Blood Slave: A Realm Walker Novel (17 page)

Morgan gestured in her direction. “You will protect, Miss Norris for me until I tell you otherwise.”

The creature nodded once and looked her over from head to toe as if memorizing her appearance. Actually, that was probably exactly what it was doing.

Deliberately turning her back on it, she started down the hall. The wight was inches behind her. She stopped, praying it wouldn’t run into her and turned to Morgan. “It’s going to have to give me some space. I told you it creeps me out. Besides, it can’t possibly be good for business for it to be in the club.”

Morgan studied her then turned to Henry. “Stay in the back hall.” He grabbed Juliana’s hand before she even realized what he was doing and a sharp pain pierced her palm. She jerked back and examined her hand. A thin scratch marred the surface. Morgan shrugged when she glared at him. He moved to the wight. “Open your mouth,” he commanded. Once its tongue was exposed, Morgan wiped the small blade he carried across it. He was feeding her blood to the wight.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Her thoughts were not for the case or maintaining her cover, but of her own preservation. Blood was powerful. To take it and use it as Morgan had without her permission was unforgivable.

“It will allow him to track you without needing to be with you at all times.”

“That’s great. How about asking next time if I want you to feed my blood to some damned creature.”

Morgan closed the distance between them. “Do not mistake me, Juliana. I keep you here because I choose to. I could toss you away without a moment’s hesitation, throw you away like trash. And I’d get away with it too. I am Charles Morgan and no one defies me here.”

The man was nuts. He thought his power, his status, made him invincible. And maybe it had for a long time, before she came to town. His comment about disposing of someone like trash brought to the victims to mind and she wondered if he’d just given himself away. It was still speculation and not enough for an arrest.

“You have anything to say?” he asked breaking into her chain of thought.

“I think you made yourself pretty clear, Mr. Morgan.” She moved past him and into the main room of the club. Clayton’s gaze locked on her and followed her as she walked over to the bar.

Morgan came over to stand beside her. He reached up and pushed her hair behind her ear. He’d never touched her like that before. It was as if he was staking a claim on her since they were in public. She resisted the urge to cringe away from him.

“I thought I told you to call me Charlie.”

She gave him a faux sweet smile. “I’ll call you Charlie when you aren’t pissing me off.”

He paused a minute then tilted his head back and laughed loud enough to catch the attention of several patrons. “I see why he wants you back, sweetheart. You must keep him on his toes.”

He had no idea. Clayton walked up behind Morgan and Juliana felt her eyes widen. Morgan turned to see what had captured her attention. “Did you need another beer, hon?” she asked wondering what the hell Clayton was up to.

He shook his head and looked down at his shoes as he shuffled his feet. “I was wondering if you’d let me buy you breakfast after your shift.”

“I don’t think—” Morgan started and she cut him off.

“I’d love to,” she said. Clayton smiled wide and went back to his spot at the table.

Morgan turned to her with a frown. “Do you really think this is wise?”

“You are not my father. Or my husband. And I’ve got Henry. I’ll be fine.”

Chapter Seventeen

When Juliana left Lust, she found Clayton sitting behind the wheel of an old pickup truck waiting for her. The smile he gave her slipped as he focused on something behind her. Cursed wight. “He’s not going to let you ride in the truck. You’ll have to follow along.” She didn’t turn to look at it as she spoke.

She couldn’t care less if the thing got left behind, but that was unlikely. They were preternaturally fast. She climbed into the truck and slammed the door shut.

“What’s with the shadow?” he asked as he put the truck in gear and pulled away from the curb.

“That is my unwanted body guard. You better be on your best behavior or he’ll kick your ass.”

His lips twitched. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

He drove to a twenty-four hour breakfast restaurant. A sign in the window proclaimed you could have all the pancakes you could eat for $7.99. She looked at him in question. He shrugged. “I said I was taking you to breakfast, I figured I better do that. Besides, we wouldn’t want anyone to think you’re too easy when I take you straight back to my hotel.”

“What’s going on with Thomas?” she asked. “Morgan told me he had the Council intervene.”

Clayton’s smile fell. “Yes, he proved more tactical than we gave him credit for. We were expecting a frontal assault, but he contacted the Council rather than confronting Thomas directly.”

“So what you’re saying is he’s not a complete idiot.” She ran a hand down her face. “Thomas always underestimates those he considers beneath him.”

Clayton patted her thigh then opened his door. “Come on, let me feed you. We’ll discuss the rest later.”

It didn’t take long for them to decide what they wanted and they made idle chitchat until the waitress brought the food.

“I’m serious about wanting you to work for me,” Clayton said as he poured syrup on his pancakes.

Juliana glanced up from the waffle she’d been cutting. “Yeah?”

