“That woman was back.” Hank growled as he opened the door for me. “Sue walked into the lobby, took a call, then left about three minutes ago.”
Scanning the street, I saw nothing but traffic. “That’s it?”
“I kept an eye on her.” He tapped his ear. “She moved out of hearing range before placing the call.”
The rules of working the front door were simple: Don’t leave it unmanned. Ever.
Hank, to my knowledge, had only left his post once. To capture Lillian when she sneaked past him.
“Sue’s mated to a shifter.” I had trouble picturing it. “Weirdly enough, she’s picked up an ever-growing list of anti-shifter habits from him.”
In our world, there were predators and then there were predators. Maybe I was looking at this the wrong way. Sue might not be anti-shifter so much as she was anti-apex predator. Without knowing more about selkies, I couldn’t say if her precautions were warranted when in close proximity to others who were more animalistic than her spouse, or if they were biased against those predators for being less—for lack of a better word—human.
“I’ll call security.” I got out my phone. “See if they can pull the feed for me.”
I wanted to know what turned her on her heel so fast.
And if it had anything to do with the black witch in holding or the vampires who dumped her there.
Ten
Both Linus and Hadley had done more than their fair share when it came to excising the rot in Atlanta. Midas only had to look at Jenny Bard to know Hadley could spend the rest of her life skimming scum off the topmost layers without ever hitting the bottom of the barrel.
“We’ve got eyes on Clans Jefferies, Van de Berg, and Morton.” Ford sidled up to him. “The sister’s statement is being notarized as we speak.” He glanced at Midas. “It’s a smoking gun aimed at Jefferies.”
“We need to bring in Jefferies’s ambassador for questioning.”
“Will that be overstepping?” Ford scratched his cheek. “Does that fall under OPA sanction or ours?”
“Morton dumped the witch here. That makes her our problem.”
The letter of the law didn’t matter to him where Hadley’s safety and happiness were concerned.
“Jenny still holding out on Neely’s location?”
“Yes.” Much longer, and Midas would pry the answers from her. “She is.”
Jenny’s sister had already confessed to working with Jefferies to kidnap and contain the Billiards. She was in this up to her neck, and Midas was ready to shove her head under water if it got him the information to save Neely…and Hadley’s dreams.
“Black witches.” Ford shuddered. “Makes my skin crawl even through the magic barrier.”
“The Billiards are in Lake Lanier. We know that much.”
“I doubt a serial kidnapper would stash their victims all in one place. Makes it too easy to lose their whole collection if cops locate the hidey-hole. The need to keep them together, or have them nearby, would be an emotional choice. This isn’t personal, though. It’s professional. And the lake’s potential is huge. There’s so much debris on the bed from flooding that area, who knows what it’s concealing?”
With a large and thriving aquatic paranormal community under the water, there would be protections in place. Those might very well, unintentionally, shield Neely’s location from them too.
And Midas had no doubt that Neely was in that lake. Somewhere. Bubbled in just like the Billiard family.
“Water disrupts normal magic.” Midas recalled Hadley telling him that. “The tactical coven is good, the best in our area, but there are rules that magic follows. They can’t guarantee their methods will locate Neely in time, or at all.”
“We know what lake-dwellers do to bodies left in the water.” Ford grimaced. “We might never find him.”
Unless Hadley sacrificed her career. For Neely? She would do it in a heartbeat.
“One sprite can’t clear the whole lake solo.” Midas exhaled. “An old-fashioned manhunt, assuming we could talk Lake Lanier inhabitants into helping or allowing us to search their private residences, could take days or even weeks. We don’t have either.”
The gauntlet was tomorrow night, and there were no takebacks once Hadley stepped down.
“Where does Sue fit in?” Ford fiddled with a button on his shirt. “What’s her game?”
“I don’t trust her. I understand why she’s cagey, her family’s lives are on the line, but that means Hadley can’t believe a word out of her mouth. Neither can we.”
