“You said there was going to be a reckoning. I figure there should be,” I said, tipping my head back. “But maybe not the way you think.”
Damon cocked a brow. “That a fact?”
“Yeah. See, the way I figure, you kind of still owe me an apology.”
“Do I now?” He slid a hand down my hip, cupped my butt. The heat of him send a jolt of sensation through me.
Oh, yeah. We were going to have a…reckoning, alright.
Slowly, I freed the top button of his shirt, then the next. “Yes. Losing your temper. Bossing me around. Going and thinking I’m all naïve and such. You really, really screwed up there, Alpha Lee.”
By the time I’d finished talking, I had his shirt unbuttoned all the way down to his navel and I slid a look up at him as I laid my palm flat on his chest.
His dark gray eyes burned to green-gold as I scraped my nails down his skin. His skin pebbled up in reaction, a hiss escaping him.
“I guess I did.” He boosted me up, guiding my legs until I had them hooked around his waist. “Come on, baby girl. Let me make it all up to you.”
Chapter Nine
“What did he want?”
Damon lay with his face buried in my hair, his arm around my waist and my body pulled into the curve of his. I felt surrounded by him, but in the best way possible.
He didn’t respond at first, but I knew he wasn’t asleep.
Finally, he pushed up onto his elbow and I followed the dip of the bed caused by the shift in his weight. Looking up at him, I waited.
“I don’t know,” he said, voice low and tight.
“Damon…”
“I don’t.” He shook his head. He had one hand lying across the midline of my chest and now, with my heart bumping hard against his palm, his face took on a dark protectiveness that I’d seen more than a couple of times. “But it’s about you, Kit. That’s why I’m so worked up about this. He was pushing at Dair and me, prodding at us.”
“And that means…?”
Damon shook his head. “He kept asking questions. He’s heard the rumors about you and me, but he’s cold. He doesn’t get emotional bonds. He understands physical attraction, obsession—but he isn’t getting the idea that I’m not just with you because I want to sleep with you.”
“He said that?” Blood rushed up to scald my face. I was horrified at the idea of three men sitting around and talking about me like that, especially if Malcolm was one of them.
“No. Not in words. It’s there in his scent, his mannerisms.” Damon wasn’t looking at me now, but he sensed my unease and began to stroke my arm, long, soothing strokes. “He kept insinuating this was a way of getting back at Jude, then it was just a physical curiosity, that I’d be foolish to cause issues for the Assembly for anything so trivial.”
“What issues?” Wiggling out from under his arm, I sat up and looked around, my uneasiness growing now.
“That…I’m not sure.” But he sat up next to me, heavy shoulders slumped. After a few seconds, he admitted, “He said something though. Dair and I talked, then Chang and I talked. None of us like it.”
I waited but for the longest time he remained silent.
This wasn’t his normal lingering silence, though. He wasn’t doing it to drive me crazy.
After what felt like forever, he looked at me, lashes laying low over his eyes, all but obscuring them. “He said it would be better if we’d just cooperate, if you would just cooperate. She’s tired of waiting, he tells me, that her patience is at an end.”
My blood went cold.
“Who?” I demanded.
“That’s what I asked. The fucker laughed. He said I knew who he was talking about. I went to grab him and Dair caught me, stopped me. The whole damn time, while Malcolm got up and walked out, Dair was talking to me and that’s the only reason I didn’t follow through.”
Shaking inside, I shoved my hands through my hair, then clambered out of bed. “I’m…well, I’m surprised Dair was able to stop you.”
“Under most circumstances, he wouldn’t have been able to. But when he talks sense…”
I looked back at him.
“Malcolm might be an ancient, but I’m almost positive he’s fae, baby girl.” Damon looked away, jaw tense. “I’ve met a few in my life and I’ve never much liked any of them—he stinks of their magic, but it’s…wrong. Putrid and rotting. I’ve never liked any fae I met, but I fucking hate Malcolm. He’s a petty, twisted, evil piece of shit. And if I tangle with him and lose…”
“You die,” I said flatly.
