by Dannika Dark
“Oh brother,” Finn said, walking through the open door.
Logan reached out his hand and gripped the back of Finn’s jacket. “Hold up, Little Wolf. We walk together.”
***
When we arrived at Logan’s condo, he closed the shutters and drapes, locked the door, turned on the security monitors in his hidden room, and made a private call to Leo. We’d had a discussion not too long ago that we wouldn’t live in hiding because of Nero. And yet here we were… hiding.
Christian was standing guard in the lobby downstairs, scrutinizing everyone who entered the building.
“Finn, promise me you won’t go out by yourself,” I said firmly, taking a seat beside him on the sofa.
Logan was a minimalist, so we stared straight ahead at a wall that divided the kitchen and living room.
“Where’s the little TV he used to have?”
“Remember the attack a few months ago? Smashed. Logan only bought that for you; he’s not big on television, just movies on occasion.”
Finn lifted the woodcarving of a cheetah from the end table on his right. “I liked the couch better when it was over there,” he said, pointing toward the wall. “I don’t like my back to the window. I have to sleep here at night.”
“We’ll move it a little later. Before Logan bought drapes, he thought we’d have more privacy from prying eyes if we faced away from the street. When’s the last time you let your wolf out?”
Finn cleared his throat and I could sense his unease. He was jittery and kept wringing his hands together. “A month.”
“Is that a long time?”
His eyes briefly flicked to mine and he set the cheetah down. “Probably. I don’t know many Shifters, remember? I used to let my wolf out at least four times a week, so we had a routine and I’d let him roam at night. Now it’s all kinds of messed up because of Lucian. My wolf might be aggressive now and Logan should probably lock himself up for a couple of nights.”
“Do you want to come stay with me?”
He scratched his right arm where Nero had branded him. “I don’t know Justus all that well, so that wouldn’t work.”
“You could have the upstairs area all night and we won’t bother you. Our house is underground and safe.”
He stretched his left arm on the sofa behind me and I liked how at ease Finn felt with me. “So now you think I can’t take care of myself? Some asshole Mage wants to rough me up and now I’m supposed to be a groundhog instead of a wolf? No way. I wasn’t a coward when I had to live in a barn as a slave—you think now that I’m free on the streets I’m about to start running?”
I pulled my legs up and picked at a tiny hole in the knee of my faded jeans. “Have you thought about finding your father?”
Finn leaned forward on his elbows and lowered his head. “He’s dead to me. What kind of man sells his own child to pay off a debt? That’s not the kind of man I want to know.” He rose to his feet. “That’s not the kind of man I want to be.”
The closet door in the front hall cracked open and Logan emerged through the coats. He pulled a stick of gum from his pocket and removed the wrapper, then folded the piece onto his tongue.
“What did Leo say?” I asked.
Logan strolled into the dimly lit room and sat in the chair to our right. “Leo expressed concern about Nero’s persistence. He’s informing his HALO brothers tomorrow.”
“Why tomorrow?”
When Logan gazed at me ardently and gave me a wolfish grin, I felt a flurry of tingles. He kicked off his sneakers, never once removing the indulgent look from his eyes as his tongue swept over his bottom lip. “Because your Ghuardian would be over here in ten minutes to take you home, and I want to have a meal with my mate.”
God, I loved it when he called me that. Even better was when he said my female. I’d never met a more confident man, one who was absolute in his feelings for me despite any obstacles, including my own reluctance. But that had changed in the last few months and now my feelings were tattooed all over my lower belly in the shape of cheetah paw prints with Logan’s initials.
“I hope you’re not cooking Chinese food, because that’s all Lucian ever brings home,” Finn complained, rubbing his nose. “If I eat one more egg roll, I’m divorcing this family.”
I laughed and watched Finn walk to the bathroom. Logan quickly took his place on the sofa, stretching out his impressive legs and smacking his gum.
“You seem to be in a good mood,” I said, curling up against him.
