StrategicSurrender (12 page)

“I doubt so,” Hayden replied firmly as Kiera looked around
the open-plan room to see if anyone appeared to be overhearing their soft-spoken
conversation. “We certainly didn’t tell anyone, and the office was practically
empty when Morgan and I came through. You know how any information relating to
the Tribunal eventually leaks around—that gossip mill is practically a city
pastime for most people. It’s how wizards like Dylan and Carson and a half
dozen others I could name make their living. It’s a
very
small,
incestuous magical world out there.”

“Mmm,” Kiera replied with a frown, unconvinced. “Then if the
leak isn’t here it has to be in the Tribunal. I’d have thought after all their
fuss about us not speaking a word of it they’d not want the general population
to know about a time ritual. Even having wizards knowing for a certainty magic
like that exists will cause some of the crazies to go looking into it.”

“Let’s see what Dylan has to say, maybe he can help us link
back and find where the information is coming from,” Hayden replied. Kiera
smiled as her lover reached over to squeeze her hand comfortingly. “I agree
someone is talking, but an important thing I’ve learned over and over is to not
jump to conclusions. It tends to land you in messy situations when in all
honesty a far simpler answer usually is just as good. Let’s get confirmation
one way or the other and then we can drag Josh away from that cell of his and
brainstorm in a private room somewhere.”

Kiera nodded and quickly returned the intimate pressure on
Hayden’s hand. After a moment he pulled back and dialed another number with a
quick motion. Again Kiera sat close so she could hear both sides of the
conversation, her stomach twisting slightly as she worried about the leak.

“Nasadar Consulting, how can I direct your call?”
a
deep, masculine voice answered.

“Yes, it’s Foxworth here and I’d like to order a few spare
parts,” Hayden replied as he silently rolled his eyes at Kiera. “My last
upgrade was performed by Dylan, and he helped me immensely, so if possible I’d
like a further download from him, please. Is he available sometime in the near
future?”

“Hold, please,”
the voice spoke dispassionately.

Silence ensued and Kiera whispered softly in Hayden’s ear,
deeply curious.

“Nasadar Consulting? Upgrades? Did I fall asleep and drop
unexpectedly into a spy film?”

“Dylan is paranoid in the extreme,” Hayden whispered back
quickly. “Add onto that he’s a twitchy bastard who will only speak to people
when he’s in the mood. He keeps Mal there to act as a buffer.”

Kiera began to ask another question but quickly shut up when
the deep voice returned on the line.

“Transferring you now,”
he said tonelessly. A series
of clicks later and a lighter voice answered this time.

“Hayden, you old bastard, what the fuck are you doing
calling me? If you bring any of this shit onto Carson or my head I’m going to—”

“All I want is a bit of information, Dylan,” Hayden replied
calmly as he cut the man off. “The quicker you give me what I want the quicker
I get off the line to you and the less chance there is of anyone tracing this
call. Who told you about the manuscript and that it had been in my possession?”

“Had been? You don’t got it anymore?”

“No, Dylan. I swear to you that grimoire is no longer in my
possession. Who has been talking?”

“I heard you had possession of the ritual from Speedy
Nick at an asscrack hour of the early morning. I know you’ve been lying low
after the whole mess last month so I took it with a grain of salt, everyone
knows you’ll be looking into other things before you settle back down again.
What really grabbed my attention—and I can swear to you I was NOT the first to
hear this juicy piece of news—was that the ritual was about creating time rifts
and manipulating the threads. If that wasn’t enough, you have heard I presumed
there is a dollar sign on your head?”

Kiera’s eyes bulged and her jaw dropped. Without a word she
and Hayden looked at each other as if they wanted to check the other had heard
correctly. The whole situation felt unreal. She lifted a hand to touch her
face, to feel her jaw and cheek and make certain she really wasn’t asleep and
caught up in some complex, random nightmare.

Hayden cupped his hand over hers and let the pad of his
thumb gently stroke her skin. When he spoke his voice sounded mostly calm, but
Kiera could hear the small inflection in it that hinted at the true depth of
his roiling emotions.

“Tell me what you have and we can negotiate payment at your
convenience,” Hayden said.

“I want a get out of jail free card for Carson.
He’s…entering into something I think might be dangerous. If I call you on it
and use the marker, you do everything you can.”

