Shadow's End (18 page)

“Put that away.” She tapped him on the shoulder with a gnarled finger. “You know better than that. Your money's no good here.”

“I've always gotta offer, Ruby,” he said, although he tucked his wallet back into the pocket of his jeans.

She nodded with a grin. “That's one of the many reasons why I would have hog-tied you. My ex? I had to take him to court for child support, and he always waits for somebody else to pay in a restaurant.”

“That's not right.” He shook his head. “If I had a wife and child, I would do everything in my power to make their lives good, and they would never want for anything.”

I would fight for them, live for them.

Die for them, if need be.

The words sounded melodramatic over morning coffee, so while he thought them, he didn't say them aloud.

“That's another reason why I would have hog-tied you.” Smiling, Ruby looked at him over the rim of her glasses. “I don't hafta tell you that people get crazy around masque-time. Be careful out there, and come back to see me real soon.”

“I will,” he promised.

Predictable as it had been, the exchange had lightened his mood, while the food had given him a surge of much-needed energy. Stepping out, he walked down the street, watching his surroundings carefully until he was certain he was a good half block away from anyone else, and he could sense no nearby magic.

Only then did he take out his cell phone and scroll through his contacts until he found the right one. He punched Call.

Voicemail kicked in. It was a robo-message, giving only the number, no name or any other identifier. He hung up without leaving a message and dialed again.

This time, the Vampyre Julian Regillus, the Nightkind King, picked up. “Graydon. Let's save some energy and pretend you and I have already had a conversation about what time it is.”

In the background, Graydon heard a familiar feminine voice. Melisande, the Light Fae heir and Julian's lover, said, “Did you say that was Graydon calling? Tell him hi for me.”

“Melly says hi,” Julian said into the phone. “We're about to go to bed.”

“Don't be mean!” Melly exclaimed.

Graydon bit back a smile. In New York, it was only eight in the morning, which meant that in Lake Tahoe, it had just turned five. For most people, depending on their race and personal habits, it was either too early or too late to be calling, unless the reason was urgent.

“Are you in New York for next week's masque?” Graydon asked. “Or are you coming?”

“No,” Julian replied. “I haven't talked to Xavier for a couple of weeks, but I think he's planning to attend as regent. I meant it when I said I'm taking a year off. Melly and I are at home.”

Graydon leaned back against the brick wall of a building so he could watch the street in both directions. “Sorry to interrupt your vacation.”

“What's going on?”

“Do you remember the conversation you and I had a couple of months ago in San Francisco?” He ran one hand through his hair. The snow had already damped the ends. “We talked about a mutual acquaintance. You shared sensitive intel.”

Earlier, in the spring, Melly had been kidnapped by one of the Nightkind council, and her mother Tatiana, the Light Fae Queen, had asked Graydon for help in finding her. Julian had actually been the one who found Melly.

Afterward, he had shared with Graydon confidential information about Malphas. Names of victims. Dates. Graydon's entire investigation had been prompted by that small, vital list.

“I'm not likely to forget.” Julian's voice had gone very alert and crisp. “Have there been new developments?”

“Yes, significant ones.” Graydon paused as he watched an elderly male cross at the nearest intersection. When the male turned the corner and disappeared from sight, he said, “Do you want to have a say in what comes next?”

“You're damn right I do,” Julian growled.

Graydon nodded, unsurprised. “Things may happen quickly. How soon can you get to New York?”

“I'll be there by the end of the day,” Julian told him.

Melly said, “You're not going without me.” Something rustled. Suddenly she sounded much closer and clearer than she had before, almost as if she had climbed into Julian's lap. “While we're on our way, you're going to explain how this fits into your concept of ‘vacation.'”

Julian said, “That's complicated.”

“It's always complicated.” Melly sounded amused.

Julian said, “Graydon, I'll call you when we're in town.”

“Sounds good. Talk to you later.”

Once he had disconnected, he continued down the street. In Wembley on that last morning, he had said the war might be a very long one. But not even he had conceived of just how long it would be.

