me to let you know if there was any unusual activity there. Thea and Conall have left on a honeymoon.”
A honeymoon.
Wolves didn’t celebrate honeymoons.
“Where did they go?”
“They got on a flight to Paris yesterday.”
“Connect the dots for me, Bran. It’s what I pay you for.”
“Already done it. Eirik was killed in Norway at the home of Vik Balstad. It took me a while but I hacked Balstad’s computer. The man is a fucking genius and I want to meet him because only the best, i.e., myself, could get past the security measures on his system. I mean, he had this—”
“Point, Bran. Get there.”
“Right. Okay, well, I found a few of his aliases. One of them popped up in Paris. He’s renting an apartment there.”
Fionn suspected Vik Balstad, a vampire with known affiliations with Eirik’s movement to stop the gate opening, had led Eirik to Thea and Conall. “Could be a coincidence. Or … revenge.”
Fuck. Why couldn’t the woman and her mate settle down in Scotland like normal wolves and stay out of this damn business?
“It’s not our problem,” Fionn huffed. “If they want to fuck up their lives with this shit, let them, as long as they stay out of my way. Anything else?”
“Nothing for now. Whichmeansyou’regoingtohanguponmebeforeIcansaygood—”
Fionn hung up on him.
He slumped back against the sofa. Wide awake but weary.
Not physically weary.
Although he grew tired after days of no sleep, he was never weary in his muscles and bones like he had been centuries ago after days of battle.
He missed that sensation.
He almost forgot what it felt like to lie his exhausted body down in furs after the physical exertion of war.
Yet Fionn was weary in the mind. He’d been planning for this moment for almost three centuries.
Now he was more than ready for it to be done.
3
As the bass thudded through the club like a heartbeat, Rose rubbed her fingers against her temple and ignored the clamor of calls from the club goers who wanted a drink from the bar.
She was done here.
Zagreb was a beautiful city. It had an interesting history, great architecture, a good vibe, and the people were friendly. But it was like a flip had switched inside her after the encounter with that strange girl and her brother the night before.
Suddenly the music in the club was too loud, the hundreds of bodies claustrophobic, and their never-ending desire for alcohol irritating. Rose just wanted peace and quiet. Somewhere to lay her head so she could think straight.
Where to go from here?
Someone nudged her hard, and she looked up to see Josip frowning at her. He pointed to the waiting customers without saying a word. Rose sighed. There wasn’t much time left on her shift. The club was closing soon. She could finish up.
And then she’d finish up for good.
Mind whirring as she fixed a cocktail for a customer, it took a moment for the creeping sensation down her spine to take hold. She stiffened.
Someone was watching her.
Okay, she knew there was a crowd at the bar probably watching her, waiting their turn for drinks, but that wasn’t what she felt.
Someone was hunting her.
An inexplicable ominous feeling settled over her. A sudden dread in her gut.
Rose lowered the bottle of gin in her hand back onto the shelf as her heart raced hard and fast.
A memory slammed into her of one of the worst things that had ever happened to her. College. Freshman year. Her roommate had invited her to a fraternity house party. Halfway through the night, after downing shots that had no effect on her since she had an almost inhuman ability to hold her alcohol, Rose had felt it.
The sudden dread.
The creeping feeling of crawling flesh, as if someone wasn’t just watching her but hunting her. She’d thrown off the feeling as absurd. Until she’d climbed the stairs to the second floor of the frat house to find an empty bathroom and someone had attacked her from behind.
He’d covered her mouth with his hand as he’d hauled her into a dark bedroom.
Unfortunately, her attacker had thought she was drunk. He’d also underestimated her strength because of her slight build.
Rose was strong.
Exceptionally strong.
As he’d pinned her arms to the bed with one hand while he shoved his hand up her skirt with the other, Rose had unleashed that strength upon him. She’d yanked her arms free of his hold and shoved her hands against his body.
He’d flown across the room, crashing against the wall.