Blood Slave: A Realm Walker Novel (14 page)

“She’s staying here. If you have her things with you, you’ll leave them behind. Otherwise I expect them to be here by noon tomorrow. And then I expect you to leave town.”

Thomas scowled, his eyes darkening with fury. “You think to keep my property from me?”

“She’s a person, not property. You want to push the issue, take it before the Council. I’m sure not even your associates would openly condone behavior of this nature.”

Juliana seriously doubted the Council would give a crap if Thomas wanted to claim a woman as his possession, or even twenty for that matter, but pointing that out wouldn’t help her cause any.

After a long, tense stretch of silence in which the two men simply glowered at each other, Thomas spoke up. “Fine, I’ll consent to allow her to stay. For now. But I am not leaving town. Consider this your yearly visit from the Council. I expect you’ll extend all courtesy.”

Morgan’s lip curled in a sneer. “For the Council, of course.”

Thomas rose from his chair and walked to the door. Hand on the knob, he turned to Juliana. “And you…I’ll be seeing you shortly.”

She pressed herself further into the corner until he left and slammed the door behind him. She flinched at the sound and eased away from the wall. “I am so sorry. I didn’t mean for any of this to affect you or your business. I don’t know how he found me.”

“I’ve been wondering how long it would take him to show up.”

Surprise slammed through her and her head jerked back. “You knew?”

He smirked. “Have a seat, Ms. Norris.”

Dropping into one of the empty chairs, she blinked at him. He’d known. This whole time he’d known who she was and hadn’t confronted her. “Why? How?”

“You’re going to have to be more specific.”

“Why did you hire me if you knew who I was? How did you know who I was? I don’t understand.” Her head spun in confusion. How had she been so completely blind?

Smiling again, he leaned forward in his chair, putting his hands on the desktop. “I think you’re a smart girl, but sometimes I wonder. You know that thing with the kids made national news, right?”

She closed her eyes and bit back a groan. A psycho cop known as the Thief had been killing kids and she’d stopped him and saved some kids in the process. Of course, that had made national news; she’d even given a press conference. She’d known that case was going to come back to bite her in the ass. “I’m never going to be able to hide anywhere again am I?”

He shrugged. “Most people aren’t me. And I have to admit I paid more attention than most because I’d heard you were attached to Kendrick. What do you see in that asshole anyway?”

“I was young and stupid. Flattered by the attention. My life was simpler when he ignored me.” The sad part was, that was all the truth. Not that she’d trade her relationship with Thomas for anything. “I wish he’d forget I existed again.” That part was most assuredly not true.

Morgan pursed his lips, looking like he was mulling something over before telling her. “When you first came in here looking for job, I wondered what your game was. I figured you were here investigating something for the Agency. But then you just kept your head down and did your work and I wasn’t so sure. When they picked up Blake for those murders I figured you’d be gone, but you’re still here. Now, I believe you’re running from Kendrick. But if you think you can outrun that man, you better think again. He’s tenacious. And he doesn’t like losing.” Morgan all but growled the last and she wondered again about his history with her mate.

“Tell me about it,” she said, doing her best to make tears well in her eyes. “I appreciate you standing up for me, but I’ve never been one to let someone else fight my battles. I’ll get out of here and he’ll leave you alone.”

“And where do you plan to go?”

She shrugged. “I’ve got people that owe me favors.”

He smiled at that and it wasn’t a friendly smile. “I bet you do.” He paused before continuing. “I’ll tell you what. You can do what you want, but if you want to stay here, I’m willing to back you up with Kendrick. I can’t guarantee what the Council will do if they get involved, but I can try.”

“Why would you do that?”

“Because I like you. And I don’t like him.”

“That’s it?”

“You need more than that?”

She thought about it. “No, I guess not.”

“Now, there’s a ratty apartment above this place. It’s not much but you’re welcome to it until you figure out something else.” He pulled a key out of the middle drawer and slid it across the desk to her. She hesitated a moment before taking it. Best not to look too eager. When Thomas was right, he was right. Charles Morgan, who had been rather stand offish since her arrival in town, was going out of his way to help her now that he thought it might aggravate Thomas.

