Demon Warriors 3: Rainerio (11 page)

Now all that was available to the patrons was the bar. The crowd moved away from the stage, either milling about or going to the bar for a drink. They watched the teller look around before sliding off into a back room.

The three warriors moved closer, watching to see who went in next, or, who came out. When minutes passed and nothing happened, all three approached the door the teller had gone through. Rainerio put his ear to the door, but heard nothing.

“I think we need to see who he’s partying with,” Rainerio said as he twisted the handle. The door flew open, but the room was empty.

They searched every corner of it, but the teller was gone.

“What the hell?” Kobe asked. “I know I saw him come in here.”

“He did,” Rainerio said as he surveyed the room, “but someone helped him out.”

* * * *

The three warriors were back to teller duty the next day. Only this time they followed him directly from the bank. Falcon had wanted to fire the guy, but Panahasi had talked him into letting the teller work there just a little longer so they could track down Marino.

Rainerio stared up at the street sign as they waited on the teller.

He thought of his parents, something he hadn’t done in eons. Why he was thinking of them now, he wasn’t sure.

His mother had been a caring parent, raising him with a loving hand. It was his father that Rainerio did his very best to stay away from.

To say the man wasn’t happy with his preference for men was an understatement. He harped about Rainerio being a chosen warrior and the status it brought to their home. His father refused to acknowledge his happiness in men. He even went so far as to try and marry him off.

Thankfully Panahasi had come to his home and informed his family that he was ready for his training. His father was pleased by the news, and pissed off by it as well. He wanted his son married before he went into training.

Rainerio was grateful Panahasi got him out of there in time. He hadn’t heard from his father since. His mother, on the other hand, called him once in a while to check on him. When his father wasn’t near, of course.

He was jerked out of his thoughts when Kobe tapped his chest with his hand. Rainerio looked up to see the teller emerge from the bank, look around, and then started walking in their direction. He knew the man hadn’t seen them, but if they didn’t move soon, he would.

They slid to the shadows, watching as he passed them by. Once he was far enough ahead, they came out of hiding and followed him.

They knew he dealt with Marino on a monetary level, but they weren’t too sure how often the two had contact.

It didn’t make sense to any of them how the teller disappeared from a room with no windows. The only thing they could surmise was that someone shimmered him out. So either the elf was playing both sides, or Marino had been there.

“He better not give me a day of shopping to follow. I’m still getting over my boredom from last night,” Kobe griped as they followed him to King Wings. They waited off in the cut as the teller ordered his food and then took a seat.

Rainerio leaned against the brick building behind him. He hated surveillance work. It was boring as hell. But one did find out a lot about someone by tailing them.

When the teller finished his food and exited the wing joint, they followed him to the grocery store.

“I swear, if he doesn’t do something interesting soon, I’m gonna tackle him just to liven things up,” Kobe complained. Rainerio agreed, but they couldn’t allow the teller to know that he was being followed.

As bad as he wanted to do exactly what Kobe had suggested, Rainerio knew they couldn’t.

“We’re not on vacation here,” Takeo reminded them. “Our job is to follow him and catch him making contact with Marino.”

“And what if he doesn’t?” Kobe asked. “Then what? We follow him around for the next month? No offense, but I have better things to do with my life, like live it.”

“What’s gotten into you?” Rainerio knew that Kobe wasn’t a patient warrior, but he was acting a little too fidgety. Kobe was the youngest of all the warriors, with some more maturing to do, but he was grown enough to know how to do his job. All this whining and complaining wasn’t like him.

Kobe shrugged as they waited on the teller to emerge from the store. “I thought I found my mate last night. I was pretty damn sure he was the one. But there was no binding.”

“I’m sorry to hear that, Kobe. It’s a hard road to travel when looking for your mate. A lot of meaningless hook-ups are a part of it.”

Kobe spit on the ground as he looked away from Rainerio. He could tell it was taking its toll on the warrior. It was an inborn need in demons to want their mates. Rainerio didn’t even want to think of the men he had slept with in order to find his. He couldn’t believe he had almost passed him up when he refused to sleep with Dillon. That would have been the worst decision he would have ever made.

