“And he wants to meet at a coffee shop?”
“Pine and 1st Avenue. Midnight tomorrow,” Wick growled, replaying the encounter, seeing the wheelchair whirling down the corridor. The fear on Jamison’s face came next, coalescing into vivid imagery, making his heart pound, pissing him off. His nostrils flared. The bastard. Azrad might not smell like a rogue, but he sure as hell acted like one… disregarding a female’s safety to achieve his own end. For that alone Wick would tear him apart the next time he saw the male. “He hurt her, B. Had her by the throat.”
“And what?” Green eyes knowing, his commander eyeballed him. “Now you want him dead?”
“It’s my right.”
“No argument. But I’m curious now, so…” Rubbing his hand over the back of his neck, Bastian sighed. “We talk to him first. I want to know the
“Deal,” Wick murmured, relief grabbing him by the balls.
Rogue or not, Bastian had sanctioned the hit. So… yeah. He’d get his shot at the tatted bastard. Would get all the time he needed to go to work on the male. Make it painful. Rip Azrad apart scale by scale, without any interference from the Nightfury commander. Nothing better than that, especially if—
“Hey, B?” Swiveling in his chair, Sloan glanced in their direction. “We’re all set.”
“On-screen.” Thumping Wick on the shoulder, Bastian pushed away from the wall and grabbed one end of the cedar conference table. Wood legs bumping across the polished concrete floor, he dragged it into the middle of the room. The tug ’n tow put his brothers in gear. As they stepped to, snagging the leather chairs, resetting the seating arrangement, the screen in front of Sloan flickered. “Everybody take a seat.”
Multiple chair legs scraped across the floor.
Grabbing a seat back, Wick sat in his usual spot along one side of the table. As Venom set up shop next to him, an image flared on the monitor, putting Gage and Haider up front and center. Wick’s mouth curved. Shit, it was good to see the pair. Especially Gage. He missed both males’ presence in the lair, sure, but the warrior with the intense bronze gaze—and an attitude full of fuck you—was his favorite of the two. Vicious to the point of self- destruction, Gage never backed down or said quit.
His kind of male.
Haider, on the other hand, was harder to figure out. A silver dragon, the male epitomized the stereotype of his subset—and not just because he looked the part with his mercury eyes and black, gray, and silver-streaked hair. Talented in the art of deductive reasoning, his IQ landed in the upper echelon of intelligent. Toss in his ability to keep secrets, a lethal amount of charm, and the fact Haider wielded both like a weapon, and… yeah. He was the perfect diplomat, a male equal to any task and able to ferret out information no one wanted him to know.
A useful skill. One Haider used to effect.
Good thing too, considering the pair were ass-planted in Prague, playing nice at the Archguard festival. All an act, of course. Bastian didn’t care about keeping the members of the high council happy. The trip—under the guise of honoring the traditions of their kind—was more of a fact-finding mission. One Wick could get behind without hesitation. He liked the subterfuge. It suited his nature, if not his temperament, and as he settled in, he hoped the Metallics had hit pay dirt.
Accurate intel, after all, equaled opportunity. Opportunity opened up possibility. And possibility? Well now, that created a myriad of options. One that might achieve what the entire Nightfury pack wanted done. Namely, a clear break from the Archguard and Rodin’s toxic hold on their kind.
Taking his seat at the head of the table, Bastian greeted the Metallics.
“Fuck me.” Leaning forward in his chair, Gage brought his face closer to the camera. Bronze gaze roaming around the crowded table, he zeroed in on Angela. “Since when do we invite females to our meetings?”
“Since now.” The last to join the party, Rikar’s mate pulled up a chair. Ex-SPD with an incredible nose for investigation, Angela threw a file folder onto the tabletop. As the paper slapped down, she glared at Gage. The look sent a clear message—smarten up or get your ass kicked… by a girl. “Cut the crap, Gage, and get with the program.”
