Tempting Gray - Untouchables 02 (7 page)

Gray frowned over this. e straightened at the
thought, eyes going flat.

“Are you a tracker?” he asked.

“W-well, yes I am.” She looked flustered and
unsure as she twiddled her fingers.

“How many cases have you worked?”

“I couldn’t say. I mostly do small things
around the pack,” she said.

Grayson glared at Zeke. “I thought you said she
was a better tracker than you are.”

“She is,” Zeke said, grinning.

“Then why has she never worked any real cases
before?” Gray asked.

“Let’s say some folks don’t like me,” Arabella
said. The name didn’t quite fit her, he thought. It sounded to pristine, too
conservative for a woman like her. She looked wild and free.

“Why? What’s wrong with you?” Grayson demanded.
He needed to know everything about her if he was to hire her.

She sucked in a breath. “There’s nothing wrong with
me.” Her eyes turned angry.

“My girl here is something special, let me tell
ya that,” Zeke said.

“Just tell me what’s wrong with her.”

Her lips inched into a muddled line. He’d like
to say it didn’t bother him but a pang of guilt struck him all the same. He’d
hurt her.

For the best
, he thought. If they were to work
together their relationship would have to stay professional.

“I can’t shift.” She met his gaze and cocked an
eyebrow as if to say
so what
.

“If you can’t shift then how can you track? The
men I’m looking for are not easy to find. You won’t find them standing in the
middle of a street in broad daylight.” Before he went off on a tangent, he
reined in his temper. “I need to find two men who make it their job not to be
found. Are you capable of doing that?”

She crossed her arms, anger blazing from her
eyes. “More than capable. The real question is, can you afford me?”

Zeke tossed back his head with a great laugh. “Better
watch out, she’s a sharp one.”

“Name your price,” Grayson said.

A lift to her chin gave her confidence. “A half-million
dollars.”

Grayson sneered. “So cheap? I’m beginning to
think you’re sending me on a chase, Zeke. I do not have the time or patience to
be dawdled now.”

Before Zeke could say a word, she snapped
straight, her hands in fists at her side. “The fee just increased four over.”

He cocked a brow. “That’s all?”

Her mouth twitched like she wanted to say something
scathing—it’d probably singe the hairs off his head. “I can’t take the job,”
she said.

“What?” he asked, his voice a growl.

Zeke chuckled and began coming his fingers
through his hair like a damn woman. “I think she’s referring to the job I gave
her.”

“It can wait,” was all he said.

Zeke pretended to contemplate the matter, but
who knew what was happening in that brain of his. When he came out of his daze,
he looked at Arabella, but he did not crack a smile. The harsh planes of his
face showed the alpha’s true appearance; he wore the visage of a dangerous and
powerful man capable of great and terrible things.

“I believe I’ll allow this, Gray. After I
receive my share, an equal amount shall do. After all, you are hiring my
employee and taking her away from a very important case.”

“I do apologize that my
bruid’s
murder
has inconvenienced you, President Hunt,” Grayson said between clenched teeth.

Zeke gave him an easy smile. “It’s cool, bro.”

Grayson wanted to make that smile bleed. But he
reined in the anger which had steadily grown like a pot of boiling water. If he
didn’t get out of here soon he would explode.

“I’ll get you your money.”

“Great! Then you can have Arabella’s unique
services,” Zeke said grandly.

“If she can’t find them, if she isn’t
everything you said, I’m coming back here and killing you instead.”

“Pish-posh, you’re just upset because your mate
was murdered. You’ll come to your senses, Grayson my boy.”

Grayson’s jaw clenched, grinding side to side. “We
start tonight.”

Arabella stepped forward. “Whoa, hold on there,
cowboy, vampire, whatever you are. I can’t go tonight. I need to gather things,
do some research. You know, I need information on who I’m tracking to start.”

“You’re looking for two vampires both involved
with the underground black market. Their names are Jericho Donato and his
father Victor Donato.”

Her face paled. “The Butcher, Jericho Donato?”
she asked.

“Is there any other?” he replied dryly.

Her jaw flexed. “I guess not. What you’re
asking for might take a few days, could be longer. I need to go home and
prepare.”

Grayson snapped his head around to Zeke. “Tell
me again how this Were is a better tracker than you when she cannot even shift?”

