“What if she gets hit with more than one dart?” Bear asked grimly.
Simone sighed. “I assume it depends on the dosage. At some point, even with her mutated genes, enough Apollo would take a toll. Even kill her.”
“She isn’t mutated,” Bear snapped back.
Simone’s voice softened with what sounded suspiciously like amusement. “Oh, brother. Do you have a crush?”
“No.” He barely kept his growl in his chest.
“Mutations aren’t bad or good. They’re part of genetics,” Simone said, as if explaining the existence of the moon to a toddler.
Bear refused to answer.
She sighed. “It sounds like Nessa has a concussion.” Simone’s voice was a little tinny on the secure line. “Relax.”
“Simone? What the hell is going on?” he growled. “Why was there a kill squad at her hotel? This is different from George Flanders’s kidnap plot that I already told you about. These people wanted her dead.”
“I donna’ know,” Simone said. “I’ll have the Council start investigating.”
Bear rubbed a hand over his eyes. “Help me work this out.”
“Always,” she said calmly.
“You sent Nessa to heal me,” he started, anger slowly building.
A beep echoed on his phone, and he looked down to see his sister’s face. Long black hair and dangerously intelligent eyes. “Let’s do this so we can see each other,” she murmured, her full red lips curving in a smile. “Modern technology is so lovely.”
He tried to hold on to his anger, knowing he was being manipulated, but it wisped out of his grasp. “It’s good to see you,” he admitted.
“I’ve missed you, too.” One of her dark eyebrows arched. “You need a haircut.”
He brushed his hair back from his face. “Back to the topic.”
She sighed. “Fine. Yes, I sent Nessa to heal you. Or rather, I asked her nicely.”
“You emotionally blackmailed her because the Council screwed up while she was a member,” he returned, sitting on the bed and managing not to jostle Nessa.
Simone shrugged. “That is nicely.”
Probably true in the witch world. Damn witches. “You took advantage of a friend.”
“Aye. I’d take advantage of any friend in order to save you, my brother.” A fierceness echoed in the words. “So deal with it.”
“I’m trying to deal with it,” he growled back. “But you sent a woman who looks like Jackie O, fights like Jackie Chan, and has more secrets than Jackie Fiddleton.”
Simone burst out laughing. “Very nice. I always thought Jackie Fiddleton got a bad rap.”
The former witch spy had been killed a century ago, but during his long life he’d worked on nearly every treaty created by the witches. And he’d been a hell of a spy. “The guy is legendary. Even the shifter nations know about his exploits.” Bear glanced again at Nessa. “She’s not safe out in the world right now.”
“Witches rarely are,” Simone returned. “She’s the top forensic accountant for the Coven Nine, Bear. She’s accustomed to danger.”
Bear’s head jerked. A ball of ice dropped into his gut. “Excuse me?”
Simone faltered. “Ah, well . . . hmm. I guess you didn’t know that. Nessa is a forensic accountant—one of our best. She traces money like nobody else.”
The silent witch on his bed held top-secret clearance. “Isn’t she full of surprises,” Bear muttered, wanting to shake her awake.
Simone nodded. “Probably.”
He’d deal with Nessa and her lack of trust in him later. “One enemy at a time. For now, find out everything you can about George Flanders and what kind of a reach he truly has. By the end of the day, I want to know his favorite ice cream. Give me every weakness he has.” Bear’s hands twitched with the need to wrap them around George’s neck. “I’ll not let him force Nessa into a mating just because she’s a healer.”
Simone’s eyes gleamed. “I already have our techs on a deep background check. But he’s not the enemy to focus on.”
“I’m aware,” Bear muttered, not able to look away from the too-quiet woman on his bed. “Somebody wants her dead.”
“Yes.” Simone sobered. “We’ll start an investigation immediately.”
Bear focused. “You don’t know anything? No leads or clues?”
“No,” Simone said, meeting his gaze evenly. “This is definitely unexpected. Also, I’m not sure if you’re aware, but yesterday there was a dramatic increase in worldwide chatter. Movements of operatives and a lot of Internet correspondence and positioning.”
