Way of the Wolf: Shifter Legacies 1 (18 page)

“Stephen and I were puzzled about AML’s strategy, a clever move we thought, and dangerous because it could work. They usually don’t try to buy our people, they butcher them, but now I am starting to think we were looking in the wrong direction. AML are not behind this strategy; Techtron is. Your father’s company is bankrolling AML and using its reputation to... ah,
encourage
acceptance of its offers.”

“My father is a good man, he doesn’t know about this.”

“You have talked with him then?”

“No but—”

Edward frowned. “Why not?”

Before she could answer, Edward closed the folder and stood, already looking toward the door. Marie turned and watched Stephen flow into the room. Flow, what a marvellous word. It was accurate too. Stephen was so graceful; he flowed through the door and into the room. She smiled when his distracted expression changed. For a moment she saw surprise and delight on his face, she was sure she had seen it, but it was quickly replaced by a smile of welcome. Her smile widened a little more, and she wondered if he was leaking again. The thought almost made her laugh.

“Marie! This is a surprise.” Stephen reached for her hand and clasped it in both of his as she rose. He held her hand stroking it with a thumb as if unaware. “Have you eaten this evening?”

A shiver ran down her spine, she couldn’t concentrate on anything but his hand holding hers. His skin was dry and cool, but not cold. She had imagined he would be cold, but his touch was pleasant. More than pleasant. Another shiver ran down her spine and her short hairs lifted. She was fascinated by his touch. She stared at his hand, his thumb stroking back and forth, back and forth and imagined him touching other things. A glow of warmth began low in her belly. Goddess, he was...

She forced herself to look up. She found his eyes and a thrill of fear shot through her. Never look a vampire in the eyes! Everyone knew that rule. She quickly focused upon the knot of his tie, but then she realised he hadn’t tried anything. Daringly, she flicked a look at his face and found nothing to fear. He was still smiling, waiting for an answer.

Talk fool! Say something intelligent for goddess’ sake!

“Ah... eaten? No I...” she was acting like a child! She tugged gently and Stephen released her hand. Had she imagine his reluctance to let go? “I brought something you need to see.”

Edward offered the folder back and Marie accepted it gratefully. She needed the distraction. She opened the folder to the photograph of Christopher Wilson meeting with John Newman and turned the entire folder toward Stephen.

He glanced down reluctantly but his eyes sharpened when he realised what he was looking at. He reached to take the folder, glancing up for permission first, and took it out of her hands. He glared at the photograph as if it offended him. Good thing vampires were not pyrokinetic, because the strength of his glare might have made it burst into flames.

“I got it for you, the information you wanted. You said last time you needed me... my help I mean so... well I got it for you.” She forced herself to shut up. She was babbling!

“Thank you, Marie. This is more than I expected.”

“We can go over it together. I mean if you would like to. I can’t let you keep it; it would do bad things to Techtron’s stock if what that folder contains got out, and it would devastate my father to learn his friend is doing this.”

Stephen’s eyes danced over her face, studying her. “Be at ease, I give you my word I mean no harm to your father, and of course you must take this away with you.”

Edward shuffled his feet, his expression uncertain. “But we need—”

Stephen raised a hand and cut Edward off. “I would very much enjoy your company for dinner this evening. We can go over this at the same time.”

She hadn’t planned to make this trip into a date, but she hadn’t eaten yet. She had been too nervous. She wanted to accept, she realised, and she had to stay to go over the information with Stephen anyway, so why not over dinner?

“Dinner would be good,” she said, and felt proud of her daring. She really was starting to take responsibility for her life again. She doubted her father would be thrilled with the way her new independence had manifested. “I don’t think my jeans will look right in your club.”

Stephen’s eyes glowed briefly and Marie felt his delight in her acceptance of his offer. He was leaking again. The thought made her grin.

“No need for concern.” He closed the folder and used it to gesture toward the door. “I have an apartment here.”

“Here at the club?” she said as they left the office.

“Beneath. We call it the underground. It’s very comfortable. My staff and I live there. AML are always a threat. It’s safer for all if we stay together.”

The thought of AML hurting Stephen chilled her, and ruined the mood that had been building. What must it be like, living in hiding and always on guard against attack? The club must have a giant target painted on it even without Stephen’s presence. So many non-humans partying together must be like a slap in the face to Newman and his friends.

“Have you ever thought that your club is asking for trouble?” she said as they crossed the lobby toward another door on the far side.

Anger sparked in his eyes. “Blaming the victims?”

“No! That isn’t what I meant at all. Lost Souls is a monster club. Humans don’t come here.”

“Some do, you did after all, but I know what you’re thinking. Our people do need places like this where they can be themselves.”

“But you didn’t ban humans.”

“That would be illegal,” Stephen said wryly. “I have people on the door whose judgement I trust to weed out troublemakers of the human variety. They only let in those we can trust.”

She made a face. It wasn’t fair, but no one said it would be. In the Republic, non-humans were barred from many venues and businesses by law, but that same law protected human rights. It was literally illegal to discriminate against humans based upon their sex, or race, or age. Such hypocrisy was breathtaking.

“It’s not fair,” she said. “But I was thinking how your club must look to AML. It’s a slap in their faces. You painted a huge target on it. They could bomb the place without fear of killing too many humans.”

Stephen snorted as they followed the corridor to the end and called the elevator. “They have tried various things, not bombs yet, but they wouldn’t care about killing a few collaborators and thrill seekers. That’s what they call humans who associate with us. To them, such people are collateral damage at worst, not even worth a second thought.”

Marie knew he was right. The story about AML killing a shifter and his family wasn’t the first of its kind she had read about, it wasn’t even that unusual. His completely human children hadn’t warranted more than a brief mention by the media. A day or so later they were forgotten.

