Conviction

by Jennifer Blackstream

  “I don’t believe it will be long. Siobhan is not a patient woman. And now that there is video proof of Agent Bradford’s crime, whatever time she’s allowing you with him is a courtesy.”

  “She’s torturing me,” I corrected him. “She wants us both to suffer.”

  Anton inclined his head, acknowledging that I was right. “It won’t be long,” he repeated.

  “Well, that depends on what harm you’re protecting me from,” I hedged. “Are you protecting me from confronting Siobhan now to stop her from hurting my friend? Or are you protecting me from confronting Siobhan later, after she’s killed my friend?” I tilted my head. “Because if I haven’t made myself clear, I believe Siobhan set Andy up. And I might not be able to hold her legally responsible for Raichel’s murder, but I do believe with all my heart that it’s her fault. And I’ll make sure she pays for it somehow.”

  Anton’s eyes flashed red. “You’ll get yourself killed.”

  “Maybe.”

  “I overestimated you,” Anton said tightly. “Perhaps it’s time to reconsider…many things.”

  Scath growled, a rumbling in her chest that sent a shiver up my spine even though it wasn’t aimed at me. Anton didn’t look at her, but I could see the sudden tension in his neck. And his renewed determination to try and trick me into making eye contact.

  I glared at his ear. “I’m not done with my investigation yet. It isn’t over.”

  “And what is there left to do?” Anton demanded. “You’ve seen the murder with your own eyes.”

  “I have reason to believe Siobhan had Gloria killed in order to usurp her position as leader of the team.”

  “And what does that have to do with Agent Bradford’s guilt?”

  “Nothing. But Siobhan is the leader, and it’s up to her how Andy will be sentenced. If I can find proof that she’s responsible for Gloria’s death, then she might see her way to a…lesser sentence.”

  Anton blinked. “You intend to blackmail her.”

  I switched my attention to his other ear. I didn’t feel the need to lie, considering the fact that the case he’d hired me to work for him at the beginning of this year had involved having me locate his little black book of blackmail. “Yes.”

  Flint had stayed out of the entire exchange. I didn’t look at him, mostly because I didn’t want the two men to think I knew what was between them. So I dropped my gaze when Anton looked over my shoulder at the leannan sidhe.

  “Fine,” he said curtly. “I will allow you to leave under one condition.”

  I ground my teeth. “And that condition would be…?”

  “Take the alpha with you. Detective Sergeant Osbourne.”

  The demand surprised me enough that I almost met his eyes. Almost. I stared at the bridge of his nose as I fought down the immediate protest that Liam was injured, and I couldn’t drag him out of bed for this. I didn’t want to tell the vampire about what Scath had done. Not when I still knew so little about it.

  “Fine.”

  “And Mr. Valencia can remain here with me. I’d like to hear about the investigation thus far.”

  “More than fine,” I agreed.

  Anton eyed me for a minute longer. I had the irrational thought that he was reading my mind, that he knew I wanted to make a small detour before going to New Moon. I hid my nervousness behind a glare of frustrated impatience, tapping my foot for good measure. Anton quirked an eyebrow at that, then nodded.

  “We will need to speak again,” he said finally. “Tomorrow night. One way or another, you should be finished with this investigation by then.”

  Chapter 23

  There were three reasons it annoyed me that Anton Winters insisted on having his lackey drop me off at New Moon. First of all, it seemed like a very blatant comment on how little Anton trusted me to do as I’d said I would and go straight to New Moon.

  Second, being dropped off might give Liam’s people the impression that I expected their injured alpha to drop everything to chauffeur me around, which I didn’t want.

  And third, there was a small part of me that worried one of the wolves would somehow identify the driver, or the car, as one of the vampire’s. I really didn’t need them making that sort of connection.

  The autumn wind tried to knock me over as soon as I got out of the car. It felt like a reprimand, as if the weather itself was horrified that I was about to drag an injured man out of bed on the order of a vampire. I looked up at the building as if I could see inside to where Liam was resting, trying to sleep off whatever Scath had done to him.

