Bite Back 05 - Angel Stakes (37 page)

The stuff was about to hit the fan.

I knew next to nothing about the industry, but I knew that no one could command those sort of assurances from any reputable magazine. If any of those still existed. And besides, we were complete fakes.

Tamanny had wandered to one side and turned her back on the discussion. I followed her. I didn’t have much time left.

“Listen to me,” I said.

She swung her young-old eyes around to me and I tasted bile, imagining the worst the industry could do to her. The worst
Forsythe
could do to her. I wanted nothing more than to kidnap her right now; take her away and give her back a childhood.

“I…uhh...” She glanced at her mother. Elizabetta was doing an excellent job, being distracting, and buying me a few more moments with Tamanny.

“You don’t need to answer anything. Let me just say a few words. Can’t hurt, can it?”

She bit her lip.

“You’re scared. You don’t trust the people around you.”

The fear I’d sensed rose in her eyes. Her mouth moved, but no sound came out.

I
reached
. I didn’t intend to this time; it just happened. My eukori worked. It flowed out and tangled with hers.

There was no way of accurately describing any of the eukori I sensed. I relied on strange associations the feelings made in my head. Tamanny’s eukori was like rose petals falling. A gentle pull and I could feel the fear swirling below. Beneath the shield of laughing at ‘creeps’, and making fun of them, she was genuinely afraid of some of the people she was meeting. And through the fear was threaded another feeling, like being caught by rose thorns, being unable to get away, being trapped. A feeling I knew. I could remember the steel kiss of the
angoisse
clasped around my throat, the sharp spines pressing against my flesh.

I blinked away unexpected tears.
Fourteen!

Behind me, I heard the question that was going to get us thrown out. “Which magazine? Who’s your editor? I need to talk to them.” Mrs. Harper had her cell out.

“Well, we’re freelancers. Our work will be up for bidding—”

“
Freelancers?
Fucking freelancers! This is a con. Get the fuck away from her.”

Her voice had become a screech and she was pushing past Elizabetta. I had a couple of seconds, no more.

“Listen to me,” I said, words flowing out of me. “I am someone you can trust with your life. When you need help, call me and I will come for you.”

I gave her my card with my number.

She blinked.

For a second I thought she was going to hold it up and look at it. Her mother would snatch it out of her hand and throw it back at me.

I shifted to put my body between her and her mother. Just another second. Just…

Tamanny’s hand twisted like a conjuror doing a trick. My card had disappeared.

You go, girl. You survive, dammit.

Her mother’s hand grabbed my shoulder and jerked me back.

“Get the fuck out of here!” she shouted in my face. “I’m calling security.”

I put my hands up and backed away. Tamanny’s head was down and her mother shoved her toward the elevators.

We let them go and made our own way down afterwards.

The hotel staff weren’t interested in us as long as we left, and we were outside a minute later.

“You get the same feeling about this?” Elizabetta asked.

I nodded. “Her mother’s got some kind of guilt trip on Tamanny. Something along the lines of she gave it all up to raise her, and now it’s time to pay back.”

“You sensed that? Your eukori?”

I nodded. “I think so. It sort of worked.”

“That woman is full of it,” Elizabetta spat. “I mean, what a piece of work!”

“Yeah, but it doesn’t prove anything about Forsythe,” I said, arguing against my instincts. “Tamanny doesn’t think he’s the problem.”

“No, I suppose he buys her shoes out of the goodness of his heart.”

“Hey, I’m on your side,” I said. “He’s a sick predator, but that doesn’t change the facts. She didn’t give us anything we could use against Forsythe.”

“And her mother’s no use. She won’t care what happens as long as the money’s good and she gets her name in lights.”

“We don’t know that.”

But as I said it, I looked back up at the impersonal height of the hotel. The blank eyes of the windows looking out over downtown LA made me think of Mrs. Harper’s eyes. Soulless. My gut told me Elizabetta was right.

