Choices: Alpha City, Book 3 (6 page)

“
M
orris hasn’t come back yet
,” Claudia said as she barged into Jamal’s bedroom. He was lying on his bed, completely naked, as a woman massaged his back.

“Who the hell is that?” Claudia demanded. Jamal didn’t open his eyes. It enraged her when he acted so nonchalant, basically ignoring her. He was supposed to be with her and only her. They had a deal.

“Francesca,” Jamal sighed, without a care in the world.

“Well, Francesca, if you want to keep those hands of yours I think you need to leave.” When the woman stayed put and completely ignored her, Claudia grabbed her by her hair and pulled her off the bed. Screaming, Francesca tried to kick Claudia as the witch dragged her to the door. Claudia used a little bit of her magic to open the door, and flung her out. As she let go, a bit of Francesca’s hair came out.

Claudia smiled down at the woman and slowly opened her hand, dropping the woman’s hair on the floor. Then she slammed the door in Francesca’s face as the woman started to get up.

Claudia was burning with rage as she turned around. Jamal was still lying flat on the bed with his eyes closed. “I thought we had an agreement.” Her hands tightened into fists as she watched the dragon turn his head toward her and smile.

“What agreement are you referring to, my love?”

Her temper flared. She’d had enough of the egotistical dragon. Nobody was going to double-cross her. She watched as Jamal got up from the bed and stretched toward the ceiling. Claudia charged him, trying to land a punch. Before her fist met its mark, Jamal grabbed her hands and slammed her face-first into the bed.

“Now, love, you’re getting yourself all worked up about nothing. If you wanted me, all you had to do was ask. She means nothing to me. Only you.” Jamal rubbed against her as she struggled to get up.

“Tell me you want me?” Again Claudia struggled, and Jamal grabbed her hair, jerking her head up. “Tell me, love.”

She hated herself, but she wanted him. Now more than ever. She had a lot of frustration to get rid of. She still needed him for a while. “I want you,” Claudia answered, giving him the truth, but only until she had all the pieces of the Stone. Then she’d get rid of her little problem or force him to answer to her. Right now, she needed him for something else and would continue to play the part.

Dragging her up on the bed, Jamal flipped her over and jerked her shirt open. “That’s what I thought.”

“Yes, yes, yes.” Claudia smiled knowing that one day she would have it all, and that included ruling over Valceria.

M
aggie smiled
as she watched the love story. She couldn’t believe he actually sat through the whole movie without bitching and moaning. He did dig into all the candy jars he had scattered around the room, though. “I can’t believe you watched the whole movie.”

He lifted his shoulder in a half-shrug. “This was different. I really enjoyed this movie. It had some action, some mystery, and…” Judd wiggled his eyebrows up and down. “And a little bit of sex.”

Smiling, Maggie shook her head. “I had fun tonight.”

Judd smiled back. “I did too.” He pushed some stray hair behind her ear. “You tired?”

“To be honest, I’m very tired and ready to go to sleep.” Maggie felt her phone vibrate. She took it out of her pocket and saw that it was Judith.

“Judith?” Judd asked.

“Yeah. The woman got shot three times and just about died, but she wants to know if I’m okay. Strange…” They both laughed.

“She loves you, and she’s just worried about you. I’m worried about you. So let’s get you to the guest room and get you tucked in. I think it would do us all good if we got a good night’s sleep.”

“Guest room?” Maggie asked. She thought he would at least try and get her to sleep in his room. She liked this new Judd, but then again she never knew the old one.

“Yep. Pennson is still out, but he has his room down the hall, too, and I have one set up for guests.” Judd escorted her down the hall. She wondered, was she a guest now? Maybe he was having second thoughts, and she had her wires crossed and couldn’t read him as well as she thought.

She followed him, worried now that he was just being nice. Judd opened the door for her and she almost went into convulsions. “Wow.” The room was spectacular. It had a king-sized bed with dark purple bedding—her favorite color. The walls were a light gray, and everything matched and fit perfectly in the room. She didn’t know what to go to first. The dresser had perfume on top of it; when she inspected it closer she saw that it was her favorite kind.

