Taking Nicole (Vegas Mates Series)(#4) (2 page)

I won’t sacrifice my sister’s life for my own happiness.

Silence.
 

You can’t punish me for this!

Still no response. The cat within continued with the cold shoulder.

“I’m sorry, Nicole. This is the way it is.”

“I can help you. Surely together we can get your sister away from my grandparents.”
 

Her plea pulled at his heart. If only it were that easy. He would have stolen her away from the Antipas palace decades ago. “Sasha has been cursed to remain in animal form. Only a powerful witch can undo it, and the Council keeps those with such powers under lock and key.”

“That’s why you were so interested in Kate,” she said.

“It’s rumored she’s more than just a witch.”

Her eyes widened in surprise, but she didn’t speak to confirm or deny his statement.

“Do you know what she is?” he asked, waiting, hoping she would let something slip. She’d already confirmed Kate Aribas was a member of their pack. If she was really a witch, really the legendary goddess Isis, she could be the answer to saving his sister. To saving everyone the damn royal wolves had locked away in their cages.

Nicole crossed her arms. Her lips tightened in a firm line. “She’s a friend and married to a member of our pack.”

“You already told me that,” he growled. “Is she the goddess Isis—the creator of the feline shifter races?”

Her mouth opened to speak, but she snapped it closed. Her gaze fell to the floor. She was avoiding the question. Her legs shifted beneath her and her posture became rigid in the chair again.

A yes or no wasn’t needed any longer. Her body language confirmed his suspicions. His sister’s salvation and rescue lay within reach. He only needed Nicole’s help. Which he wasn’t going to get if he allowed the hunt to proceed as planned.
 

Fuck.

***

Renata waited just across the street from the building where Melinda Demakis Mavros resided. Her husband, Marrock Mavros, was the alpha of the New York wolf pack, but everyone knew he let Melinda do whatever she wanted.

It was rare, if ever, that he was even in town. The mating had been consummated, but neither party could stand the company of the other. Marrock had no desire to run a pack and Melinda took full advantage. They struck a bargain decades ago. She got control of the New York wolf pack. Her husband got to travel the world doing whatever the hell he pleased with whomever he wished.

Marrock didn’t matter. Not right now. Melinda was the one the Council wanted gone. Renata had been watching her for weeks now. Every Thursday it was tea with friends at the café down the street. She was always surrounded by security, but it wouldn’t matter. The poison would take down everyone.

Everyone but her.

She’d taken the antidote this morning with her breakfast. A few drops in her coffee and the strong poison wouldn’t react with her nervous system at all. Without the antidote, their hearts would stop and they would die in moments as their lungs slowly released every last bit of air and then refused to draw in more.

The small vial of dark powder was warm in her palm. This was going to be the easiest, cleanest kill she’d done so far. Not that blood bothered her, but a public death was best done with some stealth to avoid attracting authorities.

A security camera watched the sidewalk from both sides. Renata tugged down the furry hood on her coat to block most of her face from view as she moved into the crosswalk with a dozen other people and crossed the street.

The flow of people moved like a current in a river—all moving together as one. She followed the current of bodies and turned left toward the oncoming wave of people. Melinda exited the building as scheduled, flanked by several inconspicuous bodyguards. They were all in plain clothes, but Renata saw the constant glances in every direction. The way they formed a box around their mistress, protecting her on all sides. Too bad it wouldn’t make any difference.

The wind was at her back. Her chance was now. There wouldn’t be a better time. Any second they would see and smell her. Then it would be all for nothing. Many would die, but not the ones she wished. Melinda was old like she was, powerful, smart. She could move fast enough to evade the poison if she knew it was coming.

Renata pulled the vial from her pocket. In that split second, her gaze met Melinda’s. Instead of surprise, she noted anger in her sister-in-law’s flashing blue eyes.

