Search (The Empire Chronicles #2)

by Alyssa Rose Ivy

“He has my cousin.”

  “Vera?”

  “You know about her?” He watched with surprise.

  “I know her sister.”

  “Casey?” He lurched out of his seat. “How the hell do you know her?”

  I kept our history to myself. “That’s not what I’m here to discuss.”

  “What do you want with Casey? Leave her out of this.”

  “Whoa. Calm down.” Evidently, I’d hit a nerve. He was protecting Casey from something. Did he know who her real dad was?

  “What are you?” He didn’t look like a shifter, but he wasn’t human.

  “I’d have thought you knew that already.”

  “Fill me in.” I was done playing around.

  “Then tell me what you’re doing with Casey.”

  “I’m trying to protect her.”

  “By interrogating me?” He attempted to sound fearless, but I could see the uncertainty on his face.

  I studied him, searching for a hint at his true identity. Then something dawned on me. “You’re a bear.”

  “What finally tipped you off?”

  “That’s how you know Murphy. How your cousin got involved. Does Casey know? Did she know she had bears in her family?”

  He shook his head. “Her mom made us keep everything from them.”

  That made sense. Most human women wouldn’t want their kids knowing they had family like that. There had to be a connection between the bear in her family and what happened with Robert. Had they been introduced by a bear? Maybe that was why I kept hitting dead ends when I looked into her past. Her mom was hiding something.

  “Tell me more about Murphy.” I wanted to know about the mother, but Murphy took priority.

  “He has a base upstate. That’s all I know.”

  “Tell me something I don’t already know.” My patience was wearing thin.

  “You know about the base?” He sat forward. “Then why don’t you take him out?”

  “Because I need details.” I’d found a few possible places that could be their compounds, but I didn’t have enough evidence yet.

  “I don’t have those. I just know he’s upstate.”

  “There’s more.” I could always tell when someone was holding back.

  “Murphy’s there, but I don’t think the boss is.”

  “The boss?” So I was right. Murphy wasn’t in charge.

  “Yeah. I don’t know anything about him.”

  “Who do you know about?”

  “Murphy and his brother, Fin.”

  “Fin?”

  “Yeah. He dated Casey for awhile, and I think he’d be a decent guy if it weren’t for his brother.”

  “So he may be the easier one to break?”

  “Exactly.”

  “Got it.” Kid brother who liked Casey. Great. Like a lot of other things, that bothered me more than it should have.

  A knock on the door had us both turning.

  “Rhett? I thought I heard voices in here. What are you doing back so soon?” a woman asked from the doorway.

  “Ah, I decided to cut my research short.”

  I slipped out while they talked. I needed to discover more about the boss. Whoever it was, wasn’t someone I wanted to meet unprepared.

  ***

  Allie had a knack for always calling me at inopportune times. It’s not like she called often, but when she did, there was always a reason.

  “Hello, princess.” I grabbed my phone as I toweled myself off. I’d heard her ringer just as I was finishing up. If it were anyone else, I probably would have let it go to voicemail, but upsetting Allie would just make things worse with Levi.

  “Hi. This isn’t a bad time, is it?”

  “Not unless you mind talking to me when I’m naked.” I had to push her buttons. She might be my best friend’s mate, but it was too hard to resist.

  “Thanks for that fabulous mental picture, but believe it or not, I didn’t call to confess my burning desire for you.”

  “Good. That could have made things awkward with Levi.”

  She sighed. “I’ll get to the point. You need to make things right with Casey.”

  “I did make things right. I told her to stay away.”

  “Jared!”

  “Allie!” I stepped into a pair of pants.

  “You need to do something. I don’t want her beating herself up about it anymore. It’s not good for her.”

  “What’s she beating herself up about?”

  Allie groaned. “Seriously? Are you that dense? She feels awful about sleeping with you. She opened herself up to you just to have the door slammed in her face. She needs to know it’s not her fault.”

  “She can’t care that much. She’s back with Toby.”

  Allie sighed. “I don’t know what happened with you two, but it wasn’t love. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were under a spell or something. The girl’s crazy about Toby, she has been the whole time. I asked you to stay away from her.”

  “And you’re not in charge of me.”

  “Technically, I am, but anyway.”

  I laughed. “Technically, you’re in charge of me now?”

  “I am the queen.” I heard some rustling.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Packing.”

  “Packing for what?” I put on a t-shirt and took a seat on the edge of the bed.

  “The wedding and honeymoon.”

  “Why would you need to pack anything for the honeymoon? Aren’t you guys going to a private island or something?”

  “What does that matter?”

  “Like Levi’s ever going to let you get dressed.”

  “Okay, on that note… fix things with Casey.”

  I laughed. “You’re such a prude, and I’ll try my best.” But I was pretty sure my best wouldn’t be nearly good enough.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Casey

  I’d missed so many shifts at work that I knew there wasn’t a chance I was coming up with the money for fall tuition. You’d think with everything else going on, I wouldn’t be worried about paying for classes, but college was the only thing in my plans. I’d never imagined a future that didn’t involve a degree of some sort. I decided to take a walk over to the financial aid office. Maybe there were some other scholarships I could apply for. Too bad there wasn’t a special one for non-humans. I smiled to myself as I pushed open the door to the office.

