by Jess Haines
If Royce was the one behind Chaz’s injuries, he was going to pay for it. Big time.
Chapter 18
The reporters surprised the hell out of me once we got outside. I’d done my best to put them out of my mind. I would’ve thought they’d have left by now. Instead, a bunch of them surrounded us, keeping a respectful distance, asking their questions from a few yards off. The few other mingling onlookers hightailed it, disappearing back into their homes at the sight of Chaz.
“Ms. Waynest! Ms. Waynest, who is this?”
“How’d the Were get hurt? Does it have anything to do with the police here earlier?”
“What’s your connection? Are you a member of his pack?”
I hunched my shoulders and ducked my head, hurrying to Devon’s car idling at the curb. The reporters followed, a worrying flock of sound in the background. Chaz snapped at a photographer sidling in to take a close-up, making the poor guy shriek and stumble back. And no, of course, he didn’t bite the cameraman. As I mentioned to the cops earlier, he was furry, not stupid. His actions were calculated. The bared teeth and silent, vicious snarl were a sufficient deterrent to keep everyone else out of our path. It didn’t stop the hurled questions, but the rest of the reporters took the hint and gave us more breathing room.
Devon, waiting in the driver’s seat, watched us with interest. I slung my duffel into the front seat, then rushed to open up the back of the jeep. Even with the back seats down, it was a tight fit for a Were. Judging from the pained noises Chaz made as he climbed inside, it wasn’t particularly comfy either. Devon twisted around at the sound of ripping fabric.
“For God’s sake, can you not destroy my car while you’re in here? I’m trying to do you a favor.”
Chaz huffed and loosened his grip. I shook my head and shoved his tail in so I could close the door. Some of the reporters dashed to their cars and news vans parked on the street, obviously intending to follow us. A few hung around taking pictures. It was all I could do not to flip them off. As the stragglers sprinted to their cars, I made do with slumping in the seat, staring at the horizon turning the deep orange hue of sunset. There was very little daylight left.
Devon turned to me questioningly, hooking a thumb at the back seat. “Where do you want me to take him?”
“I don’t know,” I mumbled, giving in to suddenly overwhelming fatigue. The stress combined with lack of sleep was catching up with me. “Wherever.”
I could feel his eyes on me, the unspoken concern radiating from him making me uncomfortable, but I was too tired and worn out to think of a better answer. He put the car in gear and started driving.
An irritating buzzing sound was coming from the bag at my feet. I cracked open my eyes and leaned down to open up the duffel. Someone was calling Chaz’s phone from a restricted number. Since he wasn’t in any condition to take the call, I answered it for him.
“Hello, this is Chaz’s phone.”
There was talking in the background, like a restaurant, punctuated by a whisper of breathing lingering on the line. A click, and the call was lost. Weird. Shrugging it off, I twisted in the seat to look at Chaz. “Do you mind if I use it?”
He gave a noncommittal sound which I took for affirmative. I scrolled through the contacts until I found Sara.
“Chaz?”
“No, it’s me,” I said. “Hey, do you have a safe place we can drop him off while he’s furry?”
“He’s furry? Hell if I know.” She went quiet, considering, then apparently registered what I said. “Wait a sec. ‘We'? Who’s ‘we'?”
“A new friend.”
“Great. A vamp? Or a Were?”
“Neither.”
“A mage?”
“Nope.”
“Will you stop fooling around?” she complained, impatience lacing her voice. I couldn’t help but grin. “Who the heck is helping you with Chaz when he’s shifted?”
“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you. You’ll meet him soon; just tell me where we can go that isn’t your place, my place, or the office.”
“Janine would have a heart attack if she saw him. Your parents’ place is out of the picture. Which reminds me, I think your mom called me looking for you. I missed it while I was driving. Let me ask Arnold if we can hide out at his place. I doubt anyone will come looking for us there.”
That sounded like the best idea I’d heard all day. No doubt, both the vampires would have people searching for me. Royce might make a go for Sara since he knew she was my business partner and closest friend. One of us always knew where the other was. “Go for it, let me know what he says. Call me back on Chaz’s cell.”