Thank goodness the small man had been insistent and pushy.

Rainerio knew he wouldn’t be able to hold out much longer anyway.

Dillon had fascinated him from the moment he laid eyes on him in Snooke’s apartment.

“There he is,” Takeo pointed out. The teller walked out of the store, a few bags in his hand. They followed him to his apartment building where the guy stayed for the rest of the night.

* * * *

Dillon smiled when he felt Rainerio’s hard chest melt into his back. He was unpacking boxes, putting things away when he felt his mate against him. “How’d it go?”

Rainerio kissed a path down his neck as he sighed. “Nothing exciting. He’s in for the night.” His mate reached into one of the boxes and pulled out a small family album. “Do you need any help?”

“No, it’s helping to occupy my mind from all the crazy shit going on in this world. I don’t plan on spending too much more time doing this. I have a collection of movies set up for us to watch. I’m calling it the ‘Hunky Gorgeous Men Marathon.’ Too bad you won’t be starring in it.”

Dillon giggled as Rainerio dropped the album on the bed and picked him up, nipping playfully at his neck. “I don’t think I want you watching hot men all night.”

“I’ll only attack you when it’s over.”

“Then by all means, watch away.”

Dillon laughed this time. “I thought you would change your mind.” He shook his head at his mate, wearing a smile on his face as he dug back into the boxes. He frowned when he pulled out a gold pendant necklace. It wasn’t something he remembered having.

“That’s nice, family heirloom?” Rainerio asked as he stepped beside Dillon.

Dillon stared at the necklace, the gold sparkling, even in the dimly lit room. It was very beautiful, but not his. “I’ve never seen it before.”

There was a locket at the end of the chain. He palmed it, ready to open it and see what was inside when a large hand covered his, stopping him from revealing the contents.

“If you don’t know where it came from, then I think it best you don’t open it.”

Dillon looked down at his palm once Rainerio’s hand was removed, wondering where it could have come from. He looked into the box, pushing things aside, but the only other contents in there belonged to him.

“I have heirlooms, but I know what each piece is. I’ve never seen this before.” He held it up, watching the tiny heart spin around. It wasn’t a “meh” piece, but a brilliant “wow” piece. It didn’t look tarnished or fractured anywhere.

“I think I should take that.” Rainerio held his hand up. Dillon wasn’t going to deny that he was very curious as to its contents. There may be nothing inside the locket, but there may be something to reveal where it had come from.

Reluctantly, he handed it over to Rainerio. Living in this realm and dealing with the strange inhabitants, one couldn’t be too sure what something was. It
looked
like a locket, but in this ass-backward place, it could be a key to a portal or a damn bomb.

He didn’t want to wait around until the damn thing exploded. It may be tiny, but tiny things often carried a powerful punch.

“I’m gonna give this to Panahasi and let him figure out what it is. Are you sure you’ve never seen it before?”

Dillon shook his head. “I’d remember something as stunning as that.”

His eyes stayed with the trinket as Rainerio held it up for examination. It had strange symmetrical designs on it, crisscrossed and looped to elegant curves. The piece reminded Dillon of something a woman would wear back in the times when jewelry was handcrafted and an art. It looked dated.

“I’ll be back. The quicker I get this out of here, the safer I’ll feel about it.”

Dillon nodded, watching as Rainerio disappeared. For some strange reason, his head seemed to clear once the piece of jewelry was out of his sight. He was able to think more clearly now.

Why on earth did he feel drawn to the darn thing?

Rainerio snap-grabbed the teller’s shirt as he emerged from the backroom of Diablo’s, Takeo and Kobe rushing the room. He heard curses ring out as the warriors came back into the hallway. They didn’t look too happy, which told Rainerio all he needed to know.

Marino had gotten away.

Shit!

His night seemed to be getting better by the hour. This surveillance shit was wearing on his nerves and he was ready to slam the teller into a fucking nearby table. Rainerio was tired and horny, not a good combination when dealing with someone who aggravated the hell out of him.

