Harlequin Nocturne May 2015 Box Set: Wolf Hunter\Possessed by a Wolf (28 page)

Lexie felt the blood drain from her face. “What are you saying?”

Relentlessly, Valois continued. “It would have been nothing to take it when everyone's attention was riveted by breaking glass and howling dogs. There are your means and opportunity, and motive isn't hard to figure out. The ring is priceless. With your connections in the fashion and art worlds, it wouldn't be hard to find an unscrupulous buyer for such treasure.”

A suffocating sense of injustice howled through her. She wanted to rage at him, but the words stuck in her throat. Instead, she fell into one of the overstuffed chairs, her skin prickling with rising panic. His theory was too perfect. There wasn't even video evidence to prove she hadn't done it.

“I think you had better get dressed, Ms. Haven. I'd like to take you to a more secure location for the rest of our tête-à-tête.”

Chapter 4

“S
top right there,” ordered the green-coated guard at the gate to the palace grounds. His scowling glare traveled from Faran's shaggy blond head to his well-worn boots.

Faran stopped, suddenly wary. It was barely noon the next day, but already the palace guard had been replaced by soldiers from Vidon.

“Step back here, please,” said the guard.

He moved slowly, hiding the stiffness from his wound. According to Sam, he should still be in bed. Whatever. Faran needed to sort out his shiny new position as palace spy, and he was counting on Chloe to help him develop a cover. He'd left a message on her cell phone he hoped wasn't cryptic to the point of nonsense.

“Identification?”

Wordlessly, Faran handed over his passport and waited patiently in the pale January sunlight, the distant rumble of midday traffic competing with the splash of the courtyard fountains. The formal gardens separated the Palace of Marcari from the street. The building itself rose in the middle distance, a confection of pointed turrets and carved stone balconies. It crossed his mind that Lexie would be there as well, but it was a big place. He'd just have to put on his big boy fur and keep to himself.

Never mind that his inner idiot yearned for another glimpse of her. Last night she'd been even more beautiful than he remembered, with that flame of hair tumbling down her back. He longed to bury his face in it and smell the perfume of her skin.
Like that's ever going to happen again
.

The guard looked up, jerking him back to reality. “American. From California.”

Tourists wandered past, cameras clicking.

“Yes,” Faran replied, watching the man scrutinize his passport. Ironically, this was his real one. Faran had plenty of fakes he could have used, but he'd decided a simple approach would be the best.

“Hmm.” The man nervously brushed the double row of gold braid on his uniform. Despite himself, apprehension pooled in Faran's stomach. Cops of any kind made him feel guilty—no doubt a knee-jerk reaction from his misspent youth.

“What is your business at the palace? There are no tours today.”

“I'm here to see Chloe Anderson.”

“Step over there while I confirm,” the guard said, pointing. Obediently, Faran moved to a spot beside the black iron fence that surrounded the palace grounds. There were three more Vidonese soldiers waiting there, weapons already drawn. Faran tensed, last night still fresh in his memory. The guards saw him flinch and gave an unpleasant laugh.

The gate guard said something that Faran didn't quite catch. Whatever it was, it made the one with the gun step closer, shoving the barrel inches away from Faran's ear. “You're not on the schedule.”

Faran laughed. “You're going to shoot me for that? Seriously?”

Mocking wasn't the best idea. The closest soldier spun Faran around and pushed him against the fence. Pain burned through Faran as the stitches pulled over his wound. The pat-down began, professional but thorough. Fury rose like an incoming tide, knotting Faran's shoulders. He clenched his teeth against it, willing himself to be silent.

“I think you had better come with us,” said the guard who had frisked him. He took one of Faran's arms, the other soldier grabbed the other, and they began walking toward the palace. “Captain Valois has a special place ready for unexpected visitors.”

Oh, goody
, Faran thought as they led him away.

As it turned out, the Vidonese didn't take Faran to the cells built into the—thankfully modernized—palace dungeon. Instead, they took him to a room that looked vaguely like an old-fashioned kitchen, complete with huge enamel sinks and a massive table in the middle. Benches ran along either wall, and they were full of other people. Faran glared around him. The wolf in him wanted freedom, dominance and revenge—not necessarily in that order—but the rest of him knew smart strategy was going to make or break his cover.

