“Hello.” The woman sashayed forward, glared at the mess on the floor, then smiled up at Val. “My name’s Roxanne. Or Roxy, whatever you prefer. Now that you’re awake, I assume you’ll be leaving?”
Thunder growled. “She’s not going anywhere.”
Roxy sent him a look of pure malice. “And you’re going to keep her a prisoner, are you?”
Thunder glared right back.
With a snort, Roxy turned back to Val. “Sorry that I don’t have anything of yours to give you. This one,” she jerked her thumb at Thunder, “brought you round stark naked. But you don’t have to worry, I kept a close eye to make sure nothing happened.”
Val nodded stiffly at her, while Thunder’s growls reached a new pitch.
“I am not a rapist.” From the look in his eye, he was imagining tearing out Roxy’s throat right now.
“He’s not,” Val assured her.
“You’re a feline, but you smell like wolf.”
“I have many lovers who are wolves.” Val stepped around Thunder. She nodded at Roxy. “Thanks for your help. I’ll need to borrow a bike.”
Thunder grabbed her arm. “You’re not going anywhere until I have some answers.”
Before Val could slap him off her, Roxy had come to her rescue. She seized Thunder’s wrist and yanked his arm around his back before slamming him into the wall. Her teeth bared, and a low, threatening growl emitted from her throat. Thunder snarled and started to push himself back, but Roxy leaned her towering weight against him. Impressive for a woman wearing six-inch heels.
Val smirked and was about to thank her (while assuring her she didn’t need help) when the smile dropped from her face. There, plain as day on Roxy’s shoulder, was a tattooed lily. Her stomach dropped. That lily was used by a local prostitute ring.
She snarled low in her throat and Roxy glanced back at her. Seeing her eyes locked on the tattoo, Roxy released Thunder and turned her back, now looking warily at Val.
Val shot Thunder a hateful look, then focused on Roxy again. “Are you here by your own free will?”
Roxy narrowed her eyes for a moment, then nodded stiffly. “Yeah. You don’t have to worry about me.”
“Okay.” Val relaxed. “Good. Cause I’d hate to have to ruin these carpets by killing Thunder for getting into trafficking.”
“She’s not mine,” Thunder said sulkily as Roxy released him. He shoved a finger in her face. “And you, you’re not in Brotherhood business, so just butt out of it.”
Roxy shrugged. “Whatever. You big boys with your big bikes.”
She rolled her eyes as she walked away, and Val smirked after her. She liked Roxy. The smirk quickly dropped when she focused on Thunder again. Clearly being pinned had done nothing to improve his mood. He folded his arms and glared at her.
“Typhoon wants answers. What the hell did you do to provoke the vampires?”
“I didn’t do anything.”
From the floor below, a deep, rich, authoritative voice spoke. “That isn’t what they’re saying.”
Her blood ran cold as she looked over the banister to find Typhoon staring up at her. He was a huge wolf, bigger than any she had ever known, including her father, who himself had been monstrous. There was a reason why he was the alpha over all the Brotherhood. Why he never had a need for an enforcer himself.
Coalfell had been in hot water ever since Ava. It wouldn’t take much for him to believe whatever lies Cromwell was telling him about her.
A fire lit in her chest when she saw the vampire standing right beside the alpha. She snarled under her breath. How much trouble would she get in if she ripped the ugly bastard’s throat out, here and now? But while the vampire looked pleased, almost gleeful, Typhoon looked seriously pissed off. Thunder started down the stairs, stopping to arch his brow at her.
Val followed, hands clenched. So, she was going to be slandered to her face, it seemed. If this was going to go the way she expected it, she might just tear out Cromwell’s throat before it was over.
Typhoon turned on his heel and walked away. As Val followed him, she saw Hurricane hurrying up the stairs. She sneered at him. That’s right, Coward. We all know what you’re like with vampires.
Once they were in a parlor—once again, decorated with useless things like an empty bowl that probably cost more than her whole house—Typhoon turned to her and folded his thick arms. His glare was like a firebolt, but she wasn’t about to let herself be intimidated.