“Got it. I’ll call back in five.”
“Oh, hey, before you go, can you also ask him if I can crash if I need to?”
“Sure.”
I stuck the phone in the coffee holder and dug around in my pockets, looking for the Post-it with Royce’s number. I didn’t want to talk to him, but I also did not want to start the business week tomorrow with worries of a crazy vampire sending his daytime agents to my office to kill or kidnap me. The last thing I wanted was to have our office building go up in magefire. Sara would kill me herself.
Hiding out tonight sounded great in theory, but I knew if I ignored the problem and tried to avoid Max, he’d figure out some way to find me again. Quite possibly in person, seeing how his lackeys did such a shitty job of convincing me to play nice. Plus, Royce might decide he liked the idea of using his not inconsiderable resources or powers of persuasion to force me into playing his way instead of leaving me to choose my own path.
I dug the piece of paper out and dialed Royce’s office. The cheerful receptionist greeted me.
“Hi, this is Shiarra Waynest again. Is Mr. Royce available, or is he still in that meeting?”
“I’ll check,” she said, far too chipper for my taste. “Hold on just a sec for me.”
Once again, “just a sec” translated into “for-freaking-ever.” My wait was rewarded with that familiar, smooth voice, though I had to fight not to cringe when he spoke. Far too tantalizing to the senses, unspoken promises behind the words making me squirm uncomfortably in my seat.
“Shiarra, I’m glad you called. There are things we must discuss, preferably not over the phone.”
What was so bloody important that he always needed to see me in person instead of telling me over the phone?
“I didn’t call to set up a meeting. I called to find out if Max is still alive.”
“Yes. That’s part of what we need to talk about.”
“I’ll say,” I muttered, forcing myself to put my free hand back down in my lap once I realized I was unconsciously rubbing the bite marks on my throat. “Can’t the meeting wait? I called to find out if you know where Max might be lying low. I need to find the bastard.”
A long, incredulous pause stretched over the line. Glad I’ve got it in me to shock a vamp who’s been around since before Christ was born. “I wouldn’t advise that,” he said after a long pause, his words spoken very carefully. “I am worried someone may be following you–an agent of his. Before you bring them back to your friends, it may be best if you come to one of my offices. I can provide a measure of protection.”
“A lot of people are following me just now. There are reporters from every newspaper, magazine, and TV station from here to Jersey on my ass.”
He went quiet again. Gee, I was rendering people speechless a lot these days. Rapid tapping on a keyboard was followed by amused laughter. “I see. All the better. Come to The Underground. Security will keep the press at bay, and we can speak in my office.”
“No freaking way.”
“Oh, come now,” he said, lightly cajoling. “You know you could not ask for better protection than for the leading vampire of New York to take you under his wing.”
“Who will protect me from you?” I shot back before I could rethink the words coming out of my mouth.
“I suppose my actions have been more forthright th
an usual.”
“Forthright is not exactly the term I would have used. I’d say you were being a pushy bastard who needs to stay the fuck away from me and all of my friends. Why’d you sic the cops on Chaz?”
“You have good reason to be wary of me, but I don’t know what you’re referring to about your boyfriend. What happened?”
I was not appeased by how easily he agreed with me or the apparent puzzlement and dumb act he was playing. “Fine, you want to play that game? I won’t meet with you until I know it’s safe. Oh, wait, that’s never.”
“You do make things difficult.” I bristled at his laughter, knowing he found me trying to keep my ass out of the fire amusing. “All right, how about this. Why don’t you choose the place we meet? Would that make you feel safer?”
“Barely.”
“Where?”
I hesitated. “I don’t know yet. Let me call you back.”
“I’ll be away from my office for a bit. You can ask for John if I’m not back by the time you call. Or you can use my cell phone.”
I bit back on the temptation to ask him where he was going to be and just wrote down the number to the cell as he recited it. Would he be plotting more ways to get Chaz out of the picture? Meeting with his friends at the police station?
