Rogue Darkness by Dianne Duvall

“He just told us why he took her,” Nick growled, and turned back to Reed.

Weaving where he stood, Reed peered up at Nick through swollen eyes. “Nick? Did he say Nick?” he asked through swollen, bloody lips and staggered. “Are you Nick Belanger?”

The smile that curled Nick’s lips was chilling. “Yes. And now you know the name of your executioner.” He swung.

Sean and Nicole both lunged forward. “No!”

Reed’s head tumbled from his shoulders and hit the ground. His body sank into a lifeless heap beside it.

Jerking to a halt, Sean stared at Nick.

No smile graced his face as he stood, chest heaving, glaring down at Reed as if he wanted nothing more than for the vampire to open his eyes and stand up so Nick could kill him again. His bare form splattered with Reed’s blood, Nick turned to face them. “He can’t hurt her now, can he?”

“No,” Nicole said softly. “He can’t hurt her.” Glancing up at Sean, she caught and held his gaze. “Becca’s safe now.”

Sean nodded.

But was she?





Chapter Four





Nicole drew her cell phone out of her back pocket and dialed Seth.

“Yes?”

“We need you,” she told him.

In the next instant, the Immortal Guardians’ leader appeared beside her.

While Nicole floundered mentally and wondered how to explain what had happened, Seth studied Sean, arched a brow at his altered appearance, then glanced over at Nick, who stood over the decaying vampire’s body, as naked as the day he was born, with rage painting his features alongside the blood.

Seth strode toward Nick. “Let’s get you home before someone sees you.” As soon as he touched Nick’s shoulder, the two of them disappeared.

Nicole turned to Sean.

“We fucked up,” they blurted in unison.

Swearing, Sean paced away a few steps. “We should’ve run this whole thing by Seth first.”

She nodded. “I know. I just… It didn’t occur to me that—”

“Something like this would happen. It didn’t occur to me either.”

“At most, I thought Reed would appear, play the good guy like he did with Tessa, and I’d tranq his ass.”

“And I figured if I tagged along and pretended to be human, he wouldn’t consider me a threat, and I could keep him from hurting you both if shit went sideways.” He dragged a hand through his hair, then grimaced at the feel of the product that coated it. “Did you know Becca wasn’t Becca?”

“No. Did you?”

“No.”

Seth reappeared.

Nicole’s stomach fluttered nervously. They had just lost their only lead in terms of discovering why Becca was being targeted. And based on Reed’s last words, it seemed like she was definitely being targeted.

Seth again took in the scene. Nicole and Sean stood quietly with what she imagined were looks of both guilt and dread on their faces while the vampire shriveled up in a pool of blood. Tilting his head back, Seth looked up at the structures that bracketed them, turned, and scrutinized the building on the other side of the street at the end of the alley. That one, Nicole noticed, boasted several windows.

Seth closed his eyes.

Nicole glanced up at Sean.

He shrugged.

“There was a witness,” Seth murmured.

Oh crap. “Should I call Reordon?” she asked hesitantly.

Seth opened his eyes. “No. I took care of it. The man is drunk, his mind easily manipulated. I commanded him to erase the pictures and video he captured on his phone and then buried his memories.” He strode toward them. “What happened?”

She and Sean quickly recounted the events of the night.

His face impassive, Seth studied them. “You didn’t think it strange that Nick would relax his vigil so quickly?”

Inwardly, Nicole winced. “I thought it was less that and more that he wanted to know if Becca was being targeted. Kayla, too, I’m sure.”

Sean nodded. “I thought the same. And there really was no other way to know other than to put Becca out there.”

Well, technically speaking, Nick had found a way. She just wished he would’ve clued her in first.

Seth sighed. “You had no inkling that Becca wasn’t Becca?”

“None at all,” Nicole admitted. “I didn’t even know Nick could assume the appearance of other people. I thought he only shape-shifted into animal forms.”

The elder immortal shook his head. “Most older immortal shape-shifters can assume another person’s appearance but choose not to, believing it too great a deception.”

“Well,” Sean said, “Nick was spot-on in his impersonation of her. I’m impressed as hell. He even got her voice right.”

Nicole nodded, understanding now why Becca had given all the men who’d tried to chat her up the cold shoulder.

“That doesn’t surprise me,” Seth offered absently. “Nick has watched over Becca ever since she and Kayla moved in next door to him when she was a child. He knows her every mannerism, every intonation in her voice.” He shook his head. “Next time, consult me first before you launch what Reordon will no doubt deem a covert op.”

“Yes, sir,” they chorused.

Reordon would be pissed that they’d blown this opportunity. Information gathering was a huge part of his and the network’s job. And he did not like anyone interfering in that and mucking it up.