by Diane Darcy
“At the both of us,” Lena said.
“It wasn’t us.” Heath snapped. “We didn’t have anything to do with that, nor the murders! You’re looking at the wrong people.”
Bianca took his hand, and the two of them presented a united front, both on the same team once more.
William ran a hand through his hair then placed it over Lena’s where it still rested on his arm, and was about to order his men to take the two miscreants away when there was a commotion behind them.
William turned with a scowl. “Now what?”
Scene 48—
If anyone asked, Lena would have said she was to the point where nothing surprised her anymore.
Really, she should have reached that point years ago, as this was Vegas, and wild and crazy stories were the norm.
And, with everything that had happened in recent weeks, well, surely cynicism and numbness should have set in a bit, right?
Wrong.
The woman marching toward them had the hair rising on the back of Lena’s neck, and an instinctive fight or flight mechanism clicking into place somewhere deep within her chest.
Two men, elegant and menacing, paced at her side. A third man, tall, slim, and rumpled trailed behind.
Lena’s attention was immediately drawn back to the woman. Tall and full-figured, she wore a black gown that dragged on the ground, sleeves that hung to her knees, and a collar that rose to her ears, the points of which were as sharp as her dark fingernails.
Makeup was plastered thick on her face, dark kohl around her eyes emphasizing the vivid blue color. Sharp nose, black lips, and an air of malevolence emanated so strongly from the woman, that fight or flight turned into simply flight and Lena glanced around, looking for an exit, just as William pulled her close and tucked her under his arm.
Lena went still as those blue eyes roamed over her before finally settling on William.
“Dorinda,” William said, his voice carefully pleasant. “How nice tae see ye here, it’s been a long time.”
The woman stopped and threw her head back, finally lowering her arms to her sides. “William Murray.”
Lena flinched at the ice in the woman’s tone. “I understand you’ve been newly soul-mated. Congratulations are in order.”
“Thank ye.”
Lena noted that the woman hadn’t exactly offered them congratulations, per se, regardless, she swallowed the tight knot in her throat, and echoed William’s sentiments.
Dorinda’s gaze went to Heath and Bianca and she gestured with her claw-tipped fingers toward the Corvette. “The vehicle that Emilio won?”
“You can see it?” Lena wondered aloud, and when that sharp gaze pinned her once more, wished she hadn’t said a word.
“I can see coins in the trunk of a car. I’m going to assume the rest of the vehicle is there as well. William, you didn’t introduce me.”
William’s arm tightened around her and Lena did her best to look unphased as William said, “Lena, this is Dorinda, Queen of the Philadelphia nest. Dorinda, Lena.”
Dorinda’s eyes flashed and she held out a hand. “So nice to meet you.”
Lena slowly lifted her own and William grasped her wrist and held it down before their fingers could touch. “I don’t think so.”
Dorinda laughed, low and husky. “Another time, perhaps.” She glanced at the vampires once more, at William’s men spread out behind them, and then at her own entourage. “To business, then.”
“Felix!” She snapped her fingers and the third man, looking harried, moved around the trio, and stood resolute before William, a clipboard clutched to his chest that he slowly lowered as he cleared his throat impatiently.
“Felix,” William said, his tone threatening. “What are ye doing here? Ye know ye’ve been suspended. Did ye invite Dorinda here?”
“I had to, didn’t I? Suspension or not, someone had to follow this through. None of the paperwork is getting done, people are being murdered, and as far as I can tell you aren’t doing a thing about it.”
Oh, dear.
Lena could both hear and feel the growl that erupted from William. “So, ye decided that I couldnae handle my own business, did ye?”
Felix spluttered. “The paperwork needed to be done! It is within my jurisdiction to make sure the winnings are doled out in an appropriate and timely manner!”
“And ye have the paperwork, do ye, stating that Dorinda is the new owner of said vehicle?”
“She’s his queen!”
“And ye have the paperwork that says he has left his possessions to his queen?” William said, his voice menacing.
Felix visibly wilted. “But … but she’s his queen,” the man said once more.
“Yes,” Dorinda said. “And car aside, as Emilio’s queen, and as Dimitri’s queen, I’d like to know why I’ve not been contacted sooner!”
She shot a vicious glance toward Heath and Bianca who froze under a gaze that promised harsh retribution.
She turned that laser sharp gaze upon William once again. “I would have expected at least the courtesy of a phone call from you.”
“I dinnae need the interference. I’m in the middle of an investigation, and throwin’ more people intae the mix would only confuse the matter.”
Dorinda lifted clawed hands once more. “How dare you! Interference, indeed, when two from my nest are dead. If you think I’ll forget a slight of this magnitude, you are very much mistaken. I want their bodies, Emilio’s winnings,” her gaze shot to Heath and Bianca, “and my vampires.”
“This is exactly what I was talkin’ about. Until the investigation is over, Heath and Bianca are no’ free tae leave, and certainly no’ with ye. They would disappear in Philadelphia never tae be seen again, and as I said, I dinnae need yer interference!”
Lena couldn’t help but feel proud of William’s ability to hold his own with this feral creature.