Feeding on someone?
“Are you still there?”
“Yeah,” I answered shakily, not sure why. “Fine. I’ll ask for you first, but if you’re not there, I’ll call John. Do you have the number I’m calling from on your caller ID?”
“Yes.”
“That’s Chaz’s cell phone. I’ll have it with me for now. You can call me if something comes up.”
“Good. Don’t wait too long to call, there is a lot to discuss and more that we will need to do tonight.”
“What? Okay, whatever. I’ll talk to you in a bit.”
I stared at the phone after I hung up. Devon was studiously avoiding looking at me. “What happened to going back to Jack’s?” he asked.
For no reason I could readily put my finger on, I was annoyed. Guess it was better than being scared of a voice on the phone. “We’re still going back to Jack’s. We’re just going to have to take two side trips, is all.”
“Two? Look, I don’t–”
He was interrupted by an unladylike yelp startled out of me when the phone started vibrating. Even Chaz made an amused sound. I glared at them before picking up the call from Sara.
“Arnold’s okay with Chaz coming over. He said to warn him ahead of time as he needs to wait in the hall until Arnold can escort him past the shields.”
“Great, we’ll be there in a bit.”
After I hung up, we continued on in silence. I didn’t want to talk, Chaz couldn’t, and Devon was focused on driving. Every now and again I gave some directions, but that was all. Devon didn’t find his voice again until we’d made our way to Greenwich Village.
“Can I ask you something?”
“Sure.”
“Why aren’t you afraid of Royce? Why do you work with him?”
That brought my gaze to focus solidly on him instead of the passing streets. He was concentrating intently on the road, not sneaking glances at me like before. It took a minute to think up an answer he would accept. Or one I would accept, for that matter. “If you think I’m not scared of him, you haven’t been paying attention. He terrifies me. I work with him because I don’t have a choice. Or rather, the choice of working with him is better than the alternative.”
“Better than working with the White Hats?”
I was surprised at how bitter he sounded. “I’m working with him and the White Hats. Why, what’s wrong with that?”
“Aside from the fact that he’s our number one target, nothing, I suppose.”
Ah. “Look, I’m not going to betray you guys to him. I’m unofficially one of you right now. Jack’s the one who wanted me on the team, so all of them, including you, are going to have to accept that I deal with the Others. I mean, come on. I’m dating a Were. There’s no way Jack didn’t know that before he started trying to recruit me. It’s not like it’s a big secret or something. And dealing with Royce? He’s known about that, too. I also have mage friends at The Circle–so just relax and try not to get too worked up about it.”
He lapsed back into silence, not answering me. I didn’t feel the need to continue explaining myself to him either. Aside from directions, I kept my mouth shut.
After a bit, he spoke up again. “I still see a bunch of reporters behind us. Are you sure you want to lead them to wherever we’re going?”
Grumbling irritably under my breath, I glanced in the side mirror and cursed when I saw all the news vans behind us. I’d for the most part successfully forgotten about them, having hoped they’d lose interest and leave us alone. We couldn’t lead them back to Arnold’s or Jack’s. Where could we go?
I gritted my teeth and looked down at the phone in my hand, once more finding myself considering turning to Royce for help. God, I hated how much it felt like he was herding me. Once again, manipulating me indirectly into doing exactly what he wanted. He was right in that he could keep the press away if we went to one of the clubs. Arnold and Jack couldn’t promise the same and didn’t need trouble like this showing up on their doorstep. If my location continued to be broadcast on the news, Max would find me in no time.
On the other hand, Royce could be planning something bad to do to me and quite possibly had a hand in the damage done to Chaz. If we showed up at The Underground, I couldn’t leave Chaz behind and wouldn’t be able to return to the White Hats. Chaz was in no shape to protect himself. Royce’s reaction to Devon wasn’t going to be friendly either. The vampire would never be so crass as to make an attempt on their lives where I would see it, but that didn’t mean we’d be totally safe with him. I’d have to stay until Chaz was well enough to leave. God only knew how long that would take. Hilarious as the thought might be, if we went to The Underground, I’d have to be Chaz’s bodyguard against Royce.