“Everything I legally and morally can, and only to help him
or you,” Hayden bartered. “No third parties, no long-lost children, no best
friend’s pets. The marker is for the two of you and nonnegotiable, and if my
ass is going to get fried over it then I will possibly point you in a more
amenable direction but am not obliged to be personally involved. I’ve been
before the Tribunal twice in two months. Three strikes and they might just
decide to execute me on general principles.”

There was a slight pause at the other end of the line, but
after only a moment Dylan spoke again.

“Deal. Riley got a call from his ex-mistress, the one
with the tits? And the beehive hairdo? Apparently she was with some connected
middleman in the sack early this morning, doing her thing, when he got a call.
There’s a hit out on you and two Strategists. Some chick with a funny name,
Kimber? Kylie? Something like that, and this other bloke, Josh. The bounty is
individual, so any of you go and the shooter gets a piece of the action. But
there’s also a cumulative reward, so the more of the three of you that are
bagged in one hit the higher the payout. That part I’ve had confirmed from
three sources in the last hour alone. Someone really isn’t happy with you.”

“Shit,” Hayden swore under his breath. He snapped his
fingers and waved to Josh to get his attention. Josh nodded and started
speaking softly but hurriedly into his cell, obviously wrapping things up.

“Dylan, you’ve done good. I’ll keep up my part of the
bargain when you call it in. I might be tricky to get a hold of immediately in
the next few days, how soon do you think you will need payment?”

“You’ve got at least a week, maybe two,”
Dylan
replied.

“Perfect. Call my answering machine when and if you need it.
At the start of next week I will start checking it every few days if this
hasn’t been sorted out.”

“Always a pleasure doing business with you,”
Dylan
agreed. The two wizards exchanged their farewells and Kiera tried to not
hyperventilate as she watched Hayden hang up the phone.

“There’s a contract out on us?” she repeated with a crack of
true, blinding fear in her voice. Hayden reached over and squeezed her shoulder
with a gentle warmth that soothed and comforted her to a degree. At least until
she realized that practically every dark wizard, every shady Assassin and every
two-bit criminal out for a quick buck would very soon—if they weren’t
already—be out to kill them.

Kiera had
always
wanted to do field work, experience
the thrill and rush of making snap decisions and not having to rely on her
magical talents to analyze and sort through each and every potential variable
to any given situation. She had been positive it would be exciting, fun,
liberating.

How had everything turned to shit in under a few short
hours?

“Sweetheart, take a deep breath, get Josh and take him into
one of the private meeting rooms,” Hayden insisted gently but with a thread of
steel command in his tone. Kiera swallowed hard but nodded, the suggestion
making sense and easy to follow.

“What about you?” she asked, breathless with worry and
imminent panic.

“I’m going to make a few phone calls, pull a few markers and
favors and get us some bigger guns and more help,” he informed her. Kiera
nodded jerkily.

“You won’t be long?” she said brokenly and then cursed the
moment the words were out of her mouth. She was not some helpless, pathetic
wimp. Kiera shook herself slightly and tried to discover where her courage had
gone to. Hayden bent over and kissed her softly, their lips gliding over each
other sensually and restoring much of her calm and strength to her.

“I’ll be right behind you,” he promised darkly. “This is
just a small blip, a little mini adventure to help us get to know each other
more intimately emotionally. Update Josh and when I meet up with you both he
can let us know what Morgan thinks of all this. Go on, sweetheart, I’ll only be
a moment. I swear.”

Kiera took a deep, steadying breath and nodded. She pressed
one last, hasty kiss to Hayden’s lips and stepped back. He started to punch in
another series of numbers in the phone and Kiera indicated to Josh the corridor
down which the meeting rooms were.

“Morgan said—” Josh started as he caught up with her but
Kiera shook her head and held up her hand.

“Trust me, that’s not what this is about,” she insisted as
she cut him off.

“Huh? I thought you and Hayden wanted me to—” Josh started
again, but once more Kiera cut him off as she quickened her pace even more.
Pushing open a door, she entered in an almost run, Josh’s eyes widening as he
followed behind her.

“We did, but something else has come up,” Kiera insisted as
she slammed the door closed behind Josh. He looked at her as if she were going
crazy, his amber eyes full of amusement, laughter and curiosity. A part of her
almost hated to spoil this moment for her partner. He looked like he was having
a blast with their new, far more exciting, job parameters.