The bodyguards moved to intercept. She crushed the thin glass in her gloved hand and raised her palm. The wind did the rest. The black powder lifted into the air and flew straight at them. They blinked, but nothing happened. Melinda also continued toward her, unchanged by the poison swirling through the air. People on either side of them began coughing and collapsing on the sidewalk. A few coughs and then stillness, the poison didn’t cause its victims suffering. A near-instant death was its only gift.

Why aren’t they dying?
Realization only took a few moments, but those seconds of hesitation cost her. Melinda’s bodyguards grabbed Renata’s arms. She snarled, twisting in their grasp, breaking free. Behind her were six more men, all with gazes fixed on her.

“It’s over, Renata,” Melinda’s voice called from behind her. “If I should even call you that. If you don’t come willingly, you will be forced. Even with your royal blood, you will not overpower ten men.”

She turned to face Melinda and lunged, but bodies collided with hers before she got within ten feet of the alpha female. Pavement rushed to meet her and she grimaced as her face hit the cold concrete. Four bodyguards held her down. She heaved back, throwing several off, but a needle prick in her neck was followed quickly by black spots in her vision, a wave of nausea, and loss of motor function.
Fucking bitch was ready for me. No one knew where I was going …

“Get her inside before the authorities arrive.” Melinda’s voice barked out commands. Renata was aware of being picked up and moved, but she couldn’t tell where or what direction.

“Glad to see the draft worked. Is she out completely yet?” A vaguely familiar voice resonated from across the room. Renata searched her mind for the connection, but drew a blank. Whatever they had injected her with was making thinking difficult, too.

“No. She flexes her arms from time to time, testing our hold,” the guard on her right responded.

Fucker. I’ll be sure to rip out your throat first.

“Not before I rip out yours, bitch,” the familiar woman’s voice hissed in her ear.

How had she gotten across the room so quickly, and how did she know? Fuck. What was she doing here?

“Remember me, Renata?”

“Vampire bitch,” she hissed, trying to lunge, but the guards easily held her back. “How did you know?”

“You let your guard down after you bashed my head into the counter a few times. I got to see all the gory thoughts in your nasty, little brain.”

Renata roared, throwing off one of the guards. Three more rushed in to push her to the ground. “I’ll kill you this time, witch.”

Someone’s hand dug into her hair and pulled her head forward. She saw Melinda through the dark spots and curled her lip. The alpha female tugged her head up and met her gaze, hate seething from her ocean blue eyes. “I should kill you for all those innocent humans lying dead on the sidewalk outside
my
building. You insufferable bitch. I should kill you for murdering my brother. I should kill you just to make sure you never try again.”

“But,” Renata murmured. It was coming. Someone or something had ordered her caught instead of executed.

“But, I promised Hallie and Tess I would catch you instead.”

“Awww, that’s sweet. My girls think their mother is still inside me somewhere.” Her muscles were starting to come back to life. She just needed to keep Melinda distracted long enough.

“Open it!” Melinda snarled.
 

Open what?
Her foggy brain tried to focus, but her vision was still blurred.

Metal creaked from across the room. One shove from Melinda sent her hurtling through the air. Her back connected with several metal bars and she groaned. Those broken ribs would hurt for a while.
Or longer.

Why wasn’t her magick surging to heal her? She crawled to her knees, her fingers finding cold metal plating beneath her. Straining her eyes, she saw bars blocking her way.
A cage?
Fuck that!
She gathered her strength and lunged at the wall, screaming in pain as her shoulder connected with the metal.

It should have moved or bent. Something!

“What have you done to me?” Her shoulder throbbed and her magick receded even further, refusing to protect or heal her body.

The smell of vampire grew less. Camila, Kate’s vampire witch friend had left the room.

“Enjoy your cage, Renata,” Melinda sneered. “You won’t be going anywhere. The Council can just forget about its little revenge-filled minion. You know they were going to kill you anyway, right?”

“I would have killed some of them first,” she snarled.

“Between the Originals and the lower Council members, you wouldn’t have done shit, Renata. You may have royal blood and magick flowing through your veins, but none of us are any match for the Originals or our elders, except maybe your daughters.”

