Addict (15 page)

“So you believe you can move my product more efficiently?” Julius asked.

My ears were now fully engaged. Alan had mentioned this Julius person earlier. I was sure the product he referred to was the same thing that turned lazy Alan into a crazy psycho killer. I would love to get my hands on some of that shit.

“You’re doing a good job with the club downstairs,” Gray allowed. “It’s an excellent way to bring in the outliers, so to speak. There are plenty of supes out there who prefer to remain off the king’s radar. The minute you step into Ether, you’re on it. However, you’re severely limiting your clientele if you only disperse Brimstone here.”

Julius Winter smiled and leaned back, crossing one long leg over his knee. “Tell me something, Sloane, have you tried my product?”

Gray’s face split in a humorless grin. “No. Would it even have an effect on me?”

“You might get some high off of it,” Winter said. “Other than that, I doubt it. I try it from time to time to check the quality. I have a human company formulating the drug. I find it so much neater than operating in a trailer somewhere. If the human authorities ask, Bellacorp has all the paperwork to prove it’s an experimental drug. Unfortunately, they cannot handle my distribution.”

“Do you have any idea how many supes I deal with on a regular basis?” Gray asked, playing with my knee. “I handle the dregs, but I also deal with the power players.”

“I’ve been told the so-called power players on this plane aren’t fond of you, Lieutenant,” Winter said with raised eyebrows. “I like the idea of having law enforcement on the team, but I worry about your effectiveness. Arresting the king’s boy toy on a regular basis hasn’t made you popular.”

I bit my lip because the idea of Quinn being Donovan’s plaything was super funny.

“I’ve left Quinn alone for the last couple of months,” Gray replied. “I’m done trying to play good cop. It doesn’t work with that crowd. Look, we all know the king is going to cancel our contracts when they come up. It’s time to figure out which side we’re on.”

“And you’ve decided to come back into the fold?” Winter sounded suspicious.

Gray leaned forward. His blue eyes were almost purple now. “Being good’s gotten me nowhere. I’m done fighting my nature. When Donovan cancels the contracts between our people, fighting will break loose. When the war comes, I will be at my father’s side.”

Winter’s long fingers tapped against the cushion. “I dined with your father a week ago. He’s convinced. He says you’ve been practicing your talents. He’s pleased with your progress. You saved him a lot of trouble by pointing out the men on his staff who were plotting to betray him.”

“If we’re going to take down the vampires, we can’t continue to fight among ourselves,” Gray said. “We have to band together if we’re going to win.”

Winter regarded Gray and seemed to come to a decision. “I agree with you, Sloane. We won’t win the coming battles if we continue to war with each other. I think you and your brother can help me. You boys make a good team. Your rough masculinity along with his gentler hand could prove formidable. I’ll think on this and meet with you again. I would like to introduce you to my human partner. Come to dinner the day after tomorrow. Bring your brother and perhaps your lovely submissive.”

Gray nodded as the duke rose. He let Gray know he could remain seated with a graceful gesture of his hand. He completely ignored me. “And Sloane, I heard a rumor that Vorenus is back in town.”

Gray frowned. “I can confirm that for you, sir. He’s definitely here in Dallas.”

Winter sighed. “I’d rather hoped the rift between the king and Vorenus could be made permanent.”

“He’s an academic,” Gray said. “His mental powers don’t work on our kind.”

“Spoken like a child, Sloane. Don’t underestimate the academics. They might not be as strong as the warrior classes, but no vampire has held power without their support. If you separate the king from the academics, his reign will be a short one. If we manage to dethrone Donovan, the vampires will be in utter chaos.” Winter was quiet for a moment, his hands steepling as he thought. “The rift was because of the king’s daughter, correct?”

“I believe so,” Gray replied.

I went still because this might not be about the case I was on, but I was interested. I’d never had the reasons for the fight between Marcus and the king fully explained to me.

“Yes,” Winter said. “The girl is a companion. I seem to recall some prophecy about Marcus and a girl of the queen’s line. Try to discover what you can about this. If we can use the child to get Vorenus out of the coming fight, it would be to our betterment. Perhaps if the girl went missing, the king would blame the academic. It wouldn’t be the first time a vampire stole the companion he wanted. We will discuss it further. I’ll see you on Sunday evening.”

