by H. D. Gordon
“I suppose that will keep you in town a bit longer, then?” I said, steering us back into safer conversational waters.
Erek sat forward, green eyes gleaming as a small smile came to his handsome face. “I can’t tell whether you’re happy about that prospect, or disappointed.”
I watched the muscles flex in his tan forearm as he placed his coffee mug atop the desk beside us, and had to resist the urge to let my tongue run out over my lips.
I shrugged again. “Perhaps I’m just indifferent,” I said.
He scooted forward on his chair, leaning toward me, the clean, masculine scent of him filling my nose. His emerald gaze burned, igniting more heat in my midsection.
I cursed my body for being such a traitorous fool.
“Liar,” Erek the Hound whispered, and closed the gap between us to claim my equally traitorous lips.
Hours had passed before I was able to disentangle myself from the male’s beautifully sculpted body, and when I finally escaped the room, I felt as though I’d been in a different world entirely.
Until the breeze off the Zouri kissed my face, and the reality of the actual world hit me.
What the hell had I been thinking? Was I really going to keep pretending that my willingness to “have coffee” with Erek was nothing more than keeping any suspicion at bay and gaining knowledge about where he stood in his investigation? Was I really going to pretend that no part of me just wanted to taste his lips again, hear his deep laugh, feel his touch?
Apparently, the answer to all of these questions was yes.
Because the truth of the matter was that he was a Hound looking for a Wolf I had murdered. Why I’d murdered Ezra made not a lick of difference, nor did the fact that Erek was looking into it as a personal favor, rather than an official investigation. If he found something to prove there had been foul play, I had no doubt that this whole thing would become very official, very quickly.
As I strode along down the Zouri, my body still loose from the hours I’d spent in his room, I reached into my pocket and looked at my timepiece. The day was quickly moving into evening, and with the days growing shorter with the approach of winter, the sky was already darkening despite it being before suppertime.
I needed to put this mess out of my head for the time being, because I had a meeting scheduled with Lukas Borden in half an hour, and the last thing I needed was to go into it thinking about annoyingly nosy and sexy Hounds.
“Dita,” called out a familiar voice as I passed by the docks.
It took me a moment to pinpoint why my stomach twisted when I saw Leon. Then, it struck me. The conversation we’d had at the docks that morning before the incident with Ezra. The fact that he had been the one to tell me that Ezra wanted to see me.
The realization struck me that the Leprechaun knew things he should not know, things that could certainly aid the investigation of a certain Hound I’d recently come into acquaintance with.
I felt the ice forming over my heart as I gave Leon a rather Wolfish smile and joined him at the railing of the dock.
On the ever-moving water beyond, steamboats were coming and going, their puffy clouds disappearing into the darkening gray sky above. Even more foolish, perhaps, than sleeping with the Hound was the fact that I had completely forgotten about Leon.
As I met the Leprechaun’s gaze, I came to terms with the fact that Leon was one hell of a loose end.
And loose ends were what unraveled entire tapestries.
The scent of oil clung to him, as Leon’s job included servicing the engines of the boats that came and went, and his white hands were covered in dirt and grime. He was more than twice my age, and short even for his kind. His large teeth were fronted in gold, and his hair was thin and greasy, but he kept it concealed beneath a green hat as dirty as the rest of him.
When Leon’s green eyes met mine, I knew exactly what he saw in them. When my brother and Jake had called me cold-hearted Dita, it had not been entirely a lie.
Leon leaned toward me, and I did not lean away, because whatever he had to say needed to be whispered. He glanced around before he spoke, and I did the same.
“There’s something you should know,” Leon said, once he was reasonably sure we were alone.
I continued staring out at the Zouri, waiting for him to get to it.
“A Hound named Erek Blackwood came and questioned several dock workers, including me.”
I flicked my eyes toward him now, and he swallowed and dropped my gaze.
“And what did you tell him?” I asked.
“Nothing,” Leon replied. “Some of the other dock workers admitted hearing a loud bang. I heard it, too, but claimed that I didn’t, that I was below deck working on one of the engines at the time, which can be very loud.”
I angled my body toward him now, still pinning him with my intense gaze.
Leon continued quickly, “And I also confirmed no one saw you and me speaking that morning, which is good, because the bang sounded not long after you left here.” His brown eyes darted down to my hips, where my weapons were still concealed, and away again. I watched the apple in his throat rise and fall as he gulped.
“What are you saying, Leon?” I asked, my voice flat and cold.
“Nothing,” he promised. “What I’m saying is absolutely nothing.” The Leprechaun met my eyes now. “And I’m going to keep on saying nothing... You have my word, Dita. Whatever that Hound finds out, it won’t be from me.”
I reached into my pocket and checked my timepiece, not missing the fact that Leon flinched when my hand neared my guns.
“Okay, Leon,” I said at last, earning a sigh of relief from the male.
“We’re good, then, right? Me and you?”
I clapped the little male on the shoulder, the smile Erek had given me when he’d called me a liar flashing through my mind.
“Sure,” I told Leon. “We’re good.”
Chapter 15
I met Lukas in a different spot than last time, but for all it was, it may have been the same den.
