EDGE OF NIGHT Read online

  “Shit!” Kai stormed to the door. “Derek, stay outside this room. No one in or out without my say-so.”

  “What you gonna do?” Derek asked.

  “Lie like hell,” growled Kai.

  Chapter Three

  The snick of a closing door and the rumble of male voices startled Sian awake. A sharp, pain from her mid-section caused her to whimper as she attempted to sit upright. Abruptly, she lay back against the pillows until the throbbing from her left side subsided.

  As she strove to regain control of her body, she glanced about the room. This wasn’t her bedroom. The sound of male voices coming from the next room told her she wasn’t alone. She had to get out of here.

  Peering under the covers, she found that she was dressed only in some man’s T-shirt!

  Pale grey-white light filtered through the sheer draperies at the only window in the room. The events of the night flickered across her mind like a banner ad. The memories helped her ignore the pain in her ribs. She sat up. First, she needed to find some clothes. Second, she had to get out of here without anyone seeing her. Third, she had to make it back to her apartment, pack a bag, then—run!

  Brucchi had found her. Just the thought of what he would do to her, what he had promised to do to her if he ever caught up with her, immobilized her with dread. She’d survived two attacks by his minions—she wasn’t sure she’d make it through a third attempt.

  Obviously, she couldn’t stay in Chicago. She couldn’t trust the marshals to protect her any longer—they had some serious internal control problems. She didn’t want to die because the government was sloppy in their hiring practices.

  Sian York would have to disappear. Good thing she had made some contingency plans of her own after the fourth move.

  Listening with every pore in her body, she could just discern the low, rumbling voices from the next room. No, they were fading. Silence. Then the sound of a door closing. She was as alone as she would ever be. She had to move now.

  Sian threw off the duvet and attempted to swing her legs over the side of the bed. Dizziness assailed her, and she fell back to the pillows, her legs half in and half out of the bedding. She was so damn weak. Her ribs hurt like hell. Her throat throbbed where she’d been cut. She felt the bandages at her neck. Someone had tended to her.

  That meant she wasn’t in Brucchi’s hands—he wouldn’t care less that she was hurt. So, where was she? She sat up abruptly and the pain washed over her. Damn! She let out a low moan. She could barely get up, let alone run.

  Turning her face into the pillow, she muffled her groans of pain. A scent of something familiar captured her attention. It was a smell as familiar to her as the aroma of her shop’s special Colombian blend. It was the smell of Kai Axton. She’d recognize his spicy musk underlaid with pure Kai in a darkened and crowded room. She’d smelled it every day for the last six months. He always smelled right to her. She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. Her pain vanished as if by some feat of magical aromatherapy.

  This must be Kai’s bed. So, it had to have been his voice she’d heard last night. He’d rescued her. Obviously, the cloud had to have been a figment of her imagination and the snowy conditions. Kai was very solid—and corporeal.

  Sian let out a shaky breath. Thank God, she wasn’t crazy. A very real male-of-this-earth had saved her, not some ghostly, dark, out-of-this-world cloud.

  Oh my God, Kai! She’d gotten him involved. Brucchi would find out who’d disrupted his plans, then Kai would be marked for death also. Pain and weakness or not, she had to run—now. Run from Brucchi. Run from the Feds. Run from Kai—the man she had come to love so much that she couldn’t afford risking his life.

  Damn Brucchi! If the bastard dared to show himself, she’d kill the son-of-a-bitch herself for all he cost her.

  Choking back an angry sob, she gritted her teeth and got out of bed. Using the bedside table as a crutch, she stood and stayed in place until the world stopped spinning. Once her equilibrium had gone back to plumb, she pushed off the nightstand, then headed for a door that could lead to a closet. She needed something other than a T-shirt to make it across the street to her apartment, or they’d find her frozen in the gutter. She didn’t intend to make Brucchi’s life any easier than it already was. She would escape, hide, then come out to testify once more at the bastard’s new trial. He would fry, if it was the last thing she ever did.