“She doesn’t need to shift. Our little golden
Oprah here has an ability I’ve never seen before,” Zeke said. He’d finished
combing his hair back and now pulled it into a ponytail.

“When I touch something I can see a vision of
the owner. It’s hard to explain, but I’m able to find them,” she said. “I’ll be
ready tomorrow morning to start.”

Her intelligence was truly coming into question
now. “In case you have forgotten, I cannot go out into sunlight,” Grayson said.

Her flush said it all. There was a brief mumble
that might have been an apology—or she was cursing him. “Tomorrow evening come
pick me up. Zeke, give him my address.” She left without another word, her long
golden tresses whipping behind her as she spun around.

Grimacing, Grayson turned back to the alpha. He
still wore that stupid smile. “You can make the check out to Zeke Hunter.”

When Arabella got home after that strange
business with Grayson Blackmoore and Zeke, her hopes of having some alone time
to digest all that had happened were dashed. Her roommate, Sissy, was home.
Sissy was not as quiet or cowardly as her name indicated. Quite the contrary,
Sissy was a bigger woman with curves that went on forever—her words not Arabella’s—and
a big mouth. At the same time she was the best friend Arabella had ever had;
she didn’t care that Ara couldn’t shapeshift like everyone else. Sissy
understood what it meant to be different. However that did not keep her from
being nosy.

“What is that?” Sissy asked, pointing at the
velvet box in Arabella’s arms.

“Just a box,” Ara hedged. When Sissy got a hold
of juicy information she wasn’t prone to keeping it to herself. Arabella
doubted that Zeke Hunter wanted Sissy of all people to know about the special
hairbrush in the box. “It’s nothing. Just another job.”

“Bologna! I know for a fact you were called to
the alpha’s tent
twice.
Dish now or forever hold your piece,” Sissy
said.

Ara slipped past Sissy’s snatching hands. “I
believe I’ll forever hold my piece then.”

Sissy sucked in a breath, aghast. “You wouldn’t
dare! I am your breast friend and as someone who’s like a sister to you, I
demand to know why my best girl was called to see the alpha
twice
in a
day
.”
Sissy crossed her arms, both dark eyebrows cocked. She’d wait all night in that
pose if she had to. Ara sighed. She’d have to give her something or else she’d
never hear the end of it.

“I may have taken a job.”

“I knew it! What’s in the box?”

“Oh this? Just a hairbrush.” Ara thought
quickly, then opened the box. The silver brush must not look particularly
spectacular to Sissy because she didn’t look impressed.

“So what? It’s a brush. Tell me about what he
said. You know Zeke’s been teasing me for years. It’s only a matter of time before
I get him in my bed.”

“Bragging does become you, Sissy.” Ara laughed
and took the box into her bedroom, sliding it under her bed for good measure.
Sissy followed closely, her hot pink high heels snapping against the wood
floors.

“Don’t gotta tell me, girl. I know.”

Laughing, Ara faced her friend seriously, “I
got a job. From the alpha and president. Sissy, I’m the most scared and excited
I’ve ever been in my life.”

Sissy’s eyes widened. “Well hell, girl, spill
already. I’m dying to know!”

“I have a tracking job working with Grayson
Blackmoore.”

Wide, sparkling eyes narrowed. “The vampire boy
you, like, kissed or something a long time ago?”

Ara slapped Sissy’s arm playfully. “Shh! It
wasn’t like that. I shouldn’t have even told you.”

“Too late now. You already started telling me.
Now you must finish. You may begin,” prompted Sissy.

“He was such a jerk, Sissy! You wouldn’t even
believe it. Cold and mean and why? I didn’t do anything to him. The second he
saw me it was like he hated me.”

“Damn shame, ’cause that man is fine. He’s got
that gruff manly thing going on.”

Now it was Arabella’s turn to glare. “He is not
fine.”

“Girl, you can lie about all kinds of things,
but don’t lie about this. Every Were, vampire, and human with an Internet
connection knows how hot the Blackmoore family is. I think it’s that exotic
dark hair and golden skin. Just makes a woman shiver.” Sissy did in fact
pretend to shiver. Arabella rolled her eyes at her friend.

“You’re silly. Every time you see a pretty face
you get all addled in your brain,” Arabella said.

