“Ansel, damnit. You can’t go back. We need to get Frankie out of here, and we need to get out of here. Too much heat right now! You can go back later!”
“But there’s a guy looking for him,” Ansel said. “Florian might be in trouble! And I already abandoned him once, I’m not doing it again!”
“Who are we here for? Florian, or Frankie?”
“Both,” Ansel said. He was resolute.
He was not thinking straight right now. Good lord, I wanted to grab the wheel from him. It was firing up my temper not to have control.
“I didn’t save your life so you could fuck up my mission; turn this car the fuck around and go back to Brooklyn right now or I’ll leave you here, all right? How do you think Frankie feels right now?”
“I think he should try to save his brother,” Frankie said.
“You are the Black Queen! You have a purpose! It’s all happening right now—the prophecy. If you’re dead or captured, then what? And if you don’t like what I’m telling you, then turn me to dust. Until then, I’m calling the shots around here!”
“Are you?” Ansel said.
“What do you mean, ‘am I’?” I grabbed a handful of his jacket. I trusted Ansel, but now he sounded like he was about to take advantage of my weaknesses. That stung me down to the bone.
“It’s my brother,” Ansel said. “I’m sorry, Waylon. I know I’m breaking your trust. But it’s my brother.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Mina
The second the lights went out, the press of dancers in the club started freaking out and trying to get to the Exit signs. Some dude tromped right on my foot.
“Ouch!”
Alistair put an arm around me and pulled me to him. “Did you step on my girl?” he said to the retreating back of the offender. His voice, turning low and possessive, was almost genuinely sexy. I did like it when he protected me from anyone else. Like, as much as Al annoyed me, he was the only one allowed to annoy me.
“It’s okay, Al, you don’t have to fight him or anything,” I said, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t flattered.
“Just an accident,” the guy said.
“You can still apologize to her,” Alistair demanded coolly.
“I am not apologizing to a pet!”
“She is my future wife,” Alistair said. “And you will apologize to her.”
Ugh. Damnit. I got hot in my core when he said stuff like that.
“I’m sorry,” the guy said, sarcastically. “But you’re really asking for it around here. It was just an accident. She’s not damaged.”
“You’re lucky I’m too busy to find out your name and ruin you,” Alistair said. He looked around. “Where did Frankie go?”
“I don’t know; she was right here!” Uh-oh. I would feel terrible if we dragged Frankie here and some rando grabbed her. “It’s hard to see who’s who!”
“I bet she ran off,” Alistair said. “But we can track her.”
“Why not just let her go if she doesn’t want to be here anyway?” When he took out his phone I tried to cover it with my hand. “It’s been fun having another girl around for a day, buuut, I was already planning on telling your mom to let her go. What’s the point? You wouldn’t want to hire her. She’s not a team player. And I don’t think you like having her hanging around.”
“It’s…the company she keeps,” he said. “She might have been at the house to spy on us.”
“Um, isn’t that even more reason not to have her at the house? What was she looking for?”
“Not your business.”
“Why do I keep getting the feeling you’re keeping a secret from me? You might as well tell me. I’m nosy about secrets. I’m going to find out. Hey, does this have something to do with Viktor asking about me? It does, doesn’t it! Oh, come on. I mean…you’re not…you’re not trying to dump me for another girl and sell me to Viktor, are you?”
“Why would you ever think that!?” Alistair looked furious as his storm-gray eyes bored into mine like he didn’t want to stop looking at me for a second, not even to check on his phone. “You are my girl. No one else will ever have you.”
Now I’d just triggered his most domineering tendencies. I heated with desire while at the same time, the more he talked like that, the more I wanted to do the most ridiculous things I could think of. I wanted to drive him nuts, to test him at every turn, our entire lives. “Am I really a princess or something?” I said, preening my hair.
He scoffed. “No.”
“Okay, play all coy if you want. But for some reason Viktor was looking for me, and so was Frankie, and you wanted to keep her around. I’ll figure it out.”
