Otherworldly Bad Boys: Three Complete Novels Read online

  Beverly Martin was talking. Dana kind of wished that she was still being quiet. The woman had a very overbearing manner. She clearly thought highly of herself, and she took offense at anything she perceived as a slight, whether Dana meant it or not.

  “We don’t have to use the word obsession,” said Dana. “But according to your friends and family, you seemed to become much more interested in werewolves seven months ago. Would you say that’s true?”

  “No,” said Beverly. “I know who told you that too. My ‘best’ friend Yvonne. She’s having an affair with my husband.”

  Dana sighed.

  “You don’t believe me?” said Beverly. “Ask them. They aren’t ashamed of it at all. They didn’t have any problem telling me about it. Why do you think I chomped up that grocery store?”

  “Are you now claiming that you killed the people in the grocery store on purpose?”

  “I’m not claiming anything,” said Beverly. “Look, the point is that I have no rights. I’m a werewolf, and I ain’t got rights. You’re keeping me locked up here with no trial, no lawyer, no phone call.”

  “Mrs. Martin, I assure you that if you need to contact someone, arrangements can be made.”

  “No trial.”

  “I’m trying to help you,” said Dana. “I’m looking for evidence that you didn’t do this on purpose. But you say you did it in order to get back at your cheating husband, which doesn’t make a lick of sense to me. I mean, why not just kill him?”

  “That’s not why I did it,” said Beverly.

  “So, why, then?”

  “I...” Beverly took a deep breath. “What was it you were saying about looking for evidence that I didn’t do this on purpose?”

  “I’m investigating that possibility.”

  “And what would happen if you found evidence to support that?”

  “A lot of things.”

  “Would I be released?”

  Dana didn’t want to make the woman lie just to get out. She wanted the truth. She really shouldn’t have let Beverly get to her. “I don’t know one way or another on that. It wouldn’t be my decision.”

  Beverly smiled. “But you’d have to let me out, wouldn’t you?”

  “Like I said, ma’am—”

  “I’ll answer your questions,” said Beverly.

  “Do you feel that you became more interested in being a werewolf seven months ago?”

  “Not really. But maybe I did. I really can’t be sure,” said Beverly. “I know that at one point in my life, when I was younger, I wasn’t that interested. I got more interested as I got older, but I can’t say exactly when it happened. Could have been seven months ago.”

  This woman was now saying anything she could to try to get out of the SF. Dana was going to have to word these questions carefully. She forced her face to be expressionless, not wanting to give anything away to Beverly. “Is it correct that when you shifted in that grocery store, it was the first time you’d shifted since being in the SF as a teenager?”

  Beverly chewed on her lip. “You know, it’s funny that you should ask that.”

  Was Dana imagining it, or did Beverly seem more sincere. “Is it?”

  “A while back. I don’t know how long. A long while back on a full moon, I thought I might have shifted. I know I lost some time. But I’m not sure. I sure didn’t hurt anybody that time.”

  That was similar to what Coraline had said. Hot damn, was there an actual pattern? Dana struggled not to smile, still not wanting to give anything away to Beverly.

  “Have you ever had any contact with Cole Randall?” Dana asked.

  “Cole Randall? The serial killer?”

  “That’s right.”

  Beverly shook her head slowly. “Why would you ask me something like that?”

  “Have you or haven’t you?”

  “No, of course not,” said Beverly.

  “Listen, if he’s threatened you, we could protect you,” said Dana.

  “I wouldn’t lie to you,” said Beverly. “I’ve never met the man. Besides, his threats wouldn’t scare me. I’ve seen pictures of him. He looks harmless.”

  Dana pressed her lips firmly together. Beverly Martin was beginning to infuriate her. “All right then, thank you for your cooperation.” She stood up.

  “Wait,” said Beverly. “Was I supposed to have talked to him? If I say yes, does that mean I get to leave? Because maybe I have talked to him.”

  Dana headed for the door. “Thank you, Mrs. Martin.”