Logan wrapped his arm around my shoulders and lifted my left hand, staring at the mood ring on my middle finger. “You seem to be in good spirits as well, my little Mage.”
“I swear that thing only changes colors when you’re around.”
He chuckled enigmatically. “I never told you, Little Raven, but since the day you put it on, I’ve noticed the color changing in my presence.”
“Have you now?”
The crook of his finger touched my chin and tilted my head up. Logan possessed unique features. His brows were heavy over his golden eyes and he had a distinct appearance—someone you noticed. Not the chiseled features Justus had, but animalistic and soft all at once. He could hold a tranquil expression one minute and the next, something fierce and formidable. Perhaps his wide smile could look menacing at times, but I knew the one hundred different smiles of Logan Cross, each with their unique little meaning. Every inch of his body was lean muscle, even though he could eat up a storm. Chitahs were built for speed, displaying impressive muscle tone when they used their running abilities. But what I really loved was when Logan would get excited, causing a flurry of spotted colors to mark his smooth skin.
Touching him was like an appetizer for my fingers. I slipped my hand beneath his shirt, resting my palm on the flat of his stomach.
He shifted a little and the fabric of his shirt rustled against the back of the sofa. “What troubles you?” he asked. “Your scent changed.”
“If we hadn’t showed up, something might have happened to Finn. That scares me, Logan. It’s been calm these past few months and I thought Nero would leave us alone. Doesn’t he have better things to do, like terrorizing some small country or pulling the feathers off a baby chick?”
“I don’t want you hunting him,” Logan said in a low voice.
“I’m not.”
“You’re lying to me. Do you think I can’t scent a lie? I know you’ve been looking for him, Silver.”
I retracted my hand and stood up, then paced across the room. “Nero ruined my best friend’s life by taking away the one thing that meant something to her. I never thought I’d see her fall in love with a man, and Knox came along and proved me wrong. How can I just sit here and do nothing?”
“Because if you hunt him down, then you will have my congratulations on becoming the old me.”
I swung around. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
Logan rose from the sofa and crossed the room. “If you thirst for revenge above justice, then you will become no better than the man I once was. Revenge will blind you more than Tarek’s venom ever did. Let HALO do their job. Nero will eventually fall—men like him get greedy and make mistakes. We have enough to consider with my elders not dropping Tarek’s case. A magnifying glass sits heavily on top of us—one speck of light and we will burn like ants.”
“Your elders wouldn’t care about my business,” I argued. “Nero is a Mage and Chitahs don’t give a damn about Mage business.”
“Maybe killing Nero would be a mark on your character that you will never wipe clean. You can become so blinded by your target that you won’t care what it takes to get what you want. Perhaps you’ll sleep at night, but at what cost? I will never remove the shadow upon my name for my past deeds. I have been doing investigative work on the side, but few trust me. My word means little because of the reputation that precedes me. Don’t let that be your fate, Silver.”
I stepped back and shook my head. “It’s so easy for you to say, Logan.
What if the circumstances were reversed? What if Nero buried one of your brothers and was now after me? Would you be able to sit on the sidelines and let justice prevail?”
A muscle twitched in his cheek as he stood with languid arms at his sides.
“It’s a chess match, Logan. He’s picking off the weak pieces and coming after my king. I’ve pissed him off something awful, and he’s not going to rest until he’s ruined my life and won the game. Nero is an ancient Mage—time is irrelevant to him. He could sit around for five months or five decades, but he’s not letting this go. Simon has chastised me for the way I used to play chess. He once said I spent so much time protecting all my pieces that I ended up on the run and getting cornered. All those stupid lessons,” I said with a soft chuckle. “I used to hate him for all his game-related words of wisdom, but he was right.”
Logan cradled my head in his hands, softening the sharp edge in his voice. “Your life is not a game.”
I touched the back of his hands and sighed, wishing I could somehow make all this drama go away. “I just want this to be over. I want my life back again.”
