Christian Whalen kept to the shadows, careful to remain downwind. Berserkers’ senses were beyond keen. The slightest shift in the breeze and he’d be made. Ever since Gregor’s return to L.A., Christian had been twitchy as fuck. Not because he knew Gregor expected him to have found the dhampir he was looking for by now, but because Christian already knew who she was.
Ian Gregor had been searching for Siobhan for centuries and Christian had managed to track her down in a matter of days.
Of course, that had been over a year ago. Months of stringing Gregor along, using his money and resources while pretending to hit one dead end after another. At first, he’d protected her identity because he wanted to know exactly why Gregor was so obsessed with finding her. But since then, Christian’s interests had shifted and he was more concerned with protecting Siobhan from anyone who meant to do her harm.
Pussy-whipped much?
Was it possible to be whipped when he’d yet to actually get his hands on the pussy in question? Gods, he was pathetic. Chasing tail like some untested pup that had his sights set way above his station. Siobhan was out of his league and she never wasted an opportunity to remind him of it. But it didn’t stop her from playing with him. Teasing and tantalizing him. Allowing him the pleasure of her mouth on his …
Christian gave a violent shake of his head as he tried to dislodge the months-old memory. Her kisses haunted his dreams and every waking minute, only serving to intensify his obsession with her. Too bad she didn’t feel the same.
Since that night, she’d made it her goal to taunt him with her presence. He saw her out, every night, haughty and aloof, and completely unavailable. Whereas he used to have easy access to her company, now she brought a bevy of bodyguards with her wherever she went, including that big son of a bitch, Carrig, who was never far from her side. Their relationship had gone back to look-but-don’t-touch status and it drove Christian out of his fucking mind.
Worse, Siobhan didn’t seem to have any problems with letting others—namely Carrig—put their hands wherever they wanted on her shapely body. Night after night Christian was forced to watch that son of a bitch touch her, put his mouth on her. He watched them feed from one another, and when he was too angry to care and too out of his mind with jealousy to form a coherent word, he dragged his sorry ass back to his suite at the Sheraton Grand and passed out on the damn bed like the pathetic loser he was.
Now that Gregor was back in the city, Christian let his obsession take a backseat to his curiosity. He’d needed the distraction like he needed his next breath. His want of Siobhan ate at him, consumed him. He needed to get her out of his head before he lost his shit entirely.
Gregor ducked into a condemned apartment building. Christian slowed his pace, careful not to draw the attention of any berserkers who might be standing sentry around the property. He’d known the warlord and his band were squatting somewhere, but Gregor kept his secrets well. Christian had been tracking him for weeks and finally the bastard had led him to his home base.
What a shithole.
The place was a four-story building that took up one corner of the block. Maybe twenty or thirty units, tops. Not enough to house the estimated three hundred berserkers under Gregor’s command. Which meant the bulk of Gregor’s forces weren’t yet in the city. Either that, or he had tasks set out for them elsewhere. The gods only knew what the wily bastard had up his sleeve.
One thing Christian knew for sure: Gregor was hiding something in that building. And he was going to find out what it was.
Security couldn’t be stellar with the run-down state of the building. Likewise, aside from Gregor’s troops standing guard, there couldn’t be much else to keep unwanted guests out. Christian put his nose to the wind and took a deep breath. The loamy scent of the violent creatures floated on the air, but without the intensity that might indicate a large force of them within the apartment complex’s walls.
Christian could be pretty damned stealthy when he wanted to. With any luck, he’d get inside long enough to take a look around. He’d have to mask his scent first. Good thing he’d made a pit stop before going out tonight.
He reached in his pocket and pulled out a small vial of liquid. He’d paid a nice chunk of change for the magically enhanced tincture that was supposed to give him thirty minutes of “invisibility” by making his scent impossible to detect. He pulled the cork stopper from the bottle and held it aloft. “Bottoms up.” He tipped the vial back and his nose wrinkled at the bitter taste. This shit had better work, or there was a witch in West Hollywood who was going to be on the receiving end of his wrath.
