Chapter 22
Chapter Twenty-Two
Sorcha had just slid her small tablet into her purse when Luke’s phone rang.
Picking it up, he turned it on speaker. “Teivel.”
“Hey, Luke. This is Carlos. I’m at a restaurant… Corleone’s. Remember those women I told you about?”
“The ones who took off with Larry?”
“Yeah. They just walked in and sat down to eat.”
Luke exchanged a shocked look with Sorcha. “We’re on the way.”
“I’ll keep an eye on them until you get here.”
Luke hung up his phone, then swung his car around.
“You think they’re after Carlos?” Sorcha asked.
“I don’t know. It’s also weird that none of the packs have replaced their Alphas. In normal werewolf hierarchy, the Alphas get challenged by someone who wants to lead the pack and they hold an immediate fight.”
“Can an Alpha die without a challenge?”
“Yeah. Not often, but it does happen. When it does, they hold a rally within twenty-four hours. Packs don’t like to be leaderless. It makes them vulnerable.”
“To whom?”
“Every preternatural group out there. They either want to annihilate them or control them. It’s actually what happened with our hellhound pack. We were originally led by my grandfather. Lucifer slaughtered him and took command of us.”
That shocked her. “Really?”
He nodded.
“How can your mom not hate him for killing her father?”
“You’re putting human thoughts in the head of someone who doesn’t share your morals or sensibilities.
Hellhounds view life as it is, not what it can be.
Their view is if you can’t defend yourself against an enemy, you’re useless to the pack.
Especially the leaders. If someone kills you, you deserve it.
Next leader steps forward. My mom didn’t hold her father’s death against Lucifer.
She held it against her father for not being able to defend himself and the pack. ”
That explained so very much. “That’s why your father’s afraid of your mother.”
Luke inclined his head. “She’s not weak, and she’s prepared to kill him if he comes at her. Unlike her father, she bows to no one and has no trust whatsoever for my father.”
“That is a screwed-up relationship says the one woman who epitomizes screwed-up relationships.”
“Given that I’m not known for having them, I try not to judge.”
She paused at his words. “Why haven’t you ever been in a relationship?”
“Seen how they turn out. It’s a mess here in your world. In Hell? An even bigger mess, and I don’t like messes.”
She suspected there was more to it than that.
A lot more.
All the centuries he’d lived…
It seemed unbelievable and heartbreaking that he’d never had one person who was special to him. “I’m sorry.”
“Why feel bad for me? From what I’ve seen, a relationship is just a disaster waiting to happen. All things end and those never end happily. Seems more like something created by my father to make humans suffer.”
Sorcha winced at the truth in that statement. He wasn’t wrong. The best anyone could hope for was to have a relationship that lasted a lifetime.
But even when they did, their relationship still ended with one person dying and leaving the other alone to cope with the grief and pain of loss.
In theory when a relationship ended, people could part as friends, but that was rare. Like finding a unicorn riding a bicycle while drinking a Coke rare.
“I hate when you’re right.”
Luke nodded. “Want to know a secret?”
“Sure.”
“I hate when I’m right, too.”
That set an ominous lump in her stomach.
Luckily, it didn’t take them long to reach the restaurant where Carlos was waiting.
As soon as they found his table in the back, he jerked his chin toward two women who sat closer to the front. “I was on my way out when they showed up. I can’t believe they just walked in. Soon as I saw them, I turned around and contacted you.”
“Appreciate it.” Luke pulled a chair out for Sorcha. “Not being sexist…but let me approach them alone. They strike me as the type who will be flirtatious if I’m by myself and suspicious if you’re with me.”
Carlos nodded. “You’re not wrong. They were all over poor Larry. He couldn’t get away from them no matter what he tried. It’s why I kept my distance from them.”
Sorcha took a seat so she could watch the group. “Good luck.”
Luke was grateful Sorcha was reasonable. But then that was one of the things he adored most about her. She seldom got her feelings hurt and never over anything stupid.
Even though he didn’t deserve it, she always gave him the benefit of the doubt.
Luke pretended to head toward the bathroom. The redhead looked up and did a double take at him. Her eyes widened slightly before she gave him a hot once-over.
Yeah. That was what he was hoping for.
Especially when her smile turned inviting.
She kicked her blonde friend under the table, who turned around to look, which caused the redhead to kick her again.
“Don’t be obvious, idiot!” the redhead snarled under her breath. “Jeez!”
Smiling, Luke sauntered over to them. “Hope y’all don’t mind, but your food looks delicious. Can I ask what you ordered?”
Nothing that looks as good as you.
He arched a brow at the blonde’s thoughts. At least he was in. They had no idea that he had any powers at all.
