by Anya Breton
If I hadn’t known better, I might have thought the urgent width of his eyes was a sign of legitimate concern.
“I’ll be fine, Marino. You’ll have your chance to make me your mole.”
“Damn it, Kora!” He shot to his feet and stomped halfway to the dining room. I followed his motion with my gaze but glanced away when he twirled around. “If you won’t go to a safe house then at least come here. Your apartment is no good for safety. Anyone can get in there and—”
“No!” My vehement tone had been directed at the floor because I still couldn’t look at him.
“Between the two of us we can keep any vampire away.”
“Any vampire except Maximo de Sole.”
He drew in a sharp breath. I waited for him to lambaste me as Nell had.
Seconds later he asked, “Do you think he will attack you?”
“I don’t know. I thought he might. But now I have no idea what he’ll do.” But I am pretty sure he is going to dump me the next chance he gets.
“You really can’t control him?”
“Do you think I’d have agreed to date him if I could simply make him give me back what Ascencion stole?”
Desmond’s tone went sour while his pitch deepened. “You looked content enough with him when you arrived.”
My cheeks flushed crimson in a rapid wave of embarrassment. I had no defense because I had looked content.
We remained in strained silence for a full minute. I sensed the slow easing of Desmond’s anger like water flowing out of a lock.
He broke the silence. “I’ll tell him you’re my responsibility and that you’re staying here for safety. He won’t be able to argue with that. And he won’t cross me to get to you. He knows I have the coalition’s full backing behind me. You’ll be safe unless he decides your death is worth war with the coalition.”
“I’m not hiding from him, Marino.” I ignored Desmond’s angry huff. “I have to take responsibility for my actions. I’ll never earn respect in this town if I’m always hiding behind someone.”
Just like I’ve been hiding behind Maximo to save me from Nadir. But I’d needed it. I was no match for a predator who was faster, stronger, and quieter.
“And I don’t think he’ll kill me,” I said. “If he were going to, he would have followed me home tonight instead of telling me he’d call me.”
I hopped to my feet so I could try to leave for the third time. Desmond didn’t stop me, and for that I was grateful. I was tired, shocked, in need of dinner, and then a long shower.
As I set my foot on the first step outside his front door I thought I heard him say, “You earned mine.”
Chapter Seventeen
I sat in the beanbag chair staring out the front window at the eastern sky. I’d lived to see the sunrise. Even if it had been crowded with dark storm clouds, the visual had been beautiful.
Only when the light had softened into the ordinary morning glow did I stumble into the bedroom for a nap before work. My mind raced through what had happened in the past few days, but eventually I snoozed.
I stopped for a tall latte with extra cream at the coffee shop on the way in to the shop. The caffeine in my system didn’t prepare me for the unfamiliar pick-up truck parked in my lot. That vehicle had also been in the parking lot at the apartment complex. My body went on full alert. I pulled into my usual space, debating if I were safer in the car or out of it. In the end I got out to minimize the damage my ride would take. I couldn’t afford to replace it.
I took a step toward the store. The owner of the truck opened his door. A thick motorcycle boot landed on the pebbled lot followed by a second one as a massive-shouldered male drew out of the vehicle. Most people would have had to step down from a Ford F-350 but this guy merely stepped over.
At noon in Sedona the temperature was a balmy eighty-two degrees. The sun was brilliant overhead now that the storm clouds had faded to the east. But this guy still wore a leather jacket as if he were cold.
He couldn’t be a vampire. The reflective sunglasses and leather and jean getup alone wouldn’t keep him from burning up in the midday sun. But the wavy haired guy he had to be something. No way would I get close enough to scent him.
He stopped halfway down his lengthy truck. His V-shaped torso remained motionless despite his thick upper thigh’s slight bunching. He was ready to pounce if need be.
A rumbling voice called across the lot. “Ali Mac.”
“What?”
The stranger tossed the medium length black walnut hair away from his face. “I’m Ali Mac. Max sent me.”
