by Dannika Dark
“You make it sound so scientific,” William said, pinching his chin.
Trevor hopped up and dusted off his pants. “If that’s the case, then no wonder Church ran home. He’s probably banging one of those girls in his harem right now. I’m going to bed. See you guys this afternoon.”
“You mean in the morning,” April said.
He leaned over and kissed her forehead. “Sleeping Beauty needs his rest, so don’t wake me.”
“You don’t need more sleep, Trev. You’re already a beauty.”
“April showers,” he sang out, heading up the stairs. “Always showering me with love.”
Trevor’s words had pinched me in an unexpected way. My mother was a gentle soul, and in the excursions we had run into, she didn’t fight. Maybe it’s why my father had lost interest in having sex with her. I had inherited some of my gentleness from her. Shifter men loved outspoken women, so now I had another weakness plaguing my thoughts. I’d never held hope of settling with a mate, not until Lorenzo. For the first time, I realized how much I wanted to love and be loved. But I needed a man to love the woman I was, not the woman he wished me to be.
“Mustn’t let what he said get to you,” William said in a low voice. “I don’t think Trevor realizes how much you like Enzo. I was wrong when I tried to steer you away from him. He’s a good man, and if anyone can change his ways, I have no doubt it would be a woman like you.” William looked as if he wanted to say more, but he kept his thoughts to himself.
“Ivy, we need to talk.” Reno stood like a statue on our left. “Let’s go to Austin’s office.”
April looked up with concern.
I grabbed my walking stick and followed him down the dark hall by the kitchen. Reno closed the door and switched on a small lamp on Austin’s desk, taking a seat beside me instead of in Austin’s chair.
In his hands, he held a manila folder with edges of paper sticking out.
Our chairs were angled toward each other, but not all the way.
“What I’ve got in here is information on your son. The question is: do you want to see it?”
I swallowed a lump in my throat and took an audible breath. Reno grasped the cane from my hand and placed it on the desk, leaving me nothing to fidget with.
His fingers pressed against the edges of the folder. “I’m not sure how you feel about it, but one of my men sent me everything he could dig up. Fox never went after him; it would have taken him out of the state. There’s a little information and a few pictures in here about the boy. I can toss it in the fire and you can go on like before. I could also have Austin lock it up in his safe in case you want to look at it a few years down the line. Or you can know now.”
“Know what?” My heart raced at all the implications. Was he hurt? Was something wrong?
Reno swung his dark brown eyes up to mine. “Know who your son is. I don’t know what looking at this could mean. It could change your mind on things, and you’ll need to talk to Austin about those decisions. I’m just here to offer you what you might have been seeking all these years. An answer.”
I bent forward, elbows on my knees, and covered my mouth. My hands trembled and my emotions spun like a cyclone. All my love, all my fears, all tucked between the folds of thick, yellow paper.
The room became so quiet I could hear my heart racing.
“Give it to me.”
“Are you sure?” he asked, his thumbnails whitening as he pinched the folder even tighter.
“I’m sure.”
With a small gesture, Reno handed me the documents. I placed them on my lap and, with nervous fingers, opened up the folder.
A teardrop spattered onto a large photograph. “So beautiful,” I whispered.
In the black-and-white picture, a small boy with long hair, wild and caught in the wind, ran toward me with outstretched hands. His mouth was open in what looked like an exuberant scream. Lakota had a warrior’s face and bright eyes full of life. Beneath his thick boots, snow covered the ground, and flecks of it settled on his dark jacket.
“Where are your mittens?” I whispered, tracing my finger over his hands. Overcome with pride, a laugh burst out. “What a strong little wolf you are.” My heart swelled. I’d never experienced anything so joyous and sorrowful all at once.
Reno lined up a few pens on the desk and then sat back. “The Relic who delivered your son sold him on the black market for money. Maybe you should think about reporting that to the higher authority. Her job should have been to discreetly take the child to an orphanage, not sell him for profit.”