“There’s a contract out on the three of our lives,” she said
bluntly, not knowing how else to break the news. “Hayden was calling around
looking for information and one of his contacts said they heard an hour or so
earlier. All three of us have bounties on our head—dead, not alive—and while
the person who ordered it will pay for our individual deaths, there’s a two-for-more
and three-for-more extra bonus for anyone who kills us in pairs or all three.”

“What?!” Josh looked stunned. Kiera had the momentary idiotic
thought she could have hit him on the head with a baseball bat and gotten less
of a reaction.

“That drive-by was not a random thing,” she insisted.
“Someone wants all three of us dead, and is going to great lengths to make it
worth the time of every two-bit criminal and probably quite a few more nasty
characters we don’t even want to know of.”

“You’re having me on,” Josh insisted, the tone of his voice
rising as panic appeared to set in. Kiera shook her head and touched her
partner’s shoulder gently.

“No, I promise,” she replied more gently. “I heard it myself
from Hayden’s contact. I was listening in on the conversation. He’s organizing
something for us now, I’m not sure what, but he will be back in a moment.”

“How did we get a contract on our heads?” Josh asked, still
seeming to be stunned by the news. “Who ordered it? How are we going to get
un
-contracted?”

Kiera shook her head, her mouth twisting wryly.

“I honestly don’t know, but that’s what we need to find out,
right now, obviously.”

“What does Hayden think he can do?” Josh asked with a small
frown.

“He was calling someone when I came to get you,” Kiera said
as she wrung her hands together nervously. When she noticed the gesture she
instead laced her fingers together and tried to get a grip. “Hayden will be
back in a minute, I’m sure. He promised he wouldn’t be too long. I’m not sure
what he can do, but I bet it will be something helpful.”

“Look, Kiera,” Josh said as he took a hold of her shoulder.
“I know you really like this guy, but honestly, what do we know of him? How do
we know
he
didn’t leak information about the ritual or order the hits on
us?”

Kiera snorted and poked her index finger into Josh’s chest.

“
He
didn’t read anything about the ritual, remember?
We
did. If anything it’s us who have dragged him into this mess. Besides, if he’d
made such a phone call I would know about it.”

“Oh really?” Josh’s eyebrows rose and he grinned at her.
Kiera blushed slightly and stepped back.

“Yes, really, and don’t look at me like that,” she insisted
firmly. “Hayden has nothing to do with the mess we’re in. Indeed, if I were in
his shoes I very likely might hate us for dragging his name through the mud
again, especially so soon after what he’s been through already. And I know I’d
be annoyed at getting put on some idiot’s hit list. I can’t possibly see him
being responsible for any of this. Just like us he has every rogue wizard and
witch gunning for him—”

Kiera cut herself off as the door opened and Hayden heard
her last few words. The tall, wiry wizard shook his dark head and smiled softly
at her. Kiera’s heart turned over and despite the incredible mess they found
themselves in, love and desire sang through her blood for this wizard. She knew
already she had fallen half in love with him, and it would be a very fast,
slippery slope downhill to needing him on a level she had never craved or
required of anyone previously before.

“Don’t think I’m upset over this, Kiera. Honestly. With my
job I’ve
always
had people after me. While there might not have been
quite such a strong incentive, I’ve been a danger to anyone on the wrong side
of the law for most of my working life. Having a bounty on my head hasn’t
changed anything too dramatically. Now for you and Josh,” Hayden nodded at the
other wizard, “things are in a completely different position. Josh, what did
Morgan say?”

For a moment Kiera worried she might not have gotten through
to Josh, that her partner might still distrust her lover. Josh’s amber eyes
narrowed at the scruffy wizard and the two men stared at one another hard for a
moment. Finally, however, Josh nodded and seemed to realize Hayden was
genuinely in just as much danger as the rest of them, regardless of where he
stood with everything else.

“Morgan was astounded,” Josh relayed. “He had no idea any
information had leaked, let alone that someone would try to kill us. Morgan
thought it would be a smart idea for the three of us to lie low, and if
possible get together at his house. He is going to leave the Tribunal meeting
as soon as he possibly can and will discuss our options with us there.”

Hayden nodded.

“That sounds like an excellent plan. Josh, Kiera and I drove
over in my car. Do you want to ride with us? I can’t help but feel if we all
stick together we have a much better chance of arriving safely.”

