Provoked

CHAPTER 2

Amber bit her lip, her gaze on the figure dead-center in the quiet road. His name fell easily from her cold lips. Instinct whispered the two guys flanking her car were silly jokes compared to the motionless man taking in the situation. The clouds groped the moon, plunging half his face into darkness.

Her shoulders shuddered from something other than the cold.

“What did you do to the vehicle?” Low, male, Kane’s voice carried through the night and past her windows.

The jerk on her side of the car took several lurching steps toward Kane. “None of your fucking business.” Fumbling in his jacket pocket, he yanked out a gun.

Amber gasped and reached for her window. Quick motions had the glass partially rolled down. “Wait a second, here. I know Hanson wouldn’t want you to kill anybody.” Okay, probably not true. Hanson had plenty of blood on his hands. “Let’s all pretend this never happened and go on our ways.”

Kane settled his stance. “Drop the gun or you’re really going to piss me off.”

What a terrible idea. That was no way to negotiate with a drunk on a mission. Should she get out of the car and try to defuse the situation? Seemed like a bad move, but staying inside wasn’t a great idea, either. The Bug was dead, and at some point, she needed to get out. Or at some point, one of the menaces around her would break a window. While she didn’t trust Kane, him getting shot and leaving her with the two brutes held little appeal.

With a quick prayer, she unlocked the door and stepped outside.

“Get back in the vehicle.” Kane kept his gaze on the man in front of her.

Yeah, probably a good idea. Keeping the door open and her body protected by metal, she bunched her knees in case she needed to jump back inside. “We all need to stop this, right now. This has gone too far.” Though Hanson’s men had intended to take it further. Fear and cold set her teeth chattering.

“I’ll ask you again—what did you do to the Volkswagen?” Kane’s hands remained relaxed at his sides, his voice calm, his tone slightly irritated.

Chuck leaned against the front bumper of the car, the metal protesting his massive bulk with a loud crunch. “Shoot him, Alex.”

Kane sighed, the sound carrying on the soft wind. He dodged to the side and cut in, grabbing Alex by the neck and slamming his head into the Volkswagen. A sickening thud filled the night, and Alex slid to the ground.

Amber gasped, her gaze on the streak of red now smeared across the faded metal hood.

She swallowed, her entire body going stone-cold. Gravity dropped her to the seat. As her butt hit the torn leather, her brain fired awake. Panicking, she grabbed the door handle and yanked it shut, slamming her fingers on the lock button. What was she going to do?

Wide-eyed, she stared out the front window. The clouds deserted the moon again, allowing streaming light to illuminate the entire area.

Kane scratched his head, his gaze on her, one eyebrow lifted. With a shrug, he turned toward Chuck. “Before I knock you out, would you mind telling me what you did to the car?”

Chuck stepped away from the Volkswagen, his red flannel coat bright in the moonlight. “Why?”

“I need to know if I can fix it, or if I need to borrow your truck.” Relaxed, calm, Kane’s posture nevertheless hinted at a hard edge.

“You’re not takin’ my truck.” Loud and slurred, Chuck’s voice carried on the wind. Visibly gathering his courage, he shot forward, his head down. Three long seconds later, he smashed into Kane’s gut in what should’ve been a powerful tackle.

Kane didn’t move.

Chuck dropped back on his butt, and snow sprayed over the hood. The clunk of his head against the Bug’s grill vibrated the entire car.

Kane frowned, rubbing his chin and eying both downed men. His gaze lifted to her as he stalked toward the grill.

She swallowed and pressed back into the torn leather. What were his abs made of? Steel? He had to be wearing a bulletproof vest to have knocked Chuck out so easily. Reaching out, she twisted the key several times. Please, God, let the ignition start. Nothing happened.

Kane reached the grill. “Pop the hood, Beag Gaiscioch.”

Little Warrior? Amber lifted her chin—boy, did he have her pegged wrong. Poor, crazy, tough guy. She rolled her window down an inch so he could hear her. “Listen, ah, thanks for the rescue, but I’m no warrior, and you need to leave me alone.” Rationalizing with the crazy man probably wasn’t going to work.

“So you do admit to your heritage.” He gestured toward the hood. “You speak Gaelic.”

