SHUT it, Wolfie!
Neve lightly touched my arm. “Can we get you anything? Coffee? Tea?”
My eyes darted to her glass, which was still sitting on the counter. “Your coffee smells divine, and I didn’t get much sleep last night. Do you have extra?”
“One jet fuel, coming right up,” Damian said, and set a strange copper cup with a long handle on the stovetop.
Apparently, a gazillionaire fallen angel was about to make me fancy coffee. My life had really gone to strange places since the Taphouse.
Neve returned to her spot at the counter. “I’ve got some good news. I think I’ve identified the guy you two are looking for.”
My jaw slackened. “Seriously?”
Jaxson had only called her this morning. I figured we had a snowball’s chance in hell.
“Alejandro Rivera, a notorious dealer of magical artwork. He lives in San Miguel de Allende, a mountain town a couple hours north of Mexico City. He’s known for his exclusive parties and extravagant acquisitions, which he auctions at exorbitant prices.”
“And do you think there’s any chance he might still have this fingerbone of Dragan’s?” It sounded absolutely ridiculous. Why would a wealthy art dealer keep someone’s finger?
Neve took a sip of her coffee and smiled. “Oh, for sure. This guy is creepy. Not only is he known for his black-market dealings in antiquities but also for his—how do I say it—impulsive temperament? He holds longstanding grudges, and if Victor Dragan was caught trying to lift one of Alejandro’s objects, then I’d bet he has a special showcase devoted specially to Dragan’s withered finger.”
This guy sounds like a maniac, my wolf said.
I crossed my arms. “Delightful. How soon can we arrange a meeting with him?”
“She’s fiery,” Damian whispered to Jaxson, perhaps assuming I couldn’t hear, as he stirred the coffee.
Jaxson locked me with a heated look that sent a whisper of tingles up my thighs. “You have no idea.”
Damian poured the coffee into a set of little gold-rimmed glasses like Neve’s. “You can meet him tonight. He’s holding an art auction, and I’ve negotiated admittance for myself and company.”
“Really?” My breath caught as I tried to temper my excitement. “You would do that for us?”
“Of course,” Damian said. “I owe Jaxson and the pack a favor. Plus, you’re Nevaeh’s friend.”
Neve smiled at me warmly and winked, and something in my chest clenched. I’d been in Magic Side just a short time, but already, I’d met more people that I cared about than I’d known growing up.
I eyed Jaxson, wondering what he’d done to deserve this favor. Damian was a crime lord, and I knew the wolves had underworld dealings.
Probably best not to ask too many questions.
“Thank you. That’s amazing,” I said as I sipped the coffee. It was dark and sweet, with aromas that brought far away lands and exotic places to mind. “The coffee is, too.”
“It’s Turkish,” Damian explained. “From near my homeland.”
“Once you’ve had it, you never want anything else,” Neve said, smiling at Damian. The way she looked at him made me wonder if she was talking about the coffee or the man.
How in the hell did an Order detective wind up with one of the biggest criminals in Magic Side? And here I’d thought Jaxson and I were opposites, I mused as I sipped the dark brew.
A cop and a criminal, my wolf remarked. The sex must be explosive.I wonder if they use handcuffs?
I choked on my coffee, and the others all looked at me. “Sorry. It’s hot.”
I bet it is.
Shut UP, Wolfie. You’re going to make me choke to death.
“We can’t thank you two enough,” I blurted as my face heated.
“Well, you can return the favor,” Neve said, putting her empty glass in the sink. “I can’t go to the auction—there’s no way Alejandro is going to let an Order operative in—but from what Jaxson has told me, you’re an incredible artist and have a picture-perfect memory. Once you get back, could you make sketches of the people you see buying objects?”
I blushed harder. Jaxson had told them that I was an incredible artist?
“I don’t have a photographic memory, and I’m not an artist. I’m proficient and sketch a lot. But I’m happy to try.”
“I saw the sketches you did of the werewolves that attacked you in Belmont. You’re very good.”
Brushing my hair aside, I looked at the floor, unsure whether I should be embarrassed or proud. “I’ll help any way I can.”
“Thanks,” she said. “These black-market art and artifact dealers think they’re untouchable, but sooner or later, they all mess up. If we can build a database of who—”
She squeaked as Damian pulled her close, adoration and fire flickering in his green eyes. “Detective Cross is a champion of world heritage. No thief stands a chance.”
Color flooded her cheeks, and she swiveled out of his arms. “That’s right. No thief or fallen angel.”
I knew it, my wolf chirped.
Oh, my God. I needed to put a muzzle on her.
“Now that that’s settled, we need to find you an outfit for the auction,” Neve said. “The word on the street is that these are extravagant affairs.”
Nerves flittered in my stomach, and I suddenly felt out of my element. I’d never been to anything fancier than a fish boil before.
I looked down at my old shorts and boots self-consciously. Yeah. Not going to work.
“You two talk business,” Neve said as she grabbed my arm and towed me out of the room. “We’re going to do some shopping.”
Oh, no.I hated shopping, and my bank account had five hundred dollars in it, last I’d checked.
As Neve all but dragged me down the hall, I heard Damian say quietly to Jaxson, “Alejandro is a shady fucker. His business is acquiring ill-gotten artifacts, but his hobby is collecting people he finds appetizing.”
Great.
Hopefully, we weren’t going to be on the menu.