Rescuing His Heart [Wolves of Desire 13] (The Lynn Hagen ManLove Collection) Read online

  Xander was beginning to wonder if Sario wasn’t the one who was three cans short.

  “Mr. Happy wasn’t very nice,” Sylvester concurred. “He used to crawl under my bed and use my floor as his litter box.”

  “Did I ever tell you that I used to wake up and find him staring right at me?” Sario asked Sylvester. “I think he was trying to steal my soul.”

  Sylvester’s gorgeous blue eyes widened. “He used to do the same thing to me! I think Mr. Happy was a demon.”

  If the two thought their peculiar cat was a demon, they should see the world Xander lived in. He’d have to introduce them to Hondo. Xander smiled at the thought.

  He glanced toward the door when Aldrich stepped into the diner. He looked around before heading to their booth. “Hey, Xander. Funny running into you here.”

  Xander rolled his eyes as he got up and let his friend slide into the booth. Aldrich couldn’t act to save his life.

  “What the hell,” Sario said, tossing a hand up. “Let’s just make this a freaking party.”

  “Be nice,” Sylvester hissed.

  “I am being nice,” Sario shot back. “If I wasn’t, I would’ve told this weirdo off and gotten another booth.”

  “I’m Aldrich.” He stuck his hand out.

  Sario eyed it. “And I don’t care.”

  “He’s Sario and I’m Sylvester,” Xander’s mate said.

  Aldrich glanced at Xander. “Which one?”

  Xander was going to wring Aldrich’s neck. Could the guy be any less subtle? “Order your damn drink.”

  “You’re the one who invited me here,” Aldrich argued. “Don’t go getting pissy with me.”

  “I thought you just ran into him?” Sario asked, suspicion in his eyes. “What’s going on?”

  When Xander remained quiet, Sario pushed at Sylvester’s shoulder again. “Come on. We’re getting out of here. Pretty Boy can pay for our drinks.”

  Aldrich burst out laughing. “Pretty Boy?”

  “Zip it,” Xander snarled. This time Sylvester shoved at Xander’s boot when he tried to stop his mate from getting up.

  “We’re outta here,” Sylvester said.

  Xander got up and stepped in front of his mate. He looked at Aldrich. “Entertain Sario, but don’t be so blabby.”

  Aldrich had a knowing look in his eyes, a look that said he’d caught on to the fact that these humans were clueless about their world. And from the way he eyed Sylvester, he’d also caught on to which brother was Xander’s mate.

  “Not a problem.”

  “I’m not sticking around,” Sario argued.

  “You’ll stick to wherever I want you to stick to,” Aldrich warned, all humor gone.

  “That doesn’t even make sense,” Sario snapped.

  “Sit,” Xander ordered before he pulled his mate from the diner. When they stopped on the sidewalk in front of the window, Xander turned to him. He was surprised his mate hadn’t resisted given that he had been ready to haul ass seconds ago.

  “What’s with you?” Sylvester asked, looking at the glass window. “I’m not leaving my brother.”

  “And I’m not taking you anywhere,” Xander said. “We need to talk, though.”

  Xander held in his groan as Sylvester slid his pink tongue over his lips. “About using me while you’re in town?”

  Xander shook his head as he squinted at Sylvester. “What?”

  “I…uh…never mind.” Sylvester turned and headed back toward the door, but Xander caught his arm and spun him around.

  “We need to talk about that dead body.”

  “There is no dead body!” Sylvester threw his arms up. “What is wrong with you?”

  “I heard your conversation with Sario. Now tell me why there was a dead guy in your motel room.”

  Sylvester paled. His gaze flashed to the window before he spun and took off down the street.

  With a growl, Xander gave chase.

  Chapter Three

  Maverick sat in The Lucky Clover, sipping his drink as he waited for Sebastian to join him. Since the Ultionem put the Dark Knights on the trail of the Hunters, things had settled down in his little town.

  But something else was amiss, and he needed to talk to his brother.

  Maverick glanced toward the dining area in the adjoining room. The restaurant was bustling with waitstaff as the customers enjoyed their evening. The bar was almost packed, as well. That was one good thing about being tight with the owners. Maverick always had a seat reserved for him, even if it was at the bar.

