The Strip by Heather Killough-Walden, Gildart Jackson Page A

on the gas.
    * * * *
    “Shit!” Lily slowed and came to a stop, bending over to catch her breath. Running wasn’t her thing – never had been. She was only slightly better at it now that she was a wolf. “Did you see that burst of speed?” she asked James, between breaths. “That wasn’t normal!”
    “No,” Valentine agreed from beside her. His gray eyes were glowing brightly in the darkness of the alley. He’d watched the young woman get into the cab and drive away. “Not even for a wolf.”
    “What happened?” Lily asked, straightening again and running a hand through her long golden hair. “How did she suddenly get so fast?”
    James thought for a moment. He wasn’t out of breath, but he was indeed impressed by the Dormant’s sudden speed. She’d taken on a nearly blurred appearance as she’d darted down the alleyway, moving much faster than should be possible. In fact, Valentine had only ever known one wolf who could move that fast.
    “What are you two doing here?”
    Valentine wasn’t surprised. He had smelled the other alpha before his British accent filled the alleyway. But Lily spun around, alarmed.
    “Cole!”
    Malcolm laughed mirthlessly. “You never learn, do you, luv?” He stepped from the shadows against the wall, his tall form moving into the beam of a street light at the end of the passage. “It’s Malcolm.”
    Lily swallowed audibly. And then she seemed to remember that she no longer had anything to fear from him. She straightened, rolling her shoulders. “You shouldn’t sneak up on people like that.”
    Malcolm studied her in silence. This was the first time he’d seen her since she’d been transformed. “I must admit you’re stunning, Lily. The Change looks good on you.” She grew uncomfortable beneath his gaze. “It makes me wonder what Charlie will look like when I turn her.”
    “You marked her, didn’t you?” Lily accused.
    Malcolm frowned. “You didn’t answer my question. Why are you here?” His gaze skirted from her face to Valentine’s. “What business do you have with Claire?”
    “She’s in danger,” Lily told him point-blank.
    Malcolm’s gaze flitted back to her. His smile was wry. “From me?” he asked softly, his emerald eyes filled with secret meaning.
    Lily gritted her teeth. The man could be so infuriating. Two years seemed to have seen no difference in him. “No,” she ground out. “From a Hunter who wants her so badly, he followed her from Pennsylvania.”
    Cole’s smile disappeared. His handsome face became expressionless. He looked at James again, as if for confirmation. James nodded.
    “Now you answer my question,” Lily demanded. “Did you mark her?”
    Cole turned his attention on her once more and fought the temptation to let loose a few tendrils of his power so that they could flay at her senses. For some reason, it irritated him that she and James, who used to work for him , were interfering in this business. And the news of the Hunter stirred up something volatile within him. He felt the need to lash out. To kill anyone and anything that came within ten feet of Claire St.James.
    Charlie was his .
    “I’ll take that as a yes,” Lily stated simply. “And that would explain the sudden burst of speed.” Lily sighed then, crossing her arms over her chest. “She’s a female born,” she continued. “When you mixed your blood with hers, something strange happened. Namely, she got a bit of your power.”
    “It isn’t important,” James interjected. “What is important is finding the Hunter before he finds her.”
    Lily frowned and her gaze dropped to the ground. She was remembering something. “We’re too late on that front,” she said. “He already knows where she is.” Images skated before her subconscious and she closed her eyes, trying to see them more clearly.
    Cole’s voice cut through her thoughts like a hot knife through butter. “What does he look like?”
    * * * *
    Jessie Graves stood from where he’d been