My gut knew there were a host of his victims I was too late to save. Even where I wasn’t too late, there were too many, too widely distributed. I couldn’t save everyone, but if I could save Tamanny, maybe that was how I could pay my debt to Fay. Maybe that would ease that feeling.

Where the hell’s our car?

One Altau guard was standing ten yards away from us, scanning the street.

I was about to move us into somewhere more sheltered when I saw the other guard drive around the corner in the car.

“Shit!” Elizabetta said from behind me. “That’s just what we need.”

I looked back sharply at her tone.

She pulled me close and lifted her cell up as if to show me something. The screen was blank.

“Not the cell. Across the street. In the window seat of the café,” she said.

A guy sat sipping a drink. A camera sat on the table in front of him, pointed, as if by accident, at the hotel doors.

“That’s one of the detectives from Jefferson’s Major Crimes division.”

Two problems.

One, there would be a photo of us. Two, if more detectives were getting involved, this wasn’t an off-the-books project for Major Crimes any more, it was a case, and we would be getting in their way.

“Jeez. It’s only a couple of miles,” I bitched. “And we’re still not home.”

“It’s LA traffic,” the driver said. “And Christmas shopping. We’re heading for gridlock.”

So much for a quick getaway. If the detective had called Jefferson Reed, and been ordered to bring us in for questioning, he’d had enough time to eat lunch, finish the newspaper and rapidly overtake us at a leisurely stroll.

Maybe the lookout hadn’t recognized Elizabetta. Maybe Reed wasn’t available. Maybe he’d just wait and see where we went.

“We’re walking,” I said. “You want to ditch the car or split up?”

The two security guys looked at each other. “Ditch it. We’ll come get it tonight.”

One of them handed us instant disguises: scarves and Jackie O sunglasses.

“Basilikos are gonna be as stuck as this car is,” I grumbled, but I put them on anyway.

We managed to leave the car in a car wash compound for more money than they made from a normal day’s work.

The temperature was perfect for walking, but we’d have choked on car fumes on the boulevard. We struck out in a straight line for home, more or less, the security guys a few paces behind us.

I had a message waiting. Jen was back.

I called, but Jen’s cell was busy. Dante’s was switched off, damn the girl, as were Julie’s and Keith’s and Alex’s.

I didn’t want to disturb Yelena. Instead I managed to get through to Bian and update her on everything that had happened in Denver.

She’d just received an invitation to visit Cameron in Santa Fe, and an offer for the use of the pack’s buildings as bases.

“So that’s it, Round-eye? You’ve solved all my furry problems?” she said.

“Just being my usual helpful self.”

She snorted. “Truth be told, I’m glad you called. They’ve been so cooperative, I keep expecting the other shoe to drop.”

“It’s genuine. Have they helped with finding anyone?”

“The packs rounded up some stray Aspirants and seven Romero who broke House with their kin to go underground when they saw what was happening.”

Broke House
—managed to overcome the Athanate impulse to follow the head of your House regardless. Not necessarily a point in their favor, seen through Athanate eyes. But Bian would know what she was doing.

“And thanks to your furry friends in LA helping with security,” Bian said, “Skylur’s allowed a few more from there to join me. I’m also hoping to pick up some of your old colleagues from Ops 4-10 when Skylur decides they can be let out. Overall, we’re going great down here. Oh, and Rita sends her love.”

I laughed. “Are my two favorite kittens getting along okay?”

“Meow. Gotta go.”

We jinked a street or two and doubled back to flush out anyone trailing us.

Nothing.

In all likelihood Reed’s detective hadn’t recognized Elizabetta, but Reed himself would once he saw the photos. The confrontation was inevitable—no way he would believe we’d been there by chance. Not after the questions he must already have about us.

At least there was an end in sight for Elizabetta’s deception, but I kept that thought to myself.

∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞

An hour or so later, we arrived at the house, thanked our escort and went in.

Dominé met us in the hall.