“I think I have everything you’ll need to wear in the drawers and in the closet, but we can get you whatever you need if I don’t,” Judd said.

When she opened the first drawer up she knew the man had done all of this for her. Even the underwear was the brand she wore. She walked over to the closet and found clothes and shoes in her sizes. “When…” She cleared her throat. “When did you do all this? You did this for me?”

Judd smiled. “Of course it’s for you. I don’t do this for all women.”

“I don’t understand, Judd. When did you do this?”

“A month ago, I guess.”

“A month ago was when I came to town. You hadn’t even spoken to me. At all. Not a word.” Maggie really didn’t understand any of this. Why would he do this if he hated her and her kind?

“I thought about you all the time, got some people to check out what you liked and didn’t. Maybe even spied a little bit to see what your tastes were. I thought that one day we would work this out and get to know each other, as we did, and you could have your own room. Your own space. Do you like it?”

Maggie stroked her fingers down the side of Judd’s face. “I love it. And you did it all for me.”

“I would move mountains for you, and I plan on doing that so we can be together. Like I promised, I will find a way for us to be together,” Judd answered, and she could tell he was being honest.

He kissed the top of her head. “I’ll leave you so you can get ready for bed, but if you need me in the middle of the night, I’m just down the hall. Okay?”

“Okay.” She looked around the room. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

J
udd walked
down to his office. He had to check in to see what was going on with Morris.

“Hello,” a voice said.

“Anything new?” Judd asked his Beta, Pennson.

“He just woke up, and boy is he mad, and strong as hell. I’m glad we re-enforced the walls with silver. He’s bouncing off the sides of them like a ping-pong ball. Asshole didn’t wake up with a better attitude, if that’s what you want to know.”

“Has he said anything?”

“Only that your bitch of a mate is going to die for changing him into this abomination,” Pennson repeated.

Judd sat silently listening. His temper was flaring after the threat to his mate. “He won’t have a chance to touch her before he goes to Hell.”

“That’s exactly what I told him, but the bastard seems to think they’ll rescue him. We put up double plates of silver across the front of the walls, just in case he reaches out through the bars. He looks like he’s about to gnaw his arm off for something to eat.”

“Remember what Maggie said about how strong and starved he’ll be. Don’t let anyone go near him,” Judd warned.

“Got it covered, boss,” Pennson assured him.

He hoped that Morris wasn’t right about a rescue mission. He would get with the Alphas about draining Morris of all the information he had. The longer they let him live, the worse it would be. He didn’t trust the guy, and now he was wondering if they shouldn’t have just killed him in the first place. What if this was a trap, and they wanted him to get caught?

Worried now, Judd fired up his computer and sent out a message relaying his thoughts. Nobody was safe, that was what Morris had said. He had to keep Maggie and his pride happy and whole. There had to be something he could do to make sure that everyone he loved was free from any harm.

Judd started researching the internet for some type of weapon. Something he could use in the fight against Claudia and Jamal. What could you use against magic? The dragon’s skin was thicker than that of any other living creature; they would need some type of weapon that could cut through it.

He watched a YouTube video about hunters who were showing off a .458 rifle that could kill a rhino. He didn’t know if it would actually penetrate the dragon’s hide, but if hurt the bastard even a little then he was going to try it.

Now, they needed something to hurt Claudia. But what? It wasn’t as if there was a store on the internet with things to hurt a witch dabbling in the dark arts. Or was there? He typed in ‘witches,’ and there were hundreds of links to click on. This would take him forever. He had to find someone who could help them with this woman. Apparently, the Council of Covens wasn’t going to send any help. What the hell were they waiting for?

“Judd?”

He turned around and found Maggie standing at the door. She was beautiful as the lights from the living room beamed down on her. He smiled as he looked her over. She wore a short, sexy nightgown that looked more like a dress and fit her perfectly. He’d dream of those long legs, as the dress only covered just above her knees. Her skin was pale, but flawless and beautiful.

Getting up, Judd walked over to her. “Are you okay?”