  “I’m sure he’s fine, and he’ll be happy to see us,” Peasblossom said.

  I hesitated, then looked down at Scath. “I think you should wait out here. Not hiding exactly, but maybe just being…subtle.”

  Scath sat down and stared at me. The bag slung around her body writhed for a few seconds before Majesty poked his head out and meowed.

  “Maybe you could go into the forest and set him off?” I suggested.

  Scath snorted. I heard judgment in that sound, but maybe that was just me being paranoid. In any case, she turned around and loped off toward the forest across the road. I let out a sigh of relief and headed for the front doors.

  As I strode in Sam looked up from a length of rope they’d been tying into a complicated knot. I spotted a book propped open in front of them—a handbook of knots, if the picture I could see was any indication. They closed the book when they saw me looking and put down the length of rope, a wary expression on their face.

  “Hi, Sam. Nice to see you again.” I cleared my throat. “I was hoping I could see Liam? Check on how he’s doing?”

  “He’s still resting. His injuries are…unusual.” They leaned over the desk and looked down. “Where’s Scath?”

  “She’s outside.” I gripped the edge of the front desk. “Can you at least tell me if he’s okay?”

  Sam studied me, weighing my words, reading my body language. I had hope that they were about to cave and let me visit their alpha.

  Then I heard footsteps behind me. Two guards approached, and neither of them looked happy to see me. My shoulders slumped. My escort out of the building had arrived.

  “You have to know I would never hurt him,” I said gently.

  Sam never took their eyes off my face. “I’m not accusing you of anything. But Liam is our alpha, and he was hurt. Bad. By your friend, while with you. He’s not awake yet, and we haven’t heard his side of things. So you’ll understand if we’re erring on the side of caution. I’ll have him call you when he wakes up. That’s the best I can do.” Sam’s voice wasn’t unkind, but neither did it suggest there was room to argue. They nodded to the guards, and the first one gestured toward the door.

  “Wait.”

  A familiar gruff voice made me spin around. “Edwin.”

  I’d met Edwin for the first time when he was working—against his will—for a very bad wizard, Stavros Rosso. Edwin had been injured when a bomb made from silver shrapnel exploded and left him with bits of the shining metal embedded in his face. The circumstances around the bomb had driven Edwin away from his pack, and right into Stavros’ waiting arms. The wizard had opted to leave the metal there, healing Edwin only enough to keep him alive and reliant on his magic for survival. It was only after we’d chased Stavros out of town that Edwin had allowed Liam to bring him to New Moon, where he’d finally gotten the medical help he needed.

  I didn’t know if Edwin didn’t smile often because the scar tissue made it difficult, stretching the stiff skin from his left eye all the way down to his nose as it did, or if he just didn’t feel like it. Either way, he always looked cross, and now was no exception.

  Thankfully, he didn’t seem to be cross with me.

  “Liam said her name,” he told Sam, skipping the social niceties. “In his sleep. I think we can interpret that to mean that he would want to speak with her as soon as possible.”

  “That’s not how I’d interpret it,” Sam said arching one eyebro
w. “You’re aware they’re dating?”

  The insinuation was clear, and I blinked at Sam in surprise. It was surreal to stand here listening to werewolves discuss my hypothetical sex life. More surreal given everything that had happened in the past twenty-four hours. If I weren’t so stressed out, it might have been funny.

  “Well, I’m telling you he would want to speak with her. Now.”

  “You don’t have the authority to override me,” Sam pointed out. “So she leaves.”

  Edwin looked from Sam to each of the guards. “Fine. So when Liam wakes up, and I tell him that Shade was here, asking to speak with him, whom shall I say kept her from waking him? Which of you will take responsibility for sending her away?”

  I had never loved Edwin more than I did in that moment.

  The guards suddenly looked very interested in Sam’s haircut. The androgynous werewolf’s gaze bounced around the group, and I could almost see the wheels turning in their head. It would have been one thing to tell Liam they’d turned me away. It would be another to say they’d turned me away after Edwin had argued that Liam had made his wishes to see me known.

