by Lexi Blake
I entered the Kimbell Art Museum, sweeping my hair forward in an attempt to partially cover my face. A throng of visiting tourists surrounded me and it was easy to get lost in the midst of art lovers, harried parents, and teens who paid way more attention to their cell phones than the masterpieces on the walls. The first floor held a portion of the standing collection and the offices of museum employees. Directly to the back, behind the front desk, were the stairs that led to the second floor and the primary exhibit spaces. Right now, the choice space was taken up with an exhibit of Italian Renaissance masters.
Glancing around, it was easy to see that the museum relied on cameras and human security. There was a small camera in every corner and, mounted slightly below it, a motion detector for nighttime security. Both would be so easy to take out it was ridiculous. Getting in would be the hard part. I glanced above me and was impressed by the thick concrete overhead. No ceiling access for this thief. If I wanted in, I would have to use a door, and those would be heavily guarded.
On the drive over in Marcus’s rented BMW convertible, I decided that the best plan of action was to find out when the exhibit was being moved into its new home. Hijacking a truck might be easier than tackling the museum. I nodded at Marcus as we entered the building with its scalloped arches. He approached the front desk and knew exactly what to do.
“Hello, I’m Marcus Vorenus.” Marcus didn’t bother with an alias because after he was gone, no one would quite be able to remember what he looked like or exactly what he’d said. Vampire persuasion was a remarkable tool. “I believe you’ll find I have an appointment with your director.”
He didn’t, but sure enough when Suzy Receptionist studied her empty schedule, it was right there for her eyes only. She smiled up at the immaculate Italian and promised her director would be with him in a moment.
“I don’t get all this painting stuff,” Lee said as he walked past some of the world’s masterworks. He stopped at a Matisse. “I could do that.”
“I doubt it.” I studied the Gauguin next to the Matisse and found myself drawn into the self-portrait.
“Don’t look too long, cara,” Marcus warned, walking up behind me. “Paul was a bit of a wizard. He liked to place pieces of his soul in his self-portraits. See, he’s winking at you.”
Sure enough, those black eyes blinked. If Marcus hadn’t pointed it out, I would have thought it was a trick of the light. Now I stepped back, slightly disturbed at the thought.
“Hello, Paul.” Marcus waved at the painting. “I was never so happy to be a daywalker as the time I spent in Tahiti with Gauguin. He knew how to party, as you would say.”
“See, that’s just creepy.” Lee studied the painting like it was something about to attack. “I always liked that one of the dogs playing poker though.”
I sidestepped the issue of Lee’s taste in art as I inspected the gallery and wondered what the other paintings were doing. There are times that knowledge isn’t power, it’s just scary.
“Mr. Vorenus.” A small-statured man with a slight potbelly and wire-framed glasses came through the glass doors leading to the business offices. “I apologize, but I have no record of an appointment with you. Do you mind my asking what this is about?”
“Of course you remember, Stanley,” Marcus said reassuringly, pushing his persuasion directly at the smaller man. We had tracked down the director’s name on the Internet.
Stanley smiled widely and put his hand out for Marcus to shake. “How silly of me to have forgotten. It’s good to see you, Marcus. Come on back to my office and we can catch up.”
We were led through the corridors and into the cool confines of the museum director’s office. I kept my face as forward as possible so no one would be able to remember me when we left. Once the door closed behind us, Marcus dropped the happy pretenses and got down to some serious persuasion. One minute our new friend was smiling and happy, and the next his face was a complete blank and the room was filled with pulsing talent.
I glanced up at Marcus, and his eyes were dark and large as he worked his magic. “You can ask him your questions now, cara. He’ll answer honestly and forget you were ever here.”
“Have you seen the Treasures of Ancient Rome exhibit?” It had already shown in New York and Chicago.
The director’s voice held no emotion as he answered. “Yes. I saw it in Chicago. We had already negotiated to bring it here, and I wanted to get a team up there to figure out how to design the space for the exhibit. We spent several days with the artifacts.”
“Was there anything at all unusual about the artifacts?”
“They’re very old,” he replied. “They date from the Roman Republic and the Empire periods. The collection consists of mostly statuary, sculptures, housewares, and jewelry. Some of the textiles are extremely fragile. We’ll have to keep an eye on the humidity to preserve them.”
I would have to be more specific. “Did anyone in your group notice any of the artifacts for odd reasons? Anything stand out as more intriguing than the rest? Did anyone mention that one of the artifacts made them uncomfortable or perhaps called to them in a way?”
Often with truly arcane objects, the item itself gives off a specific energy that even humans can feel. It can call to the human or repulse them, depending on what the object is supposed to do.
“There was one item. Brandy commented on it,” he said in that monotone. “It was a sculpture. She didn’t like it. I didn’t understand because it was a wonderful example of the time period. She said the eyes bothered her. She refused to be in the room with it after a while.”
“Was it of a wolf?” Marcus asked.
“Yes,” came the reply. “It was a wolf in marble. The wolf is devouring a woman.”
