Chapter 14
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Griffin paused mid-step at the venomous accusation Dick had thrown at him. Alarm and anger poured off him as he stared the man down. “What in the hell are you talking about?”
“Don’t act like you don’t know,” Dick spat. “It’s time to come in here and face the music.” The soulless man glanced at me and then Killian as a cruel smirk spread.
We’d walked into a trap, and there was no getting out of it. Dick had something up his sleeve, and unfortunately, we were about to find out what it was.
The buildings reminded me of Shadow Ridge’s downtown. Hell, most likely, Shadow Ridge was a replica to make Killian’s discarded pack feel more at home. In this section, they were smaller, two-story buildings made of brick.
I looked around the street, surprised by the quietness. We hadn’t seen or passed one car besides our own. Even in the main part of the city, people had milled around on foot, and for that matter, there was no traffic or even stoplights that I had noticed.
We need to leave. He linked. Something isn ’ t right.
Oh, I agreed, but unfortunately, that wasn’t in our cards. He obviously has an audience inside, which means if you leave, it ’ ll work out even less in your favor. We were in a “damned if you do, and even more damned if you don’t” situation. We have to see what he ’ s done and address it head-on.
Killian stood next to me, his Adam's apple bobbing. A muscle in his shoulder twitched like he was preparing to fight or flee.
Why do you have to be so logical? Griffin teased dryly, still radiating discomfort.
Needing to be there for him, I held his hand and squeezed gently. Everything will work out. It had to.
I hope you ’ re right, he replied, and the two of us walked side by side toward Dick. Killian jogged to catch up and flanked me on the left.
We approached Dick, who stood under the small metal awning, watching with apparent delight. He rubbed his hands together as his irises deepened to the color of coal. Even the pretty pinks, blues, and purples that danced around us from the top of the dome couldn’t hide the darkness that oozed off him.
For him to be so gleeful, we had to be walking into something even worse than I’d expected.
Dick opened the door and said loudly, “I’m surprised you didn’t run like the coward you truly are.” He waved us in, and Griffin straightened his shoulders.
I stepped inside and felt like I’d traveled back in time. The walls and ceilings were dark cherry wood. Matching crown molding covered the corners where they connected with the intricate Shadow City emblem chiseled into the design over and over again. The floor was made of white marble, and in the center of the room, under a large, diamond chandelier, the Shadow City emblem had been incorporated into the design in golden stone.
“He did show.” The dark, manly hiss echoed off the walls.
By the center of the far wall, seven people stood in front of a marble fireplace.
The man who had just spoken scowled, his sinister appearance matching his hissing voice. His light brown hair fell over his forehead, emphasizing his fair skin and teak-colored eyes. He stood regally, making him somehow seem taller than his perhaps six-foot frame. His scent, which reminded me of apples, made my mouth water. I remembered that vampires smelled sweet. Handy information I’d picked up from my mate.
“Matthew…” Alex, the vampire prince I’d met at Shadow Ridge Coffee only a few weeks ago, tsked . “Calm yourself.” He pulled on the collar of his navy button-down shirt, which contrasted with his pale skin and soft blue eyes. He lifted his head, and the chandelier’s light reflected off his sun-kissed brown hair as he moved to stand beside Matthew. They were the same height, but Alex had a more syrupy sweet scent mixed with apples.
The vampire prince had intervened, which meant there had to be a catch. We hadn’t become friendly, and even though there was no vileness coursing off him, I didn’t sense any warm fuzzies, either.
“I’m surprised, too,” a man who had to be at least seven feet tall snapped. His spiked caramel hair put even more of an edge on his stoic face, and his all-black attire added to his commanding presence. His pure honeysuckle scent hit me, and I remembered Griffin informing me that angels smelled like flowers. Haunting winter-gray eyes focused on Griffin as the man’s nose wrinkled in disgust, which told me everything. He had already determined Griffin was guilty of whatever crap Dick had set up.
Forced laughter pulled my gaze to one of the most beautiful women I’d ever seen. Even with the sneer, her full, blood-red lips were alluring, and her forest-green eyes surrounded by long black lashes flashed at the angel with malice. She was my height and wore a long black dress as if it were a second skin. Her sparkling amber hair shined with her goodness. “Azbogah, you aren’t the official judge down here anymore.”
That’s Rosemary’s mother , Griffin linked, keeping me informed.
