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  “I’m going to leave you with these guys for the afternoon. Don’t worry, they’re nuts but you’ll be safe.”

  “I want to come with you.”

  “No can do, Kit. It might be dangerous.”

  I start to protest and he places a finger on my lips, silencing me. “Tell you what. I’ll pick you up before dark, and we’ll have dinner in.”

  “All right. I’ll cook for you,” I offer softly.

  “I’d like that.”

  He drops a kiss on my forehead, pats my ass, and after growling out orders to the three shifter Stooges to “watch and protect her with your life,” he gets on his bike and roars away.

  I swallow hard and hug my coloring book to my chest as the silly shifter trio turn curious eyes to me.

  Grizz

  My bear snarls as I motor away. But it can’t be helped. Sooner or later, Augustine’s gonna realize Jordy’s gone, if he hasn’t yet. And when he does, he’ll be pissed. Vampires don’t like other people playing with their toys. Even if they mistreat their toys. It’s a power thing.

  And while part of me relishes the chance to take on Augustine and teach him a lesson, I’m stupid to get myself involved. As soon as this job is done, I’m back on the hunt for the vampire who killed my mother. I eat, sleep, dream revenge and that’s no life for Jordy. She deserves more.

  At least she told me where the secret vampire club meeting place is. I can continue telling myself it’s worth keeping her around.

  The blue restaurant sign zooms by on my right. I slow and do another pass before parking in an alley. Jordy couldn’t give me an exact address, but no worries. I can sniff out the rest on foot.

  It takes me less than five blocks before I smell it. The cold, earthy smell of vampires underneath another meaty scent.

  I break into the building with a crowbar and a heavy shove from my shoulder.

  It’s an old dance hall of some sort, complete with a stage. I head up there. Good for an auction.

  And in the basement: bingo. This would be where they keep the cages.

  Blood, sweat, tears. Smells like a shifter auction site to me.

  I’ve got one more errand and then I’ll get back to Jordy. Hope she’s faring okay with the three Stooges, as she calls them. Fates, but she’s cute.

  I do one more lap of the building, checking out all the nooks and crannies. Creepy place, but nothing too sinister, not until I go in to the room behind the stage. The green room it’s called by theater types. There’s furniture back here, old fashioned velvety chairs and chaise lounges, perfect for a diva. It smells like vampires. But that’s not what has the hair on the back of my neck prickling.

  In the center of the room, there’s a large brown stain on the floor. I crouch down but don’t need to smell or touch to know what sank into the wooden floorboards so deeply.

  Blood. Lots and lots of blood.

  Jordy

  The three Stooges stand around the Camaro, stuffing their faces with burgers. It’s barely 11 a.m. The grey-haired guy, Parker, waited with me while the other two lined up at the door until an employee let them in. They returned with enough bags to feed an entire pack.

  The dark-haired one, Declan, turns to me and says something with his mouth full.

  “Pardon?” I ask.

  “He asked if you wanted a burger,” Parker says between bites of his own sandwich.

  I decline, still hugging the coloring book to my chest. I can’t help keeping an eye on the road, hoping Grizz will come motoring back on his bike.

  Declan swallows a bite. “I know what ya are.”

  I turn back to him and blink at his pointed finger.

  “Wee, sleekit, cowran, tim’rous beastie.”

  “Declan,” Parker sighs.

  “That’s a poem,” says the third shifter, a tall and skinny man who smells of feathers.

  “I know it’s a poem,” Parker says. “It’s by the Bard.”

  “Not the Bard, ya idjit,” Declan scowls. “That’s Shakespeare.”

  “Whatever,” Parker waves a hand, balls up his wrapper and tosses it into the trash can. “All dead white poets sound alike to me.”

  “But it’s in brogue,” the feather-scented man protests quietly as Declan and Parker start arguing loudly. I blink at them. Whatever I was expecting from the guys Grizz left me with, it wasn’t a discussion about poetry. By the end, Declan has stolen Laurie’s hat, and he and Parker have almost come to blows. They wad up their burger wrappers and pelt each other with them.

  Once they settle down, I step closer to them, hiding a smile behind my book.