Josh contemplated his options for a moment but finally
agreed.

“Okay, that makes sense I guess. I can always come back here
and pick up my car—it’s just in the underground garage, so it should be
perfectly safe.”

“Excellent,” Hayden finished. “Let’s get a move on then,
before even more people hear about this bounty. I think we should be fairly
safe in here, but I definitely believe Morgan’s house will be a far better
option for all of us. With the way word travels through the magical community,
in an hour or two more everyone who is anyone will have far too much of an idea
about what has occurred to us in the last day or so. Worse, all too many of
those wizards will be tempted to earn a quick buck by knocking us off.”

Kiera and Josh followed Hayden out of the meeting room and
with only a few nods and waves at colleagues who called out greetings to them,
they all three returned back to the elevators. Once inside Hayden pressed the
button for the garage floor where they had parked earlier in the morning.

As the doors closed behind them, Josh eyed the buttons and
commented wryly in his more natural dirty sense of humor, “Going down?”

Hayden snorted and Kiera laughed, punching Josh’s shoulder
gently. “You are
so
bad. It’s a wonder any witch will spend the least
little time with you.”

“Hey, what are you talking about?” Josh returned laughingly,
as he threw a humorous look at Kiera over his shoulder, his amber eyes
sparkling. “Most witches love that.”

Knowing she couldn’t possibly come out on top of such an
argument, Kiera laughed softly again and leaned against Hayden. She rested her
head on his shoulder as the elevator passed floor after floor on its way to the
sub-basement garage and tried to calm the nerves that still twisted in her
stomach.

Hayden wrapped an arm warmly around her shoulder and the
heat of his body penetrated hers. That in itself was enough for her heart to
speed up, but as they leaned against each other, their hands gently stroking
and caressing one another, her nerves evaporated and a whole slew of other,
different
sensations began to steal her attention.

The elevator pinged as it reached their floor and Josh
walked out of the carriage. Kiera looked up at Hayden and gave him a small,
secretive smile.

“You’ll be safe with me,” he promised with a short whisper.
“I’ll not let anything hurt you, sweetheart. I swear.”

“I know,” she replied trusting him implicitly. “I love you,
Hayden Foxworth. I trust you completely. Besides, we can work this through
together and I know Morgan will be able to help us too. I’m nervous, but not
scared anymore. I have you to keep me safe and you have me.”

“No one else has a chance,” Hayden replied with a nod. Quickly
they kissed each other once more and left the lift.

“My car is in the blue section,” Hayden called out to Josh,
and they headed toward where Hayden had parked hours—which now felt like a
lifetime—ago.

* * * * *

“So why would someone on the Tribunal have leaked anything
about the manuscript?” Kiera asked as she set a mug of milky coffee in front of
Josh and a tea in front of Hayden. Picking up the glass she had laid on the
coffee table earlier, she poured it half full of water from the jug she had also
brought in from the kitchen.

“Well, everything is just a hypothesis until we can discuss
the matter with Morgan,” Hayden replied as he took a sip of his tea, “but for
the sake of argument let’s go with this. What if someone intimately close with
one of the Tribunal Elders is covertly selling information? The knowledge of a
rare and black grimoire like the one Morgan ‘confiscated’ and gave to us would
be worth an awful lot to many, many gray wizards. Even those who
don’t
want to use it for their own personal gain can surely sell it on the black
market.”

“So Morgan’s actions opened up an opportunity for a large
group of people,” Josh summarized. Hayden nodded as he drank more of his tea.

“Absolutely.”

“But hang on, how could someone on the Tribunal possibly be
intimate with someone willing to
sell
such information and not be aware
of it?” Kiera asked, outraged. “And even if they are, I was under the
impression that Tribunal business wasn’t even supposed to be discussed with
anyone
outside the chamber?”

“When something upsets or frustrates you at work, Kiera, you
tell a close friend or lover about it, don’t you?” Hayden returned smoothly.
Kiera hesitated a moment before answering.

“I don’t deal with dark rituals, black magic or even regular
judiciary cases,” she countered. “While some of my cases are sensitive, I
always speak in broad terms when I have to unload to someone. I never give
names, dates or tokens that can put an operative’s life in danger, no.”

