by Katie Reus
Natalia snickered. She wasn’t sure how old the jaguar shifter was. It was difficult to tell with supernaturals, but the dark-haired female looked to be in her thirties by human standards.
“I take it the vampire out front is a friend, not a foe?” she asked.
Aldric nodded. “Yes. Apologies. From now on any visitors will be announced.” He gave Natalia a frustrated look before ducking outside.
Natalia should be grateful he’d left. It spared her from having to talk to him any longer. Even if she did want to hear what he had to say. Like, maybe the reason why he’d disappeared on her. One that made sense. Not excuses. Because if he gave her excuses, it would be even worse than whatever the truth was.
At least with him gone Natalia could breathe normally again. And that raw energy humming through her at the mere sight of him had started to recede. He just got her so damn wound up.
“Does anyone need anything right now?” Felicity’s dark hair was pulled into a loose bun at her nape and she wore jeans and a flowy red sweater-tunic.
Niko shook his head. “I’ve already fed, but thank you.”
“I’m okay too,” Natalia said. “I’ll probably just grab some muffins. They smell delicious.” There was a big basket of them, and a few of them would hit the spot. “Sorry if we woke you up.”
Felicity’s smile was kind. “I keep odd hours, it’s fine, trust me.”
As Felicity left Natalia grabbed the basket of muffins. She’d return it to the kitchen later. Since she couldn’t sleep, she could help out by listening to the recordings for a few hours before Jayce and Kat came down. She figured Jayce had already listened to them for a while anyway. The male never seemed to sleep.
Niko raised his eyebrows. “You planning on eating the whole basket?”
“Probably. Hey, I’m going to check out the recordings. Jayce told me earlier what I needed to listen and look for. You want to join me or are you about to head to bed?”
“I’ll help for a couple hours.”
“Great.” She’d have to give all her attention to the recordings so she didn’t miss anything, but she was glad for the company, even if they wouldn’t be talking.
As they left the kitchen, she tried not to think about the male outside or what he was doing. He wasn’t her business.
If only she could truly convince herself of that.
* * *
Aldric tried to tamp down his annoyance as he stepped outside. He’d wanted to apologize to Natalia, even if it was just the beginning of making things right to her. Deep down, he wasn’t sure he ever could. She’d looked at him so coldly, as if he meant nothing to her.
Rounding the back of the house, he headed for the front yard. The bed and breakfast was on a quiet street on the outskirts of the downtown area. Some of the neighbors were shifters, according to Jayce, but many were human.
Why the hell was Ursula here?
Instead of the dress she’d had on earlier, she wore pants, boots and a thick coat over a turtleneck. Everything was black except for her gold earrings. Her arms were crossed over her chest as he reached her. “You haven’t been returning my calls.”
“I texted you.”
Her gold-amber eyes flashed bright. “Not good enough. I need updates,” she snapped, the command in her tone something his wolf didn’t like.
Aldric forced himself to remain calm. This was a female who was worried about her mate. He could respect that. “I was busy following up on leads. Texting you was all I could do.” He wouldn’t give her specifics. Even if he didn’t think she’d had anything to do with her mate’s disappearance, it didn’t mean someone in her life wasn’t involved. “And the more time I spend with you is time I spend away from doing my job.”
She swallowed hard, her expression crumpling. “I… It’s almost time for me to go to sleep and I hate sleeping while he’s out there maybe hurt or worse. I feel like I should be doing more.”
Ah, fuck. “I know.” He softened his voice. “The waiting isn’t going to get easier but you’ve got to let me do my job. I have a one hundred percent success rate of finding people.” Usually targets, individuals he considered prey. And not always alive. But he was good at what he did. “You’ve already done a lot,” he added, wanting to soothe her a little. The pain on her face was real. “You’ve given me access to all his phone and credit card records, and given me a list of all his enemies.” He could have gotten most of it on his own and had still followed up to be sure she’d given him everything, but her help had made his job easier.
She wrapped her arms around herself, shivered, even though he knew she wasn’t cold. “I’ll stop bothering you. And thank you.”
When she turned to leave, he spoke again. “Is Arthur close to Darius Clifton?” He already knew the answer, but he wanted to gauge her response.
She nodded. “Yes, very. We often socialize with him.” Something flashed in her eyes, something he couldn’t even begin to define.
“Have they ever had a falling out?”
“Not that I know of.” Definite truth there.
“What was it you thought of before, when I first mentioned Darius’s name.”
She bit her bottom lip, tension vibrating off her. “Is Darius involved in Arthur’s disappearance?” Disbelief laced her words.
“I won’t rule anything out, but no, I don’t believe so.”
“Is what I tell you confidential?”
“For the most part, yes.”
Sighing, she said, “Darius is involved with the Kinley Alpha’s daughter. And I mean seriously involved. They want to get mated. The only reason they’ve held off is out of respect for her father and his uncle. I…don’t think they’ll hold off much longer though.”
He nodded.
She blinked. “You already know this?”
“Yes.” No need to tell her it was a recent discovery or that Darius was missing. That wasn’t up to him to reveal.
