Chaos. Hell.
“One month,” he said again, voice hard, eyes glittering with intensity, “and you give me all of your research data.”
The deal was going to be her only way into Purgatory. “One month,” Olivia agreed as she stood. Her skirt slid down to brush against her knees as she offered her hand to Pate.
He rose slowly. His fingers curled around hers. “Get packed, doctor. That ferry will be leaving at 5 PM.”
Her eyes widened. She gave a fast nod and pulled away from him. Olivia hurried toward the door. She’d have to make a mad dash to Wellswright University in order to get her notebooks and files and—
“They’ll be able to smell your fear there.”
His words stopped her just as Olivia’s hand reached for the doorknob. She glanced back at him. “Excuse me?”
“They’ll know you’re human. Weak. Prey. They’ll smell your fear, and they’ll like it.”
She gulped, and remembered the instant earlier in the interview when his nostrils had flared and his stare had hardened on her. Is Eric Pate human? Her gaze slid over him. He looked human, but most paranormals did…until they were ready to let their beasts out to play. He was tall and muscled, and a predatory air clung to him.
Monster…or man?
“Once you enter Purgatory, I won’t be able to help you.”
His words made goosebumps rise on her arms. “There will be guards there.” She swallowed and hoped her voice would sound less raspy. “Surely they can protect me.”
“If hell breaks loose, look for a dragon. He might be able get your ass to safety.”
She had no clue what the guy was talking about. “Right. I’ll just look for a dragon.” As far as she knew, there weren’t any dragon shifters. Oh, please, don’t let there be any! Fire terrified her, and a giant reptile-like beast that was basically a fire-breathing snake? No. No, thank you.
Olivia opened the door.
“Good luck, doc…” Pate’s drawling voice followed her from the room. “You’re sure going to need it.”
Chapter One
Olivia ran to the edge of the dock. She was late. Embarrassingly, ridiculously late for the ferry. It had taken her too long to gather all her files from the university.
Olivia’s heels rapped over the wooden dock as she raced for the boat. She was clutching her briefcase—containing all of her precious files—in one hand, and her other hand was frantically waving toward the ferry. “Wait! I’m here!” Big, fat raindrops plopped down on her as she ran.
Olivia rushed forward. The ferry was still tied up to the dock. They weren’t leaving her. They weren’t—
“ID.” A towering, bald man with tree trunk arms appeared in her path.
Olivia almost slammed into him, but she managed to stagger to a stop just in time. Then she fumbled with her coat pocket and pulled out her ID even as the rain dropped down harder and harder.
The guy scanned her ID. She noted the gun at his side. Correction—guns. He had a gun strapped to each hip. She had no doubt those guns were loaded with silver bullets.
“You’re clear.” His voice was cold, as cold as his gray eyes.
She hurried past him and hopped onto the ferry. The waves were starting to get rough, and the boat rolled beneath her. “I’m so sorry that I’m late,” Olivia began, voice breathless, “I had to rush back to the university to—”
Her words ended in a dead stop because she’d just gotten a look at the other passengers on that ferry.
Three armed guards, all wearing black, all with their weapons out and pointed at the man who stood just a few feet away from Olivia. At the man who was currently watching her with a predatory stare. His green eyes seemed to glow with an unholy hunger…a dark need…as they swept over her.
“Well, well,” the man said, his words low and rumbling. “This trip just got one hell of a lot more interesting.”
He was shackled. The chains circled his hands and his feet, but the shackles just seemed…ridiculous on him. Useless. Power emanated from him, and the guy’s strong body made a mockery of the restraints. He was big, easily six foot three or four, and his shoulders were wide, his arms rippling with power and—
“Like what you see?” he asked, lifting one blond brow. “Because I sure do.”
Olivia sucked in a sharp breath then she jerked her gaze off that prisoner. Instead, she focused on the nearest guard. “I-I didn’t realize a prisoner transport was occurring today.” Her heart thudded too hard in her chest.
“I’m a special delivery,” the bound man said, his voice—if possible—even deeper.
A shiver slid over her, and it wasn’t caused by the cold rain.
The guard she was staring at—a man with dark brown hair and dark eyes—stepped toward her. “You don’t have to worry, ma’am,” he told her, his Texas drawl reassuring. “This vamp won’t hurt you. He won’t hurt anyone again.”
Helplessly, her gaze slid back to the prisoner. Vamp? He smiled at her, and flashed fang. Deliberately, she was sure.
Her thudding heartbeat sped up even more.
“We’re losing our light!” A sharp voice barked.
She turned to see a man in cargo pants and a dark blue shirt heading toward her. A captain’s hat was slipping down his forehead. “Storm is coming,” he added, giving a hard nod. “The ride across is going to be damn rough.”
Olivia exhaled slowly. She’d taken a motion sickness pill a few minutes ago, but she didn’t know how long it would be before the thing kicked in. The boat was already rocking beneath her feet, and judging by the way those dark clouds were swirling overhead—yes, “damn rough” would probably be an apt description of their journey.
The captain stopped and frowned at the vampire. The captain’s grizzled jaw locked. “Another one of your kind?”
The vampire’s faint grin never slipped.
“What’d he do?” the captain asked the guards.
It was the dark-haired guard who responded. “Left a path of blood behind him.”
Fear twisted inside of Olivia. Her head turned and she found the vampire staring at her. His smile widened.
They’ll smell your fear.
She’d always been able to hide her fear from the human killers that she interviewed. They never saw her fear or her revulsion. Never realized that when she left them, her knees were trembling. But this man…he would know everything.