by Layla Nash
“Your kind never does.” Nick smiled back and let the wolf show a little as well. Gold eyes met green, and the leprechaun laughed without humor.
The gold disappeared into the leprechaun’s pocket and he turned on his heel, taking the bottle of whiskey with him. Hugo elbowed his way through the crowd, blending in more than Nick expected him to, and soon enough the smoke and gyrating dancers closed around him and he was gone.
Nick flagged down another waitress to refill his drink, frowning as he watched the people moving through the bar. Lemmings and sheep, all of them, with no idea of the underworld that seethed around them every night. He wondered how the humans went through their short little lives without at least sensing the true magic in the world.
The wolf bristled and Nick sat up straighter as a semi-familiar scent drifted through the smoke to his little corner of the bar. One of the surviving BadCreek shitheads stood in the middle of the dance floor, a statue of rage in the middle of a swarm, and stared right after him. Nick didn’t react other than to sip more of the whiskey. No telling if the other shifter braved the city to find and kill Nick, or if he just really needed a night out.
Nick didn’t think the remaining BadCreek leadership would have let him out alone, so there were probably others roaming the city. The bears would want to know, but as soon as Nick called the bears, he’d have to explain why he’d set foot in one of the Russian bars. Kara wouldn’t like it. So he just leaned back in his chair and waited for the BadCreek wolf to make the next move. Nick had been itching for a fight, and he had a couple of hours to burn before his next appointment.
Chapter Three
Lacey
The fight lasted longer than I expected, but the result was the same as it had been for the last year: my opponent in a bloody heap on the slate floor, dragged away by Savannah and a few of the loyal cousins. Ulrika still lived as I turned my back to return to the throne. I didn’t want to be the one to kill her, even if I knew it was stupid to leave her alive. She would always present a challenge to me; she would always represent my weakness if she lived.
But I wasn’t my mother.
I picked up my phone and put my ringer back on, hiding the limp from one of Ulrika’s well-aimed bites. She was a pretty good fighter, all things considered. My opponents grew stronger, and I just got more tired. Savannah reappeared and followed me out of the audience hall and back toward my quarters. “Do you need anything?”
The halls cleared in front of me as rumor of the latest fight spread, so no one saw my bloody clothes. “Nah. I’m going to get cleaned up before I meet Eloise for a drink. I’ll be back late.”
“I’ll tell Tess and Roxy to get ready. They can—“
“I don’t need bodyguards,” I said, shoving open my door. I missed Cal’s apartment. It felt like home, while my alpha’s quarters were like a formal hotel. I couldn’t relax there. Maybe we could stay out long enough that staying over at Eloise’s apartment was an option. Better yet, maybe we could take the party back to Chase mansion, in the country and well beyond the prying eyes of my pack. Even with all the little kids running around, it would be more relaxing than home. “I’ll be fine.”
“Lacey,” she said, more abruptly than anyone spoke to me in months. Sav closed the door behind her and leaned back against it so no one would disturb us. Her eyes sparked gold as she looked at me, and she took a deep breath. “Do you have a death wish? What’s going on? You don’t need to be taking risks like this—fighting Ulrika just because, fighting the three more before her, walking around in bad parts of the city without bodyguards, infiltrating the woods around BadCreek alone... Your luck has to be running out.”
I tried to smile, kicking off my shoes and dragging the tattered sweater off. At least my undershirt wasn’t torn. I retrieved a glass of water from the kitchenette, not wanting to face her questions or the answers. “I’m fine, Sav.”
“You’re not,” she said. Savannah arched an imperious eyebrow at me. “Come on, Lacey. You’re been miserable since you became queen, but it’s getting worse. You never take bodyguards with you anywhere. What happens if you get killed? BadCreek has a bounty on your head, and we know there are lone wolves around looking for an easy payday.”
