He nodded his head then squeezed his eyes shut. He took a deep breath then leaned against the wall of the closest building. “Thanks for getting me out of there,” he said eventually. I relaxed next to him to give him the time he needed to fully come around.
“We’re back to square one,” I dared to say once he looked more like Kaleb the man and less like Kaleb the wolf. “But I had a vision when I touched him. Wanna hear it?”
He chuckled and then inhaled deeply before taking my hand in his. “How about we do it over a beer?”
Letting out an exaggerated sigh, I looked at him with affection. He always had my back. And for that I was grateful. “I’m so buying, aren’t I?”
“Yes, you are.” He pushed himself away from the wall. “And we’re going to Pandora’s Box.”
“Another shifter club? Seriously?”
He laughed and pulled me along with him in the opposite direction of where The River Blue club had been. “Yeah. But I’ve got a feeling you’re going to like this one. And you might like it so much that you call me ‘baby’ every damn day.”
CHAPTER TWENTY
Pandora’s Box was eye opening; I had to admit.
Upon entry, made possible by Kaleb’s reputation, a woman with a Grecian hairstyle and gown led us through the club. Sensuous would be a way to describe her as she emphasized each sway of her hips for Kaleb’s benefit. But I was certain he was happy enough with the view as we followed her through to the VIP area.
The grand place had a more sophisticated energy than The River Blue had emitted. The tapestries hanging on the walls had been woven from the finest colors as they represented scenes of the Gods and Goddesses from Greek mythology. A naked statue of Aphrodite greeted us as the woman led us deeper into the club, and a waterfall rained down through the transparent wall behind her. Soft music played in the background as people, who I assumed to be shifters, conversed at their tables without so much as a glance in my direction. And I felt relieved.
I didn’t feel welcome here, but I didn’t feel threatened either. I was accepted as a patron and that was that.
Both male and female servers walked around the place wearing brilliant white chiton’s. Circles of flowers woven with ivy sat around their heads as they served drinks to the waiting tables from cream ceramic wine vessels. Fruits of red, green and purple sat in the middle of some of the tables, surrounded by white marble benches, and it didn’t end there. It was evident from every refined detailed, that the club wanted to make the customers feel as if they sitting in the middle of Ancient Greece.
We finally came to a standstill at a set of stone stairs, and the woman gestured for us to climb up.
“The VIP area is at your disposal, Gamma Cipher,” she purred in a sultry voice. Her eyes didn’t leave Kaleb as she spoke. “Please let us know what you desire, and I will ensure those desires are met.”
A smug grin stretched across Kaleb’s face, and he winked at me before replying.
“Just two beers for now, please. Thank you for your service.”
“It is my pleasure.” She swept her arm out and bowed, slow and graceful, ensuring Kaleb received an eyeful of her curvaceous breasts. Her eyes lingered on his before she seductively sidled away.
“Now I know why you like it here,” I told him, harsher than I intended. I wasn’t sure why seeing someone treat Kaleb like that got my back up. I should have been more than used to women reacting around him like that by now.
“Put those claws away,” he teased as he gestured for me to climb the stairs first. “You know my ass is all yours if you want it.”
Angry that he’d picked up on how annoyed I’d been with the hostess, I glared at him before stomping up the stairs to the VIP area. I yanked aside the sheer white chiffon material hanging between the columns, then grumpily plonked myself down on one of the vacant seats.
Kaleb chuckled as he joined me, and he let me brood a while as we waited for our beers.
Ignoring him was easy as I focused on the tilted, ceramic vase that sat in the center of our table. Molded to the stone, I watched entranced as a miniature waterfall spilled out of it and flowed down a carved recess in the table top. The water trickled away and disappeared into the abyss of the supporting pillar, a tranquil noise hovering as the water continued to flow.