He offered me a stunning smile. “You are the apprentice of a Councilman. I suspect you will always have danger nipping at your heels.”
“Trouble loves me,” I said playfully.
Logan slid his arms around me and I melted into his warm embrace. “Trouble never felt so good.” His lips touched mine and they were hot and pliant. “If you want to hunt Nero, then we do it together. I am against this, Silver, but you are my female and I will stand by your side.”
“Thanks.” I stepped back and put space between us. “I gave up the search about a month ago when I hit a wall, but I’ll think about what you said. It just gets harder every time I see Sunny. I think she’s going to have the ceremony for Knox soon. I have a feeling she’ll release his ashes before the babies come.”
A clicking sound from behind startled me and I peered over my shoulder. A red wolf with large ears stalked into the room, head low and hazel eyes leering up at us. The fur on his face had silver tips and he was larger than an average-sized wolf.
Logan’s arm swept around me and he stepped between us. Finn growled and bared his teeth, eyeing Logan like a meaty prize.
“Let me go,” I insisted, kneeling down and crawling around Logan.
“Silver!”
He reached out to snatch my shirt and Finn’s wolf lunged. I wrapped my arms around his neck and held him back.
“Shhh.” His ears were soft between my fingers and I kissed his snout. “Hey there, pretty boy. I missed you so much.”
I couldn’t begin to explain why I trusted his wolf unconditionally, why I never felt fear in his presence. He snorted and sat down, then began licking the side of my face. We’d bonded on the night Finn’s wolf protected me from a guard in Nero’s compound. We had developed an unbreakable trust from the beginning, and Logan said it perplexed even him. He reasoned that alphas instinctively sought to form a pack and Finn must have subconsciously thought of me as one of his own.
All I knew was that I loved that kid.
Chapter 4
Adam patted out the butt of his cigarette in the dirty ashtray and glanced around the crowded bar. Human establishments were safer bets for business chats and dirty dealings. Adam kept his Mage light concealed, not worrying about the risk of another Mage finding out what he was. He had other things on his mind tonight.
One of which was meeting up with Knox’s ex-partner, the one he’d worked with before leaving the Special Forces.
Adam had spent months searching for the Mage who murdered his twin sister long ago in an alleyway, an event he’d witnessed that had scarred him more than the marks on his face, arms, and chest. One he relived on the night his best friend was murdered in front of his eyes, when once again, he was powerless to help. Maybe he’d never find his sister’s killer, but he felt an obligation to close a case Knox had been working on before he died. Brotherhood meant something to him. Knox would have wanted him to honor a fallen brother—that’s what real men did.
“Here’s your card, Mr. Lucan Riddle,” the bartender said. “You have an open tab, so just shout if you want something.”
“I appreciate it.”
The bartender stole another glimpse of Adam’s scars and walked away, shaking his head. Adam caught his reflection in the mirror behind the liquor bottles. He touched one of the marks that carved down his temple and stopped at his cheek. There was a gap in his eyebrow where the hair had stopped growing in. He kept a scruff on his face, although it grew in patchily because of the scars. They were deep and ran along both sides of his face. One crossed over his left temple and eye while the other sloped down his right jaw. He’d tried a beard for a while, but it made it more obvious he was hiding something, so he decided to hell with it—let ’em look.
Maybe he wouldn’t be the same guy he once was, but it never helped when women constantly rejected him. It had once been easy for him to charm a girl into having a beer and light conversation, but now they grimaced and found someone else to sit next to.
A man has needs. Adam had thought about taking a prostitute up on her offer once but decided that was a road he didn’t want to travel down. He’d rather be alone than have to pay for sex.
The last woman he’d felt in his arms was Cheri, and that stung. She’d deceived him in the worst way a woman could.
The speakers pumped out a ZZ Top song and the men bobbed their heads while checking out the women. None of these humans had game compared to Breed men. After a few hundred years, immortal men had refined those skills based on trial and error. Most just got right to the point.
