The Enchanted: Council of Seven Shifter Romance Collection

by Juniper Hart

  In her mind’s eye, she saw a spunky redhead in a pair of torn jeans, smoking a cigarette ambling into the hotel, a lazy smirk on her face. Another image flashed through her: the redhead, sobbing as they burned her belongings and again as she cried out for her sisters.

  Oh, my God, Grace thought, horrified. Eve isn’t lying. Her name isn’t Eve. It’s Harmony Jagger, and I remember her now.

  6

  Orion rolled the sifter glass around in his hand and stared into the clouds, desperately wanting to enjoy the serenity of the night. His mind, however, was far too occupied.

  The clink of the ice was the only sound in the cabin over and above the jet engines. He could feel Vera watching him closely, but he did not meet her eyes. He wasn’t sure how he felt about everything yet, and the last thing he wanted to do was give her false hope with an encouraging smile.

  They were en route to New York, their final stop on the tour completed, but for once, Orion was not thinking of the infractions he had found on his properties.

  Instead, his mind was solely on Eden and what they had done.

  There is going to be hell to pay for this, he thought, a small sigh escaping his lips, his eyes falling on the closing offer he had put in on the dilapidated property. For the first time since taking over his father’s company, Orion worried what the board would say.

  Furtively, he glanced at Vera. What he had told her about the board was not entirely accurate; he had no ethical right to acquire a property without the consensus of the others, and yet he had.

  Orion knew the problem was deeper than a simple property purchase. There was something wrong with the hotel in Ocean Shores. He knew it, Vera knew it, and yet they ignored their instincts and surged forward with the sale. He kept thinking in terms of “they,” though it had been his decision. Vera had only brought it to him. He could have quashed it at any time.

  He wondered what it was about the place which had captivated him despite the underlying eeriness.

  I need to go over the specs again, he thought. I’m missing something. But he had gone over the specs—a dozen times, at least. He would need a forensic accountant to investigate further.

  Orion didn’t need to be told just how out of character what he had done was for him.

  He was a businessman, after all. Half of his success was based upon intuition, and still, he had cast it aside. Had Vera’s eagerness to prove herself overridden his better judgement?

  He shook his head and stared into the grey sky as the plane glided through the air. There was no blaming Vera, even if he was the kind of being who would do such a thing. If the deal went south, he would have only himself to answer for it.

  It was rule number one of being a CEO; take responsibility for your company.

  “Ri, I can see you’re struggling with this,” Vera finally sighed, having enough of the silence. “It is not too late to back out on the deal.”

  Orion eyed her speculatively, taking a sip of his drink.

  “What makes you think I am struggling?” he asked innocently. Vera chuckled mirthlessly from her seat on the opposite side of the plane.

  “With all due respect, I’ve worked with you long enough to know when something’s bothering you. And don’t try to deny it.”

  That was a stupid question on my part, he thought wryly. He turned fully to address her.

  “No,” he replied truthfully. “I’m not struggling. I am trying to make sense of it. There is so much I don’t understand.”

  “It is a strange situation,” she agreed. “Which is why I think that maybe this is not worth the trouble.”

  “Who says it’s trouble?” Orion countered. He did not know why he was determined to keep the property. Was it the charm of the building? The location? Or was it the fact that he could feel someone watching him, calling him from beyond that glass?

  He again thought of Lane Aldwin’s warning.

  “I don’t know exactly how to explain it, but the last Enchanted being who found his mate in one was driven to almost manic heights to have her. They seem to inspire a chemical increase in their mate’s brains, and it could be detrimental.”

  The notion that he was making irrational decisions based on a mate who may or may not exist, one he was sure he had never met, well, that was just ridiculous, wasn’t it?

  He had no definitive answer, but his mind kept going back to the idea that it was all interconnected somehow, even if he couldn’t see it.

  “I can’t stop thinking about how we did not see one person there,” he said suddenly. “But I could sense people, you know what I mean?”

