information, Rome made a point to keep in close contact with the man who tonight would announce his run for the US Senate.
“Kensington’s up to something. He knew Baines personally—they gave a dinner together earlier this year.”
“You think he may know something about Baines’s murder?” Nick’s normally cultured tone was slipping, the wild edge to his voice revealing the animal within. It was a subtle change but one Rome knew well.
Rome shook his head, his fingers tapping on the door handle. “I’m not going on what I think right now. I know that Baines and his daughter had their skulls crushed then were ripped to pieces by something the medical examiner could only describe as a vicious, sharp weapon. That’s not a normal murder technique. Jace picked up the Rogue scent on Kensington last summer. When I saw Kensington a few weeks ago, I picked it up as well.”
Nick slammed a fist on the seat. “You should have said something then. We could have defused the situation sooner.”
“I’m not killing Kensington. I want answers.”
“If he’s in cahoots with Rogues he’s not likely to give you answers, Rome.”
Rome’s head snapped toward Nick, sharp canines pricking his lower lip. “He won’t have a choice.”
The Faction Leaders were scheduled to meet next weekend, the senator’s murder bringing all of them here. The need to rein in whatever evil was brewing among the shifters was imperative. Their goal was to live quietly among the purebred humans, to not be discovered for fear of being considered natural-born killers. But every time Rome thought of the grueling way in which the senator and his innocent daughter were killed, he cringed. There was a small element of truth in calling them natural-born killers. He felt it rippling up his spine even now as he thought about it. If faced with the Rogue who did the killings, Rome wasn’t 100 percent positive that he wouldn’t snap the shifter’s neck himself. But that was his animal half, the part of himself he tried to suppress as much as possible while living in this world. He was beginning to think the suppression approach wasn’t going to last for long.
The Linden Hotel was midway to opulent. Pulling up in front, Eli—one of Rome’s shifter guards—was out of the car first. His twin brother, Ezra, also a guard working under Rome’s leadership, had parked the Tahoe he drove to the party and was already standing curbside waiting for them. As the Faction Leader and commanding officer, both Rome and Nick warranted guards whenever they traveled. Eli and Ezra were shifters who grew up in the Gungi but had come to the States as teenagers. Their large builds, death stares, and simple lethal aura cast them in the positions of bodyguards almost immediately. They’d been with Rome for almost ten years now. Besides Nick, Baxter, and his other shifter friend, Xavier, he didn’t trust anyone with his life but the jaguar brothers.
Stepping out of the car, Rome immediately began scanning the area. People seemed to be everywhere, stepping out of limos, walking up the stone stairs to the front entry, coming out of the doors heading down the steps. It looked like a star-studded Hollywood event. The air was still, almost sticky, but not quite. Night air should have been cooler, but this was DC in the summertime. The fact that he wasn’t sweating through his suit said it was probably as cool as it was going to get.
He’d lived in the city long enough to know that with the heat came trouble. Violence always seemed to escalate in the summer months, bringing the most notorious criminal element into an already volatile place infested with drugs and other unsavory addictions. Simply put, this was a breeding ground for the Rogues, a virtual cesspool of situations to exploit in their quest for dominance.
How they, the Shadow Shifters—as they were called by the human tribes living outside the Gungi—had gotten to this place, Rome still wondered. Even tribesmen did not know for sure that the shifters existed, which was why they called them shadows. All they knew was the report of glimpses of humans shifting into animals deep within the rain forest. But most of the tribesmen were afraid to venture into the rain forest, scared of unknown animals and eventual death. About half the humans believed the so-called myth; the other half strongly objected to the theory, and without any real proof the believers just looked more like weirdos to their people. So the secret was still safe. For now.
The Rogues would see that changed. They believed they were the superior species and were out to prove their point in any way necessary. That made them the public enemy number one to Rome and the stateside shifters.
Tonight, however, Rome thought he might have another enemy closing in.
As he moved into the large marble-floored foyer, his entire body tensed. Thick muscles bunched beneath the material of his clothes, causing the fabric to itch against his skin. High ceilings with large shimmering gold chandeliers opened to a huge space complete with ornate gold and cream furniture that looked as if it were inspired by the eighteenth-century decor. To the left was a large marble countertop where guests could check in to one of the five hundred rooms on the premises. To the right, where Rome and Nick were now headed, was another foyer. Men dressed in tuxedos, women in evening gowns and diamonds galore headed in that direction.
They were all going to the same function, one of the biggest political rallies of the year.
It had been rumored that Kensington was going to run for the Senate seat Baines’s death left vacant, but most thought it was just rumor. Rome had been one of them. Ralph Kensington was a loudmouthed lobbyist. He’d gotten his break after heading up the IT department of Slakeman Enterprises. The story was that Kensington found Bob Slakeman a buyer for his latest military-strength rifles, even though military officials had already declared the guns unsafe. The buyer had been foreign, and few details were given about the sale. Kensington suddenly became a richer man with aspirations in the direction of politics. Nothing had been proven and as far as Rome knew there was no ongoing investigation. That was a shame because he was sure there was more to the story.
Rome’s second closest friend, Xavier “X” Santos-Markland, worked with the FBI. As a shifter himself, X kept an eye on the government’s activities, especially in the area of suspicious beings. He reported directly to the Assembly, giving reports also to the Faction Leaders anytime there was activity or special investigations in their regions. He lived here in DC, but he traveled constantly in his role as special director at the Bureau. So far, X hadn’t reported anything on the Kensington–Slakeman connection, although Rome had given him a heads-up about the situation almost a year ago. That just meant the government, as usual, would be the last to know when something went down in their own backyard.
Eli and Ezra were behind them, inconspicuously close, just as Rome suspected other bodyguards were to their employers throughout the massive ballroom they’d just entered. There would be some pretty powerful people in attendance tonight, powerful people with money. That seemed to be the name of the game lately. But Rome was here for a different reason. He was here to see Josef Bingham, his parents’ attorney.
“How long do you figure this’ll take?” Nick asked, flicking his wrist to look at his watch.
“Got another hot date?” Rome asked, looking around the room. He didn’t want to be here any longer than he had to. The sooner he found Bingham and got what he needed from him, the sooner they could leave.
“Nah, not tonight. I just don’t like the company we’re in.” Nick frowned as he looked around. “Too many bullshitters in one room for me.”
Rome nodded. “I’m with you on that one. But it’s a means to an end. Kensington wanted us here, sent a special invite, remember.” One that Rome would have respectfully ignored had it not been for Bingham’s follow-up message asking for this meeting.
“I remember. I didn’t like it then and I don’t like it now. Doesn’t feel right.” Nick was rubbing his chin, his fingers moving over the thin goatee he’d let grow in. Tension radiated from his body as his cat strained at the surface, ready for battle.
Rome had felt that, too, the edgy need to fight, to protect. Stateside shifters didn’t fight often. They weren’t in the jungle and strived to act more humane than their counterparts in the Gungi. But tonight, something was setting them off, irritating the beasts within until they were on edge.
“I know how it feels. Keep your eyes open. There’s someone I have to see.” Rome started to move away when Nick took his arm.
“Take Eli with you.”
Rome nodded, turned to give a barely there signal to Eli, and walked away. Nick knew Rome was searching for his parents’ killers. He knew that Rome wanted to search alone, so that if he found any information that might be sensitive to his parents’ memory, he could keep it quiet. So both he and X tried to give Rome the space to deal with this situation. But by no means was Rome in this alone. He and X had Rome’s back just as they knew he
