by Deanna Chase
“Sorry, buddy,” Dax heard Leo say from the back room. “You’re not going anywhere until you let Marrok ask you some questions. It’s official Void business.”
“You set me up?” Felix asked, surprise and disgust in his tone. “You’re both trash, and I’m not talking to either one of you,” the man said, raising his voice.
There was a commotion, then a loud crash, and Dax heard scrambling before the pounding of footsteps as Leo yelled, “Stop!”
Dax turned on his heel, darted out the front door and around the corner just in time to see Felix heading for an eighties-model red Camaro. The tall shifter took long strides as he ran across the street, but he wasn’t quick enough to outpace Dax. Just as he was climbing into his car, Dax grabbed him by the collar and dragged him back out. Once he had him on his feet, Dax twisted Felix’s arm behind his back while clutching him in a choke hold.
“Going somewhere?” Dax asked him.
“Let me go, you piece of shit!” He struggled against Dax’s hold, his face turning almost purple with anger. “You have no right to touch me.”
“Actually, I have every right. Because right now the Void branch of the Arcane has a directive out to bring you in. So we can either do this the easy way or the hard way.”
“That’s a lie. I haven’t done anything,” he insisted.
“Then what’s this?” Leo asked, walking over to them. He had a small tin box in his hands and a scowl on his face.
Felix’s gaze landed on the box, and just like that, all the fight went out of him. “Son of a…”
“What’s in the tin, Leo?” Dax asked him, certain he already knew the answer.
“Red powder, a couple of needles, and stacks of cash.” Leo tucked the box under his arm. “Pretty sure the director is going to have a lot of questions once she hears about this.”
“Do you know what they do to low-life, drug-dealing shifters, Felix?” Dax said into the man’s ear.
Felix shook his head and actually whimpered. “No.”
Leo walked up to him and got in his face. Hatred rolled off him as he spoke through clenched teeth. “They put them in a cage in the basement and leave them there. Trust me when I say you don’t want any part of that.”
Dax was certain Leo was channeling all the pain he harbored from losing Rhea. He nodded to him, proud of the young shifter for keeping himself under control. It was because of a two-bit dealer like this asshole that he’d lost Rhea.
“I’ll stop. I promise. I won’t go near the stuff again. Just let me go and I’ll keep my nose clean,” Felix said, his voice shaking. “I can’t be locked in a cage. I’ll go crazy. Please. Just give me a chance.”
“It’s not that simple.” Dax forced both of Felix’s hands behind his back. “But I’m sure concessions can be made if you answer all our questions.”
“Fine. I’ll tell you anything. What do you want to know?”
Dax pulled a pair of magical cuffs out of his pocket and slapped them on Felix’s wrists.
“Who supplies you with the drug Scarlet?” Leo asked, getting right to the point.
The shifter’s mouth worked, but he didn’t spit any words out.
“Tell him,” Dax ordered. “Otherwise the cell will be the least of your worries.”
Sweat started to soak through Felix’s T-shirt as he shook his head. “I don’t… I mean, I can’t say. He’ll kill me.”
“Well, Felix,” Dax said conversationally, “today might be your lucky day.”
“How so?” Felix frowned, and his brow wrinkled in confusion as he glanced at Dax. Then he took a deep breath and slowly let it out. “Please tell me I’m not going to jail.”
“Oh, you’re going to jail all right,” Leo said as Dax jerked the shifter across the street. “It’s just that you might not have to worry about your dealer killing you. He might already have set that in motion.”
“What?”
“You suffered an overdose almost a week ago, correct?” Dax asked, enjoying watching Leo take command of the interrogation. The kid had the chops to be a tracker as long as he stayed focused.
“Um… yeah. But I’m totally fine now,” Felix insisted. “Totally clean. I haven’t used anything since that night.”
“Sorry to say, but that isn’t going to save you, buddy,” Leo said, then explained the situation with the shifter up in Jackson and warned him that he could be carrying the toxin that would unleash his inner wolf.
