Authors: Crystal Jordan

Night Games (2 page)

BOOK: Night Games

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Her husband had looked at her that way.

She tamped down on that thought and took her place to wait for Tess and Chloe. Selina hadn’t thought about her marriage in decades, maybe longer. She wasn’t one to dredge up the past. She’d found that holding on to it would make her crazy.

But today seemed designed to remind her that she was alone and she hadn’t always been.

Tess joined her, studiously avoiding looking at the groom’s side, specifically a tall vampire. The small orchestra Millie had hired seemed to grow louder as Chloe walked down the aisle, arm-in-arm with her aunt.

Everything passed in a blur from there, for which Selina was grateful. The ceremony was brief, thank gods, and at the end Merek dipped his new wife into a deep bend and kissed her thoroughly while a raucous cheer went up from the crowd. They hurried up the aisle, Alex escorting Tess behind them. Cavalli offered Selina his arm, and she curled her hand into the crook of his elbow.

Tess was the one stuck giving the toast on the bride’s side, and Alex’s speech as the best man made Chloe cry and hug him tight. The couple’s first dance was the first time Selina was completely out of the limelight, and she heaved a sigh of relief as she blended into the crowd and just watched them have their moment.

Alex sidled up beside her and nudged her in the ribs. “You look hot.”

She cracked up and almost snorted champagne through her nose. “You sound like your godmother.”

“Yeah, well.” He shrugged, his pale green eyes gleaming. “She raised me right, what can I say?”

“How old are you, kid?” He was tall and broad, not an ounce of baby fat left on him. His face was lean, his tanned skin and dark hair a sharp contrast to his eyes. She’d bet he made all the teenaged girls swoon.

“Sixteen. Seventeen in a month or so. My birthday is right after graduation.”

“So if you’re this super-genius, how are you still in high school?” From what Merek had said, the kid could hack anything with a power switch, and had a photographic memory to match.

He rubbed a finger over the bridge of his nose. “Yeah, there’s a story behind that.”

“Uh-huh.” She waved toward the swaying couple in the middle of the dance floor. “I’ve got nothing better to do but listen.”

Besides, from what little she’d seen of the kid, he wasn’t particularly chatty with anyone he didn’t know well. Apparently, all the wedding planning and rehearsals they’d attended in the last few months meant he’d decided he liked her. She was touched. But maybe that was just the champagne.

“I wanted to know what it was like.” There was no uncertainty in his voice when he spoke, no excuses. He’d done what he’d done and that was the end of it. Very unusual for a kid his age, but Merek had made it clear that Alex was no ordinary teenager. She believed him now.

She tilted her head. “You wanted to know what high school was like?”

“Yeah. Dating, prom, graduation.” One shoulder dipped in a shrug. “You know, normal kid stuff.”

“When you’re a super-genius teen wolf, you just want to be Normal?”

“Something like that.” He snorted. “My dad didn’t care what I did, as long as I stayed out of trouble. When Chloe took me in and found out I was deliberately slowing my education, she put her foot down and made me graduate this year.” He slid his hands into his pockets and shrugged again. “I’ve been taking extra classes from the local community college and the University of Washington since I was ten, so I’m almost done with a couple of degrees anyway.”

He said it so casually, it took her a moment to process his words. “A
couple
of degrees?”

“Well, I was interested in a lot of things. Computer science, biology, mechanical engineering, mathematics, Russian, Hindi.”

Her lips twitched and she tried not to laugh. “Is that all?”

“I have a couple of minors, too. Anthropology, chemistry, oceanography, aeronautics and astronautics.” His dark brows scrunched together for a moment. “I’m pretty sure that’s all of them.”

“So, basically, if you can think of it, you can build it ... computers, cars, submarines, planes, and spaceships?”

He chuckled. “More or less. I’ll probably complete those undergrad degrees in a few semesters, and I think I’m going to focus my graduate studies on computer science and cryptography.”

“How long do you think it’ll take you to finish? A week?”

He nodded sagely. “Maybe a week and a half.”

Giving in to the urge to chuckle, she reached out and snagged a fresh glass of champagne from a passing waiter. Bless Millie and her open bar policies for this shindig.

“Leave me alone, Special Agent Cavalli. I may have to deal with you at work, but I’m off duty right now.” The low, angry hiss of voices drew her attention away from the dance floor. A few feet away, Luca and Tess stood glaring at each other.

The vampire’s gaze flashed red for a moment, but that was the only indicator that he was upset. His voice was as smooth as ever, with only a hint of his native Italy. “We still have a great deal to discuss.”

“That’s funny, because I have nothing left to say to you. What we had is over and has been for months. Get over it and move on, Luca, for both our sakes. Quit beating a dead horse.”

Alex obviously noticed the couple’s spat, too, because he made a small noise in the back of his throat. His telepathic voice echoed in Selina’s head.
Glad everyone is on their best behavior today. I’ve seen those two really go at it a couple of times since she joined the Seattle pack.

Tess turned her face away and deliberately did not look at Cavalli, while the man stared at her with painful longing in his eyes.

“As you wish,
mia diletta.
” Then he sighed and disappeared into the crowd.

Thank gods that unrequited love was an affliction long behind her. Selina shuddered in horror. She was too old for that shit. Give her a proper villain to shoot at any day. Anything but lovesickness.

How many hours did she have left before she could slip away from this party unnoticed? Quite a few, considering she was a bridesmaid. Damn it. She was ready to be home with a cup of coffee, her German shepherd familiar curled at her feet, and a stack of case files from work to go through. Then she could put the past back where it belonged. Behind her and not jumping up to haunt her at every turn.

“They want the wedding people to dance now. I’m not dealing with pissed-off Tess and Luca. Let’s go.” Alex grabbed Selina’s elbow and drew her out onto the dance floor. Merek handed Chloe off to Luca, and Tess took the groom’s hand.