Bear’s head dropped. Why hadn’t he just stayed in the woods? “You think the attack is coming together.” They’d known from the onset of the Apollo trafficking that there would be a full-out assault against the witch nation at some point.
“Aye,” Simone said. “We’re pulling in informants and trying to find a pattern, but nothing so far. We’re on full alert.”
“I’ll get my people up to speed,” Bear said.
“Good. For now, I’ll send the Enforcers over to escort Nessa back home.”
Nessa stirred. “I’m not leaving,” she said, her eyes remaining closed. “Bear isn’t healed yet.”
Relief shook Bear so hard he barely bit back a gasp. “Ness? You okay?”
“Just tired,” she said sleepily. “Don’t want to leave.”
“You don’t have to leave, baby.” Bear had made a promise to take out George Flanders, and now he made a mental vow to destroy whoever was trying to kill her. He focused back on his sister. “She stays here.”
“Really?” Simone drawled, her dark eyes sparkling.
Bear kept his gaze stoic. “We have a business arrangement.” That had involved more than a couple of kisses. “We’re on lockdown here with full patrols. Assure the Council, Enforcers, and Guard that Nessa is safe in Grizzly territory.” The idea of her leaving made his chest feel hollow, but she couldn’t stay long-term. Once he made her safe, he’d have to deal with that fact. He made a mental note to have the patrols tripled.
Nessa rolled over, sighing into what looked like a deep sleep.
“She’ll be fine after she sleeps and heals her brain,” Simone said. “Stop worrying.”
“I’m not. I’m pissed. They blew up my truck.” Bear lowered his chin and studied his sister, now that he’d issued the orders. “You look pale. How are you feeling?”
She smiled, and her face was transformed from beautiful to unbelievably stunning. “I feel fine. Carrying a demon baby isn’t for wimps. The kid is already doing somersaults in there.”
“And your mate?” Bear asked. Truth be told, he’d liked Nick Veis from the beginning, even though he was a demon soldier—the top soldier for the demon nation, right alongside his best friend, their leader, Zane Kyllwood. “Is he preparing for this kid? Could be a girl, you know.”
Simone nodded. “Nick is driving me crazy. Did you know there are little plugs humans put in electrical outlets? They’re impossible to remove, even for an adult.”
Amusement swept over Bear. “You still have five months to go. Why plug the outlets now?”
She leaned in. “I have no idea. He’s lost his mind.” Love filled her words. “Crazy demon.”
Oh, there was no doubt insanity ran in the demon nation. But Nick would keep Simone safe, and that’s what mattered to Bear. “You mated him,” he reminded her.
“Aye, I did.” Her smile was happy. That’s all Bear had ever wanted for her.
He sighed. “I have work, sis. Call with updates tonight.”
“Wait.” She leaned in. “What’s going on with you and Nessa? I mean, I thought maybe you two might—”
He clicked off. His personal life was just that. Sliding the phone into his pocket, he felt Nessa’s pulse at her wrist. Steady. Good. He stood and paused, staring down at her. Her hair was splayed all over the pillow in a silky mass. Beneath the blanket he’d draped over her, she looked small. Defenseless.
Some
thing harsh and fierce rose in him. “You’ll be safe here.” Without a thought, he leaned over and kissed her brow, inhaling the scent of Irish roses—the wild ones that grew in the high country. “I promise.” She didn’t move.
He turned and strode for the door, shoving his way outside to find a light snow falling in the dim afternoon. The first snow of the season. It’d disappear within an hour, but soon it’d be winter. He nodded at the guards on the porch—two of the men who’d been Grizzly brothers of his for more than three decades. They both still looked twenty-five and were in excellent physical shape. “Nobody gets in there.”
“Copy that,” they said in unison.
He clomped down the steps in his thick boots and walked along the trail toward headquarters. The snow fell lightly around him, and the muddy ground had hardened to crisp cracked dirt with frost. His normal metabolism had returned: he didn’t feel the cold even while wearing just a T-shirt.