“He was there but was already vanishing when we came in,” Kobe announced with a bit of anger in his voice. Rainerio didn’t blame the guy. He was getting tired of the cat and mouse game as well. It was wearing on him. He absently wondered what Dillon was doing right now. Rainerio would give anything to get this piece of shit to the leader and go see his baby.

Rainerio pulled the teller from the club, taking him to the shadows. “Since you want to play go-boy for Marino, you can play tell-all to Panahasi.”

The teller’s eyes rounded as he shrank back. “No. I swear, I didn’t do anything wrong.” The teller squirmed as Rainerio hauled him to the side of the building. He was tired of playing games and very tired of following this dickhead. The teller was going to spill all to Panahasi or take a trip down to the keeper.

Rainerio grinned evilly.

The teller may not be guilty of anything, but the trip was sure to scare the hell out of him and make him think twice about who he kept company with.

Rainerio was aware the man may not have had a choice, but he could have come to them when Marino approached him. That would have solved a lot of headaches over this tailing bullshit.

“Okay…okay. No need to manhandle me. I’m going.”

Rainerio wanted to throttle the little snot. “I honestly hope you don’t think this is some sort of game. You have a lot of explaining to do.”

“I swear, it wasn’t my fault—” Rainerio shook the teller, hoping it silenced him and relieved that it did. He had heard about every story out there. This man would be no different. It may come in another form, but a lie was a lie.

“Save it for the leader. I could care less.” The only thing on Rainerio’s mind was dropping the piece of shit off and going to check on Dillon. He was at work where Jake was not only keeping an eye on him, but Chris as well.

It didn’t matter.

He wanted to see with his own eyes and maybe get a kiss from his mate. He was itching to touch Dillon, and it had only been a few short hours since the sexy little man had been writhing under him.

His cock was getting hard just thinking about the blond-haired beauty. Damn, Dillon affected him like no one else ever had. It wasn’t only the mating thing. Rainerio knew deep down that Dillon was his kind of man through and through. He had thought he wasn’t before sleeping with the man, but Rainerio was only thinking that because he was fighting the attraction.

Having his mate taken from him once was enough. He was determined to make sure it never happened again. And if watching dickheads like the one in his grasp kept his mate safe, then he would spend his time tailing them.

It just sucked to be away from his mate.

He handed the teller off to Takeo when his phone started vibrating in his pocket. Rainerio grabbed the phone, keeping a close eye on the guy. Even though Takeo had him, he wasn’t taking any chances. He could see sneakiness written all over the man’s face.

He placed the phone to his ear, taking a deep breath to calm himself. This teller man was pissing him off. “Rainerio.”

“This is Jake.”

The hairs on the back of his neck stood up and a cold chill ran down his spine. This couldn’t be good. The only time Jake was to call him was if something was going on.

“Hello.” Rainerio said it slowly, as if speaking that way could slow down time, could make whatever was going on cease to be happening.

“I don’t mean to call you, but I need you to get down here. Something funny is going on with Dillon.” The tone of Jake’s voice made Rainerio race into the shadow next to the two warriors and the teller, appearing at the coffee shop just as Jake spoke into the phone.

“Hurry.”

Rainerio’s jaw dropped as the phone slowly lowered from his ear.

His hand hung in midair with the phone attached to it as he stared at his mate.
No fucking way!

His mate was fighting Chris behind the counter to get his own clothes off. Chris was battling with him to keep Dillon’s pants on while Dillon was trying to bite Chris and yank his jeans down. His shirt was already gone, his naked chest in plain view. Rainerio growled at the creamy flesh that was revealed for all to see.

Mine!

Rainerio raced around the corner of the counter, snatching Dillon off of his feet as he rushed in the direction from where he had entered the shop. “Let me know what’s going on,” Jake shouted as Rainerio disappeared with his battling mate.

He didn’t have time to answer the man. He was too busy stopping his mate from tearing his damn clothes off.

“Dillon, stop,” Rainerio commanded, but his mate kept right on pulling at his jeans. He was acting like a madman. He wasn’t sure what was wrong, but Dillon wasn’t acting like himself.