer watching all night long. n.o.body"s getting anywhere near me." She hoped, anyway.
"Well...all right." Anna had sounded really unhappy about it but Emily could also hear the fatigue in her voice. The twins had been keeping her up all night, giving her precious little sleep. The last thing she needed was to worry about her sister. After a few more exchanges, Emily had finally gotten off the phone and had gone to do her usual night time routine.
She had thought that her nightly bubble bath and a gla.s.s of white wine would help her relax but she"d been looking over her shoulder the entire time she was in the tub and jumping at the least little thing. Every sound made her wonder if Grayson or the huge Kindred warrior was coming in the back door, every whisper of a tree branch against the windows sounded like someone slitting the screen with a long silver knife to get to her.
It"s no wonder I can"t relax, Emily told herself, as she lay there rigid in her bed. After the day I"ve had and having to see Grayson again after all these years...But though confronting her rapist was extremely distressing, it was the things the big Kindred had said to her which kept coming back to haunt her.
"Khalla" that"s what he called me. What does that mean? And why should it make me so precious-someone to protect rather than kill? Unless he really did want to kill her after all and was just trying to trick her into coming with him.
But then, how had he known about her eyes? And about the other inside her? Why had he thought she was from Rageron instead of Earth? Most of all, why had touching him affected her so strangely? She could still feel the tingle of his hand on hers, could still remember the way her body had reacted so strongly to that simple touch-how he had awakened a part of her she"d thought was dead and buried.
Emily sighed and turned over. There were a lot of questions she was probably never going to get the answers to. At least, if she was lucky. Because she certainly didn"t want the big Kindred coming after her again.
She had almost fallen asleep completely when she heard a soft, high-pitched whining sound right outside her bedroom window.
"What in the world?" She sat up at once, heart pounding as the sound came again. What was it? It sounded for all the world like a lost puppy but could it be some kind of a trick?
Sliding out of bed, she dropped to all fours and crawled across the darkened floor to the bedroom window, where she twitched the shade to one side so she could see out. She felt ridiculous acting like a character in a spy movie but she didn"t want to take any chances.
The window opened onto her small back yard which was currently bathed in shadows. At first she couldn"t see anything but then the soft, pitiful whining came again and she thought she saw the glint of moonlight off a pair of big, sad eyes. Was there a puppy out there? And was it hurt? It certainly sounded hurt.
Emily knew she shouldn"t let herself be affected but she couldn"t help it-the noise tore at her heart. She was a confirmed dog lover herself and her ancient Lab, Chewy, had just died a few months back. Emily had owned him for years and it had hurt her dreadfully to lose him. Still, in the back of her mind she had known she would eventually get another dog. Probably not a puppy-they were a lot of work. She"d been intending to go to the shelter when she was ready and find a young rescue dog that needed a home and some love.
The whining sounded again and Emily sighed. Okay, maybe a puppy was in the cards after all. Chewy had come to her the same way-showing up in her yard with scruffy, matted fur and a huge laceration along one side that left a scar. It looked like some a.s.shole had simply tossed the dog out of a moving car and left him on the side of the road to die. Emily had taken him to the vet and cleaned him up and they had been inseparable after that. Maybe fate was taking a hand again-sending her a new puppy to care for to make up for the generally all around c.r.a.ppy day she"d had.
Emily hoped so anyway.
As she went around to the back door, she heard the Kindred"s voice in her head again. "Have you not heard a word I said to you? Someone wants you dead. Every minute you"re out here alone in this unprotected place you"re in danger."
But I"m not unprotected-there"s a policeman right outside in my driveway! That nice Officer Lawry. He"d introduced himself personally and Emily had made him a cup of coffee to keep off the chill of the cold night. He was out there right now, sitting in his squad car making sure no one and nothing could hurt her.
Still, the big Kindred"s words gave her pause. Danger, whispered a voice in her head-the voice of the other.
Leave me alone, Emily told it. I"m fine-I"ll be fine if you"ll just go away and leave me alone!
Danger! insisted the other again.
Emily hesitated with her hand on the door k.n.o.b but then the whining sounded again. This time it was closer and there was definitely a note of pain in it. She couldn"t help seeing a puppy in her mind"s eye-a soft little bundle of fur maybe with cuts and bruises like Chewy had had or maybe even with a broken paw...people were so cruel to animals. He might have been thrown from a car or just left to die. She couldn"t ignore that kind of pain-she couldn"t.
Pushing the other"s warning to the back of her mind, she opened the door just a crack and peered out into the dark, chilly night.
