Eternal Craving by Nina Bangs

marriage by chopping his sister-in-law into tiny, easily disposed-of pieces.”
    Fin waved her suspicions away. “We’re not organized crime. But we do have enemies. And no, I don’t want to elaborate. Since we don’t know the names of these guys, I’ve tagged them with numbers. Makes sense to me.”
    It must’ve made sense to Jenna too in a twisted kind of way, because she nodded.
    Fin got down to business. “You wanted to see what we do, so I’m sending you out with Al to night.”
    She cast Fin a startled glance. “Can’t I go with Kelly and Ty?”
    “No.” Fin’s no always had an unspoken “and that’s final” attached to it. “Al’s the only one going out to night, and he’s going out because you won’t leave this alone until you see exactly how we operate. The rest of us will be in a meeting.”
    Al pressed his lips into a thin line. Damn him. Fin was making it plain how little he was needed. The meeting would be about rooting out the mole. Fin didn’t feel the need for Al to contribute anything. In Fin’s mind, Al was simply a problem with a soul he couldn’t control.
    “If you’re ready, we can get started now.” Al threw the comment at her. What did he care about being gracious? She didn’t want to be with him any more than he wanted to drag her around Philly looking for lost freaking souls.
    She seemed a little uncertain. “Maybe I should tell Kelly.”
    Fin stopped tapping his fingers. “She’ll try to talk you out of going. Do you want to be talked out of it? It’s your only chance to see us in action.”
    “Us? You mean the Eleven? Why’d you give yourselves that name? You sound like you have a number fetish.”
    “You ask a lot of questions. Just like Kelly. It must be an inherited weakness. She could tell you I don’t answer many of them.” Fin glanced at his watch. “Sorry, I’d love to stay and be grilled by you, but I have a meeting to attend.” He rose and started toward the door.
    Jenna looked ticked. “Did anyone ever tell you you’re a secretive jerk? Okay, I’ll go.” Her body language promised that she might go with Al, but she’d make everyone pay for Fin’s high-handedness.
    And a fun time would be had by all. Al stood.
    “Wait.” Fin paused and walked back to them. Something in his expression said the other shoe was about to fall. “I’m sending someone else with you guys. He’s visiting from Houston, but he knows his way around Philadelphia. He’ll do the driving.”
    “I can drive.” Al was dying to get behind the wheel. Any wheel. He hated having a human driver even though he accepted the need for one.
    Eight and the rest of his immortal friends could sense the Eleven, but not when they were close to humans. Only humans could keep the immortals off their backs, so Fin had ordered that they stay near one whenever possible. The Eleven couldn’t guarantee humans would be around when they hunted the dark Philly streets, but they could be damn sure a human was in the car with them. So Fin hired human drivers and told them that the Eleven were new to the country and didn’t know the city. That excuse wasn’t needed tonight.
    Fin shot Al a pointed stare. “I want you to take care of Jenna and look for people to save. You can’t concentrate on all that if you’re driving.”
    Right, and Al believed that. Fin probably wanted someone along to make sure Al didn’t go all prehistoric on Jenna. “Yeah. Fine. So who’s the friend?”
    “I am.” Jude’s voice swung Al around.
    Great. Just what his little soul-hunting party needed, a vampire. “What brings you to Philly?”
    Jude’s gaze slid past Al to rest on Jenna, who still sat in her chair. Her eyes were riveted on Jude. No surprise there. Even Al recognized that Jude was spectacular in a way that impressed females. All that long black hair and the way he looked at women. Al wondered how impressed they were when he broke out the fangs.
    Jude abandoned his study of Jenna for a moment to focus