Eternal Hearts (32 page)

Not wanting to reopen old wounds, she simply nodded. “Continue.”

“Whether Miss Stryker is the one responsible for bringing these werewolves into the city, I can’t be certain. She is crafty for her age, that respect I will give her. And the fact that these wolves were brought in via the zoo, instead of simply walking in while wearing their human forms, is very reminiscent of the same convoluted dramatics she’s been known for in the past. However, I’m not sure I believe she’s quite skilled enough to secure an agreement with werewolves, for the very reasons you’ve already mentioned.”

“Wait,” Toni said as she shifted in her chair. “What do you mean by convoluted dramatics?”

“I mean that members of the youth often make situations far more complicated than they need to be. Werewolves, when wearing their human forms, are nearly indistinguishable from normal humans. Even Elders aren’t able to tell the difference upon sight. Keeping that fact in mind, it’s my opinion that only a Fledgling would have gone through so much unnecessary trouble to accomplish a simple task such as this. Believe it or not, sometimes the quickest route between two points truly is a straight line. And for some strange reason, that particular lesson proves very difficult for some Fledglings to learn.”

Toni sat quiet for a moment. She understood Christian’s point about making things more difficult than necessary, but she’d tried the straight line option with Stryker once before, and it hadn’t exactly gotten her the results she’d been hoping for. Of course, she also didn’t think right now was the best time to argue with him.

She nodded. “Okay. So what else do I need to know?”

He leaned forward and pointed at the stack of papers. “There’s another document here which lists the names of people who could clear a transfer at our zoo. You’ll also find their work numbers listed, along with any home addresses and personal telephone numbers I was able to procure. Below that is a Toledo Zoo badge, which should allay any suspicions one might have should you go knocking on office doors after sunset. However, please keep in mind that it will not help you if you go knocking on the front doors of personal homes. The last piece of information you’ll find is the address, per say, of the alley in which Miss Stryker held a meeting two nights ago. For some reason, she still hasn’t quite caught on to the fact that the police are
mine
.”

Toni cracked a grin born of pure bitchiness. “Hey, at least I learned from my mistakes.”

“Sometimes you have to smack a child’s hand only once to keep them out of the cookie jar. Other times…you have to destroy the cookie jar.”

Toni took a deep breath as she flipped through the contents of the folder again. “Okay, so I have to ask you something. Where did you get all this stuff?”

His mouth turned wicked at the edges. “It’s good to be king.”

Toni grinned as she shuffled all the papers back into a neat stack. “So let me make sure I have all this straight. Someone, possibly Stryker, invited werewolves into the city. We don’t know why or what they’re here for, but it can’t be good because they’re dangerous. And they supposedly came from a zoo that doesn’t even know they exist. Do I have it all?”

Christian nodded. “Yes, you have it all. If any further information should come across my desk that pertains to this situation, you’ll be the first to know.”

She stood up and tucked the folder under her arm. “Okay then. I guess I better go and get started.” She pushed her chair in then turned and headed for the door. “Catch ya later, Christian.”

“Toni?”

She slowly turned around, completely surprised that he’d called her by her first name. He’d never done it before.
“Yeah?”

The warmth and compassion she’d always hoped were somewhere behind his eyes…wasn’t hidden anymore. “Whatever has you heartbroken, I do hope you work it out.”

“How did you…”

“The eyes truly are the window to the soul. Never forget that.” And with that and nothing more, he turned and walked away.

Toni turned back towards the French doors. Drake’s eyes had told a far different story than the one currently unfolding. And maybe Clint was right about something else. Maybe she should talk to Drake and give him the chance to explain. Maybe he had some magical explanation that would instantly fix everything and let her trust him again.

Maybe, but she wasn’t counting on it.

She opened the door and stepped back into the foyer. Unfortunately, she didn’t have time to talk to Drake right now. She had to focus on what Christian had asked of her. If she could secure herself a permanent place in the city again, she’d have more than enough time to talk later.

After saying goodbye to Robert, Toni took the elevator down to her car. Once she was inside with the doors locked, she pulled her leather pants and a t-shirt out of the back seat. There was no way she was staying in the Lolita dress any longer than she had to. It took a bit of driver’s seat acrobatics, but somehow she managed to get changed without showing the security guys patrolling the parking garage everything she had.

Leaning the folder against the steering wheel, Toni picked through the contents again. The dog bite evidence was unbelievable. She’d have never thought to look for something like that, but it made sense that if aggressive dogs were around others would be aggressive, too.

She frowned as she finished studying the papers. Now that she was alone and able to process the information at her own speed, she realized almost every lead pointed directly at Stryker. Or did it only seem that way because she wanted it to?

She dropped the folder on the passenger seat. The revenge crazed part of her, kept alive by the hateful monster living in the pit of her stomach, still wanted to tear Stryker to shreds. But the part that ruled the majority of the time, the part that was still every bit the human woman she desperately tried to be, wanted to let it go. If Stryker had done nothing more than sell an address, was she really the one to blame for what had happened?

Toni pulled out of the parking garage and headed west. She’d done everything in her power to not think about Stryker since she’d come back, but here she was, starting an investigation that focused on the bitch. What were the chances?