  “Fine. Take her to him, stay until you have an answer about whether he wants to see her.”

  One of the guards looked annoyed, as if he’d really wanted to throw me out. But the second guard just looked relieved that the decision was out of her hands.

  Edwin nodded. “I’ll take her up.”

  “They’re going too,” Sam said.

  I didn’t care who escorted me, as long as we could get a wiggle on. Siobhan had said sunrise, and I had no idea how long it would take me to find Gordon, let alone get the proof I needed to prove Siobhan had hired him to kill Gloria.

  I didn’t mention any of that to Sam.

  Edwin led the way past the check-in point and headed for the stairs.

  “Edwin, how is he?” I asked.

  “He’s sleeping.” Edwin paused, then looked over his shoulder as he climbed the stairs. “He’s been sleeping since shortly after he got here. We haven’t been able to wake him up, but his vitals are strong. What happened to him?”

  My stomach churned with a sudden case of nerves. “He was injured in a fight with two leannan sidhe,” I said carefully. “One of the sidhe started pumping up everyone’s adrenaline, and all hell broke loose.”

  “And Scath bit him.”

  I held my breath. “Yes. But she didn’t mean to hurt him. She was diving for Raphael, and Liam put himself between them.”

  “Well, we need him to wake up and say so. Otherwise you might find it easier to get in than to get out.”

  I forced myself to keep walking, not to react to the barely-veiled threat. Edwin was just doing his job, protecting his alpha. There was no reason to discuss the ugly possibility that we’d find out for sure what it took to keep a witch against her will.

  With Andy’s life on the line, I didn’t like their chances.

  Edwin stopped outside one of the rooms and knocked on the door. After a minute that felt like a small eternity, the door opened, and a woman peeked out. A short blonde woman, thick with muscle, wearing a green hoodie that made her blue eyes look teal. “Yes?”

  I recognized her as Liam’s sister, Brenna. She seemed to recognize me at the same time, and a smile spread over her lips. “Shade! You’re here to see him. Hold on, just a minute.”

  She closed the door. Another minute-eternity later, she opened the door all the way and scowled. “I still can’t wake him up.”

  “I’ll try?” I said hopefully.

  She threw an arm out, pointing at a door across the small living room. “He’s in there, be my guest.”

  The two guards twitched forward as if they’d follow me in, but Brenna blocked their path. “I think she can handle this on her own, don’t you?”

  I didn’t wait around to hear the argument.

  The bedroom was dark and quiet, a soothing mix of shadows. I could see well enough to walk around the lumps on the floor that I guessed were clothes, and I avoided one of the chairs that were set up on either side of the bed. The lump of covers rose and fell as Liam drew deep, even breaths.

  I crept closer to the bed. “Liam?” I whispered.

  Nothing.

  “Why are you whispering when the entire point is to wake him up?” Peasblossom demanded—not in a whisper.

  I leaned forward. Liam’s head was on the pillow, his face smooth with sleep. His broad shoulders were bare, and despite the darkness, I could make out part of his chest, the tight muscles of his stomach. I had the sudden urge to put my hand over his heart, feel it beating for myself. I touched his shoulder. “Liam.”

  “Wait, I have an idea!” Peasblossom said excitedly.

  I should have known what was coming. It was cold outside, so of course my familiar was wearing her little pink slippers Mother Hazel had given her. The fuzzy slippers.

  The ones that crackled when she moved too fast.

  I felt the building static as Peasblossom shuffled over the sheet around Liam’s body. My eyes widened, but before I could tell her to stop, she was there at the edge of the sheet, one tiny pink finger reaching for Liam’s bare skin.

  Bzzt!

  Peasblossom leapt into the air, anticipating the need to dodge Liam’s flailing limbs. The electric shock was strong enough that I saw a flare of bluish-white light, and I winced in sympathy. But Liam didn’t move.

  Peasblossom scowled. “I can try again.”

  “No, don’t—”

  Liam grabbed my hand.