“He and his cronies attacked me in Shifter territory, then dragged me over to vamp territory to kill me,” she snarled, glaring at Cromwell. “With the express purpose of destabilizing the Coalfell chapter and to turn the Brotherhood against each other so they could wipe us out.”
Typhoon frowned. “And you know this how?”
“’Cause he went on about it like an idiot.”
Cromwell frowned at her. “She came into our territory, spying on us. Stirring up trouble. I demand that she be handed over to the vampires at once, for proper measure to be taken.”
“Once I have proof of your claims, I will.” Typhoon turned to the new king and glared at him now. Val couldn’t help but feel relief that it was no longer directed at her. Typhoon continued. “I’m not about to start handing over pregnant women to the slaughter.”
He knew? Panic started to well inside of her, and she froze when Cromwell turned delighted eyes on her. Something almost maniacal gleamed in his eye as a smile spread across his face.
“Pregnant? Well, then, this changes… everything.” Even before he pulled the old, yellowed scroll from the inside of his suit jacket, Val knew everything was going to hell. Once she saw the scroll, though, her gasp died in her throat.
“The Contract of Peace!”
Cromwell waved it about and laughed. “Yes, little kitten, this is the contract of peace. The document that has held you animals in line long enough for my people to rebuild our numbers. The old kings may have forgotten why it was we allowed ourselves to be subjected to ink and paper for so long, but I have not.”
He reached into his pocket and withdrew a lighter. Val gasped and started forward. Typhoon grabbed her arm and yanked her back, then did the same with Thunder. His expression was grim as Cromwell flicked on the lighter and lit the edge of the contract. Val’s heart pounded, the smell of smoke thick around them.
When the contract was nothing but ash, Cromwell smiled up at them. “We will no longer be trod on by your filthy kind. A new age is about to start. And your child...” His gaze lit on her belly and a loud, malicious laugh bubbled from his throat. “Or should I say, your children, will help us usher it in.”
Val lunged forward. She didn’t stop to think; nobody threatened her girls! A howl of fury burst from her, but before she could land a single punch, Cromwell shot into the air. He hovered there, still cackling, then sped out a window. The shard rained down on them. Typhoon seized Val’s wrist and yanked her aside, and she whirled on him. She lifted a fist, ready to attack, but the look in his eye stopped her.
Fury, worse than anything she’d ever seen before, shone from his eyes.
“Thunder, get Shadow back to Coalfell safely.” He glowered at the broken window. “I thought that this might happen… Cromwell’s a fool, though. Thinks he’s five steps ahead of us. Well...” A grin crossed his face. “We’ll see about that.”
Chapter Eight
Blizzard
Hospitals always weirded Gabriel out. They were loud, smelly and yet, at the same time, so very quiet and clean. He had to put aside his discomfort, though, in order to get to the bottom of this. By this time, the people who had ‘overdosed’ on drugs should have shown marked signs of improvement. Even already been released from the hospital.
When he asked the doctors, they had no explanation for it. When he inspected the patients himself, what he found only confirmed his worst suspicions. The shifters who had overdosed were showing signs of rabidity. The humans were showing signs of becoming vampires.
So
, the drugs were tainted after all. But not with the usual stuff, with vampire venom.
Once he was finished with the hospital, Gabriel called Melanie to the station so he could find out more. He sent Katie to locate Tornado, to tell him about what they had discovered. Maybe that would inspire the Brotherhood to start sharing information back to him.
Melanie arrived looking exhausted and upset. Gabriel offered her coffee, which she declined, then perched on the edge of her chair while she waited for him to talk. He didn’t know if she still believed he was a drug user, but that was hardly relevant anymore. Right now, she was his only informant. He just hoped the gang hadn’t gotten to her yet. Val knew it was Melanie, but she had also been very busy lately.
A pang hit his stomach as he thought about Val and her revealed pregnancy, but tried to put it from his mind. Right now, he had other things to concentrate on.
“Do you know where your friend got her drugs from?”
Melanie's lips pressed tight together.
“I can’t help you if you don’t tell me. I believe that the same person responsible for dealing the tainted drugs also poisoned me.”