  He held his glass up to show Diablo that he needed a refill as Sebastian slid into the seat next to him. After so many years of distrusting and resenting Sebastian, Maverick was still amazed at how close he and his brother had become.

  Sebastian was Maverick’s half brother, born from Maverick’s father’s infidelity. Maverick hadn’t known he’d had a brother until two decades ago. And he’d hated Sebastian on sight.

  But after Sebastian had discovered that Shiloh—the omega wolf who had been in Maverick’s care for so long—was his mate, they’d buried the hatchet.

  “Okay, why am I here?” Sebastian ordered a whiskey when Diablo came their way. He waited until they both had their drinks before he turned to Maverick. “You could’ve let Aldrich get whatever it is you have. Why change the plans and insist I come?”

  “Something strange is going on.” Maverick pulled an envelope from his pocket and slid it across the bar. “These were sent anonymously to me.”

  Sebastian picked it up, opened it, and pulled out glossy photos. “What’s this?”

  “What does it look like?” Maverick took a sip of his drink as a football game played on the television above the bar.

  “Dead people,” Sebastian said in a low tone before he stuffed the pictures back into the envelope. “Why did you give me this?”

  “Because they’re human,” Maverick said. “And they’re also Hunters. Someone is going around killing them, and it’s not our boys.”

  Sebastian grunted as he tossed the envelope on the counter in front of Maverick. “And that’s a problem how? Someone is doing us a favor.”

  Maverick held his hand out, shaking his head slightly. “Are you serious? This is sloppy, and the human police are starting to suspect a serial killer. Having a vigilante on the streets isn’t good. What if they start mistaking innocents for Hunters? We need to find out who’s doing this and put a stop to it.”

  With a sigh, Sebastian ran through the photos again, keeping them hidden from the other patrons. He stopped at a photo of a large man lying dead in a bathtub, a dirty blue shower curtain half covering his face. “This is the work of a human?” He slid the photo to Maverick. “His chest has a hole in it.”

  “If you look at other photos, you’ll see the same thing. I never said a human was doing the killings. I’m thinking a preternatural is offing the Hunters.”

  “You’re right, this is bad.” Sebastian once again tucked the photos away. “Where’re the murders taking place?”

  “In the city. Christian already has his men searching for the culprit. But so far, they have nothing. But this could bleed into our neck of the woods, and I wanted you aware of what’s going on.”

  Sebastian drained his drink and set his glass on the polished wood. “I’ll let my guys know.”

  “Keep the photos.” Maverick laid a twenty on the counter before he stood. “Let your men see the killer’s handiwork so they know what’s going on if they come across any corpses with holes in their chests.”

  They exited the restaurant and stopped on the sidewalk. “Do you have any guesses about what could make a hole like that?” Sebastian asked.

  “Not a clue,” Maverick said. “It’s too wide for a fist and it’s too clean for a shifter attack.”

  “And vampires go for the throat, not the chest,” Sebastian added.

  “A demon maybe?” Maverick mused.

  “What the hell?” Sebastian looked past Maverick’s shoulder. “Why is Xander chasing a guy down the street?”

  Maverick turned and watched the guy in the lead run right at them. He had short black hair, wide, frightened blue eyes, and was sweaty and pale as his feet pounded the pavement.

  When he raced by them, Maverick scented that the guy was human.

  Sebastian snarled and grabbed Xander as he tried to run by. “What the hell are you doing?”

  Xander wiped a hand over his sweaty face as he stared at the fleeing man. “Gotta catch my mate.”

  The side of Maverick’s mouth curved. “It’s usually a bad sign when they run from you.”

  Xander glared at Maverick before he took off. Sebastian shook his head as he rolled his eyes. “I swear my pack is going to be the death of me.”

  Maverick snorted. “Complain when you’ve handled over forty men. I swear, every time I turn around, someone is ready to kill someone else. The Den is a madhouse on most days.”

  And Cecil was in the center of most of the chaos. Maverick sensed that his mate was becoming restless, but no matter what Maverick did to alleviate Cecil’s boredom, nothing seemed to work.

