Luckily for Ethan.
He pulled in the lot and parked near the gate closest to the big cat exhibit, then texted his old friend. A few minutes later, Kelly appeared and let Ethan onto zoo grounds where they shook hands and beat each other on the back.
“Glad to see you, Ethan! What can I do for you?”
Even as he said, “I thought maybe we could talk about Booker’s murder,” Ethan looked over the security guard’s shoulder.
“The alderman? Your case?” When Ethan nodded, Kelly asked, “How can I help?”
Damn it! Was Nuala even there?
Ethan turned his attention back to Kelly. “You’re the only person I know who’s all about animals.” Which of course wasn’t true. Skye not only co-owned a pet supply store, she was an animal rescuer—the way she’d become acquainted with Luc and his Kindred clan. “We’re looking for someone who owns a wolf hybrid.”
“Hey, I haven’t much thought about the gangs since I landed here.”
And Ethan hadn’t thought about seeking Kelly’s help until he’d had to come after Nuala. “Despite the rhetoric of a certain alderman, I’m not convinced a gang member had anything to do with Booker’s death. I just thought you might have a pipeline. See if you can ferret out hybrids in this neck of the woods.”
“Yeah, I could do that.”
Kelly’s two-way radio blasted a woman’s voice. “The alarm at the great ape house just went off.”
Frowning, Kelly looked to the far end of the zoo. “Okay, I’ll be right there.” And clicked off. “Sorry, Ethan.” He started backing away. “I’ll let you know if I hear anything about wolf hybrids around here. Gotta check out that alarm right now.”
“Go. I’ll let myself out,” Ethan assured him as the security guard started off. But he wasn’t going anywhere before he found Nuala.
He didn’t move until Kelly disappeared around a curve. Then his pulse kicked up and Ethan started jogging to the Remington Big Cat House. He only hoped this leopard and her cubs were outside somewhere. The entire building was surrounded by outdoor enclosures with natural-looking, if not all real, terrain. He passed the lions, tigers, and cougars before coming to the leopard enclosure, located at the far end of the building. No Nuala at the railing. What the hell? Was he too late? Had she already done what she’d meant to do and had sifted back home?
Just to be sure she wasn’t here somewhere, he did a slow three-sixty, his gaze penetrating the darkest corners of the zoo, but still he didn’t see her. So she was gone.
Curious as to what she might have been after, he stepped to the railing and looked down, then froze for a moment when he saw a very pregnant black panther cozying up to the leopard. Both big cats were watching one of the cubs pounce on the other, the two then tumbling together.
He couldn’t believe it. This was even worse than he’d thought. Nuala had shifted and entered dangerous territory! The leopard wasn’t one of her fellow Kindred. What the hell was she thinking? His pulse raced and he could feel the increasing beats of his heart. Fearing he would be heard by one of the other security guards, he kept himself from shouting at her as he wanted to do. If Skye had been correct about the results of his ingesting a few drops of Nuala’s blood, she should be able to hear his thoughts.
Nuala, you need to get out of there now!
The black panther tore its gaze from the cubs and found him. Even at a distance, he could see the big cat’s luminous blue eyes. Nuala’s eyes.
Ethan, what are you doing here? Did you follow me? How?
Get out of there and we’ll talk about it. Good Lord, he was conversing with a wild animal.
What if I don’t want to leave yet?
Now she was sounding pissed. Please…
He thought she was going to ignore him, but he heard her mutter Fine and the next thing he knew she was standing next to him. Rather, her panther was.
His stomach dropped. “My car’s in the lot.” He indicated direction. “But you can’t go anywhere like that.”
I don’t intend to.
To his growing horror, the bones of her face begin to shift. Her entire skeleton was rearranging itself under her pelt, and her front legs rose off the ground as she straightened. For heart stopping seconds, she was neither panther nor woman, but something brutally twisted in between. She made a low growling sound. Was she in pain?
His pulse pounded harder than before, and he had trouble finding his breath.
As much as Ethan didn’t want to see this, he couldn’t look away as her human features outweighed the panther.
Suddenly she was Nuala again, familiar flesh and bone. He barely got a glimpse of the flesh part—enough to make his mouth go dry and his sex go hard—before all that lusciousness was covered by the dress she’d had on earlier. More Kindred magic.
“Satisfied?” she asked as he gaped at her.
He snapped his mouth shut, then said, “What were you thinking? You could have been caught!”
“I believe I was. What were you thinking coming after me?”
“That you might need my help.”
She sighed. “You wanted out of here, so what are we waiting for?”
“This way.”
When he slipped an arm across her back not only to point her in the correct direction, but to make sure she was all right, his instinct to pull her even closer put him more on edge. Those few seconds he’d seen her unclothed had been enough to make him sweat. Full breasts, full thighs, beautifully full belly. He wanted more. All of her. But she was Kindred, and he was a man who took no prisoners. No serious relationships that would inevitably have a heartbreaking ending.
“I didn’t need rescuing, and I don’t need you to pull me along.” She shrugged away from him and went through the gate alone. “Keep your hands to yourself!”
