by Lisa Emme
“I don’t know Harry. Sometimes, when a man spends too long as a wolf, he loses himself to the form. He becomes more wolf than man. We call them wildlings. Maybe he’s one of them.”
“Are any of the missing werewolves wildlings?”
“It could very well be, but we have no way of knowing for sure. Wildlings are loners. They’re no longer part of the pack. They spend all their time running wild in the forest. Who would notice if they were missing?” He paused and I could imagine him running a hand through his hair, like he does when thinking or frustrated. “Listen Harry, I’ve got to go. Promise me if you learn anything else you will call me first before you do anything reckless. I don’t want anything to happen to you.”
“You don’t or your wolf?” Damn! I just couldn’t leave it alone.
“Me, Harry. The wolf isn’t in charge, I am.” With that, he hung up.
Huh. Why did I have to ask that? And what did his answer mean? Did it mean I was growing on him?
Chapter Ten
My promise to Nash - although technically he hung up on me before I had made any promises - was put to the test the next day.
“Hey Russo, I have some information that may be of interest to you,” Tomas’s voice sounded smug. It always sounded smug. He also always tended to call me by my last name. I think he had a problem with calling me Harry.
“I highly doubt that,” I replied.
“Russo, you wound me.”
“That’s nothing compared to what I would like to do to you.” Tomas and I hadn’t hit it off all that well.
“Look,” he said, “I think we got off on the wrong foot when we met.”
Now that was an understatement. “You mean when you thought I was a worthless human?”
“Yeah, something like that.”
“Or are you referring to the time you tied me up and threatened to bite my neck and feast on my fear?” I continued, ignoring Tomas’s reply.
“Come on Russo, you know that was just for show.”
“Ha! Not at the time I didn’t.”
“Consider this my way of making it up to you. You were very impressive the other night and I think I may have underestimated you.”
“You wouldn’t be the first,” I replied, thinking of another male I wanted to strangle half the time. “Listen Tomas, what do you want?”
“It has been brought to my attention that there is a very exclusive, underground fight club operating in the city. It holds events by invitation only for select guests.”
“And this interests me how?”
“The rumour is that the combatants are mutts,” he replied, using the vampire’s derogatory term for werewolves. “And, that they are being coerced somehow to fight against their will.”
“What? Where did you hear that?”
“I have my sources.”
“So why are you telling me? The Magister should be told about this. He should put a stop to it. He’s responsible for the werewolves too.”
“Who did you think told me to tell you?” So much for Tomas doing this for me out of a genuine desire to make amends.
“Me? Why me?”
“The Magister thought that perhaps you would like to accompany me on a little information gathering trip, since you seem to have some sort of affinity to the mutts.”
“Does Nash know?” I asked, thinking about my unspoken promise.
“You can tell him if you wish,” he replied with a sound of exasperation.
“Tell me more about this club.”
It turned out that Tomas didn’t really know all that much, other than that there was a rumour that the underground club existed. Our little informational field trip was to visit Ares, a Cimmerian approved fight club, where the fighters were human - it turns out vampires got a kick out of watching norms beat the crap out of one another - to see if we could get ourselves invited to the top-secret one.
“I’ll pick you up tonight, nine o’clock,” Tomas said.
“That’s fine, but Isaac will want to come with us.”
“Whatever, but he can make his own way there. And Russo,” Tomas deadpanned before hanging up, “wear something sexy.”
***
“No. Absolutely not. It’s a bad idea.” Nash prowled back and forth across the living room.
I had asked him over so I could tell him about the secret fight club. Of course he was being his usual stubborn alpha-self about the whole idea.
“I should definitely go with you,” Tess said.
“No.” Both Nash and I replied at the same time.
“Look Tess, I’m sorry. But I think it would be a really bad idea for you to go when we don’t know what’s going on. You’re a werewolf,” I said, stating the obvious, but I think it had to be said, “and these people are kidnapping and doing who the hell knows what to werewolves. I don’t want anything to happen to you.”