Both of them were werewolves. The scent was unmistakable. The one good thing about being a hellhound was that most never came into contact with his kind, so they seldom recognized his scent.
His hellish allure for some reason never registered either. That one he didn’t understand. Demons were common in all cultures. Everyone had their version and yet for all that, no one caught on. Maybe it was the hellhound blood overriding it or the fact that his father was an angel.
He didn’t know for sure, only that he normally flew under the radar that detected most.
And that was fine by him. He liked catching people off guard.
The redhead pushed out a chair with one long, toned leg. “Care to join us?” she purred.
“Absolutely.” He sat down between them. “Name’s Luke.”
“Marcia.” She inclined her head to the blonde. “She’s Allison.”
“Pleased to meet you both.” He looked at her plate. “So what are you eating?”
“Cannelloni. Would you like to try it?” She watched him from beneath her lashes, her eyes predatory, her lips quirked up in a smile Luke would’ve found sexy in other circumstances.
He lifted a single brow. “If you’re offering.”
With an inviting smile, she cut a small bite and held it for him to sample.
As he slid the bite from the fork, Luke swore he could feel Sorcha’s gaze burning a hole in his back. It actually burned.
“Delicious. Thanks.”
Not to be outdone, Allison held a spoon of hers. “I’m having the adult mac cheese. Want to try this, too?”
Giving her a charming grin, he opened his mouth and let her feed him.
Luke swallowed and nodded. “Different, but good.” He reached for Marcia’s wine. “May I?”
“Absolutely.”
Luke took a drink. “You two come here often?”
“Time to time. You?” Marcia took a drink from the exact place his lips had touched.
“Time to time. I usually come with my friend, Lawson Myers.”
Both women went absolutely still, which told him what he needed to know.
Marcia was the first to recover. “Where’s your friend today?”
“The morgue.” His voice held a hint of a growl.
When Allison started to get up, Luke caught her hand and spoke between clenched teeth. “You don’t want to try running. You might be a werewolf, but a hellhound runs more than twice as fast as you do, and five times as long. Think of a leopard trying to outrun a cheetah.”
“You’re a hellhound?” Marcia was pale as she sat back in her chair. “That explains a lot. Why are you here?”
“Tracing a scent,” he lied. “It led me to you. Y’all were with my friend when he died.”
“And?” Marcia challenged.
“I want to know what happened.”
“Pack business,” Marcia said defensively.
His gaze went to the cross necklace that lay against the hollow of her throat. “You do understand who and what hellhounds are, right? Your soul belongs to us. We’re your predators.”
“It’s not my time to die.”
“You sure? ’Cause I’m the one in touch with the devil.
I’d trust my timetable over yours any day.
” He didn’t know why, but he’d always liked playing this game with evil creatures.
The scent of their fear was delicious. Maybe because he had an image in his head of the two women seducing Lawson right before Allison took his head.
That was followed by another vision of her killing Larry and assaulting Faro.
He turned his attention to Allison. “What are you after?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
He shook his head at her. “Yeah, you do.”
Bowing up, Allison glared at him. “You can’t prove anything.”
Luke burst out laughing. “You think you’re dealing with law enforcement…?” Technically, she was. But… “Where I’m from, you don’t get a trial. You do get your heart weighed to see where in Hell they send you. This is pass-fail. And you’ve failed.”
She bolted for the door.
Shaking his head, Luke turned toward Marcia. “Are you planning to be stupid, too?”
“I didn’t kill anybody.”
“Accomplice isn’t just a human crime.” Luke motioned for Sorcha to join them. “Stand up.”
Marcia scowled. “Why?”
Luke pulled out his handcuffs.
“You said you weren’t law enforcement!” Marcia tried to fight, but he cuffed her with little effort.
“I say a lot of things. Not all of them are true.”
“You bastard!” she snarled, rising on her tiptoes in an effort to say it to his face.
She was woefully too short for that.
“No need to bring my mama into this.” He gently pushed her toward Sorcha. “Take her back to HQ and I’ll be along as soon as I can. I’ve got an idiot to chase.” He handed his keys to Sorcha. “Please don’t scratch my baby. I’ve seen you drive and D’s out of body.”
Sorcha shook her head. “I would ask if you need help, but I think you’re good.”
Luke started away and then headed back toward Marcia.
“Turn into a werewolf to escape and I will hunt you down and escort you straight to Hell. If you think it sucks to go there when you’re dead, you don’t want to know how much it sucks while you’re still alive.
” He gestured to Sorcha. “Harm one molecule of her body and I will assign the worst tormentor in Hell to execute you.”
And with that, he took off after Allison.