Vice (Fireborn Wolves Book 1) (14 page)

“
W
hich way is east
?” Jason asked.

Laina held up the compass on her phone and turned toward the path where Kyle had taken her to see his tree house. “That way.”

“So we just wait here? In the dark?” Jason frowned.

The slightest bit of silver lined the horizon but Laina empathized with her brother’s foul mood. They were both exhausted, having stayed up talking about the shooting and then rising before dawn. Neither of them had personalities that thrived on less than four hours of sleep. Plus, Laina’s shoulder was barely healed; she needed her rest.

“Let’s move away from the house. I don’t want to have to explain this to Kyle. As it is, we’re lucky Milo didn’t give us away.”

“Seems like you have no problem explaining things to Kyle.”

Laina looked over her shoulder toward the mansion as they walked toward the back of the property. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I have wolf hearing and I’m staying in the room next to yours. Do you think I missed the profession of love between you two last night?”

“Jason, I—”

“You came wickedly close to breaking pack law and telling him what we are.”

“What happened to, ‘He’s your vice, Laina.’ ‘Don’t fight it, Laina.’”

“I was talking about sex, not love.” He laughed. “It’s not like you can marry him. You’ve got to frame this up as an affair, nothing more.”

“I love him, Jason.”

The smile melted from his face and he looked at her with unguarded pity. “I’m sorry. Truly.”

“I know.”

They’d almost reached the break in the fence when the sun broke the horizon. The light spread through the trees beyond the gate, fanning out and casting shadows of the trunks and branches in their direction. One shadow morphed into a woman’s silhouette, another into a man’s, roughly the size of a Mack truck.

“What the actual hell?” Laina said.

The silhouettes stepped forward, the woman, a curvy blond in black leather pants and a racer-back tank stopped at the gate. The man waited behind her, completely naked. Laina raised an eyebrow and forced herself to close her mouth and look away. Jason murmured, “Holy shit that guy is big.”

“Laina Flynn?” the woman said.

“Yeah, that’s me.”

“Silas sent me. I’m Grateful Knight.”

Laina stepped forward and opened the gate. “Come inside. If we hurry, we can walk through the house before Kyle wakes up.”

The witch took a step forward, then balked as if she’d bounced off a sheet of glass. “Interesting.” She narrowed her eyes at the empty space between them.

“What just happened?”

“I can’t come inside. This entire place is surrounded by a protective ward.” Grateful looked up as if following the line of a glass dome that rose above Laina’s head. She raised her hand, passing it over an invisible barrier. “Rick, come look at this.”

The man approached, his eyes a creepy shade of black. After a cursory inspection, he said, “Impeccable magic,
mi cielo
. I cannot discern the source, although the signature is not elemental.”

“Right. Not another witch. Something else.” Grateful frowned. “Whoever put this here knew what they were doing. It’s as strong a spell as I’ve ever encountered.”

Laina led Jason through the gate and stared in the direction Grateful did. “I don’t see anything.”

Grateful smiled and tilted her head, her honey-colored waves falling over one shoulder. “Let me help you with that.” She removed a sword from a holster on her back and tapped the invisible boundary with the tip. Purple light rippled from the point of contact. The magic was beautiful and alive, like the aurora borealis shaped into a dome over Kyle’s yard and home.

“What is that?”

“It’s a selective protection spell,” Rick said. “No supernatural or enchanted creature can pass through it without an invitation.”

“I made something similar for a friend once. It’s the same sort of thing I’m setting up around Rivergate Manor,” Grateful said. “Although, I admit, this one is far more sophisticated than any spell I’ve cast. It looks like it’s been here for some time.”

“Excuse me,” Laina said, “but
what
type of spell this is isn’t nearly as important as
who
put it here.”

“Or why,” Jason added. “Are you sure it’s for protection?”

Grateful nodded. “As Rick mentioned, this type of spell keeps out supernatural beings, yet you and your sister can pass through. That means you were invited intentionally. Whoever built this enchantment knows what you are and allowed you in.”

“So what do we do?”

“Stay where you are. I think the spell is keeping you safe. If it was Jonah who shot at you, Laina, he did it because he can’t get to you physically. Someone is protecting you here although my gut tells me this spell was here before you. Is there anyone you’ve met who could be responsible for this enchantment? Maybe the ogre?”

“Monty? No way,” Jason said. “Magically capable but fundamentally unwilling.”

Grateful stroked her chin. “Hmm. I’m sorry I can’t be more help.”

“What will you tell Silas?”

“Your brother is a dear friend of ours. I’ll tell him you should stay right where you are until the shift,” the witch said. “He loves you. I’m sure he’ll agree once he knows the facts.”

“Thank you.”

“I’ll have the protective enchantment in place around Rivergate in a few days. One more week and you two can come home.”

