Chapter 3 #2
And that would have to do. It wasn’t like I could hang around all day and babysit him. I had shit to do. More shit. Nic just kept piling shit on my plate. First Conri, now Francois. I grimaced as I considered the meeting I was about to go to, and I patted my paperwork into place.
“I’ll try not to be long.”
He waved his hand, the gesture lazy and dismissive like he had authority over me. “Take as long as you need.”
This time, it was me who rolled my eyes, but I didn’t call him on his attitude.
Instead, I left quickly and locked the door behind me before hurrying down the stairs.
Once outside, I spotted the car with two Dupont vampires in it.
My guards weren’t exactly inconspicuous, but I didn’t need them to be when they were a visual deterrent to Francois to keep him from leaving.
I tapped on the driver’s side window then waited as the motor whirred and the glass slid smoothly down.
“Get two more guys here if you can. I think we need two on the inside with him.” I glanced up at our apartment window, half expecting to see Francois peeping out, but he wasn’t in view.
“I think he’s more likely to stay put and stay quiet if he has some company. ”
The guy I was talking to nodded and slid his cell phone into his hand. “Got it. One of us will head up there until the others get here.”
“Perfect.” I tapped quietly on the roof. “See you later.”
I drew up on the small piece of scrappy waste ground outside the pack lands then headed toward the gate that marked their boundary.
Local humans probably just thought they were some sort of commune, if they bothered to care at all.
It wasn’t like the shifters bothered anyone—they were incredibly insular for the most part, although their various activities certainly impacted the New Orleans political climate.
Members of the pack were visible in human forms and shifter forms today, any number of them appearing to both be on guard and on patrol, and irritation heated my skin. For fuck’s sake. I hadn’t come to New Orleans for this. I hadn’t intended to stay to be a catch-all babysitter.
I’d wanted to help Sebastian with Nightfall.
Not this…this negotiation, dealing directly with people who felt Nic owed them.
And now I was wandering around on wolf shifter pack lands.
I almost needed danger money. I would never have told Nic or Sebastian, but every time I stepped onto the pack lands, I didn’t exactly feel like an apex predator—and if I still was, I was definitely outnumbered to the point my abilities almost didn’t matter.
Watching out for Seb, even being his fucking gofer would have been preferable to this.
After all, I’d grown up with Sebastian, too.
As stupid as his behavior could sometimes be, his heart was usually in the right place, and even Nic couldn’t disagree that he’d mellowed and settled down a lot since finding Kayla.
At the thought of Sebastian’s mate, my thoughts wandered to Ciara. As much as I didn’t want to be here, I needed to see my mate again. Just that glimpse of her in the lake hadn’t been enough. Oh, it had tightened my balls and my cock had definitely been interested, but I needed more.
So much more. I wanted to hear her speak, look in her eyes, see her respond to me. I wanted to hold her in my arms, touch her skin… I stopped and breathed in deeply through my nose to regain control of myself. But that was a fucking mistake.
Even now, hints of honey and caramel hung heavy in the air, with a back note of vanilla that made me long for more.
So. Much. More.
And now I had a damn meeting with Simon again, Conri’s beta. He most definitely wasn’t my mate, and it wasn’t like I could just go wandering around following my nose while I looked for her.
Had she known? Had she felt it too?
It had been hard to be cooped up with Francois now that I knew she was out here, but damn, it was harder to actually be here knowing she was nearby, sensing her close to me, and not being able to see her.
For now, though, this would have to be enough. I had to be here, had to conduct business, and if it had to be this way, I could deal. It wasn’t like I could exactly tell another vamp to take over. Not now that I’d found my mate, anyway. How could I trust any other vampire to be around her?
I shook my head. I couldn’t trust anyone anymore. Not until I laid my claim properly.
Small stones scuffed under my shoes as I made my way to Conri’s small home, but I’d no sooner put my hand on the rough wood banister than a shifter in human form emerged from the shadows at the edge of the porch.
“Not today, bloodsucker.” His not-quite smile pulled his lips back to reveal his teeth, and his eyes stayed cold.
“I’m here to see Conri. He’s expecting me.” I started up the first step as I attempted to sound both bored and in control. Who was this cheeky fucker to stop me?
