by Olivia Arran
My lips curled in a smirk. “You could try.”
“Get on with it.” The order was accompanied with a wave of his hand, the leader of the Shifter Council making an appearance.
“Just don’t resist me.” I was pretty sure I could smash through his defenses if I really tried, but it’d be a hell of a lot easier and less painful for him if I didn’t have to.
At his nod, I unfurled a tendril of my power, my wolf riding on the air to circle him, reaching out and testing his defenses.
No counter attack. But a deep furrow had formed in his brow as a trickle of sweat rolled down his temple. “Hurry up. It’s damn hard holding my wolf back from attacking you.”
My power snapped out, surging into him and digging deep. “Do you know about the missing shifters?”
His back arched as I thrust more power into him to drag the answer from his soul. “Yes.”
Exhilaration and disappointment filled me. I’d been wrong about him. Dammit! “Where are they?”
“I don’t know. I’ve been looking for them since the second woman was taken, but I haven’t found them yet.”
I grabbed him by the throat, my wolf threatening to burst from my skin as I punched him with more power. “Where are they?”
“I don’t know.”
His words hummed inside of me, ringing with truth. He really didn’t know. I released his throat. For a second I’d thought I’d found them… I was about to rein in my power when a thought crossed my mind. “Do you want Grace for your own?”
“No, I already—” His power snapped out at mine, breaking my hold. “That’s enough, you have the answers you need,” he growled, his eyes flashing silver.
I stepped away, giving him space to calm down. Yeah, I was an asshole, but he’d asked for it by winding me up earlier. “I need to look at the Shifter Council records. All of them.”
“Who the hell are you? Who are you working for?”
I had to give it to him. I’d just put him through the equivalent of twelve rounds in the ring and he was still going strong. “The American Shifter Council.”
“They know about all this?”
“Damn straight they do.”
“Fucking hell.” He scowled, rubbing his hand over his face.
“If you knew about it, why didn’t you ask for help?”
“I was trying to handle it. I’m trying to change things around here, and to do it I need the support of the leading families. I thought I could deal with it discreetly.”
“Discreetly? Let them off with a slap on the hand?” My voice was coated in fury.
“No. Punishment will be handed out and whoever is responsible will stand trial before the Shifter Council.”
“Before their friends, you mean.”
“Vincent, I don’t expect you to understand as you’ve been away for so long. Things have to change around here, but I can’t do it by ripping the fabric of our society to pieces. It has to be gradual, subtle, so they don’t even notice until it’s too late. Their greed and complacency means that we now have packs that don’t function as they should. We have shifters who have turned their back on their nature.”
“But you’re backing arranged matings.”
“For this generation, because they’ve already lost their way. We need new blood, children to teach and shape in the old ways.”
“I think you’re wrong.”
He sighed, the sound long and heartfelt. “I wish I were.”
“You need to give everyone the choice and not make it for them. They might surprise you.”
“Like you have? She’s your true mate, isn’t she?” He read the answer in my face. “Congratulations.” He paused, his eyes lost in thought. “I’ll think about what you’ve said. Now, who can vouch for you?”
I gave him Macey’s name and turned my back as he placed the call. When the receiver clattered back down I turned to face him.
“She wasn’t too impressed at being woken up in the middle of her night,” he stated, before adding, “but she verified her credentials and vouched for you.” He let out a low whistle. “You’ve been busy since leaving home. Freelance Undercover Resolutions?”
“It pays the bills.”
“Probably a lot of fun too.” We grinned at each other, both on the same page.
“So what do you want to see first?” He tugged open a drawer on the nearest filing cabinet, revealing a tightly packed sea of manila files.
“No computer?”
He let out a low chuckle at my pained expression. “They do things the old-fashioned way around here. Something else I’m looking to change.”
“Financials. Everything filed with the Shifter Council from each family. I take it that they still claim tax deductions for charity purposes?” Each shifter donated a percentage of their wealth yearly into the Council’s pot, and most put it down as charitable donations.
“Yep.” He closed the drawer and walked back to his desk. “I have the ledger here.” He slammed a large book down on the solid desk.
“And is there any way of cross referencing those records with the extra-curricular business the Council has going on?”
He paused, a frown furrowing his brow. “You think there’s a connection?”
“Call it a hunch.” Somewhere, hidden in all this paper, someone had made a mistake.
And I was going to find it.
Fifteen hours later my eyes felt like they were bleeding and the headache from hell was tap dancing like a baby T. rex inside my skull. Numbers and names swam and jumped on the page, blurring into garbled nonsense.
The only saving grace was that I’d scanned every page into my phone as we’d trawled through them.
Scrolling through my cell I found the only person who could help me and hit send. My teammate, Greg—a technology whiz with an eye for numbers. If anyone could find the missing link in this mess, it would be him.
Pausing, phone still in hand, I checked the time. She’d still be up. Dialing Grace’s number, I slipped out of the room.
“Hello?” She sounded hesitant, like she wasn’t sure she should be answering.
