Billionaire Wolf (The Pack 17) (Nocturne)

by Karen Whiddon

  Ninety minutes later, Maria had a freshly bathed Tracey moved to a cot covered in clean sheets. Despite his words, Maria had convinced Polacek to help as she couldn’t move Tracey alone. Tracey certainly couldn’t move herself; she never really regained consciousness.

  Aware of Doug lurking in the background as he had the entire time she was fussing with Tracey, Maria finally made eye contact with him and summoned up a halfhearted smile. “At least that odor is gone. Now, tell me, what have you been feeding her?”

  His casual shrug didn’t fool her. “I gave her what dragons in the wild eat. Insects and rodents.”

  Bugs and rats. Swallowing back bile, Maria nodded. “And has she been eating any of that?”

  “She’s still alive, isn’t she? I’m assuming she ate. I didn’t stick around and watch. I’ve been keeping her in one of those concrete boxes, just like you were in.”

  Horrified, she thought back to how long ago she’d learned Tracey had been taken. While she didn’t remember how many days or even weeks that had been, she knew it had been a long time.

  “She’s been in the box all this time?” she asked.

  “Of course not. At first, I treated her exactly like I am you now. I explained what I expected of her and she refused. I fed her and worked magic on her and buttered her up like a croissant hot out of the oven, but she wouldn’t even try to love me.” Again he lifted one shoulder in a shrug. “So she went down in the box. I planned to leave her there until she changed her mind. But then I started focusing on you and getting you to date me and like me so you’d kiss me. I guess I forgot she was in there.”

  Appalled and horrified, his callous cruelty incensed her. She hated being at his mercy like this, but knew she could show no reaction to anything he said.

  “Um, any idea how long it’s been since you fed her?”

  “No.” He gazed up at the ceiling as if thinking. “Maybe a week? More or less.”

  Deep breath. Calm, even breathing. “May I ask a favor?”

  Her deference pleased him, at least judging by the quick smile he flashed at her. “Go ahead. I can’t promise I’ll grant it, but I’ll listen.”

  “Can you get me some food for her? Nothing too solid, maybe some chicken broth and crackers? And water? I think she really could use something to drink.”

  He went silent. Maria braced herself, not sure whether he’d erupt in anger or decide to be gracious and honor her request.

  “I’ll see what I have,” he finally said. “You will not be able to leave this room.”

  Maria nodded. “Thank you.” Watching him, she held completely still until he’d gone back up the stairs.

  Part of her wanted to test him. She still couldn’t believe that something as simple as one kiss could rob her of all her magical ability. But now she had Tracey to consider, and until she was well, Maria had no plans to go anywhere.

  Tracey moaned and Maria leaned closer, brushing still-damp hair away from her freshly scrubbed face. While Maria had no idea of Tracey’s age, freckles dotted her creamy pale skin. “It’s going to be all right, Tracey,” Maria murmured. “It’s me, Maria Miranda.”

  At the name, Tracey visibly struggled to open her eyes. Maria’s heart ached for the other woman and she had to swallow back her increasing fury at the beast that had done this to her.

  He returned with a battered metal cup and handed it to Maria. “Broth,” he said, his tone full of disgust. “I warmed it as best as I could.”

  Dipping her pinky into the liquid, which was lukewarm, Maria managed a smile. “Thank you.”

  She managed to get a little of the broth into Tracey, before the battered woman turned her head and retched. Doug had placed a plastic cup of water on the floor, and Maria raised it to Tracey’s lips. “Drink. It’s water.”

  Tracey drank greedily, but she’d only taken a couple of gulps before she turned her face away, signaling to Maria that she’d had all she could take.

  Maria put the cup down and opened her mouth to speak, but Polacek grabbed her arm and yanked her up to her feet.

  “Enough of this,” he said. “She’ll be fine.”

  “I’m not too sure about that,” Maria began. “She needs more help than I can give her. Medical help.”

  His hard stare had her fighting not to squirm. “Now you want me to kidnap a doctor?”