"Here, boy," she called softly, shivering as a gust of cold air whirled around her bare ankles. Wrapping her robe more closely around her, she stared hard into the shadows that filled her back yard, looking for where the sound was coming from.
Under the robe she had on a short, silky nighty that was pale blue with a lace hem. Also, another gust of cold air reminded her she was barefoot. She wished she would have taken the time to put on her fuzzy slippers and was just about to go get them but just then the whining sounded again, this time from her right. Well, it was too late now-she"d just have to get cold feet.
"Here, boy. Come here, it"s all right now-it"s all right..." Emily risked stepping outside her door. The whining stopped for a moment and then intensified. Once again she thought she saw the gleam of eyes in the darkness. She had the definite feeling that the puppy wanted to come to her but it was afraid.
"It"s okay, little guy," she whispered soothingly walking out into the dark yard. The gra.s.s was damp and cold under her feet and a chilly breeze was sliding through the leaves, making an eerie whispering sound. Emily barely heard it. She was completely focused on finding the puppy now-not thinking at all of any kind of danger that might be waiting.
In her mind"s eye she could see it-a fuzzy, matted little bundle of fur with big brown eyes and a long, taffy-pink tongue. She still had a can of Chewy"s favorite soft food in the cupboard. She would coax the puppy inside and warm the little guy up and feed him. She might have to try and give him a bath if he was really dirty or hurt but- She stopped-her thoughts going blank. Her half frozen toes had brushed against something slippery and warm.
What in the world...?
Emily looked down and the moon, which had been hiding behind a cloud, chose that moment to appear. A scream rose in her throat as she saw what she"d stepped on. Or maybe stepped in would be a better way to describe it, whispered a hysterical little voice in her head.
Lying on the ground, face up and half hidden in the too-long gra.s.s she should have had cut ages ago, was Officer Lawry. It was his eyes Emily had seen glinting in the darkness-they were wide open and staring sightlessly into the night sky. And it was his blood she"d stepped in. Looking more closely, she saw in horror that there was a huge, jagged wound in his throat-a gaping hole where his windpipe should have been. Someone or something had ripped his throat out and Emily had just stepped in what remained of it.
The scream that was building in her throat suddenly burst out, shrill and breathless and not nearly as loud as she"d thought it would be. At the same time the whining sounded again but this time it was different. It started out in a high, pitiful tone and then slid down into a much lower, more ominous register. Soon it had become a growl.
Danger-I told you-danger! The other was suddenly back.
Yeah, right. Not that you"re being very helpful, just saying "I told you so" Emily thought at it wildly. Thanks a lot! Why don"t you just- Her thoughts were cut off abruptly by what she saw.
Out of the shadows of the tropical plants surrounding her yard stepped a beast.
Emily didn"t need the other to tell her she was in trouble. She wanted to run but she felt frozen to the spot.
Still growling, the thing came towards her. It was clearly an animal but like none she had ever seen before. It had silver skin for one thing and glowing red eyes which were completely focused on her. She would have thought it was some kind of robot but it moved so smoothly, so naturally...it seemed hard to believe anything mechanical could move like that.
It most reminded her of a Doberman Pincer but it was huge-Emily had never seen anything like it. There was a dark stain on its silver muzzle that let her know what had happened to poor Officer Lawry.
"Please," she whispered, trying to back away slowly. "Please, just stay back, stay away..."
For a moment she thought she saw its eyes grow even brighter-a deep, ominous crimson that illuminated its b.l.o.o.d.y muzzle and snarling, silver teeth. Then it crouched and sprang, leaping at her with deadly intent.
Emily gasped and tried to scramble backwards but there was no way she was going to make it-the huge silver beast was unnaturally fast. It was going to kill her-going to rip out her throat just as it had done to Officer Lawry. It- There was a sudden, deafening blast of noise beside her and the silver beast was knocked off course. It jerked to the side with a startled whine and collapsed on the gra.s.s in a twisted heap beside the body of the fallen policeman.
Emily gave a squeak of surprise and stared uncomprehending at the crumpled beast at her feet. It was as though a huge fist had simply punched it out of the air. Even as she watched the red light behind its eyes was dying. It gave a soft, final whimper-the puppy sound it had used to lure her out into the yard-and then stopped moving.
"Oh my G.o.d," Emily whispered. All the strength seemed to have run out of her legs and she felt like she was going to fall. She started to sag to the cold gra.s.s but suddenly a large, warm hand gripped her arm, pulling her upright.