Dante's Dream (3 page)

Jax’s eyes grew wide and Brin held up his hand.  “No, they won
'
t come here.  So
far,
they have not been able to actually find the office.  It
'
s a spell that a witch put on the
building
.  I don’t
really
know how it
works;
all I know is that so far the Rogues have not been able to find me.”

Jax relaxed a little and then said, “I will take you up on the shower and food
.  I, um, was wondering though,
Quin said you would be able to get in touch with the New Council Senate.  I need to declare myself the Alpha of the Pack with
them,
so we will be recognized.  My father was getting ready to do it himself.  He said it was important
the
Pack be involved in the
future
.  I plan on doing just that.”

Brin noticed the determined look on her face.  She had been through hell and was thinking about what she had to do.  The strength was pouring off her.  He was
amazed;
she was still standing after the beating she looked like she took.  He wanted to ask her about it but was hesitant.  He had no clue how to ask the questions he needed to.  Shit, he
had
to call
Cat;
she would know what to do.

“Why don’t you get the shower, and I will warm up some food.  We can talk then
,
” Brin said softly and Jax looked at him for a long moment.  He felt like a bug under a microscope for a second.  She was trying to de
cide i
f
she could trust him, he could feel it.  Damn,
he was feeling all sorts of her
emotions
, it was fucking weird.
  How did he know all this shit?
  He was a human. 
Finally,
she nodded and then turned toward the door he had pointed out a few minutes ago.

“You are not going crazy
,
you know.  That is something I have been able to do since I shifted for the first time.  My mother said it was a gift from the
Gods; I
wasn’t sure.  Hearing so many people
'
s shit sometimes drive
s
me nuts.  I can read people
'
s thoughts. It has served me well, and my father. That
'
s why I know I
'
m the next Alpha, my father
thought
told it just befo
re he died,” she said softly,
turned and walked into the bathroom and shut the door.

Well shit
, he thought
,
and then closed his eyes. 
Don’t think
, he thought
,
and he heard her laugh in the bathroom
.
H
e shook his head and wal
ked into the small kitchenette,
p
ulling out food he had prepared this morning for himself.  Thank goodness he
always made extra just in case
someone came in. 

While he was heating up the meal, he picked up the phone and called Orfeo and his mates.  He needed to ask Cat what the fuck to do.
  She answered on the first ring like she had been waiting for his phone call.

“Hello
,
Brin,
” she
said softly.

“Cat, I need a little help here
,
” Brin said softly, like that would stop Jax from hearing him.  She was a fucking wolf
shifter;
she could hear him over the shower
,
no doubt.

“How is she doing?” Cat asked.

“She
'
s showering.  I need to know what questions to ask,
shit,
I have never been in this situation before.  And she says that we are mates.  I
'
m not sure what to do with that.”  He said warily running a hand over his face as he looked over the kitchen.

He loved his office. 
When he first found the space in the older part of town
,
he had been a little wary of
taking it
.  But the space was amazing.  He had four rooms total.  His office, the
secretary’s
office, the small
kitchenette
,
which
was fully functioning, and a conference room.  He
had
changed the conference room into a bedroom for when he
was busy
and needed to get some
shuteye
.  His apartment was across town in the nicer area of town.  But this gave him the freedom to have his clients come and go without any questions. 
In a larger commercial building
,
he would have had to explain to the security what the hell he was doing staying all night and having clients come in and out. 
This way, his security was a shifter agency
that
specialized in his type of needs.  The witch
that
put the wards over the office offered him a bit of advice.  She said using the back entrance for his clients would completely keep his
client's
identity
safe. 
 

Brin
,
of course
,
had taken the advice and called the building manager and asked for access to the back stairs.  It was locked and only he and the manager had the key, so he could unlock it during his business hours, and then lock it when it was not
needed,
or if he wanted to make sure that the clients had privacy.  The front doors were locked at six
o’clock
at
night,
so he was safe.  Thank the
Gods,
he
unlocked the
door earlier.

Brin had also had a shifter come in and decorate the office space to make it comfortable.  Brown
leather furniture adorned the
entire
office,
and the tan walls h
ad pictures of the outdoors.  His desk was his only vice, a heavy
,
rich
,
oak
desk, which
he had picked out the day he graduated from law school.  His chair was the same
color,
and a
dark-
red leather
cushion made him feel like he was
finally
a lawyer when he sat in it for the first time.