“My grandmother is Irish, and she insisted I learn.” Amber reached for the lever. No reason not to let him take a look. “You need help, and I have some ideas.”

“Good.” The hood popped open, and he leaned down. “The demons are coming, and we need to get you secured.” His voice rolled underneath the hood and straight to her chest. Sexy and low.

Why in the world were all the sexy guys nuts? “I know a good shrink in town. He can help you.”

“Stop playing games with me, Amber. My patience has ended.” Kane sighed loudly. “They pulled the oil plug and drained all the oil. Your motor overheated. Damno is totus ut abyssus.”

“Overeducated rich guy,” she muttered. How many languages did Kane know, anyway? “That wasn’t Gaelic.”

“No. Latin.” He slammed the hood closed. “Get out of the car, darlin’.”

How had he heard her? She’d barely whispered. “What did you just say in Latin?”

“Damn it all to hell.” He stalked around the car to place a hand on her door. “I didn’t want to swear in front of you. Now get out.”

Great. The lunatic had a sweet side. Didn’t they all? “No.”

“Yes.” He leaned down, dark face blurred beyond the icing glass. “You’ll freeze to death in there. Please get out.”

“If I don’t?” A smart woman always examined all options.

“I’ll break the glass, probably on the other side so you don’t get cut, and then I’ll lift you out.” Reasonable, he sounded like he was discussing the weather.

“That’s assault and kidnapping.”

“Actually, it’s battery and kidnapping.” He pulled up on the lever, which didn’t give. “Though I promise I won’t hurt you.”

“Until you get me to your spaceship and start probing me.” Why hadn’t she gone to college and taken an auto-repair class just for basic knowledge? She didn’t even know if he was telling the truth about the car, and looking inside the hood wouldn’t help her. She reached for her purse with her left hand, keeping her right wrapped around the pen. Her only weapon.

He frowned, his puzzlement clear even through the fog. “Why are you playing games? I don’t have time for games.”

“Please leave me alone.” Cold permeated the silent car, and she began to shiver. “Why are you wearing body armor?” Cops called bulletproof vests “body armor,” right? No way was the dark-eyed warrior a police officer.

“I’m not. Get out of the car.” He stood, taking that handsome face out of sight.

“Are, too. Chuck hit your stomach and was instantly knocked out.”

“This would be so much easier if you trusted me.” Kane released the door handle and yanked open his silk shirt.

Abs. Powerful, well-defined, and sexy-as-hell abdominal muscles filled her window. The guy had a decent tan as well. “See? No armor.”

She tried to swallow and choked instead. Wow. Those things were more of a weapon than a defense. “Ah, yes, I see.” Maybe Chuck had been really, really drunk. Yeah, that was it. How in the world was she going to get away from Kane if Chuck couldn’t take him down? Reason and kindness. She had a brain and could be quite persuasive when necessary. “I’m not defenseless.”

“I’m aware of your power. That’s why I’m here.” Graceful movements propelled Kane around the vehicle. “Cover your face.”

She yelped, scrambling to unlock the door and jump outside to glare over the Volkswagen. “Do not break my window.”

“Of course.” Rebuttoning his shirt, he strode around the hood and grabbed her arm. “We’ll take the truck.”

He smelled like warm cedar and maleness. They’d made it halfway to the vehicle when realization dawned. She tried to dig her feet into the snow and halt his progress. “Wait a minute. You can’t leave those guys lying in the snow.”

“Why not?” Kane continued on, tugging her along as if she were a wayward toddler.

“They’ll freeze to death.”

“So?” He reached the truck and yanked open the door, both hands wrapping around her waist to lift her two feet into the cab. Like she weighed absolutely nothing.

A flutter that had nothing to do with the winter chill wandered through her. “You’re strong.”

He shrugged. “Strong enough. Scoot over.”

Panic swooshed out her breath. “No. We can’t leave them to die.”

Exasperation rode his strong sigh. “Why the hell not?”

So much for not swearing around her. “It’s murder.”

He glanced back at the quiet scene. “Not really.” Examining Alex still lying on the ground, Kane cocked his head. “I’d say it’s more self-defense, and well, death by being a moron.” He glanced up at her, and his lips tightened. “I don’t think their plans for you were very honorable.”