“We’ve had the two of them over on multiple occasions and gone to various functions together. Constance and I… We have different interests but she’s a lovely young lady. For a…”
“For a shifter?” he asked wryly. Clearly she’d forgotten who she was talking to.
Ursula shrugged. “Sorry.”
“What kind of functions? I was under the impression that their relationship wasn’t common knowledge.”
“It’s not. And we used Elian’s jet to get away, usually to the city for a play or the ballet. We also took some occasional trips to Chicago.”
“This is good. Can you make a list of every place you went with them? And a list of every single person who knows about their relationship.” He and Jayce had already gathered the latter list from Constance but Ursula might know more. “Does your staff know?”
“I will, and no, they don’t.”
“Okay, thank you. Can you send it tonight?”
“As soon as I return home I’ll get to work on the list. Why…do you want to know about Darius’s connection with Arthur?”
“I can’t tell you right now. But as soon as I’m able, I will. Do not tell anyone about this.”
“I won’t. And thank you for not brushing me off.”
“I swear I’ll do everything I can to get him back.”
Jaw set, she simply nodded and turned away, moving across the yard in the blink of an eye.
When Aldric stepped back into the kitchen, he locked the door behind him. Of course Natalia wasn’t there anymore, even if the subtle traces of her scent were. The cherry blossom and vanilla aroma was now embedded in his psyche.
He hated the interruption they’d had, but at least he’d come up with a potential lead. Or he would, once Ursula got that list to him. Constance had mentioned that they socialized with Arthur but he might be able to get more from Ursula. Ursula would have a better pulse on the Clifton coven, would know who was privy to the secret of the vampire-shifter relationship.
As he headed down the hallway toward the front of the house he followed Natalia
’s scent instead of going up to his room. In the living room, headphones on, she sat with her back to him on one of the cream-colored couches. Niko was next to her and also had headphones on as they listened to recordings on Jayce’s computers.
They were aware of him. He could see it in their body language. Niko half-turned, nodded at him, but she didn’t turn at all.
Only the back of her head was visible above the back of the couch, but a mirror hung on the blue-and-cream-striped wall opposite her. Her eyes were on the laptop screen and her shoulders went stiff at his presence.
Even though he wanted to stay, to be around her, he didn’t want to make her uncomfortable. She didn’t deserve that.
Right now wasn’t about his own needs. He’d fucked up and needed to make things right. If he even could.
Sighing, he picked up his own laptop. He’d finish listening to the recordings he had in his room, then try to grab a few hours of sleep.
They might be heading to the vampire club at sunset but he had other leads he could follow up on before then. Months ago he would have asked Natalia to go with him.
He wondered if he asked her later if she’d consider going with him. More likely she’d just laugh in his face.
And he would deserve it.
Chapter 9
“We’ll see you guys in a few hours.” Jayce took Kat’s hand as they slid out of the SUV and stepped onto the sidewalk.
Aldric nodded from the backseat where he’d sat next to them. Niko nodded from the driver’s seat.
Natalia smiled at them from the passenger seat. “Be safe.”
Jayce resisted the urge to snort as Kat said, “We will.” He was the fucking enforcer and over five hundred years old. No one had truly cared about what happened to him for so long. Not even The Council. At least not cared about him in the sense his new pack did.
Even if he wanted to deny it, even if he’d flat-out told Connor Armstrong he’d never be his Alpha, Jayce still thought of the Armstrong-Cordona pack as his people. So many of the females had this habit of worrying about him and Kat when they were gone. It was…nice. Though he’d never admit that shit out loud to anyone.
“If I was still human, I’d never walk in this neighborhood alone at night. It’s creepy.” Kat glanced around what had once been a bustling area of town as the SUV pulled away, headed in the other direction. Only four blocks down the road was a strip of successful human nightclubs. And during the day that same area had open cafes, shops and businesses.
But a little farther south, part of the neighborhood had been eaten away. Jayce had seen it happen over the centuries all over the world. This four-block strip of nothing was more of a barrier between a “good” part of town and a less-than-savory one.
A vampire owned all the property along this area, including a club right in the middle of the four-block radius that was supernaturals only. Jayce knew the owner, and while he didn’t like the guy, he could respect that rule. There were some things humans didn’t need to be part of. Not when they were so much more breakable than the other species.
“I’ll keep you safe if you’re scared,” he murmured teasingly, pulling his delectable mate closer.
She’d dressed in the most ridiculous outfit tonight and it was still hot as fuck on her. The plaid red and black Band-Aid-sized skirt barely covered her ass, the hem an inch higher than her black thigh-high boots. Even though it was freezing out she had on a bright pink faux fur crop top that showed off her flat, lean stomach. Her neon purple wig was a sleek, shiny bob, highlighting her sharp cheekbones. She’d never been to a sex club before and told him this was how she envisioned people dressed there. She wasn’t that far off the mark.
While the most possessive part of him hated that others would be able to see her dressed like this, his wolf was completely secure that this female wanted no other but him.
She started to say something when he sensed another presence. Not Aldric, Niko or Natalia. They were parking a mile away and would be joining them in an hour. He would recognize their scents anyway.
