by Ashlyn Chase
Brandee hesitated a moment too long.
Angie’s lips thinned. “Nice work deflecting the conversation and pissing off your roommate at the same time, Brandee.”
“I wasn’t. At least I didn’t mean to.”
Angie rose. “I’m going to bed.”
“It’s only eight o’clock.”
“I’m tired. Good night.” She stormed off to her bedroom.
Brandee didn’t know whether to be relieved or terrified.
***
Thanks to Captain Hunter, Nick was receiving the full cooperation of the New York Police Department in Manhattan. He’d already identified two of the suspects—“boss” and “Mr. M.”—and after some intense interrogation, they finally gave up the name of the person who’d hired them: Martin Rossi.
Though Rossi had been a fake name, Nick had enough info to track the guy to his home in the Hamptons.
Thrilled by a real ID, he decided to relax a moment and call Brandee. He missed her like crazy and figured she might be missing him too.
“Hello, beautiful. How’s my favorite waitress?”
A long pause on the other end of the phone started the hair on his arms tingling. “Brandee, what’s wrong?”
“It’s Angie. She took off.”
Nick raked his fingers through his hair. “Shit. Why?”
“She may have overheard our conversation the other night. I tried to reassure her, but she just didn’t act the same way after that. She went to bed early and mad. That’s not like her. When I woke up yesterday, she was gone.”
“People sometimes act angry when they’re really afraid. You do that too sometimes.”
“You noticed that, huh?”
“Yup. You didn’t confirm anything we talked about, did you?”
“Um, not really.”
Fuck. Mother Nature is going to fry my lying ass. Nick tried to control his voice. “What do you mean?”
“Well, I told her I couldn’t elaborate on anything I had promised to keep a secret. It might have been better for all of us if I had.”
“But you would have broken your promise if you did. Is Anthony out looking for her?”
“Yes, but so far he’s had no luck. He tracked her to the bus station, then lost her scent there.”
“Her scent?” Nick wondered what Anthony had said, if she confronted him.
“Yeah. I guess the crazy lady wasn’t so crazy after all. Anthony told me all about himself. He wouldn’t confirm any of the other stuff, though.”
“What other stuff?”
“Wizards, witches, shapeshifters, that stuff.”
“Are you okay?”
“For some reason, I am. I don’t know if Anthony did his hypnosis thing on me or not, but he convinced me I was perfectly safe like you said, even safer than at a normal bar.”
“What do you mean you don’t know if he hypnotized you or not?”
“Well, he said he didn’t. He offered to—again. But I’d rather know an awful truth instead of believing a pretty lie.”
Nick didn’t quite know what to say. On one hand, he was proud as hell of her. Anthony had told her he was a vampire, and she didn’t flip out. On the other, Anthony had told her he was a vampire. He was sure Anthony must have impressed upon her how important keeping that secret was, but Nick didn’t dare leave anything to chance.
“You’re keeping his secret just as vigilantly as you’re keeping mine, right?”
“Of course. How can you even ask that?”
“Sorry.” What else could he say? Anything more would sound as if he didn’t trust her. Mother Nature was the bigger threat. What a choice. Being dropped into an active volcano or solving an important case? It’s not like I can solve anything if she fries me in lava.
“I’m coming home.”
“Did you solve the case?”
“For now. At least I have the information I need.”
“Good. So Katie’s out of danger?”
“I didn’t say that. I need to talk to her parents and the Boston police, but I’d rather do it in person. Don’t worry, sweetheart. We’ll get this guy.”
“I hope so. Be careful, okay? I couldn’t stand anything happening to you. Especially because…” Her voice trailed off.
“Because?”
“Well, I wasn’t very nice to you at the bar a couple days ago. When you didn’t call yesterday, I was afraid I had blown it. I thought maybe after you thought about it, you decided I wasn’t worth the trouble and wanted to break up with me.”
“There’s nothing you can do to make me leave you.”
“Really?”
“Honest and truly.”
He heard her sigh on the other end of the phone. “Hurry home.”
***
Mother Nature ambled into Boston Uncommon and took a good look around. It appeared fairly ordinary—like any other neighborhood watering hole. Low lighting gave it an intimate feel. Several high stools surrounded a well-polished wooden bar. A few tables took up some of the floor space between the bar and the booths. It wasn’t very large. It would only seat about thirty if it was packed.
She slid onto a stool. It might have been difficult had she’d worn her flowing robes, but she dressed in twentieth-century casual clothing. Big blond hair and a white suit with shoulder pads. The last time she had been out in the world was the eighties, so she hoped her getup was still in style.
A male bartender spotted her and came right over. “Wow. You look just like that chick on Dynasty reruns. What was her name? Crystal something?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Oh. Sorry. What would you like?”
“I’d like to get polluted.” She smiled to herself. Mother Nature walks into a bar and says, “I want to get polluted.” All I need is a punch line.
“I hope you’re not driving.”
She snorted. “I don’t use cars—ever. Now get me…” She glanced around at what the other patrons were drinking. A girl at the end of the bar held a martini glass with bright green liquid in it. Green is my favorite color. I’ll go with that. “One of those green things.” She pointed to the girl’s drink.
