Chapter 26
Chapter Twenty-Six
B illy
The night before Brick’s wedding, I return to Sentience.
I left Aubrey sleeping in my bed. She’ll be safe in our pack building. I hate to leave her after the rehearsal dinner, but I can’t sleep until I’ve made this right.
I need to find out if Sentience is behind the hit. It was easy to reach out to the founder and CEO team and get an invite for a private meeting.
I invited a co-conspirator along to make things go smoothly.
The security guard greets me and lets us both into the Sentience building. It’s after hours. I timed it so that no one would be here but the leadership team and their security.
I pause in front of Aubrey’s mural. I’d destroy this building with my bare hands if it weren’t for that beautiful piece of art. Instead, I have better plans for it. I just need to evict the current hosts, permanently.
I’m not perfect, but Aubrey’s rubbed off on me. I do want to leave the world a better place.
“This way,” the guard says and leads us to the elevators.
Thaddeus, Vampire King of Manhattan, strolls beside me. He’s my co-conspirator. He decided to help out, just for shits and giggles–and a ten million dollar fee.
Once the guard swipes his card to allow us to go upstairs, Thaddeus faces the man and stares deep into his eyes. The human goes still, a deer frozen in headlights.
“Hand me the keycard,” Thaddeus orders. The man does so.
“Good boy,” Thaddeus purrs. “Now listen, you’ve decided this job isn’t for you. You’re going to quit and follow your dreams. What is something you’ve always loved to do?”
“Surf,” the human answers.
“Excellent.” Thaddeus instructs the human to pack up his life and head to San Clemente, California. “Go.” The human turns like a robot and heads out of the building.
I’ve never watched a vampire glamour a human, but it turns my stomach to watch.
It’s necessary, though.
“He’ll be happier,” Thaddeus says, as if he can sense my discomfort. He shakes the keycard, a knowing smile on his face, and saunters off. He’ll take care of the rest of the security team. There will be no one left in the building but the people who called for the hit on Aubrey.
No one to hear them scream.
The elevator drops me off at the C-suite.
I exit, noting every detail about the room.
We’re in a large open space that showcases the amazing view of the city.
There are six guys here milling around–the founders and CEO team.
Two of them are at a foosball table, playing while their friends watch.
Three of them are drinking beer, and one is eating barbecue potato chips–I can smell it.
There are a few more scents layered in. Someone is smoking weed, and one of the guys has sweated through his deodorant.
There’s also a bitter tang that tells me they’re sampling harder drugs like cocaine.
Finally, one of them notices me and strolls over. He’s an Asian guy, almost as tall as me, and his eyes are a bit glassy.
He spreads his arms in welcome. “William White, right?”
I raise my chin, but don’t bother greeting him. My wolf and I are both ready for violence.
If this guy tries for a handshake, I’ll end up breaking his hand.
“Man, it’s so great to meet you. We’ve all been looking forward to it, right, guys?”
The other guys cheer.
These are the men who tried to take Aubrey from me. If I hadn’t been a wolf with razor sharp senses and heightened speed, the bullet would’ve found its mark, and she would’ve died in my arms.
It’s unthinkable.
They will pay.
I just have to keep control a few minutes longer, long enough for Thaddeus to clear out the security team.
“So great to meet you, man. So great,” the guy in front of me keeps saying. He’s definitely on something. We actually met briefly at the gala when Aubrey’s mural was unveiled, but I’m not going to remind him.
Behind us, the elevator dings, and I tense because I don’t know who might be coming up behind me. Did Thaddeus take care of the rest of the security?
The doors open, and Brick walks out, followed by Nickel, Jake, and Vance.
Brick smiles at me. His eyes glow, and his fangs are longer–his wolf is out. “You didn’t think you’d be doing this alone?”
Relief rushes through me, followed by gratitude.
My pack brothers always have my back. Even my alpha is here on the night before his wedding.
I hold out my hand, and he clasps it. I use our connection to pull him closer and speak, so only a shifter can hear, “They went after Aubrey. I want them to suffer.”
“Agreed.”
“Uh, guys? What’s going on?”
I paste a bland smile on my face. “I was so looking forward to meeting with you, I brought my whole team.”
“Wow, that’s great. So great.” He waves a hand, inviting us over by the foosball table. “You want to talk business or IPOs or something?”
“Or something.” I give the CEO a real smile, one that shows my fangs, and he takes a step back. And then I pull off my shirt.
