Dark Protector

by Katie Reus

  Her eyes widened. “Can you see it?”

  “No, but I can see the glimmer of it.” It was as if there was a faint sheet draped over it, rippling slightly under the moon and city lights. “I’ve seen it fall before, however.”

  “That’s…weird.” She frowned. “Of all people, I should be able to see it, right?”

  His mate was a seer, had been one as a human, and that gift transferred when she’d been turned into a shifter. She could often see below an individual’s true self, could see the vampire’s bloodlust or fangs, or a shifter’s animal lurking beneath the surface. She’d known about the supernatural world before they’d actually come out to humans. But some things even he didn’t understand. “I don’t know.”

  Is this like a vampire power, like the one Niko has? she asked telepathically, using their mating link.

  No… Well, yes, some vampires have that ability, but Ferguson doesn’t. Maybe because it’s created from magic you can’t see it. Or maybe because it’s an inanimate object, not a sentient being. Whatever the reason, it wasn’t important. Jayce tilted his head to where he knew a video camera was, even if he couldn’t see it. He let his wolf show in his gaze before he tugged Kat up a set of four stairs.

  Once they moved up the stairs, the illusion faded to reveal the sleek building and a frosted glass and chrome door. The glass was thick and bullet resistant. A blurred figure stood behind the door to the right.

  A moment later it opened. A vampire male dressed in a black suit and a cherry-red tie nodded at them. “Welcome to Club Inferno.”

  Kat didn’t look around in curiosity, her gaze on the male in front of them. Still, she telepathically said, This…isn’t what I expected.

  The entryway was designed to look like the most boring hotel lobby ever created. Two mirror image sitting areas were to the right and left of them. Both had cubed couches positioned around an oversized ottoman. A chandelier hung above each section, and sleep-inducing classical music streamed through from hidden speakers. Even the scent was sterile, clinical. It’s a façade. Just wait. You’ll get to see all sorts of kink, I promise. He swore she was feline sometimes for how curious she was about everything.

  He felt her laughter along their telepathic link.

  “I’m here to see Ferguson,” he said, setting the bundle of weapons on the floor next to him. No reason to play games. And he knew the owner of this club was watching from multiple hidden cameras, could hear everything being said right now.

  The guard’s gaze scanned Kat and even though Ferguson’s people were usually professional the male’s eyes widened ever so slightly as he got a full look at her. His vampire eyes went bright amber as he nodded at them, his gaze lingering on her.

  Jayce’s wolf was secure that Kat was his, but he didn’t like the way this male looked at his mate. Keeping a neutral expression, he somehow resisted flashing his canines.

  “No weapons allowed past this point,” the male said, looking between the two of them.

  “You can keep the ones on the floor, but my blades come with me.” Certain rules didn’t apply to him. And if Ferguson thought he’d try to enforce that bullshit on Jayce, he’d see how dirty Jayce could play.

  He paused, as if listening to instructions, then nodded. “Fine, but I need to search her.” A hint of lust glinted in his gaze.

  Before Jayce could respond, Kat’s canines descended. Her expression was cold, her pale blue eyes shards of ice. “Touch me and you’ll lose an important part of your anatomy.”

  Jayce’s wolf grinned in approval. Hell yeah, that was his mate.

  The male paused again, a new wariness setting in as he eyed them. Yeah, that’s right, fucker. His mate was more than just pretty arm candy. She could take care of herself. Which was sexy as hell.

  Before he could respond, Jayce said, “Ferguson, we need to talk. If you make me wait, I’m going to burn this place to the ground.” It wasn’t likely he’d take such extreme measures but he’d built a reputation as a lethal predator. And Ferguson had been ignoring his attempts at contacting him.

  Jayce would not tolerate that.

  After a few long moments, the male nodded then gestured to the right at what looked like a framed-out panel, but Jayce knew was actually a door. “Through there.”

  Dismissing the guard entirely, he and Kat headed through the door after one quick push. Once in the hallway he could feel the beat of music coming from the club. The place was broken up into sections. The softer activities were at the front, progressing onto harder things, mostly in enclosed and monitored areas.

  Ferguson might be an asshole but he took care of his patrons.

  The art is incredible, Kat murmured along their link.

  This particular hallway had oil paintings framed in gold, all erotic in nature. Mostly nude females and males alone in sensual poses with a few ménage images. Tame for what went on behind closed doors.

  This is his private hallway to his private office.

  The hallway ended at an enforced door that opened as they reached it. After descending two flights of stairs, they stopped at another door, went through a bland waiting area straight to the open door of Ferguson’s personal office.

  It looked the same as it had before, like a CEO’s boardroom.

  Dude, I’m feeling insanely disappointed right now. Kat’s voice was a grumble in his head. This is a sex club. I thought he’d have naked men and women…doing stuff.

  Jayce fought a grin. Before Kat he’d had little humor in his life. Never had to fight to keep his control. Around her, however, he felt alive in a way he never had before, and she amused him at the most inopportune times. She was his north star.

  He cleared his throat as Ferguson rose from the chair behind his desk. Wearing a custom-made suit, the pale-skinned man—pale even by vampire standards—gave him a sharp look, his green eyes cold. “To what do I owe this pleasure?” There was no inflection in his voice as he rounded the desk, leaned against the front of it.