That was what I needed. Now I needed the wheres and hows. It took time to set up an exhibit, so the pieces were coming to Fort Worth weeks before the actual opening date. It was a simple thing to get the director to print off all the arrangements the museum had made with the security company that would transport the exhibit to Fort Worth. I knew all the contact information, the dates of transfer, the name of the driver who would be in charge, and the time the shipment was expected to arrive at each checkpoint. I would steal the artifact before it ever made it to the museum, long before Halfer had planned to get his hands on it.
I tucked the papers into my bag and thought about how much easier my career was with a vampire around. I could have gotten the information, but it would have taken me weeks to do it, and I would have had to hire a hacker which costs money and left me open to the perils of working with contractors.
I nodded to Marcus, letting him know I had everything I needed. “We thank you for your time, Stanley. You will take a rest now. The day’s been long and you’re tired. You’ll awake in an hour or so and remember nothing that has happened.”
The director sat down in his plush chair and was snoring almost immediately.
I was impressed. “Marcus, if Daniel ever decides to give up the game, you’re welcome on my crew.”
* * * *
Thirty minutes later, we sat on the lawn of the museum under the shade of the large oaks close to the fountains. Lee had crossed the street and bought a bag of burgers and fries of which I had one and he downed four.
Marcus had magnanimously sat beside me through it all, chatting about his life in ancient Rome. Lee lay back in the grass, his stomach finally full. He seemed so content lying there that I reached out a hand to rub his belly.
“Don’t even think about it, sister.” Lee growled, not bothering to open his eyes. “I bite.”
“Neil used to let me rub his belly.” Neil would make little sounds of complete contentment when Sarah or I would rub his belly. He always claimed it helped him sleep.
“I’m not Neil,” Lee pointed out.
“He used to let me rub him behind his ears, too.”
“No petting, Zoey,” Lee ordered.
“I will let you pet me all you like, cara,” Marcus announced
with a smile.
“God, not another one.” Lee looked up, his brown eyes wary. “I spent all day yesterday watching that faery try to get in her pants. I don’t want to play chaperon again today. What the hell is it about you that has every man in a five-mile radius sniffing around you?”
“You’re using the term ‘man’ lightly there,” I pointed out. “It’s not like I’m The Bachelorette with twenty guys fighting for my hand. Human guys are few and far between. I’ve seriously dated two, count them, two guys in my whole life and I live with both of them. Vampires shouldn’t count. They’re way more interested in my blood than my body. That leaves the pervert twins. Those are my choices.”
“I’m extraordinarily interested in your body.” Marcus gave me a sexy grin.
“How about you be extraordinarily interested in telling me everything you know about the Strong Arm of Remus.” I deeply wanted to get off the subject of my love life.
“I told you, it’s just a legend, Zoey,” Lee said with a frown.
Marcus went from playful to serious in an instant. “I don’t know about that. Romulus and Remus really existed. In mythology they were the children of Mars and a human female, but in truth they were werewolves, perhaps the first of their kind. Where they originally came from only the truly ancient ones know, and they no longer speak. As the wolves of my homeland told it, Romulus was smarter but Remus was the true alpha. Romulus wanted power and tricked his brother, managing to kill the faster, stronger wolf. He took his brother’s right paw and through it he could control the pack. He founded Rome and became the king of the wolves. As long as he wielded his brother’s power, he was the uncontested alpha, needing only to think an order and the pack would follow it.”
“It isn’t real.” Lee seemed disturbed by the thought of it, and I didn’t blame him. If something like that existed, it could change everything. Controlling the wolves meant winning any war you went into. “If it was, every wolf in the world would be hunting for the damn thing.”
“Just because the artifact has been gone for thousands of years doesn’t mean it’s not real,” Marcus told the wolf. “If it’s real then we cannot allow it to fall into the hands of someone like Lucas Halfer. It’s better that Zoey finds it and protects it from someone who would misuse such power.”
I wasn’t planning on protecting the artifact. If it was real, then there was only one thing to do with it. I would destroy it. Lee passed a long look at me and I chose not to mention my plan to Marcus. I knew without a doubt what the vampire would want me to do with it. He would want me to hand it to Daniel. It would be the scepter to his crown. Through the wolves, Daniel could control the vampires, and through the vampires, he could take the rest of the supernatural world.
“You’re an interesting wolf, Mr. Owens,” Marcus said, studying my bodyguard intently.
“I don’t think so,” Lee replied with his usual grumble.
Marcus sat back, more relaxed than he’d been before. “I’m an expert on wolves. I lived surrounded by them for many, many years. There was a time when wolves and vampires were allies.”
“Then the vampires decided to make the wolves their animals.” Lee took a long drink of his soda, never taking his eyes off the vampire.
“If you feel that way, then you can’t possibly approve of your brother’s decision to make his oath to Daniel.”
Lee set the drink aside with a frown. “I guess as vampires go, Donovan’s all right, though I think he could go really dark given the right circumstances. Zack’s too eager to follow. He needs a strong leader, and he thinks he’s found him.”
Marcus went into professorial mode. “Zack is a normal wolf. The normal wolf seeks the safety of a strong pack and wants a dominant leader. It makes the wolf feel safe and protected.” He looked back at Lee. “Your pack, it was weak?”