  “Wait, he was in contact with me!”

  Dana closed the door on Beverly, heaving a huge sigh.

  Avery was standing outside waiting for her. Dammit. They were down in the maximum security wing questioning the rogues. She’d hoped she’d be done sooner than Avery, and that she could sneak down to see Cole. No such luck.

  * * *

  “I don’t understand,” said Hollis from her couch. “How did he force you to shift?”

  Dana was coming back from the kitchen with two cold sodas, one for each of them. The interview was winding to a close, and she was thirsty. It had only seemed fair to offer one to Hollis too. “I don’t know exactly. It’s possible that I only did it because I was under so much stress and pressure. I was probably pretty impressionable at the time.”

  Hollis pursed his lips. “Seems plausible.”

  She handed him the soda.

  “Thanks,” he said. “And that’s how you got away?”

  “Yeah,” she said. “He unchained me after he had forced me to shift the way he wanted me to, and I got away.”

  “He didn’t try to stop you?”

  “He was a wolf at the time as well.”

  “So?”

  Dana opened the soda and took a long swig. She really wished Hollis wouldn’t push about this part. This was the touchy part. This was where she’d really lied, not just left things out. “He might have chased me, but he didn’t catch me.”

  “So you got free, and then what?”

  “Then I called for help, and the SF was able to track Cole and bring him in.”

  “Track him? Had he fled from his house?”

  “Yes, I think he did. He must have realized that if I’d escaped, people would be looking for him.”

  Hollis drank some soda and set down the can on Dana’s coffee table. “Well, I guess that’s it then.”

  Really? She wasn’t going to have to endure any more of these interviews?

  “I’ll be talking to Randall, of course,” said Hollis, “and I might double-check some things with you, but I think I’ve got what I need.”

  “Great.” She smiled.

  “Hey,” said Hollis, “don’t look so happy to be rid of me.”

  “That isn’t what I—”

  “Teasing.” He grinned at her, dimples and all. He switched off his recorder. “Actually, I was wondering if we could talk.”

  “About?”

  “You know, what happened last time,” he said. “Does that happen every time you get... excited?”

  Dammit. He wanted details on that. She’d made them up last time. What if she said something now that contradicted what she’d said before? She decided to stay as vague as possible. “I don’t know. I haven’t exactly been dating since it happened.”

  “I’m not going to lie. It was pretty scary. You freaked me out.”

  “Sorry.”

  “No, I’m not trying to make you feel bad.” He shifted on the couch. “I’m just... I mean, that’s why you said you couldn’t be with anyone, right? That’s why you’ve been avoiding me?”

  “That’s part of it,” she said. Now that this lie had become so significant to Hollis, she wanted to minimize it. “There’s also the fact that I’ve been terrorized by a crazy man. I haven’t been in the mood for going out with someone.”

  “But you knew about this too. Right? Because all that shifting he made you do made you unstable.”

  “I guess so.”

  He picked up his soda, but
he didn’t drink it. Instead he ran a finger around the rim. He didn’t meet her gaze. “Thing is, Dana, even though it was scary, it was kind of...”

  “We don’t actually have to talk about it.”

  “I want to, though.” He looked up at her. “It was fucking sexy, okay? I mean, I was scared to death, but I was really turned on.”

  Dana hadn’t been expecting that. She gripped her can of soda tighter, her fingers denting the metal.

  “You were obviously having fun too, and so I was thinking that maybe... you know, if that’s the only reason that you don’t want to be with me, maybe I don’t mind so much. Maybe I could handle that.”

  She sucked in breath through her nose. How was she supposed to respond to that? “Look, Hollis, I really wouldn’t be comfortable—”

  “You asked me something when you were all over me in the hotel room,” he said. “You asked me why I wanted to date you when we didn’t have very much sex. Remember that?”

  Yeah, she did. She cringed. “I’m sorry I said that. I should never—”

  “It’s okay,” he said. “Because I started thinking about it, and I realized that was one of the things about you that was the most attractive to me. You’re so... lethal, Dana.”