His gaze suddenly fell to the ground and Lena glanced down to see her pet seated beside her.
Dorinda glanced from Lena to the gargoyle and back again. “How interesting.”
William’s grip tightened around her as Lena felt the threat of Dorinda’s gaze.
“What are you?” Dorinda asked.
“A powerful witch.” William was quick to insert.
Dorinda chuckled at that. “I’ll bet that took you down a few pegs, Wolf.” Dorinda spat the words.
Dorinda glanced at the gargoyle once again, and then shook her curls before turning in a flutter of black silk. “I will want my usual room, and I won’t be leaving until this is sorted out.”
As they walked away, William turned to Felix. “Ye heard her, run along and make sure the manager checks her in. After all, yer good at paperwork, are ye no’?”
Felix flinched and, clutching his clipboard and muttering to himself, he turned to trail after the vampire queen.
As William instructed his men to finish gathering the coins, shut the trunk, and take Heath and Bianca to interrogation, Lena let out a slow breath and watched the vampire queen round the corner.
She felt like they’d just had a close call with a dangerous animal.
One she’d never want to meet when she was by herself.
Chapter 18
“Call the witches back here, and get them tae take the invisibility spell off the car.” William was in the middle of telling his men what to do when he saw Heath and Bianca looking at the white bucket of coins once more, almost as if their gazes were drawn against their will.
He still didn’t know why they were after the darn things. “Quinn, hand me that bucket.”
Quinn handed over the bucket of coins, and then joined Caleb, Alistair, and Berkeley in carrying out their assigned tasks.
As soon as they took the pair with them, everyone clearing out of the area, William turned to Lena. “Ready to go?”
“Sure.” She took his arm once more and, their footsteps echoing in the garage, asked, “What do you think? Do you really think Heath murdered his friends?”
&nbs
p; “Aye. I think tis over now. Bianca might believe Heath didn’t do it, but I’m feeling a little more cynical about the whole thing.”
“But why would he kill his friends? They seemed really close.”
“Mayhap Heath sensed Bianca was his mate, his other half, and wanted tae get rid of the competition.”
Lena made a noise indicating her doubt.
He glanced down at her and realized that it was a motive he could actually sympathize with. When Thorne acted like he wanted her … if Lena had shown any interest in the other man … he might’ve been capable of murder.
He sighed, immediately dismissing the thought. He wouldn’t have killed Thorne, but he might’ve hurt him.
He shook off the negative feelings, just glad that Thorne hadn’t been himself. That it had all been a misunderstanding and he’d been under a spell.
When they reached the elevator, the others had already gone up, William pushed the button, but wasn’t in any big hurry. Any time he spent with Lena was time he did not wish to rush.
He was a little nervous about the attention that Dorinda had given to Lena. Still, he doubted the vampire queen would dare to move against his mate, or she would feel the retaliation he would rain down upon her.
They took the elevator, crossed the bridge to the hotel, and he held the big door as they both went inside. Taking her hand, he trailed her behind him as they made their way through the casino and to the stairs that led to security.
He found himself glancing around, making sure no one followed, as he led his mate to security, and finally into his office.
He shut the door behind them, set the bucket on the desk, and sat on the edge, drawing her into his arms for a hug.
He felt himself relaxing now that she was here, safe and protected in his territory.
“I’m going tae interview Heath and Bianca, and hopefully get this wrapped up tight. It’ll be over and done with soon, and we can put the unpleasantness behind us.”
Lena wrapped her arms around him and nodded.
His poor mate was exhausted. “Why doonae ye take a nap?” He stood up and led her to the couch where he settled a pillow on one end and dragged a blanket from off the back. “Lie down here, and I’ll be back as soon as possible.”
“Sounds good to me.” She settled in and he tucked the blanket around her. Their courtship wasn’t going as smoothly as he’d hoped. He couldn’t help but think that mayhap she would be better off with someone like Thorne, but even as he thought it, strong feelings of denial roared through him as he rejected the idea out of hand.
Things would get better from here on out.
They’d caught the murderer, so no one would be shooting at her anymore, he’d send Heath to New York, Bianca back with Dorinda, and life would get back to normal again.
Still, he’d feel a lot better about turning Heath over if he could get a confession.
He wanted to dig down deep with Bianca too. If she was in on this, he didn’t want her getting away with it.
If Dorinda took her, Bianca would disappear into her nest, and maybe Dorinda would take care of justice, but maybe she wouldn’t.
You never knew what went on with vampires.
One last look at Lena showed she’d already shut her eyes, and he headed for the door.
He’d be glad when this was all over, and he could give her all his attention once again.
Lena was tired enough that she was on the verge of sleep when she heard someone come back into the office.
She half expected William, so when she opened her eyes, was surprised to see Quinn headed straight for William’s desk. He snatched up the bucket, and rather than turning around and leaving again he upended the thing right onto William’s desk, being careful not to lose any of the coins onto the floor.
He started to go through them, gently spreading them out on the desk a few at a time as if searching for one in particular.
“Hey,” she said, to let him know she was there. “What are you doing?”
