Dark Instincts (The Phoenix Pack 4)

Marcus cocked his head. “What makes you so sure?”

“When Rhett hacked into his criminal files, he was able to see a clear picture of Brunt—including the Chinese symbols on his arms. He managed to translate them. They’re three letters.”

“Let me guess,” drawled Marcus. “S, N, M?” At Trey’s nod, he growled.

“At least we know who the motherfucker is.” Roni briefly stroked Marcus’s thigh, still not feeling good at the whole soothing thing. Before she could pull her hand back, he gripped it tight.

“Brunt’s court date is in a few days’ time.” Trey folded his arms over his chest. “If the case is thrown out of court, we can get our hands on him—though we’ll have to be careful, since the extremists will most likely be waiting outside the courthouse. If he isn’t released, there’s no way of us getting to him—at least, not for a long time.”

Derren twisted his mouth. “Let’s hope Eliza’s as good as she claims to be, or we won’t get our answers from Brunt.”

Ryan leaned back in his seat. “In the meantime, we could talk to people who know him—friends, colleagues. They might know about his habits, might have heard about some place he likes to go.”

“No.” Roni shook her head. “If there’s one thing I’ve learned from all this, it’s that talking to ‘friends’ and ‘associates’ doesn’t help much. We need to speak to someone he pissed off. They’ll be willing to talk.” Ryan’s brows raised slightly, and he nodded his approval.

“We could speak to the ex-girlfriend who got a restraining order against him,” suggested Dante. “From what Rhett discovered, she lives in New York now.”

Nick smiled. “That’s when private jets come in handy.”

Dante balked and then spat a mouthful of coffee on the kitchen floor. “Roni,” he whined. She shrugged innocently while the others laughed.

It turned out that Brunt’s human ex-girlfriend, Margo Lincoln, was a librarian. Apparently he went for the quiet, timid, academic type. She was also pretty unfriendly and amazingly observant. She’d taken one look at Roni and Taryn as they approached her in one of the aisles of the library, and said, “You’re shifters.”

Taryn smiled. “And you’re smart, Margo Lincoln.”

“It’s the way you all move—controlled, graceful, stealthily.” Her tone held a tint of bitterness.

“You seem to know a lot about shifters.” The human said nothing. “I’m Taryn. This is Roni.” As Roni was busy sucking on a lollipop, she simply gave Margo a short nod.

Turning away, Margo inserted one of the many books she was holding onto a shelf. “If you’re here about Noah Brunt, I have nothing to say.”

Roni felt Marcus’s surprise. All the males were spread out but within hearing range—something that was made easier by the fact that this part of the building was mostly empty and exceptionally quiet. They had figured that Margo might be less inclined to talk about her issues with Brunt if six large shifter males were surrounding her.

Taryn tilted her head. “Why would you think we were here to talk about that asshole? I mean, we are. But why would you immediately assume that?”

Apparently the fact that Taryn had called him an asshole went a long way with Margo, because her expression lost some of its anger. “You’re not from his pack?”

“If he’d been a member of my pack, I’d have put him down like a rabid dog.”

Margo narrowed her eyes, studying Taryn. “An Alpha female,” she concluded. She then turned that studious gaze on Roni. “And you . . . you could be one, if it was what you wanted. Not quite as harmless as you appear.”

Taryn’s smile widened as she looked at Roni. “I like her. Back to the subject matter, though, Margo. What makes you assume we’re here about Brunt?”

Margo glanced around. “This isn’t the time or the place for such a conversation. People come to libraries for peace and quiet.”

Taryn, too, glanced around. “But as you can see, no one’s close-by. Please, Margo.”

Margo gave a frustrated sigh. “When I got the restraining order, the extremists somehow heard about it, and they tried pressuring me to go public with my experience.”

“Yeah, it’s not uncommon for them to harass victims.”

“Lately, that pressure has greatly increased, and I wondered if someone from Noah’s pack would visit me to insist that I keep my mouth shut.”

Frowning, Roni removed the lollipop from her mouth. “Brunt was banished from his pack. He didn’t tell you that?”

Margo’s expression hardened. “No, he didn’t.”

“I’m guessing the reason the extremists are putting more pressure on you to talk about him is because of the latest accusation made against him,” mused Taryn.

Margo stiffened. “What accusation is that?”

“He’s been accused of trying to kidnap a human female—a teenager. Margo, we have reason to believe he’s involved in far worse than that.”

“How so?” When Taryn hesitated, Margo lifted her chin. “If you want me to answer your questions, you can at least have the courtesy to answer mine.”

“Fair enough. We have reason to believe he’s kidnapped many humans in the past, that he’s working with people who are dangerous and, quite frankly, evil. But we don’t know where to find these people. We need to know as much as we can about Brunt. Maybe it can help us track down those assholes.”

She sighed. “You want to know about Noah? He’s a very pleasant, gentle, caring man. He has impeccable manners—even while he has one of his friends beat you, he’s polite and soft-spoken. Tells you how well you’re doing. How proud he is of you. How beautiful you are.”

Like that, Roni felt sick. “Did he hurt you himself?”

“No. He just liked to watch.” A bitter, humorless chuckle. “He had me totally fooled.”

Taryn bit her bottom lip. “I’m sorry to ask you these questions, I know this has to be hard, but can you tell me where this happened?”

Margo turned her eyes back to the shelves. “I’m not sure. He came here to give me a ride home, just as he did most nights. The second we got in the car, he drugged me. When I woke up, I was bound and gagged in an empty room with bloodstained walls.”