  “That’s it, come sit a spell,” Declan grins at me and scoots over to make room on the hood of the Camaro. I sit carefully, tugging down my dress.

  “So, wee beastie, tell us what you’re doin’ w’ a bear like Grizz.”

  “I’m helping him,” I answer firmly.

  “Are ya now?” The Irishman raises a brow. “‘Cause ya know what he needs most of all—”

  “Declan,” Parker says in a warning tone, but it phases the Irish wolf not at all.

  “—is to get laid.”

  Parker swats Declan hard enough for the black-haired man to rock in his boots, but he continues with a wink at me. “He needs it, bad.”

  “Oh, that’s what I’m helping him with,” I blurt, before I can stop myself.

  “Ya sure? He’s a great big grizzly bear, and you’re a wee little thing. Aren’t ya afraid of him?” Declan says it in his jaunty manner, but his dark eyes search my face carefully.

  “No. I’m not afraid of Grizz. He’s big and scary, but not to me. Never to me.”

  “Declan, shut up.” Parker pulls Declan’s hat over his eyes and turns to me. “I apologize for his rudeness.” He’s so formal I can’t help but smile at him through my blushing.

  “It’s okay. I’m okay with it.” I wave a hand in the air.

  “See, she likes it,” Declan tugs up the hat and swats Parker back. “Obviously has the right stuff, if she’s taking Grizz on.”

  “Don’t tell him, though,” I bluster on. My face is probably cherry Kool-aid red. “It’s a surprise.”

  “A surprise?” Declan’s thick brows creep up into his cap, then he flashes a white-toothed smile and pats me on the back so hard I stagger forward. “I luv it. You’ve got more guts than I gave ya credit for, but I like your spunk and no mistake.”

  “Ok. Thank you.”

  “Glad this is all settled,” Parker rolls his eyes. “Didn’t realize you were so concerned with the sex lives of bears.”

  “Not just any bear. Our prize fighter.”

  “P-prize fighter?” the tall, thin man asks with a stammer. When I look at him he doesn’t meet my eyes, so he’s even more submissive than I am. A weak shifter—probably a bird. That would explain the feather smell.

  “Yep,” Declan declares cheerfully.

  “Oh bother,” Parker grunts, grabbing Declan’s hat and setting it on his head at a rakish angle. “Not another big bet on a crazy fighter.”

  “That’s right. We’re all in. We just gotta keep the Tucson pack from killing our investment.”

  I stiffen. “They want to kill him?”

  “Oh yes. Ever since he sided with the vampires.”

  “He’s not siding with the vampires,” I say and bite my lip. I don’t know how much information I can give out.

  “Whelp, then we just gotta convince the wolves that. Otherwise, they could try to take him out before the fight. They wouldn’t win—you saw him against all those cats. But they could wound him, and the odds of the fight get worse.”

  “Tell me you didn’t make this bet,” Parker groans and tugs the hat over his eyes.

  “Oh, I made it,” Declan pronounces. “Friday night, we’ll be rich.”

  “As long as Grizz doesn’t lose,” Parker says.

  “You saw him fight,” Declan picks up a burger and waves it. “What was that? Ten, fifteen to one?”

  Parker raises the hat but
doesn’t look happy. “‘Cause there’s no other reason Grizz could lose. Like, perhaps, throwing the match for the vampires.”

  Declan unwraps the burger and scarfs it in three bites. “That would be bad. Do not pass go, do not collect three million dollars.”

  Parker groans again. “Don’t tell me you borrowed money to make this bet.”

  “It’s a sure thing,” Declan licks ketchup from his fingers.

  “Famous last words,” Parker mutters and goes to sit inside the car, cranking down the driver’s seat and laying out with the hat over his face.

  “So,” Declan turns to me. “Where d’you meet our Grizzly?”

  “Um,” my skin heats, toasting my freckles. “A club.”

  “Which club, luv? The Fight Club, or the club of kinky vampires?

  “The…um,” I stammer, “vampire one.”

  Declan leans forward to say to the third, quietest Stooge, “She’s cute when she blushes. Sets off her red hair.”

  “L-l-leave her alone,” the tall, thin one replies.

  I smile at him gratefully. “It’s all right.”

  “What was a nice girl doing in a place like that?”