“Let me use my phone to find her already,” he said. “She’s running away from the building. We’re going after her.” He gripped my hand in his and bolted for the back.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Ian
I passed through the checkpoint into Manhattan with the fake ID totally unquestioned. The ID Andy gave me said I was a guy named “Dan Covington”. Did I look like a Dan Covington? It sounded like an insurance agent who wore pressed khakis. Man, I had thought I at least looked a little bit cool.
It was so easy I would think I was back in Europe where humans and shifters had mostly learned to live together since World War II. But I guess my education had accomplished exactly what my parents had hoped. Old friends in Brooklyn said I didn’t really look or act like a shifter anymore. It was not a compliment in their case. It probably worked well for me here.
I wonder if Frankie thinks that too, and that’s why she’s been ghosting me lately. She probably thinks I betrayed my own kind.
I really needed this chance to prove myself. I almost never shifted anymore, but there was still a wolf inside me. I had to show Frankie that I didn’t think I was above her or anyone else, that I would fight for her.
It was getting dark, and the streets were crowded with people going out for dinner or other evening entertainments. I just needed to get to the Merryweather place, and it wasn’t hard to find the address, but I expected there would be plenty of security. The gun definitely felt useless. In fact, I wished I didn’t have it because if anyone searched me and found the gun, they’d think I had more dangerous intentions.
I probably just need to not overthink it. I’ll just go to the house and see if I see her. Maybe she can get out herself if she knows I’m there to provide cover for her.
I took the subway to the neighborhood. It was always weird to venture into Manhattan, where the subways worked. It was more residential here and people were mostly walking dogs. The dogs made me nervous. I thought dogs’ noses would definitely get past the smell that masked my wolf scent, and they’d start barking and blow my cover.
Sure enough, a scottie dog had stopped on the sidewalk to start barking and growing at me, but the girl walking it just gave me an apologetic shrug. “Come on, Bubbles. Come on. Leave the nice man alone.”
Shit. Maybe I do look like a Dan Covington. I saw my reflection in a window and pulled my hair into a messy side part until I looked a little more like a guy Frankie might date. I already knew she thought my fashion sense was terrible, although my jeans and button-up shirt with a print of small squares was hopefully too boring to actually offend her eyeballs, the clothing equivalent of a piece of toast.
It was very clean and quiet here, with row houses and trees, no homeless shifters strung out on drugs or slumped on curbs. No stray shifters in their animal forms skulking around. I had never realize how much parts of Manhattan were just as nice as Vermont.
The Merryweather house, when I reached it, was one of the only standalone homes around. It also had a yard, surrounded by a fence. It didn’t look like it belonged in this city. But the original Merryweather probably bought it and just held out against the march of progress.
There was a light on upstairs, but that was about the only sign of life. I walked around to the back alley. The fence continued. I saw a small garage, or maybe
it was an old carriage house. I couldn’t tell if there was a car inside. There was one guy patrolling the yard. It was pretty easy to avoid his notice because a lot of bushes surrounded the fencing.
Is Frankie here?
What do I do now?
I really needed to make sure she was here before I tried anything. So I just waited, pulling up an ebook on my phone to read. I had plenty of battery life. I’d pretend I was just waiting to meet a friend if anyone asked, but with the sidewalks fairly empty, it seemed safe.
Street lights were coming on. Dusk deepened into night. I read a large chunk of an Isaac Asimov novel.
“Hey, you waiting for someone?” the guard suddenly said from behind the bushes.
I jumped and then laughed. “Yeah—a friend. Her plane is late.”
I had a whole involved story worked out as to why I would be waiting at this particular intersection, but he didn’t even ask. “Okay. Hope she gets in soon. It’s getting late.”
“I know. I haven’t heard from her in a while but, you know. Can’t call from an airplane. Maybe she got stuck on the tarmac back at O’Hare.”
