Chapter Two
Alistar’s fangs itched with annoyance.
They’d just run out of time.
Normally, Byron, the butler, would answer the door, but he didn’t appear from the foyer as he usually did. In his absence, Basil stepped over to the small screen just inside the rally room door.
Alistar moved to look over her shoulder. A woman with short, dark hair stared up at the camera, brows raised, a teasing smile on her lips.
“Can I help you?” Basil asked, his finger on the call button.
“I’m Lexi.”
“Sounds like she made it,” the woman on the other end of the phone said.
She?
“What the hell?” Alistar said. “I’ve never heard of a helper.”
And a female hacker? Those were rare. Like red diamonds.
“We need a new ring member,” Rhyse stressed to the woman on the phone. His tone was hard, imploring.
“She’s been briefed on the situation. She has some ideas of how to track your witch.”
“She’s not our witch,” Basil muttered, sauntering toward the front door.
What was happening? Alistar wanted to rewind the clock, go back to before this chaos. It was wrong. Didn’t sit right.
Each Stigward Ring was made of seven members. Six guardians and one butler who ran their house and life like clockwork. Diversity and support were key elements in the Stigward credo.
With Pascal gone, they needed a new teammate, not a Brainiac Barbie.
“What are you doing?” Alistar asked, on alert, as Basil reached for the front doorknob. It was after nightfall, so the light sensored latches were unlocked, but still…
“Going to meet our helper.” Basil drew her shoulders back and shot him a smirk that said it should be obvious. She might as well have patted him on the head like a child.
Alistar’s jaw hardened.
“Tell Ksilvanté I need more information about this supposed helper before I let her into the house,” Rhyse said into the speakerphone. If he was as confused by this as Alistar, he didn’t show it.
No, the hybrid was eerily calm, and completely in charge.
“Alistar,” Rhyse said, hitting the mute button on the console, “go see what you can find out about our new friend.”
Read her mind, he meant.
Gladly, Alistar sent the thought.
* * *
Alistar strode down the walkway behind Basil. The two guard dogs that kept watch over the front of the lot trotted along beside them.
The New Orleans Stigward house was in the heart of the Garden District, surrounded by a maze of shrubbery and carefully manicured trees. Byron kept the yards in tip-top condition, and the lush foliage stopped traffic.
He and Basil paused at the gate. The woman on the other side gave them each a once-over, and a small wave. Unlike many, she didn’t seem perplexed by Alistar’s height or unnatural beauty.
Most women stared. Many slipped him their number. Others shoved their undergarments in his pockets. He didn’t understand women these days.
He had to give this one credit though. She didn’t seem fixated, or even fascinated by him. And she didn’t bat an eyelash at Basil’s unique hair.
He reached out, listening to her thoughts. Her mind was a whirlwind, moving so fast he couldn’t follow. Just words and phrases, like a crossword puzzle spun up in a tornado.
On the outside she seemed perfectly calm, incredibly normal, and yet… She was stunningly beautiful. She tried to hide it beneath bangs and glasses, but there was no hiding such perfect skin, or such full, kissable lips.
An inch or two taller than Basil, Lexi had a lean athletic figure. Flip-flops graced her feet, dark jeans hugged her thighs, and a spaghetti-strap tank clung to her torso.
A headwind blew her hair back from her face, revealing her gorgeous neck. The sight of her creamy skin, so smooth and vulnerable hit him harder than a kick to the gut.
For the first time in a very long time, Alistar wanted to sink his fangs into the source. He wanted to feel her in his arms, her warmth cascading over his tongue, the hum of her pulse beneath his lips.
Would she fight him or welcome his embrace?
He took a deep breath, trying a different sense to figure her out. Strong heartbeat, but he couldn’t catch her scent. She didn’t strike him as a wolf, though her arms and shoulders looked strong. He watched for tell-tale fangs.
“I’m Basil, and this is Alistar.”
The woman nodded, her gaze swerving up the street for a moment before returning to them.
Who was she watching for?
Or perhaps she was naturally cautious.
Being hunted for generations would do that to you, he could attest.
“I’m Lexi, but you already knew that.” She lifted her gaze to Alistar and something about the way the corner of her mouth lifted put him on edge.
All they knew was her name, and that she was apparently a whiz with computers.
What exactly did she know?
Was it possible that she’d been briefed on them even though they hadn’t been briefed on her?
This whole situation was getting stranger by the moment.
She glanced up at the camera and back to them. “Are we going to get the show on the road?”
