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| TALONS: CAGED DESIRE Chapter One “You’re not going to let me get a punch in are you?” Eve grinned at her assistant, Abbey. “Nope. Not unless you don’t want to improve.” Swinging around, Eve kicked out. Abbey dodged to the side, dropped into a crouch, and at the same time slashed her leg in a wide arc. Eve was a second too slow to respond and staggered back on one foot as the other was knocked out from under her. She recovered in enough time to catch Abbey as she launched herself at Eve. With a half-turn, she tossed Abbey behind her. Even before her friend hit the gym mat, Eve knew she put too much strength behind the move. She darted across the mat and knelt next to Abbey’s motionless body. Abbey cracked one eye open. “That is definitely going to leave a bruise.” Eve grimaced as Abbey sat up. “Sorry.” She held out a hand and pulled Abbey to her feet. Rolling her shoulders, Abbey bent to retrieve her water bottle at the edge of the mat. “I’m the one who should know better than to let a vamp be my training partner.” A year ago, Eve had hired Abbey on Kyle’s recommendation. Eve made it a point not to follow her closest friend’s advice very often. It tended to go right to his head. This time, though, she had made the right decision. Abbey’s family had been employed by a number of vampires over the years, so when Eve realized she could use a hand with the more tedious side of her writing career, Abbey was the perfect choice. While she slept during the day, Abbey looked after everything from some line editing and playing the go-between for her and her editor, to answering mail from those who wrote in about Eve’s suspense books. Abbey stretched. “Well, I’m calling it a day.” Eve caught the towel Abbey whipped at her and sank down on the gym mat. Putting in the athletics room had been another one of Kyle’s suggestions. With Abbey’s training lately, the room was actually seeing some regular use. Eve preferred to get her exercise by feeding in the rougher parts of town, more than willing to tangle with her prey first. “Your instructor should be impressed. You’ve improved a lot over the last few weeks.” “And I’ve got the scars to prove it,” Abbey joked. “I left notes and a to-do list on your desk.” Eve feigned a lopsided grin of enthusiasm. “Oh goody.” “And you should do something fun tonight. Take a few hours off.” “Wasn’t this fun?” She didn’t even come close to sounding insulted. Maybe if she wasn’t smiling. Abbey propped a hand on her hip. “I mean something that involves leaving the house without your laptop.” “I leave the house every night.” Hard not to, having to live on blood and all. She couldn’t stomach cold stuff. “I’m not talking about feeding. Go see a movie or something.” Eve stretched her legs. “Go home and shower already.” Abbey rolled her eyes. “See you tomorrow night.” She paused at the door. “I almost forgot. Kyle had something delivered from South America.” “No doubt another trinket he dug up.” Eve had wanted to go along with him on his latest treasure hunt. The trips never failed to be a good time. Unfortunately, she had switched her deadlines around too much already and didn’t have any room left to juggle. “Must be some trinket. It’s in a huge crate.” “Really?” Eve followed Abbey along the upstairs hall and down the winding staircase that looked over the foyer. The staircase had been one of the focal points she’d fallen in love with when she bought the house nearly ten years ago. Along with the fact it sat on the edge of town and guaranteed the privacy she sought. Eve frowned at the large wooden crate in the middle of the foyer. It wasn’t typical for Kyle to ship anything home ahead of him unless it was something small. The crate was a little taller than she was. “How did you forget to tell me about this?” A flush crept up Abbey’s cheeks. “You’ve only been up an hour and I got a little excited thinking I might finally take you down.” “Better luck next time.” Eve circled the crate. There wasn’t anything written on the outside to hint at its contents. “Hey, I almost had you.” “Almost doesn’t count,” Eve said absently, her attention completely focused on the object in front of her. What was in there? Abbey snorted. “Must have cost a pretty penny to ship this sucker back. It took three guys to get it in here. Almost didn’t fit through the double doors. The paperwork is on your desk.” Abbey swung her bag over her shoulder. “Have a good night.” “You too.” The door closed quietly behind her, leaving Eve alone with the mystery crate. She wasn’t big on surprises, preferring to see what was coming at all times. Kyle knew that and seldom went to much trouble to conceal what he was sending. Most times he even called to let her know something was being delivered. He liked to joke that Eve might decide to snack on the delivery