It was interesting that some people in Portiside believed in the myth of the powerful Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Greece. They also claimed that the history we were familiar with was from the worshipper’s perspective, rather than from one of the so-called gods. I’d caught on quickly when I’d arrived here that you didn’t enter a debate in the matter if you wanted to stay in one piece. Certain individuals took their history very seriously, and many of them weren’t allowed to visit Earthside on that basis alone. Trying to tell a bull shifter that he used to be something as simple as a man with a bull’s head, would most likely get you a horn in the gut for your trouble. Temperamental citizens like that didn’t get awarded dual citizenship.
“Happy now?” Kaleb asked once a server brought our beers over. I waited for privacy before replying.
“I’m very happy.” I picked up the beer and took a swig. “Are you okay now, after dealing with Rudolf?” I hadn’t forgotten the look on his face as he’d fought for control with his inner wolf.
“I’m fine,” he replied before taking a sip of his beer. “Rudolf rubbed me up the wrong way, that’s all.” He let out a deep breath and his usual smile crept back across his face. “Are you going to spill about what you saw in your vision then or what?”
He remained quiet while I explained the flashes of images I’d seen from the contact with Rudolf.
“What do you think it all means?” I asked once I’d finished. He shrugged and sat back in his seat.
“Who knows? You know I don’t deal in metaphors and potentials. I like to see things as they are and go with the flow.” He studied me for a moment. “But I also know you. We shouldn’t take this vision lightly, and you’re good at this sort of thing. What do you think it all means?”
“Blue,” was all I said, and then I took a long sip of the alcohol knowing it would be my only one tonight. The memories of drinking so much the evening before were still fresh.
“Blue?” he questioned.
“The color blue. It’s what connects all this, isn’t it? The blue ring around the irises of the shifter and the wendigo. The color of the uniforms the SQR officers wear. And even the club, The River Blue. Not forgetting the round, blue circle I saw with the letter ‘R’ on it. It’s all blue. Blue connects it.”
There was no need to mention Mayra’s card reading and its ominous blue readings. Not only did Kaleb’s brain—or imagination—reach a certain limit when I filled his head with this stuff, but he would become all overprotective on me again.
“Do you really want me to go and tell Cole that our only lead so far is a color?” Kaleb asked with a frown. “Do you hate me that much?”
A smile formed on my lips and I replied, “Maybe we should keep that to ourselves for now. But you’ve got to admit it’s a connection. And the rogue shifters I saw chained up in that warehouse, they were being fed—or I should say teased—by a guy in a blue uniform. That connects the SQR to the rogue shifter, and the SQRs are connected to Rudolf. It all fits.”
“Because of a color?” he asked humorously. I nudged his leg with my foot.
“Shut up. It’s something. And if it’s something, we follow the trail.” I paused as my thoughts wandered a little. “We need to check out all the warehouses in the city. I might recognize the outside from what I saw in the vision.”
“That could be a lot of warehouses.”
“What else do we have? The SQR officers will clam up. And extortion charges will only stick if people are willing to testify—which they won’t. Not when all their customers are scared of them.”
“Yeah, I know. I just hate this part of the investigation. I prefer the hunting-them-down part. It’s much more satisfying.”
<
br /> “That’s why you’ve got me.” I raised my bottle and he clinked it with his own. “And I bet you haven’t regretted one day since you became my partner. Saving me daily, coming to my defense, watching me walk away. You’re one lucky shifter.”
He laughed, shaking his head in dismay before pointing those blue pools of his in my direction. “You’re a pain the ass, Vane. And you know it.”
“You wouldn’t have it any other way though. Right?”
He looked at me for a few brief seconds, as if I was the only thing in the world that existed, then said, “Not a damn thing.”
My grin was larger than it should have been, and I found solace in the beer in front of me. That shifter was too practiced in charming women into dancing to his tune from just one look. He should come with a health warning.