“One appletini coming right up.”
Mother Nature turned to the guy beside her. “So, what’s your story?”
“I’m kind of new in town. The name’s Drake Cameron. I’m a firefighter.” He stuck out his hand.
She grasped it. His hand was so hot it could have burned her, and she dropped it right away.
“Yikes, you’re hot.”
He smiled. “Thank you. You’re not bad yourself.”
She rolled her eyes. “I didn’t mean hot-looking, you idiot. I meant actually scorching.”
He lowered his voice. “I didn’t hurt you, did I?”
“I’ll survive. You must be a dragon. And you need to get laid.”
His eyebrows rose. “You know?”
“Well, duh. Your skin is excessively warm and your name is Drake. Plus you have those yellow streaks.”
“Yeah, it’s a family trait.”
Who do you think gave them to you, stupid? “So, new in town, huh? Where did you come from?”
“My family is from Scotland and Ireland, originally. I came here when I was a lad. Now I’m back for good.”
“I see.” Why was I not aware of a dragon in Boston? And what’s he doing here? I thought they were all in places that reminded them of home—like the mountains and rocky coast of northern New England and the Maritime provinces. That cretin Balog is falling down on the job.
A waitress dropped her tray on the bar a few feet away. “Another White Russian for Sadie and a dirty martini for her customer,” she said.
Dirty martini. That’s what I should have had to get polluted. Gaia chuckled to herself.
&n
bsp; The bartender set Mother Nature’s appletini in front of her and glanced over at the waitress. “Sure thing, Brandee.”
Ah, there’s the human I’m looking for.
***
Brandee sensed someone staring at her. She expected it to be a guy about to make a pass. It wasn’t unusual, especially if a patron had had too much to drink.
She stuck a hand on her hip and whirled to meet the person’s gaze. Oddly, this time a female was staring at her.
“You like working here?” the woman asked outright.
Who is she? Some kind of activist who thinks waitresses are demeaned? The satisfaction police? Or just a retro-looking lesbian?
“Yeah. I like it fine.”
“Liar,” the woman said.
“Excuse me?”
At that moment, Nick strode in and hurried over to her.
“Miss me?” he asked.
Before she had a chance to answer, he swept her into a bear hug—or was it a wolf hug? When he released her, she smiled up at him. “Yes, I did.”
“When are you free? I want to track down Angie before…”
He didn’t have to finish his sentence. She knew what he wanted to say, but he seemed to have stopped talking for another reason. His eyes were opened so wide she could see the white surrounding his blue irises, and he was staring at the retro woman as if in shock.
Brandee looked from one to the other. The woman was glaring at Nick. An audible gulp emanated from his throat.
Oh, crap. Is this an ex-girlfriend? Wait a minute…he doesn’t have any of those. Not if all he had were one-night stands.
“What’s going on here?” She studied her boyfriend’s face. It seemed frozen in fear. “Nick? Are you all right?”
“I, uh—I’ll let you know later.”
He approached the woman slowly as she slid off her bar stool. “Mother, I mean…”
Gaia grabbed the collar of his leather jacket and led him out the back door.
Mother?
Chapter 19
“This is the second time you’ve fucked up, Wolfensen. What did I say would happen if you ever revealed any more about paranormals to a human again?”
He glanced up and down the alley, looking for an escape route. “I-I don’t remember.”
“That’s convenient, isn’t it? Let me remind you.” She waved her hand in a circle and something like a movie became visible in that space. He saw himself standing there, being upbraided by Gaia. Her image said, “If you ever expose the existence of paranormal beings again, I’ll send you to Mount Vesuvius and go all Pompeii on your ass. You get me?”
The movie dissipated into the air in a curl of smoke.
“Oh, yeah. Now I remember,” he said, despite a sudden dry mouth.
“Good. Well, guess what?” She raised one hand.
“Please don’t. I’m afraid there’s another breach, and I have to take care of it.”
Her jaw dropped. “What do you mean by another breach?”
Even if she’s pissed, my punishment can’t get much worse. He took a deep breath and spit it out. “My girlfriend’s roommate overheard us talking. Now she’s in the wind. We need to find her and—”
“I know all this. Why do you think I showed up?”
“Oh. I guess I thought it was because I marked Brandee as my mate.”
“You what?” she roared.
Crap.
The back door opened a crack and Brandee peeked out. “Is everything okay back here?”
Mother Nature continued to stare at Nick but snapped her fingers in Brandee’s direction. “Come here, girly.”
Brandee stiffened and didn’t move.
Gaia whirled on her. “Now!”
Nick shouted, “Hey. Don’t talk to my mate that way.”
A sinister smile played across the ancient one’s lips. “Aren’t you the brave fool, Nicholas Wolfensen.”
Brandee stood in the doorway and appeared like she didn’t know where to go or what to do. She glanced over her shoulder as if she wanted to run back to the safety of Boston Uncommon.
“Go back inside, sweetheart. I’ll take care of this.”
She nodded and disappeared back inside.