Christian did as the witch had instructed and waited five minutes for the spell to take effect before heading for the apartment building. He lowered his nose to his shoulder and sniffed. It’s not like he could identify his own scent, but hey, isn’t that what people did in deodorant commercials? Just to be safe, Christian stayed downwind as he headed toward the building. This would’ve been a hell of a lot easier with backup, but as a rogue, it’s not like he was going to be partnering up with anyone anytime soon. The front entrance was a no-go as he caught the scent of several berserkers nearby. He switched up his tactics, and headed for the rear of the building and hopped up on the nearest fire escape.
Where would Gregor feel safest? The lower floors, or at the top of his keep? The sound of muffled voices reached his ears from the third floor. With silent grace, he leapt to the second-floor landing, and then the third. He let his senses guide him, taking a moment to listen and to scent the air.
“What’s the matter, Rin? Accommodations not up to your standards?”
Rin? It was true Christian didn’t know the names of all of Gregor’s cohorts, but he doubted the warlord would speak to any of his brethren in such a way. More to the point, if any of them complained about the state of their lives, Christian suspected Gregor would answer with a fist to their face. Whoever Gregor spoke to was a new player. The berserker certainly had a lot of irons in the fire and Christian was determined to know what each and every one of them was for.
Christian ducked low as he passed beneath a window. The room was dark, but that didn’t mean anything since supernatural creatures didn’t need light to see, plus, it’s not like Gregor would’ve sprung for electricity or any other amenities. The rumor was that the self-proclaimed berserker king hoarded his money to fund his cause. Truth be told, Christian was surprised he’d managed to get as much money as he had out of Gregor. It just went to show how eager the berserker was to find Siobhan.
He peeked through the window to find the room empty. A slow breath of relief left his lungs as Christian reached for the window and found it unlatched. He almost felt sorry for the careless bastard that forgot to lock it. Because if Gregor found out his security had been compromised, someone’s head was going to roll.
“Maybe it’s not the accommodations that have you down. Missing your soul?”
Christian paused. Who in the hell did he have in here? The only creatures Christian knew of without souls were vampires. Had the bastard gotten lucky enough to get his hands on one? He didn’t venture out of the empty room. There was no point in risking discovery when he could listen from here. But gods, he wanted to get his eyes on this Rin …
“You’re going to pay for what you’ve done to me.”
Christian perked up at the sound of the unfamiliar voice. The hollowness of the tone caused Christian’s wolf to let out a warning growl in his psyche. There was something decidedly not right about that voice. He wrinkled his nose as magic sparked the air. Not a vampire. What the actual fuck was going on? Gregor had a magic wielder as a captive? How was that even possible? Even a low-level warlock should have been powerful enough to free himself from captivity.
The wily warlord certainly had a few cards up his sleeve. Damn it.
Gregor laughed. “In your diminished capacity? I doubt that.”
Christian edged his way closer to the door. Curiosity burned as he resisted the urge to get a look at the mysterious magic wielder. Gregor was running so many angles it was tough to keep track of them all. Christian was bound and determined to put all of the pieces of the puzzle together so he could see the full picture.
“Are you ready to tell me about McAlister?”
Holy. Fucking. Shit. Christian was damn near out of his mind with curiosity. For the first time since he’d become involved with the berserker, Christian truly believed Gregor might actually be capable of seeing his plans to fruition.
“You let her destroy my soul.” The magic wielder’s voice seethed with anger. “I’d rather die than divulge a single detail to you.”
“You’d rather die because it would release you from your empty existence,” Gregor replied. “That’s not going to happen. I’m a patient male, Rin. I’ve waited centuries for my revenge. I can wait centuries more if I have to. I’ll keep you in this state of purgatory for as long as it takes. You’d be wise not to doubt my intentions.”
Their conversation created more questions for Christian than it provided answers.
“Cerys is in the city. Did you know that, Rin? Saeed brought her here after he rescued her from the shackles of your slavery.”
