TheAngryDoveAndTheAssassin (9 page)

Only this time, it wasn’t lackeys that they found. It was two bodies. They had been hung from two adjacent trees. At first, Grey couldn’t even make out who they were. They were just silhouetted against the darkening sky, the bodies swaying in the wind.

As they got closer, Grey recognized one of them as Axel, their informant. His face was purple, his tongue protruding from his mouth. The other was a male Wolf that Grey had never seen before, his face was pretty much in the same condition.

“Call it in. Have the Alpha come out so he can see this for himself and maybe ID the other body,” Grey told Simon.

Simon nodded and did as told. Toby climbed the tree and examined the rope that was used to hang them from. When Grey heard a curse, he knew it wasn’t good. It took a lot to rile Toby up.

“What is it?” he asked.

“It’s not rope. It’s spider’s webbing.”

Grey could feel his blood begin to boil. This wasn’t just a hanging, this was an assassination, and there were only a handful of spider assassins out there. Did that mean Rand had gotten his own hired killers? And if so, how many? These were questions that Grey needed answered quickly.

The crunching of grass behind him announced the arrival of the Alpha. Grey turned, not surprised to see Cassie and Tabitha with them. While he wished that the Alpha mate wasn’t there, he knew she would insist on being there. The one thing he had learned in his time being there was how stubborn she could be.

Grey nodded his head to them. “Alpha. Alpha mate.”

“What’s going on?” Chris asked, getting right to the heart of the matter.

Grey pointed to the bodies. “We found these on our patrol. The first is Axel, our informant. We know he was killed for talking to us. The other body we have no idea who he is.”

Chris moved closer and inspected it. “It’s Argus. He was a member of the pack until two months ago, when he left to make his own way in the world. Rand must not have cared that he was an ex-member. He killed him anyway. What’s holding them up? It doesn’t look like regular rope.”

“It’s spider web, isn’t it?” Cassie asked with a shiver. “I’ve seen it before.”

“Give the lady a gold star,” Toby said. “Our Alpha mate is smart.”

Grey almost did a double-take. Toby giving compliments? What was next, clowns driving big SUVs instead of those tiny cars?

“What do you think it means?” Chris asked.

“I think that Rand is striking back by hiring at least one assassin of his own, if not more,” Grey announced.

“How can we know for sure?” Cassie asked.

“Toby, Simon, and I are going to have to go out tonight and have a talk with one of our informants,” Grey said.

“Will this informant end up like your last one?” Chris gestured to Axel.

Grey let out a dark laugh. “Trust me, nobody in their right mind will try anything like this with her.”

Later that night, the trio of assassins walked into an upscale shifter nightclub. Unlike the bar where they had found Axel, this place was high-end all the way, from the glossy dance floor to the multi-colored lights that flashed off the walls. The waitresses were scantily clad in lingerie-type uniforms and wore slave collars while the entire back end was manned covered with a bar by male shifter who were just as scantily dressed.

The booths were either black or red, depending on what side of the club one was on. There were two floors, the upper one being standing room only. Everywhere people were either dancing or dry humping together. While all clothes seemed to be in place, the air still reeked of sex.

“Tell me again why we don’t come here more often?” Simon asked as they were let in by a bouncer who gave them a wary look.

Why was it nobody liked assassins? You kill a few dozen people, and they want to slap a label of troublemaker on you. Go figure.

“I don’t know. Clubbing just isn’t our thing,” Grey said as he snarled at a Hyena who got too close.

“You really need to work on your people skills,” Simon replied.

The fact that Simon was fingering up a blade as he spoke probably went completely over the idiot’s head. Simon might be a smartass, but he didn’t have any better social skills than Toby. They hadn’t been raised to make friends. They’d been raised to do one thing, and they did it well.

“There she is,” Toby said, nodding to a nearby table.

The female they’d come searching for sat in a red booth. She wore all black leather, from her tight-as-sin top to her fuck-me boots that went up to her thighs. Her glossy, raven hair was free from any bindings, the length reaching the top of her finely shaped ass. That was, if Grey gave a damn about a female’s ass. Even with her blood red eyes, she was a thing of beauty, and she knew it and used it to her advantage.

