Animal Attraction Page 6

  “I don’t care what they practice. I want to know if someone in the brotherhood had reason to kill him.”

  “That’s what you want from me, to stick my nose in their business?”

  “I’ll make it worth the effort,” Ethan promised.

  “If I be dead, what good will money do me?”

  “So, you’re turning me down?”

  Diablo fell silent for a moment, and Ethan figured he was weighing his options.

  Finally, he said, “I’ll see what I can find out. No promises.”

  Not exactly an enthusiastic commitment, but it would have to do for now. “That’s all I’m asking.”

  Chapter Eight

  Nuala was still thinking about Ethan and how surprised he must have been when she’d sifted from the apartment to The Ark. It gave her something to smirk about. That man made her a little crazy. She was having trouble keeping her mind on the reason she disliked him. Every time she was around him, she felt unfocused and… and, well, weird.

  Weird enough she’d had to get away from him stat.

  Now where the hell was Nik?

  Maybe if her brother could provide information that would help his case, Ethan would leave her alone. She’d been looking for her brother since popping into the casino’s cloaked deck, but he hadn’t been there or upstairs in the public casino, and neither Pop nor Luc had seen him all day.

  So what was going on with her brother this time?

  As she crossed to the elevators, she heard a raised voice. “You need to work this out with Cezar yourself, Max! Leave me out of it.”

  “Beatrix, don’t ignore me, I warn you!”

  Nuala’s mother was racing away from the towering muscular shifter whose thick, dark hair stood out around his face as if electrified. As if he was tempted to shift. Max Haider making trouble again. What was going on with him and Pop? And with her mother, who was now coming straight for Nuala?

  Hoping to escape unnoticed, Nuala entered an open elevator that would take her down to lower cloaked decks.

  “What are you doing here?” The overbearing tone skittered through her when Mother followed her into the car. “I thought you were done with the business.”

  Of course Mother needed to be theatrical about it. “I never said that, though I will have to take some time off after I have the baby.” She reminded her, “Your grandchild.” Her mother had never once asked about Maeve.

  “Surely it won’t call me Grandmother.”

  Not missing the it in that statement, Nuala clenched her teeth and closed herself off from any feelings about the woman who might as well be a stranger. No doubt she would have preferred not to have children, while Pop always claimed his children were his greatest assets.

  “Maeve can call you anything you like.” Nuala punched a button. Hard. The doors closed and the elevator descended.

  “After all, I don’t look like a grandmother.”

  Nuala said nothing. Far be it for her to comment on her mother’s too-short body-hugging purple dress with an extra train trailing the floor in back. As usual, she wore thigh-high leather boots with four-inch heels that made her tower over most people in the casino. Max Haider being an exception. Mother took pride in the power she conveyed, apparently the most important thing to her. Nuala couldn’t even be disappointed in her anymore. She simply had nothing left for the woman who’d birthed her and then had forgotten about her, leaving her to be raised by wolves. Literally. Her nanny had been part of a wolf-shifter pack.

  A thump in her stomach make her heart open. The baby was kicking as if wanting attention. Nuala put a hand to middle and felt another flutter. Fiercely, she promised her unborn daughter that she would never know neglect.

  “Well, what are you doing here?” Mother asked.

  “I’m looking for Nik.”

  “Why?”

  “Because he’s my brother,” Nuala said as the elevator doors opened. As if she would explain herself to a woman who cared nothing for her. “Why were you and Haider fighting?”

  When she didn’t get an answer, Nuala stepped out. Her mother didn’t move, merely pressed another button, no doubt the one that would take her back up two levels to the bordello she ran.

  Nuala headed for Nik’s quarters. This cloaked deck comprised living quarters for the Lazare family as well as for other Kindred who had rank in The Company. Most Kindred lived in cramped quarters on another deck or in city apartments if they could afford to do so. Now she was one of them.

  Stopping in front of Nik’s door, she banged on it. No response. Focusing on his living space, she was inside in an instant.

  “Nik, where are you?”

  Apparently he’d taken off for the day without telling anyone. Totally unlike her work-obsessed brother. That meant something was bothering him, which would mean he’d had one of his precognitive warnings. For whom? She’d asked him more than once to share his worries with her. She was the only one who could get to him, and she figured that included settling him down. His response had always been that she didn’t need more worries than she already had. Wondering if she should be worried now, she left. On her way home, she would text him to call her.

  Once back up on the cloaked deck, she headed for the exit, but a screeching war made her turn toward the habitat where three shifters in vulture form were arguing over their food to the amusement of a group of laughing humans. She stopped. She hadn’t checked Nik’s favorite place to chill out when he wanted to get away from everyone. She moved past the slot machines and guests lined up along the habitat who were watching the animals to a back corridor off-limits to anyone not Kindred. Behind glass pane walls were terrains of the southwest, the far north and the tropics.

  The habitat had been built using a spell so the environment could change in different areas with the preference of the shifters. Not only the terrain, but the size, shape, even small details. They could create their own reality in here. Stopping in front of a dense, dark forest, she stared through the trees and caught a glimpse of black fur in the far distance. Nik’s panther? Deciding to check it out, she edged forward into the glass wall. It shimmered around her as she stepped through to the other side.

