by Vella Day
Bound By Flames
Hidden Realms of Silver Lake
Book 8
Vella Day
Bound By Flames
Copyright © 2019 by Vella Day
Kindle Edition
www.velladay.com
[email protected]
Cover Art by Jaycee DeLorenzo
Edited by Rebecca Cartee and Carol Adcock-Bezzo
Published in the United States of America
E-book ISBN: 978-0-9899759-6-4
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission of the author except in the case of brief questions embodied in critical articles or reviews.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, business establishments, events or locales, is entirely coincidental.
What’s a guy to do when the woman he wants refuses to listen to reason?
Dragon shifter, Logan Caspian, has his hands full with journalist Wendy Oprander. Sure, she might be a wolf shifter, but that doesn’t mean she can’t be killed. And it would be an understatement to say he was upset when he found out she was investigating the same dangerous case he was working on. Naturally, Logan was quick to suggest she drop the story, but that discussion did not go over very well at all. Not to worry. He could be just as stubborn as Wendy. After all, Logan was a Guardian and her mate.
Considering everyone she talks to seems to be lying, Wendy is struggling to figure out who to trust. Having the super-hot Logan hovering over her isn’t helping one bit. Her focus has to be on getting the scoop on this big conspiracy and not on him.
When someone tries to kill her, she has to decide if she is willing to risk it all for her dream job or chance losing the man she wants more than air itself.
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
About the Book
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Other Books by the Author
About the Author
Chapter One
Wendy Oprander’s phone rang, jarring her out of her musings. Ever since she’d submitted her piece about the slave ring run by Gregory Malpan to the local newspaper, her journalistic muse had up and run off. Considering she worked on commission, she needed to get her act together. And soon.
She refused to believe her writer’s block was because she was still reeling over her own capture during that slave operation. Her cousin Danita tried to tell her it was natural to be messed up from it. Anyone who’d been kept in an underground cell for a week would have some form of emotional baggage.
Only Wendy didn’t—or so she wanted to believe. Could she be in denial over the whole affair? Sure. Was it possible the reality of it all would slam into her at the worse possible moment? A definite maybe.
It was why she really needed to work on something big, something important, something that would take down another crime lord. A new challenge would help her find a different purpose in life and take her mind off her troubles. The big question was who or what was big enough to do the trick? It wasn’t like serial killers or human traffickers grew on trees.
For the past couple of hours, Wendy had been looking through all of the news outlets and still came up with nothing. Whenever that happened in the past, she often turned to her source at the Avonbelle Province Police. But first, she had to answer her cell. Damn. She was losing it.
Wendy lifted her phone and checked the caller ID. Crap. It was the editor at the Edendale Herald. Stanton Everhart was probably wondering when he’d receive her next article. He’d really like her last exposé.
“Hello?”
“Wendy, Stanton here. We’d really love to run another one of your stories. Do you have anything for me?”
“I’m working on something.” Okay, that was kind of a lie, but in her defense, she was doing research.
“I’m glad to hear it. One of my fellow editors over in Thedia called to say he’d read your Malpan exposé. To say the least, he was impressed. Keep this up, and I’ll have to hire you full-time.” Despite his uncharacteristic chuckle, he sounded sincere.
Her heart almost stopped at the possibility of being a full-time journalist. It was her life-long dream. Wendy was convinced that if she had a steady paycheck coming in, the lack of pressure would help with her productivity.
“You know I’d love to work full-time.”
“I know. Just get me that headline-worthy story, and we’ll talk.”
That wasn’t going to be easy. She smiled, but it definitely had been forced. Good thing Stanton couldn’t see her expression since this was a voice-only call. “I’m on it.”
When Stanton disconnected, she slumped in her seat. Where was she going to find a breaking story? As much as she didn’t want to be beholden to Officer Brent Shepard, she needed his help. While she’d sent him information in the past when she found something useful from one of her sources, asking him out right for help wasn’t her style. If they hadn’t dated in the past, she might have been more willing.
The reason for her hesitation had merit. She’d been the one to break up with him. Truth be told, there had been no deep connection between them. The part she felt the guiltiest about was that Brent believed they belonged together. He’d said they were perfect for each other, but leading a man on wasn’t in her makeup, so she’d broken it off.
Wendy inhaled, pushed aside her reservations, and called him.
Brent picked up right away. “How’s my favorite journalist?” he asked with way too much cheer in his voice.
