What the Sleigh? (2 page)

“Shit…” Darrick slid her a sideways glance, aware of her distress. Realization colored his face. “We’ll get the fuckers, Rudi. I promise.”

Before she could reply, Cynthia looked up from the counter, phone in her hand. “Rudi, Darrick…Boss wants you both in her office. Yesterday.”

Exchanging looks, they turned and headed toward the offices. Even though it was late at night, the building was filled with staff. From small beginnings, the business had boomed until they were a 24-7 operation.

Pausing to knock on their boss’s door, Rudi caught the mulish expression on her partner’s face as a voice within called out for them to enter. She sighed. Most Pixies had issues with authority, and Darrick was no exception.

“What did you do now?” she hissed over her shoulder as she pushed the door open.

Apparently overhearing the comment, Iliona laughed, the sound light and musical. “For once, nothing. Although I’m sure if I dug around, I could find something. Isn’t that right, Darrick?”

“Dunno what you mean, boss lady.” The Pixie shrugged, giving the small human woman his best innocent look. Pixies didn’t do innocent well, so he looked like a cross between a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar and a sexual harassment lawsuit waiting to happen. “It’s because I’m a pixie, isn’t it? You always blame us. It’s discrimination, outright discrimination.”

Rudi leveled a side eye at him and resisted the urge to sidle out of the blast zone. Iliona might be human, but no one spoke to her that way. Not if they wanted to live. The woman was not only their boss but she was also mated—or married, Rudi could never work out their arrangement—to two of the most badass gargoyles she’d ever met.

If Cal or Gran even suspected someone had been unpleasant to their little mate, then words would be had. Since neither of the gargoyles was particularly garrulous, then those words were usually the other party’s. And often pain-filled.

“Bullshit,” Iliona laughed. “Don’t you try and pull that crap here, Darrick, just to avoid the issue. I’m onto you.”

The Pixie grinned, his attitude disappearing like smoke, and spread his hands. “Can’t blame a guy for trying.”

“You are. Trying, very trying.” Iliona indicated the chairs in front of her desk and both operatives lowered themselves into them. Rudi caught Darrick’s eye. This wasn’t a bollocking then…something bigger was going on.

Sure enough, Iliona’s next words confirmed it. “You’ve both seen the news reports about the Grotto Gang?”

Rudi’s eyebrow winged up toward her hairline. “Seriously? They’re calling them that?”

Iliona chuckled. “That’s the Police Department for you. They can’t seem to avoid alliteration.”

Darrick’s eyes gleamed, so Rudi kicked him. “Seems not. So what’s the deal?”

Iliona leaned back in her chair and considered the two of them. “The Police Department can’t crack this one. None of their usual sources can dig up anything on these assholes, which leads them to think there’s a paranormal involvement.”

At her words, both operatives straightened up in their seats. The human police department admitting it couldn’t handle something was huge. Most of them hated paranormals with a passion, and the PPA even more so, even though the Agency could deal with shit they couldn’t.

“Okay…” Rudi prompted, wanting to know where this was going. She and Darrick weren’t the… most delicate of teams. They were bulldogs, sent in when brute force and chaos were required.

“Okay.” Iliona sighed. “I wouldn’t do this if it weren't necessary, but I need to put you two undercover.”

Rudi and Darrick shared a confused look. “Undercover? We’ve been undercover before.”

Iliona looked directly at Rudi, and her expression sent a thread of unease down the reindeer’s spine. “Really undercover. I need to put you into the grotto as part of the act.”

Rudi’s blood ran cold. Undercover in a grotto. Which meant one thing…

“Woohoo! Rudi gets to be a sexy elf!” Darrick caroled.

Iliona frowned. “He doesn’t know?”

“No.” Rudi sighed. So much for her fucking secret. But those assholes were shooting deer, not to mention humans. She wanted them and bad. Turning to Darrick, she reached out and cuffed him around the head to stop his chuckles. “Shaddup, idiot. She doesn’t want me to dress up as a sexy elf.”

He pouted, rubbing the back of his head, even though she hadn’t hit him hard. “Well, I’m sure as fuck not dressing up as a sexy elf.”

“No one is.”

“Then what are we going undercover as?” Darrick looked from one woman to the other. “I mean, it’s obvious I’ll be Santa, right?”