All the color drained from Felix’s face. “You’re saying I could be a walking time bomb?”
“That’s exactly what I’m saying,” Leo said, catching Dax’s eye. Dax nodded, indicating for him to continue. “Now, your only option is to let Dax here take you to the Void so you can get tested. If you are carrying the toxin, you’ll be staying in their care while they work on finding an antidote. If you aren’t… I suppose it depends on how cooperative you are.”
“Okay, okay! I get my product from a vamp named TR. He works for Cryrique. Told me his boss wanted some independent distributers. I’m just small-time, man. I swear to God. I have like four clients.” He closed his eyes. “Holy shit. I have to call them, tell them not to use the shit they have.”
Dax muttered a curse and tried not to think of all the shifters who might be infected with the same poison that was currently running through his veins. “Are they all shifters?”
Felix nodded.
“Give their numbers to Leo. He’ll warn them for you.”
“They’re in the tin,” he told Leo. “Please call them now. I don’t want anyone to get hurt.”
“And yet you sell them Scarlet,” Leo said, his tone dripping with derision. “You might want to rethink your life choices, dude.”
“I didn’t know,” he said meekly as Dax pushed him along.
“Idiot,” Dax muttered under his breath as he stuffed the shifter in the back seat of his Trooper. Leo slid in next to him, already on his phone, warning Felix’s clients that their stash might be tainted.
Dax jumped in the driver’s seat and hightailed it to the Void building. After watching Felix process the possibility that he’d been poisoned, Dax was more than a little anxious to find out if Talisen and Imogen had any updates on an antidote. So far, Dax had been handling the news of his possible downfall pretty well, but he suspected that was only because reality hadn’t really set in yet. He was certain that if there weren’t any breakthroughs, he was going to be sweating bullets just like Felix. Dax pressed his foot on the gas, tightened his grip on the wheel, and focused on the road back to the Void.
13
“What do you mean you’ve found nothing?” I asked Talisen as I paced his lab. “You’ve been working on this for two solid days. People’s lives are on the line.”
Talisen set his file aside and gave me a flat stare. “Do you really think Imogen and I are half-assing this?”
I stopped in my tracks and sucked in a deep breath as guilt took over. What the hell was wrong with me? “No. Sorry. I’m just frustrated by what happened today.” I’d already filled him in on Hailee’s condition and how we’d been too late. She was lost to the toxin. And that had really gotten under my skin. She was so young. Too young. No matter what mistakes she’d made, she didn’t deserve the cards she’d been dealt.
“Did you learn anything from IT?” he asked, placing a reassuring hand on my shoulder, clearly forgiving me for snapping at him.
“Not yet.” I’d dropped her phone and journal off and was letting the experts comb through them both. “They said they’d call if they found anything of interest.”
The door banged open, and Imogen walked in with Dax and Leo right behind her.
Relief flooded my system the moment I saw Dax, and it was all I could do to not rush over and wrap my arms around him. Jesus, stop it, Phoebs, I told myself. I couldn’t do my job effectively if I was worried about Dax the entire time.
“They’ve got some Scarlet for us to test,” Imogen said, holding up a tin box.
“A
nd Felix Axton,” Dax added. “He’s in one of the exam rooms getting his blood drawn.”
“Good.” I opened my file and made a note next to Felix’s name. The movement made my shoulder ache and I winced. I’d gotten Tal to work his magic, but he said it would still be a few days before I was back to normal. “Did he give you any trouble?”
“He did at first, but when Leo informed him he was in danger of losing control, he couldn’t get in fast enough to get tested.”
“That’s something at least.” I slumped down in a chair, still feeling defeated.
“Phoebe was too late,” Talisen said softly. “Hailee has already been infected.”
“Dammit!” Dax crossed the room and pulled a chair over to sit next to me. “How bad is she?”
“Is she locked in the basement?” Leo asked, his face full of concern.