“I couldn’t sleep. I can feel how worried you are. You need to get some rest too.” Maggie had to look up to meet his gaze, but she would fit perfectly under his chin. He pulled her to him, closing his eyes.

“I’m okay. Just checking in with Penn.”

Pulling away, Maggie looked up and asked, “What did they say about Morris?”

He had to look away from her. He didn’t want her to worry. Schooling his feelings from her would be difficult. “That he’s bouncing off the walls wanting out.”

“And?” Maggie asked. Her green eyes shone brightly as she read him like a book.

“That was it. He’s yelling at them to release him,” Judd said dismissively.

Maggie turned her head sideways. “Judd, look. I know he said something about me. Please don’t start hiding things from me.”

Judd sighed, walked over to his desk, and sat on the side of it. “I just want to protect you. If anything happened to you, it would…”

Maggie walked over and stood between his legs. “Not telling me things leaves me at a disadvantage. I need to know so I can be on ready for anything they throw at me.”

“When did you become such a strategic planner?” Judd smiled at her.

“I guess it’s in my blood. When I was going through training as a new vampire, they taught us how to fight. My Maker was determined to make sure that I could take care of myself. I was a quick study. They all said I was a natural fighter, able to neutralize my opponent’s next move before they even took a step. I love to watch people and figure out their tells.”

“Did anyone ever get the best of you?”

“No, because the others were from a different clan. If they could best you then they had bragging rights against your maker, and I didn’t want that for Mick and his clan. They were good to me, so I studied and learned everything they taught their guards, mastered their techniques, and made sure I crushed everyone that challenged me.” Maggie explained with a shrug.

“My little kick-ass.” Judd leaned over and nuzzled her throat, taking in a deep breath, craving her. “Your scent drives me crazy,” he murmured, kissing her throat.

Maggie backed away. She quickly turned around and grabbed her mouth. “Hey, what’s wrong baby?” Judd was by her side in an instant.

“You can’t do that stuff to me. I…” That’s when Judd saw her fangs peeking out.

“I’m sorry. But when I get near you all I want to do is this…”

“Judd!” Maggie turned around again so he couldn’t see her fangs coming back out. He stood behind her and whispered in her ear, “You like it when I talk dirty to you, don’t you my little kick-ass?”

“See you in the morning.” With that said, Maggie rushed from the room. Judd smiled wickedly as her scent changed from blackberries in the wild to arousal. His nostrils flared as he inhaled the scent he’d be thinking about for a long, long time. He’d definitely remember that. Not only was she a little bad-ass, she liked dirty talk. Now he knew the fates had paired him with the right woman.

M
orris lay
down on the floor. He needed to rest.

All night he had been trying to find a way out. The whole place was made of silver—he couldn’t penetrate it. Even the floor had a certain amount in it, although not so much that he couldn’t lay down. He closed his eyes, wondering what had happened. Then he remembered. He wasn’t just a wizard anymore. No, the bitch had turned him into a vampire, a
damn vampire
.

He could feel the new power as it raged inside of him. When he got out of here the first person he was going to bite was Pennson. For hours he’d belittled him, telling him he wasn’t worth living and a disgrace to his kind. He’d show him. And through him, Claudia show them all the way. Once she’d explained her plans to him and how he was going to be a major part of them, Morris knew that she was the one. She was the chosen one, who wouldn’t make them hide behind what they were. The humans would be their servants. No more hiding in the dark, being careful so no one would see them shift or do magic. They would no longer be a secret.

She would send someone to help him. No way would she let him sit in here and rot. He knew too much, and Claudia needed him more then she thought. She told him that he was a huge part of the Order. He’d be her advisor on the board, with other followers. They had made a blood oath. Her promise was sealed in blood, and she couldn’t take it back. She could never kill him, or it would kill her.

He looked around when he heard the voice. When he realized nobody was in the room, he smiled. It was Claudia in his head.

“Be waiting for it tomorrow while the funeral is going on.”

Morris laughed out loud. He knew she wouldn’t leave him. She needed him. That’s what she kept telling him over and over again. She needed him. He smiled, thinking about all the people he was going to kill once he got out of this hellhole.