Nick folded his arms and stood with his feet shoulder width apart. If Gaia was going to punish him, so be it. But she’d better not drag Brandee into it. “She hasn’t done anything wrong.”
“Then how did her roommate find out?”
“I told you. It was an accident. We were talking and her roommate overheard.”
“Maybe you shouldn’t be talking about the supernatural. Or if you absolutely must, maybe you should be someplace where you won’t be overheard.”
Another idea occurred to Nick. If they were living together, they could talk freely all the time.
Then Mother Nature continued, “Either that or I could see you both put into solitary confinement.”
“Don’t. Brandee would never divulge our existence on purpose.”
Gaia folded her arms. “How do you know that?”
“She promised not to.”
“Oh well, that’s all you had to say. I mean, look how well humans keep their promises.” She snorted.
Nick began to pace. This conversation wasn’t going well, but then again, he hadn’t been sent to Mount Vesuvius yet. “I can fix this if you’ll let me.”
“How?”
“Brandee knows her roommate better than anyone. We’ll find her, bring her back, and have Anthony compel her to forget.”
“Where is Anthony, anyway?”
“He’ll be here soon. The sun is just beginning to set.”
“So, who’s in charge when he’s not around?”
“A human. Claudia, the manager.”
“Is she aware of the bar’s seedy underbelly?”
Nick raised his eyebrows. Seedy underbelly? Is Gaia reading too many crime novels?
Mother Nature stomped her foot. “I asked you a question.”
“As far as I know, none of the other employees are aware of the bar’s paranormal patrons or its paranormal owner.”
Mother Nature’s tense posture relaxed slightly. “That’s good. By the way, what the hell is a dragon doing here?”
“A dra…” Nick suddenly remembered the unusual guy with the yellow-streaked hair. Of course! The guy’s a dragon. They all had unusual markings to denote what family they belonged to, or so he’d heard. He’d never met a dragon. At last, another piece of the puzzle fell into place for him. Who would want a fire mage like Katie?
“A fuckin’ dragon,” he muttered.
Gaia tipped her head and squinted. “What’s rolling through that hairy skull of yours?”
“I’ve been working a case. It involves a paranormal kidnapping, and now everything is making sense. Please. I need your help. You can’t send me away now.”
“Of course I can.”
In a flash of light, Nick felt himself ripped from the fabric of reality. An instant later, he stood on an island the size of his living room populated by exactly one palm tree.
“Crap.”
Another blinding flash of light later, he was back in the alley. He glanced around and then down at himself. Other than feeling a little queasy, he seemed okay. The sun was still setting, so no time had passed to speak of. But where was Mother Nature?
The back door to Boston Uncommon opened and Brandee peeked out. She scanned the alley. “Is everything okay with you and your mother?”
“My mother?” He couldn’t suppress the cathartic bubble of stress release. It began as a chuckle, turned into a guffaw, and before long he was bent over laughing.
A sudden flash of lightning and boom of thunder interrupted him. He straightened up and wiped his eyes. “She’s a mother, all right, but not mine.”
“G
ood. ’Cuz I don’t think she liked me.”
“She’ll be all right as long as you keep your promise and we can find Angie.”
Brandee’s eyes rounded. “Angie? What does she want with Angie?”
Nick scratched his chin. “She wants us to find her and bring her to Anthony so he can hypnotize her. She has to forget what she heard. And there’s another thing.”
“What’s that?”
“She thinks it would be best if you moved in with me. We’d be much less apt to be eavesdropped on.”
“Angie wasn’t eavesdropping, she was just—wait a minute. What did you say?”
“I said she’d like you to move in with me.” He smiled. “I’d like that too.”
Brandee’s lips started to lift in a smile, then quickly returned to neutral. “Let’s wait on that. First we need to find Angie. I’m not gonna move anywhere without telling her.”
Nick didn’t want to get his hopes up, but it was too late. He was already delighted. Wolves wanted nothing so much as to snuggle up with their mate and make loads of pups. “So you’re considering it?”
“Yes. No. I don’t know yet. Don’t confuse me.”
He grinned to himself. Soon enough, dear Brandee, you won’t be confused anymore.
***
Nick tried to act casual as he took the empty seat next to his suspect. He stuck out his hand. “Hi, my name’s Nick Wolfensen. I forgot to introduce myself when we talked before.”
The guy he believed to be a dragon stared at Nick’s hand but didn’t shake it.
“My name’s Cameron.”
“Cameron, what?”
He hesitated before answering. “Drake Cameron.”
“Can I buy you a beer, Drake Cameron?”
“Nah. I’m good.” He lifted his nearly empty mug.
Nick got comfortable on his stool. “You’re new here. Do you live or work in the neighborhood?”
The guy chuckled. “I work here. Can’t afford the pricey real estate on a firefighter’s salary.”
“You’re a firefighter, eh?” That makes perfect sense. Who’d be more comfortable around a fire than a dragon?
“Yeah. Are you Canadian?”
Nick tipped his head back and laughed. “No. Canadians aren’t the only ones who say, ‘eh,’ I guess.”