Selina released a sigh. Well, that was handled about as well as could be expected. She let Alex steer her around in a waltz, and the kid managed to only step on her toes once. She’d been trampled a lot worse, but she was more than happy to step aside and let Millie take a spin with the best man. Other wedding guests joined in and soon she faded into the background again to observe. Then her boss asked her to dance, and it wasn’t as if she had a choice, so she acquiesced. Apparently, every cop there wanted a chance to tell her she looked pretty in her dress. Harassing other officers was part of cop culture, but tonight it just made her want to punch them in the nose. She forced herself to smile and keep dancing for several hours. Killing people at a wedding would be bad form.

Her toes hurt like a bitch, she wanted to burn this outfit along with the pointy shoes, and every time she caught a glimpse of the happy couple, she flashed back to her own wedding day. She saw her family in their finery, little Bess bouncing off the walls in excitement, her new husband’s warm smile. Hot pain seared through her chest, and she swallowed hard. What she wouldn’t give for some of that ice she was so famous for, but she felt anything but cold-blooded and logical tonight.

She didn’t want to think about that. It had been so long ago. She’d been so young, so happy, so sure she’d be that happy for decades to come.

Instead, he’d died and left her alone after a handful of sweet years.

“I’ll see you later,” she said to her dance partner, and he grunted in response. She eased herself through the throngs toward the bartender and all his nice bottles of distraction.

Even better, she saw a muscular man stepping up to the bar in front of her, and the sight was delicious. His slacks hugged a very nice ass, and his shirt fit his broad shoulders just right. A wicked smile curved her lips.

Hey, she’d been around long enough to know when to just stop and enjoy the view.

There was nothing like this kind of shindig to remind people of everything they weren’t.

On any other day, Jack could give a flying rat’s ass about being the only Normal human in a crowd of Magickals. It was a role he’d gotten used to since his mother married a werewolf when he was in junior high. His normality was the very reason he’d been recruited into the FBI’s Magickal Crimes Unit. Luca wanted an agent who could fly under the radar of Magickal senses, and someone who could give a different perspective to the MCU. Jack had never regretted his decision to join up and get drawn back into the world of magic, but fancy parties like this, where all the Magickal elite congregated, definitely had a way of pointing out exactly how different he was from everyone in his life.

Hell, even his mother had gone over to the fanged side.

He took a last swig of scotch, handed the glass over to the bartender, and tugged at his tie, doing his damndest not to feel conspicuous. The only way this could be worse was if he’d been stuck in the wedding party. Thankfully, Merek hadn’t done that to him. Cavalli had landed that particular honor in the unit.

The booze was good, at least. Chloe’s aunt knew how to throw a party. But she’d also invited a veritable who’s who of Magickals. Even a human could feel the buzz of powerful magic in the place. Many of these people were centuries old, and those years to hone their abilities showed, even if most of them looked no older than he did. Late thirties, early forties. He had no idea why magic made them all stop aging when they hit adulthood, but it sent a chill down the spine at times to look into eyes that had seen far too much for far too long. By human standards anyway.

He sighed and nodded to the bartender when the man set a fresh glass of whiskey in front of him. “Thanks.”

“I’d like another champagne, please.”

The woman’s smoky voice made the hairs rise on the back of Jack’s neck, awareness sliding through him. Her perfume was as rich and heady as her voice. He turned to look at her, hoping that the visual was as good. It’d be a damn shame for a woman to sound that sexy if the rest of the package didn’t match.

It did. The woman was slender, but the dress she wore hugged every single one of the curves she had. Her hair was dark and short, tucked behind one ear to show the elfish point. When she met his gaze, the awareness burned into something much hotter. Jesus, she was even more gorgeous than he’d remembered.

“Hi.” He let his smile widen slowly as he met her dark gaze. “Selina Grayson, right?”

“Hello.”

She gave him the kind of glance that said he looked vaguely familiar, and it took her a moment to place where she’d seen him. Though he hadn’t spoken to her before tonight, he’d never forget the first time he’d seen her, months ago. At the hospital after Tess, Chloe, and her godson were attacked by werewolf terrorists. The entire MCU had been called in to clean up the mess and track down the fleeing members of that terrorist cell. Including its leader, Leonard Smith. The wolf had been one of the most wanted criminals on Magickal watch lists. Until Merek had put a bullet through his skull. Jack had been there for that day, had been close enough to Smith at the time to be sprayed by the hot blood.

Her chin dipped in a nod. “You’re one of Cavalli’s men, right?”

“I’m on his team, yeah. I’m Jack Laramie.” He toasted her with his glass. “And you’re Merek’s old partner.” He winced a bit. “Sorry, I mean
former
partner.”

“Old is probably more accurate.” Her laugh was rich, sensual, and she looked him over with enough interest to make his heart rate bump up a notch. “Call me Selina, Jack.”

He let his smile spread, and his gaze moved over her body with as much thoroughness as she’d used on him. “You don’t look that old to me, but I’m a Normal so I’ve always been bad at judging these things with Magickals.”

She blinked, then blinked again, as if she were trying to get her mind to process that. “Cavalli has a
Normal
on his Magickal law enforcement team? Is that even legal?”

Most people just thought those questions. They didn’t blatantly ask them, at least not to his face. Those who did were usually dicks about it. His mouth twisted in a smile. “Yes, he’s allowed to do that. He didn’t break any secrecy laws—my stepfather is a Magickal, so I already knew about magic. I just can’t work it.”

“Sorry,” she said, though she didn’t look at all remorseful. “There’s really not a tactful way to ask about that.”

“If there is, no one’s used it on me yet.”

“Ouch.” She gave a little wince of sympathy.

BOOK: Night Games

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