Poisonous Desires (3 page)

“You report it to
Torger
, the chief of police, and if he or
Draven
can’t do anything, the Council certainly shouldn’t be told. Then you call me, and I will send
Misha
.” He paused to let the words sink in. “I’ll send you your usual rate, plus extra.” He reached into his silk jacket, extracted an envelope, and handed it to her. “Here is your first-class ticket straight to
Draven’s
Crossing. Do you need a hotel?”

Relief swept through her.
Misha
would make it clean, and she wouldn’t get arrested. Also,
Misha
would probably torture whoever was involved for information, and he took requests. Dark and delicious satisfaction rolled over her. Rather than focus on all the things she could ask of
Misha
, she turned her attention back to
Zerik
. As nice as it would be to stay at a high-end hotel on
Zerik’s
dime, she had to decline, and besides, she didn’t want to tell him she had a home in
Draven’s
Crossing
already. That information he didn’t need to know.

Nadia accepted the package. “No need, I’ll take care of it. Thanks, and no problem,
Zerik
, none. Don’t lose those guys.” She looked toward his bodyguards. They shifted under her gaze but remained emotionless. “They’re good. I’ll be in touch.”

She rose. The bulkier of the two goons handed her
her
suitcase on the way out. Nadia hoped she could carry out
Zerik’s
mission for him without getting arrested. Goddess knew that whenever she entered
Draven’s
Crossing, trouble followed and Murphy’s Law stalked her.

* * * *

Urban shifted in the guest chair he’d been given. Nothing he did made him comfortable, not putting his weight on his left side or his right, trying to sit on the edge or leaning back, nothing. It didn’t help that he was hungry and horny. Damn
Torger
for calling him before he’d managed to grab some breakfast or do a quick jerk-off. He’d been into DCPD to visit his brother or to check in with friends, but he’d never had to be ordered into the office.
Torger
had demanded his appearance at the DCPD in an official capacity, but now things were uncomfortable with
Draven
hovering in the background like a pale-skinned, dark-haired wraith ready to devour him. His dark eyes held a hungry fire that seemed to indicate a thirst for blood, or maybe he was angry. Urban wasn’t sure and didn’t want to find out. Instead, he resisted the urge to watch the clock and focus all of his being on what they wanted of him. Both men continued to look at him without saying a word.

Unlike in his day job, he felt queasy. Getting a mission, sending him off to parts unknown, was far more relaxing than having his brother stare at him like he was a perp.
Draven
was eyeing him either with doubt or like dinner; which, he wasn’t sure. Urban wanted it all to stop and to get to the point. Was this about the investigation into
Jagger’s
part in the death of Representative
Evanson
? He’d already volunteered for that, though he knew his position would be a farce. No one wanted that case to be stretched out too long since the Council was breathing down their necks and threatening to bring in someone “more competent,” as they put it. Everyone knew it was code for Council lapdog. There was also the Council seat race with two candidates: one a
Councilphile
who loved and agreed with all things
Council,
and the other a reformer who wanted to change
Draven’s
Crossing’s relationship with the Council to make the town more independent. The race was heating up, or rather, getting nasty.

Urban wasn’t interested in diving into
Draven’s
city politics. Unless there was something he should be intrigued with, which he doubted, he’d stay out of things. He had a gut reaction that this meeting had to do with the Werewolf Summit that was about to go into full swing once all the alphas arrived. But with all the questions being thrown at
Draven
about
Jagger’s
involvement in
Evanson’s
death, the details of the Summit were being buried.

Draven
had been fielding questions on exactly what
Jagger’s
position in his administration was, who he was backing to take Representative
Evanson’s
place, and
Torger
was trying not to rip the press’s throats out. His girlfriend, the dragon-shifter and reporter Isadora Jones, had been behaving, only asking questions that were prevalent to the investigation rather than going on offshoots of rumor like the rest of the press. Urban knew the
truth, that
Jagger
hadn’t killed anyone, but you’d think he was enemy number one by the way the press was acting. It was like they’d never covered a political murder before and were looking for any way to scandalize it. The situation was tiring for everyone all around; he could see the bags under
Torger’s
eyes and hear the heavy tread of his brother’s footfalls when he got home. Urban shifted in his seat again, hoping they wouldn’t really drag him into that mess.

He prayed that they hadn’t gotten desperate and would ask him to do something like following around Detective de la Rosa, who was in charge in the
Jagger
investigation, to make sure she didn’t interfere with
Jagger’s
attempt to clear his name.

“Look guys, can you tell me why I’m here? You’re starting to unnerve me.” Urban decided to get the ball rolling and ask them outright.

Torger
took a sip of coffee before he responded, “The Werewolf Summit is happening this week. It’s already started, in fact, but not everyone is here. I can’t focus on anything but the
Jagger
investigation. Or be seen to have my attention divided by the Summit,
Jagger
, and the Council’s demands. I need you to act as my
autre
loup
alpha
and handle things for me, keep an eye on the other alphas and make sure everyone is towing the line.”

“We need good publicity, and you’re the only person we can trust to make sure that everything goes smoothly. And everything
must
go smoothly, understand?”
Draven
asked. Leaning closer, that fire in his eyes seemed to turn every part but the pupil a reddish orange color.

Urban swallowed. This was something he hadn’t expected. He rubbed the back of his neck. He thought it would be about the Summit, but to be asked to take
Torger’s
place?
To take on that responsibility….
“Are you sure that—” Urban didn’t suffer fools gladly, and some werewolf alphas were the biggest fools around.

“Yes. Everyone here is busy.
Everyone.
There’s no werewolf left to handle the alphas that aren’t doing security or handling the hunt for
Jagger
. There are also some werewolves who are on assignments that I can’t afford to pull from one case to this. The alphas refused to deal with a feline-shifter. You’re it.
You in?”
Torger
gave him a hard look, and Urban shifted in his seat once again as his discomfort grew.

