Malik’s heart was pounding in his chest. He hoped it had healed properly since the stake had pierced it. The more he focused on his heart, the faster it hammered.
“Room 402.” The woman was tall, but so thin Malik wondered if she, too, had someone withholding food from her. He carried two big suitcases to the door he hoped was 402. He knew what four and two looked like, but when she didn’t move to open it for him, doubt grew in his mind. Was it the wrong door?
She frowned at him. “Don’t you have a key?”
Oh…“Sorry, ma’am. I don’t have clearance for a key.” Was it the right use of clearance? He held his breath while waiting.
With an annoyed huff, she rounded him and unlocked the door.
Malik carried the bags inside, and she waved him off, then held up a hand to halt his escape. “There is a safe in the hotel, right?”
“You have one in this room, ma’am.” He hoped. Hadn’t Ivan said there were safes in the rooms?
She huffed. “I meant a real one, a vault.”
“I…eh…” Malik’s heart was beating too fast. He chanced a glance at his chest to make sure there wasn’t blood on Zev’s shirt. “Only the manager has access to it, ma’am. I don’t have clearance.”
“Of course not. Could you ask the manager to come see me?” She formulated it as a question, but it wasn’t one.
He nodded and slid out of the room. His skin was tight as he hurried down the stairs. Glancing around so no one was paying attention to him, he headed for the door.
When he reached the car, Zev was touching Ivan.
Before he could stop himself, he’d yanked the door open, pulled Zev out, and snarled in his face. Zev snarled back. His eyes turning a glowing yellow in a heartbeat and his teeth sharpening. Malik didn’t care, his teeth were sharper.
Someone touched his arm, and Malik grabbed the intruder by the throat and slammed him against the car next to where he held Zev. His. Ivan was his.
“Eh…Malik.” Ivan’s voice shook, and Malik instantly let go of Zev and caged Ivan against the car. His cock was rock hard, and he leaned into Ivan to let him know who he belonged to—him, and no one else.
“Causing a scene isn’t what we need right now.” Ivan touched the hand Malik still had around his throat. He wasn’t squeezing or anything, only holding—keeping Ivan in place. He rolled his hips. His hard length pushing against Ivan’s stomach. It made him frown. Ivan was so short, so small. He needed someone to protect him.
“Malik.” Ivan’s voice grew stronger. “I like to be taken on a date before I get fucked in a parking lot, okay? This is not the kind of attention we need.”
Some of the daze lifted from Malik’s mind. “He was touching you.”
“It’s a free country…for werewolves, at least.”
Malik hissed.
“Babe, we really don’t need a macho competition right now.” Ivan’s dark eyes bore into his and shame welled up inside.
He was manhandling Ivan.
“Sorry.” Malik caressed Ivan’s throat where he’d held him, terrified he’d left a mark. Humans were fragile. He glared at Zev. “He’s mine. No touching.”
Zev glared back. “I have no interest in him.”
“He is right here, and he has more pressing matters than power displays in a parking lot, okay?”
Malik averted his gaze. What was wrong with him? All his life, he’d walked around without showing any emotions. His people depended on them not showing emotions. If humans figured out they could control them using people they cared about, they would remain slaves for eternity.
“I’m sorry.” Malik touched Ivan’s hand in a fleeting gesture and stepped away to give him room.
Ivan sighed. “What do we have?”
“A woman in room 402 wants to lock something in the vault.” Malik took another step away from Ivan. What if he’d scared him? What if Ivan never wanted to be close to him again?
“Great. Was she with Lord Zelly?”
Malik shook his head. “No, no man and no guards. She wanted me to tell the manager to come see her.”
“And did you?” Ivan adjusted his clothes, which had Malik looking away. His cock still throbbed and ached, but to think he’d ground it against Ivan in front of Zev, in a parking lot no less, made him want to hide.
He shook his head. “I don’t know where the manager is.”
Ivan gave him a sparkling smile. “Let’s find out.”
* * * *
Ivan strode toward the entrance, Malik’s and Zev’s hulking forms behind him. As he entered the lobby, the first person he saw was Raina.
“Excuse me, miss.”
She gave him a blank stare. “Yes?”
“We need a word with the manager.”
Raina widened her eyes. “Oh…I’m sorry, sir, but I—”
“You what!” His voice boomed in the lobby, and a woman dressed in a pristine skirt and suit jacket appeared behind the counter. She had a name tag on the lapel, but Ivan couldn’t read it from this distance.
“Can I help you, sir?”
He waved Raina away with an annoyed huff, only to hear a low growl coming from Zev. He ignored it and neared the counter. “Yes. The madam wants to see the manager.”
