Daniel considered for a moment before adding, “I don’t like it either.” Spencer’s eyes widened at his admission. “But neither of us has much of a choice. He’s in charge of the House.” He shrugged. “Whether we like it or not, we are in his House. We swore an oath to him. And what he says goes.” After taking a sip of the hot brew he added, “But understand Spencer, she is too valuable to him to hurt her. Seriously anyway.”
A mischievous smile blossomed, wiping the stiffness from his eyes. “Plus I’m pretty sure she could hold her own. She’s pretty amazing if you didn’t know.” He winked at me causing a tinge of pink to dust my cheeks again.
Spencer looked from me to Daniel and back again, smiling in disbelief. “You two are something else.” He shook his head. A worried frown flashed quickly, but I caught it. I knew he was concerned about our deception. I still felt a little guilty for it, but after the last couple of days with Daniel I had a feeling he would forgive me. As long as I was as honest as I could be.
When this case started, even when I first hooked up with Daniel, I had no idea what I was in for. Now this life consumed me. I’ve learned more about myself in the last few months than the prior several years. Felt more. I finally felt like I was healing from a lifetime of festering wounds.
But I had no idea what was coming.
“You believe in discovering the truth, don’t you Kyra?” Alejandro’s eerily smooth voice floated to me as I sat on the settee in his office. I had been waiting, reading a book on my cell phone after receiving a summons to come to his office. Fingers of dread tiptoed along my spine at his words.
“Sure.” His eyes narrowed at my shrug and informal language. “Yes, sir.” I corrected. His pleased smile was my reward.
“As a PI you think learning the truth about someone is important, yes?”
“Of course, sir. It’s one of the reasons I entered the field.” The fingers tightened on my throat. I swallowed the lump forming there.
“I am going to ask something difficult of you. You may not like it, but it is for the greater good. The good of the House as well as for others as a whole. Sometime we have to sacrifice pieces of ourselves for that greater good. You understand that, right?” His narrowed eyes searched mine.
Unable to speak, I nodded. My heart hammered in my chest. Sweat made my palms slick.
I kept my breathing as even as possible, kept the energy under control.
The stretching of his lips should have been a smile, but it was more like a caricature of one. A smile someone pretending to be human would wear. The gesture did not reach his eyes. His eyes were cold. Determined.
“Good.” He swept his arm in front of him. “Follow me.”
I stood draped in my elegant Louis Vuitton gown in the depths of the crowd, perched on a pair of four-inch Jimmy Choos with a matching clutch. All gifts from Alejandro. The metallic lace over the blue backdrop matched perfectly with the flowery dress, the waist cinched tight emphasizing my small waist and long legs. The fact that it was strapless had the attention of every vampire in the room.
A cool quarter of a million sat in my bank account.
Blood money.
I could still hear his screams echoing off the tile floors. Easier to clean than carpet I supposed, but so very loud.
Daniel was laughing at something Arabella was saying next to me, her Dolce & Gabbana black and lace dress echoed her refinement and grace. Sounds floated around me in a blurred cacophony. I reacted in what I assumed were socially appropriate ways to what was going on around me, but I wasn’t really there. My mind kept returning to earlier in the day. After I followed Alejandro from the room.
I tried to comfort myself in the knowledge that I had gotten the truth from him. He had not only betrayed the House, but all others, making us vulnerable. He served us up to the factions in the human world that knew about us and worked to eradicate us. All of us. They despised anything different. Anything not lily-white human.
Humans had dealt with factions like that throughout history, skinheads, Nazis, and religious zealots. Those same minds had hate-groups focused on others. Small factions of course, since the general population was not aware of our existence, but destructive dredges of society none-the-less.
The human had been in the House for decades, a festering disease hidden in the ranks. His anger at not being other, not being worthy of being turned, at aging, had turned to hatred, spilling over. He had revealed secrets and had even served up a few members to the hate-groups. Sacrificing them to show his loyalty.
But his screams.
