by Diane Darcy
He was on his phone, calling his men, as Lena turned to glance about the room.
It was the meeting room that he’d taken her to once before, with a long conference table and chairs all around.
“Quinn, what do ye know?”
“Don’t worry, it’s already calming down, we had a run on some of the tables, spills, cuts and scrapes, but we’ve already got people coming back in.”
“All right.” He still didn’t feel he’d overreacted with Lena. Her safety was his first concern. “Who’s got eyes on Heath and Dimitri?”
There was a short pause before Quinn responded. “Sorry, Boss. They slipped out in the panic.”
“Find them.”
“Will do.”
William turned to Lena, who was now seated in one of the leather chairs.
“Everything is already calming down.”
She shot him an ironic glance. “So, we’re free to leave?”
“I’m no’ sure I want ye down in the casino again tonight, would ye like tae see my suite?”
She chuckled, “Nice segue. Do you want to show me your etchings too?”
He chuckled. “Is that a yes?”
“Yes, I’d like to see where you live.”
He held his hand out to her, and when she joined him, slipping her hand in his, his panic from earlier melted away.
Lena, in his suite, alone with him?
Mayhap it would turn out to be a great day after all.
Lena was a little nervous to go up to William’s room.
So far, their dating life had consisted of a very polite gentleman/werewolf, who seemed to think the moon and maybe even the sun rose with her.
The way he was looking at her almost made her feel like she’d agreed to more than she had.
She wanted to see where he lived, she was curious, of course, she was. And she’d certainly rather be there than out in the open after being shot at.
Of course, with the bullets being silver, it was probably William who was the target, but she didn’t want him getting shot either, so it was best they disappeared for a while.
He was still looking at her. Focused, intense, hungry.
Her brows rose. All right, she was flattered. But, again, what exactly did he think was going to happen?
Still … would she really object to a kiss or two?
No, she would not. Going upstairs felt like another step forward in their relationship and she found she didn’t mind in the least.
They stepped into an elevator she wasn’t familiar with, got out, and headed down the hall to another elevator. Just as they walked inside, William’s phone rang.
“Hello?”
She could hear a low voice talking on the other end of the phone, but couldn’t make out the words.
“I’ll be right there.” He hung up and shoved his phone in his jacket pocket.
“What is it?”
“There’s been another murder.”
Lena’s breath caught in her chest. “Who?”
“Dimitri.”
“Oh, my stars. Is it possible this whole thing has been a distraction? Do you think Dimitri was the target all along?”
William shook his head as he pushed the button of the elevator down, instead of up. “That is exactly what we’re goin’ tae find out.”
They went down to the basement, and followed the right hallway down to Dimitri’s room once more.
Caleb, Quinn, and another man she didn’t recognize were questioning a distraught looking Heath out in the hallway.
Bianca, looking devastated, was beside him, even more pale than usual. Heath reached for her, but she moved a few inches away from him, and Heath’s fists clenched and unclenched as if he wanted to disregard her wishes and pull her close.
“I didn’t kill him,” Heath said hotly. “I didn’t kill Emilio, either. I would never. Both were my nestmates, and both have my loyalty. You can’t believe I would do this!”
Lena actually found herself feeling sorry for the man. He was obviously distraught. She could see pink tears tracking down his face, which he quickly swiped away.
Bianca suddenly turned to press her face into his shoulder, clinging to Heath and he swept her close. There was no sign of the belligerent woman she’d met earlier.
“What’s happened?” William asked.
“It looks like another poisoning,” Caleb said.
“And we didn’t do it!” Heath said heatedly, “Our friend is dead, and we’re being questioned like criminals!”
Without a word, William headed into the room, pulling Lena after him.
Moments later, they’d walked through the luxury suite of the three bedrooms,
Dimitri lay on his back on the bed, elbows on the bed, hands up in the air, fingers looking distorted.
But it was the dried-up look, as if he’d been sucked dry of moisture, that was so disturbing.
She could hear the bubbles in the background from the luxury fish tank set in the wall in the main area, and the noise of the water almost made this worse, almost like he needed the moisture, had been so close to it, and unable to get at it.
“How could poison do this?” Lena asked.
“It’s no’ the poison, it’s what their kind look like when they die.”
“They just shrivel up?”
“Yes. I’m sorry if it disturbs ye. Would ye like tae wait in the hall?”
“No.” Lena didn’t want to be anywhere near Heath or Bianca at the moment. And she was starting to feel like the more she knew about this world, the better.
William was looking around the room, and she did the same.
She could hear Heath yelling from the hallway. “If I was guilty, I would have left already! I didn’t kill anyone!”
Quinn came through the doorway. “We have a black figure on camera walking away from Dimitri’s room. I can’t tell who it is, and they took the stairs and were lost in the crowd.”
“Body type?”
