Finn

by Romi Hart

Broken-down houses lined one street after another. Starved children and mangy dogs lurked on every corner. Whores with missing teeth hovered at the intersections. Claire dreaded the moment Finn told them to get out of the car.

  The limo didn’t look right gliding through these ghettos. Finn ducked close to the window watching the landmarks slide past the glass. The farther into Central City they traveled, the more agitated he became. All at once, he called through the service window to the driver. “Stop here.”

  He kicked the door open and got out. Damien followed. The others joined him, but Claire recognized the horror and uncertainty on all their faces. None of them liked this. They didn’t like it at all.

  When all six of them stood on the sidewalk, Finn waved to one side. “Let’s go.”

  He led them down the block to the Capital One Bank on busy South Claiborne Avenue. When they turned the corner, they encountered a large crowd of tall, well-built men all dressed in business suits.

  Dorian waded through the throng to accost Finn. “Sorry, man. I could only get fifteen.”

  “Don’t worry about it.” Finn marched right into their midst and raised his voice. “Now listen up, all of you. Today is the day Bernard Novak stepped down as head of SeamStream Crest. I know what you’re thinking, but he left the family business in the charge of his children and me. You might think this puts us at a disadvantage because he never revealed to any one person all the intricate details of his business. You’re all gonna find out that’s not actually the case. The truth is that we’re in a position of strength because the only people who know he stepped down are standing on this sidewalk right now.” He cast a flinty glare at the people hanging on his every word.

  He rotated around and faced the people behind him. “Listen to me very carefully, all of you. Listen carefully because we will never get another moment like this. The very first thing every man, woman, and child in Anarock is going to do when they find out that Bernard stepped down is to come gunning after us. They’re going to make the mistake of thinking his children are weak. They’re going to test us and challenge us. They’re going to attack us in a thousand ways and try to steal what you’ve all worked your whole lives to build. We can’t allow that. We have to strike right now and show our strength. We have to send them a message loud and clear that we’re just as strong and just as dangerous, if not more so, than Bernard ever was. We have to make them all crawl off into their holes knowing that messing with us doesn’t pay.”

  No one twitched a hair. No one breathed. They all waited to hear him say what he wanted them to do. Claire never doubted for an instant he could send them into certain death and they would do it gladly.

  He leveled his index finger across South Claiborne Avenue. “Right over there across the street, there’s a man who owes Bernard Novak seven thousand dollars. He’s delayed and manipulated and lied for over nine months. He thinks because he’s a wizard with a bunch of magic-wielders at his beck and call that no one will dare to come after him and make him pay. He’s sitting over there right now gloating that not even the great Bernard Novak dares to hold his feet to the fire. We have one chance to go after him and get the money from him before everybody else finds out Bernard is on permanent vacation. This is our chance to run up our own flag and show Anarock what we’re made of. This is our chance to show them the next generation of SeamStream Crest will be more powerful and more determined and more unwavering than the last ever was.”

  Silence answered him. Claire experienced a curious thrill in the center of her chest. This was her man, her love, her everything. This man moved through power and confidence to seize the moment and bend it to his own use.

  This was Finn, the man she loved, the man to whom she gave her heart and soul and her whole life. This was Finn. Anybody who thought he was weak or poor or soft didn’t know him—not at all.

  This was him—the real him. He was the man commanding these mighty people. He was the one taking charge of them and sending them into battle. He was the one telling them what to do and how to do it. He would keep doing that and he would lead them into the next generation of power and strength.

  He rotated around and leveled his ferocious gaze across South Claiborne Avenue. He fell eerily still as if he lost all awareness of everyone around him. He concentrated all his attention on his target.

  When he spoke again, he murmured low. “Let’s go.”

  He stepped off the sidewalk to cross the busy thoroughfare. He didn’t look right or left. Cars slowed and stopped to let him through. All the confederates of the SeamStream Crest who gathered at his call set off after him. They blocked traffic marching shoulder to shoulder on a collision course with destiny.

