Delilah Devlin - My Immortal Knight 04 by Relentless Page A

your ass but me.”

Chapter Six
    “Promises, promises.”
    Max found himself grinning as he heard Pia mutter beneath her breath.
He made quick work of his own jacket. When he finished closing the fastenings,
he glanced up to see Joe staring, a one-sided smile quirking his mouth.
    Max wiped the smile from his lips. “Not one fucking word from you, partner .”
The last piece of equipment he donned was the headset. He slid it over his
head, lowered the thin microphone wand to his lips and flipped the switch.
“Phil, we’re in the parking lot. Where are you now?”
    “In back of the bar. We’re going in through the kitchen.”
    “We’ll take the front door. I’ll give the signal when we’re ready.” Max
spared a glance over his shoulder to make sure Joe and Pia were wired in. Then
he climbed the steps to the boardwalk and loped toward the bar.
    “I’m taking the rear,” Joe said. “I’m not getting in front of Pia while
she’s waving that gun around.”
    “Scared, Joe?” Pia asked, her breath even despite the pace.
    “Spitless, sweetheart. Quentin told me the whole story.”
    “Huh! Betcha he didn’t tell you everything. Quentin’s a pussy.”
    “I heard that!” Quentin’s voice broke over the channel. “Tell me that
walking disaster doesn’t have a gun.”
    “Quentin!” Pia said, her voice filled with aggravation. “That was four
years ago. I’m quite the markswoman now.”
    “So long as it’s someone else’s ass you mark, my dear.”
    Max was glad when the Piki Tiki’s bamboo awning came into view. The
vamp banter was making him ill. That hint of history between Pia and Quentin
pricked his jealousy. He halted at the corner of the building and held up his
hand. “This is the way it’s going down. Joe and I’ll go through the front door.
Pia, you’ll cover us from the window.”
    “I’m awfully glad I’ll have the pots and pans to duck behind,” Quentin
said. “I’m coming through the kitchen with Phil.”
    “When I count three, Pia will start laying down cover fire.” Max swung
around to stare hard at Pia. “You are up for this, right? You weren’t
exaggerating your skills.”
    “She’s the real deal, Max,” Joe said. “She has the training. But she
did shoot Quentin in the ass.”
    Max snorted. “Well, that’s no sin in my eyes.”
    “Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” Quentin said, his voice wry.
    Pia rolled her eyes. “Showtime,” she said softly, holding Max’s gaze.
Then she shook her head.
    In three shakes, all traces of the soft, sexy kitten he’d held in his
arms half an hour ago were gone. In her place stood a vamp with long curved
incisors. As he watched, her forehead changed shape. The bones beneath her skin
shifted outward, growing until she was unrecognizable—except for the chocolate
shade of her eyes.
    Her lips curved into a maniacal smile. “Some men only worry about what
their girlfriends look like without their makeup.” Her voice was deeper, with
an odd, gruff inflection.
    Max winced. “Why are you the only one donning a mask?”
    “I’m only partway transformed. I need the extra muscle.” She held up
her arm. “Wanna feel?”
    Max shook his head. “So long as you keep your monster reined in, I
don’t care. Come on, Joe.” He strode to the side of the building, and peered
through the window. The scene inside was chilling.
    Three wolves in various stages of transformation had half a dozen vamps
and a human bartender trapped in a corner. A dark-furred wolf, still walking on
two legs, swiped his claws at a male vamp, shredding his clothing and drawing
four bloody lines across his chest. The vamp screamed through a row of jagged
teeth and charged, wrapping his arms around the wolf to lift him off his feet.
    The pair crashed to the floor and rolled. But the wolf quickly gained
the advantage and opened his jaws wide to close around the vamp’s throat. With
a shake of his powerful shoulders, the wolf separated the vamp’s head from his
body