  Nik, is that you?

  His not answering didn’t surprise her. Nik was a creature of extreme moods. So what was his problem today?

  She considered shifting and just keeping him company for a while, but she felt bulky and a little out of sorts herself. Choosing the easy way, she thought herself to that spot in the distance where she’d seen the black fur and instantly she was there. But neither Nik nor his panther were.

  Come on, I’m not in the mood for games. Where the hell are you?

  “Right behind you.”

  She started and swung around to face him. He was back in human form. A scowl twisted Nik’s handsome face as he glared at her. His preferred expression lately. Well, practically always, for that matter. He needed to find something or someone to put a smile on that face once in a while.

  “I’ve been looking for you,” she told him. “What are you doing in here?”

  “Thinking.”

  “About?”

  He turned the tables on her. “What are you doing here?”

  “I’ve been searching everywhere for you. I was about to leave when I decided to check the habitat.”

  “What’s so important that it can’t wait?”

  “The murder—”

  “But not by a Kindred, after all, so what’s the point?”

  His impatience with her made Nuala’s pulse surge. “Ethan is convinced there’s Kindred involvement. And I remember seeing DeAndre Booker here with you, and you were arguing about something!”

  Nik glared at her, his eyes looking hollow… his jaw extending… his cheeks narrowing. Good grief, he was about to shift!

  Nuala smacked him in the chest with the flat of her hand, making the big cat charms on her bracelet jangle together. “Not now!” She took a quick look at the distant glass walls to make sure no humans wer
e watching.

  The scowl turned into shock. “What the hell! This is my territory. You can see yourself out of here!”

  Nuala wasn’t budging until she got some answers. She waved a hand, adding a stand of trees to the terrain closest to the viewing windows to block the view. Just in case. “I’m not leaving until we talk!” She gave him one of those penetrating looks that always got to him. “What’s wrong with you?”

  Nik blinked and his expression smoothed. He shook himself as if to negate the intent to shift. “Not a great time, Nuala. Can we do this tomorrow?”

  “Right now would be better.” The sooner she had answers for Detective Ethan Grainger, the sooner he would leave her alone.

  “Apparently you’re not going to leave,” Nik said, “so just tell me what you thought you were going to get from me.”

  “Information. What were you and Booker arguing about?”

  He tensed again and, his visage darkening, he growled, “It’s not your concern!”

  Thinking he needed to get out of the dark forest, she recreated the details in her mind. She made the overhead canopy of trees disappear, revealing a bright sunny sky.

  “Do you have to do that?” Nik asked.

  “I’ll do whatever is necessary to get some answers from you. The alderman is dead. Murdered. And the police found a casino chip in his pocket. They’ll be visiting you next.”

  “And you know all that how? This chip hasn’t been reported as far as I know. Wait… Grainger!”

  She nodded. “It’s Ethan’s case.”

  “What is he doing involving you? Should I assume you told him you saw Booker here?”

  Sensing Nik was revving up for an argument, she asked, “What’s making you so out of sorts about it? Nik, please tell me you didn’t have anything to do with Booker’s death.”

  “I thought I made my position about that clear the last time we talked. No, I didn’t have anything to do with murder.” And then he added, “Leave it alone, Nuala.”

  Making her relief short-lived. “Why?”

  “This thing is too dangerous. I don’t want you getting yourself in the middle of it.”

  Well, that certainly sounded like there was more to the story. “Why would I be in danger?”

  “Because a man was murdered! You go snooping around and you make yourself a target.”

  “If the murderer really was human, I can take care of myself!”

  “What about Maeve?” His voice rose. “You’re due to deliver any day, and you have her welfare to think about. This is serious business, and you need to stay out of it!”

  To her irritation, Nik blinked out on her the way she had on Ethan, and before she had the chance to ask him if Booker had been invited.

  So she had nothing to report.

  But Nik did. About some kind of danger if nothing else. She was certain of it. He’d called it serious business, had warned her about her being a target. But there was more to it than that. There’d been a certain ferocity to his objections that chilled her. What had he seen in one of his precognitive episodes?

  That he was a target? But why?

  Had he been secretly looking into the murder himself?

  If so, Nik might have put himself in danger.

  Her chest squeezed tight at the thought of something terrible happening to another person she loved.

  Now she couldn’t leave it alone.

  Chapter Nine

  Ethan’s mom still lived in the house he grew up in. Alone. Like so many couples who’d lost a child, his parents hadn’t been able to make the marriage work after Mike’s death. They’d divorced, then his dad had moved out of state, so Ethan had rarely seen him since.

  His fault. If only he’d listened to whatever had been bothering Mike that night, his brother might be alive today.

  Ethan tried to shake off the guilt as he parked in front of the two-story frame home located on a side street just east of Humboldt Boulevard. The place looked just the same and yet different. Because she’d needed more money than she’d been earning after the divorce and wouldn’t take anything from him, Mom had turned the basement into an apartment so she could collect rent. Now there was a lower level entrance in front. He guessed that worked out all right. She’d had one tenant all these years, and at least she wasn’t alone in the building. He took comfort in that since this was still marginal gang territory.