“Are you alright, Kyra?” I jerked out of my morose reflections. Daniel’s frown and worried eyes watched me cautiously. Arabella’s searching eyes attempted to pick me apart. She had been there - she knew what I had done. I looked away, unable to meet her gaze.
I nodded smiling without my eyes as I sipped the Mourvedre; the red wine with its spicy hints of cherry warming me. He raised his brow skeptically, his expression leaving no doubt he’d corner me later when we were alone.
Alejandro glided to Arabella, his hand intimately resting at the small of her back. I shuddered in revulsion, thankful his attention was focused on her.
Mouths were moving, but I heard nothing around me. The laughter, the clinking of glasses, and the murmur of voices – it was all faint. A din echoing in the background.
I had tortured the answers from him. My control at such a degree, with Alejandro’s steadfast guidance, I was able to burn one finger at a time. One knuckle. Blackening each digit until he answered to Alejandro’s satisfaction.
It only took one hand before he caved and spilled everything, his loyalty to the hate-group breaking in the face of the pain. His whimpers, his tears, his begging, nothing stopped me. I listened only to the gentle guiding voice of Alejandro, numbing myself to everything except his soothing lilt.
Would I ever get the screaming out of my head?
Chapter Thirteen
Coffee.
That was the main thing on my mind. My focus. My drive.
Spencer wanted to meet this morning, probably to harp on me for pulling a disappearing act. What did he expect? I was undercover in a freaking vampire House. It’s not like I could just breeze into the FBI office and attend meetings.
Splurging, I decided to indulge in a fancy coffee from the cafe around the corner. After parking in my garage I walked over, narrowing my eyes against the constant sunny Florida day. I was just about to cross the street when I caught the spicy scent of a shifter. Living in a city this large I occasionally ran into other shifters. But not like this one. It took everything I had not to freeze in my tracks with my nose in the air. There was something about this scent that held my attention. Something familiar.
The scent was close. Behind me. My muscles quivered, preparing to fight, when the shifter’s identity crashed into me. I almost staggered backward in shock. It had been so many years, it was no wonder it had taken me a few moments to realize who it was.
Gavin.
My heart tripped over itself. I didn’t know whether to be worried, pissed, or happy. I settled on pissed since it was the most familiar. What the hell was he doing here? But more importantly how had he found me?
I decided there was no better time to find out. Whirling, I grabbed his arm and using his momentum against him, turned him around and had him on the ground before he could take a breath.
“Son of a bitch. What are you doing here?” I growled.
He struggled to catch the breath I had knocked out of him. “Not so happy to see me, eh?” Squeezing the words out between breaths. “I’m wounded.” Pretending to pout, he stuck out his full bottom lip, but the teasing glint in his eyes was impossible to hide. Typical shifter: arrogant, full of attitude, and sexy as hell. Good to know he hadn’t changed much in the seven years since I last saw him. Since I ran. We had dated for years before I left. Dated was such an inadequate word to describe our relationship - we had been friends, lovers, for a long while he was everything to
me. I’m fairly certain I wouldn’t have survived my teens without him - but I had burned that bridge long ago.
Sighing, I let go of him and backed up a step as he gracefully sprang to his feet. He towered above my five-foot six, easily six-one. He looked good. Hell, that was an understatement. His sandy blond hair was a little shaggy, like he had missed a couple of trims, but it was a good look for him. My fingers itched to feel if it was as soft as I remembered. His deep tan was evidence of years of hard labor outdoors. So were the muscles that moved and shifted under his skin. I raised an eyebrow as I allowed my eyes to roam. All that ranch work had filled him out nicely. His strong jaw was chiseled and sharp, with a little shadow to it. Familiar hazel eyes peered at me behind thick black lashes; eyes that haunted my dreams. The man-boy that I left all those years ago had grown up. He was good looking before, sexy even, but now he was gorgeous. It hurt to look at him.
“How did you manage to finally find me?”
“It certainly wasn’t easy.” He inhaled deeply, pulling my scent deep into his lungs. My instincts cried out to mirror him, but I fought against them. “You still smell the same.” Smiling, his fingers reached out to caress my arm, but I sidestepped his touch.
