Addict (Hunter #2)(24)

Quinn sighed and called over a waitress. “I’m going to need something stronger than this.” She went off to do his bidding. “I wish he hadn’t gone there.”

Something was off in this situation. Quinn was entirely too calm. I should have ignored it. I should have let it go. I couldn’t. “Shouldn’t you be all pissed off that Marcus is back?”

It was harshing my buzz. Quinn was supposed to get his panties in a wad, and I was going to laugh.

The fertility god smiled brilliantly. He might be an *, but he was also a hottie. “I’m perfectly thrilled to have Marcus home and happily settled down with a mistress.” He pushed the neck of my sweater aside. “I see he’s already fed tonight. That’s healing quickly, Kelsey. Either you’re more wolf than any of us suspects or Marcus is feeding you, too.”

I felt Trent stiffen at the words, and he took a sudden interest in his beer. Wolves and vamps don’t always get along. Wolves tended to get pissed when vampires took she-wolves as lovers. I wondered if Trent truly viewed me as a she-wolf. I am, of course, but wolves tend to recognize my scent. None of that explained why Quinn would be so smugly self-satisfied at the thought of my relationship with Marcus. I wasn’t an idiot, though. I could take a logical leap. “You think if he’s involved with me, he’ll leave your daughter alone.”

“Oh, Kelsey, I know Marcus,” Quinn admitted. “He’s intensely loyal once he’s involved with a woman. He won’t ever leave you, not even for his so-called destiny. And I knew exactly who was coming back with you. I never let those things get by me. I simply wondered if you would tell me. Now, Alan Kent is sitting at the bar. He said you were looking for him. Is there anything I should know?”

I turned to the gorgeous faery, with his perfect face and more arrogance than anyone should be allowed. He might technically be my boss, but he wasn’t getting an inch from me. “I was under the impression there wasn’t anything you didn’t know. Excuse me.”

Hopping off the barstool, I glanced at my boyfriend and the king, who seemed to be settling down. It didn’t look like it would come to blows, so I was probably safe to deal with the next situation of the night.

Alan sat at the end of the bar, nursing a beer. He was dressed in jeans, boots, and a Western-cut shirt with pearl snaps. It was one of the better ensembles in his wardrobe. Alan was a few years older than me. If I remembered correctly, he’d recently turned twenty-nine. He looked older. He drank too much, even for a shifter. Like Scott, Alan was a pure shifter. Also like Scott, he wasn’t strong. They lived on the periphery of the supernatural world. They would never be able to handle themselves against a wolf or a vampire, so they tended to keep their heads down. It’s a sad truth of our world that if you aren’t an alpha, it’s best to try to not be noticed. I often thought that Scott and Alan would have been much happier in the normal world.

“Kelsey.” He nodded sullenly. Like Liv, his eyes were baggy, as though he hadn’t slept much lately. His thin lips turned down as I took the barstool beside him. I realized his frown wasn’t for me. “Mr. Wilcox.”

My eyebrow arched at that. Alan wasn’t the polite type. He must be completely terrified of Trent. Fortunately, I wasn’t. Trent was a little like a muscular tick. He’d dug in and I was going to have to burn him to get him off me.

I had to back up to be able to see him. The man loomed over me. “I don’t need your help with this, Trent.”

I heard the growl from the back of his throat. It made Alan go a nice shade of white. It made me roll my eyes. If I showed that wolf even a hint that he could intimidate me, I would never get rid of him. “You can watch me from another table, Wilcox. Go away.”

He didn’t try to hide the growl this time. He leaned over, deliberately getting in my space. Trent Wilcox was easily a foot taller and had at least a hundred pounds on me. I smiled slightly and held my ground. “Watch it, baby girl. One day you’re going to push me too far and I won’t care how much trouble I’ll get in.”

He stalked off and pointedly sat down at a table about ten feet away. He would still hear everything. I shrugged because he was probably right. I’d push him too far one day and we’d throw down. Part of me was looking forward to it. I hadn’t killed anything in a couple of months and the wolfy part of me was getting bloodthirsty. Tonight, however, I was going to have to settle for having pushed him back.

Alan peered back at Trent, wariness plain in his eyes. There was a fine tremble to his hands when he picked up his beer and glanced back at me. His lips turned down in a sullen frown.

Now we could get down to business. “There, now that the hall monitor is gone, we can talk.”

“Don’t know what you want to talk to me about,” Alan replied, staring forward.

So he was going to be stubborn. “I want to talk to you about Scott.”

The trembling was a bit more than fine now. Alan had to force his hands to stop shaking. He set down the beer bottle. I could practically feel the frustration pouring off him in waves. “Since when do you give a shit about Scott?”

I didn’t. I firmly believed the world would be a better place without him. He was a case I was getting paid to solve and nothing more. So why did I say what I said next? “I care about Liv, and she cares about Scott.”

It really should be easier to hold a mean grudge. I consider myself a tough chick. Just three months past I killed an alpha and two beta wolves. Shouldn’t that chick have a hard heart? Hell, apparently I came from a whole line of hardened killers who had to be caught early or put down hard.