At
least,
the bathroom
was stocked
.  His secretary
,
a Fae woman, who usually worked with him, was off tonight because she was visiting family.  As luck would have it, Jax walked
through
the door with only him
t
here.  Heta, his secretary
,
would have been awesome in this situation.  She seemed to be able to put the
clients
at ease right when they walked through the door.

"What the fuck do you mean the daughter got away?” Roarke ground out. 

Diavolo shrugged his shoulders and looked around the
office; he
was getting bored with the man
'
s dramatics.  His bitch of a sister was sitting on the arm of his chair again.  He hated the woman.  Tina thought she actually had a say in what Roarke or Diavolo did.  She was a slug, a leech on the Rogues, one he would die to burn off.

“I told you what happened.  Your
idiot
lackeys thought it would be okay to have a few
Guinness
since they were in the area. 
The chick slipped away from them when they were passed out.  Do you fucking know how much those dipshits had to drink to actually have passed out? 
I was gone for six hours, and they went through what looked like three kegs. 
All they had to do was watch her, make sure she was drugged and unable to move
,
” Diavolo said and shook his head.

“Where are they?” Roarke said quietly.

“Dead, do you think I would let that
go?
  I left them with the rest of the Pack we killed as a lesson to everyone.  We will not tolerate mistakes.  Now, there
was
more of the Pack
that
escaped.  I brought back the ones who lived through the attack.  About ten of them, they are in the new cells.  We
should
be able to get
some
information out of them.  Besides
,
it sent a message to that asshole Orfeo, he is
not
going to escape the wrath he has brought down on him
,
”
t
he Vampire said and stood pacing in his anger.

Roarke narrowed his eyes as he looked at him
.
Diavolo didn’t like the way he was looking at him
,
like he had lost it or something.  Little fucker thought he was in charge still.  He wasn’t
,
Diavolo
did all the dirty work.  It was him who the dipshits looked to when they needed something.  Roarke was so interested in making money and gaining
power
among
the humans that this part of the
operation was on his shoulders, and now the little fucker was questioning
him?

Right, like the secretary he was abusing didn’t just vanish and leave with a lot of secrets.  This was just bullshsit and he was going to let the bastard know.

“You do not control me
,
” Diavolo said with a hard tone.  “I think maybe it is time to have a small discussion a
bout
what the fuck you think is going on
,
as opposed to what is really going on.  I am out in the damn field while you sit in your
nice
,
comfortable office playing Lord and Master over all
you
survey.  Well, that is not the case.  Your wolves are responding to me
now; they
are following me.  So if I suddenly decide that I am gonna leave this little partnership, you will be fucked.  Are we clear?  I am just coming back to fill you in a little before heading back out.  I kinda thought I was supposed to.”

Tina laughed and said, “Brother, I
say we kill the bloodsucker now
and be done with it, there are
plenty
more where he came from.”

“Don’t play with me little girl, you are as much a
bloodsucker
as I am, and I believe you would
not
want the twisted
,
little games you t
w
o play put out in the public.  I think you will do exactly what I say, and
we
'
ll be good. 
Partnerships
built on blackmail have a certain way of working out nicely
,
” Diavolo said and stood up.
“I think I will be going now.
R
emember, I will check in
,
but I don’t give a
flying
fuck what you say.  It would be best if you got your own house under control before you start
pointing
fingers
,
”
t
he Vampire said a
n
d then began walking out the door.

Roarke stood and moved his half
-
sister out of the way.  “Diavolo, it works both ways
,
you know.  I happen to know of a nice little recording the Vampires would all like to see about what you actually tried to do to their leader.  If you thought you were hated now, how would you like to go on
the most hunted list?
  I
'
m sure
they would
gladly stake you just as soon as look at you.”

The Vampire turned and glared at Roarke, then he nodded and left the room.  Roarke let out a sigh of relief.  He was not nearly as stupid a
s
his sister
,
who just kept pissing people off.  He felt her come to his
side,
but before she reached him
,
he turned and threw his arm out
,
back handing her across the face and yelling, “Bitch, you will not rui
n what has taken me years to do!
”

Tina was flown across the room by the sheer power of his hit.  She fell on the floor in
a
crumpled
heap
and laughed as she stood up.  Tina wiped the small trail of blood that came from her lip.  She held it up to her brother as she walked toward him.  When she reached him
,
she rubbed it on his lips until he opened his mouth for her.

“Brother dear, we need to have a lesson
,
” Tina said and grinned.