“Good answer,” I replied and then we initiated the comms to request the maps of the warehouse locations. By the time we returned to the agency, they would be there and waiting for us.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
With a list of thirty-three warehouses to look at in Portiside City, we figured we’d start by eliminating any in the Crystal or Industry Quarters. People there looked out for one another in a way that wasn’t reflected in the Indicium and Victorian Quarters, so if anything conspicuous was going on there someone would always say something. Isolating people to be segregated and fearful wouldn’t have worked with those crowds, and Ground Patrol services weren’t welcome there anyway.
That left us with twelve warehouses to investigate, and Kaleb and I had decided to meet at the first location the next day. Problem was, the next morning I’d listened to a transmission from Chris that changed our plans.
Chris’s cryptic message had said that he needed to speak with me urgently and that he wanted me to try and stop by his place at some point today. That in itself had bothered me since he was usually always at work. I didn’t like the concern in his voice, so I’d called Kaleb to inform him about the change of plan. Kaleb didn’t hesitate in saying that he would go to Chris’s with me instead, and I was relieved to hear it. My partner had a lot of respect for Chris. And, once Chris had finally forgiven him for almost beating me to a pulp while at the academy, he had grown to respect Kaleb a lot, too.
“Did your dad say what he wanted to talk to you about?” Kaleb asked, meeting me at the station in the Crystal Quarter. We headed off in the direction of Chris’s house at a brisk pace.
“No. He didn’t say what it was, but I don’t like how he sounded. Sorry for squeezing this in.”
“No problem. It’s not like I’m overly excited to walk around the city looking at warehouses.”
I nudged his arm. “Just think, one day you’ll be looking around Chamaya Moon Fields to see what pretty house you’d like to buy when you’re married. Think of this as practice.”
“Ha,” he paled a few shades. “Me and married don’t fit in the same sentence. And I told you, shifters don’t get married; they unite. It’s called the Blessed Union. Blessed by the Alpha, himself. If he doesn’t agree with the union, it doesn’t get blessed and you’re classed as single and an outcast all in one breath.” He glanced at me. “Did I mention how much my family pisses me off?”
“A few times,” I replied, smiling with understanding. “So, your dad would have the job of blessing yours?”
“Yep. And the woman that would please my dad would annoy the hell out of me. I don’t see a Blessed Union in my future. May as well play the field.” He nudged me back. “A lot.”
“Pervert,” I muttered, and he chuckled with wickedness.
“I like the ladies, so why not? I’m a virile shifter in his prime. And I’m doing my duty by allowing those beautiful women to lie down with a gorgeous specimen such as me.”
“Did I mention you were also egocentric and big-headed?”
“Given that you’re a pain in the ass, I’ve got to have some faults, right? Otherwise, you’d feel inferior.”
“Kaleb Cipher,” I reprimanded, my voice stern.
“Yes, Terra Vane?”
“Shut up.”
It took ten minutes of allowing Kaleb’s chatter to go over my head before we reached my stepdad’s apartment situated in the Malachite Complex. The building of polished mineral resembled green marble; a color so close to emerald that it was more suited to the Wizard of Oz.
Its windows were a complex set of triangles, all working together as if to complete a puzzle. And the arched doorways glittered with the lighter crystal of jade. It was an unusual structure compared to a lot of the white, clear quartz buildings over this side of the Crystal Quarter, but that was my stepdad for you. He liked to embrace what he was with an edge. How could you not love that?
Chris opened the door as soon as we headed down the hallway that ran to his apartment. He ushered us inside. The decor in his place was a lot more like Rosie’s, very white and clear. But his apartment had hints of green either in the artwork or in the crystals embedded into the walls. The white, wooden floor had a light gray, brushed effect and his sparse furniture was natural and abstract in nature. I dared to sit on his white two-piece sofa whereas Kaleb opted to remain standing in the corner.
“Hey Kaleb,” Chris greeted as he shut the door behind us.
“What’s up, Dad?” I asked him, unable to keep my mouth shut any longer. And it was then that he noticed my worried expression.
