Wicked Edge (Realm Enforcers, #2)(37)

Daire lifted a shoulder.

Bear sighed. “You can’t keep a member of the demon ruling family a prisoner, Daire. I sure as hell won’t help you.”

“I’m not asking for help,” he rumbled.

“I am.” Felicity turned a sparkling smile on the shifter.

He perked up.

Daire growled.

Felicity leaned forward. “I hired Lucas and your men because I needed help, as I still do.”

Bear frowned. “To be honest, I don’t like any woman being held captive, demon ruling family member or not. What do you want, pretty lady?”

Daire cut him a hard look. Was the shifter flirting?

Felicity’s dimples winked, making her both cute and undeniably sexy. “I just need a ride to the airport. Nothing big.”

Bear scratched the whiskers at his chin. “Does your, ah, family know where you are?”

Her eyebrows lifted, suddenly regal. “My son doesn’t need to know my whereabouts, Bear.”

“Well, shit,” Bear said.

“That about sums it up,” Adam said cheerfully.

Daire fought the urge to hurl the heavy crystal glass at his brother’s head. “Where is the plane heading this time?” he asked.

She turned her focus on him, and he felt the punch from those stunning eyes right in his solar plexus. “A spa in Alaska.”

Cute, and a terrible liar. “I wonder if I spanked you right now, whether anybody would try to stop me?” he mused.

Fire snapped from her eyes.

Bear cleared his throat. “This ain’t no sex dungeon, kids. Keep it PG rated.”

Daire rolled his eyes. “Where are you planning to go, and don’t lie to me again.”

She kept her lips tightly together.

He leaned forward. “What’s the name of Bychkov’s partner, Cee Cee?”

Her eyes widened.

Yeah. He’d figured out she had an inkling as to the identity of the traitor witch, and it was time she helped him instead of hindered his mission.

Bear’s phone buzzed and he glanced at the face, frowning. Then he reached over his shoulder for a remote control with enough buttons to launch a space shuttle. “I think it’s for you,” he murmured, pointing the device at the massive screen and pushing a key.

Vivienne Northcutt, the leader of the Council of the Coven Nine, slowly took shape.

Daire and Adam both snapped to attention and stood. “Aunt Viv,” Daire said.

Her black eyes shot all sorts of sparks. “Don’t you even think of Aunt Viving me, Daire Dunne.” She’d pulled her dark hair atop her head and wore a sparkly dress enhanced with diamonds, obviously having been interrupted doing something fancy.

“You look lovely, Aunt,” Adam said.

“You’re in trouble, too.” Viv leaned toward the camera, which distorted her face. “I take it you’re Felicity Kyllwood?”

Cee Cee stood. “Yes.”

“Ah.” Viv glanced to the side. “Bear?”

“Yes, ma’am.” Bear stretched to his feet, all lazy grace. “I’m innocent in all of this.” Charm coated his smile.

Viv sniffed. “Right. The term has never been applied to you, young man.”

“Fair enough,” Bear returned. “Why is the leader of the entire witch nation using my phone number?”

Viv glanced at the enforcers. “Rumor has it my enforcers are holding Zane Kyllwood’s mother hostage in your territory, so I went to the source. After leaving a very nice ball, I might add.”

Daire shook his head. How the hell had she gotten such quick Intel? “This is enforcer business, and we’ve got it handled.” He ignored Adam’s snort.

Blue fire crackled in Viv’s eyes. “This is Coven Nine business, and you’re out of it. Ms. Kyllwood? Per your earlier request, I guarantee your transport to the airport, as soon as you give me the name of the witch mining planekite in Russia.”

Daire slowly turned toward Cee Cee, whose skin darkened to a nice color of strawberry. Somehow, the woman had sent a message across the world in order to bargain with the Coven Nine. Yet again three f*cking steps ahead of him. “How?” he asked.

She lifted her chin. “I may have borrowed Lucas’s phone before leaving your penthouse.”

Ah. So she’d been smart enough to know Daire would come after her. “You offered a deal to the Coven Nine?”

“Yes.”

Bear rolled his shoulders. “All due respect, this is Coven Nine and demon nation business, and I’m out of it.” He turned to head toward the doorway.

Cee Cee shook her head. “You can be out of it, but Lucas promised me five men on the next mission.”

Bear turned back around, eyed Felicity, looked at Viv, and then landed on Daire. “No.”

Felicity huffed. “Yes.”

Bear grinned, dimples flashing. “No way in hell, Blondie. My men are out of it.” He loped back toward the doorway, pausing just long enough to throw over his shoulder, “If you and the enforcer reach peace, give me a call. You haven’t lived until you’ve ridden on the back of my bike.”

Daire’s muscles tightened. He was going to kill Bear . . . when he got the chance. Right now, he eyed his aunt and boss. “Kyllwood will declare war on us if we allow his mother to be harmed, and believe me, whatever crazy plan she has right now, she will come to harm.”