Calla
I may have been allergic to Apex HQ.
All day, a queasiness pervaded my body. I imagined I was treading water in the middle of the ocean, my limbs so weightless that they would float like a raft. When I realized I couldn't feel my feet, a jolt of anxiety hit. If it weren't for the fact that one of the worst men on the planet was right next to me scrutinizing my every move, I might have been tempted to crawl under my desk and take a moment to breathe in the relative shelter it provided.
Rhys didn't hide the fact that he knew something was wrong with me. I'd already let my guard down, been careless in my mannerisms. I'd mentioned human-werewolf relationships—God knows I should have stayed far away from that topic—and that had led us down a path dangerously close to a destination I was hiding from him.
Vicki remained missing. We were fast approaching the forty-eight-hour mark from when Brett had last received a text from her. She could be anywhere—and yes, it was possible that she'd entered into a consensual relationship, but the nausea plaguing me painted a darker story. Whatever had happened, it just didn't add up to my friend sitting in a luxurious hotel suite in downtown Sury, sipping mimosas in a silk bathrobe while a sweet, caring Apex werewolf rubbed lavender oil on her feet.
"I've never known anyone who went missing before," Brett had said when I checked in with him that morning. "What do we do? Call the police?"
I'd already had this conversation in my head a dozen times since waking up. "We could, but they won't take it seriously. She's an adult. She can go off and not contact us if she wants."
"Right, but that's not what happened. If we tell them she was with a shifter from Apex..."
"We're not going to do that." I waited for him to counter me.
"Why the hell not? Especially after what they're saying happened to that Crown human during the full moon. Apex is totally guilty."
"Yes, they are," I said, even though I was supposed to be proving to the world that Apex was innocent. "And it's a valid point, Brett, but if we show them the last location of Vicki's phone and you throw in the details she gave you about who she'd been chatting with online, they'll say jurisdiction for the case will be handled by First Precinct. Can you tell me where that is?"
"I don't get over to that side of the river much."
"Well then, let me fill you in. First Precinct is fifty feet from the entrance to Apex Headquarters. The upstanding officers of the law working out of that building like to joke that payday comes twice on Fridays."
"Are you saying Apex pays them off to look the other way?"
"The official line is that Apex provides the precinct with additional resources because their presence provides a unique law and order scenario. But yes, I'm saying they get paid off. If Vicki's case goes to them, it's dead in the water."
"What do you suggest then?"
I bit my lip, my mind spinning. "Sit tight, Brett. I have a plan. Call me if you hear from her."
Twenty minutes later, I rang up Detective Devereux Kim, werewolf affairs liaison, as Neil drove me to begin my first day at Apex.
A muffled sound was followed by him swearing under his breath. "It's six-thirty in the morning. What's going on Calla?"
"Hello to you too. I need to schedule a meeting with you and several unbearable Rawlings brothers for this afternoon. Are you free?"
"So, the rumors are true." He held the phone away from his mouth, but I could still make out several choice curses. "You have got to be kidding me."
"I don't have a funny bone left in my body. Yes, if you're referring to me taking a position at Apex, consider it a fact."
More muffled noises indicated that he was shifting the phone around as he climbed out of bed. "This plan is absurd. You know that, right?"
"It wasn't my idea. Dev, can we schedule the meeting or not?"
"I have a call with my counterpart in Tokyo at six regarding security for Lunaris."
"You can't miss that call, I get it. It would be a shame if the reigning champions pulled out." Lunaris was an international shifter tournament played annually, and as luck would have it, this year's event, just a few cycles away, was to be hosted by Sury, a city that had developed a major case of werewolf jitters. People were on edge, and an influx of hundreds of shifters from all over the world had the potential to escalate anti-werewolf violence. The Japanese team was right to worry about their contenders' safety.
"They're understandably jumpy," Dev said. "I don't have to tell you what would happen if they sat out these games."
"Total snowball effect."
"That's right. So, if you want a meeting, I'll work it in, but it would have to be way before that. I'll need at least an hour to get back here with traffic on the midway that time of day."
"That won't be a problem. We'll come to you."
Dev laughed. "There's not a chance in hell you'll convince any Rawlings to cross the bridge onto Neutral Isle. They wouldn't even if their lives depended on it."
As he said that, I was crossing a bridge myself—this one located downstream from where Neutral Isle sat, a large, diamond-shaped wedge separating Sury's northern halves. This far south, the suspension bridge rose above one of the river's narrower points, yet the cultures of the city on either side made it seem like the river divided two countries rather than two parts of the same town.
A sinking sensation hit me as we drove onto land again. Apex Territory. All glitz and glamor. Spa retreats and Himalayan salt meditation rooms and high-end restaurants serving individual pieces of asparagus for fifty bucks a plate. God, I hated it over here. "I can be very persuasive. Set a time and we'll be there."
"Calla... it's bad enough you have to go every day to Apex ground, in Apex's flagship building, surrounded by Apex werewolves. But accompanying them here? Why would you do that to yourself?"
"We have important issues to discuss with you, and it's in the best interest of my new employer to have his sons humble themselves a little. That means making them go to you for a change. Why is this such an issue? I've spent tons of time in Neutral."
