Soar (The Empire Chronicles #1) (8 page)

“Yeah, of course.” He smiled, and I let out a sigh of relief. Part of me worried he’d suggested the wine for a less than noble reason, but maybe he did just want to hang out.

“Thanks.”

“I knew you’d change your mind.” He adjusted his arm behind me.

“Did you?”

“Yeah. If not now, when you saw the room.”

“Is it nice?”

“Very. Not quite the same view as my room, but I bet it beats your closet.”

I laughed. “I’m sure it does. I can’t believe I’m doing this.”

“Doing what?”

“Willingly staying in a guy’s guest room.”

“I’d hope you wouldn’t do it unwillingly.”

“You know what I mean.”

“Yeah, I do.” He brushed some hair away from my face. “I’m not going to hurt you, Casey. I’m not going to pretend I’m the safest guy for you to be around, but I won’t let anything happen to you.”

“Is that your way of saying you’re dangerous too?”

“Possibly.”

“You’re so mysterious.” I pulled my leg up on the couch.

“Is that good or bad?”

“Both. It’s frustrating, but also kind of sexy.” At the moment, the sexy part was winning out.

“Sexy, huh?” He smiled. “I’ll take that.”

“What about me?”

“What about you?” He scooted a little closer.

“Am I sexy?” The wine made me far braver than I’d normally be.

“Sexy enough that I’d much rather be offering my bed than the guest room.”

“Maybe next time,” I said flirtatiously.

“Are you trying to kill me here?”

“Nope. That’s your job. You’re the one worried about someone finding my body.”

He smiled. “Want me to show you your room?”

“It’s my room now?”

“It is anytime you want it.” He got up and set aside his empty glass. I did the same and followed him out of the living room.

He paused in front of a door. “If you need anything, I’m right down the hall, but you should have mostly everything in there.”

“Thanks. I appreciate it.”

“I appreciate your company.” He leaned over and kissed my cheek. “Goodnight, Casey.”

I touched my cheek where his lips had made contact, and pushed open the door.

Chapter Eight
Toby

Was I an idiot? Did I really just give up my second opportunity to spend the night with her? This time, I couldn’t figure out what she wanted, but she seemed to want her own space. Hopefully, her playful promise of a next time was real. I wasn’t sure how many more of these nights my body could handle. I didn’t have time to worry about it long. As soon as the guest room door clicked closed, my phone rang.

“Toby.” Tim’s voice broke through the line immediately. “Two more bodies in Jersey.”

“Fuck.” I leaned my head against the wall. “I have to call him, don’t I?”

“Yes. I’m sure he’s figured it out already, but you need to do it.”

“All right.” I hung up on Tim and made it down the hall to my office. Much smaller than the one I had at work,it fit me better. I preferred the black desk to the mahogany one across town.

I hesitated with my phone long enough to scroll through the names. Allie’s name was still on top. I needed to change that. Deleting her didn’t feel right, but I could add in her last name—Davis. The problem was that her name would be changing soon, to Laurent. My human ex-girlfriend becoming the queen of a supernatural society should have seemed strange, but it wasn’t anymore. I’d finally accepted it—mostly.

I found Levi’s number and made myself press connect.

“Took you long enough.” Levi answered with a cockiness that pissed me off.

“I thought we had it under control.” I spun my chair so I could gaze out at the night.

“I’m giving you the benefit of the doubt, but we can’t let this continue. How many bodies is it now? Nearing twenty?”

“Something like that.” It was twenty-two.

“What do you know?” I heard a muffled voice. He wasn’t alone. I wondered if he was at home in bed with Allie. I quickly cleared that thought from my head.

“Bears and wolves.”

“Tell me something I don’t already know,” he snapped. He tried to act so calm and collected, but he was freaking out. For all his arrogance, he was new to the job too.

“Close to ten groups confirmed.”

“I figured that much. This wasn’t one pack and clan. They want attention, and we can’t let them get it.”

“You’ve been contacted, haven’t you?”

“Yeah. The president’s already called.” He said it so nonchalantly, like it was a daily activity to take a call from the President of the United States.

“You told him everything was under control?”