He nodded.

“Not sure how Thomas would feel about that.” She watched him while she ate. She sensed this was an important conversation and she didn’t want to miss any of it.

“I know he’s your mate, but somehow I don’t think you let him have much say in your professional life.”

“Of course he’s got
some
say, he’s my husband for all intents and purposes.”

“And if he was adamantly opposed to something you wanted to do just as adamantly?”

If she was honest with herself, she knew that she’d listen to Thomas, but she’d do what she wanted anyway. “If you’d asked me even six months ago if I’d ever consider leaving the Agency, I would have told you absolutely not.”

“And now?” he prodded when she didn’t continue.

“Now, I’m not sure that the Agency and I are such a good fit anymore.” As terrifying as it was to admit what she’d been thinking out loud, she felt relieved to talk to someone about it.

“You tell Thomas this?”

She shook her head. “Thomas would be happy if I sat at home twiddling my thumbs. Telling him I’m thinking of taking you up on your offer is definitely not the safer career I think he has in mind.”

“It’s not you, you know,” Clayton said after a pause.

She tilted her head to the side in confusion. “What’s not me?”

“It’s not that he thinks you aren’t capable. It’s obvious he respects you, admires you even. He just couldn’t live with himself if something happened to you and he wasn’t there to prevent it.”

Suddenly losing her appetite, she put her fork back down on her plate. “There are some things that can’t be prevented, no matter how hard you try.”

Clayton pursed his lips and nodded. “Fair enough”

She leaned against the back of the chair. “I’m not ready to leave the Agency yet. But if I do, you’ll be the first person I call.”

“I’m counting on it.”

***

Juliana was quiet as she trailed Clayton up to his hotel room. Her mind kept running over their earlier conversation. Could she really leave the Agency? It was strange for her to contemplate. That had been her life for so long. But not everyone got the chance to be a Warden. There was no application process. The only way in was for someone to recruit you. Was she really ready to pass up that opportunity?

Now wasn’t the time to think about it. She needed to get through this case first, and then she could contemplate a total life change. Clayton opened the door to his room and stood to one side so she could walk in. As she stepped past the bathroom a pair of strong arms grabbed her and pulled her against a firm chest. She relaxed against it immediately. “Grabbing women in the dark is a really good way to get your ass kicked.”

“I’ll try not to make a habit of it then,” Thomas said, his lips brushing her ear.

“Morgan said he kicked you out of the city.”

Thomas growled. “He did. I left. I came back.”

As simple as that. Though she supposed for him, it probably was. She glanced at the window, relieved to see the curtains were pulled shut. Still, she went to them and pulled them more tightly together.

“Problem?”

“She’s got a bodyguard,” Clayton answered for her.

“We’re on the tenth floor. I hardly think that’s much of a concern. Even if they could see that far, the angle’s all wrong.”

“Unless of course you’re a wight and can climb just about anywhere to keep your target in sight.”

***

A chill ran the length of Thomas’s spine. “He set one of his wights on you?”

His bride nodded. That wasn’t a protection detail. Morgan wanted to keep tabs on her, to track her, to limit her. For a moment, he was grateful for her paranoia. The wight could easily scale the building across from them if it wanted to put eyes on her. As it was, it was just going to have to be happy looking at the curtain lining.

“Let’s get to it, I’m tired and need some sleep.” She dropped into one of the chairs and propped her feet up on the end of the bed, her legs crossed at the ankle.

His eyes traced the line of her long legs all the way up to those poor excuse for shorts that made up the bottom half of her so called uniform.

He dropped onto the bed next to her feet and pulled them into his lap, making her shift her position in the chair. He undid the laces on her boots and pulled them off. He began to massage the sole of one foot while he talked. “We found two women that can back up Blake’s alibi. It’s not going to clear him for every murder, obviously, but as they are all connected, that shouldn’t matter. Both the women’s statements have been written up. We’re waiting to get Blake released, however.”

“The longer he stays locked up, the safer our killer will feel,” Juliana said, though her voice sounded strained. Her head was leaning over the back of the chair, the skin at her throat pulled taught with the position. She’d probably punch him if he gave into his urge to lean forward and lick it. After all, they had an audience. He wondered how much he’d have to pay Hamilton to get him to leave them alone for a while. He turned his attention back to her foot. That was safer territory.

“Exactly. And the more secure our killer feels the more likely he is to make a mistake,” Hamilton said.

“We’ve also managed to connect all of the victims to Morgan. Not that it was hard to do. They all frequented the red light district. And as you know, Morgan owns ninety-five percent of the River Market.”

