Seduction's Shift (27 page)

Clearing her throat, she began to talk. Pride moved through Nick like blood flowing through his veins.

“Sabar is mixing cocaine with the damiana. He’s probably hired a chemist to help him with the process here in the States, and they’ve added another agent that we can’t specify. The female at the morgue was in perfect health before her insides virtually exploded as a result of the high potency of the cocaine and the additional chemicals in her system. I think he’s created a pill that’s easily swallowed, breaks down fairly quickly, and reacts according to the genetics of the victim. In other words, if you’re inclined to be high-strung and more than a little excited, taking this drug will put you right in the sights of a crazy hospital. You’ll be erratic, nonsensical, in short out of control.”

“Jeez,” Kalina breathed, leaning into Rome, who’d wrapped his arm around her as Ary spoke.

“Yeah, my sentiments exactly,” Nick said with a sigh.

Chapter 25

“What are you doing here?”

“It looks like I’m being held captive,” Caprise quipped.

The minute X had walked into Rome’s house Ezra had pulled him aside, whispering that the guards had caught someone breaking into Nick’s house when they’d retrieved some of his and Ary’s things last night.

“She’s a shifter and she’s mad as hell” was what Ezra had told him before walking off chuckling.

X had no idea what he was walking into when he entered the room at the far end of the hall on the third floor away from the FL and the others staying there. He’d entered knowing he might have to fight or at the very least subdue the intruder, but never, ever would he have considered it would be her.

“You were breaking into your brother’s house?” he asked Caprise Delgado with all the confusion he was feeling evident in his voice.

“How else was I supposed to get in?”

X shrugged. “I don’t know, call him and tell him you wanted to come over. Knock and if he’s not home come back later. What the hell’s the matter with you, breaking and entering?”

“Go to hell! You of all people cannot stand there and judge me,” she spat.

What was she talking about? X stared at the young woman he hadn’t seen for at least five years. She’d changed a hell of a lot since then. He distinctly remembered her butter-toned complexion, almost identical to Nick’s. Her hair was raven black, like her older brother’s as well. But that’s where the physical likeness between the Delgado siblings stopped.

Caprise was shorter, possibly about five-eight or -nine, from what he could tell as she stood near the balcony doors that no doubt were padlocked as well. Her legs went on forever and ever, holding X’s gaze for much longer than they probably should have. Thighs spread to curvy hips, a slim waist, and breasts that made his mouth water. The less-is-more vibe her short-ass skirt and skintight blouse gave off made it damn hard to do anything else. But it was her eyes that had done the most changing. You could tell so much from a shifter’s eyes.

Hers were dark, emotionless, scary. Thick eyebrows arched above slightly slanted eyes that watched him closely, too closely.

“Nick said you were back,” he said for lack of anything better. “I doubt he realized you’d be breaking into his house.”

“Oh, please; give it a rest. I needed a place to crash so I went to my brother’s. He wasn’t home so I let myself in. No harm, no foul.”

X nodded. “I believe you.”

“Well, aren’t I the lucky one. Can you tell your hired monkeys to let me go?”

“That’s not going to happen,” he said solemnly. “Not until Nick gets back.”

She’d turned her back, to retrieve her bag he surmised, but at his words she spun around with a dark blur that was faster than light.

“You’ve got to be kidding! You cannot hold me hostage. Isn’t that illegal? Aren’t you some kind of cop?”

Hostility poured from her every motion, every word. She was anxious and nervous—and he wanted to say scared, but he wouldn’t pin that on a woman like Caprise.

“I’m an FBI agent. Look, Caprise, there are things going on here that won’t allow me to let you walk out of this house unprotected. It’s a dangerous time for shifters out there.”

“I’m a woman,” she said, licking her lips and crossing her arms over her chest as if to punctuate that announcement.

X looked her up and down. “I can see that. Another reason I’m not letting you walk out of here.”

*   *   *

Their meeting had begun as cordially as that of any human with another human. She’d walked into his home office, closed the door behind her, and taken a seat in the guest chair in front of his desk. He’d looked up, acknowledged her presence, and stood to greet her. After all, she was older than him by at least ten years. She’d also been his former mentor’s female, and she deserved his respect.

