Shifters of Grrr 2 (78 page)

They had a nice meal and Lilith seemed to enjoy being there with them. She seemed to be a typical teenage witch as far as he could tell judging by those he'd been around. She had probably been someone's novice and he'd have to find out her history and make adjustments to get her magical and human education caught up to where it should be. She and Arabella seemed to be bonding well and they might end up keeping her if that was what she wanted.

He felt good about what they had accomplished the last few days both on a professional and personal level. He had committed himself to the work he did as a member of the witches' board and saving those witches had been the best thing he had done in that capacity, well probably ever. His relationship with Arabella was much closer than he had expected it to be at this point and the only thing left was their ritual joining. If he were honest, it couldn't happen soon enough because he was afraid she'd change her mind at the last minute.

It was his most fervent wish to be irrevocably bound to his mate. Once joined in the demon ceremony, nothing, not even death would sever that bond. He must have been sitting there with a silly grin on his face as he thought of the joining.

"You're staring at me, Zorth," Arabella said.

"It's only because you're so beautiful," he replied. Lilith giggled and he grinned at her. Arabella blushed and it made her look even lovelier. He was completely besotted and he knew it.

"We've gotten something wonderful done. All the witches are where they belong. I hope they catch Chief soon. He deserves to be punished for all the harm he's caused," Arabella said.

"I agree and it won't be soon enough to suit most of us. They draw ever nearer but he manages to get away at the last minute each time. The team is more frustrated than you can possibly imagine," he said.

"Maybe losing Serena will be a setback to him. Harry mentioned that his business structure is falling apart and without money he'll have a hard time continuing to run," she said.

"Maybe, but we should still be careful. You still have a target on you and it won't take long for him to know who you are. We need to take away his money and let everyone know that he has no funds to pay a bounty. We need to tighten the noose until we have him on our hands. There will be no rest until he's taken out," he swore.

"No pressure on the team or the rest of us," she replied.

"Life is full of deadlines and expectations, Sweetheart. This is just one of many and the team will rise to the challenge. I got a text from Damon and they will be meeting us tomorrow in Kansas City. We will get up early and head out. You will take charge of Lilith, if that is alright, but I want you both with me. I will feel better knowing I am protecting you," he said.

"That sounds like fun. Can we help?" Lilith asked. She was a beautiful innocent young one and she delighted in everything they discussed. It was hard to believe she'd just gone through hell.

"That depends on what we have to do," he said. For now they were finished eating and they needed to go home and get to sleep. Tomorrow they would head to KC in the morning and meet up with the team in the late afternoon.

He paid the bill and escorted his ladies out to the SUV. They drove home in silence, he suspected they were tired and he knew he had a lot to think about. He pulled into the driveway and they hurried into the house all of them ready to fall into bed and get a good night's sleep to prepare for tomorrow. Again he would get no loving because of Lilith's presence. Since she would be living with them, he hoped Arabella would get over her embarrassment.

They all prepared and went to bed. At least he would get to snuggle with his mate. Their joining could not come quick enough as far as he was concerned. He drifted off to sleep with naughty dreams of his mate and when he woke, he felt better. It was nearly time to rise and he kissed Arabella's cheek before he got out of bed to start the day. He made coffee, but there were no groceries so they would eat on the way. Lilith came out to greet him and they sat down drinking coffee and talking.

He discovered she was the daughter of an unwed young mother who had given her own mother the tiny babe to rise. Lilith's grandmother had died and Lilith had continued living at her house and running her small herb shop with no one aware that there was no adult supervision. Lilith was fourteen but looked small for her age. In the witch community it wasn't unusual for ten year olds to run the store while the adults worked on growing and harvesting herbs or casting spells. Magic truly was a family business. Judging by Lilith's last memory, she'd been kept by Chief for six months. The store would be in disrepair and the herbs probably all withered.

It was a shame because running a store like that was a good way for a young witch to learn and get the experience a novice needed. Maybe they could open a shop for her once she tested for her home studies. It was sad she had just lost six months of her life in a way that she gained nothing from.

Arabella said, "I'm starving. Let's get on the road so we can eat."

They'd discussed things the day before and agreed to eat when they stopped for gas. Truck stops often had suitable breakfasts. They loaded up, taking Arabella's work items with them. She'd already called Danny who would be picking up the key under the welcome mat later that day. They were all in a good mood as they headed out for KC, first stop, breakfast. The stop went well and the rest of the trip seemed to go fast. There were alternating times of conversation and silence but they were companionable. It was still a relief when they got to KC.

They drove to Damon's place where according to the text he'd received, everyone was waiting for them. There were several SUVs lined up and they parked at the end of the line. He led the way up the drive and to the door where Marissa already waited on them.

"Who's the young lady?" Marissa asked with a smile.

"This is Lilith, she's one of the witches we rescued and she's going to be staying with us," Arabella answered.

"Nice to meet you, Lilith. I'm Marissa."

"Pleased to meet you. I've heard about you," Lilith said and her cheeks were pink from excitement.

"Good things, I hope," Marissa said with a gleam of mischief in her eyes.

"Only the best," Lilith agreed.

Marissa led the way into the living room were Lilith was introduced all the way around. It was clear to see she'd heard of Harry by the way her eyes widened. She was also taken with Dare and Nicky, and why not? The two males were popular with all the ladies except maybe the one they wanted. Everyone sat down and Arabella went with Marissa to fetch everyone drinks. The conversation consisted of chitchat until they came back.

"If everyone is ready now, we'll start," Damon looked around to be sure he had everyone's attention. "Chief seems to be staying in this general area and I'm not sure why. We close a bar and we move in on his location and he moves across town but never too far away. We seem unable to sneak up on him. I'm hoping that Serena being taken out will help, but I fear he'll find another to step up into the vacant position."