  Jayce wouldn’t bother with niceties. The other male wouldn’t appreciate them. That was the good thing about the supernatural races. You could cut through all the bullshit. “Arthur Adamson is missing. His last known location was this club. I want the video feeds the night he went missing until now.”

  Ferguson’s jaw tightened. “My patrons value their privacy.”

  “I’m working on The Council’s behalf as well as the Brethren’s. Give me the feeds or we’ll have an issue.” He didn’t have the time or the inclination to feign civility with this male. “Do you really want to push me?” The question came out more animal than man. His wolf flared in his gaze as he watched the other male.

  Though he kept his stance neutral, he was poised for an attack, ready to strike out hard and fast if this fool thought he could come at him.

  Chapter 10

  Aldric kept his hand on the small of Natalia’s back as they made their way through the club. It didn’t matter that clothing separated them—he felt the heat of her, wanted to stroke her everywhere. Niko also had his hand on her back, but Aldric ignored that. They were caging her in and the diamond collar she wore was a clear sign she belonged to them.

  He didn’t want to collar her, didn’t want to cage her, he just wanted her for always. But in a place like this it needed to be clear she belonged to someone so others would stay away. He didn’t have the patience to be civil to any assholes who might want to approach her. Right now he was on a wire’s edge of control.

  After dealing with the vampire at the front, they’d been permitted into the interior of the club and were now making their way to the private room they’d reserved.

  The same room Arthur had reserved the night he went missing.

  Natalia didn’t pause as they passed a roped-off area where a bound woman was being pleasured by multiple partners while completely immobile, but he could feel the tension humming through her. He knew she didn’t have much experience, wondered what she thought of everything.

  He’d bee
n to places like this when on the job, and Niko had too, but this would be a shock to her senses. He couldn’t help but wonder if she liked it. His wolf hated the idea of any exhibition where she was concerned. Most possessive, dominant shifters did. They didn’t share.

  If Natalia were his, he would never share her. Ever. He’d shred anyone who thought to take her away from him. The scent of sex was thick in the air, was agitating his wolf, pushing that need to claim Natalia even harder.

  Vamps were a very different species. While he’d sensed a few shifters here tonight, the majority in this place were vampires.

  “Why do some of the vamps have different patches?” she murmured, looking up at Niko.

  Aldric wished she’d turned to him.

  “They signify which club they belong to. The red and black ones mean they’re members here but anything else means they’re members of another one.”

  They passed a wall of circular windows that gave a glimpse into rooms where people were being whipped or caned. Natalia’s eyes widened slightly as they passed but there were too many scents in this place for him to guess what she was thinking other than pure shock.

  The female who led them to a hallway of private rooms turned and gave Natalia a flirty smile as they reached the room. “If you’re ever looking for a female partner, let me know.”

  Even as Aldric’s possessiveness shoved to the surface, Natalia’s cheeks tinged the sexiest shade of pink as she nodded. He didn’t care if it was male or female hitting on her, he didn’t like it. Especially now when she was barely clothed and looked good enough to eat. The red dress she had on was simple and sexy. It had some sort of lace overlay, hugged all her curves and might as well have been created for her and her alone.

  Once they were inside, Aldric locked the door behind them, but no one said anything. He was fairly certain the rooms weren’t under video surveillance—because if they were and anyone found out, Ferguson would be dead. But that didn’t mean they wouldn’t do their due diligence.

  They needed to search the room regardless. This was the last place Arthur had been seen and though it was a long shot, they were still looking for clues.

  That was the thing about his job: investigative work was long and tedious most of the time.

  Right now he was struggling to keep his mind on the task at hand, something he’d never suffered from before. His work had always kept him focused, with a purpose. With Natalia here tonight, in the last type of place he’d ever take her, too many emotions warred inside him.

  His wolf was oddly content having Natalia nearby, always had been. He’d desperately missed her the last five and a half months. Had wondered what she’d been doing—and who with. When he’d been away from her, it had been as if he’d been missing an integral part of himself.

  He knew why, but had wanted to deny it. Because he felt…guilty. As if he was betraying a ghost long gone from this plane of existence. A female he hadn’t thought about since he’d met Natalia. That was what shredded him inside. He had no right to be happy, not after his failures as a mate. He’d been carrying around the weight of his failure for so fucking long.

  Until…Natalia. Then he’d allowed himself to feel something more, to let her in. To wonder if maybe they could have something more than friendship. Of course he’d fucked all of it up.

  Shaking that thought off, he went to the California-king-sized bed and bent to check under it. It was an obvious place to hide something, but he wouldn’t overlook it because of laziness.

  The three of them worked silently, covering every inch of the lush room. The erotic art on the walls was incredibly obscene sketches done in charcoal. The bedding was all blacks, reds and…hideous. He didn’t like her being in a place like this, but now that they were in work mode she didn’t even seem to care that they were in a sex club. All traces of her shock from earlier were gone.

  As Natalia moved to one side of a huge gold-framed mirror, he moved to the other. They slightly lifted it away from the wall and were able to see that it was a regular mirror, not a two-way.

