Deceptions: A Collection (22 page)

Goliath stood, one massive hand lingering on the top edge of the door. “I’ll be in contact if I hear any more, Kit. But I don’t think your kid has been around here. Don’t think he will be, either. Nobody comes here unless they have no place else to go. He had other options.”

Did he, though?

I kept the question behind my teeth.

Once we were speeding down the road, Damon said, his voice thick with sarcasm, “That was just a brilliant plan. You got any other ideas? Fun ways to get yourself killed?”

“Oh, please.” Closing my eyes, I sank back into the seat. “I didn’t even come close to getting myself killed.”

“If there’d been a few more wolves, I wouldn’t have gotten to you,” he growled.

I laughed. “Honey…you weren’t the equalizing force there. Goliath was. And TJ. They were the reasons I felt safe loitering in the area,” I said, sighing. The pain in my side had settled to a low ache. TJ kept a witch in house. She wasn’t trained by the formal houses, but she was skilled.

There would be scars. Scars didn’t bother me, though. I could live with them. I had more than my fair share already. And since it was the were virus fighting its way out of my system, any injury I had would heal even faster.

It tore through me at an accelerated rate and I hated every second, but it was done fast. Throw in a decent healing and I’d be good as new in a few days.

Just in time to be battered, bit or otherwise abused in another day or two.

Two days later, I found a report from the Banner unit.

A witch.

The only name they had for her was Keeli.

I stared at her face—gaunt, with hollow cheeks, circles under her eyes and scars all over her face, like she’d caught one of the diseases that rarely hit humans these days. Chicken pox, maybe.

Drugs had hit her hard.

Death had hit her harder.

They’d found her a hundred and fifty miles south of East Orlando, her body naked, scraped up, scratched up and marked by mosquito bites.

Judging by the condition of her feet, she’d been walking a long, long time, I thought.

I reached for the phone.

“What are you doing?”

“Ignoring you,” I said to Damon.

He glared at me and came around to study the report.

He eyes locked on it, skimming it over. “Keeli…” Then he snorted. “Shit, that bastard was trying to work you over.”

“No.” I dialed TJ’s number. “Must be sad, Damon, not having friends you can trust.”

The hand resting on the table curled into a fist.

I looked away as TJ answered.

“Hey, TJ. I need to ask you a question…”

Keeli’s death was so far the only thing I’d uncovered.

Four days in and I hadn’t found much of anything about the boy I’d been hired to find. The boy I
had
to find if I didn’t want a death warrant placed on my tail.

I was about ready to just throw myself off the top of the Epcot Center just to get away from it all.

The only problem I wasn’t sure if it would kill me. Wolf bites wouldn’t do it, and neither would nearly being strangled. Would that jump? Nah. Probably not. It would just hurt. And probably hurt like hell.

I wasn’t human enough to die easily.

The sound of the phone ringing was enough to shatter what remained of my frayed nerves but I pretended not to hear it. No reason to act as though I had, after all. Somebody was calling Damon on his phone and it might not have anything to do with me.

Except I recognized the odd, blank look that came over his face when he was talking to
My Lady
. Shit. That title was enough to turn my stomach.

There was both an upside and a downside to these conversations. He’d be taciturn and quiet for hours. Awesome. The downside? He’d be even more of an asshole after the silence passed.

Not so awesome.

Pushing open the front door, I leaned against the doorjamb as he carried on his conversation behind me. Reports being checked, had investigated a number of possible areas in East Orlando where he might have gone—no luck at this point.

Yes, yes, My Lady—I’m so very sorry
…

I tuned him out. I didn’t need to worry about the asshole behind me because there was a problem in front of me. Walking toward me with a small smile on his pretty face.

The rays of the setting gilded his features. Golden hair, made silver by the bright light. Long, lean easy grace. Lovely green eyes.

There he was…Jude in the flesh. Out in the bright light of the evening sun.

But why now?

