As Dawn Breaks, page 6




“We aim to please.”
The car moved smoothly as he waited for Genny to instruct where they’d go, though traffic increased the longer they drove.
When they moved into an older section of town, he slowed at her request.
“Turn down this street,” she murmured and lifted a small camera to her face.
“This what you need to see?” He indicated to an old dilapidated building where three burly men loitered. He noted the black leather vests they wore, but the air about them… it reeked of menace.
“Yessss.” The word was little more than a hiss.
One man outside the building caught sight of the vehicles and nudged the others. They straightened up and moved towards the front awning.
Something about the way the men moved had Genny’s heart thumping madly. “See the patches on their chest? Left-hand side?” She snapped another picture. “They’re Rocketmen.”
She knew them well, having had more than one run-in with them. The ugly sons of bitches were bad to the core, and the last time she’d dealt with them, she’d learned they had at least one shifter in their midst and likely more.
On her chest, the scar pulsed, a leftover of that dreadful night and hideous altercation. It reminded her of the danger they faced.
“We should move on,” she said after realising David had pulled the car to a stop opposite the building.
“We’re fine,” he muttered.
“What? No, we need to move.”
Two of the three men lumbered onto the street, the third raising a phone to his mouth.
“This is dangerous.” Now her nerves frayed.
“Nah, it’s all good.”
Genny turned, dismay turning to horror when he smiled at her.
“Mr Jardin…”
A hand landed on her shoulder. “We’re fine. These cars are pretty close to indestructible,” the man behind her offered.
When she inspected the driver, she noted something. A kind of enjoyment as he watched the men on the road.
One tugged a snub-nosed pistol from his pocket.
Aimed.
Heart in her throat, Genny gulped.
The impact came with a dull thwack, a couple marks on the windscreen, but nothing else.
“What you can’t see are the reinforcements of the glass. Carefully reinforced. It’s the tweaks that aren’t obvious that will pay off in the long run.” David’s voice was low, and she leaned forwards.
“What the hell are you talking about?”
He smiled and waved to the thug, the man’s face growing darker. “The long-term aim is to sell these vehicles to houses and law enforcement. This one is about as bulletproof as you can get. The reinforcements are, shall we say, special.”
The second thug came up beside the vehicle and tried to open the door. David peered at the man. “Pass me the camera,” he said.
With nerveless fingers, she handed it to him and watched as David snapped the thug’s portrait, then did the same with the first one, his face now in the shape of a snarl.
“Got enough, Officer?”
Her gaze was filled with the moves of the third as he ducked inside, then returned with something large and barrel-like.
“Uh, we should leave,” she demanded. No matter how reinforced David might suggest the vehicle was, there was no way they’d survive what was coming.
He glanced in the direction she looked and smiled.
Smiled!
It was filled with relish and pleasure. Her gut curdled.
“We’ll be fine.”
“That’s an A58Z Rocket Launcher. Capable of—”
“Yes, I know, Officer. We’re still safe,” the nestling from the back seat said.
No matter what he said though, it didn’t make her feel any more secure or safe inside this box with the Yeux Secondes or his people.
They’re mad! They must be. The safety of her people slammed into her mind. A quick glance back showed her the car behind remained in place, as if it too were waiting for whatever might come.
“Mr Jardin…” She needed to urge him to leave. Get out of there before it was too late. She turned back, facing the front, and stopped talking at the view before her.
The two thugs who’d been trying to get into the car backed away, their gazes feral. Gleeful. Terror seized her, worrying every nerve inside her body so it crackled and hummed.
A boom echoed, and the car rocked as something crashed into it.
Genny grabbed David’s hand and squeezed, sure this was it. The absolute end. She closed her eyes tightly together and held her breath while the rapid drumming of her heart signalled a spike of adrenaline.
Seconds passed.
Long seconds that became fraught moments.
Her ears rang, and she opened her eyes.
“Like I said, safe. I know the capability of these vehicles, checked the specifications myself, and worked with Banks here to strengthen them. But let’s head on now, shall we? You’ve seen enough?”
She nodded mutely, because what else was there to say? But as they drove off, she watched the men, knowing they’d probably opened a Pandora’s box with this altercation.
The drive back was mostly silent as Genny evaluated everything she’d found out.
“Vampires holed up in the mercantile is a big problem. I can talk to the Council, but we’d need help from the Liaison Division and police to deal with the Rocketmen, since they aren’t under our jurisdiction,” David said.
She bit her lip and looked out the window. Again, he was right.
“I think I should talk to the boss. You best come in with me.”
“I’ll send the rest home, then. Just keep Hansen here, in case something comes up and we need to send the car home.”
She blinked. What did he think was going to happen? That they were going to rout them immediately? “It shouldn’t take long.”
He grunted, and she waited out the rest of the trip in silence.
David glanced at the near silent woman beside him and tried to work out what she was thinking. True, maybe he had shown off a little, but the car held up exactly as he’d expected it to.