“Have you checked to see if there are any delays there?” the guy asked.
Oh, fuck. I was prepared for suspicious, but now he was getting helpful. “Uh, yeah, it looked like there wasn’t anything major but sometimes the runway is just crowded.”
“What’s her flight number?”
“I don’t know.”
“O’Hare to…where’s she flying in?”
“I don’t know which airport. We’re just supposed to meet here and then go bar hopping. Old friend from school.”
“You want to wait inside? The bosses are out tonight. I hate seeing you out here just standing around.”
“That’s extremely nice of you.” Shiiit. Should I stay or should I go? But if I got in the house, maybe that was an advantage. Frankie might hear my voice. Or if she was out, she would see me when she came in. She was sharp enough to follow my lead when I pretended to be someone else. But she would also know I was here to save her.
More importantly, she’d know I came for her.
“C’mon.” He opened the gate.
“Your bosses must be pretty important. This is crazy real estate for Manhattan.”
“For sure. You know the Merryweather family? They run the shifter theme parks, and they own GD Shipping, lots of real estate…fingers in all kinda pots.”
“I know Eden Park. I didn’t realize their business was that extensive.”
“Yeah, Ms. Merryweather is pretty wily, young as she looks. She’s been expanding all over the place. You want a drink? Coke?”
“Yeah. Thanks. You must be bored.”
“It’s a boring job, security, but you have to be there for that moment when something could happen, you know? A lot of people would love to get rid of Ms. Merryweather.”
“Why? Or is that just how it is to be rich?”
“Her shifter sympathies, I guess. Some people have even tried to claim that she is a shifter, but no way.”
“You don’t believe it?”
“Not for a second.”
“I didn’t even know she was that sympathetic,” I said. I knew Eden Park was founded by Reverend Julius Merryweather in 1914 as a way to promote Christian charity to shifters and also make a lot of money on them, or…something like that. Something people in the 1910s would think was a good idea. This was probably a house he bought when business first boomed, it occurred to me.
“She’s very kind,” the guy said. “Too kind for a world like this, really. I don’t mind shifters myself, but nothing’s gonna change, no matter how she remodels the parks or what she says, you know? She’ll still get outsmarted by a guy like Bloom who knows how to kiss up to all the politicians and shit and get in people’s heads.”
Hmm. Interesting. I hadn’t realized the current Merryweather might be more progressive. I wondered if Frankie was in as much trouble as I thought.
He let me right into the house and took a Coke from the fridge. I had seen some nice homes in the course of my education, but this one still took the cake. The old Victorian was meticulously maintained and updated, with lots of detailed woodwork and marble, and a shining modern kitchen. I found myself looking for clues about the true sympathies of Ms. Merryweather, but of course there was nothing out of the ordinary in view.
“She doesn’t have the smell,” the guy continued.
“What smell?”
“The smell of a shifter,” he said.
“I mean, smells can be masked,” I said, shrugging.
“Yeah,” the guy said. “I know. But I’m really good at sensing that too.” He took out a gun and pointed it at me.
I choked down the Coke, coughed, and threw my hands up. “Whoa, man!”
“Why are you hanging around this house, wolf?” he said.
I looked at the guy’s hard-ass security guard face. He was tall with a jaw like Thanos. And I looked like a guy named Dan Covington. Or at best, a grad student musician. I laughed a little, in a defeated way. “I’m looking for my girlfriend. Frankie.” I said girlfriend, both to make the story more sympathetic, and because I realized that was what I wanted her to be.
“Sure you are.”
“I’m serious. My name is Ian. We grew up together.”
“Keep your hands up,” he said, and he called for backup. Within a second, I had two other security guards frisking me. They found the gun and the fake ID. They kept looking at me with deep suspicion.
“It’s fake,” I said. “I’m nobody. I just want to see Frankie.”
“Ms. Merryweather wants her here.”