  “Lethal?” Had he really just said that?

  “Yeah,” he said. “You’re a werewolf tracker, and you can do all this neat stuff. And you’re dangerous, you know.”

  “I’m not dangerous,” she said.

  “But you are,” said Hollis. “You’re all about your job, and you’re real efficient and business-like, and that makes me crazy. It was never about the sex, not exactly. It was about the rush. Being with you is a total rush.”

  She held up her hand. “Stop.”

  She didn’t want to hear any more. Hollis didn’t understand her at all. He was telling her that the thing about herself that she hated was his favorite part. She didn’t want someone to date her because she was a werewolf. She wanted someone to date her because she was her. Even if all the weirdness with Cole wasn’t going on, she wouldn’t want to be with Hollis. Not if he only wanted the rush.

  “There’s no way that I can be with you, Hollis,” she said.

  “But I’m telling you that it’s okay,” he said. “What you’re worried about is okay with me.”

  “No,” she said. She got up and walked across her living room, pausing at the entrance to the kitchen. She turned to look at him. “I don’t... feel that way about you, Hollis. Not anymore. Too much has happened to me.”

  He set down the soda. “You’re kidding me.”

  “I’m not.”

  He stood up. “Seriously? You lead me on through all of this and then you just ‘don’t feel that way’?”

  “I didn’t mean to lead you on. I never gave you any reason to think that I—”

  “Here’s a tip, Dana. When you’re conning a guy so that he’ll write a flattering story about you, it helps not to give up the con before he goes to press.”

  “I wasn’t conning you.” Now, she was offended.

  “Please,” he said. “You’ve been playing me like a violin. And hot damn if it wasn’t working.” He pushed past her. “I’m going to publish the truth in this article.”

  “Hollis,” she said. “Please. It’s not like that.”

  He opened the door to her apartment. He paused, turning to look at her. “The gloves are off, Dana. You just showed your true colors.” He slammed the door in her face.

  What?

  She glared after him, frustrated and confused. Could he really think she’d been trying to seduce him in exchange for good press?

  Was he a huge idiot?

  She sighed. He was probably just trying to save face after she rejected him. She’d give him a little time to cool off. He’d come around. Hollis wasn’t that irrational.

  * * *

  Dana woke in the darkness, certain that she’d heard Cole’s voice.

  She sat up in bed, her heart pounding. She reached over and switched on the lamp that sat by her bed. The room was filled with faint light.

  “Just a dream,” she muttered to herself.

  She lay back down, but she didn’t turn off the light. She thought the thing that was worst about all of it was that she was experiencing both terror and desire at the same time.

  If Cole had actually appeared in her room, standing at the edge of her bed, chains draped from his hands, she would have screamed. She would have done her best to fight him off.

  But she also would have been shot through with thrills and excitement.

  Dana contemplated how similar the emotions felt. Fear and desire were a lot the same. Both made her heart pound, her breath grow shallow, her body feel sensitive and vulnerable.

  She stared at the ceiling.

  The truth was that Cole was locked in a cell downstairs, and he wasn’t getting out.

  The thought was relief. It was disappointment.

  What if he got out?

  Dana sat back up again. That was impossible. The security downstairs was designed for werewolves. It wasn’t easy to break through. There was no way Cole was out.

  But what if he had? She was connected to him somehow. Maybe she’d know. Maybe he could communicate with her. Maybe that was why she had woken up.

  She clutched her covers against her chest, her heart speeding up even faster.

  She peered around the room, as if Cole were about to jump out of one of her shadowed corners. But there was only a chair with two mismatched socks hanging over the top of it, the brush and comb on her dresser, her own frightened face reflected back at her in her mirror.

  She pulled the covers over her head. Cole was still downstairs. He was still in his cell.

  She threw the covers down. She had to be sure.

  She had to check.

