Eternal Hearts (37 page)

When Derek glared and his fangs broke free, Drake felt the signature burn of his Ancient power reach out and throw him back against the wall. It pinned him in place, forcing only one of his beasts to yield.

The muscles in Derek’s jaw clenched tight. “You’re going to spend another night with her, and then you’re going to leave for a few days. You’re going to tell her you have another contract that needs special attention, and that you apologize.”

Fighting against the invisible waves, Drake pushed himself from the wall and took a step forward. “Why are you doing this? Why can’t I have one thing in my life that’s only for me?”

“I’m not taking anything away from you. I ordered you to protect her until she talked to Christian. And it just so
happens
that she talked to Christian tonight. My part in this is done now. It’s Crypt who’s ordering you to leave her. He’s pissed that you touched her, but he’s even more livid that you told her you had a contract on her. It’s one thing to talk to Brick about it, he already knows about us. But it’s another thing entirely to talk to Toni about it. Because just in case you’ve forgotten, The Organization is supposed to be a secret. Now I’ve got a fledgling Warrior who knows that not only do you take protection contracts, but you kill people on contracts, too. She also knows, because of your big fat mouth, that Oktober does the same thing. And you told her you worked for an organization! Toni isn’t stupid, Drake. Eventually she’ll start asking questions.”

Drake groaned as the magnitude of Derek’s outburst hit him. If Crypt knew what was going on then he was in serious trouble. As the Chief of The Organization, Crypt was the one who made all the final decisions. From the rules they lived by to what contracts were accepted and which assassin was assigned, nothing happened without Crypt’s approval.

Drake rubbed his hands down his face and exhaled a weary breath. This wasn’t good, this wasn’t good at all.

Derek began nodding again. “That’s right, Little Man, Crypt knows what happened. Don’t ask me how, because it still baffles the shit out of me…but he knows. He called me the second your little love spat here in the alley started. I’m telling you right now to leave her, because if you don’t…Crypt will put you down.”

Drake made a motion to object, but stopped when Derek raised his hand. “Don’t talk right now. Just think about it. Do you really want Toni to be left alone for years with no one to protect her from your enemies?”

Drake drew a deep breath then shook his head. That wasn’t what he wanted at all. He wanted Toni as safe as she could possibly be, preferably in his arms.

“When Crypt calms down over your major screw up,” Derek said, his face finally showing a few shreds of compassion, “I’ll see what I can do to get him to ease up on you. It’s not like he’s saying you can never see her again. He just wants you to back off for now.”

Drake nodded at Derek, even though what he really wanted to do was punch him. He knew, as much as he despised it, he couldn’t win this argument. This time he would have to follow the rules. If he didn’t, Crypt might get a bug in his ass and decide to kill Toni for spite, and that wasn’t something he was willing to take a chance on.

“Don’t look all defeated over there,” Derek said as he used his cookie as a pointer. “I don’t like having to be the bad guy. You know I absolutely hate having to be the bad guy. But if Crypt peeks in on you and sees you with her, you’re gonna be too busy getting drawn and quartered or racked, to think about not getting to see her again. Not to mention what he’ll do to me for not keeping you in line. So if you love her, Drake…if you really love her…you’re going to have to leave. I know it’s a cliché. I know it sounds stupid, but in this case it’s the truth. Do what he says for now and let me try to talk to him. Can you do that?”

“Fine, I’ll stay away until you talk to him, but I’ll only wait so long.”

Derek blew out a sigh then beamed a smile. “I can have you put in The Box if it’ll make it easier for you until I can talk to Crypt.”

A half hearted smile tugged at Drake’s mouth as he thought about The Box, a supernatural dead zone that Crypt had created as a punishment for his most powerful assassins. Once inside, its magics sucked the power from a supernatural creature’s blood and trapped them indefinitely. From what he remembered being told, The Box was never ending darkness. It was like being stuck in a world full of nothing.

Fortunately for Drake, he’d never had to go there. The one and only time he’d asked to be put there just so he could see what all the fuss was about, when he took a step forward he walked right out of it. “I can’t go in the box, remember?”

Derek started laughing. “Oh yeah, I remember Crypt’s face when you stepped out of the damn thing. Now
that
was some funny shit.”

Drake took a large step forward and stared down at Derek. “Promise me he won’t make me stay away from her for more than a few days.”

Derek frowned. “You know I can’t promise you that. It’s not my call. But I will promise you that I’ll do everything in my power to talk Crypt into letting you keep her. Now stop wasting time with me in this alley and get back to her.” He took a sip of his beer then pointed his cookie towards the wall of Mutt’s. “Besides, there’s a hot female executive from a rival company in the bar who says she wants to do nasty things to me. And I think I might just let her.”

Drake rolled his eyes. “One more question then I’ll go.”

“What’s that?” Derek asked with a mouth full of vanilla wafer.

“Exactly why did you order protection for Toni?”

Derek grinned and made a production of swallowing his cookie. “Because I wanted to make sure she was able to start the investigation Christian just put her on. Which reminds me,” he said before he paused to throw his half eaten cookie at Drake, “don’t watch her from afar, either! Christian’s basing her acceptance back into the city on whether or not she can complete the investigation. If you watch her, she’s going to feel like someone’s watching her, and that’ll only hinder her from finding what she needs to find. And you know how much she wants to stay here. She wants it as much as she wants you.”

