by Deanna Chase
“Con artist.” I grabbed him a beef treat. He gobbled it down and waited for more. “Not on your life, you little moocher.”
“He doesn’t look like he believes you, Phoebe,” Iris said, her eyes glowing with amusement as she watched Link.
“No, he doesn’t. He’s a spoiled little bastard.” I smiled. Link and I had gotten off to a rocky start when he’d been a puppy. The little jerk had developed a taste for my shoes. The expensive ones. And oddly enough, he’d never gone after Willow’s. I was just lucky like that. But he’d redeemed himself many times over by being my backup on risky assignments. Despite his sweet fluffy-puppy persona, he was a badass wolf who’d taken down his share of vampires.
I grabbed three Mocha in Motions and brought them to the table. The drink was made by Willow, who was an earth fairy and quite talented when it came to creating magically enhanced foods and beverages. This one boosted one’s energy levels. And it was safe. It wore off after a few hours and never caused anyone to go insane.
Before I sat down, I grabbed a tray of mundane muffins and put them in the middle of the table. Then I removed the wig and the false eyelashes. If I was going to convince this woman to help us, I needed to gain her trust, let her see me and not the disguise that turned me into something I wasn’t.
Once I was seated, I turned to Iris. “Do you know why we were at the strip club tonight?”
“To watch the show?” she asked, tearing off a piece of a muffin.
Leo had tipped the Mocha in Motion to his lips and nearly choked at her words. “Phoebe?” he wheezed out. “Hang out at a strip club? Yeah, sure.”
Beneath the table, I kicked out, jamming my pointed stiletto into his shin.
“Ouch! Son of a bitch,” he muttered as he leaned down to rub his leg.
“Don’t mind him,” I said to Iris. “He thinks I have one foot in the grave and am entirely too uptight to go to a show.”
“Aren’t you though?” Leo asked, then shifted to the side to avoid another blow to his shin.
“You’d be surprised who shows up at that place,” Iris said with a matter-of-fact shrug. “It’s no big deal.”
“It is if Phoebe is there.” Leo bit into a muffin.
I rolled my eyes. He was right though. The only time I ever stepped into one of the clubs was when I was tracking a vampire or, in this instance, running down a lead on a case. The only one I wanted to watch strip these days was Dax. I shoved my hand into my pocket, pulled out the small package Luscious had dropped in my lap, and tossed it in the middle of the table.
Iris’s mouth dropped open, and her eyes widened in shock. Silence filled the room as I let her take in the information.
Finally, she grabbed the small package, inspected it, then cleared her throat and asked, “How did you get this?”
I sat back in my chair, resting one hand on the table. “I bought it.”
“Why?” Her eyes were narrowed and swimming with suspicion.
“Because we need to test it for toxins,” Leo said, his tone clipped with impatience.
“Toxins? What?” Her head bobbed back and forth between us. “What do you mean, toxins?”
I leaned forward, staring her in the eye. “I’ll tell you if you tell me everything you know about Strix’s operation.”
“I don’t…” She closed her mouth and shook her head.
Leo pinned her with a stare. “You don’t what? Don’t know anything or don’t want to say?”
She turned to me, her expression alarmed. “Am I in trouble here?”
I shook my head. “No. But if you withhold information, you could be.” My statement was mostly a lie. Unless it was proven she was involved with the illegal trafficking of the drug, no one was going to care what a stripper knew. And while I had no interest in scaring her, time was running out. If she had the information I needed, I was going to get it one way or another.
“I’m not interested in protecting Strix,” she said, venom suddenly dripping from her lips. “You did see how he treated me, didn’t you?”
“I did,” I said with a nod. “That’s why I was hoping you’d be interested in helping us. I promise whatever you say will be confidential. There’s no reason for him to know you were our informant.”
“Can I get that in writing?” she asked.
I let out a huff of laughter. She was something else. “Yes, but are you sure you want that? Paper trails never seem to stay hidden in this town. Not in the information age.”
