Authors: Keri Arthur
I opened the door and walked out. Sure enough, two men in black security outfits were walking toward us. They didn't look at us, didn't even appear to notice us, and I knew Quinn had touched their minds, diverting their attention away from us.
His fingers pressed into my back, but this time I stepped away from his warm touch, walking quickly through the room and out into the night. I stopped at the curb, crossing my arms and drawing the cool, flavorsome air deep.
He stopped behind me, a heat I could feel more than hear. "I scared you."
"Yes."
"Why? You work with guardians. They do far worse than what I did in there."
"I know. But I expect it from them. I didn't expect it from you."
"I'm a vampire. That's what we are."
"Yeah, but for some reason I'd been hoping you were different." That the exterior gloss was fact, not merely a show. But that was my problem, not his. Hell, it wasn't as if he hadn't warned me that he could kill as easily as he drank blood. And, truth be told, the demonstration hadn't really killed my desire for him. "Did you uncover anything useful?"
He was silent for a moment, then said, "He was partially blocked. I caught images. Moneisha's not where these things are coming from."
I glanced over my shoulder. He wasn't even looking at me, but staring up at the cloudy sky, his expression thoughtful.
"What images?"
"It's underground. Lots of concrete, bright lights, white walls, that sort of stuff."
"Nothing recognizable in the way of scenery?"
He shook his head and finally looked at me. His eyes were shuttered. "It could have been anywhere. Any country."
Great. "Then let's go get Rhoan out."
"Disguises first."
"Where? It's midnight and there's not a lot open." Not a lot beyond restaurants, clubs, and the Casino, that is.
"As I said before, that doesn't mean a lot when you have money."
A point he proceeded to prove by having the largest retailer in the city open its doors so we could shop. "Can you do tarty?" he said, as we headed up in the elevator to the women's floor.
I grinned. "I'm a wolf. We do tart better than the tarts."
A smile warmed his dark eyes. "I've noticed that about wolves. I shall leave you to your own devices, then, and go get the supplies I need." He glanced at the assistant. "Anything she wants. Charge it to my account." His gaze came back to me. "I'll meet you downstairs in half an hour."
Half an hour wasn't long when you'd just been given full use of unlimited credit, but hey, I wasn't about to bitch. I wasted ten minutes simply walking around looking, and eventually went for the thigh-length silver snakeskin boots, simply because I'd always wanted a pair. But I settled for the four-inch heels rather than the six-inch, just in case I had to run. I combined those with a barely decent blue net skirt that was way too short to be described as micro, and a silver crop top that had peekaboo holes for my nipples. To complete the effect, I went for a bright blue wig and blue-toned skin makeup. Then I headed into the change room to make the transformation.
As I studied my reflection in the mirror, I decided I did slut superbly well. The blue wig and skin toning made my smoke-colored eyes glow a bright blue, and the skirt and shirt flirted with indecency but left enough covered to stop the cops hauling me off to charge me. I shoved my jacket on, put my other clothes in my bag, and walked downstairs to meet Quinn.
He was waiting, several bags at his feet. His gaze went to my hair, then slid down to my face, and a mix of surprise and hunger flitted through his eyes. The surge of his desire nearly scorched my skin.
"Rather keen on the blue, are we?" I teased.
He didn't deny it. Couldn't, when I could so easily smell it. "I don't get a preview of the rest of it?"
I grinned. "And spoil the surprise?"
His gaze slid down, lingering on my leather-clad ankles. "I've got a feeling the surprise could be heart attack material."
"Isn't that the effect you want?"
"Yes." He bent to pick up the two bags, affording me a glimpse of laser guns and some sort of electronic sensor. I didn't even know they sold that sort of stuff here, and I shopped here frequently. But maybe they had a special section set aside for billionaires.
He gave the manager a huge tip, then escorted me outside. "Did you come in a car?"
I nodded. "It's in the Casino parking lot."
"Then we'll leave it there and go in mine. They might have taken note of your car earlier."
We walked down the street, heading back to his building. My heels clicked against the pavement, a tattoo of sound as rhythmic as the beat of desire burning through my blood. I felt good in the blue clothes, sexy rather than slutty. Not that I minded slutty if the occasion was right. And if it hadn't been for the fact that I needed to get my brother free that night, I would have offered to take Quinn's neat packaging for a quick test drive.
His car turned out to be a black Ferrari--sleek, sporty, and hot. Much like the man himself. He opened the door for me and I climbed in.
"So, what's the plan?" I said, once we were under way.
"If you look as good beneath as I think you do, all you'll have to do is walk up the street and every camera in the vicinity will be on you."
I grinned. "And then?"
"You find a way to keep those cameras on you while I either get over the wall or get through that second entrance and try to find a way to get Rhoan out."
I raised an eyebrow. "It'll take two of us to get Rhoan out, won't it?"
He shrugged. "It might. But first off, we'll have to find out if he's in there, then we have to discover just how well guarded he is. It may not happen tonight."
So he thought. I, on the other hand, was damn sure that, one way or another, Rhoan was coming out of the place that night. "If you do a drive past first, I might be able to tell you if he's still in there."
Quinn nodded. We cruised through the streets, the streetlights blurring past at a speed that suggested he wasn't keeping to the legal limit. I suppose when you were a multibillionaire, a ticket or two didn't really make that much of a dent in the bank balance.
We reached Moneisha in record time, and he slowed to cruising speed. I studied the white walls but didn't feel anything. I said as much to Quinn.
"It might be because you're in the car. Maybe you have to be closer to feel him."
Maybe. And maybe he was simply gone. I tried to ignore the unease sitting like a weight in my stomach, and said, "I'll have to do a walk past."