I shook my head. “If only that were the case. Hailee has one hell of a swing and took a bat to my shoulder, rendering my arm useless.” I ran a hand over my bruises and met Dax’s worried eyes. “I’m going to be okay thanks to Tal. But after I took her out, I had to call a transport team. While I was waiting, a friend of hers showed up and hauled her out of there. I tried to stop him, but the bastard evaded me. I don’t know where she is. IT has her phone. If they can hack into it, we might get some leads.”
Dax didn’t say a word. He didn’t have to. All I needed was his presence.
“So she’s just… gone?” Leo asked, his eyes wide with shock.
“Gone. There was nothing more I could do.” I pulled out the handle to my dagger and waved it through the air. “I even lost my blade in the battle. Gunshots. Whoever her friends are, they weren’t fucking around. She did mention someone named King. Sounded like he was the leader. Does that name ring any bells?”
Both Dax and Leo shook their heads. Phoebe glanced at Tal and Imogen, her eyebrows raised in question.
“Not that I can recall,” Imogen said.
“Me neither,” Tal said.
“Christ.” Leo ran a hand through his hair and slowly sank into one of the chairs. “What a fucking mess.”
“You can say that again.” Dax turned to me. “We do have a lead on who’s dealing Scarlet.”
“You do?” I sat up straight, ready for some good news and ignoring the fact the director had ordered me to keep Imogen in the dark about investigating who was dealing Scarlet. If we were going to solve this, I couldn’t keep any of our team in the dark. And if it turned out Imogen was feeding Allcot information, we’d find out about it anyway.
“Yep. Felix said his dealer is some vamp by the name of TR and he works for Cryrique. Supposedly he sells the drug as an independent contractor, but that part reeks of bullshit.”
“Cryrique,” I said, not bothering to hide my disgust. “I knew this was going to come back to Allcot. All his crap about regulating that drug and only selling to vampires was a load of shit he said to get regulation passed through government channels. Now look. Shifters are dying.”
Silence settled over the room as everyone turned to look at Imogen.
“What?” she asked, taking a small step back.
“Do you know anything about Allcot’s Scarlet distribution? Like who he hires to sell it or where?” I asked.
She shook her head. “No. Why would I?”
“Would you tell us if you did if it meant solving this case?” I asked, ignoring her question.
She frowned, her expression turning agitated. “Why am I here if you don’t trust me?”
I shrugged. “You’re an excellent healer. Just… don’t take our skepticism personally. Anyone who has ties to Allcot is suspect.”
“You have ties to Allcot,” she said, her face flushing with anger.
I chuckled. She had a point. “True. But I don’t work for him.”
She stared at me for a few moments then let out a sigh. “Yes, I’d tell you if I knew anything. I don’t, though. I’m just a healer who is trying to help you and the poor shifters caught in this mess.”
“I’ll vouch for her,” Talisen said with a somber nod. “Her energy… it’s pure.”
That was good enough for me. Talisen could read people in a way that others couldn’t. If she was lying, he’d know it. “Okay,” I said then jumped out of my chair, ignoring the pain in my shoulder, and headed for the door.
“Hey, Phoebs, where are you going?” Dax asked.
“To give Eadric Allcot a piece of my mind.” I turned to Talisen. “Text me when Felix’s tests come in?”
“Will do.” A troubled look crossed his face. “Phoebs, are you sure it’s a good idea to go talk to Allcot when you’re this riled up?”
“No,” I said. “But I need answers, and I’m pretty sure he’s the one who either has them or can get them.”
“That doesn’t mean he’ll share them,” Imogen said.
I nodded my agreement. “Don’t I know it, but he owes me a giant-sized favor. I’m about to see how difficult it is to collect.” Imogen and Tal both had skeptical expressions, and I could hardly blame them. Yes, it was true Allcot owed me a favor, but no one knew better than I did that all his favors came at a price and on his terms. Not mine.
