Darkness Unbound (Dark Angels 1)

“Anything and everything he can find on Marcus Handberry, the owner of the Phoenix.”

“I’ll contact him and ask. We can drop by tonight before we head to the club.”

“Doesn’t he ever close down?”

“Nope. He lives and breathes that shop, and only sleeps when he has to. You want to inspect the cars now, or later?”

“Now.” I drained the coffee and dropped it onto the table. “I need plenty of time to sleep so I’m fresh for tonight.”

He snorted softly. “Darling girl, all you have to do is suggestively bat those gorgeous eyes his way, and the man won’t care if you have monstrous bags underneath them.”

I rose on tippy-toes and dropped a kiss on his cheek. “You do say the nicest things.”

“That’s what best buds do.” He grinned and hooked his arm through mine. “Now, shall we go find bugs?”

We did—and we did.

Three, to be exact.

One on Tao’s Ferrari, one on my Toyota, and the final one on Ilianna’s battered Jeep. Obviously, they’d had no intention of losing any of us—which made me inspect my bike again, but we didn’t find any more. Maybe they’d run out of time. Or bugs.

“I’ll replant these later,” Tao said, placing them carefully into separate plastic bags. “But they’re obviously going to be watching us, so we’ll need to think of a way to stop them from following us tonight.”

We headed back up the stairs. “Can I just note here that your friend Rocky, and his mate Kiera, are about our heights and builds? Why don’t you invite them around for a movie night?”

He grinned and dropped a kiss on my cheek. “You’re so clever sometimes, it’s scary.”

Face-shifting wasn’t as easy as shifting into an alternate form. From what Mom said, donning your wolf form—or whatever other form of animal you might be—involved little more than reaching into that place inside where the beast roamed and releasing the shackles that bound her. This was a little more complicated. Not only did you have to fully imagine all the minute details of the face you wanted to copy, but you had to hold it firm in your thoughts while the magic swirled around and through your body. Easier said than done when the magic was designed to sweep away sensation and thought.

What made it even harder was the fact that I very rarely did it.

I took several deep breaths, slowly releasing each in an effort to calm the tension running through my limbs. Then I closed my eyes and pictured Kiera’s face in my mind. The sharpness of her nose, the smattering of freckles across her cheeks, the slightly upward tilt on the edge of her golden eyes, the curl in her brown hair.

Then, freezing that image in my mind, I reached for the magic. It exploded around me, thick and fierce, as if it had been contained for far too long. It swept through me like a gale, making my muscles tremble and Kiera’s image waver. I frowned, holding fiercely to her likeness. The energy began to pulsate, burn, and change me. My skin rippled; bones restructured; hair shortened, curled, and changed color.

When the magic faded, I opened my eyes. Kiera stood before me. It was a strange sensation, staring into the mirror and not seeing me. I didn’t like it, but it was better than having those men following us again.

I wiped the sweat from my forehead and ignored my wobbly legs as I headed into my walk-in wardrobe. Like everything else in this warehouse, it was oversized—but then, it had to be. Another thing I’d learned from Riley was an appreciation of really fine shoes and the clothes that matched them.

I stood in the middle of the room and studied the long line of dresses. A first date required something sexy, but not too revealing—especially given that sex wasn’t going to be on the menu tonight. I’d learned the hard way that discretion was a must when it came to catering to my earthier needs.

Everyone knew who Mom was. A lot of people also knew I was her daughter. And there were men out there—and a lot of reporters—who where willing to do or say anything to get their story.

Tears pricked my eyes, but I blinked them away furiously. My encounter with Jak Talbott had happened a long time ago. The hurt was gone. I was over it. Over him.

And if I kept telling myself that, maybe one day I would believe it.

But as a result, I was a werewolf who no longer visited the popular wolf clubs, who didn’t often have casual sex except in the safety of places like Franklin’s—where they catered to people who could pay for discretion—and who went on at least one date before giving in to base need.

Aunt Riley called it unnatural. I preferred to call it cautious. One broken heart was more than enough for one lifetime.

After several more minutes of indecision, I pulled out a simple, dark purple silk dress that skimmed my curves and floated gently to my knees. The stilettos were the same color, but had three-inch silver heels—a Riley Jenson specialty. My purse was also silver. When I shifted back to the real me, the effect would be sexy, but not overtly so.

I spun and headed into the main room. Ilianna had already darkened the electrochromic windows, so there was no chance of any of watchers seeing us. Tao was waiting, his brown hair temporarily dyed to match Rocky’s outlandish blue—the same blue as his eyes, thanks to contacts.

His gaze skimmed me then rose to my hair. “I really do prefer you silver.”

I grinned. “And you look far sexier as a brown wolf. Did you contact Stane?”