Mafia Beasts: The Complete Series, page 69
“What’s up between you and Ash? For real now.” I pinned her with a steady gaze. She wasn’t getting out of this line of questioning easily. I wanted answers.
Claire sighed. “Nothing. He wants us to hook up, but I swore a long time ago that I wasn’t going to do romantic relationships. I’m an assassin. I have a ton of enemies, I could be killed on any random job, and Ash doesn’t seem to get that. It’s not the kind of life where you get to have friends and deep connections with people.”
“Then how do you and I fit into your assassin lifestyle?” I was genuinely curious.
“We were best friends long before I chose this career.” Claire swept a hand through her blond hair. “Protecting you was one of the reasons I chose to be a trained killer. I needed to be more lethal than anyone else in 5th Circle.”
Well that made me feel like shit. It was my fault Claire wouldn’t allow herself to have romance in her life? She’d chosen this as a career to help me?
As if reading my thoughts, she said, “Don’t blame yourself. It was my decision. Just like it was my stupid family who murdered your mom. This is on me, and the Nightlings, and Vexx, not you. Besides, I’m good. I’m happy with my life.”
“Liar.” I knew for certain that wasn’t true.
“Not happy, then. How about content?” She squinted at me, seeing if I believe her.
“Bullshit,” I called.
She huffed. “Fine. You win.”
I nudged her again. “You know my mates and I lead dangerous lives too. We’re much happier together than we were alone. Just… If it’s something you want, then give some thought to being open to it. If you were truly happy alone, then I wouldn’t be bugging you about it.”
“Fine. I’ll think about it.” But her tone was so dismissive, that I doubted she would.
I pressed on. “Ash can take care of himself, you know. He’s not without skills of his own.”
She snorted. “Ash is a man child. I’m surprised he can do anything on his own.”
“I think you’re underestimating him.”
Claire shrugged. “Maybe. Hey, now that the Sinful Saints are back, there’s bound to be a game of poker in the library. Want to join? I love taking their money.”
I nibbled my lower lip. “Actually, there’s something I need to go do.”
“No worries. You know where to find me. And yes, I’ll think about what you said. Promise.” She sauntered off, catching up with Aya who waved at me, before they disappeared through a doorway. We were certainly due for another girl’s night soon.
After knocking, I entered the room that had been designated as the SIB office. Agent Martin seemed surprised, but also strangely delighted to see me. His intense gaze studied me as I approached his desk, and he stood.
“How can I help you, Emma?” he asked in a deep rumble. His fennel and sunshine scent tickled my nose. If there was one word to describe that smell it would be homey. There was a comfort in it that didn’t make any sense to me at all.
Shaking myself out of that thought, I said, “I have a favor to ask.”
He quirked a brow in question and waited for me to elaborate.
“Vee told me to research my family history. She believes there is some kind of magical connection between me and the Vexx witches. So… I thought with your access to information, that you might be able to help me?” I didn’t understand why I was so nervous asking for his help. He just unnerved me for some reason.
“Your family? Uh, sure. I can do that.” He cleared his throat and sat down. “I’ll need some information first.”
“Great.” I took a seat in the chair in front of his desk. “My mom’s maiden name was McNair. Here’s her date and place of birth.” I scribbled the info on a pad of paper. “I don’t know who my birth father is, only that he’s a wolf shifter. What I’m looking for is probably more likely to show up on the witch side of my family, so my mom’s ancestors would be a good place to start.”
I handed him the paper and he read it over, a flicker of pain crossed his features before he shoved the emotion away. Was he sad about me losing my mom? Or something else?
“I’ll see what I can find.” He tore the page off the pad and folded it up.
“Thank you so much.” I stood, then moved toward the exit.
“And Emma,” he called out.
I half turned. “Yes.”
His expression was unreadable as he held my gaze for a few seconds. “Nothing. Never mind.” After a pause he said, “You did good in that fight. You’re an impressive witch.”