“I’ll go with you,” Dax said. Then he turned to Leo. “Now that we’re here in the lab, there’s something I need to ask you.”
“Yeah?” Leo crossed his arms over his chest, looking somewhat defensive. I wondered if he knew what Dax was going to ask. I had my suspicions, but I wasn’t entirely sure.
“Have you ever used Scarlet?” Dax asked.
Leo blinked at his mentor. Then he shook his head. “No. Why?” His face scrunched up in disgust. “Were you afraid I shot up the same batch that killed Rhea and didn’t bother to tell you even after you warned me of the problems?”
“Something like that,” Dax said, now eyeing Leo with an expression that looked a lot like respect. “I just wanted to be sure, especially since you were once a customer of Felix’s.”
“I told you that was a long time ago for pain pills, and it was never Scarlet. So consider yourself sure.” Leo cut past me and left the lab in a huff.
I met Dax’s gaze. “Where’s he headed?”
“To see if he can get any more information out of Felix.”
“Is he going to be okay to question the shifter by himself? It’s not like he’s a trained investigator.”
“He’ll be fine,” my partner said. “He’s actually the one who convinced him to stop resisting and just come in and get it over with.”
“Just like that? He told him he needed to get tested, so he did?” I pressed.
“Noooo, more like he scared the shit out of him by outlining his fate if he didn’t. I was like a proud papa while I witnessed the exchange.”
I chuckled. “Okay, sounds like he’s earned his stripes for today. Let’s get out of here. I’m ready to kick some vamp ass.”
“Aren’t you always?” Tal asked from his spot at the lab counter.
“Pretty much.” I grinned at him, nodded to Imogen, then took off to find Allcot with Dax by my side.
I drove. The Charger purred beneath my touch as I zipped into the parking garage at the Cryrique building. It was still afternoon, and unless Allcot was out of town, I knew exactly where to find him. I even still had access to the special elevator only his elite circle was allowed to use. He’d given me a user code not long after we’d brought Pandora home. Allcot had spent weeks trying to lavish me with useless gifts from all over the world, and I’d refused them all. Then he’d come up with access. And in my line of work, that wasn’t an offer I ever refused. Even though I hated pretty much everything Allcot stood for, there definitely were times when his resources came in handy.
I was convinced that below that hard-edged shell he wore, there was still a bit of humanity lurking. There had to be. He loved fiercely and was incredibly loyal. Both were traits I admired. It was his ethics I had trouble with.
The ding of the elevator filled the silence as Dax and I ex
ited to Allcot’s private wing. The long hallway had been redone in steel, and the only door was the one at the very end of the hall. As we approached, it automatically opened. Good, Allcot knew we were there.
“Kilsen.” Allcot didn’t look up from his paperwork. “To what do I owe the pleasure of your company?”
“Marrok is here too, you know,” I said, irritated that he was ignoring him as if Dax were beneath him.
“I’m aware.” This time he did glance up and give a nod of acknowledgment to the shifter. “But I’m pretty sure you’re the one driving this visit.”
I ground my teeth together and had a violent urge to kick him in the balls. Instead, I stood with my arms crossed over my chest and glared. “Are you aware that the drug you manufacture for vampires is being used to poison the shifters of this town?”
He raised a skeptical eyebrow. “My company does not manufacture any pharmaceuticals that are suitable for shifters. I’m fairly certain you know this, Ms. Kilsen.”
I let out a huff of irritation. “Then why is one of your employees distributing Scarlet to independent dealers around the city? Do you know who’s buying that shit? Shifters. That makes you liable for overdoses and misuse.”
He frowned. “Our dealers aren’t supposed to sell to shifters.”
“You greedy bastard,” I said, so angry I could hardly see straight. “You know damned well Scarlet is being sold on the black market because you aren’t doing enough to control the distribution of the product. My only question is, why? Do you not make enough profits to maintain this obnoxious fortress? Are you that big of an asshole?”
“Phoebs—” Dax started as he placed his hand on my arm.