  “I was there with my vampire master.”

  Declan blinks rapidly and I meet his gaze head on.

  “You’re a s-s-s-sweetblood?” the tall shifter stammers.

  “I am. Well, I was.” I don’t know what Grizz will do with me when he’s done, but I doubt he’ll let me go back to a vampire master.

  “You’re not anymore? Did the vampire give ya away?” Declan asks.

  I bite my lip and shake my head.

  “Then how are you with Grizz?”

  “Grizz broke into his house and, um, took me.”

  Declan sags. “Jay-sus.” He hops off the car hood and paces back and forth. Inside the car, Parker sits up.

  “What’s wrong? Laurie, tell me.”

  Laurie points to me. “Grizz s-s-s-stole her from a vampire.”

  “Aw, fates,” Parker swears and scrambles out of the car.

  Declan continues pacing back and forth in front of the car, head down, mumbling an occasional curse word.

  “You bet on a fighter who’s crossed a vampire. Who took from a vampire.” Parker whirls on me. “Which vampire did you say you belonged to?”

  “Augustine.”

  Declan stops to frown at me. “Tall guy? Looks like a male model? Wears suits all the time?”

  Parker nudges the Irishman in the ribs. “You just described every vampire ever.”

  “I did not!”

  “Oh really? What vampire doesn’t look like a male model?”

  Declan ponders this. “There was that small, skinny one. Remember? Ben something.”

  “Benedict?” I offer.

  Declan snaps his fingers. “That’s the one. Good ole Benny. Looks like he belongs in a boy band.”

  Beside me, Laurie laughs softly.

  Declan grins at me. “Tell me I’m wrong.”

  “You’re not wrong,” I smile back. After the way he treated me in the club last time, Benny isn’t my favorite vampire. Not that any vampires are my favorite.

  “Congratulations,” Parker says sourly. “You know who doesn’t look like a model or a member of a boy band? Frangelico.” At the name of the vampire king, everyone’s smiles drop away. “How will Frangelico feel about Grizz stealing from vampires?”

  I shrug, my heart plummeting.

  “I don’t think he cares much either way.” Declan rubs his chin. “He’s pretty lax about his sireds, the vampires he’s made. But Augustine…that’s another story.”

  I wrap my arms around myself, suddenly chilled. Augustine is going to be pissed at Grizz if he finds out where I am. I totally forgot about that.

  “W-what will A-augustine do?” Laurie asks.

  “To a shifter who stole from him?” Parker shrugs. “Anyone’s guess.”

  “What’s your guess?” Declan asks.

  “I don’t know,” Parker waves a hand. “Hunt Grizz down and rip his head off?”

  All oxygen leaves the vicinity. I sway and slump against Laurie who puts an arm around me.

  Declan runs to the driver’s door, smashing into Parker who squawks and tries to push him off. They tangle together and start wrestling, arms flailing.

  “In the car,” Declan shouts. “We gotta find him!”

  “Are you okay?” Laurie whispers and I nod. My head is still spinning. I need to get to Grizz. I need know he’s okay.

  “Calm down, dingbat,” Parker growls, pushing Declan off him. The Irishman dashes to the car and climbs in the driver’s seat.

  “We gotta save him! Where are the keys?”

  Parker holds them up. “It’s daylight. No vampires are awake.”

  “Right,” Declan says, pushing his hair back from his face. “Right.”

  “But you gave him intel on the shifter slavers, and sent him after them,” Parker says, folding his arms across his chest.

  “Jay-sus, why’d I do that?” Declan rubs a hand up and down his face.

  “I don’t know. So he wouldn’t kill and eat you?” Parker stoops and picks up the crushed hat, dusting it off before handing it back to Laurie.

  “Oh me heart.” Declan lays a hand on his chest, panting. “I can’t take this violence.”

  “Should’ve thought of that before you bet on a fight,” Parker rolls his eyes.

  Chapter 9

  Grizz

  The intel Declan gave me earlier leads me to an abandoned truck stop a few miles out of town. I buzz around on my motorcycle until I’m sure no one’s around, then park to sniff things out. Again, there’s nothing here but snatches of fur and the occasional feather. Someone’s moving shifters in and out of here for sure. The question is: why? Did Frangelico’s vampires all get a taste for shifter blood?

