Midnight Wolf

by Jennifer Ashley

  Tamsin flopped onto the one bed in the tiny motel room Ben had given Angus the key to. “I could eat something,” she said.

  “Pretty good pizza place right across the street,” Ben offered. “Deep-dish, loaded with meat and cheese.”

  Angus turned from shutting the door, and Tiger took up a watchful stance by the window.

  “Will you two stop talking about food for three seconds?” Angus said impatiently. “It’s like being on one of those road trip shows for a food channel.”

  “I love those,” Tamsin said with enthusiasm, and Ben nodded.

  “I like the diners one,” he said.

  “Can we focus?” Angus frowned at them, and deepened his frown when Ben and Tamsin grinned and high-fived each other.

  He should know by now that Tamsin babbled nonsense to break the tension. But Angus looked like he’d explode if she teased him any further.

  “Focusing now, Captain.” Tamsin saluted him, then made a motion of turning a key in a lock over her mouth and throwing the key away.

  “Thank you,” Angus said in exasperation. “Tiger, I’ve heard of a guy from the Las Vegas Shiftertown. Name of Reid—not a Shifter but what Dylan calls a dark Fae. Apparently, he can do things to iron, like make it melt, change its shape—something like that. I wasn’t clear on the details.”

  “Stuart Reid,” Ben answered before Tiger could. “He’s a dokk alfar. Much, much more personable than the high Fae, trust me. Reid is what’s called an iron master—apparently, he can make iron do his will. The catch is he can only command iron inside Faerie. The talent doesn’t manifest in the human world for some reason—he doesn’t know why. What he can do in the human world is teleport.” Ben took on a hopeful expression. “Maybe he could teleport the weapons, or pieces of the weapons, to places all over the country. Scatter their parts so far and wide that no one would be able to use them.”

  “How long would that take him?”

  “Who knows? He can only teleport to places he’s seen or been to, and I don’t know how much he can do before it spends him. Or whether he can teleport explosives without them going off and killing him, or if he can teleport anything iron or steel at all. If the weapons were inside Faerie, of course, he could reduce them to slag in no time.”

  Angus shook his head. “I’m not taking an arsenal of human weapons into Faerie for Fae shits to get their hands on. If we could even find a way to get it there.”

  “Would it matter?” Tamsin asked. “The weapons are full of iron. The Fae can’t touch them.”

  “But Fae have recruited Shifters,” Angus reminded her. “Stupid Shifters who want to be Battle Beasts again. And I’m willing to bet the Fae have other kinds of lackeys who can touch iron. I understand the dark Fae can use it just fine. How well could we trust them? What’s to say they aren’t murdering assholes as well, but Reid happens to be a nice guy?”

  “Dokk alfar are daisies in the sunshine compared to the hoch alfar.” Ben spat the last words, as though the syllables choked him. “But you have a point—we can’t trust that not one dark Fae would see the benefit of having a pile of automatic weapons land on their doorstep and prevent Reid from destroying them.”

  “We’ll keep Reid on standby,” Angus said. “Thinking about Reid gave me another idea. When I was inside Faerie with Jaycee, we met a Fae who was pretty powerful. Lady Aisling—some kind of superpowered Fae. She did things that scared the shit out of me, but she might be able to destroy these things. She said she came into the human world often and that iron didn’t bother her as much as it bothers the rest of the high Fae. I don’t know if her power would work here, but it might be worth a shot to ask her.” He stopped as he noticed Ben staring at him. The man’s dark eyes were wide, his face ashen. “What’s wrong with you?” Angus growled.

  “The woman you call Lady Aisling is one of the Tuil Erdannan.” Ben spoke the words carefully, as though fearing dire consequences if he mispronounced them. “Ancient beings, amazingly strong ones, who don’t give a shit about the problems of humans, Shifters, high Fae, dark Fae, goblins, or any other living, breathing creature. I’m pretty sure giving her access to a stash of weapons is the worst idea of all.”