“I know,” Sissy sighed dreamily. “So tell me
about the job.” She hopped onto Ara’s bed making, bouncing.

Ara grabbed a duffle, then decided against the
bag and went with a backpack. She had a feeling this special assignment would
involve some hiking and lugging around a heavy duffel did not sound pleasant. “I
have two jobs, actually. Alpha Zeke wants me to find the owner of that
hairbrush.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know,” Ara hedged. “I suppose because
that person it important to him.”

“He probably wants to kill whoever’s behind it!”

Arabella smiled even though she didn’t agree. “Possibly.”
She didn’t want to let on to the alpha’s secret assignment. Though she hadn’t
been sworn to secrecy, she had a feeling Zeke would not like Arabella sharing
news of the assignment to anyone.

“What does Grayson Blackmoore want? You know, I
read he once ripped a man’s head off,” Sissy said.

Ara laughed. “I doubt that, Sissy. Besides, you
know those vampires aren’t as strong as we are. They might be fast but if
anyone can pull a man’s head off it’d be one of us.”

Sissy grinned. “True enough. So what is this
job with the infamous Blackmoore brother then?”

Ara’s smile died. “Someone murdered his
bruid
.”

Sissy’s back snapped straight. “No way! How
have I not heard about this?”

“I think it just happened. Sissy, he looked so
sad and lost when he wasn’t being a jerk. It makes me want to cry.” Even now
her heart went out for him. She could tell he must have cared for his
bruid
very
much. The pain around her heart turned hard as ice as a flare of jealousy
pierced her. How would it feel to be loved so much by another? Not by a parent
or family member, but by a partner, a lover. How in these last hundred years
could she not find a single person to spend her time with? Sure she had Sissy
and she loved her, but that wasn’t what she was looking for. Grayson had been
mated all these years to the same woman.

“It’s sad, that’s for sure. How did she die?”
Sissy asked.

“He said she was murdered by the Donato family.
Now he’s going after them.”

Sissy jumped up and stalked over to Arabella.
She grabbed her by the shoulders, shaking her. “And you’re supposed to track
those psychos down? Tell me you aren’t serious, girl. Those people are
dangerous. They kill without blinking. Jericho is called ‘The Butcher’ because
he likes to hack people up with his machete. Did Zeke agree to this? This does
not sound like something he’d agree with, Ara.”

Ara pulled away. “Calm down, will you. It’ll be
okay.” Truth be told, inside she was shaken. She hadn’t really thought about
the fact that she might be putting herself in danger. Normally when she went
and tracked someone down things rarely went wrong. She would find the person
and usually report the location of said person to whoever had hired her. It
worked that easy. She didn’t have any combat training, and she really didn’t
know much more than maybe basic self-defense which consisted of screaming,
throwing a punch or kick, and running the other direction. Though she was as
immortal as any other Were, if she ever lost her head then that’d be the end.

“How do you know it’ll be okay? I can’t believe
you’re so calm about this. What do you think will happen if the Donatos find
out that you’re helping someone find them who wants to kill them. They’re not
gonna like that and then they’re gonna find out everything about you and come
after you, girl. You better be careful.”

Arabella shook her head feeling disoriented from
this conversation. “Listen, I never go into these places. I just find them and
point them out. That’s all I’ll be doing.” Why did she feel as if she was
lying? She wasn’t, really. She rarely ever went into the buildings where she
tracked her target down.

Sissy let out a heavy sigh. “I’ll be sure to
give that vampire a talking to before you run off with him. When do you plan on
leaving? Don’t tell me it’s tonight; you know I made chocolate cake.”

Arabella grinned. “The chocolate cake’s the
reason why I told him I couldn’t go tonight.”

*

“Where is she?” Grayson Blackmoore growled at
the woman standing in the doorway to Arabella Donahue’s house.

“Afraid she’s not here at the moment. Well,
look at you; you’re one helluva handsome vamp, gotta say. The name’s Sissy
Ferris, by the way.”

“Tell me where I can find her now.” Already her
incompetence was putting him further from his goal. He needed to find the
Donatos, starting with Jericho first. The eldest son was possibly the most
dangerous out of the two but the easier to find. The young vampire was known to
throw extravagate parties for all his friends while providing whores, synthetic
drugs—the works.

