Lynx Northern Shifters 3

was far from stupid.
He’d arranged for them to meet in a coffee shop. It was dingy, the air conditioner working full blast in the summer’s heat. The stale smells hit Trey hard, though he’d worked to make himself immune to sensory overload. Truth was, the higher the stakes, the more sensitive he became to all sensory information. Dealing in death was a high-stakes situation.
Horton sat in the corner, already drinking coffee, and Trey stopped to order his own cup, double double. As he pulled out a chair to sit opposite Horton, he considered his options. Best to be straightforward. Disarm Horton and force him at gunpoint into his car. Drive to somewhere deserted and let Horton out, allow him to run. Then shift and kill the man while wolf. The locals could count it as a wildlife kill. There wasn’t a wolf population here so no innocent beast was likely to get blamed for the crime.
Horton took his time lifting his gaze to Trey’s. The man saw too much unfortunately, and Trey felt wary, a prickling sensation across his shoulders. Something was up, that was clear. Trey wasn’t the only one with plans.
Without preamble, Horton slid a piece of paper across the table. “Here’s a picture, taken two weeks ago, printed today. Turn it over.”
Trey didn’t want to. Horton’s voice was too smug, too confident, and Trey seeing the picture was going to give Horton power over him. For the past few years, he’d worked to avoid allowing Horton any power over him.
“You should be in jail,” Trey said quietly.
“Kingley thought otherwise.”
Kingley should have let Horton take the fall while stepping back into the shadows, into the gray area where agents could operate without accountability. Why would Kingley have saved Horton? Because of his suspicions about Trey? Was Kingley using Horton to drag Trey back into the vortex that was domestic black ops? “What did Kingley pull you out for? Wetwork?”
Horton’s eyes flashed with distaste. He didn’t consider himself assassin material, even if he arranged people’s deaths. “Look at the picture, Trey.”
“Sure, Dan.” Bracing himself, bracing his wolf because his sixth sense told him someone he protected was about to be threatened, Trey flipped the thin piece of paper over.
He didn’t react. He didn’t even process what he saw right away. After three and a half years, it was hard to believe he was looking at a picture of Jonah. Older, sharper, thinner. Far, far too thin. No longer raw-boned, Jonah was approaching skeletal.
Trey had wanted Jonah to be alive, yes, but not under Horton’s power and not starving to death. What the fuck had happened?
It was hard to rip his gaze away, but Trey lifted his eyelashes to observe Horton. “Why are you showing me this photograph?”
Horton scratched his beard, his lip curling slightly. “I think you know.”
“You think he’s a wolf.”
“I did,” Horton acknowledged. “He’s thin like one of those who can’t eat enough, but I quickly realized my mistake. He’s got the wrong temperament. There’s no fight in him.”
A sick feeling rose in Trey’s chest, a battle with nausea and rage that he had to conquer for Jonah’s sake. Clear thinking was essential.
“He was looking for you, Trey, as you’ve been looking for him.”
Only Kingley could have possibly passed on that information, and Trey had been careful. Horton’s tone turned chiding. “Don’t pretend you don’t know him.”
“He’s changed.” Stick as close to the truth as possible. “I knew him a few years ago, briefly.” “How?”
Trey gazed at Horton, unwilling to baldly state they had been lovers.
“Kingley thought you’d given up on men.”
Trey shrugged. “Clearly I should have, if this is what happens to them. Why would you be interested in Jonah once you realized he wasn’t a wolf?”
Here Horton let out a sigh. “I wasn’t. I was very disappointed. Not only is he human, he’s a bit touched and a bit dim. I didn’t realize that was your style, Trey.”
Trey didn’t reveal his rage. Jonah was suffering and Horton understood fuck all about the lynx.
“He keeps asking to study university math.” At Horton’s guffaw, Trey wanted to reach across the table, clamp a hand on his throat and crush his windpipe.
But first he had to find out where Horton was keeping Jonah. Trey asked the obvious question. “What are you going to do with him?”
“Blackmail you, of course. You appear to have some feelings of responsibility.”
“If you