Resigned, I turned to Devon. “I know this isn’t the greatest idea, but Royce offered to meet me at one of his clubs. Maybe we can do that and wait there until Chaz recovers enough to shift back. The reporters should be gone by then.”
Chaz growled, low and threatening. He didn’t like the idea. Devon looked as happy about it as I felt. “No way. We just saved you from a vamp last night, I can’t just hand you back to them. Jack would kill me. Besides, didn’t you say it was one of his people who tipped off the cops?”
I slumped lower in the seat, staring straight ahead. “Don’t put words in my mouth. I just said I’d meet with him, which is something I have to do regardless.”
“Why?” Devon demanded, sounding angrier than Chaz.
Their anger was spurring my own. “Because he’s the only one who knows how to find Max Carlyle. I’m not going to sit around and wait for Max or one of his flunkies to come after me again. I’m going to find the bastard and stop him before he hurts me or someone else. I don’t want him to show up at my office, or go after Sara or my parents or brothers next. Trust me, I like the idea of meeting with Royce again about as much as you do. However, if you’ve got another idea on how to lose those reporters on our tail and find Max before the end of the night, I’m more than willing to hear it.”
Their silence was telling.
Chaz gave a low whine, and I twisted in the seat to look at him, reaching out to rub the side of his jaw. Inhuman as that gaze was, concern was clearly reflected in the icy depths of his eyes.
“I wish I had a better plan,” I said. “For right now, it’s the only chance I’ve got.”
Chapter 19
I felt stupid calling Royce back so soon, but didn’t have much choice. I used his cell this time so I wouldn’t have to listen to that gratingly cheerful receptionist or sit on hold for another half hour.
“We’ll meet you at The Underground. I’ve got Chaz with me.”
“Chaz?”
“Yeah, m
y boyfriend. Turns furry at the full moon? The guy you warned the cops about so they’d keep silver bullets on hand when he showed up to look for me?”
“I had nothing to do with whatever happened to him.” I flinched at the harsh, calculated antagonism in his voice, knowing it was directed at me. Even over the phone, his anger was terrifying. “I would not abuse my ties to the police on something so trivial as to remove such a minor rival. I’d appreciate it if you’d at least make an attempt at being grateful for the help I am extending you rather than constantly treating me as an enemy or some terrible thing simply to be endured.”
For a long time, I couldn’t find my voice. He was completely right. I’d taken every offer he’d ever given me and thrown them back in his face, then grudgingly come back to him for help when I saw no other alternatives. He was nothing but a last resort to me. As much as I hated it and as little as I wanted to admit to it, I treated him like shit and felt guilty about it now that he’d pointed it out. Scary though he was, if it was true that he hadn’t had anything to do with the police being involved in Chaz’s injuries, he definitely didn’t deserve to be treated that way.
Devon’s sneaking glances and Chaz’s gaze locked on me just made me feel worse. I closed my eyes and tried to pretend they weren’t there so I could think of something to say that would salvage the situation.
“You’re right,” I said. “I’ve been callous and unthinking.”
He didn’t reply. I wondered what he thought about my confession. Hard to know or guess without the normal sounds of breathing to gauge, no expression to see, no words or tone of voice to go by. I plunged ahead.
“You have been trying to help me, and I brushed you off. I am sorry for that. However, try to see things from my perspective. I didn’t ask to be hunted down by Max or to be bonded or turned by you. I’ve had more people trying to hurt, bind, or turn me the last couple days than I’ve had in my entire life. Your offer the other night didn’t help my peace of mind any, it just made it worse. Someone’s dragging my friends into this because Chaz is badly hurt, and it’s somehow connected to whatever it is we have going on with Max. If I’m acting a little bitchy, it’s mostly because I’ve been scared out of my mind and didn’t know what else to do.”