Her shoulders sagged. “My boss. At the… at the club. He likes to give his favorite girls something as a bonus… at least, that’s what he says. Really, it’s to keep them hooked and keep them coming back. There’s a lot of shady things that happen there,” Melanie added, looking up. “But it’s the best paying gig in the town. How else am I supposed to get enough money to leave this place?”
Gabriel sighed. He knew all too well that Coalfell had a way of sucking people in and trapping them. Melanie wasn’t the first woman to turn to such desperate measures to try to fight her way free, nor would she be the last.
He paused a moment, considering her. She was a beautiful woman. Her curves were bounteous, all her proportions just right. With her strong sense of right and wrong and her willingness to put herself on the line for others, she was exactly the type of woman that he ought to be lusting after. The kind of woman he should want. The forever sort of woman, the one that would be a perfect mate.
And instead, he kept thinking of Val. This had been going on for longer than he knew. It was the realization of feelings that had slowly crept up on him, not the feelings themselves. Even though it made no sense. They were terrible for each other. He was a cop, she was a gangster. She was a single mom, he had never thought much of having kids. Not to mention the age difference, although that honestly didn’t bother him much—Val wasn’t the kind who did anything she didn’t want to do. Still, it was another reason why the two of them weren’t meant for one another.
So why did he feel so protective of her, then?
Gabriel chugged the rest of his coffee and sat. Rather than making him feel more energized, he felt more tired than ever. For a moment he rested his face in his hands, breathing deeply and trying to clear his mind. This business with the vampires and the gang and Val was too much. Maybe he was just getting too old for it all.
“Sheriff?”
Concentrate, Blizzard. He paused for a moment, surprised at calling himself his old nickname, then shook it off. He looked back up at Melanie and nodded grimly. “Thank you for your help, Miss Seymore. I think it would be best if you kept your distance from the club and any other dirty business for a while. If you need help getting out of town, I’ll be more than happy to put you into contact with people who can give you some aid.”
Melanie nodded, then frowned. She fidgeted, pulled the sleeve of her sweater over her hand and twisted the cuff. “Sheriff… I’m afraid for Ava and Lily. You know them?”
“Of course. What are you afraid of?”
“I’m afraid they’re going to get hurt. It seems like Jackson Masters loves them, but he’s a gang member. Into all sorts of shady shit. And even if he doesn’t eventually hurt them, what’s to stop rival gangs from going after them? Not to mention his psychopath sister!”
“Jackson very nearly lost his position in the gang, even his life, for Ava. He would never hurt her and if you think that he’d hurt his daughter, then you don’t know anything about wolves. We are very protective of our families.” Gabriel leaned forward, frowning still. “And if you think that Val would ever hurt them…”
“She broke Rodger’s wrist and smashed my phone!”
Gabriel rolled his eyes. “From what I’ve heard, Rodger deserved more than a broken wrist. Especially since he gets girls hooked on drugs so he can make them do what he wants,” he added when Melanie opened her mouth. “Val is fierce. She’s a foul-mouthed, violent woman, but only when she has to be. She protects what is hers. Ava became hers as soon as Jackson fell in love. Lily is hers just as much as her own daughters.”
Melanie gasped softly. “She has kids?”
If Val was here, she’d probably snap his neck for revealing such a thing. Luckily for him, she wasn’t here. “Yeah. They’re her life.”
“How do you know all this?”
Gabriel ran his hand through his salt-and-pepper hair. “Because I was once part of the Savage Brotherhood. Left to join the military and when I came back, I decided to be a cop. Painted a big target on my back. But I know how these things go, and I know that if it wasn’t Jackson and the Brotherhood here, it’d be someone else. If they don’t pass out their drugs, someone else will get in with dirty drugs. Sometimes you have to dance with the devil if you want to save lives, Melanie. Nothing is ever as clear-cut as it seems.”
The feline shifter shrank back from him. Her eyes were huge in her skull, her chest heaving. Sweat beaded her forehead and he could see the flight instinct starting to kick in. She looked just like a feral cat cornered by a wolf, knowing that its end was near. Gabriel put his hands in his lap and stayed very still, so as not to frighten her more.
