He’d managed to extract his knife from his boot half an hour ago. It was time.
He glanced out the window. Every ounce of his energy had been exerted blocking Henry from his thoughts. It was a tough job. The forty members of the Arcadian Council had powers far superior to regular grizzly shifters. Their ability to delve into the minds of their subordinates was uncanny under normal circumstances.
Either Vinny was doing a hell of a job blocking Henry, Henry was so distracted he wasn’t paying attention, or—and this was the most likely scenario—Henry knew exactly what Vinny was plotting and could do nothing about it except alert his superiors.
If the latter was the case, all the more reason for Vinny to act quickly before reinforcements arrived. He’d hoped to wait until Henry stopped for gas, but the gauge showed the tank to be half full still.
Vinny let his gaze wander around the vicinity without moving his head more than necessary. He waited for the moment when no cars were coming toward them and no lights shone behind them. And that’s when he jumped.
He lurched forward, wrapped his arm around Henry’s forehead, and used his other hand to slit the man’s throat in less than two seconds.
The SUV veered sharply into the other lane, but Vinny yanked Henry’s body to the right, climbed over him and maneuvered himself into the driver’s seat. It wasn’t pretty. He had to keep one hand on the wheel at all times to keep from running off the road, but he managed to pull over and stop the car within seconds.
He reached over Henry’s writhing body to jerk the glove compartment open. Bingo. He grabbed the gun. He only glanced back at Henry, just enough to see the man had wide eyes and his hand over his throat, gurgling through the final moments of his life.
Seconds after that, Vinny was out of the car, running for the tree line and shifting at the same time. It was the riskiest move he’d ever made. The Arcadian Council didn’t need to use any unnecessary force when they picked someone up. No one in their right mind would challenge a council member or attempt to escape.
Which meant Vinny was now totally rogue. Capture would mean death. He would spend the rest of his life on the run. To Vinny, it was preferable to the alternative.
Before he took off for good, however, he needed to finish his current job and collect a hefty paycheck. If he slid off the grid before Nolan Osborn was dead, he would be leaving behind a fuck-ton of seed money.
»»•««
Adriana had no idea how long she was unconscious, peacefully engulfed in both her mates’ embrace, but something suddenly yanked her out of a deep sleep, and she jerked upright. Her heart was racing as Reid and Nolan came alert at her sides, each of them reaching for her.
She inhaled deeply, but her normal grizzly senses were too late this time. Bombarded with information she couldn’t process fast enough, she was aware of several things at once.
There was a shifter nearby, in the house, approaching. Not just any shifter, but her cousin Vinson Tarben. What was Vinson doing in Reid’s condo? He’d been on the run for months, missing ever since he had a role in meddling with the new product releases of both her hometown breweries.
And now he was rounding the doorway to stand in her line of sight before she could fully process how out of place that was, or that she was naked, or that she was in bed with two men.
To make matters worse, he held a gun aimed at her. “What the fuck sort of sick twisted sex are you into, cousin?” he growled at the same time Reid and Nolan jerked fully awake next to her and sat up.
Vinson took a whiff of the air, and his face contorted grossly. “You bound yourself to both of them?”
She didn’t answer. She stared dumbfounded at her cousin, whom she hadn’t seen in months, not since he took off earlier that year after sabotaging the competitor’s marketing plans for their brewery.
She took in several other facts. Vinson had blood all over him, even on his skin. His face was spattered. His clothes were a mess of dried blood. Bile rose in her throat from the stench of death.
Reid slid from the bed to stand beside it, positioning himself between Vinson and her body.
Nolan had grabbed the sheet tangled around their ankles, and he drew it up over her breasts. “This guy is your cousin?” he asked.
“Yes.” She held the sheet tight and leaned around Reid’s hip. Ignoring his questions, she asked one of her own. “What the hell are you doing here?”
He smirked. “Your bodyguard forgot to reset the alarm. It was too easy.”