  “I met her,” Angus said without worry. “I was in her house. She didn’t strike me as the type to be excited by human tools of destruction. When Jaycee told her that Fae were recruiting Shifters to fight for them again, it annoyed her but didn’t alarm her. She helped us mainly because she liked Jaycee. Maybe if Jaycee asks, she’ll do it for her.”

  “Or crook her little finger and wipe us all off the map,” Ben said, the fear in his voice clear. “You don’t mess with the Tuil Erdannan, Angus.”

  Tamsin sat up. “She sounds intriguing. Can I meet her?”

  “Not joking, Tamsin,” Ben said. “The Tuil Erdannan are seriously badass, and you don’t want to mess with them. Even asking one the time of day can get you killed if he or she is feeling peevish.”

  “Definitely want to meet her then,” Tamsin said. “If she liked Jaycee, maybe we should ask Jaycee’s opinion.”

  “Agreed,” Angus said. “Ben, can you contact Jaycee? I don’t want to risk using my phone.”

  Ben looked from Angus to Tamsin and shook his head, as though washing his hands of this decision. “Sure, I can ask. I’m going to keep warning you that this is the most dangerous route to take, and maybe you’ll listen after a while. Though I won’t be able to say I told you so if I’m right, because we’ll all be a melted pile of goo. What do you think, Tiger? You’re usually a good judge of character . . . Tiger? What’s up?”

  Tiger had gone rigid, his gaze fixed on the parking lot. Without answering Ben, he slipped out the door and vaulted over the balcony, straight down to the lot below.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  Angus was out the door, but before he reached the stairs, Tiger came back up them with a struggling, hissing Feline. The man was in his human form, but his pupils were slitted with rage, his hands sprouting claws.

  Tiger dragged him inside the room, threw the Feline to the floor, and put his foot on him. The Feline squirmed, but it was clear he would not throw off Tiger anytime soon.

  Tamsin had bounced off the bed as soon as Tiger came through the door. “Dion!”

  Angus snarled, but he’d had the feeling that was who Tiger had captured. “The Shifter who killed the two Bureau agents?”

  Dion hissed again, sounding like a leaky tire. Felines. “You should be thanking me,” he snapped, his voice guttural. “They were dirtbags, hunting down Shifters.”

  Tamsin came to stand over him, her face flushed, her hands shaking. “They were people. With families. We’re not murderers. Not only that, but you risked bringing the wrath of Shifter Bureau down on all Shifters. Fortunately, they’re only after one suspect for the killings. Me.”

  “So?” Dion’s claws receded, and his eyes became human. They were green, his hair lanky and brown. “You took off. You were out of it—what the hell are you doing back here? I was riding by and swore I caught your scent.” He took a loud sniff. “It’s distinctive. Who are these assholes?”

  Angus stepped between the Shifter on the floor and Tamsin. “This asshole is her mate.”

  The Feline opened his mouth to snarl, and then worry crept into his eyes and he shut it again. He’d know that under Shifter law Angus could kill him for putting Tamsin under threat. Killing Dion would break human law, of course, but no humans stood in this room.

  Dion switched his gaze to Ben. “What is that? Stinks of Fae.”

  Ben heaved an aggrieved sigh. “I get so tired of this shit.” He tapped his chest. “Not Fae. If you want to know what kind of being I am and what I can do, here you go.”

  He made a tossing motion with his hand. Instantly Dion was pinned to the floor, as though a thousand invisible tethers held him down. He struggled for a moment, eyes wide with fear, and then
he passed out. His head lolled on the floor, though the rest of his body remained rigid.

  Tiger nudged Dion with his foot. “Did you do that?” he asked Ben.

  “Knock him out? No. He fainted. Good, because I was already tired of listening to his voice. What do you want to do with him, Tamsin?”

  Tamsin gazed down at Dion in worry. “I don’t know. We could tie him up and take him to Shifter Bureau, maybe leave a note pinned to him that he killed the Bureau agents, but he might get chatty about us. We could kill him, but then we’d be no better than he is.”

  “We could give him to Dylan,” Tiger suggested. “He knows how to deal with out-of-control Shifters.”

  Tamsin’s face lit, her moroseness vanishing. “Oh, that sounds interesting.”