“The Council deserves to die for what they did to me.” She sank to the floor in the center of the cage and wailed. Everything was for naught. She’d let her guard down and a filthy vampire witch had wormed her way into her mind. “I deserve my revenge.”

“Not today you don’t.” Melinda said.

Metal hinges twisted, and everyone else left the room except two of the bodyguards. She could smell their presence and hear their heartbeats. She was a prisoner trapped by her blind rage. How had she not seen this? They’d tricked her. No one had ever tricked her before.

She screamed and threw herself against the bars again. They didn’t give and her shoulder ached even more, bringing tears to her always-dry eyes. It wasn’t fair. She’d planned everything so carefully. Vengeance was her reason for existence. Why wouldn’t they just kill her?

“Because I’m still in here.”
Renata’s weak voice whispered in the back of her mind.

They’ll never forgive you.

“They might.”

Nicole sat curled in her chair. The plane’s rumbling roused her from sleep. The leopard had left her alone with her thoughts and she’d drifted off, dreaming she was back in Woodhaven. With everything that had happened over the last year, she considered it more of a home than her parents’ place in Vegas. Sam and Chase had taken up residence in the downtown mansion. They were doing a good job running the casino and keeping the pack running smoothly. Her brother-in-law, Chase Michaels, was a pretty good alpha.
 

The change had been good for the pack. Her soul still cried over the loss of her father. Peter Demakis had been there for all of them as much as he could. She knew now the delicate fence he’d been straddling, attempting to placate the Council and break away without rousing suspicion. With the rebellion now in full force, the Vegas pack was on constant alert against Council agents sent to convince them of the error of their ways.

Now, here she was, headed to the heart of where everything started. She was literally going to be thrown to the wolves.

All because of this one fucking agent, who just happened to be her true mate. Fate couldn’t have slapped her in the face any harder. He was smart, cunning, and willing to play dirty. But so was she, and she had more leverage. She had her body … and Kate.

So far, the seduction angle wasn’t working on him. He either had a will of iron or wasn’t interested in females. The latter … just wouldn’t be fair. Fate wouldn’t be so cruel.
 

That left a will of iron. She could work with that.

First on the agenda was getting a name out of him. He’d yet to divulge that personal tidbit and she desperately needed something to call him in her daydreams besides
hot guy
or
sexy man
.

“Adonis worked quite nicely, I thought,”
her wolf added to her stream of consciousness.

You would.

Clouds drifted past the small oblong windows.
I need him to trust me. I will try to help him rescue his sister.

“He has more to lose, Nicole. Give him time. You are a royal wolf, his mate, and his target. It’s got to be a lot to process.”

Well he needs to start processing faster. We are running out of time.

 
To be forced into a marriage to someone other than her true mate was the worst fate imaginable to a shifter. Losing a true mate had practically destroyed her mother, Renata. Nicole wasn’t about to make the same mistake. If need be, she would die to have him. The trick would be convincing him she was willing to go that far. He refused to speak to her, keeping his distance since their first encounter.

He wanted her. She could feel that much. The bond was trying to settle into place, but he kept pushing it away. It needed more contact between them to truly begin the process. Unfortunately, he was making sure there was enough distance between them so she couldn’t throw herself into his lap again.

A smile played across her lips at the thought of his lap. His hard, muscled thighs and rich, sandalwood scent toyed with her memories. Her pulse raced and nerves tingled across her body, sending pleasurable impulses to her sex. Her breasts hardened and her nipples rubbed against the constrictive lace of her bra.

The door at the end of the cabin opened. He came through and sat in the chair opposite to hers. She refused to look at him. Two could play the ignoring game. Plus, she was still pissed. Whether or not he’d been hired to kidnap her, she was his mate. He should be willing to fight for his mate. Wolves always fought for their mates, but he was a cat. A leopard. A species of shifter she knew nothing about.