Animal Instincts (Entangled Ignite) (21 page)

The dealer threw up his hands. “Then what does she want?”

“I want Shade’s soul!”

“He can’t give it to you, because you already have it.”

I glanced from her to Luc. “What is she talking about?”

He shrugged. “Beats me.”

“You’re wearing it.” Nuala said. “It’s in the pendant.”

I pulled it free of my T-shirt and stared at the sea glass that was glowing softly at me. Was it possible that was my brother’s soul? That I’d had it all along, even before he died? “How?”

Luc looked from me to his sister. “That’s
your
pendant.”

“Let’s get away from here,” Nuala said, “and I’ll tell you everything.”

“Wait a minute. I still get whatever I desire, don’t I?” I asked the dealer.

As if needing confirmation, he turned to Luc, who said, “She does.”

“Okay, then what?” the dealer returned.

“I want The Company to stop any kind of violence aimed at corrupting humans in this city, starting with the fights, whether they be shifters or other animals.” I’d almost said
normal
animals, then thought again.

The dealer checked with Luc. “Can she ask for that?”

“She won. You have to give her anything she wants.”

“All right.”

To my surprise, he pulled out his smartphone and punched something in.

“Your demand is in the Boss’s in-box.”

Knowing Cezar wanted the shifter fights stopped anyway, I was sure he wouldn’t object. This was simply extra incentive. And it meant Cezar would have to find a way to stop the dogfights and any other animal fights that might be going on in the hidden recesses of the city. A bonus for the animals I loved. Maybe I wouldn’t have to spend so much time trailing the ACU.

“C’mon, I’ll take you home.” Luc said. “Let’s get you out of here.”

He took my arm and headed me toward the exit. His touch sent a longing through me that I couldn’t quash. But remembering how he’d left me earlier, I ripped my arm from his grip, took a deep breath, and glanced at Nuala on my other side.

“I’m not going anywhere until I hear what your sister has to tell me.”

“Let’s go over to the office area where we can talk privately,” Nuala said.

As we crossed through the noisy casino, where most guests seemed to be having a good time if their raised voices and laughter were any indication, I steeled myself against my feelings for Luc. So he didn’t want a future with me. I could handle that. I stared at the glass ceiling where fish swam toward the bright lights. Anything to get my mind off what I couldn’t have. I hated that I longed for him to pull me into his arms and tell me he was a fool. Okay, he
was
a fool to give up on us, but I didn’t think he was about to admit it. I believed Luc cared for me, but I also believed he was trying to get me out of the casino as fast as he could.

He was pushing me out of his life.

Touching the sea glass, I concentrated on my brother and what this might mean to him. If his soul could be restored, I hoped he would be able to pass on to wherever good souls went as he should have done when he’d died.

Once we were in the quieter area fronting the offices and out of hearing range of the casino guests and workers, I stopped. My stomach was churning.

“All right,” I said. “So tell me everything.”

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Luc had never felt so out of the loop when his sister started talking.

“A few days before he was murdered, Shade came to the high roller room against my advice. He was determined to get the information he needed to stop the shifter fights. To find out who was responsible for the deaths he’d been investigating. He didn’t listen to me, of course, and he lost.”

“Pop keeps the souls in his sea glass desk,” Luc said. “How did you get your hands on it?”

“I stole it from the desk when Pop wasn’t there. I transferred it to my sea glass pendant.”

“What if Pop finds out?”

“I don’t know and I don’t care. I loved Shade and I would have done anything for him. I still would if he was here with me. I can’t believe I finally found someone to love who loved me and in a flash, it was all gone.” She touched her stomach. “I least I have the baby.”

“But you fell in love with a human.”

Nuala simply looked at him as if she didn’t understand. “I never abandoned
you
, did I? Some people are worth fighting for.”

Skye cleared her throat. “The soul?” Her expression was strained, and he could tell she was purposely avoiding his eyes.

Nuala went on. “I hung the pendant around Shade’s neck and told him never to remove it. Of course he didn’t know why.”

“I’m not so sure about that. He gave it to me to protect me at that first shifter fight.” Skye held the sea glass in her hand and her expression was a combination of relief and understanding. “I think he knew or at least suspected all along. He had to feel the difference. I certainly have. Since wearing the pendant, I’ve been able to hear the thoughts of the Kindred in animal form. And in human form, like Shade did. Shade’s soul and my soul have been working together.”

A sudden commotion from inside the casino raised the small hairs on Luc’s neck.

