I edged away from him, disliking the chill night air filling up the spaces against me that he had filled.
“You’re going to be careful, right? Not do anything stupid?”
Carter shook his head. “I’ve already been stupid tonight. I’m over that.”
I cocked my head, puzzled by the bitterness in his voice. “What do you mean?”
Briefly, he described what had occurred before I showed up, including Sean using him to try and open the Stones’ portal again. My heart sank. He was obviously uncomfortable, if not feeling downright betrayed, by his boss’s treatment. I loved him too much to say, “I told you so.” Anyway, I didn’t have much of a chance to tell him anything. His story wasn’t even finished when we both heard voices raising behind us and turned to look.
Nosizwe had stepped closer to Detective Ewing and was practically in her face, staring her down. Or trying to. Nosizwe was tall, taller than the average man, and even though Detective Ewing wasn’t petite, like me, the shifter leader was much taller. Nevertheless, Detective Ewing hadn’t gotten where she was by being easily intimidated, and she wasn’t intimidated now.
Both Carter and I had missed whatever had sparked their argument, but as we started easing back over to the group both of us heard the cop saying, “You’re right—I can’t touch you legally right now because I can’t prove anything. And I’d have to have a great case to bring charges against someone as famous as your double, Elia. That doesn’t change what I’d like to do, though, and what I’d like to do is arrest you for the attempted murder of Ellie St. James. What I’d like to do is arrest you for running this gang of misfits and outlaws. What I’d like to do is clap your ass in prison for the rest of your life.”
Nosizwe wasn’t happy. Sean made a funny sound, sort of a strangled chuckle or cough. The cop turned to him next, and even from a distance away I could tell by the set of her jaw that she was furious.
“Don’t think I wouldn’t do the same to you, Mr. Costas. You’re every bit as guilty as she is.”
“With all due respect, you’ve lost your mind, Detective,” Sean countered smoothly. “I never attacked Miss St. James. In fact, I’ve protected her from Nosizwe at great personal cost.”
“To who?” Nosizwe sneered. “Not to you. To your man Ballis, maybe, but it looks like he’s getting free payback from the job. I don’t hear him complaining.”
I felt myself stiffen at the implications of Carter getting sex from me, and was grateful the darkness hid my blush. Carter didn’t mind. Of course, he wouldn’t. Only I heard him murmur, “I wouldn’t call it free, but, yeah, the perks have been nice.”
He reached down to grab my backside. I jumped and gave him a shove. “Knock it off,” I hissed.
He chuckled, but the humor was short-lived. The situation in front of us wasn’t easing up.
“I wasn’t referring to you attacking Ellie, Mr. Costas,” Detective Ewing spoke up. “I know you didn’t attack her, but your hands are still plenty dirty. I’m sure you’ve got quite the body count by now, don’t you? Not only from this war you’ve got going on, but from your other enterprises too. And, if not bodies, how many assaults by your enforcers? How much financial chicanery have you been involved with? How about illegal drugs and controlled substances, firearms, and all the rest?”
Sean Costas smiled thinly. “Prove it, Detective. And good luck doing so. Even if you could press charges, I dare you. You have no idea who I have in my back pocket. For all intents and purposes, I own this city.”
Next to the cop, her partner shuffled his feet and cleared his throat, looking uncomfortable. Detective Ewing didn’t budge.
“Oh, I have an idea of some of them,” she sneered. “You’re right. Your contacts may prevent me from pressing charges. Now. But nobody is above the law, even if it’s the law of karma. One of these days, you’ll get yours.”
Now Sean Costas did laugh out loud. “Is that a threat? You almost sound like you’re on Nosizwe’s side.”
“I’m not on either of your sides. I’m on the side of law and order.”
