Aline Hunter - Omega Mine

The alley was dark, cold and empty—with no sign of Jonathan Roberts.

“Damn,” Ava Brisbane cursed under her breath and glanced from left to right. Nothing but brick, chilly air and asphalt greeted her from either direction. And just like a bad horror movie, a heavy gray fog was a-rollin’ in.

Double damn.

Lifting her left hand and shoving aside her jacket, she glanced at the thick black leather cuff on her wrist. 12:49 a.m. Yep, it was definitely time to get a move on. The liaison wasn’t coming and being caught out at this hour—in the godforsaken Bronx—was just plain stupid. All kinds of things came out when the sun went down. Things that would eat her flesh and pick their teeth clean with her bones.

The soft humming of the cell phone inside her back pocket vibrated against her ass, tickling her skin through the thin, stretchy denim. She knew who was calling because the same person who gifted her with the electronic device was the only one who knew the number—the annoying, scheming and blackmailing bastard Craig Newlander.

Rolling her eyes, she pulled the thin piece of metal from her jeans, flipped it open and placed it to her ear. “He’s not here.”

“I know that.” Craig’s voice was a deceptive device used to gain favor. He sounded amiable, polite and downright sexy. Too bad he was an asshole, poser and opportunist. “Jonathan was forced to seek shelter when he got a tail. Get out of there and go home. I’ll contact you tomorrow.”

“Wait a minute,” she snapped, attempting to remain calm and keep her voice hushed. “You told me that if I came and exchanged the packages, you would return the locket for services rendered. That was the deal.”

“I’ll contact you tomorrow.”

A loud click echoed in her ear and the line went dead.

Ava extended her arm, glowered at the cell phone and snarled, “You dirty rotten pig bastard!”

For a moment she considered chucking the device across the way and achieving a perverse—but fleeting—satisfaction at its demise. Instead she returned it to her pocket and seethed inwardly. Craig could kiss her ass after she wiped the floor with his. Once she had possession of the locket her useless brother pawned, that’s exactly what she planned do to the arrogant piece of shit.

Her shoulders suddenly felt heavy, laden with the burden of obligation.

Sweet baby Jesus, the entire situation was whack. She was a bartender who peddled drinks for a living, not a hoity-toity Villati who lived off stocks and mutual funds. And if she knew what was best for a continued life expectancy, she would keep it that way. The preternatural investigators who unearthed the existing names and secrets of the supernatural families across the world didn’t last long. Most of the time their obituaries ran in the paper at the same time their findings were bound, recorded and placed in the Villati registry.

Thinking about the circumstances that brought her to this dangerous location incensed her further and she vented her frustrations via the fingers that adjusted the strap attached to the leather messenger bag draped across her chest.

Her brother, Thomas, was a bona fide loser. He’d piddled all of the money left by their parents to nourish his gambling addiction and started hocking their valued belongings when he hit a losing streak. First it was antique silverware and vintage vases. Then, when she noted their absence, he went for the throat and hocked the jewels.

If she hadn’t been neck deep in a horrible relationship that was doomed to sink, yet she felt obligated to repair, she might have noticed the debt collectors and the phone calls. As it happened, she didn’t get hip to the deception until all of Thomas’ fortune was gone. They were forced to sell the home in Greenwich their mother and father had worked so hard for, to save his wretched ass, along with all of the belongings left following their unexpected deaths.

But one treasure had remained hers—the Brisbane family locket, passed down for generations. The platinum piece of jewelry was meant to continue along as a link to the past and it would have until Thomas, in the throes of addiction, had paid her a visit a month previous under the guise of needing a place to sleep for the night. The following morning the locket was gone and within a week she got a visit at her place of employment from a Mr. Craig Newlander, the big Villati head kahuna an asshole of epic proportions and a persistently annoying burr in her ass.

Ava ground her teeth together and exhaled slowly.

She avoided Villatis at every turn, even as they tried to establish a connection. All of her family—with the notable exception of Thomas—had been blessed with some form of advanced perception. Be it something minor, like being able to hear someone else’s thoughts or something substantial, like being able to control and manipulate the will of others. She possessed the latter of the two talents, and that made her a prime candidate for enrollment in their ranks.

Something she absolutely, positively didn’t want to think about.

Mortal minds were cake but supernatural ones such as those of vampires, shifters and magic casters were beyond her capacity. She couldn’t hear them or feel them, and since she couldn’t outsmart, outmatch or outrun them either, it was like walking into a lion’s den smeared in lamb’s blood with a flashing “eat me” sign.

“Damn you, big brother,” she muttered and then sighed. “And damn me too.”

Begrudgingly accepting her fate, she turned, retrieved the cell phone to call a cab and began a quiet trek toward the end of the alley. When the first shadow appeared in front of her, she knew she was in trouble. Then she heard the voice of a second just behind her.

“Well, well, well,” a melodic lilt that only could belong to a vampire cooed. “What do we have here?”

Diskant Black reveled in the visceral sounds of his Harley Night Train as the brisk autumn air caressed his face. Making the trip to this part of the Five Boroughs was something he never enjoyed but when a stray wandered into his city it meant a proper introduction was in order. The rogue werepanther wasn’t very bright but he’d got the message. This was Diskant’s territory, his domain, and as an Omega—the most powerful of all lycanthropes—his word was law. A lot changed over the centuries but one thing remained the same. Only an Omega bore the mark of all the races and possessed the ability to change into any of them. That meant total submission and respect was bestowed to him among the shifters. In the city that never sleeps he was in charge, and it wasn’t open to discussion.

Inhaling deeply, he absorbed the combined scents of concrete, dirt, water, garbage and exhaust fumes into his lungs. The sour tang of fear enhancing each scent didn’t come as a monumental surprise and wouldn’t have concerned him if the sticky sweet stench of vampire wasn’t combined with it. He snorted, removed the stink from his nose and inhaled again. Deeper this time. It was definitely fear he scented and the sharp, sour smell was pouring off a human. He gripped the bars of the bike and shook his head. It was the wrong place at the wrong time for some dumb schmuck. Probably some addict looking to score or a homeless person who’d picked the wrong stretch of garbage dumpster to sleep in.

Then a roar of outrage sounded nearby, an undeniable battle cry, and revealed the gender of the victim. “Fuck you!” a sultry female voice thundered.

Well, hot damn . Leaving a male to fend for himself he could do but never a damsel in distress.