Free Shadow Rising by Kendra Leigh Castle Page B

slowly said, “Maybe we should think about sharing information—”
    Damien cut her off immediately. “Absolutely not. I work alone. And I never work with amateurs.”
    She stiffened, her eyes turning to violet ice. “I think you’d be surprised at the things I can do.”
    Oh, I’ll bet I would be…
    Damien gritted his teeth and shoved from his mind the X-rated thoughts that immediately tried to surface.
    “You don’t want to be a part of my world, Ariane, trust me,” he said softly, and meant it.
    “Now run along and hide. Don’t forget your blade, if you don’t want to be found. And… stay out of my way. If you interfere again, I’ll find a few more places to lick, and you won’t be getting up until I’m good and through with you.”
    Before Ariane could do more than make a strangled, outraged sound, he shifted into the form that had carried him through centuries of successful criminal activity. As a large black cat, sleek, powerful, and silent, Damien leaped through the window.
    And was gone.

chapter SIX
    F INDING A CAT who didn’t want to be found, especially in the dark of night, was like looking for a needle in a haystack. But Ariane could smell blood as well as any Cait Sith, so rather than waste precious minutes trying to track Damien, she set off immediately in pursuit of the scent that wound like a ribbon through the darkness.
    Fresh blood and death.
    The city streets were full of humanity, chattering, walking, blissfully unaware of the other things that stalked their summer nights. Ariane walked quickly through the mortals, feeling hunger stir and then awaken with unexpected strength at their warmth, their intoxicating, pulsing lifeblood. She frowned as she skirted a young couple holding hands and laughing.
    She’d been eating, but not enough. Nerves had kept her meals light. She needed to be careful… even the Grigori cautioned their members of how quickly things could get out of hand.
    Soon, she decided. But not yet. She’d be damned if Damien would always stay a step ahead of her.
    The ribbon of scent took her through the heart of the city, beneath the glittering crown of the Bank of America building, and then farther, to where the shine began to fade and the cracks in the veneer of civilization began to show. Wary eyes peered at Ariane from shadow as she kept moving, her pace never faltering. She knew she was scarier than anything remotely human here, even if they didn’t.
    The scent grew strong enough to taste just as she walked past a seedy-looking nightclub. Music pumped out into the street, and a line of twentysomethings stretched along the sidewalk in front of it, talking and complaining while waiting to get in. Next door was a crumbling, empty building with boarded up windows.
    It was also redolent with the smell of both her witness and, Ariane realized with a wrinkle of her nose, Damien. He was fast. But then, she supposed that if Sariel really had hired him, there had been reasons. It certainly hadn’t been his personality.
    “Hey, you don’t wanna go in there,” a voice called to her as she walked past the line and far enough up the walk to see the padlock and chains effectively barring the front door of the abandoned building. Ariane gave the helpful human the barest glance.
    “Of course I do,” she murmured. She heard a few catcalls and some interesting commentary on why a woman like her might be sniffing around an abandoned building. The thoughts and emotions of the crowd threatened to swamp her, swirling around her in a cacophonous jumble that made it almost impossible to pluck out individualthreads or make any sense of it at all. Keeping her thoughts private from the other Grigori was second nature, and vice versa, but vampires’ sensitivity to human thought was a new experience for her. It took effort to quiet the din and focus.
    Slowly, her mind went quiet. Ariane breathed a sigh of relief, then turned her attention back to finding what she was now sure would