Addict (2 page)

“Your father fought that instinct, too, Kelsey.” Zack’s eyes were a warm chocolate brown. My eyes. I’d always hated them because they weren’t like my brothers’ green eyes. It was good to see the familiar in my uncle’s face. And I was glad to hear him talk about my father. “He tried really hard to not be anything like your grandfather. It’s good to see you’re carrying on the family tradition. I thought I could show you some pictures tomorrow night, maybe some home movies, though I should warn you he mostly growls during those. I know this has been a shock for you, but I would like to be your uncle. I would really like to teach you about your father.”

Three months of focused meditation had changed my mind about a lot of things. “I would love to see a picture of him and hear stories. I will admit it’s hard to think of you as my uncle. You look younger than me.”

“I’m thirty-four.” Zack took his master’s blood on a weekly basis. The queen, who also took the king’s blood, had explained that Daniel Donovan’s blood was better than Botox. “Oh, I get carded when I try to buy beer, but I am most definitely thirty-four years old. I suppose if Lee had known about you, we would have been more like brother and sister than uncle and niece. He didn’t though, and I feel a definite paternal responsibility toward you. You should have caught me before I had a daughter of my own. I might have been the cool uncle then. Now I’m the uncle who really wants to know who you’re sleeping with so I can run a background check on him.” I stared at him and Zack’s eyes narrowed. “Kelsey, you have to have Council approval for a long-term relationship.”

“I thought that was just for humans.” I wondered if this was why Marcus had decided to sleep in. He’d said it was because I should meet with the king on my own the first time, but what if he’d wanted to avoid a scene? All my carefully constructed, calm inner walls started to shake a bit. I was good right now. I was stable. If Marcus left me, I had to deal with a whole lot of shit I wasn’t ready to deal with at this point.

The brown-haired man who looked so much like a male version of me sighed. “The king thinks you’re too valuable to risk. Anyone sleeping with you on a more than casual basis needs to be approved. I’ve tried very hard to respect your privacy, but I can’t now.”

A flare of righteous anger flamed inside me. I was still smarting from my last meeting with the king. “You mean Donovan thinks I’m too dangerous to risk hurting someone.”

“No, he thinks you’re in a delicate state,” Zack tried to explain patiently. “You’re very important, and he doesn’t want the wrong person to influence you. There are a lot of people who would love to see you out of the king’s influence. I’m afraid the king doesn’t particularly think you have good taste in men.”

My heart hitched at the thought of Grayson Sloane. I could still see him in my mind, his big, beautiful body ingrained in my memory. Gray haunted my dreams. The truth was I should be glad I was going to live in the Council’s complex. It would give me access to the library. I wanted to read up on contracts. My ex-honey was a “legacy” demon, meaning he’d been born under a contract. Gray’s mother had agreed to give birth to him and signed a contract that gave Gray thirty-five years on the Earth plane. When that time was done, he would reside with his father on the Hell plane.

I meant to get his hot ass out of that contract.

“So you can see how anyone with as much influence on you as a boyfriend is going to be carefully vetted for a while,” Zack concluded.

My cell phone trilled and I started at the sound. I slid my finger across the screen to answer it without thinking. “Hello?”

“What is wrong
, cara mia
?” Marcus’s deep voice was soothing even over the phone. “I was pulled from a nice dream about you. You’re agitated. Has the king already made you anxious?”

“No.” I hadn’t realized our connection worked over such a long distance. I hadn’t done anything to shield my emotions. We were twenty miles from each other, but Marcus felt my anxiety. “I haven’t even made it to the Council building yet. I was talking to Zack about our living arrangements. It occurred to me there could be trouble.”

“Ah.” I could see his face. He would be giving me that half smile I found devastatingly sexy. “You’re worried about the apartments?
Bella
, if they don’t suit you, I will simply have them redecorated. Devinshea is usually thorough. I doubt he refused us our list. I already received confirmation that our clothes and the furnishings from Venice arrived. Everything will be ready for you.”

“That wasn’t what I was afraid of.” It was useless to lie to Marcus and I didn’t even want to. “Zack wants me to fill out the paperwork to get our relationship approved by the Council.”

There was a long pause. “Is he serious?”