“I’m sorry for alarming you, sweetheart.” He took the seat next to me and urged Kaleb to choose the armchair that had a better chance of taking his weight. “I figured that this couldn’t wait.”
“What couldn’t wait?”
“Remember when I said I was going to do a little digging for you in regards to the wendigo autopsy?”
Kaleb glanced at me as if to say, ‘What the hell?’ but I shook my head, urging him not go there right now. Thankfully, he listened and remained quiet.
“Yes, I remember. I told you to be careful if you chose to do so.”
“I was careful, and I also learned that the results have been red flagged.”
“We’re aware of that, Dad.”
He hurried on. “The person I know … well, he and I go way back, and he owed me one. We met up a few hours ago, in a place where very few people outside of the Crystal Quarter know about. He told me what they found.”
“Really?” I leaned forward in my seat, both intrigued at the results and worried that he’d risked himself in achieving them.
“Yes, and what they found explains why the Consilium is keeping it quiet.”
“Why?” Kaleb spoke up this time, and he looked like he’d caught the scent of a new hunt.
“Many, many years ago, there was a drug that hit the streets that created havoc. The Consilium and the Enforcer Agents shut it down after a lot of effort.” He looked across at Kaleb, “It was years before Cole even ran the agency, back when your father was in charge of things ... before he became Alpha.”
“Wow,” Kaleb whispered. “That was a long time ago.”
“Well,” Chris continued, “this drug was bad news. It was manufactured in one of the Evolver labs by a genius called Roman Terris. He sold enough of it through dealers on the street that many people became hooked. Depending on the species, it made them stronger, faster and basically turned them into a sociopath. Do you know what that means in a place like Portiside?”
“A lot of species with wild tendencies letting go of their civilized ways?”
“Pretty much. And chaos ensued for a time. People were scared to leave their homes as the attacks on the streets became more regular and destructive. It actually instigated the first Ground Patrol company to form in an attempt to help manage it all. It wasn’t a good time for the people, I can tell you that.”
“Which Ground Patrol company was formed?” I asked.
“The Dragon Deans,” he replied. I recalled what I knew about them.
“They’re good people. Or should I say, they’re good dragon shifters.”
“Y
es, they are. And they helped save a lot of lives back then. They played a huge part in assisting the Enforcer Field Agents to take back control of the streets. In fact, they played the larger part.” He glanced at Kaleb as if in apology, then focused back on me. “The test results performed by the Consilium confirmed that whatever the wendigo had taken, had a 99.9% compatibility with Royal Blue.”
“Royal Blue?”
“That was the name of the drug. It was a blue pill with the letter ‘R’ stamped on it. They managed to take if off the streets when Roman was proven guilty and arrested. The supply dwindled and eventually ran out. Nothing has been seen like it since.”
“Kaleb …” I glanced quickly at him and he nodded back in understanding.
“Your vision. Yeah, I know.”
“What vision?” Chris asked, and I hesitated over how much to tell him. He’d risked more than enough trying to retrieve this information. If anything ever got out to the Consilium that he knew about all this …
“It was nothing really,” I told him, trying to play it down. “I saw a blue pill in my vision with the letter ‘R’ on it. It all ties in.” The memory of the rogue shifters sprung to mind, especially the one who attacked the woman on Desire Street. “Did it affect everyone the same way?”
“What do you mean?”
“If the rogue shifters took the drug, would it effect them in the same way?”
“Rogues did take it. There was a massive debate on whether to eliminate the drugs they managed to confiscate.”
“What debate?”
“The drug calmed them, made them easier to control. It didn’t affect them like the others because rogue shifters don’t operate on an intellectual level. It’s more instinctive. And they hunt based on an instinct for food or for play. That’s all they exist for, whereas the others …”
“Wait a minute.” I raised my hand as my head whirled in an attempt to reach a conclusion. “Why were they debating to keep the drugs then? To control the rogues?
Death Be Blue (The Terra Vane Series Book 1) Page 18