“
You keep refusing to come when I call. So I do as you said to Evangeline. I came to you
,” he murmured into my mind.

I tensed, mentally going on retreat, but it didn’t help. He was still a presence crowding into my skull, one I couldn’t shut out no matter how hard I tried.

As he came to a stop in front of me, I tried not to gape at him. Tried not to glare.

I also, to my disgust, had to try not to drool.

Jude was a sexy, sexy work of art, one that got better with age, but I didn’t want to think about that. Didn’t want to think about him at all, really.

“I wish to hire you,” he said quietly, keeping his voice low.

That didn’t stop Damon from hearing him.

I heard the shifter’s voice trip over the phone, then steady.
Yes, yes, My Lady, everything is well
…

I stepped aside and gestured. The small, inner office was spelled—work by some of Colleen’s fellow witches. It would work well enough.

And
hello
…I could piss Damon off.

He came off the couch the second he saw Jude.

I waggled my fingers at him.

“I assure you, we are making progress, My Lady. Ruling things out is part of the process,” Damon said, his voice calm and easy even as he swiped out a hand for me.

Jude blocked it, summarily shoving me forward.

Good grief. I stumbled into my office just in time for Jude to slip in behind me and shut the door.

That was all it took to activate the spelling.

I’d have to open it for anybody to enter. Unless somebody busted the wards. A witch could do it. Weaker shifters couldn’t. Vamps were incapable—wards were earth magic, living magic. Vampires couldn’t break them if they tried. Sadly, Damon was a strong shifter. Give him enough time and I knew he could break the damn ward.

“Well, well, little warrior,” Jude murmured, turning to face me. “You pick unusual company these days. That’s Annette’s most favorite toy. How did you get so lucky? She doesn’t like to share her toys.”

Annette. The cat-bitch’s name was Annette. It didn’t suit her. Kitty-cat Barbie was so much more fun.

I sneered at him and dropped down into one of the chairs.

“He’s not a toy I’m interested in playing with,” I muttered. Then I mentally cringed, knowing exactly how Jude would take it.

Yep. Seconds later, his hand stroked over my cheek. “I’m glad to hear it, little warrior. I’m not particularly good at sharing myself…and I’d hate to have to share you with that.”

I batted his hand away. “Newsflash, vamp. I’m not yours.”

“So you keep insisting.” He snagged the only other piece of furniture in the room, another chair, and swung it around. He straddled it and stared at me as he rested his arms on the back. “Why are you working with cats?”

“A job. Money. Same reason I take any job.”

His gaze flickered down to my throat. “It’s a job that’s gotten you in trouble already. Is it paying well?”

“Not well enough,” I muttered.

A fist slammed against the door and I groaned as I felt the magic of the ward crackle. “Open the fucking door, Colbana.”

“He has a nasty temper,” Jude murmured.

Absently, I touched my throat. “I can handle it.” To be fair, Damon hadn’t laid a hand on me since that first day, except to push me out of the way a few times. It had been necessary more than a few times, and not just when we’d gone trolling down in Wolf Haven.

“I heard the Alpha’s nephew was missing.”

I shot Jude a dark look as the pounding at the door increased. Damon shouted, “Colbana, open the door or I’m going to wring your fucking neck again.”

Sighing, I leaned forward and buried my face in my hands.

A hand touched my knee. Cool as death. I knocked it aside.

Too bad I couldn’t brush aside the whisper in my mind.

“
She does not tolerate failure, Kit. Why did you take this job
?”

I shoved up out of the chair.

The hell would I answer him.

Jude continued to watch me while Damon banged away on the door. Each time he did, the magic sparked. He’d break the ward soon. It would cost me money to put it back up if he broke it. “I can’t let him break my wards. I need the safe room.”

“Look at me.”

I shouldn’t.

But I did.

The green of his gaze started to glow.

“
If you fail her, it’s likely she will try to have you killed. You already know this
.”

With a short nod, I acknowledged that. What was the point in denying it?