"Yeah...with me. If you'll recall, you weren't out in public and you certainly weren't with the golden children of a pack that just attacked an innocent from a rival community."
"As I recall, a certain detective made sure I felt very welcome in his territory."
"Don't start."
"Start what?"
The phone went silent long enough that I thought my call had dropped. Finally, Dev spoke again, his sleepy voice replaced with agitated sadness. "I can't do this, Calla. We had to end things. That's how it had to be. But I don't need to be reminded of what I lost every time we speak."
I deserved that. I'd crossed a line with Devereux Kim that shouldn't have been crossed and I continued to do so for the better part of three years. I fooled myself for a while that it was the forbidden fruit thing that made us so enticing to each other, but before too many months had passed, it was clear there was something more between us. The Crown Luna and the human Detective Liaison would have made quite the tabloid couple, should the public have ever found out. The fallout from our forbidden relationship would have been swift and severe, with Dev losing both his job as liaison and his position on the force, and me becoming a blight on my pack. This was a scenario Dev was willing to risk and I was not.
"I'm sorry, Dev," I said for the hundredth time since we'd broken up. Having to work with my ex had started out awkward before growing to become straight up painful. Dev wasn't the only one who hated being reminded of what could have been. Still, breaking up was the right choice, and much to my mother's delight, last month I'd opened myself up to being matched with a potential mate. I hoped for Dev's sake, he'd be able to move on as well.
Neil slowed the car down as we approached Apex's shimmering glass tower. "I've gotta go. I'll text you my new secretary's number. Can you coordinate with her about today's meeting please? At your office. I promise, it's all going to work out."
"When have I heard you say that before?"
That conversation ended and my first day at Apex began. Having to work closely with someone who might know what happened to Vicki made me want to transform, become the beast I unleashed once a month, to let my inner turmoil become outward aggression. But I could do none of that. Confronting any werewolf of Apex, and especially its Alpha and heir apparent, with accusations of having committed a crime for which I had no proof, would be the stupidest move I could make. No one would take me seriously, and to falsely accuse an Alpha, even one whose family was temporarily on the city's shit list, could cost me my status and even my freedom.
I'd seen the werewolf tribunals and I did not want to end up defending myself in one of them.
So, I bit my tongue, kept everything inside, forced my stomach to settle, and did my job. The day ticked by. Glancing at my watch, I pushed my chair away from my desk and stood. I'd told Brett I had a plan and there was no lie there. Of Sury's tens of millions of inhabitants, only one person was able to help who wouldn't just blow me off. Luckily for me, I was headed to his office for a meeting right now.
"It's time," I said to Rhys, who started at the sound of my voice after an hour of silence.
He scowled. "We can take my car, I guess."
"Your car?" Rhys drove a bright red Bugatti Chiron, possibly the most obnoxiously expensive and certainly the most conspicuous vehicle in the city. We might as well show up to in neutral territory with a gigantic target tied to the windshield. "Not a chance. My driver will be waiting downstairs."
"Isn't that your mother's car?"
"Do you have a problem riding in Simone Bardot's Lexus? I realize it doesn't come with a multi-million-dollar price tag, so if that's going to be a problem, I can let your father know and ask if we can use his chauffeur instead." A move that would no doubt irritate Gerald to no end.
"Look at you, you got me good, Calla." Rhys graced me with a slow clap. "Fine, we'll take your mom's car, which will be perfectly adequate for our needs."
"Glad to hear it."
"The Bugatti was a gift, by the way. It was given to me by Luc Goddard to bribe me into mating with his daughter."
"The whole city knows that story." It had been the talk of the town about a year ago. Head of the largest pack in Europe attempts an alliance with Apex through the hand of his daughter. In addition to the sports car, Goddard had given Rhys a vineyard in Provence. "What we don't know is why you rejected the offer."
"His daughter, Genevieve, isn't my mate, and I'm not hers. Let's just leave it at that."
"Fair enough."
There had been many speculations as to why Apex's Alpha heir hadn't found his mate yet. Gerald, quite famously, did not want Rhys to mate from outside Apex. No Apex Alpha had done so since the coupling that had formed the pack and Gerald didn't want his son to be an exception. As Apex was a large pack, his father believed Rhys would find his true mate from within. And yet, it hadn't happened. I wondered if Rhys writing off Genevieve was because she wasn't his mate, or because Gerald Rawlings had forbidden his son from pursuing the potential that she could be. Whatever the case, I couldn't make myself care enough to discuss it any further, especially considering the field trip we were about to embark upon.
"I haven't been able to get a hold of your brothers." Their offices were empty last time I checked.
"I texted them. They'll meet us there."
"Will they now?"
"Yep. So, I guess that means you and I get to ride alone all the way to Neutral Isle."
If I were in my wolf form, what I wouldn't give to be alone in a contained space with Rhys. But it wouldn't be for the same reason he was thinking. No love bites for him, only real, artery opening hate wounds.
If Vicki didn't show up soon—alive and well—and an investigation led in Rhys's direction, there wouldn't be a damn thing he could do to stop me from enacting my revenge.