  Natalia completely ignored him, refusing to make eye contact with him and it was all he could do to keep his gaze off her. He wished it was just the two of them right now, that Niko wasn’t part of this investigation.

  God, he’d fucked up but good. He might have made the decision to court her, but that didn’t mean anything right now. He had a long road in front of him. He’d broken their friendship and now he had to build it up again.

  He wanted far more than friendship, but that would be a later step. Getting her to simply forgive him would be the first hurdle. The guilt still raged inside him, that he was doing something wrong and betraying the memory of his dead mate, but the sheer need to keep Natalia, to possess her, overrode it.

  When she moved to another wall, standing on tiptoe to run her fingers under one of the framed sketches, he froze, watching the way her short dress lifted, skimming the curve of her ass. He rolled his shoulders once, all the muscles in his body pulling taut.

  He’d seen her naked in the past after a shift to human form and it only made him fantasize more about stripping her down, claiming her.

  Because she already owned him. Even if he’d been too stupid to realize it until last night.

  When he sensed Niko watching him, he flashed his canines at the male. It didn’t matter that he knew nothing had happened between him and Natalia—his wolf was being a dick.

  Niko responded with a flash of fangs before returning to searching through a drawer of sex toys in new packaging.

  When Natalia bent over to inspect something at the base of the bed, he groaned at the flash of her smooth, bronze ass. Either she was wearing nothing or a thong, and clearly trying to make him crazy. Not intentionally though because he knew she wasn’t like that.

  Before either of them could turn toward him and see why he’d groaned, he swiveled to the nearest piece of furniture and began inspecting it.

  “Oh!”

  He turned at the sound of Natalia’s excitement—to see a hidden door open right next to the bed.

  “I pressed that by accident,” she said to the two of them, pointing down at the gold inlay above the baseboard. “I was just feeling around for…” She trailed off, likely in case there were any sort of audio recorders in place. If there was visual it wouldn’t matter at this point.

  He bent down to inspect the small section of the gold inlay she’d depressed. “This is good craftsmanship.” The seam was almost invisible.

  “He could have left from here,” Niko said.

  “Or been forcibly taken.” Aldric’s voice was grim as he stood to face the male.

  Niko simply nodded, his expression mirroring Aldric’s.

  Natalia placed her hands on her hips. “Well, let’s go, then. See where this leads.”

  “You want to take the lead?” he asked Niko. Because no way would she be leading or taking up the back.

  His wolf might be agitated by Niko right now, but this male would help protect her.

  Niko lifted a shoulder. “I’ll go first.”

  That was…interesting. And a show of trust that Aldric didn’t deserve. Niko would be putting his back to him. After the way he’d attacked the male, Niko had every right to demand to be behind Aldric. This could be his way of telling Aldric he didn’t view him as a threat—an insult—but Aldric didn’t think so.

  Fuck. He needed to apologize to the male. Later, he swore. Aldric nodded and Niko headed into a tunnel, followed by Natalia, then him. Senses on alert, he scanned their surroundings even as he inhaled, searching for anything that might be a threat.

  She moved like a soldier, just as alert as they were. Natalia might be petite and delicate-looking but the female was a fighter.

  The glow of Niko’s gaze lit up the tunnel in front of him, but neither Aldric nor Natalia needed it. Not with their own night vision.

  The concrete of the tunnel and floor was smooth, clearly man-made. As they silently strode through it he hear
d the soft whoosh of the door closing behind them.

  So there was about a twenty second window before it closed.

  Inhaling, he sifted through the scents surrounding them, dismissing Natalia and Niko’s scents. The smell of the club’s owner was down here, as if he used this tunnel often. It was more of a lingering aroma, embedded into the stone.

  A few other odors drifted on the air, including Arthur’s, but not recent. If he’d been here a week ago, that was about right. At least now Aldric knew how the male had left the club.

  Whether he’d been forced or not remained to be discovered.

  From the fairly straight direction they were headed he didn’t think they were moving deeper underground but he pulled out his cell phone as they continued on, saw that he still had service.

  In front of him, Natalia marched on silently. She’d worn heels with added rubber soles in case they had to be stealthy. She might be young, but she was still a predator and she’d learned how to sneak up on prey long before she’d met him. It was one of the reasons he’d liked bringing her with him on hunts. One of the least important reasons.

  Even if she hadn’t been able to handle herself, that was something he could have taught her. He just liked being around her. She had enough passion and fire inside her for an entire pack. The female was…incredible.

  Right now her scent was making his wolf want to rub up against her. Her mere presence had this way of making him forget about everything else.

  When the temperature changed slightly, the three of them slowed, a cohesive unit. Niko held up a hand, motioning that the exit was coming up, but Aldric could see the faint outline anyway.

  Niko moved carefully out of the tunnel and even though Aldric knew it would make Natalia crazy, he edged in front of her. She wouldn’t make a stink about it because she wouldn’t want to draw attention to them if anyone was waiting to ambush them.

  The likelihood of that seemed slim but he didn’t care. Protecting her was all that mattered and he’d do it with his life.