The elevator doors slid aside, and she joined Stephen inside. He entered a code into a keypad and then selected four. The elevator dropped smoothly and opened less than half a minute later to reveal a corridor with a few doors set in the walls. The floor was carpeted with a silvery grey carpet and the lighting in the ceiling was subdued. The walls were white, while the doors were varnished wood. Stephen ignored the rooms each side, leading her toward the double doors at the far end of the hall, but as they neared the last door, it opened to reveal Terry.

Marie stopped, startled. “What are you doing here?”

Terry closed the door. “I live here,” he said and a strange light flashed in his eyes.

She stepped back giving him some room, feeling a wave of dizziness and nausea pass over her. Stephen was suddenly there. His hand flashed, once then twice, so fast she barely saw it move, but suddenly Terry reeled back from the backhand slap to his face. Blood trickled from split lips.

Stephen moved forward into the vacated space making him back away. The look of hatred on Terry’s face was terrifying, and Marie wanted to shout for help, but then she saw his eyes burn red and his fangs descend. The realisation that he was a vampire shocked her into a horrified silence. Had he been attacked? Was Stephen looking after him? She didn’t understand any of this.

“You
dare!
” Stephen hissed angrily. “You dare to insult my guest and compound it by trying in front of me? Never try that on her again. I swear you are one breath from the final death at this moment.”

“I’m sorry, Stephen! I swear I didn’t mean—”

Another slap. “Don’t lie to me!” Stephen roared. “
I made you, I can unmake you!
”

Marie covered her ears and screamed; Stephen’s roar had power, not just volume. Terry cringed, turning his face away from Stephen’s wrath. It was wrath, not anger. She screamed again as Stephen’s rage poured over her.

“Marie?” Stephen said softly an age later. “Open your eyes love, it’s all right now. He’s gone. I won’t let him hurt you.”

She shook her head.

“Please.”

She shook her head again, and tried to speak. It wasn’t Terry that had scared her.

“I should have thought. It’s my fault. I knew he was down here, but I would never have believed him stupid enough to try that on you with me right there. I’m twice the fool now.”

She didn’t think he was a fool at all. He was as sexy as anything on two legs that she could imagine, as scary as ten demons appearing in her bedroom naked and ready for action, as powerful as... as powerful as a very powerful thing with no safety catch! He was all that and more, but she didn’t take him for a fool.

“Tw... tw... twice?” she stuttered.

“For honouring my word and giving him the reward he sought, and then allowing you to meet him this way. It won’t happen again. I will ensure he is elsewhere during your visits. Will you still have dinner with me?”

She opened her eyes and looked beyond him at the empty corridor. There was no sign of Terry. “It wasn’t him. I mean he surprised me, but it was your reaction that scared me half to death.”

Stephen’s face fell. “Ah.”

She felt his self-disgust clearly. “What did he try to do to me?”

“He tried to glamour you.”

“But all it did was make me feel dizzy. Was he trying to do that, why?”

“No, you misunderstand me. He’s too new; his power is weak. He tried to take control of your mind and make you his toy.”

Marie paled.

“It’s all right. I have impressed upon him the consequences of repeating his error.”

She could guess what Terry’s punishment would be if he angered Stephen that way again. She nodded, only then realising she was still kneeling on the carpet, and Stephen was crouching at eye level to talk to her. She gave him her hand.

“Help me up?”

Stephen’s relief was obvious. He pulled her up, and steadied her. “Dinner?” he asked hopefully.

Why was he so interested in her, why so intent upon dinner? It wasn’t as if he could eat. All he could do was watch her. It was flattering that he wanted to do that, but she was no child to believe an immortal saw merit in her. She was nothing special. The more she thought about it, the clearer it became that the only thing special about her was her father.

* * *

Part II

11 ~ Tea and Cookies

“I don’t know, man. It just seems a little…”

“What?” Slick Willie said as he drove. “You ain’t pulling out on me are you?”

“It just seems a little off you know? I mean, she’s just an old lady, right? How much we gonna get from someone like that?”

“If you don’t want to come in with me, Lenny, just say it straight. Are you pulling out? I can drop you right here.”

“No man, I’m with you,” Lenny said hastily.

Right here was a particularly nasty neighbourhood; not a good place to be alone and he knew that. Willie smiled into the dark. He didn’t need Lenny for this little job. Hell, he didn’t need anyone’s help to relieve an old biddy of her savings, but she was expecting him to bring his
brother
with him this time. The stupid bitch thought he was her friend. She thought him a nice boy for helping her carry packages up to her apartment and gave him tea and cookies like he was a damn kid. She had some nice stuff. Some of the china dolls she had collected must be worth a few bucks, and the picture frames were silver. He didn’t know much, but he knew quality stuff when he saw it. Sal the shark would take them off his hands no problem at all.

Willie parked the car outside the old biddy’s building and locked the door. He wanted the car to be still here when he came back. With luck it would be, though it wasn’t his. He’d stolen it just an hour ago especially for this job.

He led Lenny into the lobby. The building used to be a good hotel back in the day. The floors, though worn, still had a look of elegance. They were clean and the marble tiles shone dully. The entire building was like that. It had once been something special but had declined slowly into just another apartment building with a history. Unlike some, the owner of this one had taken care not to let age turn it into a derelict. Yes, its splendour had faded with age, but its quality was still obvious. If he ever had the money, he would buy something just like it for himself.

They walked by the desk being held down by the so-called building supervisor. Willie nodded to Frank, but the old sot didn’t even notice. Just as well. They didn’t need the old fart getting involved and maybe getting hurt. Not that he was averse to hurting him if he had to, but it would be a hassle he didn’t need. He wanted money not a fight.