Midnight Wolf (Shifters Unbound #11)(4)

Reg’s wildcat was mostly serval, a small creature, but wickedly fierce. His lack of bulk made him quick, canny, and cautious.

He knew Angus was being evasive, but Angus couldn’t explain. Not when Ciaran’s safety depended on it.

“I’ll scout around,” Reg said. “What does she look like?”

“Red hair, young—” Angus broke off in frustration. That was all he knew, and Haider hadn’t even told him what kind of Shifter she was. Maybe Haider didn’t know.

Reg raised his brows. “Right. If I see her, I’ll tell you. I won’t grab her myself.”

“Probably for the best,” Angus agreed. “Where’s the card room?”

“Back there.” Reg gave Angus another skeptical eye. “We’ll have to talk, my friend.”

“Yep, we will.”

Reg had taken over being second in command to the Shiftertown leader when Angus had been forced to step down from the position because of Gavan. Reg had felt bad about it, but Angus had never blamed him . . .

“Good luck.” Reg nodded and skimmed back up the stairs to start searching, the litheness of his wildcat evident.

Angus took his plodding wolf self down the hall where Reg had pointed, finding the card room after peeking into two other chambers. No guards stood at the door—it seemed that anyone could walk in and throw his money away on a poker game if he wanted.

This room, like the others, was dim except for lights directly over the card tables. Smoky too—no one had decided to ban cigarettes and cigars here. Ashtrays on and next to the tables overflowed, the stench of used cigarettes cloying.

Through the haze, Angus saw her.

Tamsin Calloway looked younger than in her photo. She had a wave of bright red hair flowing back from a broad forehead, her face narrowing to a somewhat pointed chin. He couldn’t tell the color of her eyes from this distance, but her skin was the pale hue of a true redhead, one from the northern climes of Scotland. Angus had seen Fae inside Faerie with hair that color.

She sat at a table that held seven other men, all human. Her cards hung negligently in her hands while she leaned forward with a little smile, as though eager for the next bet. They were playing Texas Hold ’em. The cards showing on the table were two queens, a jack, and a ten. Plenty of money sat in a pile in the middle. No chips, just cash.

As Angus paused, trying to decide on his approach, one of the men at the table glared at Tamsin. “I’ll raise you a hundred.” He shoved in a stack of twenties.

“I’ll see that,” Tamsin said without losing her smile.

Four of the other men groaned and tossed down their cards. “Fold,” they each said, with one saying, “I’m toast.”

Three men and Tamsin left. Two put in their money, leaving it to the man who’d raised the last time. He plucked up two more twenties and a ten and let them drop into the pile. “Another fifty.”

Tamsin shrugged and added her money. Another man threw his cards down in disgust. “I’m out.”

Now it was Tamsin and the other two. One man looked at his cards, the ones on the table, and the pot. He sighed and pushed his chair back. “Damn it.”

The remaining man watched Tamsin. He hunched forward, anger in every line of his body. If he didn’t win, things might go badly for Tamsin.

“Call,” the man snarled.

Tamsin laid down her cards. “Two little ladies make four of a kind.”

A string of foul words came out of the man’s mouth. His cards fell from his hand, nowhere near anything to win.

“You cheating bitch!”

Tamsin raked the money to her and rose. Ignoring the raging man and his friends, who were telling him to suck it up, she looked across the room and straight at Angus.

Angus froze in place, doing his best to be just another Shifter looking to relieve boredom in this backwoods casino.

Tamsin wasn’t fooled. The eyes that met Angus’s told him she’d already seen him, recognized him for Shifter, and knew why he was here. Her eyes were a hazel shade, the light over the table showed him, almost golden, the color of whisky. Her faint scent came to him over the stench of humans and smoke—warm, like nutmeg.

Tamsin stuffed double handfuls of cash into her pockets, at the same time moving back from the table on quick feet.

“Gotta go, boys. Thanks for the game.”

Two more strides, a flash of a grin over her shoulder, and she faded into the shadows.

Angus charged across the room after her. A heavy curtain hid the wall she’d run toward, and Angus jerked it back to find a window, wide-open and letting in the fog.

Angus scrambled through the window, jerking his bulk through the tight fit, and landed on the veranda that surrounded the house.

Mists flowed between him and the trees beyond, and there was no sound. Tamsin, her flame hair and nutmeg scent, had vanished.





CHAPTER TWO


Cut that close—way too close, Tamsin admonished herself as she ran through the trees, the wet ground sucking at her feet.

What the hell kind of hunter had they sent after her this time? She’d smelled him all the way across the room. Shifter, Lupine, and highly pissed off.

Damn it. Wolves were fantastic trackers—she’d have a hard time getting away from him.

Tamsin moved as fast as she dared. Any faster and she’d make plenty of noise to alert the wolf to her presence. Shifting would be the best way to escape, but then she’d have to leave her clothes and money behind, which wolf-man would find. Asshole. What self-respecting Shifter worked for Shifter Bureau?