guys if she didn’t know ahead of time. Not one for random snacking on the innocent—as Kyle liked to call it—even the idea of it put Eve off almost as much as the crate sitting in the middle of her foyer. Figuring the paperwork would be the best place to start, she headed back upstairs, again wondering why Kyle hadn’t called about the crate. That wasn’t like him. The one page Abbey signed off on told Eve nothing about the contents. She could only assume Kyle had bribed customs officials not to label the crate or make note on the documentation. Odd. After a fast shower and a quick change into a plain olive green T-shirt and beige pants, she tugged her long red hair into a loose bun and returned downstairs. Once more, she circled the box, trying to imagine what could be inside. Eve turned around with the intention of going to the garage in search of something to open it with, and spotted a crowbar and hammer on the table near the door. Abbey didn’t miss a trick. With no noticeable opening, Eve picked one end and went to work, jamming the flat head of the crowbar beneath a wood slat in the frame. It took a few forceful jiggles to get a corner loose. Had she still been human, it would likely have taken an hour to get into it. For her it only took a few minutes. Grabbing the top corners, she tugged it down so one side of the crate lay at her feet. Eve took a step closer, puzzled by the sight of the metal bars. A cage? Light slashed across the lower half of the cage, not that she needed it to see exactly what was inside the dark crate. Eve blinked and took another step closer, her eyes locked on the large feathered creature inside. More than three feet tall, the dark bird of prey perched on a horizontal bar a few inches from the bottom of the cage. Thick, sharp-looking black talons that could easily sever an artery gripped the bar. For a moment Eve thought the creature was stuffed. Now that would be just like Kyle, to send her a big mystery gift and have it turn out to be some tacky knick-knack. Albeit, an oversized knick-knack. Golden eyes followed her movement as she leaned forward, the assessing gaze zeroing in on her the same way she did when she found an appropriate subject for her nightly feeding. Vampire or not, cage with thick bars or not, Eve backed up. The damn thing was definitely alive. Why in the world had Kyle sent her this? Taking her chances, she gripped the bars and pulled hard. The cage was heavy, but without too much trouble—and without the bird making a move for her fingers—she dragged it free of the crate. With every step around the cage, her curiosity grew, her eyes never straying from the creature that turned its head to follow her. Was this some late April Fool’s present? Seeing as Kyle had once sent her a snake as a joke, she wouldn’t put it past him. He could be sitting in some South American bar right now, laughing his ass off as he pictured her reaction to his gift. Inside the cage the eagle—which was her best guess—inched down the horizontal bar, its talons curling tighter. She wouldn’t have thought birds this large existed anymore. Obviously rare. Which made it all the more strange Kyle sent it to her in the first place. The creature’s golden eyes surveyed her carefully, as though it sized her up the same way she assessed a potential threat. “You’re certainly beautiful, aren’t you?” Eve whispered. The eagle squawked at her. Still puzzled, Eve moved until she was just shy of touching the bars. She could quickly back away if need be, but she couldn’t stop from getting as close a look at the large bird as she could. How long had it been in transport? Had anyone fed it? A few small skeletons littered the cage floor, but told her nothing about how old they might be. She didn’t want to give much thought to what a bird this size would eat. Somehow she doubted field mice would come close to putting a dent in this creature’s appetite. At the thought of food, her own hunger pulsed fiercely inside her. First, she’d try to get in touch with Kyle then she could hunt. There was a blood supply here, but she preferred to keep that for the rare nights she couldn’t tear herself away from her latest book. With one more curious look at the eagle, she turned towards the kitchen. Kyle might not be anywhere near a tower capable of carrying a cell call, but she had to try. As she punched in the numbers on her cordless phone, she found herself moving back to the foyer. The eagle followed her movements, but didn’t appear nervous. Maybe he was used to seeing people. As expected Kyle didn’t pick up. Eve gave the feathered animal another once-over, still unable to figure out what Kyle had been thinking, and then crossed to the front door. Once she took care of the thunderous need surfacing within her, she’d decide what to do about the eagle. Pick up Caged Desire in eBook! or Print! |