  “Sign in at the desk.” A woman barely glanced up at me from where she sat behind a glass partition.

  “Thanks,” I mumbled as I scrawled my name on the bright white sheet of paper. There were four names above mine, three were scratched out. I assumed the remaining name belonged to the guy sitting in the corner, intently concentrating on his phone. It was probably a game.

  I took a seat on the opposite side of the room from the cell phone kid and started flipping through a magazine. It was one of those fashion ones I would only ever read in waiting rooms.

  “Donaldson,” a woman called. The kid pocketed his phone and followed her down a narrow hallway. I glanced up briefly before returning to an article about fall fashion predictions. I’d read the entire magazine and another by the time the women returned.

  “Bates,” the woman called, and the cell phone kid slunk out of the office. It didn’t look like his meeting had gone particularly well. Hopefully, mine would go better. I followed her down the hallway.

  “Ms. Bates, please take a seat.” The woman gestured to a chair in front of a light wooden desk.

  “Thanks.” I sat down.

  “What is it that I can help you with today?” She leaned back in her chair.

  I noticed her name plate. Noreen Talbot.

  “Well, Ms. Talbot, I’m here to see if any additional aid opportunities may have opened since I was last here.”

  “Let me see what I can find. Can I see your student ID?”

  I passed the plastic card over to her and she began typing on her computer. The ID was only go
od for another few months before it expired. I hoped to come up with the money before that happened.

  She looked at me funny. “Were you looking for aid to cover your living expenses?”

  “No.” I shook my head. “Just tuition.”

  “According to your records, your tuition has been paid in full.” She looked at the screen again. “For seven semesters.”

  “What?” I sat up with shock. “How could that be?”

  Ms. Talbot looked me over. “Maybe a relative took care of it for you?”

  Georgina. Of course. “That must be it.” My head spun. She paid for another three and a half years of college? The amount of money that would cost was a small fortune.

  After regaining my composure, I stood. “Thank you for your time.”

  I walked out of financial aid with mixed feelings. On one hand, I didn’t have to worry about paying for college anymore, but on the other, what could she possibly want in return? The apartment could be an investment property for her, and a wardrobe was one thing, but college tuition? Something like that couldn’t possibly come without strings.

  ***

  I preferred Toby’s private jet to the Laurents’. I’d never admit that out loud, especially not to Georgina, but there was something more comfortable about his. Maybe it wasn’t the plane as much as the company. I settled back into my seat, trying to comprehend how in the world I was on my way to a royal wedding in Hawaii.

  “You don’t have to stay buckled in the whole time.” Toby rested his arm on the back of a brown leather sofa.

  “I guess I’m still used to flying commercial.” I tapped the buckle of my seatbelt. “You know, the whole stay buckled when you’re in your seat thing.”

  “Is that so?” He strode over with a grin on his face, and I knew I was in trouble.

  “Yes.” I looked him right in the eye.

  “I guess it’s a good thing I make the rules on this plane, then.” He slid into the seat next to me and gently unbuckled my seatbelt. “I’m going to have to insist you come with me, miss.”

  “Oh no. Don’t go there.”

  “Go where?” He looked at me with mock innocence.

  “With the role play. What, are you going to pretend to be an air marshal or something?”

  “An air marshal?” Toby laughed. “Not exactly, but are you that against role play?”

  “It’s not my thing.”

  “Why do I get the feeling there’s a story behind that?” He brushed a few strands away from my face.

  “Can’t we get back to where we were? Weren’t you going to whisk me away from my seat?”

  “Ah, yes. The air marshal fantasy you so obviously have.”

  “Stop!” I hit Toby’s arm in what I thought was a playful way.

  He rubbed his arm. “Mental note, no teasing you about sexual fantasies.”

  “Speaking of sexual fantasies…”

  “Uh oh. Where is this going?” He grinned again.

  “Can you um, can you have sex…”

  “Are you trying to ask me if we can have sex with our wings out?”

  “Maybe.” I looked down. Even with how confident Toby made me, I still felt strange talking about sex and the non-human thing. It reminded me of how much more of a sexual appetite I had now.

  “I’ve heard it’s better than flying.”

  “You’ve heard? Meaning you’ve never…”

  “Nope. You can’t exactly show your wings if you’re pretending to be human.”

  “Yeah, I guess not.”

  “Want to try?” He ran a finger down my bare arm.

  “When?”

  “Now.”

  “Now? Right here on the plane?” My body tensed. I wasn’t expecting him to say that.

  “Aren’t your wings begging to come out anyway?” His voice was barely a whisper in my ear.

  “Maybe.” I couldn’t deny it. Flying in planes was definitely not one of my favorite activities anymore—even if it was on a private jet with a guy I liked and who made my body temperature rise just by looking at me a certain way. He was looking at me that way at the moment.

  “Excuse me? Would either of you care for a beverage?” A young flight attendant interrupted us.