  * * * *

  The trip out of Kai’s building and across the street was going to be more difficult than she’d expected. Although the outer room of Kai’s loft apartment was empty, the hallway wasn’t. A very large man with a gun sat in a chair by the elevator. She couldn’t leave that way. Back to the drawing board. She prowled the apartment, sure that Kai would have another way out for safety purposes. If he did, she couldn’t find it. So, it would have to be the back window and the fire escape.

  It was snowing, sheets of icy snow swept in off the lake. The wind chill cut through the sweatshirt and pants that she’d put on over the thin cotton tee. Thank God, she’d found her own shoes and socks.

  Descending the cold iron rungs, she distracted herself from the inclement weather and her fear of heights by repeatedly reciting the alphabet in three languages. By the time she reached the bottom of the fire escape, her hands were so cold that she couldn’t operate the release for the extendable ladder that would take her the final half-story to the ground. One, two, three times she tried to operate the mechanism.

  Tears of frustration and misery seeped from her eyes and flash-froze on her cheeks. If she jumped the last ten feet or so, she’d probably break every bone in her body—they were that brittle from the cold.

  Sian took a deep breath of icy air, then let it out slowly. Her exhalation hung in the air like a wispy cloud before being dissipated by the strong wind. She’d try one more time to release the mechanism; if it didn’t work she would lower herself, hang from the fire escape, then drop.

  “Open, goddamit,” she whispered as she fumbled with the latch.

  She didn’t know if it were the swear words or her previous three attempts had worked it loose, but the release creaked open. The ladder fell to the ground with a loud clanking and hit with a resounding thud.

  Once on the ground, Sian worked her way to the front of a neighboring building and took a peek around the corner to the street which ran in front of her and Kai’s buildings. There was something going on outside of Kai’s. The two cars were familiar—or at least their type was, blocky, gray sedans. The Feds were on the prowl. Damn! How had they traced her to Kai? Had he called them? They could stop her before she’d even managed to escape. She couldn’t let that happen. While she trusted Kai, she no longer trusted the marshals. They had failed at protecting her at every turn. She’d much rather rely on herself.

  Just as she thought she might have to find another—longer—way to get into her building, Kai exited the front door, escorting one of her handlers. Two other suit-types had two other escorts. The three Feds argued with Kai and his employees. No one was looking in her direction.

  It would be now or never, plus with Kai distracting the marshals she could get in and out of her building before they decided to put someone in her apartment. Or, maybe they already had. No, she still had to chance it. She needed her clothes and the false identity that she’d bought for a rainy day.

  Sian ran across the street and quickly around to the back of her building. She entered through the loading dock door.

  The first floor was empty. She crossed her fingers—looks like the Feds had been and gone. In case they had left someone, she picked up a piece of loose wood from a pallet she’d torn apart. If she had to, she’d take out anyone who tried to stop her. This was no time to be squeamish. Her life depended on getting away from the Feds.

  Sian tiptoed up the back stairs to the second floor, then entered through the extra exit that had been put in for fire safety. The place seemed quiet. She crept through the kitchenette and into the great room. Still no one.
There was only her bedroom left. Sian stood outside the partially closed door and listened. No sound.

  She couldn’t stand here forever. Kai would find her missing and come for her. If not him, the Feds could come back.

  Sian gingerly walked into her bedroom.

  “Zoe?” gasped Sian as she leaned back against the doorjamb. Zoe lay on the bed, her head propped on the headboard, facing the doorway, a gun in a two-fisted grip. The gun was pointed directly at Sian’s head.

  “I told Tony you’d run instead of letting the Feds move you again.” Zoe smiled through thinned lips. “I was absolutely sure I had you all figured out. Five moves were more than enough, weren’t they, Sian?”

  “How much did Brucchi pay you?” Sian managed to get the words past the knot of fear—and disappointment—in her throat.

  “Lots and lots of lovely, filthy money,” cooed Zoe.

  “Why wait until now to kill me?” Sian asked, suddenly so tired and weary that death would almost be a relief. “You’ve worked for me for weeks.”

  “Oh, I wasn’t supposed to do the dirty deed,” Zoe explained, waving the gun around for emphasis. “I was supposed to find you, keep an eye on you until Tony could get some local talent hired to take you out. It seems his papa is tired of mess-ups that point directly to the Brucchi family.”