“He seems serious to me.” I glanced at my uncle. Yep, there was all kinds of seriousness there.

“But we are both known to the Council. Why should they have any say over our personal relationship?”

“They’re worried about outside influences.”

Marcus cursed. He did it often, but only in Italian. “I did not foresee this. It never once occurred to me that they would question our relationship. I should have known. None of the Council has ever met a Hunter, much less have a true understanding of how the training works. I’ll get dressed and I’ll join you as soon as I can. I’ll call the king and demand a meeting.”

“Hey. It’s fine, baby.” It was nice to be the calm one for once. Marcus sounded almost desperate. I was the one now getting the fine edge of his anxiety. Maybe it was reasonable that they didn’t know. Marcus had explained everything to me, that our closeness was almost inevitable. I suppose Donovan and the rest of the crew might think Marcus and I were an odd couple. “I wasn’t worried about them keeping us apart. I’ve been with you for months. I don’t think you could influence me more if you tried. I was worried…”

“You were worried I was leaving?” Marcus sounded a bit incredulous. “That’s ridiculous,
cara mia
. I have no desire to leave you. As I said before, only this morning I was dreaming of you. I adore you,
bella
.
Ti penso sempre.
”

I am always thinking of you. I’d learned some Italian. It mostly concerned dirty words and love phrases. I could also order a gelato.

“I’m crazy about you, too,” I said with a smile in my voice, thinking about how he’d adored me last night. There was a reason he was still in bed. “Don’t worry. I’ll take care of it. I’ll fill out their dumb paperwork. It’s a stupid formality. I’ll see you tonight.”

“All right, if you’re sure.” I heard the yawn he tried to politely suppress. I could see him stretching his magnificently masculine body. The sheets would tangle around him and show off his lean strength. “I have many things to do before I head out to Dallas.
Cara
, if you do not mind…”

I laughed into the phone. This had become a daily ritual for us in Italy. I shouldn’t have been surprised he would ask here. The man liked the flavor of coffee. “I’ll see what I can do, but it won’t be the same. You’ll have to get used to the American version.”

I disconnected the call, and Zack was looking at me, pen in hand.

“So Marcus Vorenus then,” my uncle said as he filled in the name. “I’ve always liked Marcus, myself, but Dev is going to be upset. He thought he’d gotten rid of him. Maybe I’ll just shuffle this paperwork through. Dev can find out all on his own.”

That faery was going to have to get with the program or he would be dealing with me. Donovan’s partner had issues with my lover, and I wasn’t sure exactly what the problem was. Initially I’d thought it was because Marcus had an affair with the wife Dev Quinn shared with the king, but I’d come to believe Marcus had never actually touched Zoey Donovan-Quinn. Whatever his problem was, I wouldn’t let it affect the only healthy relationship I’d ever had with a man. “He’ll get used to it. We need to find a Starbucks. Marcus is a grump until he’s had an espresso.”

Zack’s eyebrows arched curiously, but he gave the driver the instruction anyway. I knew he was waiting for an explanation, but none was forthcoming. I liked to maintain a little mystery.

Zack set aside the paperwork and leaned back in his seat, casually crossing his legs. “You have a long list of people requesting meetings. I have your training schedule, and we need to decide who’s getting your consult time. Dev was serious about you being the Council’s in-house investigator. You have potential clients piling up.”

I sat up straighter. I was anxious to get back to work. I’d been worried that the king would force me to “train” ten hours a day and leave me with no way to make a living. I was the mistress of a billionaire, but I wanted to earn my way. I wasn’t stupid. My relationship with Marcus wouldn’t last forever. I needed something to fall back on. Besides I liked my work. “Anything interesting?”

“I think you’ll be very interested in some of them.” He pulled out a sheet of paper and passed it to me.

I studied my schedule, which seemed super extensive. Pretty much every minute of my day for the next three weeks was scheduled. There were no blank spaces on that piece of paper. “Tell me he’s kidding.”

“Dev never kids about a schedule.”

“When am I supposed to work on a case?” That damn faery had me training on every weapon known to man. I was attending some form of therapy. He’d enrolled me in a class titled “Magical Creatures and How to Destroy Them.” I had a personal trainer and daily hour and a half sessions with her. I looked up to my uncle with a bit of panic in my eyes. “When do I take a nap?”

