Great.
Kieran shrugged. He didn’t need anything else added to his plate but it would be good to see Angel. Even if she did bring the flea bag she’d married. Fuck, he really needed to work on his shifter insults now that he was with Dakota. “We’ll deal with that when we have to.”
“Okay,” Remy agreed easily. “Why don’t you tell me what you’re up to?”
Chapter Nine
Kieran paced the living room of the suite as the time inched closer to his plan being fully in place. He’d spoken to all the players and now he just had to wait.
Dakota walked back into the room from putting everything they’d been working on into the bedroom so it would be away from prying eyes. He didn’t want to tip his hand before he could get started.
“You okay?” she asked quietly as she stepped up to him.
Kieran wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her close before he glanced out at Remy, who stood on the other side of the room talking on his cell phone. Of course Kieran could hear what his partner was saying. Remy was trying to put off Angel’s visit.
She was still technically on her honeymoon, and both Kieran and Remy had agreed that she didn’t need to be involved in this mess. So Remy was trying to convince her that Kieran was fine and actually enjoying his own vacation. At least to hold her off for a few days until the dust had cleared and Kieran knew what he was going to do.
“I’m okay,” he told Dakota, realizing that she was staring up at him when he’d failed to answer her question.
“The call to Caspar seemed to go pretty well,” she said.
Kieran had given in and called his boss. He hadn’t been surprised when Caspar had told him that he’d just gotten to town. Kieran had suspected that Caspar would be at his room at any time. Actually he counted on it since Caspar had a part in his plot.
Caspar had agreed to come to his suite and bring Dean with him. After he’d hung up with his boss, Kieran had phoned Jackson, asking to speak to him and Alex.
He suspected adding the Walkers to the discussion was going to complicate things but this way no one could get out of telling him what he needed to know.
“K?” Dakota cupped his face, drawing his attention back to her.
“Sorry,” he said then bent and kissed her gently. “I guess my mind is wandering.”
“I understand,” she assured him. It felt good to know that she had his back. “But if you’re not ready, we don’t have to do this now.”
“I do,” he answered quickly. He was tired, exhausted actually, and he wanted to get back to having some fun. Screwing with the bad guys and keeping his friends on their toes. He didn’t want to be on vacation any longer. It was time to get back to work. Either with the Organization or with Jackson.
“Someone’s coming,” Remy called out.
Kieran released Dakota’s waist but gripped her shoulders. “Thank you for your help. I couldn’t have gotten the information about Caspar so fast without you.”
“Anytime,” she replied. “And I mean that.”
A knock echoed around the quiet room. The lack of scent told Kieran that it was Alex and Jackson at the door instead of his boss. He was never able to describe to a human how the lack of any scent made the Walkers stand out.
Everyone picked up traces of their environment. Something they’d held, walked past or other people that they’d encountered. That was normal. But humans and shifters also had a distinct odor added to that.
Humans didn’t smell as fresh as the shifters. They actually smelled more like the type of food they’d eaten more than anything else. If they drank a lot, ate tons of red meat or were vegans, Kieran could tell. Shifters were completely different. Depending on the species that they could change into, Kieran could place most shifter species. The felines were the hardest to separate. The lions and tigers smelled different from one another, but cougars, cheetahs and jaguars confused him.
Kieran had been around wolf shifters so much that he could easily pick them out of any size crowd. Bear shifters were also easy for him to determine although some of the smaller species he didn’t know at all. Most species shared a similar scent that underlined their environment. Kieran couldn’t place a species he’d never scented before because he had nothing to compare it to.
“Do you want me to get the door?” Remy asked as he strolled closer.
“I’ll do it,” Kieran responded. He yanked Dakota forward and kissed her deeply before he straightened. She was a little breathless and that made him smile.
Another knock came, so as calmly as possible he walked to the door. Everyone who was coming would be able to pick up if he was nervous. Even though Caspar and Dean were humans, they were still highly trained agents.
Kieran pulled the door open and even though he was expecting to see Jackson, his breath still caught in his chest as he caught sight of his old friend. At first he’d told Caspar about his buddy who’d been held with him and it had made him feel better that someone else knew his buddy Jack. But as he’d started to heal, Kieran had buried his memories of Jack deep down. It hurt less that way.