  “No. Of course not. I meant—”

  “I know what you meant.” His twisted grin made her stomach sour. “And it’s not happening. Now. You’ve spent enough time coddling her. Your attention needs to be on me.”

  Chapter 15

  Of course it did. Remembering she had a role to play, Maria nodded. “You’re right. I’m sorry.”

  He ducked his head, giving her a nod to let her know she’d pleased him. “You mentioned you wanted to see the book?”

  Instantly, all of Maria’s fatigue fell away. She knew better than to reveal her excitement, so she merely nodded. “Sure.”

  He narrowed his gaze in speculation. “You read French, then?”

  “No.” She tried to think of something she could say. She wasn’t sure why she felt the need to see this book so strongly, but she did. “I don’t speak or read French. But maybe if I could see it, plus your translation, I might be able to help. You know what they say about a second pair of eyes.”

  He wanted to believe her, she could see it in the muscle twitch in his cheek and the flash of eagerness in his unusually colored eyes. Still, he didn’t move.

  “You may not see the original,” he finally declared. “It’s far too valuable for me to take a chance of you destroying even one page.”

  She managed a nod, careful to hide her disappointment.

  “But I can let you take a look at my translation,” he continued. “I have more than one copy of that.”

  She thanked him, well aware she’d have to take what she could get.

  He fetched his notes with great fanfare, carrying them with as much reverence and delicacy as if he considered them a holy object.

  Motioning that she should take a seat on one of the rickety plastic chairs near the metal table, he placed the stack of papers in the middle.

  “Once we’re truly in love, we’ll be able to read each other’s thoughts the way true mates do,” he said, apropos of nothing.

  Maria smiled. “True.” She itched to reach for the book, but didn’t dare without a signal from him that it would be all right to do so.

  When he leaned closed, trailing his finger down her throat to her shoulder, she shuddered, closing her eyes and praying he thought her shivers were from ecstasy.

  “What a pair we will be,” he mused, smoothing her hair away from her face. Relief flooded her that he hadn’t continued to slide his hand downward, toward her breasts.

  “May I look at the book?” she asked, her breathlessness not from arousal but from repugnance. She marveled that she’d ever found this man attractive enough to date.

  “You may.” His indulgent smile told her she needed to act grateful.

  “Thank you so much,” she said. “I can’t wait to see what’s in there.”

  He let her read undisturbed for at least thirty minutes before coming back for her. At least Maria thought half an hour had passed. She didn’t know for sure, as she didn’t have a watch or a clock and he’d confiscated her phone.

  “Did you find anything, love?” he asked, leering at her with a peculiar blend of lust and hope.

  Terrified that he would decide they were in love and make an attempt to rape her, Maria made a show of pretending she was close to finding something important in his translation of the book.

  “I’m almost there.”

  He sighed. “I’ll wait.” And he did, reading over her shoulder and breathing in her ear. She suppressed the urge to jerk away, managing to hold herself still and continuing to peruse the pages.

  “I just need a few more minutes,” she said, every time he grew bored and tried to drag her away so they could “spend time getting t
o know each other better.”

  What she really wanted to do was get back to Tracey, but she knew he’d not allow that for very long.

  So, for now, the book claimed all of her undivided attention. “There’s something here,” she said again, not entirely lying, either. “Right now it’s eluding me, but I know if I continue to read, whatever it is will become clear.”

  He yawned, not even bothering to cover his mouth with his hand. “Fine. You have thirty more minutes. I promise you can look at it again tomorrow, but you and I have got to have some together time.”

  The idea made her feel as though she had insects crawling all over her skin. “Okay,” she managed, praying she’d stumble across something exciting enough to distract him.

  And then she struck gold. But the instant she read the passage and realized how it applied to her, she knew she could never tell him.

  True love’s kiss. Of course. Nearly every fairy tale, every myth, had some variation of this theme. Whatever spell Polacek had used to take away her magic with a casual kiss, could be invalidated if she could kiss her true love.

  She read the passage again, wondering if the love had to be reciprocated for this to work. Of course, no more details were given, and the next paragraph went on to another subject.

