Blaze, page 7
He turns to me, offering me my phone and purse. I slide the purse over my shoulder, letting it hang at my side, and put the phone in the side pocket.
“Turn that on and text your mate. Then check your wallet.” Magnus is almost asking, not telling. Almost.
I check my wallet before tucking it away. The remainder of the cash from Deacon and my passport are still there.
I hope to ignore the command to message Finn.
“Lena,” Magnus says. “Message Finn.”
I power on my phone, and it takes a very long minute before I’m able to send Finn a message. Three angry messages are unread:
Finn:
Where are you? You’re not in bed.
Text me the minute you turn on your phone. I can’t believe you would disappear like this, especially after what we’d talked about.
Ireland?! Kathleen, what got into you? I’m coming to you and we will talk.
Me:
I am alive. I’m safe. Magnus is nice.
Magnus snorts reading my message to Finn. “Now send him a selfie because he’ll complain that I could have very easily sent a message from your phone.”
Looking like shit after a long flight and ignoring his messages, I send Finn a picture and then flip my phone around to show Magnus it’s done.
With a content nod, Magnus points to another member of the team who is setting up tables.
“Jack. Tell your mate I need a week’s worth of appropriate clothes for Lena Alden. And tell her you’re on for dinner. You’re going home.” Magnus is clearly used to barking out orders.
A growl comes from someone across the warehouse. I can’t pinpoint the sound as it grows louder.
“I just got here?” Jack argues. “I don’t want to cause problems.”
“I didn’t ask,” Magnus snaps. “I don’t want to hear any arguments. It shouldn’t take this many of you to get a shipment this size prepared.”
Magnus puts me in front of him, leading us out of the room. It’s fast, and I feel hurried along. Tension rolls off Magnus, but I can’t pinpoint it. I don’t think I’m the entire cause.
O’Connel is waiting outside for us, leaning against the passenger door of a vehicle, arms crossed in front of his chest. He shifts to watch something behind us.
“She’s with me. You ride with Jack. We’ll meet you at the central warehouse.” Magnus continues to hand out orders as he pushes me toward one of the black cars.
“Yes, Magnus,” O’Connel answers.
“Quickly,” he demands under his breath.
Is it that he’s part robot or cyborg? The tension I’m feeling might just be my wolf. No, there’s something underlying, sizzling beneath the surface, that he’s trying to keep unnoticed around him.
A boom explodes from the warehouse behind us. It’s loud. My body responds before my brain does, tensing and crouching. The sounds reverberate in my ears. Gunfire.
The smell of gunpowder hits my nose. I recognize it from living with Cade. I know how to handle a gun, and I know those smells well. I look over my shoulder, but Magnus is blocking my view.
None of the men around me are even fazed. Jack and O’Connel are climbing in the car like it didn’t happen. The ringing in my ears tells me it did.
“What was that? What happened?” I ask, looking between them.
Magnus shakes his head. “Best you don’t know.”
Blood overruns the smell of gunpowder. Someone’s hurt. I turn around to look back at the building. My feet stop moving in protest of what just happened.
“Come on, little wolf.” Magnus’s hand finds my shoulder, and he turns me around.
His grip is firm and doesn’t give me any choice but to comply. I’m ushered over to the second black car, and then one hand lands on my back between my shoulder blades. Magnus holds me near him while opening the door for me.
I slide into the seat, and it’s weird sitting on this side of the car.
Before I have a chance to think about that anymore, Magnus pulls the seat belt forward for me but stops himself from buckling me in. Instead, he offers it out to me and diverts his eyes.
He’s protective of me.
My heart is still thundering in my chest.
Magnus walks around the front of the car while I watch the warehouse for signs of life. Why doesn’t he care?
I think about Cash and Quack and unclip my seat belt.
Magnus, in the driver seat now, grabs the seat belt and puts it back into the clasp.
“Little wolf, you don’t want to go in there. You don’t want to see that.”
“Cash and Quack.” I didn’t know them long, but sadness still creeps in.
“Are alive and well, unless they caught a ricochet,” Magnus assures me.
I want to believe him and trust him. But I don’t know.
He sighs. “I don’t have reason to lie to you, Lena.”
Chapter 11
Lena
Traveling has been on my wish list of things to do. But between holidays and school, it’s never been feasible. Ireland is exactly how the movies portray it. No, not exactly, it’s better.
Magnus isn’t one for words. He doesn’t bother striking up a conversation, and the drive is slow.
“So, you’re not going to ask me any questions about what I’m doing here?” I ask him with a sideways glance.
He shakes his head. “First, you’ll want to talk to Ma about being a submissive and how good you’re fucking that up. Then you’re expecting me to get Revecca here so you can talk to her and she can fix that foul feral thing you call a wolf.”
There’s a feeling you get when someone’s wolf isn’t quite right. Like the hair rising on the back of your neck when you think you’re being watched. Most of the time, nothing’s said about it. But between the way Finn and Cade have reacted to her and how I’m feeling inside, it doesn’t surprise me that Magnus can sense the disturbance within me.
“Rude,” I tell him with an eye roll he can’t see.
“Am I wrong?” Magnus deadpans.
