by Juniper Hart
Sirius Tanner had been his brother’s guardian angel for years, a silent watcher who had saved his younger sibling more times than Vera could count. His and Vera’s relationship had started gradually, but it had been inevitable that the two would wind up together. They had a common interest, after all: Orion.
“He bites off more than he can chew,” Sirius had told Vera early on. “That’s where I step in. He doesn’t realize how much I do from behind the scenes, and I’d like to keep it that way.”
“But why? Why don’t you work together?”
Sirius chuckled dryly. “In case you haven’t noticed, my brother is a stubborn ass, but he is aptly named. Orion is a hunter. He can lead and work with a team, but he is very much a solitary creature. It’s better this way. I love my brother, but I would rather not have to kill him.”
He’s not wrong about Orion, either, Vera realized.
Over the years, she had found her mate’s assistance invaluable, and despite what Orion believed, Vera had learned a great deal about the hospitality industry from Sirius. Beyond that, Sirius had become her lover and confidant, a secret that Orion had yet to figure out.
Sirius understood her ambition and Orion’s grueling schedule demands. He was often abroad himself, looking for new endeavors and ways for Tanner Hotels to expand.
“The greatest thing about our relationship is that he thinks he comes up with this stuff all by himself,” Sirius chuckled. “And I just sit back and let him.”
It had been his idea that she make her presence more valuable to Orion.
“He needs to know he’s not alone,” Sirius told her. “Because as much as he thinks he likes it, he is very unhappy on his own. Take some initiative and show him it’s okay to depend on someone else. Not so much that he falls in love with you, though—I wouldn’t want to have to take on my own brother for your love.”
“As if you have anything to worry about on that front,” Vera snickered.
The property in Ocean Shores had been her own finding, and the disappointment went beyond simply the fact that she had failed to make the deal happen, but in the knowledge that she had let her mate down, too.
And yet… he was not ready to let it go, either. None of them were willing to let it go. There was something that kept pulling them there.
She might have been young compared to some of the other Lycans in her pack, but Vera knew not to question fate. After all, it was what had brought her to the Tanner brothers in the first place.
She sat forward, resting her elbows on the desk, and glanced at the time. It was after midnight.
I should go home, she thought, but she did not want to leave until she found what she was looking for. I am going to get to the bottom of this once and for all.
She was glad Sirius was home to help her through it.
Sirius called again at three a.m., but by that time, any tiredness Vera had been experiencing had gone, and she stared in interest at the newspaper articles she had found online through the Washington Post.
“Hi, sweetheart,” Sirius crooned. “Did you miss me?”
“Do you need to even ask that question?”
“No. But I always like your responses,” he chuckled.
“You know I always miss you. Next time, don’t stay away so long.”
“Fine. Can I ask you a question?”
“Of course.”
“Of all the properties in the United States of America, how did you manage to stumble across this one?”
“What did you find out?” Vera asked, groaning loudly and dreading the answer.
“The owner is quite a character,” Sirius commented. Vera nodded more to herself than anything.
“I found the article,” she sighed. “I wonder if him selling the property has anything to do with his arrest.”
“I’ll call the local law enforcement in Ocean Shores in the morning, but I have a feeling about this place,” Sirius replied. “Tell me everything you know about it.”
Vera barely knew where to start. What did she know about it? That it had drawn them in, and they couldn’t let it out of their minds? That a strange, beautiful woman was the only person they had seen, and she haunted Vera’s dreams?
“Come to the office,” she finally said. “I could use some release.”
Orion blinked in surprise when he entered his office, his jaw slacking some as he took in the scene before him.
“Sirius! You’re home!” he cried. “What are you doing here so early, Vera?”
Vera shook her head and gestured toward the inner office.
“Orion, we need to talk,” she told him seriously. “It’s about the property in Ocean Shores.”
Orion nodded slowly and glanced at his older brother.
“I guess you’re here to talk me out of it?” he asked as he unlocked his door, a tinge of annoyance in his tone. It didn’t matter what his brother had to say—Orion had new information of his own coming through soon. He had spent the night talking with Lane Aldwin about what was happening at Eden, and she had agreed to look more thoroughly into Harmony Jagger for him.
She should be calling any minute, Orion thought smugly. Sirius can save his breath.
Sirius grimaced. “I don’t know why you always assume the worst of me, Orion.”
“I guess because you left me holding the bag five years ago while you went on your playboy tour of Europe, maybe?” Orion replied sarcastically. He noticed his assistant and brother exchange a glance, and a fusion of apprehension and suspicion coursed through him.
What is going on here? What am I missing?
“We found out some information about Eden,” Vera told him. “It’s got a dark history.”
Orion nodded slowly, and the trio sat.
“That isn’t surprising,” he said, but his pulse quickened in anticipation.
“The hotel has been in the Stanger family since 1890, when it was built,” Vera informed him. “They are a despicable group of criminals who used the hotel for everything from a speakeasy to a brothel.”
“That is a giant waste of such a beautiful property,” Orion sighed with some regret. “And that is more than one hundred and twenty years of a debauched reputation to overcome.”
