by Kimber White
“Are you sure?” Payne asked. He was frustrated. I was testing his trust in a way I never had before.
“I’m sure,” I said. “And I know she still really needs our help. This stone though. I’d like to know more about it. She says she thinks it’s something called the Kingsblood Diamond. Does that mean anything to you?”
He was quiet for a beat. That alone gave me the answer I sought. It was my turn to flash a little anger. If Payne knew what I was walking into with the stone, he should have told me.
“I’ve heard of it,” he said after a long pause. “And most of what I’ve heard sounded like a fairytale.”
“He mentioned it though,” I said. “Emerson. He must have told you he suspected that’s what he had coming in.”
“No, actually,” Payne said. “He just said it was rare and priceless and that he’d likely end up dealing with a few nefarious potential buyers before finally unloading the thing.”
I let out a low growl. I got the phone away from my face just before it came out. Nefarious types. If they got near Meg…
“I want to stay with this,” I said. “Meg...the granddaughter. She’s meeting with her first potential buyer soon. And she’s bringing in an expert to analyze whether it’s got any magical properties. She needs muscle beside her. I think it’s worth keeping Crossley’s business, no matter who’s at the helm.”
Payne sighed. “Leo...I don’t like it. We don’t make things up as we go in this business. You of all people know that.”
“I do,” I said. “But on this one, I want to go with my gut.”
My heart hammered behind my breastbone as I waited for Payne to answer. What would I do if he turned me down? I squeezed my eyes shut as the answer slammed into me. Maybe it was my most important test. But, no matter what, I wasn’t going to let Meg deal with her buyers unprotected.
“Do what you think is best,” Payne said. “But you call in the second you need something. I’d feel better sending some backup out there.”
“I’ve got it,” I said. The thought of any other shifter getting within a foot of Meg sent my inner wolf raging. It took my breath away.
“I will,” I said, forcing a more neutral tone to my voice. “You have my world. I appreciate this, Payne. You won’t regret it.”
He sighed again. “Right. And yet somehow, I already do.”
I clicked off and turned back to Meg’s shop. My pulse pounded as I made my way back to her.
She was waiting just where I’d left her. Frozen. Her skin pale, she lifted her chin as I walked through the front door. I hated causing her even a moment’s distress.
“I’m staying,” I said. Meg’s shoulders sagged. A smile lit her eyes and it melted me.
“Payne said…”
I lifted a hand. “Payne trusts my judgment. A lot of this is against mine. You should have told me the second I walked in here...no...you should have called Payne before even that.”
“I’m sorry,” she said, her smile turning to a frown. “I really am. I’m doing the best I can. Things have been upside down for days. Ever since I walked into my grandfather’s house. But I will not let everything he’s worked for go up in a puff of smoke. I will not let my uncles swoop in and take away what he built here. I know what he’d want and I’ll honor it.”
I crossed the distance between us. I stood two inches from her, towering over her. Meg met my eyes, strong, defiant. God, I was beginning to love it when she gave me that look.
“I said I’ll stay,” I said. “That doesn’t mean there aren’t conditions.
“Name them,” she said.
“You hired my firm to provide security. We are the best in the world at it. But only if I know what I’m walking into. No more lies. No more half-truths. No more questions. If I say something needs to be a certain way, that’s it. I may work for you, but you follow my orders, got it?”
A rumble of desire went through me. God. I wanted to give her orders. I wanted to watch her bend and submit to my darkest impulses. The answering glint in her eye damn near drove me to my knees. She was thinking it too. I knew it.
Damn.
“On security matters,” she said, licking her lip. “Yes. I understand.”
“Good,” I said. If we were having a staring contest, she just won. I couldn’t keep my eyes on her another second without ripping through my damn jeans.
“That’s settled then,” I said. “So tell me about this meeting and this man of yours, Alonzo Fry. I’ll decide whether it’s safe to keep going.”
Meg opened her mouth. I saw that flash of defiance in her. I held up a finger. Meg went down on her heel and gave me just the slightest pout that drove me out of my mind. Oh, what I could do to her. I sensed her strongest desires. I wanted to fulfill them so badly.