Nash gave me an exasperated look to which I replied, “I’m not a werewolf.” I let out a deep breath. “Look, Isaac is going to be there and I doubt if Tomas would let anything happen to me, if for no other reason than he wouldn’t want to piss off Salvador.” At least I hoped that was the case.
“You don’t understand what you’re getting yourself into,” Nash growled. “Ares makes Dante’s look like a PTA meeting.”
Okay, so that made me pause for a second. Dante’s ranked pretty high on the depravity scale. It was the local hangout for blood whores and fang-bangers and positively reeked of blood and sex. Still, if going would help get information that could solve the missing werewolf mystery, I’d do it.
“I can take care of myself,” I insisted stubbornly, hoping I sounded more confident than I felt.
“I will ensure Harry’s safety,” Isaac, who had been sitting quietly observing our argument, added. “No harm will come to her.”
Nash stopped his pacing and stared at Isaac. A silent conversation seemed to take place between the two men. Finally Nash threw his hands up in defeat. “All right. Fine.” He stomped over to me, grabbing me by the elbow. “But you had better listen to Isaac. If he says jump, you jump.” He shook his finger at me, scolding. I frowned and pulled my arm from his grasp. “I mean it, Harry,” he growled.
“Okay, okay. I promise.” I scowled at Nash and then flopped down on the couch beside Tess to join her in her sulk. Damn pushy alpha male always trying to control my life. Why did I have to find it so attractive?
***
We finally hashed out a plan, although Nash still wasn’t happy with my part in it. I would go with Tomas, and Isaac would meet us there and act as a bodyguard. As Salvador’s second, it was expected that Tomas would travel with an entourage.
Nash agreed to hang back and wait outside the club. He was too well known as a cop to try and sneak in without stirring up attention. Bryce was busy hacking into the building’s security cameras, so he could route any security feeds to Nash’s laptop. I thought he should just stay at the firehall and watch the feeds with Tess, but Nash insisted that he wanted to be close by in case we needed back-up. The ‘we’ really being ‘me’. I doubt if he cared if Tomas needed help.
With a plan in place, I disappeared upstairs with Tess to try and find something to wear. We must have done a good job, because Nash almost blew his top when I came back downstairs later.
“You’re wearing that?” He ogled me up and down.
“Va-va-voom Harry. That dress looks freakin’ fantastic on you. I knew it would,” Tess gushed.
Tomas had wanted sexy, I was giving him sexy. Now hopefully, I didn’t topple over on the sky-high stiletto pumps I was wearing and ruin the effect. I had bought them online months ago on a whim and had never actually worn them, except to prance around my room. The dress was Tess’s. It was a body-hugging bandage dress in fiery red. Because Tess was shorter than me, it was a rather mini, mini-dress, leaving little to the imagination. The c
ut-out, cross-over straps and deep-V plunge upped the sexy factor by ten. The funny thing is, it wasn’t the dress that left me feeling naked, but rather the fact that I wasn’t wearing my katana. Tomas had warned that there would be pat-down security. My little ‘no-see-me’ spell wouldn’t stand up to that sort of scrutiny, so the blade would have to stay at home.
“My, my, you do look ravishing in that dress Harry,” Isaac added his two cents worth, earning a growl from Nash.
“I’ve changed my mind,” he said. “You’re not going.”
“I’m not having this argument with you again,” I replied. I put out my hand. “Do you have the bug?” Nash had insisted that I wear a small listening device. It would give him audio to go with whatever video Bryce was able to get.
He looked at me skeptically. “I don’t know where you are going to put it.”
“Just give me the damn thing. I’ll figure it out.” The device was small, the size of a penny but the thickness of about a stack of five of them. Nash was right, damn him. There was no place I could safely put it that it didn’t show up in this form fitting, rather revealing dress.
“I’ll just get Tomas to carry it. I’ll be with him so you’ll know where I am.”
“And if you get separated?” asked Nash.
