"No." He studied the small, red-brick house. Several large trees dominated the front yard, surrounding the house with shadows and providing perfect cover for the manareis. He glanced at her. "You stay here. I'll go scout."
"You can't confront a manarei without any weapons. Wait for your boss."
"We haven't got the time, and I'm not going to confront anything. I'm not that stupid."
"Then I'm corning with you."
She reached to undo her seatbelt, but he placed a hand on hers, preventing her. He was so close to her that her breath washed warmth across his skin. All he had to do was lean forward a little, and her lips would be his to claim.
"No." He watched the sexual awareness grow in her amazing eyes. Could feel it in the link between them, but it was a heat muted by caution. She wasn't ready yet to fully trust him, and it was more than a little worrying. Just because his father and grandfather had happy endings didn't mean he would.
"You're on their hit list as well, remember, so you wtil stay right here. If I smell a manarei, I'll retreat."
She stared at him for several seconds, her expression troubled. "Be careful." She hesitated, then touched his face, briefly caressing his cheek.
"Please."
Heat shivered through him. He forced a grin. "Being careful is a motto us thieves live by. I won't be long." Lord, it would be so easy to pull her close, to taste her lips once again. Easy, but the wrong thing to do right at this moment. He pulled away. "Please stay here."
She didn't reply, and her thoughts told him she wasn't happy. He didn't care about that. Her staying safe and alive was far more important.
He climbed out of the car and motioned her to lock the door. At the first sign of trouble, you get out of here, okay?
At the first sign of trouble, I'll come running. I'm not leaving you to face one of those things alone, sojustforget it.
Damn it, he didn't have the time to stand here and argue, and the tone of her thoughts told him it was an argument he wasn't likely to win, anyway. Short of tying her to the car, there wasn't much else he could do. I'll call if I need help. Just don't get out of the car before then, okay?
Okay.
Though her reluctance to agree was evident in her mind-voice, he had no real choice but to trust she'd do as he asked.
He headed toward Trina's. The wind stirred, tossing his hair and murmuring through the two large gums in the front yard. He sniffed the air, but could smell nothing beyond the warmth of freshly baked bread. He glanced at his watch. If Kirby's vision was accurate, the manarei had three minutes to get here. He hesitated in the shadows filling the driveway. Someone inside the house was vacuuming, but it was a noise muted by the pounding thump of music. It would be useless ringing the front door bell. Maybe he should check around the back. He walked down to the gates and whistled softly. No dog came bounding up to greet him, so he went through. The music was louder back here, the beat so heavy it seemed to thump through his body. The yard was a sea of knee-high grass and weeds. Pines huddled along the rear boundary, throwing vast shadows across the rest of the yard. A perfect place for evil to hide, though as yet, he could smell nothing but dampness and mildew.
He ducked past the windows and moved to the far end of the house. Like the backyard, the narrow gap separating the two houses was a mass of weeds and shadows. As hiding places for evil went, it was even better than the yard. He leaned a shoulder against the fence and waited.
Minutes slipped by, and the thump of music suddenly died. Through the sudden silence came the sound of humming—an old disco tune he vaguely remembered but couldn't name.
Down the road, bells began to chime the hour. He glanced at his watch. Ten o'clock. Why wasn't Camille here? The last thing he needed right now was to face a manarei weaponless...
The foul touch of magic burned across his skin. Halfway down the side of the house, the air began to shimmer and sparkle, until it became of shower of golden lights. Through this, a shadow formed—became a manarei, eyes gleaming like freshly-drawn blood in the shadowed half-light.
He reached into his boot and withdrew a small knife. It would be as useless as a toothpick against the creature, but right then, it was all he had. The manarei stepped free of the sparkle, and the shimmering air died away. It sniffed for several seconds, then it snaked its head around, glaring at him and hissing in anger.
"Care to play a little?" he said, waving the knife before him, as if it were a stick and the manarei nothing more than a playful dog. The creature leapt. He waited until the last moment and slashed at the manarei's snarling, snapping jaws before diving away. He hit the ground and rolled quickly to his feet, spinning to face the monster.
It wiped a claw across reptilian lips, smearing black blood across its leathery cheeks. "I will gut you with that little stick." The manarei's voice was thick, its words barely understandable. 'Then I will consume what little brains you have."
"Try it," he muttered, watching its tail rather than its eyes. When a manarei attacked, its spring came from its powerful hind legs. Usually, the tail was the first indicator of an impending attack.
Its tail lashed, and a split second later, the manarei launched itself. He held his ground again, cutting the knife across the creature's eyes before ducking under its claws and rolling away.
The manarei snarled in frustration. It hit the ground and sprang again, almost cat-like in its agility. He scrambled to his feet, slashing desperately with the knife, then ducked away and spun, kicking the creature in the gut. It caught his foot and tossed him forward. He sailed through the air and hit the ground nose first, sliding through the weeds and skinning half his face.
The air screamed again. He rolled away and called to his alternate shape. In panther form, he leapt onto the reptile's back and bit deep into its neck. Blood gushed, thick and hot, its taste like acid in his mouth. The manarei screamed and reached back, grabbing him by the scruff of the neck and pulling him off. He slashed with his claws, tearing into the creature's face, and it tossed him away as if he were nothing more than a lightweight ball. He hit ground feet first, felt the tremor of the earth through his pads and looked up to see the manarei pounding toward him. He twisted around, saw the closeness of the trees and leapt for the nearest branch, scrambling up into the deep, dark recess of the pine.
The creature snarled and pounded the trunk in frustration. The whole tree shivered. He dug his claws into the branch, holding on for grim death. Manareis weren't the best climbers, and right now, this tree was all that stood between him and certain death.
Where the hell was Camille?