While she nodded politely, Laina couldn’t bring herself to thank Grateful as Jason did. At that moment, she realized she did not think of Rivergate as her home. When she thought of the word home, she thought of Kyle, and although she wasn’t ready to admit it to either of her brothers, she was already devoting a large percentage of her brain to the problem of remaining in his presence.

“It was a pleasure to meet both of you,” Grateful said, “but we have to go. Our son—let’s just say odd things seem to happen when we’re away too long.” She waved a hand. “It’s a long story.”

Tall, dark, and brooding behind her folded in half, and in the most painfully twisted shift Laina had ever witnessed, transformed into some kind of dragon beast. Grateful ran and vaulted onto its back. “Good luck,” she called. Witch and dragon vanished into the light.

“Well, that was a bust,” Jason said.

“No joke.” Laina cast her eyes toward the now invisible spell above them as they returned the way they’d come, wondering who her secret benefactor might be.

W
hen Laina reached the mansion
, she expected to find Milo in need of a walk and Kyle still asleep. After all, when he’d left her side after midnight, he’d put in several more hours at the club. But while Milo was still in his crate, what she found outside Kyle’s room chilled her to the bone. A camera crew had gathered in the foyer, a girl with a shield-sized reflective disc jogging up the grand staircase as if she were late for a meeting.

“What’s going on?” Jason asked from behind her.

“There’s a camera crew. They must be interviewing Kyle about the shooting yesterday,” she said.

A man with a fistful of cables paused, having overheard her comment and shook his head. “Nothing that exciting. Just a routine photo shoot for the magazine. Do you want to come up and watch?”

She exchanged glances with Jason. “After you,” her brother said warily. She followed the photographer up the stairs, navigating cords and a crowd of assistants and bystanders gathered in the hall outside Kyle’s room.

“Maybe we shouldn’t,” Jason said, grabbing her arm. His expression confused her. Embarrassment? Yes. That was it. But not for himself. Jason was embarrassed for her. But why? She shrugged off his hand.

The two workers in front of her parted, and she turned her head to look straight into Kyle’s room. Her breath caught in her throat and ice water poured into her veins. Kyle lay in the middle of the bed, his head resting in a nest of his fingers. A rail thin redhead with creamy skin curled against his right side, her perky rose-colored areolas staring over his chest. A platinum blonde, tucked into his other side, had her back to Laina, while a brunette with a complexion the color of a weak latte, kneeled in front of him, straddling his legs.

“Lower your face to his lap, Bailey. I need to be able to see Kyle’s face over the top of your head,” the photographer said. Wesley. He squinted into the camera viewer as the brunette spread her knees and lowered her chin toward Kyle’s crotch. The sound of the shutter clicking preceded Wesley saying, “That’s it. That’s it. You look beautiful.”

Laina took a step back and crashed into a girl with a nightmarish tray full of sexual props—dildos, floggers, a leather dog collar.

“Hey!” the girl yelled.

Kyle’s eyes caught hers in the doorway.

“Excuse me,” Laina said, navigating around the girl. Jason was right behind her, trying to calm her with a flurry of words she couldn’t hear through the pounding in her head.

“Wait!” Kyle called.

“Kyle, we don’t have the shot!” Wesley said.

“Just a minute.”

Laina broke into a jog, slipping into her room. “Lock the door,” she said to Jason. He did.

“Laina, let me in,” Kyle said, pounding on the door. “We need to talk.”

She looked at Jason and shook her head.

“Give her some time, Kyle,” Jason said toward the locked door. “I think everyone needs to take a beat and process this situation.”

“No. This isn’t what it looks like,” Kyle shouted from the hall.

“It looks like you’re being photographed naked with three equally naked women,” Laina yelled.

“It’s just for the magazine,” he called back. “It isn’t real. Nothing is going on.”

She shook her head. An uncomfortable facial tic had begun over her right eyebrow and her wolf was close to her skin, just under the surface. Fantasies of ripping the three women she’d seen in Kyle’s bedroom apart with her teeth filled her brain.

“Laina,” Jason whispered, squinting at her. “Your eyes. What’s happening?”

She backed deeper into the room.

“You need to get a grip. She’s really upset.” Jason was referring to her wolf. “I can see her under your skin.” He stared at her arm as a ripple moved from wrist to shoulder.

“Let him in, Jason. Then leave us.”

“Are you sure? You could hurt him.”

She poked her tongue into her cheek and nodded. “It’s a chance I’m willing to take.”

Jason frowned but obediently opened the door. Kyle charged into the room, still naked.

“I’ll be next door.”

“Take the dog,” Laina said.

Jason let Milo out of his crate, gave Kyle the hairy eyeball, then disappeared into the hall with the mastiff by his side.