“Isaac can just hone in on her like he did before,” Tess answered.
“I’m afraid that won’t be possible now,” replied Isaac. “The ability to locate someone is a result of a sharing of blood and, if blood is no longer shared, it wears off.”
Nash looked at me in surprise. “So you’re not…” He pointed his finger from me to Isaac and back again.
“No, of course not, Isaac gets his meals elsewhere,” I replied feeling defensive for some reason. I crossed my arms in front of me. For all I knew, Isaac was now getting his meals from Christina, but it would have been spiteful, not to mention unfair to Christina and Isaac, to tell Nash that.
“So just give Isaac some of your blood Harry. Then if anything happens, he’ll be able to find you,” Tess suggested. The idea of blood sharing obviously didn’t bother her. I wasn’t sure how I felt though.
“It would be a beneficial precaution,” agreed Isaac. “If we are separated and you are in distress, I will know.”
Yeah, I remembered that part as well. I hadn’t particularly liked that Isaac was able to feel my emotions after our last little blood exchange. Still, it was only for a short period, and it had certainly saved my life last time. “Okay, let’s do it.”
I held my wrist out to Isaac. Nash growled and grabbed my arm, tugging me a few feet away from Isaac. “Are you crazy?”
“No, it’s perfectly safe. I trust Isaac. He would never do anything to hurt me. Besides, I can’t wear the bug and you were worried about not having a tracker on me. This is the perfect solution.” I pushed past Nash and went and stood in front of Isaac.
“You better sit, Harry,” Isaac said, taking my wrist and leading me to one of the kitchen stools. “I only need a sip, but I can prevent the pain this time, unlike the last time.”
“Sure, whatever you think is best.” I may have sounded casual about the whole thing, but really I was nervous. I sat on the stool and held my wrist out to Isaac again.
Isaac grasped my arm gently. He leaned over the inside of my wrist and his fangs descended. I tensed expecting the stabbing pain I had felt the last time Isaac had taken my blood, but instead I felt nothing but calm. When Isaac’s fangs pierced my skin, Nash growled. I looked over at him. He was standing by the dining table, the back of a chair grasped in a white-knuckled grip. He was taking slow, steady breaths like he was trying to force himself to remain calm. I felt the pull at my wrist as Isaac sucked deeply and I closed my eyes, my head tipping back as the euphoria swept over me. Holy crap, no wonder blood whores were addicted to being bitten. It felt incredible. A warm tingle started to form in my core, like sexual arousal.
“Omigod!” I exclaimed, my hand flying to my mouth in shock as my fangs descended.
Isaac stopped sucking and lapped once at the wound, closing the two small holes he had made. He chuckled and said, “It’s okay Harry. It can happen.” There was a crash and the chair Nash had been strangling toppled over.
“What the hell just happened?” Nash demanded striding over to stand beside me.
“Nothing,” I protested, my hand still hovering in front of my mouth. “Nothing ith…IS wrong.” I concentrated for a moment and my fangs retracted.
“Harry got a fang hard-on,” Tess laughed.
“Not funny Tess.” I scowled at her.
“Relax, Detective,” Isaac said. “It’s nothing to worry about. Blood exchange can be a very sensual experience. Harry was just reacting to it and has yet to master full control over her responses.”
“Yeah, Harry’s just a baby vamp after all.”
“Not helping Tess,” I grumbled.
***
Further conversation had been thankfully brought to an end by Tomas’s arrival. He came to the door which was more than I had expected. He struck me more as a lean-on-the-horn, wait-in-the-car kind of guy. He took about two steps into the room then stopped, his eyes widening. “Nice job, Russo,” he said, nodding his head in approval. I guess I passed inspection.
Tomas looked over at Nash and Isaac who were still eyeing each other. “What’s their deal?”
“Nothing to worry about,” I said.
Tomas grabbed me by the waist, pulling me up against himself. “Come on Russo, we don’t want to be late.”
At the sight of Tomas’s hands on me, Nash growled and took a step towards us.