She turned to them as they approached the table. Smiling she said, “Boys! I was wondering how long it would be before I saw you three. Sit, let’s chat for a while.”

“Belinda, you charm us so. Allowing us to have the privilege of your company,” Grey returned with a grin of his own.

“And don’t you forget it.” She scooted over to make room for them.

As soon as they sat down, she said, “Let me guess, this is about my bitch of a cousin, Razor.”

She gave a shudder then asked, “Really, what kind of woman gives herself that kind of a nickname? It’s completely stupid if you ask me, but then again, she’s never been known to be that bright. Although don’t be mistaken, she’s a vicious little thing when she wants to be.”

“So is it true, then? Is she working for Rand?” Grey asked.

That question earned another shudder. “Yes. Why she would work for that disgusting specimen of a Wolf, I have no idea. The bounty must be huge. As for me, you couldn’t pay me enough to even talk to him.”

“Do you know if she’s working for him alone or does she have others with her?” Grey asked.

He held his breath while he waited for her answer. Belinda gave him a coy smile.

“Why should I tell you that?” she asked as she reached across the table and grabbed Simon’s hand.

Simon gave her a bored look. It was no big secret that she’d always had it bad for Simon. Too bad for her, it was also no big secret that Simon was gay. It didn’t stop her from barking up that tree every chance she got, however.

Simon jerked his hand away. “Stop playing coy and just tell us. You know you want to.”

“Why?” she asked with a mock pout.

“Because it will give you a chance to screw Razor over, and we all know how you love to do that,” Simon said with a tilt of his head.

Belinda pursed her lips. “That is true. I do love to stick it to that bitch whenever I have the chance. Okay, I’ll tell you what I know. What’s more, I won’t even charge you for the information, just because I’m feeling charitable tonight.”

“You’re so good to us,” Grey said with a tight grin.

“You’ll thank me once you hear what I have to say, because it may just end up saving your lives.” She ran her finger around the rim of her glass. “If you were sane, you would leave Chris and his pack and get out of town.”

“Since when have you ever known us to run from a fight?” Toby asked with a slight snarl to his voice.

“Cool down, Leopard. I said if you were
sane
, which we all know none of you are. I know you wouldn’t leave. Not especially since Grey here has found himself a little lover.”

Grey let out a growl at the mere thought of Caley being brought into the conversation. “How did you hear about him?”

Belinda gave him a sideways glance. “You know how our world works. Word gets around. If I were you, I would keep close tabs on him. You have a lot of enemies in the world.”

“Then put the word out. Anybody that touches Grey’s mate deals with me,” Toby said in a deadly calm voice.

Grey was taken aback that Toby would step forward and get all protective over Caley. Then he realized that in his own way, Toby did care about Grey, and this was his way of showing it. Yet people said Toby was dead inside. Little did they know that once in a while there was a spark of humanity that did come through.

Belinda cocked a brow. “I’ll let the masses know.”

“Now, tell us, is Razor working alone or does she have others with her?” Grey repeated.

“She has three other assassins with her.”

“Who are they?” Grey demanded.

“Slate, Thorn, and Demos.”

Grey felt his blood grow colder with each name. He knew each of them, and they were all stone-cold killers. Worse, they didn’t have any morals and wouldn’t hesitate to kill, be it woman or child. Things couldn’t have possibly gotten worse for them.

Belinda smiled. “Just think about it. This war has just gotten a lot more interesting. Assassin against assassin. I don’t think we’ve ever seen anything like it in our lifetime. I can’t wait to see how it turns out. Do you know they already have betting pools going on for it? I have two thousand on you guys. Don’t let me down, boys.”

As soon as they got back to the dwelling, they went straight to Chris’s office. The information they had was too important to wait. Grey just hoped the Alpha would be there at such a late hour. When he knocked on the door, he was pleased to hear the Alpha call him in.

Once inside, he was shocked to see Shane there along with Mitchell, the leader of the feline coalition. Even Mitchell’s mate Dean was there. Which was odd, since they usually came in the day for their visits.

“What news do you have, Grey?” Chris asked.