Not that he was doing anything but trying to protect her! “Trust me, you’d know if I was trying to get in your pants. And if I did, you wouldn’t tell me to stop.”
“Hah! If you did try to get into my pants, you’d wake up in the middle of the lake!”
Conflicted as to how to deal with her, Ethan let Nuala get herself into the passenger seat, then took the long way around the back of the car to the driver’s side, using the extra few seconds to settle himself.
Sliding behind the wheel, he glanced at her. She seemed really pleased with herself. Her lips were curved into a smile. No, a grin, like one of satisfaction.
He jammed on his seat belt and started the car. “Nice that you enjoyed yourself!” All the while he’d been after her, he’d been agitated, fearing she would find herself in trouble. She certainly had tried.
“I did enjoy myself. I needed that experience to calm me down.”
Which had the opposite effect on him. “About what?”
“About having to figure out how to care for a baby, of course. My mother would be of no help. My old nanny ran off years ago. And Skye has never had a child. Who was I supposed to talk to?”
“A wild animal?”
“Who happens to be a great mother.” Her voice lightened as if she were taunting him when she said, “Half of me is as much a wild animal as Almora is.”
He gripped the steering wheel tighter. “I thought you said you won’t be having a panther cub.”
She groaned. “It will be years before Maeve will learn to shift. Probably,” she amended. “That’s not the point.” Her frustration with him was clear when she snapped, “You just don’t get it!”
He guessed he didn’t. Oddly enough, he wanted to. He wanted to know how her very complicated brain worked. How she felt about living in a human world. How she felt about the culture of corruption in which she’d been raised. He wanted to know everything there was to know about her. And he couldn’t say his interest was for Shade’s sake anymore. It was for his own. As Skye had reminded him, Shade was gone. He had to stop using his friend as an excuse. He had to decide for himself what he wanted from this woman who was Kindred rather than human.
And what he
was willing to tell her if he got her.
*
Nuala let Ethan take her home, but once he was gone, she disguised her pregnancy with a bit of glamour and sifted to The Ark. She wasn’t used to feeling out of her depths, so she was stepping back in where she knew the rules and how to play the game. Here she was sure of herself, could make anything happen the way she wanted.
Living a human life was damn hard work.
And then there was Ethan Grainger, making things more difficult in the name of taking care of her. What a way to foul up what had been a heartwarming and eye-opening night. She hated having doubts about her ability to deal with a new baby, but she would work it out. And in the meantime, she could take care of herself.
Without a whale to impress, she was at loose ends, so she made for Pop’s office, where she could hear his raised voice. He was arguing with someone. A security guard stopped her from going in.
“The boss said no more visitors till he’s done.”
“With what?”
“Max Haider.”
Nodding, she backed away from the door even while concentrating to catch the heated exchange between the men.
Pop was saying, “You need to work your way up the ranks like anyone else who is part of The Company.”
“I’m not like anyone else.”
“You’re also not part of this Kindred clan until you prove yourself.”
“I can prove myself, all right. Just watch me.”
With that, Haider burst out of Pop’s office and almost ran into Nuala, who said, “If you want to work your way up in this organization, you would do well to ingratiate yourself with the Lazares rather than fight with them.”
Haider’s dark mane of hair seemed to bristle at the advice. “Does that include you? Why don’t we talk about it over a drink? You can give me tips on good behavior.”
When he reached out as if to touch her, Nuala whipped her hand to the side so that his arm flew back from the gesture. “Your first tip. Don’t make assumptions.”
His laugh in response skittered up her spine.
“You’re a feisty one, but that was a puny attempt to control me. Maybe I should give you some tips.” He glanced at her stomach, which appeared flat. “After you deliver that baby you’re hiding.”
With that, he stormed off, leaving Nuala with the distinct impression that had been a veiled threat and Haider really was the danger that worried Nik.
She approached her father’s office again. This time, the security guard opened the door for her. Pop sat at his sea glass desk, using the embedded computer. Pop could bring up information on every Kindred’s earning and on every soul it contained. Pinpricks of light indicated not only the souls humans had lost in the high-roller room, but the original souls the Kindred had given up to become immortal, as well. She wondered which one had belonged to her.
Pop started when he realized she was standing there, staring at him. “Nuala, what are you doing here?”
“I thought you wanted me here.”
“I’ll always want you here. But you’re so close to your delivery… is that it?” He bounded to his feet. “Are you in labor?”
“No. I’m not due for a few days. I just wanted to see you. And Nik.”
“Ah. Nik. I’d like to see him, as well. Luc said he has you worried.”
“And Luc told me that Nik had words with Haider. How big of a problem is he?”
“Remains to be seen. I tried to find out why he left his own clan, but they weren’t talking. Obviously he was a problem to them.”
“And now Nik is missing.”
“I’m not worried about your brother.”
“You don’t have to worry about me either, Pop. You taught me well. Just because I don’t always use my powers doesn’t mean I forgot about them. But, right now, I would feel better if I knew what Nik was up to. No one knows how powerful Haider is.”