“No wonder everyone likes Finn more than you,” I snark back.
Magnus doesn’t answer.
“What did you mean about hellish timing?” I press a little bit into his words from earlier.
Magnus slows the car as we turn onto a new road.
He grips the steering wheel tighter for a moment. “Won’t be hiding it from you anyway. Da is getting out of prison. He’s just now finding out Finn chose to walk. Now you’ve complicated things further because there’s no way Da can convince Finn to come home, and that’ll piss him off.”
“Public enemy number one in the O’Brien household. Got it.” Isn’t that my luck?
Magnus goes back to silence, not prompting me for further answers nor giving me any additional information to work with.
“Why did you save Jack from the slaughter of the men in the warehouse?” My question hangs heavy in the air.
“I didn’t.” Magnus sighs but keeps answering. “I saved who Jack was supposed to shoot.”
“Ahh.” Do I even bother pushing?
“Let’s not pretend you’re here to join the family.” Magnus is firm, but there’s a twinge of sadness in his voice where I had expected anger. “I’ve conceded that you and Finn can come here for Christmas and Easter, and I’ve the ability to remind the boys that you’re Ardeleans and we can’t be putting any holes in them. But you’re not in on the family business.”
He’s not wrong, but does it matter? If they won’t be letting Finn back into the family business, not that he’s going to have time, why am I so curious?
“Okay, but what’s up with the fire extinguishers?”
“That’s the one question you want to ask?” Magnus starts, limiting my questions.
Well, it sucks for him. I live with Thalia, and she’s the queen at getting people to answer questions. I’ll just use a page from her book.
“Yeah. I gotta know.” I nod.
“Drug shipment. Fire extinguishers are made of fancy baking soda. It’s a smell suppressant. If wolves can’t smell the drugs over it, then there’s no way the drug dogs will,” Magnus answers.
“That’s genius.”
Magnus smirks, but it’s gone in an instant.
“How long has your dad been gone?” I keep picking.
“Nine years this time.” Magnus runs his hand through his beard before making another turn.
The winding streets with little houses and driveways are adorable. A little house and yard wouldn’t have been so bad here. Room for one or two pups. I shake aside the thought.
Magnus is talking, and I wanted answers. I came for answers.
“So, when you took over, it was because he went away?” I make the logical assumption.
Magnus shakes his head. “No. It was far more complicated than that.”
Oh, that’s gotta be something about Revecca.
He drives us down close to the water again, and we’re now in some sort of business district. Magnus pulls the car into a parking space in front of an office building. I go to unbuckle myself, but Magnus gets there before me and unclips my seat belt.
What is it with this family and seat belts? When Finn would clip me in, it was intimate, like he was trying to go the extra mile to be close. Clearly, it’s something more.
I bite back a snide remark as he points to the door and holds up his finger, telling me to wait.
And, like the obedient submissive I’m trying to be, I wait for him to walk around the car and open my door. It seems Mrs. O’Brien raised her boys a certain way, and I won’t offend them by denying him this.
He goes so far as to offer his hand to help me out of the car before leading me through the side door of the building. This one is significantly different from the one we’d been to before. As in, it’s increasingly less organized and there are people working, laughing, and seemingly enjoying what they’re doing.
The room falls silent seeing the two of us. Magnus doesn’t acknowledge the uncomfortable attention.
I give the people staring a brief wave. No harm in being friendly.
“Magnus?” A concerned blond wolf furrows his brow at Magnus.
The call for attention results in the man being pointed to, and then that finger indicates toward the ceiling. I follow his finger up and notice the upper floor of the side of the warehouse has windows facing outward like offices for an overseer. The man then follows, walking directly behind us through the hallway.
Danger coils in my gut, mixed with the fire of the feral inside me. I try to walk normally, but my attention is split between the path and behind me.
Without warning, Magnus comes to a stop.
When he turns to look at me, I swear I see softness as he ushers me in front of him. “I’ll tell you where to go.”
A few rights and lefts later, we climb a set of stairs. The warehouse smells, and it’s not all entirely pleasant, but Finn’s familiar scent hangs tight to the walls. It grows stronger as Magnus tells me to stop, and I’m standing in front of a door with Finn’s name etched in gold paint across the front.
My feral monster stills. The lava cools just seeing his name and smelling him.
“This’ll be you,” Magnus instructs. “I’ll have Jack’s mate bring you clothes and bring you down to dinner. There’s water and beer in the fridge.”
I hesitate to reach for the knob.
“Give me your phone, little wolf.” Magnus holds out his hand.
Before I hand it over obediently, Magnus instructs me to open it. I type in the code Adam gave me.
“Finn’s birthday? Doesn’t The Leviathan have tighter security?” Magnus mutters more disapproval under his breath. After a moment, he hands me my phone and motions to the door again. “There, text me if you’re feeling lost. I’ll come up for you, but don’t go wandering. His flat has everything you need. Get some rest, little wolf.”
More questions simmer in my brain, but before I can ask one, Magnus twists the knob and pushes the door inward. “Lena, I need you to be safe. There are conversations I need to have before we even begin to deal with you being here.”
I fight going in. I want to ask one more question, but I don’t know which of the hundred to ask.