“I don’t trust this guy,” one of the other guards said. “He looks way too clean cut to be with someone like that Frankie chick.”
“I’ve been away at school!”
“Where?”
“Germany.”
“And you flew here from Germany, grabbed a gun, and came after her?”
“I did. Wouldn’t you do the same for a woman you loved?”
“She hasn’t even said one word about you?”
“Well…she doesn’t…I’ve never told her…”
“Maybe he’s not with anyone. He seems like a loser,” the third guard said.
“I’m not a fucking loser, I just haven’t told her how I feel yet.”
“School in Germany. That must be nice. Your folks must be rich.”
They looked at each other and then one of them picked up the phone.
Crap. This was a bad turn. “What are you doing?” I said. “Look, what do you want?”
“I don’t trust you,” the guard said. “Maybe you’re a nice kid, but you don’t get close to Ms. Merryweather like that. Don’t worry. If your folks care about you enough to send you to school, they’ll also care enough to pay to get you back.”
“Shit! I wouldn’t be so sure,” I said. “If my parents find out what I did, they’ll teach me a lesson themselves. I have—I have some money.” Although hardly any, since I shelled out most of my cash to Andy. “Can I just—“
“Worse case scenario, you get toughened up a little bit.” The guy laughed. “Maybe your girl will finally give you the time of day.”
I wondered if that was true.
I wasn’t sure I wanted to toughen up. A part of me really did, and another part of me knew the price I’d pay.
“You’re really an asshole,” I said. “I’m sorry I drank your Coke.”
The guy on the phone got an answer. “Hey, it’s Ken. I’ve got a stray for you. He’s really green.”
I swear I heard the voice on the other end say, “More fun that way.”
There was no way out of the stupid situation I’d put myself in. Not with three guards surrounding me, all of them carrying guns. Even if I turned into a wolf, my teeth wouldn’t stand a chance against bullets, plus I was betting that Mr. Thanos Jaw was a wolf himself, if he could smell my scent even under the spell.
I was fucked. But more than
I felt nervous, I just felt incredibly stupid and naive, and aware of how little my dad taught me about how to move in this dangerous world so I could protect the people I cared about.
The fear would come later.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Frankie
Ansel leapt out of the car.
“You stay here,” he told me. “Watch over Waylon. Please.”
“I don’t need anyone to watch over me!” Waylon fumed. “Ansel, this is fucking dangerous! Alistair and Mina are still around here looking for Frankie!”
“I parked on a side street,” Ansel said. “A few blocks away.”
I was disoriented, not knowing this part of the city at all. I hated not knowing where I was.
“Either way…I want to be alone. I don’t want to attract attention, or get slowed down, or put either of you in danger,” Ansel continued. “But if there is any chance of finding Florian, I have to take it.”
He left, and I slumped down in the car. I didn’t like being left out and I didn’t want to ‘watch over’ Waylon, but mostly I just wanted to go home.
“Do you know how to drive?” Waylon asked.
“Not…really. I got a few lessons once from one of the women I work with, but then she got busy, and it wasn’t like…”
Waylon scoffed, cutting me off.
“Okay, sorry,” I growled. “You’re not any more useful. I guess we just have to wait. Ansel should find his brother.”
“You just don’t want to be stuck with me,” Waylon said. “Well, it’s mutual.” We were quiet for a minute, and he seemed in a bad mood. I didn’t like being alone with him, because I got overly conscious of the fact that I had hurt him, and it really was more of an accident than anything else. I didn’t know how to control or even use my powers, and maybe I was pretty useless, but he was the one who’d paid the price for that. I was about to attempt to say something nice, when he suddenly said,
“Anyway, I actually know how to control my magic,” he said. “I paid your boy toy a visit and I helped you escape Alistair Merryweather. And I have quite a few other talents.”
Black Queen: Stray: Fated Mates Paranormal Shifter Romance (Shifters Among Us Book 1) Page 13