“Nik is smart. He’ll figure it out.”
Nuala hoped that was true. More than that, she hoped Haider wasn’t the threat she thought he might be.
Chapter Fifteen
Ethan slept like the dead but woke with a disturbing image in his mind—a black panther shifting into the Nuala he knew.
Unexpected.
Beguilingly nude.
All too real.
He had to stop thinking about it. Had to stop thinking about her. Otherwise he’d be walking around with a hard-on all day. He had a murder to solve and a busy morning planned. No time to work off his horniness this morning.
By the time he took another cold shower, shaved and dressed, and headed for the office, he’d somehow managed to put all his energies on his investigation.
Ethan and Isabeau set out for Alderman Alec Peterson’s ward office first thing. Peterson hadn’t been at the city council offices the day before, so they had a perfect excuse to visit him on his own turf.
“How do you know he’ll be there?” Isabeau asked.
“There’s no city council meeting this week. He’s on three standing committees, but none of them are meeting today.”
“So you’re taking a shot.”
“I’m taking a shot.”
“It would really help if one of those aldermen could have told us what all the contention with Booker was about,” Isabeau said, coming back to his visit to the city council offices.
“Couldn’t or wouldn’t. They put it off to politics as usual with Booker being in a less than cheerful mood.”
“Too bad the alderman who saw him arguing with Peterson couldn’t hear what they were saying. How are you going to approach this?”
“Carefully.”
“So you’re not going to use Moody?”
The light ahead was red. Ethan brought the car to a stop. “Haven’t decided yet.”
Grow some balls, Grainger.
She hadn’t said that aloud, but he’d heard every aggravating word. Maybe you’re the one who needs them!
Her immediate scathing glare could sear most men. Had she heard what he’d just thought? He was nearly certain she had. But if so, how?
“The light,” she said, turning away from him.
The traffic light had turned green and the driver in the car behind them was laying on his horn. As they crossed the intersection, the ward office came into view halfway down the block. He parked and Isabeau flew out of the car. She stood on the walk, arms crossed, expression now neutral, and waited for him to lead the way into the office.
Trying to put this newest Isabeau puzzle out of mind for the moment—he needed to be on top of this interview without distraction—Ethan stopped at the reception desk and flashed his identification and star at the woman behind the computer. “We’re here to see the alderman.”
She gave his identification a quick once over, then asked, “Is he expecting you?”
“Doubtful.”
She signaled them to wait as she picked up the phone and tapped in a number. “Alderman Peterson, a couple of detectives are here to see you.” She listened a second before nodding. “Go right on back.”
When they entered Peterson’s office, he was at a file cabinet, blond hair spilling over his forehead. No jacket or tie. The sleeves of his white shirt were rolled up to the elbows and the top button was undone.
Like he was ready to pose for a photo in case the press appeared—young alderman hard at work.
When Peterson turned to greet them, his eyebrows shot up over suddenly stormy-gray eyes. He quickly shifted his features to an expression of mild surprise. “Well, if it isn’t Ethan Grainger.”
“Detective Grainger.”
“Detective DeClercq,” Isabeau added.
Peterson warily eyed them as he took his seat behind his desk. “Detectives, what can I do for you?”
“We’re investigating Alderman Booker’s murder,” Ethan said, though he was certain Peterson already knew that.
“And how is that going?” he asked Isabeau directly.
“We’re making progress.”
Peterson gave her a thorough once-over before saying, “Sit.” And when they both took chairs across from him, he asked, “How can I help?”
Ethan pulled out his casebook and pen. “You weren’t at the city council offices yesterday.”
“I’m rarely there. Unless there’s a meeting, of course.”
“Right.” Ethan paged through the casebook to pick up where he left off and made a note. “You didn’t have any meetings yesterday.”
“You’re tracking me?” Peterson’s gaze was glued to the casebook.
“I was there. You weren’t. Kind of an obvious conclusion.”
His face flushing with irritation, Peterson asked, “What’s your point?”
“DeAndre Booker was an alderman. It only makes sense to talk to his colleagues. I’m following up.”
“I still don’t get it.”
“I understand you had… heated words with Booker a few days before he died.”
“Nothing unusual about that.”
“You and Booker frequently argued?” Isabeau asked.
“Aldermen have disagreements,” Peterson corrected her, his color rising.
Casebook open, Ethan held his pen poised as if he thought Peterson was going to give him the real skinny. “So what did this disagreement involve?”
“Street paving. Aldermen decide how to spend what we call ‘menu money’—which street, alley, sidewalk, streetlight or bike path projects to work on in our own wards. Booker wanted the Chicago Department of Transportation to take over and make those decisions for us.”
“And that’s what you were arguing about.”
“Disagreeing about. I already said so. Do you doubt my word?”
Of course Ethan did, not that he was going to say so. Yet. “It sounds like a budget dispute. Booker no doubt feared money was being wasted.” Or siphoned off by an alderman if menu money had been the real topic of the day. He made a note in his casebook.
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