Located on The Row, like all the others in Borden, the place was nearly identical to the first tavern we’d met in. It was concealed in an alley and down a handful of stairs. I’d knocked, and a beefy, sneering Wolf I’d never met had brought me into a receiving area and searched me, his hands wandering too curiously. I’d let out a deep, low growl, my irises no doubt glowing gold with that ring of scarlet, as they often did when I was genuinely angry.
This had only made the bastard laugh. He’d taken my guns and the knife I kept tucked in my boot, locking them away in a trunk that sat nearby an inner doorway. Then, at last, he’d led me inside.
The lights were dim, casting the large room in shadows. There was a bar along one wall, and behind it, clean glasses were stacked on shelves. In case of a raid, the bottles of moonshine would not appear until the establishment opened much later in the evening. Tables were arranged throughout, with chairs around them and empty ashtrays atop them, ready for the night’s patrons to wander in off the streets and drink away whatever meager earnings they had.
For now, however, the space was empty, save for one Wolf in very fine clothing sitting at the bar, waiting.
With a steeling breath, I squared my shoulders and approached, sliding onto the stool beside Lukas Borden.
Pretending as though he hadn’t been aware of the exact moment I’d arrived, he turned slowly toward me with a smile, the scar on his jaw line stretching. His manicured hands rested atop the shiny surface of the bar, the golden watch on his wrist gleaming in the low amber lights.
“Miss Silvers,” Lukas said. “It’s good to see you.”
“Is it?” I asked carefully.
Lukas nodded, his dark eyes holding mine with unspoken entitlement. “Yes, it is. Your moonshine has been very well received, and we need more of it.”
“I’m glad to hear—”
“We need triple the amount by the Harvest,” he added, his deep, commanding voice cutting me off.
I took a moment to absorb this, to do the math in my head, and blinked only once as I repeated, “Triple by Harvest?”
Lukas nodded, his dark, slicked back hair catching the bar lights. He angled his large body toward me, the fine fabric of his shirt shifting over his muscles. “That’s right,” he said. “Will that be a problem?”
“The Harvest is in four days,” I replied.
“I’m aware, which is why I’ll pay one and a half. So can you do it or not?”
One and a half. I did that math and had to swallow past the uptick in my heart rate.
“Yes,” I said. “I can do that.”
Lukas Borden swiveled on his stool now, actually facing me for the first time since I’d arrived, giving me a full view of the scar on his face. His depthless dark eyes were difficult to hold; perhaps the first male I’d met whose gaze was as challenging as my father’s.
This quality, along with his average good looks and penchant for brutality, made it no wonder that he had climbed to the top of his family’s empire despite being only one of six brothers. The Borden’s network of power was large and far-reaching. They were the reason the speakeasies only got raided when the owners knew they would be raided. They owned the Hounds, the judges, and politicians. Their wealth went beyond what even I could imagine, and with that wealth, the ability to shape the world as they chose.
And, of course, there was Lucian. Though I had yet to lay eyes on the legendary Borden brother in my dealings with Lukas, I knew the stories well enough.
Lucian was the oldest of the Borden boys, and his reputation was even more fearsome than Lukas’s. They called him the Mad Wolf, because Lucian apparently never shifted out of his Wolf form. He did this by choice, and every Wolf knew the consequences of this choice. Staying permanently in our Wolf forms made us go mad. Eventually, our inner beasts took over, and all that was left was the predator.
So it should come as no surprise that I found myself clenching my fists in my pockets to keep my hands from trembling when the male Wolf I was currently sitting beside turned toward me.
“Are you sure, Miss Silvers?” Lukas Borden asked. “Because the Harvest is a very important celebration, and we don’t want to disappoint our customers.”
I made sure to keep my voice smooth and steady, along with my own gaze. Thanks to my years of practice, my words came out impressively flat. “It won’t be a problem, Mr. Borden,” I said.
“Good,” he replied, and swiveled back around to the bar, dismissing me without so much as a wave of the hand.
I slid off my own stool and kept my steps light as I exited the dark tavern, claiming my weapons at the door and ignoring the jeers from the handsy Wolf who’d first taken them from me.
But as I strolled out onto the street, the familiar smells and sounds of the Zouri filling my nose and ears, I couldn’t seem to loosen the tension that had strung through my shoulders.
And even the usually comforting weight of the revolvers hanging around my waist couldn’t shake the feeling away.
I’d arranged for Demarco to pick up the girls from school to ensure that I wouldn’t be late to my meeting with Lukas.
I’d planned to be home in time to have dinner with them as usual, so that I could hear about their days and ask the twins and Delia what they’d learned at their lessons. It was a simple thing, really, but a small sliver of my day that I actually looked forward to, felt it was important for a sense of togetherness and family.
But with the order I’d just agreed to fill, I knew there would be no time for family dinners until after the Winter Harvest celebration. In fact, the more I thought about it, the more I wasn’t sure if we could get it filled even if we started working now and didn’t stop for four days straight until the deadline.
It took me an hour to gather the ladies, and another hour or so to get us all back to the cavern in the Murdock Mountains.
We had been scheduled to meet later this evening, so that they could each choose whether or not they would stay on with me, or take my offer of matching their previous earnings and hopping on a boat or train out of town.