Taking her hand in his, bringing it to his lips as he went to his knees in front of her was beyond any allegiance Sabar had bothered to pay another living soul, be it shifter or human. But Bianca was, to him, beyond any other living soul. She had forever been the one bright spot in his life. Even when he believed Kalina was his
companheiro,
he knew she’d never have his heart. That was Bianca’s alone.

She’d taken his hand, rubbing hers along his cheek, and beckoned him to stand.

“You have come such a long way,” she said when he was standing fully in front of her.

She was shorter by at least a foot, and she was enigmatic. Her hair was in two long braids hanging down to her bottom—which by the way was as plump and enticing as any twenty-year-old’s. Her skin was not olive, not ivory, and not darker; it was simply perfect. Ice-blue eyes blinked and changed quickly to white and back again. His heart beat faster, his cat leaping and growling inside.

“I was thrilled when you called,” he admitted, because with Bianca there could be no lies.

“You have been very bad,” she said, a long nail scaling along the line of his jaw.

“No. I am doing what Boden taught me.”

She shook her head. “You told me once you’d never want another but me. You lied.”

Fuck! She knew about Kalina. “You belong to Boden” he gave as his defense. “You said you would never leave him. He was my mentor so I couldn’t kill him to take what I wanted. I had to let you go.”

“And get yourself another?” She walked around him, her fingers trailing down to his pecs, his abs, around his waist to his buttocks and thighs. “Did she suck you?”

“No!” Sabar replied instantly, adamantly. “No. I did not touch her and she did not touch me.”

“But not because you did not want it—because you could not take her from the shadow she is joined with.”

As much as he hated hearing that truth, Sabar gritted his teeth and nodded his agreement. “That is in the past.”

Bianca was once again in front of him. “I think not. You still want her.”

“I want to kill that bitch for choosing him over me. I’m sick of females choosing weaker shifters over me!” And he was. As much as he respected Boden for all that he’d taught him, the fact was, that jaguar had nothing on Sabar.

“I did not choose,” she said, her heart-shaped lips pouting. “The choice was made for me.”

“And you’re here now because?” Being in love with her didn’t make Sabar a total idiot. There was a reason Bianca had contacted him, a reason that she’d traveled from the wetlands in Africa to see him. He wanted to know what it was before they went any farther.

“I missed you,” she said simply, coming up on tiptoe to touch her lips to his.

Well, Sabar figured as her tongue traced a hot path around his lips, over the seam that separated them, along his tongue that he readily gave to her, he could always get the real reason later. After.

Her screams were so loud they could be classified as deafening. Her claws scraped the red velour wallpaper off his wall in angry slashes as he pumped into her with vicious strokes. When he bent her over the desk, thrusting his full length into her ass, she screamed again, this time his name. It had thrown him right over the edge. Not only was he fucking Bianca, he was making her his in every possible way. And when his release took him she’d twisted her body so that her face now lined up with his. The kiss she gave him was a scorcher and had his dick hardening once more. But she’d led him to the shower where they’d bathed and she’d fallen to her knees, taking his length into her mouth. She’d watched him with those bewitching eyes as she milked his cock, swallowing his essence then rising to kiss his mouth with the remnants of his seed on her lips.

If Sabar thought he was in love with her before, he was totally obsessed with her now.

Still, half an hour later as he stood at the end of his bed, his body wrapped in a black velvet robe, he looked down on her naked body and asked once more, “Why are you here?”

Bianca sat up, not an ounce of modesty in her entire body. She crossed her legs so that he could see her center, see the damp lips of her core and want her once more.

“I have what you need to lead the shifters.”

Chapter 26

The room was completely dark, as they’d been told to have it. Only candles provided illumination, and they were placed in strategic locations throughout the space.

Sabar hadn’t been thrilled with the news of Gabriel’s death. Darel had knocked on his door to tell him just as he and Bianca were finishing their discussion. That discussion had led to this ayahuasca ceremony being performed in one of the back rooms of his safe house in Arlington.