Chapter Eight
I didn’t like it. But I everything she told me about her contact Alonzo Fry checked out. I forwarded the name to Payne and first thing the next morning, he had some answers for me.
“I’ve actually used him before myself,” he said. “Well, not me directly. Fry’s kind of a fringe character. Black market magic dealer, don’t get me wrong. But, he’s been able to walk kind of a tightrope between the dark and light covens we know. His family were Romanian nomads going back a few hundred years. Not magic users themselves, but traders. Real name was something like Fieraru. Anyway, I gotta be honest, if I were looking for somebody to give me insight into this diamond, Fry might be the one I’d call in too.”
“So he’s trustworthy?” I asked.
Payne paused. “I’d say he’s neutral. He knows better than to cross Wolfguard. Just stay close to him when he gets there. Guys like that respect physical power as much as the magic.”
“He’s human though,” I said.
“One hundred percent,” Payne assured me.
“All right. Thanks. I don’t know. This whole thing just has me a little jittery. I’ll be glad when he’s on his way.”
“Understood,” Payne said. “Check back in after you hear what he has to say.”
“Will do,” I said.
Meg had just come down from her apartment. I felt that telltale flash of fire at the sight of her. I said my goodbyes with Payne and turned my attention to her.
“Fry will be here soon. He texted me a minute ago to say he was on his way,” she said. “I wasn’t trying to eavesdrop. It’s just, Alonzo really is someone I trust. I need a second pair of expert eyes to tell me if what I’m seeing in that stone is really there. If it is the Kingsblood...then...well...we’re dealing with a whole different ballgame. And you don’t need to worry. Alonzo couldn’t hurt a fly.”
Before I could protest again, the bell at the front door went off. I took a ready stance, my claws dropping.
Meg rolled her eyes. “Alonzo,” she whispered. “I told you...any second.”
I turned and looked at the man ringing the bell. He looked scared as a mouse. He might well have been the smallest, skinniest grown man I’d ever seen. He had a long, pointed nose, with Coke-bottle glasses perched at the end. His wisps of blond hair floated in the breeze above his head.
The guy couldn’t be more than four ten and maybe a buck twenty in weight. Alonzo Fieraru. Last descendant from Romanian nomadic traders who dabbled in black magic as much as light. Despite Payne’s reassurances, I didn’t feel one bit better about having him here.
“See?” she whispered. “Alonzo’s harmless. He’s just weird.”
I moved so Meg could step around me. She opened the door.
“Alonzo Fry,” she said. “This is Leo.”
“Hmm,” Alonzo nodded. “Insurance company send him?”
“Yes,” Meg answered forcefully. Alonzo seemed to have issues with both social cues and personal space. He brushed past Meg heading straight for the vault. For what it was worth, he seemed as uncomfortable about being here as I was having him here.
“I’m from Wolfguard,” I said. Alonzo looked me up and down.
“Naturally,” he sa
id, turning back to wait for Meg.
“It’s okay,” Meg mouthed to me. I stayed glued to her.
She opened the vault. There would only be enough room inside of it for two people. When Meg tried to enter it with Alonzo, I put a hand on her shoulder and held her back. I shook my head.
She gave me an exasperated sigh, but moved aside.
Alonzo Fry didn’t seem to have the slightest interest in me once we got inside that vault. Fine. I leaned in, catching the guy’s scent. It rankled me. I didn’t get a shifter vibe from him. He didn’t seem all the way human either.
I opened the drawer and lifted the wooden box. Alonzo had his own jeweler’s loupe. He pulled a small, black leather book from his pocket. At first, I thought it was a prayer book. But, Alonzo had notes scribbled in it in a hand I couldn’t recognize.
Alarm ran through me. The pages of his book were filled with tiny symbols along the edge.
“Shit,” I muttered. Those were runes. This was a spell. Payne and Meg both said he wasn’t a witch. So what the ever-loving hell was he doing with a spellbook?