Reid swayed to one side to once again break contact between Vinson and Adriana.
How had all three of them slept through Vinson entering the home and then his ascent up the stairs? They must have been sleeping like the dead or else Vinson managed to block them better than the average shifter could accomplish.
“Lower the fucking gun, asshole.” Reid’s voice was menacing.
“Step out of the way, big guy. My beef isn’t with you.”
“It is now. You’re in my home. In my bedroom. Threatening my woman.”
Vinson growled. “If you don’t want to get shot, I suggest you fucking move out of the way.” The blood splatters on his cheeks and forehead were dry. He’d killed someone to get to them. Adriana’s stomach revolted at the thought. Whose life had he taken? And why? Did Reid have men stationed outside to guard them? He hadn’t mentioned it. Besides, this blood was older than a few minutes.
Reid subtly inched to the right.
Nolan wrapped an arm around Adriana and held her against his chest. “Don’t move, baby,” he said into her mind.
She wanted to move. Hell, she wanted to leap off the bed and strangle her motherfucking cousin with her bare hands. But she also knew Reid was trained to handle things like this, and he had a gun, undoubtedly in the bedside table he was inching toward.
She held her breath while Reid continued to distract Vinson with his verbal volley. “I don’t understand what he’s doing here,” she said into Nolan’s mind. “Does he have something to do with the threat to your life?”
“He has everything to do with it. I’ve scented him several times in the last week. He must be working for Rimouski.”
She bit her lip. What a dick.
“I knew you two were shacking up, probably sharing a woman,” Vinson hissed. “But I didn’t realize she was my damn cousin and you’d bound her to you. Two of you. Gross. Sick fuckers.”
Adriana flinched. Was this the reception they were going to get from everyone they ran into? She hoped not. The last few hours had been about binding and then consummating their union. She hadn’t bothered to stop and think about the implications before now.
There was a possibility Vinson was right and many members of their community would not accept this union. But that wouldn’t change anything. Nature selected this combination. The three of them had nothing to do with it. All they could do was heed Her call and follow Her desires.
Reid didn’t go for the bedside table as Adriana expected. Instead, he took advantage of the next time Vinson leaned around to meet Adriana’s gaze and lurched forward, smacking the gun out of Vinson’s hands. It slid across the floor and slammed into the wall at the force.
Vinson rushed forward, plowing into Reid’s enormous body as if he intended to tackle him.
Reid was much larger and stronger and luckily braced himself for the impact before it hit him. He grabbed Vinson by the arms and flipped him onto the floor. Vinson’s head hit with a resounding thud. He screamed.
Adriana leaned over to see her stupid cousin struggling, flailing his arms and legs in an attempt to get up.
Nolan released Adriana to jump off the bed. He grabbed his discarded jeans from the floor and shrugged into them. Next, he snagged Reid’s sleep pants and handed them to his friend. “I got it.” He set a knee on Vinson’s chest close to his neck and pressed so hard Vinson’s eyes bugged out and he stopped squirming.
“Can’t breathe,” he mouthed.
“Shoulda thought of that before you ca
me into my home waving a gun, asshole,” Reid shouted as he pulled his pants on.
Adriana tugged the sheet free of the bed and worked her way off the other side, wrapping the cotton around her to keep her cousin from getting an even bigger eyeful.
Someone else was approaching. Rapidly.
George. He rushed into the room and quickly took in the scene. “Son of a bitch. You do have a death wish, don’t you, Vinson?”
Vinson growled against Nolan’s knee, grabbing at it in an effort to free himself.
George set a foot on Vinson’s forehead. “Stop moving, you piece of shit. You’re in so much trouble, you’ll never see the light of day.”
“Fuck you,” Vinson managed to hiss.
Two more shifters entered the room, approaching silently. They too had blocked their scents. Laurence and Charles.
Adriana was shocked that three members of the Arcadian Council had been so close they were able to rush in so fast. Where was Henry?
