Chapter 13
Adam piled wood in the fireplace, his unbuttoned jeans hanging off his hips. Morning light peeked through the rolling clouds, and in the distance, thunder growled. Victoria slept in the room still, mumbling, tossing and turning. The woman talked in her sleep all night, which was beyond adorable. Unfortunately, it sounded like she was speaking in Klingon.
He’d have to get a dictionary.
His body had calmed after the third time with her last night, but it had been hours, and now he was primed and ready again. Never in his life had a woman affected him so. He’d bitten her, damn it. What had he been thinking?
He had not been thinking. Period.
He scrubbed a rough hand through his tousled hair. Worse yet, he had failed to get the truth from her about why she’d gone into Grizzly territory. Bear had all but shouted she had an ulterior motive, and Adam was an expert at finding hidden motives in both friends and enemies. Not in Victoria, however. It had been an entire night, and he hadn’t discovered the truth.
In fact, he’d barely even asked.
A phone buzzed. He loped for the kitchen sink and drew out a box of phones, taking the one that was buzzing. He read the screen and sighed. The caller was Pyro, the president of the Titans of Fire Motorcycle Club.
“What?” Adam asked.
“Who is this?” Pyro snapped.
“This is Adam.”
Pyro swore something. “We have a meeting at noon, and I want all three of you fucking Irish Enforcers here. Period. You’d better have news about my fucking guns, too.”
Adam fought his temper, waiting until he could speak clearly before answering. “Our supplier wants to know more about the drugs. You give a little, and we’ll give a lot.” He was done waiting for news about Apollo. “I know in this little part of the world you’re a tough guy, Pyro. But my people were inventing interesting ways to torture people long before this continent was even settled.”
“Yeah. I’m scared of a bunch of Irish leprechauns.”
For the love of the motherland. Leprechauns didn’t exist. Adam couldn’t very well tell Pyro that witches did, however. The agreement had been that Adam would trade guns from Ireland for the Apollo drug, and Pyro apparently was getting tired of waiting for the shipment. “I’ll be there.” Adam clicked off.
“Who was that?” Victoria asked from the bedroom doorway.
He turned. Her hair was wild around her shoulders, a sparkling blond with defiant purple streaks. Her blue eyes were full of slumber, and she’d tugged on an old Metallica T-shirt she’d apparently found in a drawer. The material reached her knees, leaving her defined calves visible. He’d never considered calves sexy until right that second. Then his gaze reached her bright purple toenails, and his heart kicked hard against his ribs.
“Adam?” she asked, her head tilting.
He shook himself out of his thoughts. “It was Pyro, the president of Titans of Fire.”
“Oh.” She blinked. “Oh yeah. Care to explain why a Fire member dared infiltrate Grizzly territory? I know you’re an Enforcer for that club. How are you and Bear friends? And how are Bear and Simone siblings?” Victoria pushed away from the door and padded barefoot toward him, lines creasing her forehead. “You have a lot to explain.”
When the woman foolishly came into arm’s reach, he grabbed her, hauling her up against his chest. She gave a muffled oof as her breasts pressed against him. “Good morning,” he murmured, bending down and kissing her. She mumbled something and in seconds was kissing him back, her hands folding over his shoulders.
Desire streaked through him, and he settled himself. For some reason, he couldn’t seem to hold tight to his control with her near. “Are you all right?” he asked quietly. There was no doubt he’d been rough with her during the night.
She lifted an eyebrow. “Yeah. Why wouldn’t I be?”
Brave, wasn’t she? A little defiant as well. He brushed the hair off her shoulder and ran his thumb along the twin bite marks in her neck. Her body trembled against him, and her eyes widened. Aye. He hadn’t explained that little tidbit, now had he? He released her and moved to the kitchen, taking out pots and pans. “I have eggs and bacon. There might be some sort of fruit in the fridge.”
“Answer my questions, Adam,” she said, her voice a little breathless.
He opened the fridge and took out the breakfast ingredients. “I plan on answering your questions, Victoria. But first, you’re going to tell me why you went into Grizzly territory. Right now works for me.” He placed the ingredients on the counter and then faced her, crossing his arms over his bare chest.
Her gaze caught on his chest. “I wanted to check on Bear.”
Truth. He could smell a lie, and she was telling the truth. “Why else?” he asked calmly.
She swallowed. “Figured I should set things straight with Lucas.” Her throat cleared. “We were kind of dating. Not really, but I do value him as a friend.”
“Did you sleep with him?” Adam asked. He had no right to ask the question, and if he had to guess, he’d say no. Lucas had let her go way too easily. No way had the shifter tasted her.
“That’s none of your business,” she said, meeting his gaze levelly.
“You’re right.” He didn’t twitch. “I’d still like to have confirmation. I don’t think you did, but if you did, then it’s no concern of mine. It’d be nice to know just for future dealings with Lucas.”
“How are you and Bear friends?” she asked, her chin up.
He nodded. She had every right to make the questioning two way. “All right. It’s like this. Simone is my cousin, and turns out, she’s half-sibling to Bear. So in this crazy immortal world, that makes us all allies. For the moment, anyway.”
“But Bear isn’t a witch.”
“No.” Adam rubbed his scruffy chin. He had no right to reveal Bear’s history, but he was asking Victoria to go a long way on faith here. “I really can’t go into Bear’s life, but he’s not a witch. He and Simone shared a father, who also wasn’t a witch. Simone’s mama is a witch, who led the Council until recently.”
