I held out a hand, trying to calm her, and heard another explosion of fabric as Ashley also burst into wolf form, black hair like midnight bristling in challenge as she was also unable to control her newfound power at the initiation of a sudden threat. Gunnar was shouting something at her as he took two racing steps forward to try and get between the two, but neither woman was listening. Ashley snarled lower, throatier than Indie, and there wasn’t a hint of warning as the two female werewolves suddenly launched themselves at each other’s throats, Ashley deftly darting around Gunnar’s outstretched arms.
And I stood directly between them.
This just wasn’t my day.
Chapter 8
I dove to the side, preparing to cast up a solid wall of air between the two where I had been standing, but I was too slow. Ashley met Indie in a violent snarl of fang and claw.
Indie ducked her head low to gnash at Ashley’s hind leg, and Ashley let out a yelp before jerking her leg free and biting down hard on the ruff of Indie’s neck. Indie fell to the ground, rolled out of the grip, and kicked Ashley into another of my glass-walled dividers, shattering it. Then she hunkered low to tear after her adversary. Gunnar’s arms flashed to white furred claws as he reached my side, ready to fling himself directly into the fight and tug them apart. Now that they were separated, I had a chance to throw up some magic between them, give Gunnar a chance as Ashley’s Alpha to calm her down. Then a sick thought struck me. I held out a hand for Gunnar to shift back. “Don’t. If you shift I don’t know what Indie will do, but she’ll be even further beyond reason if she thinks she’s against two werewolves.”
Gunnar growled unhappily. “Do something. They’re going to kill each other.”
“On it.” I turned back to find the two wolves circling each other warily, and flung up my hand to release the spell and stop the girls from killing each other.
But the strangest thing happened as I released my magic.
The little monk was suddenly standing there, face calm as he accepted his fate of getting mauled from two different directions. He flicked a dismissive hand my way and my magic disintegrated into a shower of harmless sparks. My mouth fell open in disbelief, but then I saw the hungry look in each of the werewolves’ eyes as they saw a sudden new threat. The enemy of my enemy is my friend. And wolves loved to work in packs. They would team up to take out the threat, and then resume their feud.
In a coughing snarl, both wolves threw themselves toward the monk.
He moved in a very deliberate, simple Tai Chi-looking move to avoid the claws coming at his face. His hands effortlessly dodged the fangs and claws before briefly touching each woman on the throat with a gentle tap. But I knew the physical force of their charge would break his fingers in a millisecond.
But that’s not how it played out.
The two wolves slowed as if striking a pool of water, and… then they were no longer wolves. They landed lightly on their two feet, faces utterly calm and tranquil, and hands resting at their sides. Their eyes were distant, as if just having woken up from a long nap in the sun. They smiled down at the man, who nodded back, lowered his arms, and sighed. He noticed their obvious nudity and seemed abruptly uncomfortable.
Alucard, on the other hand, let out a long whistle of appreciation.
Gunnar growled in warning and Alucard sighed, holding up his arms innocently. “Just appreciating beauty.”
“I can come back at another time if that is more appropriate…” A voice called from the doorway.
The three menfolk whirled in surprise, werewolf, wizard, and vampire, all sporting our various weapons of choice. Gunnar’s white-furred claws shot out in an audible snakt, Alucard’s fingers elongated into claws as his fangs popped out with a vocal snarl, and twin whips of fire and ice lashed into existence from my hands, scoring the wood in permafrost and embers, shattering yet another of my priceless glass-walled dividers.
A plain-clothed man in a simple navy blue suit, with a closed black umbrella stood in the doorway, staring at the overwhelming threat in the three of us, and pointedly averting his eyes from the stunning naked women standing beside the monk, whom had his hands resting on their shoulders, a faint golden glow surrounding them as he calmed their instinctive urge to shift.
I sighed in frustration, snapping the whips back out of existence as I glanced at the destroyed dividers. Gunnar and Alucard also relaxed in a heartbeat, as if nothing had happened.
“Just a second,” I held up a hand to the newcomer and turned back to the monk.