“I have instructions from Yelena,” she said, demanding our cellphones.

Okay.

Once I’d surrendered mine and was allowed in, she nodded up at the split level where the bedrooms and office were.

“I have now had the pleasure of meeting Jennifer. She’s in the office,” she said, not smiling at all. Much.

I took the stairs three at a time.

Jen was sitting at her desk, on the landline now. She gave me a huge smile, blew a kiss and waved me to a chair while she started winding up her business call.

I sat and let out a sigh of satisfaction. Just having her back in the house felt better.

It looked as if she hadn’t taken the time to change after arriving at the airport—she was still in her business suit, still made up. This was Jen in her element, the business CEO. I forgot sometimes, because I usually saw her relaxing at home.

She ended her call and came around the desk, slipping into my arms like the missing piece of the puzzle finding its home.

We kissed, long and deep. It left me breathless. And my jaw throbbing with fangs that promised to manifest with the slightest encouragement.

“I l
ove you,” we said at the same time, as we broke the kiss.

She nuzzled my neck. “I’m sorry, honey, I have calls stacking up like buzzards over a dead cow.”

I laughed. “Can I help?”

“Hell, yeah. I’ve got just a couple more I can’t put off. I’d like to do the second one right after the first and I haven’t prepped it.” She pointed at a stack of printed and handwritten sheets. “Could you have a look at the notes and give me a list of bullet points in order of priority please? With your opinion. You should have about twenty to thirty minutes.”

What the hell did I know about her business deals? I opened my mouth to complain and the phone rang.

“My conference call,” she said and dived back around the desk.

I laughed again, shuffled the stack of papers and scanned through them, expecting something about accounts. She knew I was good with numbers.

But the sheaf of documents wasn’t about Kingslund Group finances or any obscure commercial deals. It was about the shortfalls in treatment of veterans with injuries.

Oh yes, I had an opinion on this!

The problem would be holding my opinion back and giving the documents a rational assessment.

I began to write furiously and lost myself so thoroughly in the arguments, I didn’t even notice her call ending. It was a genuine surprise when she interrupted by kneeling down beside me.

“I
love
it when you throw yourself at something like there’s nothing else in the world.” Her voice came out husky, and thrills ran down my spine.

“I have some
one
I want to throw myself at right now,” I said, leaning into her.

Her lips grazed mine and pulled away.

I groaned.

“One last call. Just this one. Promise.”

She sat back in her executive chair and paused with one hand poised above the telephone number pad.

“Excellent,” she muttered, eyes focused on the notes I’d written. “Oh. Interesting! This is the real skinny.”

Her fingers touch-typed a number.

Thank you, honey
, she mouthed at me, and
I love you
.

My fangs pulsed with pleasure, manifesting for a second and then disappearing. It made her laugh just as her call was answered.

She became all business and I had to stop teasing her.

I tuned out the conversation and instead, I watched her.

There was something of the lioness about her when she worked. I could imagine her stalking into a boardroom and conversation stopping dead as people realized it had just gotten serious.

Here, she was tilting her chair back, the picture of confidence, her voice calm, assured and very much in control.

All in all, incredibly sexy.

As long as I didn’t distract her, I guessed there wasn’t any reason I couldn’t enjoy the view.

My eyes slipped down her, from her swirly blonde hair to the immaculate blue power suit with the angular jacket and the paneled skirt. From there, down to the toned flesh of her legs.

I knew she’d been working out in the gym with Julie and Yelena. It wasn’t the first time I’d noticed, but it was a great opportunity to study the changes.

Oooh. I like.

Was it my imagination, or was it hot in the office?

I fanned myself and dropped my eyes to the carpet.

Behave
, I scolded myself.
I’m not a schoolgirl with a crush.

I peeked again.

She’d crossed her legs, one elegantly perched on the other. And she’d slipped the shoe off her heel. Her foot was arched elegantly, the tan Louboutin shoe rocking to and fro, held on only by her toes.