But he stopped in his office to tug on his leather jacket and cut with the Grizzly logo on the back. There were people he didn’t know in his organization, and that had to end.
Lucas came in the front door, brushing snow off his hair. “I’ve had all members in the area come in. They’re waiting in the main rec room.”
“I want everyone recalled,” Bear said, rolling his neck. Being in human form still felt weird. “I don’t care where they are, what they’re doing, or who they’re with. If they want to continue to be members or prospective members of the Grizzly Motorcycle Club, then they will be here by the end of the week.” He also wanted to reach out to members of the grizzly nation who weren’t part of the MC. While many of them roamed in independent packs, at the end of the day, he ruled them, too.
“Understood,” Lucas said. He’d also changed into his cut. “Listen, Bear. I’ve known you a long time.”
Bear paused. “Yeah?”
“Now’s not a good time to do what you’re about to do.” Lucas’s eyes glowed a serious hue.
“What’s that?”
Luke shut the door behind him. “Get rid of all the humans. You’re going to go in there, tell the humans to get out, and then put the entire club on lockdown.”
Bear lifted his head. Yeah. His friend did know him. Well. “Humans can’t be members of the club. Sometimes we shift. We talk shifter nation business. You know we can’t have humans here unless we’re having a big party.” What the hell had Lucas been thinking to allow humans in?
“We need them,” Lucas said simply. “At least until everyone gets back—especially Lars, Brinks, and Duncan. We have full appointments all next week for repairs and a whole lotta snow tires. We need the funds, Bear.”
“My men will return,” Bear said evenly. “I’ll fund the motorcycle club until then.” He’d made money for years and didn’t see any need to buy shit he didn’t want, so he’d invested most of the money. His private accounts could support the club indefinitely.
Lucas shook his head. “We agreed the business would stay separate. You can’t fund it.”
Bear rolled his eyes. “If you weren’t so shitty with money, you could’ve loaned the club money while I was gone.” He grinned. His buddy was the worst with money—just terrible. Never had any. “Remember that biofuel company you bought a couple of decades ago?”
Lucas sighed. “I thought tree sap would make a good fuel.”
Bear snorted. “I’ll loan the club money, and when the guys get back, we’ll be fine.”
“I know, but when? I haven’t been able to track down any of the three. If they wanna be lost, they’re lost. We also have about thirty members roaming the earth elsewhere.” Lucas wiped snow off his forehead. “At least let the humans stay the week to get the work done. Even if we have money, we need good mechanics. We don’t need any more bad press, either. If they leave and start badmouthing us around town, we could be harassed again by the bloodsucking DEA.”
That’s all Bear needed, especially with Apollo overdoses already having happened on his property. “How many human prospects are there?”
“Just five,” Lucas said. “All good mechanics. We have four shifter prospects as well.”
Bear blew out air. “Fine. They can stay the week, but then they’re gone.”
Lucas nodded. “Thanks.”
Bear paused. “I’m sorry I dumped all of this on you.”
“No choice.” His friend grinned. “I get it. Plus, it was fun being in charge for a little while. Lots of tail.”
Bear snorted. “You’ve never had trouble with the ladies.” But had Lucas ever been serious with anybody? “You ever think of settling down? The whole mating and cubs thing?”
Lucas sobered. “Yeah. Now that the war has ended—the most current war, anyway—I’ve been giving it some thought.”
Bear perked up. “Is that a fact? Anybody I know?”
“Nope,” Lucas said, nudging the door open with his hip.
Bear followed, noting the snow had almost stopped falling. “Wait a minute, here. Are you ‘in lurve,’ Lucas?”
“Shut up.” Luke punched him in the arm hard enough to break a human’s bone.
Bear just grinned and punched him back as hard. “Come on. Tell me who. Is it Angie?”
Lucas cut him a look. “Of course not. I’d never mate a human.”
Yeah, they stayed frail even when they became immortal. It was an odd combination. So Lucas must have his eye on a bear shifter. Bear ran through the available women. “Is she a member of the MC?”
Lucas rolled his eyes as they walked over the snowy pavement and past the garages. “You are being such a girl. Forget about it.”