Kyle closed and locked the bedroom door behind him. With his hands up and open, he approached her as if she had a gun pointed at his heart. “I know this is difficult. I wanted to warn you, but I didn’t have a chance.”

“I don’t think we should see each other anymore, Kyle,” she said through her teeth. He balked as though she’d pulled the trigger on that invisible gun. “This is never going to work.”

“Don’t do this. You knew this was part of my job.”

“I’m not the kind of person who can share, even for pretend.”

“You don’t have to share. This isn’t real.”

“It looks real.”

“If it upsets you this much, I’ll tell them to go.”

“For now,” she growled. “But there will be other photo shoots. Other women. It’s your
brand
.” She said the word like a curse.

“Laina…”

“It’s better if
I
go.” She eyed the door. “I have a life and a career in Carlton City. This was never supposed to be long term. I’ll go and you can move on with your life.”

“I don’t want that.”

“What do you want, Kyle? You hate what Nate makes you do. You feel trapped in your own life. You keep a secret hobby out of fear of upsetting the applecart. How can I have a relationship with someone who lets his work rule his life?”

With his next inhale, something changed. Tiny muscles in his torso flexed, his jaw set, and his eyes narrowed on her. As if someone had flipped a switch, Kyle appeared bigger, taller, and more powerful than she’d ever seen him. He swaggered toward her. Her wolf crouched and whimpered in her head. “How can I be with someone who allows her family to rule hers?”

The verbal blow knocked her off-balance and she steadied herself on the nightstand.

“You want me to end this? I’ll end this.” He turned on his heel and strode from the room, slamming the door behind him.

* * *

L
aina wanted to be strong
. Her head told her that this was inevitable and things with Kyle weren’t meant to be long term. But her heart wouldn’t listen. She cried longer and harder than should have been necessary. She cried until the tears gouged out her innards and left her a hollow, empty shell. She cried like she had the day she learned her parents were killed.

And then she stopped crying and a drill sergeant voice inside her head bellowed, “Get up. Keep going.” She’d heard that voice before. It was her soul, that fire within that refused to be snuffed. Dr. Laina Flynn did not allow a man, any man, to ruin her. She would sweep up the pieces of her broken heart and build a beautiful mosaic in her chest. And she would guard that work of art from this day forward.

Like a machine, she searched out her duffle from the closet and started packing her things. It didn’t take long. She hadn’t brought much to begin with. But after all the drawers and hangers were empty, she noticed one outfit was missing. After a moment, she remembered that Gerty had collected laundry the day before. No matter how many times she protested and said she’d do her own, the good woman had insisted on washing her clothing.

Splashing cold water on her face, Laina tried her best to calm the red, puffy blotches that marred the skin under her eyes. Once she was reasonably presentable, she headed for the laundry room, noticing there was not a trace of the camera crew that had been in the hall hours ago. No trace of Kyle either. She hurried, hoping she could retrieve her items without running into him. But when she reached her destination, she found her things were in the washer, midcycle. She plopped down on one of the chairs next to the folding table and waited.

“There’s a black cloud above your head,” Gerty said.
When had she entered the room?

“Oh, Gerty, I’m just sad. It’s time for me to go back home. Milo is trained.” She nodded her head. “We all knew this day would come. I just wasn’t ready for it.”

“What about you and Kyle?”

“What about us?”

“The fact that you love each other.”

She met the old woman’s eyes. “I can’t be in a relationship with a partner who regularly takes nude pictures with his employees.” As much as she tried to temper her emotions, the words hissed from between her teeth.

“But he sent them all away. Didn’t he tell you?” She adjusted her bifocals, frowning. “Kyle met with the board this afternoon to announce he would no longer be available to photograph for promotional purposes.”

“What?”

Gerty spread her wrinkled hands. “Personally, I can’t believe he finally did it. Kyle has been his father and brother’s pawn for so long, I began to believe he enjoyed the life they built for him. But Arthur and I always hoped he’d see things for what they were someday. It seems today is the day.”

“He’s not going to be the face of Hunt Club anymore?”

She shook her head. “He’s part owner. He can choose. Nate won’t be happy. The company will likely try to force the issue. There will be a considerable expense involved. But I’ve never seen Kyle so resolved.”

Laina stared at the front loader, watched the clothes tumble against the glass, the whoosh-whoosh-whoosh of the spin cycle echoing through her brain.
I’ll end this
. Had Kyle meant his relationship with her or Hunt Club?

Gerty cleared her throat. “The one thing we can count on in life is change. You came here seeking it. You found what you were looking for. Change won’t leave you if you return to your past life. What you’ve experienced here will go with you. The two of you can survive apart—I have no doubt about that. You’re young and strong. The question is why would you want to?”

Laina stood and kissed Gerty on the cheek. “Thank you.” She had some thinking to do.