  Malachai (Anarock Shifters, Book 5) - Special Preview

  1

  Isabelle Lytle looked up from her phone and stopped dead in her tracks. She blinked at the couple standing outside the Sheraton Hotel in New Orleans’s upscale Canal Street. She swallowed once to get her voice working. “Riley? Riley Strickland?”

  The petite woman’s jet-black hair whipped against her cheeks when she spun around. She gasped out loud. “Isabelle! What are you doing here?”

  The two women rushed into each other’s arms. Isabelle could hardly believe she had her arms around Riley again after so many years. “Are you real? Are you really here?”

  Riley fought back tears pushing Isabelle to arm’s length and inspecting her. “Wow! You look amazing! God, are you a sight for sore eyes!”

  “Ten years!” Isabelle exclaimed. “I never thought I’d see you again—definitely not in New Orleans. What brings you down here?”

  Riley shrugged. She cast a glance at the hulking man next to her. “I live here now. I moved here earlier this year.”

  Isabelle stole a peek at the tall, broad-shouldered guy at Riley’s side. He must easily be one of the most attractive men she’d seen in…well, forever. Short dark hair accentuated his deep, olive skin and bottomless black eyes. His blocky frame filled out a flawless grey suit with crisp, immaculate white shirt cuffs against his satin-smooth skin. He wore no tie. His open collar revealing a sultry triangle of chest hiding under his shirt.

  Riley, on the other hand, wore the same denim jeans and jacket Isabelle remembered from years ago. In a way, Riley looked no different except for perhaps a mysterious vibrant energy that enlivened every hair and every flash of her sultry dark eyes.

  Riley noticed Isabelle surveying her companion. She waved to the man. “Malachai Griffin, this is my best friend in the whole wide world, Isabelle Lytle.”

  Malachai closed his eyes and bowed. “It’s a pleasure to meet any friend of Riley’s.”

  “We were best friends all the way through school,” Riley was telling him. “We enlisted in the Navy together and went all the way through the Naval Academy. Dang, that seems so long ago!”

  Isabelle dragged her gaze away from Malachai with an effort. Something about him captivated her, but a guy that good-looking would captivate anybody. “How did you wind up down here of all places? Last time I saw you, you were stationed on an aircraft carrier in the Persian Gulf. Don’t tell me you gave up being a pilot. That was your dream ever since you were a little girl.”

  Riley cringed, but she wouldn’t stop smiling. Her cheeks glowed with pleasure. “Everything changes, I guess. Some stuff happened earlier this year and I kinda got diverted to other things. I was stationed at Barksdale, so coming down here seemed like the thing to do. What about you? Please tell me you’re not still stuck in the lab all the time. Tell me you’re getting some vitamin D every now and again.”

  Isabelle laughed and surveyed Canal Street baking in the sunshine. “Only sometimes, but yeah, I’m still working in the lab. The last time I saw you, I was in Miami. After that, I got transferred here and promoted. Now I’m head researcher for my team so it looks like I’m stuck with pathology for the rest of my life.”

  Riley shook her head and set her satiny hair swaying again. She really looked incredible. Isabelle cou
ldn’t put her finger on exactly why, but Riley never looked so good. “So where are you working?” Riley asked. “What lab?”

  “I can’t tell you. It’s a top-secret military lab, so it’s classified out of this world. I would probably get in trouble even for telling you that I’m a pathologist.”

  Isabelle laughed at her own joke, but the smile evaporated off Riley’s face. She frowned. “Oh.”

  Isabelle brushed her own bangs out of her eyes. “What’s the big deal? You knew I worked for the Navy. There’s only so many places a pathologist can get promoted in the military.”

  “I know.” Riley looked away.

  Isabelle noticed Malachai scrutinizing her. She couldn’t read his expression, but he listened to their conversation with preternatural concentration. He took in every word like Isabelle being a pathologist was the most interesting, most significant fact on the planet.

  Isabelle rounded on Riley, but before she could say anything, Malachai touched Riley’s elbow. “I’m going over there to get a smoothie. Do you want one?”

