Dead After Dark Read Free Page B

was soft, was very strange.
    “Are you sure this is a good idea?” she whispered to her companion Dare.
    He stood a full head and shoulders above her. At first glance his hair looked dark brown, but in reality it was made up of all colors: ash, auburn, brown, black, mahogany, even some blond. Long and wavy, that hair was more beautiful than any male’s should be. She, herself, would kill for it. Yet he thought nothing about it or the fact he was unbelievably sexy and hot. Not that she’d ever sleep with him. He was practically Katagaria with the way he went through women, and as an Arcadian female, she found that animalistic behavior repugnant.
    Still, he was one of the fiercest wolfswains in her patria, and the women of her clan had been fighting over him for centuries.
    Tonight he was out for blood.
    Luckily it wasn’t hers.
    He turned those smug hazel-green eyes on her. “If you’re scared, little girl, go home.”
    She barely stamped down the urge to shove him in anger. His arrogance had always rubbed her the wrong way. “I fear nothing.”
    “Then follow and remain silent.”
    She made an obscene gesture behind his back as he headed for the stairs. That was the one drawback to living in the past. Male egos. Here she was, an Aristos, one of the most powerful of their breed, and he still treated her like she was his inferior waste.
    Gods, how she wanted to beat him down.
    But he was the grandson of their former leader and thehead of her tessera, so she was honor-bound to follow him. Even if she wanted to kill him.
    Remember your duty
, she reminded herself. She and Dare were born of the Arcadian branch of Were-Hunters. Humans who had the ability to shift into animals. Their job was to police the Katagaria. The Were-Hunters who were animals able to shift into humans. Just because the Katagaria sometimes wore the skin of mankind didn’t make the beasts one of them. They had no understanding of human rationale, complex emotions, or decorum. At the end of the day, the Katagaria were still animals. Primal. Brutal. Unpredictable. Dangerous.
    They preyed on people and each other like the animals they were. None could be trusted. Ever.
    Yet how ironic that it was a group of Katagaria who owned this bar and who maintained its laws of peace. In theory no one here could harm anyone else.
    Yeah, right. She didn’t believe that for a minute. They were probably just better at hiding the bodies.
    Or eating them.
    Harsh and judgmental, perhaps, but there was a sixth sense inside her that said they should leave before they finished their mission.
    That feeling worsened as they descended past the second level where a bear bared his teeth at them in warning as he looked up from the card game he was playing against a group of humans. Frowning, she waited for Dare to react, but he merely continued on his way to the bottom floor. She assumed he must have missed the bear’s reaction, though that wasn’t like the man who normally caught every nuance of hostility around him.
    Suddenly a loud electrical shriek pierced the air, making her flinch as it assaulted her wolf’s hearing. She covered one ear with her hand as she prayed it wasn’t bleeding. “What is that?”
    Dare pointed to the stage where a group of Weres were tuning instruments. A loud guitar wailed before they started a song and the crowd cheered them.
    She grimaced at the sight and sounds. “What terrible music,” she groused, wishing they were back home and not in the midst of this dive.
    Once they were on the ground floor, Dare was only able to take two steps before he was surrounded by five of the meanest-looking werebears she’d ever seen. The eldest of them, who looked to be their father since he bore an uncanny resemblance to the younger ones, stood over seven feet tall. He looked down at Dare as if he were about to tear him into pieces.
    “What the fuck are you doing here, Wolf?”
    Dare’s nostrils flared, but he knew the same thing she did. They were