  “I’m gonna go after Xander,” Sebastian said. “The last thing I need is for him to get arrested for harassment and stalking.”

  With a grin, Maverick waved good-bye and headed down the street to where he’d parked.

  Joe Hephner squeezed into the bathroom next to Enrique, staring at the large man slumped over in the tub. This was the seventh murdered human in the span of two weeks. And he still hadn’t figured out what was killing them.

  “This is truly fucked up, “Joe said as he glanced at Enrique.

  “I don’t see what the problem is.” Enrique jabbed a finger at the corpse. “That’s Charlie. He was one of the people who conspired
against you. If you ask me, someone is doing us a favor.”

  Joe gave Enrique a withering stare. “Favor?” Sometimes Joe wondered about the people who worked for him. “You call openly killing people a favor? Our war is private. We don’t need the cops or anyone else getting involved. I want you to find out what the hell is killing our people before the next victim dies.”

  Although Joe had vowed revenge on those who’d abandoned him, his followers were few these days, and this wasn’t how he wanted things to go down.

  Both the preternatural world and those who knew about his betrayal wanted him dead. He also probably had one pissed-off witch after him, too.

  Lucinda wasn’t anyone to trifle with, yet Joe had walked out on her and hadn’t looked back. A twinge of guilt ate at his gut. She’d saved his life and he’d repaid her by coming out of hiding and getting back into the game.

  Joe lifted his phone and snapped a picture of the latest victim. He had to have developed some sort of mental defect over the years, because, although Joe was still hell-bent on wiping the abominations from the face of the earth, he was also the one sending Maverick Brac photos of the dead guys.

  He had no clue what kind of creature was killing these humans, so it didn’t hurt to have the enemy searching for the murderer, too.

  Joe and Enrique turned toward the bedroom as the wailing sirens grew closer. The last thing Joe needed was to get caught in a seedy motel room with a dead body.

  He hopped onto the tub and slid open the window, then scrambled out and hit the ground below. Enrique wedged his way out of the bathroom window and they took off.

  Joe slowed and moved to the edge of the building as he removed his latex gloves and shoved them into his pocket. He eased his head around the corner and saw several cop cars parked in front of room 204, their lights swirling in the growing darkness.

  “I wonder who called them,” Enrique said.

  “Probably the same person who’s been tipping the cops off about the other bodies.”

  He wouldn’t put anything past his great-nephew, but Joe doubted Adam Fox had anything to do with the killings. But if by chance he was connected, the preternatural would be doing him a favor by ending Adam.

  Joe walked nonchalantly to his car and slipped inside, and Enrique got in on the passenger’s side. Joe headed back toward the heart of the city as he left the cops to do their job.

  Sylvester cursed when his muscles locked up. He slowed, wincing as he leaned against a car, rubbing his calf. “Okay, okay. I give!”

  Xander leaned over next to Sylvester, pressing his hands against his knees. “You know, I used to be in better shape than this. That’s what I get for not going on daily runs.”

  “I think that’s the most exercise I’ve gotten in a long time.” Sylvester hissed when a stitch sparked around his side. He took a few deep breaths, stretched his legs, then took off again, heading for the bed-and-breakfast.

  “Aw, come on,” Xander shouted behind him. “You’re gonna seriously make me run again?”

  What was Xander’s problem? So he’d overheard a conversation about a dead body. Big deal. Was he a cop or something? The thought spurred Sylvester on. He made it another block before his legs gave out.

  Sylvester dropped onto the grass in front of the bed-and-breakfast and lay flat on his back as he struggled to breathe. He simply couldn’t go any farther. He wasn’t even sure why he’d cut down side streets when he could’ve simply run to where he was staying.

  But in his defense, he’d panicked. Now he was paying for it because every leg muscle screamed with exertion.

  A shadow fell over Sylvester. He looked up into Xander’s hazel eyes. “Fine, arrest me.”

  Xander dropped next to him and lay beside Sylvester. “I’m not trying to arrest you.” He used both hands to wipe his face. “If you’d stay still long enough, you’d know I was trying to help you.”

