Full Moon Rising

Obviously, it had been Gautier in the shadows. But why would he send state coppers after us rather than Directorate personnel?

Though we had stopped, maybe the reason was that simple. We would have been more suspicious of an unmarked car swooping down on us so quickly

My fingers tightened around the door handle, but otherwise, I obeyed the cop’s orders. The fact that Quinn hadn’t reacted in any way had me worried. Until I knew what was going on, I intended to play along with the current scenario

“We were only speeding,” I said, forcing fear into my voice. “Surely pointing guns at us is a bit of an overreaction?”

The cop ignored me, looking over the top of the car again. It suggested they considered me no threat. They’d learn soon enough just how wrong they were

“The vamp out of action?” the cop with the gun asked

“Yeah. The new tasers certainly do the work.”

Tasers. Great. That was all we’d needed. Though the weapons had been around for a while, it had only been recently they’d developed one with the right electrical current to affect vampires every bit as efficiently as humans. Quinn would be out of action for hours

A hand reached into the car and, out of the corner of my eye, I saw the wig being tugged off. “It’s definitely not Brown.”

So Gautier had been suspicious of Quinn rather than me. I wondered what Quinn had done or said to tip him off

“You want to call the retrieval in to headquarters,” the gunman continued, “and ask what they want us to do with them?”

The other cop made a grunt of agreement and walked away. I waited a few more seconds then grabbed the gun, wresting it from the cop’s hand as I thrust open the door

He staggered backward with a yelp of surprise. I threw the gun into the back and flowed out of the car, knocking the cop out before he knew what had hit him

A booming retort bit through the silence. I dove for the shadows along the side of the road, heard the scream of air, and the sharp sting of pain as the bullet scraped my rump, then I hit the ground and rolled to my feet. Wrapping the shadows around myself, I ran toward the other car. The second cop was still standing near the car door, his gun aimed at the spot where I’d disappeared from sight

I shook my head. When were the authorities going to learn and stop pairing two humans together? It made no sense, not with the introduction of recent incentives that included a fresh, free blood supply to vamps who joined the force. Of course, the Directorate skimmed the cream, while the psych and physical tests prevented a good percentage of the remainder from joining the cop ranks. But there was such an influx of applicants it could take years for the cops to work down the remaining list

I picked up a small stone and padded quietly to the back of the car. The cop was starting to look around. I tossed the stone, waited until it clicked against the road up ahead, then let the shadows unravel and ran at him. He never stood a chance. I had the speed and power of both wolf and vampire, and he was only human. I tucked his unconscious body into the car, turned off the camcorder, then collected the second cop and shoved him into the car as well. Then I ran back to Quinn

I didn’t bother feeling for a pulse, mainly because the slow metabolic rate of vamps would make it extremely difficult to find one at the best of times. I unclipped his seat belt and dragged him around to the passenger side. Once he was safely belted back in, I ran around to the driver’s side and started the car. Cop central would have called in reinforcements once they’d seen what was happening. We had to get off the freeway, and get rid of the Porsche, as quickly as possible

But I didn’t take the first off-ramp, continuing on instead to the Mickleham Road exit. The mob Quinn had hired the Porsche from had a depot at the airport, but I couldn’t risk taking the car there with Quinn unconscious. Mickleham Road had an old hotel not far from the freeway, one with the parking tucked nicely around the back and stairs rather than elevators to the rooms. I’d get a room and dump Quinn there, then get rid of the car and return

I pulled off the wig and took out the lenses as I waited for the lights to turn green. Looking a whole lot less ghostly, I pulled into the hotel and stopped at the side of reception rather than out the front under the bright lights. After grabbing my purse from the security box behind the passenger seat, I did up my coat and climbed out. No sense in giving the woman the wrong idea

As it turned out, I shouldn’t have bothered. The woman at the counter wouldn’t have cared who rented the room as long as they paid up front. When I not only paid up front but asked for their best room—which turned out to be their one and only honeymoon suite—she practically danced on the spot. Obviously, times were a little tough with all the new hotels opening at the airport

I drove around to the back and parked. After opening the room’s door, I half carried, half dragged Quinn up the stairs, mighty glad the place was almost empty or that no one came out to investigate the source of all the noise. Explanations weren’t something I could be bothered with just then. I made him comfortable on the bed and wrote him a note, leaving it on the table with the folders, the gun, and my wig so he’d see them all if he woke, then headed out

Returning the car proved no problem, so I headed over to the less exotic rental area and hired an everyday- type Ford

By the time I got back to the hotel, an hour had passed and Quinn was still out of it. I grabbed the phone and dialed Jack’s vid phone, which had been left with Liander. Only it wasn’t Liander who answered, it was Jack

“What are you doing back?” I asked, worried something had gone wrong

“We got in and out faster than we’d expected. Listen, I can’t talk long. Alex tells me a tracer has been placed on this number. You’ve got one minute, max.”

“Gautier ran into us as we were coming out of Brown’s room. He didn’t recognize me, but something tipped him off that Quinn wasn’t Brown. He set the cops after us. We were pulled over, and Quinn’s been tasered unconscious. It could be a while before we get there.”

“Alex mentioned that an alert had been placed on the car. She didn’t countermand it because we want to see where this all leads. You obviously coped.”

“Obviously,” I said dryly. “And no, I’m not hooked on the adrenaline rush of it.”

He laughed. “Did Quinn place the bug?”

“Yes. And we found a couple of interesting files that speak of a White Phantom Project.”

“Good. Don’t worry about hurrying back because the cops have set up security checks on the freeway, and they’ll be there until peak hour. We can’t do anything else now until we have the cover of darkness again, anyway.”

A whole day to play with Quinn. How cool was that?

“What grid reference are you?” he continued

I hesitated, trying to remember the codes, then converting the name of the hotel into something that resembled map references. I passed them on, and he grunted

“Call if there’s trouble or if you shift location.”

“Will do.” I replaced the receiver, then walked over to the old spa that dominated the corner of the room. Big enough for two to play in. My smile grew when I saw the line of essential oils against the wall. Paying for the honeymoon suite had its benefits

I threw the coat and dress on the nearby chair and continued on to the bathroom to inspect my shot butt

It wasn’t bad, just a scrape that stretched from one cheek to the other. It hadn’t even bled much. I took a quick shower to wash all of Liander’s goop from my skin, then toweled off and padded naked to the bed. Quinn didn’t stir when I climbed in beside him. I half wished I’d taken the time to strip him completely, because skin was far better than cloth to curl up against. But right then, I didn’t have the energy to get up and complete the task. Besides, my imagination was up to pretending. With a smile teasing my lips, I closed my eyes and went to sleep

When I woke hours later, it was to the reality of flesh pressing against flesh and the pounding of desire through my veins. Breath caressed my shoulder, punctuated by butterfly kisses that sent shivers of pleasure