Page 19 of A Drink of Destiny
“We have to get you some help, sir,” the dragoness said, looking around as if the medics should’ve already been here. “What’s your name?”
“Arrow,” the bear croaked out.
“Is there anyone you want me to call?” she asked.
“No. I have to get back to my friend,” he said and almost shook his head again, but stopped himself.
“Aren’t you supposed to be there now? How did you know Sharon would be here?” I whispered.
“Heard them talking. Knew what was going on. I almost had her. She saw me at the last minute. I had a tranq with me,” he said, glancing around for the syringe.
I took a minute to look around for it while Arrow told the dragoness that he didn’t want the medics to come because his coworkers didn’t need to know he was an omega. He’d spent too long building up his career for it to fall apart because he was an omega.
“I’ll eat them if they try that shit,” the dragoness said and swore under her breath as Arrow tried to sit up. “If you’re a medic you know better than to try to move right now.”
“Let them know where I am,” Arrow sighed, resigning himself to his fate as sirens blared in the distance.
London was once again on high guard for Sharon Claudis. How did you catch someone who could astral project a physical form? Poor Arrow. All this work and pain and his tranq probably wouldn’t have done a damn thing.
Chapter Twelve
Alvis
Moonscale London
We offered to meet the others at the hospital as soon as Nic texted us that Arrow was on his way there after trying to capture Sharon Claudis single-handedly. Nic asked us to remain with his mother, and I didn’t blame him. I wouldn’t want my mother alone so soon after being freed from a crazy woman’s clutches either. Instead, I put Arrick and Raiel to work searching for where Beal and Nic kept the herbs. Nic wasn’t the most magical person alive but since I knew he used Crilus’s services a few times, I’d say he dabbled.
While they searched out my shopping list, I helped Annila change her bedding before she headed for the shower. I suggested that she keep the door open while assuring her that if I caught a peek of anything she had, it would do nothing for me. I was into guys and right now I was only into one guy. She shrugged off my words, and I was reminded that some shifters really didn’t care about nudity.
With everyone else busy, I pulled out my phone and opened the MageDoor delivery app. It was like one of those apps you can use to order from almost any restaurant or combination thereof, but for magic supplies. I was going to make a charm to keep Sharon off Annila and then I was going to make damn sure Mori knew how to keep the dead wolf from snatching him up all willy-nilly. The last thing we needed was someone else held hostage in a strange place. It took me nearly forty-five minutes to add everything I needed to the cart. The shopper would need to hit six stores, so I made sure to tip like I meant it. Annila was stillin the shower and if I hadn’t heard her humming, I would’ve worried that somehow Sharon had taken her again.
Since I still had time to kill, I scrubbed her blood off the floor and dried everything up. As a vampire, I was somewhat of an expert at cleaning up blood off everything. It was the danger of having a mostly crimson diet. Raiel and Arrick turned up empty-handed, and I made a note on my phone to recommend some herbs for Nic to keep on hand. Technically, my work was done once I crafted the amulet. Annila was awake, we knew why, and how to stop it. Though, Sharon Claudis hadn’t been captured and when I made my official report to Clarence Moonscale, I’d only inform him that perhaps he’d underestimated how dangerous the shebear was.
I sent the alphas downstairs to rustle up something to eat that wasn’t a frozen pizza. It killed me to keep sending my mate on errands, but it was so hard to think with his eyes on me. I wanted to go back to when his dick was in my mouth and the taste of his blood danced on my tongue. I needed him so much it hurt. I pushed my longings aside and sketched out the amulet. Part of me wanted to be funny. I could just draw a no-smoking sign and replace the light cigarette with a picture of a bear. It would work but I wasn’t sure Annila wanted to go around wearing that all the time. It might come across as a little speciesist. Instead I sketched out an intricate vine design that would act as a net for magic while keeping Annila under her own influence.
She came out of the bathroom with wet hair and wearing a knee-length yellow sundress while I worked at her makeup table. I vacated the chair as soon as she came out because never once had I seen a photograph of the owner of the huge cosmetics company without a full face of makeup on.