Iris studied me for a moment, then nodded. “Fair point. I just don’t want to end up in a cell somewhere because I dated a jackass.”
“There’s no chance of that if you give me what I need,” I said with sincerity. “I take care of my own. You can bet on that.”
She blew out a breath. “Okay then. I’ll tell you what I know, but it isn’t much. Strix is manipulative, secretive, and paranoid. Trust doesn’t come easily with him.”
“But he trusts you.”
“As much as someone like him can, I guess,” she said with a shrug. “When we first started dating, I realized he was dealing Scarlet because I saw a large stash at his house along with a pile of money. He told me he only deals to vampires.”
I cocked an eyebrow and tilted my head toward the stash now back in the middle of the table. “Obviously that isn’t true. I was able to get this today without any trouble at all.”
“The stuff Rhea”—Leo’s voice broke as he said Rhea’s name—“OD’d on, she got from Strix.”
“That’s why you tried to tear his head off at Peaches.” Iris pressed her hand to her throat as tears filled her eyes. “One of the other girls told me about it.”
“Yeah,” he said, steel in his gaze. “I would’ve too if Dax hadn’t been there.”
Or gotten himself killed, I thought. I was certain Leo would’ve inflicted some serious damage on the vampire, but if Dax hadn’t been there, the chances that Leo would’ve survived were very slim.
“That son of a bitch,” she said, choking on the words. “Rhea was my friend too.” Her eyes flashed with pure venom. “He knows he isn’t supposed to be dealing to anyone but vampires. I swear on my life I didn’t know. I never would’ve…” She wiped the tears from her cheeks. “I would’ve never been party to that.”
“I believe you,” I said, even as I wondered how she’d been blind to Luscious’s involvement in the scheme. Iris’s anger was too authentic. The dancer wasn’t that good of an actress. “The question is, what are you prepared to do about it?”
“Sorry?” she asked, gazing up at me in confusion.
If I was going to track down Strix and infiltrate his operation and find out who he was working for, I needed someone on the inside. Who better than the woman Strix was still hung up on? “If I’m right and this stash of Scarlet turns out to be laced with toxins, that means Strix is one of the keys to getting to the bottom of this attack on the shifter population.” I held her gaze, imploring her to understand how important she was to this operation. “Can we count on you to help us?”
She blinked rapidly. “Count on me to do what?”
Leo grabbed a muffin and leaned back in the chair. “We need you to lead us to Strix.”
I sent him a pleased smile. He was acting like an old pro and had stepped in so seamlessly it was obvious Dax had already started his training to be an agent. My partner had probably been prepping him ever since Leo had played a large role in helping us take down the bastards who’d abducted Pandora last month. The Void would be lucky to get him.
Iris stood and started to pace, mumbling to herself something about being really stupid.
“Iris,” I said gently, doing everything I could to hide my frustration with the fact that she seemed to be blaming herself. “Nothing Strix has done is your fault. Please don’t beat yourself up about this. His actions are his own.”
She froze midstep, then turned to stare at me, her expression incredulous. “My fault? Ha! Of course it isn’t my fault. Strix is a jackass of the
highest order. I’m frustrated because no matter how hard I try, I can’t for the life of me remember where his house is.”
I frowned. “What do you mean you can’t remember? Did you not spend very much time there or something?”
“No. We were there all the time.” She held both hands in the air, palms up. “I just have zero memory of actually going there. Or leaving, for that matter. I can tell you exactly what the house looks like, how each room is decorated, and even the pattern of his stupid dishes. I just have no recollection of how to get there or even where it is.”
Leo eyed her, his brows furrowed. “Then how did you ever manage to get there?”
“He always picked me up.”
“Interesting,” I said, nodding. “So what did he bring you? Cookies? Chocolate? Lattes?”
“Chocolate caramels actually. How did you know that?”