“That’s what Dair told me, just as blunt as you did.” Damon met my eyes once more. “And if I die, who stands between you and her?”
⸸
“What plans do you have on for today?” Damon pulled his shirt on, frowning a bit as he plucked it from his body.
“If it’s smelling musty, it’s because it’s been sitting in my closet for a couple of months,” I said dryly. “Deal with it.”
“Did I say anything?”
“That face you made said plenty. As to what I’m doing…?” I shrugged, resting my hips on the bed. “I’ve got to go to the office. I’m flush for a while, but I’ve got routine jobs coming up that I need to check on.”
“And you’ll be…?”
There was no way on earth Damon Lee could ever be called subtle.
“Why are you asking?”
“Because I want to know.” He folded his arms over his chest, an action that made big muscles bunch up and look even bigger. “So I can have an idea where you’ll be. And…I’m asking.”
“Ass.” Rolling my eyes, I shrugged. “At the office for the most part. I’ll let you know if it changes…if I remember.”
He studied me a moment, then nodded. “I’m going to have a team come by and clear the weeds and vines from the windows. Never seen them grow like that.”
“Management will take care of it.” Shrugging, I pushed off the bed and headed into the bathroom.
“They probably already did something—the vines are all dead, so are most of the weeds. But it looks like shit. My people will clean it up.”
I heard the I’m the alpha, why argue tone and debated. Did I argue?
But then something he said clicked.
“What do you mean they are dead?” I asked, poking my head out the door and eying him.
“As in…dead?”
A minute later, I was standing in front of my apartment in jeans and a tank top, staring at the blackened and twisted vines that covered the front of my apartment. They’d grown in the time I’d seen them, I realized. And then died.
“I…ah…let management deal with it, Damon. I’m going to say something to Justin, but I don’t want your people touching this until Justin’s checked my wards.”
“What’s going on?” He was instantly at my side, staring at the twisted, decaying mess.
“They shouldn’t be dead. Or rather…they weren’t dead when I got here last night. I mean, maybe it’s just the way the wards flared when you got up. Might have fried them. Wards draw on earth energy and all.”
⸸
“Vines, Kit?” Justin sounded pained. “You want me to come to town just to check on vines and weeds?”
“It’s not just the vines and weeds. It’s how…growth…ful they are,” I said for lack of a better word. “They aren’t growing normal. Then all of a sudden they are dead. It’s weird.”
“You are weird. This is East Orlando. Magic Central for the lower part of the United States. Weird shit happens here—and when you are part of the equation, weirder shit happens.”
“That’s kind of like the pot calling the kettle black,” I muttered. Then, louder, I asked, “Are you going to come look or not?”
“I guess.” Sounding annoyed, he pointed out, “It’s not like I’m not dealing with something, but…hey, you know, she could use a trip to the city. She needs to stretch her wings a bit.”
I almost asked if he was talking real wings, then dec
ided he wouldn’t appreciate the humor.
A knock on the door had me finishing the phone call.
People still knocked here. The open sign didn’t matter at all.
Why did I even have it?
⸸
“Did you order guards?” I demanded the second Alisdair MacDonald’s voice came across the line.
Standing on the opposite side of my desk were two young female wolves—in human skin, of course. They had been waiting at my office when I got to work that morning.
Dair’s quiet breathing filled the line—he was probably processing the way I’d snarled at him.
“Well, good morning to you too, Kit.”
I resisted the urge to snarl again—barely—while one of the young women cocked her head at me, her expression curious, avidly so. She had dark, mink brown hair, just long enough to be worn in a stubby ponytail.
Her partner, a woman with short, light ash brown hair, had a much more closed expression.
The one with the dark brown hair had a perpetual smile on her face, while the other one…did not.