He sighed heavily and licked his lips, the teasing sparkle fell from his eyes. “Look, can we go somewhere to talk? That’s the least you owe me. I’ve searched for you for so long-”
My eyes narrowed. “I never asked you to. I left you, remember?”
He laughed bitterly, his mouth curling at the corner. “As if I could forget.”
My muscles tensed. He was right. I did owe him, but he couldn’t have arrived back in my life at a worse time. My agitation was pulling energy to me, compounding an already volatile situation. Things would begin going downhill - and fast - if I didn’t do something about this. I took a deep calming breath to organize my thoughts and slow the pull - instead his scent invaded my senses, threatening to unleash the memories I’d worked so hard to lock away. My hands trembled with the effort to keep control.
I reminded myself that he was a civilian, not a part of my new world. He may be a shifter, but he came from a good home, a good family. He was the light to my dark. He had no idea what kind of world he was brushing up against, just being near me. I owed him but I didn’t want him involved in my dark world.
“Fine,” I clipped out. “I’ll talk to you, but not here and not now.”
His brow furrowed. “I’m not giving you time to run again.”
“I won’t run again-”
“Yeah, we both know how good your word is.” His arrow struck home, stealing my breath. It hurt so much because it was true. He had absolutely no reason to trust me. He fought dirty. I wasn’t the only one who had changed; my sweet boy had grown claws. Determination filled his gaze and he slowly, deliberately leaned close, our noses almost touching. “I’m still bigger than you are, I could make you come with me.”
Anticipation hummed through my veins at the challenge. I had no doubt I could take him, but he had no idea what I had become, had no idea what trouble he was courting. I shook my head to clear it.
“You aren’t home anymore, Gavin. This isn’t the safe country back roads of Wyoming. You really shouldn’t talk shit like that here. It will get you killed in my world,” I growled back, wanting to shake some sense into him. “You are lucky Spencer isn’t here yet. Try that kind of shit around him and he’d put a bullet in you.” As soon as his name passed my lips I knew it was a mistake. Gavin’s eyes sharpened and I saw a familiar gleam in his eyes; he was always a jealous cat.
I rolled my eyes at our stupidity. “Don’t even start this shit. I’m not yours anymore. It’s been years Gavin.” I cracked my neck. Why were men always such a pain in the ass? No matter the species. “Not that it is really any of your business or anything, but Spencer is my partner. We work together.” Scribbling my number on a receipt I found in my pocket, I shoved it at him. “Now take off. He’ll be here in a minute.”
“Keeping secrets from your partner? You always were good at making people see only what you wanted.” The truth stung.
His hand went to my short dark hair, touching it hesitantly. The last time I’d seen him my hair was long and flowing, at least down to my mid-back; a far cry from the spiky pixie cut I kept it in now.
I knocked his hand away. “Fuck you.” The tremble in my hands was worsening, static was building around us.
“Is everything okay here, Kyra?” Spencer had spotted us from the coffee shop and hurried over, his long stride eating up the pavement. His hand rested on his unlatched weapon. Great. I sighed, bowing to the inevitable.
“Everything is fine, Spencer.” Gavin eyed my partner up and down. I gestured to my old friend. “This is Gavin - an ex of mine from back home. Wyoming.” Spencer’s focus briefly swung to me, surprise evident in his eyes. I never talked about my past. “We ran into each other a few minutes ago.” I didn’t elaborate, no one had ever said I was polite. They shook hands as they gave each other the once over.
“What’s he doing here?”
“Other than annoying me I’m not sure.” Turning my focus back to Gavin, I glared at him. “I’ll talk to you later - got it?”
“Sure, I‘ll call you. But you better answer when I call.” Turning his back he sauntered away. I couldn’t keep my eyes off him - he looked just as good walking away. I cursed a blue streak inside my head, happy that Spencer wasn’t telepathic. I did not need this shit now.
“What was all that about?” He narrowed his eyes at me.