Bear clasped a hand to his chest. “Oh. She doesn’t know you’re alive.”
Lucas growled. “I’ve been leading the Grizzlies. Of course she knows I’m alive.”
Bear bit back a laugh. “She doesn’t like you, then.”
Luke hunched his shoulders. “Get your mind in the game. You’re about to face a room full of shifters who’d die for you and a few humans who have no clue we aren’t of the same species. You clear?”
Bear sobered. “I’m clear. When we’re finished with this meeting, I need you to investigate a bar downtown called Slam and especially the bartender, a guy named Frank J. He hired out the hit on Nessa.”
“Copy that,” Lucas said. “We’ll get right on it.”
“Good. When you find the guy, I want to question him.” Bear followed Lucas inside the warm rec room. The sofas had been pushed to the side again, but the place was pristine clean. Maybe the human prospects weren’t so bad. Men and women sat around on chairs, on the bar, even on the pool table.
He looked around at the assembled group, recognizing most of them. Many looked back at him and gave relieved smiles.
“Welcome back,” said Polly Risen, a bear shifter who’d been his friend for decades. Her long brown hair flowed around her shoulders, and her even darker eyes sparkled. “We missed you.”
Bear smiled. Was Polly the woman Lucas wanted? He lifted his eyebrows at Lucas, who glared back. That might be awkward. Bear and Polly and torn up the sheets more than once—but just for fun and only as friends. Lucas had to know about that, so if it was Polly, then Luke had made peace with the fact.
Who cared, anyway?
Bear cleared his throat. “I’d first like to thank Lucas for covering me these last few months. He stepped up, and he did the club proud.”
Catcalls, whistles, and clapping ensued.
Lucas just sighed.
Bear then lost his grin. “We had an overdose of Apollo in our territory, in our clubhouse, last night. The woman is fine now, however.” He didn’t mention the two dead bodies. The fewer people who knew about that, the better. The group instantly went sober. “I want to know this second if anybody here is messing with that poisonous drug.”
Nobody moved.
“Who invited the guests who brought Apollo?” Bear growled.
“How are we supposed to know what guests bring in?” asked the
human prospect Bear had thrown out the night before. A bandage covered his broken nose, looking right at home between his two black eyes. His arm was in a sling, and he sat slightly to the side as if in pain.
The room went deadly silent.
The kid moved on the seat uneasily.
Bear looked at him, unmoving.
The kid next to him, another human, swallowed loudly. “I agree. We’re not responsible for what other people do.”
And that was the exact wrong answer. Bear strode toward the five humans sitting together. “You’re out. All five of you.” He could barely make out Lucas’s quiet sigh. “We don’t need new prospects, and we sure as shit don’t need dumbasses who invite people with Apollo into our world. Get. Out.”
The second kid lunged to his feet, his chest bumping Bear’s.
The hackles rose down Bear’s back. He grabbed the kid by his T-shirt.
“Bear,” Polly murmured. “Murder is illegal.”
The kid paled.
Bear leaned into the kid’s face. “Get your buddies and get out before I throw you, too. This time I might miss the door.”
The kid jerked away and huffed toward the exit.
“Now,” Bear said to the rest of the humans. “You have five minutes to get out of my territory. Then I get cranky.”
They all stomped off, and the kid Bear had thrown stopped at the door. “This isn’t over,” he muttered.
Bear moved toward him, and he quickly escaped outside. Taking a deep breath, Bear looked at his brothers and sisters—all shifters, as they should be. “So. I guess we have a lot of work to do now.”
Chapter 12
“Nessa? Stop it, baby,” a low voice rumbled in her ear.
She jerked awake, her gaze catching on the rough interior logs of the cabin. The very first rays of dawn were trying to poke through the darkened window. A fire crackled happily and warmed the entire room, while the wind whistled furiously outside. Blankets cocooned her . . . and a hard body held her from behind.
She blinked.
Bear’s arm was banded around her waist, and her butt was flush against a full erection. The bear slept in the nude. Not a surprise. His nose was tucked into her neck, and his voice had been hoarse and sleepy.