  Keychain in hand, he hurried up the steps, but before he got to the front door, it opened.

  “I knew you would come.” His mother hugged him and kissed his cheek. “You always know when I need you.”

  Hyperaware of the date of Mike’s death beginning weeks before it came up, Ethan figured they had that in common. “Let’s go inside.”

  “I made your favorite.”

  “And I was just wondering where I could get a piece of homemade apple pie.”

  He entered, dead bolting the door behind him. His mother’s renewed grief etched her lovely face at the moment. Even so, she appeared far younger than her fifty-five years. She kept herself in shape. Despite her fine appearance, she didn’t have a romantic relationship, at least not that he knew of. He often wished she had a man to make a fuss over her, a man to make her laugh, a man to hold her when she needed comforting. But Mom was stuck in some emotional time warp, one that went back to his brother’s death. She’d even kept Mike’s bedroom intact, keeping it clean as if she expected her younger son to walk into the house any day. Ethan followed her through the living and dining rooms, barely changed over the years other than the giant flat-screen television, a Christmas present he’d insisted on buying for her.

  By the time he got to the kitchen, Ethan’s mouth was already watering from the fragrant smells of apple pie and freshly made coffee. The pie itself, set in the middle of the counter, was a thing of beauty.

  Two minutes later they were sitting at the kitchen table. He dug into his piece of pie, ate a big bite and washed it down with coffee.

  “It so nice having you here whenever I need you,” Mom said, “but I worry about you.”

  “Being a detective is safer than being a street cop.”

  “I don’t mean work. I worry about you being alone.”

  “I’m not alone. I have you.”

  “You need a family with a woman who isn’t me.”

  “Maybe I would have one if there was someone who interested me.”

  Even as he said it, Nuala Lazare’s image fluttered through his thoughts. She wasn’t the typical woman he met, not in any sense, but she was the only woman who’d ever had his attention to the point of his not being able to put her out of mind. How could that be when he hated the idea of the Kindred having power over humans? Her looks would catch any man’s eye, but to him, that was secondary to the challenge of dealing with her, of outwitting her with this whole Kindred influence business. It made him feel truly alive, something that had eluded him since Mike died. When she let her guard down for a moment, and he could see the real woman without the roadblocks she set up to keep him away, he longed to know what she would be like if he took her in his arms…

  He reminded himself that wasn’t appropriate to lust after his partner’s woman. His mother sighed. “I wonder if this will ever change.”

  “Our sharing pie and coffee?”

  “The empty hole inside of me every September.”

  He reached over and covered her hand with his. “I miss him, too.”

  “It’s not just that Mike’s gone. It was getting better when we thought we knew who killed him. But now…”

  About to spear another chunk of pie, Ethan set his fork down.

  For years, they’d thought Mike’s murder was solved. His brother’s throat had been cut and the police had found the murder knife at the scene. A knife with prints belonging to Ario Jackson, a Humboldt Lord gangbanger. Before he could be arrested, Ario had been killed in a drive-by shooting. The police had followed up but found no other leads indicating someone else might have been involved. The case had b
een closed and at least Ethan and his parents thought they’d gotten some kind of justice.

  A year ago, Ethan had been given information through a newly freed-from-jail gangbanger that the cops had it all wrong. According to Raylon, Ario had an alibi named Indigo Clark. Raylon had been looking for a payoff, of course. One he’d gotten because Indigo had backed Raylon’s story. Still a patrolman at the time, Ethan hadn’t been able to convince anyone to reopen the case. And then Indigo had disappeared, so he had no credible reason for a new investigation. Several months later, he’d been assigned as a detective and had been able to get his hands on the murder book. He’d started investigating sub rosa, and now, after nearly a year working on his own time when he could, he still hadn’t found and brought his brother’s killer to justice.

  “I’ll never give up on Mike,” he promised his mother.

  Not like he had the night his brother had died because of him.

  *

  Determined to get used to living like a human, Nuala flagged a taxi outside of the casino and gave the driver her new address. Five minutes later, they were on Lake Shore Drive headed north and Maeve was kicking up a storm. No doubt she was upset by her mother’s emotional turmoil.

  Stroking her belly, Nuala tried soothing the baby. Only a few more days, Maeve, and you’ll be part of a confusing but inspiring world.

  “Hey, you okay?”

  Startled, Nuala flashed her attention forward and saw the driver’s dark eyes in his rearview mirror glued to her. “Excuse me?”

  “The baby. It’s not gonna come now in the cab, is it?”

  “She’s just kicking… um, I don’t think so.”

  Please, not yet. She wasn’t ready.

  “That your first?” When she nodded, he said, “The first one’s always the hardest. You won’t get much sleep for six months, and you’re going to worry yourself sick about every little thing.”

  “Six months?” No one had mentioned that! “You sound like an expert. How many children do you have?”

  “Four. We were going to stop after three, but the last was a surprise. Twins.”