Wolf's Hunger (Mafia Monsters #5) - Atlas Rose Page 0,85
younger Immortal.
He just nodded in reply. But there was something cold in his gaze, some kind of icy edge that made me look toward the sitting room as I made my way deeper into the house. Hurrow stood at the front of the house, his double shoulder holster loaded with two Sig Sauers, as well as the one in his hand…the brother was armed to the teeth.
Something was going on here…something I wasn’t getting. I glanced toward the window where Hurrow stood, then turned my attention to Elithien as he stood outside the study door, Rule now at his side, and Russell, the bodyguard, hovering in the background, crowding Ruth.
“E,” I muttered, acknowledging the Alpha of the Vampire brood. “Everything alright here?”
The Vampire just pushed off the doorframe and uncrossed his arms, those dark eyes glinting like a starless midnight sky. “I was about to ask you the same thing.”
The brother’s voice was cold as damn ice, dragging that chill to the surface once more. I’d never felt fear around any of these Vampires before, but that’s what was crawling through my bones as I stood in the middle of the Vampire den.
“No word on my end,” I said carefully. “Only, I thought I saw an unmarked pull away from the Hunting Ground and make for the other side of the city.” I decided to leave my brush with the midnight Wolf out of the conversation, at least for now.
“Funny about that,” Hurrow muttered behind me.
But it was Elithien I focused on. “You want to tell me what’s going on here?”
“Seems like the FBI are no longer interested in the Wolves.”
I clutched hold of every word, unable to fight a rush of relief. “Jesus.” My breath escaped as I sagged. “So we’re able to come home? Able to re-open the clubs?”
“It seems so.” That cold bite didn’t leave the Vampire's tone.
Did the prospect of that piss the brother off? “I'm not understanding the pissed-off vibe I’m getting here, brother. You don’t want the clubs open, is that it?”
“Quite the contrary,” Elithien denied as he strode toward me, his blood red lips peeling back from his extended fangs.
The brother was riding the killing edge, ready to unleash any damn second…on me.
He reached out, grasped my sodden shirt, and yanked me close, until all I could see was the empty depths of his eyes, and those sharp white fangs.
My beast snarled a warning growl, but I fought the need to react and forced my hands to stay at my sides. “E, this is me here,” I tried to get through to the Vampire.
Danger shifted through the air all around me. I felt Hurrow step away from the window and raise that damn Sig in his hand. I was about to be torn to pieces, or shot.
“You mean to tell me you don’t know why the FBI are no longer interested in you…Wolf?” Elithien growled. “Lie to me…and I’ll tear your fucking throat out.”
I battled to control the beast inside me and met the Vampire’s stare. “No, I don't know, so you want to fucking enlighten me?”
There was a flicker of…relief, before the Vampire eased his hold on me and dropped his hands. Hash breaths made his chest rise before he took a step backwards. “I told them you weren’t involved in this, that there was no way you’d betray me.”
Betray? A sickening sense of foreboding rose like a gathering storm.
Just like the one that had unleashed above my head.
“A deal has been made,” Elithien started, looking away for a second like he couldn’t bear to meet my gaze. “A deal that puts you and your pack in the clear.” The bodyguard reached and grasped Ruth’s hand, and the possessive stance couldn’t be any more obvious as Elithien met my gaze once more. “And puts Ruth and us firmly in their crosshairs.”
My lips curled as I shook my head. “That’s bullshit. We’d never—”
“Not you,” Elithien growled. “Tell me, brother. Have you spoken to Carina lately?”
Warmth slipped from my body as my smirk faltered, then fell.
She’s acting strange, Church’s warning rang loud and clear in my head. “No,” I whispered. “She wouldn’t.”
But the look in Elithien’s eyes spoke the truth.
She had…
26
I walked through Walker’s empty apartment as I slid the key she kept with her neighbor into my pocket. Everything was the same, spotless, lived in. I went into the kitchen and trailed my fingers along the counter as my mind went to all the terror that was happening to her.