He did it on purpose.
Toni stared at the reflection of Prudential Plaza in her rearview mirror, where Christian’s office was located. Had he planned to pit her against Stryker all along? She remembered Clint saying something about a test. Was this it?

“I wish you’d realize there’s more going on here than you can see.”
She slammed her foot down on the gas as Clint’s words rang in her ears. What the hell wasn’t she seeing? Hadn’t she and Stryker been at each other’s throats enough in the past? Or was that the point? Was she supposed to prove she could go toe to toe with Stryker now, without pulling out her guns and chasing her through downtown? Was she supposed to show Christian she could play the game the way he and the Elders did?

Toni smacked her hand against the wheel. She wasn’t a damn Elder. And truth
be
told, aside from her actual age in years, she really hoped she never became one. She didn’t want to be a part of Elder’s games. Their games lead to seeing the world in a different and horrible way, Clint had said so himself. And she didn’t want to live like that.
Ever.

She didn’t want to be a monster
all
the time!

Besides, she already knew Stryker was way ahead of her. Stryker had always hated her, and it wasn’t even because she’d done something to offend her. It was solely because Alexander had killed her eldest child, Mika. Mika, in a fit of rage with fangs bared, had drained a human dry in the middle of a Goth club on Rush Street, on a Saturday night no less. But sadly, his bad night hadn’t ended there. When his faculties had returned and he’d realized what he’d done, he let the beast take control again and ran down the crowded sidewalk in a homicidal rage.

His escapade had hit the papers the next morning as nothing more than a Goth kid hyped up on drugs who thought he was a vampire. According to the Chicago Tribune, when the police attempted to apprehend him, he’d pulled out a gun and fired at the officers. Forced to take him down, he’d been pronounced DOA at Cook County Hospital due to complications caused by multiple gunshot wounds.

If she remembered correctly, the public outcry was minimal, and most people had simply chocked it up to another young man who’d gone down the wrong path. And after a few days had passed, pretty much everyone in the city had forgotten. Including Toni, until Alexander had told her what had really
happened.

Christian had fabricated the story for the papers and arranged counseling for every person who’d witnessed the scene. The counselor pointed out how unhealthy it was to believe in vampires, and how as a witness to a brutal crime, it was often easier to believe a human being wasn’t capable of committing such a violent act.

Christian had also arranged for the police to not only conveniently catch the killer, but be forced to kill him too. Of course, neither of the events actually happened, the police and the coroner just lied and said they did. Then the parents of Mika’s victim were consoled, heavily compensated for their loss, and a few days later the case was closed.

No further questions were ever asked by the public.

Then, when Christian had punished Mika for breaking the Veil by sentencing him to death, Alexander had been the one to do the honors. As the Head of Enforcement, it was his job to carry out the Lord’s demands.

And ever since that day, Stryker had gone out of her way to make Toni’s life difficult. Closing her bank accounts, revoking her license, and once, she’d even gone as far as having the electricity to her apartment shut off for nonpayment even though she’d paid the bill only days before. Anything of Toni’s that Stryker could electronically manipulate, she did…repeatedly.

They’d been minor annoyances that Toni had learned to live with, mostly because there wasn’t anything she could do about it. She’d been told by Clint that those were the types of games she’d have to get used to. He’d also told her that’s what young vampires did to each other before they learned what the games really were.

Toni shook her head as she blew through a yellowish-red light. No, she didn’t want to be even a small part of the games. After everything she’d learned tonight, she’d most likely lost her family to either the game itself, or the after effects of Oktober playing the game too much.

No one had ever warned her that her own family might become a weapon against her, to be used in said games. Neither Alexander, nor Clint, had offered her that single but very valuable piece of information. But she wished someone had. She wished that, if nothing else, she’d had a chance to warn them.

As she sped down the icy streets of downtown Chicago, Toni whipped her car into a left turn then expertly pulled the back end out of a fishtail. If this was all just a game, it could wait for an hour. There was another piece of business she needed to take care of, and it was a hell of a lot more important to her than a few werewolves would ever be.

Chapter 15

Stryker pulled her eyes away from the glowing computer monitor when she heard footsteps in the hallway outside her office. She watched the door, scowl firmly in place as Jayson stepped into the room. Clad in baggy jeans, a dark blue t-shirt, and suede work boots, his dreadlocks were gone, replaced by a clean shaven head.

She stared up at him while he moved to stand in front of her desk. “What happened to your dreadlocks and the expensive leather suit I paid for?”

He shrugged; a movement far too lazy for the defiant words that followed. “I’ve decided I’m gonna dress the way I want to from here on out.”

“You’ve decided?” She laughed at him as she leaned back in her chair. “Have you forgotten you don’t get to make those decisions anymore? You’ll wear what I tell you to, how I tell you to, and when I tell you to. I’m
your
Sire, not the other way around, Jayson. Do you understand me?”

He pointed down at her. “You told me to do whatever I needed to get your answers. And what I needed to do was go back to my old neighborhood and get my contacts back. The people down there won’t talk to me when I look like a Goth freak, Stryker.”