Undercover Magic (12 page)

*  *  *

The fiery, screeching pain of the bullets tore through Cooper's shoulder and thigh
as the team of special agents swarmed him.

The burn didn't stop, bubbling his flesh from the inside as the moonseed coating them
reacted with his blood, weakening him. He fought anyway, doing his best to dodge the
PRC they were trying to get on him, though his real purpose was to keep them from
focusing on anything but him.

As the collar snapped around his neck and the suppression of his DNA calmed the allergic
reaction to the herb, he risked a glance toward Addison.

The clearing was empty.

Relief flooded him, momentarily carrying away the pain radiating out from his shattered
shoulder and torn leg.  She was safe, and that was all that mattered.

*  *  *

The buzz of energy racing through me was weakening and I struggled to hold it as I
watched the agents haul Cooper to his feet and drag him away.

Fear rippled through the light around me when a few of them straggled behind, peering
past and through me as if expecting reinforcements to burst out of the woods.

A couple gunshots off to the right inspired them to dash off, and the clearing grew
quiet. Nausea rolled through my gut.

The light around me flashed, blinding me. A clap of sound hit me full force, pounding
my organs to mush. Sounds, smells and feelings rushed in on me and I staggered, almost
going to my knees as the fear and horror poured into me.

I was a monster.

I'd seen it on Cooper's face. I'd felt it in my body.

The cold wind hit my skin like a whip. Vulnerable and terrified, I turned and ran.

CHAPTER TWELVE

I crouched high up in the fork of a large tree, shivering. The weather had turned
its attention toward autumn, putting a bite in the air. Dawn lightened the sky, casting
it in watered-down shades of purple and peach. In the distance, Laswell's mansion
sat dark and silent.

I was a fool to have listened to the practitioner. I should have left well enough
alone. Human was what I'd always been. Human was what I should have stayed.

I'd hidden in the tree all night, nothing but a coward. I couldn't face what had happened.
I couldn't even make myself find out if the others were alive or dead.

I choked back a sob, surprised I had any tears left. If Falcon was alive, he'd probably
been arrested. They'd find out there was no Uncle Ben. He and Chiwa would be shipped
out to an orphanage or foster home. He'd lose the store. Cooper would be brought up
on charges of treason, then handed over to his Clan for disposal, and I...

I was a nightmare.

My stomach wrenched and threatened to heave, but there was nothing left to throw up.
I'd emptied it long ago in the woods.

Clear and painful, the memory of Cooper's face, pale with shock and repulsion, flashed
into my mind. The fear I'd seen in his beautiful eyes...it would haunt me forever.

Below me, Agent Stillman melted from the shadows a few yards away. I wasn't surprised
that she'd survived. Had she even fought? Or had she let them in?

She approached the tree and looked up—straight at my bare butt as if the thick leaves
around me were invisible. "Nice view," she said, a note of amusement in her voice
that pissed me off.

"Why didn't you protect him?" I growled, angry that my legs had gone numb and I couldn't
jump down and kill her with my bare hands. "Wasn't that your job?"

"No."

"Protecting Laswell came first, is that it?" I snapped.

"There's nothing we could have done. We're no use to him dead."

"Screw you."

"It's up to the three of us now."

"Marc?"

She nodded.

I scowled down at her. "Why should I trust you?"

"If I wanted to kill you, I had a lot of time to do it. I've been watching your back
all night."

I swallowed against my suddenly dry throat. I hadn't even noticed. This was why I
hated feelings. They made you vulnerable in every conceivable way.

"When I saw your Were form, I drew the agents away." Stillman pinned me with her yellow
wolf eyes, her gaze hard. "No one can know what you are. It's too dangerous."

Fear of the terrible, uncontrollable power I'd felt shook through me as the memories
of being in that body crashed in, squeezing down on my chest like an icy, unforgiving
fist. I pressed my hands to my stomach and all of my misery spilled out of me in a
torrent that I couldn't control. "I thought of my father," I whispered. "How he would
have been there. Teaching me. Then something hit me in the chest and.... I didn't
want it. I didn't mean for it to happen."