Crap. She could only hope he wasn’t happy to hear from her because he thought she was calling to ask him out for a date. Fingers crossed it was for another reason. She remembered him telling her that he was desperate to become a detective under Anderson Caspian and that any information he learned on his own—whether it be from a lead she’d given him or some other avenue—the better it would be for his career. However, if he was relying on her to help him reach that goal, Brent would fail.
“Hey, Brent. I need a little favor.”
“Oh. What do you need?”
From the way his voice trailed off, she hadn’t given him what he’d wanted. “The editor at the Edendale Herald is bugging me to write another exposé, and I’m clear out of ideas. Any juicy stories you can point me toward?” She worked hard to keep her voice upbeat.
“I might have something.”
Her pulse shot up. “What is it?”
Brent said nothing for a few seconds. “How about coming in so I can show you what I have?”
Wendy didn’t have time for him to be coy
. He might not even have anything. Brent probably just wanted to see her. “Can’t you just tell me over the phone?” she asked as nicely as possible.
“Nope.”
The sad truth was that she needed to find out what he knew. From the excitement in his voice, he might actually know of something big. “Okay, I’ll be right over.”
“Great. I’ll be here.”
“I need your help,” Anderson Caspian said.
This wasn’t the first time Logan Caspian’s detective cousin had asked him to use his special talents to help out with a case. Just to be clear, special often meant deep dive hacking. It was something no one at the station—including Anderson—was capable of doing as well.
Logan scooted his chair closer to Anderson’s desk and leaned forward. The police department was not only noisy, there were too many people around who didn’t need to learn that he would be involved in one of their police cases. “What do you need?”
“Last night, two teenagers were found dead of an overdose.”
“Shit. What kind of drug?” Any kind was bad, but lately there had been an increase in a certain drug that was potent, cheap, and quite deadly. Kids loved the high, but they didn’t seem to understand how lethal it could be.
“Crenathum.”
That was his worse fear. “How can I help?”
“I have two officers on the streets right now trying to find out who might be distributing the stuff.”
“What do you know so far?” Logan asked. While the Avonbelle Province Police did great work, they were short-staffed. In addition, not all of the workers were shifters, which often hindered their investigation.
“Both of the young men were at the same party last night. When we received the distress call, we rushed right over, but they were dead when we arrived. The officers searched for drugs but found none.”
“That doesn’t surprise me. No one wants to be caught with something like Crenathum. My guess is that someone moved the stash.”
“I agree. So far, no one is talking, and the parents weren’t home during the party. They claimed they had no idea their son would be holding a get together, mostly because Mike was a model student and a top athlete. This means it’s up to us to find out where this stuff is coming from. I was hoping you could do your computer magic.”
He figured as much. “I can try to find out who these kids called recently. They’d have to have a dealer somewhere, and the calls would still be on their phones.” He didn’t want to believe the dealer was a fellow high school student. That would make things more difficult to track down.
“I asked the parents for permission to check their cell messages, but they stonewalled us.”
“Why the hell would they do that? I would think they’d want answers as to who sold their kids the drugs.”
“Apparently not.”
“You don’t think either family could be involved, do you?” Logan asked.
Anderson shook his head. “Not really. Mike Evans’ dad is an attorney, and Tom Sanderson’s father is a banker. Both families are quite well off. They each have big careers, which means I don’t see them as the type to jeopardize that by being anywhere near drugs or drug dealers. Besides, Mike Evans has helped us out in the past. However, that doesn’t exonerate either of them.”
Even wealthy folks did illegal activities for power, but he’d keep that to himself for now. “Even if we find the name of the person who sold them the drugs, we’d still have to find the source.”
Anderson nodded. “True, but right now I’d be happy to arrest a street pusher. Then we’ll go after the big guy.”
Easier said than done. “From what I’ve heard, the mushrooms used for this drug thrive in the cold,” Logan said. “Which means the source probably didn’t come from Avonbelle. I’m guessing Thedia.”
“Yes, but the Trilox that’s added to the mushrooms to enhance the high can be manufactured anywhere,” Anderson said.
A little uncertainty never stopped the Guardians. “I can have our team do a little reconnaissance of the area. Someone in the farming community must know something.”
Flying to Thedia would take time, but any one of his family members—especially Stone—would be up for the adventure. Logan always believed his cousin would have had a more fulfilling life if he’d been a private investigator. Sitting behind a desk crunching numbers wasn’t really his thing, but he was good at it—really good.
Anderson leaned back in his seat. “That’s what I was hoping you’d say.”
“If you want me to gather the family so you can address them, let me know.”
