Riker glanced over at Nicole, silently cursing the flush of alarm in her cheeks. From a situational standpoint, showing fear to ShadowSpawn warriors was like slitting your wrists while swimming with a school of sharks.
From a personal standpoint, Riker didn’t like to see Nicole afraid, and that was something he didn’t want to dwell on.
“Fane.” Riker moved toward the leader of the group of newcomers, a turned vampire with a New Jersey accent, at least a dozen piercings, and an uneven bleached-blond Mohawk.
Fane broke away from the pack to meet him.
“Worm.”
Riker stopped a foot away from the other vampire.
“I always forget how much I hate ShadowSpawn until I see one of you assholes.”
“And I always forget how useless MoonBound clan is to the Vampire Nation until I see one of you,” Fane growled.
“Now that we’ve exchanged greetings,” Riker said, “why don’t you tell me why you’re here?”
Fane’s silver eyes gleamed as they shifted to Nicole, and Riker bristled. “First, tell us who your human morsel is.”
Riker put himself between Fane and Nicole. “That’s none of your business.”
“You know the law,” Fane said, as if Riker was a mewling baby vampire who needed lessons in inter— clan treaties and directives. “Unless you claim her as apish-wa, she’s fair game for any vampire.”
An intense, foreign instinct rose in a volcanic rush, overwhelming rational thought. The idea that Fane— or any male—would sink his fangs and cock into Nicole’s tender flesh steamed Riker’s blood. Then his blood damn near boiled out of his veins when Fane inched toward Nicole, his eyes as bright as a cat’s before it pounces on a mouse.
“The human is apish-wa. Mine.” Riker took Nicole by the arm and tugged her close. He could feel her flustered gaze boring into him, and he hoped she was smart enough to play along. “Touch her, and I’ll strangle you with your own intestines.”
“Of course.” Fane inclined his head in a civil nod. Damned ShadowSpawn might have no problem slaughtering women and children in the course of war, but they respected property. Most vampires did. Probably because they had so little of it.
Satisfied that Nicole was safe—for the moment, anyway—Riker released her. But he remained so close that her body heat warmed his skin. “Now, why are you here?”
“We came to see if you’d gotten Neriya back.”
Otto, a ShadowSpawn warrior covered in gang and prison tats from his human days, stepped forward.
“Poachers ambushed us about halfway to your headquarters.”
“Ambushed?” Riker snorted. “So much for the infamous ShadowSpawn stealth, eh?”
“Fuck off,” Fane spat. “We took ’em out. And we got a bonus.”
Otto jerked his head toward the forest. “The poachers had one of your females strung up like a fox in a noose, all jerking around and dislocating limbs.”
Oh, shit. “Who?”
“Your simpleton.”
Riker’s stomach clenched. “Lucy?” Next to him, Nicole inhaled a sharp breath.
“Do you have so many simpletons in your clan that you have to ask?” Fane’s warriors laughed at that.
“Easier to ask how many of their clan aren’t fucking retards,” one of them said.
“Enough,” Riker snapped. “Where is Lucy?”
Fane’s upper lip curled, and Riker hoped the ring piercing in it hurt. “We have her. Tell Hunter we’ll hold on to her until you return Neriya.”
“We told you we’d get her back,” Riker bit out. “You don’t need Lucy as leverage. We gave you our word.”
“The word of a MoonBound warrior is no better than the word of a human,” Fane said.
“Be careful,” Riker warned. “You’re calling a chief and a pureblood vampire a liar.”
A shadow of shame flickered in Fane’s expression but was quickly replaced by a superior sneer. “I know turned vampires who are worth ten born vampires.”
“And I know that Hunter is worth more than all of you combined.” Riker got nose-to-nose with Fane.
“We will have Neriya returned to you by the deadline, and if Lucy has so much as a scratch on her body, every one of your scouting party is going to pay.”
Fane grinned, turned away, and strode off. His warriors joined him, and they melted into the forest.
Next to Riker, Nicole made a quiet sound of relief.
He turned to her, expecting to find residual terror in her eyes. Instead, she was staring in the direction Fane had gone.
“That vampire,” she said firmly, “is a jackass.”
He barked out a laugh. “Look at that,” he said, starting off in the opposite direction. “Something we agree on.”