She seemed somehow eager, and yet completely at ease. A walking contradiction.
Alistar hated that.
“We’re just waiting for a few things to check out. You understand.” Basil laced her fingers, striking a casual pose.
She had more patience than he did.
“They said you’re a hacker.”
Lexi’s gaze snapped to Alistar’s. “Announce it to the whole city, why don’t you?”
She glanced up and down the street and over her shoulder. For the first time, she seemed nervous.
The breeze shifted, hitting the woman square in the back. She rocked forward on her toes, and that was when it hit him.
The thing that had been bugging him. Basil seemed to realize it at the same second.
Even from inside the walls of the Stigward house, his gut had told him something was off. Not quite right.
“You’re human,” Alistar said softly, ever aware of the Garden District’s close quarters. There were some things you didn’t want the neighbors overhearing.
Lexi stepped closer, closing her hands around the gate’s iron bars. Big, brown eyes full of mirth and intelligence. And that mouth…why couldn’t he stop staring at it?
“And you are a vampire,” she whispered, her words disappearing on the breeze.
There was something about the way she said the word vampire that made him think of long evenings of slow sex. Claiming her lips in lingering kisses. Fisting his hands into those chocolate locks. Drinking from her graceful neck. Being wrapped in her arms while he drilled into her tight heat.
“And I’m a hybrid. Woo-hoo,” Basil sing-songed.
Lexi didn’t break eye contact, and he had a feeling she was testing him. Why, he didn’t have the first clue.
But she barely blinked, and her lips were parted ever so slightly. Why couldn’t he stop looking at them?
Why couldn’t he stop wondering what they’d taste like?
And why couldn’t he hear her thoughts in his head?
Alistar took a step back, and realized instantly that he’d made a mistake.
If this had been a staring contest, he’d just blinked.
Lexi sent Basil a victorious grin.
Dammit, if she wasn’t sassy as hell. Not at all intimidated.
“What kind of hybrid?” Her voice was so sweet and conversational.
“Wolf. Vamp.”
“Nice. Fangs and claws. So. You’re second in command, huh?”
Alistar’s mind hit the brakes. How the hell did she know that?
As if he’d spoken out loud, Lexi shrugged. “Ksilvanté filled me in.”
She knew the leader of The Order of the Stigward? Personally?
“But you’re human.” Alistar couldn’t help but point out the obvious. There were rules about humans in a Stigward house.
What else had Ksilvanté told her?
“Obviously.” Lexi’s gaze darted from him, back to Basil. “Is he always so observant?”
“Always.”
Lexi let go of the bars. “Did you know New Orleans was the first city in the United States to host an opera?”
His jaw dropped low enough to let in a whole houseful of flies. He snapped his lips closed and turned on his heel. Someone was playing a joke on them.
He marched back into the house, and found Rhyse leaning against the conference table, arms crossed over his massive chest. His left brow made a quick up and down motion, as if to say, ‘give me the deets.’
“Nothing. It’s like a hurricane in there,” he said referring to the human’s chaotic thoughts.
“Hmm.” Rhyse lowered his gaze and rubbed a hand over his cheek, down to his chin and back up, lost in thought.
“I don’t get it. It’s not that I doubt her because she’s a woman. It’s—”
“She’s human,” Rhyse inserted.
“That.” Alistar practically spat the word as he threw out a finger for emphasis.
“And?”
Alistar sighed, hands closing over his hips. “I don’t trust her. I don’t trust this whole mess. Why don’t we have a sixth? I know it’s only been a week, but surely, they could find someone at The Castle that would work. Or promote Byron. He’s ready.”
That wasn’t the way the Stigward worked, and he knew it. Byron would leave here in a few months’ time and return to the Castle, where he’d finish his training before being placed in a Stigward team.
Rhyse reached behind him and slid a folder across the table. “Her file.”
“I thought she didn’t have one. She’s a helper.” The sarcastic comment rolled off his tongue as he picked up the paper.
“She checks out, Alistar. Whether you like it or not.”
His fangs lengthened in annoyance. There was more information on a drugstore receipt than on this woman’s file.
“Still don’t like it.”
Rhyse nodded, then stepped over to the console by the door. He jabbed a button that opened the front gate. Alistar watched, as Lexi picked up her suitcase and stepped forward. The dogs gave her a quick once-over, and she held a hand out to them. They accepted her and a scratch behind the ears.
Traitors.
He didn’t take his eyes off the screen as Basil escorted their guest up the walkway.