  I kick around but don’t find much more. Just a crumpled piece of paper advertising a midnight auction with ‘fresh merchandise’. There’s no address, but a picture—of the old theater building I just left.

  Coincidence? I think not.

  I pocket the flyer. The sun’s still pretty high in the sky, but won’t be for long. I need to call Jordy. I won’t be back before dark—I have another errand to run. It’s been a few days, and I’ve found enough to report to the vampire king. Not enough for him to pronounce a sentence, but he’ll want to know about the secret vampire club, the auctions, the blood on the green room floor. He’ll be pissed if he finds it out another way.

  A coyote trots by, its yellow eyes flash at me, but it doesn’t seem too nervous around me.

  Overhead a hawk circles, shrieking.

  Cold sweat breaks out on the back of my neck. Something tells me to get out of here.

  I slow jog to my bike. Once I’m on the highway back into town, my bear relaxes.

  Until I pass a familiar national park sign. I got so consumed by the hunt, I went deep into wolf territory. Not usually a problem, except I ain’t exactly the wolves’ favorite person right now.

  Sure enough, when I motor by a gas station, two bikes come alive and turn onto the road after me.

  As soon as I get back into a decent service area, my phone goes berserk, vibrating like it’s trying to dig a hole and escape my jean pocket. It’s annoying until I remember the only one who knows this burner number is Declan. My body goes cold. Jordy.

  I pull over and yank it out. “Is Jordy all right?” I snarl.

  “Grizz? Is that you?” Parker asks.

  “No, it’s the fucking pope,” I bite out. My vision blurs and I have to loosen my hold on the phone before I crush it in my grip. “Where’s Jordy?”

  “She’s right here,” Parker says quickly. “She’s all right.”

  “Put her on.” I can’t think straight until my bear knows she’s safe.

  “Grizz?” Her voice greets me, breathy and worried. “Is everything okay?”

  My body unclenches. “Fine. What’s going on? Why do you sound scared? Did they
hurt you?” I shake, ending on a roar.

  “No, Grizz.” I relax as she sounds relieved. “I’m fine, really. The guys are great. I’m just worried about you.”

  “Me? I’m fine. Nothing’s wrong.” I lie. The two bikes have stopped behind me.

  “Declan says Augustine will be mad at you for taking me. He’ll hurt you.”

  “It’s okay, Kit. No one’s gonna hurt me.” Damn those Stooges for scaring her.

  Behind me, the two bikers haven’t moved. Their orders must be to scout and report back. I wave at them.

  “Come back soon,” Jordy says.

  “Soon, Kit. I got one more stop, but it’ll be after dark, okay? Be good.”

  “I will. You want me to put Parker back on?”

  “Yeah.” I wait until Parker says my name and order, “Take Jordy to the movies. Watch two in a row and buy her anything she wants. I’ll pay you back.” I hang up on him before he can agree.

  Behind me, a distant roaring is getting closer. I turn on my bike but it’s too late. A bunch of motorcycles tear up the road behind me. In seconds my bike is surrounded. I’m hemmed in, three riders deep. They’ve all got their knuckles tattooed with the phases of the moon. Wolves.

  I reach in my jacket for my flask before I remember it’s empty.

  On either side of me, the riders draw aside their leather vests, showing guns.

  “Bring a gun to a claw fight?” I scoff. “Not fair.”

  “All’s fair in war,” the biker mutters back.

  “This war?” I ask.

  In front of me, Trey turns bright eyes on me. “It’s whatever you want it to be, grizzly. Our alpha wants you to come in for a little chat. We can do this easy or do it the hard way. It’s up to you.”

  I rebalance my bike. Shifters all around three deep. Twelve, at least. Better odds than the cat pack, but these guys aren’t a bunch of pussies.

  “Well?” Trey demands.

  “What’s it gonna be?”

  I look left and right, calculating.

  “Oh please,” the biker to my right mutters. “Please choose the hard way.”

  Fucking wolves. Always spoiling for a fight, especially when they’re in a pack. I could take them, I know I could, especially if I had the juice. But I’m all out.