Awakening Kiss (Watcher's Kiss Book 4) (21 page)

While Kat talked to Angela, Zach ran a hand through his hair. “Have you seen those two before today?”

“Once, on a patrol a few nights ago,” Rhys said.

“What?” Enza couldn’t keep the surprise out of her voice. “You didn’t tell me that.”

“Didn’t have time,
bella
. I’m sorry. The first time we saw them, I didn’t think I’d see them again, and especially not in an antagonistic way.” He patted her hip. “At the time, there was no reason to suspect them. I was on patrol with Jude, they were out just like us. They saw us, scanned us. They were with two nymphs and went into a club on the South Side.”

“They’re looking for something. Or someone,” Zach said. “But they’re very good at keeping their secrets.”

“Do they come in here a lot?” Brenin asked.

“Not often. But we’ve seen them occasionally over the last few months. So they’ve been here in the area a while, and still haven’t found what they’re looking for. Or haven’t completed an assignment of some sorts.”

“Hey.” Kat held her phone away from her mouth. “Angela has more to say. Can I put her on speaker?”

“In my office.” Zach stood and rotated in one smooth move. “Keep her on the line.” He turned and walked to the dark arched doorway.

Everyone else followed, as if there were no other option. Enza supposed all the wolves would follow his orders. She held Rhys’s hand as they walked past curious nymphs—this time, most of their attention was focused on Zach. Wary males watched them, eyeing Rhys and Brenin with suspicion.

Zach led them down a brick corridor, past several closed doors. A giggle filtered through one. And back here, the scent of sex hung potent in the air.

The alpha unlocked the last door and pushed into a big room decorated in blacks and grays. Two L-shaped leather sectionals sat in front of a large screen TV. A giant heavily carved wooden desk occupied one part of the room, with an oversized computer monitor and papers piled in stacks. They looked haphazard at first glance, but Enza noted a pattern to the way they were arranged. Like he could probably pull out any given item in five seconds flat.

Zach walked to the sectionals and pointed at the black wooden coffee table in between. “Speaker, please.”

Kat murmured something to Angela and set the phone on the middle of the coffee table. “You’re on speaker and we’re in Zach’s office.”

“Hi, everyone,” came a cheerful female voice.

“Hi, Angela.” Zach sat down and the group followed suit. The couches were so buttery soft, the leather didn’t even squeak and creak. “I’ve got two Watchers here from the Chicago group, Rhys and Brenin. And a Deserati named Enza. And Kat and Miguel.”

“Wow, big group,” Angela said. “Um, so you need to know about those two Deserati males?”

“Yes. Address, names, anything you can tell us. You can speak freely,” Zach said.

“Okay, so, we were hanging out at the club. We all had a lot to drink. Like, a lot. And we were just talking. They were watching everyone who came in, but that’s not unusual. I mean, everyone checks everyone else out here, you know?” She paused. “Yeah, so the only thing that I thought was strange at that point was when they asked if I could do any magic.”

“You?” Kat giggled, then slapped a hand over her mouth and looked at Zach. “Sorry.”

He shrugged.

“I know, right?” Angela said. “As if wolves could do magic. I didn’t give it much thought until now. I thought they were just trying to be funny or something. Maybe it was the Grey Goose talking. I don’t know.”

“I don’t like them asking my pack questions like that.” Zach’s eyes flared gold.

“I’m sorry, Zach, I should have reported it—I just thought they were being idiots.” Angela’s voice came through, quieter.

“It’s all right. Go on,” Zach said.

“One was named Soren, and one was…gosh, I think it was Anthony. I was hanging more with Soren, and somehow we decided to go back to their place. Then Anthony got really mad and said no, and started arguing with Soren, saying they agreed they don’t bring anyone to their place, or whatever. And I don’t know if Soren was too drunk to care, or if he doesn’t respect Anthony, or what, but he just ignored him and we got in a cab and went. They live in Austin.”

Enza raised a brow at the mention of one of the city’s most dangerous neighborhoods. It was also pretty far from the downtown area.

“Do you remember where?” Zach asked.

“Yeah, at Central and Lake. I’d be able to pinpoint it if I saw it.”

“Thanks, Angela.” Zach rubbed the back of his neck. “Did anything else seem off about those two?”

“Other than them acting like an old married couple, and asking me about the magic, no,” she replied. “But I did snoop while Soren went into the bathroom at one point.”