But he knew the reputation of the hotel was the least of his concerns. His concern was how Harmony Jagger fit into all that.
For three days, he wondered if Grace had been trying to tell him that she was Harmony Jagger before a quick internet search told him that she looked very little like the beautiful, vivacious fox he saw on Instagram, one who had all but disappeared almost five years earlier.
While Vera had been staring at the MLS listing for three days, Orion had found himself peering at the pictures on social media, his heart fluttering far too fast for his species.
That’s her. That’s my mate, he thought, unable to pull his eyes away from her face. It reminded him of how he had been so transfixed by the mirror in the lobby. Is Harmony there? Is that what Grace was saying?
“Like that waitress told us, it has technically been vacant for almost a decade,” Vera continued, bringing Orion’s focus back to the present. He could see she was embarrassed that she had not learned the information earlier.
“Who is living there then?” he demanded. “Grace is obviously a resident. What about that Jim guy? Anything on him?”
“Viola Stanger still owns the property, care of her grandson, Greg…” Vera trailed off, waiting for Orion to dispute his ownership, but he did not speak. Just because he had not officially called off the deal did not mean he couldn’t change his mind at any time. “According to anything I’ve found, no one lives there. Greg Stanger has a residence in Seattle, but he is about to stand trial for manufacturing and distribution of a controlled substance. Odds are, he’s going to jail for a long time.”
A slow realization overcame Orion.
“It’s a drug house?” he gasped. “Why haven’t the cops been there?”
Sirius and Vera exchanged a look.
“My guess,” she said, “is that because the hotel is technically in his grandmother’s name, they never thought to look. He is looking to unload it before they come knocking, I’m sure.”
Orion looked at her expectantly, waiting for the other shoe.
“What?” he grumbled, sensing that there was more.
“The controlled substance… it wasn’t street drugs,” Vera explained slowly.
Orion’s eyebrows raised. “Well?”
“They’re fertility drugs, but they contained an element that stumped the labs.”
Orion inhaled sharply.
“Enchanted DNA,” he concluded. “That’s why he has Grace.”
Again, Vera shook her head. “It’s not Lycan DNA. It’s something else.”
“Vera, please, just tell me what you’re trying to say,” Orion implored her, darting his eyes toward his brother and wondering why he was there.
“The DNA is Enchanted, but the component is Vulpes, not Lycan. Greg Stanger has access to a fox shifter and is using her DNA to make fertility drugs.”
The words fell like a weight on Orion, and he could only stare blankly at the pair, trying to make sense of what he’d just learned. Was Harmony in some kind of danger, or was she letting them use her blood willingly?
“I need to contact the Council of Seven,” Orion breathed.
“I’m about to do that,” Sirius assured him. “But Vera told me you haven’t told the realtor you’re out. You know you can’t put the Tanner name on anything like this, right, Orion?”
Orion scowled at his brother.
“Thanks, Sirius. I wouldn’t know what to do without your backseat business advice,” he snapped. “Yes, I know all that. I’ll call Abram.” But even as he spoke the words, he knew that he had to do more than that.
“I can call him, Orion,” Vera said quickly, and his sour mood turned to her.
“It looks like you and my brother have enough to worry about,” he replied sullenly. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out what was happening there. He wondered how long they had been in a relationship under his nose. Suddenly, a dozen signs he should have seen came flooding to his mind.
They’ve never really hid it from me. They just didn’t come out and formally announce it. I have no reason to be bitter about this, not when I was too consumed with business to notice it. He was instantly ashamed by his reaction.
“Orion…” Sirius said, but Orion shook his head quickly as something else occurred to him.
“Never mind,” he said. “Congratulations. I need you to look into something else for me.” They stared at him expectantly. “Look into Harmony Jagger and her connection to Stanger.” His request was met with a blank look, but Orion didn’t wait and threw himself into a chair to unlock his PC.
“Who is that?” Vera asked. Orion didn’t answer right away, his eyes trained on the screen as he typed the keywords into the search engine. Vera’s brow furrowed, puzzled.
Before anyone could speak, the phone on his desk rang, saving them from any further conversation. Vera snatched it up.
“Orion Tanner’s office.” Orion watched her face pale slightly. “Y-yes, of course. Just hold a moment.” She put the phone on hold and looked at her boss, her eyes huge. “It’s Grace,” she whispered.
For a moment, nobody moved, and time seemed to freeze. Then, Orion leaned forward in his chair and snatched up the receiver, hitting the line button with his long pinky.
“Orion Tanner.” His voice was terse.
“Hello, Mr. Tanner.” He could barely make out her words; she was whispering.
“Grace. Are you all right?” His concern seemed irrational, but he was seized with an undeniable panic.
“I…” She trailed off, and Orion could hear the catch in her throat. “I would like you to reconsider the deal.”
His blue eyes narrowed. Her words were stiff. She sounded coached.
“What deal would that be?” he asked slowly, gazing at Vera and his brother. Their faces were an identical expression of tense confusion.
