Rush of Darkness Read Online Free

ditch him.
    “Garrick was with me until this afternoon, but he got a call from his parents and had to head home.” Before their defection, Trevor Garrick had been Seth’s second-in-command when they’d both been a part of the Collective Army. He was a hell of a friend, and an even better soldier, which was why Seth continued to put his trust in him.
    “Well, you should have gone with him. Whatever you came here for, you’re wasting your time.”
    Ignoring the assholes bumping into him as they pushed their way toward the crowded bar, Seth crossed his arms over his chest. “I’ll be the judge of that,” he muttered, no doubt sounding like an asshole himself, and a surly one at that. But damn it, he was surly.
    Her chin lifted a fraction higher, her husky voice thick with anger and something that sounded close to panic. “How did you even know I was in Paris?”
    “I paid a visit to your parents.” For safety purposes, her family had been staying at the Watchmen compound in Rome ever since Raine had been rescued, so it had been easy for Seth to find them.
    Her color drained at his words. “If you hurt them—”
    “Don’t be ridiculous.” His lip curled in an offended sneer. “Of course I didn’t hurt them. Despite what you seem to think, I’m not in the habit of murdering innocent people, even if they are vampires.” At least, not lately.
    That little notch was back between her brows. “Then how did you get them to tell you where to find me?”
    For a brief moment, the corner of his mouth twitched, but he fought back the smile, knowing it would only piss her off. And she was already prickly enough as it was. “Actually, that part was pretty simple. Your mother likes me.”
    Her eyes went round and she had to open her mouth twice before she was able to say, “That’s not funny, McConnell.”
    He gave her a believe-what-you-will kind of shrug, ticked that she kept refusing to use his first name. “I’m just stating the facts, Raine.”
    “No. You’re lying,” she snarled, the gray of her eyes beginning to glow with an unholy light that should have freaked the hell out of him, but the surge of blood to his groin said otherwise.
    “I’m not lying,” he replied in a low voice, making sure he was shielding her from anyone who might catch sight of that strange silver gaze. “After we talked for a while, she told me you were in Paris and gave me the name of your hotel.”
    “My mother wouldn’t do that,” she argued, and it didn’t take a genius to see that she didn’t want to believehim. “It doesn’t make any sense. Her Alacea powers are incredibly strong. She would have been able to use those powers to read you…to see into your past.” Her voice was rising with each word, a testament to her distress. “You actually expect me to believe that my own mother would send a vampire killer after me?”
    “If you don’t believe me, call her,” he suggested.
    She crossed her arms over her chest, mirroring his own stance, and forced her response through tightly clenched teeth. “I will.”
    Seth’s mouth had just started to tip with a slow, wry smile, when she added, “Even if you’re telling me the truth about my family, that still doesn’t explain what you’re doing here, in this club. How did you know I was here?”
    Well, shit. To be honest, he’d been hoping to avoid this part of the conversation, but the woman was like a pit bull with a bone. Scraping his fingers through his rain-damp hair, he blew out an exasperated breath and told her the truth. “I don’t actually know.”
    “How can you not know? You’re here, aren’t you? You had to find me somehow!”
    “Hell, I’d explain it if I could, but I can’t. I knew you were in the city, but I didn’t have any idea where. I started at the hotel your mother gave me and just…kept walking the streets, looking for you. I’d finally decided to head back to your hotel, and wait you out there, when I saw you walking across the