“Thank you. I appreciate it. I better get back to work.”

He shook his head. “No. You’re still shaking. Go on upstairs. Get settled. If Kendrick left your stuff, I’ll have Cullen run it up later.”

“We’re already short staffed. Candy didn’t show up.”

“So? It won’t kill anyone to get up and go to the bar to get their own damn drinks.”

She stood and gave him a small smile. “Thanks, Morgan. I really appreciate it. All of it.”

“Call me Charlie, sweetheart.”

Chapter Fourteen

Morgan was right about the apartment. It was ratty and looked like it hadn’t been cleaned in a year but she wasn’t in a place to complain. She’d give it a quick scrubbing and it would serve its purpose.

Her phone buzzed in her pocket and she pulled it out to frown at the display. A text from Thomas with an address, nothing more. She was being summoned. As much as she wanted to be annoyed, she wanted to see him more. The earlier interaction in Lust wasn’t enough. She hadn’t been able to touch him or even really say hello. She hadn’t realized how often she casually touched Thomas until she’d had to restrain herself from doing it.

A glance at the time told her the club had been closed for an hour. Cullen had already come up to check on her and drop off her bag. She moved to the windows and studied the area behind the club where the employees park. The last car was just pulling out. She gave it another ten minutes while she changed into a pair of jeans and a long sleeved t-shirt before heading out the door.

Taking side streets and alleys, she stopped several times to make sure she wasn’t being followed. Only when she arrived at the building and knocked on the side door did she breathe a sigh of relief. The door opened and Michael smiled down at her and winked. “He’ll be disappointed you changed.”

Narrowing her eyes in irritation, she stepped past him into the building. Her annoyance vanished in a flash when she saw the other figures in the room. Besides Thomas, two Wardens of the High Order were in the room. Hamilton Clayton leaned against the wall. He was still as burly as the last time she’d seen him. His scruffy beard was braided and he looked like he’d just left his bike in the alley. He certainly didn’t look like the powerful mage she knew him to be.

The other was Joshua, or Rebel, as he preferred to be called. While he had a much slighter frame than his boss, the djinn was no less powerful. He shared her penchant for colored hair and had the tips of his spikey blond hair dyed a vibrant red. She hadn’t seen either of them since they helped her hunt down the Thief. “Hey, guys. Wasn’t expecting to see you. Where’s Deke?”

“We’re trying to stay under the radar this trip. He tends to stand out,” Clayton told her. “I’ll be sure to tell him you asked. He’ll like that.”

Deke was another Warden that happened to be an ogre. He liked to flirt and Juliana liked him. She liked all of them actually. “You do that. What are you doing here?”

He stepped forward and held something out to her. She took it, astonished to find the eight-pointed star that served as the badge for the Wardens. She looked between him and Thomas.

“Finally got something I’ve been wanting for a while, giving that to you.” He grinned. “Your boyfriend’s not too happy about it, but he’ll get over it.”

Thomas frowned. “Fiancé, not boyfriend, and if I recall correctly it was my idea.”

Rebel snorted and leaned against the wall, arms crossed over his chest. “Not like you had a choice.”

Thomas turned his frown on him and Juliana waved a hand through the air. “Okay, everyone just stop and explain to me what’s going on please.”

“You’re on loan to the Wardens. We’re taking over the investigation but we’re doing it quietly. No sense in letting everyone know we don’t believe the vampire in custody is guilty.”

“He may be. I just want to be sure instead of half-assing it the way the Agency seems to want to.”

Thomas shook his head but it was Michael who spoke. “We did some digging. Found out Peter Blake was the one they picked up. We know he didn’t do it. Blake is one of ours. We put him here to keep an eye on Morgan.”

“You’ve got to be kidding. That guy’s an asshole. And he’s not exactly maintaining a low profile.”

“I take it you interacted with him then?” A hint of laughter colored her mate’s voice and flashed in his eyes.