My eyes were stricken with anger and I clenched my fists. “She what?”
He shook his head. “There aren’t many Breed orphanages around and most of them are filled with older kids whose parents died, or some of them have defects. She must have known how much she could get off the black market. There was an immediate buyer.”
“Who?” I shuddered, looking more closely at the shadowy figure behind Lakota who was out of focus. Those who bought and sold off the black market were criminals, and underground sex trades as well as slavery still existed.
“Not one person, but a couple. He got lucky because it could have been a hell of a lot worse. Most of those looking for slaves will grab the older children because they don’t have the time to fool with babies.”
I flipped the photograph over and read through a few documents that were nothing more than facts detailing how Lakota was sold, for how much, when it occurred, where he lived now, and a physical description.
When I turned those over, I held up another photograph. Lakota was sitting on the shoulders of a tall man with light hair who held his legs firmly. Lakota’s arms were extended and his tongue stuck out as if he was catching snowflakes. My little boy was so big. He’d be five this winter.
I ruefully held the picture, longing for all the moments I’d missed. His first words, his first steps, and his sleepy yawns just moments before he fell asleep. A woman with dark hair walked beside the tall man, holding a snowball between her gloves. He was looking down at her with a half smile on his face, and her mouth was open as if she was in the middle of telling a story.
I glanced at a short note scribbled on one of the papers. “She sold my son for a million dollars. How could that woman profit off my loss? How could she be so heartless?”
Reno shifted in his chair. “They did a lot of their communication on the computer and I know a good hacker. Turns out the buyers were insistent on closing the deal; they didn’t want any other offers to be considered.”
“I need to see my son.” The words flew out of my mouth before I had a chance to consider what that meant.
“You sure you don’t want to wait and give it some time?” Reno asked. “The weather isn’t so good up north. He lives in Cognito now. You up for that?”
Chapter 22
“I don’t like this one bit,” Austin growled.
It had been two days since Reno showed me the photographs of Lakota. I’d made the decision to go to Cognito, but due to a freak ice storm, many of the airports up north were closed. So instead of waiting it out, I planned to drive.
“You’re my Packmaster, and I respect you, but there are some things you have no authority over. If you don’t loan me your car, I’ll take a bus.”
“The hell you’re taking a bus,” Wheeler said, still blocking the front door with his back against it, arms folded.
I set my bag down and tapped my cane on the hardwood floor. My smile withered when I realized this was more than my pack trying to talk me out of the drive, but preparing to hold me by force.
I swung my eyes up to Austin. He ground his teeth and I looked at him pleadingly. “My son, Austin. Please.”
He rubbed his jaw and looked away. “Wheeler…”
“No!” I quickly said. “No offense, but I’m not driving across the country with Wheeler.”
And that offended someone just a smidge.
Wheeler pushed off the door and raised his eyebrow. �
�Oh? Something wrong with my company?”
Lexi barked out a laugh from her spot on the stairs. “That’s an understatement. Have you ever gone on a road trip, Wheeler? Just a few hours trapped in a car with someone will make you realize how much you love them or how much you want to kill them.”
Austin chuckled and glanced back at her. “You still never gave me the ruling after our last trip to Albuquerque.”
She turned her mouth to the side. “The jury’s still out on that one.”
“I’ll go with her,” Ben offered.
Wheeler snapped his head around. “No, you’ll stay right the fuck here. Until Austin gives you back your keys after you tailed off and left Ivy to wander out unguarded—”
Ben stepped forward, his jaw set. “That wasn’t my fault. She shouldn’t have gone outside.”
Wheeler moved fast and Austin got between them. “And you shouldn’t have left!”
“Let’s settle down,” Austin said. “Reno?”
Reno hadn’t taken off his boots and his footsteps clomped on the wood floor. He didn’t like walking around barefoot, so he kept his shoes impeccably clean. April once got upset when he used an entire package of her Q-tips to clean the mud from between the treads. Later that same night, Reno brought home ten boxes of the cotton swabs to make amends.