“Grace, it’s Vin. You said I could call…” An awkward silence, then the sound of rustling sheets came over the line. “Shit, did I wake you?”
“No! I...I was just thinking about you— Oh. Wow. I can’t believe I just said that!” She sounded mortified, her groan echoing over the line.
“I was just thinking about you too,” I blurted out, praying that she didn’t hang up.
“You were?”
I settled onto the step, as everything faded away and my headache vanished instantly.
Two hours and twenty-seven minutes later I hit the end button. My ass was numb, my back ached, and my headache was returning, but for the first time in ages I felt like everything might actually be okay.
Chapter Nineteen
Vin
“Your phone’s beeping.”
Something hit my shoulder and I rolled over, pushing it away.
“Vincent—”
“Vin,” I corrected, my voice thick with sleep. I was in the middle of a dream I didn’t want to leave. Grace danced around me in the shortest skirt I’d ever seen, the fabric lifting and floating around her thighs as she twirled, her head thrown back with joy as she laughed—
“Vin! Your phone!”
Cold metal whacked me on the cheek. Repeatedly.
Shit. I was still at Corbin’s house. I dragged myself to sitting, grabbing the phone out of mid-air just before he whacked me again. “Okay, hang on a second.” I scrolled through Greg’s e-mail.
“Dear Douchebag,
Thank you for dropping this on my lap, like my life isn’t busy enough already…”
Blah, blah, blah. Scrolling.
“…As interesting as the British shifters appear to be (and OMG, wow! Seriously, man! Some of the stuff they spend their money on, like…”
Blah, blah, blah. More scrolling. Get to the fucking point, Greg! I slowed down. Now tha
t was interesting.
“…Money links to a company that is really a front for a research and development company. It looks like it’s a branch of the government. A bit more time and I can drill down and get you verified information on which branch. The weird thing? The money is being sent to them, not being paid out. Totally screwy, if you ask me…”
“…Nothing to connect the export business, everything looks above board…”
I carried on scrolling, this time scanning every word. My finger froze on the tiny screen as a name in capital letters jumped out at me.
“What is it?”
Corbin’s voice jolted me out of my daze. I held the phone out to him to read.
“Fucking hell.”
“Exactly.”
What the fuck did I do now?
I glanced back at the screen, hoping I’d gotten it wrong. Nope, still there.
“SIDNEY ARCHIBALD FIRBRIGHT SR.”
No way was I telling Grace until I was one hundred percent sure. Maybe even not until I had a confession written in blood. There was only one thing for it. First, I was going to see Astrid. And then I was paying Sidney a little visit.
Chapter Twenty
Grace
For the first time ever that I could recall, Astrid’s shop door opened and a customer walked out.
My feet ground to a halt as I stared in disbelief. Even at this distance there was no mistaking his tall, muscular frame, the assured set of his shoulders, and his shock of dark hair.
What the hell was Vin doing at Astrid’s shop?
The thought had barely crossed my mind before I was flinging myself into a darkened doorway, my heart thudding out of control. Why the hell had I just done that? Peering out, I yanked my head back in just in time as his head whipped around.
Ignoring the hammering in my chest, I peeked back out. He was moving off up the street, his long legs carrying him away from me.
Why was I hiding from him? Feeling like the biggest idiot, I slipped out of my hiding place and set off after him. Deciding that two seconds wasn’t going to hurt, I stuck my head into Astrid’s shop.
My friend looked up from behind the till, her lips curving in a welcoming smile. “Grace! I was just thinking about you.”
“Hey, Astrid. The guy that was just—”
“You’ve got a message.” She hurried forward, thrusting a note into my hand. “Just been dropped off, actually.” Her face was the picture of innocence as she inadvertently turned my world upside down. Then her smile widened, a flicker of mischief lighting her eyes. “If you hurry, you might catch up with him.”
My feet were moving before I’d had chance to thank her, the door slamming shut behind me. Racing up the street, I skidded to a halt on Knightsbridge, swallowed up in a sea of pedestrians. Where is he? I hopped up and down, craning my neck. There! Vin’s dark head bobbed above the crowd, less than five hundred feet away from me. Darting forward, I kept him in my line of sight and pulled the note from where I had stuffed it in my pocket.
I stumbled to a standstill.
“Hey! Watch where you’re going!” a man snapped as he sidestepped around me.
I mumbled an apology, or at least I thought I did.
My contact has a suspect.
My contact who is a highly trained operative, sent by the American Shifter Council.
Vin is my contact.
My Vin.
Who is right at this minute probably going to interrogate this suspect…
I sprang into action, surging forward in a desperate attempt to catch up. Where is he? There! He turned down a side street. Muttering apologies, I elbowed my way through the sea of determined shoppers until I reached the other side. If I was right, and Vin was my contact… I went back over the events of the last couple of days, re-examining Vin’s motives in detail. Shame washed over me as I remembered passing judgment on him. How I’d lumped him in with the rest of his friends without knowing the first thing about him. How was I supposed to know that he wasn’t really the man he was pretending to be?