“You need to buy the hotel,” she intoned, and Orion knew someone was standing at her side. Was she being threatened? Was it the man she called “Father”?
His gut twisted, knowing he was too far away to react quickly.
“Grace, please tell me what is going on there. Are you being held against your will?”
“Please reconsider,” Grace said, her voice cracking slightly. “Please.”
“I hear what you’re saying, Grace, but I need you to listen to me now, okay?” Silence met his words. “Grace? Are you there?”
“Yes.”
“You are much stronger than anyone else in that house. You don’t realize it, but you are. You have an inner strength that you need to find—”
The line went dead in his ear, and the dread choked Orion.
“What was that pep-talk about?” Sirius demanded, looking confused.
“She doesn’t know she’s a Lycan, but if she could shift…” Vera murmured.
Orion was already back on the phone, his cell this time.
“Hello, Orion.”
“Lane, we need to get to Washington,” he said. “Whatever’s happening there, it needs Council intervention.”
“I couldn’t agree more,” Lane replied evenly. “I have reason to believe that Harmony Jagger is being held there against her will.”
A wave of colorful emotions flooded Orion simultaneously, but he didn’t have time to sort them all out.
“Meet you there?” he said to Lane.
“You bet.”
Orion disconnected the call and turned to Vera. “Call the pilot. I need the jet. Now.”
Instantly, Vera jumped to oblige, and Orion spun from his desk, grabbing his keys. Vera hurried after him.
“I need to stop at home first,” she told him, but he paused to look at her, shaking his head.
“No,” he said firmly. “You’re staying here. Whatever is going on there is dangerous, and I need your resourceful head intact.”
Vera gaped at him dubiously. “Ori—”
“No argument, Vera. Let me handle this.” He flew from the office before she could summon a response, his long legs almost racing across the tiled floor.
Whatever he and Lane were about to walk into, he hoped they weren’t too late.
12
Grace hung up the phone and stared hatefully at the man she had called Father. She didn’t even try to hide her disdain now, the feeling of unadulterated rage coursing through her almost impossible to contain.
“I have done everything you asked,” she told him icily. “Please let me see Eve.”
She should have expected the blow to her face, but it still knocked her to the ground. Randall loomed above her.
“You have done nothing but bring strife to our community,” he hissed. “If he does not go through with this deal, God will punish us all, and it will be your doing!”
In the back of her mind, she heard Mr. Tanner’s words reverberating through her mind, at least the ones she had heard before Randall had disconnected the call.
“You are much stronger than anyone else in that house. You don’t realize it, but you are. You have an inner strength that you need to find—”
She didn’t stop to consider what Mr. Tanner had meant by that.
“Rise!” Randall hissed. “Face me!”
From somewhere Grace never knew existed, she felt an incredible surge of power, and she leapt to her feet.
“My doing?” she echoed. “I have brought strife?”
Randall’s black eyes seemed to be an endless abyss of nothing but evil, and Grace wondered how she had not seen it before. If she stared deeper, she caught something else, something which filled her with strength.
He is afraid of me.
In spite of knowing the danger she faced, she could not stop the cold rage from spilling from her lips.
“Are you mocking me, girl?” Randall roared, his hand raised to deliver another punc
h to her face, but Grace would not back down.
“I am speaking the truth! Do you know the truth? Have you ever spoken it in your life?”
Randall’s mouth opened, and the second shot hit her jaw. Grace did not go down again. Her mind was only on Harmony.
He is a madman. Has he already killed her?
“You cannot beat me into silence,” she snarled, advancing upon him as blood poured from her mouth. “I know who you are, and I will die ensuring everyone else learns the truth, too!”
She felt new teeth springing from within her mouth, a pair of fangs sprouting forward. Grace didn’t stop to understand the transformation going through her body as Randall’s eyes widened.
“Your family was always such a hardship to us! I shouldn’t have kept you when I learned about the devil inside you!”
Grace hissed, her face twisting into an ugly sneer, but something else was happening inside her, something she couldn’t control. There was a beast inside her, and it was escaping after years of oppression.
“What did you do to my family, you imposter?”
“Shut up!” he screamed, lunging for her, but even as he did, she read the wariness in his face. “Look at you! You are the devil! Back to Hell with thee!” He knocked her to the floor, pinning her arms behind her back before she could react, the mention of her parents sending her into another mental spiral.
“You are no God,” she spat. “Randall.”
He seemed to freeze at the sound of his real name, and Grace seized the opportunity to wriggle free from him. Before she could bolt for the door, the desire to fight him completely diminishing, he pounced again, delivering endless belts to her head and face.
“You want to be with Eve?” he growled. “I will send you to her.”
As the world went black, Grace was filled with a sense of loss so great, she was ready to die.
I didn’t save anyone. He is right; I failed us all.
Flies were buzzing in Grace’s ears. She tried to lift her arms to shoo them away, but she seemed made of lead. Above the buzzing was the sound of humming. Grace could see nothing, and she slowly moved her head to the side.