Reno sniffed and looked warily at Austin. “Sorry, little brother. I’ve got a job. Someone hired me two days ago and I’m already behind because of Fox, so I have catching up to do. He paid half in advance.”
“For what?” Austin let go of Wheeler and turned around.
“I can’t tell you that. My cases are private.”
“This is going in circles.” I lifted my bag and opened the door. “I’ll stay in touch, but let me know which car.” I glanced at the row of keys on the wall.
A familiar tune filled the air and the chatter abruptly ceased. In the quietness of our secluded property nestled in the backwoods, the song “Bad to the Bone” was playing.
“What the hell is that?” someone asked.
When I stepped outside on the front porch, my eyes focused on an unexpected sight. Lorenzo Church was leaning against his black truck with his right leg bent and his foot on the tire. I didn’t know how a man could make army-green pants look so sexy, but he did. The white, long-sleeved shirt fit him so snugly that it outlined the perfection of his body. He had his arms folded, looking as if he’d been waiting for hours. Lorenzo had such a smooth and confident way about him—an assertive man who never seemed ambivalent about what he wanted.
When he saw me, he opened the passenger door.
“Never mind, Austin. I think my transportation issue has been solved.”
Denver squeezed out the door and leaned over the railing. “What’s he doing here?”
Austin peered down at me. “You sure about this?”
“I’ll never finish a journey unless I begin it. I’m not certain how this will end any more than you are, but I won’t be at peace until I face my fears.”
He touched the back of my head and his lips formed a grim line. “Do what you need to do. Keep in touch daily and let me know if there’s anything you need.”
Walking down the porch steps with my bag almost landed me in the grass. Lorenzo remained where he was, patiently waiting as I walked toward him. When I reached the driveway, he approached and took my heavy bag.
“How did you know I was leaving?” I asked.
He glanced over my shoulder and said impassively, “William has always been a chatty fellow.”
“So William talked you into it.” My shoulders sagged as I moved toward the door.
Lorenzo shoved my bag and cane behind the passenger seat. “No. He tried to talk me out of it. Caleb is now watching over my pack and this will be a good test for him. Let me help you in.”
I stared at his open hand. “That’s all right. I can manage.”
He chuckled warmly and shook his head. “Most women need help. It’s a big truck, Ivy. Use the side step.”
I put my right foot on the step and gripped the handle. Either his tires were oversized or he had a suspension lift so the truck was higher off the ground. When I stood up, I almost fell back until Lorenzo’s hands cupped my backside like a makeshift chair. He laughed quietly as I scooted into my seat. Goodness, how embarrassing. I’d slept with him, but for some reason, intimate gestures while fully clothed felt completely different.
I reached forward and turned down the radio, wondering if he’d deliberately chosen that song to blare in front of Austin. The Weston pack had gathered on the front porch and was watching with mixed expressions. I glanced behind the seat and frowned as Lorenzo got in. “Why do you have a skull and crossbones on your back window?”
“It matches the tattoo and no one will mess with my truck,” he said, slowly backing out since there wasn’t enough room to turn around without leaving tire marks in the yard.
When he made it onto the private road and revved the engine, I peered over at him. His eyes were pensive, his face sculpted, and it drew attention to his soft lips. He had a broad mouth that was spectacular when he smiled, but he seemed to smile more with his eyes than anything. Lorenzo was a serious man, but an honest one. I knew this trip would decide the fate of our relationship, for better or worse. Yet I happily accepted the risk, hoping to be in his strong arms at least once more.
“What are you thinking about?”
I settled my eyes on the road. “Just wondering why you smoke in this truck but not in the expensive car.” The truck had a musty smell that his Ferrari didn’t.
“I don’t treat things that I love like an ashtray. Something else is going on in that head of yours.”