“I’m not going to hurt you,” he said gently. “I’m just trying to help you understand. The gang does do terrible things. But there are always worse people out there. Jackson doesn’t allow things like sex trafficking. They’re determined to clean up the streets when it comes to the tainted stuff that put your friend’s life in danger.”
Melanie eyed him doubtfully, still wound up. “So, what you’re saying is that they’re the good guys in this situation?”
Gabriel barked out a laugh. “Good guys? No. I would never say that. Because there are no good guys. Not here, not in towns where gangs don’t exist, not anywhere. No matter where you look, you won’t find the perfect heroes that exist in stories and movies. They’re not as bad as some people out there, but that doesn’t mean they’re good. Hell… doesn’t mean I’m good. Now, you’re Ava’s friend. That gives you some immunity. That doesn’t mean they won’t come after you. Stay clear of the Brotherhood, Miss Seymore. Get out of Coalfell as soon as you can.”
He could see that she thought it was a threat, but didn’t bother correcting her. It might as well be a threat. If she didn’t get out, she was going to get herself hurt, or worse. There were plenty of people outside the gang who wouldn’t like her interference.
Once she was gone, Gabriel grabbed his hat and his keys. There was still investigating to be done.
***
The bar looked even more rundown than it had been last time he’d been in here. Gabriel couldn’t stop himself from smirking as a rush of memories came over him once he was in the dim, smoky interior. He had spent many nights here, getting drunk after a successful job. Getting drunk, having sex and waking up the next morning with a splitting headache and utterly naked in the alley behind the bar.
Everybody stopped when he entered. Drinks halfway to mouths, cigarettes hanging from fingers. It was expected. This was gang territory. Nobody came in here unless they were looking for trouble.
Gabriel marched up to the bar, ignoring the looks he got, and focused on the bartender. “Les.”
The older wolf eyed him skeptically. “Blizzard.”
“Just Cunningham now, if you don’t mind.” Gabriel kept his voice low and even. Non-threatening. “Tornado�
�s not answering his phone and I need some information.”
Les shook his head. “You should know better than to start poking around here, Bliz—Cunningham. Most of the folks here would like to see you in the ground.”
Gabriel smiled without humor. “Perhaps an exchange of information, then? There’s been a third party pushing drugs into Coalfell. Not the Brotherhood. I know because Val told me. These guys—”
“I’m sure I know nothing about that.” Les scrubbed furiously at a clean spot on the bar. “Go home, Blizzard. We’ll take care of our own business.”
There was a time when the gang was family to him. Gabriel took a seat, knowing it was dangerous, but also knowing that this was his best bet for getting hold of Jackson. Katie hadn’t been able to find him and with the alpha not picking up his calls, a more direct approach was needed.
The door to the bar opened and a familiar scent wafted in. The overly sweet scent that had accompanied the victims of the new drugs in the hospital. Gabriel turned on his seat to see Eric and Basil, two newcomers to the gang, strut in. Their eyes were glassy and by the way they walked, he could tell they were high. He tensed. If they’d taken the stuff tainted with vampire venom…
“Look!” Basil shouted, louder than was necessary. He laughed as he pointed at Gabriel. “It’s the cop!”
“I am a cop,” he agreed. “And whatever you're high on has vampire venom in it.”
The hostile looks that were still being thrown his way turned to alarm. Eric and Basil looked shocked for a minute. They glanced at each other and then started to laugh weakly. They stumbled to the bar, parting to sit on either side of him. Eric slammed his fist against the bar twice, while his face started to turn a nasty shade of green.
“Ridiculous,” Basil grunted. “Vampire venom? You’re just trying to get us to admit that we’re high.”
“Which we’re not,” Eric added quickly. “No drugs on us!”
His eyes rolled into the back of his head and he slumped against the bar. Gabriel caught him quickly and lowered him to the floor, just in time to catch Basil as he passed out. He checked their pulses to find their hearts beating fast and erratic. Bits of foam gathered at the corners of Basil’s mouth, while Eric started to seize.
Blizzard_A Paranormal Romance Page 6