  Riley started out of her trance. “Oh, yeah. Thanks. Make mine something light—something with fruit.”

  Malachai wandered across the street to the smoothie bar. Isabelle appreciated the welcome sight of him walking away. He towered over everyone. His broad presence dwarfed the other customers at the bar. He radiated a large aura even from across the street.

  “Wow, Riley,” she breathed. “You sure caught yourself a live one there.”

  Riley’s head whipped around. “Huh? What do you mean?”

  “Him.” Isabelle nodded toward Malachai. “He’s stunning.”

  Riley furrowed her brow before her features cleared. “Oh! You mean Malachai? He’s not…..we’re not together. He’s….” She glanced over her shoulder toward the Sheraton. “He’s my brother-in-law.”

  Isabelle wheeled around. “Your brother-in-law!”

  Riley nodded. “I married his brother. Victor’s in a meeting up there right now. We’re just waiting for him.”

  Isabelle’s mouth fell open. “You—married? I don’t believe it.”

  Riley blushed and cast her gaze to the sidewalk. “It’s true. A lot of crazy stuff happened earlier this year. I moved down here to be with Victor and his family. We’re…. well, I guess you could say we’re running the family business. His father got killed by their enemies and Victor took over. He’s in charge and Malachai is kind of like his chief lieutenant. It’s complicated.”

  “Sounds like it.” Isabelle studied her friend one more time. “I would have thought giving up your dream of being a pilot would have killed you, but you seem to be happier and thriving. Whatever you’re doing, it agrees with you.”

  “Yeah, it does.” Riley stared across the street toward Malachai. “I never thought it could be like this, either, but it works. I don’t claim to understand it, but I’m where I need to be.”

  Both women watched Malachai come trotting back holding two cups. He handed Riley hers. She said, “Thanks,” and sipped at her straw.

  Now Isabelle focused all her attention on Malachai. “Are you going to be around for a while? Maybe you’d like to go out to dinner sometime.”

  A faint smile touched his lips, but he never took his sizzling deep eyes off her face. “Thanks, but I can’t. I’m busy.”

  “Another time, then. You can’t be busy all the time.”

  He glanced down at the cup in his hand, but when he sipped at his straw, he came back to staring right at her. Those eyes ate into her soul all the way down to the very bottom of her being. “Sorry. I can’t.”

  Isabelle frowned. “Why not? If you don’t want to, just come right out and say so.”

  Now he really did smile. It flashed across his visage like a ray of sunshine breaking through the clouds. It lit up his cheeks and his eyes twinkled. All his strong, straight teeth showed, but before he could say anything, Riley interrupted. “We should keep in touch, Isabelle. Since we both live in New Orleans, we should exchange contact details. We can get together again.”

  Isabelle didn’t want to look away from Malachai. His impossibly powerful appeal compelled her to keep staring at him and never look away, but she had to deal with Riley. “Yeah, okay. Give me your number.”

  Riley whipped out her phone. Isabelle took the opportunity of Riley tapping the screen to return her attention to Malachai. “Where do you live in town?”

  Riley cut in a second time. “Here’s my number. Send me a text so I have yours.”

  Now Isabelle couldn’t escape the realization that Riley was deliberately intervening to stop her from talking to Malachai. Before she had a chance to get annoyed, Malachai shot Riley a quick look. “We should get going.”

  Isabelle confronted her friend. “Did I say something wrong?”

  Riley blushed again. She lowered her eyes to her screen in an embarrassed way. These two were definitely conspiring to stop Isabelle from getting acquainted with Malachai. “Of course not. Just give me your number and we can get together another time.”

  Isabelle narrowed her eyes at the woman she thought was her friend. Why on Earth would Riley stop Isabelle from talking to Malachai? Just when Isabelle gathered her resolve to demand some answers, Malachai turned away. He swiveled his shoulder in Isabelle’s direction and trained his gaze on the Sheraton like he wanted to erase her from existence.