  Vera nodded, her blue eyes serious. “I know exactly what you mean. I felt like we were being watched.”

  His eyes narrowed at her analysis.

  “Exactly,” he murmured. “And yet I didn’t see a security system. Did you?”

  Vera shook her head. “Not a single camera. Or any other sensor or motion detector.”

  They have guests. They make money, and they aren’t worried about security. Orion’s mind was whirling as he continued to think.

  “I’m bothered that the hotel generates revenue, and yet it’s in such disarray. No one has kept it up, but people continue to stay there.”

  “Some people go back to what they know,” Vera offered lamely. “And he wouldn’t be the first hotel owner to put money in his pocket over that of his property.” She smiled wryly. “In fact, I think that’s more the rule than you think. You’re an anomaly as a hotel owner, Orion.”

  Orion wasn’t sure how accurate that assessment was, but he didn’t push the issue. He was on a roll now, voicing his questions aloud.

  “But that much money?”

  Vera paused. “Do you think that Stanger or Abram falsified the specs?”

  “I have no idea what to think,” Orion said. “It’s something I was hoping you could help me with.”

  “There are a lot of questions I don’t have an answer for,” Vera admitted. “But there is something about the place…”

  “Something haunting?” Orion finished, and she bobbed her head in agreement, laughing shortly.

  “Ridiculous, isn’t it? I mean, what’s the worst it could be? Overrun with demons?”

  “You’d be amazed what’s out there that you have no idea about yet,” Orion growled with more feeling than he intended. “There are dark places that I wouldn’t inflict upon the worst of society.”

  Vera fell silent, pursing her lips together. She was too young to know about some of the horrors in the world, but she would learn. Orion hoped he wouldn’t be the one to introduce her to them.

  Quiet ensued, and both seemed consumed in their own thoughts.

  “Let’s go back,” Orion said suddenly. “Let’s go back and see what we missed. Call Abram and tell him we’re coming.”

  Vera stared at him dubiously.

  “Now?” she asked.

  “Why not? We’re already in the air. It’s only six hours. We can go through the place with fresh eyes and maybe talk to the guests, get their impressions.”

  “You heard Abram; they are reclusive.”

  “And the staff? Surely there is someone we can interview. No, we’re going back now. Let him know to meet us there tonight. We’ll stay a few days and get a feel of the place. If we don’t like what we find, we’ll gracefully back out of the deal.”

  “Orion, you have a full schedule—”

  “Just inform everyone that my tour ran longer than expected. Think of it as a mini-vacation, Vera. When was the last time you had a vacation?” He grinned charmingly at her, but she returned his smile with a grimace.

  The question was rhetorical; Vera had not taken a vacation once in three and a half years, and he knew it. A fission of guilt passed through him.

  When things settle, I am going to send her somewhere, all-inclusive and on me for two weeks. He wondered if things would ever settle. His life was constantly moving, it seemed. And it doesn’t help matters that I bring things on myself.

 
Vera gnawed on her cheeks, and Orion could see she was debating between being the voice of reason and succumbing to his extraordinary request. She wanted it, too. She was just battling her common sense.

  Slowly, she nodded.

  “Maybe we can move your meetings back a few days, but Orion…” She trailed off. Orion didn’t need her to finish.

  “If things get strange, we’ll return to New York. We have a private plane, after all.” He offered her another dashing smile in response. Begrudgingly she nodded. “Great! I’ll have Miller turn the plane back. We will just need to stop to refuel.”

  He rose from his chair to speak to the pilot as Vera reached for her cell phone.

  They were going back to Washington.

  It was immediately obvious that something had changed when they arrived in Ocean Shores.

  The hour was almost midnight, but the hotel was brightly lit, and there was a sprinkling of people milling about as the limo pulled up to the front.

  “Look at that,” Vera murmured, her eyes wide with surprise. “Maybe they are just nocturnal. Maybe they’re all vampires.”