I closed my eyes again.

Then I realized it had gone quiet.

She’d finished her call and she’d been watching me, watching her.

A little smile played along her lips, as if she knew every erotic image that had flickered through my mind in the last few minutes.

Crap. Busted.

“Those notes were good,” she said. “It’d be…so interesting having you work under me.”

I cleared my throat. I didn’t think that comment was aimed at my secretarial abilities. I played along. “Anything else I can do for you, Ms. Kingslund? Anything at all?”

I didn’t have to fake it; my voice came out all husky.

I kept my eyes down. That was a very wolfy signal, but maybe Jen would get the idea. I was loving the submissive role today.

“Well…” the way she pulled the sound out made me think of a cat stretching before it went hunting.

She came and stood right in front of me. Her hand brushed my cheek. I turned and kissed the inside of her wrist. A little catch in her breath was my reward.

“You really are a most attractive woman, Ms. Farrell,” she said.

“No, I’m passable, I guess, but you are the most beautiful woman I’ve ever met.”

“Passable? This says you’re wrong.” She cupped my face in her hands and kissed me.

An Athanate needs Blood, but almost as much, an Athanate needs Rahaimon—sustenance from emotion. It didn’t need to be love; Basilikos proved that. But how could they bear to rob themselves of this?

Despite any problems with eukori, Jen’s love and desire lit me up like a bonfire.

Yes. Yes. More. More.

She pulled me up. Locked at lip and hip, we swayed and spun until I felt the support of the desk against the back of my legs.

We had to break the kiss as Jen pulled my T and sports bra over my head. Her jacket had disappeared and I slowed myself way down, teasing, opening the buttons on her shirt with exaggerated care.

“And they say you have a reputation for being hard on clothes,” Jen said, loosening my jeans.

“It’s well earned.” I tossed her shirt at the chair and her bra after it.

“Oh!” Her hands paused as my jeans opened, and then slipped across my belly, making me gasp. “Pretty, pretty.”

She spun me around and pushed me down so I was bent over the desk. It gave her a better grip on the jeans. I guess.

I didn’t care. I was blissed out and melting inside.

If it had been Alex, we’d have been playing bump the desk already. Jen just got more and more leisurely, tugging my jeans down, inch by inch.

“Now there’s a sight.”

A rasp, a whisper and her skirt joined the rest of her clothes. She pressed against my butt, trapping me against the desk. As if I was going anywhere.

“Now that thong, that pretty,
pretty
thong, it really suits you, Ms. Farrell,” she murmured as her nails traced lines of fire along my back.

“Thank you, ma’am.” I grinned down at the cool brown surface of the desk. “There’s nothing else in my drawers. The person who packed for me must have forgotten all my other panties.”

“Oh, I don’t think anything was forgotten.”

I bit my lip. I knew exactly who had chosen and packed my clothes. Same person who’d bought all these ridiculous thongs for me. Ridiculous.

Jen ground against me and I gasped.

She bent down and her hair caressed my back as her teeth nibbled up my spine.

“You said you’d always tell me the truth,” she said.

“I did,” I said. “I will.”

“Always?” Another measured swivel of her hips and exquisite pressure on me.

“Yes, yes!” I groaned. “You’re going to have to ease up if you want me to say anything else.”

She chuckled, but the pressure did ease off a little.

“Do you love me?” she asked.

“Yes. Of course.”

Stupid question.
But I was still smiling.

“Mmm.”

She stepped back a little way. Her hand took a grip on my hip bone and tugged gently.

I swiveled around on the desk. She slipped between my legs. I wrapped them around her and crossed my ankles.

Gotcha!
She wasn’t going to get away for a while now.

She wasn’t trying to. She was pressing hard against me again.

I bit my lip as a small moan escaped me.

Her eyes had gone all sleepy and smoky with desire. I wanted her to kiss me and take me right there, but she held off.

Was she teasing me?

No.