CAGED (Mackenzie Grey #2)

by Karina Espinosa

I turned around and met the six-foot-plus Ogre who looked like he OD’d on steroids. His ill-proportioned body made me raise both eyebrows.

  “Oh, thank you,” I said. I wanted to barf.

  “Would you like to join me? I’m over in the VIP,” he said and pointed to where he was sitting.

  “Oh, my gosh, yes, sounds like fun,” I giggled—maybe a little too hard.

  “Take it back a notch, Ace,” Roman said in my ear. “You sound like a thirteen year old who just met One Direction.”

  I cleared my throat in agitation. “Lead the way,” I said as the Ogre directed me to his section. I turned around and looked up to the second floor of the night club. I flipped my middle finger at the one way mirror overlooking the dance floor, where I knew Roman and Third-Eye Lou were watching.

  “Maybe later,” Roman said and I imagined him winking at me.

  “Asshole,” I muttered.

  “Excuse me?” The Ogre asked.

  “Oh nothing, sorry,” I smiled. He grinned and unhooked the velvet rope separating the VIP section from everyone else.

  “I’ve never seen you around here, is this your first time?” he asked and led me to a couch where we both took a seat.

  “Yes, it’s my first time. I found a flyer on one of the bulletin boards on campus and thought I’d give it a try.”

  His grin widened. “I see. And you came alone?”

  I attempted a blush. Easier said than done. “Well my girlfriend was supposed to meet me but she bailed at the last minute.”

  “Well, I’m glad I can keep you company,” he said and leaned closer, wrapping his arm across the back of the sofa. “Would you like a drink?” he offered.

  I nodded. “Please.”

  “I’ll be back,” he winked and stood to go to the bar.

  Once he was out of ear shot, I sagged into the couch. “His breath smells like something died,” I complained.

  “Don’t worry, not much longer and you can go,” Third-Eye Lou said.

  “I heard Ogres eat the intestines first before anything else. Maybe that’s what you smell?” Roman said and I heard them laughing in the background.

  “You’re both having a little too much fun with this. I have to deal with this thing’s odor and play bait while you two get to gallivant all up in his office and do the cool detective stuff.”

  “I know, Ace. I promise you ice cream and a Netflix binge after this,” Roman said and I smirked. “Alright he’s on his way back.”

  The Ogre was dressed in navy blue slacks with a striped white-and-blue button up. The first few buttons were undone and showed a peppering of chest hair. His small waist looked weird compared to his oversized upper body.

  He sat down and handed me a pink cocktail with a pineapple on the rim and an umbrella.

  “I didn’t get your name—can I guess? You look like an Arnold to me. Am I right?”

  His laugh was strained and I saw a vein in his neck twitch in aggravation. “Uh, no, more like Danny.”

  “Oh,” I giggled and turned away, getting a whiff of the drink he handed me. It smelled salty for a beverage that was supposed to be sugary, which meant he added Rohypnol. Damn it. The bastard roofied the girls. I couldn’t wait to dig my claws into this creep.

  “Do you like the drink? I wasn’t sure what you liked but you seem like a sweet girl,” he smiled wide. I threw up a little in my mouth.

  I wet my lips and pretended to swallow. “Mhm, yes I love it. How’d you know?”

  He chuckled. “Call it a gut feeling. Cheers,” he brought his glass between us and I clinked mine against his. When I brought the tumbler up to my lips, I only took a small sip. My wolf would burn the drug off quicker if consumed in small quantities.

  My phone buzzed in my clutch handbag and I set the drink down on the table in front of us. “Excuse me, I’m sorry,” I giggled again and pulled out my cell. The name Tiffany was on the screen with the message “Brad broke up with me!” and a crying emoticon. That was my cue from Roman that they had left Danny’s office and were waiting for me in the alleyway.

  “Oh no!” I shrieked in mock horror.

  “What’s wrong, Darling?”

  “Tiffany needs me. Her boyfriend broke up with her,” I frowned.

  “Well I’m sure she’ll be okay, why don’t you finish your drink and then you can go,” he said, his expression extra friendly.

  I shook my head. “No, I better go now. They’ve been together for years.” I stood and straightened my mini skirt. “Thank you for the drink, Arnold.”

