by R. J. Blain
“Excellent. It’ll take me an hour to get there.”
“There’s a cafe in the Met, right?” I asked.
“Yes, but there’s a better one across the street and down the road. It’s called Wanderlust Coffee and Tea. It’s also licensed to sell pixie dust.”
“I’ll meet you there, and I will order you a drink,” I announced. “What do you want?”
“Are you going to laugh at my order?”
“Only if you tell it to me in a funny voice.”
Wayne chuckled. “Caramel macchiato, and I wouldn’t say no to a hit of pixie dust if you’re feeling generous.”
Well, that would make my life a lot easier, especially as I had a card in my wallet permitting me to have the little vials of pixie dust and neutralizer if I accidentally exposed myself to the top-grade dust. “We’ll see about the pixie dust, but I don’t see what’s funny about the order. I might even try that myself. I enjoy caramel.”
“I’ll see you in an hour, and I will make certain I am not late, as I wouldn’t want my coffee to get cold.”
“I’ll see you then.” I returned the phone to the lady at the desk and smiled at her. “Thank you very much.”
“You’re welcome, ma’am. If you need to get a cell phone, there’s a good shop right down the street, and they can get you in and out within twenty minutes.”
Today seemed a good day to get a phone to memorialize the day I kidnapped some stupidly rich lycanthrope out to build a skyscraper worth over a billion. I thanked her for the advice and headed to the cell phone store on foot, strolling in and telling the employee I’d buy the most expensive phone in the store if he got me out of there within thirty minutes. Fifteen minutes later and out almost two thousand dollars, I had the best of the best and a good plan to go with it. Smiling, I headed for the coffee shop at a brisk walk. After Wayne was properly dosed with pixie dust and influencer, I’d lure him to my car, get him nestled in the front passenger seat, and make off with my prize.
Today really was looking to be a good day.
Chapter Three
I bought twin coffees at Wanderlust Coffee and Tea, marked mine with a J, and took the drinks to a corner. Nursing Wayne’s cost me five minutes, as the last thing I needed was to be contaminated with either substance. Haste made waste and accidental partaking of illegal substances, so I took my time emptying both tiny prescription vials into his drink.
The baristas gave me the stink eye until I held up my CDC-issued prescription card. When I finished the job, I’d have to thank the CDC for their foresight.
Running a bounty became so much easier when the law sided with me. Had I known legalized kidnapping could be so much fun, I would have hit the bounty databases a little harder in search of a few extra dollars.
Alas, my perfectionistic nature meant I took few jobs but did an excellent job of them.
Truth be told, I probably could have made off with Wayne without the help of spiked coffee.
I considered spiking my own coffee, but I’d wait until my snuggling tendencies could be controlled—and that I could confirm my unwilling wolf companion wanted me to snuggle with him. Some lines I refused to cross, and unwilling snuggling happened to be one of them.
Unfortunately.
Five minutes ahead of schedule, Wayne showed up carrying a briefcase with him, his suit jacket draped over his shoulder. I saluted him with my coffee and took a sip. “I will never laugh at your choice of coffee, as it is delicious. Your coffee, Mr. Barnes.”
Wayne’s nose flared, and his eyes widened as he caught a good whiff of my scent without the perfume. “Joyce?”
“Yours is laced with the best pixie dust money can buy. Mine is not. I am a menace on pixie dust.”
I loved that I told the truth while lying. Money could, technically, buy the grade of dust I’d given him, but I hadn’t paid a cent for it, as it fell under an operational cost of the bounty.
While Wayne continued to take deep breaths, he sat down, picked up the coffee I’d set out for him, and he sniffed. While the pixie dust had a gentle scent, the influencer could fool even the sharpest of noses, and he stood no chance of detecting it. Satisfied, he sipped at it.
According to the CDC representative, the blend they’d given me would take thirty minutes to kick in, and after that, he’d obey anyone. As soon as the first symptoms of the drug showed, I would issue my first command, which involved him obeying only me.