They’d warned me about that recently. Poor Savannah had the worst job in the cackle: my advisor and chief bodyguard, along with head of security and whatever else I needed. Personal chef some nights, and shoulder to cry on a few more times than I cared to remember. We’d grown up together, though her mother had been exiled to a different city by my mother after they fought for the throne. So Savannah hadn’t seen how bad it got at the end, before my mother died. Savannah was the only one I still trusted.
“I’ll be fine,” I repeated. “I’m just in a funk. It’s been a year since—you know.”
She straightened from her lean and took a couple steps toward me. “I know, and I’m sorry. I really wish you had a chance to just mourn and heal from everything, but you’re the best leader this pack has had in generations. We’re only now pulling out of the disaster your mother created. We need you alive and healthy and kicking wolf ass. We got another messenger from Evershaw today.”
Miles fucking Evershaw. My hyena growled at just the mention of his name. Arrogant prick. His wolf pack’s territory encroached on ours shortly after I became queen, and the whole year had been a fight to regain what we’d lost and teach the Evershaw family a lesson in taking what wasn’t theirs. We’d put our differences on hold to fight BadCreek, but my patience wore thin. “I’ll deal with him tomorrow. Tonight I just want to be a normal person.”
“You’re not a normal person,” she said. “If BadCreek gets you...”
I ran my hands through my hair and turned away. “They won’t. I’m going to take a shower and get out of here. Keep an eye out for more of Evershaw’s guys sniffing around here. I’ll bring it up at the Alphas Council next week, but I’d rather have footage of them breaking the truce than just accuse him of the misdemeanor.”
Savannah didn’t look happy about it, but she left and closed the door behind herself without another word. Sometimes being queen had its perks.
It took me an hour to look presentable enough to walk into the fancy cocktail bar that Eloise chose, and even then I didn’t feel comfortable enough to smile as I passed through the standing-room-only waiting area. Eloise could use her husband’s name to get a reservation and a table at any location in the city, and she didn’t mind using it. She’d been a poor kid long enough that she liked the perks of a loaded husband. She loved him, too, though for the life of me I couldn’t understand why.
She already had a table near a window in the bar, which was the top floor of one of the fanciest buildings in the entire city, so we could see all the sparkling lights and people below. Eloise got up to hug me as I approached, her dark hair braided back, but she looked flustered despite the half-finished glass of wine on the table.
She signaled the waiter before I even had a chance to sit down, and rattled off a list of appetizers and drinks that I could hardly keep track of. Eloise sighed and hopped back into her tall chair. “Thank God. I’m starving and I didn’t want to order a second drink until you got here. How are you? Did you run into trouble on the way here?”
“Why?” I glanced at the menu but didn’t see any of it, putting it aside after a long moment. “Do I look that bad?”
“Of course not.” El rolled her eyes, though she gestured at my clothes. “You’re late and a little rumpled, that’s all. And your arm is bleeding.”
Damn. I frowned and pressed a napkin against the cut on my forearm; it was deeper than I expected, but it would heal up quickly enough. It should have healed already. “Huh. Thanks. Didn’t see that one. I had a challenger before you called, so I took care of that before I headed this way.”
“Another challenger?” Her lips pursed and she clicked manicured nails on the table. “You’ve got to be shitting me. When will they figure out that you’re not going anywhere? That’s
the—what? Third one in two months?”
“Something like that.” I glanced up as the waiter arrived with a tray full of at least ten drinks, unloading them one by one as he looked at Eloise and me. I didn’t smile as I picked up the least froufrou drink and raised it to toast him. “Just got out of rehab and thought we’d celebrate. Keep ‘em coming.”
He snorted but was too well-trained to fall for it. “Of course. In that case, this round is on the house.”
That was enough to make me laugh. He nodded at the menu. “Anything else you’d like?”
“I think this will tide us over,” I said. “As least until she needs to eat the rest of the menu.”
The waiter disappeared as Eloise gave me a dirty look, and she leaned over to flick the end of my nose. “I’m serious, and I’m not going to forget what we were talking about, regardless of how much you flirt with the waiter.”