Quinn shrugged. “Honestly, it could’ve been either Heath, or Bianca, or one hundred other slim-figured immortals.”
William nodded.
Taking Lena’s hand once more, he led her out into the hallway again. He looked at both Heath and Bianca. “Just so we understand each other, ye’re no’ tae leave. If ye do, we’ll track ye down, and send ye straight tae New York. Are we clear?”
Bianca, now enclosed in Heath’s arms, nodded, her face pressed against Heath’s shoulder.
Heath, eyes hot with emotion, nodded as well.
Without another word, William took off in the direction they’d come.
A couple of hours later, William sat at his desk, drumming his fingers, watching Lena sleep on his couch.
He’d offered his bed, but she’d claimed she wasn’t tired, wanted to keep up with the investigation, and had promptly fallen asleep.
He couldn’t help but think how he’d had Lena in the elevator, about to push the button to head to his suite, when they’d been called away.
With a growl of disgust, he snatched up his phone, shoved it in his pocket, and headed out into the main area, to get a look at the cameras.
He stopped beside Quinn. “He still there, is he?”
“Yes,” Quinn said, without removing his eyes from the screen.
They stood side-by-side watching Heath gamble at the slot machine, once again. He was loud, drinking, seeming very sad, upset, and angry. Remorseful, perhaps?
It was hard to say.
Lena walked up behind them, yawning loudly. “I’m going down there,” Lena said. “Maybe if I talk to him, I can get something?”
“No’ goin’ tae happen,” William said sternly.
“Not asking permission,” Lena said with a smile. “You need to learn to trust me.”
She turned and walked toward the exit. William started after her, and Quinn backhanded him in the chest.
Their gazes locked, and Quinn shook his head.
William’s wolf started to emerge, his shoulders widening and
muscles bunching, before he let out a breath, and relaxed back into himself. “Bad idea?”
Quinn nodded. “The worst.”
“Ye go, then. I’ll watch from here. Keep her safe at all times.”
With a nod, Quinn followed after Lena, and William kept his gaze glued to the screen.
A moment later, he could see her sinking down to sit beside Heath as she fed a bill into the slot machine.
Lena spoke to him, and he scowled, signing his own death warrant.
William made it all the way to the door, before he stopped himself once more.
If he went out there, Lena would not be happy with him.
His number one goal in life at the moment, was to keep her happy with him.
He moved back to view the screen, well aware the men in nearby cubicles watched his every move.
He crossed his arms. Heath was no longer scowling, and they seemed to be chatting, Lena smiling occasionally and looking friendly.
William’s hands clenched into fists and he scowled. He didn’t like Lena talking to the other man. Smiling at him. What could they be talking about?
They’d barely said two words to each other when he’d been there, and now? It was like they were suddenly best friends.
But she’d asked him to trust her, so … he would.
Lena smiled and nodded at Heath as she continued to play the slot machine and William was starting to relax. After all, he knew Lena wasn’t interested in the other man. He’d have been able to tell if that was the case.
Another man joined them, big and blond, and it took William a moment to recognize the man. Thorne!
William had warned the man away, and the fact that he was back again, knowing how William felt about him hanging around Lena, was the final straw.
Normally, he caught murderers, rather than did murder, but these were extenuating circumstances. He was across the room, out the door, and down the stairs before he’d finished the thought.
Thorne had Lena in his arms and was walking her toward the lobby.
“Thorne?”
He turned, saw William coming, and set Lena on her feet by a roulette table before turning to meet his challenge.
He had Thorne by the back of the neck and had jerked him backward before he’d really thought it through.
If the shocked look on Lena’s face was any indication, he probably should have considered how this would look to her.
Chapter 11
Lena’s mouth dropped open.
William had Thorne by the scruff of his neck, but the other man was fighting back, trying to return to … her.
At least that’s what it looked like. She backed up against a stone column.
Thorne’s head continued to swivel in her direction, and he tried to hold one hand out to her, but William kept slapping it down.
William soon had the other man bent over and in a headlock. “Thorne, we spoke of this. I told ye what I would do tae ye if ye kept this up! Lena is mine.”
“You’re not married to her,” Thorne bellowed the words loud enough for everyone to hear.
“We’re soulmated!”
“The Oracle,” Thorne grunted as he tried to break William’s hold, “could have made a mistake.”
“Nae, she did no’.”
Thorne couldn’t seem to take his gaze off of her even as William lifted him up and slammed him to the ground.
The men were full on wrestling now, but even as Thorne tried to protect himself, he kept swinging his head this way and that, trying to keep her in his line of vision.
Why was he acting that way?
William smashed a fist into the other man’s face, and Lena winced. Men!
She’d been feeling like she was getting somewhere with Heath, before the interruption. He’d been drinking, sad, remorseful, and slightly too loud.
It was a perfect situation for him to confide in her.
But he hadn’t had the chance to, had he?