  “Did you find something?” Gaze sharp, Polacek watched her intently.

  Staring blindly at the page, she started to shake her head, but then she read the first paragraph of the next page and smiled. “I believe I did,” she said. “Though I’m not sure you’re going to like it.”

  * * *

  Since Colton was put in charge of the search, Ryan was allowed to attend the briefing along with the Pack Protectors, Maria’s father and the three Drakkor mages from Eyrie.

  “The Galveston police force must be kept in the dark about this,” Colton said. “We’ll have to learn everything we can about Darryl Pride without alerting the local authorities.”

  Which made perfect sense. Even though working outside the realm of the law would hinder them somewhat, they couldn’t take the risk of humans learning anything about Shifters or magic.

  “We do, however, have a Pack member working as a police officer here in Galveston. His help has been invaluable in conducting our investigation,” Colton said.

  A man wearing a Galveston police uniform stepped forward from behind the large group of Pack Protectors and gave them all a mock salute. “Dennis Rocho at your service,” he said.

  After the chorus of welcomes and thank-yous died down, Colton continued. “Here’s what an initial investigation has revealed. Since Doug Polacek is an attorney, we checked to see if Darryl Pride worked as a lawyer anywhere in Galveston or on the mainland. Granted, he would have had to forge a law license, which might draw too much unwanted attention. This is probably one of the reasons we can’t find any record of him working in the legal field.”

  “Do we know how long ago he arrived in Galveston?” One of the other Pack Protectors asked.

  “As far as we can determine, right before he started dating Maria Miranda. We have been able to learn he was renting a motel room in Texas City under the name Darryl Pride.”

  “Excellent work,” the senior Drakkor from Eyrie named Micah spoke, his deep voice resonating around the room. “What I’d like to know is how Polacek even learned of Ms. Miranda’s whereabouts in the first place.”

  As if on cue, everyone except the three Drakkor mages turned and looked at Ryan.

  Micah appeared puzzled.

  “She was dating a celebrity,” Javier explained, pointing at Ryan. “Him. The paparazzi caught her out with him and her picture was on television and in magazines. I’m sure Polacek saw her on TMZ or Access Hollywood or something.”

  Ryan refused to feel guilty, despite the reproachful stares nearly everyone in the room directed his way. “I didn’t know,” he said quietly. “I value my own privacy and had no way of foretelling that they’d find me here. Believe me, if I’d been aware of Maria’s situation, I would have taken extra precautions to keep her out of the spotlight.”

  At his words, some of the open hostility vanished from the Drakkor’s faces. To Ryan’s gratitude, Maria’s father reached over and squeezed his shoulder in support.

  Colton cleared his throat. “Understood. Now, if I may proceed. We’ve been viewing traffic camera videos from around the Strand and the pier area. Restaurant surveillance has shown Ms. Miranda and Doug Polacek getting out of a late-model black Dodge Charger. We were only able to get a partial on the plate, but Dennis here has quietly put out an APB on the car, stating the driver is a suspect in an arson investigation.”

  Since Colton looked right at him and dipped his chin, Ryan knew he meant the fire at the first beach house.

  “So you’re looking for his car,” Javier put in. “That’s helpful and all, but I need to know what else you are doing? Has anyone ever gotten any leads on the other woman he kidnapped, Tracey Beauchamp?”

  Stone-faced, Colton shook his head. “A different unit is involved in that rescue operation, but as far as I’m aware, they have nothing. We will of course, furnish them whatever information we obtain.”

  “Maybe you should tie the two together,” Micah said, his arms crossed. “Clearly, the rouge Drakkor is collecting our few remaining women. Can I assume the others have been placed under heavy guard?”

  “Most assuredly.” Colton nodded. “And I think—”

  “Good,” Micah interrupted. “Now, if you’re done blathering about what little you’ve managed to accomplish, the three of us have work to do.”

  Though Colton narrowed his eyes at that, he nodded, still clearly respectful. “What’s your plan?”