An idea began forming that would require Linus’s input before Midas dared suggest it to Hadley.
One that might buy her more time to save Neely and her promotion.
Lost in thought, Midas didn’t notice Ford had ushered him out into the lobby until the silence hit.
“I’m grabbing an early lunch.” Ford tossed his keys. “Wanna join me?”
“Bring me back something?” Midas rubbed a hand over his eyes. “I have to get back in there.”
“I just dragged you out of there…”
“I appreciate the breather.” He gave his friend a smile. “But I’m not leaving until Jenny gives up Neely’s location.”
Whatever the vampires’ game, he refused to allow Hadley—or their victims—to lose.
“Midas?” A young enforcer trotted up to him. “Your mate requested we pull the security video.”
Polite as his frayed nerves allowed, he asked, “Why?”
“Sue Billiard was here earlier. She came into the lobby, took a call, then left.”
Hank must have told Hadley when she left for HQ. “Did you find anything?”
“We isolated an audio clip,” he confirmed. “She was in contact with Ian Jefferies, but she was cautious. She greeted him by name and then took the call outside.”
Cautious would have been not returning to the Faraday. Cautious would have been not using his name.
Sue Billiard was many things, but Midas began to suspect cautious wasn’t one of them.
“I’ll let Hadley know.” He would take any excuse to talk to her, check on her state of mind. “Thank you for your help.”
The enforcer snapped his shoulders back and marched back to his post, providing Midas with a much-needed smile.
Before he got his hands dirty with Jenny, he leaned against a wall and dialed Hadley. “Hi.”
“Has anyone ever told you your voice is sexy?”
“No.”
Most people thought it was raw, coarse, ruined.
“Well, it is.” Her tone left him no doubt she believed it. “Especially when you call me with good news.”
A smile tugged on his lips. “How could you tell I had good news?”
“You sound less murderous than earlier. I choose to view that as a good omen.”
“Security isolated a soundbite for you.” He didn’t make her wait. “Sue was talking to Ian Jefferies.”
They had video evidence in hand, and they could pin it down with her phone records later.
“So, let me see if we’re on the same page. Ian Jefferies wants to replace me with someone he can manipulate to ensure vampires keep the shifters from having their social status elevated. He chose to use Lockdown’s services via a proxy, thereby hiring Van de Berg’s clan members and incriminating Van de Berg himself. Jefferies knew Van de Berg’s clan wouldn’t blink at kidnapping a human and roughing up another one.”
“Jefferies was hoping to sink Van de Berg,” Midas agreed, “but now they’re both on the hook.”
Hadley would never allow Van de Berg to continue operating within the city as openly as he had been. Not to mention, that clan was directly responsible for Neely’s abduction and the assault on Cruz. There would be a reckoning for that.
“And then we have Morton, who’s newer to the city and wants to clear the board for his clan to take over more operations. He figures it can’t hurt to get on my good side, plus he knows both clans will be disbanded, and their masters
punished for their crimes. That leaves him the top dog. Top fang? Whatever.” She drew in a long breath, as if bracing for her next question. “Any word on Neely?”
“I’m sorry.” His fingers curled into his palms. “Jenny is holding out on us.”
They had confirmation Ian Jefferies ordered the Billiard family taken then turned them over to the coven for containment, but she was holding firm on Neely. Either she was terrified of the consequences now that she was aware of them, or she was hoping to cut a better deal.
Given she was a black witch, he was betting on the latter.
“This was my last night for a miracle,” she murmured. “The gauntlet is tomorrow.”
“We will find a way to fix this,” he promised. “We’ll find Neely, and you will be voted in.”
“I love you.”
The swell of affection for his mate strained his heart against his ribs. “I love you too.”
“Whatever tomorrow holds, I’ve done all I can do. We all have. Whatever happens, happens.”
After the call ended, Midas returned to the holding cell, met Jenny’s smug grin, and he smiled.