Quinn turned fast, obviously startled, and his face seemed to slip a bit … weirdly. Sort of like his skin was sinking downward before it snapped back into place.
Her heart started a slow thud in her chest and she tried to keep her expression neutral as she slowly sat up and threw the blankets off her legs, the fear of being tangled within them suddenly real and suffocating.
Quinn’s mobile expression settled into a look of hatred, that quickly slipped from his face.
Feeling at a disadvantage, she wished she had just stayed quiet and pretended to be asleep. Because … that wasn’t Quinn.
The hair on the back of her neck contracted and, feeling breathless, threatened, she once again struggled to keep her expression neutral.
If whoever it was suspected she knew it wasn’t Quinn, things would not turn out well for her.
She casually turned and walked toward the small refrigerator against one wall, and further away from the man. “Can I get you a drink?” Her gaze never left him. “There’s soda, juice, water?”
She was babbling, as he continued to stare at her, his gaze heavy as if he were making a decision. “Nothing for me,” he finally said.
“Have you seen William? He said he was going to be back in just a second.”
Quinn grunted at her, then started sorting through coins once more.
She opened the refrigerator, grabbed a water bottle, and then put it back in favor of the can of soda. It would hurt more if she hit him or threw it at him.
She moved to put the couch between them.
What was it about those coins?
She glanced at the ceiling hoping to see a baby gargoyle, her fierce protector ready to jump into action, but he wasn’t there.
She casually picked up her phone from the end table and before she could so much as press a button, Quinn/not Quinn, was there, taking it from her.
He’d been so fast it startled her, and made her realize she didn’t have a shot at running for the door.
“Come over here, will you? I need your help with something.” He tossed her phone on the couch, pulled her along.
She tried not to glance at the door. “What is going on, Quinn?”
“Just come to the desk. I need your help with something.”
She allowed herself to be pulled forward. Again, trying to act as normally as she would if this really were Quinn in front of her. “You’re freaking me out,” she said, her tone striving for playful, but falling short.
His hands were sweating, and it was slightly disgusting. Fortunately, when they reached the desk, he dropped her hand and gestured to the coins spread out on top. “Do you see anything unusual in here?”
“Unusual how?”
“There’s a coin in this pile, a special coin, and you’re a witch, so find it.”
“Find what?” Even as she said the words, a thin line of green mist emanated from one of the coins.
His expression sharpened. “What? Which one is it? Don’t lie to me girl, or I’ll know it?”
He was suddenly squeezing the back of her neck, bending her forward slightly, as if he was going to rub her face in the coins.
“Ow! Ow, ow, ow! That hurts!”
She tried to pull away from him, but could not break his strong grip.
“Which one?” He shouted the word in her ear, making her flinch.
Lena slowly reached out and tapped the coin beside the one releasing the green tendrils of mist. No way was she telling him the truth. “This one. Why? What is it?”
The door opened behind them, and Quinn/not Quinn, immediately released her at exactly the same moment she heard a terrifying sound behind them.
William’s roar continued to echo even as he crossed the room and grabbed Quinn in a headlock.
He’d been interrogating Heath, trying to get him to admit to the murders, but the man wouldn’t crack.
He’d insisted, once more, that he didn’t murder his friends and he smelled of despair rather than deception.
; Only his threats to Bianca had riled him, leaving William wondering once more if Bianca was his mate.
When a feeling of uneasiness stirred through him, he decided to give it a break and go and check on Lena once more.
Only to see Quinn touching her? Grabbing her neck in an aggressive way? It put William in an instant, murderous rage.
Now, squeezing Quinn’s head between his forearm and bicep, trying to make sense of why Quinn would do such a thing, the man suddenly changed forms, morphing into Heath, into Bianca, into Quinn, and finally, just as William understood what was happening, into Felix.
William released the man and shoved him back toward the sofa and away from Lena.
“Felix, what is the meaning of this?”
Lena was rubbing her neck. “He’s after a very specific coin. He came in here pretending to be Quinn, and then tried to force me to identify the coin, which he now has in his hand.”
She shot the man a look of disgust. “Of course, it isn’t the coin he was after,” she plucked a coin from the desk and held it up. “This one is.”
Aggression pumping in his veins, William was feeling slow on the uptake even as Felix’s expression turned feral.
That he understood.
The shapeshifter, back to his normal, tall, thin self, let out a bellow of rage, and jumped toward Lena.
Without even thinking about it, William leapt the short distance between them, meeting Felix in the middle, and shoved him backward again.
Felix threw out an arm as he fell over, caught his balance against the floor, and then sprang to his feet again, slashing a knife at William’s midsection.
Seriously?
William jumped backward, the knife barely missing his stomach, making a zipping noise as it caught on the edge of his black suit coat.
Shock turned to rage as William stared at Felix. “What do ye think ye’re doin’?” His voice was rough, his vocal cords morphing as his body grew larger.
Felix, breathless, stared at him in horror. “I… I…”
William took advantage of his distraction and with a lunge, grabbed the other man’s wrist and twisted until the knife fell to the carpeted floor with barely a thunk, his claws digging in.