“Of course. Now let’s get it under control. It’s starting in New York, but we all know it’s not staying there.”

“What do you want me to do? Full on investigation with interrogations?”

“I’m sending someone up.”

“You don’t have to.” I leaned back in my chair. I didn’t need any of Laurent’s men.

“Jared’s the best we have.”

“Jared Florence?” I didn’t know the guy well, but I knew of him. He was Levi’s childhood friend and notoriously ruthless.

“He’s head of security now.”

“I know. I was at your coronation…” I’d flown down both out of obligation and to make myself watch Allie move on. Watching your ex take her place as another man’s queen helps give you some closure.

“He’ll be there soon.”

“If that’s what you want.”

“It is.”

“How is she?” I forced the question out. I needed to know.

“Allie’s good, really good.”

“Great.” I meant it. Our messed up history aside, I cared about her. I wanted her happy whether it was with me or not.

“I’ll tell her you said hi.”

Once again, I wondered if she was listening to his end of the call. “Even though I didn’t say it?”

“You thought it.”

“I wasn’t aware you could read minds, Laurent.” Respect wasn’t something I worried about with Levi. Sooner or later, his appreciation for saving Allie would wear off, and I’d have to drop the attitude. But until then, I wasn’t walking on egg shells for him.

“It doesn’t take mind reading. I’ll get a report from Jared soon.” He hung up.

“Fantastic.” I closed my eyes again, trying to fight off the headache I knew was coming.

The knock on the door was light, tentative even.

“Come in.” I sat up straighter. I’d been so caught up in my conversation with Levi that I had almost forgotten Casey was there.

“Hey.” She had her brown hair pulled up in a bun. It reminded me of the morning after I’d taken care of the wolf for her. She looked gorgeous with her hair down, but there was something ‘girl next door’ hot about when she wore it up.

“Hey. Is everything okay?” I hoped she hadn’t changed her mind about staying. Momentary forgetfulness didn’t mean I didn’t want her there. Having her under my roof felt right. Even if I’d have much preferred to have her in my bed.

“I have a favor to ask.” She blushed slightly, making me both curious and excited about what she was going to ask.

“Sure.”

“Can I borrow something to sleep in?”

“Oh, yeah. Like a t-shirt and shorts?” I probably should have thought to offer earlier. She wasn’t going to sleep in jeans.

“That would work.”

I got out from behind my desk and walked down the hall to my room. She followed closely behind me until I walked through the doorway. She hesitated in the hall.

“Is that the view you were talking about?” She pointed at my floor to ceiling windows.

“Yeah. It’s a nice way to wake up.”

“I’m sure.”

I pulled out a clean pair of basketball shorts and a white t-shirt. “They’re going to be big, but it’s all I have.”

“That’s all right.” She smiled, walking into my room to take the clothing from me. I liked having her in there. I’d imagined it quite a few times. Of course, in my fantasies she wasn’t coming in to get more clothing, she was taking hers off.

I didn’t want her to leave. I wanted her to spend the night in my bed, but I knew that wasn’t an option. “Do you need anything else? I’m pretty sure there’s toothpaste and an extra toothbrush and stuff in your bathroom.”

“Pretty sure? You didn’t stock the place yourself?”

I shook my head. “Not exactly. One of my assistants did it.”

“What else do your assistants do for you?” she mumbled, probably assuming I couldn’t hear.

I decided to spare her the embarrassment of answering that no, I don’t screw my employees.

“Well, thanks. I’ll see you in the morning.” She half waved before disappearing through the doorway.

I slumped down on the end of the bed, trying to ignore the urge to beg her to come back.

Chapter Nine
Jared

“Come on, you can do better than that!” Yelling at the queen would get most people in trouble, but it was the only way to get her ass moving when we worked out together. I’d been training Allie for months, and she was doing incredibly well, but she was still human.

She groaned. “I’m exhausted.”

“Suck it up. We’ve got another thirty minutes to go.”

“I’m taking a break.” She picked up her blue water bottle and started to drink.

I tried to hide my grin. She was doing amazing, but I couldn’t tell her that. The harder I pushed her, the better she did.