“Hey, Kieran,” Jackson said with a smile.
It was obvious that both Dakota and Remy were suspicious of Jackson, but looking at his old friend, Kieran had no doubt that Jackson only had good intentions.
“Hey, guys.” Kieran pushed away his feelings as he greeted the two Walkers. “Come in, please.”
Kieran stepped back to allow the two Walkers to step past him. If they were surprised to see two shifters already there, they didn’t show it. Jackson strolled forward straight to Dakota.
“Jackson Wickham,” he said as he held out his hand.
“Dakota Reese.” She placed her hand on his and the smile stayed on her face, but it was obvious to Kieran that the two of them were sizing each other up.
Alex had reached Remy and a similar scene was taking place. Kieran shook his head as he closed the door. Caspar and Dean hadn’t even shown up yet. He needed to get the four of his guests to act like adults.
Fuck,
he almost groaned out loud. When had he become the voice of reason? Damn it, he wanted to go back to being the unpredictable one.
He stalked across the room to stand behind Dakota and placed his hand on her lower back, staking his claim.
Jackson nodded and stepped back.
“Let’s get the introductions out of the way. And everyone put their Alpha intimidation attitudes aside,” Kieran said.
“Sorry,” Dakota responded.
Kieran just shook his head. She didn’t need to apologize for anything.
“Dakota is special to me,” Kieran said. “She knows everything.”
Jackson’s eyes widened before he nodded. Kieran was glad he didn’t have to spell out what he meant to his old friend. He hadn’t even told Remy or Angel about Mount Fauna. They knew he’d been captured and tortured but he’d never gone into detail.
“My apologies. I know how you feel about shifters and yet two are inside your suite.”
“These are the only two shifters that I trust, and I do trust them,” Kieran said. “This is my partner, Remy.”
Alex was still standing close to Remy and even though he’d stopped trying to intimidate his partner, Kieran could see the Walker trying to hold back a sneer.
“His best friend too,” Remy added.
“A wolf shifter,” Alex spat.
“Yes,” Remy said with a growl. ”You got a problem with that?”
“What if I do?” Alex replied as he rolled his shoulders and braced his feet into a fighting stance.
“Enough!” Jackson snapped. He didn’t even have to raise his voice to have Alex and Remy both freezing in place. Jackson looked back at Kieran. “Please excuse Alex. He has a past with a pack of wolf shifters.”
If anyone could understand, it was him so Kieran nodded before he turned to his partner. “Remy?”
Remy’s shoulders slumped and he cleared his throat. “I’m sorry about whatever happened to you but I had nothing to do with it and neither did my pack. My family has been involved with protecting others for generations. I have nothing against Walkers.” He waved a hand in Kieran’s direction. “Obviously.”
“Yes.” Alex ran his hand over his face. “That was very rude of me. I’ve been around wolf shifters before. I guess I was just caught off guard. I expected to just share a couple of drinks and visit with my boss’s oldest friend.”
“Well, let’s sit, why don’t we?” Kieran offered.
“Why do I get the feeling that you asked us here for more than just catching up?” Jackson said as he strolled over to one of the chairs and sat.
Alex followed to stand behind Jackson’s chair while Remy backed off until he stood against the wall. Kieran led Dakota to the couch so they could sit together.
“What are you up to, K?” Jackson questioned.
“You always could read me,” Kieran told him. “So you must also know that I’d need better answers to what we spoke about earlier.”
“I figured that’s what you wanted to discuss,” Jackson said.
“It is, among other things,” Kieran hedged. He didn’t want to start the conversation until everyone was there.
“You’re being cagey,” Jackson accused.
Behind him, Alex shifted on his feet.
Kieran had no doubt that if anyone tried to harm Jackson, Alex would attack. Luckily Kieran had two shifters on his side but he really just wanted to talk. “I’m sorry about that,” Kieran said honestly. “I think I might still be in shock a little. It’s not every day that a ghost comes back from the past.”
“I understand that,” Jackson agreed.
“Since we’re on the subject,” Dakota said, “why did you contact Kieran today?”
