Her Billionaire, Her Wolf(55)

It was not the kind of call he could ignore and with a groan he rolled over, reflexively groping in the darkness for the phone.

Cold, yellow light flickered through his fingers as he found it at last and he could not help but be reminded of the she-wolf and her warm yellow eyes. It had been a dream worth dreaming and the young man would have given much to go back to it.

Instead, he keyed the phone to unlock and heard a deep voice speak.

"Flair. I need the Twins. Do you know how to reach them?"

He cleared his throat then said, "Uhmmm...yes, I think so."

His head was still fuzzy with the scents and sounds of the forest behind his eyes.

But he managed to ask, "Are you sure about this? I mean, you do remember how pissed they were over that last time, right?"

There was no hesitation in the voice on the other end of the call.

"I do not care. This is urgent and I know of no other trackers like them. Do you?"

"No. No, I don't," Flair replied, "Not on this continent anyway.

"But, yeah...I'll try. Only you and I both know those women are going to drive a hard bargain this time around."

"I don't care," Brazier Abraxis said, "Whatever is necessary, I will do it. I only care that you find them and quickly before the trail turns cold."

It was like a lightbulb stuttering into light inside Flair's sleepy head. His eyes wide open then, he asked, "Is it starting then? What you thought might happen...has it begun?"

Braze was silent a moment, then replied, "I think so. I am not entirely sure, but they have taken the girl, Flair."

"Oh," he replied, a chill slipping along his skin, then his hackles rising as he thought of the battle to come, he said, "I'll find them, Braze. The Twins won't be able to hide from me for long."

"Good...call me when you do. I'm on the road right now."

Flair terminated the call then stood up. The breakfast bar was just beside him and he slammed a fist down hard.

Damned vampires, he thought, and on my day off, too.

He jumped over the futon bed lying in his living room, his pretty-much-everything-room, searching furiously for his little black book.

He knew it was as old fashioned as vinyl records, but that little book was the repository of all his conquests. It didn't much matter that Agate and Opal didn't figure among them. Not yet, anyway. The two women were inseparable and what he wouldn't give to be the meat in a Twin sandwich.

There, just a corner showing from underneath the futon, he saw the dog eared little book. Flair grabbed it and started thumbing through the pages, not finding an entry for the Twins.

No, that can't be right, he thought, then grinned as he remembered. He flipped back immediately to the page facing the back cover and there it was, in his own handwriting:

The Twins...never going to happen. Crazy hippy wolf chicks. But, it sure would be nice.

Just below that, in faded pencil, was a scribbled address with a beer bottle's ring stain running through it. The address was followed by a cellphone number and as Flair rushed out of his apartment, taking the stairs down three at a time, he was simultaneously tucking in his shirt tail and stabbing his thumbs down on that number.

The black sedan was parked out back and as he ran and jerked open the driver's door, a sleepy voice answered.

"Uhm--yeah? Whoizzit, whatsa?"

Flair did his best to sound bright and cheery.

"Hey Agate! Long time no see, right? This is Flair...you know the handsome dude with the big, black....car."

The first half of the pair did not answer right away, until, finally he heard, "Pfffft...blondie puppy? Ok...whatevuh...nitey night."

Flair nearly shouted as he said, "No! Wait. Don't hang up."

There was a pause, then she asked, "So what is it, little pound puppy?"

Ok, this isn't starting out so well.

"Uh...yeah. Look, the boss needs you guys. Like right away. Like now."

The woman on the other end of the phone call cleared her voice, then said, "Ok. Now I'm listening. Does that prick remember how it went down last time?"

Flair hesitated, not sure how to answer.

"I'm sure he does, Agate. No doubt. But look, this is urgent. Über urgent, you know?"

"Uh huh. Sure. Just like that. Well, pound puppy, I think you can go pee in the corner and then shake about it while I roll over for another hour or two of z's. Then, when me and Ope get back up, we might be in a better mood. For contemplatin' things, you know."

"No, no. You don't understand. He's on his way. Right now."

"What do you mean 'right now'?" she asked, startled.

Flair decided lying was the best policy, given the circumstances. He glanced down at the address written in his little book and took a chance.

"You and Opal still down there in the warehouses?"