“Can you get them into some clothes and out of sight?” He nodded. “And get your brothers to Feng Shui-ing this place again?” He lowered his head with a small smile and nodded again before leading the girls away. I turned back to the suit. “Okay. I’ve got a minute to talk.”
The man looked incredibly nervous as Gunnar strode towards him, extending a muscled arm. He was practically shaking until he realized Gunnar was merely offering to escort him to the sofa. He complied, and Alucard was suddenly there with a steaming cup of tea, no doubt brewed by the monks earlier. The man extended a shaky hand to accept the cup and sat down.
I sat down in the chair opposite him and studied him, having completely forgotten about my second meeting. The buyer for the book Indie had been trying to purchase at the auction.
“So, how are you?” I asked, flashing a smile. Gunnar and Alucard towered behind him, smiles cold and wary. The man’s hand rattled as he set the cup onto the table.
“I… I’m here about our meeting. The…” he wiped his brow nervously, flinching as Gunnar folded his beefy arms. “The book you promised to acquire.”
I nodded. “Yeah, about that…” Alucard merely shook his head, turning to me with an arched eyebrow as if to ask how much I wanted to share with the shaking suit.
I had no idea.
Chapter 9
I drummed my fingers across my knee thoughtfully. “Okay. I found your book-”
“My client’s book,” the man interrupted softly. “Not mine.”
I squinted back. “Right. Your client’s book,” I corrected. “But someone stole it before I could get it.” He frowned, but didn’t speak. Alucard and Gunnar left to talk in private near the coffee bar. “But I will get it back,” I said.
The man, more confident now that my friends were no longer standing behind him, shook his head in disappointment. “My client will not appreciate that news,” he finally said, climbing to his feet. He took a slow, measured look around the store. “Last time I was here the store was in better repair,” he commented. He finally turned back to me. “Should my client be worried that you are perhaps otherwise preoccupied with…” he waved a hand at the store, “Other duties?”
“No. I’ll get it.” The man watched me, not offensive or upset, merely matter-of-fact. He nodded. I stood and held out my hand for him to shake. He stared at it nervously, remembering the whips of power I had briefly used, but then shook it with a firm, clammy grip.
“My client will be glad to hear that.”
“I will call when I have it in my possession.”
He nodded. “Let’s make that sooner rather than later. My client is rather… impatient to retrieve his book.”
I frowned. “How did he lose it in the first place?”
The man watched me for a beat, debating how much to answer. “I am not privy to such information.” He was sweating, and I was pretty sure it was from nerves, not the temperature or rain outside.
“Kind of makes me wonder who your client is…”
The man flinched. “That is not part of his agreement with you. I am merely a proxy. His agent.” He opened his mouth as if to speak further, then thought better of it. “I will pass along your story and let you know if he has any further requests regarding the matter.”
I didn’t like the tone, but it was obvious to me that this man was literally just a mouthpiece. He wasn’t personally threatening me, and he was very literally terrified. Both at his master’s displeasure,
and at mine. He was just the messenger, but I still wanted to throttle him.
It had been a long night.
And I had nothing to show for it. Well, almost nothing. I had swiped up the book from the ogres without incident, thanks to the monk’s assistance.
Regardless, I still needed to wash off any trace of our visit to the ogre’s stronghold. Get rid of the blood on my cane, repair or throw away the drone, and burn our clothes. Just in case. I also wanted to be sure that the book was properly warded so they wouldn’t be able to track it.
I realized I had lost focus with my thoughts, and the man was curiously, innocently walking through my bookstore, glancing at covers, touching the shelves, and picking up an item or two. No malice or shady intent, just window shopping. It made me feel good. This guy who seemingly had no interest in my type of merchandise enjoyed it enough to branch out a bit and shop my wares. Also, Gunnar and Alucard discreetly tracked him with predatory eyes as they conversed lightly, of which I’m sure the man was unaware. Gunnar was a bit more obvious now that he only had one eye. He merely situated himself so that he was casually leaning back into his chair so that the man’s movement was always in his line of sight. Alucard seemed to be relying on his hearing for the most part. Turning his head every now and again to verify the man hadn’t done anything sneaky.
