Kane by Loribelle Hunt Page B

meeting everyone’s gaze.
    “She gets told. Everything.”
    Nico and Phin immediately protested, but Alec
was silent. He’d examine that curiosity later. Slashing his hand
through the air, he turned to his boss.
    “She has to be told. She can’t take the
necessary steps to protect herself or her family if she isn’t.” As
the regional Alpha, Kane understood all about protecting those you
took responsibility for. “I know y’all don’t trust her, but you’re
wrong about her.”
    “You’d risk us all to prove that point? She’d
turn any of us over, even you, for the right amount of money.”
    Kane shook his head. “No. She wouldn’t.”
    Phin frowned, but nodded. “Fine. But it’s on
you if it backfires.”
    “It won’t,” he assured everyone in the room,
though Alec didn’t seem to need it. He walked to the exit but
paused to look over his shoulder. “Anything else I should
know?”
    “Two weres and a vamp,” Alec answered curtly,
and Kane took that to mean the men sent for Isadora. He nodded his
thanks, then left to search out the woman who drove him crazy, the
woman he was going to shock to hell when she learned the whole
truth.
     
     
    * * * * *
     
     
    The world was going to hell and determined to
drag her along with it. As soon as the shooting started, Calista
ducked into an alley. She wasn’t stupid—it was never safe to stand
in the middle of flying bullets. She risked a peek out to see if it
was anyone she cared to assist. Meaning they could pay for her
trouble. Hell, altruism only went so far and a girl had to eat.
    Dust flew through the air as the north end of
New Peachtree filled with Union soldiers. On the south side of the
road, rebels took cover in doorways and behind carts through the
haze. Sighing, she backed up far out of view and straightened,
hands instinctively resting on the heels of her revolvers. She
turned around, looking for an exit.
    Wouldn’t you know I’d get stuck in a dead
end alley?
    There was a door at the back of one of the
buildings near the alley’s rear wall and she headed for it. She
wanted to get clear before the opposing forces started lobbing
dynamite each other.
    Damn! The door had no knob. Did she
risk being heard banging on it? A soft thud had her whirling, hands
on the butts of her pistols again. If she had drawn as she turned,
she might have had the advantage, but she was too slow. The
blue-eyed devil before her had much quicker reflexes, speed, and
strength. Werewolves put a real crimp in her style.
    “What do you want, Kane?” she asked,
seriously considering that door now.
    “Looks like you got trouble.”
    He grinned. Why did her heart have to flutter
in response?
    “Not me. Them.” She jerked her head toward
the street and shrugged. “Nothing to do with me.”
    “’Cept you’d rather not get caught in the
middle of it.”
    She nodded absently, turning to examine the
wall. Maybe she could scale it. Her stomach spasmed at the height.
It had to be at least nine feet tall and as smooth as she imagined
a baby’s bottom would be. No handholds. No toeholds.
    “Need a hand up?”
    She scowled at him. What was his game this
time? Kane was a competitor. Sometimes an ally, sometimes an enemy.
Sometimes a lover. They shared a motto. Nothing is free. His help
would come with a price.
    Out on the street the shooting started again,
and he smirked at her. A cat ate the canary grin. It made her
immediately suspicious. She blinked and he moved closer. So close
she had to crane her neck back to see him. He knew that pissed her
off.
    “What’s it going to be, Calista?” he asked, a
husky timbre to his voice. “Do I stay? Or do I go?”
    Frustration riding her hard, she stepped away
and faced the end of the alley, putting her hands on her hips.
There weren’t any sounds of retreat from the street. She could
settle in for a long wait or accept Kane’s help.
    “Oh, hell,” she muttered. What choice did she
have?
    Turning to face him, she nodded