Eleven
The alarm caught my attention. It didn’t wake me. I was already staring at the ceiling when it chimed the hour. I killed the reminder tonight was the night. The night I had trained for, sweated for, bled for. There were no words for how I felt. I wasn’t sure I felt anything. Other than sick and tired of not being enough.
I swung my legs over the edge of the mattress and sat there, listening to the shower.
Midas had woken up fifteen minutes ago and padded into the bathroom while I pretended to sleep.
The weight in my chest made it hard to rise, but I got to my feet and purged the hurt to clear my head.
The world tilted on its axis, the foundation of my new life crumbling under my feet, but I could do this.
Sacrifice was the nature of my duty, and tonight I would prove to Linus he had trained me well.
Palms on the walls, I braced myself and breathed. Just breathed. Until Midas pressed a kiss to my nape.
“I have information for you.”
The uptick in my pulse had more to do with his nearness than any hope I had left.
“You were out late.” I glanced at him over my shoulder. “What was more important than cuddling me?”
By the time he crawled in bed, I was too tangled in my own thoughts and worries to interrogate him.
I had turned on my side, waited for him to fall asleep, then stared at the wall until my eyes grew itchy.
“Linus got in early this morning. He and I got distracted with last-minute business.”
Cool relief washed through me to hear Linus was in the city, even if he was too late to help. “Oh?”
“I suspect Clan Jefferies wants you to flunk out instead of bow out to disqualify you on a technicality. That way, you give up any hope of an appeal.” He hesitated. “I read the rulebook last night. The bylaws. If you don’t finish the gauntlet, you can’t be voted in.”
That explained what he and Linus had been up to well into the afternoon, and it made my vision blur.
“What do they expect me to do?” I shoved off the wall. “There’s no way out but through.”
Unless they expected me to walk into an execution to grant them an uncontestable disqualification.
That would never happen. Not for my sake, or for Ambrose, but for Midas.
Our deaths would trigger his, and that I would never allow. Not for anyone or anything.
Footsteps perked my ears seconds before the bedroom door swung open.
“Clothes.” Grier flung them at me. “Move it.”
“Grier?” I cranked my head toward Midas after the door shut. “Did you know she was out there?”
And exactly how much of my freshly showered mate had she seen before he reached our bedroom?
“Yes.” He tapped his ear. “She arrived five minutes ago.”
Not that I was the jealous type, but I was glad she missed the pec parade.
“I’m here,” Grier called through the door. “So is Linus, FYI.”
The backs of my eyes prickled, and I clutched the fabric to my chest. “What is all this?”
“The pants and shirt are reinforced with Kevlar mesh.” Grier, who had seen my boobs at least as often as Midas, thanks to us taking turns lacing each other’s corsets while at Haint Misbehavin’, cracked the door to make talking easier. “You’ll bake in long sleeves, but it’ll be worth it if it keeps you alive. The boots are steel-toed and waterproof. The balaclava is water- and fireproof. The gloves are Kevlar lined, and they’re water- and fireproof as well.”
The outfit slid on easy and fit better than anything in my closet. I was a little warm, but I could manage.
Mask and gloves in hand, I entered the living room and embraced Grier. “Thank you.”
“Thank Linus.” She returned the hug until my breath hitched. “He designed one for each of us.”
The impulse to hug him twitched in my arms, but I kept my hands to myself to avoid making it awkward.
“Thanks,” I said softly, holding his gaze. “For not giving up on me.”
“Never,” he promised. “Whatever you—and Atlanta—need going forward, I’m here for you both.”
“Atlanta and I won’t be a couple for much longer,” I joked through a tight throat, “but I appreciate it.”
A deep furrow creased the skin between his eyes. “Have you spoken with Midas yet?”
“A little.”
“To be eligible for the vote, you must finish the gauntlet.” He touched on what Midas had already told me. “Jefferies plans to invalidate your candidacy by having you make the decision not to finish, thereby allowing Sue to emerge as the only viable choice.”
