A. Arthur - Passion's Prey

She gave the man a close look, a careful scrutiny that couldn’t be easy to undergo. But when X turned his gaze to Baxter, he saw the man leveling his stare at her just as evenly. Almost as if they were communicating on some eerie level.

“So what’s going on now, the drug war this Sabar character is orchestrating, the death and cruelty being left in his path, it was all pre-ordained,” Caprise said to Baxter.

“There was no way to tell in what variation the battle would come. But yes, we knew it would happen someday,” he replied.

She continued to stare at him as if there were some sort of recognition. Until finally she shook her head and cleared her throat. “So what now? How do we stop them?” was Caprise’s next question.

It caught X off guard because last time he checked Caprise wasn’t into the shifter thing and didn’t want to hear about the Assembly at all. Sure, she’d come to this meeting, but he figured that was more out of curiosity than anything else. Now he was sensing something different.

“We find Sabar and kill him,” Rome said with finality. “I’m not about to let this escalate. We take their leader and they’ll scramble, hopefully back to whichever region they’ve come from. But they will not invade our Zones without a fight.”

Nick nodded his approval.

X’s phone rang at that moment. He looked down to see the number was a familiar one. “I’ve got to take this,” he announced, pushing his chair back and leaving the room.

All eyes seemed to fall to Caprise in his absence. She knew what they were thinking: that she was his mate and that all was well with them. They didn’t have a clue. She’d begun to accept the mating thing, since the companheiro calor was so strong she almost couldn’t scent anything else when X was near. But there was still a distance between them, one she thought she’d been close to closing only to be slapped in the face with a note and his disappearance.

Of course he’d returned later that day in a foul mood, giving out orders as if everyone within hearing distance were under his command. That was sort of true, but she didn’t have to like it. One of his orders was that she remain with him at all times. She wasn’t receiving a new guard because X was taking the job. It was crazy even though Zach was big and strong enough to guard them both. Kalina and Ary had advised her to let X have his lead for a while. They all knew he was going through something. But Caprise was getting damn tired of waiting to figure out what.

The Baxter issue seemed to be tabled, for now. Rome had announced that he would speak to Baxter and Alamar privately. He didn’t look at all pleased with these new developments but moved on because he had no other choice.

When the FLs began talking about training and Nick added his opinions about assigning teams and strategies, Caprise excused herself and left the meeting as well. She hadn’t really expected X to be right in the next room. He’d left at least fifteen minutes ago; surely he would have gone farther. But here he was, sitting on one of the dark cherrywood chairs at the table Kalina used for her work area. His elbows were propped on the table, his head lowered, cradled in his hands.

Rage circled him like a storm cloud, its scent clogging Caprise’s throat as she closed the door to the conference room behind her. She went to him immediately but didn’t touch him. She just stood behind the chair watching as his muscled back rose and fell with the rhythm of his breathing.

“What is it?” she asked finally.

“Go back inside with Nick,” he said, pushing the chair out from under him and thrusting his cell phone into his pocket.

“I asked you a question,” she continued, walking right behind him.

He turned so fast she bumped right into his massive chest. He grasped her arms and pushed her back. “Not now, Caprise. You do not want to be near me right now.”

His eyes were so dark Caprise could only describe them as black. He held her so tight she wanted to gasp at the pain.

“I’m not leaving you,” she said in a quiet voice. “Whatever it is, we can deal with it together.”

“No!” he shouted. “It’s my problem. I’ll deal with it alone.”

Behind her, Caprise heard the door open. Of course Nick would hear X yelling and of course he’d come barreling through the door first.

“What the hell’s going on?” he asked.

X let her go so fast she stumbled. Kalina moved quickly to keep her from falling. As for X, he still stood there looking like some sadistic maniac about to go the hell off. Still Caprise moved to his side. She looked at Nick and said in as calm a voice as she could muster, “It’s fine. He’s fine.”

“The hell he is,” Nick said, taking a step closer. “What’s going on, X?”

X shook his head and looked away. “I’m just gonna go for a while. I’ll be back later.”

“We’ll come with you,” Rome said, standing beside Nick.

Again X was shaking his head. “No. I gotta do this alone.”

“I’m going with you,” Caprise said.

“You’re staying here with Nick,” X said.

She shook her head. “I’m not. Either I’m riding in that truck with you to wherever it is you’re going or I’m getting in one of those jeeps and following you. You’re not going alone and that’s final.”

His curse was long, loud, and fluent, but when X stomped out the door Caprise was right on his heels.

He hadn’t looked back, hadn’t spoken a word on the long drive from Havenway to his apartment in the city. And as they did the hide-the-truck in the underground parking garage and boarded the elevator, he still remained quiet. Caprise was biding her time. Whatever was ticking around inside of X was about to blow completely. Veins bulged in his arms and hands. The tattoos on his neck pulsed with the rush of blood going on beneath. He walked with long purposeful strides, slid the keycard into the base on the door with a quick motion.

The moment she walked into his apartment Caprise was smacked with the cold. She shivered, hating this place for what it represented and how it made her feel. And yet at this moment there wasn’t any other place she’d rather be. For the first time in her life there was someone who needed her and not the other way around. Of course he wouldn’t admit it—would probably rather pull his eyeballs out than admit that he needed her right now. It didn’t matter. She was determined not to run this time.

“You don’t listen, do you?” he said, heading back to his bedroom. “Every goddamn time I tell you to do something, you do the opposite.”

Following him into the room, Caprise stopped at one side of the bed and shrugged. “Then you should probably stop telling me what to do.”

He turned to her then, his neck snapping around so quickly it was almost comical. His eyes, however, were still ominously black, so she didn’t dare crack a smile. This wasn’t a laughing matter, she knew. X was in deep trouble. Caprise prayed she had what it took to help him.

“Why don’t you sit down and we can talk.”

“I don’t want to talk,” he said, a growl following his words. “You wanted to follow me so you’re gonna get the show you asked for.”

He went to the armoire in the corner. On the side almost hidden was a keypad—Xavier loved his codes and computers. He punched in some numbers, then opened both doors so that the contents were on full display.

If someone had told her this was the type of stuff X was into, Caprise would have never believed them. Then again, she thought, blinking a couple of times, she would have. It said so much about the man standing there, staring into the open armoire. And then, it didn’t say enough.