Gray nodded his assent and the duke walked off. The minute the elevator closed behind him, Gray stood and set me on my wobbly feet. I felt sick at the thought of…all of it. There really was a war coming, and the demons weren’t planning on playing fair. I was staggered at the thought of what an all-out demon war would mean to the plane. Humans would be caught in the middle, and once they realized what was happening, no place would ever be safe again. Supernatural creatures might be stronger than humans by far. Even weak supes can take out a human without much trouble. Single humans, even a group, were easy to deal with. But if we were exposed, we would be dealing with roughly three billion people who weren’t known for welcoming new ideas with open arms. They tended to use bullets, and our strength wouldn’t save us.

I wasn’t going to be able to lie to the king this time. I stared up at the man I’d been engaged to and wondered if we would be on opposite sides in the coming war.

“Don’t look at me like that,” he said under his breath. A servant approached. “I’m going to need a privacy room. Which one is available?”

The servant pulled out a set of keys and handed one to the lieutenant. Gray dismissed him and pulled me along. I supposed this was the part of the evening when he yelled at me. It was a recurring theme with the men in my life. I seriously needed some more girlfriends.

Gray slammed the door shut and immediately put a finger to his mouth. He let his eyes move around the room to let me know we were being listened to and potentially watched. “Get undressed, sweetheart.”

I stared at him, my eyes wide. I wasn’t willing to fuck him to cover up my presence here. I might be stupid, but I wasn’t throwing away everything I had with Marcus so Gray could look good on camera.

Gray’s mouth firmed stubbornly. He never did like to have his authority questioned. “We’ll take a shower before we start.”

He wanted to talk where we couldn’t be heard. I frowned and gave him a no-funny-business look as I unhooked my bra. Gray’s eyes were dark as he shrugged out of his shirt. The tattoo on his chest had been added to. The dragon seemed longer than it had a couple of months ago.

I happily got out of the shoes and was immediately reminded of how big Gray was. He towered over me. Marcus was a comfortable four or five inches taller than me. We were evenly matched when I wore heels. Gray had a foot on me and at least a hundred pounds. I always felt delicate and feminine around him. I averted my eyes as he got out of his pants and tossed them on the bed.

“Get out of the clothes, Kelsey,” Gray whispered directly into my ear. “They’re watching. They have eyes and ears everywhere, but they won’t be able to hear us in the shower. I promise it’s nothing I haven’t seen before.”

Gray walked into the bathroom, leaving me with a view of his spectacular backside. I reluctantly pushed the thong off. It hadn’t been all that good at covering me up, anyway. I rolled the thigh highs down and followed Gray into the bathroom.

Nudity doesn’t bother me. Not at all. Marcus would say it’s the wolf part of me. If Gray Sloane had been anyone else, I wouldn’t have the insane urge to cover up. My body was what it was—a tool to be used. Except it had been a way to express something with Sloane. For the first time in my life, I’d made love with a man and it had been beautiful and meaningful. We’d learned each other through kisses and touches, long nights spent wrapped in each other’s arms. He’d played my body like a finely tuned instrument.

Gray was already in the huge shower when I walked in. I watched his big body as he stood under the spray. Every inch of the man was muscled, from his broad shoulders to his strong legs. His back was to me, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t know I was there. His hand moved to his side, to the tattoo that now covered most of the left half of his torso. His head was down, as though he dreaded the coming conversation as much as I did.

“Does it still bug you? That dragon, I mean?” I opened the stall door and walked inside. He turned those nearly purple eyes on me, and I saw the wealth of pain there.

He frowned and his voice was way quieter than mine had been. “I haven’t felt it since the last time I saw you. It hasn’t moved. It hasn’t heated my skin. It’s been dead on me until the minute you walked into the door tonight. Now, it’s practically vibrating.”

I lowered my voice, following his lead. “It’s grown.”

“It does that sometimes. I don’t know exactly why. It grew, but I didn’t feel it. Well, not moving. I did feel something from it. It was overwhelming at times.”

“What does a tattoo feel, Gray?”

His stare nearly bore through me. “Loneliness. It was lonely without you, and now it’s trying to peel off my skin to get to you. Why did you come back?”