“
I can help you. Not many can stand against the cat Alpha. But I can
.”

Rolling my eyes, I stared at him. Why in the hell would he?

I knew I amused him, but my amusement factor wasn’t going to get me that far in life.

He came out of the seat. “
Would you like a way out, Kit
?
It will not cost you much
.”

“Uh-huh.” I wasn’t about to become another one of his servants.

A faint smile canted Jude’s lips upward. “
I have enough of those. Just
…” He brushed his fingertips along my bruised neck. “
One taste. For now. Another when you require my assistance…should it come to that
.”

I tensed.
No
.

“
Why not
?
It’s just a taste, Kit. And it will not harm you, nor bind you…and if it comes to it, it could be the very thing to save to you
.”

Why in the world would he be willing to fuck with the Alpha Cat just for a taste of my blood?

A smile pulled his lips back from his teeth and the glow in his eyes started to go red.

“
Fucking with her is reason enough. But you…you amuse me, as you already know. And you are…unique. Now…do we have a deal
?”

The banging at the door grew louder and something that looked like lightning whipped around the room.

With a curse, I shoved my wrist into his face. The wrist would have to work. My throat had been abused enough lately.

Jude smiled.

It had hurt.

Plain and simple.

There was nothing erotic or seductive about it, although I know they can make it pleasant.

I don’t think he wanted it to be pleasant, and I’m actually happy with that.

He did seal the wounds; another thing I was happy about, despite the fact that it only made it hurt more.

The entire exchange lasted maybe fifteen seconds.

I had maybe another thirty before Damon would break the wards.

Jerking away from him, I went to the door. Under my hand, the door knob buzzed. The magic responded to my touch and the abused wards faded away. Since they hadn’t been broken, once they had enough time, they’d rebuild themselves and be as strong as they had been before the bastard had started beating on them—the beauty of things made from the earth. They healed.

I opened the door and then found myself on the ground, shoved there by Jude’s hands just in time to avoid a punch that just might have caved my head in.

“You should show more control, cat,” Jude said icily as he helped me to my feet.

Damon’s face was fixed in an awful snarl. And something…I bit back a curse as I stared at him. His face was awful. The bones were stretched and terribly wrong and he looked…bigger. Nearly a head taller, broader, with the cloth of his shirt stretched too tight over his chest and shoulders.

But as I stared at him, the bones shifted. Melted back into place. “What kind of little fool locks herself in a room with a vampire?” he asked, panting out the question.

“One who has business to discuss with him,” I said dryly. “And you were on the phone.”

“Business…” Damon shook his head. “You’re otherwise engaged for the time being.”

“Hmmm. Yes, so I’ve heard,” Jude said. Then he reached into his pocket and pulled out a folded slip of paper. “A retainer, Ms. Colbana. For when you’re no longer so occupied. I’d appreciate a call at your earlier convenience.”

Damon went to snatch the check away.

I managed to get it first.

I was not going on retainer for that jerk.

Except if I didn’t take the damned check, Damon was going to think he had something to do with it. Shoving it into my pocket, I turned away and headed over to my desk. “I’ll be in touch when I can, Jude.”

Absently I flexed the wrist he’d bitten. He hadn’t taken much. I couldn’t even tell.

“
I can
—”

I tensed.

His voice was heavier in my head. Fuller.

Oh,
shit
.

Seconds later, he was gone.

“What in the hell did he want?” Damon growled.

I dropped down into my seat, determined to ignore the creeping sensation of dread crawling through my stomach. I wasn’t going to freak about this. Nope. Wasn’t going to do it. Folding my hands across my belly, I stared into Damon’s dark gray eyes. “You heard him. He wants me available for a job when I’m done with this.”

“You shouldn’t work for vampires. They’re dangerous, slippery creatures.”

“Yes, and it’s so much better working for cats, Hell, for werecreatures of any kind for that matter,” I muttered. “In the past four days, I’ve had a number of them try to attack me, I’ve got a nasty scar on my torso—”