“Yeah,” Lee admitted. “There were only twelve of us and the alpha probably wasn’t a true alpha.”
We’d found the Owens brothers in Vegas, but I didn’t know a lot about their pack. “Why weren’t you the alpha, Lee? I’ve seen you do some seriously amazing things. You’re stronger than Neil and he was really strong. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a wolf move the way you did yesterday, and your senses are off the chart.”
Marcus shook his head. “Neil isn’t an alpha, Zoey. Like Zack, he wanted a strong leader. It didn’t matter that Daniel was fighting for good or right. Neil made his pledge to Daniel because he was the strongest. Lee is not an alpha, either.”
“Damn straight,” the wolf agreed. “The last thing I want is to have to deal with a bunch of politics and wolves whining about this or that.”
“Mr. Owens here is something far more interesting. He’s a true lone wolf. He has power and capabilities beyond a mere alpha, yet he has no instinct to take the reins of power. They’re rare but necessary. The lone wolf serves as a balance to the powerful alphas. Consider him something of a sheriff. He’s able to keep corrupt alphas in line because he has no need for a master. He might follow a leader he believes in, but it’s not his primary instinct to lead or be led. I’m surprised, actually. Lone wolves aren’t known for staying in one place for long. It’s their deepest instinct to roam.”
Lee let his eyes slide away and stared at the street in the distance. “Most loners don’t have brothers.”
It explained a lot about Lee. His only real loyalty was to his brother. He’d left his home and the pack he’d known since childhood without a backward glance. He didn’t care a thing about what anyone thought of him and did nothing to try to fit in.
Marcus looked Lee over thoughtfully before asking his next question. “You show no desire to follow Daniel in his quest. You obviously have no great respect for Devinshea. Why would you agree to watch their queen?”
“It’s a payday,” Lee said, shrugging off the question. “Beer costs money.”
“It didn’t feel like a payday when you were going to kill me. You were willing to hunt down one of the oldest vampires in the world for a girl you seem to think very little of.”
Lee sat up, an offended frown on his face. “I never said I didn’t like Zoey. I just have no desire to jump her bones. She’s a good kid.” He thought for a moment and decided to press on. “She’s important. Donovan and Quinn, they’re ambitious. They might be doing this for the right reasons but men like that…power can change them. Donovan is a ruthless bastard. He loves the kill and if he takes power, he could be as bad or worse than anything the Council has ever offered.”
“That’s not true,” I argued.
Lee moved on, choosing not to engage me. “Quinn is smart as hell and plays the game better than anyone I’ve ever seen. He might seem soft, but it’s an act. He’d make the hard calls, the calls that cost people their lives without hesitating or regretting the loss as long as it paid out. There’s one thing and one thing alone that keeps them in line.”
“Zoey,” Marcus said. He’d decided that was true a long time ago.
“Take her out of the equation and you get a bloodbath. Do you have any idea how terrifying it is that the safety of my whole world revolves around that?” Lee pointed at me.
I stuck my tongue out at him tartly. I don’t think it made him feel any better about the situation.
It wasn’t long after that Marcus needed to get back to Dallas to meet Marini for his flight to LA. He drove us back to Ether, and all the while my mind played the conversation over and over. It made me wonder what Danny would be like if I’d rejected him after he’d come back from Paris last year. It wasn’t the most pleasant of thoughts. Dev had only gotten involved with Danny because of me. I had to admit that he relished his role. He liked the game. He liked the power and the politics and even the subterfuge.
I was still contemplating all that Lee had said when we dropped Marcus off. It was getting close to dusk when I told Lee I needed to go out to the farm. He herded me to his old beat-up Ford truck.
“I can drive if you like,” I said, my humor returning. I’d watche
d him in the rearview mirror during our trip to Fort Worth. “If I drive, you can hang your head out the window.”
“I make no apologies for that. It feels nice.” Lee climbed into the cab, and I was forced into the passenger side where he apparently liked to keep his empty fast food bag collection. He had the good sense to look slightly embarrassed as he cleared off the seat. “I’ll clean that out tonight. I don’t have many passengers.”
“You could let me drive.” No one ever let me drive anymore.
“You’re never driving my truck, Zoey.” He turned the engine over with a twist of the key and then slapped my hand away from the console. “And don’t you dare change my radio.”
I sighed, thinking I would have to listen to George Strait for the next twenty miles.
“You want to tell me what you’re going to do with that thing if you actually get ahold of it?”
“Oh, I’ll get it, Lee. Don’t doubt it for a minute.” I rested my head on my knees. My feet were on the dashboard because there really wasn’t room for them on the floor. “What I’ll do with it from there is extremely simple. I’m going to destroy it.”
“What if it works?”
“Then I’ll make damn sure it never does again.”
Lee grunted his agreement. “Those boys of yours are going to be damn upset about it.”
I shrugged, the gesture much more negligent than I felt. “They’ll live with the disappointment.”
“All right then. You just tell me what to do.” Just like that he went from bodyguard to accomplice.
I wasn’t going to hide anything from Danny or Dev, I promised myself as the miles went by. I was going to tell them exactly what I was going to do. If I was their conscience, it was probably past time I got to work.