“No, you won’t be,” replied Iliona. “We have Claus elves who can pull enough magic this close to Christmas to fool anyone, even if they can’t pull a full change just yet. And I’m hoping Rudi will—”

“I’m the reindeer.”

Darrick’s face broke into a broad grin. “The ass end? I’d pay to see you in a reindeer suit.”

She flipped him the bird and carried on talking. “No, I mean I am an actual reindeer. You wanted to know what kind of shifter I am. I’m a were-reindeer. Direct from the North Pole.”

His eyes widened, the blue orbs filled with surprise, then the corners of his lips twitched as he made the connection. “So…Rudi…”

“Yeah, yeah… My grandfather was Rudolph. No, my nose does not glow.”

She turned back to Iliona, one finger held up to stop Darrick talking. “So, which Claus elf are we taking? Rhod?”

She hoped it was Rhod. At least then Darrick wouldn’t be sniping at him all the freaking time like he would Cole.

“Actually no, we have a new Claus that just arrived.” A knock at the door made Iliona pause to call out, “Come in.”

Rudi closed her eyes as the door was pushed open and steps announced a new arrival. A new Claus. No, it couldn’t be.

“Hello, Rudi.”

Chapter Two

Rudi was just as beautiful as he remembered. Barely daring to take a breath, Nick Claus stood by the door and watched the woman of his dreams, the one he’d let walk away five years ago, stiffen as she recognized his voice.

He could only see her back, but his eyes devoured her. Took in the graceful arc of her neck, his lips curving at the messy braid her hair was always in. He remembered the silk of her hair brushing his skin… on the heels of the memory, a hundred, no a thousand, crowded in.

It had been five years since he’d seen her and she still took his breath away.

“Nick.” She nodded but didn’t turn around, her shoulders tense. The set of her body screamed loud and clear wild horses wouldn’t make her turn around.

“What’s he doing here?”

She fixed the woman in front of her with a hard look and the temperature in the room dropped several degrees. Nick winced in sympathy. Rudi had a glare which could cut a person to the bone and gave zero fucks about who she leveled it on.

The guy in the seat next to Rudi had no issues turning around to look at him. Tall, broad-shouldered, and in head to toe leather, his dark hair shimmered with blue highlights. Nick kept the curl of his lip under control. Pixie. Distantly related to elves, the two species couldn’t stand one another. But the hostility in his gaze went beyond a species dislike. It seemed more…personal.

The pixie turned back to Rudi, his expression hard and his voice when he spoke harder, “This him?”

She nodded, the movement almost imperceptible, but her attention was all on Iliona. Nick froze, his gaze leveled on the other guy.
This him?
He didn’t need it spelled out for him. Rudi had told this…pixie about them. His eyes narrowed as he looked between the two of them. Were they a couple? His lip started to curl. Was she sleeping with a fucking pixie?

“He’s going to be helping us on this mission,” the woman behind the desk folded her hands, gaze level on Rudi. Nick had to give it to her, she didn’t flinch or back down from the reindeer’s wrath. She didn’t blink, not even at Rudi’s sharp intake of breath and the wind whipping loose strands of her hair around her face, a sure sign she was losing control over her shift.

“No.” Rudi’s answer snapped through the air. She stood, so quickly that her legs slammed back into the chair and sent it toppling backward. “Cole or Rhod. Not him.”

“Rudi, please.”

Nick took a step forward, only for the pixie to shoot to his feet and block his path. Anger shot through him like a chain reaction until every inch of his body was on fire.

“I don’t think she wants to talk to you, buddy,” the pixie rumbled, his expression calm and neutral but his eyes brimming with malevolence. Nick’s fists itched as he bunched them. Oh, yeah, this guy was just asking for it.

Rudi didn’t make any indication she’d heard him, stepping forward to plant her hands on Iliona’s desk. “Not him.”

Iliona tilted her head, eyes narrowing for a second as she studied Rudi’s face. Nick couldn’t see her expression, but he could guess it wasn’t good.

“He’s the only one we have free at the moment. Rhod and Cole are assigned to operations covering other malls in the city.”

“So assign us to one of them then.”

Frustration threaded through Rudi’s voice, the catch in it telling Nick she was close to lashing out…or crying. Not because she was upset, but because she was overwhelmed. A fond smile wanted to curve his lips, but it was overruled by the need to hold her tight and ease her mood. Fuck it, who was he kidding? He just wanted to hold her again. He’d lost five years, all because of a fucking stupid mistake and his pride.