I pulled in a harsh breath, fighting to bring myself back from this suffocating self
pity. This wasn't me. I was tough. Hard. I endured no matter what.

With an effort of will, I pushed past the pain, forcing myself to leave behind what
had happened and to focus on the terrors of the present. "Who's left?" I choked out.

"Marc's watching the building where they took Cooper. Laswell and his sister were
questioned, but not arrested. We sent the boy home."

A giddy relief washed over me and I almost fell out of the tree. Falcon was safe.
Thank, God. But my joy didn't last.

"Cooper was always the target," Stillman said, her expression grim. "We think the
vampire called in our location."

My anguish burst free and I fought to keep it from pulling me under. "So it was Danny,
not you. I should have known."

"Apology accepted." She held out a bundle of clothes and my holstered gun. "Now are
you going to play tree nymph and pout, or are you going to help us figure out what
to do?"

I stared at the weapon. How could I ever make this right?

With a flash of understanding, my pity party came to a screeching halt.

*  *  *

"What if the vampire doesn't know where they've taken him? Or more likely, won't tell
you," Stillman asked.

I couldn't do anything until dark, so I'd gone back to safe house fifty-three to eat,
sleep and prepare for the confrontation ahead of me. When I woke up, I'd found Stillman
on the stairs and Marc on the roof. My own personal guards. Yippee.

"We're out of options," Marc said. "Her idea's worth a shot."

"Bellmonte prides himself on knowing everything. I'll get it out of him." I checked
the size and location of the pockets on the para vest Stillman had brought for me.

The vest was specially designed to withstand clawing, biting and bullets, but was
surprisingly lightweight. The material was some kind of synthetic leather with a thin
layer of what felt like flexible metal sewn into the lining. It felt like Christmas.

"She can't go in without backup," Stillman said, her yellow eyes taking on a threatening
gleam.

An amused smile flickered over Marc's mouth. "She isn't."

"I said, no." I held his gaze. I didn't have time to mess with their pushy alpha crap.
Cooper had been gone almost twenty-four hours. Whoever had him hadn't been playing
patty cake and serving him tea this whole time. "Laswell and his sister need protection.
So does Falcon."

"I have my orders," Stillman growled.

"And I told you that I don't need your protection. I don't care what Cooper's instructions
were. I can't focus on what has to be done unless I know the others are safe."

"From Bellmonte?" Marc asked.

I stuffed Falcon's gadgets that I'd adopted into the pockets of the black cargo pants
I wore. "From any number of directions." I stopped fussing with the equipment and
looked at them, worry, anger and cold determination hardening in my heart.

"Marc said that someone inside the FBI must have allowed Cooper to be illegally moved.
We're playing outside the box now. That's my world. We do this my way."

"Except for the backup," Marc said.

Argh. Stubborn sonofa— "Fine. After I see what I can find out from Bellmonte."

Marc grinned at me, a feral touch of crazy behind the flash of teeth against his deeply
tanned skin. "Deal."

*  *  *

Getting into Bellmonte's penthouse was easier than I expected. I hadn't even needed
a pizza box.

A nice trench coat over my clothes, some makeup, a bit of fluff to the hair and a
vapid gaze was all the disguise I needed. Abracadabra, just another idiotic moron
who wanted the big shot vamp to bite me.

The concierge hadn't even asked my name. He'd brought me up, let me into the penthouse,
and made tracks. I'd ditched the trench coat, scrubbed off as much of the makeup as
I could and waited for Lord Donkey's Butt to finish with his shower.

The look on his face when he emerged immaculate and ready for work only to find my
gun pointed at him, had been an extra bonus. I think I'd actually surprised the old
bat.

"You should wear makeup more often." He leisurely picked up the snifter of brandy
he'd left on his elaborate antique dresser and sauntered into the living room. "It
brings out your eyes."

"Sit," I ordered.

Bellmonte settled into one of his million dollar chairs and watched me, a sharply
curious edge to his gaze. "Attempt to kill me, or don't. I have a board meeting in
twenty minutes."

"Tell me what you know."

"Child, we would be here until you died of old age if I were to do that." He took
a sip of brandy. "Care to be more specific?"