“You’re not getting near one of my girls!” Beatrix’s strident voice was raised over the maniacal music of the slot machines.

“Mother?”

Nuala hurried toward the casino, but Luc bounded past her. What was his security team doing?

“You’re in business to make money!” a man yelled. “And I have enough to buy one of your whores for the night.”

Connelly.

Luc rounded the corner in time to see the cop trying to get past Nuala’s mother, whose arms were spread wide, blocking the elevators. A few nearby workers had turned to look, but the guests all seemed wrapped up in their bets.

Luc grabbed the man’s shoulder and jerked him around. “I told you never to come back here, Connelly.”

“You oughta watch who you’re ordering around. You’re not careful, I could close down this place.”

“Be careful who you threaten,” Beatrix said, pure venom in her voice. “I haven’t forgotten how you brutalized Katerina.”

Standing off to the side, Skye gasped. “Now I know what bothered me when I watched the footage on Shade’s cell.
You
were in the audience.” Coming closer, she looked as if she’d just put things together. “Nik said Doyle had plans for the future that included a human partner with political influence,” Skye went on, sounding absolutely sure of herself. “He meant
you
, Connelly.”

“You’re crazy! Your brother’s death put you off your rocker.”

A sudden emotional upheaval battered Luc, and he realized it came from Skye. She was gaping at the cop, her eyes widening as if she’d come to yet a new realization.

“Did you see my brother taking that footage of you?” she asked. “Proof that you were involved with the fights and the casino. You couldn’t let that get out or it would ruin you. It was
you
, wasn’t it?” She moved closer to him, her stricken gaze focused on his face. “You killed my brother.”

Just then, Ethan Grainger arrived. Shade’s partner carried paperwork that looked like a search warrant. He frowned when he spotted Connelly. “Lieutenant?”

Skye turned to Ethan. “You got here in time to arrest him for Shade’s murder.”

Connelly laughed. “She’s gone psycho on us.”

Ethan’s gaze narrowed on the other man, and he didn’t seem amused. “What are you doing here, Lieutenant?”

“Hey, so I like to gamble. Legally. Nothing against department regulations about it.”

“I looked at some of that footage on Shade’s cell,” Skye told Ethan. “Connelly was in the audience the night Shade was murdered. He might be gambling legally, but being at that fight is a felony. Shade could have put him away.”

“Hey, she’s crazy!” said a wild-eyed Connelly.
They found the cell? Fucking Cross! I should have killed him sooner. How am I going to get out of this?

The man’s thoughts confirmed Skye’s accusation. The sudden urge to shift and take revenge nearly overpowered Luc. Connelly had killed her brother and had tried to kill his mother, as well. Luc could see that both Nuala and Beatrix were privy to the man’s thoughts. They were staring at him as if he was an insect that needed to be crushed. Then Nuala’s eyes filled with tears and the bones in her face distended.

Luc put his hand on her arm.
Get hold of yourself. Don’t shift.
He could feel her struggle, but she did as he ordered.

“He did it,” Nuala told Ethan. “I heard him say he should have killed Shade sooner.”

Connelly grabbed Skye, levering an arm around her neck. “You can’t prove anything!” He started dragging her back past the rows of slot machines toward the habitat. “Stay where you are. I’ll break her neck unless you let me leave right now.”

Luc could sense that Skye’s renewed grief and shock had momentarily taken the fight out of her. Fury engulfing him, he waved at one of the slot machine stools behind Connelly, and it went flying hard into the man’s back. The murderer lost his grip on Skye, and she tore herself away from him as Luc sifted, appearing a second later behind the man.

When Connelly turned, it was into Luc’s fist. Blood spurted from his nose and he went down fast.

“What the Hades is going on out here?”

Luc looked away long enough to see Pop coming from his office into the casino.

Long enough for Connelly to lunge for freedom straight toward the habitat.

“He killed Shade,” Nuala told Pop.

“Then he’s the one who tried to kill Elizabeth.”
The habitat, you bastard, run straight inside!

Hearing Pop’s silent command, Luc glanced back. A dark aura encasing him, Pop looked scarier than Luc had ever seen him. His eyes glowed spookily in a drawn face and he was reaching out with his right hand, sending waves of energy to control Connelly’s actions.

Skye caught up to him as Connelly went straight through the wall of glass. It shimmered around him. A wild dog immediately moved out from behind a rock and licked its chops. Skye gripped Luc’s arm hard, but she didn’t say a word as Pop choreographed Connelly’s demise.