“Um. Thanks.” My brow pinched. Turning around, I headed out the door. Why did I feel like there was something very heavy hanging between us? We were practically strangers, and yet… I didn’t know. But there was something there. I just couldn’t put my finger on it.
14
EMMA
Shouts reached me from the courtyard and my gut twisted. It was the early morning hours. Claire should be returning from her assignment, but those shouts didn’t sound good.
My guys stirred, too. Quickly and quietly, the four of us dressed then raced down the stairs, tension thrumming through our mate bond.
Beau appeared in the foyer and turned on the exterior lights. Claire and Ash stood in the courtyard. Neither one seemed hurt, until Claire produced a silver dagger and held the blade against Ash’s neck.
“Go on, do it,” he taunted. Ash tore open his shirt, exposing his chest to her. “Plunge it right in my heart!”
I rolled my eyes at his dramatics. Seriously? We were woken up because these two were having another tiff?
Claire’s shriek was pure frustration, but she put the knife away.
Beau eyed them both. “What’s… going on here?”
“He followed me on my mission.” Claire rounded on us. “Then he threw himself in front of me to block a spell. He could have gotten killed!” Her voice was pitched high with hysteria.
“It was barely a scratch,” Ash said. “Look, all healed up.”
Claire’s eyes clouded, and suddenly I understood why she didn’t want a romantic relationship. It wasn’t because she might get hurt on an assignment, it was because she couldn’t handle him getting hurt, or worse. She was in love with Ash. I’d bet my own life on it. But the idiot kept putting himself in dangerous situations and that wasn’t helping.
“Ash, go to bed,” I snapped.
He scowled. “Yes, ma’am.”
When he was several paces away from her, Claire called, “Ash.”
“Yeah?” He turned to face her, and a throwing star lodged into his upper thigh. “Fuck!”
Claire stormed past him. “I told you I’d stab you if you followed me.” Then she disappeared into the house.
Lucas whistled low. “She’s scary when she’s angry.”
“Ouch.” Ash plucked the blade from his leg, and his hands illuminated with healing magic. It was a superficial wound, but Claire got her point across. Or at least I hoped so.
“I’m going back to bed.” I shook my head, both amused and annoyed, and turned to walk back inside.
“I’ll talk to him,” Cade murmured, then disappeared to have a chat with Ash. If anyone knew all the emotions that were flying around, and between, Ash and Claire, it was Cade.
On entering the house, I spotted Agent Martin. He wore yesterday’s clothes, but in a way that made me think he had yet to turn in for the night. Was he up all night working?
He approached me. “I wasn’t going to bother you with this until tomorrow, but I have some of that information you requested.”
That was fast. Any sleepiness I felt vanished. “What did you find?”
Lucas growled, stepping between us. “What information?”
I nicely shoved him out of the way. “Agent Martin is helping me research my mom’s side of the family.”
“Why?” Zane asked.
Guilt made my cheeks heat. I hadn’t told my mates about Vee’s task, or her last vision. Why? Because I was scared. I wanted to know what this connection between me and Vexx was before anyone else found it. I knew if I told them what I was up to, they’d all help me search. And I didn’t want them stumbling upon it before me because… I wasn’t sure why. But this felt personal.
Yet I’d trusted the SIB agent with my task. But that was different. Agent Martin wasn’t close to me, he felt like a neutral party.
“Excuse us.” Zane took my upper arm and hauled me into the piano room. Lucas closed the door behind us, then I was faced with the both of them.
“I thought we decided on no more secrets,” Lucas ground out.
Shame mingled with my guilt. A moment later the door burst open. Cade stepped inside, took in the situation, then closed and locked the door. Crap. Now I was faced with all three of them.
“I wasn’t going to keep it from you,” I said. “Whatever it is.” I filled them in on everything Vee had told me before her demise. “I’m really freaking out over this, and I wanted to know the answers first. What if I am locked into some kind of magical blood feud with Vexx? What if… I don’t know, it’s something even worse?”