In a flurry of activity, Laurence kneeled beside Vinson, grabbed his arm, and then shoved a needle in it, emptying the contents.
Vinson jerked to try to escape, but it was too late. “What the fuck did you just shoot into me?”
Laurence stood, put the cap back on the syringe, and tucked it in his pocket. He ignored Vinson’s question and turned toward Adriana. “You okay?”
She nodded, confused and speechless.
Charles and George each grabbed one of Vinson’s arms and flipped him onto his belly. They used some serious handcuffs to secure his hands painfully tight. Moments later, Vinson passed out.
Nolan stepped back and lowered his butt to the bed, rubbing his forehead. He sighed as Adriana came around to step into his embrace. “What happened?” he asked George. “I thought you had him in custody.”
George’s face was firm, his lips pursed as he nodded.
Nolan stiffened. “Where’s Henry?”
Adriana went totally still. Reid had told her Henry was the one who took Vinson into custody. She hadn’t realized who the shifter was that had been stalking Nolan with intent to kill, but she did know it was Henry who headed back to the Northwest Territories with his felon.
She glanced at Vinson. So much blood. Oh, God…
George rubbed his forehead with two fingers. “He’s gonna make it.”
Reid leaned on the bed next to Nolan, setting a hand on Adriana’s and giving her fingers a squeeze. “This asshole escaped?”
“That’s putting it mildly,” Charles added. “He had a knife in his boot, and he slit Henry’s throat while Henry was still driving.”
Adriana gasped. “And he lived?”
“It was close. He’d lost a lot of blood when I got to him,” George added. “But we council members are tough. He’s gonna make it.”
“How long did it take you to get there? And how did you know where to find this fucker next?” Nolan asked, pointing at the unconscious Vinson on the floor.
“Vinson miscalculated, as usual. I caught up with them after I dropped you at the hotel. I was following in my car. We would have stopped soon to combine and ditch the extra car, but before that could happen Vinson made his move. I wasn’t able to capture Vinson, who ran into the trees at the side of the road, because I needed to save Henry’s life first. But once I got Henry to shift and resume normal breathing, he started to heal quickly. I assumed Vinson would head straight for this condo. After all, he hadn’t finished the job Rimouski was paying him for.”
It was Nolan’s turn to rub his temples with his fingers. He lowered his gaze toward the floor across the room.
Adriana felt his unease.
And then he spoke. “I never should have come here. I put my mates at risk. I lost my mind and let my guard down. There’s still a threat to my life out there, and I took off like it wasn’t happening. The police must be looking for me. I never even contacted Officer Schaefer before I left the hotel.”
Adriana realized Nolan was right, and the pain that brought to her chest made her stop breathing. Nolan needed to get as far away from Calgary as possible. And there was no way he would take Reid or her with him. He would never take that kind of risk.
George cleared his throat, getting not only Adriana’s attention but everyone’s. He was smiling when she looked up. “There’s a reason you haven’t heard from Schaefer, oh and you won’t have to worry about Rimouski anymore either. They’re both dead.”
Nolan gasped. So did Adriana and Reid.
“What? How?” Nolan asked.
“Schaefer was your mole. He was selling details to Vinson. Vinson’s been working for Rimouski for months, ever since he left Silvertip, fleeing in the night. The little fuck has been right here under our noses.” George stepped closer. “Schaefer knew he was caught when the rest of the department started putting the pieces together and figured out no one else knew the kind of information he shared about each hotel room and then the existence of Reid and Adriana.”
“What did he do?” Adriana asked, her voice coming out weak.
“He went to the jail and used a silencer to shoot Rimouski between the eyes, and then he turned the gun on himself.”
Holy shit.
Nolan shuddered, his arm tightening around her middle. “So you knew Vinson was involved, and you knew he was Adriana’s cousin. Why the secrecy?”