“Any ideas on how to flunk? Short of maiming or death? I would like to avoid those.”
A smile touched his lips as he shoved his hands into his pockets.
“Alternately, if neither of you finish, there can be no vote.” He rocked back on his heels. “The entire proceedings will be halted until the heads of factions determine how to proceed, as it appears there has never been a failure to finish that wasn’t the result of death or grievous injury.”
“That—” I turned over the possible answer to all my problems in my head, “—just might work.”
Bishop let himself into the apartment and shoved a bag of chocolate croissants at me.
No café mocha, but the milk was a recipe for disaster paired with exercise in this heat.
“Buy us time.” Midas touched my hair. “Convince Sue to join us or restrain her so she can’t interfere.”
“That might save my job,” I allowed, “but what about my friend? Are we any closer to finding Neely?”
Grier and Linus exchanged a glance as Midas’s cheek twitched. “We know where Neely is being held.”
Tempted to throw my breakfast at his head, I growled, “Why not lead with that?”
No wonder he came to bed so late. He put in a full day’s work before his head ever hit the pillow.
“You have this pesky habit of turning off your ears after you’ve heard the parts that interests you most.” Bishop smirked. “He wanted to be sure you heard the whole plan before you got hung up on a detail.”
Neely wasn’t a detail. He was the detail. The most critical part of this plan.
I wouldn’t die if I didn’t get appointed, but he would if we didn’t find him in time.
Still growling, I snapped my teeth through another croissant to show how I felt about being called out.
“He’s in the lake,” Midas clarified. “We have his coordinates, and the coven is preparing for extraction.”
“If you subdue Sue—” Grier, used to dealing with me when I was hangry, cut in, “—long enough for the coven to extract Neely and the Billiards, we might get lucky. The Grande Dame might call the gauntlet a draw. That might give you a second chance at the vote.”
That was an awful lot of might, b
ut I would take it and be thankful for it.
“We have to go.” Linus checked his watch. “Mother is waiting.”
A chill the size of the iceberg that sank the Titanic slid down my spine at the mention of her.
“Linus and I will work on convincing the Grande Dame,” Grier told me. “We’ll be close if you need us.”
“Same goes for us,” Bishop grunted. “Milo is out on patrol. I’ll be in the trenches as well. Reece will have eyes on you the whole time, provided the gauntlet’s magic doesn’t blind him. Anca too.”
“The enforcers are helping with crowd control,” Midas added. “Mom will be there with bells on.”
None of them could enter the gauntlet with me, but this was the next best thing.
“Let me braid this out of the way.” I touched my bedhead hair. “We’ll meet you in the lobby.”
Midas hung back, and I wanted to bury my face in his chest and stay that way forever, but I didn’t.
“I feel like a piece of Laffy Taffy.” I plaited like the wind. “Stretched thin and pulled in all directions.”
“I’m guessing that was Jefferies’s plan. Divide your focus and conquer.”
Hand on the doorknob, I gave the apartment one last glance before slipping into the hall with Midas.
“Sue can’t take our home,” he reminded me. “It’s ours, free and clear. Not an POA perk.”
“I love your mom.” I wiped my eyes dry. “It’s just a place, but…”
“It’s not just a place.” He led me into the elevator. “It’s our home.”
And I hadn’t realized how badly I needed one until the deed arrived in our mailbox.
The ride down gave me precious seconds to dry my face and gather my armor around me, the way Linus had taught me. After the doors slid open, I fumbled my first step when I caught sight of the huge crowd.
Bishop, Remy, Ford, Lisbeth, Tisdale, Abbott, Grier, Linus, Addie, Boaz.
And so many more.
“You guys.” I sniffled at the sight of my brother and his fiancée. “You came.”
“Where else would we be?” Boaz’s smile stretched his cheeks. “We’ve got front-row seats.”
The Epilogues: Part I: Badge of Honor (The Potentate of Atlanta Book 6) Page 11