The pixie dust would kick in a lot faster, and I planned to keep his attention solely on me, a single unmated female with a virus ready to rumble at the first sign of interest.
“I can’t see how it is possible for you to become a menace,” Wayne replied, and his smile promised the dose already worked its magic on the wolf.
“I’m a snuggle fiend,” I announced, rather proud of my status as ultra-affectionate when high.
“You’re a snuggle fiend?”
“Yep.”
“You’re a lycanthrope.”
There it was, the moment of truth, when I finally goosed Wayne and made him understand my apartment’s importance. “It’s hard to find somewhere to stay when you’re a loner female. I was an accidental infection.”
“An accidental infection?” While pixie dust made most problems go away, strong emotions could break through its influence, and until Wayne finished all of his coffee, the grade of pixie dust I’d given him wouldn’t be at its full potency. The lycanthrope growled.
I took a sip of my coffee. “Yep. It was a somewhat violent accidental infection, and as I don’t know who the bastard is, the CDC gives me fancy perfume to wear to work and most times I go out. I opted against wearing it this morning so you can understand precisely why that apartment is so important.”
“You can’t have any roommates who might be able to catch the virus from you.”
I nodded.
“How developed is your virus?”
Rather than answer, I pulled out my driver’s license and showed it to him. “You’d need to see my card for any lease signing anyway, because you can’t keep me in a building that isn’t rated for lycanthropes.”
“The building I have in mind for you is rated for lycanthropes.” Wayne took a longer swig of his coffee before taking my driver’s license and reading through the codes. “How’d you order my coffee with that flag on your card?”
“I can acquire dust directly from the CDC,” I replied. “There’s an office right down the street from where I called you, so I grabbed a vial.”
“I didn’t know they’d let barred people do that.”
I shrugged. “You’re a male lycanthrope, and I told them I was getting it for you. They don’t mind that. I just pay them for the vial, they give me a little card, and they put it in a prescription vial for me.” To add the weight of truth to my statement, I rummaged through my purse for one of the vials meant for me, which had my name in tiny print on the sticker declaring it a prescription dose. As the grade wouldn’t hurt anyone, I held it out for him to examine.
Wayne placed my driver’s license on the table and took the vial, one of his brows raising. “They really gave you prescription pixie dust. I’ve never seen something like this before.”
“I even have a little card valid for two weeks for it.” I grinned, as I planned to have at least one dose of my own damned dust before the party was over. “I haven’t had pixie dust since I was infected. They had me on a prescription while I recovered from the attack, but they stopped giving it to me because my virus developed too much. It’s a trial because of my good behavior, I guess. So, thank you for that.”
“Glad to help. This whole mess makes sense, though. You didn’t want anyone to know you’re a lycanthrope because you were attacked.” Something about his tone asked a question, and it occurred to me that ‘attacked’ could have several different meanings.
“I don’t remember much about it beyond I broke several teeth during the scuffle. It seems I bit the lycanthrope, but I don’t remember anything about tha
t. All I know is that my attacker was a wolf. The CDC fixed my teeth at a shrink’s recommendation, as the last thing I needed was depression about my deformed mouth on top of my infection.” Sharing that unpleasant bit of my past would cost me later.
He had ammunition against me, and as soon as he figured out I’d goosed him, he’d likely use it.
“You bit your attacker so hard you broke your teeth?” Wayne laughed. “I fear I didn’t give myself long enough to convince you to leave that apartment, then. I’d given myself a year from the day of your third rejection to convince you to leave.”
“After the third time?” I lifted a brow at that. “Why not the first?”
“Everyone rejects on the first offer. The second they usually warm up to the idea and try to take me for something else, a concession to make it worth their while to move. Most asked for me to pay for the moving company, in case you’re curious. I automatically agreed to pay for the moving companies, as that’s a far cheaper resolution than holding out on them. You’re the only one to reject me three times. At that point, you became a challenge. I enjoy challenges.”