Both were petite. One was as curvy as one of those old-time movie stars, while the other was more slender. We were all roughly of a type, I decided, Short, strong…stubborn. I’d recognized the stubborn as the non-smiling one rose from the bench outside my front door when I’d parked.
“I take it you’ve met the two fine young women I sent to your side then,” Dair said dryly.
I’d been hoping the two women were there because of a job.
Nope.
I was the job.
“Screw you, Dair. I don’t need the fine young women you’ve sent. Call them back.” I wasn’t in the mood for niceties.
The brunette’s eyes widened a fraction.
“Now, now, Kit.” Dair sighed. “Be nice or you’ll shock Alli. She’s new to the area and has no idea how to handle such a…”
During his brief pause, I brightly offered, “Bitch?”
“I’d never imply such,” Dair said blithely. “No, I was going to go with impudent. She’s not used to a woman with such an impudent manner.”
“You make me sound like a ten year old child.”
“Well, when you speak to an alpha in such a tone…” He let the words trail off.
“Dair? Bite me.”
Alli sucked in a breath—at least I assumed it was Alli. The woman with the short hair hadn’t reacted at all. Dair just sighed. “There you go again. I heard Alli. If she was human, you’d have already given her a heart attack.”
“If she was human, she wouldn’t be here and the conversation wouldn’t be needed. For the record, I’m not part of your pack and I’m no longer just one of the grunts in the community.” I didn’t think.
“No.” Dair acknowledged that, his response slow, thoughtful. “That is true. Of course, that is why Jay and Alli are there. They are a…gift. Of sorts. From one alpha to another.”
“I’m not following.” Realizing I wasn’t about to get him to pull his wolves off, I dropped into my chair and kicked my feet up onto the desk. The two women—Jay and Alli, I reminded myself, studied me with curious eyes but didn’t relax from their stances in front of my desk.
Wolves. They always had a stick up their collective asses.
“I’m of a mind to think that you spoke with Damon last night and he informed you of the meeting we had the other day with one of the Assembly Speakers,” Dair said. Without waiting for a response, he continued on. “We’re in the process of digging up some information—or rather, Chang is. Until we get that, we all feel you’re somewhat vulnerable. But as I discussed with Damon, his cats are too…volatile. They are too closely connected to this. If you get into an altercation with this…Speaker, or perhaps somebody else, you’ll be in imminent and grave danger. A handful of cats, strong as they are, may not be enough to swing the tide.”
He paused, letting me process this.
“I don’t want an entire clan throwing themselves under the bus for me,” I said, forcing the words out of a tight throat.
“It will happen whether you want it or not.” Dair delivered that statement calmly. “And it won’t just be the clan. Nor will be just the clan and my pack. If it comes down to it, this is a threat that will affect all of us and we cannot afford to sit idly by. Now…”
Dair’s tone changed, becoming more brisk. “It’s all well and good to have somebody loyal and ready to die for you and your side, but if you die as well? What’s the point?”
As I took all of this in, I looked back at the two women. Hardly more than girls, really. But they were fit and I could see the intelligence burning in their gazes. Dair’s gift began to make more sense. “So…these two are your Paul Revere, then.”
“Exactly. Hopefully they won’t have to sound the alarm for the…Redcoats or anything, but we prefer to prepare for the worst rather than hope it doesn’t happen.”
Once we’d disconnected, I found myself studying them again.
“So, Alli and Jay.”
Alli beamed at me. “Hi. I’m Alli. She’s Jay.”
“I gathered.” Slanting a look at the other wolf, I cocked my head. “Do you talk?”
“No.” It was delivered with such deadpan sincerity, I found myself grinning at her.
She didn’t smile back.
“Is sarcasm your first or second language?”
“Probably my only.” This time, she did crack a bit of a smile. She didn’t relax that rigid posture though. “Is this going to be a pain in the ass for all three of us? Because if it is…we’ll do our best to make sure you suffer as much as we do.”
“No, we won’t!” Alli gaped at Jay.
“Yes, we will.”