He had never lain in wait for so long, or hunted with such extreme care. His prey had never been quite as dangerous as it was now, nor had the stakes ever been quite as high.

The part of him that was a predator had to admit it felt good to take action, good to be moving toward some kind of resolution. Now that he had begun his play, events would escalate. The pace of the hunt would take on its own life.

Cloaking himself, he changed into the gryphon and launched into a short flight that took him into the heart of Manhattan. Circling down upon an exclusive boutique hotel, he changed back into the man and strode into the lobby.

His destination was a three-bedroom suite several flights up. He rapped on the door and waited.

There was the soft sound of muffled movement, then the door opened. The woman who answered it was human, rather tall, dressed in jeans and a black turtleneck, with an athletic build and blond, shoulder length hair.

She was around thirty-eight or forty, Graydon guessed, or at least she had been when she had become a Vampyre attendant. She was attractive in a clean, spare way, with the sharp, intelligent gaze of an experienced soldier.

“You must be Claudia Hunter,” he said.

The woman smiled. “I am, and of course you're Graydon. It's nice to finally meet you in person. Come on in.” Turning, she raised her voice. “Precious, our visitor has arrived.”

Noting with approval the businesslike Glock she wore in a holster at the waist of her jeans, Graydon followed her into the living room area of the suite just as another male unfolded his long body off the couch.

The male was Wyr and young, perhaps mid- to late-
twenties, and he carried a canine scent. He had a kind of handsomeness that smoldered, with dark burnished skin, bitter chocolate eyes and rather overlong black hair.

He was also very large, easily as big as Graydon, and that was not something Graydon was used to running into very often.

“Luis Alvarez,” said the young Wyr, holding out one hand.

“Nice to meet you.” Graydon shook hands with him, grinning. “Your partner calls you ‘Precious'?”

Luis's dark gaze cut over to Claudia, and his face changed. The difference was at once both subtle and, to Graydon's experienced gaze, remarkably telling. Inwardly troubled, he kept his own expression neutral.

Luis said softly, “Inside joke. The first time Claudia and I met, I was injured and in my Wyr form. I couldn't shift back into a human for a while.”

Claudia chuckled, her own affection for Luis obvious. She said to Graydon, “He is one big-ass, mean-looking dog. I had to name him Precious.”

If Graydon was not mistaken, that big-ass, mean-looking dog had mated with his non-Wyr, human partner.

And Wyr mated for life. Luis would never leave Claudia, never stop in his devotion to her, yet she had a different nature entirely.

If she ever felt the need, she could leave Luis, and eventually that decision would kill him. Their lifespans were also quite different. She would age quicker than he. When she died, he would too. It was a hell of a thing for a member of another race to take a Wyr as a lover.

Of course, it was a hell of a thing for the Wyr, as well.

Belatedly, Graydon caught up with what they had said. He put two and two together.

“Wait,” he said. “Are you the two that discovered the magic-sensitive silver mine in Nirvana, Nevada? The one where the owner kept slaves in a small pocket of Other land to mine the silver?”

Both Luis and Claudia sobered, their smiles dying. Luis replied, “Yes.”

“I'll get everybody a cup of coffee,” Claudia said. She walked out of the living room.

Graydon said to Luis, “That explains your Peacekeeper background.”

Luis nodded. “I was an investigator for the Elder tribunal and met Claudia in Nevada. I was close to death when she found me. She saved my life. After the case was concluded, we took time off. When we decided to look for a job, we had some very specific requirements.”

“One of my requirements was I needed to become a Vampyre attendant,” Claudia said, as she walked back into the room, carrying coffee mugs. “Short of becoming a Vampyre myself, which I don't want to do, being an attendant is the only way for a human to significantly improve their health and lengthen their life.”

Ah. So she knew that Luis had mated with her.

She handed a mug filled with coffee to Graydon, meeting his eyes with a direct, steady gaze, and he realized she had seen how troubled he had become. He murmured a thanks and sipped the hot, black brew.