The benches were already full of people awaiting questioning. Faran sat in the one empty spot.

“The cells are already packed,” said a tall, thin man next to him. He spoke English with a cultured British accent that belonged on a polo field and not at all with his wardrobe. He had ink-black hair to his shoulders and was wearing a black T-shirt stenciled with
Old Goths don't die, they're just Nevermore
.

“Why are you here?” Faran asked, but he thought he knew. If the man wasn't immortal, he should have been. No one but a vampire had the right to rock that much eyeliner.

“I am suspect because I am Maurice.” The man stretched out his arms as if addressing the entire world. His fingernails sparkled an electric blue.

“Is that so?”

The man shrugged. “They're idiots. The captain isn't—he's real police—but he's working with those green-coated fools. Eventually they'll figure out my most criminal act was a diminished seventh chord during the final moments of my last concert. It was at the end of the tastiest riff, just hanging there with buckets of unresolved longing.
Mwah
.” He kissed his painted fingers like a satisfied chef. “Stole the hearts of my audience. Every single one.”

“Right,” Faran said, humoring the guy. Memory sparked—a clip from a recorded concert involving a light show, live horses and a snowstorm of glittering feathers. The guy was some kind of musician, if one used the term generously.

Faran didn't have a chance to ask more questions. The door flung open and Chloe stormed in, her heels clicking on the tile. Two Vidonese officials trailed in her wake.

She took one look at the room and spun on the guards. “I was told my friend is being interrogated. Clearly, you've shown me to the wrong room.”

Faran got to his feet. “Chloe!”

She looked around a moment before spotting him. Her blue eyes widened. “Faran! I got your message. What are you doing here?”

“I need to confirm that I have an appointment with you.”

Chloe blinked, but caught on at once. She turned to the guards. “Let him go, he's with me. Now where's my photographer?”

An argument started, Chloe insistent and the guards defensive. Faran tried to eavesdrop, but Maurice tugged on his sleeve. “Do you know if they ever found the ring?” he asked.

“What ring?” Faran answered.

Maurice grinned a ragged smile. “The wedding ring. What did you think I was talking about, hobbits?”

Faran grimaced. “I'm so not going there.”

“It's gone. Stolen.” The man waved a long-fingered hand. “That's what this is about. The green-coats showed up at my rooms last night looking for it.”

“And they think you have it?”

“I'm not sure what they think. I was having a party. You know—a few musicians, a few fans. Some lush young lady in a school uniform. Don't think she was in school though, if you take my meaning. The green-coats showed up with faces like the Grim Reaper in need of a laxative.”

“And?” Faran said.

“One of the guards was clearly unused to such sights of revelry. He fainted dead away.”

“A Knight of Vidon passed out on the job? That's hard to believe.”

Maurice shrugged. “I can't be responsible for the effect I have on common mortals.”

Faran couldn't think of a reply to that one. Fortunately, Chloe's argument with the guards ended right then. She grabbed Faran's wrist and dragged him away—which felt odd since she was more than a foot shorter.

“This is a nightmare,” she murmured. “They think Lexie stole Amelie's wedding band.”

“They think everybody stole the ring,” he replied, gesturing to himself and Maurice.

“You'll be fine,” Chloe replied, sounding exasperated. “The guards have nothing concrete on you or Maurice. They're just making a big show so they look like they're doing something. But Captain Valois is focused on Lexie because she was standing right next to the case when it vanished. It's circumstantial, but he counts that as a real lead. I just found out he's taken her for questioning. He's had her for hours.”

“What?” Faran snarled. Lexie was many things—some of which made him furious—but she was no thief. “Is she all right?”

“They won't let me see her.” Chloe's blue eyes were dark with worry. “Thank heavens you're here. They've sent Sam out of the city.”

“You know Lexie and I aren't together, right?”

“What does that matter?” Chloe demanded. “She saved your life last night.”

Chloe had a point, but that didn't make things any less awkward. He folded his arms. “Where are they holding her?”

Silently, Chloe pointed to a door at the end of the hall.

He flexed his fingers, wishing they were claws. “Have they allowed her to call a lawyer?”

“It doesn't work like that in Marcari. You know that.”