“As soon as I heard about him staying in the hotel, I made plans to return right away, and since I’d just gotten in, I had Alex find him for me,” Jackson replied, peering between Dakota and Kieran. “I told you this earlier.”
Kieran opened his mouth to respond but Dakota covered his knee with her hand. “Kieran had a very busy morning and your timing is rather suspicious.”
“I have no idea what happened this morning,” Jackson said as he sat forward in his chair and braced his elbows on his knees. He was talking to him, and Kieran believed him.
“I was just so excited and nervous to see you again I didn’t want to put the meeting off any longer. I’d stayed away at your boss’s request but you came to my hotel. We could have run into each other in the casino, café, bar or anywhere in town really. I didn’t think that would be a good idea.”
If that had happened, Kieran was certain he would have freaked out, thinking he’d lost his mind. “I’m glad you did.”
“When was the last time you spoke to Caspar Westbridge?” Dakota asked.
“Not for several years.” Jackson frowned and broke eye contact with Kieran. “Is this an interrogation, agent?”
“It can be,” Dakota said with a smile. “And it seems you know more about me than I believed.”
“Of course I do,” Jackson told her. “I know everything that happens in my city with any paranormal.”
“Funny,” Dakota commented. “I always thought of this as my city. You know, since I’m out there every night keeping it safe and watching out for trouble.”
Jackson relaxed his stance, appearing more comfortable, but Kieran didn’t believe the gesture for a second. The power that radiated from Jackson was pure Alpha, and although he might not be a shifter, Jackson had an aura of dominance that surrounded him. “You do a good job keeping the streets safe. I commend what you and your Organization have done. However, this is a big town and paranormals can fall through the cracks easily. Especially ones who don’t want to be noticed. I notice.”
“And use your contact within my company,” she said.
Kieran turned to stare at Dakota. She was a badass and her questioning Jackson showed that. She sat next to Kieran calm and in control like she had no worries in the world. When she wanted to get her point across, like at that moment, her tone was cold and hard. “Maybe we shouldn’t…” he started. They weren’t supposed to get into Jackson’s relationship with Dean yet.
“It’s okay.” Jackson waved Kieran off. “I do. But you must be aware as it’s your partner I speak with.”
Dakota narrowed her eyes. “I didn’t know until today.”
“Ah,” Jackson commented. “And you don’t trust me.”
“Maybe I don’t understand why you didn’t make yourself known to everyone. Dean wouldn’t have kept you a secret unless you’d insisted.”
“I did, as matter of fact,” Jackson confirmed. “If you know Kieran’s story, you have a pretty good idea about mine. I prefer to keep my business my own and have no need to get involved with any more shifters than necessary.”
“So you chose Dean because he was human?” Dakota asked.
“Actually, your boss had him contact me,” Jackson corrected. “But yes, I did agree to use him as my contact because he was human. You’d have to ask him why he accepted.”
“I will,” she said.
As she finished speaking, a knock interrupted whatever it was Alex was going to say. Alex jerked his head around to Kieran. “Are you expecting someone else?”
Kieran nodded before he stood. “Excuse me for a second.” He walked quickly to the door, not wanting to leave the four of them alone for very long. At least he wasn’t going out of the room so he could still keep an eye on them and hear what was being said.
As he approached the door, he caught the scent of his boss. Normally that would have put him at ease but just then Kieran had a lot of anger and confusion directed at Caspar. He pulled open the door to find the two humans he’d been expecting.
“Kieran.” Caspar inclined his head.
Kieran held the door open wide. “Come in.”
Caspar frowned but did step inside. Kieran knew the minute that Caspar spotted Jackson since his boss stiffened. Caspar snapped his head back to him. “I shouldn’t be surprised, but you’ve caught me off guard.”
“Why?” Kieran asked as he slammed the door. Luckily for Dean he’d followed Caspar closely so he was already in the suite. “Because you didn’t think I’d find out that the only person that could possibly understand what I’ve been through was alive?”
“You’re angry,” Caspar said.
Kieran fisted his hands at his side. “Yeah, you could say that.”
“So think about how you would have felt back then. We didn’t know Jackson was alive until he contacted us. If I would have told you about him, you’d have given up everything you’d worked so hard for.”