She said, “Working for Carling will extend my lifespan significantly. It still won't bring me to anything near what Luis's life would have been before he met me, but instead of having thirty or forty years together, we'll now have eighty. Maybe even a hundred, if we're lucky, and I'll be fit and healthy to the end.”

“You fuss too much,” Luis told her. He accepted a mug too. “Things have turned out better than I could have hoped. I like fieldwork and being independent, so those were my requirements. Long story short, we ended up in Florida, applying for positions at Carling and Rune's agency. We've been working for them ever since.”

“Well, you know I wouldn't have trusted you with an investigation as sensitive or dangerous as this if Rune hadn't recommended you so highly,” said Graydon. “I want to go over everything to make sure it's in order.”

“Of course,” said Luis. “Since we didn't know what you
might choose to do, I've created files that meet Elder tribunal litigation requirements. It's kind of my thing.”

Graydon glanced at Claudia again. The twinkle had returned in her eyes. She said in a gentle voice to Luis, “I get all hot and bothered when you talk about files and litigation requirements.”

The younger Wyr laughed a little under his breath, and his skin darkened.

Watching them, Graydon's sense of discouragement turned to hope. If anybody looked mismatched at first glance, it had to be Luis and Claudia, yet they appeared to have found a solution that allowed them to be together in the best way possible.

Maybe he and Bel really could find a way to be together. Of course, they might not, but at least it looked more possible than it had earlier at Ruby's Diner.

“I want to have a meeting on this sometime later tonight,” he told them. “I would like for you both to attend, if you would.”

“Of course,” Claudia said. “Rune and Carling are in town, and they wanted to be kept updated. Is it all right if they attend too?”

“I would prefer it.” Rune was one of the most formidable fighters Graydon had ever known, and as a Powerful witch and Vampyre, Carling had once fought in a war against a first-generation Djinn—and won. Her input would be invaluable.

“I'll let them know,” Claudia promised.

Luis led him to the dining table and logged him onto a laptop. Once Graydon had taken a seat, Luis handed him something square and black. It was an external hard drive.

“The laptop's Wi-Fi capability has been disabled,” Luis told him. “The only record of the files is on that hard drive. This is as secure as we could possibly make it.”

“That's terrific.”

Plugging in the drive, Graydon explored the contents.

The files were massive. Neatly labeled, each folder contained copies of financial records, photos, and extensive notes,
each document logged with the date and time. There were also interviews in audio files.

The other two left him to his reading. It took him several hours, but he reviewed each file thoroughly. He worked through lunch.

Silently, without interrupting him, Luis set a plate stacked with roast beef sandwiches beside his elbow. Graydon nodded his thanks and, without taking a break from reading, plowed through the food.

Finally he closed the hard drive, unplugged it from the laptop and slipped it into his pocket. Looking for Claudia and Luis, he followed the sound of a TV and found them in one of the bedrooms.

They hadn't bothered to close the bedroom door. On one side of the bed, Claudia had propped her back against some pillows. She was reading a thriller. Luis lounged beside her, watching ESPN. They looked relaxed, like a dangerous pair of cougars stretched out after a long hunt, and just about as domestic.

“Damn fine, meticulous work,” Graydon told them. “I'd offer you a job—I can match or beat whatever dollar amount Carling and Rune are paying you—except I can't help you with the Vampyre attendant issue.”

Both Claudia and Luis's expressions lightened with pleasure at his praise. “Thank you,” Luis said. “Is there anything else you want us to do before this evening's meeting?”

“Can't think of a thing,” Graydon said. “Get some rest. I'm going to go home, shower and take a nap myself.” He hefted the external hard drive in one hand. “Again, you've done a great job, and it's not that I don't trust you, but I'm gonna keep this with me now.”

“Sounds good,” Claudia said. She swung her legs off the edge of the bed, stood and walked with him to the door of the suite.

“Until tonight, then,” he said. He met her gaze. “Be careful. Lay low.”