  I let out a squeak of surprise as he rolled over, dragging me underneath him, and pinning me in place with the covers still wrapped around his body. His elbows and forearms dug into the mattress on either side of my shoulders as he bracketed my body with his. I found myself staring up into the gold eyes of his wolf, and for a second, I couldn’t breathe.

  His nostrils flared. I held perfectly still as he leaned down to inhale a deep breath over my body, close enough to stir the air near my skin. It was an intimate gesture, and a sudden rush of heat flowed down my body, bringing with it another realization.

  Liam had removed more than his shirt before going to bed.

  His nostrils flared again, and he made a sound low in his throat. His eyelids fluttered and he shook his head, as if trying to wake up. When he looked at me again, his eyes were still gold, still very lupine. He bent his head again, ran his lips over my throat. Adrenaline poured into my bloodstream, and I writhed beneath him.

  I tried to take a deep breath to slow my pulse, but Liam’s wolf chose that moment to lower his body against mine and draw his tongue over my neck in a warm, wet stripe.

  “Wait!” I babbled. “Andy—”

  A loud snarl made my heart skip a beat, and gold eyes flared in the darkness as Liam lifted his head, a sliver of moonlight catching his irises and turning them into twin suns.

  Angry twin suns.

  Probably never a good idea to yell out another man’s name when you’re lying in bed with the man you’re dating. “Andy needs our help!” I clarified, my voice still higher than I’d have liked.

  Liam shook his head, let out a huff. He blinked, and suddenly I was staring into eyes the dark blue of his human self. He squinted down at me, confusion pulling his brows together.

  “Shade?”

  His voice was gruff with sleep, and perhaps other things. Even with the confusion on his face, there was no mistaking the heat in his eyes as he dragged his gaze from my head down to where his body kept me pinned to the mattress and back up. I watched the conflict play out over his features, watched him try to remember how we’d ended up like this. His nostrils flared again, and his gaze flicked to my neck. Where he’d licked me.

  “Andy’s corrupted!” I blurted out. “And I found the missing SD card. He did it. He shot Raichel.”

  Liam shook his head, still trying to wake up, to process. I could have done a better job explaining, but so much had happened. And I was running out of time.

>   And it was really hard to think with him lying on top of me.

  “I’m sorry, Shade,” he rasped finally.

  I grabbed his arms. “It’s not over. I need your help. I need to find a gambler that used to hang around Fortuna’s. His name is Gordon Larkin. He killed Siobhan’s predecessor, and I think she put him up to it. Or tricked him.”

  “How will that help—”

  I shook my head and pushed against Liam’s chest. He let me squirm out from under him, but I didn’t miss the way he flexed his right hand as if fighting the urge to pull me back.

  “Siobhan gave me until sunrise. I can’t prove Andy’s innocent, but maybe if I can prove she killed Gloria, I can use that to save his life.”

  “You’re going to get Larkin’s testimony to prove Siobhan conspired to kill Gloria, and threaten to tell the team if she doesn’t commute Andy’s sentence.”

  I started pacing and almost fell when a discarded T-shirt wrapped around my foot. I couldn’t read Liam’s tone. It wasn’t until this moment that I realized he might not approve. He was a cop, a man who believed in justice, believed in the guilty being punished. Maybe he’d think Andy deserved to get what was coming to him if he was truly responsible.

  “Shade, I can practically hear you thinking,” he said at last. “I’m not going to stop you, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

  I bit the inside of my cheek. I felt guilty for even thinking it, but I had to ask. “You don’t have a problem with me trying to save him from the consequences? Even though he did it?”

  Liam sat up and stretched, tendons in his neck popping, the sound loud in the darkness. “What about the second murder? Deacon?”

  I scowled. “That is a long story. The short version is Andy didn’t do it.”

  “Well, that’s something.” He got up from the bed, the falling covers confirming my suspicion that he’d stripped completely before his nap. I should have looked away, but right now, I was at the end of my rope, and any distraction helped.

  I thought I saw a hint of gold in his eyes as he noticed me looking at him, and I half-expected him to leap over the bed and give me the distraction that was starting to sound so good. But he forced himself to turn and snag his jeans from where he’d thrown them on a nearby chair.