Alonzo had his glass to his eye. I’d opened the box and held it open so he could peer at the diamond. Alonzo’s color went from tan to almost green. He reached for it, his fingers were long and spindly looking. His nails were nearly two inches long and filed to a point.
His face curved into a smile as he touched the stone. It sparkled red in the reflection of his eyes. He made a little clicking sound. The guy was as creepy as they came. He looked about ready to eat the thing.
“Yes,” he hissed. “It’s just as it should be. They’ll be pleased. They’ll be so pleased.”
“Who?” I asked.
He was mesmerized by the stone. He started mouthing something I couldn’t understand, one finger on the stone, another running down the little spellbook he carried.
“You’ve seen enough, Smeagol,” I said, pulling the box away from him. He flashed me a vile look and flipped a page in his book. He took in a great gasp of air.
“Meg!” I shouted. My senses pricked. My wolf understood before I did.
Alonzo murmured something and light shot from his fingertips. His eyes bugged out and the loupe dropped to the ground. He reached for the stone.
“Alonzo, don’t!” Meg screamed but it was too late.
A sphere of light surrounded Alonzo’s body. The idiot was trying to cast right here in the vault. Non-magic user my ass.
I shoved him backward. An electric shock went through me as Alonzo’s spell tried to connect.
He shrieked and crumpled to the ground. Instinct took over. I grabbed the diamond from the box, kicked Alonzo Fry out of my way, and hurled myself out of the vault, grabbing Meg in my arms.
I threw her behind me, protecting her from the second blast of Alonzo’s spell.
The magic went out of him them. I felt Meg sag with relief behind me.
“It’s okay,” she said. “That’s all he has. He must have borrowed it. I told you, Alonzo couldn’t hurt a fly.”
“Maybe not,” I said. She didn’t see what I did. She was right. That single spell was all Alonzo had. He stared up at the ceiling, his eyes glassy and pearled over.
Meg was more right than she knew. Alonzo Fry couldn’t hurt a fly. Alonzo Fry was now dead.
Chapter Nine
Meg
“Alonzo?”
I stood in the hallway with my back to the wall. Leo blocked my view inside the vault. He stood with his fists clenched, his eyes blazing blue fire. The hair on his arms and the backs of his hands thickened. He was in danger of shifting right there inside the vault.
“Don’t come any closer!” he said, his voice thick, menacing.
“What was that?” I asked. “I need to call 911. He needs a doctor.”
Leo dropped his hands to his sides. He leaned over Alonzo and lifted his body partly off the ground, grabbing a fistful of his shirt.
Alonzo Fry had worked with our family for years. Decades. He had expertise in rare, magical artifacts. I knew Leo’s boss had vetted him as well. I heard their phone conversation. He was one of the few people my grandfather trusted in situations like this.
Situations like this… I was slowly beginning to realize things were more dire now than ever before.
“He’s already dead,” Leo said, letting Alonzo’s limp body fall to the ground with a thud. I winced. I moved toward him, dropping into a squat so I could get a better look at Alonzo.
“Meg,” Leo barked. “Stay back.”
My eyes stung with tears. Not again. My grandfather’s death still clung to me.
“I have to call someone!” I shouted, pulling my phone from my pocket. My finger hovered over the emergency button. Leo reached down and snatched it from me.
“No one,” he said. “You call no one. I’ll handle this. You call the regular cops and an ambulance, it’s going to bring attention you don’t need.”
I shook my head. “No. Something’s not right. Alonzo’s one of the good guys. He’s not…”
I put a hand on his forehead. Alonzo’s skin had already gone ice cold. It made no sense. What in God’s name had done this to him?
The red diamond still sat nestled in its wooden case. It glittered, drawing my eyes to it.
“Come on,” Leo said. “I want to get you away from this. Let me handle everything. It’s what you’re paying me for.”
I had a hard time getting to my feet. Alonzo’s sightless gaze drew me as much as the diamond did.
Dead. He couldn’t be dead. He just… Leo never put a hand on him. Was it his heart? What spell could he have tried to cast?