“Yeah.” Her foot twitched as Thomas hit a ticklish spot and she narrowed her eyes at him before continuing. “This is the problem I’ve had with this case from the beginning. Too many suspects. Too many places their lives crossed. When you live the life they lead, you’re going to end up dead. It’s not a question of if, but when.”

“I think it’s time you face the possibility that this case may be unsolvable. We can have all the suspicions we want, but without proof, it doesn’t matter. Maybe it’s time to go home.”

Thomas was grateful Hamilton said it so he didn’t have to. As he suspected, Juliana didn’t take it well. She didn’t like losing. Straightening in her seat, she pulled her foot from his grasp. “We can’t just give up. We know he did it. We just have to prove it.”

“How?” Thomas asked.

She blinked at him. “What?”

“How? Tell me how you intend to come up with enough evidence to convict Charles Morgan and we’ll help. Otherwise we’re going home.”

She narrowed her eyes and the betrayal that washed over her features brought a twinge of remorse. He wanted to tell her never mind, that they’d keep digging, but he couldn’t. It was his job to protect his mate, especially from herself. And he knew they could dig all they wanted, but there would never be enough evidence to convict Morgan. The man wouldn’t allow that to happen.

She sat there so long he was afraid she wasn’t going to say anything. Finally, she said, “Two days. Give me two more days, then we’ll go home.”

He exchanged a glance with Hamilton then turned back to his bride. “All right,
Joya
. Two more days, then we go home.”

***

The next night Juliana mulled over the need to confront Morgan directly. She wasn’t sure when she realized she had to do this, if it was in her panic when Thomas and Clayton said it was time to go home or if she’d really known it all along. For obvious reasons she hadn’t shared her new plan with any of the men. They were unlikely to approve. Were, in fact, likely to drag her all the way back to New Hope.

Now, her problem was figuring out
when
to confront him.

“Boss wants to see you,” Brent said and tilted his head to the back hallway. She nodded to let him know she heard and delivered her drinks to the appropriate table before heading to Morgan’s office. A sigh of relief escaped her when no wights awaited her in the back hall. Hopefully they wouldn’t be crammed into the office with the two of them. She knocked lightly and entered when bade to do so.

Morgan studied her through hooded eyes and gestured to one of the seats in front of his desk. “You must have hit it off with your friend last night. Cullen says you didn’t come home.”

She shrugged. “He was a nice guy. He treated me well. I don’t see what business it is of yours.”

Truth was, she’d fallen asleep in Thomas’s arms in one of the two beds, and Clayton had taken the other.

“And if I wanted to make it my business?”

Juliana just looked at Morgan waiting for him to continue. She didn’t believe for a minute he was genuinely interested in her. What was his endgame?

“Do you honestly think I’ve gone out of my way to help you simply to get under Thomas Kendrick’s skin?”

Yes, she did actually, but she shook her head. “I guess not.”

“Look, no pressure all right. You come home with me. We’ll have a nice dinner. I’ll have one of my men drop you off at your apartment after if that’s what you want.” He leaned back in his chair.

She pretended to think about it a minute. “Yeah, dinner sounds good, Charlie. Thank you.”

That earned her a grin. “That’s what I wanted to hear. Go on and get cleaned up, we’ll leave when you’re ready.”

Her brows shot up. “But…the rest of my shift.”

“I’ll have a talk with your boss. It’ll be fine.”

Half an hour later she reappeared in his office, wearing jeans and the nicest top she’d brought with her. “Sorry. I need to go shopping. This is as good as it gets.”

He smiled at her again and something about it made her feel uneasy. “You look fine. Shall we?”

She followed him out of the club and he held open the back door of a long sleek black sedan for her. She slid in and over to the passenger side. Morgan slid in beside her. She glanced at the front, surprised to see Bobby behind the wheel. She was aware he and Morgan knew each other, but this was the first indication she had that Bobby worked for him.

“Bobby,” she said by way of greeting.

“Juliana,” he said in return with a small smile. Obviously he found it amusing that he knew her real name.

Frowning, she looked at Morgan for an explanation.

“I didn’t see the point in maintaining your cover any longer. Kendrick knows where you are. You might as well go back to being you.”

She shrugged. “Fair enough, I suppose.”

They headed north out of the city. “Where are the wights this evening?” she asked in an attempt to make conversation. Something about Bobby was bothering her, but she couldn’t place it. She needed to get her mind on a different topic.

Morgan gestured past her, out the window. “See for yourself.”

Squinting her eyes, she peered out into the darkness. There, running along the rail on the side of the highway, was one of the wights. Looking out Morgan’s window she found the other on the far side. As they approached Morgan’s bridge, the creatures ran up the cables that formed a large triangle on either side of the bridge. Pressing her face against the glass she craned her neck to follow the movement. Gods, those things could move.

“Impressive, huh?”