Drake narrowed his eyes on Derek. The Viking knew something else but the bastard wasn’t sharing. “What do you know that you’re not telling me, Derek?”

Derek smiled wide as he skipped backwards down the alley. “The games are afoot, my boy, and this time the Ancients are playing. Which means every pawn’s important. And that’s all I’m gonna say about that.”

Drake watched as Derek disappeared around the corner. The Ancients were always playing their games, and they always wanted someone dead. That was the reason he had a job in the first place.

He’d never understood the game of the-one-with-the-most-toys-when-the-world-ends-wins, and to be honest – he didn’t want to. All Drake knew was that if the current game ended up hurting Toni somehow, there were going to be
a lot
of dead Ancients.

Chapter 17

Toni pulled into a space in the parking garage of the Legacy Suites just as Robert stepped out of a luxury sedan parked a few spaces away. After grabbing the investigation folder from under the passenger seat, she climbed out of her car and smiled at him. “Hi, Rob.”

He returned the gesture. “Good evening, Toni.”

She tucked the folder under her arm and fell into step beside him. “So how’s your night going?”

“Fortunately, my night is going quite well at the moment. I just left Christian’s office and am now reassuming my duties at the front desk. I would ask how you are, however, you look pleasantly sad and I don’t wish to pry.”

She tipped her head towards him. “It’s been a really long night.”

He pushed up the sleeve of his dark suit jacket and checked his watch. “But it’s barely midnight.”

She blew out a long sigh. “I know. But I’ve digested so much information in the last few hours that it could probably choke a cow.”

He chuckled at her. “Such a vivid picture you paint with but a few words. I take it the investigation isn’t going well?”

“No, ah…actually, I haven’t really started yet.”

“Well, I should hope not.” His voice took on the stern quality of a grandfather, even though when she raised her eyes to meet his, she realized he didn’t really look like one. He was more like a dapper, older English gentleman. “Have you even studied everything in the folder yet? One must be completely prepared before they take on an investigation of such a magnitude. Werewolves are a subject not to be taken lightly.”

“I haven’t exactly
studied
it,” she admitted as she bumped her shoulder into his. “But that’s a really great excuse, Rob.”

A knowing grin spread across his face. “I’m good for far more than you know, young lady. However, if it’s not the investigation, might I inquire as to what’s bothering you?”

She rubbed her temples. “Between you and me, it’s just some confusion over Drake.”

“I take it you learned of his unfortunate profession?”

She arched a brow. “You know what he does?”

“Of course I do. Very few things happen in this city that I don’t know about. Considering who I answer to on a nightly basis, would you expect any less?”

“I guess not.” When Robert opened the door for her, she stepped into the hotel lobby. “You probably know a lot more about this life than I ever will.”

He laughed as the door swung closed behind him. “You’ll learn more in time. Trust me, when time is all you have, you learn many things you never thought you would. Knowledge truly is power in this life, especially when the years begin to grow heavy. Oh, and speaking of knowledge, I’m supposed to give you this,” he said as he reached into his jacket pocket. He handed her a folded piece of paper. “Much to Christian’s dismay, this was left out of the folder.”

She took the note then opened it, revealing a name and address. “What’s this for?”

Robert stared rather intently around the lobby before motioning for her to follow him. He took a moment to relieve the woman behind the counter, and then waited until she’d left the lobby before turning back to Toni. “That’s the name and address of an Ancient sword smith. He’ll be expecting you at his home tomorrow, before midnight. You do know how to wield a sword, yes?”

She nodded. “Clint taught me how, but why do I need one?”

An evil grin danced across his face. “Should you come across the werewolves or find yourself in trouble, as there is probable vampire involvement in this issue, Christian would prefer the confrontation stay as quiet as possible.”

“You mean he doesn’t want me shooting anything?”

He nodded, his grin giving way to concern. “Also, on a far more serious note, should you be attacked, your guns will likely do no good against either foe. Christian doesn’t mean to send you out unprepared, so please, stop and see
Molenyar
before you begin any heavy investigating. I don’t wish to see you injured.”

Toni leaned across the counter and pressed a kiss to Robert’s cheek. “Thanks for caring about me, Rob. It means a lot to me.”

“Not a problem, my dear.” He pulled away and smiled at her again. “Well, if you will excuse me, I have a hotel to check up on. You’d never believe the amount of mischief that goes on behind the scenes of this establishment.”

“I bet,” she said as she turned and made her way towards the elevator. “Have fun, Rob.”

“Thank you, Toni. I do hope your night gets better.”

When the doors of the elevator slid closed, Toni leaned against the wall and wondered what she’d gotten herself into. Investigations, swords, and assassin lovers weren’t something she’d prepared for. Then again, most of the events that had happened in her life thus far she hadn’t really prepared for.

After the elevator delivered her to the nineteenth floor without incident, she hurried down the hallway and unlocked the door to her suite. She flipped the lights on, but was more than a little disappointed to find an empty room waiting for her. Part of her had hoped to find Drake draped across the bed with that adorable lopsided grin plastered across his face.