  That still wouldn’t account for all the discrepancies, Orion thought. Or the feeling of foreboding I can’t shake no matter how hard I try. The words sent an unexpected fission of alarm through him.

  “Nothing wrong with that,” he replied, smiling tightly. “I have been known to pull a few all-nighters in my day.”

  Vera snorted at his ridiculous attempt at a joke, and the driver opened the door, allowing them to step onto the crumbling drive.

  Orion’s eyes rested on two men who seemed to be ambling about, their eyes averted as they pretended to be in conversation.

  They aren’t Enchanted. They’re mortals, he determined easily.

  They were ill-dressed, one in jeans too large for his skinny frame, the other in a shirt much too small. They had a suspicious manner about them which Orion could not immediately identify, but he didn’t want to fixate on them.

  “Mr. Tanner?” Vera called as the driver waited with their suitcases. Orion turned to follow her inside the crumbling entrance.

  There was no one at the reception desk. Still, Orion was once again plagued with the sense that they were being watched.

  “You told Abram we were coming?” he asked.

  “Yes,” Vera confirmed with a nod. “He said he would make the arrangements.”

  When they slid up to the desk, Orion looked about for a bell, but he saw nothing to announce their arrival.

  “Maybe we should go talk to the men outside?” Vera suggested. Orion could tell by her tone that the idea didn’t appeal to her in the slightest.

  “They didn’t seem too welcoming when I tried to catch their eye,” he commented. “Let’s give it a minute. It’s late. I’m sure that whomever is working the desk will be back in a moment.” Vera didn’t reply, but he could feel the tension emanating from her as they stood against the desk. “Maybe it’s a serve yourself establishment,” Orion joked. As he said it, though, he wondered if the hotel wasn’t being used as a brothel.

  That would certainly make sense, he realized, a sick feeling in his stomach. It would explain the constant cash flow and the shady looking men in the front despite the unkempt appearance of the property. Did I just commit to buying a cathouse? He knew he was going to find out.

  “I don’t think we have a choice, Orion. I’ll go speak with the men outside—”

  Vera didn’t have a chance to finish; a woman began to ascend the stairs above their heads.

  Orion watched her glide down the east stairs, his heart thudding in anticipation as she neared.

  She was tall, probably five ten, with a lovely, aristocratic face and large, green eyes.

  Her white-blonde hair was too long, flowing to her waist in a side braid which ended at her waist. She, too, was wearing clothes too small for her modelesque frame, a dark blue pantsuit in which she seemed to move uncomfortably.

  Oh, the plot thickens, Orion thought grimly as more confusion shuffled through him. She doesn’t belong here. She’s not like the others.

  “Hello,” he managed to say. “Do you work here?”

  She stared at him and quickly turned her eyes away, nodding quickly.

  “We were told that there should be reservations for us,” Vera piped in. “Tanner? Two suites?”

  Again, the woman bobbed her head without speaking and walked along the other side of the desk.

  Orion realized that there was no computer on the desk, and a dusty logbook sat closed and seemingly unused. And there’s no telephone. Where do they take reservations? Am I in a time warp? He considered that the woman was a madam, but she certainly didn’t fit the profile of any brothel hostess he’d encountered in his many travels in the hotel business.

  He waited for her to open the register, but she didn’t, instead turning to the keys’ hangar and withdrawing two sets. She slid them across the desk without asking for identification or payment.

  Orion and Vera looked at one another and then at the silent blonde before them. The room numbers were engraved on the keychains, and the silent woman lifted her head to gesture toward the east wing.

  “Have you worked here a long time?” Orion heard himself asking. He would not be satisfied until he heard her speak. She turned her head slightly, her head bowing slightly.

  “Yes.” Her voice was barely a whisper, and Orion was filled with dread and confusion.

  “What’s your name?” he demanded. His tone was harsh, but he could not stop himself. There was a power growing in him, emboldening him by the moment.

  Whatever is going on here, I have a right to know, he thought, an unfamiliar anger flowing through him. The mystery was not romantic; it was unnerving.