“Not today, bloodsucker,” he repeated, seeming to enjoy his moment of power. “Come with me.”
I paused. Go with him? I had no idea where he wanted to take me, and I was increasingly aware of just how at a disadvantage I was out here.
He half-turned to me. “Scared?” he taunted quietly.
I rolled my eyes. Fucking hell, I was surrounded by teenagers now. Francois was grounded at home, and now I had to deal with this joker.
“Never scared,” I murmured before flashing my fangs.
His eyes widened, and he stepped back before chuckling nervously. “Whatever, man.” But he stayed several steps in front of me, his shoulders set as he led the way to a much bigger building, farther into the community.
He took the steps out front two at a time, his boots thundering on the wood in what could have been an attempt to display dominance.
I didn’t care, though. Why would I care how a jumped-up wolf pup rated his own importance?
None of the shifters were important to me beyond Nic’s expectations of these meetings.
The building we entered was clean, with a high, vaulted ceiling with exposed beams that crisscrossed the space up there.
In among the sharp smell of cedar, honey notes lingered even here, and I tightened my hands into fists as I resisted the urge to draw more air into my chest and hold the essence of my mate inside me.
I needed a clear head for this meeting. Or as Nic would probably tell me, I definitely needed to do the thinking with my big head, anyway. My little head needed to not apply.
“This way.” The wolf in charge of bringing me here had definitely become more sullen now.
I shrugged. Maybe showing my fangs had been bad behavior, but I wasn’t about to start letting them intimidate me now—not when we were so close to getting a deal and I could turn my attention to other things…
I stopped and glanced down a short hallway to my left.
I’d been about to muse that I could turn my attention to Francois, but my mate had the louder call.
She was somewhere close, and my hopes that I’d be able to force myself to leave Conri’s land without seeing her again were fading.
Even just a glimpse. My instincts were at war.
I needed to see her, but this was all so complicated.
I couldn’t risk angering Conri right before Nic got the deal he wanted.
And me laying claim to his sister would surely annoy him…
I withheld my sigh. My shifter escort didn’t need to be cued into my conflicted feelings just now. He’d assume weakness over irritation, and that would go badly for my negotiations.
The shifter flung a door to the left open. “In here.”
I tensed at his command. They didn’t normally order me around like the help. But he didn’t move any farther into the room, and I pressed myself against the doorframe as I squeezed by him. Damn dogs.
He gestured to one of the chairs. “Have a seat, I guess.”
“And do you think Simon will be here soon?” Sarcasm bled into my tone, and he shook his head.
“Not Simon.”
I almost groaned. Not Simon? Did that mean I was waiting for Conri, when the deal wasn’t exactly as Nic had promised? This shit was getting above my paygrade. “Conri?”
The young shifter shook his head.
Not Conri, not Simon… I was being relegated down the totem pole to someone less than the alpha and beta, which meant I wasn’t seen as a threat. Hopefully, whoever this dumb fucker turned out to be, he’d just sign the damn paperwork, and I could tell Nic it was done.
My wolf escort left, closing the door behind him, and I sat unmoving for the next five minutes.
I went to that really still place vampires go where I wouldn’t think about every molecule of my mate’s scent in the air.
I couldn’t think of her by name. Ciara… That was too close to wanting to be with her when I needed my self-control right now.
The door opened, the movement sudden, but I didn’t flinch. I’d heard the soft footsteps outside before the person had even reached the room I was sitting in.
Ciara.
Damn it all to hell. Somehow, she’d found me, and it was all I could do not to stand and pull her into my arms. Who was she here to deliver a message from, though? Who was running late?
Her scent washed over me, and I nearly gripped the chair to keep myself in place. Being in a such a small space with her was sweet torture, and my gums ached as my fangs pressed against them.
She sat opposite me. “Hello.”
I nodded, not trusting myself to speak right away.
“Conri sent me,” she continued. “I believe you’ve brought the paperwork?” She phrased her sentence as a question, but she held her hand out.
I nodded but didn’t hand it to her, placing it on the table between us instead. I didn’t want to accidentally touch her hand. I mean, I did. But I also wanted to stay in control of myself.
“Right.” She met my gaze. “Looks like we need to make a deal.”
“And you are?” Damned if I didn’t already know every last thing I needed to know, but it was easier to make her explain herself to me.