“Then we’ll deal with it,” Zane said.
“Together,” Lucas growled.
Cade gave me one of his stony expressions. “You’d trust Agent Martin over us?” Pain blossomed between us.
“No. I need his resources and access to this information. That’s all.” When they didn’t say anything, I continued, “He’s just retrieving the files for me.”
Lucas glanced at the other two males as he said, “If you really want to do this alone we can stay out of the way.”
Cade grimaced, and Zane gave a tight nod. They didn’t like that idea, but they would do this, for me. And it was what I needed—for now.
“Thank you. I just want to have a look at the files, then we can go through them together.” Guilt hung heavy in my stomach as I left the room and sought out the agent.
I found him in his office. “You said you have information?”
His eyes roamed over me, looking for what, I wasn’t sure. “I do.” He produced a thick file folder. “Genealogy charts, birth and death records, as well as anything else I could find of your mother’s lineage. Here.”
I took the hefty folder from him. “Thank you. This means a lot.”
“Do they often treat you like that?” he asked.
I glanced up at him, noting his stern expression. “What do you mean?”
“Zane Xavier, Lucas Ives, and Cade Lochart. Do they often manhandle you like that?” His intense brown eyes bit into me.
“Oh, they can be kind of brutish at times, but they’d never hurt me.” I’d spent so much time with their rough touches, and my yearning for being touched like that, I’d forgotten that the rest of the world saw it as a potential problem. “It’s not how it seems,” I tried to further clarify.
He grunted, and his eyes flashed with the golden light of his wolf. My own wolf stirred in my chest. She wanted out so she could sniff at this strange man. Why wasn’t she snarling at him for implying that my mates were abusive?
“If there’s ever a problem, you let me know,” he said.
I bristled at the insinuation. “Look. There is no problem, and there will never be one. They are my mates. I chose each of them as much as fate chose them for me. I’m more like them than you apparently realize.”
“I see.” He held my gaze, but didn’t say more.
Once again I found myself awkwardly leaving Agent Martin’s company. “Thanks for the file.”
Slipping into the hallway, I released a heavy breath. Part of me was tempted to go back in there and confront him on his confusing behavior. What was he playing at, trying to get between me and my mates?
But the weight of the file in my hand won me over, making it a priority. Agent Martin would have to remain a mystery for a while longer.
On the night of the full moon my wolf was finally granted her wish. I was stiff, and cranky, from poring over that file for the past two days and coming up with nothing. The information I sought had to be in there—somewhere.
I joined the rest of the wolves out in the courtyard as we waited for our moonlit run. With Vexx’s Prophecy Fae gone, and our hidden location, hunting in the Georgia woods tonight should be safe. Claire, Vincent, and some of the Sinful Saints witch-hybrids hovered in the air on their brooms. They’d keep us safe as we let our beastly natures take over.
Gunner, the alpha leader of the Sinful Saints wolves, was the first to shift and barrel past the wards into the waiting forest. Grey’s quiet second in command, Shadow, flew in his raven form over the pack.
Lucas, Aya, and Agent Martin joined me, all of us instinctively drawn to each other. Tension rippled the air between Lucas and the SIB agent. So much so that Aya quickly shifted and raced after the small Arctic fox who suddenly appeared.
I ignored the unease, instead focusing on my wolf. She, however, was very intrigued by Agent Martin, and I feared letting her free would only make the situation worse. But there was no stopping this hunt tonight, unless I wanted to spend weeks with her pissed off at me.
She clawed at the inside of my chest and whined. I took a deep breath before slowly exhaling, and she surged forward. The transformation was much smoother and quicker than in the beginning. In the blink of an eye, I stood on all fours in my black wolf form. Lucas was beside me, in stark contrast. And a large red-brown wolf lingered a few feet away.