Hera, help me. Maximo isn’t even going to kill me himself.
The dark man’s lips lifted beneath two days of stubble. No doubt he’d heard my racing heartbeat from where he’d stood. Keen senses like that hinted he was Were or shifter. It also implied he was stronger and faster.
But I wasn’t going down without a fight. I called on Water and formed an empathic link to him. Sensing amusement and anticipation from him, I slowly backed toward the door.
Ali Mac took a step forward. I hit him with a focused blast of Air magic, directing it with my free hand. He went down on his ass on the pebbled lot, giant legs lifting straight into the air like some sort of mutated beetle. The force of his hit shook the ground and echoed against the building.
“Shit!” Ali Mac rolled onto his rear end and glared up at me. “What the fuck was that for?”
“You’re trying to kill me!” I jabbed a finger in his direction. “I’m not supposed to defend myself?” I focused another blast of Air even as I muttered. “Why am I even arguing with you?”
“Hold up, lady!” The big guy hopped to his feet using far too spry a movement for someone so beefy. My blast knocked him off them again. He was only down for a nanosecond before he stood with his palms out in front of his body—a sign of surrender. “I ain’t trying to kill you! Max sent me to protect you! Calm the fuck down! I ain’t the bad guy!”
He looked like a bad guy. He looked like a very, very bad guy.
“I don’t know that,” I said.
“Jesus, I’d have brought a notarized letter if I’d known you’d react like this.” His volume dropped. “Try to do a favor for a guy and end up on your ass in a parking lot.”
My empathic link confirmed his words. There was a dash of mortification and a heavy wash of irritation in what I sensed but no rage or intent to kill.
I turned my back on him in the sign that I trusted him not to kill me—at least until I got the door to the shop unlocked. He remained where I’d left him, brushing the dust off his leather sleeves.
“Do I get to come inside?” He called out just above a conversational volume as I pushed inside. “Or you gonna blow me out the door if I try?”
I shot him a warning look. “I’ll drown you where you stand if you try anything in my shop.”
His eyebrows lifted above his sunglasses.
I stepped into the shop. Noon was closing in. I headed toward the stairs to unlock the Sedona side, snapping lamps on as I moved. Nell wasn’t here yet. That was worrisome after the recent quitting scare.
A rumbling growl echoed down the stairwell followed by a high-pitched curse—a female’s. My fingers fell away from the Sedona lock. Nell’s voice went harsh as I hit the midpoint on the stairs. That wasn’t hurt harsh. It was ticked harsh. Shamefully I slowed so I could eavesdrop.
“We have nothing for you here,” she said. “Get out.”
“I’m not here to buy anything,” Ali Mac said in what I was sure was meant to be a bored drawl.
“Good, then leave!” The floor creaked beneath her feet. I imagined she’d made a shooing gesture. It would be her style. “Now! Go on!”
There was a deep chuckle. “Don’t be like that, doll.”
“Don’t fucking call me that, shit face!”
“Shit face?” He echoed the insult with careful pronunciation and then followed it up with another laugh. “You have such a way with words, Kranzy.”
“Want me naked again?”
Leather whispered over fabric, and then Nell stomped toward me. I scurried down the remaining stairs before she could catch me listening. Her sandals smacked until she landed on the Sedona floor with a loud thud.
Scuffing to the door without looking at me, she smashed her palms on the handle. Nell shoved the door shut behind her, dropped her head back on her neck, and then screamed at the sky. Her face was set in an unattractive scrunched expression when she whirled back around.
Wow. There was a story here.
My continued link with the man upstairs told me only that he was amused. I’d learn nothing that way. I focused my attention on Nell as she gathered herself. She gracefully opened the door, slipping inside without a word. She stood in front of the entrance for as long as it took to draw in a long breath.
Her cool blue eyes snapped to mine. “Why is Alasdair Macalister in your shop?”
Oh, Zeus. That was the guy’s name? No wonder he went by Ali Mac.