Oh boy. According to his tone, being challenged was the equivalent of successfully flirting with him. “Well, now you know why I rejected your offers to move me somewhere else. I needed a stable apartment.”
“And when you’re unwilling to share space with a pack because you don’t know who attacked you, you can’t afford a roommate, but you can’t afford to live without a roommate.”
“Right.”
“And, to make things more difficult for you, we wolves are affectionate creatures, so you’ve been fighting your virus the entire time you’ve been on your own, thus the generalized ban on pixie dust. Your virus needs the physical contact with others.”
Great. Wayne had me figured out. “Will that change your offer for the apartment?”
“Yes, but in ways beneficial to you.”
I sipped my coffee, swiped my license off the table, and returned it to my purse before waggling my fingers for my vial of pixie dust. “Gimme.”
He chuckled but obeyed, and I was careful to keep a good grip on the vial so my precious hit wouldn’t fall to the floor and break. It made it back into the safety of my purse along with the other vials I’d need to see the job through to its end.
I stood, shouldered the strap of my purse, and picked up my coffee. “I am not in the mood to sit around today. Let’s walk to my rust bucket of a car, and you can tell me about where I’ll park it should I go along with your offer.”
I couldn’t tell if the pixie dust, influencer, or his general inclination to get me to go with his scheme factored the most, but he got up, grabbed his coffee, and knocked the whole thing back while I gaped at his general inability to enjoy his coffee like a sane sentient. “I do tend to evaluate all the vehicles that’ll park in the garage. If it’s unacceptable for life in its pampered spot, I’ll offer you a bribe of an upgrade so I’m not thoroughly offended by its existence.”
“Wayne, I’m offended by its existence.” When I’d first gotten the junker, shame had followed in my wake, but I’d gotten used to being dirt poor. The stares still bothered me sometimes. Acceptance helped.
I could afford what I could afford, and that was that.
“Now I really need to see this vehicle.”
“Do you need to see it bad enough you’d be willing to go on a drive?”
“Are you going to take me to a secondary location?”
I chuckled, as I would be taking him to a secondary location, but he’d be so hopped up on pixie dust and influencer he wouldn’t care. “Absolutely.”
“Just return me by Monday morning.”
“You might have to settle for Wednesday.” Technically, I could return him on Tuesday morning, but Wednesday would do the job even better. “But you have to pretend you don’t like it, and upon your return, you have to complain how you were cruelly stolen.”
“Well, that will catch my secretary’s attention when I tell her I didn’t show up for work because a young woman decided to drag me off for the weekend.”
“Not just a young woman, an unmated lycanthrope female. Then your entire office building will assume you needed the extra days to recover.” I snorted, as nowhere in my plans involved caving to my virus’s demands of accepting any courting attempts.
Not until I found out who had attacked me and why.
My virus sulked at the condition, but as I hadn’t given her a condition before, she settled more than I expected.
“That snort tells me I was just rejected.”
“You can’t be rejected when you haven’t asked. Do yourself a favor. Don’t ask.”
“May I inquire on why I should not ask?”
“Until I find out who infected me with the virus, I refuse. I won’t accidentally become the toy of the bastard responsible for my infection—and I don’t trust it was a female wolf.”
“There aren’t precisely a lot of female wolves who’d attack another female unprovoked. That’s usually the doing of some idiot male, no matter what the CDC may have told you.”
I nodded, and I gestured in the direction of where I’d parked. “Here’s the deal, Barnes. Starting now, you’ll do what I say and only what I say until Wednesday morning. You’ll have to deal with being a missing person for a few days, as it’ll ruin my fun if your pack decides to join in. In exchange, I’ll listen to your proposal, and barring anything particularly heinous, I’ll sign your lease agreement. I’ll even sign the paperwork tonight, assuming you brought it with you.”