“Candace.” Her partner laid a hand on her arm. “You’ve had your say. I think we should—”
“Should what?” Now she rounded on him, furious. My dad would’ve said she looked like she had a full head of steam. I’d felt that way myself a couple times in the past few months, usually when dealing with Carter. “Should what?” she snarled. “I should keep my mouth shut like everyone else has for years, and tiptoe around this guy? We all know he’s basically a mafia don, running his own gang. But we also know he’s untouchable, right? So, we don’t say anything. We keep our mouths closed. We don’t interfere. We look the other way. Well, I’m tired of looking the other way. I’m tired of the conspiracy of silence. I’m tired of it all, Gary. I may never get to bring charges against you, Mr. Costas…” She’d swung back to face him, “But at least at the end of the day I can go to sleep knowing somebody had the guts to look you in the face and call you what you are.”
Sean folded his arms across his chest. “And what is that, Detective?”
Carter and I had halted close enough that I could see the dark scowl creasing his features. This wasn’t funny or amusing to him anymore. He was starting to get annoyed. The detective was treading on thin ice. I wanted to stop her, warn her that this man could likely have her job in an instant. If not her life. However, I had a feeling she knew all that and was past the point of caring.
This woman had spent months trying to infiltrate the Costas defenses and bring some justice to their criminal behavior. As a reward, she’d also gotten dragged into the war between Sean and Nosizwe, had been able to make no arrests, had been kidnapped and held prisoner, and had been forced to cover up the truth of what was going on. I honestly think she’d reached her limit. She knew she might lose everything, but she probably felt like she was a failure anyway, so what was the point of keeping silent? At least she had the chance to vent her frustrations, which she did.
“You’re a murderer,” she said, edging even closer. Her hand hovered over the butt of her gun, not in an intimidating way but rather defensive, like she was prepared to draw it if her words provoked the man into an attack. “You’re a liar. You’re a thug. You’re no better than the common pimp or drug lord living on the streets. You’re the same caliber of criminal, you just happen to have a little nicer home, wear a thousand-dollar suit, and drive cars that cost more than my house and car put together.”
“And you’re merely a pennyante cop in a cheap suit who should know when to quit, but doesn’t.” I saw the cop’s fingers flex over the butt of her gun, but she didn’t draw. “I’d admire that, Detective, if you had any common sense like your friend here.” Mr. Costas indicated her partner, who, again, shuffled his feet. His head hung and he looked uncomfortable. Guilty, even. Briefly, I wondered how deep this police officer was. “But you don’t,” Mr. Costas continued. “I’m tired of you trailing after me, starting fires that we have to put out.”
“Then come downtown with me to central booking,” she retorted.
Sean chuckled, but it was ugly. “No, thank you. I have a better idea.” He turned to her partner, snapped his fingers. “Take her out.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
The words seemed to hang in the air, quivering with danger. Detective Ewing’s partner didn’t twitch a muscle. I think he was in shock. Sean Costas must’ve thought so too.
“Take her out,” Mr. Costas repeated a little more forcefully. “We can accomplish something here tonight anyway.”
This broke through the officer’s wall. “What? What?” he stammered, backing a step away. “I don’t… I can’t.”
“Do it, Tozzi. You work for me, don’t you? I’m giving you a job. A hit. Not the first hit you’ve done for me, is it?”
I felt my eyes widen at the brutal insinuation. Candace’s chin whipped her partner’s way. Her chest was rising and falling rapidly. If this was taking me by surprise, it must’ve been like a storm breaking
over her.
“You haven’t,” she breathed. I could hear the pain of betrayal, of disappointment in her voice.
Detective Tozzi raised his palms. “Now, Candace, calm down. I never actually took anybody out…”
“Then what’s he talking about?”
If Sean Costas had been intending to cause confusion in the ranks, he’d accomplished it. He’d sort of taken a step back now, and stood there, arms folded, smiling a twisted little smile as if he were enjoying the show.
“I didn’t actually kill anyone. I didn’t. I just…sort of…looked the other way a time or two when…”
“Looked the other way? You’re a cop, Gary! You’re sworn to uphold the law! You—”
“Oh, like you haven’t looked the other way since you were dragged into this world? I warned you. I told you not to pursue this. You wouldn’t listen. Admit it—you’ve done things since you got sucked in that you never dreamed a good cop would do.”