“Cerys Bain, as well as the vampire, will get what’s coming to them.” The magic wielder’s tone went low and simmered with anger.
Apparently, Gregor had gotten into some serious shit while he was gone. Magic wielders? Vampires? And whatever the hell this Cerys was. On the plus side, Gregor had given Christian something of value tonight. Information was worth its weight in gold. No doubt McAlister would pay a pretty penny for any little bit of it he could provide.
“I could give a fuck about your plans for the vampire. But you lay so much as a finger on Cerys, and I’ll make sure every day of the rest of your existence is a living hell.”
Whoever this Cerys was, she was important to Gregor. Curious, since she’d apparently taken a vampire as a lover. Gregor had given Christian a jumping-off point, though. The more he learned about Cerys, he suspected the more he’d learn about what Gregor was planning.
“She’s coming, Rin. Now that Cerys is free and her strength is regained, Fiona will come looking for her. Especially now that she and McAlister are within touching distance of one another. Maybe I should introduce Cerys to McAlister? What you think? Thanks to you and her treacherous sister, their fates are intertwined. Funny how a simple decision can create so much chaos.”
Fiona? Jesus, how many new players had Gregor introduced?
The magic wielder laughed. Again, Christian’s wolf let out a nervous whimper at the hollow timbre. “Your overconfidence is going to be your downfall, Gregor. Fiona is wild. She is without allegiance or conscience. You’ll be sorely disappointed if you think she’ll be so easy to manipulate.”
A space of silence passed and the fine hairs on the back of Christian’s neck stood on end. He’d lost track of how long he’d been standing here listening to Gregor’s conversation. The magic that cloaked his scent had an expiration date. It was better to get the hell out of here now than risk being caught. Especially now that he might have some tangible ammunition against the berserker warlord.
Gregor’s voice rang out, “I want a perimeter check! Every corner of every room. Gavin, get on it!”
Time to GTFO. Christian crossed the room and quickly slid through the open window out onto the fire escape. He slid the window closed, careful not to make any sound that might alert one of Gregor’s sentries to his presence. He’d risked too much and learned too much to fuck it all up by being sloppy. Rather than cause any undue noise by traversing the fire escape, he launched himself from the third-story landing directly to the ground below him. His feet touched down with a slight rasp of his boots as they hit the pavement and he let out a slow breath as he propelled himself into motion, ducking into the closest alleyway and out of sight.
He watched from the cover of shadow as Gregor’s troops fanned out to check the perimeter of the property. Several bodies spilled from the building to inspect outside while he noticed shadows of movement from within the apartment building. His gaze wandered to the third floor and the room he’d just occupied. Gregor appeared in the window as he looked out over the property.
Christian’s heart beat double-time as he set his back to the alley wall. He’d pressed his luck, stayed longer than he should have. Hopefully the witch’s spell had done its job and masked his scent. Otherwise, he was as good as fucked. Time would tell if he’d been found out. One thing Ian Gregor didn’t tolerate was betrayal. He’d have Christian strung up by his nuts in a minute flat if he had any idea what he was up to.
A few more minutes passed before Gregor’s soldiers finished up their rounds and headed back inside the apartment building. Christian pushed away from the wall and continued down the alley toward where he’d left his car. He’d hit the jackpot tonight but he wasn’t ready to share his spoils with McAlister or anyone else just yet. This was only the beginning. He had a shit-ton more information to collect before he could move on any of it. He’d sell it to the highest bidder. If what he had was valuable enough, he might even be able to buy his way out of the Sortiari once and for all. Who knew what lengths McAlister might be willing to go to in order to find out what Gregor was up to?
In the meantime, Christian needed to form a plan of attack and the first thing on his list was to make friends with a vampire. If he was going to learn anything about this Fiona who seemed to have everyone shaking in their boots, he needed to get close to the female Gregor seemed intent on protecting from the magic wielder. The vampire’s lover. She must have been something to have made the berserker play nice with a vampire.
Shit was getting real. Good thing Christian always looked out for what was truly important: himself.