“I love morning light.”
“Me too. Especially when it showers your naked body in my bed. I don’t think I’ve ever admired the sun as much as I did then.”
Why did he have to say such things that made me want to smile so wide? I quickly glanced away before he saw the corners of my mouth turning up. “How long will it take to get to Cognito?”
He throttled the engine when we hit the main road. “I drive fast, so just under twenty-four hours. Have you ever been there?”
I touched my braid. “I’ve never been anywhere.”
“Well, it’s a whole other world. Cognito is an old city that dates back hundreds of years. Immortals own a lot of property and land out there, unbeknownst to mortals. If you think Texas has a lot of us, you haven’t seen anything yet. We have more Shifters down here, but up there, it’s a little of everything. Even some you’ve never heard of.”
“You’ve been?”
“Business takes me a lot of places, and I also like to vacation. It’s not so bad if you know the lifestyle. You stay close to me, do you understand? They’re more abrasive up there, and there are lots of juicers.”
“Juicers?”
“It’s what they call a Mage that’s gone rogue. They get their highs from stealing people’s energy. They prefer juicing from another Mage, but that’s not so easy to do when most of those immortals are experienced fighters. The new ones—Learners—are often preyed upon, but their Creators usually escort them in public. So most of the juicers settle for other Breeds.”
“Why not humans?”
“Humans have weak energy and are easily killed. They don’t like to draw attention to themselves with bodies everywhere, and it’s harder to kill Breed from juicing.”
“But it’s possible?”
“Yes. A Mage once told me juicing is like draining a battery. Most of them hang out in clubs, looking for someone who won’t put up a fight.”
“Then they would have underestimated me.”
“No, Ivy.” He reached over and stroked my cheek. “You stay with me.”
***
The first several hours in the truck with Lorenzo were awkward because we had never spent time together outside his bedroom. We made small talk and then I got lost in my thoughts, gazing at the open fields as we headed north. Ark
ansas had beautiful tall pine trees and thick woods.
“I’d like to visit here sometime in the spring,” I said absently.
“Mosquitoes,” was all he replied.
Snow dusted the ground and became deeper the farther north we traveled. We hit a roadblock in Tennessee and Lorenzo took his oversized truck off the road and scaled an incline to get around the mess. I was scared to death, gripping the door and yelling at him. He merely laughed and shot me a confident gaze when the tires hit concrete, and we were off again. By then, the sun had gone down. I stayed awake for as long as I could but found myself nodding off. His truck had a middle seat, and at some point during the night, Lorenzo had unbuckled my seat belt and coaxed me to lie down.
“Ow,” I hissed, sitting up. I’d only napped for a short time.
“What’s wrong?”
“My leg. I can’t lie on my left side.”
“So put your feet in my lap.”
I laughed, unraveling my braid. “The armrest doesn’t make for a comfortable pillow.”
“I’ll move our bags into the front seat and you can sleep in the back.”
When my hair was finally free from its binding, I ran my fingers through it and released a soft moan. It looked like the front seat would have to do, so I reclined my seat back a little bit.
The truck swerved off the road and Lorenzo shut off the headlights, leaving only the interior-panel display on. “I need you to stop doing that,” he said, his dark eyes watching my hands stroke down the length of my hair.
“I can’t sleep with it in. It bothers me. It feels good to let it loose and run my fingers through it.”
Lorenzo unbuckled his seat belt and slid next to me. His mere proximity and all that alpha power made me tense up. He smoothed his left hand down my hair, brushing his knuckles over my breasts, stomach, and then thighs.
I gasped when he abruptly slipped his hand between my legs.
“Shhh. Let me take care of you, nashoba. Will you unbutton your blouse for me?”
My breath became unsteady. Without argument, I unlatched the small buttons on my brown cardigan. His fingers loved me with gentle strokes, rewarding me as I opened my shirt. I smoldered as Lorenzo’s hot gaze looked upon my body.