Iliona flicked him a little glance, almost imperceptible but Nick caught it. Guilt twinged in the center of his chest. She couldn’t assign Rudi to one of the other teams. The PPA didn’t have enough Claus elves to cover all the possible hit locations for this Grotto Gang, not without him and the elves he’d brought down from the Pole, and he’d made having Rudi on his team a condition of his help.

Did he nod to get her out of the bind? Did he hell. Unwilling to give up his one advantage, he folded his arms and eyeballed the pixie. If the guy wanted to throw down and dirty here, then he was up for it. Asshole needed to learn respect for the Claus and Nick was just the Santa to teach him some.

“I need you on this one, Rudi… You and Darrick,” she nodded toward the pixie. “You’re the toughest team we have and I need you on the primary target. I don’t want to risk putting anyone else in there.”

Ooh, excellent move. Mentally, Nick congratulated the woman. Appealing to Rudi’s pride and sense of duty was exactly the right way to handle her.

“No.” Rudi’s answer was short, sharp and completely took Nick by surprise. But not as much as her next words did. “Get someone else. I quit.”

Turning around, she stomped from the room, leaving the three of them looking shocked. Even the pixie looked stunned.

“Fuck!” Iliona burst out. “I didn’t expect her to resign.” Her expression furious, she caught his gaze. “Right, sunshine. I don’t care what happened or what you did to piss her off so much, but I am
not
losing one of my best operatives for you.”

“I’ll talk to her.”

Darrick started forward, but Nick stopped him with a hard hand on his shoulder. “No. This is my problem to deal with.”

“The fuck you will!” The pixie snarled, already winding his fist back.

“
Darrick,
you lay one hand on him and I’ll assign you to Rat’s team. Don’t you think I won’t.”

The pixie froze, color draining from his skin. Interesting. Whoever this Rat was, he scared the shit out of pixies.

“Nick. Go.” Iliona nodded toward the door. “You have five minutes. If she’s not back on board by then, you and your team pack up and ship out. We’ll deal with this some other way.”

He nodded and turned to the door. Five minutes was all he needed.

***

“Lying, cheating, asshole fucking
Santa!”
Rudi burst out as soon as she reached the relative sanctuary of the alley out back of the building. It was empty at the moment. No one to see her mini-breakdown. Thankfully.

Turning in a circle, she looked for something to hit and ran a shaking hand through her hair. The movement yanked strands free from the braid and she hissed in temper. Fucking typical. Even her hair was ganging up on her today.

“Arrrgh!” She slammed her fist into the service door and felt the wood crack beneath her blow. Or maybe it was her knuckles… She wriggled her fingers and gasped as pain lanced through her hand.

“Fucking
son of a bitch!”

Her hand hurt like a motherfucker. Definitely a busted knuckle. With a sigh, she put her hand flat on the broken door, waiting for her deer to heal the damage. It did, grumbling all the time. Bitch was a pain in the ass at times. But at least it was focused on the pain rather than on the man back in that office. The poor thing had barely survived what Nick had done to them last time…she wouldn’t risk breaking its heart again. Never again.

Just the thought of him opened the floodgates and she gasped. Nick was here. Why? She closed her eyes, leaning her forehead against the wood. Everything washed up to almost overwhelm her, leaving her clinging by a thread. She focused on her breathing. In and out. In and out. She would get through this. She always did.

How had he found her? She’d been so careful to disappear altogether. And when the North Pole was involved, disappearing was nigh on impossible. Naughty or nice: everyone was on one list or the other. Even those in government protection programs had files. No one was untraceable from the Pole’s magic. Unless you’d been brought up in the heart of the magic and knew how to hide from it….

She did. A part of the magic since the day she was born, she knew how to conceal herself from it. Knew all the little tricks the Pole didn’t want anyone to know. To do that, though, she’d had to completely cut herself off from everyone and everything she’d known. Friends, family…the deer on her team. Start totally fresh. It had been a no-brainer though. She couldn’t bear to stay and see the pity in their eyes when they looked at her. As they watched her, talking behind her back as her perfect life fell apart.

How could she have faced them? How could she have told them Nick hadn’t loved her enough to keep it in his pants? Admitted she hadn’t been enough to satisfy him and he’d had to turn to that bitch Ginger Snaps, to get what she couldn’t give him?