“Lena, please.” Magnus’s Alpha command is weirdly gentle. “Go.”
I don’t appreciate him using his command on me, but it doesn’t quake my whole body like it normally would.
Between exhaustion from traveling, the smell of Finn, and the gentle push of Magnus’s Alpha command, I step into the unit and close the door behind me.
Chapter 12
Lena
I’ve never seen Finn’s quarters in my visions. Or if I did, they’ve changed.
Finn’s office dominates the space when I first walk in. It very much sells the industrial manufacturing cover story for their illegal smuggling business. The metal desk with a faux wood top is completely empty of paperwork, but the basics — stapler, rubber bands, pens — are all there as if waiting for its next occupant.
A small hallway, just enough to block prying eyes from seeing his personal area, separates the office from the rest of the apartment.
Taking Magnus’s advice, I head to the bedroom.
I would feel bad about going through his things, but payback is a bitch. He’s clearly gone through every drawer I have.
Finn’s bed has an old metal headboard and footboard. Kinky. I know exactly what he intended with that style.
His wardrobe has fewer dress clothes than I anticipated. Well-worn T-shirts hang next to oxfords. An old concert T-shirt, from a band I’ve never heard of, has been through the wash enough that it’s soft and well loved. It calls to me.
Drawing deep breaths, I lay it on the bed before pulling off my T-shirt and shimmying out of my yoga pants. I pull the shirt over my head. The fabric instantly soothes some of my tension. It’s a tent on me, as expected, but alone in what was Finn’s apartment, who cares?
The feral fades to my soft, submissive wolf. She’s angry. But it’s her and not the awful uncontrollable beast.
As Magnus said, beer and water are in the fridge. Only beer and water. There aren’t even any dry goods in the cabinets and drawers, just utensils and cooking supplies. Extra rolls of toilet paper and a couple towels in various sizes are in the bathroom.
A bookshelf and trunk are the last two things I haven’t explored. Something tells me the trunk is full of sex toys. Not surprisingly, when I unlatch the lid, the smell of leather floods my nose. Inside is, in fact, leather gear and a variety of toys stored in separate containers. This must be what they mean when they say your mate will be perfect for you. It has to be.
I close the trunk. There’s no need for anything in it — for now.
The bookshelf is tall with six shelves and organized without looking packed full. There’s only one picture on it. Magnus and Finn are laughing. The woman from my vision is slapping Magnus on the backside of his head while a man I haven’t seen looks on with a grin. Even Finn, whose family is selling drugs out of fire extinguishers, seemed to have a ‘normal’ upbringing or, at least, a ‘normal’ looking family.
The tapping of knuckles on the glass door of Finn’s office wakes me up. I dozed off reading a copy of The Fellowship of the Ring. It was a shocking choice to find mixed among the dozens of mysteries and thrillers. But the spine was cracked, the edges well worn, and notes were written in the margins.
After sliding my yoga pants back on, I make my way to the door. When I open it, a blonde woman stands across from me with a few bags in her hand.
“I’m Catherine, Jack’s mate.” She pauses as I stare dumbly at her. “I’m supposed to bring you new clothes, toiletries?”
Rubbing the sleep out of my eyes, I step back and let her in. “Sorry, jet lag.”
“No need to apologize. It seems you’ve been very busy.” She walks through the apartment like she’s been here before.
After placing the bags on the table, she sits in one of the dining chairs.
“Busy?” I prompt.
“Well, at the very least, your ears have been burning with all the craic on you going around.” She smiles, taking things out of the bag. “I never thought I’d be meeting another one of the Ardelean Bloodline, but here you are.”
“Can’t say I’ve caught up on anything more than the general headlines. I’m not super keen on everyone knowing my business, but I don’t know what I’m going to do about it.” I approach her cautiously and sigh.
“I wasn’t sure what you liked. The pictures.” Catherine pauses. “I assumed you would be about this size. If it doesn’t work, I’ll get you something else.”
A skirt, a dress, a pair of jeans, a pair of dress slacks, a dressier blouse, and a solid color T-shirt all match a brown pair of shoes. They’re all very earthy tones and not something I would normally pick, but I can tell from the colors I won’t look ridiculous in them.
“Thank you,” I say, looking at the bra and underwear sizes. They’re close enough. Beggars can’t be choosers. “How much do I owe you?”
She shakes her head. “The Hellhound took care of it.”
I start taking tags off the clothes.
“Is Finn doing well?” Catherine’s question catches me off guard.
Narrowing my eyes, I examine her. I don’t remember her from any of my visions of Finn’s exes.
“It’s not like that,” Catherine confirms. “I’m happy with Jack, but I’ve always been Finn and Magnus’s housekeeper.”
“Oh.” I nod. “Sorry. It’s just. Well, my gift is all over the news right now. You can imagine the things I see in my visions of people’s pasts.”
With a nod, Catherine gives me a soft smile. “I promise you, Finn’s never been close, long term, to anyone. I’m not trying to say he’s some sort of man whore.” She speaks fast and nervously. “But there’s no way he would have given you a mating mark if he weren’t serious. He holds it as sacred as the sacrament.”