Will said, "Serena was actually his second and she'd taken over the day to day operations Chief was too well known to do. He had the sense to know he'd not made many friends and there are many
customers
out there ready to turn on him. We have no idea who he'll turn to now that she's gone."

"Is it possible his organization will just collapse?" Marissa asked.

"Not at this point. It's still too large and we're sure someone will step up. The question is who and what will they do. Will they be capable and keep the others in line or will they be weak and lose more ground?" Nicky answered.

"We can hope they'll lose ground but prepare for them to be strong," Damon said.

"Should we hit them hard before they regroup?" Zorth asked.

"This is a list of possible targets. Only three of them are sure things. Serena was more careful than Chief. She was starting to strengthen their position through security and caution. I'm glad she's gone, she was a tough opponent," Dare offered.

"This list has a dozen places on it. How were they able to get so many started up?" Damon asked.

"Serena was using magic to block the activities but I was able to break through some of her blocks when she started fighting with Zorth. It weakened her ability to protect their activities and made her vulnerable to my spells. I still wasn't able to find proof except for three places, just enough to be suspicious of most of them," Harry admits.

"So we need to hit the top three with everything we have and send some of the local law enforcement after the human drugs we're sure are being sold at the other places." Damon said.

"We could hit a couple minor places today, just to throw them off," Will said and it was clear she was full of energy and wanting to
do
something.

"We could do that," Damon said carefully, clearly deep in thought. "Why don't we start at the bottom of the list and hit as many places as we can?"

Everyone seemed to agree and the first place was given out. It was on the northern edge of town. Many places on the list were on the outskirts in less populated or defunct areas. The type of people that congregated in the establishments that sold blood drug or even the cheap street drugs that Harry was certain they sold, were rough and often dangerous. When they pulled into the parking lot, females dressed poorly or half-dressed were hanging around attempting to make money off customers before they went in. They hit on the men, but even the women weren't safe. These poor desperate women were willing to do anything for anyone to make the money for their next fix.

He moved by the women as quickly as he could while they tried to grab at each member of their party. He finally cast a spell to keep them from getting near them. Arabella, Will, Marissa, and Harry were the most grateful, but the guys seemed relieved the women didn't get close to them anymore too. They made their way to the bar quickly. The place was packed and the bouncers only seemed interested in hitting on the attractive women who came in. They zeroed in on Marissa, Arabella, Harry, and Will. One made the mistake of trying to squeeze Will's ass and ended up on the floor probably feeling pretty foolish.

The place was seedy, the stench of vomit, urine, smoke, and even sex hung in the air. A glance into the hallway that led to the bathrooms explained where the sex smells came from. The place was filthy and no one seemed to be wiping the tables or cleaning the floors. As long as people were spending money, the employees didn't seem to care how nasty things got. They spread out but he kept Arabella with him. Lilith had been forced to stay in the SUV since she wasn't old enough to come in and even though he'd spelled it to let him know if anything happened, he was still worried about having her near a place like this.

He watched several drug deals and finally moved in on one flashing his badge. That was all it took to cause a mad rush for the door. The door Damon had locked and he and Dare stood guarding. Will jumped up on the bar and yelled, immediately the place got quiet and all eyes were on her.

"A drug deal was just observed by an undercover officer. No one will leave here without being searched and their statements taken. Anyone found to be holding or implicated in a drug deal will be retained for further questioning. You need to form three lines up to the bar. We will have officers there doing searches and taking your statements," Will declared.

Complete silence fell on the room for a moment and then pandemonium broke out. Everyone started heading toward the back exit or trying to find another exit or even a place to hide. Nicky and Harry were at the back blocking that exit which left Arabella and Marissa to cover the side exit. If there were more exits, some of the people would just getaway because they couldn't cover them. He had the three people involved in the deal in restraints and all the evidence bagged and tagged. He herded them to an office where he left them, but he put the evidence on the bar. He got out his phone and called in some reinforcements.

The locals arrived about an hour later. By that time they were a third of the way through the crowd. There had been no blood drugs or even any signs they were ever sold there. The regular drugs were out in force. Speed, Meth, and even heroine were present and accounted for. They were only too happy to leave it with the locals.

"Are we going to go for one more or go home and rest?" he asked.

"Let's knock off for the night and hit the ground running tomorrow afternoon," Damon decided.

They'd been lucky that no one but a guard had been armed and he hadn't wanted any trouble. The owner wasn't involved in the dealing so he didn't care about the people being arrested. They got out of there as fast as they could. It had been a bust for them except for marking one location off their list. Since they weren't that far from Zorth's house, they just headed straight there. It looked like Lilith had slept through the whole thing.

He woke her up when they got home and Lilith dragged herself into the house. She took the spare bedroom this time. He and Arabella weren't sleepy yet and they sat up talking a while. Arabella had a glass of wine that seemed to help her relax. Once she was done with the wine, he got up and walked to her. He kissed her sweetly and enjoyed the lingering taste of the sweet wine on her lips. That was some good stuff but not as good as the underlying female flavor he picked up. Nothing tasted as good as Arabella.

He picked her up, carried her into their bedroom, and locked the door. He didn't want any interruptions at all. He set her down on the floor on her feet and began to undress her. Once she was naked, he undressed himself. He looked at her bare beauty and just drank it in for a moment. She was his and his alone. He pulled her into his arms kissing her with passion as he backed her toward the bed. Desire thrummed through his body and just grew stronger. His hands roamed over her, lightly squeezing her breasts and stroking her back. He dropped his mouth to one nipple sucking hard until she moaned her pleasure.