Wayne lifted his briefcase. “It’s in here, along with my laptop.”
“If you want some fancy hotel room, you’ll have to pay for it, because I can’t afford your standards,” I warned.
“I’ll tell you what. Tonight, I’ll live at your standards. Tomorrow night, we’ll live at my standards. We’ll play it by ear after that.”
“Deal.”
“Then we have a deal. I’ll do what you say and only what you say, and I’ll accept my unexpected vacation with grace. I’ll even enjoy the fallout of my pack getting riled up when I don’t show up for the pack meeting tomorrow.”
Crap. “Will the pack hunt for you?”
“Inevitably.”
Double crap. “Will they be able to find you?”
“Not likely, unless one of them decided to investigate my odd behavior today and noted I left here with you. If they report you as a suspicious person, I’m not confident they’ll get the answer they’re looking for from the police.”
I imagined not, as the police would see my status as an unmated lycanthrope female. “An unmated lycanthrope female stealing an unmated lycanthrope male is not worth their time to investigate.”
“Precisely. Then they’ll be annoyed for not realizing a lone wolf resided in our territory.”
“I refuse to be a part of a pack.”
“Negotiable.”
“It is not negotiable.”
“It is negotiable.”
“How do you figure that?”
“My pack will help identify who attacked you, and should the bastard be in the pack, they’ll taste lycanthrope justice. But, one thing matters over all.”
“What one thing?”
“I have never, nor would I ever, attack someone, especially not without provocation.”
“I’ve been told by the CDC being young and a woman is provocation to some wolves,” I spat, unable to mask my disgust of that memory.
“I am not one of those wolves, and I look forward to proving that to you.”
“Is that a threat?”
“Do you want it to be?”
I wrinkled my nose. “Not particularly.”
“Then it’s a promise.”
Damn it. I wouldn’t even need the influencer to keep Wayne’s attention. My species and the challenge of my dislike for our kind would do the trick. But then again, maybe the combination would be the secret recipe for earning his ire—assuming he viewed his capti
vity as a problem.
I got the feeling I’d bitten off a lot more than I could chew, and I’d be earning every penny of my twenty thousand.
Wayne hated my car. He went from sociable to growling, and it amazed me the pixie dust couldn’t override his annoyance at my junker, which had started its life black but had enough salt and rust encrusting it I thought of it as a mottled monster. “This is your car?”
“This is what I can afford. Get your ass into the car and stop whining. And don’t you break my car having a bloody fit of the vapors. I swear. Are all lycanthrope males whiners?”
“Quite possibly, yes.” Wayne heaved a sigh, but he got into my car and buckled in. “This feels like the most dangerous thing I’ve ever done, and that includes choosing to become a lycanthrope.”
I got behind the wheel, locked the doors so he wouldn’t escape, and started the engine. My car spluttered, the equivalent of it heaving a sigh at being asked to do anything at all. “You weren’t born one?”
“No, I wasn’t.”
Huh. We had something in common. “And you weren’t mugged in some dark alley? Seduced by some wayward single female?”
“No, I was not seduced or mugged in a dark alley. I notified the CDC I was interested in becoming a lycanthrope, that I wanted the wolf strain, and agreed to allow them to do an infection test. I used the payout from the infection test to start my first business.”
My brows shot up at his confession, as I couldn’t imagine him agreeing to do anything like I did, especially when it involved severe discomfort.
It had taken me months to get used to the damned perfume that hid my virus and controlled my spikes. My virus had hated it, but the instant she had realized its purpose, she’d cooperated, doing the equivalent of going into hiding whenever I put it on.
The perfume protected us, and she understood that.
“You agreed to be a guinea pig?” I asked, careful to keep my tone inquisitive rather than doubtful.
“I got what I wanted and a nice paycheck for doing it. They needed to confirm an infection theory. They paid me half a million, as it involved a fist fight with a lycanthrope hybrid and a multi-week hospital stay.”