  Sylvester didn’t trust Xander’s kindness. No one offered help for free, and since he was flat broke, he was screwed.

  Sylvester grimaced as he pulled a pinecone from under his back. He tossed it aside before sitting up. “Okay, who are you and what do you want from me?”

  Xander rolled to his side and propped his head on his hand. “If I told you the truth, you’d probably never stop running.”

  That didn’t help to alleviate Sylvester’s worries. If anything, Xander’s comment made him even more suspicious. “I’m not following what you’re saying.”

  Xander gave him a skeptical look. “The only way to convince you of the truth is to show you. How about we go upstairs?”

  A bark of laughter escaped Sylvester. “Wow. Do you really think I’m that dumb?”

  “I think you’re very cautious,” Xander said. “And you should be. You have no clue what really goes on in the world, how truly frightening the underbelly is.” He pushed to a sitting position and wiped his hands together. “But since you don’t trust me, how about we meet by the diner tonight, after dark?”

  After what Xander had just said, there was no way Sylvester would meet him, anywhere. He knew just how rotten and corrupt the world was. He didn’t need Xander trying to scare him.

  Sylvester got to his feet. “I’m gonna pass. I really don’t need friends, and I don’t need a complete stranger trying to stick his nose where it doesn’t belong.”

  As attracted as he was to Xander, Sylvester needed to keep a low profile. He and Sario weren’t going to stay in this town long enough for him to do anything with Xander anyway. He needed to talk to Sario and find out how much money they had between them. The bed-and-breakfast was a bit pricey, and they wouldn’t be able to afford staying there for long.

  Instead of going back to the diner, Sylvester pushed to his feet, ready to go inside.

  “Leaving me again?” One of Xander’s brows arched. “I’m really too tired to chase you.”

  “I’m going inside,” Sylvester said. “And don’t follow me.”

  He was relieved when Xander didn’t get up, but had a feeling the guy wasn’t about to leave anytime soon.

  Sylvester went into the inn. Mrs. Briar was talking to some guy at the counter. When the stranger turned toward Sylvester, his suit jacket flared slightly and Sylvester saw the gun tucked into a holster at the man’s side.

  Cop? Bad guy? Sylvester eased over toward the sofa, glancing away. He didn’t want the stranger looking at him for any reason.

  When the guy left, Mrs. Briar hurried over to him. “Just what kind of trouble are you in?”

  The question made Sylvester’s insides shrivel. “What do you mean?”

  Even if the cops had found his prints, it was too soon for them to know whom they belonged to. Wasn’t it? Sylvester had no idea since he’d never committed a crime in his life. Technically he still hadn’t, but no cop in the world would believe his story about waking up with no memory of the previous evening and finding a dead guy in the bathroom of a motel room he hadn’t even rented.

  “The man who just left,” Mrs. Briar said. “He asked for you by name. Since he didn’t flash me a badge or anything, I didn’t feel right pointing you out.”

  Sylvester hurried to the window to get a better look at the guy. Xander was still sitting on the grass, leaning on one elbow. Sylvester wasn’t the only one looking at the stranger. Xander studied the guy intently.

  “I don’t know who he is,” Sylvester said. The scar just below the guy’s right eye made him appear more lethal than he already looked. The stranger reminded Sylvester of the henchmen he’d seen in numerous movies. He just had that scary aura about him.

  “Then I’m glad I didn’t say anything.” She turned to him and furrowed her brows. “Are you sure you’re not in any trouble?”

  “N-no.” Sylvester shook his head. It wasn’t a flat-out lie since she was asking about the man who’d just left the inn. Sylvester had no clue who the stranger was or why he would ask for him.

  He needed to find Sario, but Xander was still outside and Sylvester didn’t feel like dealing with him again. “Do you have a back way out?”

  She gave him a skeptical look. “Follow me.”

  Sylvester didn’t know too many people who would help someone they didn’t know, even when they knew that person was in trouble. Mrs. Briar was a gem, and there was no way Sylvester would be able to repay her kindness.

  But he would find a way. He just had to live long enough to send her some flowers.