Tomas laughed, letting go of me, holding his hands up in surrender. “It’s like that is it? Down boy,” he said to Nash.
I leaned into Tomas, making a show of smoothing his lapels and straightening his tie. He had a pocket square, not matching mind you, I think GQ would have said it was complementary. I gave it a little tug and slipped the tracking device into his pocket. “Let’s go,” I said. “Oh, and Tomas, if your hand ever strays any lower, I’ll break your thumb.”
Tomas escorted me to his vehicle. It was a Porsche Cayman GT4 in sapphire blue. “Nice car,” I said to him as he opened the door for me, another surprise. “Are you compensating for something or having a mid-life crisis?”
“Cute,” he replied. “Get in the car, Russo.”
About a block away from our destination, Tomas pulled the car over. He put it in park but left it running.
“What are you doing? I’m not walking from here in these shoes. Are you kidding me?” I asked.
“Kiss me,” Tomas said.
“What?”
“I said, kiss me.”
“Whoa, Tomas, just hold on there. I think you – “
The rest of my sentence was swallowed by Tomas as he reached over and pulled me to him, his lips crushing against mine. Shocked, I pushed him away, my hand coming up to slap him, but he snagged my wrist before my fingers could make contact with his face.
“What the hell did you do that for?” I asked, wrenching my arm from his grasp.
“So you could get that out of your system,” he replied with a smirk, wiping his lips with his hand. “You’re supposed to be my girlfriend. No one is going to believe it if you try and deck me every time I kiss you.”
“I thought we were going to watch a fight and meet the people running the show. Just how much kissing do you think will be necessary?”
He shrugged. “Whatever it takes, unless you want to blow our cover.”
“For Pete’s sake, you make it sound like we’re on a CIA covert op.” I frowned at him. “I can play along, if it’s necessary. But only as much as necessary.” I thought of Nash, listening in through the bug. He was probably having kittens over this conversation. Good thing the microphone only worked one way. I don’t think I wanted to know what he was saying. “You t
ake advantage and I’ll knee you so hard in the groin, you’ll be swallowing your testicles,” I added.
Tomas snorted at my threat and threw the car back into gear. He roared off, but not before I saw Nash’s SUV pull up behind us.
Ares was located in a refurbished factory that backed onto the river. It sat at one end of a large parking lot that was already full - looked like the club was a popular destination.
Tomas pulled into a parking space close to the door that said ‘Reserved’. I sat and waited for him to come around and help me out. We were supposed to be on a date, after all. Besides, it was hard getting in or out of a car in a dress this short and still maintain your dignity. The Porsche was so low to the ground I felt like my ass was running along the pavement. I swung both my legs out of the car as daintily as possible and thankfully accepted Tomas’s hand. He pulled me to my feet and into his arms. I thudded against his chest, my arms pinned between our bodies.
“Showtime,” he said with a grin. He leaned in and took my lips again. This time, I relaxed into the kiss. He wasn’t a bad kisser, although not as good as Nash. He slid his hand down to my ass and gave it a squeeze. I grunted my protest, my lips still locked with his. I tried to pull away, but his other hand was on the back of my neck, holding my head.
“Tomas,” Isaac scolded as he came to stand beside us. “Don’t provoke the wolf.”
Tomas ended the kiss and I glared at him. “Watch it buddy,” I hissed, a fake smile plastered on my face. “Don’t get handsy, unless you want me to break something.”
Tomas laughed and grabbed my hand pulling me towards the entrance. “Come on, Russo. This is going to be fun.”
Chapter Eleven
The entrance to the club opened into a large reception area. The security, which appeared non-existent on the outside, was in full force here. There were several brawny men watching as the few people ahead of us were put through security measures to rival that of a major airport. Besides having bags searched, everyone was being frisked and some sort of electronic wand was being used to check for hidden surveillance. I panicked for a second, thinking about the bug I had planted on Tomas. I’d have to get it back and somehow get it past the security.