  “Meanwhile,” Angus broke in, “Ben, can you make sure he stays here and doesn’t make noise? While you contact Jaycee?”

  “Sure thing.”

  “Good,” Tamsin said, straightening up. “Then we can go try that pizza.”

  Angus shook his head. “Not going anywhere if Shifter Bureau is still investigating what this guy did and is looking for you.”

  “We have to eat something. I’m starving, and there’s no room service.”

  “Tamsin . . .”

  She laughed. “Someday, I’m going to teach you to live for the moment. But I see your point. Ben, can you—?”

  “Talk to Jaycee, contain the bad guy, bring home the pizza? Yes. Ben can do it all. Even if he doesn’t get the girl.” He made poor-me eyes at Tamsin.

  Tamsin sent him a smile. “One day, you’ll get the girl too. I’ll put money on it.”

  “Huh. She’ll have to be pretty old. And fearless. Sassy. And cute—I gotta wish for cute.”

  “Sure you do.” Tamsin enclosed him in a brief hug. “I’ll take extra pepperoni.”

  Ben returned the hug enthusiastically but backed off under Angus’s glare and glanced at Dion. “He shouldn’t be able to move under that spell, even when I’m not here. But keep an eye on him, Tiger.”

  Tiger gave him a grave nod. Tamsin turned back to look at Dion and wrinkled her nose. “I’m not sure I want to sleep here with him on the floor.”

  Ben let out another long sigh. “Take my room.” He tossed Tamsin the key. “I don’t mind terrorizing him a little. Tiger can stay and help me. My room’s next door.”

  Tamsin caught the key, took up her backpack, kissed Ben on the cheek, and walked out.

  * * *

  • • •

  Angus had to admit the pizza was good. Tamsin ate it with vast enjoyment, washing it down with an oversized soft drink. Foxes could put the food away as much as goblins could, Angus decided.

  Ben had contacted Jaycee. She couldn’t leave for an unscheduled trip to Shreveport, she said, without Kendrick and other trackers knowing about it. Ben had asked her for strict secrecy—they couldn’t risk Dylan getting wind of where they were. Dimitri would know—he and Jaycee never kept anything from each other—but Jaycee promised to get the talisman Lady Aisling had given her to Ben without anyone finding out. She hadn’t been specific about how.

  Dimitri had asked about his truck. Ben had replied evasively as Angus instructed him, leaving Dimitri growling on the other end.

  “I’ll get it back to him in one piece,” Angus promised. “Not sure what color it will be, but it will be in one piece.”

  That night, Angus lay down with Tamsin on the lumpy mattress and kissed her lips, which were a little sweet from the soda. “Remember what you said about living for the moment?”

  Tamsin stretched against him, pulling him closer. “I remember,” she murmured, her eyes closing as he deepened the kiss.

  Angus slid inside her, every hurt from his past fleeing as he sank into her. He loved everything about this woman—her taste, her scent, the soft noises she made as he pleasured her.

  My mate. My life. I will protect you forever.

  Tamsin smiled up at him, then lost the smile as the two of them dissolved into desire. Angus silenced her cries with kisses, letting out a groan as he released at the same time she did.

  “See?” Tamsin whispered as they drowsed together in the darkness. “Spontaneity isn’t such a bad thing.”

  * * *

  • • •

  Tamsin woke in the gray light of dawn to a heavy knocking on the door. The sound jerked her out of marvelous dreams where she and Angus made hot love on a cushion of air, surrounded by whipped cream, to find herself on a lumpy mattress in a dingy motel room, traffic roaring by on the highway.

  Her fears rushed back at her as Angus got to his feet and cautiously peered out the door’s peephole. He inhaled at the same time, taking in the scent of the intruder before he opened the door a foot, darted out his hand, and hauled a man into the room.

  Tamsin sat up, pulling the covers to her chin. Zander Moncrieff wore the long black coat Tamsin remembered over jeans and a T-shirt, his beaded white-blond braids swinging. He carried paper bags that smelled of bready things, and Tamsin’s stomach growled.

  Zander took in the naked Angus and then Tamsin in the bed. “Oops. Am I interrupting something?”