“Ask the other angels, and see what they say. That is, if you’re brave enough,” Azbogah bit back. “Just because you don’t like my decisions doesn’t mean that I don’t still get to make them.”
Wow. I hadn’t expected to meet Yelahiah so soon, but the formal introduction would have to come later. “What is this all about?” I asked.
“I’ll tell you what this is about!” A short woman pushed through the two glaring angels, her scarlet-streaked black hair bouncing. She squinted her heavily lined, misty gray eyes in accusation at Griffin. Her body shook with rage as she pointed one long black fingernail at my mate. “You scheduled every single Shadow City guard to attend training, and the spell hiding the city from humans almost failed.”
“ What ?” Griffin asked in shock. “Erin, there has to be a misunder—”
“Not only that,” Dick interjected. “But you brought outsiders into the city without clearance. Your mistakes keep racking up.”
Griffin lifted a hand. “I thought—”
“Oh...you thought .” Matthew cackled, making my skin crawl. “Maybe that was part of the problem.”
My throat prickled with rage, and my wolf slipped close to the surface. If I lost control now, Griffin would look even worse. I took in long, steady breaths, trying to calm the raging storm swirling inside me.
“That’s enough,” Yelahiah snapped. “Erin was able to restore the barrier, and the guards are on their way back. We can discuss it tomorrow at the emergency council meeting.” Authority rolled off her.
Azbogah bristled but remained quiet.
And that put me even more on edge. The hate between the two of them was palpable, and for him not to argue with her made me wonder if he and Dick were planning something together.
That sounded like something they’d do, based on their interactions.
“Well, we can’t let him leave—he might not come back.” Erin cracked her knuckles like she was preparing for a fight. “So what are we going to do with those two?” She gestured at Killian and me.
“I can escort them back to Shadow Ridge.” Dick took a step toward me. “I’d be more than glad to since I need to check on the bar, anyway.”
Dick didn’t want me to be part of the meeting tomorrow. That had to be why he was so eager to take us back…which made me wonder why.
“If she goes, I go.” Griffin’s voice was low, bordering on threatening. “She’s my fated mate, and I’m here declaring her to make it official and present her to the council. I refuse to be separated from her.”
“That’s what I thought.” Yelahiah nodded at me and smiled. “Rosemary has spoken of you often.”
Alex chuckled. “Isn’t it kind of awful to have your fated mate working at the coffee shop? Or is that the kind of kink you two are into?” He waggled his eyebrows as he winked.
“Am I the only one who finds this hard to believe? Your fated mate ?” Azbogah laughed loudly, hurting my ears. He shook his head and gestured at Griffin. “You expect us to believe that you’re settling down after the number of women you’ve run through? I’ve heard enough stories about them over here; I can only imagine what you’ve done in Shadow Ridge.”
A low growl escaped me before I could stop it. I wasn’t stupid. I knew he’d been with other women, but for it to be flaunted in my face like that so maliciously—that was a hard pill to swallow.
Unless that was the point. They wanted me to come off as irrational to prove that not only was Griffin not a good leader, but his fated mate was unhinged. Dad had been right when he’d visited two years ago—corruption was still rampant here.
I had to take control over the situation. I smiled sweetly. “Was it necessary for you to say that?” I’d call his ass out, even though I had a feeling he would take exception. “You’re a supernatural, so you know he didn’t lie…unless your senses aren’t as strong as they once were?”
Azbogah’s smile fell from his face, and his hands fisted. “What did you just say?”
“Your senses might be going.” I lifted a hand and looked wide-eyed at Killian and then Griffin. “Not only can he not smell, but he’s lost his hearing, too.” The best way to take control of a situation was to use the same tactic against them. I moved a couple of feet closer to him and cupped my hands around my mouth. I spoke loudly. “I said —”
“Oh, I heard you.” He breathed raggedly, his nostrils flaring. His jaw clenched as he tried to rein in his anger.
“Good.” I patted his shoulder, wanting to push him over the edge. “Dick had such a hard time understanding things the other day at Griffin’s house, so I don’t want to have to worry about another member on the council losing their edge.” I smiled brightly, knowing that the stench of a lie wouldn’t come. Dick thought he could threaten me and make me scared. And I’d tried telling him that it wouldn’t work, but alas, here we were. He truly hadn’t gotten it.