“Maybe not.” Dread and relief at her escape from the two henchmen commingled through her. “But we’re not leaving them here to die.” Swinging toward Kane, she angled her legs to kick him in the chest. “Either help them, or I will.”

More Latin spilled from him as he pivoted and stomped toward Alex, effortlessly lifting the unconscious man and carrying him to the truck. Shoving the front seat out of the way, he tossed Alex in the back. Seconds later Chuck landed on top of Alex. Kane pushed the seat back and jumped inside to slam the door, muttering as he put the truck in DRIVE.

Kane’s strength was unreal. He wasn’t even breathing hard.

Amber scooted to the far door. “You swearing in Latin some more?”

“Yes.” He backed the truck down the empty road until reaching a turnaround. “I have a niece I try not to swear around. Latin used to work. Well, until she learned Latin.” He frowned.

“How old is your niece?”

“Twenty.” He rubbed his chin, the frown deepening. “Suddenly she’s all grown up. Well, kind of. Twenty is still young. Too young.”

“Too young for what?”

“To save the world.”

So many thoughts zinged through Amber’s head, she pressed her free palm to her eye. “Does your niece know that fact?”

“Know what?” Kane maneuvered the truck around a downed pine and back onto the main road.

“That she’s supposed to save the world.” Hopefully he didn’t have some hapless woman imprisoned somewhere. How crazy was Kane?

“Sure. Janie gets visions.” Kane flipped on the wipers to combat the beginning of another snowstorm. “But we’re trying to make sure she doesn’t end up in danger or with the world hanging on her shoulders—we’re hoping to end the war soon.”

“War?” Amber eyed the quiet forest outside the truck. If she jumped out, could she outrun him? “What war?”

Kane sighed. Again. “The war. Vampires, Kurjans, Demons . . . even the shifters. Please don’t pretend you are unaware of the war. Your playing dumb insults us both.”

Well, shit. She sure didn’t want to insult the crazy bastard. “Sorry.”

“Apology accepted.”

Sympathy for the poor niece, if she really existed, tightened Amber’s shoulders. “So, this Janie. She’s your real niece?”

“Sure.” Kane leaned forward to peer into the darkening storm. “She’s been my niece since she was four years old—what an amazing little kid she was. My brother adopted her when he saved his mate from the Kurjans.”

Okay. Which word to tackle first? The most intriguing one. “Um, mate? Your brother has a mate.”

“Yes. My brother Talen took Janie’s mother as a mate. He was a bit overbearing at first, but you have to know Talen. His vision of the world is pretty set in stone. Though, to his credit, he found the right mate for him and everything worked out.”

“Overbearing, huh? Hard to imagine.” Kane spun quite the story—wasn’t most genius close to madness? Poor guy. “Um, at the risk of insulting you again, what’s a Kurjan?” Amber might as well get all the facts she could in order to inform the guys who’d want to put poor Kane in a straitjacket.

Slowly, deliberately, Kane turned his head to pin her with a hard look. “Stop it.”

“Okay.” Agreeing seemed wise. A few more minutes and they’d be back in town. She’d run for it the second he stopped. Her gaze caught on a water bottle peeking out from under the seat. “For goodness’ sake. Why in the world would you buy bottled water?”

“Ah, I was thirsty?”

She shook her head. “So drink from a fountain. Do you know what that plastic does to the environment? You should care, darn it.”

“I won’t buy water in a bottle again.”

“Thank you.” The earth wasn’t going to last if people failed to start taking care of her. A smart man like Kane, regardless of his insanity, should realize that fact.

He frowned, clearly puzzled.

“What?”

“I’m trying to figure out how to handle you,” he said.

Her eyebrows rose until she could feel wrinkles. “Excuse me?”

He glanced back at the road. “Three of my brothers have mates, and they all handle their women differently. I was trying to figure out the best way to handle you because I’ve had enough of the games.”

Fear wandered down her spine on the heels of irritation. “Your brothers hurt their, ah, mates?”

“No, of course not.” He shrugged. “Though most often, a mate ends up over a shoulder heading elsewhere. I always thought brute strength a silly way to end an argument.” His gaze raked over her. “Now I’m seeing the reasonableness of the act.”

She cleared her throat. “They don’t harm, their, ah, mates. Right?”

“Never.” He shook his head. “A vampire would never harm a mate.”

Oh, Mother Earth. He said vampire.