Quinn turned into a side street and stopped well out of camera range. "I'll drive past in five minutes and stop. You can pretend I'm a potential client and come talk to me. That way, if he's not there, we can simply drive away."
I raised an eyebrow. "Why don't we simply lower our shields a little and use telepathy?"
He gave me a glance that could have meant anything. "I don't think so."
"Why not?"
"Because you're a wolf in moon heat, and your aura is so strong that I can feel it even with my shields up."
"And this is a bad thing because . . . ?"
"Because when I make love to someone, I prefer it to be in comfort, not in the confines of a cramped sports car."
I grinned. "I've never done it in the front seat of a Ferrari. It could be fun."
"It could be dangerous."
I laughed. I couldn't help it. "You know, for a man who's seen a thousand years pass by, you have some pretty staid ideas."
"And you're a pup who hasn't yet had the time to appreciate the finer things in life--like making love in luxurious surroundings."
"Hey, I fuck millionaires, so I already know all about luxury. Danger and discomfort can be just as thrilling, believe me."
He shook his head. "I'm going to have to teach you better."
I grinned. "Or maybe you just need some of that stuffiness shaken out of you."
"In the twelve hundred years I've been around, I've tried it all. Believe me, I know which is better."
"But in all that time, I bet you ain't met someone like me." I gave him a saucy grin. "I'm going to rock your world, vampire."
His smile just about smoked my insides. "You're welcome to try."
My hormones were all for trying right there and then, but I had a brother to rescue first. I opened the door and started to climb out. Quinn reached across the car, his fingers wrapping around my knee, a heat that burned past the snakeskin leather and slithered deep into my bones.
"There is one thing I must make clear, though," he said, his low tones holding a hint of warning.
I glanced at him. "What?"
"There can never be more than a casual dance between us. I have no intentions of getting seriously involved with another werewolf."
I raised my eyebrows. "What makes you think I want anything more than casual? I'm a wolf--and like all wolves, I want the soul mate and kids ideal. You can never offer me that."
"I'm just warning you."
"So I consider myself warned." I slipped out of the car and took off my coat, throwing it back inside. His sharp intake of breath made my grin widen. "Consider this outfit
your
warning, my dear vampire."
I blew him a kiss and slammed the door before he could make any sensible reply. Grin still wide, I strolled down to Acacia Street, crossed the road, and began an exaggerated, saucy walk far enough away from the walls for the cameras to see me. A soft buzz filled the silence as they began tracking me.
I sensed Rhoan within minutes. He was still there, still in those same rooms I'd sensed him in earlier. I sighed in relief. All we had to do was try to get him out.
Lights cut across the darkness behind me. I kept walking, listening to the throaty purr of the engine, knowing it was Quinn simply because I could sense him with the same ease I was currently sensing Rhoan.
He stopped beside me and the window slid down. I strolled over and leaned down, flashing the cameras an eyeful of butt.
"He's there."
"Right now, with you looking the way you're looking, I'm not particularly worried if he's there or not."
"So the front seat of the Ferrari is suddenly looking good?" I teased.
My phone rang before he could answer. He reached into my bag, clicked the flashing vid button, then held it up so I could talk without blowing our cover.
Jack came online, and he didn't look happy. "Riley, where are you?"
"Outside Moneisha," I said. "Why?"
"Well, when you grab Rhoan, don't bring him to the office. There's been some trouble."
"What kind of trouble?"
"Someone's just tried to kill me."
"A pretty stupid someone, I'd say."
Jack gave me a crooked grin. "Well, yeah, seeing he missed his target and was caught. Unfortunately for us, he killed himself before we could question him too much."
I frowned. "Where did this all happen?" I couldn't imagine a shooter getting through the Directorate's street-level doors, let alone down to the guardian levels.
"I was on my way home."
"I thought the Directorate was your home?"
"Only most of the time."
"So whoever sanctioned the shooting knew your movements pretty well."
"Exactly. And combined with Rhoan's disappearance and the attempt on your life, I think we'd better start playing extra safe. Once you snatch Rhoan, don't go home or come here. They'll expect those, so go somewhere else and ring me once everyone is safe."
"Will do."
He hung up. Quinn put the phone back in my bag, then said, "So where do you intend taking him?"
"I'll worry about that once I get him out."
He considered me for a moment, the heat that had been so evident in his eyes moments before totally gone. "I could fly him up to Sydney and have him checked there. They certainly wouldn't expect that."
No, they wouldn't. But I wasn't about to let Quinn loose with my brother--not when I didn't know if I could trust him. Not when I'd been attacked, and now Jack. Okay, so he'd been attacked too, but it all still seemed just a little too convenient. Just because Jack trusted him didn't mean
I
had to. Hell, how could I even be sure if Quinn had pulled that camera off my shooter? What if it was just an attempt to gain my trust?
Though what would the point of that be, when, as he'd already said, if he intended me harm, he could well and truly have done it already?
I worried my bottom lip for a moment, then said, "I don't know if that's wise. After all, whoever is behind this made an attempt on your life, as well."
"We don't know if that's connected."
I snorted. "So it's just a coincidence that my shooter and your attackers happened to be genetically engineered clones? Give me some credit for intelligence."
He grimaced. "I'm sorry. But Rhoan needs to be checked. We can't take him to a hospital here because we can't be certain how far this thing extends. You can't take him to the Directorate for the same reason. So our next best option would be to take one of my private planes to my labs in Sydney and have him checked there. Besides, Melbourne is not a safe place for you to be if they're trying to get rid of everyone involved in this investigation."