by A. C. Arthur
X put her down. Reluctantly. He stood back as she pulled on the hem of her shirt. She rubbed her palms over her face, down her head along the ponytail she wore.
“I’ll go back but I’m not staying at Havenway anymore. I’m not staying in DC,” she told him.
Inside, X’s cat roared, pushing at every inch of him to growl loudly and stake his claim. But X ignored it. Sort of.
“Get your stuff and meet me downstairs in an hour.”
“Fine” was her tight reply.
“Fine” was his in return.
X left the room. He had no other choice. It was either leave or throw her over his shoulder and carry her straight to the bedroom. Words would not get through Caprise’s thick skull, but X was sure he could reach her on a more physical level. And then what? That was the million-dollar question.
Why was it so important Caprise stay at Havenway, and why did he give a flying fuck about how sad she looked when she said she didn’t have a home? It didn’t matter. None of it did. He was just fine before she’d returned. Just fucking fine!
Now? Now he was pacing up and down the hallway in the resort like an expectant father. His fists were clenching and unclenching at his sides while his teeth gritted so hard he figured they’d all fall out the minute he opened his mouth. But if he opened his mouth, the first thing coming out would be a roar that would likely tear this whole place down. Bas would not be happy about that.
Once more X found himself with a shitload of questions and not enough answers to buy himself a get-out-of-jail-free card. The one answer he did have without a shadow of a doubt was that Caprise Delgado was never leaving him again.
* * *
Blood pooled in a pothole that DC’s Department of Public Works would most likely say didn’t exist in the alley right behind Athena’s. The MPD had been called when a dozen larger-than-normal, bouncer-like guys—their words, not Dorian’s—had showed up.
“What else did the witness see?” Dorian asked Detective Eric McCoy, his brother-in-law.
“Between twelve and fifteen big dudes surrounding an SUV. Maybe a jeep, he couldn’t really tell since it was still dark and the SUV was black.”
“Were they all males?”
Eric nodded. “All males.”
“All black?” Dorian asked as he walked around the spot of blood. He’d been looking down on the ground, then looked up to Eric.
Eric shook his head. “No. It was a mixture, some black, some white. Then he said one or two looked Hispanic.”
“So he was close enough to see they were Hispanic but not close enough to make the vehicle?”
“Come on, Dorian. He’s an addict. He was probably high.”
“But you believed his word enough to call me to have a look?”
“I believed his word because he’s a good informant. You’ve been looking into those weird killings. I thought this was connected,” Eric told him seriously. He’d been on the force for more than fifteen years and married to Dorian’s older sister Miranda for half that time. As far as family went, Eric was a part of Dorian’s and he was to be trusted.
Dorian saw a plastic bag near the wall. He’d guessed at the size of the vehicle and tried to configure where it would have been parked. Right up against this brick wall would have been the passenger-side door. If somebody fell out of the truck, shot maybe, or stabbed and cut like the other victims, they could have fallen right where that pothole was and bled out. Kneeling, he picked up the plastic bag and turned it over between his fingers. There was a symbol printed on one side, like a shield, and below it was the word SAVIOR. Back at his office, in the accordion folder where he’d been storing all his information about these killings, was another bag just like this one. It had been found with the body of Diamond Turner.
“So where’s the truck and where’s the body?”
“That’s why I really called you. MPD’s not even looking into this. Said without a vehicle or a body we don’t have a case.”
“Which is true,” Dorian said.
“Somebody lost a hell of a lot of blood out here. It’s at least worth finding out who,” Eric implored.
“The blood’s on the ground, man. We can take a sample and have it tested, but I’m sure it’s been compromised. Besides, if it’s not from a criminal whose DNA is already on file, we’re never going to find out who it belongs to.”
“Right. So we let it go?” Eric asked, nodding.
“No,” Dorian said, clenching the plastic bag in his palm. “We’re not letting it go.”
* * *
“They got a report about a truck and some strange-looking guys standing around it. A unit was sent to investigate, came back with nothing,” Kalina told Rome and Nick first thing the next morning.
“Are they asking around?” Nick asked, taking a sip from the mug in front of him.
It would be tea and not coffee; Kalina knew that after living here with Nick for weeks and having breakfast in the dining hall most mornings with him and Ary. As volatile as Nick’s personality was, she’d half expected him to drink cold hard liquor every morning when he awoke. But that just went to show how you never really knew a person until you lived with them.
“No. The caller was an addict, so they’re not putting too much credence in what he had to say. He did mention that the men didn’t look human.”
“Shit.” Nick cursed quietly, putting his mug down and scrubbing his hands over his face.
“But they’re not looking into it so it’s fine,” Rome commented.
“How’d the team do last night?” she asked.
“Sabar’s not showing his ugly face. His second, Darel, is there every night. He’s got two big-ass cats that walk every step with him. And there’s a new guy,” Nick said.
“What new guy?” Rome asked.
Nick sat back in his chair, pinched the bridge of his nose. “Jax went in last night, since you were here with Rome,” he said to Kalina, then looked at Rome. “He reported this new guy who wasn’t mentioned in any of the previous reports on who’s been seen at the club. He’s tall, looks foreign, blue eyes.”