He’s responsible for what happened to Jez and Hank and the other shifters who died. Don’t let him get away.

The human part of Luc wondered if he should do something to stop this, but he couldn’t move. If Connelly had been correct that Ethan couldn’t prove anything, how would justice ever be served in Skye’s eyes? Connelly would get away with her brother’s murder.

So, a sick feeling in his gut, Luc stood his ground and watched.

As if finally realizing he’d put himself in a much worse sort of danger, Connelly tried to get out of the habitat, but no matter how hard he pounded, the glass wall wouldn’t give. His face a mask of terror, he turned, his back now against the transparent wall, a pack of predators surrounding him.

Luc glanced at Ethan to see what he would do. The cop had put a steadying arm around Nuala’s back. He seemed mesmerized by the action in the habitat but unwilling to interfere.

Even at a distance, Luc could sense Connelly’s desperation. The man pushed off the glass wall and ran. The predators followed. A panther brushed him as if taunting him. A coyote nipped at his heels. He ran until a tiger lunged from a low tree limb and grabbed him by the head.

Connelly went down and quickly disappeared beneath the writhing bodies of the predators.

Tear him apart,
Pop ordered.
Don’t leave anything left to identify.

Reminded of his kills in Iraq, Luc couldn’t look. He turned away and pulled Skye to him, sheltering her from what he knew would be a horrendous sight.

…

My heart in my throat, I stayed in the protection of Luc’s arms for what seemed like forever, but what was in fact only a few minutes. I’d heard Cezar’s orders given to the predators. As shocking as Connelly’s manner of death should be to me, I didn’t know how else justice could have been served.

Luc let go. “It’s over.”

His eyes had turned a molten silver, and contrary to his claim after the shifter fight that there was “no together for us,” they slid over me possessively. My pulse thudded and the possibility that he’d rethought his decision stirred hope in my heart.

And then Cezar called, “Luc,” and waved his son to come with him as he headed for his office. With barely a nod to me, Luc followed.

I gaped at his back. Knowing I might never see him again, I felt my broken heart crumbling to bits. So this was it, then. My eyes stung with tears, but my anger with him was as great as my disappointment. I wanted to tell him what a fool he was, but I refused to cry.

In a daze, I looked around. Beatrix was already gone. Only Nuala and Ethan remained. Nuala appeared a little too calm. I sensed that she was glad the man who’d killed my brother was dead. Ethan, on the other hand, appeared to be a bundle of warring emotions.

“Now what?” I asked Ethan.

“What the hell. I guess I should make out a report.”

“About what?” Nuala asked. “Do you really think there’ll be any evidence left to find in the habitat?”

Ethan ran a hand through his hair and shook his head. “How would I even make anyone believe me?”

I somehow held it together. “Now you know why Shade didn’t tell you what he was investigating.”

Guests were milling about the habitat but leaving the area clearly disappointed.

“Connelly, of all people,” Ethan said. “I never would have guessed.”

I thought back. “I should have guessed the day I went to see Luc’s mother. Shade was joined with Boomer. Connelly pulled up as we were leaving. Boomer went crazy as if he hated the man. Shade couldn’t remember why.”

Ethan slapped the search warrant across his other hand. “I have to account for this search warrant, I have to make some kind of report. And the investigation about Shade’s murder will go on and on.”

“What if you saw and heard what went on just as you did,” Nuala said, “but say in the end that Connelly ran and you lost him?”

I added, “His car has to be here in the lot, which will add credence to your story.”

“Yeah, but how did he get away?”

“We’ll think of something if we need to,” I assured him.

I could tell Ethan didn’t like it. But what else could we do?

He nodded. “You think Shade will be able to move on now that his murder is solved?”

“I hope so.” That and my brother’s soul being returned to him, though I didn’t clarify. Ethan was already on woo-woo overload. I had to get home and let Shade know what had happened.

Ethan gave me a quick hug. “Tell Shade I’ll meet him for a beer in the next life.” Another hug and he left.

Nuala gripped my arm. “I want to see him. I don’t care if Shade remembers me or not. I have to see him one last time before he’s gone forever. Please.”

If Nuala had been devoid of emotion over Connelly’s demise, that certainly wasn’t the case now. Pain was clear in her eyes. In my heart, I knew she deserved the chance to say good-bye, whether Shade remembered what they’d meant to each other or not.

“All right. Let’s go tell Shade everything.”

And then I would have to let him go.