“She thinks this will make us stronger,” Sabar told Darel a couple of minutes after he’d left Bianca in the bedroom.

Darel had grumbled. “Can you trust her?”

A laugh rumbled in his chest. Sabar looked up to the ceiling, his bedroom was just above them. “You know I don’t fully trust anybody. But just think of how much power we’ll have with our new drug on the streets and an army of Rogues with no fear, no past, no inhibitions.”

“Too much, too soon, isn’t always the best route,” Darel said with a nod. He’d been standing near the fireplace that wasn’t lit, staring into the dark pit.

“I’ll be the judge of how fast we move. You just focus on getting the product out on the streets and watching my money. If you’re still thinking about using those strippers as dealers, they’d better be good at keeping numbers. The first time they’re short, they’re dead.”

Darel nodded. “I know the drill.”

“Good. Then let’s get in here and watch what the hell’s going on with this holy man Bianca brought me.”

Now they were standing near the door of the room, just beyond a double row of candles and hopefully out of the line of fire, so to speak.

“So what’s this all about?” Darel asked while they watched the short man engulfed in shadows moving about the room.

The male inside looked as if he was preparing, putting candles here, taking things out of a huge duffel bag, and placing them in allotted spots. Whatever he did was done in complete silence. If Darel hadn’t been staring directly at him, he’d have never known the man was moving about. He was wearing a loincloth and nothing else, clothing-wise. Around his neck was a rope of what Darel thought might be bones. At his ankles were smaller bands of bones that didn’t even clink when he moved. And straight through his chin was a longer, thicker bone that looked too painful and too disgusting for Darel to continue to stare. It was eerie how silent things were and yet how alive they felt.

To say he didn’t like what was happening here was an understatement. But Darel knew better than to keep going against Sabar. The fact that he was the lone survivor of their original foursome meant something. And despite what Sabar said, Darel knew the Rogue had at least a minuscule amount of trust in him, or else he’d never allow him to run the drug trade almost exclusively on his own. After Gabriel’s death, Darel would directly supervise Norbert and the dealers. He was Sabar’s number one Rogue, and he liked that position. So much so that he’d keep his mouth shut and his eyes open where the mysterious Bianca was concerned.

“His name is Yuri and he’s a shaman. For a fee he was willing to come here to do us this favor,” a female voice said, sending warning spikes up and down Darel’s spine.

Speak of the devil.

“He will perform an ayahuasca ceremony, an infusion of sorts, which will alter the minds of each of the shifters we’ve selected,” Bianca continued.

“Why do we want to alter their minds?” Darel asked.

Behind him he felt Sabar stiffen. “So they’ll do exactly as I say instead of going off on their own like Gabriel and that cheetah we had before. I need total submission to take down each of the Factions; I can’t be all over the world at one time. These new Rogues will be able to travel, making our new regime among the shifters a reality.”

That sounded good, but Darel still had reservations. Instead of speaking them again he figured it might be best just to watch and see what happened. Maybe this little experiment wouldn’t work; after all, they weren’t in the jungle. They were in Sabar’s house in the middle of the city. How successful could a holistic jungle ceremony be?

*   *   *

Six shifters were ushered into the room and lined up in the center. Around them double rows of candles were lit. Yuri and another who was dressed just like him moved in a circle around the shifters. The shorter male used a rattle, shaking it in rhythm. Yuri lit incense. Smoke filled the room, quickly creating a warm buzz throughout.

Once Yuri stood in front of the shifters, he motioned for them all to go down on their knees. It was weird to see this array of strong jaguar shifters doing as the thin, wiry human male directed. Darel stood, hands clasped in front of him, eyes focused on the center of the room.

The shorter male presented Yuri with a bowl. Steady streams of steam swirled as Yuri took it in his palms and put it to his lips. He drank, tilting his head back until it was finished. Meanwhile, as he drank, the smaller male walked to the shifters, touching each on the shoulder and motioning for them to tilt their heads back similar to Yuri.

“He is drinking the ayahuasca. This will allow him to see into the soul of each shifter,” Bianca whispered.