A Touch of Crimson

“Hundreds of thousands. But they’re still ahead, because they can spread vampirism to mortals much faster than the lycans can reproduce.”

“While you’ve been stuck with a static number, minus the ones you lose along the way?” Lindsay exhaled in a rush, overwhelmed by the enormity of the task Adrian faced. “Why can the fallen angel-vampires spread their sickness? I don’t understand why that’s okay.”

“I don’t have an answer for that. If I was to hazard a guess, I would say it has something to do with freedom of choice. The choice of the Fallen to refrain from sharing their punishment, just as they should have refrained from sharing their knowledge. And the choice of the mortals who are Changed into vampires.”

“You’re assuming the mortals have a choice.”

“There are those who seek the Change. Most especially ones who are ill or crippled in some way. Ones who want to live, no matter the cost.”

She shuddered. “Who wants to live like that? I’d rather be dead.”

Adrian took a step closer. Then another. “The better question is, who wants to die like that? Most mortals don’t survive the Change. Of those who do, many become feral and have to be put down. The Fallen don’t have souls. When they spread their affliction to mortals, who do have souls, the Change causes irreversible damage. Some minions can survive without a soul, but most lose their empathy and then their minds.”

“You call them minions?” Her nose wrinkled. “Even the term is disgusting.”

A breeze ruffled his hair, luring a thick black lock to hang over his brow. The slight blurring of his sharp perfection made him look younger than the early-thirties range she’d originally pegged him for.

Lindsay now knew what an illusion that was. His eyes, so brilliantly hued, were ancient. The length of time he was discussing so casually was unfathomable to her. Ages. Eons. Trying to imagine the history he’d seen was almost frightening.

“You’re here,” she said carefully, hooking her thumbs in the waistband of her pants, “to punish angels who taught mortals things they shouldn’t know yet… but you’re going to teach me things I wouldn’t know otherwise. Do the rules that applied to the Watchers not apply to you?”

“I’m going to teach you how to better defend yourself, but within the limitations of your mortal body. Basically, nothing you couldn’t learn elsewhere from mortal masters of self-defense.”

“Good.” She released the breath she hadn’t known she was holding. “Now that I know the basics, I want to go with you when you leave.”

He shook his head. “I don’t know what I’m dealing with. Until I do, it’s too hazardous.”

“There’s someplace safer than by your side?” she challenged.

“By my side is the most dangerous place for you to be.”

The temptation he presented proved that, but… “I’ll take my chances. Besides, I’m already packed.”

When his face took on an arrogant look of command, Lindsay held up a hand. “Think carefully,” she warned, “before you answer.”

Adrian paused. The stillness that settled over him was absolute.

She’d known within moments of meeting him that he was used to giving orders and having them obeyed without question. He was going to have to get over that with her.

“Your way or the highway?” he asked with dangerous softness.

Lindsay lowered her hand. “I do what I do-I kill heinous things-to avenge someone. I do it for the victims, because they couldn’t do it for themselves. If I can help someone who has a name and a face, friends, a life I’ve seen… Do you understand? You said you would give me a focus, and that’s the kind of focus I want. I want to help you find whoever killed your friend.”

“I’m not hunting today.”

“Bullshit. You’re going after information. You want to see if you can pick up anything around the scene where your friend was killed. And if you find something, you’re not just going to call it a day and come home. I don’t need to be trained to be helpful. I’m lethal already.”

“With the element of surprise,” he qualified. “In hand-to-hand combat you’d be dead before you could blink. And when word gets out about you, you’ll be hunted. You’re not ready for that yet.”

“No one can be totally ready for that. And when my time comes, it comes. Everything happens for a reason.”

“Now I’m calling bullshit.”

“You have to take me with you,” she said in a voice that brooked no argument. Then she gave him “the look,” the one she’d given him in the airport to snare his interest. She wasn’t above using her feminine wiles to get her way.

He smiled. A full, seductive smile that rocked her back on her heels. “You can’t manage me, Lindsay. I’m more than happy to be the recipient of your persuasive skills, but not if you’ll be pissed off when it doesn’t get you what you want.”

That smile was kicking her ass. Crackling electricity raced across her skin, making the hair on her nape stand on end. “Adrian-”

“No.” The curve of his mouth straightened abruptly. “I won’t make a tactical error because of my craving for you. My mission-and, most of all, you-are too important to risk.”

The tightness that constricted her chest was fueled by respect. She had a sudden crazed desire to crawl all over him naked. “I have responsibilities, too, Adrian. I know those things are out there. I wish I didn’t. I wish I couldn’t feel them coming. But I can, and there’s an accountability that comes with that curse. But that’s all about what’s in it for me. For you, I can be useful and I can watch your back.”

“I’m a Sentinel. I can take care of myself.” As firm as his voice was, it was softened by the warmth in his extraordinary eyes.

“I won’t stay here if you won’t let me come. Childish, I know, but it’s all I’ve got as leverage.”

“You’re blackmailing an angel.”

She shrugged. “So sue me.”

His wings materialized, flexing along with his jaw. “I can detain you.”

“And then my father will create a big stink about me falling off the face of the earth and you’ll have even more trouble on your hands. Hey-don’t get your wings in a twist. It was partly your idea to keep him in the loop. Besides, I know you want to catch the ones responsible, and every day that passes, the trail grows colder. I don’t know if you have the same sixth sense I’ve got or not, but if not, we both know I can find them real quick. And they won’t see me coming. I’m just an average, everyday artery to them.”

“Blackmail works both ways, Lindsay. I want something in return.”

“Oh?” She was instantly on alert. The glimmer in his eyes was too… triumphant, almost as if she’d played right into his hands.

“Your reason for hunting-the someone you’re avenging-I want to know who it is.”

“I was talking about a generalized ‘someone,’ ” she prevaricated.

Adrian studied her for a long moment, then said, “Very well. I’ll take something else, then.”

“What?”

“This-”

He was kissing her before she could blink, having moved so fast it felt like she’d missed entire frames in a film reel.

She was shocked into stillness. He sealed his mouth over hers, his firm, sensual lips pressing softly. The gentleness was unexpected, considering the tightness with which he cupped her face in his hands. His tongue slid along her bottom lip, then slipped inside. The silken caress in her mouth made her shiver, then moan. Adrian kissed with the leisure of a man who took his time making love, which was a luxury she’d never had time for. Sex was for scratching an itch and for feeling human for a few stolen moments. It had never been this slow, deep melding. And this was only a kiss. What the hell would he be like in bed?

Her toes curled. Her hands caught his waistband, hanging on for the ride. Behind her closed eyelids she absorbed the taste and scent of him, the feel of him so close. She felt as if he’d found a way inside her. She was aware of nothing else. Just the feeling of him sifting through her like curling smoke…

Lindsay wrenched away with a curse. “Were you just inside my head?”

“I needed to know if your past was a liability.” Adrian licked his lips as if savoring the flavor of her.