“It’s something I do, and I’d really appreciate it if you’d keep it to yourself.” It had been careless of me to show my power to a stranger, especially a demon, but all logic had gone out the window when I’d picked up the sick cat. Standing, I placed the sleeping cat in his outstretched hands. One of my fingers grazed his hand, and he jumped as if he’d received a shock. “Sorry.” My power was a bit amped because of the healing and the presence of a demon. I forced it back down. The lessons with Nikolas and Chris had really paid off.
Kelvan’s next action shocked us. He sat on the coffee table, cradling Lulu to his chest while fat tears rolled down his cheeks. “I’m sorry,” he said hoarsely when he could talk again. “Lulu was my brother’s cat, and she’s all I have left of him.”
“Your brother?” I prodded gently.
“Mallar, my older brother. He brought Lulu home five years ago when she was just a kitten.”
Jordan came to stand beside me. “Where is he?”
Kelvan sniffled and wiped his face with his hand. “He was killed two years ago. He and his friend, Jaesop, went out one night and ran into some vampires.”
“Vampires?” Peter asked. “Why would they kill another demon?”
Kelvan shrugged sadly. “Why do humans kill other humans? They are evil. Vampires think themselves superior to all other races, and they kill anyone who crosses them. There are few demons who would not rejoice if every vampire was wiped from the face of the earth.”
“Is that why you’re helping us?” I asked him. “Because of your brother?”
“David and I have been friends for years, so I would have helped him anyway. When he told me Madeline could lead the Mohiri to the Master, I made tracking her my first priority.” He stroked his sleeping cat’s head. “Hunters don’t help my kind, and we don’t help them. But if you need anything, you let David know and he’ll contact me. I can never repay you for helping Lulu.”
“You don’t owe me for that. I would have done it anyway.”
He gave me a watery smile. “You are not like other hunters, are you?”
Jordan snorted. “You have no idea.”
“How did you know what we are anyway?” I asked him.
He shrugged. “Most demons can sense another demon when we get close enough. My people have a very good sense of smell, which is why I knew those two were werewolves.”
Jordan covered a yawn with her hand and looked at me. “As fun as all of this is, I’m ready to crash for a few hours.”
“Me too.” I gathered up the laptop, cell phones, and cash and looked around for my backpack before I remembered I still had to buy one. I spotted a paper bag on the kitchen counter and stuffed everything into it. If we ran into anyone on the way to the car, I doubted they’d take much notice of a Chinese takeout bag.
“Thanks for everything,” I said to Kelvan before I followed the others into the hallway. He held out his hand, and I shook my head. My control was a lot better now, but I didn’t want to risk hurting him. “Better not.”
“Oh, right.” He withdrew his hand and ran it through his curls. “Listen, I know you’re more than a hunter. It doesn’t take a genius to see that. David said the Master is looking for you, and I’m sure it has something to do with whatever you did to Lulu. Be careful out there. Word is that this is the most dangerous vampire anyone’s heard of in a long time. They say he’s insane, and he really has it out for the Mohiri. All vampires do, but he’s the worst.”
“If you know that, you must know more about him.”
“No one really knows anything about him, except what comes from other vampires, and they’re not saying anything. There have been some demon disappearances that have been blamed on him, too. No one knows what he’s doing with them, but everyone’s afraid. Just watch your step.”
“I will. Thanks.”
The four of us were quiet as we walked back to the car. Jordan started the engine and looked over at me. “I’m going to stop at the first decent motel I see.”
“Someplace cheap,” I reminded her. “We have to make this money stretch until we can get more.” David’s five hundred dollars would help a lot, but between gas, food, and hotels, it wouldn’t take us long to run through it. I had some diamonds that would fetch a good price if I could find a buyer. I put that on my mental list of things to do – after I got some sleep.
“As long as it’s not a total roach motel.” She reached into the back pocket of her jeans and pulled out a thin wad of bills, which she handed to me. “Here’s four hundred. It’s all I could get.”
Roland leaned forward. “I have five hundred. I found a bank machine at the airport.”
“I can’t take that. It’s your car money.”
He laughed and sank back against his seat. “I don’t think a car is very high on my list of priorities right now.”
“I have two fifty,” Peter chimed in.
I opened my mouth but Roland spoke first. “We’re in this together.”
Jordan pulled away from the building. “See, we’re better off than we thought we were.”
Ten minutes later, we parked outside a Motel 6. Jordan and I went inside to get two rooms, and the boys stayed with the car. I leaned wearily against the front desk as I waited for the clerk to finish whatever she was doing and check us in. It had been a long, stressful day, and all I could think about was how good it would feel to lie down and close my eyes.
The featherlike touch against my mind was so faint I thought I imagined it at first. It came again, and I jolted away from the counter. Nikolas was here. Not at the hotel but definitely close-by. And if I could sense him...
I grabbed Jordan’s hand and pulled her toward the door. “We have to get out of here.”
“What? Why?”
“Nikolas is here.”
She scanned the parking lot as she ran after me to the car. “I don’t see him.”
“You know that bond thing? He’s here, trust me.”
“Shit!”
Roland and Peter were in the front seats so Jordan and I dove into the back. “Get us out of here, Roland,” I cried, sinking low in the seat.
He turned in his seat to look at me. “What’s wrong?”
“Nikolas,” I gasped as the sensation grew stronger. Roland continued to stare at me, and I yelled, “Drive, damn it! Nikolas is here.”
“Fuck.” He started the car and eased out of the parking spot.
“Hurry,” Jordan barked. “I’d rather face a couple of hungry vampires than Nikolas right now.”
“If I drive too fast it’ll draw attention.” He pulled out onto the road and slowly picked up speed. “And I’ve seen what Nikolas is like when he’s pissed.”
“You’ve never seen him like this,” Jordan muttered.
I didn’t speak because I was too busy trying to sense Nikolas’s presence. It disappeared and reappeared several times, and each time my breath caught in my throat. His nearness awakened a storm of emotions inside me, and my Mori moved restlessly. It hadn’t even been a day, but I missed him so much. I hated the way things had been between us before I left, and part of me wanted to tell Roland to stop the car and let Nikolas find us. Shaking it off, I reminded myself why I was out here and what was at stake if I didn’t do what I’d set out to do. There would be no future for any us until the threat of the Master no longer hung over our heads.