Once they arrived at the precinct, he gave orders for all except Hansen to head back to the nest in the other vehicle. Hansen grinned. “I’m going to grab a bite to eat, then settle in. I’ve got a lecture to catch, so I’ll do that in the back of the vehicle.” Hansen had been his co-conspirator in the early days of designing the vehicle and had followed him from the nest he’d grown up in to the al bin Habbad nest. They weren’t close, but they were partners. “Oh, and I’ve got a practical workshop tonight in town, so I won’t be available.”
David nodded. “We’ll go attend to this, then grab lunch. I’ll check in later.”
David and Genny went up the stairs, and he placed his hand against her spine. An old-fashioned act, but it came naturally.
The woman before him stilled, muscles tight beneath the light touch. “Uh, Mr Jardin?”
He felt the echoes of her words in the vibration of her body, and his tightened in reaction.
“You can… step back.”
Her head continued to face forwards, but for some wild reason, he got the feeling she wasn’t really looking at the object of her gaze.
“Oh.” He tugged his hand away and shoved it into his pocket, unwilling to consider why he still felt heated where he’d touched her.
Genevieve shoved open the door, and he ducked in behind her, trailing her to an office where she knocked precisely twice. The rapping echoed in the sudden silence.
“Come” came from within, and they entered the dark room. The hulking lieutenant hunched over a desk, his eyes gleaming in the dark. “You’ve found something?”
Settling into a chair, she tugged another beside it and showed David should sit, and he followed her direction, though the seat was hard and unyielding.
“Thanks to Mr Jardin, we ascertained that, yes indeed, the Rocketmen are guarding the mercantile. What we couldn’t see is whether there are vampires in there. My informant, however, was quite clear. She’d seen them, and I trust her. We need to go back, possibly as early as this evening, and see if that’s the case.”
David sat up at that. She hadn’t so much as mentioned going back at night. When the vampires were active. That was deadly thinking.
Before he could get a word out, the boss held up his hand. “You will go back tonight. You will face danger. There is more and there is less than you hope to find.”
Immediately, David knew the lieutenant was allowing his precognition skills free rein.
“Sir? Is that the okay, then?”
The lieutenant nodded. “Yes, take Jardin and some men with you. We need evidence before we can address the council.” His gaze narrowed. “When were you last off duty, Fernly?”
She blushed, a very becoming shade of pink. “I’m fine, sir.”
The lieutenant grunted. “That’s not what I asked. Take the afternoon as downtime after you brief your team. I want an update tonight. I’ll authorize a team of five”—he grinned—“since Jardin will want to tag along.” The man looked at David. “You still good with a sword and gun?”
David smiled. “I keep in practice, shall we say?”
Once more Fernly bristled, but he shrugged, telling himself he’d explain that and more to her over lunch.
They left the office, and Genevieve instructed him to “take a chair” and she’d be right back. Right back was forty-five minutes later.
However, he used the time to contact his office, giving instructions for the evening shutdown. He’d return later, he explained. “I will return with Hansen, but I can’t be sure when. I’ve got one prototype and will use that for transport.”
“Of course, sir. I also believe the master and Celina will be absent this evening.”
David frowned.
“Have Kharisma ensure the nest is secured, then, and send the specs for the building to my phone. I want to check the security schematics again since they’ve been tweaked.”
“Very well, David. I’ll see you in the morning, then.”
The line disconnected, and he frowned. That his second lived in a unit miles from the nest wasn’t optimal, but it was the best he could do right now. Space was limited, and it was why most of the rooms were sparsely furnished. With fifty humans all employed in essential house-centric tasks, and forty-seven vampires in the basement, every inch of the building was pressed into service.
They might be fast-tracking the building of the smaller multifamily units around the main house, but the urgency that drove him still wasn’t enough to ensure they’d be done as quickly as he might desire.
Fernly reappeared, and he stood. “We should find something to eat.” She opened her mouth, but he shook his head, stopping her remonstrations. “I hear there’s a nice little Italian place just around the corner.”
Her eyes glittered. “I have other things I need to attend to,” she growled.
“I’m sure you do, but tell me, you eat, right? We could find that Fusion place with nice juicy steaks if that’s your preference.”
Now she hissed. “Italian is fine, since I doubt I’m going to shake you off.”
He would have reached for her, taken her hand, but she stalked to the door and wrenched it open. Instead, he settled on simply saying, “After you.”
The acknowledgement that he was railroading her was damning, but more to the point, he felt the urge to get to know her more, and that drove his behaviours. He’d have to atone for that sin, he thought.
Outside, they moved to pass the car. “I just need to check on Hansen,” he said, and they stopped. He rapped on the door, and the window slid down. “Need anything?”
“Nah, got a drink and the tablet. These things go for hours,” the younger man said. “Have a pleasant lunch.” Then the window slid back up, but not before David saw the speculative gleam in the other man’s gaze.
“Come on, let’s go,” Genevieve muttered, and David turned.
Faced with her back, the luscious curve of her backside, and the ruthless precision of her braid, he considered it a good day.
Chapter 6
Frustration coursed through Genny’s body. She was in a small dark Italian restaurant, drinking soda water and waiting for the bowl of Bolognese to arrive. The salad long since gone. As she’d told her mother, she needed more than meat and bone in her diet.