“Now listen here,” Dick growled and marched toward me. His face turned red as his anger got the best of him. “I understood exactly what you said, and you don’t know who you’re up against.”
“Up against?” Griffin asked coldly. Wow, I ’ ve been an idiot for so long. He ’ s been conspiring the entire time. “Are you threatening her?”
“No, he’s not.” Azbogah jumped back into the conversation and stepped between us and Dick. The dark angel smiled charmingly, but the emotion was absent from his eyes. He was cold, heartless, and power-hungry. “This is all a misunderstanding. Isn’t it?” He turned and arched an eyebrow at Dick.
Dick’s face turned as red as a tomato.
“I think we’re done here,” Yelahiah said sternly, but the corners of her lips lifted. “The meeting is tomorrow at nine a.m., and if this woman is Griffin’s fated mate, then of course she’s welcome to stay here. Fate trumps all laws, as it is predetermined by the divine.”
The divine? I’d have to ask Rosemary about that later.
“Well, Killian isn’t your fated mate, too, now is he?” Alex beamed at Griffin and placed a hand on his chest. “Because it would kind of make sense if he were. You two are super close, and you even went so far as to buy the house next door to his.”
Killian’s mouth dropped, and Griffin went as pale as the two vampires in the room.
Laughter bubbled out. This was the first time I’d truly seen Killian speechless, and I kind of loved it.
“No!” Killian jerked his head side to side. “Definitely not. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but we don’t swing for the same team.”
“What is up with these Earthlings and their sayings?” Yelahiah sighed. “Ever since Rosemary started acclimating to the outside world, she’s come back speaking another language.”
“We don’t agree on much anymore,” Azbogah said, “but I feel the same way.”
“Thanks, Dick,” I interjected before anyone else could step in. “For offering to take Killian home. It means a lot that you care for his well-being.” I batted my eyes.
“Actually, I don’t need to go back to the bar.” Dick cleared his throat as he rolled his shoulders. “I’ll get someone to take him home, though. Don’t worry.”
In other words, he’d wanted me gone, and now that I wasn’t leaving, he wanted to stay close by. He must be worried that Griffin had brought me here, but did he expect my mate to leave me behind? Dick didn’t have a fated mate, so maybe he truly didn’t understand. But the thought of being separated from Griffin after the shit we’d been through the last few days petrified me, especially knowing that an angel was working with Dick to discredit him.
My gut informed me that Dick was making his move. Not only did he want to discredit Griffin, but I was pretty damn sure he wanted to take the alpha title away from him. Instead of challenging him the way our wolves knew and respected, he was fighting dirty. Going behind Griffin's back, trying to gain the council’s support.
The only reason I could come up with was that he knew he couldn’t win a challenge against Griffin, so he was taking power the one way he knew how.
I refused to let that happen to my mate.
Not now.
Not when he’d decided to step up and continue the plans he and his father had made together to improve things, not only for his own race but for the entire city.
Not when he and I planned to build a future in which all the supernatural races worked together to make things better as a whole.
They wouldn't take that away from us.
Killian glanced at me, seeming unsure how to proceed. At the end of the day, I couldn’t force Dick to leave, though I’d love to be able to. Somehow, he’d set Griffin up, and we had to prove it. Griffin would never do something so reckless as to leave the city vulnerable.
I had to assume Killian and Griffin weren’t linked because the knowledge of how to link between packs had been lost. One of the things on our first order of business would be to figure this pack bond thing out. Bart had been able to submit to me but still maintain dominance over his pack. I had felt it through our connection. Maybe bridging that gap would result in Killian’s pack no longer feeling like second-rate citizens.
“Someone is already here to take him back to Shadow Ridge,” Dick said authoritatively. “They just informed me that they pulled up.”
They had bypassed Griffin and gone straight to Dick despite my mate being here. That irritated me. Another issue we’d address.
“We’ll walk him out, and then I’ll take Dove to the alpha home here in the city,” Griffin retorted, making the insinuation that he was still the alpha clear.
You ’ re extremely sexy right now. Seeing him take charge warmed my body. He’d been getting like this more and more frequently, and that proved just how much he was changing. Maybe when we get there, you can show me your bedroom.
Hell, yeah. He intertwined our fingers and turned so our backs were to the others. The power play was clear: he wasn’t worried. However, his next words were equivalent to a cold shower. Right after you meet Mom.
Holy shit. I was heading to meet his mother. There was no telling how this was going to go.