For obvious reasons, I called the meeting earlier, and at last, we were all inside the secret cavern, the equipment for making moonshine lining the cave walls around us. Kyra, Cora, Cecelia, Emilia, Zara and Nyla… All of them were watching me, waiting for me to speak to why I’d called this earlier meeting.
“Lukas Borden has asked for triple the previous order by the Harvest,” I said.
There was a moment of stunned silence. Then, Kyra said, “That’s in four days.”
I nodded, meeting the Sorceress’s violet gaze. “I know.”
Cora sucked in air through her teeth, her fangs flashing as she did so. “Is that even possible?” she asked.
I looked at the large vats sitting along the cave walls. “I think so. But there’s no time to be wasted.”
“No shit,” Nyla said, running a hand over her wildly curly hair and glancing at Zara, who remained as silent as always.
“What about your offer of escape?” Emilia asked, her slanted Fae eyes studying me. “Is that still on the table?”
“Yes,” I said. “You are not my prisoners. The offer still stands… but I’ve extended the deadline to make a choice about staying or going.”
I paused while the ladies exchanged glances.
“Since we are on a very tight deadline,” I continued, “if you want to stay for this one last batch, and then leave, you can.” I debated saying the next part, but didn’t see a way around it. I needed them to stay, and some of them needed incentive.
“Mr. Borden has offered to pay one and a half if we fill his order in time,” I said. “That means you’ll also get paid one and a half of triple what you received last time.”
Kyra whistled lowly through her teeth and grinned widely. “That’s what the hell I’m talking about,” she said.
I offered her a tight smile in return and looked back at the others. Kyra was not one of the ones who’d even consider leaving. She was more a partner to me in this thing than anyone else. The others, however…
Nyla was also smiling, her head tilting in a Wolf-like manner. “You know I’m in, boss,” she said.
Cora and Cecelia, the two Vampires among us, exchanged glances and then nodded at each other before looking at me. “We’re in,” they said.
That left Zara, the other Wolf, and Emilia, the Fae. From the looks on their faces, I could tell that these were the only two of the group who had been seriously considering leaving, or perhaps had even decided to leave. The amount of money that had just been offered was making them pause, as I’d known it would, but I found myself not fully drawing air until they answered.
“Okay,” said Emilia. “I’ll stay on to fill this order, and then I let you know what I intend to do after.”
I nodded, then looked at Zara.
She was the youngest among us, a Wolf who’d likely been on her own for as long as she could remember. After a moment, she nodded as well.
“Same goes for me,” she said. “I’ll help you fill this batch, then decide.”
I rubbed my hands together, finally drawing that full breath. Some of the tension left my shoulders, and I offered a rare smile to my makeshift team of bootleggers.
“All right, then, ladies,” I said. “Let’s get started.”
They wasted no time going to their stations, preparing the various materials, and while they did, Kyra came over to me. “A word?” she said.
The ladies kept at their work as Kyra and I exited through the tight tunnel of the cave and stepped out under the moonlight.
Once we were alone, she said, “Even if we work non-stop, I’m not sure we can fill this order. There aren’t enough of us.”
I nodded. “I know. I’m bringing in a few more workers.”
“Who?”
“My brothers and a couple boys from The Mound.”
Kyra studied me, her beautiful face wary. “You sure that’s a good idea?”
I snorted. “No, but I’m also not sure we have another choice. We need more people. You said it yourself.”
Kyra fell silent a moment, staring up at the endless stars above, at the peaks of the mountains that stretched up as if to grab them. She reached into her pocket and removed a joint of Wolfsbane, raising her brows at me. When I shook my head, she placed the smoke between her lips and snapped her fingers, a purple flame appearing at the tips of them. She lit the joint and inhaled deeply, holding it in and then exhaling before breaking the silence.
“You know, males like Lukas, they tend to get more entitled over time, more greedy,” Kyra said. She looked over at me from the corner of her violet eyes. “Have you considered the possibility that he might keep pushing? Giving impossibly large orders with impossibly small timeframes?”
I slid my hands into my pockets, taking comfort in the feel of the irons beneath them. “I’ve considered every possibility, Kyra,” I said.
Kyra took another long drag of her smoke and blew it out. We watched in silence as it disappeared into the dark night sky.
“That’s damn good to hear, boss,” the Sorceress said, “because that is exactly what we are all counting on.”
Chapter 16
The next few days were filled with nothing but work.
I was in no way above the physical labor, and worked alongside the girls as we moved with haste to meet the quota Lukas Borden had set.
My brothers, Devon and Demarco joined the efforts, one of us going home to take care of the girls and rest while the other two toiled on. For four full days and three full nights, we rotated these duties, and by the end of the third long day, even Demarco’s enthusiasm at the revelation of the whole moonshine operation had faded.
We needed everyone we could get, however, and that meant I’d also brought in Jake and Rocco—two young male Wolves from The Mound that my siblings and I had been running with for as long as I could remember. Despite the fact that our sexual encounters and my subsequent dismissal of him made things a little weird between Jake and I, there was really no one else I trusted enough to let in.