My wolfish instincts set free, I approached the auburn-brown alpha, sniffing and observing. There had never been a display of dominance between me and Agent Martin, unlike with the White River Pack alpha. Even now, we curiously took in each other’s scent but I didn’t feel the urge to determine which of us was the stronger beast.
The happy smell of sunshine and fennel filled my nose and I licked his snout before making a playful dash out the front gates. Lucas growled his irritation and darted after me, quickly followed by the SIB agent.
I was certainly the fastest of the three of us. The witches zoomed overhead to keep us in their sights as we raced through the woodland. I could hear the Sinful Saints ragtag pack to my left, so I went right. No need to undermine Gunner’s authority by running with them and claiming their first kill. They weren’t my pack.
My heart painfully twisted at the realization that Penumbra once had several more wolf shifters than we did now. Our numbers had dwindled considerably over the past many months.
Aya and Nalanie came out of the nearby bushes, playing chase and tag. I joined them for a short while, letting myself be carefree and have some fun. Fates know I needed it. Then I caught the scent of prey and dashed off to pursue the hunt.
The hare stood no chance as I set my sights on it, then snatched its neck in my jaws. Bones crunched and my tongue tasted fresh, warm blood. I stood over my kill, growling and snarling in warning for the other wolves to stay away until I’d had my fill. Not that there was a lot to share on a rabbit.
Even so, Lucas and Agent Martin paced nearby with growls of their own. Their hackles were raised as they snapped at each other, both of them determined to be next in line.
I watched them as I ate my hare. They were about the same size—enormous, large pawed and broad shouldered. Their eyes gleamed with the golden light that was unique to all wolf shifters. Which one of them would win in a fight?
Finished with my meal, I left the discarded bones where they lay. Instantly, the other two wolves jumped on them even though there was nothing left to eat. Though apparently that didn’t stop their need for dominance.
Snowy white and red-brown fur flew as they tore into each other. I watched, almost dispassionately, as my own alpha wolf waited for them to finish and the new pecking order to be established. Except neither one of them was backing down.
They snarled and snapped until flying fur became sprays of blood. Two alphas, determined to fight to the death, ruthlessly tangled before me. I wasn’t going to allow that end to happen. As his mate, I had Lucas’s back whenever he needed me. Like right now. But even though Agent Martin was nearly a stranger, I felt a primal connection to him that was stronger in our wolf forms. I needed to protect him too. He was… I didn’t know what, something to me.
Finally, I’d had enough. I launched myself at them, joining the fray. Immediately, they both backed away and the fight was over. I continued to position myself between them just in case I hadn’t gotten my point across.
The auburn-brown wolf glanced from me to Lucas, then bolted in the opposite direction from the manor house. I sniffed and licked at Lucas’s wounds. He was in rough shape, but nothing his supernatural healing abilities wouldn’t fix in a short while.
The sooner we were done with this mission of ours the better. I feared the next time these two got into it, only one would come out alive. And whichever one died, my wolf was not going to be happy about it.
15
ZANE
Given what had happened to the Nox Coven Cartel, Tri-Cities Conglomerate, and the White River Pack, I made sure to tell the rest of our associates to go to ground. Anyone and everyone who had ever worked for us, or offered us assistance, was now in hiding or out of the country. Which meant that we were cut off from our information sources, and now completely reliant on Agent Martin and the SIB.
I hated that reality. However, I was not willing to risk getting anyone else killed. What had happened to Mama Holt haunted me day and night. I kept reminding myself that she was well aware of the risks in our line of business. We tangled with dangerous people.
Even so, my heart was crushed by losing her in this way. But I couldn’t let that drag me down. We had a mission to focus on and a fight to win. Vengeance tasted sweeter by the moment.
The sound of chimes ringing echoed through the manor house. Beau had put this magic in place because he was tired of all the running around and shouting that occured every time the SIB had information for all of us and needed to call a meeting.