George nodded. “We didn’t know who was involved until this evening. I didn’t tell you it was Vinson because I knew it would be upsetting to Adriana, and this night didn’t need any more surprises. I figured it could wait a few days.” He glanced at Adriana apologetically.
“So it’s over?” Nolan asked.
“Yes.” George smiled. Charles and Laurence gathered Vinson’s unconscious body off the floor and headed out the door.
“You’re sure? Didn’t Rimouski have other employees who might want revenge on me out of spite?”
George nodded. “The police are arresting several of them as we speak. Vinson wasn’t too careful about covering his tracks. They were able to use his phone and other evidence in his car to find his apartment and track down his contacts, especially the man who seemed to be second in command under Rimouski.”
Adriana started to ask the questions she knew all of them were thinking.
But George held up a hand and continued. “It was easy to leave Vinson’s car open next to the park with his phone and other evidence visible to the police. Our cleanup on this only had once small glitch.”
“Vinson’s body.” Reid sighed.
“Yes.” He glanced at Adriana, cringing. “I’m so sorry.”
Adriana was confused for a moment, and then Nolan gave her a squeeze, forcing her to meet his gaze. He communicated silently. “There’re going to have to leave his body for the police to find.”
For a moment she stared at her mate, and then it started to make sense. She knew the Arcadian Council did not exercise capital punishment often, but in this case Vinson had attempted to murder one of their own members.
Reid touched her arm on the other side, and continued Nolan’s line of thinking, projecting his thoughts. “It won’t be a stretch to assume another member of Rimouski’s team took him out after he failed his mission. That will put everything about the case in the police’s lap so the council no longer needs to interfere. Everyone else involved is human.”
It wasn’t as though either of her mates were blocking George from hearing their thoughts, but no one in the room wanted to speak those words out loud. And it wouldn’t have been prudent for George to verbalize the probable future decisions of the council.
Adriana held her breath. Vinson was her cousin. For a fleeting moment, she felt horrified, but her own cousin had been the cause of everything that had happened to her and her mates in the last week. He may not have known she was involved, but it didn’t matter. It was inexcusable. He knew he was attacking his own kind. He deserved whatever the council decided.
George met her gaze. “I’m terribly sorry,” he repeated. His sorrow
and understanding flowed through her. He continued, “Since Rimouski is dead, I think you can safely say it’s not only over, but as an added bonus the country doesn’t have to deal with the expenses associated with his trial.”
Nolan finally smiled. “Thank you.”
George nodded, glanced at Adriana, and headed for the door. Before he stepped out of sight, he met Nolan’s gaze dead on. “Like I told you in the car earlier, things might not be as bleak as they seem. Have faith.”
Adriana felt the warmth coming from her mate. She had no idea what George was referring to, but she did know it pleased Nolan. And that’s all that mattered.
Chapter Twenty-Five
One week later…
“Adriana, you look fine. Stop fussing and come downstairs.”
Adriana spun around from where she stood in the master bathroom and met Nolan’s gaze. “Don’t rush me.” She resumed brushing through her hair even though she’d done so already for long enough that not one piece would dare get out of line for the entire day. For the last several days, she’d been coming back into herself, taking extra care with her hair and makeup and clothes. She’d even designed several new dresses, spending hours escaping into her work.
But Nolan was right. She was stalling. Her hands were shaking, though she tried to hide this fact by brushing more vigorously.
Nolan shoved off the door frame where he’d been leaning and came to her. He took the brush out of her hands and set it on the counter. She sighed as he wrapped his arms around her middle and set his chin on her shoulder, meeting her gaze in the mirror. “You’re beautiful. Always. No matter what you do. And that dress is amazing.”
She glanced down at her latest design, hoping others would see it the same way she did. It was floral with an array of pinks and blues and purples, and it had a fitted bodice with a filmy flowing skirt that hung to mid-calf. It accented her chest and her waist. “You have to say that.”
He chuckled, his chin vibrating her entire body.
Grizzly Perfection Page 26