  “As soon as darkness falls, we’re shifting to Drakkor and taking to the sky. We’ll split up—less chance of us being seen. And we’ll find him, you can bet on that.”

  “Will you use magic to look for him?” Ryan asked.

  “Of course,” Micah snapped, glaring at him. “No doubt he’s using magic to shield himself, which will actually make it easier to find him. Magic gives off an aura, visible only to the eyes of others with magical ability. If this Polacek is using magic to keep those women captive, we will find it.”

  “I’m going with you.” Javier stood. “I have a fair amount of magic of my own. I want to do whatever I can to help find my daughter.”

  Micah considered, then slowly nodded. “As long as you agree to follow my orders.”

  “Of course.”

  Now Micah looked at Colton. “I’ll need you or someone familiar with this area to take us to the best place to change into our dragon form.”

  “I know where that is.” Ryan stepped forward. “I’d be honored to take you. That’s where I go to shift. Maria, too.” He smiled sadly. “She is truly a beautiful dragon.”

  Now Micah and his cronies, as well as Maria’s father, all stared at him. “You’ve seen my daughter change?” Javier asked.

  “Yes.” He decided not to tell them that she hadn’t known it at the time. “Now, if you’re ready to head that way, let’s go. The sooner you start searching, the quicker we can get Maria back.”

  * * *

  “Well?” Polacek demanded. “You’ve been at it long enough. What did you find in the book that I’m not going to like?”

  Taking a deep breath, Maria swallowed. She couldn’t tell him the truth, but she had to say something. Something that contained at least a kernel of truth.

  “There.” She pointed to a page with a trembling finger. “I’m sure you saw it, but it talks about the end of the Drakkor species.”

  Eyes narrow slits, he glared at her. “I did. It’s a bunch of prophetic nonsense.”

  “Oh.” She didn’t have to feign her disappointment. “May I continue to read? I’m sure if I keep at it, I’ll find something.”

  “I doubt it,” he said, his expression both disapproving and calculating. “But go on. I’ve got more important things to do to occupy my time.”

  She
nodded and went back to the book, glad she’d managed to keep her breathing even and hadn’t revealed how hard her heart pounded.

  And soon she lost herself in the pages.

  Though Maria had no idea of the time or whether outside the sun or the moon lit up the sky, she had no choice but to believe him when Polacek announced it was bedtime. Hearing the word spoken in his silky tone made her entire body clench with worried revulsion.

  She did a whole lot of fast-talking, reminding him of the courtship necessary in any relationship before there could be love. She also told him she didn’t want to go too fast.

  Somehow, by some miracle, he bought it and bid her good-night. As he walked away, he told her he thought he might spend the night with Tracey instead.

  Though she knew doing so might put her right back into his sights, she grabbed his arm. “Please don’t. She’s in no condition for anything like that. If you want her to come to care for you, you must let her heal.”

  Gaze steely, he eyed her. “You’re full of demands for a prisoner. Be grateful I don’t put you back in the cement box. You do understand that I call the shots here, don’t you?”

  Swallowing back a gag, she let her hand trail down his arm. “Of course I do. I’m only trying to help you so you can have your harem and we can have our babies.”

  Still studying her, he finally nodded. “Fine. I will sleep alone. For now. And before you ask, no, you may not spend the night taking care of Tracey. She’s survived this long without you, so I have no doubt she’ll heal quickly. Good night.”

  And he left her, locking the door behind him.

  Relieved she’d managed to talk him into letting her sleep alone, she tried to get comfortable on the threadbare rug she’d been given to place on the cold concrete floor for use as a sleeping place.

  Her body and mind were exhausted, but she couldn’t shake the feeling there was something she’d overlooked.

  Finally she must have dropped into slumber because suddenly she saw Ryan. Looking achingly handsome and decidedly concerned, he stood on the edge of a deserted peninsula and stared up at the moonlit night sky. She swore she could feel the sea breeze and taste the salt of sea spray on her skin. She saw them then—four dragons, launching themselves into the air. Recognizing her father, she gasped when she realized the others were Micah, Brandon and Roger.