“He’s no wizard, Leo,” I said. “He comes from a family of traders. They’re old. He’s got contacts among the magic users going back centuries. He can’t...I’ve never seen him try to cast spells.”
Leo went rigid. He looked from Alonzo to the stone. Icy tendrils of fear snaked up my back.
Was it the stone itself? Had it done something to him?
“Meg,” Leo said, his voice darkening. “I need you to come out of the vault. Slowly.”
“I’ve held the thing already,” I said. “It’s just a big, fabulous rock. If there was something lethal about it, it would have affected me already.”
“I don’t like it,” Leo said. “Come out of there. Get behind me.”
I glanced back at the diamond again. I stepped over Alonzo and took Leo’s offered hand. I made him a promise that I’d do what he said when it came to security issues. I intended to honor it.
As I came to Leo’s side, a hissing sound filled the vault. Alonzo moved.
“Leo…”
He was already reacting. Leo pushed me further down the hall, blocking the vault entrance with his body. I could just see beneath his arm.
Greenish vapor wafted up.
“It’s coming from him!” I shouted in horror.
Alonzo’s body started to shrink and shrivel. His eyes stayed fixed on the ceiling, but they began to glow green.
“The hell?” Leo said. Then, “Dammit...he’s boobytrapped.”
“He’s what?”
The back of my throat started to burn. My vision grew dark. I staggered sideways, covering my face with my forearm.
“Son of a…” Leo stepped away from the door. His strong, solid arm came around me, lifting me off my feet.
“We need to get the hell out of here...now!”
He held me against him, carrying me as if I weighed nothing. I couldn’t take my eyes off of Alonzo. Or...what was left of him. The man was liquified!
His suit crumpled to the ground, empty of its wearer. There was no Alonzo anymore, just a pulsating mass of glowing, green goo.
Leo headed toward the front of the shop. The noxious gas filled the entire building, billowing up the stairs to my apartment.
I couldn’t see. I couldn’t breathe. I grew dizzy. If it weren’t for Leo’s firm grip, I think I would have fallen to my knees.
“Leo!” I choked out the word. He
had a hand on the front door, about to push it open.
“Leo,” I said. “The stone. We can’t leave it.”
He grumbled. His wolf growled. He got the door open and hurled me out on the sidewalk. Fresh air filled my lungs, clearing the dizziness almost instantly.
I couldn’t see Leo. He disappeared in the smoke. I took a faltering step back, covering my mouth. It was still quiet on the street. Further down the block, I could see a group of window shoppers. They were headed toward one of the U of M spirit wear stores.
My heart clenched. I couldn’t see a damn thing inside the store. That green smoke grew ever thicker.
Where was Leo?
Panic started to seize me. Then, from nowhere I felt that familiar but strange, echoing heartbeat along with my own.
It was Leo. I knew it in my bones. I could feel him. He was alive. He was moving toward me.
The glass exploded outward, skittering over the sidewalk as Leo burst through the window. His skin was gray, his wolf eyes glowed but were bloodshot. The veins in his neck and his temples bulged.
He couldn’t breathe. He was choking. Instinct took over and I lurched forward. I threw my arms around his waist.
Leo coughed. The fresh air hit him and his color improved. We staggered together down the street and away from the shop. A small crowd started to gather as the second display window shattered outward, spilling that greenish smoke out and upward.
“We need to get out of here,” Leo said. The smoke and shattered glass drew the crowd’s attention away from us. No one was looking in our direction. If they had been, they might have seen a one hundred-and-eighty-pound, six-foot-three, musclebound Alpha male throw me over his shoulder and run fast enough to go blurry down the alley.
We got to Leo’s SUV. He tossed me in the back, dove behind the wheel and left a strip of rubber behind as he peeled out going backward at close to forty miles an hour. I screamed and covered my eyes, sure we were about to crash straight into the streetlamp at the end of the alley. But, Leo executed a skillful turn and the car rocketed forward.
He blasted through three red lights, weaving around stopped cars. We left a sea of angry horns in our wake before Leo vaulted us onto the expressway.