But he was a paper-pusher. I had traded grips with him, and although I caught a faint trace of magic about him, it was nothing dangerous. Just another supernatural, hiding behind an expensive suit and no doubt, ignoring his abilities. I seemed to meet people like him more often now. They had an innate spark of something, but refused to believe it or act upon it. Or, perhaps they genuinely had no idea of their abilities. Maybe I would ask him about it. After our deal was concluded.
“Can I get you anything?” I asked, standing directly behind him now. He flinched and flashed a guilty grin at me.
“No, thank you. Just looking. Mighty interesting assortment you have here. I’ve never shopped in a place quite like this.”
I smiled. “I’m sure you haven’t.” I placed my hand on his shoulder, which made him tense up. “I’ll be in contact with you. I apologize for the inconvenience. I wasn’t too pleased myself at the situation. But I never break my word. If it can be gotten, I’ll be a getting it.”
“Please don’t try to speak like a layman. It doesn’t suit one with your breeding,” he laughed for the first time.
I nodded and he left the store, closing the door softly behind him as he popped up his collar and unfurled his umbrella.
“Wait, he got it on camera?” Alucard roared, staring at Gunnar’s phone.
But Gunnar was too busy laughing in Alucard’s face. “A flyer!” he exclaimed. “I never would have fallen for such a thing!” He slapped Alucard’s shoulder in amusement, and pulled him close conspiratorially, flashing me a grin. “The thing about working with Nate is that you always need to be on your toes.” Alucard was nodding, mentally taking notes. I rolled my eyes and went to get drinks and find the girls.
Chapter 10
“So, the book was a total bust,” Gunnar murmured. Ashley was curled up against him with a cup of steaming tea in her hands, tiny in comparison to the Alpha. Her eyes tracked everything now, and she no longer needed to wear her glasses. Her hand constantly reached to adjust them on her nose before she stopped herself with a smile at the old habit.
“Yeah,” Indie answered. She sat on the fur rug, nestled firmly between my feet as she leaned against me. Her hands also engulfed a large steaming cup of tea. The monk had prepared it especially for her and Ashley. Some kind of soothing herb. The smell was pungent, but not dissatisfying. I couldn’t place it. “I don’t know what happened, though. One moment the item came up for bidding, and the next thing I know I was waking up and everyone around me was dead. The empty case lay at my feet.”
Gunnar stroked his gnarly beard thoughtfully. He looked like one of those Cross-fit guys, or an ex-biker. Still professional, but seeming to ooze more testosterone than every other man in the room combined. It made me mildly jealous. Wizards were supposed to have glorious, epic, impenetrable beards, damn it.
But all I could manage was a decent scruff. I was scratching at my growth as I thought this.
Gunnar pointed a meaty hand at me as if advising a pupil. “Maybe when you grow up you can grow something like this too, Nate. Don’t worry. Puberty won’t last forever.”
“Gee, thanks, Teen Wolf.” His single eye glittered at me like a floating iceberg as he smiled.
“You really should have taken me with you tonight. I might have found something at the scene,” he offered.
I rolled my eyes. “You were busy, remember?” I used air quotes while I said it. He frowned, nodding distantly as his eye flashed to the top of Ashley’s head. “It’s not a big deal. We also had no idea we would need a forensic team tonight. Just a simple smash and gra-”
Gunnar sat up straight. “I’m sorry. That sounded awfully similar to a crime,” he warned. “You didn’t say anything about a crime when you called me this morning begging for my help.”
“Wait, begged?” Alucard belted out. “I told you I could go with you yesterday. You called Cyclops here to ask for help?”
Gunnar chuckled and even Ashley smiled. I held out a placating hand for Alucard. “Nothing against you, Alucard. I’m just more familiar working with Gunnar. And I thought his goody-two-shoes nature might fit in better with our disguise.” Alucard merely scowled back, hurt.
“I’m going to go get another drink,” he grumbled, getting to his feet and storming away.