“I know that Nic has contracted you and likely paid you very handsomely for your assistance, but once the dust settles, I’d liketo put you and Raiel up somewhere nice for your matingmoon. While I’ve never met my true-mate, I’ve seen what happens when newly met mates put off acknowledging their connection. It gets messy not to mention stressful. Then I’d like to hire you to help find Sharon. After your matingmoon, of course. You’ve done more in a day than the rest of them have managed, Alvis. Maybe it’s your age or experience. Perhaps, she just can’t see you coming because you’re a vampire. But I’m free now and I’d like to stay that way. I’d also like the chance to do two things. First, I want to thank her for helping me come back to myself after I killed Topher. Then I want to punch her to the other side of London for hurting Arrow. I understand that this would take you away from sleep studies and your other clients, but I’d be willing to pay twice your daily rate. Three times if you really want to push it. I didn’t want to say anything while the others were here. The primal cats can take care of themselves, but they are naïve in some ways. Neither Beal nor Raiel can wrap their heads around the fact that some people like hurting kids or that some people don’t mind it at all.”
She put her makeup brush down and swung her legs around so that she sat on her vanity bench, face half done, facing me.
“Alvis, she wants to raise Baby Andy to be a sacrifice. She believes if she sacrifices someone a generation away from her – she’ll not only live forever but also absorb their magic. That’s why she wants to teach Baby Andy. It’s like a shopping trip to her. She wants to encourage him to learn all the magic she wants to er.. inherit when she dies. She wanted me to do the same thing with Little Antonio. She’s a bit obsessed with me, Alvis. She said as soon as she saw me carve out Topher’s heart she fell in love. That we were meant to be together because we understood what it took to accomplish greatness. The thing is, we both do know that. Well, we know how to get a point across but I’ve never harmed anyone. I believe my success has come from building upthose around me while she works hard to tear down everything everyone else has built.”
“That’s why her son didn’t want a kid,” I said, biting my lip.
“I’d guess so. So, I’d like to hire you. If you need a house in London, I’ll buy it. Of course, you and Raiel are welcome to continue staying here.”
“Annila, I’m honored,” I said, flashing her a soft smile.
“Then don’t say no,” she smiled back.
“But I’m not the guy for the job. Sure, I can be sneaky and test theories, but I’m a sleep specialist. Outside of that, I can calm people down and sort of force some emotion on them. You’re looking for someone like Mori.”
“Then hire him to help you out,” Annila shrugged. “Money will not be a problem. Let’s be honest Alvis, I don’t want you to kill her. I want her alive. I also don’t want her taken to the Moonscale guards. I want her brought here to me. I’m going to carve out her heart for everything she’s done to me and everything she tried to do to those babies. I can still feel Topher’s heart beating against my palm. It’s what kept me going while I was lost and confused. Hers will be a lovely addition to my collection and perhaps then people will stop toying with mine. She’s no different than Topher, trying to keep me apart from what I’ve worked for – what I’ve loved and cherished.”
I took a minute and let her words sink in. I almost asked if she was perhaps still enraged but the answer to that was almost certainly yes. Though, not in the medical sense of the word. Whatever they’d done to her, they’d changed her. I’d watched hours of interviews before agreeing to take the job to get a sense of who Annila was. Sure, people can fool the camera but her words felt sincere. Then again, almost everyone had one asshole whose heart they wouldn’t mind carving out with a spoon.
“It’s okay if you don’t understand where I’m coming from. I don’t need you to understand me, Alvis,” she said when I tooktoo long to answer. “I’ll pay whatever you need. Whatever you want. If it’s not money – maybe it’s property or college funds or opening doors for your other kids or whatever. Maybe it’s building a whole town for primal cats close to London. Maybe it’s whatever. The what doesn’t matter. I can do it. It’s new to me. This whole using my money and clout to have someone bring me someone to carve the heart out of is new to me, but I think I like it.”