  “It’s Danny,” his upper lip twitched, “and yeah, anytime,” he mumbled half-heartedly.

  I waved as I stumbled out of the VIP section. My stupid heels were making my ankles wobbly.

  “Ace, report?” I heard through my earbud.

  Once I was walking across the dance floor to the side door of the club, I said, “On my way, be there in two.”

  I pushed through the people in the sticky hallway waiting to use the bathroom and slammed my shoulder into the backdoor with the ‘Exit’ sign glowing above. The Los Angeles night draft would have made me stagger back with its force, but I was different than your average Jane. My wolf wouldn’t fail me. The alley was dark, brick walls on either side with graffiti smeared over them. Trash littered the ground and it smelled like piss, beer, and cigarettes.

  As soon as I stepped into the night, my first mistake was not shutting the door behind me, because I was caught off guard when a hand grabbed my arm and jerked me back.

  “What the fuck?” I exclaimed as I tripped over myself and fell into a pair of big arms.

  “Sweet girls don’t talk like that,” Danny said behind me.

  “Shit,” I muttered.

  “Ace? What’s going on?” Roman asked but I couldn’t answer him. Danny had already stuck one of his fat fingers into my ear and plucked out my communication.

  “Let me guess—SIU?” the Ogre growled. “I should have pegged you from the get go. Want to know what tipped me off?”

  “Not really,” I said. He slammed me onto the brick wall of the night club and I grunted. “Ouch!”

  “You mess with me and my business and I’ll end you!” he yelled in my face.

  I grimaced. “Oh God, please stop talking. Your breath is killing me already!”

  That only infuriated him further. “You’re the one they call Ace, the one who doesn’t know when to shut up.”

  “I’m glad my reputation precedes me,” I deadpanned.

  Danny grinned. “That’s all that’s going to be left when I’m done with you.”

  “Sure,” I said. “Starting with the intestines?”

  “What?” I caught him off guard, taking my knee straight to the crown jewels.

  He squeaked and loosened his grip on me. “I swear that should be my signature move,” I said as I brought my elbow to his face. I escaped from his hold as I swirled behind him, and with a little help from the wolf, I pinned him to the wall. “Hands behind your back, Big Guy.” I interlocked his wrists.

  “Are you okay?” Roman called from the sidewalk.

  “Yeah, what took you so long?”

  “Sorry, was trying to get Third-Eye Lou in the car before he decided to pay for a lap dance, the old geezer.” Roman shook his head and handed me a set of handcuffs. I clipped them onto the Ogres wrist and Roman helped me drag him out to the street.

  “If you think you’re getting away with this, he’ll know. He’ll find me and he’ll kill you!” Danny shouted, the vein in his neck working double time.

  “Damn, Ace, you weren’t kidding about that breath,” Roman exhaled.

  My claws extended and they seized on to the Ogres neck. “Who will find us? What is his name?” I snarled.

  For the last four months, Roman and I had been searching for a demon that was kidnapping and exploiting Sucubi in the City of Angels. As partners of a new covert squad of the LAPD, called the Supernatural Investigative Unit—not very creative, I know—it was our job to handle the
weird and keep it away from humans. But we were nowhere near close to finding out why or who this damn demon was. We didn’t even have a name.

  Danny chuckled. “You think I’m telling you?” he shook his head. “He’ll kill me if I snitch. I rather rot in a jail cell.”

  I released him. “Don’t worry, Stank Breath, that can be arranged.”

  ***

  LA traffic was the worst. The slamming brakes at the last minute, grid lock, and people jaywalking made me grind my teeth. It was two in the morning and I was losing patience—although I was glad when Roman tossed me the keys and volunteered to sit in the back seat with the smelly Ogre. If I had to deal with him again tonight, I didn’t think I could refrain from punching him in the throat.

  We rode in the police issued, unmarked car—a dark gray, Dodge Challenger. The power of the engine was a welcome change to Roman’s crappy, beat-up Jeep. We could only drive this beauty while on duty, and I took every opportunity to be in the driver seat. Third-Eye Lou sat beside me, his light snores broke the silence as he laid against the head-rest with his mouth slightly open. His tilted fedora covered most of his face—he opened and closed his mouth as if he tasted something.