He couldn’t let down his brother, nor could he say no. There was no one else to take up the mantel, and besides that, he didn’t want anyone to presume that they could take
Torger’s
place. That could lead to a challenge, and
Torger
could end up in jail. Besides, if he screwed up,
Torger
would kick him out of the house and force him to stay in a hotel.

“Okay, what harm could a bunch of alphas do?” As soon as the words left his mouth, he felt sick. He’d been to werewolf summits that ended in blood and lost limbs. “I mean, I’ll keep an eye on things.
Promise.”
He wasn’t exactly sure how he’d keep his word, but he’d damn well try to make sure everyone behaved. Not unless
tranqing
everyone would be authorized or legal. Maybe he could get
Torger
to sign off on that.

Torger
gave him a nod. “Good. And no, I won’t allow or authorize you to
tranq
anyone.” The ghost of a smile appeared on
Torger’s
lips, and that set Urban at ease.

Once dismissed, he headed to the Tranquil Acres Camping Area, where the werewolves were staying for the Summit. Maybe he could get a handle on the situation. So far only the older pack leaders, well over fifty, had arrived. Their hobby seemed to be talking about the good old days and hitting on the younger unmated female werewolves who wandered by.
Nothing to worry about here.
Well, unless one of the women killed them, which would be doing everyone a favor,
he thought and headed back into town.
This should be a piece of cake. If only I had Nadia here. Things look like they’ll get boring.
He turned into the Blob’s Burgers parking lot for some lunch. The name sounded disgusting, but they made the best BLTs in town, and the owner of the fast-food place loved classic horror movies, thus the name. He thought of the last time he’d seen Nadia, his feline-shifter lover. They didn’t have a relationship per se. It was mostly sex, with only a few personal details exchanged between them. The last encounter had been in Italy a few months prior and sexually satisfying, as usual, but had lacked anything truly fulfilling for him.

Over the last few weeks he’d found himself wanting more of a connection to his mysterious Nadia. He’d tried to e-mail her to set up another date with her, went as far as to call the number she’d given him. No dice on either. Texts went unanswered. He wondered if he was being played but shoved that out of his mind. He didn’t know much about her. She refused to answer questions unless she wanted to and kept her replies terse.

Nadia refused to allow him to breach any subjects that weren’t neutral. Talking about his family life hadn’t prompted her to share where she grew up or if she had any siblings. When he suggested dinner, she’d brushed him off. As much as he hadn’t wanted to admit it, it had hurt his feelings, that maybe she didn’t want to be seen in public with him. Acting out their mutual love of BDSM scenes and role playing had brought them together, but Urban knew that this lack of a connection could tear them apart. He’d been meaning to have a conversation about how he felt with her but had always chickened out once he saw what she was wearing, or rather what she lacked in clothing.

Wall after wall after wall frustrated him. How could he break through to a woman who refused to give him less than an inch? He’d started several e-mails but had trashed them all because he couldn’t put into words what he felt for her. It felt deeper than love or mating. How to express something like that? She was a part of him. And he didn’t know how to tell her. Nor did he know how to track her down to explain his growing emotions.

Without saying anything, she understood what he needed. If only he could do the same for her. Sexually she could express herself, but anything else was under lockdown. He had considered talking to
Torger
about her; in fact, that was one of the reasons that had brought him to town other than a forced vacation. Now that
Torger
had
Isy
, his dragon mate and reporter for the local news, and was busy dealing with the investigation of Representative
Evanson’s
death, he had no time for his brother. It didn’t hurt
Urban’s
feelings, but it did ramp up his frustrations. He was stuck in town with no one to talk to and no one to hang out with. There was
Isy
, who was friends with Nadia, that much he knew, but he wanted Nadia to tell him everything. Urban didn’t want to risk pushing Nadia away if she hadn’t told
Isy
about him. Besides that,
Isy
wouldn’t be able to keep her mouth shut to
Torger
or to him and would ask a million questions that he didn’t have answers for.

As he sat in the car, he could feel himself slipping into a slump. Thinking of Nadia brought on a need to be near her. Now he could feel the pressure of arousal filling his stomach. Hunger faded away in the face of his desire to smell her spicy scent and feel her silken skin against his as he thrust into her. Urban groaned and forced his desires down.
Not here, and not now.
He wasn’t going to go home and rub one out when he knew that, not that that would satisfy him. God, he missed his Nadia. He didn’t know what she did for a living. And he refused to use the resources at his disposal to check her out. Urban reached into his phone and turned it on. Nadia’s photo flickered to life. Her mysterious dark brown eyes gazed at him narrowed in annoyance. She hadn’t wanted her picture taken, but he’d snapped it anyway.

Nadia had tried to get him to delete it but hadn’t put up too much of a fight. In retaliation she’d taken his photo, and he’d let her. That small gesture hadn’t given him hope that she wanted a memento, something to remember him by. Maybe she wanted something more but was too shy to say so, which he doubted. He sighed; that made no sense. His stomach growled; hunger pushed at his emotional blockage and remind
ed
him of lunch and that he was sitting in his car like an idiot. He got out of his car and headed into the restaurant. He decided to once again e-mail her and ask her if she would be willing to meet him before he left
Draven’s
Crossing
. His vacation would be up by the time the Werewolf Summit was over. Then it was back to the grind of spook work. He couldn’t focus on her now; he had to watch the Summit and report back to
Torger
, and that was that.
Easy as pie.
He entered the restaurant and grabbed a table. The waiter came up to him, and he placed his order. Urban shoved his emotional toil down deep and drew down his mask of normalcy.