“Foreign like a Lormenia or a Croesteriia?” Rome asked.
“Either or,” Nick said with a shrug.
“A tiger or a cheetah,” Kalina said incredulously. She’d learned of the different types of shifters and their origins when she’d been joined in the Gungi. “Here in DC?”
“It looks like it. Problem is, we don’t usually run in mixed groups,” Rome said seriously.
“Remember that first Rogue we caught and killed? The one that had been after Kalina, he was Croesteriia. And he’d been with Sabar’s clan,” Nick reminded him.
Rome nodded. “But none of them had bothered to come for him when we caught him. That shows no real loyalty to him. Probably because he wasn’t Topètenia.”
Nick was shaking his head. “Rome, these cats have no loyalty to anyone but themselves. Right now they’re all doing Sabar’s bidding, but that’s most likely because they have something to gain by it.”
“He’s right. They don’t seem like the let’s-stay-together types,” Kalina added. “And without the shaman to perform that ceremony again creating his band of totally crazy Rogues, Sabar’s depending on them continuing to follow him blind.”
Rome sat back in his chair, taking in everything that was being said. “What if this new guy’s not playing by Sabar’s rules? What if he’s got his own agenda?”
“Then we’re all fucked,” X said, making his entrance into the conversation by pulling out a chair and dropping his large body into it.
He looked tired, was the first thing Kalina noticed. Like he hadn’t been getting a lot of sleep. Which could mean one of two things: He and Caprise were really enjoying each other sexually, or X was spending every waking moment trying to figure out how he really felt about Caprise. Either one, Kalina thought, was very interesting. In fact, she thought it was so interesting that she was going to go find Ary in the medical center because it was time the th
ree female Topètenia had a heart-to-heart chat.
She rose from her seat then and kissed her husband longingly on the lips. “I have something to take care of,” she told him, keeping her eyes leveled with his. Rome most likely didn’t know exactly what she was intending to do, but he knew enough to trust her instincts.
When he nodded she moved around him, touching a hand on Nick’s shoulder as she passed him to get to X. With him, you never really could tell. He was like the big bear of the threesome, always brooding, usually quiet, like something was crawling around inside him, something that ran alongside his cat but that X definitely did not agree with. She’d never spoken her assumptions about this shifter, never wanted to invade the camaraderie the three of them obviously shared. Now, she figured, was time she made herself and her position known to Xavier Santos-Markland.
With a hand on his right shoulder, she leaned forward and kissed his cheek. “Glad to have you back,” she said, giving him a warm smile.
His body tensed beneath her touch, his dark eyes finding hers and holding even though he wasn’t totally sure how to react to what she’d just done. Kalina chuckled because he looked like a lost boy. One she prayed Caprise was sent back to rescue.
“Eat some breakfast before you get to work,” she said, then left them alone at the table.
* * *
“You picked a good mate,” X said to Rome about ten seconds after he’d watched the leader’s wife walk away.
“I think so,” Rome replied.
He looked a little perplexed at X’s random statement—which, if he admitted it, X was, too. Shaking his head to get his thoughts together, he went back to the matter at hand.
“I think the new guy’s here for Caprise,” he said solemnly. “If that’s the case, he’s mine and mine alone. Is that understood?”
X looked down the table at his two closest friends and waited for their reply. In his inbox this morning he’d received information on the number he’d traced. Not only did it go back to Athena’s but it was officially linked to a corporate account that traced back to Slakeman Enterprises. He planned to give them all this information, after they understood his position.
“That depends,” Rome said slowly. He was watching X carefully, trying to figure out what was going on in his head.
X wished him lots of luck in that area.
“What is it you’re not telling us? How do you know about this outsider?” Rome asked.
Nick was remarkably quiet but X knew that wouldn’t last long.
“Caprise has been getting some hang-ups on her cell,” he started, making sure he remained as obscure as he possibly could without lying to them. “I traced the number and it went back to Athena’s.”
Nick looked like he was about to break his silence, but X held up a hand to stop him. If he was going to go off, he’d rather he get all the information and do it all at once.
“Athena’s Entertainment, LLC, which falls under the umbrella of Robert Slakeman Incorporated and Slakeman Enterprises,” X finished.
“Shit,” Rome grumbled, leaning forward and putting his elbows on the table.
“Wait a minute, you’re telling me that Slakeman, one of the largest weapons providers for the US government and who knows how many others, has subsidiary companies that filter down to a strip joint in DC?” Nick asked.
“Sounds straight out of a tabloid, I know. I was thinking the same thing when I read the report,” X said. “But then I thought about it. Remember that rumor about Slakeman selling those banned guns?”
“Yeah, Senator-elect Ralph Kensington supposedly found him a buyer. But where’s the connection?” Rome asked.
“We know Sabar’s running his drug through Athena’s, which tells me that he’s probably running the whole damn club. And if that’s true, then he knows Slakeman,” X said.
Nick was nodding. “And if he knows Slakeman, odds are he’s the buyer. Fucking bastard! Now he’s arming his bunch of delinquent cats.”