  She got out of bed, pulled on a pair of jeans under her nightshirt, and tied her hair into a ponytail at the nape of her neck. She wasn’t going because she wanted to see him, not really. She just needed to be sure that he was still locked up.

  But she paused and looked at herself in the mirror.

  Maybe she should put on a bra. And maybe she should fix her ponytail. Her hair was a little messy.

  Within five minutes, Dana was in the hallway outside her apartment. The lights were on out here, but instead of making Dana feel cheered and reassured, they seemed to wash everything out—a bit of fluorescent unreality. She swallowed, cautiously making her way down the hallway, still not completely sure that Cole wasn’t waiting for her around the next bend.

  She could picture him, still in his prison uniform, his glasses dangling from two fingers. His dark eyes would pierce her. I’ve found the courage to kill you, he’d say.

  She stopped in her tracks. Maybe she should just go back to bed. She could lock the door of her apartment. Lock all the doors inside too. Push her dresser up against the bedroom door. That would keep him out.

  She was being silly. He was downstairs in his cell. Once she’d confirmed that was true, she wouldn’t have to be afraid anymore.

  She rounded a corner and emerged in the hallway that led to the elevator. Here, one of the lights wasn’t functioning properly. It flickered overhead, making a buzzing noise. There was a vague strobe light effect.

  Dana walked faster, moving past a set of vending machines against the wall. They seemed half-alive under the flickering light, as if they were struggling to get free.

  She chewed on her thumbnail, a habit she thought she’d rid herself of when she was twelve years old. She stared at the carpet while she walked. It was a mixture of earthy tones, the kind of carpet that’s hard to stain because it has so many colors in it.

  But if she watched the carpet, she wouldn’t see Cole if he were walking down the hallway to meet her.

  She looked up. The hallway was empty. There was nothing there but flickering vending machines, bland carpet, and blank walls. She took a deep breath.

  The elevator was five steps away.

&nb
sp; She wasn’t sure if the sight of it made her feel relieved or apprehensive. She pushed the button on the wall to summon it.

  And then someone was behind her. She could feel him, sense him, a heavy force, a shadow, a—

  She turned.

  Nothing there. She was alone in the hallway. She swallowed. “Pull yourself together, Dana,” she whispered.

  Who had she thought was behind her? Cole? Would she have welcomed him if she saw him?

  Maybe he was inside the elevator. Maybe when it opened, he’d be standing inside. No glasses. No shirt. Just the jeans he’d been wearing when he’d forced her to shift. He’d reach out for her hand, pull her inside with him. His mouth would find hers, his hands would already be at the hem of her shirt, tugging it over her head—

  The elevator dinged.

  Dana jumped.

  The doors slid open, revealing an empty elevator. The brushed metal wall reflected a distorted and blurry bit of her skin tone on the far wall. She stepped inside.

  She pushed the button for the bottom floor, where Cole was kept.

  Please swipe access badge. Blinking red letters above the console.

  Dana dug it out of her pocket, swiping it against the reader.

  Access to this floor is denied, it blinked at her.

  “Fuck,” said Dana. Ursula really hadn’t wanted her to see Cole, had she? Ursula had actually taken away Dana’s options. She couldn’t get down to see him even if she tried. “Fuck.”

  The elevator doors swung closed.

  Dana stood inside the enclosed room for several minutes, feeling bewildered. Then she punched the button to open the doors and shuffled out into the hall.

  Within minutes, she was outside Avery’s door, banging on it. “Brooks, wake up!”

  It took him awhile to open the door. When he did, he looked at her with haggard eyes. “Gray? Something wrong?”

  “I need your access badge,” she said.

  He rubbed his face. “Why?”

  Avery leaned against the door frame, and Dana suddenly realized he was nearly naked. He was only wearing a pair of plaid boxers. Her gaze swept up over his body. How had she never noticed how broad Avery’s shoulders were? How flat his stomach was? He had like... muscles in his stomach.

  “Gray?” said Avery.

  She snapped her gaze to his face. “Um... I think Cole Randall got out of his cell.”