Kat’s eyes went wide. “You snooped?”

“Yeah. Well, maybe it was a sixth sense telling me someone would need this info later on, I don’t know,” Angela said. “But Soren has an Illinois driver’s license and the last name is listed as Adamson. That stuck with me because I thought it was weird that his first name sounds like a last name, and his last name has a first name in it.”

“I can run traces on that,” Rhys said.

“And we can visit Austin tonight,” Brenin said.

“Anything else, Angela?” Zach asked.

“No, that’s it. I’ll let you know ASAP if anything else comes back to me.”

“All right, thank you.” Zach nodded to Kat, who picked up her phone and switched it off speaker. With a quick promise to call her later, she ended the conversation.

“Thank you,” Rhys said, and Brenin nodded.

“I don’t like these guys.” Zach stood and paced around to his desk. “Something’s up. Will you let me know what you find? We can work out a reciprocal arrangement of exchanging intel on this matter And let me know if you need help tracking. I hear your number one hunter is back in the other realm.”

Number one hunter? Enza looked at Rhys, who shook his head with a grin.

“Yeah, you do have a lot of information, I gotta hand it to you and your network. Mathias is in Torth at the moment.” Rhys stood and pulled Enza up with him. “We’ll let you know if we need an assist.”

Brenin unfolded his long legs and stood. “Thank you all. This is a great start.”

“Welcome. Good luck.” The alpha sat down and leaned back in his chair. “Miguel will walk you out.”

The beta led them back into the main room. “You can stay or go, up to you. Nice to meet you.” With a nod, he walked away toward a group of males who snarled and postured like they were about to get into a fight.

“Looks like we’re making a trip to Austin,” Rhys muttered.

“Need another set of eyes and ears?” Kat asked, trailing a hand down Brenin’s arm.

“Not this time,” the blond Lash answered. He pushed a section of her hair back, off her shoulder. “Can I call you later?”

She nodded and pulled out her phone.

Enza turned to Rhys. “We’re going to Austin now? What time is it? It’s so dangerous there.”

“Yeah, but I don’t want to waste even a few hours if we can get a lead on these assholes,” Rhys rubbed his hand down her back. “Though I don’t want you anywhere near them, or that god-forsaken neighborhood.”

“She can stay here with me,” Kat said. “Angela is coming over soon. We can hang out. I’ll make sure no guys bother her. She still smells like you, anyway.” She pinned a knowing look on Rhys.

“I don’t want you here without me.” Rhys’s tone brokered no argument.

“I’ll get Miguel to help. He’ll be like her personal bodyguard,” Kat went on. “Seriously. A guy would lose a finger if he looked twice at her.”

“Think about it,” Brenin said. “Enza can’t run along the rooftops like we do. We’d need to go home and get the Escalade.”

“So we’ll get the damn car,” Rhys growled.

“Then, if we’re there and we meet these two, we need to fight them and keep her safe at the same time.”

“Can I just go home?” Enza said, then turned to Kat. “Not that I don’t want to hang out. It sounds fun, it’s just been a long day.”

“I’d rather have you at my house,” Rhys said. “It’s safer.”

“I don’t have any clothes or anything there,” Enza said.

“Rilan warded her building. She’ll be secure there,” Brenin said. “I wouldn’t say it if I didn’t absolutely mean it.”

“Warded?” Enza rubbed her temple. The list of things to ask Rhys was getting longer by the hour. “Never mind. I have a list of questions for you. Later.”

Rhys pulled her close, hands on her hips. “I don’t want you alone. But Brenin is right, your building should be safe for now. I’ll explain what we did later.”

She skimmed her hands up his biceps, sensing his internal struggle. And there was no overbearing male attitude, just concern for her. “I’ll be fine.”

“When we’re done, I’ll swing by and pick you up. Pack a bag, because you’re staying at my house.”

“Um…”

“It has better security.” He framed her face with his hands. “I don’t know what those two are up to, but until we do, I need to know you’re safe.”

He was ordering her to move in? Not exactly the smoothest way to hook up. Then again, nothing about her life since he’d entered it had been smooth.

But she trusted that he held her best interests at heart.

“Okay,” she said, sliding her hands along his pecs, a sudden habit she couldn’t seem to break.

