by A. C. Arthur
“I’m not a threat to you,” he replied. “You can trust me, Shola. Whatever it is that’s going on, you can tell me, and I’ll do everything in my power to help you.”
“I do not need your help,” she stated evenly. “I have trained for this all my life. I know what needs to be done and I can... I will do what I came here to do.”
He nodded because he’d once come here with the same determination. But whatever her purpose was for being here now, his purpose for the last three hundred years had been to protect the humans from preternatural forces, and he planned to continue doing just that. Even if it meant going against her. “And you don’t think it’s easier to just tell me what that is?”
She opened her mouth to respond but he touched a finger to her lips, silencing her. Soft. That’s the word that came to mind as his gaze dropped to his finger and he watched as it moved slowly along the outline of her mouth and then to the seam that separated her lips. She continued to stare up at him, not moving, not speaking, just blinking slowly and waiting.
What did she want him to do next? Tell her he would let her run wild in his city, bringing forth all the demonics in the vicinity to perform some mysterious task? Drop her off to her husband-to-be and walk away as if he’d never met her? Remove his finger from her lips and put his mouth to hers instead?
The last hit him with a jolt and a forceful push from the beast within that had him dropping his finger away. Her tongue inched out, quickly swiped over the spots where his finger had been, and Theo lowered his head. He leaned into her, determined to follow the trail of her tongue, to lick her softly and then... Her tongue disappeared, but her lips parted farther, her lids growing heavy over her eyes. He was going to kiss her. He didn’t have any other choice. He didn’t want any other choice. His lips were a whisper away from hers as she leaned into him, tilting her head, preparing to accept what he was so ready to give when his wrist buzzed.
They both looked to the communicator glowing a bright red and buzzing.
The beast wanted to open its mouth to release a vicious roar, which would no doubt convey its irritation. The man simply closed his eyes and took a step back. The interruption was probably saving him from breaking one of his staunch rules about poaching on what didn’t belong to him. He looked at Shola who gave him one long glance before turning away and moving closer to the water.
“Go,” he spoke into the communicator, turning around so Shola wouldn’t hear what was being said.
“A request for an appointment tomorrow morning came through the hotline,” Bleu relayed. “It’s from Warrick Camden.”
He sucked in a breath and rolled his head on his shoulders. “I want to meet today, at the Tower. Set it up. I’m on my way back.”
“Will do.”
The communication ended, and he stood still. Magnum and Steele had gone underground to find out whatever they could about Warrick Camden. As the search for demonics went, underground wasn’t actually a place, but more like a variety of clubs, restaurants and other businesses that were known to host the preternatural. There, they would ask questions and return with any information there was in these circles about Camden.
But instead of the two Drakon reporting back with their findings, Camden had just contacted him about meeting. What were the odds of that happening?
“How did you get here, Shola?” he asked without turning around.
“I asked Aiken to take me to a place where I could walk and think. He told me how to get to this location. I like it,” she said. “It reminds me a little of Mobo.”
His special place reminded her of her home. He didn’t know how to react to that. What he knew was that at least here, in the spot that brought him solace on so many occasions, she’d be safe. For now, that was all that mattered.
“Stay as long as you like,” he told her. “Bleu and Aiken are both here if you need anything. I’ll return later.”
* * *
Theo walked away before Shola could respond. She hadn’t anticipated him joining her. The moment Aiken told her of this place, she’d known she had to come. Going back to the tree where she’d been standing before Theo appeared, she grabbed the backpack she had dropped on the ground. Securing it to her back, she walked to the edge of the river and closed her eyes.
It was time. Do or die.
Stay as long as you like.
His voice sounded in her head, over her conscience that had been repeating the new game plan on loop since she arrived at the river.
She inhaled deeply and was instantly filled with the powerful rustic scent of masculinity that was all Theo. She would know it anywhere and was certain she would never forget it. Nor would she forget just how close she’d come to kissing him. His blue eyes had been warm as he looked down at her, strength oozing from every pore of his body that was perfect in the black slacks and fitted burgundy long-sleeve shirt. In the waning sunlight, his light brown hair was the impeccable highlight to his honey-hued skin tone. It had taken every bit of her will to keep from touching him, rubbing her hand over his thick biceps and wrapping her arms around his neck. The kiss would have been explosive. She knew it and was certain Theo had been thinking the same.
But it hadn’t happened. And that was a good thing.
This, what she was about to do, would have only been more complicated if that kiss had come to fruition. She did not need complications; she needed to get this job done now. And to somehow not fall for the handsome blue-eyed guard who was beginning to ask too many questions.
With that thought, she walked into the river, letting the cool water seep through to her very bones, feeling her fingers tingle and her mind open like a flower in bloom. When the water grew deeper and the current picked up, she dove forward and began to swim.