  Isabelle stiffened. He was rejecting her outright. She wasn’t so naïve that she couldn’t recognize that. She faced Riley and did her best to block him from her awareness, too. “Here it is.”

  She sent Riley her number so they both had each other’s details. Riley burst into a happy grin. “Great! I’ll text you and we can do something this weekend, how about?”

  Isabelle nodded, but all of a sudden, she wasn’t all that happy about seeing Riley, now or later. She almost wished she never saw Riley or Malachai at all.

  Riley flung her arms around Isabelle and crushed her in a stifling embrace. “I’m so happy to see you again! I can’t wait to catch up. I gotta go. See you around.”

  She turned away and she and Malachai walked toward the Sheraton. Isabelle gulped down her humiliation and hurried off in the opposite direction.

  2

  Malachai waited until he and Riley entered the huge, glass-fronted hotel before he dared to look back. Isabelle was gone, but he could still picture her as though she was in front of him.

  She sure looked nice. She smiled easily with those glistening blue eyes. One strand of her honey-blonde hair curved back from her temple in a soft braid falling behind her ear. The rest of it dipped every which way in wild curls she made no effort to contain. They shimmered with hidden energy from somewhere inside themselves. They threatened to erupt in all directions from their own lively vitality.

  Her black tights showed off a beautiful, curvaceous femininity. Any man would love to get his hands on that body, but not him. Not Malachai Griffin. He wasn’t any man. He shouldn’t even be looking back for her across an unbridgeable gap holding him apart.

  Riley broke in on his thoughts. “Sorry about that. I’m sure she doesn’t understand about the New Breed.”

  Malachai returned his gaze to her. “You can’t associate with her. You should know that. You shouldn’t have given her your number.”

  The blood rushed to Riley’s cheeks. “I couldn’t exactly push her away without giving her my number, could I? That would make her suspect more than anything. She’s my oldest friend.”

  He shook his head. “You can’t get together with her. It’s a bad idea. It can’t lead to anything. You should avoid humans. They can be dangerous.”

  Riley faced front. “I didn’t agree to give up my old friends and family when I became New Breed. It’s not my fault a toxic spill mutated me into a dragon. I can catch up with her, at least. Even if I did associate with her long-term, what harm can it do? It doesn’t mean she has to find out about the New Breed.”

  He studied her profile. “Do you plan to tell Vic
tor about this?”

  She shot him a sidelong glance. “Don’t tell me you’ll rat me out if I don’t. Is that what you’re saying?”

  He halted in the lobby and pivoted around to face her. “I’m saying…. if you keep it a secret, isn’t that basically the same as admitting you’re doing something wrong? What reason could you possibly have to hide it from him if you’re not doing anything wrong? You know it’s wrong or you wouldn’t even consider hiding it from him. Associating with humans is dangerous—not just to you but to all New Breed. You’re putting all of us in danger with this stunt. That’s why you wouldn’t tell him. You would be betraying Anarock and you know it.”

  She rotated in his direction, but she kept scanning the lobby and shifting from one foot to the other. She refused to look at him. “Maybe I don’t want to tell him because I know he’s going to react exactly the way you’re reacting now. Maybe he would forbid me to see Isabelle for no reason. Maybe that’s why I don’t want to tell him.”

  Malachai bent his head low to scrutinize her. “You can’t seriously be suggesting that the safety of Anarock and everyone in it is no reason. Anarock is his top priority. If that means you can’t see your friend, then that’s a small price to pay for the lives of all the other New Breed in this city, don’t you think?” She made another face. He straightened up and held up his hand. “Don’t answer that. I can see you don’t agree.”

  She raised her dark eyes to his face. “So…. are you gonna tell him?”

  “No.” He squared his shoulders. “You are.”

  He rotated on his heel and walked away. He made sure not to check over his shoulder to gauge the effect of his statement. He knew Riley Strickland too well to second-guess her.

  He got halfway across the lobby when the elevator opened in front of him. His brother Victor stepped out. Victor looked like a completely different person in his own tailored suit and polished black leather shoes.