Free Eternal Craving by Nina Bangs Page B

anyone who’d answer.
    “Someone who’s lying around on the sidewalk or staggering down an alley.” Al didn’t sound enthusiastic. So far, they’d found no one in need of saving.
    Jude stayed silent.
    Jenna returned to staring out the window. Well, that had been informative. She hugged herself. Even with her heavy coat, she was cold. Maybe if Al would shut the damn window, she’d warm up a little.
    “Why do you have the window open? It’s freezing in here.” She’d promised herself she wouldn’t complain about the open window. No way would she give either of them an excuse to go back to Fin with tales about Kelly’s whiny sister. But enough was enough.
    Jude answered. “He has preternatural senses. So he’s trying to catch a scent or hear something.”
    Al swung his head around to stare at Jude. Jenna didn’t have to use her intuition to know that Al was ticked at what Jude had revealed.
    Jude shrugged. “Sorry. I forgot.”
    Forgot what? “Preternatural senses? Want to explain?”
    “No.” Al sounded definite about that.
    “Why not?” She prided herself on being persistent. It was part of who she was. No one got a dynamite story without being a pain in the ass at least part of the time.
    He didn’t answer. Instead, he said, “Stop.”
    Jude obeyed, stomping on the brake.
    Jenna braced her hand against the back of Al’s seat. “Jeez, thanks for the warning.”
    With no explanation, Al shoved his door open and got out. Then he leaned into the open window. “Stay here. Both of you. Do not even think about getting out of the car.” He speared Jude with a hard stare. “Don’t let her do anything stupid.”
    “Jerk.” Unfortunately, he’d disappeared into a small park they’d been passing and hadn’t heard her opinion of him.
    Jude pulled to the curb, put the car in park, and closed the window. Then he cranked up the heat.
    “You’re my hero.” Jenna meant it.
    He turned and flashed her a grin. Being amazed at every great-looking guy she met in Philly was starting to get old. But she couldn’t deny the facts. If she used her fave dessert, ice cream, to compare the men she’d met, Jude would be smooth dark chocolate. Long dark hair that flowed over broad shoulders, eyes so dark they seemed black, and a face that had all the necessary angles to capture shadows and women’s imaginations. And Al? Al was Rocky Road. Delicious but never predictable.
    She was busy trying to decide what flavor Fin was when the shouts and screams began.
    Her first thought was that saving souls sounded like a violent business. Her second thought was that maybe Al might need their help.
    “Believe me, he doesn’t need our help.”
    Startled, she met Jude’s gaze and quickly looked away. Something in his eyes seemed to have changed. They were still dark, but a hungry gleam had crept into them. And wait, how had he known what she was thinking?
    He laughed softly. “Don’t worry, I wasn’t reading your mind. Your expression said it all.”
    “I thought helping the downtrodden was a more peaceful business. Either one of the down-and-outters is beating our guy to a pulp”—not very likely—“or else Al is making a little too compelling an argument for change. Either way, I think we should take a look.”
    “No.”
    Okay, now she was ticked. Her business was gathering info and crafting it into an interesting story. Well, a story was happening out in the darkness, and she wasn’t there. But she would be. “Come on, Jude. I want to find out what’s happening. If you won’t come with me, I’ll go alone.”
    The click of the remote locks was her only answer.
    “I don’t believe you!” But she didn’t get a chance to give him a piece of her mind, because suddenly a shadow emerged from the stand of trees.
    Distracted from her mad, she glanced out her window. And froze.
    Oh. My. God! Whatever was coming out of that park was so huge she had to look up to get the full effect. It wasn’t close enough yet to see