“You’re Adam Razor?”
Adam nodded.
A young man sat on the stool to his left. He had long skinny legs and the ugliest damn shoes Adam had ever seen. They were bright orange running shoes and he wore them with no socks. His jeans were short enough that his ankles showed when he relaxed his feet on the barstool footrest. He waved at the bartender and ordered a strawberry daiquiri.
“We can do the formalities if you want. I’m Oliver. Everyone calls me Ollie, but that’s a dumbass nickname, so do me a favor and call me Oliver. Now you can tell me why my partner is dead.”
“Ex-partner,” Adam corrected. When Adam left the Special Forces, Knox had paired up with a new guy. You only partnered with people you trusted, and even though Knox couldn’t stand Oliver, he was a genius with modern technology.
“I think you owe me an explanation as to what the good goddamn is so important up here in Cognito that my ex-partner wanted to leave behind a decent job where men respected him.” Oliver glanced up as the bartender set the tall glass in front of him.
Adam leaned on his elbow with his index finger holding up his head, watching Oliver gobble up the strawberry garnish. He sure didn’t look like Special Forces material. Adam wasn’t even sure if he was in his thirties. The frames on his glasses were black, and it looked like he used some kind of gel to spike up his strawberry-blond hair.
Oliver sucked down several sips and began swirling his straw in the drink. “Knox was one badass mother. How did it happen?”
“We got jumped by the wrong kind of men,” Adam said, not elaborating. “Look, I appreciate you coming all this way for a face-to-face. I don’t know you, so this isn’t the kind of conversation I feel right about having over the phone.”
The music continued to blast and Adam leaned in close enough that their words were private. No one in the bar invaded their space, maintaining at least a fifteen-foot radius. The humans were either playing pool or watching hockey on the television screens.
“Yeah, well, least I could do. Knox hated the piss out of me, but he had enough good sense to keep me as his partner. You know how it is—guys like me are given a lot of shit. Not everyone can be the Terminator. Computers are where it’s at, and if more of me aren’t brought in, then the unit will become obsolete. Can’t run into every scenario with your dicks swinging. Someti
mes you need a guy who can crack any security password or come up with an elegant solution to a clusterfuck.”
“Knox said you got a look at the Trinity files.”
The Trinity files were documented proof the Special Forces had an agenda to research and destroy the Breed.
Oliver arched his right eyebrow and glared over his shoulder. “I know you two were tight, but that shit is not something you need to be posting as your status update on your public profile page, if you get my meaning.”
Adam leaned in close. “Have you heard the name Zoë Merrick?”
By the look on Oliver’s face, that was an affirmative.
“I’ve been giving it a lot of thought,” Adam said. “I’d like to know how one of our guys knew about Zoë and what she was. If you’ve seen the files, you know what else is out there,” Adam said, knowing Oliver had access to detailed information about the Breed world.
“She’s just part of a list of names they’ve been tracking down. I don’t know where they came from, but I don’t see anything special about them. Apparently, someone higher up does. Knox actually flew ahead of us to save Zoë when we got the orders to deliver a bullet. He never admitted it, but I knew he wasn’t about to take out a woman.”
Adam still wasn’t clear on something. “Why was her name in the files?”
It didn’t make sense, but Silver had held back on telling him a lot of things lately. He knew something was going on, but she was keeping tight-lipped about it.
Oliver sucked down half his drink and then stuck his finger in his shoe to scratch his foot. “’Cause men in suits and ties always have a list tucked away. They probably bought it… or stole it. Maybe they didn’t know what the hell it was. Around that time, some guy named Samil was a big case. They were tapping his calls and following him, so maybe some of those names came from him. It’s like finding one of those arrowheads in a field. You know what it is, what it’s used for, what it’s made of, but fuck if you know what it’s doing in the middle of the field and who put it there. We can sit on our asses and guess all night, and you can buy me three more of these,” he suggested, dipping the same finger he’d used to scratch his foot into the icy drink.