  Abram was going to get an earful when they got back to New York. If Eden was a brothel, there would be no chance of building a reputation. It would be doomed before they started renovations. His only recourse would be to sell it, but likely at a loss. In his business, reputation was everything.

  The blonde raised her graceful head and stared at Orion. For a fleeting moment, he got the feeling she was staring directly into his soul. A bright light seemed to ignite in the back of her eyes, but as quickly as it had come on, it seemed to snuff out.

  “Grace,” she muttered, her jaw twitching when she said it.

  Orion was filled with the uncanny sense that he had met her before.

  “Have we met before?” He had no control over his words, as if he wasn’t the one speaking at all. He could feel Vera watching him, her brow raised in surprise.

  Grace shook her head.

  “Your rooms are in the east wing.” She pointed up the set of stairs before turning her back to dismiss them, but Orion was not finished with her.

  “Are you the manager here, Grace?” he asked. He saw her visibly tense at the question, and he could see that his instinct was right.

  It's a cathouse. I bought a cathouse. How am I going to explain this to the board? It wasn’t too late to void the deal, but his disappointment was still overwhelming.

  “Yes,” Grace breathed reluctantly. “I am the manager.”

  “Mr. Tanner, it’s late,” Vera told him gently. “Maybe we can meet with Grace again in the morning?”

  The slender woman across the desk seemed to relax at Vera’s suggestion. Begrudgingly, Orion nodded, still eyeing the woman.

  “What time is your shift over?” he asked as Vera strolled toward the stairs. Grace shook her head, biting on her lower lip. She stared beseechingly at him, and Orion suddenly read panic in her eyes. “What time do you go home?” he asked again, checking his tone. The uneasiness was growing in his stomach.

  “I live here,” she told him.

  Orion opened his mouth and immediately closed it. That didn’t answer his question, but it did pose a new one. Did all the staff live there? It was unusual for such a scenario, though he had seen it before. It did discount the cost of wages by providing room and board.

 
; What if it isn’t a prostitution ring, but there is some sort of labor violation happening? Are they working for board?

  Vera cleared her throat purposefully. “Mr. Tanner?”

  He ignored her and focused on Grace, studying her face closely. He was looking for deceit or shadiness, but he could read nothing like that in her. It only served to confuse him further.

  “Can we talk tomorrow, Grace? I have some questions about Eden.”

  Grace neither nodded nor rejected his request. She only stared at him, a deadpan expression on her lovely face which sent chills through his spine.

  Maybe she’s mentally challenged? But Orion knew that was not the case. He could see the woman before him was intelligent… and scared.

  The idea that Grace could be afraid was bizarre, yet that was the sense he was picking up from her.

  Slowly, he turned away and walked toward where Vera and the driver stood waiting, casting Grace one last look before they started up the half-moon steps.

  “She’s an odd bird,” Vera murmured when they were out of earshot. “Like she doesn’t know how to talk.”

  “Odd for a hotel manager, isn’t it?” Orion replied, his eyes scanning the hallway for their rooms.

  “Maybe not odd for this hotel,” Vera joked, but he could hear the stress in her voice. “I can’t help thinking I made a mistake.”

  Orion stopped before room E144 and put his key in the lock.

  “We won’t know unless we investigate further,” he said quietly. “I agree there is more to the story than what we’ve been told, but it doesn’t mean the investment is a lost cause necessarily. Let’s not be hasty, okay?” He smiled warmly at Vera, who entered her room directly across the hall in E143. He didn’t remind himself that he had been nothing but hasty since the first minute they had stepped foot in Ocean Shores.

  Whatever happens, at least we’ll get a vacation out of it, he thought, trying to find the silver lining. A vacation which is causing us both more stress. The driver placed his bag at the door and bid Orion goodnight, leaving the CEO alone with his thoughts. Tomorrow, we will investigate. Whatever is happening here can’t remain under the radar with Vera and I staying in such close quarters. We will do our due diligence and make a final decision in three days.