“So, how did you come to join the Liaison Division?” David sat opposite her, and the dark stubble now colouring his jawline, the deep green of his eyes, and the subtle scent of maleness were picking apart the small vestiges of brainpower she had left.
“I joined the force, but most police have no clue about the depths of paranormal species. It was difficult because I’m more than human, and some questioned my strength and speed. Something I can’t help, or hide.”
Oh, she remembered the day it all came crashing down.
Julien, the man she’d thought would be her partner both in life and at work, had been eating a steak. Rare. Just the way he liked it. He’d frowned and sniffed the air. “You’re really not like any other female I know,” he muttered, his grey eyes gleaming.
“I’m not. Julien, I have to tell you the truth.”
“You’ve not told me everything?” He waggled his brows, and she laughed nervously. His grin urged her confession.
“When we met your mother, you told her…” Oh God! The words stuck in her throat, and she cleared it. She adjusted the camisole she wore, knowing how sexy he found it when she slipped the nearly transparent material on after sex. “I’m a cat shifter, yes, but Maman… she had two partners within the same heat cycle.”
“Sexy mama! When do I get to meet her?” His laugh soothed some of the raggedness that filled her.
“That’s just it. She met someone. But he… he wasn’t a shifter.”
Julien’s hand stilled, and his eyes narrowed. “What. Do. You. Mean?”
Her blood thickened and cooled. “I’m…” She gulped, twisting her hand in the soft material. “I’m not just a cat shifter, but I don’t know what else, though. Maman said… She said he was a paranormal, but she didn’t find out what.”
A sudden chill invaded the room as Julien tossed the rest of the steak to the plate. “What the fuck?” He lurched away. “You’re not pure. You led me on, Genevieve.” Fury threaded his voice, and she wanted to shrink through the floor.
“No! No, I just didn’t tell you—”
“You fucking lied to me. Withheld knowledge. Why? So I’d mate with you? I planned to. Tonight I was going to ask you.” Disgust surged in every word. “I’ve got to go.” He reached for his pants and shirt, and Genny raced around the table.
“Please, Julien. I wasn’t hiding it. Maman counselled me—” She gripped his hand, and he flung her away.
“Don’t touch me! Filthy creature!”
Shards of ice penetrated her chest as if he’d stabbed her. “Please, Julien.”
“No. No more. I don’t know you or want you. No shifter in his right mind would want a mutt.”
Mutt. A filthy half-breed, and the ultimate insult to their kind.
“I was looking to leave the team I was part of. Needed a new challenge. I knew of the Liaison Division, and one day, I got the courage to wander in the front door. The boss was there, though he wasn’t the senior officer. It was a woman before, and she was a real hard-nosed bitch, to be honest, but she was retiring. Boss had already been appointed, and there was an opening, so since the timing was right, and I had the skills they were looking for, I jumped.”
He cocked his head to the side. “Just like that.”
She blinked, because deep inside her was a yearning to tell him everything. Every bitter truth that had made her so distrustful. She wanted to trust him, and that made him doubly dangerous.
“Something like that,” she muttered, ducking her head, but not before she noted the frown between his eyes. Whatever she’d said, it hadn’t sat well. “What about your story?”
“Ah, well, I’m sure you’ve heard the story about my situation. The only son who grew up in the bosom of my family and was given every opportunity to succeed. Study and work were easy, and I was trained from birth to take control of the nest as a future Yeux Secondes. My wife was hand-picked and perfect. Beautiful and talented.” His hands moved, and she watched them, aware they were long and tapering. “My sister, Hope, was an innocent who I allowed to be alienated, belittled, and dehumanised because I listened to the harpy I’d married while my father was in cahoots with Alexa. Even after she learned the truth, my mother didn’t give a damn.”
His voice turned ragged and bitter. Genny reached out, took his hand because no one deserved to live with regrets and hate for mistakes they couldn’t own by themselves forever. She leaned closer and considered the self-loathing on display. Inside, the emotions she’d built a hard shell around peeked out. “Surely not?”
He shook his head. “By the time it was done, I had no family, no relationship, and my name was a tattered mess.” He closed his eyes briefly, and she wondered if it was to stop him seeing derision or whatever emotion he expected from her.
“Mr Jardin—”
“David,” he corrected.
“Fine!” His eyes opened, and she captured his gaze. “David, anyone who’s aware of what happened knows you were fed lies by your wife and parents. It’s what you do afterward that matters. I know you’ve moved on. You’re assisting with the building of a new nest and trying hard to change. I can see that.” She smiled, felt the curving of her lips.
His eyes widened and searched her face as heat arced between them, like an invisible connection. “Genevieve…” He shrugged as if lost for words.
“David, no one can get through life alone. Loneliness eats you up. Swallows you whole, and if you surrender to it…” She shrugged now.
“You’ve been there. Done that.” It wasn’t a query so much as a statement.
“I learned long ago that hybrids like me don’t have a place in the natural order of shifters.” Leaning back into the seat, Genny studied the man opposite and, for the flash of a second, wished it weren’t a truth.