“My training in Italy was done.” I shivered because he was taking up all the hot water. I couldn’t help but stare at him. Grayson Sloane was a thing of beauty. “The king agreed to three months alone with Marcus, and then we had to come back.”

“Is it true?”

“Which part?” I had to ask because there were a lot of things about my new life that Gray wouldn’t like.

“Are you the
Nex Apparatus
?” The question ground out of his mouth like it was hard for him to even say the words.

I nodded slightly. He grimaced before slapping his hand against the marbled wall. I waited to see if he was going to put a fist through it. Things had a way of getting destroyed when Gray got angry.

“I should have taken you,” Gray swore. “I should have picked you up and shot my way out.”

“I wouldn’t have gone with you.” I wasn’t sure that I was telling him the truth. I had been pretty desperate that day. Even knowing how he’d lied to me, I might have followed him.

“Of course not. I’m so sorry, Kelsey. I wish you weren’t mixed up in all this. I thought Vorenus would protect you. I thought he would keep you out of this. It’s the only reason I was able to walk away. It seems to me he simply took what he wanted without considering what was best for you.”

“He didn’t have a choice.” I defended my lover. “Donovan wasn’t going to let me lounge around Europe. Marcus cares about me. He’s doing his best with what he’s got.”

Gray looked a little savage. His hand went to my throat, his thumb sliding down to my collarbone. And yes, I should have smacked that hand away, but it felt so good to connect with him. “Yeah, I bet he is. Tell me something, Kelsey. How long did he wait? How long were you out of my bed before he pulled you into his? Don’t try to lie. I can smell the fucker all over you. He’s been feeding off you.”

“He’s my lover,” I returned just as savagely. “He’s a vampire. Do you believe I would allow him to feed from anyone else? And Gray, I was in his bed the night I left you.”

I was feeling mean. He’d been pushing me all night. It was time to get a little of my own back. I didn’t mention I hadn’t had sex with Marcus that first night. He’d held me while I cried over Grayson Sloane.

“Do you know what they’ve done to you?” Gray asked, his voice a low growl. “They’ve made you completely disappear. Any trace of you as a human being has been erased. You no longer show up on any computer system. You’re a ghost, Kelsey. According to official records, Kelsey Atwood was never born.”

“They don’t want anyone to be able to trace me.” Marcus had explained that the king would be taking me off the grid, so to speak. I had a fake license and passport under the name Kelsey Owens, but even she could disappear at the drop of a hat.

“There’s a wedding planner in your old office. They closed your bank accounts, and now your house is under a holding company’s name,” Gray explained.

“I have a new account. It has plenty of money in it.”

“And it’s at Quinn’s bank,” Gray pointed out. “Quinn giveth, and Quinn can take it all away. Face it, Kelsey. They own you. You have a Council appointed lover and a Council approved life. If you deviate from the script they will take it all away, and you’ll be left with nothing. I sit up at night and worry about it. I worry that one day you’ll simply disappear because you won’t be convenient anymore. You’ve gotten involved with people who can get rid of you in a heartbeat.”

I didn’t like the sound of that. I hadn’t considered the fact that Quinn had control of my money, my property, my everything. I didn’t even exist anymore. I wasn’t about to let Sloane know that scared me so I did what I do best, I shoved right back at him. “And you’re getting chummy with your father. I’m sure you know what you’re doing. You’re not in over your head or anything. Maybe you’re happy in the family business. Tell me something. You planning on dragging some other idiot female to Hell with you now?”

Sloane gripped my arm and pulled me close. I could see his fangs gleaming in the low light of the room. They only came out when he was emotional or horny, and they definitely made an appearance when he was both.

“No, sweetheart, the only woman I intend to drag with me is you.” He slapped at the marble again and growled as he rested his head against the shower wall. “How do you do this to me? I am not fucking like this. I know you’ll never believe me but I’ve never been a possessive asshole with anyone except you.” He turned to look at me, weariness stamped on his face. How many sleepless nights had he suffered since we’d parted? “Kelsey, I’m sorry. I had no right to make decisions like the ones I made. I thought I was doing what was best for us. I never intended to take you with me. I would never have allowed that to happen. Things got…crazy. I know you were under some powerful magic, but I wasn’t. I’ve had to deal with the fact that I lost you every day.”