  I could feel the blood rushing to my face. How much had she heard?

  “No, thanks.” Toby didn’t take his eyes off me. “I think we’ve got other plans.”

  I pushed on his arm, lighter this time. I didn’t appreciate him making things even more awkward.

  “Ah, oh okay.” The woman, clearly flustered, disappeared.

  “What was that for?” I glared at him.

  “What? Were you thirsty?”

  “No.” I crossed my arms. “But you didn’t need to make it so obvious what we’re planning to do.”

  “Why not? Do we have anything to hide?”

  “No, but—”

  “Then who cares? We aren’t doing anything wrong.” He tugged on my hand. “Come here.”

  I let him pull me up, allowing both sides of my seatbelt to fall to the side.

  He led me down the aisle to a room I noticed but never asked him about. “You don’t seriously have a bedroom on here, do you?”

  “Of course I do.” He paused with his hand on the door handle. “And I’d like to use it unless you’d prefer the couch.” There wasn’t much that distinguished Toby’s plane from a luxurious living room. Complete with couches and a full bar, it was pretty over the top. It didn’t really seem like his type of thing, but I assumed it had come with the job—or his family.

  “Open the door, Toby.” I mustered a confident voice.

  “I thought you’d say that.” He held open the door so I could walk in first.

  I glanced around the small space. A double bed, situated between a night stand and some cabinets, took up most of the room. Otherwise, it was empty.

  “Should I bother with the lights?”

  “No.” I had grown to really enjoy the dark more. Even with the night vision, it enhanced your other senses.

  He closed the door behind him then turned to look at me. “Looks like you’ve become a do it in the dark girl.”

  “Does that bother you?” I asked coyly.

  “Nothing about you could bother me.” He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me against him.

  “Are you sure it’s okay that we’re doing this? What if someone needs you?”

  “Last time I checked, neither of us were flying the plane. Can you try to relax?” He left tiny kisses on my neck.

  I nodded.

  “Good, because after all that air marshal talk, I don’t think I can just go sit down.”

  I pushed against his arm. “You tease me too much.”

  “Is that possible?” He rubbed my back. “You like my teasing.”

  “Maybe a little.” I slid my hand under the bottom of his shirt.

  “I think it’s a lot.” He tickled my ear with his lips. “You like it a lot.”

  How could a discussion on teasing me be so hot? I leaned my head back, letting him know I wanted his lips on my neck. He got the hint, and at the same time his hands started to move up my shirt. They slipped easily under my bra. Before I’d registered it, he had my shirt and bra off. I tugged off his shirt and moved on to his pants. I wanted him, and I didn’t want to wait. Neither did he. He had me out of my pants and underwear and down on my back. “Ready to admit you like when I tease you?” His mouth did the teasing this time as he moved it down from my neck.

  “Yes.”

  “Good.”

  I prepared myself for all the pleasure I knew was coming, but my excitement was short lived.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Toby

  Casey jerked back from me as soon as the knocking started.

  “Yes?” I called without bothering to hide my annoyance.

  “Sir? You have a phone call,” the flight attendant said through the door.

  “Can you take a message? We’re, uh, a little busy here.”


  Casey playful pushed me. I laughed.

  “Okay. I’ll tell them.”

  I waited for the sound of her footsteps to fade away before returning my attention to the beautiful and very naked Casey underneath me. I’d never get tired of seeing her that way. She was truly the most amazing site, and I couldn’t wait to see what she looked like naked with her wings.

  I’d just lowered my mouth to her breast when the knocking started again.

  “What?”

  “Sir. They won’t leave a message.”

  “Who is it?”

  Casey rolled out from underneath me and started to get dressed. So much for enjoying the flight. I reluctantly got dressed as well.

  “It’s Jared Florence, sir.”

  I groaned. By then, we were both dressed so I wrenched open the door and took the phone from the flight attendant who was doing a poor job of hiding her amusement. Casey really didn’t need to worry about embarrassing the shifter.

  “What do you want?” I barked out. Getting interrupted was bad enough, but did it have to be Jared? You’d think that after getting Casey back, my annoyance level would have dropped, but it didn’t. I was still so angry at him for using her, and hurting her. She acted like it didn’t matter, but I know his response to her Pteron nature stung. Whether she wanted to be with him or not, rejection still hurts like hell. Either way, he was going to have to apologize. I didn’t like it, but she was a Laurent, and they’d be seeing a lot of each other.

  “Is that any way to greet the head of security?” I could practically see his smirk.

  “What do you want?”

  “We need to talk.”

  I sat on the edge of the bed. “Evidently. That is why you called, isn’t it?”

  Casey looked at me questioningly. She could probably hear his side of the conversation too.

  He let out a deep breath. “I know you hate me, but I hate you too, so it kind of equals out.”

  Casey laughed.

  “Is that Casey?” His voice lilted. Her name and voice still meant something to him. Maybe he wasn’t the cold, heartless bastard I thought he was. At least not completely.

  “Yes.”

  “Could you put her on?” His voice went back to hard and serious.

  “Why?”