A second passed. The woman behind the counter didn’t change her expression, but Ivan noted a slight hesitation anyway.
“The madam?”
“Room 402. She has inquiries about the vault.”
The woman nodded and tapped on a keyboard under the countertop. “Mrs. Sanders?”
Damn, he’d hoped it would be Mrs. Zelly. “She doesn’t want to leave valuables in the room.”
“Of course. I’ll talk to her.”
“The manager.” Only the manager could open the vault.
The woman gave him a nod. “I am the manager.”
Crap, now she’d recognize him.
He gave a terse nod in return and briskly walked toward the large room where people had gathered, Zev and Malik forming a large shadow behind him. “See anyone you recognize?” He kept his voice low.
“The man in the right corner isn’t human.” Zev didn’t look in the direction of the right corner.
“No? What is he?” Ivan glanced. It was a stocky man with graying temples.
“Don’t know. Shifter, but I don’t know what animal.”
It had Ivan biting his lip. What was a shifter doing here? He could be interested in a fundraising event, but in Ivan’s experience shifters didn’t much care about what humans did.
“Keep an eye out.” He sauntered over to the shifter, becoming aware of exactly how under-dressed he was as he crossed the room. It didn’t matter. He wasn’t here to impress anyone; he was here to steal a diamond.
“Good evening, sir.” Ivan gave the shifter a bright smile.
He nodded but didn’t speak. Damn.
“I’m Ivan Chalk.”
The man grunted. What the hell was wrong with him?
“And you are?” He offered his hand in greeting.
“Annoyed.” The man didn’t meet his eyes.
“Were you annoyed before I got here?” Ivan wanted to pop his hip and wave a hand, but shifters didn’t like queers so he tried not to be too…flamboyant.
“A little, but it’s steadily increasing.”
“Awesome!”
Now the man looked at him, and Ivan gave him a serious look. “There is one easy way to get rid of me. Tell me who you are and what you’re doing here.”
The man frowned. “Are you working here?”
“In a way.”
“Look, I got the ticket from a friend. I know I don’t match the clientele.”
“And why did you want to attend?”
The man narrowed his eyes but didn’t answer.
“Are you stealing a diamond?”
“No.”
“Are you here to capture a vampire?”
The man’s eyes widened and something close to a smile touched his lips. “No.”
“Look, it’ll be easier if you tell me.”
Raina came walking toward them with a tray of champagne flutes. “Good evening, gentlemen.”
Ivan wanted to check his watch. Was the event starting already? He’d thought they’d have more time.
She stared at Ivan. “I spotted a ridiculous man in the parking lot five minutes ago.”
“Fuck.”
“I don’t think there is time for it, plus you have to buy me a drink first.” She walked toward Zev and Malik, offering them a glass of champagne as well.
Ivan focused on the shifter again. “You don’t happen to have struck a bargain with a sorcerer or something?”
The man’s eyes slid over him from head to toe and back up again. “No bargain, no.”
“Can’t you tell me?”
“No.” This time he grinned for real.
“Okay. I’m here to steal a diamond. I have stolen a vampire, sort of, and my employer is trying to capture me and give me to an evil sorcerer so he can kill me. Are you going to complicate things for me?”
The man’s eyes changed color, not into the amber he’d seen Zev’s do, but a golden glow with slitted pupils. Ivan had no idea what kind he was, but he guessed some kind of cat. He hoped he wasn’t a snake.
“You’re telling the truth.”
“No use in lying when it sounds so outrageous.”
The man chuckled. “I guess not.” He shook his head. “I’m here in my work partner’s place. I work security.”
“Fuck.” Ivan had screwed up.
“I’m to blend in among the guests, but I guess I failed.”
“Nah, you did a pretty good job, but you’re a shifter, and it gave you away.”
The man narrowed his eyes. “You could tell?”
“I have superpowers.” He nodded toward Zev and Malik, who were each holding a glass of champagne.
“I see.”
“Are you gonna lock me up?”
“Not yet. I’m not the hotel’s security, it’s more of a private affair, and you haven’t done anything yet.”
Ivan shrugged. “True.” Though he considered Malik stolen already. “Do you know how I can get into the vault?”
This time the man barked a laugh. “Only the manager can get into the vault.”
“I’ve heard. A stupid system, if you ask me. What if the manager is out of commission?”
Zev appeared next to him. “Malik had to excuse himself, and I think you should move as well.”
Ivan nodded and glanced toward the entrance. Remi wasn’t visible yet, but Ivan heard his voice in the lobby. Where should he go?
Zev gestured at what had to be a coatroom close to the wide doorway to the lobby. Would he make it before anyone came? No time to think. He hurried off, not running but as close as he could without drawing too much attention to himself.