“I wasn’t flirting.” Just the thought left me cold. Even though the kid was good-looking enough that no one would judge me for taking him home, I hadn’t even kissed a man since losing Cal. “And you know it.”
“I keep forgetting your idea of flirting is knocking him over the head with a tree branch and dragging him back to your cave.” Eloise finished off a chocolate martini and reached for some kind of piña colada. “Speaking of flirting, have you been over to see the bears recently? We haven’t heard much from them since all the babies started arriving.”
I handed her the rest of what turned out to be a coconut vodka-something, and picked up what I hoped was a regular old rum and coke. “If you want to ask me something, ask me.”
She’d never been good at being subtle. Not the medusa side of her, anyway. Eloise’s eyes flashed silver. “Why are you so irritated? Am I imposing on your time?”
My teeth set on edge and I wanted to bark at her like I’d have done with my hyenas. But Eloise was my oldest—my only—friend, and she deserved better. I deflated and leaned my elbows on the table, covering my face. It was becoming harder and harder to drop the hyena queen persona that got me through the day, and settle back into my true self. I had to clear my throat a couple of times before I trusted myself to speak without my voice breaking. “I’m sorry. I just—it’s getting to me.”
“I know.” Eloise squeezed my arm. Her expression softened when I dared face her again. “You’re different, babe. I’m worried about you.”
“It’s fine. I’ll be fine.” It felt like I spent most of my time reassuring other people that everything was okay. “It’s just this time of year and Cal and everything. I’m tired.”
Eloise leaned back long enough for the waiter to deliver food and more drinks, then reached back across the table for me. Her silver eyes held more worry than I’d seen in a long time. “Can you abdicate? Just walk away, Lacey. It’s not worth the rest of your life being miserable. You don’t owe them anything.”
She was right and wrong at the same time. I shook my head and picked at a fancy piece of toast with weird salsa on top. “They’re my family, and I have to fix all the things my mother screwed up. Once things are working better and there’s not so much turmoil, I can walk away and leave it to someone else.”
“It’s been a year,” she said quietly. “And you look like you’re at least five years older. I haven’t seen you in weeks, you look exhausted and miserable, and even the wolves are noticing.”
Just wonderful. The last thing I needed was the other alphas in the city gossiping about whether I could hold my pack together. “Can we talk about something else? I thought you needed a night out away from the kids. Some fun.”
Eloise ran her finger around the rim of her glass, making the crystal ring in a pure tone. “Well, yeah. But you’re my friend and I’m worried about you. This is more important.”
I forced myself to smile, holding up my glass. “Well. I would really like to get hammered tonight, eat a bunch of deep-fried and chocolate-covered food, and talk about things that don’t really matter. That would make me feel a hell of a lot better about life. How about you, friend?”
“Sounds like a plan.” She started to grin and a few stray pieces of her wild medusa hair worked free from her braid and floated around her face. “Cheers.”
“Cheers.” I clinked my glass to hers and reached for another. Maybe if I drank enough, I’d at least be able to sleep that night.
Chapter Four
Nick
The BadCreek enforcer didn’t make a move, but neither did Nick. He waited and drank, and ignored the efforts of a handful of women to get his name, his drink, or his phone number. He should have used some of his professional disguises to ugly up his mug a little before going out, but hadn’t wanted to scare Hugo off. The leprechaun was cagey on his best days, and throwing in even a light disguise would have sent him running for the exit.
When Nick finally got ready to move on to his next appointment, judging the time by squinting at his watch through the strobe lights and a haze of whiskey, he looked over at the bar’s owner and caught his eye before looking back at the BadCreek enforcer. Nick tilted his head and tapped the side of his nose, throwing back his drink before he got to his feet and started walking. The BadCreek wolf’s eyes blazed gold as if he sensed the hunt about to start, but before he got more than two steps, the meathead bouncers—also Russian mobsters—surrounded him and dragged him away.