Thorne was trying to get to her again, crawling his way toward her. “Lena! I think I love you! You’re the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen!”
Lena’s eyes widened and she shook her head. Seriously?
William had the other man in a headlock now, and at the same time he hauled back the hand that reached for her.
Why was Thorne acting that way?
“I have to touch her! Just let me go so I can touch her!” Surprisingly, William let the other man go and stood.
Thorne crossed the distance on his knees, and took both her hands. “Lena.” Thorne looked into her eyes, intently, meaningfully.
“Yes?” She asked cautiously.
William was standing behind the other man now, watching him closely. “Does he seem be-spelled tae ye?”
Lena looked at the man’s glassy eyes and lovesick expression as he gripped both of her hands in his. Granted, other than TV and in the movies, she’d never actually seen someone under the influence of a spell, but… “Yes, he does, actually.”
An alarm went off inside the casino.
Lena, feeling more confused than ever, glanced around and noted the gamblers around her were doing the same.
Thorne didn’t even look away from her face.
William was there in the next instant, pulling her gently away, and swinging her up into his arms.
He headed toward the middle of the casino once more, Thorne following behind them.
Some of William’s men were gathered around the Corvette, and Heath was nowhere to be seen.
“What happened?”
One of William’s men was standing on the base of two slot machines, but with William’s question, he stepped down to the floor once more, and turned to answer. “Someone was trying to steal the car.”
“Why do ye say that?”
“Someone was trying to jimmy the door open on the car, and the alarm went off.”
“Did ye see it happen?”
The other man shook his head.
“Then how do ye know someone tried tae break intae the vehicle?”
“You can see the marks where they tried.”
Lena glanced around. “Where’s Heath? He was here a while ago.”
“He probably ran off when the alarm sounded.” William made as if to set her down, and then glanced back at Thorne, still staring in Lena’s direction, a vacant expression on his face.
William’s grip on her tightened. “All right, I’m going tae go look at the security footage. I want ye tae escort Mr. Van Brussel here, tae his room.”
“Yes, Boss.”
William turned and headed for security, and Lena, feeling slightly ridiculous at being carried through the casino, did her best to look unfazed by the whole thing.
After all, it was just more weirdness, in a strange and unusual night.
“You can put me down now.”
William glanced at Lena as he moved up the stairs toward security and couldn’t help but grin. “Now why would I do such a thing? I’ve got ye exactly where I want ye.”
“You were hoping for a girlfriend that was a damsel in distress?”
He chuckled at that. “Well, the damsel anyway.”
She grinned at him, and then pushed at his chest. “Put me down. I’m not going into security with you carrying me.”
He slowly sat her down on her feet, and then straightened. “Spoilsport.”
“Possessive werewolf.” She said the words under her breath, but he heard her just fine and chuckled once more.
Inside, they had Alistair pull up the security footage, and stop at the point that Thorne had basically abducted Lena from her seat.
Heath had watched the whole thing, smirked, and then turned back to his slot machine, without so much as a protest.
Lena made a scoffing noise. “What a gentleman.”
William didn’t bother telling her that in his world, people tended to mind their own business. Stepping in could just as easily get you killed if you tangled with the wrong immortal.
Moments later, they
watched Heath stiffen, and then jump up and stride away. Quinn was immediately trailing after him, leaving only a few diehards to continue gambling at the machines.
Almost as one, the other three jumped up and left the area.
“What happened?” Lena asked.
William was trying to sort that out in his own head. Earlier in the day the machines had been in constant demand. He could certainly understand people losing interest after gambling for hours, but still, they’d all been deserted at the same time?
The alarms went off, flashing, and sounding on the screen.
“What happened?” Lena asked again.
Alistair was throwing up different cameras on the screen, so they could watch the incident from different directions.
It did no good. Whatever screen they watched it on, there was nothing to be seen.
“Heat mode,” William said.
Using the computer, Alistair adjusted the settings, and they watched once more.
This time, they could clearly see a partial outline. The figure rounded all of the slot machines, did something that chased everyone away, and then climbed up onto the car and shoved what looked like a crowbar into the driver side.
When the alarm went off, this figure gracefully leapt down, and disappeared.
“What was that?!” Lena asked. “It looks like a ghost.”
“No,” William said. “It looks like someone has been purchasin’ spells.”
His phone rang, caller id telling him it was Sophia Darrow. He lifted it to his ear. “William here.”
“You need to get this under control.”
“I’m handling it,” he said tightly.
“See that you do.”
For the second time that day, Lena found herself at Natural Magic. The store was still open, and wouldn’t close until one in the morning.
“Hi!” Scarlett said warmly as Lena approached, but her smile turned into a scowl when she saw William behind her. “Oh. And hello to you, too.”
“Scarlett.” William said in greeting.
“Don’t tell me, the two of you are on a date, and you decided to come here and get your palms read together.”