“It’s obvious your memory has been wiped,” I said, moving to Willow’s cabinet and rummaging around for her peanut butter memory bars. Once I found what I was looking for, I returned to the table and sat down. I put the three bars Willow had left in the cupboard in front of her. “He needed to get you to ingest something to make it happen. All he had to do was get the herb into you, then tell you what to forget. It works like a charm every time… unless you have something to block the active ingredient.” I waved at the memory-enhancer bars.
Iris picked one up and inspected it. But then she tossed it back onto the middle of the table. “It’s a moot point now. Strix and I aren’t together. He’s not going to come pick me up if I’m still giving him the cold shoulder.”
“So stop giving him the cold shoulder,” I said. “Arm yourself with the memory bar, head out there, and report back to us after you know the location. We’ll take it from there.”
She stared up at me with hard eyes. “You’re asking me to act like I want to get back together with him.”
“Yes,” I said, completely unapologetic. Strix was a danger to the entire shifter population. I knew in my gut he was the reason Rhea was dead. And there was no disputing he was responsible for Dax’s current predicament. There was no time for coddling. The sooner we learned who Strix’s supplier was, the sooner we could bring them down.
I could go undercover and track him, but I already knew from experience that wouldn’t be easy. He’d find ways to evade me, and even though I was certain that I would eventually achieve my goal, sending Iris in would be a hell of a lot faster.
“Is that all?” she asked.
“If that’s all you’re willing to do, then I can work with that. But if you can find out his supplier, that’s the ultimate goal.”
She was silent for a few beats. Then she crossed her arms over her chest, raised her chin, and said, “I’ll do it.”
17
“Are you sure you don’t want backup?” I asked Iris. We were sitting in front of her house in the Charger. She was getting ready to call Strix and tell him she was ready to talk.
“Who would that be? Leo?” she asked as she glanced into the back seat where Leo had one arm draped along the back of the seat and appeared to be completely relaxed. I knew better. There was a slight vibration rolling off him, indicating that he was ready to leap at the first hint of an altercation.
“No. Not Leo,” I said. “I’d call in someone who isn’t emotionally attached to this case.”
Leo let out a huff but didn’t say anything.
“I really don’t think it’s a good idea,” Iris said. “Strix is super paranoid about people following him. If there’s even a hint of a tail, he might not even take me back to his place. It’s better if I go alone. Strix is an ass, but he’s never made me feel unsafe, and he’s certainly never hurt me… physically anyway. That’s not his style. He’s more apt to try to make me jealous by sleeping with half of New Orleans instead. As long as he isn’t aware his memory spell isn’t working, I’m sure I’ll be fine.”
“He sounds like a real prize,” Leo said from the back seat.
“Yeah, he hid his infidelity well. It was almost a year before I found out about his extracurricular activities.” She opened the car door, and just before she hopped out, she added, “I’ll call you when I get back home.”
“It doesn’t matter what time,” I said. “And, Iris, please, just be careful. If anything feels off, you don’t need to go through with this. We’ll find a way.”
“Don’t worry. I’ve got this.” She slammed the door.
I hated that she was going undercover for us without an agent to keep an eye on her. Though maybe… I glanced down at the ring on my left pinky. The silver band was part of the collection of jewelry that had been handed down through my grandmother. I could spell it and use it to track her later if there was a problem.
I jumped out of the car and said, “Wait a minute.”
“Phoebe, really. I can handle Strix.”
So naïve, I thought. Certainly she probably did have some sway over him considering they’d dated for at least a year, but if she pissed him off enough, there was no telling what the vampire might do. “I just want to bake in a layer of protection.”
“How?” she asked, both hands on her hips.
“With this.” I held up the ring, then whispered, “Vestigium.” The ring glowed with my bright magic for a moment, then dulled back to its silver finish. “Wear this, and if you’re gone for too long, I can track you.”
