The Wanting (D'Shar Men 1)

“That’s what he claimed. I always knew him as the slimy motherfucker that murdered my mother.”

“Fuck!”

His hands slammed the steering wheel as they approached the black Escalades lined up along the curb.

“So what he said was true,” she said.

“I don’t know what he told you Zasha, but—”

“I know now isn’t the time for this conversation, but later we have many things to discuss.”

“Understood,” he said as he parked the car behind the row of black SUVs.

“Do you have your weapon?”

“No, the bastard took it after he knocked me out.”

“Then let’s get you armed and suited with a vest.”

Parked, they both stepped from the vehicle and meet Bastian at the back of the truck.

“She needs a vest and a gun,” Phelan said. Once she walked away, he turned to face his brother.

“It’s Tavel.”

“What! We haven’t seen any signs of him for the past couple years. Why now? Why her?”

“When Zasha was still a child, her mother became one of Tavel’s victims.” “Shit, Phe,” Bastian said. His brown eyes wide as Phelan nodded.

“I know,” Phelan said as he accepted a vest handed to him.

At one time Tavel had been a trusted member of the royal family. A brilliant scientist and advisor, Tavel’s opinions had been invaluable. Until his scientific studies had gone too far, and he’d begun to practice unethical alchemy on living creatures. The banishment placed on the scientist had driven him mad, and he’d murdered the King and Queen before fleeing.

Once Tavel had escaped Tagget, he had taken to performing his strange experiments on humans. The path of corpses he’d left behind were his own brand of evidence disposal. No matter how fast they arrived to recover the evidence, the site was always too clean to figure out his next move. They suspected humans with abnormal abilities were somehow connected to Tavel, but there was no way to be sure without tests. Tests meant questions they weren’t ready to answer. A serial killer was something the human authorities could understand. A mad scientist who used humans as test subjects was a problem that could easily turn the population against the Shar. As it was, there were many people who thought they should be treated as a threat.

The Shar walked a fine line between being seen as foreign versus alien. Since humans tended to fear what they didn’t understand, it was a judgment call he’d been forced to make. He wondered if that choice had come back to bite him in the ass.

****

The Shar’s raid hadn’t been a complete bust. Tavel was long gone, but bits and pieces of evidence remained. Beakers of compounds native to Tagget and other planets in their former solar system showed them he had a supplier. Phelan figured he traded with the rogues. What he traded for, they had yet to figure out. Like all dirty laundry, their secrets would come out in the wash. The minute they found Tavel gone, Zasha placed a call to the chief, and got the P.I.U. dispatched. What had occurred next was a cluster fuck. The abandoned home held too much foreign matter for the P.I.U to handle. So they’d entered into an agreement. Phelan would make his staff of scientists and himself available for their expertise.

With all the evidence carefully stowed away, there was no time for questions. But he knew eventually when things calmed down they would want more information. Zasha’s job has been a hindrance to the progression of their relationship since he’d last visited her offices for business. They were unsure how the members of the P.I.U. would react to their relationship.

****

Two weeks earlier…

Phelan’s eyes narrowed as the blonde officer leaned in to whisper into Zasha’s ear. Her lips twisted into a scowl as she shoved him away from her body, and he threw his head back to laugh. The tiny smile his antics coaxed from Zasha was the straw that broke the camel’s back. Phelan blinked and his jaw ticked. The power he used to make the idiot stumble was an automatic response.

“Did you just use your powers?” his brother asked. Kade’s mouth was ajar when Phelan turned to face him with a serene façade.

“I didn’t think his body was an appropriate distance away from Agent Johnson.”

“Uh-huh…I think I’ll go speak with the other agents,”Kade said. His feet pointed in the direction opposite from the woman headed their way. Her hazel eyes ablaze.

“Can I talk to you in private, Phelan? There’s a case in my office I could use your expertise on,” Zasha asked.

“Of course,” Phelan said as she strode towards the office ahead of him.