The gasps from the humans tell me they weren’t expecting this.
The one closest to me swallows, his pupils growing wider. “Whoa. You’re super ripped.”
The foosball players have stopped their game. One of them frowns. “Hey man, what’s this all about?” They probably think I’m about to propose an orgy.
“After tonight, your company will cease to exist.” The guys blink, surprised, but I don’t let them speak. “You’re going to have a change of heart. You’ll be shutting down your company and offering compensation to all the artists you stole from.”
The guys look at each other, their heads jerking in an automatic rejection to what I’m saying. A few of them are growing angry. “What the fuck–”
“Stop talking,” I say. I use a mild tone, but it’s an order.
I don’t bother to use alpha command on these guys.
They recognize our dominance. “You’re going to do what I say and release a public apology.
Your board will be surprised, but they’ll come around.
” If not, we’ll have the vampire king glamour them.
While I’m talking, Jake and Nickel take a little stroll on opposite sides of the room. They head to the back half of the C-suite, to make sure there aren’t any witnesses lurking in an office. The humans unconsciously huddle together for safety when they pass.
I kick off my shoes. Beside me, Brick does the same.
We’re both undressing, so we can let out our wolves.
By the time we’re chasing these idiots around their C-suite, they won’t be fit to leave their house, much less run a company.
Then, to be sure of their cooperation, Thaddeus will compel them all to do our bidding.
By morning, Sentience will be no more.
But first, I want answers.
Jake and Nickel return from checking the offices and use sign language to tell us the coast is clear. I signal back to wait a moment.
“You tried to take the life of someone very precious to me. And now you’re going to answer to me.” I let my wolf out, and the humans recoil at the bright glow that lights my eyes. “Tell me why you hired the hitman to kill Aubrey Cook.”
“What?” the CEO gasps. He’s gone pale and looks a little green around the edges.
One of the foosball players steps forward, his fists clenched. “Dude, we didn’t hire anyone to kill anyone. We don’t even know who the fuck–”
The guy next to him elbows him. “Aubrey Cook. Wasn’t she the one who did our mural?”
“Oh yeah, she was sneaking around at the gala,” another guy says.
“You tried to have her killed,” I snarl. They all recoil, holding up their hands like they’re fending off an attack.
“No, no,” they shout.
“We just sent someone to scare her. No one should’ve been killed,” one says.
“She was trying to steal secrets from us,” another guy adds. “Along with a disgruntled employee. We sent someone to toss her and Jamie’s apartments and find our stolen files. That’s all.”
I don’t smell a lie.
I glance at Brick. He’s frowning. “So no hitman?” he asks.
“What? No!” They all protest. “Why would you think that?”
“A hitman came after her. In Monaco,” I say. “She almost was shot. The bullet came inches away.” My own vertebrae stopped it from exiting my body and killing her. She’s lucky she had a shifter shield.
The CEO’s eyes roll back in his head. He keels over, slumping to the floor.
“Somebody help him,” Brick orders, and two guys rush to obey. They prop him up and give him water when he rouses.
We shifters go into a huddle. “They’re telling the truth,” Jake says. We can smell when someone is lying.
“Could someone else in the company have hired the hitman?” Nickel asks. “Someone from the board?”
“They probably wouldn’t want the board getting wind of intellectual theft.
They said it themselves, they hired people to toss the apartments.
I don’t think they hired the hitman at all.
” Brick turns to me and asks the question that’s going to keep me up at night.
“If Sentience didn’t try to kill Aubrey, who did? ”
My stomach roils. I don’t know, and I need to. It’s the only way to ensure that Aubrey will be safe. “We’re sure it wasn’t Luka’s pack?”
Nickel nods. “I can bark up that tree again, but my family connections didn’t think he had anything to do with it. Not his style.”
The elevator dings. It’s Thaddeus. He must be done taking care of the security team.
“How’s it going?” he asks.
“Not great,” Brick glances down at the CEO.
“Is it my turn?”
Everyone looks at me. I was looking forward to roughing up these guys and putting the fear of wolves into them. Now, I just want to get back to Aubrey and make sure she’s safe.
“Go ahead,” I say.
“Gentlemen, look this way,” Thaddeus says in smooth tones. The humans all focus on him.
We back away, letting the vampire do his work. He’ll convince them to shut down their operation and issue payments to the artists they stole from and sell the building to me.
By morning, Sentience will cease to exist. I didn’t get the hitman, but I can do this much.