“Until Peter Gallagher took over, and now he’s trying to force your family out or kill you all.”
“Aye.” Adam’s shoulders tensed. “This is a bad time to bring you into our world, and I’m sorry for that.”
She moved to the cupboards and started opening them, taking out plates and glasses. “I’m not scared, but I’d really like to talk to my sister. I need to touch base with her.”
Adam’s brow creased. “I know, and I’m sorry about that, too. Alexandra and Kell are locked down, which means no communications in or out for right now. Kellach has a kill order on his head, and the Guard won’t care much if they take her out at the same time. I assure you, she’s safe.”
“Yeah, but she’ll be seriously pissed if she can’t get hold of me.” Victoria shook her head.
“She is, I’m sure. Your mother is also safe on the cruise. We have full twenty-four-hour bodyguards on her, and they’re well trained.” Though if things heated up any more, they’d have to secure the woman somewhere she couldn’t be found. Right now, it was better to leave her in the dark.
Victoria set the dishes on the table. “Why are you here, Adam?” She breathed out and spread her hands wide. “Why Seattle? Why Titans of Fire? I just don’t get it.”
Fuck. He didn’t blame her. It was confusing. “The drug Apollo is why we’re all here. It’s made from a mineral called PK, or planekite, or phenakite, that comes from Russia and kills witches. It also makes humans feel invincible before it burns them from the inside out.”
“I know,” she whispered, her face paling. “One of my friends died, remember?”
“Aye.” He studied her. She’d brought her burning friend to the cabin, and he’d died there. “I know. He was young and in your band.”
She swallowed, tears hazing her eyes. “Another band member gave him the drugs. Afterward, the DEA approached me to be a, well, a confidential informant. They said they wouldn’t arrest Malanie, and they also said they’d protect my sister. She’s in trouble for dating your brother, a Fire member.”
Ah, shit. Anger stirred inside him, throughout him, tingling fire inside his hands. “The DEA is blackmailing you?” Even his breath felt hot.
She drew back at the description, frowned, and then nodded. “Yeah. I guess they are.”
“Why didn’t you tell Alexandra?” he asked.
She shrugged. “At first, I was trying to protect her, and then we haven’t been in the same place. Seriously. It’s been forever.”
That was true. He relaxed and then stiffened all over again. “Wait a minute. You were at the Grizzly club to investigate them. Rumors abound that they run Apollo.”
“Yeah,” she said, a cute pout forming on her lips. “But I wasn’t very good at it.”
Jesus. If she’d been anybody else, Bear would’ve probably just eviscerated her and left her body in the woods.
“Your undercover work stops right now,” Adam said, shoving his hands in his pockets to keep from shaking her. What had she been thinking? What had the fucking DEA been thinking to put her in the middle of a drug war? Oh, he was going to burn some federal assholes the first chance he got.
She shook her head. “No, I—”
“We’ll protect your sister,” he bit out. “I guarantee Alexandra will be protected.”
“What about Malanie?” Victoria asked, her lip trembling until she bit it. “She’s only twenty, and she made a mistake. A huge one that she’s already living with. Agent Franks said she’d have Malanie charged with not only drug dealing but murder.”
“They don’t have a body,” Adam said quietly. He knew, because Kellach had buried the dead kid in the woods far away from the river.
Victoria swiped her eyes. “They don’t need one to make a case. Enough people saw him begin to burn, and plenty of people saw me take him out of the bar.”
Adam reared back. “They’re threatening you with prosecution?”
She nodded numbly, fear in her eyes.
He fucking lost it. Fire shot from all five fingers on his right hand and sizzled against the sofa, burning a large round hole. His mouth gaped open.
Victoria yelped and jumped away from the sparking material.
Damn it. Adam filled a pitcher with water and flung it over the flames, extinguishing them immediately.
She swung her gaze to him, her eyes wide and a deep blue.
“I’m okay.” He tried to sound much calmer than he felt. His fists clenched. “You no longer have a problem with the DEA. I promise you I will take care of the matter.”
“How?” she asked.
He gave her the easiest answer. “I’m undercover for the Council and it has powerful ties with Interpol. Don’t worry.” In truth, he was going to bust heads. But she didn’t need to know about that.
She eyed the couch and then the innocent breakfast foods. “So you’re undercover at Titans of Fire just to find out about the Apollo drug. But if the mineral hurts witches, why Seattle and not in Ireland?”
He nodded. “We think it’s a testing ground before it hits Dublin. There are a lot of witches in Seattle, and there’s an established human drug pipeline here.” He pressed his lips together, wanting to keep her out of the rest of it, but knowing she needed the full truth. “And your father is incarcerated here.” Her dad had been a major drug dealer in his time, and all sources confirmed that Parker Monzelle was still involved in the trade, even from prison. “My people know he’s involved somehow.”
Tori’s mouth firmed. Hurt swirled in her pretty eyes. “That doesn’t surprise me. At least, he only lasted a day on parole before getting in trouble last month.”
No, the asshole had actually shot Victoria’s sister while on parole, but Alexandra had decided to keep that fact from Victoria. A mistake, Adam thought. But it wasn’t his mistake. “That’s pretty much the whole story. As much as I can tell you right now, anyway.”
“Oh. Okay.” She took a breath and released it, moving her breasts nicely beneath the T-shirt. “All right, then. So. I did not sleep with Lucas.” One of her small shoulders tilted. “If you still wanted to know that.”
Adam grinned.