Odd names aside, the flush of worry rose in my face. Nell had nearly quit yesterday. Now some guy who really pushed her buttons waited upstairs. And the reason why he was upstairs would piss her off as much as he had.
I couldn’t hide the truth. “He says Maximo sent him to protect me.”
Nell’s lips thinned. She folded her arms in front of her chest, shooting a sharp glance up the stairs as though she could see the guy. “This because of last night?”
I scanned her face for an indication of what she meant.
Her attention switched back to me. Quietly she said, “Mom told me what happened to Dea.”
Someone had talked to the coalition already? Had it been Desmond? Or would Dea have applied for her old job back?
I nodded. “I think so. I don’t know. He didn’t tell me he was sending anyone.”
At least not since last night. If he had, I wouldn’t have attacked the guy. And I would have argued against it. I’d meant what I’d said to Desmond about not wanting to hide behind others. Just because I wasn’t willing to kill anyone didn’t mean I wanted anyone else to do it for me.
Nell slumped back against the door. “Why did he have to send him?”
“Because I’m the best,” the male called from upstairs.
His heavy weight creaked across the floor. Thunking steps sounded on the steps. Nell’s frame went rigid. She sent a panicked look toward the windows as if she’d considered bolting into Sedona.
“I can send him away,” I said
“No, you can’t,” Ali Mac said from the third stair from the bottom. He clomped down the remaining and then blocked the entrance to the employee only area with a long arm stretched across. Now Nell’s only course of action would be to run into Sedona.
“That’s right.” Nell’s voice went as sour as the twist of her lips. “He only follows Maximo’s orders.”
The male crossed thick arms over his chest, aiming his reflective glasses at Nell.
She spread her lips into a sneer. “He’s the vampire’s lap wolf.”
His mouth curled into a similar expression. “I ain’t been near Max’s lap. Yours, on the other hand,” Ali Mac drew his sunglasses down his nose, revealing a smoldering pair of dark eyes, “that’s another story.”
Nell’s pale cheeks went bright red. “Shut up, shit face!”
I couldn’t help but smile. Nell was definitely worked up, but it wasn’t the same betrayal of the past few days. This was an old wound that hadn’t closed. Did she still have feelings for the guy?
Who wouldn’t? He was a big hunk of handsome wolf beefcake.
When he slid the glasses off his nose, carefully closing them so he could slip them into the inner pocket of his coat, I decided he looked like a young Judd Nelson on steroids. He even had the same irreverent arrogance the actor had shown in the Brat Pack movies (it was a sad fact of my life that my movie selection in the Underworld had been confined to things filmed prior to nineteen ninety).
But I wasn’t about to let him think he was running the show. I faced him. “I’ve seen Nell lift overweight tourists across the floor with little effort. Between the two of us we can make you leave.” I didn’t need Nell’s help, but I wanted her to feel included in this. “So how about you take the arrogant bad boy act down a few notches and go back upstairs?”
“No can do, lady.” He shook his dark hair. “I ain’t supposed to let you out of my sight until Max says otherwise.”
I could point out he’d let me out of his sight while he’d been upstairs just now and that he’d managed to be in the parking lot before me, perhaps losing me somewhere in between the apartment and the shop. But I didn’t. “Fine, I’ll go back upstairs so Nell can work in peace.”
The suggestion didn’t ease my employee’s rigid stance. I hoped sending him out of sight would help. With an impatient wave, I sent him up the stairs in front of me.
Behind me Nell muttered, “Lap dog.”
And ahead came the response. “Spoiled brat.”
It was going to be a long day.
****
Ali Mac tracked Nell to her Mazda as if she were a fluffy white rabbit. I didn’t like it, but the empathic link to him told me it wasn’t that he wanted to hurt her. No, the slow rise of arousal the moment he’d heard her steps on the stairs hinted otherwise.
“Okay, I can’t hold my tongue any longer,” I said as soon as Nell’s car left the lot for “lunch” at five. “What the hell happened between you two?”
