the hill into the main street, too far apart to be a car, and two low to the ground to be a larger vehicle.
“Ra must’ve left Seth at home,” Joe said fondly. “I haven’t seen him on his bike for ages. Shall we go?” He pointed in the direction of the precinct building. “Hopefully, there’s still coffee in the pot.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
The fierce man who strode into the precinct was a far cry from the laid-back tiger shifter Kee had seen in the bar, and around town. Normally, Ra had a happy smile, usually one or more of his three kids tugging at his hands, and his beloved Seth usually tucked under his arm. Not today.
“Do you have trouble hearing?” Ra snarled as he got right up into Joran’s face. “I told you what would happen if your boss kept trying to take Annabelle away from us. Did you think I was bluffing? Simon, take a picture of this asshole so I can send it to my agent.”
“Let me get the handcuffs on him first,” Simon said, ducking around Dian’s wings and quickly handcuffing Jaron’s hands behind his back. “I’m sure our resident gargoyle would be keen to return to his human form and shake this dreg of society off his claws.”
“I can think of better things than letting him go,” Dian snarled.
Sheesh. Kee’s peace-loving nature was getting sorely tested. Ra was snarling, Simon didn’t look much happier as he took Jaron and shoved him roughly in a chair. Dian - well Kee wanted to keep away from him while he was in a mood too, but he wanted answers as well.
“You can have him in a minute.” Kee ducked in front of Ra, only to hear Dian snarl. “Shut up with the snarling for five minutes, sheesh. You, Jaron. Why does your boss want to buy me? He has magic – he’s a fae I assume, so what the heck does he want with a pixie?”
The claw marks Dian had left around Jaron’s neck were already healing, leaving behind streaks of drying blood. Despite that, the fae sat up, back straight, chin pointing at Kee like a challenge. “President Brach is the owner of the Concordance Group.”
Kee waited. Then when Jaron didn’t say anything else, he asked, “Is that supposed to mean something to me? What’s the Concordance Group?”
Jaron flicked his eyes to the ceiling which was probably as close to rolling his eyes as the fae got. “The Concordance Group is the single largest investor of technological innovations in the world.”
“Technology?” Kee frowned. “I’ve never heard of the possibility of pixie dust being useful in technology. Pixie dust works on people, alongside magic. How can my dust help your experiments? Are you working on ending world hunger? Looking for a way to control climate change?”
“Hardly,” Dian spat. He was still in his gargoyle form, his wings tucking into his back and his tail swishing rapidly from side to side. “The Concordance contracts involve improving technology for the military – hardware, biological warfare, cyber weapons – you name it, they do it. They have contracts all right, with human and paranormal councils and governing bodies. They don’t care who their customer is provided that group has money to pay for their designs.”
“It’s an extremely lucrative business.” How Jaron managed to look so arrogant while confined to a chair was one of life’s mysteries. Kee wondered if all fae were like that, but then he remembered Seth and decided it was just Jaron’s default setting.
“Oh, then I don’t need to be here for this. I would rather die than live with the knowledge my pixie dust could be used to hurt someone.” Kee mimicked Jaron’s pose, although he was still standing up. “You can tell your boss that, word for word. I am not for sale, at any price.”
“You peace-loving pixies don’t know anything,” Jaron’s lip curled up. “You and your mate would have the very best of everything. You could live anywhere in the world, all expenses paid, you would have a life of luxury for the rest of your existence.”
“At what price?” Kee wasn’t even tempted.
But Jaron took him seriously. “A half a dozen vials of pixie dust a week. That’s not likely to be a hardship for you to produce, given how your mate can’t keep his hands off you.”
“I’d rather swear off sex for life and so would my mate.” Kee reached out for Dian, knowing his mate would take his hand. “There will be no deal.