Page 8 of Marked
People and supes dart around; whores and drunkards dive for cover as tactical lights wave like beacons and badges shine in the dimness. “Hands up!” The bellows mix with the angry shouts from above. In the distance, the rear door bangs, too, and uniforms crawl the club.
Surrounded.
With a growl, I set Lilah on her feet. She teeters in place, one hand trying to grip my sleeve. I reach to steady her. The nearest cop, a thick guy, with a razor cut and sharp, angular face, grabs her by the arm and pulls her back.
She bucks in his hold.
“On your fucking knees,” the cop says, free hand motioning me with his hardware.
My lips peel back from my fangs and I hiss. “Not happening.”
All the color leaves Lilah’s face. She stares at me, a mix of fear, confusion ... and betrayal flowing across her features. “But...” she sways. “A vampire? You’re a vampire?” She shakes her head, hand going to her mouth.
I can’t help the sneer. My fangs press deep into my bottom lip with the motion. “Sure am, baby.”
She winces, and backs away. Right into the arms of the cop.
Rage, pure and unfettered, flows through me as his free hand strokes over her bare arm. Casual. Soothing. Bloodlust slams into my body.
“Remove your hand, cop.”
He levels a bored stare in my direction. “Cuff him.”
The wash of approaching body heat over my back is all the warning I need. I smile. “Yeah. About that …” I dive under the reaching hands of the cops and seat my heel deep into one man’s gut.
He caves inward as the others move toward me.
With one final glance at Lilah, I flit through the masses and streak outside into the waiting night, leaving the human bartender with her kind.
Which is exactly where she fucking belongs.
Chapter 4
Lilah
Officer Nick Malone leans against the wall opposite of me, his thick frame still. Watchful. There is a soft knock on the door and he walks over to it. When he leans out into the hall, murmured voices roll through the crack.
I wrap the borrowed windbreaker tighter around my body. The spicy cologne on the collar is the same one that pours from Malone’s skin, but it is nothing like the musk and spice from the vampire.
My eyes close.
A vampire. Of course he is. It’s how my life goes.
The leather should have been a giveaway. Most of his kind are nothing like the Hollywood mythos unless you count Blade or Underworld. But they don’t burn up in daylight, and they can be killed without garlic or a stake. And the blood drinking? That’s real enough.
So why save me? Why risk his life against Vic to get me out of there?
I burrow deeper into the warm material. Vic was fast enough to lawyer up. He will spend maybe a night in lockdown before his lawyer finds a way to get him free. When he does, it will be my ass that gets blamed for all of this.
And there is only one thing for me to do.
“Ms. Marks?” I look up, and Malone raises a brow. “You may go.”
I start to shrug out of his jacket but he holds a hand up.
“Hang on to it until you can get to some clothes.” He shoves a hand through his thick blond hair. “I’ll have one of the officers on duty take you home.”
Home.