“Just do your job,” Rhyse said quietly, not unkindly. “You can set your hatred aside long enough to catch the witch who killed Pascal. Can’t you?”
Alistar grunted.
Rhyse was Mr. Calm, Cool & Collected. He was famous for it.
Alistar’s lips twisted into a sound of agreement.
Besides, Rhyse’s voice hummed through his mind. What’s not to like?
Alistar had never had reason to believe that Rhyse had broken his vow of celibacy, but the way the big man watched the human gave him pause.
And it wasn’t because Alistar’s own blood heated when he looked at her.
No way.
Basil and Lexi paused atop the antique rug in the foyer.
She stared up at the ceiling, peeked into the parlor, and then pivoted toward the rally room. Toward Alistar.
Reaching into her bag, she pulled out a device and a set of headphones. After hooking them around her neck, she dropped the backpack inside the door.
“Rhyse?” she asked, glancing at their leader.
Rhyse nodded. “You come highly recommended.”
Again, with the shrug. Was it false modesty? “I just know my way around a computer. That’s all.”
Alistar heard footsteps and saw Byron rushing toward them, smoothing his suit jacket.
Lexi turned to Byron. “And Byron.”
The butler gave a quick nod and Alistar heard the man’s heart rate increase.
Great. So, they’d all have a case of blue balls, and the white witch would never be found. Justice would never be served, and whatever game the witch was playing, she’d win because they were too distracted by a human.
“Would you care to see your room?” Byron asked. Though it’s what he would have said to anyone, his eyes lingered longer than necessary or normal.
What was it about the human?
She moved around the foyer, slow and casual. But those eyes were constantly moving, scanning the paintings, even the walls. She pointed the device in her upturned palm at everything she passed, and he cocked his head, trying to figure out what her game was.
“Nope. I’m good to get started, if you guys are.” She quirked a brow at Rhyse and Basil.
“I’ll get some refreshments. If you need anything, please let me know,” Byron said, his gaze locked on Lexi and then disappeared down the hall.
Lexi stepped into the rally room and paused, giving the room a long, careful perusal.
She bent at the waist and looked under the conference table.
“What are you looking for?” Alistar couldn’t help but ask. This was the most secure room in the house.
Straightening, she didn’t answer or acknowledge him. Pausing in front of the bank of monitors on the wall, she stared at the map pinpointing missing witches. Known abductions. Sightings of the white-haired witch.
Then the dossier they’d compiled. Such as it was.
The file they’d put together on their current prisoner.
They needed more information. Or maybe they needed magic. To fight fire with fire, so to speak.
Though he thought the chances of Mariah coming after Maddie again were slim, it wasn’t out of the realm of possibility. For as much as Maddie told them about the conversation she’d had with the witch during her capture, there were no clues as to Mariah’s ultimate plan.
Why did she need other witches?
Lexi circled the room, squatted in front of the fireplace. A moment later she was completing her circuit.
“Did you know the first known computer bug was a moth?” Lexi asked, as she stared at the photos from the warehouse. Then she moved down the length of the room, inspecting everything.
When no one said anything, she glanced over her shoulder. “Just a little trivia for you.”
“Why exactly are you here?” Alistar demanded.
She flicked her gaze from Alistar to his phone on the conference table and then her gaze swept Rhyse and Basil.
They’ll listen.
Alistar heard the words even though he was positive she hadn’t spoken them out loud. He focused on her face, trying to make sense of the rapid-fire thoughts.
Listening.
“Who’s listening?” he asked.
Her eyes went wide, and her brows lifted until they were hidden by her bangs.
…talking out loud again?
Lexi shook her head slowly, long, emphatic sweeps of her head.
Her gaze skimmed the room.
“What are you looking for?”
“Laptops. Computers. Where’s your server closet?”
Alistar frowned, but Rhyse pointed to a small closet at the end of the room.
Striding around the conference table, she pulled back one of the rolling chairs and then climbed onto the large, gleaming slab of wood.
Flipping over the conference phone, she unplugged all the wires.
“Rhyse, would you hand me my bag, please?”
Their leader hoisted her backpack and the human shot him a smile of thanks.
Alistar rolled his eyes and Basil snorted, an amused smirk pulling her lips.
Byron returned with a tray of drinks and placed them on the table.
Lexi unzipped the main pocket and pulled out a long, black pouch. Scooting across the table she scooped up Rhyse’s phone and plunked it into the bag.
“Hey—” he started, but she hopped off the table and approached Byron.
With the pouch open, she made a show of putting her cell phone inside.
“Phones in the bag.”