But what he knew and what he demanded for Lexie weren't the same thing. His vision went fuzzy around the edges as he went from anger to fury. Faran was storming down the hall before he realized it.

Within moments, he heard Chloe's voice raised in another argument. Clearly, she was running interference with the guards and buying him time. She might have been Lexie's best friend, but Faran owed her a long list of favors, too.

One of the guards called after Faran, ordering him to stop, but he blew through the command as if it was no more than a wisp of steam. There were a few things the world didn't understand about werewolves. They didn't need the moon to change. They were a different species, not victims of a disease caught from a bite. And they were insanely loyal when the occasion demanded it.

The door was locked but he wrenched the handle. It made a sick crunch and ping and then the door swung open. Lexie was sitting alone at the table, her head in her hands. She looked up, her hazel eyes widening as she saw him. “Faran!”

His chest constricted. She was alone and forlorn, the only vibrant thing in the dead room. He crossed the room in two steps, stopping on the other side of the table from her. “Time to go.”

Her hands settled on the table, looking pale against the dark wood. “What are you talking about? Captain Valois is holding me for questioning.”

He knew Valois. A good cop, but this time he had the wrong suspect. “You don't belong in custody. I won't have it.” A tiny voice inside Faran whispered that he was losing it. He wavered a moment, realizing that the wolf in him had bounded past some invisible line of good sense. Lexie brought that out in him as surely as if she short-circuited his brain. But then he decided he didn't care.

She opened and closed her mouth before sound came out. “You shouldn't be here!”

“Why not? You need help.”

She held up her hands, palms out. She looked appalled. “You've got to leave. If you break me out, you're just digging us both in deeper.”

“Don't you want to get out of here?” He leaned across the table. She pulled back. Whatever softness he thought he'd seen in her when they'd met in the garden was gone. Her fingers were trembling. He could scent fear on her, sharp and sour. His own nerves coiled, unnaturally alert. Fear meant prey. “Come with me.”

“Think, Faran.” Her expression was fierce, but tears glinted in her eyes, silvery in the hard light of the room. He had always loved her combination of bravado and vulnerability—but at times like this, her stubborn refusal to take the easy way out drove him crazy. She lifted her chin. “Cooperating is my best chance for a clean getaway.”

She was probably right, and that made her refusal sting all the harder.
Getaway
. She was already planning to leave him behind. Again. Frustration bit like fangs. He slammed the flat on his hand on the table, making her jump.

“Stop it!” she protested. She was breathing hard, a pink flush bright on her cheekbones. “You're not going to bully me. Not ever.”

He instantly felt worse. She'd been terrified of him ever since he'd saved her that night in the alley. He didn't understand. He'd never hurt her. Ever. “Your solution is to run. I want to make it so that you don't need to run ever again.”

“That's not your decision!” Her voice cracked, but there was anger there as well as fear. “And you're not being logical.”

But he was far past rational thought. The ground seemed to drop away under his feet, and suddenly he was back in Paris, begging her to stay. “How do you expect me to help you if you keep pushing me away?”

She took one last deep breath. It came out on a sigh. “I didn't ask for your help. I can clear my own name. Or maybe running is what I want, but I'll manage it on my own.”

And there was the rejection again.
You wrote me off as a freak and cut your losses
. “Sorry I stopped to care.”

Lexie didn't answer. Instead, she looked up, her eyes shifting to a point behind Faran. He whirled, past and present blurring in his head. And then the present hit him like a brick.

Captain Valois was in the doorway, a scowl on his face. Odd, but the captain looked shorter from this vantage point. Faran had only ever seen him when in wolf form.

“What happened here?” Valois asked, his voice mild. Faran wasn't fooled. There was a core of steel in that softness.

He didn't care. “The door was in my way.”

Valois's eyebrows rose.

Chloe appeared at the captain's elbow, linking her arm around Valois's as if they were very old friends. Faran knew it was a trick she used to calm her clients when they were on the edge of a bridal meltdown. “They're fighting,” she said in a stage whisper. “Like wild dogs.”

“What about?” The captain looked mildly interested.

“It's personal,” Faran and Lexie said almost at once. She shot him a sour look.

“Is that so?”

“It's domestic,” Faran said with some annoyance. The word didn't sit well on a wolf.

“Sad when a marriage goes like this,” Chloe added, clearly improvising.