“You don’t have to get snippy with me, sugar.
Last I saw her she said she was heading down the street. Barney Hammond called
her in a panic. Seems he can’t find the engagement ring he bought for his girl
and he’s supposed to propose today seeing as her family’s coming to visit.”

Grayson pulled out his pack of smokes and
counted the dwindling brown sticks—only two left. God, he wanted to burn one so
bad right now. As if the sting down his throat would make this stupid
conversation disappear. But he only had two and he had a feeling he’d been
needing those smokes for much more stressful times than some silly woman.

Turning, he went down the street. With each
step he took, his teeth clenched and his lips bared a little more and more.
When he found her he stopped, stunned. She was head deep in a thick bush, her
rear-end parked high in the air squirming side to side like a dog wagging its
tail. She was grunting and fumbling with the dirt and branches.

“Eehhhh. Uhhhhh. There you are! Got you, sucka!”
She started crawling back out of the bush, branches catching her hair and
slapping her in the face. “Ow!” She spat out a leaf as she stood, dusting
herself off. Her eyes widened with surprise. “It’s you.”

For a moment he stood there, unable to think of
a response. He’d been so angry walking down here—how dare she not be ready on
the doorstep waiting for his arrival—that now he couldn’t recall why. Dirt
smudged her nose and leaves and twigs stuck out of her hair, more of which
covered her jeans and shirt. In her hand was a small, dirt-covered box. For
some reason he found himself insatiably curious to learn if she’d found the
ring.

“What is that?” he asked. Had she actually
found the man’s ring? He realized he was more than little curious to find out
just how her ability worked. It wasn’t completely unheard of to find a Were who
couldn’t shift—as with all life there were always exceptions to the rules. A Were
unable to shapeshift was indeed rare, but for a Were to lack that power and the
capability of tracking a person by touching an object would be amazing.

“Barney’s ring! I found it. His dog got a hold
of the box and decided it was his own toy, so he buried it in the bushes.” Her
eyes were bright with victory, her smile locked in place.

“How do you know this?” he asked, suspicion in
his voice.

An exaggerated eye roll came as answer. “It’s
actually a funny a story. I happened to pet Tonto, Barney’s brown lab, and I
saw a vision! I saw Tonto carrying that ring box all around the house before
burying it in a place he thought no one would ever found it.” She held the box
up and shook it. “Luckily, I did.”

She opened the box and a modest diamond ring
glimmered inside. With a promise to return, Arabella ran to the house belonging
to Barney and returned the ring. Barney was so relieved he nearly crushed
Arabella in a bear hug. She returned to Grayson looking dazed and out of
breath. His gut churned like nasty waters. He recognized the feelings in an
instant. Guilt. Guilt from looking at this woman and finding her attractive,
hell, maybe even a small part of him liked her.

No!
Instantly, he killed any notions of liking
Arabella in any way not deemed professional.

“We’ll leave now,” he told her and headed back
to his SUV. He reached for a cigarette and had one lit before he even thought
twice about it. Damn, but she rattled his nerves.

“I just have to grab my pack and I’ll be ready.
Where are we going anyway?”

They were at her house when Grayson spun
around. “What do you mean ‘where are we going’? You’re the tracker, are you
not?”
Do not get angry. Stay focused
.

“Ah, I see,” she hedged, nibbling on the tip of
her fingernail. “I’ll be right back!” She grabbed her bag from the house, said
goodbye to her friend, then hopped into his SUV. Her soft, feminine scent
filled the cramped space like flowers. Fuck that, Grayson thought, and rolled
his window down all the way. The fresh air blew in only stirring her scent
around him. It smelled nice, too nice. He lit another damn cigarette. The
burning scent of clove tobacco smoke killed the fragrance with finality.

“Where?” he asked again.

Her nose pinched as she waved a hand at the
smoke in her face. “See, I think there’s something you don’t understand. Which
is no fault of your own,” she rushed to add. “It’s just that…I have to touch an
object in order to see a vision. Even then it doesn’t always work right. Sometime
it can take days to receive a vision from an object.”

“I don’t have days. Why wasn’t I made aware of
this before I shucked millions of dollars to hire you?” He glared at her and
for a moment she glared back before softening her expression.