“You could say that. He hit on me. More than once.”

All hint of laughter disappeared immediately. “You will expand on that later. It is precisely Blake’s brashness that makes him the perfect spy. Morgan would never suspect someone that draws so much attention to himself.”

“Morgan does not like him.”

“There is little that Charles Morgan does like. Though he seems to like you well enough. What was it he called you? Oh, yes, sweetheart I believe it was.” Irritation made Thomas’s words clipped.

“I think we’ll just head on to bed,” Clayton said before Juliana could respond. He pushed Rebel out the door in front of him and Michael followed behind shaking his head. As they headed further into the building instead of outside, they must be setting up camp here. It made sense they’d stay in a private residence over a hotel, there was no staff to report back to Morgan on their movements. It probably belonged to the Council.

“Tonight’s the first time he called me that. I think he did it to piss you off.” She kept the fact that he’d called her that again after Thomas left to herself. There were some things he was better off not knowing. She walked over to the couch and dropped down beside him, angling herself so she could lean against his side. He wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close. His hand rubbed her arm absently.

“I don’t like any of this,
Joya
,” he said in a low voice. “Morgan is dangerous. If he feels that you’ve betrayed him, he will seek retribution.”

“He knows who I am.”

The hand on her arm stilled for a moment and then returned to its back and forth motion. She wasn’t sure if Thomas was doing it to comfort her or himself. “When did you discover this?”

“After you left. He recognized me from the news coverage on the Thief. Originally he wasn’t sure why I was here but when I didn’t leave after Blake’s arrest and you showed up, he believes I’m trying to get away from you. He’s offered me his protection.”

Thomas made a humming noise but didn’t say anything.

“What is it with the two of you? He hates you. Almost as much as you hate him I think. And you scare the shit out of him if those wights are any indication. I’d never seen them before tonight.”

“That’s part of the problem. Charles Morgan has always thrived on fear, on controlling those lesser than him. He actually has the ability to control those beneath him, particularly if they’ve had his blood. He can’t control me and he can’t beat me. He doesn’t like it.”

A tendril of fear wove through her at his acknowledgment that Morgan was so powerful.  “There’s more to it than that, Thomas. This is personal.”

He cleared his throat. “In the ‘20s, Morgan was a don with the mafia. He had his own family. He was feared, respected, even loved by some truly deranged individuals. He ruled Kansas City much as he does now. Only now he does it while shaking the mayor’s hand and getting bridges named after him instead of having the FBI crawling up his ass.

“After a particularly bloody incident, rumors started going around that Morgan wasn’t human, that he drank the blood of his enemies. The Wardens got involved. The Council didn’t want him dead for various reasons, but we removed him from power, killing several of his key support people in the process and made it look like he’d been the victim of a hit for the general public. Twenty some years later, after the Rending, he came back to Kansas City and took over. He already owned a good portion of the River Market area and just started making it what he wanted.

“Only this time, he bent the laws to suit him instead of breaking them and pumped money into the city so he was a hero instead of a criminal. I don’t like his politics or his morals. Some people are just no good and he’s one of them. Always has been. The Council contains his area to Kansas City and he doesn’t like it, but he’s not strong enough to take us all on. And that’s what he’d have to do. We’re not about to let someone that unstable and that powerful run unchecked.”

She settled in closer to him. “As thrilling and interesting as this topic of conversation is, I’d like to talk about this.” She held up the badge Clayton gave her.

Thomas sighed. “As long as my reach is, my dear, I cannot just tell your boss what to do when it comes to you. Clayton however can. You wanted to stay, this was the way to make it happen.” His irritation was evident in his tone. She turned her face into the back of the couch so he couldn’t see her smile. “Speaking of your boss, either he’s gotten worse or you understated his condition. I’ve made him report to receive a keeper.”

She tilted her head back and looked at him in surprise. “He wasn’t that bad when I saw him. I mean he’s been going downhill for a while, but I didn’t think he was actually in danger of going feral.”