His dark gaze swiveled to me. “She dumped me.”
“Yeah, I gathered you two dated at some point. So someone dumped someone. You’re not telling me anything I couldn’t figure out on my own.”
Ali Mac shifted against the back wall where he’d been leaned all day. His lips spread thinner. “She dumped me when I started working for Max. Thinks he’s an evil mastermind who is ruining Wipuk.” He rolled his eyes. “She accused me of drinking the Kool-Aid when I pointed out he’d helped make Wipuk.”
“When was this?”
“Two years ago.”
When Nell was eighteen. Ali Mac didn’t look terribly young. I lifted an eyebrow at him. “How old were you?”
“I was twenty-one.” He shot me a mutinous look before I could comment. “She was legal.”
“There’s no way you’re twenty-three.”
“The Were virus has a way of aging some people before their years,” he said with a heavy dose of bitterness coloring his rumbling voice.
I didn’t know enough about Were to know if he was right, but I’d have put him closer to twenty-seven. He’d be miffed if I made him show me his driver’s license. “How long were you dating?”
“Five months.” It was a flat answer, but the spark of dismay I caught from the empathic link implied that had been a lengthy relationship for him.
“So five months and then she up and dumps you for getting a job? Most chicks want guys with jobs.”
“I had a job,” he said, clearly not understanding I was needling for the whole story without asking for it. “I was working construction with my pack before Max made me a better deal.”
Well, that explained why he’d been in Wipuk in the first place. But it didn’t explain everything. “Nell wasn’t miffed you were working for Desmond Marino?”
“She was miffed.” Alic Mac gave a single nod and then ran a hand through his dark hair. “But I convinced her not to be.” He shot me a quick grin of slightly yellowed teeth that told me all I needed to know about how he’d convinced her. “Wasn’t able to do it when I switched jobs. She gave me an ultimatum: it was her or the job. I don’t do ultimatums.” He shrugged his massive shoulders as if to say that was the end of it. And I supposed it was.
Now I understood why Nell was so worked up. She’d wanted him to choose her. And she would never forgive him for failing to do so.
On a lark I decided to check him for the antibodies I’d found in the witches. If
he were enthralled, it would go a long way toward explaining why he’d accepted Maximo’s deal and failed Nell. I called on Healing to create a link to him. Then I did a quick scan of his blood.
There were tiny black dots I hadn’t noted in the witches, but they weren’t the antibodies. Just to be certain, I asked Healing to show me the antibodies. Nothing happened. He wasn’t enthralled. He really had voluntarily joined Maximo’s team.
“She’s not happy I’m associating with him either,” I said.
“Associating? Way I hear it, you’re dating the boss.”
He’d heard that even last night? I’d been operating under the idea Ali Mac was here because Maximo hadn’t withdrawn the favor he’d asked of him before the blowout at Desmond’s house.
Maybe it was time to find out for sure. “When did he ask you to come here?”
“He woke me at, uh…” Ali Mac lifted his gaze to the ceiling as though there would be a clock up there to help him remember the time. “Five fifteen? Said he wanted me to watch your place after Javier left.”
“Javier was watching my place until sunrise?”
He nodded. “Yeah. Has been for days.”
“Did you actually see Javier this morning?”
Ali Mac drew his head back as a wrinkled expression formed on his face. “What’s the deal, lady?”
I waved my hands in front of me—a sign I didn’t want to talk about it.
“Yeah, I actually saw Javier this morning,” he said with a mocking emphasis.
If Maximo had had his assistant watching the apartment all night and had sent Ali Mac at sunrise, then maybe he didn’t plan to kill me. That meant he was going to expect something from me. But what could be worth the hassle of being marked as the betrayer of your entire race?
I certainly didn’t know what it would be. And that worried me.
****
My phone rang shortly after dusk. It was a welcome change from Ali Mac’s regular sighs and the punctuated scuffing of Nell’s sandals downstairs as she paced the floor. I checked the caller ID. Maximo was calling.
“Hi,” I said.