“But you still speak of it in some form,” Hayden pointed
out. “If one of your girlfriends is in turn sleeping with another wizard from
inside the Enforcers, they would have access to your files and folders. With
enough dots they could connect your seemingly vague venting conversation to an
actual folder and then in turn sell that information.”

Kiera’s mouth dried out as Hayden’s comments struck true.

“Slightly paranoid,” she commented with a nod, “but
certainly plausible.”

“Which is why you should drink, party and fuck as many
girls—or in your case guys—as possible to release your tension. Talking and
overanalyzing a situation you have already studied and Strategized about to
death usually gets you nothing but grief,” Josh added as he finished his
coffee.

“Well I, for one, am glad Kiera isn’t a good-time party girl,”
Hayden replied with a wry grin. When he held out his hand Kiera happily placed
hers in his. Their fingers twined together and they squeezed each other
lightly.

“Not that I don’t plan to show you a good time when this all
blows over, sweetheart,” he promised her huskily.

Kiera lost herself in the dark depths of his eyes, her pussy
tingling slickly with a growing burn of need for this magical wizard. She knew
it was stupid, their lives were in danger and they very likely would not have a
semblance of privacy in the near future, but a part of her just wanted to crawl
into the nearest bed, pull up the covers, close the door and pretend the rest
of the world didn’t exist. The only thing of importance right now in her life
was learning more about this wizard, exploring each other’s pasts as well as
their dreams for the future and creating their
own
world.

And sex. Lots and lots and
lots
of sex. Kiera could
not imagine ever being truly sated and exhausted from touching, licking and
caressing every inch of Hayden’s body.

“Oh please, you two,” Josh mock complained, his tone tinged
with rueful laughter. “I know you need a room, but if you recall it was
your
capitulations with Morgan’s suggestion that brought us here. We don’t even know
how much longer he might be. If I have to sit here for hour after hour watching
you both undress each other with your eyes I might have to just stab myself
with this spoon here. Can’t you both just—”

The sound of the front door opening interrupted Josh’s
litany. Kiera hastily clicked the glass down on the coffee table as Hayden
sprang up out of seat on the couch. In the blink of an eye the scruffy wizard
had positioned his body between Kiera and the front door. She couldn’t help but
smile, Hayden’s action was obviously instinctive but also well practiced if his
graceful maneuver was anything to go by.

Kiera remained seated on the couch but twisted around so she
could try to look beyond Hayden’s protective body and check it was her mentor who
entered the house.

“Morgan,” Hayden spoke in greeting as he strode forward
toward the door. Kiera watched the tension ease out of her lover’s body and she
stood up.

“Ah, Hayden, I’m so sorry to have dragged you into this
mess,” Morgan replied as he closed and locked the front door behind him. The
two wizards shook hands. Kiera’s face split into a grin and when Morgan looked
to her she hastily crossed over the distance of the room and embraced her
mentor.

“We have a lot to catch up on,” she insisted. Morgan grinned
and patted her back before they released each other.

“We do,” the large wizard agreed. “Not least of all we need
to discuss matters surrounding this leak. I am very concerned that such a thing
could have occurred, especially since it has now placed the three of you in so
much danger.”

“I might have been able to help contain that,” Hayden said,
surprising them all. Morgan waved a hand to the main living area.

“Please,” Morgan said, “let’s join Joshua and all have a
seat. I see you’ve got drinks, is anyone hungry? Can I offer any further
refreshment?”

They all declined Morgan’s invitation and made their way
back to where they had been seated earlier. Josh remained in his chair, Hayden
and Kiera returned to their places on the couch and Morgan took another easy
chair.

“I truly am so sorry to have put your lives in danger.
Hayden, I’m particularly sorry to have brought you unwittingly into this.
Kiera, Josh, as your mentor while I do my utmost to protect you it
is
a
part of my duties to assign projects and cases as I see fit. While I’d never
have chosen to have the situation turn out like this, that is the worst side to
simply being a mentor. But Hayden, you had no need to follow my lead or
request. I feel terrible for having placed you in such a position.”

“No, Morgan, I didn’t have to follow you, but this was my
choice,” Hayden said. “I have spent the last month and more hiding away,
licking my wounds. It was beyond time for me to get back into action, although
I still am not certain I am ready to return to active duty with Special
Operations. In the process of dragging me back out of my shell you have
introduced me to Kiera, and that action alone is more than enough to make a
contract on my life seem like a small price to pay.”