Chapter Twelve
Theo’s office was on the sixty-first floor of Masters Tower. It was the only office on that floor, with a receptionist area and conference rooms on the other side of the building. The Legion Security Company employed thirty-two human agents and support staff. Their smaller offices were located on floors fifty-eight through sixty. The floors above Theo were Isla’s domain, filled with all the digital monitoring and technological equipment she needed to run every aspect of Theo’s business effectively.
Isla Camoy rarely stayed in the loft assigned to her at the Office. Instead she used one of the smaller offices on the sixty-third floor as a place to rest whenever she wasn’t working. At five feet six inches tall, Isla was the smallest of Theo’s Drakon team. Her skin was the color of milk chocolate, her eyes chestnut brown and hair like sheets of black hanging straight past her shoulders.
“Evening meetings downtown aren’t usually your thing,” she quipped when she walked into Theo’s office at a little past six. “And it’s the weekend.”
Theo had been sitting in the black leather desk chair facing the window, which offered an unfettered view of downtown Burgess. At the sound of her voice, he turned the chair around slowly, stopping just as she reached his desk. His office had a sleek, contemporary decor, but in contrast to the city lights, there wasn’t a lot of color in this space. There were no pictures on the walls, no trinkets on the built-in cases, and only three extra black suits hung in the closet across from his private bathroom. His desktop was glass with an embedded keyboard, giving him access to everything from the building’s temperature control to the security features on each floor and cameras in every area except the bathrooms. There were sophisticated heat monitors and demonic sensors installed in the bathrooms so that sight wasn’t necessarily needed to know if any insidious activity was going on.
Isla wore a white jumpsuit and held a clipboard in her arm, as the communicator on her wrist twinkled in multiple colors.
“This is a special meeting and it was imperative that it take place as soon as possible,” he told her.
“And whatever this Warrick Camden is, his entourage is setting
off every security mechanism we have in place.”
She looked down at her clipboard and pressed buttons not visible to anyone but her. Dual screens of information appeared in the air inches above Theo’s desk. Red hot spots blinked throughout the building’s blueprint.
“His people are spreading out, checking the perimeter.” Exactly what he’d expected they’d do. “We would do the same.”
“Because we’re security. We’re actually protecting people from human crimes and preternatural behavior. What’s this guy’s story?” she asked, lifting a thick, but perfectly arched brow.
“Last I checked when I arrived, Magnum and Steele were uploading a report. It should be coming through the communicators shortly.” He kept his eyes on the screens and his mind focused on the meeting about to take place. Beneath the skin of his back the beast’s scales rubbed and waited to poke through. That wasn’t going to happen, not if he could help it, but just in case, the Drakon warrior was ready. He kept his eyes on the screens noting the hot spots continued moving, all registering the same low-level heat signature.
“This has something to do with Magnum’s case, doesn’t it? The bride from Yorubaland?”
“What do you know about her?” Because she didn’t spend as much time at the Office as the others, and her work never pulled her into the field, Isla tended to stay on the outskirts of their cases.
Her head tilted slightly, and she watched him for a few seconds before responding. “She traveled with a pretty intense guard force. Their weapons were a security concern at the airports, but they were eventually granted passage. Style of dress and the armored limousines they drove into town were another eye-opener. The human military was immediately alerted, as were local enforcers. All of my preliminary scans registered them as some type of royalty in their land. The names matched everything Magnum had in the file, so I didn’t do any further checks. Not until Bleu put in his request.”
The bones in his legs ached as the beast grew restless, so he stood, moving to the window again and slipping a hand into his front pants pocket as he stared out at the city. At this height, it appeared he was closer to the skyline, that open abyss calling to the other part of him like a beacon. If he closed his eyes, he could see the majestic body of the beast floating through the air in all its glory. There was a time when that would have been the norm to him. The skyline would routinely be filled with beasts of his kind in day and night, without judgment or consequence. That had been in a different place, under a different regime. It would never happen here amidst the colorful skyscrapers, humans who were led by their fear, and preternatural beings who had found a refuge from any real laws for their kind.
“There’s a Drakon among them,” Isla said. “Bleu and I weren’t totally sure at first, especially since the records from the airport stated they’d all returned the day after you picked up the client. But one remained.”
A muscle in his jaw twitched.
“Where is it now?”
“We don’t know. You’re the only one who can see soul identities. The only reason we’re certain it’s a Drakon is because the box Bleu was able to find and direct Aiken to had an imprint.”
A Drakon’s imprint was as good as its birth certificate or DNA test in the human world and came in more than just a print on a surface, but was also a scent that lingered only for another Drakon to capture. It would provide vital information on the dragon, such as its clan link, color and size. It would not give the simplest detail such as its name and more importantly its locale.
A loud beeping prevented him from asking his next question. He turned to see all the hot spots had gone still and a new one had appeared just a short distance from the door to his office. They were in position.
“Do you want me to stay?” Isla asked after watching the screen.
“No. Go back to your office and watch the others. I’ll take care of him.”
She nodded and left through a secret door masked as a panel in the brown painted wall while he continued to stare out the window. When he heard the low knock on his door, he turned slowly and buttoned his suit jacket. After straightening his tie, he smoothed his beard and took measured steps back to his chair. He waited another few seconds before saying, “Come in.”