Rome did not look happy about this, but he didn’t look like he was in disbelief, either. X knew that Rome trusted his gut when it came to these matters. He also knew that the FL would want to take the time to think things through, to make sure whatever solution he came up with was the best one for the shadows first and foremost, then for the humans who had unknowingly gotten themselves involved in this war.
“Tell me what you know about the stranger,” Rome requested quietly while Nick frowned beside him.
“I think he’s been stalking Caprise. And that’s why—” X raised his hand when Nick looked like he was about to say something else. “—that’s why I said he’s mine. I answered the phone once when the gutless bastard called. I made him a promise that I have no intention of reneging on.”
“So she’s being stalked? Is that what all her secrecy has been about? Is that why she came back?” Nick asked.
X shook his head. “I don’t know any of that.”
“You don’t know or you’re not telling us?” Nick asked.
X took immediate offense, but refrained from jumping up to punch Nick in the mouth. He understood where he was coming from, but Nick needed to understand that X had this situation under control. “You think I would sit here and withhold information from you guys? Look, Nick, I know she’s your sister. I get how you feel about her. And despite what you might think you know about me, I’m not out to hurt her. In fact, I’m just trying to protect her.”
“What or who do you think she needs protection from?” Rome asked before Nick could speak again.
“My guess, from the look on her face every time the bastard calls, is a man from her past. Someone she was involved with maybe. The calls are definitely freaking her out, but she won’t tell me who he is.”
Rome nodded. “So you took it upon yourself to find out?”
“Fucking right” was X’s immediate reply.
“Which tells me that not only do you want to protect her, but that you care about her.”
Rome was slick, X thought. And he was a lawyer so X should have known to be careful with this little question-and-answer session they were having. Rome made that a statement and not a question so X couldn’t deny it. But it didn’t matter. X was used to doing what he wanted when he wanted; he wasn’t about to stop now.
“Don’t go dressing this up like some sort of mate connection. I care about her because she’s Nick’s sister. I’m protecting her because right now she’s my lover. End of story,” he said with a definitive look at Nick.
“How can you be so sure she’s not your mate? She’s a Topètenia and you’re undoubtedly attracted to each other. Your protectiveness rivals mine and Nick’s put together, and we’re already joined. So how can you sit there and say you haven’t even considered her to be your mate?” Rome asked him.
There was only one reason X knew Caprise wasn’t his mate—one absolute and undeniable reason that no rule in the Ética would change.
“I’m not cut out for that mating crap. Too much has happened for me to reach for a happy fuckin’ ever after. So I don’t waste time kidding myself.”
Nick smirked. “But you’ll waste my sister’s time gladly.”
“Your sister’s an adult, man. She could have said no and you know I would have walked away. I don’t force any female, shifter or human.”
“And you don’t know how to let go of the past,” Rome said, which X thought was more than hypocritical since Rome was still chasing the truth about his parents.
“Whatever happened back in Atlanta—look, I’m not asking you to tell us. You know I’d never do that. That’s completely your deal. But whatever it was happened a long time ago. You obviously survived for a reason. Sentencing yourself to a lifetime of suffering is childish and pointless,” Rome said.
“It’s what I feel is the right thing to do, for all involved. Now can we please let this shit go? We’ve got bigger things to worry about.” X gave Rome a look that said, Hey, I respect you, man, but I’m not telling you jack.
&n
bsp; Rome thankfully nodded as he stood from the table, dropping his napkin onto his half-empty plate. “I’m going to the office. Find out who the stranger is and what he’s doing here, before you do anything, X. I want to know what you’re walking into to see how we’ll coordinate backup.”
“I don’t need backup,” X said defiantly.
“Humor me, okay? Get the information, give me a call and we’ll go from there. Got it?” Rome asked.
X only nodded, not sure he could trust himself to answer Rome. Because he knew the answer Rome wanted to hear would be a blatant lie.
In the next second they were alone at the table. X and Nick—a confrontation that had been coming for the last few days.
“She’s my only blood,” Nick said slowly as he stared down at the table. “I’d give my life to protect her from any more hurt.”
“That makes you a good shifter and a great brother. But I’m not the one, Nick. I’m not the one trying to hurt her and I’m unfortunately not the one she’ll spend her future with,” X told him. And it was the absolute truth. If inside, his cat was bristling, that was its problem, not X’s.
“For all that she is or that she may have done while she was gone, Caprise has always been smart. She wouldn’t sleep with you just to pass the time.”
X shook his head. “She doesn’t want anything to do with shifter life, Nick. Mating is the farthest thing from her mind, trust me.”
“I just don’t see how this can end well” was Nick’s final tortured reply.
“I’m not guaranteeing that. I just know that at some point, it will end.”
And how the hell he was going to deal with that, X had no clue.
Chapter 19
“You’ve had a busy week, huh?” Kalina asked the moment Caprise let her and Ary into her room.
All she’d had a chance to do when she arrived late last night was unpack her bag, grab a shower, and get into bed. It was too late to go and speak to Seth’s family and she didn’t want to speak to her family, so she’d chosen sleep. The pesky little pastime hadn’t come easily, though. Her mind wandered over things better left alone for longer than she cared to admit.