“I’m afraid it’s not good, Alpha,” Grey replied.

“You may as well just spit it out and get it over with. I find it’s always easier that way,” Cassie said.

“Rand has hired his own assassins.”

A long silence filled the room after that announcement.

“Do you know who they are?” Shane finally asked.

“Razor, Slate, Thorn, and Demos,” Simon informed them with a grim look on his face.

Shane let out a low curse.

“Is it that bad?” Chris asked.

“Yes, they are four of the worst, cutthroat bastards out there. They’re vicious even for our kind. So much so, that most other assassins refuse to work with them,” Shane said.

“They once went into a Fox leash and killed off the entire population. They didn’t spare anybody, not even the children,” Simon said, his voice dripping with venom. “Just because we’re assassins doesn’t mean we don’t have mercy. They give all of us a bad name.”

“And now they are coming after us. At the worst possible time, too,” Chris said.

“What do you mean?” Grey asked.

“We just had an ultrasound and blood work done on Cassie, and we found out what breed of twins she’s carrying.”

A cold pit formed in Grey’s stomach as he suddenly realized why Dean and Mitchell were there. Crap, Chris hadn’t been lying when he said this couldn’t be happening at a worst time.

“One of them is Wolf, while the other is Jaguar,” Cassie said.

“So, what you’re saying is she is basically carrying the future leaders of both the pack and the coalition,” Simon said, his eyes growing wide with awe.

“Which means that more than Rand is going to be gunning for her. Once word of this gets out—and word will get out no matter how hard we try to hide it—all our enemies will be after her,” Chris said grimly.

“So now all of us have to do everything we can to protect her,” Mitchell added.

“Protect her against the Ravens, the Snakes, the Spiders, the Hyenas, the human hunters, and just about every other breed that has a beef against us? No big deal,” Shane said with a shrug.

Grey exchanged glances with Simon, Toby, and Tabitha. He only wished he could be so confident. He did know one thing for sure. His job had just gotten one hundred times harder.

Chapter Ten

When Grey got out of his meeting, he was so unsettled that he went back to his living quarters and right to his bedroom. Not that he expected to get any sleep. But he just needed to get away from everybody for a while. He would turn to Caley, but he knew that his Dove would have long ago sought out his own bed, and Grey didn’t want to wake him.

So when Grey turned on the lights and found Caley asleep in Grey’s bed, a piece of his heart melted. How Caley knew that Grey needed him, Grey didn’t know. Maybe Caley didn’t even know and had just chosen that night by chance. Whatever the reason, Caley couldn’t have picked a better night to surprise him.

Caley sat up and rubbed his eyes. “Hey, I was wondering when you were going to get home. You’re late.”

“I had a lot to do tonight.”

He then stripped down, got into bed with an equally naked Caley, spooned him to his chest, and proceeded to tell him everything that had gone down that night. Caley, for his part, was a good listener. He didn’t interrupt once, but he just continued to stroke Grey’s hand and take it all in. It wasn’t until Grey had finished that Caley finally spoke.

“These new assassins, are they really dangerous?” he asked.

“Yes, they are some of the worse,” Grey affirmed.

“I don’t suppose that I could convince you to run away with me to someplace that’s safe?” Caley’s voice warbled just a bit.

Grey’s heart skipped a beat at hearing the worry in Caley’s voice. “You know I can’t do that. I gave loyalty to Chris. Besides, would you really want to leave your loved ones and friends behind?”

“Of course I would.”

“Why?”

Caley whipped around so he faced Grey. “Because you’re my mate.”

Grey froze as those words sank into his thick skull. “Funny, you never told me before.”

Caley nipped at his bottom lip. “Well, I thought it was a given, and we didn’t have to get all flowery and crap like other couples.”

Reaching down, Grey pulled at Caley’s chin and freed his lip so he didn’t chap it. “Maybe not, but it would be good if we communicated on the bigger things, and this is pretty big.”

“Don’t you feel the same way about me?” Caley looked up from under the fringe of his bangs.

“Yes, I have for a long time, but I was worried about rushing things and scaring you away. Hell, every time I even mentioned you moving in with me, you freaked out.”