“And he may not, but I’m not willing to take the risk of him doing so without someone watching. He actually hissed when I walked into his office.”

Juliana didn’t know what to say. As much as she disliked Ben currently, there was a time when she considered him her friend. His attitude had changed abruptly not that long ago and he didn’t want to discuss why though she’d asked him on more than one occasion. With what Thomas told her, she wondered if it was more to do with him and less with her than she’d thought. If he went feral, he’d have to be put down. It was a possibility she didn’t want to think about at the moment.

“How sure are you that Blake wouldn’t kill anyone?”

“I never said he wasn’t capable of killing, just that I find it unlikely he killed those particular women. There was no reason for him to.”

“I’m fairly certain there was no reason for anyone to kill them so that doesn’t help your argument much.”

“Let’s try this a different way. Why do
you
think he didn’t do it?”

She sat up and looked at him. “He left teeth marks on the victims. Logically, it would seem to me if you were going to kill someone, you wouldn’t leave your bite on them, you’d heal it.”

He shrugged. “It requires skill to leave enough life in someone to heal the bite while still ensuring they do not survive. Perhaps they just weren’t skilled enough.”

She pinched the bridge of her nose. All this circular logic was giving her a headache. “I don’t know what to think. All the victims had numerous bite marks in various degrees of healing. Either they liked being marked or the vamps liked marking them. I’d say if you want to ensure your boy gets off, you start digging into his alibi. Or should I say,
alibis
.” She handed him the paper Andrews had faxed to her earlier.

Thomas glanced at it then folded it and slipped it into his pocket. “I’ll see what I can do.”

She stood. “I need to get going. I’m afraid Morgan will send someone by to check on me and I won’t be there.”

Thomas rose and walked her to the door with a hand on her back.

“So our supposed mutual hatred of you has given me an in with Morgan, but any ideas how I’m supposed to get him to talk?”

He shrugged. “You may still not be able to get him to talk, but he’ll trust you more. Keep you closer. You’ll just have to listen. And him bringing you into his fold, so to speak, will give you more opportunity to go through his things. He may have something useful at one of his businesses.

“I can’t just go through his shit without a warrant, Thomas. There’s rules about that you know.”

“That’s your Walker talking. You’re a Warden. At least for now, take advantage of it. The warrant will be available if needed.” He was affirming something she’d long suspected. That the Wardens did what they needed to do during their investigations and by the time it went to trial, all the paperwork was in order, just as if it had been all along. That is, if it went to trial. The Wardens had a long history of protecting the status quo and going to extreme lengths to do that. While executions weren’t as prevalent as they were before the Rending, it still wasn’t that unusual for a particularly nasty Altered to disappear in the middle of a Warden investigation.

She decided the wisest course of action for the time being was just to keep her mouth shut. Leaning against Thomas’s chest, she pressed a kiss to his lips. When he tried to deepen it, she pushed away from him. “Don’t start that or I’ll never leave.”

Thomas growled and opened the door. “I’m here if you need me.”

As she stepped out into the early morning, she sincerely hoped she wouldn’t have to take him up on that.

***

Once again, sleep came hard to Juliana. This time it had less to do with bad dreams than the sound of rats scurrying in the walls. She’d have to mention it to Morgan. Surely it was against the health code to have vermin in a strip club. But then again who was going to write Charles Morgan a ticket. She sat up on the edge of the couch and ran a hand down her face trying to wake up.

She’d briefly considered sleeping in the bed but a quick inspection of the mattress had quickly chased that thought from her mind. The couch was probably just as nasty but it was brown plaid and hid a multitude of sins. And if she didn’t see it, she could pretend it didn’t exist. It was too early for her to be up after the hours she’d put in the day before. She looked around the cluttered room trying to get her bearings.

A knock sounded at the door and she wondered briefly if they had knocked before and that’s what had woken her. “Just a minute,” she called and grabbed her jeans off the floor. After slipping them on, she shuffled to the door and opened it when she saw Cullen through the peep hole. “Hey, Cullen. What’s up?”