He nodded sagely. Werewolves understood the need to work in a good nap. “I’ll look into it. As for your caseload, you have an assistant and an hour blocked off from six to seven. We’ll move it when daylight savings kicks in. You have to keep your office hours at night. Most of the supernatural world is nocturnal.”

“I’ll get so much done that way,” I groused. An hour wasn’t enough. Did Dev think I could simply listen to a problem and solve it? I wasn’t psychic. Detecting took time.

The limo pulled into the parking lot of Starbucks. It wouldn’t fit into the curved drive-through. That was fine with me. I hopped out of the car as Zack’s cell rang.

“It’s my master,” he said, touching the
accept call
button. “Hey, get me a latte, will you? And maybe some of those cookies that look like tiny sliced breads? And see if they have scones. Hello, master…”

I shook my head and wondered if Starbucks was really prepared for a couple of wolves. I doubted it. A red Porsche pulled into the slot next to the front door as I breezed through, letting the smell of coffee wash over my newly opened senses. I held the door open for the man who had gotten out of the Porsche. He was tall and lanky with dark eyes.

“Thank you, love.” And he had an upper-crust British accent. I was surrounded by Euros even back in the States.

I ordered two espressos since it seemed I’d need an enormous amount of energy to get through the day Quinn had planned for me. Along with Zack’s venti latte, I bought up most of the baked goods and a chicken salad sandwich. My tummy was grumbling. The breakfast Lucia had fixed was gone now, and it seemed like it would be a while before Quinn scheduled in some food. We were going to have to talk about my snack schedule.

The wide-eyed barista promised to pack everything up, and I headed to the bathroom while my order was being prepared. I took care of business and then washed my hands, catching a glimpse of myself.

I stared at the girl in the mirror. She seemed slightly foreign to me. I sometimes didn’t recognize the vibrant face that stared back at me. This girl looked well taken care of. She smiled readily and laughed often. She was a woman who joked with her lover and didn’t hesitate to jump him when she felt the need. My dark-brown hair was thick and for the first time in my life cut into something fashionable. I had playfully pushed Lucia out of the way to apply my mascara this morning. She’d shoved right back because Marcus was right about the single, tiny bathroom in my house. I’d begun to actually give a crap about properly applied makeup. I still didn’t wear much, just mascara and some lip-gloss, but it made a difference.

Things were going to change now that I was back in the States. I didn’t get to simply be Marcus’s protégée. For months he’d coddled and protected me even while we trained. For months I hadn’t worried about anything but when dinner was or how my meditation sessions were going. I’d let the world slide away, and here I was back in it.

Sighing, I realized I was going to have to change again. I had to find a way to balance this happy, carefree woman with the
Nex Apparatus
I was going to become.

I had to find a way to live with the fact that I hadn’t talked to my mother or Nate or Liv in months.

Or Gray Sloane. Yeah, I really tried not to think about him.

Pocketing my gloss, I headed back out to pick up my enormous bag of food and caffeine. I nearly ran into the dark-haired Brit.

“Excuse me,” I said with a smile.

“Not a problem, love.” He stepped back, gallantly giving me space. “I think you shocked the staff with your order. They’re busy trying to replace the biscotti.”

“Probably should have called ahead, but you never know when the urge for biscotti and scones is going to hit, do you?” I asked, flirting a little.

He was an attractive man with well-formed lips, and he obviously had a flair for fashion. Unfortunately, he was also setting off my gaydar. It was perfectly fine to flirt with a boy who liked boys.

“I’m happy to find a place that properly brews tea. If I don’t order iced tea, I get a sad bag shoved in lukewarm water.” He shuddered at the thought.

“We’re not big on hot tea here,” I admitted. “And that’s a shame. I developed a taste for Earl Grey while I was in Italy.”

The man smiled, but suddenly it didn’t seem so friendly. “Yes, but then I’m sure Marcus Vorenus would only spring for the best for his mistress. Tell me something, Ms. Atwood. Does the king know you’re fucking his former patron?”

In the dim light of the hall, his eyes seemed the slightest bit red. I was really going to have to work on the whole integration thing. At least depressed Kelsey wouldn’t have spent time flirting with a freaking demon.