"Don't ever hesitate," he warned softly. "Bad things happen when you hesitate."

"It was a kid," I all but yelled. "Goddammit, Kye, you shot a kid."

"That kid was a vampire attacking other children. Remember who we're trying to save here, Riley."

The laser whined as my finger twitched against it. It was tempting, so tempting, to just raise the weapon and shoot the cold-hearted bastard. I switched it off instead. As much as I might want to shoot Kye, a guardian who killed without reason wasn't long for this earth. Besides, he was my soul mate, and killing him meant I'd be basically killing myself. And I wasn't ready to die just yet.

"The kid hadn't killed yet," I spat. "He might have been saved."

"You can't ever chance that." His gaze swept me, followed sharply by his hunger. I half expected him to close the distance between us and kiss me, but he shook his head and stepped back instead. "You're a guardian, Riley. A protector of humans, not vampires."

"Don't fucking tell me how to do my job."

"Someone has to." He glanced behind me, then gave me a sketchy salute. "Consider this payment for the information you owe me. And you will meet me with it later tonight, or I shall be forced to take other steps."

Something went cold inside. Coming from a hired killer, those so called 'steps' could only mean one thing. "You touch anyone—"

"Oh," he said blandly, "I wouldn't touch anyone. Shooting, though, that's another matter. And we saw here today just how well a silver bullet can work against a vampire."

Sick fury filled me. I clenched my fists, digging my nails into my palms against the urge to use them against him instead.

"You wouldn't dare."

He merely raised an eyebrow. The fury within me got stronger.

"He's just as much my soul mate as you are, Kye. Are you willing to risk shooting him without knowing just how that will rebound to you?"

"Are you willing to bet on the fact that I'm not?"

He knew I wasn't. It was there in the victorious twitch of his lips. I hated him. I wanted him. God, did things have to get this twisted? "Where and when?"

"Five Proximity Drive, Brooklyn. One o'clock." He gave me another one of those cold-half smiles. "I'll even provide an after-midnight snack."

The hungry glitter in his eyes made it clear just what type of 'snack' he was referring to. "Don't bother, because there's nothing you could offer me that I'd actually want. Now get the hell out of here."

He stared at me for a moment longer, his gaze flat and yet so heated, sending alternating flashes of desire and annoyance surging through me. Then he turned on his heel and disappeared into the darkness.

"Why did you let him walk away?" Kade said from behind me. "You could have held him with a threat like that."

I shoved my laser into my pocket and turned around. My gaze fell on the remains of the cherub face at my feet, and all I felt was a useless sort of anger. Kye had been right about one thing—my hesitation had been fatal. Just not for me.

"I have no doubt that Kye has a herd of lawyers who could get him out of such charges inside a minute flat. It isn't worth the hassle."

"You could just have shot him. I would have backed the shoot as justifiable."

I smiled. It probably looked as thin and humorless as it felt. "He's my soul mate. I might as well take a gun and shoot myself."

Kade frowned. "I thought that whole dying-when-your-mate-dies deal only happened when a wolf swears their love to the moon."

"Death is certain when that happens. There have been instances of unsworn wolves surviving the death of their mate, but right now, I'm not willing to take that chance."

"Good call. I don't think your brother would take your death too well." Which was the understatement of the century. Kade looked down at the limp little body. "And you wouldn't have been alone in hesitating."

It wasn't much, but it at least made me feel a little better. "Thanks."

He looked up and smiled. "Guardians need to do more than just shoot first and ask questions later. No matter what Jack or that dick you call a mate preaches, there will always be circumstances that cause hesitation." He hesitated himself, then added, "I guess this means we're going to have to track down his maker."

"I hope like hell someone else gets that task." If only because I didn't think I'd be able to control my anger if I found the vampire responsible for making—and then abandoning—the youngster.

"There are laws in place that should prevent these things occurring," Kade said, voice grim. "I don't think his maker is going to side-step the consequences."

"Good." It was vehemently said. I took a deep breath and blew it out slowly. Though it didn't help the anger, I felt a little less rattled. But no less sad for the little vampire who never got a chance.

I glanced at my watch, then said, "I've really got to go view those tapes. Can you call the clean up team in?"

He raised his eyebrows. "I was under the impression you wanted help with that."

"I did, but it might take a while to get a clean up team here, and Jack will not be a happy man if I haven't viewed the tapes by midnight." I hesitated, then added, "When you get the chance, could you glance through all the reports for the beheading case? It'll get you up to speed, and you might just catch something I've missed."

He nodded. "As long as Jack doesn't hand me another case as soon as I get back."

Given the backlog of cases we had, that was likely, but I knew Kade well enough to know that he'd still look through my case files.

Which would be good. I had a bad feeling I'd need the help if I was to have any hope of solving this one.

It was just before eleven when I arrived at Dante's, and the place was crowded. I slammed the car door shut and shoved the keys into my pocket as I walked towards the graffiti-covered building. A base beat that was both heavy and seductive crawled through the night, accompanied by the scent of desire and blood. Despite my distaste for what was happening inside the building, my pulse leapt and raced. I was a wolf, and desire was a scent as sweet to us as blood was to vampires.

If it had been the Blue Moon I was walking into rather than Dante's, I would have been tempted to pander to that surge of desire. But I had no intention of pursuing such a whim here—and not just because I distrusted strange vampires.

No, in this particular case, it was more not trusting myself if Dante made a serious attempt at seduction. The charged atmosphere, and the power of the man himself, was too dangerous a combination.

I showed my badge to the guy at the door, and he scowled as he opened the door. I carefully invaded his thoughts as I brushed past him. Hatred burned into my mind—hatred and anger. This vamp was one of the ones not overly pleased with the Directorate's execution of several vampires charged with killing blood whores.

Which made me wonder if he'd actually come to my aid if trouble hit inside—although I couldn't imagine Starke being happy if he didn't. After all, given the business he was running, he'd probably prefer to keep on the Directorate's good side—no matter what he might personally think about us.

Once inside, I waited until my eyes had adjusted to the darkness, then walked across to the bar. The same gum-chewing barman ambled up to serve me—although this time the towel he was using to dry the glass looked a whole lot cleaner.

"What can I do for you, Ms. Jenson?"

"Is your boss around tonight?"

He hesitated. "He is, but he's in a meeting and doesn't want to be disturbed."

Half of me wanted to use that as an excuse to just get the hell out of the place, but that would mean coming back a third time. "I need to see the security tapes your boss reckons he doesn't have. Can you arrange that, Boris?"