“Give me your phone and I’ll add Brenin’s number, as well as Jude’s and Tor’s,” Rhys said. “Just in case.”

She obliged. As his fingers flew across the screen, the soft goodbyes of Brenin and Kat reached her. She didn’t turn around and stare, because that seemed rude, even if sex happened in this club. But she liked the female wolf.

Rhys handed the phone back to her. “If anything happens and I can’t get to you fast enough, then one of them will.”

“Thank you.” She brushed her fingers along his, wanting contact.

Kat threw her arms round Enza in a tight hug. “So nice to meet you! I hope we can hang out some time.”

“Yes, me too,” Enza said. For as nervous as she had been about meeting werewolves, these seemed very cool. She suddenly wondered what Kat looked like as a wolf.

Kat released her, only to turn to Brenin and tug him down for a kiss. Enza shifted her gaze to Rhys, who took her hand as Brenin murmured something to Kat about seeing her later. Then they were at the club’s door, the bouncers returned the men’s weapons, and they went back into the dark tunnel.

Brenin summoned a ball of demonfire to light the way, and the three of them walked along the defunct tracks until they reached the door that led up to Lisetta’s shop. Rhys pushed it open, and the little ball of light was still there, up near the top of the door.

Rhys pulled out his phone and dialed. “We’re on our way up, Lisetta. Yes, thanks.”

They went up the stairs and found Lisetta waiting at the top. “Hey, Lisetta,” Brenin said warmly. “How’s business?”

The pixie smiled. “Excellent. A steady stream of people wanting to know how long they’ll live and how many children they’ll have.”

Brenin chuckled and walked around a shelving unit to the side of the back door. Enza peered in his direction, surprised to see a monitor with four black and white camera feeds displayed.

“Hasn’t been a peep since you arrived earlier,” the pixie murmured.

“Good,” Rhys said. “We’ll get out of your hair. Thanks again.”

They left the shop and entered the now dark alley. “Time to get you home,” Rhys said. He navigated the alleys until they reached a main street, and he hailed a cab.

The driver zipped to the curb and Brenin slid into the front seat, Rhys and Enza in the back. Enza didn’t even think about how weird it was to be sitting in a taxi with two demons, never mind that Brenin was easily twice as big as the driver. He eyed Brenin nervously as he hit the button on the fare box that would add a surcharge for the additional passengers.

“You didn’t have to come with me,” she murmured as Rhys draped an arm around her.

“Yes, we did. Who knows where those two assholes are now?”

“I’m glad we were able to get some information today,” she said around a sudden yawn.

“You should rest while we’re out.” Rhys rubbed her shoulder.

“I feel bad, resting if you guys are walking into danger.”

“We like danger.” His voice was husky at her ear. “And I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

In a few minutes they were at her building. Brenin got out with them but stood by the curb, absorbed in his phone, while Rhys walked her up to the door.

“What did you mean by warded?” she asked.

“In a nutshell, wards are magic barriers. Locks and fences, if you will. Keeps the bad guys out.” Rhys stopped her just short of the overhead light above the door.

“And you set this up on my building?”

“Yeah, Rilan did. You’ll meet him soon.”

She linked her arms behind his neck, craning up to stare into his intense brown eyes. “Be safe. I don’t like that you might get hurt tonight.”

“If I get hurt, I’ll heal.” He bent to brush his lips against hers. “I’ll be back before you know it.”

“I hope so,” she whispered, and pressed close to kiss him.

His grip tightened on her waist, keeping her flush against him. He was warm and safe and strong. She was part of this world now. She belonged. No more fears.

When had everything shifted? She didn’t know and right now didn’t care. She reached for his jaw, cupping his cheek as she kissed him hungrily.

With a growl, he pulled back. “If I don’t stop now, I won’t be able to.”

She sighed, absorbing the last few delicious seconds of being in his arms. “Okay.”

He smacked her ass. “Get inside.”

With a grin, she hurried to her door, waved one last time, and buzzed herself in.

She leaned against her door like she had before when he dropped her off. But this time, she knew so much more about Rhys’s world.

And she was more than ready to be a part of it.

C
HAPTER
22

A
NTONIO AND
S
OREN PROWLED THE
trendy North Side neighborhood, still tasked with the job of rooting out unusual talents. But now they were faced with the disappointment of losing someone with one of the most coveted powers in existence.