Byron retrieved his from the inside pocket of his suit jacket and handed it over. Lexi moved to Basil next.
“Uh—” Basil glanced toward Alistar, obviously unsure of what was happening.
“A Faraday bag?” he asked, and Lexi gave him the most ‘no duh’ expression he’d ever seen.
Sassy little brainiac.
He nodded to Basil and she pulled her phone from the side pocket of her yoga pants.
Which left him.
“What’s a Faraday bag?” Rhyse asked.
“What is a Faraday bag, Alistar?” Lexi asked, her tone full of sarcasm.
He sighed and put his phone in the bag with the others. “It shields against signals. Incoming. Outgoing.”
He ground his jaws together.
She closed the bag and placed it in the middle of the conference table. Then she hopped up, plunking that tight, little, jean-covered ass down. Her legs swung back and forth, flip-flops dangling.
“Back to your question, Rhyse. I know he’s a vampire,” she said, nodding her head at Alistar. “She’s a hybrid, and you’re a…” she paused. The effect was dramatic, and Alistar was instantly jealous of the way she raked her gaze over Rhyse’s tall frame.
Of all the ridiculous… He had zero reason to be jealous, and yet, that was the only explanation for the way his fangs lengthened, and everything in him went on alert.
“Hybrid.”
Rhyse inclined his head in that regal way of his. Alistar almost rolled his eyes again. Too bad the leader of a Stigward ring had to take a vow of celibacy. Women the world over were mourning the loss, he was sure.
Alistar was firm in his desire for women, but even he knew a good-looking guy when he saw one. And Rhyse was a hell of a good-looking guy.
“And you’re—” She let the words dangle as she regarded Byron. “A shifter. Wolf?”
He inclined his head.
“And I’m Lexi. What I know is that you have security issues, you’re hunting a bad witch, and you need my help. Does that about sum it up?”
“Now, wait a minute—” Alistar began, his shoulders coming down and back.
Rhyse silenced him with a hand.
“What do you mean, security issues?”
She lifted a shoulder in a casual shrug, but it burrowed under Alistar’s last nerve. “I checked for bugs, so you’re good there. But if I were you, I’d check all your phones and computers. Someone has to be hearing your conversations. She’s been a step ahead of you, right?” She waved to the Faraday bag. “And you were ready to talk details while anyone and their grandpa could have been listening in.”
Alistar’s jaw dropped a fraction.
The room went utterly silent, and Basil looked back and forth between Lexi and Alistar.
Obviously sensing the tension, Lexi glanced over her naked shoulder and pegged him with a look. “What? You don’t think there could be bugs planted in here? You don’t want DPS to know your secrets, do you?” A stream of technobabble erupted from her lips. She sauntered over to the computer closet and squeezed in with the machines.
He squinted at her. “What are you doing now?”
And why did everything about her leave him so…exasperated?
“Making sure the microphone on these computers isn’t actually turned on. Shouldn’t be, but you never know.”
“You think we were hacked?”
Again, with the shrug. “Or someone could have messed with your equipment.”
His mind immediately went to his bodycam. Had someone messed with it? Was that why the data was corrupted?
She didn’t know it, but she’d just thrown a bucket of ice water over his head. Betrayal from within was something no Stigwardian wanted to consider.
“This all checks out.”
He practically grunted in response. Of course, it checked out. They didn’t have a security problem.
She stepped from the closet and closed the door. Then she turned her attention on Rhyse. “With your permission, I’ll double-check everyone’s phone and laptop. If there’s any sort of listening device or key reader, I’ll find it.”
He opened his mouth to object, but felt Rhyse’s silent headshake. Imperceptible to those who didn’t live as he did, connected to those around him on another plane.
He snapped his lips closed.
Who did she think she was, popping in here out of the blue and poking her nose where it didn’t belong? Her level of confidence was staggering. And kind of sexy.
The room was so quiet at the idea of a stranger snooping, she might as well be offering rectal exams. No one was rushing to be first in line.
Finally, Rhyse spoke.
“Alistar will help you.”
“I will?”
…hottie looking over my shoulder…
Lexi’s words whispered through his mind, and he couldn’t stop the smile that tugged his lips. So, she thought he was hot, huh? Maybe he could use that to his advantage and find out what her game was. Because no matter how much Brainiac Barbie turned him on, he didn’t trust her.
“Of course,” Lexi replied, picking up her bookbag. “Try to keep up.”
Basil laughed. “Oh, I like her. You’ve met your match, Alistar.”
That was what he was worried about.
