Keri Arthur - Kiss The Night Goodbye

Michael smiled. "Lenny's place."

"Why?"

"To find clues."

"No luck with the mind rifling, huh?"

"No. Your car downstairs, or did you walk?" Jake's car had tinted windows, which would protect him from the effects of the sun. Though by the time they cut through the traffic, the sun shouldn't be a problem.

Jake's expression was horrified. "Me? Walk? I'm too old for that sort of foolishness."

Nikki snorted softly. "Old my ass. You did that test quicker and easier than I did. And you can out sprint me."

"Only when I'm scared shitless. Fear does wonderful things to the feet." Jake's gaze found Michael's. "Is it safe for all of us to be going out?"

Meaning, was it safe for Nikki to go out? Michael pushed open the stairwell door and waved her through. "Yes," he said, following Jake into the stairwell. "Because we don't know who else might have infiltrated the Circle."

"So we stick together?" Jake asked.

"For the moment."

"There go my plans for tonight," Nikki murmured.

"Hey, old men can be deaf when they want to be."

Nikki's glance back at Jake was wry. "I wasn't planning to make bedsprings squeak. I had something more exotic in mind."

"Oh." Jake's expression was amused. "Well, you'll just have to be exotic some other time."

"I guess." But her thoughts slipped into Michael's, as heated as her skin had been moments ago. How about we spend a little time in the spa tonight? Not as exotic as I wanted, but at least the noise of the spa might cover… other noises.

Heat flashed to his groin as he remembered the time they'd spent in the spa last week. She might have a lot less experience than him, but she'd taught him a thing or two that night.

Sounds like a good idea to me.

Amusement and passion shimmered through the link, wrapping him in heat.

Say that a little more breathlessly,she said, and I might think you were excited about the prospect.

Just a little.

Cool. It's a date.

A smile tugged his lips. We live together, so it can hardly be called a date.

Don't use living together as an excuse for laziness. You will come appropriately dressed, won't you?

Oh, I intend to.

Her laughter ran through him. Good. I can't wait.

Neither could he. They reached the underground parking garage and walked across to Jake's silver Mercedes.

"Where to?" Jake asked, as they climbed in.

"Massachusetts Avenue."

Once they got there, Jake parked the car up the street from the apartment building, and they all climbed out. The apartment block Lenny lived in was not the rundown building he'd expected—though why he'd actually expected that was beyond him. The Chevy Chase area was considered one of the more prestigious areas in Washington.

"You must have been paying Lenny a decent salary if he could afford an apartment in this place," Nikki commented, regarding the old but classy-looking apartment block dubiously.

"Apparently so." He walked through the old-fashioned concrete arch and approached the security doors. He directed a lance of kinetic energy at the locks, and the door opened with little protest.

"You would have made the best cat burglar," Jake commented.

"I was, once."

Nikki's gaze jerked to his. "You? On the wrong side of the law?"

His smile was wry. "Often."

Though his clashes with the law had more to do with the darkness within him gaining the upper hand than anything else. He'd walked the edge for more years than he cared to remember. If he hadn't met Seline, he might not have been around to find Nikki.

They took the stairs to the fourth floor. Michael checked the corridor and motioned everyone out of the staircase. Lenny's apartment was the third from the end. Though the echo of heartbeats came from the apartments on either side of Lenny's, no life beat in his.

Michael stopped and switched to the infrared of his vampire vision. No life at all inside, human or otherwise.

He stepped back and glanced at Nikki. "Your turn."

She pressed a hand against the door. Energy shimmered through the air, dancing lightly across his skin.

The door opened without a creak of complaint.

There was little furniture in the living room—a chair, a TV, and a ratty looking coffee table dotted with dried coffee rings.

"What are we looking for?" she asked, stepping through the doorway.

"I don't know. Something unusual. Something out of place."

She nodded and began searching. Jake followed her in. Michael leaned against the doorframe and watched them explore.

They were going through the drawers, when he heard the distant sound of footsteps in the stairwell, footsteps that were moving up towards them. He looked toward the stair door, his gaze narrowing as he listened. Two sets of steps. Two sets of heartbeats. One human. One not.

He pushed away from the doorframe. Nikki, someone's coming.

She looked over her shoulder, expression pensive. Shall we leave?

No. Warn Jake, then close the door. I'll go check it out.

Be careful Definitely. We have a date I have no intention of missing.

The warmth of her smile ran through him, stirring the very heart of him. Good.

He turned and walked toward the stairwell. The footsteps stopped, and for several seconds, all he could hear was the drumming of hearts in the apartments around him. Then the footsteps echoed on the stairs again, this time heading down in a hurry.

They've sensed me, Nikki. Stay in the apartment until I get back.

Be careful.

Always.

He slammed through the stairwell door and took the stairs two at a time. The two men were several floors below him, their footsteps as rapid as their hearts. The second man had the feel of a shifter rather than a vampire. Had they been intending to visit Lenny? If so, why run when they sensed his presence?

The fact that they did might mean they knew who he was. Might know something about Lenny's attack on Nikki.

He heard a door open and close, and he swore. He couldn't afford to lose them now. Leaping over the banister, he dropped to the floor, jarring his spine for the second time in an hour. He pushed through the door and saw the men running down the street.

He ran after them. The sun caressed his skin, warming without burning. It was well after two now, and the sky was clear. Once upon a time, it would have proven his death to be out in the sun like this. But sharing his life force with Nikki had somehow improved his immunity. These days, it was only the hours between eleven and two that he had to be truly wary.

The men took a left at the first street and disappeared. He followed them with his vampire senses, all the while closing in. They were fast, even the human, but not fast enough.

He turned the corner. Saw the two of them just ahead. One long and lanky, similar in appearance to Lenny, and the other bald and thick set like a boxer.

A slight hiss cut the air, approaching fast from his right. He dodged, but something hit his shoulder, the force of the blow spinning him around. Warmth flooded his back and side, and fire began to burn through his veins. It was no ordinary bullet he'd been shot with, but one made of silver.

Dizziness hit him. He staggered for several steps then pressed a hand against the nearby wall. Sweat broke out across his brow, and the pavement seemed to be doing a drunken dance. He blinked and looked ahead. The two men were dark shapes that danced as erratically as the pavement. But they were looming closer rather than running away.

He swore and spun round. Only his feet wouldn't obey his orders and he found himself falling nose first to the pavement.

Pain smashed through the confusion, swamping his mind, swamping his senses.

As darkness closed in, two thoughts crossed his mind.