  “Lucky for Brucchi that the government hid me where the local pool of killers is abundant, then,” Sian said.

  The four who’d attacked her the previous evening would have succeeded without Kai’s timely intervention. Sadness swept through her. In the back of her mind, she’d planned to seek Kai out after Brucchi was dead. Now, she’d never see him again.

  “Yeah, with Cabrini right next door, all Tony had to do was put the word out on the street.” Zoe giggled. “It didn’t take long. He paid top dollar. But then you never went out at night, and the damn place was under constant surveillance by those damn cameras of Axton’s.”

  “Cameras?” Sian was confused. “He has some on his building for his own security, not mine.”

  Then it hit her. Kai would look for her, probably was right at this moment. His people would know exactly where she was. The cameras would show them.

  And the Feds, they wouldn’t go away quietly, either, no matter what Kai had told them. A glimmer of hope took root in her mind. She had to stall. Time was all of a sudden on her side.

  “Aww, come on, Sian,” Zoe chided. “Those cameras are aimed over here. I do believe I managed to avoid them since I knew they were there. Seems old Kai wants to keep his eye on you.” Zoe swept Sian with a curiously critical glance. “You’ve got hidden depths, woman. He any good?”

  Sian shook her head at the question. “Good?”

  “Sian, Sian, Sian, come on! It’s just us two girls. You can tell me,” Zoe chided. “Is Axton really hung? Is he a good lover? Is he into kink? Rumors are that Axton’s one scary dude, ex-CIA. Did the really dirty, nasty stuff that old Uncle Sam wouldn’t want anyone to know about. You know, starting coups, killing dictators. They called him the Ice Ghost. Not sure why, since those damn silver eyes seemed to burn holes right through me. Fire Ghost would be more like it.”

  Zoe visibly shuddered, but the gun never wavered from its target.

  “What are you talking about? Kai is just a customer—and a friend.” Not for lack of a lot of randy dreams and wishful thinking, if it had been another time, another place, she would have taken Kai on, scary dude or not.

  The bed rustled and creaked as Zoe moved to get up.

  Stall. Damn it, she needed to stall. If she lived, she might just go seek out Kai. If he was as bad as his rep, he might be the one to stop Brucchi once and for all.

  “Oh my God, you mean he’s never made a move? Jesus, what was the man waiting for?” Zoe stood up and slowly walked toward Sian, stopping about five feet away. “Axton practically ate you up with his eyes every damn day. The bulge in his pants was so large that it had to be uncomfortable.” Zoe grinned. “You never knew, did you?”

  Then Zoe started to laugh.

  The gun wavered, then turned away from Sian briefly. Ignoring the pain, her exhaustion, her numb hands and feet, she launched herself at the hysterical woman, hitting the gun arm with the wooden board that she’d forgotten she’d held.

  Zoe sensed Sian’s move too late. She yowled with pain and dropped the gun. Both of them dove for the weapon. Zoe managed to grab it, but Sian hit the woman’s arm with the board again.

  “You bitch!” screamed Zoe as the board splintered across her arm. Somehow, she held onto the gun, but it went off.

  The shot deafened Sian, but she kept her eye on the target and managed to grab Zoe’s arm and held on, keeping the gun pointed away from her.

  Zoe found some leverage and rolled on top of Sian—and her sore ribs. Pain tore through Sian, stealing her breath. Darkness veiled her gaze for a few seconds, but some instinct allowed her to hold onto Zoe’s arm with the gun. Another shot sounded above and to the right of her sightless eyes.

  Glass shattered, followed by a cold wind whistling into the apartment. A sound like thunder chased on the heels of the freezing air. Behind her lids, Sian sensed even a greater darkness settle over the room.

  The spicy musk of Kai Axton drifted on the breeze. His rumbled, angry words confirmed that he’d arrived. “Let her go!”

  A sense of deja vu skittered down Sian’s spine like an electric current. He’d used those same words the night before. She was safe. Kai’s arrival provided the impetus for a final surge of adrenaline. Sian managed to throw off Zoe and then roll under the bed. Let Kai handle the bitch. All she wanted was to sleep for a year—and to be warm. Under the bed, she allowed the dark pain to sweep over her as she fell into a dark, dreamless void.