"Why did Danny betray Cooper?"

"I would be more interested to know who claims that he did."

"He was the only one who knew."

"Certainly an exaggeration," Bellmonte said, his tone drifting toward lazy. His piercing
gaze moved over me like he was taking my measurements.

I ignored the creeped out feeling that brushed across the back of my neck. "The FBI
moved Cooper this morning. Where did they take him?"

"An answer for an answer. What has changed in you?"

A wave of heat ran through me and my stomach knotted. There was no way he could know
what had happened. He was fishing for information and I was being paranoid. "Where
have they taken Cooper?"

"Something about you has always intrigued me. Now I am nearly uncontrollably compelled
to protect you. Why?"

My patience evaporated. "Where, Bellmonte?" I snarled, a growl edging my voice.

Understanding bloomed over the vampire's face. He smiled—a chillingly beautiful thing.
"You shifted. How unexpected."

I'd had enough. "How about I fill you with enough poison to incapacitate you for the
night? One of these pricey chairs of yours ought to smash through the protective shields
on your windows without too much problem. Presto. No more Regent."

He gave me a reproachful look. "I really wish they'd bring back finishing schools.
The education would do you a world of good."

"I can almost smell your flesh boiling now."

Bellmonte gave an exaggerated sigh. "Mr. Daine was taken to the current location of
Santos' factory."

Was it really that easy? In a pig's eye. This was Bellmonte. Nothing was ever as it
seemed. "How do you know?"

"In my world, to trust your supposed superior is to live an unpleasantly short and
unprofitable life. I make it my business to keep an eye on him."

"This factory. It's where he's making the drugs?" 

"No, the garden gnomes." He swirled his brandy around in the snifter as if he found
the entire subject deadly boring. "In addition to having your sweetheart, Santos has
procured another tasty morsel that might interest you." A smile lifted the corner
of his mouth. "Your friend's clever child."

I frowned, not sure what the hell he was talking about. Understanding hit me like
a fist to the stomach. "Chiwa?" Oh no.

"Apparently the little practitioner decided to take her fate into her own hands. She
snuck away with her invitation letter to the up and coming school for the damned.
Was immediately welcomed, of course. She's probably preparing for the ceremony as
we speak."

She'd figured out her friend was in danger and she'd gone to save her, the little
idiot. My God, she reminded me so much of me at her age. Wait a minute--

"What ceremony?" I asked, scowling. 

Bellmonte gave a delicate yawn and placed his drink on the table next to him. "The
trail she left for you to follow was quite well done. My people erased it, of course."

Panic rose into my chest, making my heart pound. "Is Cooper there? Are they in danger?"

"My dear, he is the center piece of the whole thing. Without paranormal blood, the
dimensional magic that changes V into VR is impossible." Disgust rippled across his
normally indifferent expression. "This will be an exceptionally powerful batch, thanks
to your wolf's contribution."

He gracefully got up from the chair like he owned the world. "If you shoot me, you'll
never know the location of the factory." He opened his arms and showed his teeth in
a wide smile.

"You forget who's doing the threatening." I fired a warning shot into the cushions
and he didn't even flinch. Hatred roared in my ears, which was stupid. Resenting Bellmonte's
callus selfishness was like hating a copperhead for striking at you when you encroached
on its territory. They might kill you, but it wasn't personal. Just in their nature.

Bellmonte strolled toward the elevator. He got aboard and his cold grey-blue gaze
bore into mine. He had me and he knew it.

"By tomorrow morning your lover will be dead," he said. "Santos' operation will be
out of the country, and your young practitioner will be beyond your reach forever
along with the rest."

The elevator doors started to close. "Feel free to help yourself to the brandy."

I glared at the closed doors, frustration, anger and worry rolling under my ribs in
hot, nauseous madness. I stalked to the brandy snifter, grabbed it and threw it against
one of the barricaded windows as hard as I could.

The glass exploded, showering the carpet and window in brandy-soaked shards of glass.
Despair beat down on me. Now what? I'd failed.

I looked down. A slip of paper rested on the table where the snifter had been. More
mocking from Bellmonte?