“He was a little more than just a boyfriend. We were engaged.” Surprise exploded on his face. What? Was the thought of someone wanting to marry me that foreign? “It was back when we were teenagers. Things were a lot different back then.” I ran my fingers through my hair. “I was a lot different. I took off the day after graduation without saying a word. And haven’t seen him since.”
“I’m worried about you Kyra,” Spencer confided the moment the door to my loft was closed. The echo of the slam hadn’t even dissipated before he was laying it on me.
“Don’t be,” I laughed. “I’ve totally got this under control. Look.” I effortlessly lit the few scattered candles in my living room, and only the candles. Not a singed curtain in sight.
“I don’t mean about that.” Concern simmered in his warm brown eyes as dread slowly filled my stomach.
I scoffed at his concern, waving it away.
“I’m fine. In fact I’m better than fine. I’m in Spencer.” I looked at him in disbelief. We’d come so far. Isn’t this why he hired me?
“Yes, you are. And I know that is what we wanted, but I’m worried. You are getting too involved with the House. I’m wondering if you should back off.”
“Back off?” I asked, shock lacing my voice. “You don’t just back off once you are in the House. Remember all the risk that you drilled into my head when I accepted this contract. It’s too risky. Plus I don’t want to. I’m actually happy for once, Spencer.” My eyes shifted away, unable to meet his. I was happy. I just wasn’t happy with some of the things I had to do. But it was for the good of the whole.
“But at what cost?” My eyes darted to his, his words echoing my thoughts.
“What do you mean? I’m doing a job for you, don’t you remember? Catching the killer. Infiltrating the inner sanctum.”
“You haven’t been acting like yourself. I’m just worried.”
“But that’s just it. I am acting like myself. This is me!” I yelled at him, hurt that he couldn’t see. “I am not like you, Spencer. With your white morals and clean lines. I’m just starting to find out who I really am.”
“Are you really? Or are you just being manipulated by a master into believing his version of you.”
Anger churned in me, a storm gathering strength.
“You are just jealous that I’m not dependent on you to stay in control anymore. That I have someone who can help me grow into my powers. That your role in my life has been re
duced.”
He drew in a sharp breath, my barb hitting its mark.
“I’m happy that you are learning so much about your powers and how to control them. I just want to make sure you stay true to yourself and aren’t being pushed in the wrong direction.”
“I’m not being pushed anywhere. This is who I am. I am powerful, Spencer. I am in control for the first time in so many years. I can’t even remember the last time I felt this comfortable inside my own skin. Don’t ruin this for me.”
Knowing he was on the threshold of being shut out, he backed off and changed the topic.
“So engaged to a country boy, huh?”
“That wasn’t in your intel? Your researchers are lacking.”
“Is his reappearance going to be a problem?”
My sigh was heavy as I flopped on my couch, the plush cushions cocooning me. Too bad they couldn’t buffer me from everything.
“I don’t know. I hope not.” Spencer sat next to me, brushing his fingers across my hand. The familiar zap followed by a feeling of peace as he pulled the anxiety from my body. I sank further into the cushions.
“You should come by every night and touch me. I’d certainly sleep better with less stress.” I didn’t catch the double entendre, but it didn’t slip by Spencer.
“How do you know you’d be sleeping?” He smirked. I threw a pillow at him. Catching it he smacked me upside the head with it, his deep laughter filling the loft, echoing in the small space.
“Asshat.” The sound warmed my heart, dragging an answering snicker out of me.
Gavin called later that day. Our stilted conversation was overly polite and cold. He wanted to go for a run. In our other forms.
Initially I balked at the idea, but it had been so long since I was able to let her loose, to really run free. Once the idea was planted, I had no option other than to agree. My body ached with the need to change. To run.
We met at Myakka River State Park, several miles south of Tampa. Thirty-seven thousand acres of wilderness, plenty of scrub-brush and pines to offer us security. And best of all, if any humans were to notice us - however unlikely - they would probably mistake us for Florida Panthers. The panthers were protected in this area. Hopefully that fact would keep us from getting shot.
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