The door opened and the air shifted. He saw the shoes first, black, leather, expensive. The cuffs of black pants rested over glossy footwear, and pants led upward to an expertly tailored jacket, a crisp white shirt and bloodred tie. He was almost as tall as Theo and had a mostly gray goatee and shiny bald head. Stepping inside, he closed the door with a quiet click and continued to walk, stopping only three feet away from Theo’s desk.
New defenses slipped into place, as beneath his clothes scales rippled against his skin. Warrick Camden was a vampire.
Warrick’s sharp sparkling white incisors weren’t visible at the moment only because his lips were closed, but the undead had a sickly scent to their soul identity and a dim red haze outlining their human body. In addition to the folklore in books and old movies, this species was known for their deceivingly cool demeanor as well as their frigid body temperature, deadly desires and apparently expensive tailored suits.
“Theo Masters,” he said in a raspy voice laced heavily with an accent Theo couldn’t place.
“Warrick Camden.” Theo directed him to one of the guest chairs with a nod before taking his seat.
“You have something that belongs to me.” Camden made the simple statement while taking his seat.
Nobody was in the mood for chitchat today. Theo’s communicator vibrated on his arm and he glanced down to read the highlighted passages from Magnum. He looked back to Camden, more than ready to oblige a candid conversation.
“My client has hired us to facilitate her security needs until a wedding takes place. Are you the lucky bridegroom?”
Camden smiled. “I am. And I’m here to assure you that no security is required. You may deliver her to my home and consider your job done. Or I can pick her up at the hotel.”
He would assume she was at a hotel. Why would she be staying anywhere else? Shola didn’t know anyone in Burgess, which meant no one here would bat an eye if something happened to her. “That’s not what my contract says,” he replied.
“I’ll pay whatever fee was promised.”
“This isn’t about money.”
“Nonsense, all business is about money,” Camden stated. “Until it’s not.”
The last few words were said with an eerie calm. The kind of tone that was designed to send a chill of fear down a person’s back. If that person wasn’t a Drakon.
“Listen, Masters, you have a nice little setup here. I’ve done some research and your company is quite reputable. I would hate for that to change, especially during such a time of unrest in the city.”
“If by unrest you mean recent murders and an extortion operation the enforcers are investigating, then I can assure you that those are not clients I wish to take on.”
“You have no idea what you’ve gotten yourself involved in. Shola N’Gara is promised to me. We’re to be married at the end of next week. Nothing is going to stop that from happening.” Camden dropped the cordial act.
Theo detested everything about this guy, from his sickly stench to the way he’d just said Shola’s name. His control dangled by a thread as he watched the cocky sonofabitch sitting comfortably across from him. The vampire had no idea his ass could be ashes in a matter of seconds.
“I’m not in the business of interrupting weddings. You and my client are engaged to be married, that’s cool. Your love has managed to last the distance of oceans and now you’re finally destined to be together. I’m good with that too. What I’m not going to do is shirk my duty. I made a commitment, and I intend to see it through. Now, was there something else you wanted to see me about?”
Camden rose from the seat. The bastard didn’t just stand, but elevated
away from the chair as if he planned to float right over the desk to get in his face. Oh how Theo wished that would happen; every part of the beast was ready to strike, all he had to do was let it be.
In the next moment Camden rested his knuckles on the edge of Theo’s desk and leaned in closer. He glared down at Theo, gold eyes sparkling in warning. Theo did not move or blink; he simply waited.
“I want her brought to me, tonight. Do you understand? Here’s the address. If she’s not there by dawn, consider yourself warned.” Camden spoke the words in an even tone and flashed those signature canines as the cherry on top of his thinly veiled threat.
Theo kept his gaze on Camden. He flattened his hand on his desk and then quickly flipped it over. A fireball emerged in his palm, flames reaching up until they almost licked the lapel of Camden’s jacket.
“I’m not one you want to threaten, Mr. Camden.”
Camden jerked back, almost stumbling over the guest chairs behind him in his haste to put distance between himself and the flames. Obviously he didn’t like fire. Every part of Theo’s body felt the heat and welcomed it. He kept his eyes on Camden as he slowly stood and walked around the desk, bringing his fistful of flames with him. As he stepped forward, Camden backed away until he was against the door.
“You don’t scare me,” Camden spat. “You have power, and so do I. Are we really going to see who’s the strongest? You might not like the outcome.”
Theo smiled. It was a slow and evil smile even though he couldn’t see it himself. But he knew it well, had mastered it in his first hundred years on this earth. He closed his hand, and the fire disappeared, but he didn’t cease his approach, not until he was nose-to-nose with the vampire.
“You want her, bring your power and try to take her. I. Dare. You.”
Camden bared his full mouth of vampire teeth and hissed a response before vanishing into the air. Theo spoke into the communicator, “Isla, capture every one of those bastards that’s still in this building. Now!”