  To avoid any further traffic, I took a detour through some side streets that were mostly empty. When I looked away from Lou, I slammed on my brakes, jerking us to a screeching halt. Lou gurgled his last snore, and Roman reached for my shoulder to keep me from flying through the windshield. Two black SUVs blocked the path before us. If I hadn’t stopped when I did, we would have smashed into them—we were only a few feet away.

  “I told you they’d come for me,” Danny gloated in the backseat. Roman did what I had been itching to do: he grabbed the Ogre from the back of his neck and slammed his face into Lou’s seat—waking the old man from his sleep.

  “What—what did I miss?” Lou sat up and adjusted his hat. “What’s going on?”

  I pointed to the windshield where the doors of the SUVs opened and four Ogres stepped out. “Stay in the car, Lou.”

  “You don’t have to tell me twice,” he grumbled and strapped his seat belt tighter.

  I rolled my eyes. As if that would make a difference. Before I stepped out of the vehicle, I took a look over my shoulder and caught Roman jamming his elbow into Danny’s face, knocking him unconscious.

  “I’m coming with you,” he said as we both got out of the Challenger.

  “There’s a gun in the glove compartment,” I whispered to Lou. “Just in case.” He nodded, but I saw his trembling hands as he cupped them together. Third-Eye Lou wasn’t used to being out in the field with Roman and I.

  “Looks like we got ourselves a party, Ace,” Roman said as we walked toward the Ogres.

  “Aw,” I pouted. “I didn’t bring my dancing shoes.”

  One of the Ogres smirked. “A vampire and a wolf, how cute,” he pointed to our car. “Give us Danny and we’ll forget this ever happened.”

  I hung my arm over Roman’s shoulder and leaned into him. I had long ago swapped my hooker heels for a pair of sneakers. It was a fashion statement I wasn’t pulling off well.

  “They think we’re cute,” I pinched Rome’s cheek. “And they think we’re here to negotiate.”

  Roman chuckled. He was, if not more, cocky than I was. We were quite the pair.

  “Silly Ogres,” he taunted. “Tricks are for kids.”

  We both laughed as the four of them ran toward us. We pushed off each other and rammed into the oncoming boulders. I tackled one to the ground, slashing my claws a few times over his face and chest. Another pulled me off and I caught air until he set me down—not too gentle either. My back slammed onto the ground as I tucked in my chin to my chest to avoid cracking my skull against the concrete street. I didn’t have enough time to get to my feet before he snatched me by my flimsy shirt and pulled me up.

  “I beg of you, don’t speak,” I pleaded. Their breath was not something to be desired.

  “What Pack do you belong to, Little Girl?” he said. “Lunas aren’t supposed to play with the big boys.”

  I placed my hands on his shoulders, and kneed him in the stomach. My arms wrapped around his neck and I flung myself around until I straddled him from behind. With my other hand I palmed his forehead and twisted his head, snapping his neck. Number four. I added another notch to my mental kill list.

  The Ogre crumpled to the ground as he broke my fall. The one I had tackled jammed his elbow into the backseat window where Danny was.

  “Hey!” I yelled. Roman was still dealing with the other two Ogres. I debated on what I should do: help Rome, or stop them from grabbing Danny. I didn’t have much time. One of them had Roman by the neck while the other was breaking off a tree branch to ram it through his heart. No. I slipped my pocket knife that was clipped to the inside of my bra and flipped it open. I jammed it into the side of the one that held Roman. He shrieked and back handed me, but it was enough to break Roman free. I landed again on the floor, and shook out the stars that clouded my vision.

  The sound of someone tapping the hood of a car stirred me into action. “Come on!” an Ogre yelled. I looked over to our Challenger and saw Lou’s distressed face and knew that Danny wasn’t there anymore. The other Ogre tossed Roman to the side and ran to the SUVs. Before we could do anything, their tires squealed around and they shot down the street, leaving us in the dust.

  Roman was on his side, his fangs were out and he was hacking up blood.

  “Shit,” I stood and ran to him. “Are you okay?”