But I’d known—deep down inside I must have. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have fallen for the guy.
Wait, what? Fallen for him? I couldn’t have. Yeah, he was hot as hell, but I’d only known him a few days… And it wasn’t as if we were true mates, or anything. But a quick examination of my heart confirmed it. Somehow, he’d managed to slide his way in there when I wasn’t looking, with his straightforward take-no-prisoners approach and panty-melting smirk. Not to mention his empathy, the way he listened and understood exactly what I was trying to say, even when I didn’t understand what the hell I was thinking. And that was before I’d found out who he really was: the kind of guy who could be counted on to do what needed to be done, to confront the problems most people would dismiss as not being their problem. A defender for the weak.
That train of thought had my hands flying to my mouth to stifle a derisive snort of laughter. Trust me to elevate the guy to white-knight status and put him up on a pedestal! I comforted myself with the fact that it was probably a knee-jerk reaction to finding out that not only had he deceived me, I now didn’t know which parts of his act had been just that—an act. I was confused, that was it. Did he really want me? Had I just been a part of his cover?
Jeez! Not everything’s all about you, Grace! Giving my head a quick shake to clear it of the wallowing self-pity that threatened to take hold, I slipped onto the side street, following Vin’s path.
I searched the street, my pulse speeding in panic. Dammit, where is he?
Squinting, I spotted a dark head turning the corner at the far end.
I sped up to a jog, noting his direction for the first time. Where is he going?
A hand grabbed me around the waist, another slipping over my mouth as I was propelled sideways into a darkened doorway.
My scream a muffled hiss, I bit down into my attacker’s fleshy palm, grabbing his wrist and twisting. He didn’t move.
“Fuck, Grace. That hurt!”
The hand on my mouth loosened. I swallowed, fighting the fight-or-flight instinct that had my heart hammering in my chest. “Vin?”
“Miss me?” he growled against my ear.
Chapter Twenty-One
Vin
I took a deep breath, dragging Grace’s now-familiar scent into my lungs. She had relaxed against me, her body soft and pliant and warm, but her heart still thundered in her chest, the vibrations beating out a distress signal that I heard loud and clear.
“Were you following me?” I couldn’t resist nuzzling the side of her neck, or laying a kiss against the pulse that jumped just behind her ear.
“Might have been,” she replied, her voice a breathy whisper. Her hips shifted back, grinding her ass against my straining cock.
Deliberate?
I bit back a groan, my eyes closing briefly as I fought for control with my wolf. He wanted me to take her here, in this doorway, to hike up her skirt and plunge into her welcoming heat. Like an animal.
She wriggled again, this time her head falling back and her eyes meeting mine.
Minx. Mischief was written all over her face, from the tilt of one eyebrow to the quirk of her lips.
“It’s not safe to wander the back streets of London.”
“I can look after myself.” Her hand tightened on my wrist and twisted.
But her heart wasn’t in it, despite the grim determination straining her jaw.
“Okay, you can defend yourself,” I admitted, vowing to myself that she’d never have to. Not while I was around.
I tried again. “Why were you following me? Did you miss me?”
“What did you want with Astrid?”
Her question threw me. How did she know—?
I spun her around so I could read her face. “You?”
She didn’t look away, her chin tilting as if daring me to ask. “Me what?”
I took a leap of faith, trusting my gut. “You’re the contact?” I held my breath, waiting for her answer. Either she
was the contact, or I’d just opened myself up to a whole lot of questions. Whichever it was, I was screwed.
After a short pause—just enough to make me suffer—she nodded. “Who is your suspect?”
Oh, fuck. I flashed her a grim smile. “We need to talk.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Grace
The next thing I knew I was seated in a cafe with a mug of steaming coffee in front of me. Excitement threatened to burst out of me. This was it; he was going to tell me everything. I was nearly bouncing in my seat, my hands jigging up and down, though safely hidden from sight by the table.
Vin eased into the chair opposite me, his face perfectly blank. He took a cautious sip of his brew, his lip curling in disgust. “It’s not the same without cream. Damn, I miss home.”
Home? It took a second to realize he was talking about America. Everything I’d thought I’d known vanished and was replaced with uncertainty. This Vin had no reason to stay, and every reason to leave. “Are you planning on going back?” It came out a little high-pitched, but I was proud of how calm I sounded.
“Once the assignment is finished.”
“So it is true then! You are my contact.”
He nodded, taking another sip of his coffee. “It must be a relief. This way you don’t have to worry about being forced into a mating with me.” His voice was emotionless, but he was watching me carefully.
I forced a smile, not knowing what to say, all the while my heart was free-falling into my stomach.
Something flickered through his eyes. Disappointment? Though it could just as easily have been relief.
“So, this is what I’ve been told…”
I listened carefully as he outlined the facts as he knew them, jumping in at times to elaborate and explain. A part of me had sat back and was observing the change in the man, my admiration growing at how assured and competent he seemed as he deftly wove the story together.