Detective Ewing’s face was like a thundercloud, her expression potent with warning. Before she could even say anything, offer an excuse or rebuttal, Ciara Costas spoke up.
“I love how smoothly you’ve managed to turn them against each other, Sean. I applaud you. You’re so very skilled at controlling your enemies and manipulating people, aren’t you? It’s why you’ve hated Nosizwe so badly. You couldn’t control or manipulate her into your way of thinking. You couldn’t stand that. You couldn’t stomach being challenged, could you, dear?”
Just like that, the pressure was off the two police officers and the pendulum had swung back to the Costases. The twisted pleasure Sean Costas was deriving from seeing the two cops go at it had vanished, replaced by a scowl as he glowered at his wheelchair-bound wife.
“That sounds like your bitter, biting logic, my love,” he said to Ciara. “Never mind the Stones and what they represent for the safety of our people.”
“The safety of our people?” Ciara snorted a laugh. The sound was almost shocking, coming from someone as classy as her. “Since when have you cared about that? Admit it. You haven’t. It’s always been about control and furthering your enterprises. You wouldn’t have cared if every shifter that didn’t bow the knee to you was butchered, so long as your empire stood secure. You still don’t care. If you did, you’d have been willing to listen to Nosizwe, to negotiate with her…”
“And I haven’t tried?” Sean threw his hands in the air. From where Carter and I stood, several feet away, I could almost feel the frustration rolling off him in waves. “This has been years in the making, Ciara, which you know. This is not some quarrel that escalated overnight. I’ve done my part. I’ve tried. God knows I’ve tried. You know. You’re simply discounting my efforts.”
“Oh, I know your efforts. I know your efforts to bend the world to your will. The world around you, the human world. The world of shifters. Even this other world that Carter visited. You want the mastery of them all. Some things are outside of your control, though, dear.” She spat the name like an expletive. “I think you’re finding that out now, here, tonight, which has you frustrated, doesn’t it?”
“She’s trying to make him mad. Throw him off guard, provoke him into an attack,” Carter muttered next to me. “Sean’s got a temper. A bad one, when he loses control.”
“I know,” I murmured, remembering seeing him bash in the head of the shifter who had seemingly attacked his family. “Why, though?” I asked, as the couple continued to verbally spar in the background.
“I don’t know…” Carter admitted, but even as the words slipped out his posture tensed. I saw his dark eyes flickering around, studying the scene. I tried to follow his gaze, to absorb what he was seeing, but in the next breath everything changed.
“Sean!” Carter shouted, lunging forward, tearing away from me. In the same motion, he shoved me toward the cops, yelling at them, “Watch Ellie!” I didn’t have time to respond. The world blurred as I fell towards the police officers. I saw my husband diving towards his boss, caught the glint of headlights on bronze as Carter disappeared and the Talos took his place. In the same instant, even as I was pitching forward, Mr. Costas vanished as the mighty Minotaur replaced him.
I still didn’t understand what was happening, not for the first few seconds of confusion. I heard shouting. Heard a gun go off. Heard scuffling, like feet and bodies moving. Then I landed in the dirt next to Detective Ewing who instantly dropped to one knee next to me, gun in hand. Her partner knelt beside her.
“What was that?” I gasped. “What’s going on?”
“I think—”
We heard a growl. A very non-human growl. It raised the hairs on my arms and sent shivers down the back of my neck. It was echoed by another. Long, low, rolling, sonorous. And another. And another. And another. They came from everywhere, echoing each other, bouncing off the very darkness surrounding the two groups of shifters.
Detective Ewing and I were glancing all around, trying to figure out this new threat—what it was and where it was coming from. In the meantime, mere paces away, the Talos and the Minotaur stood back-to-back. I still wasn’t sure what Carter had seen, what had spurred his reaction, but I was guessing Ciara had been arguing with Sean in an attempt to distract him and pull everyone’s attention to their argument instead of Nosizwe’s people and what they were doing. It had worked, too, except for Carter. Even I had been focused on the arguing couple. Carter alone had noticed the threat, whatever it was.