An amused gleam in his eyes, Haider snorted.
Shifting focus, Gage grinned at Rikar. “I like her.”
“Me too.” Returning the male’s smile, Rikar reached out and cupped her hand. “She’s a keeper.”
Angela rolled her eyes. “Screw off… both of you.”
With a laugh, B tipped his chin in her direction. “Ange, you start. Whatcha got?”
“It’s a little thin, but I think I’ve got a lead.” Untangling her fingers from Rikar’s, she opened the red folder. Inside sat three sheets of foolscap laminated in plastic. Shredded by the Razorbacks and left inside one of their abandoned lairs, the info had led Angela down a rabbit hole, one they all hoped would end at Ivar the Asshole. “These are just a couple of the shredded documents I’ve put back together, but they’re the most promising.”
Forge snagged one of the pages. “Why is that, lass?”
“It’s a list of inventory for a club of some kind.”
“A nightclub?” Venom asked.
“Maybe,” she said. “Too soon to tell. There’s no name on the documents to point us to any one establishment, but there’s a definite money trail. A history and pattern to follow. Sloan’s set me up with a computer.” Glancing Sloan’s way, she smiled at their resident computer genius. “He’s teaching me how to hack the system too. With a little luck, I might be able to find the distributor. If I can match their accounts payable to the quantities of alcohol the club ordered, along with the corresponding dates, I may be able to pinpoint the place. It’ll take—”
“Fucking forever,” Mac said, interrupting his best friend and former SPD partner. She scowled at him. He backed off. “But it’s worth a shot.”
“Myst and Tania are helping me sort through the other boxes.” Tapping her fingertip against the tabletop, she shuffled in her seat… as though she couldn’t wait to get started. “It’ll go faster than you think with the three of us working at it.”
“Jamison will want to help too.”
The second Wick opened his mouth, he regretted it. Particularly since all eyes snapped in his direction. Surprise winged across each warrior’s face. Wick hid a grimace, berating himself for abandoning his usual silence, but… God. He couldn’t stop thinking about her. Couldn’t forget that she lay just down the hall—one right turn and seventy-three paces away—never mind squash the urge to go check on her. And frankly? Including her in the mix seemed, well… halfway natural.
Wick frowned. The impulse signaled a huge problem. One that put his holy-shit meter on high alert.
“I mean… probably,” he murmured, backpedaling. “The female is Tania’s sister, after all.”
A multitude of grunts greeted his explanation.
Wick breathed out in relief. The last thing he needed was for any of his brothers to catch on. Bastian knowing about his obsession with Jamison was one thing. But the whole pack? Jesus. What a clusterfuck that would turn out to be.
“Haider,” Rikar said, getting back on track. “Anything from your end?”
“Nian’s becoming a serious player.” Forearms planted on the desktop, Haider shifted in his office chair. “He’s spending a lot of time in Rodin’s inner circle. He’s been to at least three private parties in the last week as far as I can tell. Rumor has it he purchased an expensive female at one of them.”
“Shit.”
“No kidding, Sloan. But I’m not convinced that’s a bad thing.”
“Why?” Bastian growled. “If the fucker’s dealing in the sex trade, I’ll give Gage the green light right now.”
Gage perked up. “Fantastic. I’ve been dying to rip the prick apart since we got here.”
“I hear yah, but here’s the thing…” Holding up a piece of paper, Haider flapped it in front of the screen. “The next day, Nian purchased a first class plane ticket out of the country, so…”
Forge cursed. “He wasnae the one tae use it?”
Haider shook his head.
“Hell,” Gage grumbled, snatching the invoice out of his buddy’s hand. “Where did you get that?”
“Doesn’t matter.”
“I agree,” B said, sounding unhappy. “Set up the meeting with Nian. I want to talk to the bastard face-to- face. And one other thing…” Trailing off, he glanced Wick’s way. “Anything else you want to know before we break