Dropping Kat’s hand, he pulled out his blades in milliseconds, the move automatic. His blades had been blessed by the fae before he’d been born and were nearly indestructible. If he killed a supernatural being with one, that individual would disintegrate into dust. And, as Kat had learned not so long ago, if he killed humans taking vampire blood with them, those humans would also turn to dust. His blades had a very specific purpose.
Kat’s claws were out by the time he’d drawn both weapons and turned on the sidewalk to face whoever was moving up on them far too quietly for his taste. His wolf clawed to the surface, the need to protect his mate a live thing inside him.
These two had made a stupid mistake by trying to sneak up on them. Both vampires, if he scented correctly. Jayce’s gaze swept over them, taking in everything in milliseconds. Their aggressive stance, their clothing and the weapon each held.
Guns.
His wolf sneered at the guns. One of the vamps started to raise his weapon. Jayce lunged, using all his supernatural speed. He slashed out at the male’s arm, cutting it off in one smooth stroke as he stabbed the other one in the upper shoulder, piercing all the way through.
Both males screamed. He kicked the one on the right in the stomach, sending the male flying back ten feet as he held his free blade to the throat of the male who had a sword impaled through his shoulder.
“You want to die tonight?” he growled.
No longer screaming, the male was breathing hard as he shook his head. Jayce knew what he was thinking, could see it in the way his hand twitched.
“Don’t even think about it.” Jayce could see the outline of another gun under the guy’s thick down jacket. “You go for it, I’ll cut your head off.” These males were young. That much was clear in not only their scent but in their pathetic moves. They hadn’t even been able to sneak up on him properly, let alone attack.
Weak. His wolf sneered again, insulted these two fuckers thought they could attack him and his mate.
The one on the ground remained where he was, cradling his bloody stump as his breath sawed in and out erratically. Just because they were supernatural didn’t mean they didn’t feel pain.
“Take out your wallets. Slowly. Then toss them to her.” He didn’t bother motioning to Kat nor sheathing his blades. He might be old and well-trained, but he wasn’t going to get cocky and take his eyes off a threat. Not when his mate was in the vicinity.
“Wait, what?” The one with the blade against his neck swallowed hard. “You robbing us?”
“That’s what you planned to do to us, right?” They probably robbed humans unfortunate enough to be on this desolate strip.
Without responding, the male slowly pulled out his wallet as the male on the ground did the same.
“Face down on the sidewalk,” Jayce ordered, stepping back. “Both of you.”
Once they were lying down, he removed all of their weapons—all six of them, including knives. Then he wiped off his bloody blades on their clothes. “I’m going to find out who your maker is. If he doesn’t deal with you, I’ll kill all of you.
The rancid stench of fear that rolled off them was more potent than when he’d cut off the male’s hand. Which told Jayce their maker didn’t know what they were up to.
“Now run,” he growled softly. “If I see you again tonight, I’ll fucking kill you.”
Bleeding profusely, the males stumbled to their feet and took off moving as fast as they could while wounded. The severed limb would eventually grow back, but the guy grabbed his arm anyway.
“That was actually kind of nice. For you.” Kat sounded surprised as he turned to her.
He sheathed his blades, bundled up the confiscated weapons and took her hand again as he lifted a shoulder. He should have killed them for simply daring to threaten his mate but…he hadn’t wanted to do it in front of her. Even if he knew she could handle it. Didn’t mean he wanted her to see death more than she had to. “Not worth
my time. Besides, their maker is going to take care of them.”
She shuddered slightly. “Ugh, I hope so. God, their fear was nauseating. So how are you sure this club owner is even here?”
“A source informed me Ferguson never left the country. It lines up with what I’ve discovered tracking his movements.” The owner of Club Inferno was difficult to locate, however. So just because Jayce couldn’t pinpoint his exact location at any given time wasn’t strange. The fact that Ferguson had been avoiding Jayce’s attempts to contact him, however, was.
They weren’t remotely friends, but the older male had never given Jayce grief before when he’d been working an investigation. And there weren’t that many supernatural-only sex clubs in North America, so the male’s establishment was often a hot spot for certain clientele.
“Even if he’s not here, I’ll still be collecting all of their video surveillance for the last couple weeks.” Or someone was going to die.
Kat shot him a sideways look, her pale blue eyes darkening with a need that he recognized well. “I love it when you use that ‘fuck with me and die’ voice.”
All his muscles tightened at the sharp scent of lust that rolled off her. He had to lock down his reaction to her, force his body under control. He still wasn’t sure what he’d done to deserve her, but he’d fucking die for her. He just wished his brother would get his shit together because he was certain the male could find real happiness with Natalia.
As they approached what looked like a run-down four-story apartment complex, he slowed.
“Seriously, this is it?” Kat’s voice was full of disbelief as she eyed the place. Graffiti covered most of it, crude and obnoxious phrases, as well as busted-out windows.
“It’s an illusion.”
She blinked. “What?”
“What you’re seeing isn’t really what’s here. It’s a very weak one and if something were to disrupt it, it would fall away to reveal a modern three-story warehouse-style building in pristine condition.”