  * * * *

  “Sian. Sweetheart. Baby, speak to me.” Kai pulled Sian’s limp body into his arms, then rose to place her on the bed. He chafed her icy hands as he alternately swore at her for running away and thanked all the gods of the Otherworld for keeping her alive.

  “Derek!” Kai shouted, his gaze fixed on Sian’s ghostly white face. “Call Mack—tell him I’ll call him about where to meet up with us. She needs more medical attention.”

  Derek’s mumbled assent seemed miles away. Kai’s focus was on Sian and her too-white face and the renewed trembling of her body. Shock was a strong possibility.

  “I’m okay.” Sian’s whisper was faint, wispy—filled with pain.

  He swore some more. “No, you’re not,” he snapped. “You’re damn lucky to be alive.—Why did you run away from me?”

  Sian’s eyes flew open.

  Did she hear the anguish in his words? The soul-deep hurt?

  Her only answer was to croak out, “Zoe?”

  Rage and hatred at the memory of the pink-haired clerk’s perfidy coursed through Kai, chasing away the momentary anguish that Sian’s flight had caused. He’d ask his question again later when she was safely hidden away and couldn’t run again. She had to be made to realize that running from him was not an option.

  “The bitch won’t bother you again,” he answered her question, softening the harshness of his tone by stroking a lock of hair from her face, massaging the lines creasing her forehead with his thumb.

  Kai fought to control his anger, his anguish. He needed Sian’s trust, not her fear.

  “No one will ever hurt you again. Not while I live and breathe.” He bent closer and brushed a kiss where his thumb had traced.

  Sian nodded, then inhaled sharply, before whispering. “I trusted you. Not safe to stay.” She winced.

  “Where does it hurt, baby?”

  Kai was very concerned about Sian’s physical condition. They needed to move out—and soon. Over his protest, the Feds were at his building, searching it. His people could only stall so long. Sian was right about it not being safe to stick around here. Neither one of them could afford to go back to his building—not until Brucchi was dead.

  Once he’d found that Sian had fled,
he ordered Stu to arrange transportation and a decoy. Then avoiding the Feds searching his building, he, Derek and Mandy had gone out a bolt hole and down under the street, coming up behind Sian’s building.

  He and Sian had less than fifteen minutes to meet his men at the rendezvous in an alley three blocks away.

  “Ribs.” She swallowed hard. “Zoe landed on them when we rolled off the bed.”

  Kai swore in Russian, a language he’d found had more than its quota of foul words. “Derek, is Mack willing to meet us?”

  “He’s standing by, Kai.” Derek coughed. “You don’t have much time. We need to get a move on before Stu proceeds to the next rendezvous point. I don’t think Sian is up to a six block march.”

  “I can do what I need to do,” whispered Sian.

  Kai smiled down at her. “That’s my girl.”

  “Am I?” she replied. “Your girl, that is?”

  “Damn straight. What did you think I’d been doing for the last six months, coming by every day I was in town?” Kai asked.

  “Getting coffee and my homemade blueberry scones?” she replied, a teasing smile in her eyes, despite the pain coursing through her body.

  “Funny girl,” Kai said as he leaned over and kissed her nose. “I was seriously courting you, getting up the courage to ask you out.”

  “Zoe was right, then,” she said. “You like me.”

  “More than like, baby.” Kai leaned close to her face, capturing her chin with his hand. “You said you trust me. Does that mean that you like me?”

  Her solemn green eyes stared straight into his. “More than like, uh...darling.”

  Kai closed his eyes. He leaned his forehead against hers and whispered. “Thank you. You won’t ever regret trusting me—loving me. I promise.”

  “Uh, people,” Derek coughed. “This is all very sweet, but time is a wasting. The gang is stalling the Feds as much as possible, but eventually they’ll head this way. Plus, who knows when Zoe was supposed to report in. Brucchi could have others heading this way.”

  Kai opened his eyes. “He’s right. We need to move. Can you hold on for about thirty or so minutes until we can meet up with the doctor again? We have a long trip ahead of us, and I want him to make sure that the bitch didn’t crack any of your bruised ribs.”