My phone vibrated in my pocket. I picked up immediately when Levi’s office number showed up on my screen. He spent as little time in that basement room as possible. “Hey, man.”

Levi’s voice replied immediately. “We’ve got problems. Get down here now.”

“Gotcha.” Levi rarely ordered me around. If he did, it was for a good reason.

“Drop Allie off at the house and get Owen.”

“I’m on it.” I hung up, knowing that he’d just get pissed if I wasted more time. Having your best friend turn into your boss and the king complicates things, but I wouldn’t have traded my position for anything. I always thought it would go to my brother, but he fucked up big time and was currently rotting away in a prison cell.

“Looks like you get off easy today, Princess.” She may have been queen, but I still called her princess. It fit better and she always got annoyed when I called her it.

“Was that Levi?” Her face seemed to light up now when she asked about him. Those two were seriously in love.

“Yeah. I’ll take you home.”

After dropping Allie off at their ridiculously huge house, I ran by my place to get Owen. He’d just returned from his own workout.

“Sounds like shit’s hit the fan. Let’s go.” I pulled off my t-shirt and headed to the porch. The quickest way to travel at night was flying. I didn’t look behind me to check that Owen was following. He’d get there eventually.

Flying was like a breath of fresh air to me. I couldn’t go a day without it. Some Pterons resist the urge, trying to blend in, but I didn’t bother. I usually only flew during night time hours, but with our limited need for sleep, that still gave me plenty of airtime. I reluctantly landed all too soon and pulled on my t-shirt. Owen did the same next to me.

We walked into the lobby of the Crescent City Hotel. The same punk bell boy kid who always worked stepped out of the way as we walked through. I wondered if he had any clue what the basement housed. Probably not. Otherwise, he’d be a hell of a lot more afraid of me.

I slid the security card into the elevator. That little card would allow us access to the basement level. Most people had no clue about the existence of the lower level considering basements were rare in a city built below sea level. We preferred to keep it that way. The fewer people who knew our secrets, the better.

A human wouldn’t have been able to see anything when they stepped off the elevator car, but Owen and I could see perfectly. One of the perks of being a Pteron was near perfect night vision.

We walked down the marble hallway. As a kid, I always imagined I’d be coming down on official business. The reality wasn’t quite as awesome as I imagined, mostly because there weren’t any girls involved, but it still felt good.

I knocked on Levi’s office, more out of habit from when it belonged to his father than for any real attempt at respect. Levi and I went too far back as friends for that.

“Come in.” Levi sounded stressed. That wasn’t a good sign. He could usually hold it together pretty well. I already had an idea what the call was about, but I wasn’t positive.

Owen pushed open the door. Levi was seated in his chair behind the heavy wooden desk that took up half the room. For a king’s office, it wasn’t particularly large or fancy. Maybe the idea was to make the office unappealing so you spent as little time inside as possible.

“All hell is breaking out in New York.” Levi didn’t wait a beat.

“Meaning?”

“Meaning the body count is rising, the human powers that be want us to fix it—fast.”

“Didn’t you put Allie’s ex in charge there? Isn’t this his problem?” I didn’t really know Toby, but anyone who got in Levi’s way was on my shit list. Call it protective instinct.

“He answers to me, but New York is still my territory.” The look he gave me made it clear he was still annoyed that Allie had given away California in a desperate and stupid attempt to save her friends. He acted like he didn’t care, but giving up power—no matter how small—sucks.

“Do you need me to go up there?” Maybe I’d get my vacation after all. I hadn’t been to New York City in ages.

“Yes. Can you head up tonight? I told Toby we’re stepping in.”

“Does Allie know?”

“Not yet. I’ll have to tell her though. She’s been glued to the news.”

“Her parents are okay?” Surprisingly enough, I actually cared.

“Yeah. They’re always under watch.”

“Does she know that?” Allie had a short fuse when it came to Levi withholding information from her. He tended to do that a lot.

“Yes. It was actually her idea.” He straightened up in his seat.

“Nice. Maybe she is learning.”

“You’ll check things out and report back to me?”

“Definitely. Do you still have that place on Central Park for me to stay in?”

He nodded and tossed the keys. “Yeah. I’m not getting rid of that apartment anytime soon.”