  “Yeah,” he grimaced. “Their blood is fuckin’ nasty.”

  “Gross,” I jerked away from him. “Was their breath not enough for you to keep away?”

  He rolled his eyes. “When I’m getting choked to death and about to get a stake to the heart, it was my only option.”

  “Yuck,” I said as I gave Roman a hand and helped him up. “We lost our first and only lead.”

  “Lou?” he turned to our car and saw the old man wide-eyed in the passenger seat. “I know he all but pissed himself.”

  “Let’s get him back to the station,” I clapped Roman on the back. “What did you guys find at the nightclub?”

  “Not much,” he shook his head. “Lou was able to hack into some of his files but all we got was a list of numbers and letters. It’s going to take him a while to decode it all.”

  I sighed. “Do you think we have the time before they snatch up more girls?”

  “Probably not.”

  Chapter Two

  “You think he’ll talk?” Roman asked as he tossed his keys on the kitchen counter.

  “Probably not, but he’ll be fun to mess with,” I wiggled my eyebrows and plopped down on the living room sofa. I reached for the TV remote and changed the screen from cable to Netflix. “Now about that binge you promised…”

  Roman laughed. “I’m wiped, Ace. Rain check?”

  “You know, there’s only so many empty promises I can accept,” I pouted.

  “The sun will be rising in like an hour, I’ll pass out before we even finish an episode.”

  “Fine,” I sighed. “I’ll get some shut eye too. Maybe wake up before nightfall and hit the streets—talk to my informant. There has to be something else that we’re missing about this case.”

  “Of course there is, but how about we forget it for now, and do something else,” Roman crawled over the sofa and slid above me. His hip aligned with mine and I could feel his arousal against my thigh. “I can’t break all my promises tonight,” he snuggled into me, his lips gliding over my collar bone. I tilted my head to the side and let him trail kisses up to my ear.

  “I flicked you off. It wasn’t an invitation,” I tried to sound annoyed, but it never worked with him.

  “Why wait until a nightmare for you to crawl into my bed?” he whispered. “Let’s just skip the appetizer and go straight to the main course, shall we?”

  I laughed and he lifted his head. “You did not just compare me to a meal.”
r />   “I’ll compare you to whatever you want me to,” he smirked.

  I sighed, as I pulled off his shirt. My fingers already tracing the fine lines of his body. Every muscle was taut and frozen in time. He would never get old or fat. He was pure perfection—and I was going to hell for enjoying him. One way ticket for Mackenzie Grey, please.

  “What are we doing, Rome?” I asked as I gazed up into his hazel eyes.

  “The same thing we’ve been doing for the past few months—having fun. What’s wrong?”

  I encircled my arms around his neck, his arm hooking behind my back, bringing me closer to him. “I don’t know, I just want to understand us—whatever us is.”

  “Ace, I thought we discussed this already,” he whispered over my lips. “We’re fooling ourselves if we think a relationship could ever work.” He kissed me and I didn’t hesitate. I opened my mouth and let his tongue slip in. My hands were already in his hair as he worked my shirt off and unclipped my bra. He lifted himself and I grabbed his belt buckle, his lips trailing kisses down my neck.

  “I just,” I moaned. “I just thought maybe—maybe, I don’t know,” I tried to form a complete sentence but Roman’s tongue had made its way to my breast and I couldn’t think straight. My hands reached above me and gripped the armrest of the sofa. My claws extended and they latched on to the fabric as I teared through it. Soft suckles and licks made my body purr. The sensation doubled—the wolf heightened every touch and it was ecstasy.

  “I guess we’re due for a new couch,” Romans cold breath hardened my nipple.

  “Yes,” I groaned.

  He chuckled. “Ace, don’t worry about the future, all I care about is the present, and you. Can that be enough for now?”

  I didn’t care anymore as I nodded my head vigorously. I started to pull his jeans over his ass, pushing them down his thighs with my bare feet. “Hurry,” I moaned as he slid my mini skirt around my waist. With no warning, Roman flipped me over and pulled my ass toward his hips. My back slammed against his chest as he wrapped his arm around my stomach, holding me steady. His stony lips lingered on my skin as he adjusted himself.