Nick smiled to himself as he cut through the dance floor and the smoky air, breathing a little easier when he reached the humid night air. He didn’t mind making a little trouble for BadCreek. There were still innocents within those compound walls, and Nick wouldn’t leave them behind any more than he’d leave Smith in the Betwixt. But that took a finer touch than sending Hugo on a rampage into a different plane.
He ducked into the street and casually lit a thin cigar, concentrating on it while he took the opportunity to study his surroundings. He didn’t move until he was certain no one lurked within view, then strolled down the sidewalk past the long line of people waiting to get into the bar. Sheep, all of them. Just because some minor celebrity in the city mentioned the bar as a place to get imported vodka and dance the night away, ever asshole investment banker and plastic-surgery enhanced cheerleader needed to be seen there. The only true entertainment was watching the Russian mobsters try to process their sudden, legitimate success.
Nick meandered through the dark city streets, farther and farther from the crowds in the popular restaurant district, and waited for the rest of BadCreek to pop out and attack. They hadn’t tried to kill him in the last week, so he was about due for a confrontation. They believed him a traitor and a spy, so perhaps he deserved it. He’d been paid to infiltrate their organization, gain the trust of the leader, identify his financiers, and then take all of it apart from the inside. Nick thought Smith had been the one to hire him, but all of it remained somewhat clouded. Nick received his orders via a triple secure messaging system, so there was always plausible deniability for everyone involved. So BadCreek had their reasons for wanting him dead.
The job wasn’t done yet, and that irked the shit out of Nick. Sure, he’d almost been tortured to death and couldn’t actually finish the job the way he wanted, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t still create the same outcome. Smith took care of the first BadCreek alpha, and the financier, Markus Keller, fled to Europe somewhere. The bastard probably thought he was safe, but Nick knew his way around the Continent and was just biding his time, waiting for Keller to get sloppy. Men like him always did.
A few shadows moved across the street. Nick didn’t look over but used fishing in his pocket for the lighter as a cover for sliding a wicked knife out of its sheath. Just in case. He couldn’t shift to his wolf form in the middle of the city, not unless he planned to keep on running. The alphas in the city wouldn’t look too kindly on him outing them to the human inhabitants.
Nick didn’t give a shit what any of them thought—Nick worked alone, he traveled alone, he lived alone. He didn’t need anyone else. He was happi
er without having to deal with bullshit politics and packs, and worrying about everyone else’s feelings, or checking in with other people about where he’d gone. Sometimes a wolf just wanted to run. Nick didn’t need a pack, and he didn’t want anyone relying on him. But Kara...
He shook his head and nearly bit the end off of his cigar. He loved his sister, but she’d fallen in love with one of those damn bears and wanted to be part of a community. Kara had had a rough time escaping from BadCreek, which Nick knew was entirely his fault, so he owed her the best possible life going forward. He’d do anything for her. Even if that meant sticking around with a bunch of shifters who wore on his very last nerve.
The only bear Nick could stand to be around for very long was Kara’s mate, Owen, and that was only because the kid was just as scarred and fucked up as Nick. Of course, Nick also wanted to beat the shit out of the kid because he was sleeping with Nick’s sister. The way Owen looked at her—dazed with love but hungry for something else entirely—set the wolf to “murder everyone” mode regardless of whether Kara instigated or encouraged the young bear. There were just some things an older brother shouldn’t have to witness.
Nick tapped the end of his cigar and turned into a side alley far away from the bustle of the happy-go-lucky humans, letting his wolf’s superior vision cut through the darkness to look for any new threats. Only a hint of sandalwood drifted from the narrow door in the very back of the alley, leading into the basement of a building that should have been condemned at least a decade earlier. He hated dead-ends. He hated them more when they had sorcerers living underneath them.
The sorcerer opened the door before Nick even raised his fist to knock, and eyed the cigar before he stepped back. “Put that out.”
Nick didn’t remember the prick being so bossy. Still, Nick flicked the ash off his cigar and put it back in his pocket before he ducked under the heavy doorframe. “Good to see you, too.”