All of this had occurred within mere seconds, and my brain was still wrapping around it when we heard the chorus of animal growls. Clearly, a brand-new menace was on the horizon.
“What the hell?” I heard Detective Tozzi grumble. “I hate—I hate—being mixed up with them. You never know what kind of crazy crap you’ll have to wade through. I tried to warn you, Candace. I tried.”
“Shut up, Gary,” she snapped. “We’re not done with that discussion, but it’s one we’ll have to have later. Ellie, do you have a piece?”
“I wasn’t getting out of that car unarmed,” I answered, and pulled my Beretta from the clip securing it to the back of my jeans. Carter’s sword had been next to it a few minutes ago. I wondered briefly where the sword was now, and then another round of growls tore through the night. Half of us—Sean’s people, the cops, and myself being that half—were scanning the perimeter anxiously. The growls were too loud, too numerous not to be taken seriously. It hadn’t escaped my attention that we were on a game preserve, meaning any kind of wild animal could be out here. But what kind? How many? Would our bullets stop them? How many bullets would it take to stop them? Did we have enough?
Movement at the edges of the darkness.
“Over there,” I breathed, jerking my head that way.
At the same second, Detective Ewing said, “It’s over there!” and pointed to the left.
“Behind us,” muttered her partner.
My heart sank. Where I’d been looking, a paw crept from the night shadows into the pool of light—huge, furry, striped. I shot a glance in the direction Candace had indicated. Another paw. I threw an anxious look over my shoulder. Another paw, followed by a leg. A massive, striped shoulder. A furry muzzle. Teeth, gleaming in the soft light. Whiskers. Yellow eyes. I looked to the sides, in front of me. Everywhere it was the same.
We were ringed in by big cats. Tigers. Lions. Panthers.
Chapter Thirty
Detective Ewing had known they were in trouble the instant the conflict had shifted, when the undercurrents started swirling around Gary and her instead of between Sean Costas and Elia. Nosizwe. Whatever the woman was called. However, she hadn’t expected to full-on confront Sean Costas. Nor had she ever, in her wildest dreams, expected this. Animals. Wild animals. Tigers. Lions. Panthers. Maybe a cheetah too. Or was it a jaguar? She hadn’t spent enough time in zoos or watching nature documentaries to be able to classify all the different big cats successfully. Nor did it really matter, with hundreds of pounds of raw, lean muscle backed by dozens of rows
of sharp, gleaming teeth and long, lethal claws slinking towards her.
“What the devil is happening here?” Gary muttered.
Since they were all in this together, facing the same threat, she could forgive the ugly revelations about her longtime partner. For now. That didn’t mean they wouldn’t hash it out later. Provided they survived tonight. Right now, the odds weren’t looking too good. However, despite the ugliness of having a mafia boss like Sean Costas order her partner to kill her, there was still comfort to be found in having her partner’s back pressed against hers. I’ve got your back wasn’t simply a cliché at this moment. It was a physical reality as she, Gary, and Ellie had slunk wedged into position, all three of their backs together.
“C-Carter?” Ellie said softly. Candace could hear the stammer in her voice. The girl held her gun steady, but she was so close Candace could feel her shivering.
Slowly, after a nudge from his boss, making no sudden movements that might set off a firestorm, the gleaming bronze man crept towards their trio. A walking bronze automaton was the kind of thing you’d want to have on your side during an attack by wild animals, Candace thought, half-amused at the ludicrousness of the situation, despite her fear. Teeth and claws wouldn’t rip him up like they would human flesh.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Sean Costas, who had transformed into a massive, upright bull-man, flash back into human form. Candace blinked. Personally, if she had the ability to take on another shape that could fend off a pack of monster cats, she would’ve stayed in it. Then again, these shapeshifters could transform in less than the blink of an eye, so he probably figured he’d have time to switch back, should the need arise.
Repairer of the Breach (Stones of Fire Book 4) Page 19