In the past, it was more effective when Anderson met with the Guardians. Having everyone on the main page always helped.
“I will when I have more information.” Anderson tapped the desk. “You might want to look into the bank records of known drug dealers to see if they received any payments recently,” he said softly. “I’ll send you the list of who has been on our radar.”
Logan already had that on his to-do list. “I’ll do my best.”
“I appreciate it. Time is of the essence.”
“Isn’t it always?” Logan pushed back his chair.
While he loved helping run the Caspian Mines, working on a case always excited him, and he couldn’t wait to get started.
Once outside, Logan was closing his car door when he spotted Wendy Oprander walking up the stairs to the police station, and his dragon instantly shot hot fire into Logan’s gut.
Stop it, Logan commanded. His dragon was so damned impulsive.
Mate, mate.
From the first moment he met Wendy a few weeks ago, he thought that might be true, but he wanted to spend more time with her to confirm his belief. So far, she hadn’t accepted either of his two invitations to go out. Wendy was a wolf shifter, which meant she would have felt the draw too. So why had she been so hesitant?
Logan’s instinct was to jump out of the car and talk to her, but their last conversation made him think twice. He’d actually waited a couple of weeks after her release from captivity at the mines before he called her the first time. While she’d sounded in good spirits, she’d told him she was working on a piece about Malpan, the man who’d taken her, and that she didn’t have time to be social.
Logan could respect that, but it didn’t mean he had to like it. The problem was that after her piece came out in the paper, he called her again. She gave him another excuse about needing to write something else. He had yet to figure out his next move. He totally understood that when he was in the middle of something important, he’d pushed aside his animal urges. What could she be dealing with now that would make her deny her inner wolf?
Maybe she’s scared because she knows you two are mates, his dragon said, his tone less sure than usual.
That’s possible.
You need to talk to her again, and tell her you’ll give her all the time she needs, his dragon urged.
I will just as soon as the timing is right, Logan answered, though he didn’t believe his dragon really meant that he could wait much longer.
As soon as Wendy stepped into the station, he slumped against his seat, and tried to push her image out of his mind. Shit. He really needed to keep his head on straight if he had any chance of solving this drug trafficking crime. The family of the two teens needed closure. Once he helped Anderson figure out where the drugs were coming from, he could relax and focus on being with the woman of his dreams.
His dragon remained silent, but the intense clawing in Logan’s gut implied someone wasn’t happy with that decision. Stupid dragon. Stop it, you oaf. Be patient.
She’s so hot.
Logan couldn’t believe how much his animal could whine. Yes, she is.
Logan started the engine and pulled into the street, hoping nothing bad had happened to Wendy that would cause her to have to go to the cops. The woman had been through enough turmoil in the last month or two to last a lifetime. At some point, he might have to call Anderson and ask if he’d spoke
n with her.
When Logan arrived back at work, he entered the office at the Caspian Mines. He, Stone, Griffin, and the rest of the family members had offices in the main SinCas building in town, but the three of them liked the working conditions at the mines more. The foreman and other workers could find him quicker if they were there.
As soon as Logan reached his office, his cell rang. It was his mom. While he and his family were super close, Logan wasn’t in the right frame of mind to talk to her, so he let it go to voicemail. He needed to ignore the rush of hormones that were racing through his system at seeing his mate and pay more attention to both the work at the mines and what he’d promised Anderson. Being productive would hopefully take his mind off his hard-on.
The first thing he did was research the drug Crenathum to make sure he understood which ingredients besides Trilox were needed to synthesize it. That might give him a clue what to look for going forward. His job was to find a trail of drugs, and that was what he planned to do.
He’d been at it for a good hour when cousin Stone, who was also his assistant, cleared his throat. “Didn’t you hear me bang on your door?” he asked as he stepped inside the office.
“No.”
“I knocked a few times, but when you didn’t answer, I came in. I’d seen you enter an hour ago. You looked like you were in a trance just now.”
He had been in a daze. Every time he reached a dead end in the search, his mind automatically shot back to Wendy. Logan hadn’t seen her in a few weeks, and the image of her in those tight jeans and long-sleeve body-fitting shirt stirred something deep inside of him. When he’d first encountered her, he thought his imagination had run rampant from his success at freeing the slaves from the Malpan Mine. It was possible that was why he’d believed Wendy was his mate. To her credit, even after she’d been saved, and despite looking broken and tired, Wendy’s resolve to help locate the other captives had jackknifed his interest in her. But did that mean they were fated for one another?
Yes! his dragon shouted at him.