She didn’t reach out and take it. Instead, she tilted her head to the side and said, “You don’t trust me.”
Oh for the love of… “Of course I trust you. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t be asking you to do this. The ring is just an added layer of protection should anything go wrong. Normally I would never send anyone out on a mission by themselves without backup. Don’t you understand? This is in case the worst happens.”
The suspicion drained from her expression and was replaced by surprise and something that looked a lot like fear. Good, she was finally understanding that this mission could be dangerous. She held her hand out, and I slipped the ring on her pinky finger. It fit perfectly, as if it were made for her.
“It’s warm,” she said.
I nodded. “It’s the magic. If you feel it heating up, you’ll know I’m tracking you. Got it?”
“Got it.” She nodded solemnly.
“Are you still okay?” I asked her. “You don’t have to do this tonight if you don’t want to. You could sleep on it, make sure—”
“I’m doing it tonight,” she said. “Shifter’s lives are on the line, right?”
I nodded. Besides Dax, who knew who else was infected with the toxin? The sooner we figured out who was responsible for the drug, the safer the entire city would be.
“Okay then,” she said with a determined nod. “Tonight it is. I’ll tell Strix to come get me, and then I’ll call you in the morning.”
“If I don’t hear from you by noon, I’ll invoke the tracking spell.”
“Sounds good.” She turned and disappeared into the shadows of the night as she headed toward her darkened house.
I returned to the car and tried to ignore the nagging ache in the pit of my stomach. As I cranked the engine, Leo slipped into the front seat.
He took one look at me and asked, “What’s wrong?”
I shook my head. “I don’t know. Something’s off, but I don’t know what.”
He glanced over at the shotgun double he and Dax shared with Iris. “Do you think it was a mistake to send her into Strix’s world without any backup?”
“Probably,” I said with a sigh. “But I’m not sure we had a choice. She wasn’t going to agree to a tail, and to be honest, I’m not convinced it would’ve been the best move anyway. Vamps are notoriously hard to track. If it was easy, I wouldn’t have a job.” I put the Charger in gear and pulled away from the curb. “I’m not even sure that’s what’s nagging me,” I added as I turned onto Magazine Street. “It’s just a feeling that something is going to go down and there’s nothing I can do to stop
it.”
“Well,” Leo said, eyeing me. “If shit is gonna go down, I can’t think of anyone else I’d rather be riding shotgun with.”
I glanced over at him, slightly amused. “If you keep that attitude, you’re going to make a damned fine agent one day.”
He didn’t respond, but as he leaned back in the seat, a small smile tugged at his lips.
I followed Leo back into the lab at the Void. The moment we stepped into the room, Dax, Talisen, and Imogen started talking at the same time. Harrison sat in a metal chair with his feet up on a desk.
“Whoa,” I said. “Us first.”
The three quieted down, and I handed the small package of drugs to Talisen. “We managed to score this off Strix.”
“You saw that bastard?” Dax growled. He was leaning against the counter, his arms crossed over his chest. “I hope you stuck your stiletto where the sun doesn’t shine.”
I let out a bark of laughter. “Believe me when I say I’d have loved to. Instead, I’ve got someone tracking down his home residence. With any luck, we’ll have it by morning, then we can storm the castle, find out who his supplier is, and bring him in for selling illegal substances.”
“Really?” Dax asked. “Who?”
“Your neighbor, Iris,” Leo said. “She’s his ex, and he keeps sniffing around, trying to get back with her.”
I quickly explained the memory-spell issue and did my best to allay their fears when all of them expressed concern about her walking right into the lion’s den. “Guys, she’s his ex. She knows him better than any of us. Since she was more than confident that she’d be safe, I had to take her word for it. Now, can we get back on track? We have this product to test, and I assume, since you’re back, that we have shifters to question.”
“Right.” Imogen grabbed the Scarlet from Talisen. “I’ll run a quick test to see if it’s tainted with the toxin.”