Gunnar watched him, eye twinkling with amusement. “Touchy, touchy. That won’t work in a Temple relationship,” he whispered to Ashley. She grinned at his words, nodding as she lay her head on his chest, eyes heavy. Both girls seemed in a mellow trance after their talk with the monk. I really wanted to take some notes from him on how his power worked. It was incredible. I had never heard of such a thing as nullifying power upon contact.
“So, here’s the story…” I told them everything. About the book, the auction, the ogres, and ultimately stealing their book.
There was a pause as Gunnar and Ashley processed my words. “What’s this thing with the ogres? I thought you were going to buy the book from them?”
“Yeah, tell them about your brilliant plan, Little Brother,” Alucard teased.
I scowled at him. “Competition. Like it, I don’t,” I said in my best Yoda impersonation.
“Competition?” Gunnar asked, softly stroking Ashley’s hair. Her eyes were now closed.
“Some chump has been swiping up things I’m trying to buy before I can get to them. Nothing big, but it’s damn annoying. I don’t know if this guy was after the ogre’s book, but I didn’t want to chance it. The book is a personal acquisition I’ve been meaning to get for quite some time now. A bucket-list book, so to speak.”
The room was silent for a few beats. “Well, what was it?” Gunnar finally asked.
I shrugged. “Just a personal interest. Nothing dangerous,” I answered. Gunnar’s eye tightened, knowing me too well, but he didn’t press.
“So, you stole it from them… I imagine that went over well…” He grinned. “Anything to do with the lamp post outside?”
I nodded. “They weren’t pleased.” I glanced back as I heard faint murmurs of chanting from the back of my store. “That monk kicks serious ass. You should have seen it when the ogre tried to smash him like a bug.” I shook my head. “Unbelievable.”
Gunnar glanced at Indie, who was nestled up tightly against me. He smiled, nodding at me to take a peek. I carefully did so and realized both girls were out like a light. Gunnar slowly began shifting so that Ashley could sleep on the couch by herself. He draped a blanket over her after placing her empty teacup on the floor as I gently lifted Indie. I tucked her into the chair, kissed her forehead, and swiped up the teacup. I set it silently on the counter of the coffee bar, and Gunnar and I headed upstairs behind Alucar
d to the loft, now the vampire’s living quarters.
We settled down in my trusty old chairs and chatted for a few minutes about nothing in particular. “Alucard, I say this with all due respect…” Gunnar began, “But you suck very badly at running Plato’s Cave. Why don’t you find something… safer to do?” He asked.
By this time, Alucard wasn’t even offended by the comment. “I know. I can’t check the mail thanks to Nate’s old secretary trying to kill me with her religious pamphlets, I can’t touch half the merchandise since it’s spiritual to one degree or another, Nate had to put in tinted windows so I could even walk around, and the clientele is like an army of steaks walking in front of me. And my boss has me on a no red meat diet.” Then he laughed, shaking his head at how ridiculous it all was.
I nodded, but didn’t say anything at first. “I appreciate you trying. Being a manager isn’t really that hard. Delegate everything. Maybe just stay on top of the requests for my acquisition gigs and let someone else handle the actual store,” I offered.
“What does that entail?”
“Any special requests that come in go through you. You and I head out to get the whatsit, you contact the buyer to set up the exchange. Also, you weed out anything that seems… iffy.”
“Iffy?”
“Yeah. If someone wants a book that summons Lucifer or something, that would probably fall into the danger zone on the iffy scale,” I smiled. Alucard rolled his eyes. “Look, you’re up to snuff on the supernatural scene. You have good intuitions, and you can probably tell when people are lying. Increased pulse or something, right?” He nodded, flashing me a look of surprise. I grinned back. “Then just probe a bit when you get a request. If it seems off, let me know. Maybe we need to decline, but perhaps we would still want to acquire the book for safekeeping. Make sure the nefarious buyer doesn’t acquire it some other way.”
Silver Tongue: A Novel in The Nate Temple Supernatural Thriller Series (The Temple Chronicles Book 4) Page 4