  “Nice to see you again, Zander,” Tamsin said. “Would you like to sit down? What are you doing here at five thirty in the morning?”

  “Bringing Ben a present from Jaycee.” Zander glanced at Angus again, who stood tall next to him and didn’t move. “Ben told me this was his room number.”

  “We switched,” Angus rumbled. “He must have forgotten.”

  Or not, Tamsin thought. Ben might have thought it funny to send Zander to their mate-frenzied room at dawn. She and Angus had practiced their spontaneity most of the night and hadn’t been quiet about it.

  “Well, anyway.” Zander turned to go, then looked Angus up and down. “You might want to put on clothes before you join us. Don’t scare the natives.”

  He opened and closed the door so quickly, Tamsin barely felt the draft. She heard Zander move to the next door and begin banging on it.

  Tamsin was anxious to learn what Zander had to say, but she took a shower first, a quick one, knowing Angus’s scent would be all over her. She didn’t mind so much, but the teasing would be unbearable. Shifters saw nothing wrong with sex, and lots of it, and could discuss it at length and in detail, but she didn’t want to embarrass Angus.

  Angus had already dressed and gone by the time she emerged. Tamsin threw on clean clothes and went next door, shaking water from her hair.

  Zander had brought breakfast in the bags—pastries, donuts, and bagels. They feasted while Dion remained tethered. Dion was afraid, the scent of his fear cloying, but he’d returned to growling and cursing.

  “Should we feed him?” Angus asked.

  “Nah,” Ben said. “Don’t want him to choke. We’ll fix him up later. Ready to go?”

  “You’re going to leave me here?” Dion asked, incredulous.

  Ben turned to him, and Dion blenched as soon as those very black eyes were on him. “Yep. I’ll deal with you when we get back.”

  Dion snorted a laugh. “When the maids come in, they’ll find me. Or I’ll yell, and someone will rescue me.”

  “Sure you will.” Ben approached him, something in his hand, and Dion sucked in a terrified breath. “But, one, no one will hear. Two, you really want them to call the cops? You’re wanted for murder, my friend. Keep quiet, and we won’t give you to Shifter Bureau. Here’s the remote.” Ben laid it by his side. “Enjoy yourself.”

  Tiger took a mug that rested next to the coffee maker in the corner, filled it with water from the sink, and stuck in an extra bendy straw from last night’s feast. He set the mug where Dion could turn his head to drink and then nodded for Zander to lead the way out.

  Ben closed the door once they were outside then gestured to it and muttered a few words Tamsin didn’t understa
nd.

  “What did you just do?” she whispered to him as they walked to the stairs.

  Ben looked modest. “Nothing too difficult. A glam to keep people from noticing the door or hearing what’s inside. I’ll have to make my own bed when I come back, but oh well.”

  Ben must have cast the don’t-notice-me glam on himself before they drove out, because Tamsin kept losing sight of him on the road, even when she’d been looking right at him the moment before. Tiger rode in the truck with Angus and Tamsin, while Zander brought up the rear on his motorcycle.

  Angus drove sedately as usual, winding down the highway toward the location of the trailer and the stash.

  As they turned down the lane that led to the clearing with the trailer, Tamsin heard Ben shout and gun his bike. Zander, on his motorcycle, swerved around Angus and raced to see what was wrong.

  Angus rattled to a halt near the tree where they’d parked the day before. He and Tiger boiled out of the truck, running down the path after Ben and Zander.

  Tamsin scrambled out and followed. She saw what had alarmed Ben when she reached the grassy field that opened out around the trailer.

  The door Ben had padlocked was wide-open. About half a dozen men—humans—were climbing into and out of the trailer, all of them carrying the weapons from the cache.

  They weren’t Shifter Bureau—they were ordinary guys in jeans and T-shirts. When they saw Ben and the three Shifter males racing toward them, they froze, shouted, and then turned the weapons on them.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  Angus halted at the sight of the guns turned toward them, as did Zander, though Angus reasoned that they likely weren’t loaded. The ammo had been stored separately, and these guys had been carrying the weapons out like they were firewood.