Sighing, I closed my eyes and dropped my head back onto the pillowed back of the seat. “I’m already suffering.”
⸸
Aggravation—and two watchful-eyed wolves younger than Doyle chased me the entire way to Tallahassee. I broke more than a few traffic laws and luck, as it typically happened, was on my side, because I evaded all the cops on the road.
Sadly, so did my Pack escorts.
Still, they gave me some wide-eyed stares when they climbed out of their car upon reaching my destination.
The straight-faced Jay gave me a grim look. “If you were trying to get pulled over—or get us pulled over, I don’t know how you failed.”
“Lighten up.” Alli tucked her hands into her back pockets and studied the deceptive-looking building in front of us. It looked decrepit.
It was not.
The door that creaked as it opened added to the air of general, supposed disrepair of the place. But it was a veritable fortress. My regular contact studied me for a moment, then shifted her attention to my escorts, her gaze lingering.
They must have passed her inspection because she came forward, the normal pouch in hand. We made an exchange as she greeted me. She added, “You’re earlier than normal.”
I wasn’t in the mood for small talk and just nodded. “Any special instructions?” I asked.
“Make sure it gets straight into the hands of the Father in Orlando.” She glanced once more at the two wolves. “None of his seconds and definitely nobody lower. Wait if you must. If you need to bill us for the extra time, just let us know.”
I nodded and returned to my car.
“Leaving already?” Jay glanced at the pouch in my hand.
“I am. You’re welcome to stop, eat, see the sights…” Sliding into my car, I took off without a backward look and punched it. I was halfway down the road before they even pulled out.
Damon called me an hour into the drive back home.
“I hear Dair has put a couple of tails on you, that maybe you need extra watching,” he said, amusement lacing his words.
“If I end up stabbing a wolf, is it going to cause problems?”
Irritated, I glanced in the window at the car that had caught up with me less than two minutes after I’d left it behind in Tallahassee.
My eyesight was good enough that I could see the disgruntled faces of my two shadows.
But even that wasn’t enough to make me feel better.
I’d tried twice more to lose it, but it hadn’t worked.
“Kitten, think about that…you’re too smart to stab a shifter.” His chuckle held nothing but amusement.
I stuck my tongue out at the dashboard and wished I’d put the call on visual.
“You’re only going to go poking a monster with something sharp if you plan on killing it—and why would you would to kill one of Dair’s wolves just because they’re following his orders and making sure you stay safe?”
“It’s not his job to make sure I stay safe,” I muttered. Tightening my hands on the steering wheel, I added, “That’s my job.”
“Yes. But seeing as how I told him I’d rip his throat out and he’d be breathing through his neck if his manipulations got you in danger, he’s probably decided it would be wise to take interest in your safety.” A bit of a growl rumbled into his voice, taking the levity out of the discussion.
“You don’t have to fight your battles alone anymore, Kit.”
The retort I had burning on my tongue died as I snapped my mouth shut.
His words were too close to echoing what Marie had said. Gritting my teeth, I snarled, “I don’t feel like talking to you right now.”
“You’re just pissed off because you can’t find a logical way to tell me I’m wrong.” Then he hung up before I could.
That didn’t help my mood.
At all.
⸸
I arrived in Orlando, the pouch from the Tallahassee house sitting in the floorboard of the backseat, out of sight. I wanted to drop it off and then find some place to hide from the world for a few hours.
Preferably a place that didn’t have cats or wolves—that meant I might be heading straight down to see Justin and Colleen.
Brooding over that idea, I was only half aware when a motorcycle came to a stop next to me at a traffic light. I grew more aware less than two seconds later, as the engine rumbled in a way unique to bikes—gasoline was rarely used in any sort of vehicles any more and even the forms of fuel that were used were derivatives of what had once been so common. Still, a motorcycle sounded different from a car, with the engine on the outside and not tucked away inside the muffling frame of a car.
Haunted Blade (Colbana Files Book 6) Page 8
